REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- August 25

The Ledes

Wednesday, May 14, 2025

New York Times: “Richard L. Garwin, an architect of America’s hydrogen bomb, who shaped defense policies for postwar governments and laid the groundwork for insights into the structure of the universe as well as for medical and computer marvels , died on Tuesday at his home in Scarsdale, N.Y. He was 97.... A polymathic physicist and geopolitical thinker, Dr. Garwin was only 23 when he built the world’s first fusion bomb. He later became a science adviser to many presidents, designed Pentagon weapons and satellite reconnaissance systems, argued for a Soviet-American balance of nuclear terror as the best bet for surviving the Cold War, and championed verifiable nuclear arms control agreements.”

The Wires

Help!

To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

Link Code: <a href="URL">text</a>

OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

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."

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land. -- Magna Carta ~~~

~~~ New York Times: “Bought for $27.50 after World War II, the faint, water stained manuscript in the library of Harvard Law School had attracted relatively little attention since it arrived there in 1946. That is about to change. Two British academics, one of whom happened on the manuscript by chance, have discovered that it is an original 1300 version — not a copy, as long thought — of Magna Carta, the medieval document that helped establish some of the world’s most cherished liberties. It is one of just seven such documents from that date still in existence.... A 710-year-old version of Magna Carta was sold in 2007 for $21.3 million.... First issued in 1215, it put into writing a set of concessions won by rebellious barons from a recalcitrant King John of England — or Bad King John, as he became known in folklore. He later revoked the charter, but his son, Henry III, issued amended versions, the last one in 1225, and Henry’s son, Edward I, in turn confirmed the 1225 version in 1297 and again in 1300.”

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.”

Page Links

Wednesday

Aug242011

The Commentariat -- August 25

Sorry for the delays in posting, which were caused by major technical difficulties. Since I didn't look at anything for five or six hours last night, I posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square. ...

... Update: See the very fine post by FromTheHeartland in today's Off Times Square about cuts in Medicaid and other healthcare safety-net programs in, well, the Heartland. FTH also zeroes in on the media's sloppy reporting of data, in this case, misinterpreting and vastly underreporting the true reduction in healthcare services. Once again, commentary on Off Times Square beats what you'll find in mainstream media outlets.

E. J. Dionne: "... no good Obama deed goes unpunished." Especially if you've been critical of Obama's Libya policy, read this. (I've been --and still am -- critical of his refusal to ask for Congressional approval, tho not of the overall policy.)

A Worthy Campaign. Mike Allen of Politico: "President Barack Obama's reelection campaign on Thursday announced 'Project Vote,' a campaign-within-a-campaign that is aimed at increasing registration and participation among Democratic base constituencies — including young voters, seniors, African Americans and Hispanics, plus Native Americans and gay and lesbian voters."

Kevin Drum: "Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz has gotten a lot of press for his campaign to get CEOs to halt all political contributions until politicians in Washington DC stop their insane bickering.... And for some reason they've decided that Republicans will cave in on this if they announce their intention to withhold all political contributions to both parties this year. Seriously? My guess is that the GOP leadership is laughing its ass off over this." CW: some while back, when one of the NYT lunkheads -- don't recall if it was Nocera or Friedman, but they're peas in a pod -- wrote a fawning column on this brilliant "plan," & I wrote a comment saying it was the stupidest idea I'd ever heard. The Times responded by refusing to publish my comment.

Rachel Maddow talks to Jared Bernstein about a jobs program that some Republicans -- like Tea Party darling Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) -- might buy:

Crazy Scott Brown Operative. Glen Johnson of the Boston Globe: "Eric Fehrnstrom -- a senior campaign adviser to US Senator Scott Brown" admitted he has been tweeting unflattering and racy remarks under the twitternym "CrazyKhazei, which he pretended were tweets by Brown Democratic opponent Alan Khazei." Fehrnstrom didn't volunteer that he had perpetrated a hoax; rather, spokesmen for the Massachusetts Democratic party discovered Fehrnstrom when he accidentally "sent out a 'CrazyKhazei’'-type tweet Tuesday from his Twitter account." Creep. ...

... Krugman, Master of Disaster. Dave Weigel of Slate: another fake Paul Krugman hoax, and the genius pundits on the right fall for it. No, Real Krugman did not tweet: "... we would see a bigger boost in spending and hence economic growth if the earthquake had done more damage." Krugman responds on his own blog. Thanks to Bob M. for the link.

David Pogue of the New York Times on Steve Jobs' remarkable impact on "a stunning range of industries." ...

... Here's a New York Times interactive page on Jobs' patents. ...

... Michael Rosenwald of the Washington Post on Jobs' resignation as Apple CEO.

It Depends on What the Meaning of "Power" Is. Forbes names "The World's 100 Most Powerful Women." Really? Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook is #5, entertainer Beyonce Knowles is #18, & Nancy Pelosi is #52? Really? No. 1 is German Chancellor Angela Merkel & #2 is Hillary Clinton, so they probably got those right.

If We Could Talk with the Animals. Joel Achenbach of the Washington Post: "Orangutans, gorillas, flamingos and red-ruffed lemurs [at Washington, D.C.'s National Zoo] acted strangely before humans detected the historic magnitude-5.8 earthquake. Now the question hovering over the zoo is: What did the animals know, and when did they know it?" CW: I used to have Nubian goats who knew a storm was coming before I did.

Right Wing World *

Teabaggers Bag the GOP. Dave Weigel of Slate: "Tea Party candidates won't win any [primary] elections next year because mainstream Republicans now spout the same ideas."

"Know-Nothings Opt for Scary New Frontrunner." Steve Stromberg of the Washington Post: "It’s official: Rick Perry is the 'frontrunner' for the Republican presidential nomination.... A new Gallup poll has the Texas governor with the support of 29 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, compared to only 17 percent for heretofore 'frontrunner' Mitt Romney. A Public Policy Polling survey also came in ... with similar results.... Gallup conducted the poll from August 17 to 21. The 17th was just four days into Perry’s campaign, but by then the candidate had already managed to suggest that Ben Bernanke ... was 'treasonous,' imply that President Obama doesn’t love America, and speculate that climate science was an elaborate, cynical fraud."

* Where Know-Nothings are the deciders.

News Ledes

Boston Globe: "Nearly 10 years after a worldwide clergy sexual abuse crisis erupted in the Boston Archdiocese, Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley today released a long-awaited roster of 159 archdiocesan clerics who have been accused of sexually abusing children. But O’Malley’s action was immediately criticized by Attorney General Martha Coakley and advocates for clergy abuse victims because it lists only those priests who have already been publicly accused, and omits the names of dozens of accused priests from religious orders and other dioceses, as well as those who left the priesthood before accusations were leveled againt them."

New York Times: "The Security Council committee that monitors sanctions against Libya agreed on Thursday to unfreeze $1.5 billion in Libyan assets for emergency aid to the country, where rebel forces that have ousted Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi are confronting a humanitarian crisis as they attempt to establish security and form a new government."

New York Times: "Rebels intensified their hunt for Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi and his sons on Thursday, engaging in an intense fight with loyalists in a neighborhood of apartment blocks near his former Tripoli fortress, as Western officials said NATO was actively helping in the effort to find the elusive leader. But in a new taunt, Colonel Qaddafi urged Libyans in a brief audio broadcast to cleanse Tripoli of the insurgents, whom he called 'rats, crusaders and unbelievers.'”

Buffett Bails out BoA. New York Times: "Warren E. Buffett comes to the rescue, again. On Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway, run by Mr. Buffett, announced plans to invest $5 billion in Bank of America, a vote of confidence for the beleaguered financial firm. The conglomerate has agreed to buy 50,000 preferred shares that will pay a 6 percent annual dividend. Bank of America has the option to buy back the shares at any time for a 5 percent premium."

New York Times: "The Obama administration is considering further actions to strengthen the housing market, but ... plans must help a broad swath of homeowners, stimulate the economy and cost next to nothing. One proposal would allow millions of homeowners with government-backed mortgages to refinance them at today’s lower interest rates, about 4 percent, according to two people briefed on the administration’s discussions who asked not to be identified because they were not allowed to talk about the information."

Al Jazeera: "Rebel reinforcements have streamed into the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to join in the fight against Muammar Gaddafi loyalists, who are putting up strong resistance in some pockets of the city." With video. ...

... Al Jazeera's liveblog on Libya is here. ...

New York Times: Former Vice President Dick Cheney says in a new memoir that he urged President George W. Bush to bomb a suspected Syrian nuclear reactor site in June 2007. But, he wrote, Mr. Bush opted for a diplomatic approach after other advisers — still stinging over 'the bad intelligence we had received about Iraq’s stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction' — expressed misgivings.."

New York Times: Naoto Kan, the embattled Japanese prime minister, is likely to step down by early next week, a cabinet minister said on Tuesday, a long-expected resignation that will nevertheless bring uncertainty to a country still reeling in the aftermath of its natural and nuclear disasters.

Comments Off

Permalink

Email Article