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The Ledes

Thursday, April 18, 2024

Washington Post: “Indonesia’s Mount Ruang has erupted at least three times this week, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of people. On Wednesday evening local time, the volcano’s eruption shot ash nearly 70,000 feet high, possibly spewing aerosols into the stratosphere, the atmosphere’s second layer.” Includes spectacular imagery.

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

"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.

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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."

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