The Ledes

Thursday, September 19, 2024

New York Times: “A body believed to be of the suspect in a Kentucky highway shooting that left five people seriously injured this month was found on Wednesday, the authorities said, ending a manhunt that stretched into a second week and set the local community on edge. The Kentucky State Police commissioner, Phillip Burnett Jr., said in a Wednesday night news conference that at approximately 3:30 p.m., two troopers and two civilians found an unidentified body in the brush behind the highway exit where the shooting occurred.... The police have identified the suspect of the shooting as Joseph A. Couch, 32. They said that on Sept. 7, Mr. Couch perched on a cliff overlooking Interstate 75 about eight miles north of London, Ky., and opened fire. One of the wounded was shot in the face, and another was shot in the chest. A dozen vehicles were riddled with gunfire.”

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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 7, 2016

Afternoon Update:

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "President Obama delivered an impassioned call to civic action and responsibility at Howard University's commencement Saturday, giving an upbeat assessment of the nation's trajectory but cautioning that there remains 'so much more work that needs to be done.'" -- CW

Gabriel Debenedetti of Politico: "Hillary Clinton won the Guam Democratic caucuses Saturday.... According to unofficial results announced by Guam Democratic Party chairman Joaquin Perez, Clinton won 60 percent to Sanders' 40 percent." -- CW

Liz Kruetz of ABC News: "During a campaign event in Oakland, California..., [Hillary Clinton] prescribed a new name for the man who is being called the Republican presumptive nominee: The 'presumptuous nominee.'" -- CW

Robert Barnes of the Washington Post: Chief Justice John Roberts is "a fierce defender of the judiciary's independence and a firm believer in judicial restraint -- albeit a kind that at times is apparent only to him." -- CW

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. CW: The top story in Saturday's New York Times is a longish piece on the rift in the GOP. The word "racist" or its derivatives never pops up once. Instead, it seems, Trump has an "outsider message." Right.

Ben Hubbard of the New York Times: "In a new wave of royal decrees, King Salman of Saudi Arabia on Saturday replaced a number of top ministers and restructured government bodies in a shake-up that paved the way for significant changes in how the state is run." -- CW

*****

Presidential Race

Michael Shear of the New York Times: "In a biting critique of the presumptive Republican nominee, President Obama said Friday that Donald J. Trump should be subjected to serious scrutiny and not be allowed to treat the presidential campaign like 'a reality show.'" The President also remarks on the Democratic race. CW: Watch the video:

ConservoHillary. Amy Chozick of the New York Times: Hillary "Clinton's campaign is repositioning itself, after a year of staking out liberal positions and focusing largely on minority voters, to appeal to independent and Republican-leaning white voters turned off by Mr. Trump.... Mrs. Clinton has broadened her economic message, devoted days to apologizing for a comment she previously made that angered working-class whites, and has pledged that her husband, former President Bill Clinton..., would 'come out of retirement and be in charge' of creating jobs in places that have been particularly hard hit. The effort is a striking turn after she spent the past year trying to to mobilize the liberal wing and labor leaders in the Democratic Party." -- CW (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Luke Hammill of the Oregonian: "Trump and supporters from across Oregon -- which the candidate repeatedly pronounced 'Ore-gone' -- descended on Eugene, a city known as a strong outpost of progressivism, to kick off the weekend in what amounted to a victory party." CW: Hammill emphasizes the "NeverHillary" "progressives" who showed up at Trump's rally, clear evidence that progressives can be idiots, too.

The Narcissist at Work. Jenna Johnson of the Washington Post: "During a joyful, victorious rally speech in West Virginia on Thursday night, Trump told his crowd of 13,000 that they no longer had to vote in Tuesday's Republican primary -- even though there are still a number of contested local races on the ballot." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

I would borrow knowing that if the economy crashed, you could make a deal. And if the economy was good it was good, so therefore, you can't lose. -- Donald Trump, CNBC interview, Friday ...

... ** Washington Post Editors: "AMONG THE many misconceptions fueling Donald Trump's presidential campaign, one of the most stubborn, and most pernicious, is this: Government should run like a business.... Trump separately hypothezied that the United States 'can buy back [debt] at discounts....' [and he would 'make a deal.' with creditors]... The minute the United States tried to reduce its debt load by offering creditors less than 100 percent of principal and interest -- i.e., by 'discount,' or 'making a deal,' ... every institution that had taken this country at its word would be instantly destabilized. Those institutions would include the Chinese government and others abroad..., the Federal Reserve..., and the Social Security Trust Fund.... And don't get us started about pension funds, money market mutual funds and community banks.... Mr. Trump ... [set] a new record for economic recklessness by a major party presumptive nominee, in his first week in that role." ...

... Matt Yglesias of Vox: "Every assessment of risk in the financial system is based on the idea that the least risky thing is lending money to the federal government. If that turns out to be much riskier than previously thought, then everything else becomes much riskier too. Business investment will collapse, state and local finances will be crushed, and shockwaves will emanate to a whole range of foreign countries that borrow dollars.... This is the second time this week that Trump has revealed a profound ignorance of an issue related to government debts. The early instance in which he kept proposing that Puerto Rico declare bankruptcy even though doing so is illegal was on a question that's very important to Puerto Ricans...."

... Josh Marshall of TPM: "It is not too much to say that centuries of American prosperity have been undergirded by the 'full faith and credit of the United States.' In other words, the US always pays its debts in full and on time. Indeed, it's black letter text in the US constitution that the country's debt can never even be questioned. Defaulting on the national debt would clearly be unconstitutional.... The entire architecture of the global economy and the United States place in it rests on the certainty and basic risklessness of US government debt obligations. It's as simple as that.... When it comes to macro-economics and global economics Trump is a huge ignoramus who shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the Treasury." -- CW ...

... John Cole of Balloon Juice: "This jackass actually thinks defaulting on the US Debt would work just like arbitration after a bankruptcy where bond holders would settle for pennies on the dollar.... We're so fucked if this lunatic wins." -- CW

... CW: It's worth noting that the idiot who put this idiotic idea in Trump's idiotic brain was the idiotic three-named Andrew Ross Sorkin of the New York Times & CNBC.

These Two People Had a Phone Conversation:

It wasn't like furious or anything; it was just like, 'What do I need to do?' And so I said, 'Listen -- my view is just relax and be gracious, and I will talk to Paul and we will try to work on this.' -- Reince Priebus, RNC Chair-for-Now, on his chat with Donald Trump

I told Reince that I thought it was totally inappropriate what Paul Ryan said and thought it was good for me politically. But Reince feels, and I'm okay with that, that we should meet before we go our separate ways. So I guess the meeting will take place and who knows what will happen. -- Donald Trump, on the same chat with Chair-for-Now

Gail Collins: "There's no reason you couldn't do the Republican vice-presidential search as a reality show.... The contest for the second slot is already a lot like 'The Celebrity Apprentice.' Everybody has to refer to the candidate as 'Mr. Trump' and pretend his boorish exhibitionism is actually a demonstration of sublime leadership." CW: Hilarious, but while you're laughing, remember that "President Trump" is not at all funny.

Another NeverTrump Bush. Patrick Caldwell of Mother Jones: "Jeb Bush won't be voting Republican this fall. The former presidential candidate wrote on Facebook Friday afternoon that he won't be voting for Donald Trump ... in the general election. But it looks like Bush will just skip voting for president, saying that he can't support Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton either. 'Donald Trump has not demonstrated that temperament or strength of character,' Bush wrote. 'He has not displayed a respect for the Constitution. And, he is not a consistent conservative. These are all reasons why I cannot support his candidacy.'" -- CW ...

... And Another. Dana Bash of CNN: "Sen. Lindsey Graham, one of Donald Trump's most outspoken Republican critics, says he will not vote for either Trump or Hillary Clinton for president this year." -- CW ...

... CW: The irony is that these guys are rejecting Trump for the wrong reason: that he's "not a reliable conservative Republican." They don't bother to mention that he's both a racist & an ignoramus; they don't get that part of the reason racist & ignoramus GOP voters support Trump is that he's pledged (not that his pledges mean squat) not to blow up their Social Security & Medicare & not to send their jobs to China (even though he's done that himself as a private b'nessman). ...

... Nolan McCaskill of Politico: "Friday brought another day of incredible division and revolt [within the GOP] with Jeb Bush and Lindsey Graham falling in line not behind Trump, but behind House Speaker Paul Ryan, who said a day earlier that he cannot yet support the brash real estate mogul as his party's standard-bearer. Trump, instead of trying to make peace, lashed out. He fired off a vicious statement, calling Graham an 'embarrassment' with 'zero credibility.' Then he laced into both of his former rivals during his rally in Omaha, Nebraska.... 'But I won't talk about Jeb Bush. I will not say -- I will not say he's low energy. I will not say it,' Trump told a boisterous crowd who booed at the mention of his critics. '... And I won't talk about Lindsey Graham, who had like 1 point, you ever see this guy on television? He is nasty.... He leaves a disgrace, he can't represent the people of South Carolina well.' Trump also alternated on Friday between shrugging off Ryan's bombshell announcement and scorching him." -- CW

Shadi Hamid of The Atlantic: "It still remains (somewhat) unlikely that Donald Trump ... can win a general election. Regardless of the final outcome, however, the billionaire's rise offers up a powerful -- and frightening -- reminder that liberal democracy, even where it's most entrenched, is a fragile thing...The candidate has exposed the tension between democracy and liberal values -- just like the Arab Spring did." --safari

Josh Gerstein of Politico: "Donald Trump appears to have escaped the possibility of an awkward federal class-action trial over his Trump University real estate program taking place just as his campaign for the White House shifts into high gear. At a hearing in San Diego on Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Gonzalo Curiel set the trial in the lawsuit to begin Nov. 28, with jury selection to begin a few weeks earlier, local press reports said." -- CW

... Yeah, well, he has the Darth Vader vote. Nick Gass of Politico: "Former Vice President Dick Cheney will support Donald Trump as the Republican nominee for president, he told CNN on Friday." -- CW

CW: A contributor has noticed the white circles around this man's eyes, circles that show up in a lot of photos. She presumes, as do I, that he wears goggles when he spray-paints the tanning stuff on his pasty white face. (It wasn't long ago that Marco Rubio said this man had "the worst spray-tan in America.") Weird that an old white guy who despises people of color goes to so much trouble to color his own face. The contributor made some unflattering comments about the man's face, but I would nevah mock a person's appearance, so you'll have to do that yourself.

Robert Costa of the Washington Post: "In spite of his insistence that he will not run, Mitt Romney is being courted this week by a leading conservative commentator to reconsider and jump into the volatile 2016 presidential race as an independent candidate. William Kristol, the longtime editor of the Weekly Standard magazine and a leading voice on the right, met privately with the 2012 nominee on Thursday afternoon to discuss the possibility of launching an independent bid, potentially with Romney as its standard-bearer." -- CW

Other News & Views

Scott Shane & Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "The anonymous source behind the huge leak of documents known as the Panama Papers has offered to aid law enforcement officials in prosecutions related to offshore money laundering and tax evasion, but only if he is assured that he will not be punished. 'Legitimate whistle-blowers who expose unquestionable wrongdoing, whether insiders or outsiders, deserve immunity from government retribution,' the source, who has still not revealed a name or nationality, said in a statement issued Thursday night." -- CW (Also linked yesterday.)

Beyond the Beltway

Kyle Whitmire of al.com: "For the second time in his career, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore faces charges before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary and potential removal from office. Until that court hears and rules on those charges, Moore will be suspended with pay from his position atop the state's highest court. On Friday, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission forwarded charges to the commission, accusing the chief justice of violating judicial ethics in his opposition to same-sex marriage." -- CW

Fernanda Santos of the New York Times: "The federal Children's Health Insurance Program, known in Arizona as KidsCare..., a health care program for children of the working poor that had been left out of the budget approved by the Arizona Legislature this week, was resuscitated on Friday, after Democrats and moderate Republicans agreed to attach it to a bill expanding disabled students' eligibility for school vouchers.... The senators did so under intense protests from conservative lawmakers.... The House of Representatives had already passed it 38 to 21 late Thursday.... Late Friday afternoon, Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, wrote on Twitter, 'Just signed KidsCare.' Now, Arizona will no longer be the only state in the country where children whose parents make too much to qualify for Medicaid yet too little to afford private insurance do not qualify for subsidized health care." -- CW

Annals of "Justice," Ctd. Radley Balko of the Washington Post on how South Carolina "investigates" police shootings. -- CW

Sara Ganim of CNN: "There are now two allegations by men who say they were sexually abused by Jerry Sandusky, who also say they reported their abuse to the legendary coach [Joe Paterno] in the 1970s. One of those allegations was made public in a court order related to a lawsuit Penn State University filed against its former insurer over who should have to pay settlements to the more than 30 men who have come forward as victims of Sandusky. The victim was not identified, and the details come from a deposition that is sealed. The other has spoken to CNN, in great detail...."

Peter Beinart of The Atlantic: "Kudos to Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse for reaffirming in a widely discussed 'open letter' that he won't support Donald Trump. I just wish the letter weren't so self-righteously dumb. Sasse, often mentioned as a potential third-party candidate, addresses his missive to the 'majority of America' that believes that 'both leading presidential candidates are dishonest.' He goes onto declare that neither Trump nor Hillary are 'honorable people' nor 'healthy leader[s],' whatever that means." --safari

Way Beyond

Robert Booth of the Guardian: "Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, reclaiming the post for Labour after eight years of Conservative rule and becoming the first Muslim mayor of a major western capital." CW: Donald Trump has said he would not rule out nuking Europe. Maybe he'll start with London, which could put a bit of a crimp in our "special relationship" with Great Britain.

Helena Smith of the Guardian: "In a letter - leaked three days before eurozone finance ministers are scheduled to discuss how best to put the crisis-plagued country back on its feet -- IMF chief ChristineLagarde issued her most explicit warning yet: either foreign lenders agree to restructure Greece's runaway debt or the Washington-based organisation will pull out of rescue plans altogether." --safari note:Maybe they should call up the Donald. His brain is bigly.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (3)

E.J. Dionne writes: "My friend, the writer Leon Wieseltier, suggested a slogan that embodies the appropriate response to Trump’s ascent: “Preserve the Shock.”

“The only proper response to his success is shame, anger and resistance,” Wieseltier said. “We must not accustom ourselves to this. ... Trump is not a ‘new normal.’ No amount of economic injustice, no grievance, justifies the resort to his ugliness.”

Staying shocked for six months is hard. It is also absolutely necessary.

There is another dis-ease that has reared it's ugly head or so say a discredited Pharma that wants to sell some "get-em up" pills.

"Electile Disfunction"––the inability to get excited and aroused about any 2016 candidate. Obviously a limp response to our campaign schnattergans except totally untrue except for a very few. Passions are high and cheeks are flushed and just listen to the orgasmic cries from the rallying crowds. No pills needed.

On side bar noticed that smarmy little prick Ed Henry has done got hisself in big trouble. Recall that this is the guy that used to sit in the first row during the pressers and ask Obama snarky questions until Obama refused to call on him which led to Henry walking out of the room. He then went to Fox where he pretended to know everything. He is now wishing he had known something.

May 7, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Democratic Sen, Mark Warner urges the rich to challenge populist anger––and, oh, yeah, Warner was one of the Group of Six that were for the Simpson/Bowles Catfood agenda.

http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/democratic_sen_mark_warner_urges_the_rich_to_20160505

May 7, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

More tough choices this AM. The Trump rally just up I-5 in Lynden, WA, or an Amy Goodman presentation in Mt. Vernon. Wonder where I should go? Will devote the next millisecond to the decision. That didn't take long. Done!

Thanks PD for the Warner link. Talk about zombie ideas. Let's build and preserve a country, a nation-wide community based on the idea of guilt-free greed. It's OK to get as much as you can for yourself and screw anyone and everyone else along the way because, well you know, this is America, and in America everyone is free...to be greedy. It's right there in the Bill of Rights. That unfettered greed's effects overshadow and vitiate all other guaranteed freedoms makes no never mind.

More proof? We have the Huckster-in-Chief Trumpster (and yes, shock will be hard to preserve for six months; maybe I can manage outrage but know that's not good for the BP), Warner, and now this European import as well.

We didn't build that wall soon enough, it seems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/business/an-ayn-rand-acolyte-selling-students a self made dream

May 7, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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