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Sunday, October 6, 2024

Weather Channel: “Tropical Storm Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, is expected to become a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. The storm is expected to pose a major hurricane threat to Florida by midweek, just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. The National Hurricane Center says that 'there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.'”

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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."

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." 

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.”

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Friday
Mar222013

The Commentariat -- March 23, 2013

Not dead, just dead tired. I've been doing physical labor under a deadline & gave 42 of the past 48 hours to it, something like the last 36 without sleep. I also had no access to a computer or the Internets. When I finished, I came home, I fixed my husband supper (thanks to the reliable Burns family recipe: turn on the oven, put it in) & I went to bed. I'm back.

The President's Weekly Address:

     ... The transcript is here. ABC News story here.

... Joe Nocera: "... why can't we childproof guns? In an age of technological wizardry -- not to mention a time of deep sensitivity to the welfare of children -- why can't we come up with a technology that would keep a gun from going off when it is being held by a child? Or, for that matter, by a thief using a stolen gun? Or an angry teenager who is plotting to use his parents' arsenal to wreak havoc in a mall? It turns out — why is this not a surprise? -- that such technologies already exist.... Why aren't these lifesaving technologies in widespread use? No surprise here, either: The usual irrational opposition from the National Rifle Association and gun absolutists, who claim, absurdly, that a gun that only can be fired by its owner somehow violates the Second Amendment."

Paranoid Plot of the Day
Brought to You by Right Wing World

Pro-gun bloggers were furious when they saw James Bond, in 'Skyfall,' proudly showing off his new biometrically protected weapon. They were convinced it was a Hollywood plot to undermine their rights. -- Joe Nocera

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: "After a grueling, all-night debate that ended close to 5 a.m., the Senate on Saturday adopted its first budget in four years, a $3.7 trillion blueprint for 2014 that would fast-track passage of tax increases, trim spending gingerly and leave the government still deeply in the debt a decade from now. No Republicans voted for the Senate plan on Saturday, and four Democrats -- Mark Pryor of Arkansas, Kay Hagan of North Carolina, Mark Begich of Alaska and Max Baucus of Montana -- also opposed it. All four are Red State Democrats up for re-election in 2014."

Another Nominee Filibustered out of a Job. Rachel Weiner of the Washington Post: "The White House has withdrawn the nomination of Caitlin Halligan to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, weeks after Republicans filibustered a vote on her nomination for the second time. Halligan requested that President Obama withdraw her nomination.... In a statement, President Obama announced himself 'deeply disappointed' that Halligan could not get an up-or-down vote."

Kirk Semple of the New York Times: Eligibility for special visas is "an unintended consequence of --an immigration policy adopted last June by President Obama that allows young illegal immigrants, under certain conditions, to apply for the right to remain in the country temporarily and work.... Many have learned that they are eligible for other, more permanent, forms of immigration relief, like special visas for crime victims.... Deferred action allows recipients to work legally and live openly without fear of deportation. But it must be renewed after two years, and the program could be canceled by President Obama or his successors. As a result, illegal immigrants would generally prefer to obtain a green card or a visa that would open the door to permanent residency."

Emily Yellin, in a New York Times op-ed, on the enduring effects of rape.

Paul Haven of the AP: "U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry must decide within a few weeks whether to advocate that President Barack Obama should take Cuba off a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a collection of Washington foes that also includes Iran, Syria and Sudan. Cuban officials have long seen the terror designation as unjustified and told visiting American delegations privately in recent weeks that they view Kerry's recommendation as a litmus test for improved ties. They also hinted the decision could affect discussions over the release of jailed U.S. subcontractor Alan Gross, whose detention in 2009 torpedoed hopes of a diplomatic thaw."

Carol Leonnig & Luz Lazo of the Washington Post: "A top Dominican law enforcement official said Friday that a local lawyer has reported being paid by someone claiming to work for the conservative Web site the Daily Caller to find prostitutes who would lie and say they had sex for money with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.). The lawyer told Dominican investigators that a foreign man, who identified himself as 'Carlos,' had offered him $5,000 to find and pay women in the Caribbean nation willing to make the claims about Menendez.... The Daily Caller issued a statement Friday saying that the information allegedly provided by the Dominican lawyer, Melanio Figueroa, was false." CW: luckily, the Daily Caller's denial is as believable as its "journalism."

Right Wing World

Charles Blow: "People like [Michele] Bachmann represent everything that is wrong with the Republican Party. She and her colleagues are hyperbolic, reactionary, ill-informed and ill-intentioned, and they have become synonymous with the Republican brand. We don't need all politicians to be Mensa-worthy, but we do expect them to be cogent and competent."

Local News

James MacPherson of the AP: "... North Dakota is now trying to enact the toughest abortion restrictions in the nation. The newly oil-rich red state may soon find itself in a costly battle over legislation foes describe as blatantly unconstitutional.... Lawmakers on Friday took a step toward outlawing abortion altogether in the state by passing a so-called personhood resolution that says a fertilized egg has the same right to life as a person. The House's approval sends the matter to voters, who will decide whether to add the wording to the state's constitution in November 2014."

News Ledes

AP: "Boris Berezovsky, a self-exiled and outspoken Russian tycoon who had a bitter falling out with Russian President Vladimir Putin, was found dead in southeast England on Saturday. He was 67.... The cause of Berezovsky's death was not immediately clear, and Thames Valley police said it was being treated as 'unexplained.'" The Guardian story is here.

New York Times: "Under persistent prodding from President Obama, Israel and Turkey resolved a bitter three-year dispute on Friday with a diplomatic thaw that will help a fragile region confront Syria's civil war, while handing the president a solid accomplishment as he closed out his visit to the Middle East." CW: earning a chip of that Nobel medal. ...

... AP: "President Barack Obama set aside the Middle East's tricky politics Saturday to marvel at the beauty of one of the region's most stunning sites, the fabled ancient city of Petra.... Obama's turn as tourist capped a four-day visit to the Middle East that included stops in Israel and the West Bank, as well Jordan."

Washington Post: "Two Marines were shot and killed late Thursday at the Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico, and the suspected shooter, also a Marine, fatally shot himself inside a barracks on the base.... Officials ... declined to publicly discuss a possible motive in the attacks but said the incident was neither a terrorist incident nor an attempt to cause mass casualties. They said the gunman and two victims were members of the same unit and knew one another." CW: in other words, just your usual murders among friends. Nothing to worry about, folks.

Reuters: "A white supremacist ex-convict who died in a roadside gun battle with Texas police was being investigated for possible links to the deaths of a Colorado prisons chief and a pizza delivery man, law enforcement officials said on Friday. Police said that Evan Spencer Ebel, a 28-year-old parolee from Denver killed by police on Thursday after a high-speed car chase through Decatur, Texas, was being investigated in connection with the death of Tom Clements, executive director of the Colorado Department of Corrections."

New York Times: Cypriot "lawmakers took steps late Friday to revise a formula for obtaining a bailout of Cyprus's banks but faced strong signals that the plan would not pass muster with international lenders. The Parliament put off until later this weekend a vote on a crucial new proposal that would confiscate 22 to 25 percent of uninsured deposits above 100,000 euros through a new tax on account holders in one of the nation's most troubled banks."

AP: "China is trying to punish ally North Korea for its nuclear and missile tests, stepping up inspections of North Korean-bound cargo in a calibrated effort to send a message of Chinese pique without further provoking a testy Pyongyang government. Freight handlers and trading companies at ports and cities near the North Korean border complain of more rigorous inspections and surprise checks that are raising the costs to doing business with an often unpredictable North Korea. Machinery, luxury goods and daily necessities such as rice and cooking oil are among the targeted products, the companies said, and business is suffering."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (3)

For the past few days there have been endless discussions re: the Iraq War––the whys, the wherefores, the lies, the coverups, the ignorance of the country itself, the hubris...And sure enough, as if to script, the architects of this disaster have come out of the woodwork with not a word of regret, remorse or apologia. It's pathetic! It sickens me and at the time it sicken me. That whole period still haunts me. Sometimes writing helps.

AFTERMATH

A Memory: having to walk up to the chalkboard
to complete an equation I had no idea
how to do—
My whole body feeling on fire, my legs heavy & wooden
like in dreams when trying to run, but can’t.
The reddish-golden haired teacher who doubled as football coach
had no tolerance for poor performance—
“Come Prepared!” he bellowed.

Today I have three sets of keys—just in case

Something bad happens—something unforeseen,
Like you now gone out of our lives
And me here trying to figure out the combination;
the numbers just don’t add up.

It’s almost the end of autumn—football season, the leaves the colors
of victory —the colors of our old Persian rug—
the one we made love on the night before you left.

…And then with a wave of his hand he was gone,
falling in line of marching men, marching down
the rutted road and out of our lives. Leaving me
with a broken thing to try and put together.

2003
(The last stanza should be in italics)


@Marie––glad you are back in business––not having you here was a little like coming home to an empty house.

March 23, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Today on MSNBC, Melissa Harris-Perry had a run down on all the various antiabortion legislation currently enacted in the US. It's abhorrent, of course.
But it sure is a great case of "Don't listen to what they say; watch what they do," regarding Republicans trying to convince people that they are open, egalitarian, etc. Can they really be surprised that women will never vote for them?

March 23, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria

I watched the rerun of "Hubris--the Selling of the Iraq War" on Rachel Maddow last night, which made me enraged all over again. Especially at Dick "Five deferment I had other priorities than military service" Cheney. The man is the worst sort of sociopath and a physical coward to boot! "Undisclosed locations," getting Google to blur the image of the VP's residence, among others, besides ducking out of Vietnam. He'd do it all over again? Let's hope he or his ilk never get their hands on the levers of power again. The fact that he lied repeatedly doesn't seem to bother him in the least, nor do the thousands of dead and wounded. We will be greeted as "liberators" after killing and destroying? What kind of idiot says things like that?

Richard Perle and G W Bush weren't any better. "It was the right decision." Right for whom? I'm so angry I can hardly see straight.

March 23, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa
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