The Ledes

Saturday, April 2, 2025

New York Times: “Charlotte Webb, who as a young woman helped code breakers decipher enemy signals at Britain’s top-secret Bletchley Park, died on Monday. She was 101.... Ms. Webb, known as Betty, was 18 when she joined the Auxiliary Territorial Service, the women’s branch of the British Army, and was assigned to work at the base in Buckinghamshire where Bletchley Park was located. From 1941 to 1945, she helped in the decryption of German messages, and also worked on Japanese signals. In 2015, Ms. Webb was appointed as Member of the Order of the British Empire and in 2021 she was awarded the Légion d’Honneur, France’s most prestigious honor. She was one of the last surviving members of the storied Bletchley Park code breaking team.”

New York Times: “Val Kilmer, a homegrown Hollywood actor who tasted leading-man stardom as Jim Morrison and Batman, but whose protean gifts and elusive personality also made him a high-profile supporting player, died on Tuesday in Los Angeles. He was 65.”

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Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.

 

Public Service Announcement

Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.

Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"

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."

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:

Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?

Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Constant Comments

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous

A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolvesEdward R. Murrow

Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns

I have a Bluesky account now. The URL is https://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.

Wednesday
Oct272010

The Commentariat -- October 28

The middle class doesn't like to get welfare checks, so instead it gets tax credits and deductions for doing things middle-class people generally do anyway. -- Will Wilkinson, The Economist, via Andrew Sullivan

Patricia Cohen of the New York Times: "Harvard historian James T. Kloppenberg sees President Obama "as a kind of philosopher president.... To Mr. Kloppenberg the philosophy that has guided President Obama most consistently is pragmatism, a uniquely American system of thought developed at the end of the 19th century by William James, John Dewey and Charles Sanders Peirce.... Mr. Obama was ultimately drawn to a cluster of ideas known as civic republicanism or deliberative democracy .... In this view the founding fathers cared as much about continuing a discussion over how to advance the common good as they did about ensuring freedom." Princeton University Press will publish Kloppenberg's book Sunday. Harvard Magazine publishes "A Nation Argues with Its Conscience," an adaptation of part of Reading Obama here. A second section from the book, "From Hull House to the White House" is here.

Sewell Chan of the New York Times: "The uncertainty over the legal status of foreclosed homes in the nation could further depress home prices and delay the recovery of the housing market, the Obama administration said on Wednesday.... Most at risk, it appears, are communities in the states with the greatest concentrations of foreclosures — led by Nevada, Florida, Arizona and California — where the turnover of vacant properties could screech to a halt if a joint investigation being conducted by all 50 states, and reviews by the Obama administration and regulators like the Federal Reserve, uncover additional wrongdoing." ...

... It Could Be Worse. You Could Live in Spain. Suzanne Daley of the New York Times: in Spain, mortgage debt is specifically excluded from bankruptcy. "Not only are Spanish mortgage holders personally liable for the full amount of the loan, but throw in penalty interest charges and tens of thousands of dollars in court fees, and people can end up ... facing a mountain of debt.... Spain now has the highest unemployment rate in the euro zone — 20 percent — and real estate prices are dropping.... Many Spaniards [are] no longer able to pay their mortgages...."

Joe Klein of Time: "... this election cycle has exposed [Karl] Rove for what he is: man-servant to the oiligarchs. Rove's most significant activity this year has been raising big, secret donations from the Republican rich and turning them into the ugly, inaccurate negative ads that have been his stock-in-trade forever. ...

Speaking of Rove, here's Rove speaking of Palin: With all due candour, appearing on your own reality show on the Discovery Channel, I am not certain how that fits in the American calculus of 'that helps me see you in the Oval Office....

... Rove also criticized this promo for her show, in which Palin says, I would rather be doing this than in some stuffy old political office.


Sam Stein: "On Wednesday, the president conducted what appears to be the first ever in-person sit-down with political bloggers, hosting a group of five in the White House.... An administration official confirmed that Joe Sudbay of AMERICABlog; Duncan Black ("Atrios"), who runs the site Eschaton; Barbara Morrill, who writes for the DailyKos; Jon Amato, who is the founder of Crooks and Liars; and Oliver Willis, who runs an eponymous site, spoke with the president on Wednesday. ... The Huffington Post has a transcript of the conversation.

The President Is "Evolving." I am a strong supporter of civil unions.... I have been to this point unwilling to sign on to same-sex marriage primarily because of my understandings of the traditional definitions of marriage. But I also think you’re right that attitudes evolve, including mine. And I think that it is an issue that I wrestle with and think about because I have a whole host of friends who are in gay partnerships. I have staff members who are in committed, monogamous relationships, who are raising children, who are wonderful parents. And I care about them deeply. And so while I’m not prepared to reverse myself here, sitting in the Roosevelt Room at 3:30 in the afternoon, I think it’s fair to say that it’s something that I think a lot about. That’s probably the best you’ll do out of me today.
-- Barack Obama, in response to a question from Joe Sudbay of AmericaBlog

Dina Cappiello of the Canadian Press: "Some of America's largest emitters of heat-trapping gases, including businesses that publicly support efforts to curb global warming, don't want the public knowing exactly how much they pollute. Oil producers and refiners, along with manufacturers of steel, aluminum and even home appliances, are fighting a proposal by the Environmental Protection Agency that would make the amount of greenhouse gas emissions that companies release — and the underlying data businesses use to calculate the amounts — available online."

A Kentucky Democratic Party Ad that's Hard to Watch:*

     * ... Update: Democratic "Party spokesman Matt Erwin said the ad will appear only after 10 p.m., when children are less likely to see it."

Tim Profitt, the man who stomped on MoveOn volunteer Lauren Valle prior to a Jack Conway-Rand Paul debate, has asked Valle to apologize. He calls the incident "no big deal" and says he stomped her because he has issues with his back. Here's the Louisville Courier-Journal story:

Stephen Colbert sympathizes with Profitt:

... ** Sex Abuse, Cover-ups, & Karl Rove's Secret Cash. Matthew Mosk of ABC News: "In the bitter U.S. Senate race in Kentucky, a local millionaire [Terry Forcht] has helped launch a barrage of ads attacking [Jack Conway] the Democratic candidate – a candidate who, as the state's attorney general, is prosecuting the businessman's nursing home for allegedly covering up sexual abuse, records show."

Adam Serwer in the Washington Post: "Voter fraud is a virtually nonexistent problem.... Even if you wanted to steal an election this way, it's logistically unfeasible. Swaying the numbers in any significant way would require such a large number of well-trained co-conspirators that getting caught is a virtual certainty.... [But] voter suppression is a very real phenomenon." ...

... Here's an Example. Molly Ball of Politico: Robert de Posada, "the man behind the controversial ad telling Hispanics 'Don't Vote' ... voted absentee in Virginia on Wednesday." Univision pulled the ad "after Democratic cries of voter suppression."

Joe Miller is a Nightmare on Nome Street, but his Halloween ad is pretty funny:

... CW: Even funnier: Democrat Scott McAdams is now ahead of him in the polls. Shira Toeplitz of Politico: "After several rough weeks on the campaign trail, a new poll out of Alaska shows Republican Joe Miller has fallen to last place in the three-way Senate race. A Hays Research Group poll released Thursday showed write-in candidates, presumably meaning Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in the lead with 34 percent, Democrat Scott McAdams with 29 percent and Miller with 23 percent." ABC News' Jonathan Karl tweets that McAdams could win with 29% of the vote because many write-in votes will likely be tossed. Via Ben Smith. ...

... AND while we're not doing polls, here's a good one from NBC-10 in Providence, Rhode Island: "Democratic gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio seems to have lost support since telling the president to take his endorsement and 'shove it,' according to an NBC 10-Quest Research poll released Wednesday night.... Caprio lost 12 points since an NBC 10-Quest Research poll released Oct. 12 showed him in the lead with 37 percent, followed by [Independent Lincoln] Chafee and [Republican John] Robitaille."

"End the War on Pot." Nicholas Kristof cites some good rationales for legalizing marijuana.

Bill Adair of the St. Petersburg Times: "After rating hundreds of claims in the 2010 election -- from TV ads, debates, interviews and mailings -- we're giving an overall Truth-O-Meter rating to the campaign. We rate it Barely True. In a majority of claims checked this fall by PolitiFact and our eight state partners, we found a grain of truth, but it was exaggerated, twisted or distorted."

Wednesday
Oct272010

Worst Congressional Candidate Ever

Gail Collins reflects on some of the great moments in Campaign 2010.

The Constant Weader joins the game, trying to pick the "Worst Congressional Candidate Ever," but finds that the field of nominees is crowded this year.

There are the usual suspects, of course: Christine O'Donnell, Sharron Angle, Sharron Angle, Sharron Angle, Rand Paul -- and my favorite, Carl Paladino. Never mind his inauspicious bathroom breaks or even his condemnation of homosexuality. Patrick McGeenhan of the Times reports today that at about the same time Paladino was named Buffalonian of the Year, a court named him conservator of his elderly aunt's affairs. Her main asset was her modest home, which she owned outright. According to public records, under Carl's supposedly conservatorship,

Anna M. Paladino’s finances deteriorated along with her health, so much so that she became dependent on Medicaid.... Her house, her most cherished asset, was sold — first to Mr. Paladino’s son, and later, for no money down and much less than its appraised value, to the woman who would become Mr. Paladino’s mistress and bear a child by him.

A conservator has a fiduciary duty to his ward, & his dealings must be above reproach. Even an appearance of self-dealing can be unlawful. You decide if you think Carl Paladino met his legal obligation to his beloved aunt.

This was supposed to be the Year of the Republican Woman. Frankly, it looks as if it's pretty dangerous to get anywhere near some Republican men. And I don't just mean Rand Paul aides & Carl Paladino.

Some Republican men had trouble with dirty, sexy things. In Texas' 27th Congressional District Republican nominee Blake Farenthold got caught on camera wearing rubber-ducky jammies while holding on tight to a buxom young lady in less modest bedtime attire. Farenthold's opponent, Democratic incumbent Rep. Solomon Ortiz, ran this oppo ad:

... And who can forget young Ben Quayle, who days after intoning in an artsy (& ever-so-mockable) campaign ad that "Barack Obama is the worst President in history," and promising to go to Washington "and knock the hell out of the place," was outed as the author of sexy, self-aggrandizing stories on a Scottsdale Website. Here's Quayle's ad, along with Andy Cobb's terrific parody:

Down here in Florida, let's skip over the biggest fraudster in the history of Medicare who may soon be our new governor. After all, his $1.7 billion crime (but who's counting?) was nice, clean white-collar stuff. The Republican candidate for Florida's 25th District (Miami) is notable for a 2002 incident in which he allegedly rammed a delivery truck with his own car to stop the truck from delivering a political opponent's campaign literature. He's got some white-collar problems of his own, too. This is one House seat the Democrats think they might pick up.

For a bad moment during the campaign, Arizona's Jan Brewer had a super-embarrassing live meltdown in her opening statement in her one and only debate. I guess we should be thankful when a politician is at a complete loss for words:

...Later Brewer "explained" that she only participated in the debate to qualify for $1.7 millions in public funds for her campaign. I guess that meant she didn't need to prepare.

For another bad moment, you might want to go to Maine, where the Times reported,

Paul LePage, the Republican candidate for governor in Maine..., walked out of his own news conferenceAnn, got permanent-resident tax exemptions on homes in both Maine and Florida last year, a violation of tax law. Monday in Augusta after reporters asked whether his wife was a permanent state resident.... Later in the day, Mr. LePage was caught cursing on camera when a reporter asked whether his children had paid in-state tuition at a college in Florida. The questions stemmed from a report in the Kennebec Journal last week that Mr. LePage’s wife,

Barney Frank's opponent, Sean Bielat, didn't help his case any when he told the Boston Herald that gays are just like short people -- neither has a right to serve in the military. As the Herald's Edward Mason observed,

Hmm. ... On the other hand, vertically challenged people are not forced to pretend they’re tall, then drummed out once it’s discovered they’re short in spite of their service record.

Meanwhile, in Rhode Island, it's hard to say how much Democratic gubernatorial nominee Frank Caprio helped himself by saying, upon learning that President Obama would not make an endorsement in the contest, that the President could "take his endorsement and shove it."

But for the worst moment of this campaign season, I'd pick Texas Republican congressional candidate Stephen Broden who, the Dallas Morning News reported, said

he would not rule out violent overthrow of the government if elections did not produce a change in leadership. In a rambling exchange during a TV interview, Broden, a South Dallas pastor, said a violent uprising 'is not the first option,' but it is 'on the table.'

To name a few.

Tuesday
Oct262010

The Commentariat -- October 27

Vice President Biden & President Obama speak about unprecedented efforts across the Federal Government to protect victims of domestic and sexual violence in an event marking Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Somebody should make Rand Paul & his goons watch this:

The smile, affable and empty, could be that of a small-town gas-station attendant or a hired assassin. -- Robert Draper, describing White House Communications Director Robert Gibbs in a profile for GQ

"Thoughts vs. Actions." David Leonhardt of the New York Times: President Obama & members of his economic team indicated they knew all along what to do to reduce unemployment, but they evidently didn't have the will to actually do it. Leonhardt concludes, "... given what the polls are showing now, it’s a safe bet that Democrats would choose a different strategy if they had a second chance." ... In a more expansive article, Leonhardt demonstrates when & why the Administration dropped the ball on jobs recovery; as usual, the Senate is implicated, too.

With the advent of the Internet, prompt disclosure of expenditures can provide shareholders and citizens with the information needed to hold corporations and elected officials accountable for their positions. This transparency enables the electorate to make informed decisions and give proper weight to different speakers and messages. -- Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, writing for the majority in Citizens United v. FEC

... David Savage in the Los Angeles Times: "Kennedy and the high court majority were wrong. Because of loopholes in tax laws and a weak enforcement policy at the Federal Election Commission, corporations and wealthy donors have been able to spend huge sums on campaign ads, confident the public will not know who they are, election law experts say. Corporate donors have been able to hide their contributions despite the opposition of shareholders and customers — the very groups cited by Kennedy." ...

... Really? Michael Luo & Griff Palmer of the New York Times: "Even with a recent surge in fund-raising for Republican candidates, Democratic candidates have outraised their opponents over all by more than 30 percent in the 109 House races The New York Times has identified as in play. And Democratic candidates have significantly outspent their Republican counterparts over the last few months in those contests, $119 million to $79 million." Ah, Here's the Catch: "Republican-leaning third-party groups, however, many of them financed by large, unrestricted donations that are not publicly disclosed, have ... pour[ed] more than $60 million into competitive races since July, about 80 percent more than the Democratic-leaning groups have reported spending."

CW: It's impossible this year to come up with a "Worst Congressional Candidate in the Nation," but Michael Crowley of Time points to one tea party favorite from North Carolina named Ilario Pantano. Pantano is running a tight race against seven-term Blue Dog Mike McIntyre, who has previously won his races by wide margins. Among Pantano's qualities: (1) "a Manhattan-born former Goldman-Sachs trader"; (2) "he's only lived in the district six years"; (3) "in 2005, Pantano, a former U.S. Marine, emptied two M-16 clips -- or up to 60 rounds  --at two unarmed Iraqis in his custody. He was charged with murder and faced the death penalty, but the charges were dismissed. The investigating officer did call the episode 'a disgrace to the armed forces.'" Don't quit here. Crowley has more on Pantano.

So Not Ready for Primetime. Chris Carl of WDEL Radio, Delaware: "The Christine O'Donnell campaign is apologizing to WDEL after it demanded that video of an O'Donnell appearance on "The Rick Jensen Show" be destroyed and threatened a lawsuit if it wasn't.... O'Donnell also told show host Rick Jensen that she would sue the radio station if the video was released.... O'Donnell's campaign manager, Matt Moran, called WDEL and demanded that the video be immediately turned over to the campaign and destroyed. Moran threatened to 'crush WDEL' with a lawsuit if the station didn't comply." Here's the AP story.

California Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman endorses her opponent, former California Governor Jerry Brown:

... Elsewhere in California, a Republican Candidate Sends a Stinkbomb. Jeremy Jacobs of the National Journal: "Republican Van Tran, the upstart challenger to Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.), is betting on voters sniffing out his opponent's struggles -- literally. Tran is sending out a scratch-and-sniff direct mail piece attacking Sanchez that features a hideous odor emanating from it."

Fairbanks Daily News-Miner: "Republican U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller lied to his former employer several times about using others’ computers for political purposes in 2008 before he finally told the truth, according to documents released Tuesday by the Fairbanks North Star Borough in response to a court order in lawsuits brought by two media outlets." The article links to related documents. The Anchorage Daily News story, which is extensive, is here. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's statement pretty well sums up the whole story:

The bottom line is Joe cheated, he lied, tried to cover it up, lied again, then finally got caught and had to admit it, just as he lied to Alaskans when he initially denied any problems with his employment at the Borough, claiming his record was 'exceptional' and 'second to none.'

American Exceptionalism. If you don't vote for me for President Senator, the U.S. will become a poor, communist dictatorship. This could be the warmest, fuzziest ad in the history of scare tactics. Way to go, Marco!

The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president. -- Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell

... CW: perhaps, like me, you didn't notice that there's nuance to Sen. Mitch McConnell, the leader of the Party of "No." Michael Crowley of Time finds nuance, but it doesn't make much difference. ...

... Paul Kane of the Washington Post profiles Minority Leader John Boehner. CW: I am linking this only because it is being described throughout the blogosphere as a "must-read." Still, I will not be reading it.

Greg Miller of the Washington Post: "An intense military campaign aimed at crippling the Taliban has so far failed to inflict more than fleeting setbacks on the insurgency or put meaningful pressure on its leaders to seek peace, according to U.S. military and intelligence officials citing the latest assessments of the war in Afghanistan."