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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

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 Conversation -- August 22, 2023

Somini Sengupta of the New York Times: "Texas has shipped ... a busload of migrants who had crossed the border from Mexico ... into Los Angeles as it was struggling to keep residents safe from Tropical Storm Hilary. The busload of 37 migrants left the border city of Brownsville at 5 p.m. on Sunday, just as Southern California and much of the surrounding area was in a state of emergency, according to a coalition of advocacy groups that received them. They arrived around 6:30 p.m. Monday.... Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles called the decision 'evil.' On X..., she wrote that 'while we were urging Angelenos to stay safe, the Governor of Texas was sending a bus with families and toddlers straight towards us KNOWING they'd have to drive right into an unprecedented storm.'" Thanks to RAS for the lead. MB: It's a shame that the U.S. does not recognize the International Criminal Court in the Hague, because Greg Abbott should be put on the block for crimes against humanity.

Jeremy Diamond of CNN: "President Joe Biden has tapped Ed Siskel, the former White House attorney who helped manage the Obama White House's response to the Benghazi and Solyndra investigations, to serve as his next White House counsel. Siskel will step into the role next month, the White House said, as Biden is charging into a reelection battle and at a time when the various judicial and congressional investigations circling around the president, his family and his administration are entering a critical stage. Biden could soon be interviewed by federal investigators as part of the special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents; the US attorney investigating the president's son Hunter has just been named a special counsel; and House Republicans, who are already investigating Biden on several fronts, are eyeing a potential impeachment inquiry into the president. He succeeds White House counsel Stuart Delery, who announced last week he will step down after a little over a year in the top role."

CNN is live-updating developments in Fulton County, Georgia's Trump Crime Family RICO case. John Eastman and Scott Hall have surrendered at the Fulton County jail. Jeff Clark, Acting U.S. A.G. for a few hours, has filed motions in federal court arguing the Fulton County D.A. has no jurisdiction over his conduct & asks the court to dismiss all charges against him.

Jonathan Swan, et al., of the New York Times: Former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows has taken "wary steps ... to navigate legal and political peril as prosecutors in Washington and Georgia closed in on Mr. Trump, seeking to avoid being charged himself while also sidestepping the career risks of being seen as cooperating with what his Republican allies had cast as partisan persecution of the former president.... The full extent of what he shared with federal prosecutors remains closely held, as are the terms under which he spoke to them.... While Mr. Meadows's strategy of targeted assistance to federal prosecutors and sphinxlike public silence largely kept him out of the 45-page election interference indictment that [special counsel Jack] Smith filed against Mr. Trump in Washington, it did not help him avoid similar charges in Fulton County, Ga. Mr. Meadows was named last week as one of Mr. Trump's co-conspirators...." MB: The reporters convey what seems to be inside information about Meadows' maneuvers.

~~~~~~~~~~

Zolan Kanno-Youngs & Erica Green of the New York Times: "President Biden toured the scorched remains of Lahaina, a coastal town on the Hawaiian island of Maui, on Monday in his first visit since devastating wildfires killed more than 100 people and left behind scenes of twisted metal and hollowed-out homes. Mr. Biden, who broke away from his summer vacation on Lake Tahoe in Nevada, met with survivors of the fires and with emergency workers and state and local officials. The president hugged Gov. Josh Green, a Democrat, and walked arm in arm with him to Marine One for a 20-minute aerial tour of the wreckage. Sporting a green and yellow lei, he told community members, 'the entire country is here for you.'" CNN's story is here. ~~~

~~~ The New York Times liveblogged President Biden & Dr. Jill Biden's visit to the fire disaster on Maui: "President Biden flew over the blackened remains of Lahaina on Monday in his first visit since the deadly wildfires and declared: 'The devastation is overwhelming.' And in remarks in Lahaina near a 150-year-old banyan tree that survived the fire to become a symbol of hope, Mr. Biden repeatedly called Hawaii 'the kingdom of Hawaii' as he emphasized his commitment to rebuilding. Lahaina was once the royal capital."

Sahil Kapur & Rebecca Kaplan of NBC News: "The ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus is demanding a series of conservative policy changes in exchange for giving their support to any short-term funding measure designed to avert a government shutdown on Sept. 30. The Republican rebels are insisting that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who floated the idea of a stopgap bill last week, impose conditions that are extremely unlikely to be accepted by the Democratic-led Senate and President Joe Biden."

Trump Crime Family Blotter

Trump, Others Strike Bail Deal. Dareh Gregorian of NBC News: "... Donald Trump has agreed to a $200,000 bond in the Georgia criminal case charging him with trying to illegally overturn the 2020 presidential election results in the state.... The order was signed off on by Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee. The order, which was signed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and Trump's attorneys, says that Trump 'shall perform no act to intimidate any person known to him or her to be a codefendant or witness in this case or to otherwise obstruct the administration of justice.' It also says the 'Defendant shall make no direct or indirect threat of any nature against the community or to any property in the community; The above shall include, but are not limited to, posts on social media or reposts of posts made by another individual on social media.'" The story also covers bond agreements reached for defendants John Eastman, Ken Chesebro & Scott Hall. MB: The terms of Trump's bond agreement put a severe crimp in his SOP. We'll see what happens, won't we? (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here. ~~~

     ~~~ You can read Trump's bond agreement here, via CNN. It's three short pages, with lotsa white space, and altogether a satisfying read.

More Lies in Service of the Big Lie. Daniel Dale of CNN: "... Donald Trump keeps telling the lie that he won Georgia in the 2020 election. This weekend, he delivered a new false claim in support of that old false claim. Trump's deception about what happened in Georgia has not relented even as he prepares to turn himself in this week to face charges in Fulton County over his efforts to overturn his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden. On Saturday, he posted on social media that despite having won Georgia in 2016, doing a 'fantastic job' as president and earning millions more votes in 2020 than he did in 2016 and more votes than a sitting president had ever received before, he had 'shockingly, "LOST" Georgia' -- putting lost in quotation marks.... 'All this despite winning nearby Alabama and South Carolina in Record Setting Landslides.... Does anybody really believe I lost Georgia? I DON'T!'...

"Trump lost Georgia fair and square in 2020, by 11,779 votes, and his claim that he won South Carolina and Alabama in record landslides is not even close to true. Numerous previous candidates have earned far larger margins of victory in South Carolina and Alabama than Trump did in 2020. Even Trump himself won each state by a larger margin in 2016 than he did in 2020 -- a fact that contravenes his insinuation that his 2020 failure in Georgia was mysteriously at odds with a better-than-ever performance elsewhere in the region."

Ryan Reilly of NBC News: "Delaying Donald Trump's federal trial for his efforts to stop the peaceful transfer of power until 2026 would 'deny the public its right to a speedy trial,' federal prosecutors for special counsel Jack Smith wrote in a court filing on Monday.... Smith's team wrote that Trump's proposal is premised on the notion that lawyers will individually and manually review discovery, which is not consistent with modern practices.... 'In cases such as this one, the burden of reviewing discovery cannot be measured by page count alone, and comparisons to the height of the Washington Monument and the length of a Tolstoy novel are neither helpful nor insightful; in fact, comparisons such as those are a distraction from the issue at hand -- which is determining what is required to prepare for trial,' they wrote. 'To accomplish that, the discovery should instead be measured by its relevance, organization, accessibility, searchability, and reviewability. Here, the Government has organized and produced materials in a manner designed to ease and expedite the defendant's review and search, which allows for trial to proceed as the Government has proposed.'" (Also linked yesterday.) The New York Times story is here.

What Is the Trump Cult Saying Today? Aaron Blake of the Washington Post: A new CBS News-YouGov survey finds that "more Trump voters trust him than trust their own friends and family, conservative media or even religious leaders." Still, only 71 percent say they trust Trump to tell the truth. MB: These are sad, suspicious people whose lives must really suck. Sure, they're trying to turn the country into a dystopian nightmare. To some extent, they are already succeeding, and they may have greater success in the near future. The whole project seems to be to make everyone as miserable as they are.


** Embryo of Another U.S. Civil War. TJ L'Heureux, et al., of the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism & Arizona Center for Investigative Journalism, published by ABC News: "... the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, founded in 2011 by former Arizona sheriff Richard Mack..., known as CSPOA, teaches that elected sheriffs must 'protect their citizens from the overreach of an out-of-control federal government' by refusing to enforce any law they deem unconstitutional or 'unjust.' 'The safest way to actually achieve that is to have local law enforcement understand that they have no obligation to enforce such laws,' Mack said in an interview. 'They're not laws at all anyway. If they're unjust laws, they are laws of tyranny.'... The sheriffs group has railed against gun control laws, COVID-19 mask mandates and public health restrictions, as well as alleged election fraud. It has also quietly spread its ideology across the country, seeking to become more mainstream in part by securing state approval for taxpayer-funded law enforcement training standards." Read on. MB: This is not your typical band of grease-painted extremists playing war games in the Idaho woods. They are elected officials; they have badges and guns. And I'll bet they can talk the guys in the woods into joining them.

Presidential Race 2024

Jill Colvin of the AP: "... Donald Trump confirmed Sunday that he will be skipping Wednesday's first Republican presidential primary debate -- and others as well. 'The public knows who I am & what a successful Presidency I had,' Trump wrote on his social media site. 'I WILL THEREFORE NOT BE DOING THE DEBATES!' His spokesman did not immediately clarify whether he plans to boycott every primary debate or just those that have currently been scheduled."

Eric Bradner of CNN: "Eight Republicans have qualified for the party's first 2024 presidential primary debate Wednesday night, the Republican National Committee announced Monday evening. The list includes North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former Vice President Mike Pence, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.... Donald Trump -- the clear front-runner in national and early state polls -- has said he would skip the debate in Milwaukee and called on his rivals to drop out. To make the first debate stage, the RNC required candidates to draw at least 40,000 individual donors and register at least 1% support in three national polls or in two national and two early state polls that met the RNC's criteria. The candidates were also required to sign a pledge to back the eventual winner of the GOP primary, no matter who it is."

~~~~~~~~~~

Tennessee. GOP Legislators Back Guns for the Violently Unstable. Emily Cochrane of the New York Times: "When Gov. Bill Lee of Tennessee began a push in April to address public safety, his family was grieving the loss of two close friends, both educators killed in a mass shooting at a Nashville Christian school. His call for millions of dollars to harden school security was embraced by Republicans in the legislature, who flanked him during a formal announcement. But days later, when Mr. Lee, a Republican, decided to go further and ask for an order of protection law that could temporarily restrict an individual's access to firearms, he stood alone for the announcement. The legislature would wrap up its work by the end of the month without taking a vote to pass it. Now, Mr. Lee has summoned lawmakers back to Nashville on Monday for a special session on public safety that could include consideration of a limited version of the law. But without the support of most in his own party, that measure appears, once again, destined for failure, underscoring the power dynamics of a Republican supermajority driven by a right-wing base hardened against any potential infringement on gun ownership."

News Lede

AP: "Army commandos using helicopters and a makeshift chairlift rescued eight people from a broken cable car as it dangled hundreds of meters (feet) above a canyon Tuesday in a remote, mountainous part of Pakistan, authorities said. The six children and two adults became trapped earlier in the day when a cable snapped while they were crossing a river canyon in the Battagram district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. The children were on their way to school.... Villagers frequently use cable cars to get around Pakistan's mountainous regions. But the cars are often poorly maintained, and every year people die or are injured while traveling in them."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (10)

Hey kids, guess what? You know that hurricane that just hit California and deposited half a year’s worth of rain in just a few hours? Pretty crazy, right? We’ll guess what? It’s all Joe Biden’s doing.

For reals!

Fox “News” sez so. And those guys never lie, or make unsupportable, stoopid, or risible claims. Amirite?

On something called the BIG Weekend Show (they make the word “big” really BIG so’s their viewers get it: this show is BIIIIIG!!) the host, Zippedee Doodah Poopy Pants Dunderhead, (I think that’s his real name) proclaimed, in proper stentorian, sky-is-falling, Fox speak…

“The big story tonight: The wrath of Tropical Storm Hilary. 42 million desperate souls in the path of the storm which made landfall in Mexico several hours ago. But they let it right into the country because it’s Biden’s America.”

No word apparently on the identity of “they”. I’m guessing it’s probably George Soros, Hunter Biden’s laptop (it’s become sentient), AOC, My Little Pony, and Jiminy Cricket. THEY allowed the hurricane in, because Joe Biden.

I didn’t realize that was a thing. Hurricane asks if it can come in. Trump says “No! I’m making America great again, again!” THEY say “Sure…c’mon in! Have a seat.”

You can do this now? Yowza!

Of course, this is more “Hold my beer”, exploded brain stem woo-woo from the right.

“Biden is killing jobs!”

“No, no, he’s aborting babies…when they’re three years old!”

“Wait, wait! I got it! He has weaponized the Justice Department to arrest us all and make us learn Esperanto! Aieee!”

“Nope, nope…Biden has weaponized the weather.”

Because of COURSE he has!

So, kids. Do you want to vote for a fat whiner who complains about the weather, or a guy who CONTROLS the weather?

Discuss.

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

In other news of not much importance to us sane types, that person
who is running for governor of North Carolina, Mark Robinson,
is sure to win 'cause he's modeled hisself after his hero, trump.
He also has lots of theories about past history which is sure to get
him the votes from all the other nut-jobs in N.C.
He says the 1969 moon landing was faked. Maybe we should check
with the astronauts, or NASA.
The 9/11 terrorist attack was definitely an "inside job." By whom?
no reply to that question.
And, yes, he's "SERIOUSLY skeptical" of JFK's assassination. So
JFK lives? Who knew.
Then of course he has to throw in the George Soros name, the same
George Soros who kidnapped all those girls in Africa way back when.
Wouldn't George kinda stand out in a crowd of black girls? Oh well,
Mr. Robinson must have the evidence, maybe on Hunter's laptop.
Name an event from the past and he has a theory about it. Whata guy.

https://news.yahoo.com/unbelievably-bonkers-conspiracy-theorist-
running-160011143.html

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

@Akhilleus: The Oracles of Winglandia have me scared to death of the superpowers of Joe Biden, George Soros & maybe of the sorcerer's apprentice Hunter Biden. If these guys want me to vote Democratic, I'm definitely going to do so. No good can come of angering the gods.

August 22, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

On "Oppenheimer," the film.

Have to hand it to that Oppenheimer guy. Not only did he manage to bend a bunch of scientists floating through life on inflated egos to a common purpose, the development of two differently designed atomic bombs in a very short time, he also invented time travel.

The three hour movie about him seemed to last no more than an hour and a half.

Terrific movie.

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

Speaking of sheriffs looking out for the safety of the people, this Daily Beast article via Yahoo! shows that the Gloucester, Va, sheriff is fine with letting a group of armed Boogaloo Bois "demonstrate" against the law banning guns on school property. Sheriff's folks were not around when the BBs held their pre-announced demo, and the sheriff's vox said something about safe exercise of 2nd Amendment rights.

Sheriffs; an anachonism, or just wussies?

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterPatrick

Re the guns on school property: We really should rewrite the Second Amendment to say, "The right of assholes with guns to intimidate others shall not be infringed by common sense." That way those of us who know that the Amendment was designed to enable a dispersed fledgling nation in the 18th Century to defend itself against likely attack can just lie back and relax.

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterJack Mahoney

Patrick,

Or alcoholism. Second Amendmentism? Same thing, I think.

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

A bit of under the radar here, Florida has a state gerrymandering case coming up in court that has a lot more riding on it.

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article278463634.html

All courtesy of Governor Ron DeSantis..

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterBobby Lee

Gov Abbott of
"Texas sent more asylum seekers to L.A. even as Hilary raged, immigrant rights group says"

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Bobby,

Thanks for linking the Miami Herald piece.

Found this quotation a bit odd, though:

“It’s a very aggressive play on the part of Gov. DeSantis and Republicans, really pushing toward a vision of a race-blind Constitution,” said Michael Li, senior counsel for the Brennan Center’s Democracy Program.

It's hardly race-blind when you deliberately gerrymander Blacks off the electoral map.

August 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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