The Ledes

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

Washington Post: “ John Amos, a running back turned actor who appeared in scores of TV shows — including groundbreaking 1970s programs such as the sitcom 'Good Times' and the epic miniseries 'Roots' — and risked his career to protest demeaning portrayals of Black characters, died Aug. 21 in Los Angeles. He was 84.”

New York Times: “Pete Rose, one of baseball’s greatest players and most confounding characters, who earned glory as the game’s hit king and shame as a gambler and dissembler, died on Monday. He was 83.”

The Ledes

Monday, September 30, 2024

New York Times: “Kris Kristofferson, the singer and songwriter whose literary yet plain-spoken compositions infused country music with rarely heard candor and depth, and who later had a successful second career in movies, died at his home on Maui, Hawaii, on Saturday. He was 88.”

~~~ The New York Times highlights “twelve essential Kristofferson songs.”

The Wires
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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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Sunday
May062012

The Commentariat -- May 7, 2012

My column in today's New York Times eXaminer is on "The Life of Ross." The NYTX front page is here. My thanks to Douthat for giving me an excuse to write a column in which mention of young Douthat's limp member and blow-up dolls is more-or-less appropriate. ...

... Chris Spannos, the NYTX editor, writes a terrific piece correlating the New York Times' poor coverage of Occupy Wall Street with its own bad labor practices.

Robert Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney for more than three decades, in a New York Times op-ed: "... it's not just the low tax rates that make [island] jurisdictions attractive to those following the rules. The secrecy of offshore jurisdictions allows some individuals and corporations to engage in outright tax fraud, costing America at least $40 billion each year.... The secrecy laws in these tax havens are at the root of serious crimes: fraud, money laundering and international terrorism.... There's more money on deposit in the Caymans than in all the banks in New York City combined.... Many American corporations, including Halliburton, have done business with Iran through their offshore tax haven subsidiaries." Congress can act, but it won't, despite pending legislation.

On Speaking Evangelical. T. M. Luhrmann in the New York Times: "If Democrats want to reach more evangelical voters, they should use a political language that evangelicals can hear. They should talk about the kind of people we are aiming to be and about the transformational journey that any choice will take us on. They should talk about how we can grow in compassion and care. They could talk about the way their policy interventions will allow those who receive them to become better people and how those of us who support them will better ourselves as we reach out in love. They could describe health care reform as a response to suffering, not as a solution to an economic problem."

Paul Krugman: "The French are revolting. The Greeks, too. And it’s about time." ...

... Judd Gregg, former governor of & U.S. from New Hampshire, & all-around stuffed shirt, writes an op-ed in The Hill warning that the French election results are a foreboding of a socialist takeover of the U.S. government. CW: I wish.

... John Cassidy of the New Yorker: "For President Obama, the sight of Nicolas Sarkozy, a fellow member of the Presidential class of 2007-2008, being sent packing by French voters will bring mixed feelings."

Kevin Sieff of the Washington Post: "The United States has for several years been secretly releasing high-level detainees from a military prison in Afghanistan as part of negotiations with insurgent groups, a bold effort to quell violence but one that U.S. officials acknowledge poses substantial risks."

Adam Liptak of the New York Times: "... it is the rare oral argument that wins or loses a case.... Oral arguments are ... far less important than the written briefs."

Ian Shapira of the Washington Post tells the story of Barbara Annette Robbins, killed in the 1965 car-bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, whom the CIA finally acknowledged last year was "one of their own. But the slain secretary holds enough historic titles to make her an object of curiosity within the CIA. Robbins was the first woman at the male-dominated CIA killed in the line of duty. She is the youngest CIA employee ever killed. And, according to [Leon] Panetta, she was also the first American woman to die in the Vietnam War." Here's a related photo gallery.

Ahrnold's Back. Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Los Angeles Times op-ed: "... the extreme right wing of the [Republican] party is targeting anyone who doesn't meet its strict criteria. Its new and narrow litmus test for party membership doesn't allow compromise. I bumped up against that rigidity many times as governor.... It's time to stop thinking of the Republican Party as an exclusive club where your ideological card is checked at the door, and start thinking about how we can attract more solution-based leaders...."

Jonathan Weisman of the New York Times: Angus King, the front-runner for Maine's open U.S. Senate seat, is "a two-term independent governor who, because he refuses to say whom he would support for majority leader next year, may well decide which party controls an evenly divided Senate."

Presidential Race

I missed this essay by Charles Pierce on President Obama's failure to use the bully pulpit -- or even to understand what to say -- but it's worth a read, because it is exactly right. Many of us have been saying the same thing for a long time, but not so well. AND it remains hard for me to reckon how someone so politically savvy could really think that if he was just a little nicer, just a little more accommodating, the Republicans in Congress would step up & do the jobs they were sworn to do.

NEW. Andrew Kaczynski of BuzzFeed: "... in 1981 presumptive Republican Presidential nominee Mitt Romney was arrested for disorderly conduct. The issue of Romney's arrest first came to light during his 1994 Senate run against incumbent Senator Ted Kennedy...." A magistrate dropped the charges -- which were Mickey Mouse anyway -- when Romney threatened to sue. CW: Meh. Now imagine, if you will, the hysteria on the right if Obama had been arrested for disorderly conduct for participating in a demonstration or whatever.

The Obama-Biden campaign's latest one-minute ad is a shorter version of the 7-minute "Forward" ad:

George Packer of the New Yorker: "Mitt Romney has dropped the severe conservatism, stopped denouncing the children of illegal immigrants, and started claiming authorship of the auto-bailout plan, which he had formerly dismissed as a goodbye kiss to the industry. By Election Day, he will have replaced so many parts so many times that nothing of the original Romney will be left but the hair."

Alex Koppelman of the New Yorker and others see Vice President Biden's endorsement of gay marriage as a flareup of Biden's foot-in-mouth disease. Here's Biden, via Igor Volsky of Think Progress:

 

... Michael Barbaro of the New York Times: "The comments, which aides described as the off-the-cuff views of a vice president not known for fidelity to a script, sent the White House scrambling to clarify that Mr. Biden was not articulating an official change in policy, a reaction that highlighted the administration's unease over the subject." ...

... Jamelle Bouie of the American Prospect: "I don't see any reason for why Obama shouldn’t come out in support of same-sex marriage.... With the exception of conservatives, support is broad-based...." ...

... Steve Kornacki of Salon: in context, it appears Biden's remarks may be all about Biden: "... to be a contender for '16, he needs to build and sustain as much goodwill as possible with his party's base. And by now, rank-and-file Democrats are far, far ahead of the Obama White House when it comes to gay marriage." ...

... NEW. Drew Katchen of NBC News: "On Morning Joe, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan echoed Biden. Asked by TIME's Mark Halperin whether he thinks same-sex couples should be legally allowed to marry, Duncan said flatly: 'Yes I do.'"

News Ledes

CNN: "U.S., Yemeni and other intelligence agencies broke up a plot to bomb a U.S. airliner around the anniversary of the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, a U.S. counterrrorism official said Monday, although a second U.S. counterrorism official said that the threat was not timed to coincide with the death of the al Qaeda leader."

ABC OTUS News: "In May 2011, just weeks before John Edwards was indicted for allegedly using $725,000 from an elderly heiress to hide his pregnant mistress, Edwards asked Rachel "Bunny" Mellon for an additional $3 million, her librarian testified today."

AP: "Vladimir Putin took the oath of office in a brief Kremlin ceremony on Monday, while on the streets outside thousands of helmeted riot police prevented hundreds of demonstrators from protesting his return to the presidency."

AP: "In a video released Sunday by al-Qaida, American hostage Warren Weinstein said he will be killed unless President Barack Obama agrees to the militant group's demands.... Weinstein was abducted last August in Lahore, Pakistan, after gunmen tricked his guards and broke into his home. The 70-year-old from Rockville, Md., is the country director in Pakistan for J.E. Austin Associates, a Virginia-based firm that advises a range of Pakistani business and government sectors." With video excerpt.

AP: "Al-Qaida militants staged a surprise attack Monday on a Yemeni army base in the south, killing 20 soldiers and capturing 25 just hours after a U.S. drone strike killed a senior figure in the terror network wanted in connection with the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole in Yemen."

Reuters: "Syrians voted in a parliamentary election on Monday touted by authorities as a milestone of political reform but dismissed by the opposition as a facade while people are killed every day in an anti-government uprising. Violence persisted across the country between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebels fighting to end four decades of dynastic rule by his family."

Reuters: "Greek and French election results rattled investors on Monday by undermining confidence in the region's plans to cut spending and tackle its debt crisis, sending the euro to a three-month low."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (5)

I would say to Mr. Luhrmann that he should listen closely to Obama's speech in Ohio last week. It emphasizes over and over the move to go forward–-together––and the populist message is loud and clear for all those evangelicals to hear. Here's the ending:

We built railroads and highways; the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge -- together. We sent my grandfather’s generation to college on the GI Bill—together. We instituted a minimum wage and worker safety laws—together. Together, we touched the surface of the moon, unlocked the mystery of the atom, connected the world through our own science and imagination. We did these things together—not because they benefited any particular individual or group, but because they made us all richer. Because they gave us all opportunity. Because they moved us forward together—as one people, as one nation.
That’s the true lesson of our past, Ohio. That’s the right vision for our future. And that’s why I’m running for President.

It galls me that Luhrmann encourages Obama to pander as though that isn't what's always part of most speeches, as though Obama isn't aware of whom to pander to. Yuk!

May 7, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

P.D. Pepe: Thank you so much for quoting that wonderful paragraph from the President's speech in Ohio. He succinctly summarized WHY we want to pay taxes and spend money for the public good. We are one nation....we are all in this together. Whatever moves us forward helps us all. I love this message and believe all Democrats need to focus on it.

May 7, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria D.

The Luhrmann op-ed piece in the Times, as PD Pepe points out, does, in fact, instruct Obama to “speak Fundamentalist” or "Evangelical" to which I would ask, why can’t the Fundamentalists speak “American”? Why is it always necessary for every conversation, every argument, every interaction, every move on the public stage to be re-interpreted and couched in ways that GOP and right-wing fundamentalists will understand? This is a losing proposition and should simply be ignored.

Why?

Because no one is listening. If Obama put on a sack cloth, sprinkled ashes on his head and went around beating his breast saying “Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa” no one would listen. If he stood up at Ohio state and read long passages of from Revelations, the Left Behind books, and the quotations of Chairman Rush, pledged eternal fealty to Dominionist theology, promised to tear up his Harvard degree and enroll at Bob Jones University, and shouted “Praise Jesus” after agreeing to a race change operation, none of them would listen.

No doubt many of these fundamentalists are nice people when you meet them one on one. But as a voting block they could care less what Obama or you or me or anyone who is not a lock-step Fox watcher has to say. Fox has been casting Obama as the anti-Christ for years. This is not hyperbole. They hired a so-called expert on the signs of the Anti-Christ to deconstruct and interpret the many “clues” given off by Obama and world events. They don’t come right out and say it, but they might as well have said “Well, the Anti-Christ probably went to not one, but TWO Ivy League schools, he’s a former law professor who was probably born in Kenya, ran for president in 2008 and has a funny first name.” Of course, in order to be considered an “expert” by Fox, all you have to do is self-publish any sort of pro-right-wing screed or have your own web site whereat you threaten everything but physical bodily harm (and sometimes that as well) to Barack Obama.

They HATE him. They HATE us. They HATE, hate, hate. Worse than that, they fear. They fear that they are losing control. That their fantasy vision of America is being blocked by usurpers and godless liberals. If we all came out and promised to convert to their kind of Christianity it still wouldn’t work. They’d demand complete obeisance to their fundamentalist world view and rule book.

Fox, of course, is happy to pander. They speak fluent hate, fluent fear, and double-secret fluent Fundamentalism. They support the most whacko theories and have instigated quite a few on their own. It’s not just Fox. Fox is only trying to tap in, in their usual cynical manner, to a strain of hatred and fear that underpins much of fundamentalism in this country. They’ve just been incredibly successful. Is it any wonder Fox viewers are the worst informed of any group in the country?

But after all the barbs, lies, accusations and conspiracy theories tossed around about the president, what could he possibly do to get them to listen to him, especially when a good portion of them believe he is the fucking Anti-Christ?

Nothing. Not a thing. So don’t bother. I’m not saying write them off as Americans. Just don’t spend any more time trying to appease or pander. There’s somebody home, but they’re hiding in the cellars cleaning the guns, waiting for the Apocalypse and tuned in to Fox News.

But a larger question is what happened to the single biggest, most fundamental rule of Christianity, to love thy neighbor? It appears that many Christian Fundamentalists aren’t too concerned with the fundamentals after all. Anyone who considers themselves a true Christian who has aligned unreservedly with today's GOP is no Christian and should be ashamed of themselves.

I won't hold my breath on that one.

May 7, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Marie,

Nice job lambasting blow-up doll boy Douthat and highlighting (once again) his tenuous connection with facts and troubling inability to tell fact from fiction.

Not long ago I had a conversation with a fairly (okay, rabid) conservative co-worker who, after having his arguments turned back because of lack of consistency, thoughtfulness, and just plain intelligence, decided to throw the book at me. A literal book. After bollixing a point he was trying to make about free markets he gave me his version of "Oh yeah? Well so's your mother." He said "Well, what about John Galt? Huh? What can you say about him? He took on the liberals and losers and he won! Doing just what I said." This put me back on my heels just a wee bit. I wasn't sure pointing out to him that John Galt was a fictional character wouldn't warp his mind, but I gave it a shot. His response was the charge that liberals always try to change the subject and for proof he offered....wait for it....Murphy Brown and her "battle" with Dan Quayle. He also brought in Aaron Sorkin's fictional president Bartlett as proof that liberals lie.

I felt obliged to point out, once again, that Murphy Brown and Jed Bartlett are characters of fiction. I accompanied this with the rejoinder that a fictional character lying about a medical condition is not in the same league as an actual president selling weapons to one terrorist group so he could fund another one. Also not nearly as bad as a president lying to start a war.

I was about to ask him if he could spell 'potato' but I gave up.

Like Douthat, this guy has serious difficulties separating reality from right-wing fictional and fantasy worlds.

Unfortunately, if Douthat ever did have the chance to read Marie's rebuttal of his very silly bullshit, he would chalk it up to liberal lies.

Sad for him. Sadder for us. This guy is considered one of the leading intellectual lights of the right.

Holy fucking shit.

May 7, 2012 | Unregistered Commenterakhilleus

@akhilleus, your two comments nicely sum up the reality of the Christian right concept of conservatism. Hard to tell the difference between beliefs, delusions and mental illness. The latter is easily defined as something seriously wrong in only a small number of people. When its a large number we call it a cultural difference. If Mitt was the only person to believe that his underwear protects him from evil, he couldn't run for President because he would be locked up in a mental hospital. So politics in America have exposed reality.
Hopefully the new reality is not the majority of voters. I have said this before. Now I understand how the Nazis got elected.

May 7, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb
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