REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- March 18, 2012

The Ledes

Tuesday, November 5, 2024

How often we are oblivious to the heroes who walk among us.

New York Times: “Richard A. Cash, who as a young public-health researcher in South Asia in the late 1960s showed that a simple cocktail of salt, sugar and clean water could check the ravages of cholera and other diarrhea-inducing diseases, an innovation that has saved an estimated 50 million lives, died on Oct. 22 at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 83.... In 1978, the British medical journal The Lancet called [the] innovation [devised together with another American doctor] 'potentially the most important medical advance this century.'”

New York Times: “Murray McCory, who founded the outdoor equipment company JanSport while still in college and whose signature innovation, a lightweight backpack, revolutionized school life for millions of students, died on Oct. 7 in Seattle. He was 80.”

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The Ledes

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Public Service Announcement

Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."

New York Times: In a collection of memorabilia filed at New York City's Morgan Library, curator Robinson McClellan discovered the manuscript of a previously unknown waltz by Frédéric Chopin. Jeffrey Kallberg, a Chopin scholar at the University of Pennsylvania as well as other experts authenticated the manuscript. Includes video of Lang Lang performing the short waltz. ~~~

~~~ Marie: The Times article goes into some of Chopin's life in Paris at the time he wrote the waltz, but it doesn't mention that he helped make ends meet by giving piano lessons. I know this because my great grandmother was one of his students. If her musical talent were anything like mine, those particular lessons would have been painful hours for Chopin.

New York Times: “Improbably, [the political/celebrity magazine] George[, originally a project by John F. Kennedy, Jr.] is back, with the same logo and the same catchy slogan: 'Not just politics as usual.' This time, though, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and passionate Trump fan is its editor in chief.... It is a reanimation story bizarre enough for a zombie movie, made possible by the fact that the original George trademark lapsed, only to be secured by a little-known conservative lawyer named Thomas D. Foster.”

Washington Post: “Comedy news outlet the Onion — reinvigorated by new ownership over this year — is bringing back its once-popular video parodies of cable news. But this time, there’s someone with real news anchor experience in the chair. When the first episodes appear online Monday, former WAMU and MSNBC host Joshua Johnson will be the face of the resurrected 'Onion News Network.' Playing an ONN anchor character named Dwight Richmond, Johnson says he’s bringing a real anchor’s sense of clarity — and self-importance — to the job. 'If ONN is anything, it’s a news organization that is so unaware of its own ridiculousness that it has the confidence of a serial killer,' says Johnson, 44.” ~~~

~~~ Marie: I'll be darned if I can figured out how to watch ONN. If anybody knows, do tell. Thanks.

Washington Post: “First came the surprising discovery that Earth’s atmosphere is leaking. But for roughly 60 years, the reason remained a mystery. Since the late 1960s, satellites over the poles detected an extremely fast flow of particles escaping into space — at speeds of 20 kilometers per second. Scientists suspected that gravity and the magnetic field alone could not fully explain the stream. There had to be another source creating this leaky faucet. It turns out the mysterious force is a previously undiscovered global electric field, a recent study found. The field is only about the strength of a watch battery — but it’s enough to thrust lighter ions from our atmosphere into space. It’s also generated unlike other electric fields on Earth. This newly discovered aspect of our planet provides clues about the evolution of our atmosphere, perhaps explaining why Earth is habitable. The electric field is 'an agent of chaos,' said Glyn Collinson, a NASA rocket scientist and lead author of the study. 'It undoes gravity.... Without it, Earth would be very different.'”

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."

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The Commentariat -- March 18, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on the Myth of the Grand Bargain. I posted it myself as my editor is away, & couldn't figure out how to get it on the front page, so only YOU will know it's there.

... "Doonesbury" appears in Slate here.

Peterr of Firedoglake: "The Obama administration continues its caving to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops on the requirements of the Affordable Care Act, and seeks input on ways in which to continue its spelunking in the future.... HHS did not announce final rules, but put forward a 32 page proposal for comment [pdf] on religious organizations and their obligation (or lack thereof) to provide coverage for 'certain preventive services.' [allowing exemptions for religious organizations that self-insure & possibly changing the definition of "religious employers"] That 'self insurance' loophole is a huge exemption. Look for any Roman Catholic institutions that aren’t self-insured already to set themselves up that way in short order. If you wish to take HHS up on their offer to listen to comments on this proposal, page 3 of the pdf has four ways to submit your thoughts." ...

... CW: Peterr claims in his post that Georgetown U., which Sandra Fluke attends, will be exempted from providing students with contraceptive coverage. However, according to a Washington Post story I linked yesterday, because the Georgetown "policy is not a self-insured plan, the birth control mandate will soon apply." The New York Times report agrees, in essence, with the Post report; that is, Georgetown students will be covered. Peterr is right about this much, tho: if a religiously-affiliated institution is not self-insuring now, it is likely to do so to get out of having to provide contraceptive coverage.

New York Times Editors: "... homeowners are still bearing the brunt of the mortgage debacle. Taxpayers are still supporting too-big-to-fail banks. And banks are still not being held accountable."

Former Reagan budget director David Stockman & New York Times financial reporter Gretchen Morgenson talk to Bill Moyers about the crony capitalism that controls Washington. Thanks to contributor Dave S. for the link:

Matt Flegenheimer of the New York Times reports on some of the blog entries of Karilyn Bales, wife of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, accused of killing 16 Afghan villagers last week. "Though much of the family’s online presence appears to have been removed in recent days, the fragments that remain capture the daily travails typical of any family with a loved one stationed abroad." ...

... Jennifer Preston of the Times has more. ...

... Elisabeth Bumiller of the Times looks at the issue of high stress for troops deployed numerous times.

CW: Here's something I knew absolutely zero about. Nicholas Kristof writes that Backpage.com, "the premier Web site for human trafficking in the United States, according to the National Association of Attorneys General..., is owned by Village Voice Media, which also owns the estimable Village Voice newspaper. the Village Voice.... The Brooklyn district attorney’s office says that the great majority of the sex trafficking cases it prosecutes involve girls marketed on Backpage."

How Not to Attract Tourists. Pilot Mark Vanhoenacker in a New York Times op-ed: "... a 2006 survey by the U.S. Travel Association ... found that foreign travelers were more afraid of United States immigration officials than of terrorism or crime. They rated America’s borders by far the least welcoming in the world. Two-thirds feared being detained for 'minor mistakes or misstatements.'”

Right Wing World

** Rick Perlstein in Rolling Stone: conservatives have always been crazy.

Charles Babington of the AP: "The millions of dollars spent by Mitt Romney's allies on TV ads attacking his two main rivals have helped Romney pull ahead in the GOP presidential race.... Republican insiders say Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich are fuming over the hard-hitting 30-second spots that sent them tumbling after they gained early leads in Iowa, Florida, Michigan and other states.... Campaign veterans say Santorum and Gingrich feel the commercials were pointedly unfair, and that's a big reason they keep fighting...."

Doyle McManus of the Los Angeles Times: Mitt "Romney's beginning to look a bit like a Republican version of Dukakis: a Massachusetts governor who might win the nomination by outlasting weak opponents but who may never quite win his party's heart — or the nation's. That's partly because, as Dukakis did, Romney is selling himself as a better manager for the federal government, not as the leader of a grand crusade." ...

... If Governor Romney thinks that he is the CEO of America and can run and manage the economy, he doesn’t understand what conservatives believe in. We don’t want someone in Washington, D.C. to manage the economy. We want someone who can get Washington out of our lives. -- Rick Santorum, on CNN's "State of the Nation" today

CW: Kasie Hunt & Rachel Zoll of the AP are "puzzled" that Roman Catholic Republicans are not lining up behind Rick Santorum. Maybe it's because of this: "Less than one-quarter of Catholics attend Mass weekly. Most use artificial contraception, support gay civil unions or marriage, and hold other views contrary to church teaching." Not to mention this: "Less than half of the Catholic Republicans surveyed knew Santorum's faith, the survey showed, while 11 percent of Catholic Republicans and 35 percent of white evangelical Republicans thought Santorum was an evangelical."

Fore! Ian Millhiser of Think Progress: "In an article that would appear to be a poorly-executed parody of Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz’s (R) right-wing beliefs it Cruz had not posted it on his own website, the Tea Party stalwart touts a truly ridiculous conspiracy theory about George Soros secretly partnering with the United Nations to come into our cities and eliminate our right to play golf." Apparently Cruz is a viable candidate & could soon become the Honorable Senator Cruz.

News Ledes

ABC News: "President Obama opened up a 30-minute documentary on childhood bullying for Cartoon Network this evening, continuing awareness initiatives he set into motion last year."

New York Times: "Mitt Romney was the winner of the Republican presidential primary Sunday in Puerto Rico.... Mr. Romney was defeating Mr. Santorum by a wide margin in the United States territory, which has 20 delegates, with The Associated Press saying Mr. Romney was likely to take all of them."

New York Times: "Scores of Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested on Saturday night as police officers swept Zuccotti Park in Lower Manhattan and closed it. Dozens of demonstrators sat down and locked arms as officers moved in about 11:30 p.m. The protesters chanted 'we are not afraid' as the police began pulling people from the crowd, one by one, and leading them out of the park in handcuffs." Reuters story here.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Crowds and chaos rattled Missouri's GOP caucuses on Saturday, threatening to put further scrutiny on a process that was already a national anomaly.... Participants in Saturday's caucuses weren't actually selecting their choice for presidential nominee. They were selecting delegates who will appear at two larger meetings in April and June, who will in turn select delegates to the national convention in Tampa."

AP: "Puerto Rico's residents cannot vote in general elections, but are set to award 20 delegates in their Sunday Republican primary."

Reuters: "Motorcycle-riding gunmen linked to al Qaeda shot and killed an American teacher in the Yemeni city of Taiz on Sunday, and Yemeni officials said government forces killed up to 14 militants in clashes and artillery attacks on their strongholds. The attacks underscore the challenges facing President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi who took office last month after a year of massive protests against his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh."

Reuters: "A car bomb hit Syria's second city Aleppo on Sunday, a day after blasts killed 27 in Damascus, and security forces arrested and beat activists at a rare anti-government protest in the centre of the capital."

Reuters: "Germans resoundingly elected Joachim Gauck, a former Lutheran pastor and human rights activist from communist East Germany, as president of the European Union's largest country on Sunday, posing a potential political headache for Chancellor Angela Merkel."

Reuters: "A group of 22 Chinese authors have filed a claim against U.S. technology group Apple (APPL.O), alleging its App Store sells unlicenced copies of their books, Chinese state media reported on Sunday. The group, the Writers Rights Alliance, petitioned Apple last year to stop electronic distribution of the writers' books and had earlier persuaded Baidu (BIDU.O), China's largest search engine, to stop publishing their material on its Baidu Library product."

Blah Blah. Chicago Tribune: Romney & Santorum diss each other & the President ahead of the Illinois primary.

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Bill Moyers has insightful interviews tonight with David Stockman and Gretchen Morgenson about crony capitalism and the roots of Washington dysfunction.

http://billmoyers.com/episode/encore-broadcast-crony-capitalism/

March 17, 2012 |

DaveS

We want someone who can get Washington out of our lives. -- Rick Santorum. Except if you happen to have a vagina.

March 18, 2012 |

Marvin Schwalb

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