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The Ledes

Sunday, September 29, 2024

Washington Post: “Towns throughout western North Carolina ... were transformed overnight by ... [Hurricane Helene]. Muddy floodwaters lifted homes from their foundations. Landslides and overflowing rivers severed the only way in and out of small mountain communities. Rescuers said they were struggling to respond to the high number of emergency calls.... The death toll grew throughout the Southeast as the scope of Helene’s devastation came into clearer view. At least 49 people had been killed in five states — Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. By early counts, South Carolina suffered the greatest loss of life, registering at least 19 deaths.”

The Wires

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The Ledes

Saturday, September 28, 2024

Washington Post: “Rescue teams raced to submerged homes, scoured collapsed buildings and steered thousands from overflowing dams as Helene carved a destructive path Friday, knocking out power and flooding a vast arc of communities across the southeastern United States. At least 40 people were confirmed killed in five states since the storm made landfall late Thursday as a Category 4 behemoth, unleashing record-breaking storm surge and tree-snapping gusts. 4 million homes and businesses have lost electricity across Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, prompting concerns that outages could drag on for weeks. Mudslides closed highways. Water swept over roofs and snapped phone lines. Houses vanished from their foundations. Tornadoes added to the chaos. The mayor of hard-hit Canton, N.C., called the scene 'apocalyptic.'” An AP report is here.

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.'”

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Saturday

Dec242011

News Ledes -- December 24

Guardian: "Interpol is seeking the arrest of Jean-Claude Mas, the founder of a French company whose breast implants are at the centre of a global health scare. The international police agency has issued a red notice for Mas. His firm Poly Implant Protheses (PIP), which went into administration last year, supplied implants to tens of thousands of women in Europe and South America."

** New York Times: "The Justice Department on Friday blocked a new South Carolina law that would require voters to present photo identification, saying the law would disproportionately suppress turnout among eligible minority voters." Washington Post story here.

New York Times: "Tens of thousands of protesters gathered [in Moscow] on Saturday afternoon for a second large antigovernment demonstration, as a wave of new activists struggle to convert an inchoate burst of energy into a durable political force."

New York Times: Pakistan lurched between crises on Friday with its military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, dismissing talk of a coup and canceling a visit from a top American general, a sign that Pakistani fury at the United States over airstrikes that killed 26 soldiers is far from abating."

Al Jazeera: "Raul Castro, Cuba's president, has announced plans to pardon 2,900 prisoners, including foreign nationals, for 'humanitarian reasons'. In a speech to legislators on Friday, Castro cited an upcoming visit by Pope Benedict XVI among the reasons for the amnesty, saying the humanitarian act was 'a demonstration of the generosity and strength of the revolution'. He said 86 foreign prisoners from 25 countries would be freed, and that diplomats would be notified shortly."

Al Jazeera: "Arab League monitors are expected to meet Syria's foreign minister a day after suicide bombers killed 44 people in attacks Damascus blamed on al-Qaeda, but which the opposition said were the government's work."

New York Times: Newt Gingrich & Rick Perry failed to qualify for the Virginia Republican presidential primary ballot.

AND, Yes, Ron Paul Really Is Crazy. Reuters: "A direct-mail solicitation for Ron Paul's political and investment newsletters two decades ago warned of a 'coming race war in our big cities"' and of a 'federal-homosexual cover-up' to play down the impact of AIDS. The eight-page letter, which appears to carry Paul's signature at the end, also warns that the U.S. government's redesign of currency to include different colors - a move aimed at thwarting counterfeiters -- actually was part of a plot to allow the government to track Americans using the 'new money.'"

Guardian: "The Queen [Elizabeth] has visited the Duke of Edinburgh in hospital, where he has received treatment for a blocked coronary artery." Related, earlier story here.

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Friday

Dec232011

Reality Chex Annual Extravaganza of Worst Christmas Songs

Just to get you started, Horatio Sanz, Jimmy Fallon, Chris Kattan & Tracy Morgan:

"'Zat You, Santa Claus?" Buster Poindexter edition:

"Wonderful Christmas Time" is wonderful only for Paul McCartney, who makes about half-a-mil on this every year in residuals:

... In all honesty, I found a lot of horrible songs of this same genre, but I'm not mean enough to share them. You know the kind I mean: renditions of classics destroyed by Christina Aguilera, Neil Diamond et al., or absolute crap by the New Kids on the Block (I had no idea how totally lacking in any form of talent those kids were). Okay, just one more like this -- Mariah Carey & Justin Bieber ruining a song that's already bad:

Then there are all those heart-rending country AND western numbers. Here's a favorite:

"Baby Boomer Santa" from NBC's "Community":

Reminiscent of that, George Thorogood & the Destroyers' "Rock 'n Roll Christmas" (1981):

This one is for frequent commenter JJG. Fa la la la la, Ha ha ha ha:

This is offensive on so many levels:

A perenniel unfavorite, but this is kind of a treat, performed by Randy & Ronnie Brooks. Randy wrote the song:

Okay, this really isn't bad; I just thought it wanted sharing:

This will always be my favorite Worst Christmas Song -- Bob Dylan's "It Must Be Santa":

For an antidote, see today's Off Times Square.

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Thursday

Dec222011

The Commentariat -- December 23

My column in the New York Times eXaminer is on David Brooks' Sidney Awards, Part II. The NYTX front page is here.

White House Christmas card 2011.... Sweet, right? Oh, not if you're a member in good standing of the Anti-Obama Club:

Via Daily Kos.How the Grinch Was Forced to Give Back Christmas, Temporarily. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "Facing withering criticism from across the political spectrum and abandoned by Senate allies, House Republicans bowed to political reality Thursday and agreed to a two-month extension of a payroll tax cut for 160 million Americans. The agreement represented a remarkable capitulation on the part of House Republicans, who had two days earlier rejected such a deal with Democrats as the kind of half-measure that their new majority was elected to thwart. And it amounts to a Christmas gift for President Obama, who attempted to paint his Republican opponents as willing to raise taxes for millions of Americans. Such an image could have cost the party politically just as it is gearing up to try to take back the White House and the Senate in 2012." ...

... Jackie Calmes of the New York Times: "What surprised the administration, and not least Mr. Obama, was how much House Republicans would contribute toward the White House’s goal [of portraying President Obama as a stand-tough economic populist] through their miscalculations in waging this holiday-season showdown over tax cuts for 160 million workers and assistance for several million jobless Americans. The stand by House Republicans, which openly divided the party and put them in conflict with Senate Republicans, helped Mr. Obama perhaps as much as anything the White House and Congressional Democrats did."

Elections Have Consequences: "During a time when secular values are under constant attack by many religious leaders and political candidates, the Secular Coalition for America presents the 2012 Presidential Candidate Scorecard." Thanks to Kate M. for the link.

** The New York Times Magazine devotes itself to "These American Lives," the stories of extraordinary and ordinary Americans who died in 2011. Start here.

** Rania Khalek in AlterNet: "... some American school districts are pushing the boundaries of corporal punishment ... with the use of Tasers against unruly schoolchildren. The deployment of Tasers against 'problem' students coincides with the introduction of police officers on school campuses, also known as School Resource Officers (SROs). According to the Los Angeles Times, as of 2009, the number of SROs carrying Tasers was well over 4,000." And that's not all: "... the Southern Poverty Law Center found that pepper-spray has been used on students nearly 100 times in the last five years" in the Birmingham, Alabama school system.

Bill Adair of PolitiFact defends the organization for making the Democratic claim that the Ryan plan "ends Medicare" PolitiFact's "Lie of the Year." CW: Sorry, I wasn't convinced. You can argue convincingly against anything Rush Limbaugh & Ann Coulter say, but when you're arguing against Paul Krugman & Ezra Klein, you've got to come up with better excuses than that they're part of the "liberal echo chamber." Boing, boing, bullshit. ...

... Update: Krugman responds. CW: Needless to say, I'm with Krugman. ...

... AND R. J. Escow of Campaign for America's Future does a superb job of taking Adair to task. Thanks to reader Bonnie for the link.

Max Abelson of Bloomberg News has a roundup of remarks made by the One Percent about how unfairly the 99 Percent have portrayed them. So in the spirit of the holiday season, I will not persecute these greedy, selfish, hyper-sensitive asses today.

C. J. Chivers of the New York Times: "The United States is discussing with the Libyan interim government the creation of a program to purchase shoulder-fired, heat-seeking missiles from militia members and others who gathered them up during the war.... The talks are the latest step in a multinational effort to contain the risks posed by the thousands of portable antiaircraft weapons that are unaccounted for after rebel fighters overran government weapons depots during the battle against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi’s forces."

Right Wing World

** A Campaign of Lies. Paul Krugman: Mitt Romney "has already gotten away with a series of ... fraudulent attacks [on President Obama]. In fact, he has based pretty much his whole campaign around a strategy of attacking Mr. Obama for doing things that the president hasn’t done and believing things he doesn’t believe." While he's at it, Krugman calls out the media for letting Romney get away with this & PolitiFact for its so-called Lie of the Year, which is the truth. You go, Paul. ...

... Vice President Joe Biden in a Des Moines Register op-ed: Mitt "Romney appears satisfied to settle for an economy in which fewer people succeed, while the majority of Americans are left to tread water or fall behind. His proposal would actually double down on the policies that caused the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression and accelerated a decades-long assault on the middle class. Romney also misleadingly suggests that the president and I are creating an 'Entitlement Society.'... The only entitlement we believe in is an America where if you work hard, you can get ahead."

News Ledes

AP: "Congress on Friday approved a two-month renewal of payroll tax cuts for 160 million workers and unemployment benefits for millions, handing President Barack Obama a convincing victory for his jobs agenda. Back-to-back voice vote approvals of the measure by the Senate and House capped a retreat by House Republicans who had insisted that a full-year bill was the only way to prevent an immediate tax increase on Jan. 1." ...

... Los Angeles Times: President "Obama is expected to quickly sign the accord, allowing him to join his family in Hawaii for his traditional holiday retreat in his home state." ...

... Politico Update: a liveblog of President Obama's statement to the press is here. The full transcript of his statement is here.

New York Times: "Suicide attackers detonated two powerful car bombs outside government offices in Damascus on Friday, in what appeared to be the most brazen and deadly attacks against the government since the start of the uprising in Syria in March. Dozens were killed at the State Security Directorate headquarters and another security installation, SANA, the government news agency, reported."

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, former President Clinton & Secretary Clinton attend the service for Vaclav Havel in Prague. AP photo.AP: "Czechs and world leaders paid emotional tribute to Vaclav Havel on Friday at a pomp-filled funeral ceremony, ending a week of public grief and nostalgia over the death of the dissident playwright who led the 1989 revolution that toppled four decades of communist rule.... Havel's wife Dagmar, family members, friends and leaders from dozens of countries gathered Friday at the towering, gothic St. Vitus Cathedral which overlooks Prague. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron were among some 1,000 mourners who bowed their heads in front of the coffin draped in the Czech colors. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright — paid tribute to Havel at the cathedral, which dates to the 10th century and has not witnessed a state funeral since 1875. 'We will terribly miss him but we will never, ever forget him,' said Albright, who is of Czech origin, in Czech."

AP: "Several thousand Egyptians rallied in Cairo's central Tahrir Square Friday to denounce violence against protesters, especially outraged by images of women protesters dragged by their hair, beaten and kicked by troops."

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