The Ledes

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~

     ~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.

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

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Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

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.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Tuesday
Feb232016

The Commentariat -- Feb. 23, 2016

Thanks to everyone for carrying on in my absence. I'm still absent, but here's a page to keep you going. -- Constant Weader

Chris Mooney of the Washington Post: "A group of scientists says it has now reconstructed the history of the planet’s sea levels arcing back over some 3,000 years — leading it to conclude that the rate of increase experienced in the 20th century was 'extremely likely' to have been faster than during nearly the entire period.... Unsurprisingly, the study blames the anomalous 20th-century rise on global warming — and not just that. It also calculates that, had humans not been warming the planet, there’s very little chance that seas would have risen so much during the century...." CW: This is the sort of crackpot liberal reporting, BTW, that caused Justice Scalia to drop his subscription to the Washington Post. ...

Remembering Nino. CW: I had been awaiting Jeff Toobin's take on Antonin Scalia. Toobin may have taken a while to write it; maybe the New Yorker editors were saving it for this week's magazine; or perhaps, like me, Toobin prefers not to speak ill of the dead before there's a pile of dirt holding down the remains. Anyhow, Scalia's gone & Toobin isn't: "Antonin Scalia ... devoted his professional life to making the United States a less fair, less tolerant, and less admirable democracy. Fortunately, he mostly failed. Belligerent with his colleagues, dismissive of his critics, nostalgic for a world where outsiders knew their place and stayed there, Scalia represents a perfect model for everything that President Obama should avoid in a successor." ...

... Pretending Women Matter. Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "When the Supreme Court meets next week to hear its first abortion-related case in nearly a decade, the justices will consider the most significant challenge to an argument that has become central to the antiabortion cause: that abortion hurts not just a fetus but also its mother.

Presidential Race

Matt Flegenheimer & Nick Corasaniti: "Senator Ted Cruz’s presidential campaign erupted in turmoil on Monday as Mr. Cruz fired his chief spokesman for spreading a misleading video of Senator Marco Rubio.... He has cast himself as the candidate of honesty and integrity, with a faith-based pitch and a backdrop that reads 'TrusTed' during speeches.... At issue was a video of a hotel lobby encounter between Mr. Rubio and a Cruz staff member who had a Bible with him. The video’s subtitles suggested Mr. Rubio had said there were “not many answers” in the Bible. Mr. Cruz’s communications director, Rick Tyler, posted the video on Facebook and Twitter on Sunday, needling Mr. Rubio for an 'awkward remark.' In fact, Mr. Rubio had said the Bible had 'all the answers.'”

Paul Krugman: "... when Mr. Rubio genuflects at the altars of supply-side economics and hard money, he isn’t telling ordinary Republicans what they want to hear — by and large the party’s base couldn’t care less. He is, instead, pandering to the party’s elite, consisting mainly of big donors and the network of apparatchiks at think tanks, media organizations, and so on. In the G.O.P., crank doctrines in economics and elsewhere aren’t bubbling up from below, they’re being imposed from the top down.... So don’t let anyone tell you that the Republican primary is a fight between a crazy guy and someone reasonable. It’s idiosyncratic, self-invented crankery versus establishment-approved crankery, and it’s not at all clear which is worse." This was yesterday's column ...

... AND today's top news? Sean Sullivan of the Washington Post: "Mainstream Republican donors and elected officials flocked to Sen. Marco Rubio (Fla.) on Monday amid a growing sense that he is the last best chance to prevent Donald Trump from running away with the ­Republican presidential nomination."

Beyond the Beltway

Today in Responsible Gun Ownership. If you have small children, don't own guns. That's a simple, easy-to-follow rule. "Keep guns out of reach of children" is a simple rule, too, but many people are too busy or distracted to follow it. Seriously, if you own a gun & are responsible for the care of a child, lose one of them.

News Lede

New York Times: "Health authorities in the United States said they were investigating 14 new reports of the Zika virus possibly being transmitted by sex, including to pregnant women. If confirmed, the unexpectedly high number would have major implications for controlling the virus, which is usually spread by mosquito bites. Scientists had believed sexual transmission of Zika to be extremely rare."

Reader Comments (16)

One brief thought for the person who wrote in yesterday's Comments that Monica Lewinsky kept the blue dress for revenge or as a bargaining chip: you really don't understand obsession. The blue dress was a keepsake.

Speaking of obsession, thanks very much for all the different takes in yesterday's thread on the mental stability/instability of the presidential candidates.

Marie

February 23, 2016 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Ah, Marie––since I be that person (along with Cakers) you refer to I will respond: I did proffer that if not for evidence, Monica might have used the dress as a shroud which means I certainly do understand obsession but I'm not convinced that was the case. So be it.

Happy traveling.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Another excellent editorial by the NJ Star Ledger.
http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/02/republicans_for_hillary_seriously_editorial.html#incart_2box_opinion
My response:While I fully agree with your editorial 'Make Trump voters look in the mirror before it's too late", it ignores the other part of the problem. The Trump competition is now a pathological liar who is a fake Christian and a 44 year old who behaves like a 14 year old.
In other words, lets be fair to the 'Donald', it is seriously difficult to decide who would be the worst Republican candidate for President.

Let's see if they publish it.

Yes, they changed the title from the paper to the online version.
And note the demographics of the Trump supporters- 1/3 earn less than 50k a year and only 11% make more than 100k.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Responsible gun ownership. What does that look like? A quiet guy, no criminal record, likes to tinker with cars?

The Michigan shooter story is even worse than my speculation. Even the first victim appears to have been randomly chosen, not part of a "domestic dispute" that set him off. He was the responsible gun owner, until he wasn't.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

So according to Krugman there ain't much difference in the "nut" category between Trump and Rubio––he doesn't mention Cruz, but since he's written him off before I imagine he'd put Ted into that "crazy economics" box. Could we conclude that most of the regular folks that flock around these guys don't really understand much about economics, don't understand that these candidates' policies will not help them at all, but help enormously the people these regular blokes, are fighting against? It's as though these politicians are convincing people that two and two really add up to five while all the elites are sitting back with big grins on their pusses and their fingers crossed.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

Marvin Schwalb cites an interesting statistic about the Trump demographic. On that note, Tom Sullivan has an insightful analysis of that alienated, angry group. He looks at why the Democrats lost them and whether they can get them back.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterVictoria D.

Gotta wonder about anyone who keeps a garment with pecker tracks as a keepsake. I shudder to think what would be the male equivalent. Whatever happened to pressed flowers? Guess I'm just an old romantic.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterD.C.Clark

Last night's opening of "The Daily Show With Trevor Noah":

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/trevor-noah-tries-to-stomach-the-prospect-of-trump-winning-gop-nomination/

Thoroughly enjoyed Noah's response to Trump's wife.
(If you've neither time nor inclination for its entirety, Mrs. T enters at approximately 2:40.)

Cheers -

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterOphelia M.

Contra Doom and Gloom

Marie's pal, Jim Fallows, in a new Atlantic piece, puts together a patchwork quilt of examples from a swath of American locales where the local economies are rebounding, jobs are being created, and the land is being cleared for progress after the current Gilded Age.

Fallows cites a plethora of markers for progress that make for interesting and enlightening reading about a country that looks nothing like the poisoned sewer filled with (liberal) rats described by Rubio and Crump.

Fallows isn't trying to sugarcoat anything. He admits that we have problems of economic inequality, healthcare issues (still), etc., but his travels across the country have allowed him to see firsthand that the Confederate intransigence and Republican enforced gridlock imposed on national (and many states') politics have not restricted cities and towns from looking elsewhere for leadership. To themselves, as it turns out, mounting experiments in what Justice Brandeis once described as the Laboratories of Democracy.

It's a good one, and helpful to remember that nothing is ever just one thing. Just because most of the MSM goes along, bovine like, and dutifully repeats Ted Cruz's every lie about how Obama has ruined the country, it ain't necessarily so. In fact, it ain't even close.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

"Devil In The Blue Dress" ?!?

I wish to respond to a few comments concerning "that woman" and "that dress".

Monica Lewinsky had confided in her "good friend", Linda Tripp (remember her?), that she (Monica) had saved The Blue Dress with Clinton's semen on it, following their sexual encounter, as a romantic souvenir.

While not everyone's taste, it's not as uncommon a practice as one might imagine. Yet, in Lewinsky's case, it has inspired many a conspiracy theory, implicating her alleged "ulterior motives" to bring down her boss.

An Aside As Example:
I can recall - from my younger-self's lifetime - that it was (and still is?) not unusual for boys (& men) to save (or steal) the panties of the girl (or woman) following their sexual liaison as a keepsake (or for bragging rights).

I also vividly remember, from my first university days, a gal who was dating/in love with a rock musician (who shall remain unnamed). She taped a surprise "leftover" (that shall also remain unnamed), discovered following one of their nights together, to her dorm room's refrigerator (as an incentive to lose weight . . . and she was a skinny little thing). Ah - What we've done for love!

This kinda stuff happened quite a lot then and, likely, still does. But, back to Monica's dress and her loyal "confidante": Sisterhood Is Powerful!

Linda Tripp (who had been taping her phone calls with Monica) contacted Lucienne Goldberg (her agent & comrade in Bill-Clinton-Hatred) and informed Goldberg that there was now forensic evidence of the White House affair.

When Lewinsky told Tripp that the The Blue Dress was heading for the dry cleaners, it was Tripp who not only discouraged her from doing that, but additionally told Monica that she looked "fat" in the dress and shouldn't consider wearing it anymore.

I could go on but the numerous details have long been documented and available, yet people will believe what they believe.

Bottom Line:
Monica was was being set-up - from the get-go - by The Lovely Linda and, as any trustworthy "friend" is obliged to do, was reporting Monica's every word & emotion in an effort to being down the POTUS.

"And the rest is history" - still being regurgitated.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterOphelia M.

NiskyGuy, we have to get rid of that phrase 'Responsible Gun Ownership'. Guns have only one purpose - to kill! I regard gun ownership itself as seriously irresponsible behavior.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterMarvin Schwalb

Does depend somewhat on where you live Marvin. In the past year, I've had to shoot 2 copperheads and a rabid possum. They were a threat to neighborhood children and pets (and the possum was suffering terribly). Deer and groundhogs are severely overpopulated around here, and do tremendous crop damage. My neighboring farmers have no other way to control them. They kill around 30 deer each year, and still I can see deer from my house almost any day. Most of the venison goes to local food banks.

If I lived in an urban, or suburban, area I'm really not sure whether I would keep a pistol. I think probably not.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterD.C.Clark

D.C.,

Did that rabid possum look like Ted Cruz? If so, I think you missed him.

Better luck next time.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Looks like we're going to have a good old fashioned spitting contest between at least Cruz and Trump.

Trump: I'm gonna deport all immigrants!
Cruz: Me too! Only quicker.
Trump: Well, after I'm done with that, I'm gonna put all blah people in jail.
Cruz: I'll put 'em in for life and give all the white people guns.
Trump: Hell with that, I'm gonna give 'em all automatic weapons with lifetime immunity from prosecution for anyone they kill.
Cruz: I'll cut all taxes.
Trump: Not many left to cut.
Cruz: Well then I'll kill the government.
Trump: I'll blow up all the government buildings except for the Pentagon which I'll expand to cover 50 square blocks of the DC metro area.
Cruz: I promise to build 175 nuclear attack subs.
Trump: Child's play. I'm gonna build attack satellites so we can nuke any country we want from space.
Cruz: You can do that?
Trump: Yup. And Mexico will pay for it. Then we'll nuke them. Lazy bastards.

Here it comes, kids.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Akhilleus,

I like possums. See: http://opossum.craton.net

The copperheads, I'm pretty sure, were Republicans -- cold blooded, venomous, amoral... Even so, as long as they remain where they can do no harm, I'd prefer to ignore them.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterD.C.Clark

A quick tour through America's past provides another meaning for "copperhead."

From Wikipedia: "The Copperheads were a vocal faction of Democrats in the Northern United States of the Union who opposed the American Civil War, wanting an immediate peace settlement with the Confederates."

Despite the pacific urges , maybe another reason to take a shot at Akilleus' Confederates...err...Republicans. They're certainly not harmless.

February 23, 2016 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes
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