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Marie: Sorry, my countdown clock was unreliable; then it became completely unreliable. I can't keep up with it. Maybe I'll try another one later.
Public Service Announcement
Zoë Schlanger in the Atlantic: "Throw out your black plastic spatula. In a world of plastic consumer goods, avoiding the material entirely requires the fervor of a religious conversion. But getting rid of black plastic kitchen utensils is a low-stakes move, and worth it. Cooking with any plastic is a dubious enterprise, because heat encourages potentially harmful plastic compounds to migrate out of the polymers and potentially into the food. But, as Andrew Turner, a biochemist at the University of Plymouth recently told me, black plastic is particularly crucial to avoid." This is a gift link from laura h.
Mashable: "Following the 2024 presidential election results and [Elon] Musk's support for ... Donald Trump, users have been deactivating en masse. And this time, it appears most everyone has settled on one particular X alternative: Bluesky.... Bluesky has gained more than 100,000 new sign ups per day since the U.S. election on Nov. 5. It now has over 15 million users. It's enjoyed a prolonged stay on the very top of Apple's App Store charts as well. Ready to join? Here's how to get started on Bluesky[.]"
Washington Post: "Americans can again order free rapid coronavirus tests by mail, the Biden administration announced Thursday. People can request four free at-home tests per household through covidtests.gov. They will begin shipping Monday. The move comes ahead of an expected winter wave of coronavirus cases. The September revival of the free testing program is in line with the Biden administration’s strategy to respond to the coronavirus as part of a broader public health campaign to protect Americans from respiratory viruses, including influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), that surge every fall and winter. But free tests were not mailed during the summer wave, which wastewater surveillance data shows is now receding."
NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.
Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:
Back when the Washington Post had an owner/publisher who dared to stand up to a president:
Prime video is carrying the documentary. If you watch it, I suggest watching the Spielberg film "The Post" afterwards. There is currently a free copy (type "the post full movie" in the YouTube search box) on YouTube (or you can rent it on YouTube, on Prime & [I think] on Hulu). Near the end, Daniel Ellsberg (played by Matthew Rhys), says "I was struck in fact by the way President Johnson's reaction to these revelations was [that they were] 'close to treason,' because it reflected to me the sense that what was damaging to the reputation of a particular administration or a particular individual was in itself treason, which is very close to saying, 'I am the state.'" Sound familiar?
Out with the Black. In with the White. New York Times: “Lester Holt, the veteran NBC newscaster and anchor of the 'NBC Nightly News' over the last decade, announced on Monday that he will step down from the flagship evening newscast in the coming months. Mr. Holt told colleagues that he would remain at NBC, expanding his duties at 'Dateline,' where he serves as the show’s anchor.... He said that he would continue anchoring the evening news until 'the start of summer.' The network did not immediately name a successor.” ~~~
~~~ New York Times: “MSNBC said on Monday that Jen Psaki, the former White House press secretary who has become one of the most prominent hosts at the network, would anchor a nightly weekday show in prime time. Ms. Psaki, 46, will host a show at 9 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, replacing Alex Wagner, a longtime political journalist who has anchored that hour since 2022, according to a memo to staff from Rebecca Kutler, MSNBC’s president. Ms. Wagner will remain at MSNBC as an on-air correspondent. Rachel Maddow, MSNBC’s biggest star, has been anchoring the 9 p.m. hour on weeknights for the early days of ... [Donald] Trump’s administration but will return to hosting one night a week at the end of April.”
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
Saturday
Oct162010
How to Win a Candidates' Debate
Gail Collins writes that candidates’ college years should not be fair game for discussion in a political race.
Since my comment again didn't make the moderators' cut, here it is:
Just as Wolf declared Christine O'Donnell the "winner" because she didn't run sobbing from the room, so Jon Ralston -- the dean of Nevada political commentators -- called Sharron Angle the winner of her debate with Harry Reid, for the same reason. Neither Blitzer nor Ralston cared that his anointed "winner" was operating in a fact-free zone. Neither cared that the "loser" was actually conversant with the issues, had sensible ideas & had proved, after a fashion, that he knew how to govern.
Evidently the easiest way to win a political debate is to be a complete ditz. So how low IS the bar for these not-ready-for-primetime candidates? (Speaking of not-ready-for-primetime, O'Donnell was very proud of having been the subject of an SNL parody, & happily accused Chris Coons of being "jealous" of her star turn as an object of ridicule.)
Here, I guess, are the New Rules for Low-Expectation Candidates: (1) Show up. As I recall, Ms. Collins attended a candidate event in which Alaskan Joe Miller didn't appear till about half-way through the session -- hard to win if you're not in the room. (2) Smile. Sharron Angle said she smiled all the time because she's upbeat just like Ronald Reagan. (3) Don't cry (unless you're a man, particularly a Republican man). (4) Memorize several talking points & catchy "gotcha" phrases, & when all else fails, toss 'em in, no matter whether or not they relate to the question & no matter whether or not this is the second or third time you've repeated the lines. (5) Make stuff up about your opponent that has a teensy-weensy little connection to some tenuous fact or old rumor.
Also useful: insist that Wolf Blitzer or some other CNN or Fox "News" personality be your moderator -- he won't be much smarter than you are & he won't know when you make bald-faced misstatements. And if you draw a complete blank, he will know how to fill dead airtime so he'll help you with the answer.
Blowing up Frogs. Be sure to read Karen Garcia's comment (#3). Karen, who is a friend of mine, makes the case that childhood habits & hobbies are predictors of adult behavior. She concludes,
There are youthful indiscretions, and there are sociopathic behaviors. We should know more about our candidates than their financial disclosure statements and ideologies. If they don't want to let us into their lives, we should shut them out of ours.
But read her entire comment. I think Karen got it right & Gail got it wrong.
Banksters, Robo-Judges & a Do-Nothing Administration
Paul Krugman explains & comments on "the mortgage morass" as it stands today: "True to form, the Obama administration’s response has been to oppose any action that might upset the banks.... The response from the right is, however, even worse." ...
... The Rocket Docket. Brady Dennis, a straight reporter at the Washington Post, describes Florida's "rocket docket": judges whom the state has hired out of retirement to handle the foreclosure backlog are robo-signing uncontested foreclosures even though the banks' paperwork is not in order. Many judges, attorneys argue, are worse than the banks. ...
... How did we get in this mess? William Cohanshows us how it all started -- investment banks not only ignored advice that a large percentage of the loans they were bundling failed to meet standard underwriting guidelines, they withheld that information from investors to whom they sold the packages. Cohan is hopeful some banksters finally will get their comuppance: "So far, not a soul on Wall Street has been found to be criminally liable for the practices that led to the financial crisis. But thanks, in part, to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, we are getting closer than ever to the day when the culprits will pay for what they did." ...
... New York Times: "Angelo R. Mozilo, the founder and former chief executive of Countrywide Financial, once the nation’s largest mortgage lender, agreed to pay $67.5 million Friday to settle a civil fraud case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year." ...
... Ezra Klein has some good suggestions on how to fix the meltdown. CW: unfortunately, Klein's solutions require the federal agencies to get off their lazy, do-nothing asses. Good luck with that. ...
... The New York Times Editorial Board also suggest some fixes, including modifying bankruptcy laws to force banks to modify loans. "Throughout this crisis, the Obama administration has been far more worried about protecting the banks than protecting homeowners.... The banks that got us into this mess can’t be trusted to get us out of it. The administration and Congress need to act." ...
... David Hilzenrath of the Washington Post: "Stocks of major banks declined sharply Thursday amid concern that widespread corner-cutting in the foreclosure process could saddle the financial system with a costly and paralyzing mess. The sell-off was one of the most vivid indications yet that, just as banks were recovering from the financial crisis of recent years, foreclosure problems could take a new toll." ...
... Mark Gongloff of the Wall Street Journal on the markets' "acute uncertainty" about banks in light of the foreclosure crisis. ...
... Which only adds to pressure on the bank-friendly Obama Administration & on the friendly banks themselves to get off the dime, Bloomberg reports. CW: so far, nobody's budging. ...
... Max Abelson of the New York Observer: Wall Street blames the homebuyers: as one Goldman Sachs analyst said, "The problem is they don't deserve to be in that place. They probably deserve to be there less than they used to." ...
... The New York Observer's "Horror Stories from the Foreclosure Crisis." The first one: "Man without Mortgage Gets Foreclosed." Slideshow.
Thomas Cox. New York Times photo.... David Streitfeld of the New York Times: the little house in Maine that broke the bank. Thomas Cox, a former bank foreclosure officer, now working for a nonprofit, took on GMAC on behalf of a foreclosed homeowner & laid "the groundwork for foreclosure challenges nationwide." ...
... Digby points out that way back in 2007 she & Bill Moyerswere on the Case of the Disappearing Paperwork. CW: this isn't a surprise to anybody in the industry, & it shouldn't be a surprise to regulators.
I have this new diet, it’s called the 'Pretend You’re a Republican Diet.' It’s every time you see carbs or sweets or fats, you pretend you’re a Senate Republican and just say no. -- Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, who has lost 40 pounds since she gave birth two years ago
Justin Elliott of Salon: according to Gen. Hugh Shelton, who was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs during part of President Clinton's Administration, an unnamed Clinton cabinet member whispered to Shelton,
What we really need in order to go in and take out Saddam is a precipitous event — something that would make us look good in the eyes of the world. Could you have one of our U-2s fly low enough — and slow enough — so as to guarantee that Saddam could shoot it down?
Shelton says he replied, Why, of course we can. Just as soon as we get your ass qualified to fly it, I will have it flown just as low and slow as you want to go.
Sam Stein: Drummond Pike, "... the founder and CEO of the Tides Foundation (a frequent [Glenn] Beck target), has written advertisers asking them to remove their sponsorship of the Fox News program or risk having 'blood on their hands.'" ... Pike, who along with his organization was recently targeted by an assassin inspired by Beck's program, penned a letter on Friday to the Chairmen of the Boards of JP Morgan Chase, GEICO, Zurich Financial, Chrysler, Direct Holdings Americas, GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Lilly Corporate Center, BP, and The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc." The full text of Pike's letter is here.
How Low the Bar? Steve Benen: "The political world seems to realize that some real nutjobs have won major-party nominations this year, which then apparently leads to surprise when clearly unqualified nominees manage to engage in a debate without drooling on themselves for an hour.... We seem to have developed a depressing checklist: (a) did the candidate show up; (b) did the candidate speak English; (c) did the candidate remember the talking points drilled into his/her head by handlers from Washington; (d) did the candidate repeat the poll-tested zinger; (e) did the candidate avoid some kind of mental breakdown."
Scott Woolley of Fortune: why Carly Fiorinanever mentions the job that gave her name recognition: head of Lucent Technology. Under Fiorina, they gambled big, & shortly after she moved to Hewlitt-Packard, Lucent went under because of huge, unwise vendor loans made on Fiorina's watch. But Fiorina made out like a bandit.
David Brooks wrote an op-ed column today about what a nice guy Rep. Mark Kirk is, even though he lied repeatedly about his military service record. (See my comment [#10, Marie Burns].) I'll bet Our Miss Brooks thinks Kirk's voter intimidation program is A-okay, too. But Olbermann doesn't:
Chad Levingood of the Delaware News Journal reports on Chris Coons' & Christine O'Donnell's second debate. ...
I've got Sean Hannity in my back pocket, and I can go on his show and raise money by attacking you guys. -- Christine O'Donnell, to GOP insiders who aren't helping her campaign
... "People thought of her as an ignorant, deadbeat witch." Keith Olbermann & Howard Fineman discuss Christine O'Donnell's candidacy:
Karoun Demirjian of the Las Vegas Sun recaps the debate/smackdown between Harry Reid & Sharron Angle. CW: rhymes with "witch." You can watch it on C-SPAN.
Bruce L. R. Smith, in a Washington Post op-ed, remembersBarack Obama, Sr., from their days at Harvard. Smith refutes Dinesh D'Souza's flimsy charge that President Obama inherited "Kenyan anti-colonialist" philosophy from his father.
Nick Seaver of AmericaBlog applied to be a member of the audience in President Obama's youth town hall, held yesterday. The "casting" rep who interviewed him asked him to come up with a "lighter" question than the alreadly boring one he suggested, but evidently his response wasn't light enough because the producers rejected Seaver. ... Washington Postfollow-up: asked about the Seaver incident, Robert Gibbs gave a non-response response.
Young people discuss the issues with President Obama. Aired live Thursday afternoon on BET, CMT & MTV. Extended clip:
... To see the entire session, go to this MTV page; subsequent clips will load automatically. Related New York Times story here.
Jonathan Chait in The New Republic: in his "Daily Show" interview, Eric Cantor came close to admitting the real Republican agenda: "to decrease the degree to which government burdens the rich." With video clip.
Being Dick Cheney Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry. Paul Fahri of the Washington Post writes a long article based on an interview with Harry Whittington, the man Dick Cheney shot in 2006. I didn't think it was very important, but it's getting a lot of play in the blogosphere, so here it is. The big takeaways: Whittington's injuries were much more severe than initially reported, he's still suffering from them & Cheney apparently never apologized.
Felicity Barringer of the New York Times: a new Yale University study found htat 52 percent of Americans would flunk Climate Change 101. CW: I think I'd flunk.
The New York Times Editorial Board endorses Democrat Richard Blumenthal for Senate in Connecticut & Democrat Dan Malloy for Connecticut governor.
Nicholas Kristof: "As the United States relies on firepower to try to crush extremism in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, it might instead consider the lesson of the remarkable Arab country of Oman." Forty years ago Oman was backward in the extreme, "but in 1970, Oman left that fundamentalist track ... and started a stunning modernization built around education for boys and girls alike. Visit Oman today, and it is a contemporary country...."
Waiting for Obama. John Schwartz of the New York Times: "Each side of the controversy over the 'don’t ask, don’t tell' law that restricts openly gay men and women from serving in the military waited on Wednesday for the Obama administration to reveal its next move in court."
Stephen Colbert debates government fiscal policy with chief White House economics advisor Austan Goolsbee:
Return of the Gaggle. Peter Baker of the New York Times: Robert Gibbs has reinstated a tradition from earlier administrations -- the gaggle -- an informal, off-camera briefing of reporters.
Chris Matthews & Richard Trumka see a message to Republican tea partiers in the rescue of the Chilean miners:
... Tales from the Crypt. Alexei Barrionuevo & Simon Romero of the New York Times: "As the miners were rescued in a pageant that moved their worldwide audience ... to tears and laughter, glimpses of their personalities, their struggles to maintain their spirits during their subterranean ordeal and even the life that awaited them back on the surface began to emerge as well."
"It could be 2008 all over again." Ariana Eunjung Cha & Jia Lynn Yang of the Washington Post: "For more than a decade, big lenders sold millions of mortgages around the globe at lightning speed without properly transferring the physical documents that prove who legally owned the loans. Now, some of the pension systems, hedge funds and other investors that took big losses on the loans are seeking to use this flaw to force banks to compensate them or even invalidate the mortgage trades themselves." CW: will the taxpayer again ride to the rescue of banks? ...
... Eric Dash & Nelson Schwartz of the New York Times: "even when banks did begin hiring to deal with the avalanche of [mortgage] defaults, they often turned to workers with minimal qualifications or work experience, employees a former JPMorgan executive characterized as the 'Burger King kids.'” Oh, and "... the federal program aimed at helping homeowners modify their mortgages to reduce what they owed, had actually contributed to the mess." CW: fire Donovan. Please. ...
... Making a Difference. Tony Pugh of McClatchy News: two "civilian sleuths," Lisa Epstein & Michael Redman, left their jobs "to pursue their passion for helping others and exposing injustice in the foreclosure industry.... Equal parts agitators, activists and advocates, Redman and Epstein have made their presence felt in Florida and nationally through their respective websites, 4closureFraud.org and foreclosurehamlet.org.
Craig Whitlock of the Washington Post: the 5th Stryker Combat Brigade had a history of "aggressive, divergent" practices. Now five of its men are accused of killing Afghans for sport. There is evidence that officers in the unit covered up the men's crimes.
Ben Smith of Politico has more details on Rand Paul's college crew: "Issues of the newsletter published by Paul's secret society, the NoZe Brotherhood, during his time at Baylor reveal a ... specific political problem for the Kentucky Republican: The group's work often had a specifically anti-Christian tone, as it made fun of the Baptist college's faith-based orientation." CW: this is an example of straight reporting that can't help but be an enjoyable read.
Palinized. Like her mentor Sarah Palin, Christine O'Donnellcould not name a single recent Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed:
... CW: nevertheless, O'Donnell recovered in a stressful debate with more finesse than Palin did in a sit-down interview. Here's the transcript of the entire debate. The video is here. ...
... PLUS. Andy Barr of Politico: O'Donnell is "baffled" as to why the Republican money machine isn't helping her. Nothing to be baffled about: it's SOP to direct resources toward candidates who have a chance of winning; O'Donnell is down by as much as 19 points against her Democratic opponent Chris Coons. ...
... BUT Jim Fallows thinks Christine O'Donnellis more dangerous that Sarah Palin because O'Donnell, a talk-show veteran, "comes across as a perfect, unflappable product of the talk-show culture."
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