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 -- November 29, 2019

Afternoon Update:

Mujib Mashal of the New York Times: "After abruptly axing nearly a year of delicate peace talks with the Taliban in September, President Trump put the negotiations back on the front-burner this week in a similarly jolting fashion by seeming to demand a cease-fire that his negotiators had long concluded was overly ambitious. Despite a sense of relief at the prospect of resuming talks to end the 18-year conflict, Western diplomats and Taliban leaders were scrambling to figure out whether Mr. Trump had suddenly moved the goal posts for negotiations. They were particularly confused by his remarks, made during an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to Afghanistan, that the United States was once again meeting with the Taliban to discuss a deal, but that 'we're saying it has to be a cease-fire.' Demanding a cease-fire would amount to a big shift in the American position and require a significant new concession from the Taliban -- one that the Americans have little leverage to extract." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: All easily explained by the maxim, "Trump doesn't know what he's doing."

Susan Simpson of Just Security: "At the heart of the impeachment inquiry, members of Congress may have been mistakenly led to believe that there were two phone calls between ... Donald Trump and Ambassador Gordon Sondland in early September -- with the second call having the possibility of helping the President's case. That's not what happened. There was only one call, and it was highly incriminating. The call occurred on September 7th. In this call, Trump did say there was 'no quid pro quo' with Ukraine, but he then went on to outline his preconditions for releasing the security assistance and granting a White House visit. The call was so alarming that when John Bolton learned of it, he ordered his deputy Tim Morrison to immediately report it to the National Security Council lawyers.... Sondland ... testified [in the public hearing that the September 9 call] was a brief conversation, in which he asked President Trump a single question, '... What do you want from Ukraine? And as I recall, he was in a very bad mood. It was a very quick conversation. He said: I want nothing. I want no quid pro quo. I want Zelenskyy to do the right thing.' [This of course is the claim Trump reiterated, reading from notes on the White House lawn, & which was later set to music, and which Trump has repeated.] Whether due to a faulty memory, or due to intentional deceit, Sondland's testimony about the 'no quid pro quo' call omitted the most critical part of the conversation: President Trump's rejection of the compromise offer for the Prosecutor General to announce the investigations, and his demand that Zelenskyy himself do it. The 'no quid pro quo' call was, in reality, a 'here is the specific quid pro quo I want' call." And it occurred on September 7. Emphasis original. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: This is sort of a follow-on to the Washington Post report also linked here Thursday in which Aaron Davis & others sussed out that a phone call Gordon Sondland said took place on Sept. 9 never happened. As the Post reporters noted, "would have occurred before dawn in Washington. And the White House has not located a record in its switchboard logs of a call between Trump and Sondland on Sept. 9, according to an administration official." Simpson said the Post published its report while her "article was in the publication process." It's a long article, but you can skim it (as I did), and still find her argument convincing -- & damning Trump.

Alissa Rubin of the New York Times: "Pressured by an expanding protest movement and a rising death toll, Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi of Iraq said Friday that he would submit his resignation to Parliament, taking the country into greater uncertainty and possibly months of turmoil ahead.... Deep seated anger over corruption and Iran's influence in Iraqi politics are the major drivers of the protests across Iraq." The AP story is here.

BBC: "Two members of the public have died and another three people were injured in a stabbing attack at London Bridge, the Met Police's commissioner has said. Cressida Dick told a press conference the stabbing attack, which has been declared a terrorist incident, began at an event at Fishmonger's Hall. Within five minutes of being called officers confronted the suspect - who was shot dead by police - she said. The suspect was wearing what is thought to have been a hoax explosive device." The Guardian is updating developments.

~~~~~~~~~~

Michael Crowley of the New York Times: "President Trump paid an unannounced Thanksgiving visit to American troops in Afghanistan on Thursday and declared that he had reopened peace negotiations with the Taliban less than three months after scuttling talks in hopes of ending 18 years of war. 'The Taliban wants to make a deal, and we're meeting with them,' Mr. Trump said during a meeting with Afghanistan's president, Ashraf Ghani, at the main base for American forces north of Kabul. 'We're going to stay until such time as we have a deal, or we have total victory, and they want to make a deal very badly,' Mr. Trump added even as he reaffirmed his desire to reduce the American military presence to 8,600 troops, down from about 12,000 to 13,000." The AP story is here.

Jonathan Chait: "... the New York Times and Washington Post both have new stories [linked below] about [Rudy] Giuliani pursuing business deals with Ukrainian government officials at the same time he was lobbying them on Trump's behalf.... The first and most important thing to understand about these deals is that there is no possible set of mitigating circumstances that might make the negotiations remotely ethical." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Erin Banco & Betsy Swan of The Daily Beast: "Even before Gordon Sondland's work in Ukraine set off alarm bells, senior U.S. officials were raising concerns about his communications with officials from Romania -- including his efforts to get White House access for a politician [Liviu Dragnea, a Romanian politician] with a history of pushing back against anti-corruption reforms.... Sondland ... often hosted meetings with Romanian officials without consulting the National Security Council (NSC). His increasingly close relationship with one of those officials, former deputy prime minister Ana Birchall, generated significant concerns within the NSC.../ Ana Birchall has a history of opposing anti-corruption measures in her country and for years supported Liviu Dragnea." --s ~~~

~~~ Because He's a Trumpy Kinda Guy. David Herszenhorn of Politico: Gordon Sondland, "the U.S. ambassador to the EU..., has no intention of resigning over allegations of sexual misconduct, a close associate said Thursday. Sondland has flatly denied the accusations, made by three women, who allege he engaged in inappropriate behavior years before he was named Trump's envoy to the EU."

Nicholas Confessore & Alexandra Alter of the New York Times: "At least nine Republican organizations, G.O.P. candidates or advocacy groups are selling [Donald Trump, Jr.,'s book] 'Triggered' or promoting Mr. Trump's book tour, according to emails obtained by The New York Times, interviews and disclosures filed with the Federal Election Commission. The president's son has emerged over the past few years as a political star in his own right, often said to be considering a run for office. It is neither illegal nor uncommon for candidates and political organizations to use books in fund-raising drives.... But the breadth of the Republican establishment's effort behind Mr. Trump is striking for a noncandidate whose most significant claim to fame remains his parentage, and who has sought to deflect criticism of his recent attacks on impeachment witnesses by asserting that he is merely a 'private citizen.' And it underscores the unusual cross-pollination between the Trump family's political ambitions, its business ventures and the party President Trump now leads.... Earlier this month, the R.N.C. denied making large bulk purchases of the book, a practice that some best-seller lists, including that of The Times, may penalize authors for when ranking sales. But F.E.C. records released last week showed that it spent almost $100,000 on copies on Oct. 29...." The Raw Story has a summary of the story here. ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. Bea McCrabbie: Gee, I wonder if they'll help me sell my new book, 1,001 Stupid Things Donald Trump Has Said & Done. It comes with a special bonus: a pass to read a firewalled online addition to the book every day. More than one entry daily often available.

Chantal Da Silva of Newsweek: "Ken Cuccinelli, the acting deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, was reportedly forced to retreat from a Thanksgiving Eve bash on Wednesday after former Maryland governor Martin O'Malley tore into him over his role in enforcing the Trump administration's hardline immigration policies. According to one witness, Siobhan Houton Arnold, who tweeted about the incident, O'Malley 'drove' Cuccinelli out of the Dubliner, a Capitol Hill pub meant to be popular among Gonzaga High School graduates, a school both men had attended, graduating five years apart in the 1980s, according to The Washington Post. 'Martin O'Malley just drove Ken Cuccinelli out of the Dubliner in DC w/ a passion-laced and shame-invoking tirade on behalf of immigrant refugee children!!!' Arnold said in her tweet.... The former governor said he also was not the only one to air his grievances with Cuccinelli, who he described as 'the son of immigrant parents who cages children for a fascist president,' that evening." ~~~

~~~ Laura Vozzella & Marisa Iati of the Washington Post: "Both O'Malley and Cuccinelli described a confrontation that involved O'Malley hotly criticizing Cuccinelli's politics. And both said they eventually ended up face-to-face with O'Malley asking Cuccinelli if he wanted to throw a punch."

Melissa Lemieux of Newsweek: "WholeFoods Magazine has named Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as its Man of the Year for championing a hemp growing project in his home state of Kentucky. Twitter users have cried foul, though, and now they are trying to boycott the Whole Foods Supermarkets chain, which has nothing to do with the magazine."

Pete Hegseth, the Fox "News" host who most recently made the news for his advocacy for war criminal Eddie Gallagher is not only morally bankrupt, he is far more ignorant than any U.S. elementary school graduate should be. Yesterday, I linked a scene from the 1993 film "Addams Family Values," in which the character Wednesday (Christina Ricci) plays Pocahontas in a summer camp Thanksgiving play. Apparently the movie was where Pete learned his American history. Anyone who passed 5th-grade history knows that Pocahontas had nothing to do with the New England settlers. P.S. I checked Hegseth's bio to see if maybe he had a good excuse for his ignorance of early American history, like "raised by wolves in Mongolia." But no. Pete was graduated from Princeton & has a masters degree from the JFK School at Harvard. Someone should check to see if those schools are accredited. ~~~

~~~ Annals of "Journalism," Ha Ha Ha. Justin Wise of the Hill: "Fox News host Pete Hegseth echoed language from President Trump on Thursday while taking a shot at Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), saying that it was 'fitting' the 'Fox & Friends' morning program was talking about "Pocahontas" on Thanksgiving. Hegseth used the name Pocahontas, which Trump deploys to mock Warren's claims of Native American ancestry, as a panel discussed Warren's recent drop in polls focused on the 2020 Democratic presidential primary."

Beyond the Beltway

New York. Sabrina Caserta of the AP: "The beloved balloons flew, but lower than usual, in a windy Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade after an anxious weather watch. Wind had threatened to ground the giant inflated characters. But officials announced less than an hour before Thursday's start time that the balloons could fly, if in a down-to-Earth way. As the parade continued -- even while city emergency officials sent out a public alert about wind gusts -- handlers struggled with some balloons and pulled them close to the ground. Meanwhile, winds did keep giant balloons out of Philadelphia's Thanksgiving Day parade." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

Ohio. Jessica Glenza of the Guardian: "A bill to ban abortion introduced in the Ohio state legislature requires doctors to 'reimplant an ectopic pregnancy' into a woman's uterus -- a procedure that does not exist in medical science – or face charges of 'abortion murder'. This is the second time practising obstetricians and gynecologists have tried to tell the Ohio legislators that the idea is currently medically impossible.... An ectopic pregnancy is a life-threatening condition, which can kill a woman if the embryonic tissue grows unchecked. In addition to ordering doctors to do the impossible or face criminal charges, House Bill 413 bans abortion outright and defines a fertilized egg as an 'unborn child'. It also appears to punish doctors, women and children as young as 13 with 'abortion murder' if they 'perform or have an abortion'. This crime is punishable by life in prison. Another new crime, 'aggravated abortion murder', is punishable by death, according to the bill. The bill [has two sponsors]..., and [is] co-sponsored by 19 members of Ohio's 99-member House."

Way Beyond

China, Hong Kong. Yanan Wang of the AP: "China reacted furiously Thursday to ... Donald Trump's signing two bills aimed at supporting human rights in Hong Kong, summoning the U.S. ambassador to protest and warning the move would undermine cooperation with Washington. Hong Kong, a former British colony that was granted semi-autonomy when China took control in 1997, has been rocked by six months of sometimes violent pro-democracy demonstrations. Thousands of pro-democracy activists crowded a public square in downtown Hong Kong on Thursday night for a 'Thanksgiving Day' rally to thank the United States for passing the laws and vowed to 'march on' in their fight." (Also linked yesterday afternoon.)

U.K. Boris Was Not Amused. Alex Wickham & Mark Di Stefano of BuzzFeed News: "The Conservative Party is threatening to review Channel 4's public service broadcasting obligations after the broadcaster replaced Boris Johnson with an ice sculpture at Thursday night's election debate. In a dramatic escalation of the war of words between the Tories and Channel 4 that will likely provoke outcry, a Conservative source told BuzzFeed News that if they win the coming election they will reassess the channel's public service broadcasting licence.... The inflammatory move came after Channel 4 said it would empty-chair the prime minister and Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage at its climate change leaders' debate, after the two leaders declined to take part.... Channel 4 is unique among UK broadcasters in that it is a publicly owned' public service broadcaster', which means it has licensing obligations imposed on it by the regulator Ofcom including requirements for impartial news, current affairs, original programming and production outside of London." ~~~

     ~~~ Mrs. McCrabbie: Here's hoping the sculptures melted during the broadcast.

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Reader Comments (5)

Dateline: Kabul

President* Trump, during a visit to Afghanistan to pretend he cares about the troops or the country, met with Afghanistan’s president and told him that he would leave American military forces in place to fight the Taliban but only if he made up shit about Joe Biden. Later he met with Taliban leaders and promised them American forces would be gone in 24 hours if they could make up even better shit about Joe Biden.

Trump later described his visit as “perfect”.

White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham sent out a press release, delivered to members of the White House press corps by messenger pigeon, describing Trump’s visit as “The single greatest event in world history”.

Reporters wondered among themselves what Grisham might consider the next greatest event in human history. Consensus was “the first pizza chain to offer free home delivery” but at press time there was still a substantial push for the invention of universal television remotes.

November 29, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

The Ohio abortion story above gives me chills. Here's another one to cause even more goose pimples: This one from the New Yorker's "Letter from Indiana."

The New Front Line of the Anti-abortion movement: A rural health care flounders; crisis pregnancy centers are gaining ground.
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/11/18/the-new-front-line-of-the-anti-abortion-movement

When Pence was governor he gave $3.5 million to Real Alternatives, a Pennsylvania-based anti-abortion organization that supports these anti-abortion crisis centers. The funding was diverted from––take a breather here––Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, a state run federal program intended to clothe and feed children and to create initiatives that help prevent "non-marital childbearing."

When you let that sink in you can only conclude once again that these sex obsessed religious zealots are bound and determined to save a fertilized egg but ignore and actually prevent children and families from prospering.

And AK: enjoyed hearing about "The single greatest event in world history"––our president's accomplishments astound––bound by those ties that bind his fat neck and fall longly down his bigly bulk. Imagine how many, gathered together enjoying their Thanksgiving yummies, thanked God for this man. Let us count the ways, they say, so many that their Din-din was getting cold as is my heart and yours just imagining.

November 29, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

On Jeopardy earlier this week, one of the contestants named Pocahontas as the Indian who help the Mayflower Pilgrims. I couldn't imagine how he -- a supposedly educated person - could have given such a misinformed (stupid) answer. Now I know.

November 29, 2019 | Unregistered Commenterjoynone

Joynone,

I watched that Jeopardy match. There are plenty of categories in which I’ll draw a blank or guess wrong, but mistaking Pocahontas for Squanto is the sort of thing you might expect of a Trump sycophant, not a Jeopardy contestant. Trebek was visibly appalled. I startled my dog with a loud “WTF?” I’m sure now even he will remember not to confuse Squanto and Pocahontas. Maybe the guy was thinking of Elizabeth Warren...

November 29, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Checking in.

The results of yesterday's snap poll taken at our family gathering of eleven die-hard liberals: Not a one of that well-read bunch was aware of the war on Thanksgiving, nor once I had gently chided them for their ignorance did any say he or she intended to enlist.

Admittedly a small sample, but it appears Thanksgiving is safe here in our family community.

Hope all had a pleasant Thanksgiving yesterday in equally good company.

And a grandson in his early teens who is with us today just mentioned the Pretender's photoshopped monstrosity that Bea linked here and passed along one comment it prompted.

Something like, the Pretender has made a seamless transition from a national embarrassment to a global one.

Sounded right to the thirteen year old--and I told him, to me.

November 29, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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