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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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Thursday
Jan132011

Tucson Shootings -- January 14

Joel Pett, Lexington (Kentucky) Herald-Leader. Thanks to Jeanne B.Adam Nagourney & Jennifer Steinhauer of the New York Times: "... gun rights advocates and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle said Thursday that there was little chance the attack would produce significant new legislation or a change in a national culture that has long been accepting of guns. If anything, they said, lawmakers are less receptive than ever to new gun restrictions." ...

... The Times has a graphics page which contains maps loosely describing the laws of each state regarding carry permits & large-capacity ammo. It includes a good graphic of the Glock 19: "The gun is a semiautomatic weapon, and each pull loads the next round into the firing chamber. It is not difficult to fire more than once per second."

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "First Lady Michelle Obama on Thursday urged parents to hold up the lives of Christina Taylor Green and other victims of the Tucson shooting as examples for their children, and to speak with their children about tolerance in wake of the tragedy." The letter from Mrs. Obama is here.

Laura Meckler & Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal: "On Thursday, the speech won praise from a vast swath of the political spectrum, including Democrats who have criticized Mr. Obama as insufficiently liberal and possible Republican challengers in 2012, among them former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty. Some commentators who have spent two years criticizing the president were lavish with their praise. Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer said he 'wouldn't underestimate how this is going to affect the perception of the president.'" ...

... Michael Shear of the New York Times contrasts President Obama's speech with Sarah Palin's "blood libel" video: "Where Ms. Palin was direct and forceful, Mr. Obama was soft and restrained. Where Ms. Palin was accusatory, Mr. Obama appeared to go out of his way to avoid pointing fingers or assigning blame. Where she stressed the importance of fighting for our different beliefs, he emphasized our need for unity, referring to the 'American family — 300 million strong.'” ...

This probably ended Sarah Palin's political career.
-- Joe Scarborough, former Republican Congressman

Marc Lacey, et al., of the New York Times: "Law enforcement officials said Friday they have multiple photos of Jared L. Loughner posing with a Glock 9mm pistol next to his naked buttocks and dressed in a bright red g-string.... The photos were turned over to the police by Walgreens, where Mr. Loughner had taken the 35-mm film to be developed on Jan. 7, the day before the shooting." ...

Sarah Wheaton of the New York Times: "Logs of Jared L. Loughner’s conversations with fellow players in an online game of strategy show a young man who has become frustrated by his inability to find a job, who views his early education as tantamount to slavery, and who has frequent run-ins with his college professors." You can read Loughner's conversations at this Earth Empires site. I'm going to pass.

Andrew Longstreth of Reuters: "... it's increasingly clear that Arizona authorities could legally have detained [Jared Loughner] for psychiatric evaluation and treatment -- and potentially have been able to avert the tragedy.... Arizona has one of the least restrictive laws when it comes to detaining apparently mentally ill people against their will. Under the state's broad involuntary-commitment statute, the government can mandate in-patient treatment for anyone determined to be 'persistently or acutely disabled.' That could include a broad range of seemingly troubled individuals.... In Arizona, virtually anyone who had suspected that Loughner had mental problems and needed help could have filed an application to a state-licensed healthcare agency for a court-ordered evaluation." CW: not the first time I've linked to a story that draws the same conclusion, but it bears repeating.

A Fox "News" reporter at its Tucson affiliate K-GUN (anybody see anything wrong with those call letters?) speaks to Ashley Figueroa, who says she is Jared Loughner's former high school girlfriend. I'm posting this with reservations, because I don't think it has much value:

Oh, no. Another ex-girlfriend. I didn't even listen to this one, but here ya go:

News Stories:

AP: "Security was tight Friday morning as the hearse entered the church parking lot and U.S. marshals checked the IDs of everyone entering the lot. Four big coach buses brought dozens of judges who knew [Chief Judge] Roll over the years. Dignitaries including former Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl, and former Vice President Dan Quayle will attend...." More from the Arizona Daily Star.

New York Times: "Five days after she was shot in the head at close range, Representative Gabrielle Giffords is able to keep her eyes open for as long as 15 minutes and can move her legs and hands, although her right hand has only slight movement, doctors at University Medical Center here said on Thursday." ...

     ... Arizona Daily Star Update: "Doctors said Friday morning that U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords continues to make 'confident' progress.... Dr. Peter Rhee said out of the 11 people who arrived at University Medical Center after Saturday's shooting, four remain hospitalized and one, Ron Barber, an aide to Giffords, will be released today."

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