REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- March 28, 2012

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Washington Post: “Towns throughout western North Carolina ... were transformed overnight by ... [Hurricane Helene]. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls.... The death toll grew throughout the Southeast as the scope of Helene’s devastation came into clearer view. At least 49 people had been killed in five states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. By early counts, South Carolina suffered the greatest loss of life, registering at least 19 deaths.”

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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.”

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.'”

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Mar272012

The Commentariat -- March 28, 2012

CW: Matt Bai of the New York Times writes a long article for the Times Magazine on President Obama and Speaker Boehner's failed 2011 deficit-reduction negotiations. Much of this has been reported before, but Bai adds some reporting & puts it all together in a readable history. If you followed the negotiations last year, Bai's report won't make you appreciate Obama any more; for instance, the agreement he made to raise the Medicare eligibility age would cost lives AND more money.

Shaila Dewan & Jessica Silver-Greenberg of the New York Times detail a number of ways in which the deal the state attorneys general negotiated with banks helps the banks but does not help distressed homeowners.

"When in Doubt, Smear the Dead Kid." Dave Weigel on the right's "new cottage industry of 'truth about Trayvon' content, calibrated to convince people that they really shouldn't worry about the implications of this killing."

This Is Journalism. Stephen Colbert exposes Barack Obama's gun control conspiracy:

Right Wing World

Michael Shear & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "Newt Gingrich is acknowledging that it is impossible for him to win the Republican presidential nomination outright and is cutting back on his staff and campaign schedule to focus on emerging victorious at the party’s convention this summer." ...

... CW: As one who does not follow the passions of Newt Gingrich except for laughs or while on hypocrisy watch, I was surprised to learn that the Newt always wanted to be a zoo director, a job which you might argue he held while Speaker. Now that even he has acknowledged his campaign is kaput & his only hope of becoming president is via a coup, perhaps he should think of switching careers. I hope some actual zoo director will give Newt a chance -- how about a job cleaning out the elephant exhibit, a shovel-ready job for which Newt is already well-qualified.

International Incident. Arnie Parnes of The Hill: "Russian President Dmitry Medvedev took aim at Mitt Romney on Tuesday, telling the GOP frontrunner to 'look at his watch,' and dismissing his comments that Russia was an enemy of the United States. 'We are in 2012 and not the mid-1970s," Medvedev said Tuesday, on the last day of a nuclear security summit in Asia. His comment came a day after Romney called Russia the United States’ 'No. 1 geopolitical foe.'" ...

... Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "On Tuesday morning when he was asked to respond to a comment Mitt Romney made that Russia is the United States’ number one geopolitical foe, [Speaker John] Boehner [said] ..., 'While the president is overseas..., I think it’s appropriate that we not be critical of him or of our country.' The comment could be interpreted as a subtle swipe at Romney...." CW: I do enjoy it when the son of a barkeep has to teach a rich son of a bitch a thing or two about decorum. ...

... Update. Andy Rosenthal of the New York Times: "If you’re a Republican candidate for the presidency, and you’re trying to figure out if you’ve reached the limits of acceptability in attacking Barack Obama, here’s an easy marker: Even House Speaker John Boehner thinks you’re tactless." ...

... Update 2. Cold War 2.0. Romney Keeps Shoveling. Eschewing Speaker Boehner's advice, Romney pens an op-ed for Foreign Policy criticizing President Obama for "bowing to the Kremlin."

Joe Romm of Think Progress: "Conservatives, led by Fox News, have been pushing a variety of lies about the Chevy Volt. They’ve falsely asserted that it is unsafe and a creation of the Obama administration, using absurd terms to discourage sales like, 'exploding Obamamobiles.' This relentless partisan campaign against American products and American jobs has been so successful that GM CEO Dan Akerson suggested it contributed to lower than expected demand.... [Monday], in an astonishing burst of candor, Fox & Friends has set the record straight with its story, 'Can the Chevy Volt help win the War on Terror?' Their conservative guest, Lee Spieckerman, CEO of Spieckerman Media, a self-described 'drill, baby, drill guy,' debunks every single right-wing myth about the Volt." Here's the video, thanks to reader Bill M. Steve Doucy's lead-in -- "It's all Obama's fault" -- is hilarious, & Spieckerman pretty much debunks it in the first seconds:

Local News

Voter Suppression Florida-Style. Michael Cooper & Jo McGinty of the New York Times: "Florida, which is expected to be a vital swing state once again in this year’s presidential election, is enrolling fewer new voters than it did four years ago as prominent civic organizations have suspended registration drives because of what they describe as onerous restrictions imposed last year by Republican state officials."

News Ledes

Reuters: "Banjo innovator and bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs, a member of the Country Music Hall of Fame, died on Wednesday at a Nashville hospital at age 88."

New York Times: "Adrienne Rich, a poet of towering reputation and towering rage, whose work — distinguished by an unswerving progressive vision and a dazzling, empathic ferocity — brought the oppression of women and lesbians to the forefront of poetic discourse and kept it there for nearly a half-century, died on Tuesday at her home in Santa Cruz, Calif. She was 82."

Washington Post: "The Supreme Court will complete its review of President Obama’s health care law Wednesday by considering whether all of the law must fall if part of it is found unconstitutional, and whether the law’s proposed Medicaid expansion violates the federal-state partnership. New York Times story here. ...

... The New York Times The Lede blog is liveblogging the oral arguments; one begins @ 10 am ET; the second, & final, session begins at 1 pm ET. ...

... Update. The audio for today's morning session is here. The transcript is here (pdf). ...

... Update 2: The audio for this afternoon's session is here. The transcript is here (pdf).

ABC News: "The lead homicide investigator in the shooting of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin recommended that neighborhood watch captain George Zimmerman be charged with manslaughter the night of the shooting, multiple sources told ABC News. But Sanford, Fla., Investigator Chris Serino was instructed to not press charges against Zimmerman because the state attorney's office headed by Norman Wolfinger determined there wasn't enough evidence to lead to a conviction...."

Orlando Sentinel: "With the parents of Trayvon Martin looking on, congressional Democrats met Tuesday on Capitol Hill to explore ways they could use federal law to prevent a repeat of the Feb. 26 shooting in Sanford that claimed the life of the Miami Gardens teenager."

ABC News reports on the JetBlue pilot's meltdown:

Guardian: "The captain of a JetBlue plane screamed 'They're going to take us down!' and rambled about al-Qaida as passengers pinned him to the floor while another pilot took charge to make an emergency landing. An off-duty airline captain who was a passenger on the flight entered the cockpit, locked the door and landed in Amarillo, Texas, the airline said in a statement." This ABC News story adds some details. ...

... CNN Update: "A JetBlue pilot has been charged with interfering with a flight crew after his midair behavioral meltdown led to an emergency landing." You can read the criminal complaint here, (pdf) which is fairly scary.

Los Angeles Times: "A group led by Lakers legend Magic Johnson emerged Tuesday night as the new owners of the Dodgers, ending months of uncertainty for the storied but troubled baseball franchise."

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I hope some actual zoo director will give Newt a chance -- how about a job cleaning out the elephant exhibit, a shovel-ready job for which Newt is already well-qualified.

Marie,
There are days I wish your site were set up like Facebook, so I could "like" your specific contributions to an article you're linking to.... like the one above. Of course, that one deserves not just a Like, but a LOL. Perfect.

March 28, 2012 |

Trish Ramey, Louisville, KY

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