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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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Monday
May022011

The Commentariat -- May 3

I've opened a comments page for David Brooks' & Joe Nocera's columns on the Off Times Square page. They both write about the killing of Osama bin Laden. Links to their columns are on Off Times Square, too. Comments on yesterday's Open Thread & Krugman's column were excellent. Thank you. ...

     ... Update: Karen Garcia & I have both commented on Brooks & Nocera, & her comments are real winners. (For reasons beyond me, the Times appears to have dumped both of Garcia's comments, so this is the place to read them.) Plus Valerie Long Tweedie comments on the now-or-way-later opportunity the demise of bin Laden presents. -- CW

At last night's Congressional dinner, President Obama discusses the death of Osama bin Laden:


... The Washington Post has a pretty handy interactive feature that lets you click on various stories & graphcs that relate to the killing of Osama bin Laden.

... Mark Mazzetti, et al., of the New York Times have a good story on the intelligence that led up to the raid on Osama bin Laden's compound. The initial tip came from Pakistanis working for the CIA. ...

... Marc Ambinder of the National Journal gets into the nitty-gritty of the team effort (yes, our federal agencies can work as a team) that took out bin Laden. ...

... Adam Goldman & Matt Apuzzo of the AP: "When one of Osama bin Laden's most trusted aides picked up the phone last year, he unknowingly led U.S. pursuers to the doorstep of his boss, the world's most wanted terrorist. That monitored phone call, recounted Monday by a U.S. official, ended a years-long search for bin Laden's personal courier, the key break in a worldwide manhunt. The courier, in turn, led U.S. intelligence to a walled compound in northeast Pakistan, where a team of Navy SEALs shot bin Laden to death." ...

... CW: Finding the location of Osama bin Laden had many fathers. See also link to Jane Mayer's New Yorker post below. ...

... Mike Allen of Politico: "The assault force of Navy SEALs snatched a trove of computer drives and disks during their weekend raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound, yielding what a U.S. official called 'the mother lode of intelligence.' The special operations forces grabbed personal computers, thumb drives and electronic equipment during the lightning raid that killed bin Laden, officials told Politico." ...

... In a Washington Post op-ed Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari argues that Pakistan did its part in "eliminating" Osama bin Laden and takes "some satisfaction that our early assistance in identifying an al-Qaeda courier ultimately led to this day."

... Former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan, in a New York Times op-ed: "To the Qaeda members I interrogated at Guantánamo Bay and elsewhere in the aftermath of 9/11, Osama bin Laden was never just the founder and leader of the group, but also an idea. He embodied the belief that their version of Islam was correct, that terrorism was the right weapon, and that they would ultimately be victorious. Bin Laden’s death did not kill that idea, but did deal it a mortal blow.... Our greatest tool, we must remember, is America itself.... Effectively conveying [our idea] will bury the Bin Laden idea with him." ...

... ** BUT. Ezra Klein on how & why Osama bin Laden contributed to crippling the economy of two great nations. Commenter Neel Kumar (#11) makes the same point in response to Brooks' column. (In case you didn't notice, the comments to Brooks' column are often more informative than the column.)

... Fred Kaplan in Slate: "The killing of Osama Bin Laden is no mere act of symbolism. Besides finally disposing of the world's No. 1 terrorist target and idol, the deed opens up some opportunities for a broader breakthrough in the war against al-Qaida—and, potentially, for a settlement of the war in Afghanistan." But it won't be easy, & there are many variables. ...

... Dexter Filkins of the New Yorker: "At least on the surface, relations between the United States and Pakistan are the worst they have been in years, largely because American officials are running out of patience with the double game" wherein they help both the U.S. (in exchange for billions of dollars in aid) & the most extremist elements of the Taliban. ...

... Tweeting the Killing of Osama bin Laden -- Without Knowing It. This is pretty fascinating. Sohaib Athar, an English-speaking coffeeshop owner in Abbottabad, hears the goings-on at the bin Laden compound, and tweets his impressions. Cursor down to the first (lowest) May 1 entry. Via Ben Smith. Update: actually, it's easier to get to Athar's relevant posts in this Washington Post report. ...

... PLUS. Paul Fahri of the Washington Post: twenty minutes before the first news network reported on the killing of Osama bin Laden, Keith Urbahn, the chief of staff to former defense secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, tweeted, "So I’m told by a reputable person, they have killed Osama bin Laden. Hot damn." Although Urbahn got his info from someone in the media, news organization held back till they had more confirmation.

Right Wing World *

... Thank you, intelligence community; thank you, Navy SEALS, & thank you, President Bush. Oh, and you, too, President, er, Obama:

... I commend President Obama who has followed the vigilance of President Bush in bringing Bin Laden to justice. -- Eric Cantor, House Majority Leader ...

... ** If you have a single Republic friend who believes and/or spouts Cantor's line of bull, which is apparently the party line, you must read Steve Benen, who tears the newest Republican myth into little bitty shreds. Even President Bush said he wasn't chasing bin Laden -- multiple times. ...

... On that same note, Jane Mayer in the New Yorker: "It may have taken nearly a decade to find and kill Osama bin Laden, but it took less than twenty-four hours for torture apologists to claim credit for his downfall. Keep America Safe, an organization run by former Vice President Dick Cheney’s daughter Liz Cheney and Bill Kristol, released a victory statement today that entirely failed to mention President Obama, but lavishly credited 'the men and women of America’s intelligence services who, through their interrogation of high-value detainees, developed the information that apparently led us to bin Laden." Mayer details the timeline of CIA/torturer control of detainees to disprove Cheney & Kristol's claim. ...

... More on that same note from David Rittgers of the right-wing Cato Institute, in a Washington Examiner op-ed: "The brilliant success of this operation demonstrates the marked improvement in our human intelligence capabilities over the last decade." Rittgers never mentions President Obama (he does, reluctantly once mention the Obama administration.)

... To be fair, I have to add this from Jeff Zeleny & Jim Rutenberg of the New York Times: "President Obama drew praise from unlikely quarters on Monday for pursuing a risky and clandestine mission to kill Osama bin Laden, a successful operation that interrupted the withering Republican criticism about his foreign policy, world view and his grasp of the office." The congratulatory remarks came from some of the meanest thugs on the right: Dick Cheney, Rudy Giuliani & Donald Trump. ...

...Update: But look at this pile of Santorum coming out of the right-wing media & collected by Media Matters. As I've been arguing, Right Wing World is truly an alternate world that is reality-free.

* Where facts never intrude.

Then there's Conspiracy World, which has inhabitants on the left and the right:

     Bin Laden Lives! Ben Smith & Byron Tau of Politico: conspiracy theories have already arisen. ...

     Matea Gold, et al., of the Los Angeles Times: "Conspiracy theorists on both the left and right were quick to insist that Bin Laden was either still alive or had been dead for years, pouncing on the government's decision to slide the body of the world's most wanted man off a board into the Arabian Sea."

     Out There. Karen Garcia answers the conspiracy theorists. Good luck with that. Garcia has just IDed herself as a tool of the administration! She's been brainwashed. Or she's a CIA operative. Or something.

     Meanwhile, Helene Cooper of the New York Times reports that the White House is still weighing whether or not to release a photo of bin Laden, obviously dead with a visible bullet hole in his head. CW: Conspiracy Theory Editon: they're just really slow Photoshoppers.

Not bin Laden News

One example of why even a conservative-leaning Democrat is better to have in the White House than an avowed Republican. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "In a new effort to increase access to health care for poor people, the Obama administration is proposing a rule that would make it much more difficult for states to cut Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals. The rule could also put pressure on some states to increase Medicaid payment rates, which are typically lower than what Medicare and commercial insurance pay. Federal officials said Monday that the rule was needed to fulfill the promise of federal law, which says Medicaid recipients should have access to health care at least to the same extent as the general population."

Ben Pershing of the Washington Post: "The news of Osama bin Laden’s death may have consumed Capitol Hill Monday, but it didn’t alter House Republicans’ plans to continue their months-long quest to defund President Obama’s health-care plan. Unable to decapitate last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the GOP has decided instead to administer death by 1,000 cuts — with two more cuts coming this week."

John McKinnon of the Wall Street Journal: Republicans: Look, look! Rich people do pay more taxes than they used to. And 51 percent of the people are deadbeats. Democrats: Duh! because they're way richer than they used to be. Plus, they pay in a higher share of income in Social Security & Medicare taxes than rich people do. CW: I'd add that the poor & lower middle-class still pay a higher share of their income than do the rich in total taxes, when you figure in state & local taxes & usage taxes like oil & gas taxes.

Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times: "While [Warren] Buffett praised [David] Sokol in the statement announcing the resignation..., the day he issued the release, Berkshire called the Securities and Exchange Commission and briefed them on Mr. Sokol’s trades, which Mr. Buffett described to me as 'pretty damning evidence.' ... The S.E.C. is now investigating the matter.... In a statement after the Berkshire meeting, a lawyer for Mr. Sokol issued a statement, saying the stock trades did not violate the law or Berkshire policy."

News Ledes

** Washington Post: "The Obama administration is seeking to use the killing of Osama bin Laden to accelerate a negotiated settlement with the Taliban and hasten the end of the Afghanistan war, according to U.S. officials involved in war policy."

New York Times: "There have been no known specific or credible threats received since American troops killed Osama bin Laden this week, but on Tuesday security at public spaces — including mosques, synagogues, train stations and basketball arenas — remained at elevated levels. Although the Department of Homeland Security has not issued an alert, the agency remains at what the homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, has called a 'heightened state of vigilance.' The State Department, on the other hand, has issued a worldwide travel alert to Americans.

President Obama met with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus this afternoon.

NBC News: "Osama bin Laden was not armed when a U.S. Navy SEAL raiding party confronted him during an assault on his compound in Pakistan, the White House said Tuesday." Update: New York Times story here.

Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner notifies Congress that he has begun to take "extraordinary measures" to circumvent exceeding the debt limit.

New York Times: the Army Corps of Engineers blew up part of the Mississippi River levee in Missouri to prevent flooding elsewhere.

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