Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

OR you can try this Link Generator, which a contributor recommends: "All you do is paste in the URL and supply the text to highlight. Then hit 'Get Code.'... Return to RealityChex and paste it in."

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

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 Ledes

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The Washington Post's liveblog of developments in the Francis Scott Key bridge collapse is here: “Divers recovered the bodies of two construction workers who died when a massive cargo ship struck and collapsed a Baltimore bridge, as investigators revealed Wednesday that hazardous material was leaking from breached containers on the stranded vessel and state and federal lawmakers rushed to begin the recovery from the disaster that crippled the Port of Baltimore. Rescue crews found the victims shortly before 10 a.m. trapped in a red pickup truck in about 25 feet of water in the Patapsco River near the mid-span of the hulking wreck of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, Maryland State Police Secretary Roland L. Butler Jr. said at a news conference. The conditions were treacherous for the divers, so Butler said they were suspending the search for the bodies of four other construction workers who plunged to their deaths when the container ship in distress struck the bridge shortly before 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, causing it to fall.

“The workers are believed to be the only victims in the disaster.... The victims recovered were identified as Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, 35, of Baltimore, and Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, 26, of Dundalk, Md. Other victims identified Wednesday were Maynor Suazo Sandoval, 38, from Honduras, and Miguel Luna, from El Salvador, who was the father of three. The names of the remaining two victims have not been released.” ~~~

~~~ CNN's live updates are here.

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

Washington Post: “As a cargo ship the size of a skyscraper drifted dangerously close to a major Baltimore bridge that carried more than 30,000 cars a day, the crew of the Dali issued an urgent 'mayday,' hoping to avert disaster Tuesday. First responders sprang into action, shutting down most traffic on the four-lane Francis Scott Key Bridge just before the 95,000 gross-ton vessel plowed into a bridge piling at about 1:30 a.m., causing multiple sections of the span to bow and snap in a harrowing scene captured on video.... Maryland Gov. Wes Moore (D) hailed those who carried out the quick work as 'heroes' and said they saved lives, but the scale of the destruction was catastrophic and will probably have far-reaching impacts for the economy and travel on the East Coast for months to come.” ~~~

     ~~~ The New York Times' live updates are here. CNN's live updates are here. ~~~

     ~~~ A Washington Post liveblog of developments is here: “Six people [-- bridge construction workers --] were presumed dead Tuesday evening, authorities announced as they shifted from a search and rescue operation to a recovery effort.... The governor declared a state of emergency, and Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott (D) announced that the city has deployed its emergency operations plan. Vessel traffic into and out of the Port of Baltimore was 'suspended until further notice.'”

Public Service Announcement

The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

The Hollywood Reporter has the full list of 2024 Oscar winners here.

Ryan Gosling performs "I'm Just Ken" at the Academy Awards: ~~~

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

CNN: “Jon Stewart is heading back to 'The Daily Show.' The comedian, who during his 16-year run as host of the Comedy Central program established it as an entertainment and cultural force, will return to host the show each week on Mondays starting February 12, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios announced Wednesday. Stewart, who returns as the 2024 presidential election season heats up, will also executive produce the show and work with a rotating line-up of comedians who will helm the program the rest of the week, Tuesdays through Thursdays.”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

Contact Marie

Click on this link to e-mail Marie.

Monday
Jun072010

Recalling D-Day

Constant Weader: I've been listening to my Uncle Frank Waterhouse's war stories for close to 60 years, but the first time I knew he saw action on D-Day was a few years ago, when I took an oral history from him about another war in which he served. His mention of his D-Day service was, astoundingly, sort of an "aside." Frank served in the Army Air Force & Air Force for 20 years, he set at least one flying record (probably more, but he's never mentioned any others) & was a SAC test pilot. He lives in Washington state.


Frank flew four or five missions before D-Day, bombing inside of France.  On D-Day, Frank’s crew took off at 2 a.m. in a formation of 36 B-24s.   Frank, who was the co-pilot, and the pilot, named Beckham, thought they were following the lead element.  But “when the sun came up, we didn’t see anybody; we couldn’t find our group.  We had been following a light, but the light was some other group.  It’s a wonder a whole mess of people didn’t run into each other that night.  We unloaded our bombs after daylight close behind the lines.”  Frank was 19 years old on D-Day. 

 “In later missions, we went to Munich, and to Ulm, which we bombed three days in a row.  On one mission, we started to go to Berlin, but the weather was bad.  One time we hit an oil storage facility – there was smoke and fire up to our altitude.”

 Despite the months of training in the States, it seems the Army Air Force shorted the pilots on some pretty basic training – like how to land the planes they were to fly into combat.  Frank said, “In Boise, they had allowed me to try one landing, which I did with an instructor who had ultimate control of the plane.  I really couldn’t tell who landed that plane – he or I.  That was my only landing before I got to England.  In England, I did some test runs of the B-24 so I could get some landings in.  I made maybe four or five landings on tests.”

Groups who had arrived before Frank’s had a requirement of 25 missions.  The famous Memphis Belle (a B-17) flew with Frank’s group on one mission:  “she hadn’t got her 25 by then.”  As American forces “broke the Germans’ back” and their air defenses “weren’t as severe, they extended the tours to 30 missions.  But the German ack-ack had radar, and when we would make evasive maneuvers the ack-ack would start.” 

The formation of 36 planes had four “elements,” with one flying above, one below to the left, one below to the right and one behind.  “When you’re in the lower left element the pilot couldn’t see the lead, so it was up to the co-pilot to fly the plane and the pilot would relieve me temporarily.  I didn’t have to worry about being cold because I was sweating so much.

“But it was cold.  We wore heated gloves and heated boots.  We called our seats coffin seats; they were shaped like a coffin top facing forward so we could see where to fly.  They protected us underneath and behind, but we wore flak suits on our chests and helmets like ground soldiers to protect us from German ack-ack.  One day we were flying a mission near Paris and I thought I’d been hit.  I shouted to Beckham, ‘I think I’ve been hit.’  But I hadn’t been hit at all.  A heated glove had shorted out.

“The German ack-ack would follow us.  Unless you were the lead ship, they didn’t use a navigator, so our navigator became the lead bombardier.  The others would drop their bombs when he dropped his.  On a mission to Hamburg, the ack-ack was coming within two feet of the nose and I couldn’t tell what was going on in the rear.  I called to Finley, a bombardier, who was a Texan, ‘Are you okay, Finley?’  He didn’t answer, and I kept calling.  Finally I heard, ‘Shut up, Waterhouse.’  Finley was okay.

“I don’t think our plane was ever actually hit.

“After awhile, they upped the tours to 35 missions.  Toward the end of my tour, the rest of the crew went home except Johnson, who was the navigator, and me.  I flew with another crew and a pilot named Bruland.  He was shot down after I left, but I later found him listed as a member of the Second Air Division, so he made it.  In formation, we led the lower left element.  Flying the lead in a lower element was called ‘flying with your head up.’  On my military record there’s a little blurb that says, ‘Element lead on 20 missions.’"