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Sunday, October 6, 2024

Weather Channel: “Tropical Storm Milton, which formed in the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, is expected to become a hurricane late Sunday or early Monday. The storm is expected to pose a major hurricane threat to Florida by midweek, just over a week after Helene pushed through the region. The National Hurricane Center says that 'there is an increasing risk of life-threatening storm surge and wind impacts for portions of the west coast of the Florida Peninsula beginning late Tuesday or Wednesday.'”

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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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Sep162013

The Commentariat -- Sept. 17, 2013

Carol Morello, et al., of the Washington Post: "At least 13 people are dead and several others were wounded after a gunman opened fire at the Washington Navy Yard on Monday, police said, spreading fear and chaos across the region as authorities sought to contain the panic. The incident, in which the death toll rose almost hourly, represents the single worst loss of life in the District since an airliner plunged into the Potomac River in 1982, killing 78.... The suspected shooter, identified by the FBI as Aaron Alexis, 34, living in Fort Worth, is among the 13 dead. Alexis was a military contractor, one official said.... [D.C. Police Chief Cathy L.] Lanier described the other possible suspect, who has not been located, as a black man in his 40s with gray sideburns, wearing an olive-drab military-style uniform. He, and the man who was cleared, came under suspicion when they were seen on surveillance videos." ...

... Carol Leonnig, et al., of the Washington Post: "The dead gunman in Monday's shooting at the Washington Navy Yard is Aaron Alexis, 34, a Navy veteran who was discharged after he was arrested in a shooting incident -- but was later hired by a government subcontractor. Police said it was unclear if Alexis acted alone, or how he accessed the tightly guarded Navy Yard.... Alexis, a native of New York City, worked for a company called The Experts, a subcontractor to Hewlett Packard on a federal contract to work on the Navy Marine Corps Intranet network, according to a statement from Hewlett Packard. It was unclear if Alexis was still employed by that subcontractor, or if his work took him to the Navy Yard." ...

... The Post has a liveblog of developments here. ...

... Liz Goodwin of Yahoo! News: "Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has postponed a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on 'stand your ground' self defense gun laws slated for Tuesday morning in the wake of Monday's shooting at the nearby Navy Yard complex that's left at least 13 dead, included the suspected gunman." ...

... Zack Beauchamp of Think Progress: "David Frum is a former Bush Administration speechwriter and one of the loudest conservative voices arguing in favor of new laws targeted at reducing gun violence. When the news of the Navy Yard shooting broke Monday morning, Frum took to Twitter to explain the rules that opponents of gun law reform attempt to impose on conversations about it." CW: Frum's observations are exactly right. ...

     ... Winger Charles C. W. Cooke of the National Review is not amused.

CW: This is extremely weird. In a New York Times report I linked yesterday, Rick Gladstone & Nick Cumming-Bruce led with: "Rockets armed with the banned chemical nerve agent sarin were used in a mass killing near Damascus on Aug. 21, United Nations chemical weapons inspectors reported Monday in the first official confirmation by nonpartisan scientific experts that such munitions had been deployed in the Syria conflict.... The widely awaited report did not ascribe blame for the attack...." ...

     ... NOW, however, that same story at the same link has a new reporter -- Cumming-Bruce is merely a contributor & C. J. Chivers shares the byline with Gladstone -- and the new lede contradicts the original lede: "A United Nations report released on Monday confirmed that a deadly chemical arms attack caused a mass killing in Syria last month and for the first time provided extensive forensic details of the weapons used, which strongly implicated the Syrian government. While the report's authors did not assign blame for the attack on the outskirts of Damascus, the details it documented included the large size and particular shape of the munitions and the precise direction from which two of them had been fired. Taken together, that information appeared to undercut arguments by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria that rebel forces, who are not known to possess such weapons or the training or ability to use them, had been responsible."

Oliver Knox of Yahoo! News: "President Barack Obama on Monday formally cleared the way for the U.S. to send equipment and training to vetted Syrian rebels, enabling them to resist a chemical weapons attack, the White House said. Obama issued a memorandum to Secretary of State John Kerry saying that such assistance 'is essential to the national security interests of the United States.'"

Jackie Calmes & Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama on Monday seized on the fifth anniversary of the 2008 financial collapse to warn that House Republicans would reverse the gains made and willfully cause 'economic chaos' with the uncompromising stands they have staked out on looming budget deadlines." Here are the President's full remarks, including his remarks on the shooting at the Navy Yard. CW: I embedded this speech as two separate videos in yesterday's Commentariat:

David Graham of the Atlantic: "a small team of Democrats on the Senate Banking Committee ... did Obama in" on the likely Summers nomination. "In July, almost a third of the Democrats in the Senate sent a letter to Obama imploring him to appoint Janet Yellen to the job instead.... Obama was reportedly angry at the letter, and dispatched aides to Capitol Hill to vent and get the troops in line. While Majority Leader Harry Reid promised to support whomever the president picked, he apparently wasn't able to keep his caucus completely in line.... Maybe Republicans don't have a monopoly on disarray after all." ...

... Felix Salmon of Reuters: "The real lesson of the past few months, however, is that the Fed chairmanship should never become a political football. If Obama wanted to nominate Summers, he should have just done so, rather than raising a trial balloon in July and then letting it slowly deflate."

Noam Scheiber of the New Republic: "This time, there really will be a government shutdown. What makes this different is that, in addition to having carved out hardline positions, neither side has an incentive to back down. ...

... Digby: Conservative Republicans can't decide if President Obama is "an implacable fascist dictator attempting to destroy the country" or a weaking who will back down in a standoff with Congress. "... it's hard not to laugh at people who believe a fascist crypto-Muslim anti-American dictator will back down in the face of Peter King on his signature initiative. These are not serious or smart people."

Ben Protess & Jessica Silver-Greenberg of the New York Times: "JPMorgan Chase has agreed to pay more than $800 million to a host of government agencies in Washington and London -- and make a ground-breaking admission of wrongdoing -- to settle allegations stemming from a multibillion-dollar trading loss, people briefed on the matter said.

Julian Pecquet of the Hill: "Democrats and Republicans are trading accusations of crass political opportunism as the House rekindles its investigation into the terror attack that killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) leaked a report over the weekend taking aim at the State Department's independent probe. The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), responded with his own list of the 'Top Ten Unfounded Allegations on Benghazi.'"

Gubernatorial Race

Rick Pearson of the Chicago Tribune: "Bill Daley abruptly ended his bid for the Democratic nomination for governor [of Illinois] today, telling the Tribune that a lifetime in politics had not prepared him for the 'enormity' of his first run for office and the challenge of leading the state through difficult times. Daley, a member of two White House administrations, a presidential campaign manager and the son and brother of two former Chicago mayors, dropped out of the race less than four months after declaring his political resume gave him the best credentials to replace Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn."

Local News

Michael Grynbaum & Thomas Kaplan of the New York Times: "In a coronation of sorts on the steps of City Hall, the state's Democratic leaders, eager to retake the [New York City] mayor's office after almost two decades out of power, feted [Bill] de Blasio as a bold new messenger for their party -- even as they praised William C. Thompson Jr., the second-place primary finisher who had held out nearly a week before announcing his withdrawal."

News Ledes

New Orleans Times-Picayune: "Citing the 'grotesque' misconduct of federal prosecutors, a judge on Tuesday granted a new trial for five former New Orleans Police Department officers convicted in the deadly shootings at the Danziger Bridge after Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent cover-up.... The order grants a new trial for former police officers Kenneth Bowen, Robert Gisevius, Robert Faulcon and Anthony Villavaso as well as Arthur Kaufman, who was convicted of orchestrating the cover-up after being assigned to investigate the shooting. All were tried and convicted in 2011 for their roles."

Reuters: "Colorado authorities coping with the aftermath of last week's deadly downpours stepped up the search for victims left stranded in the foothills of the Rockies and evacuations of prairie towns in danger of being swamped as the flood crest moved downstream."

New Jersey Star-Ledger: "The fire that destroyed dozens of businesses along the boardwalk in Seaside Park and Seaside Heights Thursday was sparked by an electrical malfunction, investigators confirmed at a press conference this afternoon. Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato said fire investigators are confident that electrical wiring was to blame, saying the wiring was apparently damaged by exposure to salt water and sand during and after Hurricane Sandy."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (11)

I am still not done with Larry Summers, and it will be awhile before I can forgive Obama for his bad taste in trusting him!~

Here is a quote from Juan Cole today, which summarized the Summers' dilemma for all of us by quoting from J. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Rich Boy."

..."10% of Americans at the top, i.e., the ‘friends of Larry,’ took home half the income in the country last year, something that hasn’t happened since F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in “The Rich Boy” (1926):

“Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me. They possess and enjoy early, and it does something to them, makes them soft, where we are hard, cynical where we are trustful, in a way that, unless you were born rich, it is very difficult to understand...”

Sigh and Amen. I truly wish Obama would read this. HA!

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

Think Progress in piece that Marie linked: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/09/16/2623061/nypd-shoot-times-man-acting-erractically-hit-innocent-bystanders/

I have stated this many times. No matter how well trained you are, firing into a crowd is always risky. LaPierre's wacko idea of civilians adding to the chaos is ludicrous. How are the police responding to a shooting supposed to know who's a good guy and who's a bad guy?

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

Kate: This is for you: Noam Scheiber writes a nifty article on how "Liberals Win the Battle Over Larry Summers––and the Demcratic Future"

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/114729/larry-summers-withdraws-fed-candidacy-liberals-win-battle

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Predictably, the right is apoplectic that anyone should call for gun control after the latest massacre. The fact is that although a dozen people, plus the shooter, lost their lives yesterday, the average daily total of people killed by gunshot is far higher.

But no matter, as the wingnuts are wont to say, freedom comes with a price. Except they ain't the ones footing the bill.

And once again, the Greek chorus of NRA lackeys and hard right (is there any other kind at this point?) second amendment zombies has kicked into gear screaming about freedom and rights (nothing about responsibility, natch) and the president and hordes of liberal haters of America coming to take their guns. You know, the same crap over and over again.

So here's my suggestion. Don't bother cranking up the spittle machines and creaking out the usual excuses, accusations, and declarations about the supremacy of the second amendment even at the cost of lives of men, women, and babies, and the dangers to public safety.

What they need is a 24 hour NRA/Wingnut/Gun Zealot channel. The usual specious arguments and victimization testifying that erupts while bodies are still warm should run non-stop because gun violence is non-stop. Since Sandy Hook several small towns worth of Americans have died by gunshot. So, what the hell? Just keep that loop going. Never turn it off.

Extra time to buy more guns and make sure no one makes any laws that will disallow mentally disturbed people, like the Washington Navy Yard shooter, from waltzing into a gun store and walking out with killing machines.

Just call it the Excuses for Carnage Channel.

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Slate, in conjunction with @gundeaths, a group trying to crowdsource a more reliable tally of the slaughter caused by gun violence, has developed an eye opening interactive chart.

One statistic that gets lost is that nearly 2/3 of gun deaths come from suicide, most of which are unreported. Granted, many people who take their own life would find some other way to do it, but the ridiculous availability of guns just makes it so much easier. Perhaps a more difficult path to self-annihilation would give someone pause and prompt them to find some way or reason to live.

In any event, this chart lists the over 8,000 reported deaths from gunshot in the nine months since the Sandy Hook murders. You can click on each icon to see the name, age, and location of each individual and the date on which they were shot.

Seriously, if this were a chart of deaths from terrorist activities over the same period, there would be a massive public outcry for immediate action. But not for gun violence. Because, you know, freedom. And more importantly, moolah.


NRA supported gun deaths since Newtown

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

JP Morgan is likely going to pay a fine of somewhere in the neighborhood of $750-850M. It sent me on a squirrel trail toward various financial articles to get some perspective. This article (http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2013/08/jp-morgan-6-9-billion-in-fines-unknown-billions-in-legal-costs/) details 7B in fines and 16B in legal costs from 2011-8/2013. I had to just set with that for a minute especially since Dimon was not fired but rather promoted to hold a dual position and assume complete control of the company.

Its widely reported that JP Morgan's profits were 5.7B and 6.5B in the 1st and 2nd quarters of 2013, respectively. This on pace to increased profits over 2012. Profits: 2011/19B and 2012/ 21.3B. So its pretty clear that paying fines and legal fees don't really hurt the bottom line. A proposed fine of 800M is .0375% of the 2012 profits, 2013 profits are projected higher than 2012. The fine is a joke. In addition, the 2 bankers who were arrested for the fraud, are in their home countries and it is unlikely they will be extradited to the US.

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterDiane

A very touching video.

"...part of a suite of short films collectively titled “Translating Edwin Honig: A Poet’s Alzheimer’s,” completed in 2010. The films form a portrait of the distinguished poet, translator, critic and Brown University professor Edwin Honig"'

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/17/opinion/56-ways-of-saying-i-dont-remember.html?hpw

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

@Diane; Two comments; one, a few weeks back you mentioned without voter rights nothing else matters. I did not get time to voice agreement. Single stupid little voters like myself, if given a choice, can make a difference in government. Without the vote; all is lost.
Second; I took in a stray cat long ago; tattered ear, big, black, dirty yellow eyes, a mouser with purpose. Tucker was his handle,as in, "You Tucker," Tucker had a pizza habit he could not break. Tucker knew he would get the backhand if he jumped up on the table and helped himself to a piece of pie. Tucker did not care. Tucker would lay back his one good ear, wait till the time was ripe, make his move, get his pie and the parting slap. Tucker knew the price of doing business was a little slap up the side of his head.
So do the banks. Tucker at least was honest about his intentions.

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

@JJG: First of all I don't think you are as you described a "single stupid little voter"––voter, yes, single, I guess, but stupid not at all. And obviously Tucker has your number. He can indulge in his pizza habit to his heart's content knowing he only gets a back slap for his misdemeanor because he knows you took him in when he was down, knows you got that love stuff in your eyes when you nuzzle him at night, knows stupid is what banks think you and I and stray cats are. But in the end, and there HAS GOT to be an end to all this, we might just get the better part of the pie as Tucker, in his aggressive leaps onto the table, gets all of the time.

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

@JJG-

I am in complete agreement with PD Pepe! No "stupid little voter" you! Anybody who is savvy enough to become enslaved by a stray cat who steals pizza--is somebody I want to know. Plus it is validating to me, since I am enslaved by a 3-legged rescue cat, who will now eat nothing but gourmet kitty food--and whose name, of course, is Tripod. Lucky for me, he cannot jump on the table. (-:

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterKate Madison

Couldn't resist the pet brags. Ms. Frida, my beloved English bulldog hit the mutant gene lottery and at 3 years old is a mess of problems too numerous to enumerate. She has no bottom teeth and we have no idea where they went as they were there when we got her? Recently, she had prolonged poopers, now recovered. However, the whole family was reduced to scoring her production each time she did her business, i.e it was barely a "4", I think it was almost a "3", etc.. She gets a "cookie" (biscuit) every time it seems there's the slightest possibility she might follow directions. Yup completely in the bag for our pets.

September 17, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterDiane
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