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The Ledes

Thursday, April 25, 2024

CNN: “The US economy cooled more than expected in the first quarter of the year, but remained healthy by historical standards. Economic growth has slowed steadily over the past 12 months, which bodes well for lower interest rates, but the Federal Reserve has made it clear it’s in no rush to cut rates.”

The Wires
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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

"Countless studies have shown that people who spend less time in nature die younger and suffer higher rates of mental and physical ailments." So this Washington Post page allows you to check your own area to see how good your access to nature is.

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[.]”

~~~ 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.

Page Links
Tuesday
Nov302010

The Commentariat -- December 1

Politico: "House Republicans will scrap the committee set up by Speaker Nancy Pelosi to investigate global warming, the panel’s top Republican announced Wednesday. Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.) made official what many had already expected — the GOP majority will axe the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming...."

Bloomberg News: "The Federal Reserve, under orders from Congress, today named the counterparties of about 21,000 transactions from $3.3 trillion in aid provided to stem the worst financial panic since the Great Depression." ...

New York Times: "The Obama administration is rescinding its decision to expand offshore oil exploration into the eastern Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic Coast because of the BP oil spill, administration officials said Tuesday."

President Obama meets with Gen. Colin Powell:

Bruce Bartlett of Capital Gains & Games on an "important" economic speech by Republican Rep. Mike Pence, who is likely to run for governor of Indiana: "Pence's speech ... was a hackneyed rehash of every simplistic idea ever floated on Larry Kudlow's TV show, which appears to be the only source of information Pence has on the economy. I don't know how else to explain his obsession with inflation, a strong dollar, Fed bashing, tax cuts and the gold standard."

Sen. Chris Dodd sings his swan song:

Politics as Criminal Exercise. Michael Scherer of Time on the Tom DeLay verdict: "In Washington, it is widely assumed that the difference between bribery and proper business practices is not being stupid: Don't write down any evidence of a quid pro quo. Always maintain plausible deniability. Always maintain that financial backscratching is a result of deep respect, mutual admiration and altruism, not transactional value."

Shailagh Murray & Perry Bacon of the Washington Post on yesterday White House meeting with Congressional leaders: "... according to people in the room, both sides engaged in the kind of cross-party dealmaking that seems to have faded away in today's Washington. The participants emerged smiling and with a loose framework - though they did not outline it publicly - that could result in the temporary extension of all the tax cuts, as well as the ratification of a nuclear arms treaty with Russia, the continuation of unemployment benefits and funding for government operations into next year." ...

... Dana Milbank was less impressed with the non-results: "Boehner, in his news conference, wasn't unduly optimistic as he explained: 'We had a very nice meeting today. Of course, we've had a lot of very nice meetings....' That was about the time Obama began his competing statement, which included a lament about the 'hyperpartisan climate' in which 'both sides come to the table. They read their talking points. Then they head out to the microphones, trying to win the news cycle instead of solving problems.' Obama called that 'a game that we can't afford.' The statement might have carried more weight if Obama hadn't just preempted his opponents' news conference." ...

... So was David Leonhardt of the New York Times: "Much of the recent commentary about the tax cuts has skipped over this political reality." Leonhardt goes into what the limited Democratic options are, but his bottom line is that -- once again -- they will cave to Republicans. ...

... Sam Stein: Obama outsources negotiations with Republicans, Democrats are in their usual disarray & Schumer touts his million-dollar deal.

... Let's factor in this AP story in today's news: "Senate Republicans intend to block action on virtually all Democratic-backed legislation unrelated to tax cuts and government spending in the current postelection session of Congress." ...

     ... Update: here's the Republican leaders' hostage letter, now signed by all 42 Senate Republicans.

... Jena McGregor of the Washington Post: "Never mind that Senate Republicans have obstinately fought most Democratic legislation for the past two years already. Now they want to make it official. Whether it's a political gimmick or a real effort to force a focus on urgent deadlines, the letter sets aside a reality of productive leadership we expect from the people we elect."

Jackie Calmes & Peter Baker of the New York Times: "The chairmen of President Obama’s debt-reduction commission have been unable to win support from any of the panel’s elected officials for their proposed spending cuts and tax increases, underscoring the reluctance of both parties to risk short-term political backlash in pursuit of the nation’s long-term fiscal health. The chairmen of the commission ... delayed for two days, until Friday, a final vote by its 18 members."...

     ... Here's a pdf of the report, via Firedoglake.

     ... AP Update: "A tough new cost-cutting playbook submitted by the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's deficit commission has been embraced by Sens. Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg, the first two elected officials to endorse it."

... Paul Krugman: "Bowles-Simpson, the revision, is out. It has not improved." ...

... Matt Yglesias: "Surely the strangest thing about the Bowles-Simpson debt reduction plan is that, relative to current law, it . . . increases the public debt load over the next ten years.... Barack Obama saying 'I will veto any laws that increase the deficit relative to current law' would do more to reduce the debt over the next 2 or 6 years than would adopting Simpson-Bowles."

Richard Stengel of Time interviews Julian Assange. ...

... Glenn Greenwald on the attacks on WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. ...

... Edward Djerjian & Christoper Bronk of Foreign Policy: "While the Times has worked with the Obama administration to remove information of potential harm to national security, unredacted release of the cables by WikiLeaks may hold a cost measured in lives.... The leak of U.S. diplomatic cables may well produce an environment in which American diplomats will be shut out of confidential exchanges and the decision-making processes of U.S. allies and friends around the globe."

Millionaires Club, Washington Chapter. Erika Lovely & Jake Sherman of Politico: more than a quarter of the new Republicans coming to Congress are millionaires.

George W. Bush, in a Washington Post op-ed, recounts progress, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, on the U.S.'s fight against AIDS but says more must be done.

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