The Ledes

Sunday, October 6, 2024

New York Times: “Two boys have been arrested and charged in a street attack on David A. Paterson, a former governor of New York, and his stepson, the police said. One boy, who is 12, was charged with second-degree gang assault, and the other, a 13-year-old, was charged with third-degree gang assault, the police said on Saturday night. Both boys, accompanied by their parents, turned themselves in to the police, according to Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Mr. Paterson. A third person, also a minor, went to the police but was not charged in the Friday night attack in Manhattan, according to an internal police report.... Two other people, both adults, were involved in the attack, according to the police. They fled on foot and have not been caught, the police said. The former governor was not believed to have been targeted in the assault....”

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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Saturday
May112013

The Commentariat -- May 11, 2013

The President's Weekly Address:

     The transcript is here.

Why Jim Inhofe Isn't Funny Any More. Justin Gillis of the New York Times: "The level of the most important heat-trapping gas in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide, has passed a long-feared milestone, scientists reported Friday, reaching a concentration not seen on the earth for millions of years." ...

... GOP Climate Change Civil War. Coral Davenport of the National Journal: "... deep fissures are emerging between, on one side, a base of ideological voters and lawmakers with strong ties to powerful tea-party groups and super PACs funded by the fossil-fuel industry who see climate change as a false threat concocted by liberals to justify greater government control; and on the other side, a quiet group of moderates, younger voters, and leading conservative intellectuals who fear that if Republicans continue to dismiss or deny climate change, the party will become irrelevant."

Aw, Shucks. Dave Weigel: Jason (Hispanics Are Dumb) Richwine resigned his position at the Heritage Foundation, & evidently Jim DeMint graciously accepted. Plus, Richwine fan Charles (Blacks Are Dumb) Murray reacts: DeMint has no integrity, loyalty or balls. CW: that's not a news flash, Chuckie. ...

... Jonathan Chait of New York: the Richwine/Heritage/racist/nativist debacle pretty much assures the passage of immigration reform.

... CW: So is a Not-Totally-Insane wing of the GOP emerging? -- one that rejects the climate-change-as-hoax nonsense & one that sez immigrants are our friends, fer instance? I don't see how moderation of nuttiness & nastiness can happen as long as every Republican member of Congress in every Republican-leaning district is subject to a Tea Party challenge.

Soaking the Poor to Attract the Rich. John Hechinger & Janet Lorin of Bloomberg News: "U.S. colleges ... are using financial aid to lure rich students while shortchanging the poor, forcing those most in need to take on heavy debt, a report found. Almost two-thirds of private institutions require students from families making $30,000 or less annually to pay more than $15,000 a year, according to the report released today by the Washington-based New America Foundation. The research ... undercuts the claims of many wealthy colleges that financial-aid practices make their institutions affordable, said Stephen Burd, the report's author. He singled out schools -- including Boston University and George Washington University -- that appear especially pricey for poor families."

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "A long-simmering dispute over the White House's account of the deadly assault on the American diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, flared up on Friday, with a disclosure of e-mails that show the White House was more deeply involved in revising talking points about the attack than officials have previously acknowledged. The e-mails, which the administration turned over to Congress, show the White House coordinating an intensive process with the State Department, the C.I.A., the F.B.I. and other agencies to obtain the final version of the talking points, used by Susan E. Rice, the ambassador to the United Nations, in television appearances after the attack." ...

... Jeremy Holden of Media Matters: "ABC News is buying into right-wing scandal mongering over the tragic September 2012 attacks on a U.S. diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, with an 'exclusive' report that doesn't stand up to minimal scrutiny, with flaws that are being used by the right to call for a major investigation.... None of this largely rehashed debate disproves what Gen. David Petraeus, former head of the Central Intelligence Agency, testified in November: that the intelligence community signed off on the final draft of the talking points, and that references to terrorist groups in Libya were removed in order to avoid tipping off those groups." ...

... Probably You Had No Idea This Would Happen. Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The National Republican Congressional Committee is using the debate over Benghazi to raise money." ...

... Here's the original fundraiser flyer, which some draft changes Jamison Foser found. Via Jonathan Bernstein:

Oh, Crap. Stephen Ohlemacher of the AP: " The Internal Revenue Service inappropriately flagged conservative political groups for additional reviews during the 2012 election to see if they were violating their tax-exempt status, a top IRS official said Friday. Organizations were singled out because they included the words 'tea party' or 'patriot' in their applications for tax-exempt status, said Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax-exempt groups. In some cases, groups were asked for their list of donors, which violates IRS policy in most cases, she said.... Lerner said the practice was initiated by low-level workers in Cincinnati and was not motivated by political bias. After her talk, she told The AP that no high level IRS officials knew about the practice." CW: we are nevah, evah gonna hear the end of this. ...

... For starters, Charles Pierce points us to Michelle Malkin: "Obama IRS admits witch hunt against Tea Party, patriot groups." ...

... Good golly, Miss Malkin, you plumb forgot to mention this. Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "The IRS Commissioner at the time was Douglas Shulman, who had been appointed by President George W. Bush." ...

... Ezra Klein: "The problem wasn't that the IRS was skeptical of tea party groups registering as 501(c)4s. It's that it hasn't been skeptical of Organizing for America, Crossroads GPS, Priorities USA and Heritage Action Fund registering as 501(c)4s. The IRS should be treating all these groups equally and appropriately -- which would mean much more harshly."

Texas Injustice. New York Times Editors: "... racial bias in [the Duane Buck death penalty] case reflects a wide and disturbing pattern in death penalty prosecutions in Harris County, Tex., where Mr. Buck was tried. A recent study found that from 1992 to 1999 the county prosecutor was three times as likely to seek the death penalty for blacks in murder cases as they were for whites, and juries were twice as likely to impose capital punishment."

Sarah Mervosh, et al., of the Dallas Morning News: "Federal bomb possession charges against a [West, Texas,] paramedic Friday spurred a new state and local criminal investigation into the deadly fertilizer plant fire and explosion. But authorities said there weren't yet any indications of a connection between the blast and the arrest of a man who responded to it. Bryce Reed, 31, previously told The Dallas Morning News that he assumed radio command of the April 17 incident after the explosion killed his superiors and colleagues. He is now accused of giving a pipe bomb to an unnamed person in nearby Abbott on April 26, the day after he played a prominent role in the memorial service for 12 emergency responders killed in the blast.... [ATF] agents spent hours at the Waco home of [Reed's] in-laws. Meanwhile, West officials for the first time told the state agency that licenses paramedics that Reed was let go two days after the explosion. A reason wasn't given." Via Charles Pierce.

"Sonnet from the GOP." How do we obstruct thee? Andrew Rosenthal counts the ways.

Aw, Shucks. Dave Weigel: Jason (Hispanics Are Dumb) Richwine resigned his position at the Heritage Foundation, & evidently Jim DeMint graciously accepted. Plus, Richwine fan Charles (Blacks Are Dumb) Murray reacts: DeMint has no integrity, loyalty or balls. CW: that's not a news flash, Chuckie. ...

... Jonathan Chait of New York: the Richwine/Heritage/racist/nativist debacle pretty much assures the passage of immigration reform.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

After watching some of the "highlights" of the NRA convention the other day, I got to thinking about the symbolism that is Texas. It's history of largely supporting Democratic candidates until the Southern Strategy turned the South red can't be ignored. Yet, given the conservative ability to mold history to fit their liking, it appears they've effectively airbrushed history into a GOP wet dream where conservative ideas have and will forever reign supreme.

'The Lone Star State': we operate on our own terms, we don't need those other 49 states to help (read INTERFERE) with our bizness. In fact, we're ready to secede from 'Merica to establish the newest Republic named Patriotic Freedom Texas Yeehaw.

'Don't Mess with Texas' cuz if you do we're likely to pull a shotgun and shoot your face Cheney-style except you won't live because we're all professional marksmen from birth thanks to our NRA lifetime warranty.

Each time both Perry and Cruz came strutting out in front of their brethren, what was their first statement? "Welcome to Texas!" (shitty grin, crowd roars). Even the crazy judge lady from New York made multiple references to 'yall down in Texas' much to the delight of the local bumpkins.

This modern fantasy of Texas, the last Alamo of Conservatives where Liberuls can never invade, appears alive and well. Yet these conservatives don't appear to have the capability to think in multi-dimensional terms (surprise!).

While a territory is dominated by a (political) power, this power is in place to represent the society living within its fictive walls. With time, the social organization translates into economic growth spurring the social identity and culture of the area. However, much to the chagrin of conservatives, the development of Texas is not endogenous. They can't throw up a barbwire fence and pray for the status quo. Outside influences (re: immigrants) come and go. Some stay, forever. The power in place must respond to the demands of the changing social forces or they're doomed for the sideline.

Given the current construction of Texas as the Bastion of Conservative Ideology, what would become of the modern Neo-Con GOP if demographics do play their hand right and Texas turns blue again? Would heads explode? Would armed rebellion ensue? Would the Patriots all self exile to Alberta's Tar Sands? Would they all mobile home to Brownbackistan (the horrors!)?

Or could this be the straw that breaks the back of the extremist right surge, reinserting pragmatism and compromise into the sharing of the political influence apple pie?

I like to think that time is on our side. If they don't destroy it by then.

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered Commentersafari

Regarding the IRS story. How is the word "patriot" owned by conservatives?? How are these words, or phrases like "family values", these generalised ideas, somehow apply, in our national press to a single group of people? This makes me so mad I can barely think. Or write, apparently...

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered Commenteralan

If you're interested in knowing how the NSA uses Google to spy on you, their declassified textbook reveals the internet's dirty search engine tricks. I downloaded the pdf which is included in the article so now I'm just awaiting the men in black suits to knock at the door... Hopefully with the sequester they don't send agents overseas for these kind of things.


NSA How-To Guide Perfectly Explains How to Attack Google Accounts

http://www.policymic.com/articles/40841/nsa-how-to-guide-perfectly-explains-how-to-hack-everyone-s-google-accounts

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered Commentersafari

Klein's story was dead-on. As if the IRS wasn't fearful enough already of Rove's organizations. I thought Carl Levin was on the job about the 501(c)(4) scam?

I expect the WH to review any release but especially one involving a major international crisis, in a rigorous manner. I'd wager statements coming from any of the 3 branches of government( and I'm being generous in using any form of the word "govern" as a reference) are rigorously edited before release. Edited does not mean juicy facts were eliminated. Editing written documents, prior to release is customary proper. I'm glad that that the CNN model of blurting out information without factual confirmation isn't customary or like Fox, who just makes shit up. I see no nexus between a cover-up and the video-or-insurgent catalyst to the killings. In my mind, the only potential cover-up in the whole sad situation is why Stevens went to Benghazi on 9/11. I can think of no reason that speculation about specific terrorists groups would have been a "right to know" issues with the public. What - they needed to arm themselves and hop the next transport? But once again, the news media has found a speck of nothing and is busily turning into a heaving pile of shit that the monkeys will fling at will.

Perhaps an investigation into Darrell Issa's connection to Hezbollah ala Cruz (I'm just asking a question) would be in order. After all his paternal grandparents were Lebanese immigrants. I'm not entirely clear if they were undocumented either.

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterDiane

@Diane

I agree about your assessment on Benghazi. Right from the start that was my big question. Stevens was not stupid. My speculation is that there may have been a CIA meet with some of those folks who in the end killed him. I do not believe he discounted the risks. I do think his calculus included issues that were not just diplomatic but were issues that held a clandestine glow. Just speculation and we will never know, but my bet is that he was a CIA operative and State did not know it.

The Repugnicans can dig all they want to about this. They will never get the real story because they are not investigating with a neutral vision and the real motive behind Stevens being there will never be known!

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterfromtheheartland

A good reason never to misbehave in public.... this is an overhead camera photo of the crowds watching the Stanley Cup Hockey Championships in Vancouver in 2011. When the riots and vandalism broke out, arrests were made by comparing head shots, derived from these 'gigapixel' camera images, with driver license photos in the computer bank. Go ahead, zoom in...

http://www.gigapixel.com/image/gigapan-canucks-g7.html

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

Alan,

The use of specific words as right-wing shibboleths has been a mainstay of GOP politics and conservative ideology for years.

In fairness, progressives have their own set of passwords to their clubhouse. For instance, you won’t hear many right-wingers ever, ever talking about “equality” or “hegemony” or “patriarchy” or "misogyny" or “social and economic justice” or the “military-industrial complex” or “transparency in government” or “racism”, oh wait, unless they’re whining about reverse racism which, in Right-Wing World, posits that blacks, Hispanics, Asians, pretty much any non-white group, are given preeminence over poor downtrodden white European males, who are always victims, victims, victims. Hell, even the billionaire Koch brothers are victims! Those lucky duckies making $10,000 a year have it all over them!

But words like “Patriotism” are looked at with a jaundiced eye by many liberals, not because they don’t understand its definition or are aghast at the idea, but because it, like so many similar words, “FREEDOM”, for instance, are employed, by virtue of what conservatives see as universally understood (and admired) qualities, to inoculate right-wingers against criticism of any kind, and to allow them to engage in all manner of unpatriotic and treasonous activities in pursuit of conservative goals. I mean, who could be against FREEDOM!!!? and PATRIOTISM!!!?

Well, a lot of people could. Especially if they, like Oscar Wilde, understand patriotism as the last refuge of scoundrels, to which anyone living through the debacle of the treason stench of the Cheney/Bush years can rightly attest.

Let’s take the example of Mr. Virtue, Bill Bennett, one of the most prominent and self-righteous screamers against Bill Clinton’s libidinous pursuit of a White House intern. You know what? I wasn’t thrilled with that either. In fact, I thought Clinton was a lech whose sexual peccadilloes helped retard a lot of the necessary and important political work of that era and handed Republicans a giant, unearned cudgel with which to beat justice into submission. But for an asshole like Bill Bennett to decry a couple of blow jobs as the height of immorality was, and is, a world class knee-slapper.

This guy was the ADDICTION CZAR under Poppy Bush. He wrote books about MORALITY and VIRTUE and the death of OUTRAGE. But while in pursuit of the president’s penis (as Charlie Pierce puts it) he was also chauffeured to casinos where he spent millions on his gambling addiction, and who knows what else.

But he had no problem castigating everyone else in the country who wasn't rich and white, for their moral failings, finger-wagging them to death and calling them to task for their "unAmerican" immorality, without ever once acknowledging his own demons. At the same time, right-wing organizations paid him $50,000 a shot to regale them on the immoral nature of hated liberals.

So why don’t conservatives who pride themselves on their honesty and morality and upright behavior rip people like Bill Bennett (gambler, liar, moral midget, hypocrite) and Mark Sanford (adulterer, liar, liar, liar, destroyer of “family values”), Sarah Palin, (hypocrite, idiot, deserter of civic duty), Bush and Cheney (traitors, liars, hypocrites, murderers), David Vitter (supporter of family values but frequenter of prostitutes), and Rush Limbaugh, (defender of Marriage, who, as Kate pointed out to us yesterday, has had 23 wives), and punish them?

Easy. They are their own. They belong to their tribe and they can pretty much do any fucking thing they want.

Here on RC, we’ve long considered the strength of tribal ties. We see this practically every day. Liberals too display a certain amount of forgiveness for those of their tribe who have crossed the line. Just not as much as wingers obviously do.

So conservative don't own the American Heritage definition of "patriotism", but they do use the word for their own purposes. Otherwise, how could a deserter in time of war, serial liar, hypocrite, abuser and hater of the Constitution, George W. Bush, go on and on about "patriotism"?

Another George, General Washington, would have stood his sorry, traitorous, lying ass up against a wall and shot him.

More on this later.

May 11, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The American right wing could use the difference between the US and Brazilian auto industries as an example of the cost of over regulation. Cars in unregulated Brazil are cheaper, to build and to buy. The cost to Brazil of a casualty rate 4x the US.....not so cheap but at least the victims don't sue.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/10788224

May 12, 2013 | Unregistered Commentercowichan's opinion

"In fact, Chris Stevens was a hotdogger who put himself, his staff and his security personnel at undue risk. He is a tragic figure only in the classical sense: he was directly reponsible for his own death and -- the deaths of three others. The ARB obliquely acknowledges this: "Embassy Tripoli did not demonstrate strong and sustained advocacy with Washington for increased security for Special Mission Benghazi" and describes the facility as having an "insufficient ... security platform." The Benghazi staff consisted of....."

Absolutely Vile. Shame for writing this. I hope that special someone reads this and kills all of you, or kidnaps you for a decade long basement session first.

May 13, 2013 | Unregistered Commenterjg

@jg: one of the best features of Reality Chex is that we almost never get comments from unbalanced people. Anyone who would wish death & torture on strangers needs help now. Get it, please. Really.

May 13, 2013 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns
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