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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
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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.

Saturday
Feb082014

The Commentariat -- Feb. 9, 2014

Matt Apuzzo of the New York Times: "The federal government will soon treat married same-sex couples the same as heterosexual couples when they file for bankruptcy, testify in court or visit family in prison. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. was preparing to issue policies aimed at eliminating the distinction between same-sex and opposite-sex married couples in the federal criminal justice system, according to excerpts from a speech prepared for a Saturday event organized by a prominent gay-rights group."

David Sanger & Eric Schmitt of the New York Times: "Intelligence officials investigating how Edward J. Snowden gained access to roughly 1.7 million of the country's most highly classified documents say they have determined that he used inexpensive and widely available software to 'scrape' the National Security Agency's networks, and kept at it even after he was briefly challenged by agency officials. Using 'web crawler' software designed to search, index and back up a website, Mr. Snowden 'scraped data out of our systems' while he went about his day job, according to a senior intelligence official.... Mr. Snowden's 'insider attack' ... was hardly sophisticated and should have been easily detected, investigators found." CW: Fascinating. I liked the part about the NSA "granting anonymity" to the Times' sources.

Dana Milbank on "immoral" conservatism.

CW: This Washington Post story, by Sandhya Somashekhar, features two people who quit their jobs & are now getting subsidized health insurance. Somashekhar presents them as nice people who quit because of (1) a change of job duties & (2) a family illness. I'm just waiting for the Fox "News" stories about deadbeats & layabouts.

Sharon Begley & Julie Steenhuysen of Reuters: "Hundreds of people with HIV/AIDS in Louisiana trying to obtain coverage under President Barack Obama's healthcare reform are in danger of being thrown out of the insurance plan they selected in a dispute over federal subsidies and the interpretation of federal rules about preventing Obamacare fraud. Some healthcare advocates see discrimination in the move, but Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana says it is not trying to keep people with HIV/AIDS from enrolling in one of its policies under the Affordable Care Act...." ...

     ... CW: This seems like one of those inevitable glitches -- though obviously it doesn't feel like a mere glitch to the people affected -- that the bureaucrats & insurance companies should be able to work out. The question is, is there a mechanism for dealing with these kinds of problems? If so, it hasn't worked here yet.

Follow-up. Ha! Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "AOL chief executive Tim Armstrong told employees in an e-mail Saturday evening that he was reversing the company's 401(k) policy and apologized for his controversial comments last week.... The policy change would have switched 401(k) matching contributions to an annual lump sum, rather than being distributed throughout the year with every paycheck.... Armstrong tried to explain the changes Thursday but instead stirred up more bad publicity when he blamed the new federal health-care law and medical expenses associated with two 'distressed babies.'"

Slate has a world map showing Obama's 2nd-term nominees for ambassadorships which indicates how much many of the nominees contributed to Obama's campaign coffers.

Here's a reminder from George Will that George Will is creepier than David Brooks.

CW: This New York Times story, by Adam Nossiter, about the harsh treatment of gays in Nigeria, is hardly news (though a new, horrible anti-gay law just went into effect last month). I wonder why the U.N. & countries like, say, the U.S., don't sanction Nigeria in the same way we did South Africa during apartheid days. After all, the apartheid government didn't imprison or stone people for being black. According to the Nossiter story, a Pew Research survey found that 98 percent of Nigerians say homosexuality is "unacceptable." (Yeah, I guess they would say that or fear being "suspect.") You don't have to "accept" someone else's sexuality to treat him humanely. ...

     ... BTW, this story provides a good example of what happens when a country allows religious beliefs to trump human rights. Those self-righteous Little Sisters who won't even sign a form saying they object to contraception should give a little thought to the consequences of their fervor.

... Steve Benen argues that Republicans aren't necessary ignorant & loony; they just tell pollsters they hold ignorant & loony views because of "political tribalism in a period of stark polarization."

Kaitlynn Riely of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: "A nun who worked for five years as a registered nurse at the Allegheny County[, Pennsylvania] Jail infirmary was fired last week for spearheading unionization efforts, an organizer for the United Steelworkers union said Monday. Sister Barbara Finch, a Sister of St. Joseph of Baden, had her security clearances revoked and was dismissed from her job Thursday after she expressed concerns about staffing, safety issues and patient care during meetings at the jail, said Randa Ruge, the union organizer.... The Steelworkers union on Friday filed an unfair labor practice charge against Corizon Health Inc., the Tennessee-based firm that manages county jail health services. The charge, sent to the National Labor Relation Board, is that Corizon dismissed her in retaliation for participating in union activities." Via Steve Benen. CW: Also, Finch appears to be another victim of privatization. This is not to suggest that Allegheny County loves public unions, but they have one. And another one.

Reuters: "A Tennessee judge who ordered a baby's name changed from Messiah to Martin, saying the former was reserved for Jesus Christ, has been fired, court officials said on Tuesday.... O. Duane Slone, presiding judge of the state's fourth judicial district..., did not give a reason in his order, but [Lu Ann] Ballew had previously been cited by the Tennessee Board of Judicial Conduct for an inappropriate religious bias. A hearing is scheduled for March 3.... The parents appealed [Ballew's order], and another judge held that Ballew's ruling was unconstitutional." Also via Benen.

News Lede

CNN: "Two [Brooklyn] men behind bars for more than half their lives over a triple murder walked free this week after DNA evidence tore holes in their convictions. Antonio Yarbough and Sharrif Wilson were teenagers when prison doors clanked shut behind them."

Reader Comments (7)

Merkel is outraged because a US diplomat said "Fuck the EU." Greece smiles.

February 8, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

@Re: George Will. I guess there's point in that column, but I can't seem to find it. So is he saying it won't end in Syria until someone wins? Duh!

Like most Will columns, it's random facts and opinions loosely strung together.

February 8, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

In the Will piece he also has a historical paragraph which only seeks to tie the name Cromwell to anything Obama. If he could have found a way to tie Shoeless Joe Jackson to Barry O he would have. There is always Chicago....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/new-law-offers-a-sliver-of-protection-to-abused-native-american-women/2014/02/08/0466d1ae-8f73-11e3-84e1-27626c5ef5fb_story.html?hpid=z4. God is this depressing. The ineptitude of the legal system is truly amazing. Where are the masters of the universe who are smarter than everyone when money is involved? Lawyers have done well to create the myth of their superiority and here in America, and especially in Alaska, you can rape and beat women and children and get away with it. Maybe the legal paragons can get off their asses and fix this shit once and for all.

This is exactly why the disfunction in Indian Country never ends: boozing rapists and abusers come back again and again and again and continuously fuck up their own families and communities. And the only time there are consequences is when the assholes mess with a white woman or white people.

February 9, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterCitizen625

Your Sunday report from regions hitherto known as Lie-a-stan (now known as Fox News).

I caught a brief glimpse of the first minute of Fox News Sunday this morning (had to switch it off before I turned to stone) during which Fox Robo-dick Chris Wallace breathlessly (is there any other mode on Fox?) teased an upcoming report on how Barack Obama's plan to defraud and murder Americans (the ACA) was going to cost the country 2.5 million jobs!!!! Five days after that canard was shot dead and left bleeding just outside Wingnut city limits, rejected, dejectedly, even by such opportunistic lying pieces of rotting dung like Paul Ryan.

These are the guys who, five days after the events at Appomattox Courthouse, would have been reporting a glorious victory by the forces in support of enslaving other human beings and calling it states' rights. The guys who, a week after Joseph Welch had beaten Charlie McCarthy (or was it "Joe"?) to a bloody, lying pulp, would be breathlessly reporting that the country was feverishly supporting continued GOP witch hunts, and the guys who reported that Peyton Manning had performed flawlessly during the most recent Super Bowl and should be inducted, immediately into the Hall of Fame.

Yeah, yeah, I read that Frank Rich article about how we ought to just ignore these rusty douche clamps but there are still millions of people who listen intently and memorize everything that drools out of a Foxbot's piehole.

February 9, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

So yesterday I attended a rodeo in my blood red state. Holeeeee shit.

You want to know how people in these places see the world, see America, see US, on a daily basis? Up close and personal?

The rodeo announcer, not 15 seconds into the opening, began screaming--screaming--about "those people" in Washington who won't allow "real Americans" to enjoy FREEEEEDOM, who work day and night to make sure that our children caint PRAY in PUBLIC SCHOOLS!!!!!!!!! (HUUUGGGE applause).

And so, in order to show those unAmerican, satan worshipping, Kenyan bastards in Washington what Real Americans Think About their Commie Ways....we're all going to bow our heads now and for the next five minutes, pray to Jesus, and recite the Cowboys' Prayer, just to show those assholes what Real Americans think of them. I was not one of them, but I'm pretty sure that out of thousands, I was the only one.

I kid you not, boys and girls.

And I'm guessing that if this happens in a rinky-dink red state rodeo, it must happen thousands of times a day in other hate-filled venues.

What I wanted to stand up and scream, but didn't, because I need my job, was that it's not anyone in Washington who is preventing their kids from saying "Praise Jesus" in school, it's Jefferson, and Jay, and Madison, and Washington, and Franklin, and Adams, and....

Several other routine incidents gave this entire show a sickeningly reddish patina. For one thing, the rodeo clown's schtick was composed--almost exclusively--of snickering misogyny. Plenty of jokes about fat, ugly, stupid, untalented, unreliable, bitchy women (even more sickening were the women who laughed uncontrollably at these displays, as if these macho-mook retarded jokes reflected normalcy).

Then there were the lovely displays of shooting people which were presented as commonplace and funny, something that sends shivers up the spine when one considers that, very likely, a huge percentage of the families in attendance have loaded, accessible weapons in their homes. Ho-ho. Soooo fucking funny you Wyatt Earp motherfuckers. Let's just fucking shoot people for the hell of it.

This is the America you don't see, even on Fox. But it's the America that Fox (and the GOP) supports and craves. A country where anyone different from who they conceive to be Real Americans is not welcome. An America where women are punch lines. Where minorities don't exist, where the most basic tenets of the Constitution are ignored in favor of Christian Hegemony, and where, despite the fact that they control vast spaces of America, Christians see themselves as a combination of rulers and victims.

Ride 'em cowboy, motherfuckers.

February 9, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

I’d like to say that I’ve been to a rodeo or three. I bought/owned a sheep ranch once. It was in an area where most of the inhabitants were yokels, that is folks who had been there, and only there, for any number of years, maybe generations.

One of the local entertainments was a rodeo. A local cattle and horse rancher built bleacher seats on two sides of his corral. He invited neighborhood kids to come and break his newborn horses. He invited neighborhood adults to come and watch. We did; it was a show far more humane than any super bowl. It was a show about kids learning about animals.

During the years that I raised sheep for slaughter, I often went to the Red Bluff Roundup, one of the signature (say what?) professional rodeos. Most of the contestants were Mexican churros, cowboys. There was no overt discontent.

February 9, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

yay, Red Bluff!! loved the rodeo!!
at the Redding rodeo, I had a primal experience when I realized that the bull riders only had to stay on those bulls for 8 seconds. That meant the bull always won! I was having images of the bull jumpers in Crete, etc. It was beautiful! At the end of the event, one of those tabaccy chewing cow pokes looked at me and said, "Well, I thought you wuz one of them PETA people the way you wuz staring at them bulls there."
Ak, sometimes it's really simple.
At the rodeos I went to, it was all about how long the guys could hold on. An them purty little gals in the barrel races.
I think the bigoted changes are recent.

February 9, 2014 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria
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