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The New York Times lists Emmy winners. The AP has an overview story here.

New York Times: “Hvaldimir, a beluga whale who had captured the public’s imagination since 2019 after he was spotted wearing a harness seemingly designed for a camera, was found dead on Saturday in Norway, according to a nonprofit that worked to protect the whale.... [Hvaldimir] was wearing a harness that identified it as “equipment” from St. Petersburg. There also appeared to be a camera mount. Some wondered if the whale was on a Russian reconnaissance mission. Russia has never claimed ownership of the whale. If Hvaldimir was a spy, he was an exceptionally friendly one. The whale showed signs of domestication, and was comfortable around people. He remained in busier waters than are typical for belugas....” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Oh, Lord, do not let Bobby Kennedy, Jr., near that carcass. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: “There’s no evidence that a well-known beluga whale that lived off Norway’s coast and whose harness ignited speculation it was a Russian spy was shot to death last month as claimed by animal rights groups, Norwegian police said Monday.... Police said that the Norwegian Veterinary Institute conducted a preliminary autopsy on the animal, which was become known as 'Hvaldimir,' combining the Norwegian word for whale — hval — and the first name of Russian President Vladimir Putin. 'There are no findings from the autopsy that indicate that Hvaldimir has been shot,' police said in a statement.”

New York Times: Botswana's “President Mokgweetsi Masisi grinned as he lifted the diamond, a 2,492-carat stone that is the biggest diamond unearthed in more than a century and the second-largest ever found, according to the Vancouver-based mining operator Lucara, which owns the mine where it was found. This exceptional discovery could bring back the luster of the natural diamond mining industry, mining companies and experts say. The diamond was discovered in the same relatively small mine in northeastern Botswana that has produced several of the largest such stones in living memory. Such gemstones typically surface as a result of volcanic activity.... The diamond will likely sell in the range of tens of millions of dollars....”

Click on photo to enlarge.

~~~ Guardian: "On a distant reef 16,000km from Paris, surfer Gabriel Medina has given Olympic viewers one of the most memorable images of the Games yet, with an airborne celebration so well poised it looked too good to be true. The Brazilian took off a thundering wave at Teahupo’o in Tahiti on Monday, emerging from a barrelling section before soaring into the air and appearing to settle on a Pacific cloud, pointing to the sky with biblical serenity, his movements mirrored precisely by his surfboard. The shot was taken by Agence France-Presse photographer Jérôme Brouillet, who said “the conditions were perfect, the waves were taller than we expected”. He took the photo while aboard a boat nearby, capturing the surreal image with such accuracy that at first some suspected Photoshop or AI." 

Washington Post: “'Mary Cassatt at Work' is a large and mostly satisfying exhibition devoted to the career of the great American artist beloved for her sensitive and often sentimental views of family life. The 'at work' in the title of the Philadelphia Museum of Art show references the curators’ interest in Cassatt’s pioneering effort to establish herself as a professional artist within a male-dominated field. Throughout the show, which includes some 130 paintings, pastels, prints and drawings, the wall text and the art on view stresses Cassatt’s fixation on art as a career rather than a pastime.... Mary Cassatt at Work is on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art through Sept. 8. philamuseum.org”

New York Times: “Bob Newhart, who died on Thursday at the age of 94, has been such a beloved giant of popular culture for so long that it’s easy to forget how unlikely it was that he became one of the founding fathers of stand-up comedy. Before basically inventing the hit stand-up special, with the 1960 Grammy-winning album 'The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart' — that doesn’t even count his pay-per-view event broadcast on Canadian television that some cite as the first filmed special — he was a soft-spoken accountant who had never done a set in a nightclub. That he made a classic with so little preparation is one of the great miracles in the history of comedy.... Bob Newhart holds up. In fact, it’s hard to think of a stand-up from that era who is a better argument against the commonplace idea that comedy does not age well.”

Washington Post: “An early Titian masterpiece — once looted by Napolean’s troops and a part of royal collections for centuries — caused a stir when it was stolen from the home of a British marquess in 1995. Seven years later, it was found inside an unassuming white and blue plastic bag at a bus stop in southwest London by an art detective, and returned. This week, the oil painting 'The Rest on the Flight into Egypt' sold for more than $22 million at Christie’s. It was a record for the Renaissance artist, whom museums describe as the greatest painter of 16th-century Venice. Ahead of the sale in April, the auction house billed it as 'the most important work by Titian to come to the auction market in more than a generation.'”

Washington Post: The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which houses the world's largest collection of Shakespeare material, has undergone a major renovation. "The change to the building is pervasive, both subtle and transformational."

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Saturday
Mar122011

The Commentariat -- March 13

David Sirota, in a Washington Post op-ed, thinks we're living in a 1980s timewarp.

Maureen Dowd doesn't think a no-fly zone over Libya is a good idea, & she takes to occasion to slam Paul Wolfowitz, which all by itself is a good idea.

Nicholas Kristof gives a full-throated endorsement of increasing teacher pay, & he explains why. He's right.

AND Frank Rich sings his swan song.

The Associated Press reports that union leaders had asked both Vice President Biden & Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to go to Wisconsin in support of public unions. Nothing doing.

Bio-Diversity. Ben Smith: "Aides to John McCain initially added Sarah Palin to his 'short list' of potential running mates because McCain wanted a woman on the list, according to his campaign manager."

Bill Maher & Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) argue about the content of the Kuran:

Right Wing World

What I love about New Hampshire is ... you're the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord. -- Michele Bachmann, in a speech yesterday in New Hampshire ...

... CW: See, there is a Lexington Ski Club in New Hampshire, and Concord is the New Hampshire state capital. Any doofus could make the mistake of moving Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts, to New Hampshire, though a doofus running for president, speaking from prepared text in the critical state of New Hampshire, might be advised to find out where "the shot heard 'round the world" was actually fired. Video clip here. ...

... Derek Wallbank of the Minneapolis Post: Bachmann said the same thing at a Friday night fundraiser in New Hampshire. ...

... Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics: "Bachmann's contorting of a basic fact about the fight for American independence was made all the more glaring because of her repeated references throughout her speech to the nation's founding."

Lawrence O'Donnell parses Newt Gingrich. Now we know what the Newt really meant:

Local News

Another Candidate for America's Worst Governor. Chris Christoff of the Detroit Free Press, on the way Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, added a $100 appropriation to a bill, which makes the bill exempt from voter referendum. The bill, which Democrats & the AARP oppose, taxes "pensions and other retirement income while cutting business taxes."

A farmer brings his tractor to Madison to participate in a farmer tractor-parade protest of the new Republican law that allows Gov. Walker to eliminate or reduce programs like BadgerCare, which assist Wisconsin farm families. Getty image.Jessica VanEregen of the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times: farmers, most of them Republicans, are brining their tractors to Madison (Saturday) to protest the Republican "reform" bill which Gov. Walker signed into law last week. According to a spokesman for the Wisconsin Farmers Union, "many of those coming to Madison are upset by the realization that Walker's agenda is 'sacrificing Wisconsin's quality of life for everyone, not just unions.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "Japanese officials struggled on Sunday to contain a widening nuclear crisis..., saying they presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and that they were bracing for a second explosion, even as they faced serious cooling problems at four more reactors." Story has links to other Times stories about the quake, tsunami & aftermath. ...

... Update: "Japan faced mounting humanitarian and nuclear emergencies Sunday as the death toll from Friday’s earthquake and tsunami climbed astronomically, partial meltdowns occurred at two crippled plants and cooling problems struck four more reactors. In one town alone, the port of Minamisanriku, a senior police official said the number of dead would 'certainly be more than 10,000.' The overall number is also certain to climb as searchers began to reach coastal villages that essentially vanished under the first muddy surge of the tsunami, which struck the nation’s northern Pacific coast."

... CNN: "The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis." ...

... Guardian: "Several years ago, the seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko stated, specifically, that such [a nuclear plant] accident was highly likely to occur. Nuclear power plants in Japan have a 'fundamental vulnerability' to major earthquakes, Katsuhiko said in 2007."

AP: "Libyan state television reported Sunday that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have retaken the oil town of Brega in eastern Libya, swiftly advancing on the poorly equipped and loosely organized rebels. The report could not immediately be verified. Libyan TV has issued faulty reports claiming territory in the past." ...

... Politico: "The White House on Saturday lauded Arab nations for their global call to do more in pressuring the Qadhafi regime and supporting the Libyan opposition."

AP: "Israel said Sunday it has approved hundreds of settler homes after five members of an Israeli family — including three children — were knifed to death as they slept in a West Bank settlement over the weekend. The attack and the government's response threatened to drive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking even further out of reach."

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "Unbowed and unrepentant, 14 Democratic state senators returned to the Capitol on Saturday and received a tumultuous welcome from tens of thousands of pro-labor demonstrators." ...

... Reuters: "Up to 100,000 people protested at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Saturday against a new law curbing the union rights of public workers that is seen as one of the biggest challenges in decades facing U.S. organized labor."

AP: NFL "owners imposed a lockout on the players Saturday, essentially shutting down operations. That came hours after talks broke off and the union dissolved itself, meaning players no longer are protected under labor law but instead are now allowed to take their chances in federal court under antitrust law. Nine NFL players, including superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, and one college player headed for the pros filed a class-action lawsuit in Minnesota and asked for a preliminary injunction to block a lockout, even before it went into effect.

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