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Wednesday, September 25, 2024

The New York Times is live-updating developments in the progress of Hurricane Helene. "Helene continued to power north in the Caribbean Sea, strengthening into a hurricane Wednesday morning, on a path that forecasters expect will bring heavy amounts of rain to Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula and western Cuba before it begins to move toward Florida’s Gulf Coast."

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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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The Commentariat -- May 13, 2018

Late Morning Update:

Paul Mozur & Raymond Zhong of the New York Times: "President Trump wrote on Twitter on Sunday that he was working with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to prevent the collapse of the Chinese electronics giant ZTE, which shut down major operations after being sanctioned by the United States Department of Commerce last month. 'Too many jobs in China lost,' Mr. Trump wrote. 'Commerce Department has been instructed to get it done!'... The department last month banned shipments of American technology to ZTE for seven years, saying the company had failed to reprimand employees who violated American trade controls on Iran and North Korea.... Mr. Trump's tweet on Sunday left many scratching their heads. The president has taken a tough stance on what his administration deems unfair trade practices by the Chinese government. And he has trumpeted his efforts to safeguard American jobs even if it means creating economic strain in other countries.... If Mr. Trump was announcing a huge concession with his tweet, it was without any indication of what he might have gotten in return." ...

... Chas Danner of New York: "In a followup tweet on Sunday afternoon, Trump seemed to be addressing backlash to his announcement...: 'China and the United States are working well together on trade, but past negotiations have been so one sided in favor of China, for so many years, that it is hard for them to make a deal that benefits both countries. But be cool, it will all work out!'... There is also some understandable concern that the often impulsive and ill-informed president is -- for reasons unknown -- undermining his own Commerce Department and potentially weakening their ability to punish other companies with legal action in the future[.]"

... MEANWHILE. Jon Swaine of the Guardian: "Donald Trump is prepared to impose sanctions on European companies that do business in Iran following his withdrawal of the US from the international nuclear deal, his administration reiterated on Sunday. Trump's most senior foreign policy aides signalled that the US would continue pressuring allies to follow Washington in backing out of the pact, which gave Tehran relief from sanctions in exchange for halting its nuclear programme. John Bolton, Trump's national security adviser, predicted that 'the Europeans will see that it's in their interests to come along with us' rather than continue with the 2015 deal, under which major European corporations have signed billions of dollars of contracts in Iran. Asked on CNN's State of the Union whether that meant the Trump administration would impose sanctions against those firms, Bolton said: 'It's possible. It depends on the conduct of other governments.'" ...

... Mrs. McCrabbie: Okay, then, we're going to punish our friends who are trying to save the world from a nuclear Iran, but we're going to help a major Chinese company which has been cited for, among other things, violating sanctions against Iran.

Secretary DeVos has filled the department with for-profit college hacks who only care about making sham schools rich and shutting down investigations into fraud. -- Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) ...

... The Grifters, Ctd. Danielle Ivory, et al., of the New York Times: "Members of a special team at the Education Department that had been investigating widespread abuses by for-profit colleges have been marginalized, reassigned or instructed t focus on other matters, according to current and former employees. The unwinding of the team has effectively killed investigations into possibly fraudulent activities at several large for-profit colleges where top hires of Betsy DeVos, the education secretary, had previously worked. During the final months of the Obama administration, the team had expanded to include a dozen or so lawyers and investigators who were looking into advertising, recruitment practices and job placement claims at several institutions, including DeVry Education Group. The investigation into DeVry ground to a halt early last year. Later, in the summer, Ms. DeVos named Julian Schmoke, a former dean at DeVry, as the team's new supervisor.... Ms. DeVos has taken a number of actions to roll back or delay regulations that sought to rein in abuses and predatory practices among for-profit colleges...."

L.M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle: "Michael R. Bloomberg, media mogul, philanthropist and former mayor of New York City, asked the 2018 graduating class of Rice University to reject the divisive rhetoric and growing incivility on display in Washington and around the country as they leave to launch their own careers. The country is more divided now than it has been since the Civil War, Bloomberg told the graduates and their families. Bloomberg lamented an era during which 'alternative facts' and 'post-truth' have entered the nation's vocabulary, and like-minded groups huddle together, drowning out the opinions of others and rejecting scientific and other evidence that contradicts their world views. 'How did we go from a president who could not tell a lie,' Bloomberg said, referring to George Washington, 'to politicians who can not tell the truth?'... Some federal agencies have banned workers from using the words 'climate change,' showing that officials at the highest levels of power see the plain truth as a threat, he said.... 'And so here we are, in the midst of an epidemic of dishonesty, and an endless barrage of lies.'"

When the "Communications" Office Is the "Stonewall Office." Avery Anapol of the Hill: "After dozens of calls for an official apology, the White House is still dodging questions over a comment made by one of its staffers. White House spokesman Hogan Gidley on Sunday refused to comment directly on special assistant Kelly Sadler mocking Sen. John McCain's (R-Ariz.) brain cancer. Gidley, who was confronted about the comment on 'Fox & Friends,' said he was not present at the meeting, and therefore he does not know 'if the comment was even made.' 'Look, I wasn't in the meeting, I didn't hear the comment,' he said when asked if he thought the comment was 'kind.' Host Ed Henry shot back, 'You've heard the comment now, was it kind?' 'I don't know if the comment was even made or not," Gidley responded. 'I wasn't in the meeting.'"

*****

Mark Landler of the New York Times: "The frantic final days before Mr. Trump's announcement [that he was pulling the U.S. out of the Iran nuclear deal] demonstrate that the Iran deal remained a complicated, divisive issue inside the White House, even after the president restocked his war cabinet with more hawkish figures like [Secretary of State Mike] Pompeo and John R. Bolton, the new national security adviser.... Mr. Bolton is emerging as an influential figure, with a clear channel to the president and an ability to control the voices he hears. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, who opposed leaving the deal but did not push the case as vocally toward the end, appears more isolated. And Mr. Pompeo may play a swing role, a hard-line former congressman and C.I.A. director who, in his new job, seems determined to give diplomacy a fair shot."

Kim Tong-Hyung of the AP: "North Korea said Saturday that it will dismantle its nuclear test site in less than two weeks, in a dramatic event that would set up leader Kim Jong Un's summit with ... Donald Trump next month. Trump welcomed the 'gracious gesture.' In a statement carried by state media, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said all of the tunnels at the country's northeastern testing ground will be destroyed by explosion, and observation and research facilities and ground-based guard units will also be removed.... Analysts say that while the closure of the site is important, it doesn't represent a material step toward full denuclearization."

Rudy Continues Marching in that Parade Where He Steps on Trump's Fictions. Brian Stelter of CNN: "With five simple words, 'the president denied the merger,' President Trump's new lawyer Rudy Giuliani contradicted months of statements by the White House and the Justice Department. The subject was AT&T's $85 billion bid for Time Warner, the parent company of CNN. Giuliani is now back-tracking. 'He told me directly he didn't interfere,' Giuliani told CNN's Dana Bash on Saturday morning.... On Saturday morning, the White House said Giuliani got it wrong. 'The Department of Justice denied the deal,' press secretary Sarah Sanders told CNN Saturday morning, reiterating the administration's past position." ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "Trump has personally railed against the Time Warner-AT&T deal, a stance that may well have more to do with his burning hatred of CNN than anything else. The Department of Justice's opposition to the detail raised eyebrows because, while its position may be defensible on antitrust grounds, it doesn't fit with the rest of the Trump administration's laissez-faire ideology. The Trump administration has insisted that the president's personal opinions have nothing to do with the DOJ's position. Someone apparently forgot to send Giuliani the memo, and on Saturday, he once again had to walk back a careless remark."

How Corrupt Is Trump? Max Greenwood of the Hill: "President Trump's flagship golf club in Scotland received thousands of dollars from the U.S. government for VIP hotel stays, Scottish newspaper The Scotsman reported. The payments amounted to more than £5,600 -- about $7,600 -- and marks the first known instance that one of the president's Scottish properties has received U.S. government money.... Citing a source at Trump Turnberry, The Scotsman reported that the hotel stays were connected to Trump's upcoming trip to the United Kingdom. The trip to the U.K. -- set for July -- also includes a stop in Scotland. The payment was authorized by the State Department's Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, and then transferred to the resort by the U.S. Embassy in London, The Scotsman reported."

This Russia Thing, Etc., Ctd.

A Lousy Investment. Dan Friedman of Mother Jones: "Like other firms that hired [Michael] Cohen for his connections, Columbus Nova ended up disappointed with the fixer. The Columbus Nova sources said Cohen failed to deliver the big fish. 'He couldn't bring in the volume of introductions,' one of the sources recalled. As a result, [Columbus Nova U.S. CEO Andrew] Intrater, after consulting with Cohen, stopped making payments to Cohen about halfway through the year, the sources said. In their account, it turns out, Cohen was a lousy investment for the firm." (Also linked yesterday.)

"Nunes vs. the DOJ." Nicholas Fandos & Katie Benner of the New York Times: "The relationship between the Justice Department and [Rep. Devin] Nunes [R-Ca.] has so eroded that when he trekked down Pennsylvania Avenue on Thursday from the Capitol to the department to discuss his latest request, Representative Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, a Republican colleague and former federal prosecutor, tagged along at the encouragement of the House speaker to help keep the meeting civil, according to a person familiar with the matter. Democrats believe the pattern is clear: Mr. Nunes is abusing his authority to undermine the Russia investigation.... Top officials at the Justice Department have privately expressed concern that the lawmakers are simply mining government secrets for information they can weaponize against those investigating the president, including the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Sarah Westwood & Sara Murray of CNN: "A former senior campaign and transition aide to ... Donald Trump recently inked a deal to help a Russian oligarch's conglomerate shed sanctions the Trump administration slapped on them last month. Bryan Lanza, who is in regular contact with White House officials, is lobbying on behalf of the chairman of EN+ Group, an energy and aluminum firm presently controlled by Oleg Deripaska, according to several sources. Deripaska is a billionaire who is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and was the target of US sanctions imposed last month. Lanza is also a CNN contributor.... The deal is the latest brazen example of how Trump's 'drain the swamp' campaign pledge has led to little change in a town where paying for access is a lucrative industry." Mrs. McC: Your move, CNN.


Dominic Holden of BuzzFeed: "The Trump administration on Friday rolled back rules that allowed transgender inmates to use facilities that match their gender identity, including cell blocks and bathrooms, thereby reversing course on an Obama administration effort to protect transgender prisoners from sexual abuse and assault. The Bureau of Prisons now 'will use biological sex' to make initial determinations in the type of housing transgender inmates are assigned, according to a notice posted Friday evening that modifies the previous policy."

Ben Mathis-Lilly of Slate: John Kelly, who doesn't think immigrants can assimilate, should visit some of the U.S.'s great cities.... "New York City, where I live, is home to 3 million people who were born abroad, many of whom were or are undocumented.... Why doesn't John Kelly think about New York's 3 million immigrants -- or those immigrants in such other appealing and diverse American population centers as Los Angeles, Houston, Miami, and Washington, D.C. -- when he thinks about successful 'assimilation' into American culture? Probably because of the self-justifying right-wing premise that 'America' means 'a low-density area of working-class white people.'..." ... Mrs. McC: Funny thing is, John, most Americans don't live in "real America" (tho they might have country houses there!).


Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: "The White House probably thinks it cannot punish Kelly Sadler for her awful comment about John McCain because President Trump has also said nasty things about McCain. It may worry that showing her the door would set a troubling precedent for a president who may one day cross a very similar line. Welcome to the ongoing degradation of our political discourse. Destination: No end in sight.... The comment, as it happens, was first reported Thursday just hours after a Fox Business Network pundit suggested McCain had given up key information while being tortured as a prisoner of war -- a claim for which the network soon apologized. But while Trump's favorite cable news company was quick to atone for merely airing someone else's view that crossed a line, the White House is apparently not going to take any public action for a staffer talking blithely about the death of an American war hero." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Tara Palmieri of ABC News: "Press secretary Sarah Sanders scolded her staff Friday for the derogatory comment about Sen. John McCain leaked from a closed-door meeting, according to multiple senior White House officials. Sanders called the comment 'unacceptable,' but was said to be more upset about the leak than the off-handed comment from White House staffer Kelly Sadler that McCain's opposition to their CIA director nominee Gina Haspel 'doesn't matter, because he's dying anyway.' She was at the meeting standing at the other side of the room and did not apologize for the comment, according to people in the room." (Also linked yesterday.) ...

... Jonathan Swan of Axios has more about the meeting where Mrs. Huckleberry reamed out her "team" for leaking the Sadler remark. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Luis Sanchez of the Hill: "White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney on Saturday defended the White House aide who made a derisive comment about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), saying the real issue was that the 'bad joke' had been leaked to the press. 'This was a private meeting inside the White House. It was a joke. It was a badly considered joke that she said fell flat,' Mulvaney, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said during an appearance on Fox News. But Mulvaney argued that the leak of the comment posed the greater issue: 'The leak was designed to hurt that person. Also, it completely ignored the harm it would do to the McCain family, which is doubly inconsiderate.'" Mrs. McC: Fortunately, we all already knew Mulvaney was a flaming ass. (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Josh Delk of the Hill: "Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu (Calif.) chided White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders on Saturday, arguing that leaks from White House staff might stop if officials behaved 'normally.' Lieu, one of President Trump's most vocal critics in Congress, offered the mocking advice after Sanders reportedly scolded her staff for allowing the leak of a derisive comment about Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) this week. 'One way to prevent leaks is if Administration officials stopped saying demeaning things, stopped wasting taxpayer funds, and started behaving normally. Then the leaks wouldn't be of interest to the American people. Get it?' Lieu tweeted." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"Trump Totally Supports Pruitt's Decision to Wine and Dine an Accused Sex Offender." Bess Levin of Vanity Fair: "The fact that [Scott Pruitt] was able to hold onto his job after all [his bad press], despite working for a guy who supposedly takes great pleasure in firing people, suggests that there is basically nothing Pruitt could do that would result in his dismissal. Not even entertaining an alleged pederast on the taxpayer dime.... During a meeting at the White House, the president was asked if he still had confidence in the E.P.A. administrator, to which Trump responded, 'Yes, I do.' That question presumably came up because a day earlier, The New York Times had reported that Pruitt shared a meal at a five-star restaurant in Italy with, among others, Cardinal George Pell, a Vatican official the E.P.A reportedly knew was under investigation for alleged child sexual abuse."

E. A. Crunden of ThinkProgress: "Science Magazine reported Wednesday that the White House has ended NASA's Carbon Monitoring System (CMS), a $10 million-per-year program that has supported 65 projects since 2010. The effort measures carbon dioxide and methane using satellites and similar mechanisms.... Among other things, with the CMS gone it will be challenging to verify the emission reductions laid out by the Paris climate agreement in 2016.... The decision to end the CMS marks a major swipe at NASA's climate efforts and indication of what the agency may look like under Jim Bridenstine, who took over last month.... A Republican Oklahoma congressman, Bridenstine is the first elected official to serve in this position.... He is also a climate science denier without any scientific credentials." --safari

Two Bigots in a Pod. David Badash in RawStory: "Pastor Robert Jeffress, a Fox News contributor, megachurch Baptist preacher from Dallas, and close Trump ally and surrogate, has been chosen by the Trump administration to lead a prayer at Monday's opening dedication celebration of the new -- and highly controversial -- U.S. embassy in Jerusalem ... Jeffress ... has a long history of delivering incendiary and bigoted remarks.... In short, Jeffress says that if you're not a Christian -- and a certain type of Christian -- you're going to hell.... He has said Islam promotes pedophilia, and is 'evil,' 'violent,' and a 'false' religion.... [In an interview on Fox, he said] 'Islam is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell; Mormonism is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell, and, 'Judaism, you can't be saved being a Jew.'" --safari: You paying any attention Bibi?

Kathryn Watson of CBS News: "Sen. Joe Donnelly on Saturday became the second Democrat to announce he will cast his vote in favor of CIA director nominee Gina Haspel -- boosting her prospects of being confirmed. Donnelly, a Democrat in a heavily Republican state that voted for Donald Trump in 2016, faces a tough reelection battle against self-described Republican outsider Mike Braun in November. Donnelly voiced his support for Haspel on Twitter Saturday morning, saying he believes Haspel learned from the past and has the experience needed as the U.S. faces 'dynamic and challenging security threats.'" (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

"A War on Brown People." Tom Eblen of the Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader: "Eddie Devine voted for ... Donald Trump because he thought he would be good for American business. Now, he says, the Trump administration's restrictions on seasonal foreign labor may put him out of business. 'I feel like I've been tricked by the devil,' said Devine, owner of Harrodsburg-based Devine Creations Landscaping. 'I feel so stupid.'... Devine said he believed Trump's America-first promises. But cutting off a good supply of seasonal foreign labor when Americans won't take those jobs is only hurting American business owners and the U.S. workers they employ, he said. These workers aren't immigrants, and there is no path to U.S. citizenship. When their seasonal work is done, they return home. That's why Devine thinks the Trump administration's stifling of guest-worker programs has more to do with racism than economics. 'I think there's a war on brown people,' he said." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

"War on the Poor", Ctd. Rebekah Entralago of ThinkProgress: "Next week, the House will vote on a farm bill largely constructed by Republicans.... One of the most controversial parts of the farm bill are the tough work requirements for SNAP recipients.... Data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation show 58 percent of working-age, nondisabled SNAP households are employed while receiving benefits; that figure rises to 62 percent for households with children. Hidden in the House farm bill draft, however, is a sinister measure that could harm families receiving SNAP who are already working, the very group the GOP claims to support." --safari

Jon Schwarz of The Intercept: "The National Rifle Association has always been clear about drugs: They're terrifying.... It seems odd, then, that the next president of the NRA will soon be Oliver North, who spent years in the 1980s working together with large-scale cocaine traffickers and protecting a notorious narco-terrorist from the rest of the U.S. government. This reality about North has been largely covered up, first by North himself and then by Fox News and the passage of time. Thirty years later, it's been almost totally forgotten. But the facts remain genuinely appalling." --safari: Lots of details in this report, and one I didn't know: "[North and then-dictator and known drug trafficker of Panama Manuel Noriega] discussed sabotaging a Nicaraguan airport and oil refinery, as well as creating a program to train Contra and Afghan mujahedeen commandos in Panama with Israeli help."

Beyond the Beltway -- News from "Real America"

Jacey Fortin of the New York Times: "Gov. Mary Fallin of Oklahoma signed a bill on Friday that gay rights groups said would allow private adoption agencies to discriminate against L.G.B.T. couples on religious grounds when placing children. The law would allow the agencies to choose not to place children in certain homes if it 'would violate the agency's written religious or moral convictions or policies.' Critics of the law, which also applies to private agencies working in foster care, said it was unconstitutional and harmful to children."

You Might Think This Law Is Unnecessary. Apparently Not. Stephanie Griffith of ThinkProgress: "As of this week, it is illegal for police in Kansas to have sexual relations with people they've detained in a traffic stop, or are otherwise holding in custody.... The legislation was signed into law on Thursday by the state's Republican governor Jeff Colyer. According to the Kansas City Star, the new law makes it a crime for a police officer to have sex with a detained person 'during the course of a traffic stop, a custodial interrogation, an interview in connection with an investigation, or while the law enforcement officer has such person detained.'"

Way Beyond

Kim Willsher of the Guardian: "A knifeman killed one person and injured four others, one of them critically, before being shot dead by police in Paris. The attacker struck in one of the most popular areas of the city, near the celebrated opera house and theatres.... The knifeman, dressed entirely in black, lunged at people at random crying 'Allahu Akbar', according to witnesses. This was confirmed by public prosecutor François Molins. He was carrying no identity papers...."

"The Man with the Golden Arm." If you're looking for a feel-good story, Amy Wang of the Washington Post is at your service. She profiles James Harrison, an 81-year-old Australian who has helped something like 2.4 million babies because his blood contains a rare antibody, & he has donated blood every week since he was 18. "... his plasma has been used to make millions of Anti-D injections, according to the Red Cross." And, no, Donald Trump, he didn't take a dime for it.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (8)

@ Safari,

Not a Sunday Sermon; more of a bad movie review, but had it on hand, and your SNAP contribution (so true!) seemed like an invitation.

And Happy Mothers' Day to all who qualify.

\

“The Sting” is one of my favorite movies. It may be one of yours, too.

What right-thinking American would not enjoy the exquisite con run on the bully who had one of the hero’s friend’s murdered?

In the movie, the characters of Robert Redford and Paul Newman use their abundant charm to take revenge on the evil crime boss, convincingly portrayed by Robert Shaw. The story is slick, the characters compelling and Right triumphs in the end.

In the Trump presidency, stories about grifters naturally come to mind. Just yesterday Mr. Trump announced his long-awaited plan to deal with high drug prices. He promised during the campaign "to save (consumers) billions and billions and billions of dollars (on drug prices),” by forcing pharmaceutical companies to negotiate with Medicare.

Of course, that didn’t happen. Instead he nominated Alex Azar, former executive of Eli Lilly and a pharmaceutical lobbyist, to head Health and Human Services, and his “plan” to control drug prices is so unlikely to lower them that pharmaceutical stocks jumped after its details were revealed.

And let’s not forget Republicans’ favorite con, the one they run repeatedly on the poor and on anyone who believes their arithmetic. Its 2018 edition would impose work requirements on food stamp recipients and decrease the food stamp budget by twenty percent. After all, with the great tax giveaway accomplished, Republicans have to exhibit fiscal responsibility somewhere.

Unfortunately, since over half of those who use food stamps are children or disabled adults and the majority of adults who use them work—most often at unstable, low wage jobs—what small amount the plan may save will cost thousands of families dearly (psmagagazine.com).

Unlike the movie, the Trump “sting” is not family entertainment. It’s a horror movie in which millions of Americans are the victims.

.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

@Ken Winkes: Yeah, in "The Sting," the star characters are heroic, in a black way, because their grift is directed at a bad guy. In real life, alas, grifters target the gullible -- like that landscaper Eddie Devine who voted for Trump because he thought Trump would help his small business.

However, I have to say Michael Cohen's con on big corporations doesn't make me feel a bit sorry for the marks. As Michael Che says in the video above, they could not reach AT&T for comment because, well, they uses AT&T. Can you hear me now?

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterMrs. Bea McCrabbie

Marie,

Unfortunately there aren’t many Trump voters as woke as Eddie Devine. To go back to “The Sting” for a moment, the master, PaulNewman, warns his new pal Redford : “You gotta keep his con even after you take his money. He can't know you took him.”worry about

Of course in the case of the many Trump grifters, they needn’t concern themselves with such professional attributes as they are as incompetent at running a con as they are at everything else. Their marks do a fine job keeping the con for them. Even if they catch Trump with his hand in their pocket, they invite him to accompany them to their bank where he can empty their accounts before moving on to the next target. The only thing he has to keeping is their money.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Such a coincidence: Just yesterday was talking about "The Sting" although this reference was about those ice cream trucks that come around ringing their little bells at inappropriate times and recalling a time when we were in Hawaii and every evening we heard the theme from "The Sting" heralded by a musical ice cream truck that rattled somewhere in the distance; we could never see it but it's theme lingered on.


There is a film called "The Grifters" that is terrific; there is also a new series called "Billionaire" that's chuck full of scams , collusions, and dodgy dealings (written in part by A. Sorkin–- the West Wing wizard.)

And yes, it's Mother's Day––big bouquets to all us mutters who scatter petals and pearls as we shoulder on. I will say this: I am grateful my mothering small children is over ––seems much harder these days for parents.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

The comments by forrest morris & MAG below would make a lot of sense if I hadn't deleted this spamalicious "comment."

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterMrs. Bea McCrabbie

@OCNTN: You should travel to Washington DC and notarize
all those Mueller documents before they disappear some dark night.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris

OCNTN: Say What? This looks like spam to me. Wouldn't click on that link for the world.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

Regarding the afternoon updates, we are observing the modern corollary to Emerson's quote: A foolish inconsistency is Standard Operating Procedure when the hobgoblin is in the White House.

May 13, 2018 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy
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