The Ledes

Monday, May 28, 2012.

New York Times: "Kofi Annan, the United Nations special envoy for Syria, arrived Monday in Damascus, where he expressed horror at the massacre of more than 100 villagers in Houla and urged both sides to stop fighting."

AP: "American missiles killed five suspected Islamist militants close to the Afghan border, the latest in a barrage of attacks that show Washington is ignoring Islamabad's demands it halt the strikes, Pakistani officials said Monday."

Guardian: "Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of being behind the biggest leak of state secrets in US history, is being denied a fair trial because the army is withholding from him crucial information that might prove his innocence or reduce his sentence, his defence team is arguing. With Manning's court-martial approaching in September, his legal team has released details of what they claim is a shocking lack of diligence on the part of the military prosecutors in affording him his basic constitutional rights." CW: I'd link to the New York Times story on this -- but there isn't one.

AP: "Former Prime Minister Tony Blair testified Monday he never challenged the influential British press because doing so would have plunged his administration in a drawn-out and politically damaging fight." ...

... New York Times: "An antiwar protester broke into Britain’s long-running judicial inquiry into press ethics through a supposedly secure corridor on Monday as former Prime Minister Tony Blair was giving evidence, accusing him of being in the pay of JPMorgan Chase bank when he sent British soldiers in support of American troops during the 2003 invasion of Iraq."

Washington Post: 'In recent weeks, investigators working in four countries have amassed new evidence tying the disparate assassination attempts [on U.S. officials] to one another and linking all of them to either Iran-backed Hezbollah militants or operatives based inside Iran, according to U.S. and Middle Eastern security officials. An official report last month summarizing the evidence cited phone records, forensic tests, coordinated travel arrangements and even cellphone SIM cards purchased in Iran and used by several of the would-be assailants, said two officials who have seen the six-page document."

AP: "One of the Vatican’s biggest scandals in decades appears to be widening with reports that an Italian cardinal may be involved in a power struggle involving leaked documents, corruption and intrigue. The pope’s butler, who has been arrested in the scandal, has pledged to cooperate in the probe."

The Ledes

Sunday, May 27, 2012.

New York Times: "The National Labor Relations Board announced on Sunday that one of its five members, Terence F. Flynn, had resigned after the board’s inspector general found that Mr. Flynn, a Republican, leaked documents to G.O.P. allies."

New York Times: "The United Nations Security Council on Sunday unanimously condemned the Syrian government for its role in the massacre of at least 108 villagers, with new details emerging from international observers that appeared to prompt rare Russian cooperation in criticizing its ally in Damascus."

White House Live Video -- May 28  

10:00 am ET: Vice President Biden delivers the commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York (audio only)

11:00 am ET: President Obama participates in a wreath-laying ceremony at the the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington, Virginia

11:20 am ET: President Obama speaks at the Memorial Ampitheater in Arlington National Cemetery

1:50 pm ET: President Obama speaks at the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War commemoration ceremony at the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

If you don't see the livefeed here, go to WhiteHouse.gov/live.

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

Supersize these (and The Proposal, below):

Joe Hagan in New York magazine: Sex, money, intrigue and the New York Times.

Politico has the Sunday talkshow lineup. ...

     ... Update: I leave the recap to the incomparable Driftglass. He does a terrific job on everybody's favorite "American Idol" star David Gregory. If you'd like to know why Middle America votes for Republicans, look no further than "Press the Meat."

One hilarious, fabulous marriage proposal, via Hanna Rosin of Slate:

The New York Times has a feature on Priscilla Chan, the wife of Mark Zuckerberg.

New York Times: "The Times-Picayune, a 175-year-old fixture in New Orleans and a symbol of the city’s gritty resilience during Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, has buckled under the pressures of the modern newspaper market. Advance Publications, owned by the Newhouse family, said Thursday it would scale back the printed edition to three days a week and impose staff cuts as a way to reduce costs as well as shift its emphasis to expanded online coverage. The decision will leave New Orleans as the most prominent American city without a newspaper that is printed every day." The Times-Picayune's statement is here.

Politico's Late Nite Jokes:

American Idol 2012 season winner Phillip Phillips performs "Bad Moon Rising" with John Fogerty:


Erik Wemple of the Washington Post with some thoughts on New York Times public editor Art Brisbane, who will be leaving his job in September.

Mick Jagger answers FAQs:

Dylan Byers of Politico: bookers on the Sunday shows won't say why they will not book Norm Ornstein & Thomas Mann, who have written a book blaming Republicans for being the primary Congressional obstructionists. ...

... Paul Krugman: "When future historians write about the fall of the American Republic, they will of course lay primary blame on the extremists of the right, who set out deliberately to destroy it. But they will also lay heavy blame on all the 'centrists' and Serious People who not only refused to admit what was happening, but ostracized and silenced anyone who tried to point it out."

Charles Pierce: "Your elite political press: a whorehouse with 500 piano players."

Paper Trail

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Dec252011

December 22 & Etc. (Con'd.)

I can't figure out how to re-enable comments on our continuing thread, so if you want to comment, you can do so here.

Happy Holiday, Everybody! And thank you to every one of you who has contributed here over the past six months. It's been a joy.

Marie

Comments Off |

Reader Comments (6)

@Marie

Merry Christmas and a very happy Holidays to you and all the people that are yours!

Thank you for sharing your brain with us.

Peace,
Isaiah

December 25, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterIsaiah Earhart

@Marie: Many thanks for all the info that we can't get anywhere else; I'm one of those who are limited to 20 clicks per month on the NY Times, then it's pay up or get out.
@JJG: Marie gave you my Christmas song last week and I need it back. "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la la. Don we now our GAY apparel, fa la la la la la". Except, not by Alvin and the chipmunks. Only by Il Divo will do. Ciao.

December 25, 2011 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris

It would be interesting to know if all of us got what we wanted for the Jesus birthday holiday. I actually wanted nothing, but people keep giving stuff that is inedible (I only want ingredients) and books are also acceptable. Just as an aside, as a child, I only coveted the Easy-Bake oven that my sister got, and I got a chemistry set. She never learned to cook. I do dinners for six, eight, ten, no problemo.
She orders out. And the worst of it is, I think she's one of those Georgia republicans. Ciao.

December 25, 2011 | Unregistered Commenterforrest morris

Pees on Earth, and in the immortal words of Frank Zappa: “Don’t eat the yellow snow”.

Evolutionary biology teaches us that, contrary to what was once thought (and is still thought in some circles), mankind is neither a deity-created unchanging presence nor some foreordained pinnacle of animal development, with an associated grant of dominion over the world.

Similarly, an honest reading of political history teaches us that, however much we might wish for a guarantee of progress in the general human condition, the arc of history guarantees only the passage of time, nothing more. As long as politics has been around, it has often been employed for the personal benefit of individuals and/or tribe, to the detriment of those much needier, and in hypocritical contravention of basic fairness and society’s supposed standards of morality. (Sometimes, the abuse of fellow man reaches extreme levels that are falsely termed “inhuman”, when in fact these abuses are all too often specifically human, simply not seen elsewhere in the animal kingdom).

Avoiding such destructive uses of politics and advancing the desirable ones requires an informed and moral citizenry, and I am thankful for sites such as this one, and for all the commenters at these sites, for helping all of us to avoid eating the “yellow snow” that is all too common in the political world.

Best wishes for the season and the New Year to everyone.

December 26, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterFred Drumlevitch

@Forest Morris; The song is yours, you wear it well. What's a good side dish with chipmunk stew?

December 26, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterJJG

@Fred; Frank was ahead of the curve, wasn't he? AND he played a mean guitar.

December 26, 2011 | Unregistered CommenterJJG
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