White House Live Video, September 3

The White House has not yet scheduled live feeds today.

*********************************************

Thursday, September 2, 2010.

Times-Picayune: "The Coast Guard is responding to a report of a rig explosion and fire 'and people in the water' in the Gulf of Mexico south of Vermilion Bay, authorities said.... In an interview with CNN, Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Colclough said there were 13 people on the rig and that all were accounted for."

Gee, Good News. Bloomberg News: (1) jobless claims decreased last week; (2) pending sales of existing homes unexpectedly increased in July; & (3) August retail sales were higher than expected.

More Good News? Washington Post: Elizabeth Warren cancelled teaching her class at Harvard "at the last minute." So maybe she got another gig?

New York Times: "Israeli and Palestinian leaders were to open direct peace negotiations Thursday.... The talks are to be held at the State Department ... under the eye of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. The negotiations follow a remarkable tableau at the White House Wednesday night, where President Obama, flanked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, vowed to do everything within his power in the next year to achieve the comprehensive agreement that has eluded negotiators since Israel was established." ...

     ... Update: C-SPAN has video of the leaders' remarks here.

Washington Post: "Hurricane Earl swirled toward the East Coast on Wednesday with treacherous winds and driving rain, forcing thousands of vacationers to evacuate parts of the Outer Banks and setting in motion a flurry of preparations to minimize damage as far north as Maine."

     ... Here's an NBC update. AND The Lede is posting regular updates here.

This Is Disgusting. McClatchy News: "... a small but growing number of moderate Democrats are balking at boosting taxes on the rich. Many face electorates that recoil at the mention of any tax increase. Some represent areas that are loaded with wealthier taxpayers. Further, some incumbent senators who don't face voters this fall are reluctant to increase taxes on anyone while the economy remains sluggish. Without their support, the push to raise rates on the rich probably will fail."

AP: an engineers continue to work on the spill cap & other devices at the site of BP's massive oil gusher, new leaks could occur. ...

... Reuters: U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman "rejected the U.S. government's request to dismiss an industry lawsuit challenging its deepwater oil and gas drilling moratorium, dealing another blow to the Obama administration." Feldman had earlier lifted the government's drilling ban, & yesterday he rejected a reworked ban.

Washington Post: "The news of a gunman at the Discovery Channel's headquarters in Silver Spring" did not come "through radio, TV or newspaper Web sites, at least not at first.... The story unfolded first in hiccupping fits and starts on Twitter...." This photo of the gunman in the Discovery complex first appeared on this Twitter page:

A behind-the-scenes look at President Obama, visiting troops at Fort Bliss, Texas:

President Obama on launching the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks:

Vice President Biden speaks at the change of command ceremony in Iraq:

President Obama & PM Netanyahu condemn the "senseless slaughter" of Israeli settlers:

Wednesday, September 1, 2010.

President Obama will hold separate meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Jordan's King Abdullah II & Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak today. He will make a statement to the press at 5:20 pm ET & the visiting leaders will make statements at 7:00 pm ET. Washington Post story here. ...

      ... ABC News: "... George Mitchell..., President Obama’s US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace, briefed reporters earlier [Tuesday] on the kick-off of direct peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the goal of which is a two-state solution...."

      ... New York Times Update: "President Obama on Wednesday began the arduous process of coaxing and pressing the key Middle East participants to define and embrace a comprehensive peace settlement, opening a series of meetings here with a one-on-one session with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.... But Mr. Obama’s meeting with Mr. Netanyahu in the White House Oval Office — to be followed by meetings between the president and, successively, the President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and Jordanian and Egyptian leaders — began under the cloud of a violent attack Tuesday on the West Bank, claimed by Hamas militants, that left four Israeli settlers dead."

New York Times: "The United States began a fragile new era in its turbulent history with Iraq on Wednesday as American political and military leaders marked the official end of combat operations but acknowledged that a difficult milestone, the creation of a new coalition Iraqi government, was not yet in reach."

New York Times: Hurricane Earl remains a Category 4 storm & is expected to pass by North Carolina tomorrow. North Carolina & Cape Cod are expected to be the hardest hit, though it is unlikely the eye will actually make landfall.

BBC News: "At least six civilians were among about 45 people reported killed in Pakistani military air strikes targeting militants in the north-west.... According to officials, Pakistani jets and helicopters pounded targets in the Tirah valley from where suicide attacks were being prepared. It is hard to check the claims as the area is largely inaccessible to media."

Washington Post: "Federal domestic spending increased a record 16 percent to $3.2 trillion in 2009, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday, largely because of a boost in aid to the unemployed and the huge economic stimulus package enacted to rescue the sinking economy."

New York Times: "Fourteen Nobel laureates have signed a letter supporting President Obama’s proposed strategy for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and criticizing a NASA authorization bill under consideration in the House of Representatives."

AP: "A senior Swedish prosecutor reopened a rape investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange on Wednesday, the latest twist to a puzzling case in which prosecutors of different ranks have overruled each other. Assange has denied the allegations...."

Washington Post: "Prices for single-family homes in major U.S. cities rose a modest 4.2 percent in June from a year earlier, but economists cautioned that the bounce was likely due to a now-expired home-buyer tax credit and that prices would likely fall, perhaps dramatically, in the coming months."

New York Times: "Jeff Greene, a Florida real estate developer who lost one of the year’s most bitter and closely watched primary elections, is preparing to sue The St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald for libel, claiming that articles they published cost him his bid for the United States Senate."

Politico: "... The Democratic Governors Association says it's raised $1 million off appeals pegged to News Corp.'s contribution to the Republican Governors Association and asks for more. The campaign is a mark of Fox's role, for Democrats, as a media bogeyman hated enough to make a good fundraising tool."

The President's Weekly Address, August 28

AP story here. AND here's the transcript.

Peter Boyer & Jeffrey Toobin of The New Yorker discuss the ruling against Obama's stem-cell policy (CW: the volume control is to the right):

***************************************************

New York Times: video pirates turn into money-makers for YouTube/Google as copyright owners choose to place their ads alongside pirated videos.

Politico's late-night jokes:

New York Times: "On Wednesday Sony will introduce a new line of e-readers and applications for iPhones and Android phones. Sony has updated each of its three e-readers. The Reader Pocket Edition, with its five-inch screen, weighs less than many of its competitors. The Reader Touch Edition has a six-inch screen and the Reader Daily Edition is the biggest of the bunch at seven inches."

The New York Times has Emmy red carpet pix here. Some of the actors wore fairly funny dresses, tho I don't think they were necessarily in on the jokes.

On the red carpet at the Emmys. Actors & reality TV personalities Brooke Burke, Julie Benz, Kim Kardashian & Eva La Rue. Getty images. CLICK TO SEE LARGER IMAGE.The New York Times liveblogged the Emmys. Update: the Los Angeles Times has the Emmy Award winners here. The New York Times has the list of winners.

Here's Politico's rundown of the Sunday talk show guests, a potpourri that includes Brad Pitt. Politico liveblogs the Sunday shows. ...

     ... Update: but, as usual, Driftglass does a better job of getting to the heart of the talking heads (because they do have hearts, off-camera), & he's way funnier.

Bob Dylan & Joan Baez, "When the Ship Comes In" and a snippet of "Only a Pawn in Their Game," March on Washington, 1963. The most affecting moment for me is the shot of the man in the crowd taking off his hat in the midday sun out of respect for Medgar Evers:

Fox and Friends. In TruthDig, Bill Boyarsky compares Fox "News" to "... a daily tea party rally, hour after hour of right-wing Republicanism, only the audience is at home, in front of television screens, steaming about Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats." It's effective, too, especially when aided & abetted by Fox-friendly billionaires, their contributions flowing freely, thanks to the Citizens United decision.

AP: "Police arrested Paris Hilton on cocaine posession charges late Friday night after stopping the car she was in on a Las Vegas street...." ...

     ... Fumes. Still leading the AP news, this thrilling update: "Paris Hilton's latest run-in with the law began when a motorcycle officer got a whiff of suspicious smoke emanating from a Cadillac on the Las Vegas Strip." ...

... Taiwanese edition. Ignore the subtitles. They ruin the story:

     ... Thanks to New York Times reader Robert Bolt of Calgary for highlighting tracking down important news report.

AP: "Levi Johnston, the father of Sarah Palin's grandson, says he wishes he hadn't apologized for telling lies about the former Alaska governor because he's 'never lied about anything.'" Update: here's the compelling video (not that I actually watched it):

AP: USA Today announced it would lay off about 130 staff this fall. Publisher Dave Hunke says the layoffs are part of a transformation designed "to deliver stories more quickly to mobile devices and produce more coverage likely to sell advertising." CW: so USA Today is going to be even worse.

AP, August 26: "One in 10 American households with a mortgage was at risk of foreclosure this summer as the government's efforts to help have had little impact stemming the housing crisis. About 9.9 percent of homeowners had missed at least one mortgage payment as of June 30, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday." New York Times story here. ...

... AP, August 26: "Mortgage rates fell to the lowest level in decades for the ninth time in 10 weeks, as concerns grow that the economy is weakening."

Contact the Constant Weader

To offer suggestions or to comment on Reality Chex content, click on this link to e-mail the Constant Weader.