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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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Saturday
Nov252017

The Commentariat -- November 26, 2017

Afternoon Update:

Matthew Nussbaum of Politico: "Trump took to Twitter on Sunday morning to slam [Roy] Moore's opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, as Moore seeks to overcome accusations that he pursued inappropriate relationships with teenagers when he was in his 30s.... 'The last thing we need in Alabama and the U.S. Senate is a Schumer/Pelosi puppet who is WEAK on Crime, WEAK on the Border, Bad for our Military and our great Vets, Bad for our 2nd Amendment, AND WANTS TO RAISES TAXES TO THE SKY. Jones would be a disaster!' Trump wrote. He added later: 'I endorsed Luther Strange in the Alabama Primary. He shot way up in the polls but it wasn't enough. Can't let Schumer/Pelosi win this race. Liberal Jones would be BAD!'"

Yamiche Alcindor & Sheryl Stolberg of the New York Times: "Representative John Conyers Jr., the House's longest-serving lawmaker, is stepping aside as the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee amid an investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed former aides.... The announcement came five days after the revelation that Mr. Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, had settled a complaint in 2015 by a former employee who had said she was fired because she rejected his sexual advances. The House Ethics Committee has opened an investigation into the matter."

Raphael Satter, et al., of the AP: "The FBI failed to notify scores of U.S. officials that Russian hackers were trying to break into their personal Gmail accounts despite having evidence for at least a year that the targets were in the Kremlin's crosshairs, The Associated Press has found. Nearly 80 interviews with Americans targeted by Fancy Bear, a Russian government-aligned cyberespionage group, turned up only two cases in which the FBI had provided a heads-up. Even senior policymakers discovered they were targets only when the AP told them, a situation some described as bizarre and dispiriting.... Previous AP investigations based on the list have shown how Fancy Bear worked in close alignment with the Kremlin's interests to steal tens of thousands of emails from the Democratic Party."

Uri Friedman of the Atlantic: "When critics argue that Donald Trump is an exceptionally reckless commander in chief, they tend to highlight how the American president deviates from the norm.... But if danger is crudely measured by how many people die in military conflicts as the result of a president's policies, the dangers posed by Trump's atypical behavior remain hypothetical at the moment. Leaving aside his genuinely unprecedented moves in trade and diplomacy, the wars that Trump is currently commanding were initiated by his predecessors.... [For instance,] in more aggressively prosecuting the Obama administration's battle against jihadist groups, the Trump administration has helped uproot ISIS from its last strongholds in Syria and Iraq.... As a consequence, however, civilians and U.S. troops in the region are dying in greater numbers. The political scientist Micah Zenko noted this summer that 'in Iraq and Syria, at least 55 percent of all civilians killed by airstrikes since the air war began in August 2014 have died under Mr. Trump's watch.'"

... it's bad taste to talk about ex-husbands and ex-wives, that's all. Also, I don't know a damned thing about politics. -- Jane Wyman, when asked why she never talked about ex-husband Ronald Reagan's politics, 1968 ...

... Back When an Ex-Wife Was a Class Act. Petula Dvorak of the Washington Post: "Jane Wyman could have had a bestseller. But the Oscar-winning actress wouldn't dish about her ex-husband. Not when Ronald Reagan was governor of California and not when he made history as the nation's first divorced president. Before Reagan, men with failed marriages were considered too tainted for the White House.... But today, rather than a former film actor, we have an ex-reality-TV star in the White House. And his leading ladies are going at it, reality-show style."

*****

     ... Thanks to contributor Julie for the link.

Both the New York Times & the Washington Post feature front-page stories on the Incredible Shrinking Kushner. ...

     ... Sharon LaFraniere, et al., of the New York Times: Ten "months after being given free rein to tackle everything from the federal government's outdated technology to peace in the Middle East, the do-whatever-you-want stage of [Jared] Kushner's tenure is over.... He is no longer seen as the primary presidential consigliere with the limitless portfolio. [Newish Chief-of-Staff John] Kelly has made clear that Mr. Kushner must fit within a chain of command. 'Jared works for me,' he has told associates.... According to three advisers to the president, Mr. Kelly has even discussed the possibility of Mr. Kushner and his wife, Ivanka Trump, departing the West Wing by the end of the year. Mr. Kelly disputed that in an interview on Friday." ...

     ... Also, too, the Incredibly Pompous Kelly. ...

     ... Ashley Parker of the Washington Post: Jared Kushner's "once-sprawling White House portfolio, which came with walk-in privileges to the Oval Office, has been diminished to its original scope under Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, and he has notably receded from public view.... His still-evolving role in the investigations of Russian election interference and possible obstruction of justice also make him a potential risk to President Trump.... So far, [Robert] Mueller has filed no court documents to suggest Kushner is in legal jeopardy, but people close to the case say investigators have been looking at his meetings with Russians before and after the election, as well as his role in discussions that led to the firing of FBI Director James B. Comey.... A Republican close to the White House said Kushner 'has no judgment -- never has and never will.'"

Renae Merle of the Washington Post: "The White House appeared headed to a showdown Monday on who will be the next leader of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a dispute that is likely to land in court.... On Saturday, senior administration officials said the White House's position was supported by the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. The office is preparing to publish a written opinion supporting the appointment soon, but has already confirmed verbally and through email that it complies with the law, the officials said.... But the OLC letter is not likely to end the tug-of-war over the leadership of [the] agency.... Democrats and consumer advocates say [Mick] Mulvaney's appointment is illegal and are calling on the Trump administration to allow English to serve until a permanent replacement is confirmed by the Senate." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.) ...

... Josh Delk of the Hill: "President Trump on Saturday defended his decision to appoint an acting director for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) despite the outgoing head naming a temporary successor, calling the agency a 'total disaster' under officials from the Obama administration. 'The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has been a total disaster as run by the previous Administrations pick,' Trump tweeted. 'Financial Institutions have been devastated and unable to properly serve the public. We will bring it back to life!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Among the ways the CFPB stopped banks from "properly serving the public": helping to end Well Fargo's practice of opening and charging its customers for fake bank accounts. The "disaster"?: "In the five years of its existence, the agency returned to 29 million Americans about $12 billion in savings or direct payments from dubious financial institutions." (April 2017) Could CFPB be more aggressive? Yes. Is that Trump & Mulveney's intention? Obviously not.

Jonathan Martin, et al., of the New York Times: "Mr. Trump's decision to reject every long-shot plan to save the [Alabama] Senate seat reflects the imperative that an unpopular president faces to retain his political base, a determination that he should follow his own instincts after having felt steered into a disastrous earlier endorsement in the Alabama race, and even his insistence that he himself has been the victim of false accusations of sexual misconduct. But in tying himself to [Roy] Moore even as congressional leaders have abandoned the candidate en masse, the president has reignited hostilities with his own party just as Senate Republicans are rushing to pass a politically crucial tax overhaul. [Mitch] McConnell and his allies have been particularly infuriated as Mr. Trump has reacted with indifference to a series of ideas they have floated to try to block Mr. Moore." ...

     ... Now for the 25th Amendment part: "[Trump] suggested to a senator earlier this year that [the 'Access Hollywood' tape] was not authentic, and repeated that claim to an adviser more recently. (In the hours after it was revealed in October 2016, Mr. Trump acknowledged that the voice was his, and he apologized.)" Emphasis added. ...

... Benjamin Hart of New York: "So Trump is now not only insisting that the lies he spouts all day are true; he has created a new set of facts that contradict the ones he has already acknowledged. But hey, who are you going to believe, President Trump or your lying ears? The fact that for about 38% of the country the answer is 'President Trump' is almost as disturbing as the possibility that the president may be more mentally unfit for office than most people acknowledge."

Today in Journalism & "Journalism" News:

Emily Goldberg of Politico: "Less than one week after the Department of Justice announced it would seek to block a merger between AT&T and Time Warner, and after ... Donald Trump pledged he wouldn't 'get involved,' the president tweeted out a familiar criticism of CNN, a subsidiary of Time Warner. '. @FoxNews is MUCH more important in the United States than CNN, but outside of the U.S., CNN International is still a major source of (Fake) news, and they represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly. The outside world does not see the truth from them!' the president tweeted Saturday evening.... CNN responded to the president on Twitter Saturday evening: /@realDonaldTrump It's not CNN's job to represent the U.S to the world. That's yours. Our job is to report the news. #FactsFirst.'" ...

Dear Dodo-in-Chief: u realize that this tweet is going 2be an exhibit against u in the DOJ -TimeWarner antitrust case right? It also smacks of collusion since u did it on day when Vlad cracked down on US networks. For that reason, it may open u to other civil liability. -- Norm Eisen, Obama ethics lawyer, tweet ...

Avery Anapol of the Hill: "A former speechwriter for President George W. Bush said that President Trump's attacks on CNN's international bureau put journalists in danger. David Frum, Bush speechwriter and senior editor at the Atlantic, tweeted Saturday that U.S.-affiliated journalists operating internationally depend on the U.S. government to protect them and their reporting, and that Trump jeopardizes that when he criticizes the network. 'Inside the US, CNN's reporting is protected by the First Amendment and the courts,' Frum tweeted. 'Outside the US, US-affiliated journalists do ultimately depend on the protection of the US government. Trump's words are a direct attack on those international journalists' freedom & even safety.'"

... Wait, Wait. It Gets Worse. ...

... Trump Recommends White Nationalist/Conspiracy Theory Site. Judd Legum of Think Progress: "In a Saturday night tweet, Trump attacked CNN, saying the network's international division 'represent our Nation to the WORLD very poorly.' A few minutes later, Trump tweeted an alternative: MagaPill.com. 'Wow, even I didn't realize we did so much. Wish the Fake News would report! Thank you....' The name MagaPill is a riff on 'red pill,' a term popular with white nationalists and others on the far right. A metaphor based on a plot line from The Matrix, it refers to the process of normalizing extreme views. MagaPill is also active on Gab, a social network favored by white nationalist and banned from the Google app store [for] violating its hate speech policy.... The site regularly traffics in unhinged conspiracy theories. Just a few hours before being endorsed by Trump, MagaPill posted a video from Liz Cronkin, a fringe figure best known for pushing the Pizzagate conspiracy. In the video, Cronkin claims there is a sex tape of Hillary Clinton with an underage girl on Anthony Weiner's laptop." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is the kind of stuff your crazy uncle was reading right before Auntie Maude had him institutionalized. Did I mention the 25th Amendment?

Ryan's Revenge. David Ferguson of the Raw Story: On Friday, Sarah "Sanders tweeted a photo of a perfect-looking pecan pie against a perfectly white background, writing, 'I dont cook much these days, but managed this Chocolate Pecan Pie for Thanksgiving at the family farm!' 'Show it to us on a table,' [American Urban Radio Network's bureau chief April] Ryan tweeted.... She accused Sanders of having 'Lie-abetes.'... 'I am thankful for this laugh on Black Friday!'" ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: As you may recall, last week Mrs. Huckleberry made the White House press corps say what they were thankful for before they could ask a question. When no one volunteered to share their private thoughts, Huckleberry picked on Ryan & bid her to go first. There's a pic of Chef Sarah's tweet here. There is one ding in the otherwise perfectly-crimped pie crust -- probably from where she nicked it when she cut into the cellophane wrapper. ...

     ... Update: Sanders tweeted back, "Don't worry @AprilDRyan because I'm nice I'll bake one for you next week #RealPie #FakeNews." Mrs. McC: April, I suspect this is another fake "I'll get back to you on that" responses. I don't think you're going to be needing a food-taster.

Reuters: "Russian President Vladimir Putin signed into law on Saturday new measures allowing authorities to list foreign media outlets as 'foreign agents' in response to what Moscow says is unacceptable U.S. pressure on Russian media.... Russias move against U.S. media is part of the fallout from allegations that Russia interfered in last year's U.S. presidential election in favor of Donald Trump. U.S. intelligence officials have accused the Kremlin of using Russian media organizations it finances to influence U.S. voters, and Washington has since required Russian state broadcaster RT to register a U.S.-based affiliate company as a 'foreign agent'."

Annals of "Journalism," Ctd. Trump Was Right; MSNBC Is Fake News. Paul Farhi of the Washington Post: "The hosts of MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' did the usual day-after Thanksgiving kibitzing on the air on Friday morning, telling viewers about their turkey dinners and mentioning the big football game the night before. One problem: ... The program that aired Friday morning was taped Wednesday, but made to look and sound as if it was airing live. 'Morning Joe' airs live on MSNBC five days a week. It features discussions of breaking or very recent news events.... MSNBC offered no announcement or statement to viewers that it was a taped program. The only indirect clue was at the bottom of the screen: The 'Live' graphic that normally appears was removed. The rest was cooked up to appear as if it was happening in real time." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: Next those boneheads will be standing in front of green-screen backdrops of exotic locales from which they're supposedly reporting, a la Jon Stewart's & Stephen Colbert's "reporters." Yo, Mika, better not wear that green scarf again.


David Willman of the Los Angeles Times outlines some of the missteps & screw-ups Robert Mueller has made during his career.

Sheelah Kolhatkar of the New Yorker: "... while many analyses of the Republican [tax] plan have looked ahead to its effects five or ten years from now, dropping the personal exemption will have repercussions from the outset.... While this increased standard deduction sounds good, it is not enough to make up for all of the other kinds of deductions that are being lost (or capped), including those for mortgage interest, local taxes, medical expenses, and personal exemptions. Until now, the Republican strategy has been to offer headline-grabbing lip service to middle-class tax reductions, but taking most or all of them away through small maneuvers that are difficult to assess, in order to preserve the cuts that will benefit corporations and the wealthy."

In the Spirit of the Season. Kevin Johnson of USA Today: "The FBI was flooded Friday with more than 200,000 background check requests for gun purchases, setting a new single day record, the bureau reported Saturday. In all, the FBI fielded 203,086 requests on Black Friday, up from the previous single-day highs of 185,713 last year and 185,345 in 2015. The two previous records also were recorded on Black Friday. Gun checks, required for purchases at federally licensed firearm dealers, are not a measure of actual gun sales. The number of firearms sold Friday is likely higher because multiple firearms can be included in one transaction by a single buyer." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: So right after Christmas, expect more stories like this one from Saturday's WashPo. P.S. Be careful out there.

Way Beyond the Beltway

Louisa Loveluck & Heba Mahfouz of the Washington Post: "Egypt's security forces were on high alert Saturday after striking back at militants whose massacre of more than 300 people at a Sinai mosque raised fears of a new and bloodier phase in the country's struggle against Islamist insurgents. Egypt's state-run Information Service tried to portray Friday's carnage -- at least 305 dead, or about quarter of the male population of the village of Rawda -- as a sign of 'weakness, despair and collapse' among militants opting for easy civilian targets rather than hitting heavily armed security forces as in the past. But the level of coordination and precision by the attackers gave no obvious suggestions of a struggling force in an area where Islamic State-inspired groups have gained a key foothold."

Jason Burke of the Guardian: "Robert Mugabe and his wife will receive a 'golden handshake' worth many millions of dollars as part of a deal negotiated before the resignation of the ageing autocrat last week. The exact sums to be paid to the former president and his wife Grace are still unclear, though one senior ruling party official with direct knowledge of the agreement said the total would not be less than $10m. The official said that Mugabe ... has been granted immunity from prosecution and a guarantee that no action will be taken against his family's extensive business interests.... The 93-year-old's $150,000 salary will also be paid until his death. The 52-year-old first lady, reviled for her extravagance and greed, will then receive half that amount for the rest of her life.... The first couple will be able to remain in their sprawling mansion known as the Blue Roof, in Harare. The state will pay for their medical care, domestic staff, security and foreign travel.... Mugabe's 37-year rule left Zimbabwe with a worthless currency, massive debts, an impoverished population and an estimated unemployment rate of more than 80%. Roads are rutted, many rural communities have no electricity, education is basic and healthcare almost non-existent. A life expectancy of 60 is one of the lowest in the world." ...

     ... Mrs. McCrabbie: This is outrageous. And Trump probably is taking notes.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (3)

Sarah Liarbee didn't fucking bake that pie. I know a store-bought pie when I see one and that one is with it's machine-made molded crust. No self-respecting pecan pie baker would ever think of using bits and pieces rather than complete halves. Also too, didn't the farm have any real pie pans so she didn't have to go out to buy those flimsy foil ones?

I don't doubt though that she ate the whole thing by herself. Plus the pumpkin.

November 26, 2017 | Unregistered Commenterunwashed

Adam Serwer, of the Atlantic, has the best explanation yet on Trump’s rise.
https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/the-nationalists-delusion/546356/

November 26, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterLisa

Lisa,

Thanks.

Serwer's piece is among other fine things a very convincing retort to the Lilla book eschewing identity politics that I mentioned a few weeks ago.

I'm hastening to share its grim contents with others.

November 26, 2017 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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