The Ledes

Monday, June 30, 2025

It's summer in our hemisphere, and people across Guns America have nothing to do but shoot other people.

New York Times: “A gunman deliberately started a wildfire in a rugged mountain area of Idaho and then shot at the firefighters who responded, killing two and injuring another on Sunday afternoon in what the local sheriff described as a 'total ambush.' Law enforcement officers exchanged fire with the gunman while the wildfire burned, and officials later found the body of the male suspect on the mountain with a firearm nearby, Sheriff Robert Norris of Kootenai County said at a news conference on Sunday night. The authorities said they believed the suspect had acted alone but did not release any information about his identity or motives.” A KHQ-TV (Spokane) report is here.

New York Times: “The New York City police were investigating a shooting in Manhattan on Sunday night that left two people injured steps from the Stonewall Inn, an icon of the L.G.B.T.Q. rights movement. The shooting occurred outside a nearby building in Greenwich Village at 10:15 p.m., Sgt. Matthew Forsythe of the New York Police Department said. The New York City Pride March had been held in Manhattan earlier on Sunday, and Mayor Eric Adams said on social media that the shooting happened as Pride celebrations were ending. One victim who was shot in the head was in critical condition on Monday morning, a spokeswoman for the Police Department said. A second victim was in stable condition after being shot in the leg, she said. No suspect had been identified. The police said it was unclear if the shooting was connected to the Pride march.”

New York Times: “A dangerous heat wave is gripping large swaths of Europe, driving temperatures far above seasonal norms and prompting widespread health and fire alerts. The extreme heat is forecast to persist into next week, with minimal relief expected overnight. France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece are among the nations experiencing the most severe conditions, as meteorologists warn that Europe can expect more and hotter heat waves in the future because of climate change.”

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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.

 

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

New York Times: “The New York Times Company has agreed to license its editorial content to Amazon for use in the tech giant’s artificial intelligence platforms, the company said on Thursday. The multiyear agreement 'will bring Times editorial content to a variety of Amazon customer experiences,' the news organization said in a statement. Besides news articles, the agreement encompasses material from NYT Cooking, The Times’s food and recipe site, and The Athletic, which focuses on sports. This is The Times’s first licensing arrangement with a focus on generative A.I. technology. In 2023, The Times sued OpenAI and its partner, Microsoft, for copyright infringement, accusing the tech companies of using millions of articles published by The Times to train automated chatbots without any kind of compensation. OpenAI and Microsoft have rejected those accusations.” ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: I have no idea what this means for "the Amazon customer experience." Does it mean that if I don't have a NYT subscription but do have Amazon Prime I can read NYT content? And where, exactly, would I find that content? I don't know. I don't know.

Washington Post reporters asked three AI image generators what a beautiful woman looks like. "The Post found that they steer users toward a startlingly narrow vision of attractiveness. Prompted to show a 'beautiful woman,' all three tools generated thin women, without exception.... Her body looks like Barbie — slim hips, impossible waist, round breasts.... Just 2 percent of the images showed visible signs of aging. More than a third of the images had medium skin tones. But only nine percent had dark skin tones. Asked to show 'normal women,' the tools produced images that remained overwhelmingly thin.... However bias originates, The Post’s analysis found that popular image tools struggle to render realistic images of women outside the Western ideal." ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: The reporters seem to think they are calling out the AI programs for being unrealistic. But there's a lot about the "beautiful women" images they miss. I find these omissions remarkably sexist. For one thing, the reporters seem to think AI is a magical "thing" that self-generates. It isn't. It's programmed. It's programmed by boys, many of them incels who have little or no experience or insights beyond comic books and Internet porn of how to gauge female "beauty." As a result, the AI-generated women look like cartoons; that is, a lot like an air-brushed photo of Kristi Noem: globs of every kind of dark eye makeup, Scandinavian nose, Botox lips, slathered-on skin concealer/toner/etc. makeup, long dark hair and the aforementioned impossible Barbie body shape, including huge, round plastic breasts. 

New York Times: “George Clooney’s Broadway debut, 'Good Night, and Good Luck,' has been one of the sensations of the 2024-25 theater season, breaking box office records and drawing packed houses of audiences eager to see the popular movie star in a timely drama about the importance of an independent press. Now the play will become much more widely available: CNN is planning a live broadcast of the penultimate performance, on June 7 at 7 p.m. Eastern. The performance will be preceded and followed by coverage of, and discussion about, the show and the state of journalism.”

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.”

NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.

 

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Tuesday
Aug022011

The Commentariat -- August 3

I've posted an Open Thread for today Off Times Square.

"Washington Chain Saw Massacre." Maureen Dowd sees "the gory, Gothic melodrama on the Potomac [as] a summer horror blockbuster — without the catharsis."

And for the next storyline in the continuing soaper "As the Capitol Turns," Greg Sargent begins the speculation derby on what legislators will be appointed to the deficit-reduction super committee. The good news: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi "came close to endorsing the idea" that she would only appoint members who would hold the line on liberal prioities. The bad news: ConservaDem Sen. Mark Warner is angling for a seat on the committee. ...

... Steve Benen: "I hope folks are ready to live with those triggers included in the deal, because the likelihood of the Super Committee reaching some kind of consensus that can (a) be approved by a majority of its members; (b) pass the House and Senate; and (c) earn President Obama’s signature, is already extremely low." ...

... Karen Garcia has two excellent posts on the aftermath of the Swampy Horror Picture Show here and here. Or just go to her site here. ...

... AND Michael Scherer of Time games "the sequestration." Sounds dull, but it's pretty interesting. It doesn't bode well for comity. But then, what does in D.C.? ...

... Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner writes an op-ed for the Washington Post:

Blah blah blah ... compromise ... blah blah blah ... fiscal sustainability ... blah blah blah. It is not enough for Congress to have prevented a disaster it brought on itself. Lawmakers should return in September prepared to act to strengthen the economy and get more Americans back to work. Doing so will help repair the damage this fractious debate inflicted on an economy that was already slowing, not just here but around the world. ...

... Jared Bernstein: Sen. Mitch McConnell has promised that every time the President asks for the debt ceiling to be raised, we can expect another one of these crises. "To understand how nonsensical Sen McConnell’s ... position is, you have to appreciate that Congress knows when they pass their budget whether it will breach the debt ceiling or not, just like you know when you order your lunch whether you’ll be able to pay for it." ...

... Ezra Klein: "Hearing McConnell’s comments last night, economist Jared Bernstein was shocked. 'This is not the way of great nations,' he wrote. I disagree.... This is certainly the way of great nations. It’s the way they fall." ...

... Dave Weigel of Slate elaborates.

CW: like me, Matt Taibbi here and Glenn Greenwald here, do not buy the memes that Obama is a "weak negotiator" or was "forced" by Tea Party incalcitrance to make a bad deal for ordinary Americans. As Greenwald writes, "Obama's so-called 'bad negotiating' or 'weakness' is actually 'shrewd negotiation' because he's getting what he actually wants (which, shockingly, is not always the same as what he publicly says he wants)."

... Robert Reich: "With the hostage crisis behind him, the President is now ready to talk about the nation’s real problem": unemployment. But the deal he cut with Congress, and the radical right Congress in general, will not allow any spending on jobs programs. Reich echos Drum (& Bernstein): "The radical right has not only captured the federal budget. In convincing so many Americans the problem is the size of government rather than their shrinking paychecks and growing economic insecurity, the radical right has also captured the American mind." ...

... AND Ben Smith shows why Obama's announcement that his Administration will now "pivot to jobs" is another repeat of an old refrain without substance.

** Kevin Drum of Mother Jones: "The public ... mostly aren't on our side. They think deficits are bad, they don't trust Keynesian economics, they don't want a higher IRS bill (who does, after all?), and they believe the federal government is spending too much on stuff they don't really understand. Conservatives have just flat out won this debate in recent decades.... I blame the broad liberal community for our failures, not just President Obama. My biggest beef with Obama is ... that he's never really even tried to move public opinion in a specifically progressive direction." ...

The Case for the Obama Approach. We didn't lose this fight. Barack Obama was in law school when this fight was lost. The role of Democrats should not be to convince people that government is great; it should be to help people reach their potential -- and government is a tool to do that. There has been a strain of skepticism about the government in the American character since the founding. Only the New Deal changed that significantly, but we have been returning to the norm ever since then. -- a "Senior Democrat," to Ben Smith

... Joan Walsh of Salon: President Obama is mistaken in his wager that "independents" will support him in 2012 because he's such a good compromiser. "Obama's best hope for re-election is the fact that Generic Republican won't win nomination; he'll be running against either a Tea Party extremist or Mitt Romney, and in most polls he beats both of them." ...

Giant Hanging Icicle. Derek Thompson of The Atlantic borrows four graphs from Calculated Risk: "... they compare key recession indicators as a share of their pre-recession peaks. The outcome reveals each recession in the last 50 years as a kind of hanging icicle. Ours is by far the longest, and we don't yet know when we'll trace our way back to the 2007 [level]."

Right Wing World *

President Krugman, I Presume. CW: I know Newt Gingrich is a big fat liar, so one might assume he was just lying here. But I don't think so. I am thinking he is genuinely clueless.

Art via Matt Lewis of the Daily Caller."The Mittness Protection Program." Maybe you didn't notice he was gone, but Ben Smith notes that Mitt has been MIA. "Romney’s absence has been particularly pronounced in the heat of the budget debate. His last event in either an early state or Washington, D.C. was on July 15.... Romney has been acting more as a full-time fundraiser and occasional candidate, and many of his stops — like the most recent two in Los Angeles and Ohio — are tacked on to his fundraising schedule."

Frances Martel of Mediaite: "... given [Pat] Buchanan’s record of questionable comments, it’s hard not to find something off-color about his debate with [MSNBC host Al] Sharpton today [Tuesday], where, discussing the debt, he argues that 'your boy,' President Obama, was 'whipped' by Sen. Mitch McConnell, and adds a 'briar patch' reference for good measure." Here's the video:

     ... CW: I think Buchanan has found his match in Sharpton. Note: I don't see where anyone has commented on it, but Buchanan also calls Rep. Emanuel Cleaver [D-Missouri], who is black, "your boy." He just can't stop. ...

... Eric Hananoki of Media Matters: "Pat Buchanan has a long history of bigotry." ...

... Fox Nation (my absolutely favorite source for news): "Buchanan "forced to apologize for 'your boy' quip."

* Where the leaders are (1) nitwits, (2) liars, or (3) nitwits & liars. Oh, and they're all white.


More on D. B. Cooper from Pierre Thomas of ABC News: "A woman claiming to be the niece of infamous skyjacker D.B. Cooper has spoken to ABC News in an exclusive interview about her role in the recently re-ignited 40-year-old cold case that has haunted the FBI for years. Marla Cooper told ABC News that she has provided the FBI with a guitar strap and a Christmas photo of a man pictured with the same strap who she says is her uncle, Lynn Doyle Cooper."

News Ledes

Washington Post: "After months of inaction, the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday issued its first formal condemnation of Syria for its use of force against civilians during a bloody crackdown that has killed as many as 2,000 anti-government protesters. The action came as Syrian authorities severed telephone lines, electricity and water supplies to the besieged city of Hama."

AP: "A federal judge has ruled that former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld can be sued personally for damages by a former U.S. military contractor who says he was tortured during a nine-month imprisonment in Iraq. The lawsuit lays out a dramatic tale of the disappearance of the then-civilian contractor, an Army veteran in his 50s whose identity is being withheld."

AP: "The bruising debt fight behind him for now, President Barack Obama is planning a Midwest bus tour later this month that will focus on jobs."

President Obama speaks to the press before his Cabinet meeting:

... Politico: "President Barack Obama says his 'expectation' is that a partial shutdown at the Federal Aviation Administration will be resolved this week. The crisis at the FAA, which started July 23, has put 75,000 people out of work, stalled construction projects across the country and has forced safety inspectors to cover their own travel expenses while working without pay." Washington Post story here.

New York Times: "Hosni Mubarak, who served longer than any ruler in modern Egypt’s history..., faced charges of corruption and killing protestors Wednesday before a court in Cairo."...

... The Guardian is liveblogging the trial & related news. Includes livefeed of trial. Guardian raw video: "Hosni Mubarak arrived in court in Cairo on a stretcher, charged with the unlawful killing of pro-democracy protesters in the uprising against him earlier this year. He is also accused of profiteering by abusing his position of power and exporting gas to Israel for prices lower than international market rates. Sentences for these charges range from five years in prison to the death penalty." ...

... Al Jazeera's liveblog is here. Includes video. Lead story: "Egypt's former president Hosni Mubarak has denied charges of corruption and complicity in the killing of protesters at the start of his historic trial in Cairo."

Reuters: "Syrian tanks occupied the main square in central Hama Wednesday after heavy shelling of the city, residents said, taking control of the site of some of the largest protests against President Bashar al-Assad." Al Jazeera story here.

Guardian: "Stock markets took fright on Wednesday as fears grew over the health of the global economy and the ongoing European debt crisis. There was heavy selling in London when trading began, sending the blue-chip FTSE 100 index falling by 91 points, or 1.6%, to 5626. There were also heavy losses across Europe, The French CAC and German DAX indices were down 1.6% and 1.1% respectively." New York Times story here.

New York Times: the U.S. Air Force is replacing the aged U-2 spy planes with the Global Hawk, a surveillance drone. "Since 2001, the cost of the Air Force program has more than doubled, and the service recently cut its planned fleet of Global Hawks to 55 from 77. That lifted the total estimate for each plane, including the sensors and all the research and development, to $218 million, compared with $28 million for the Reaper, the largest armed drone."

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