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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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Saturday
Nov182023

The Conversation -- November 19, 2023

** Katherine Seelye of the New York Times: "Rosalynn Carter, a true life partner to Jimmy Carter who helped propel him from rural Georgia to the White House in a single decade and became the most politically active first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt, died on Sunday in Plains, Ga. She was 96."

~~~~~~~~~~

President Joe Biden, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Today, the world faces an inflection point, where the choices we make -- including in the crises in Europe and the Middle East -- will determine the direction of our future for generations to come.... Both Putin and Hamas are fighting to wipe a neighboring democracy off the map. And both Putin and Hamas hope to collapse broader regional stability and integration and take advantage of the ensuing disorder. America cannot, and will not, let that happen. For our own national security interests -- and for the good of the entire world.... The Palestinian people deserve a state of their own and a future free from Hamas.... Our commitment to Ukraine today is an investment in our own security. It prevents a broader conflict tomorrow.... Our goal should not be simply to stop the war for today -- it should be to end the war forever, break the cycle of unceasing violence, and build something stronger in Gaza and across the Middle East so that history does not keep repeating itself."

Sorry, forgot to link this yesterday:

Amy Gardner of the Washington Post: "The Georgia prosecutor leading the election-interference case against ... Donald Trump and 14 remaining co-defendants requested a trial date of Aug. 5, 2024, in a motion filed Friday afternoon.... The motion is sure to draw vociferous objections from the defendants -- notably Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, who, if nominated, would be forced to sit in an Atlanta courtroom day after day in the final weeks of the general-election campaign, and possibly on Election Day itself and into 2025. Steve Sadow, Trump's lead lawyer in the Georgia case, filed a motion later Friday objecting to the proposed trial date and requesting 'the opportunity to present oral argument in opposition to the motion at a hearing to be held at a time convenient to the Court.'... The government's motion, signed personally by Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis, makes no mention of the election calendar next year. But in an appearance at The Washington Post on Tuesday, Willis objected to the idea that a person who commits a crime should not be held accountable because they are running for office." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: One of the legal experts I saw on the teevee noted that state courts and prosecutors, unlike those in the federal system, are not bound by DOJ-type rules that prohibit bringing actions against a political candidate close to an election. Of course Trumplewhiner will object to the date, but I think an August would benefit him. (1) He will be in the news every day leading up to the election; (2) the trial would give him something to complain about every day; and (3) he's an old man and a vigorous campaign schedule would be a strain on him, both mentally & physically. And bear in mind that he will not be the only major candidate who has on his mind matters other than the election: Joe Biden has a big ole country to run.

Presidential Race 2024

More Crazy After All These Years. Dan Balz of the Washington Post: "Taking Trump seriously, as the Economist does in its new issue, is a requirement -- for the press, certainly, but also for all Americans who care about the future. The Post reported in May about 'the deepening radicalization' of Trump. The article noted that his positions 'have become even more extreme; his tone more confrontational.' In recent days, both The Post and the New York Times have published stories about what policies and actions Trump might pursue in a second term, from using the Justice Department to go after enemies to a broad immigration crackdown to purges in the executive branch."

Michael Scherer of the Washington Post: "The nation's largest Spanish-language media company, Univision, faced growing backlash Friday for its handling of a recent interview with ... Donald Trump, as major Latino advocacy groups delivered a letter of protest to the network's executives and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus prepared to request a meeting with the network. Actor and comedian John Leguizamo ... also posted a video on Instagram on Thursday night calling for a boycott of the network until it stopped its rejection of Biden ads, some of which were canceled just before the Trump interview aired.... The network, which has said it has also requested an interview with President Biden, announced a new policy of preventing opposition advertising during single-candidate interviews shortly before the Trump interview aired. The network also canceled a booking with a Biden spokeswoman to respond to the interview on a subsequent news broadcast."

~~~~~~~~~~

Wisconsin. Lauren Irwin of the Hill: "Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers (D), several lawmakers and the University of Wisconsin-Madison condemned a group of neo-Nazis that marched through the streets of Madison on Saturday. According to reports and videos posted on social media, the neo-Nazi group called the Blood Tribe was spotted marching through downtown Madison carrying swastika flags and doing the nazi salute." MB: The march ran along State Street, Madison's main east-west artery, which connects the UW campus to the Capitol. The march apparently started a few blocks from campus and ended on the capitol grounds.

New York. Hurubie Meko of the New York Times: "The federal government on Friday formally joined an effort to strip Mayor Eric Adams's administration of control over Rikers Island, asking a judge to hand oversight of the troubled jail complex to an outside authority. Joining lawyers who represent people detained in New York City jails, Manhattan's top federal prosecutor, Damian Williams, wrote in a court filing that the appointment of an outside authority, known as a receiver, was the only solution to the persistent violence and chaos at Rikers."

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

Karen DeYoung of the Washington Post: "Israel, the United States and Hamas have agreed to a tentative deal that would free dozens of women and children held hostage in Gaza, in exchange for a five-day pause in fighting. The release, which could begin within the next several days -- barring last-minute hitches -- could lead to the first sustained pause in conflict in Gaza, according to people familiar with its provisions."

Raja Abdulrahim of the New York Times: "Health officials in Gaza say that 5,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the Israeli assault began, and possibly hundreds more. Many international officials and experts familiar with the way death tolls are compiled in the territory say the overall numbers are generally reliable.... The furious pace of [Israeli air]strikes -- more than 15,000 to date, according to the Israeli military, including in southern Gaza as well -- makes the Israeli bombing campaign on the Palestinian territory one of the most intense of the 21st century. And it is happening in a dense urban enclave under siege with high concentrations of civilians, particularly children, setting off mounting global alarm, even from some of Israel's closest allies.... 'More and more, it seems like a war against children," said Dr. [Ghassan] Abu-Sittah of [Al-Shifa Hospital]. Two weeks ago, the emergency room at Al-Shifa registered 'Unknown Trauma Child 1,500,' Dr. Abu-Sittah said."

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Reader Comments (6)

Book ‘em Danno, er, I mean LeVar…

So earlier this week at the National Book Awards, LeVar Burton, longtime host of Reading Rainbow, made a joke about the book banning-burning Moms for (*cough-cough*) Liberty, yet another group of snowflake fascists whose very existence gives me the hives.

Burton asked if there were any Moms for Liberty* members in attendance. There being none (natch, no books were being banned or burned, why would they be there?), he said, no hands needed to be thrown, a reference to an altercation (I know, I had to look it up, not being familiar with the term; guess I should read more).

And, of course, the MFL whiners immediately went on the attack accusing Burton of fomenting violence against women. I’m always amused when righty-right groups for whom violence or the threat of violence, including highly aggressive attack strategies to force everyone else to bend to their will accuse others of doing what they themselves do on a daily basis.

They’re always the victim.

But my favorite part of this piece comes at the end:

“The group's fauxrage should be no surprise, either.

Burton is a successful Black man whose show is called "Reading Rainbow." Black people, reading and rainbows make the trifecta of hate for these fascists.”

Ain’t it da truth?

*Another group whose name is the exact opposite of what it implies. Moms for freedom? I guess Moms for Religio-Fascist Authoritarian Censorship doesn’t have the same ring.

November 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Brian Beutler
"The Vermin Libel And The Danger Of Forgetting
American memories may be short, but we're not doing all we can to lengthen them"

November 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

The ruling in Colorado that lets a traitor run for elected office, contra the Constitution (c’mon, the president isn’t an officer of the United States?), might end up being a good thing. Should the Orange Monster be kept off one or more ballots, it will make it harder for him to steal the election, but should he lose anyway, even with his fat insurrectionist ass being on all ballots, he won’t be able to whine that he would have won otherwise.

That’s not to say that he won’t still scream that his wonderful win was scuttled, but it will take this excuse off the table.

November 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Lighting a candle tonight for Rosalynn Carter, a lovely person,

November 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

@Forrest Morris: What a lovely idea. I'll follow your lead and do the same.

November 19, 2023 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/11/19/argentina-presidential-election-results-javier-milei/

Doesn't seem tike the steady hand Argentina needs to raise itself from the economic dead...

This libertarian winner condemns the Pope as a socialist...but likes social media.

I'm very confused.

November 19, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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