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.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Tuesday
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The Commentariat -- July 10, 2013

A Real Scandal. Mike DeBonis of the Washington Post: "... at least three planned Wal-Marts will not open in [Washington, D.C.,] if a super-minimum-wage proposal becomes law. A team of Wal-Mart officials and lobbyists, including a high-level executive from the mega-retailer's Arkansas headquarters, walked the halls of the John A. Wilson Building on Tuesday afternoon, delivering the news to D.C. Council members. The company's hardball tactics come out of a well-worn playbook that involves successfully using Wal-Mart's leverage in the form of jobs and low-priced goods to fend off legislation and regulation that could cut into its profits and set precedent in other potential markets. In the Wilson Building, elected officials have found their reliable liberal, pro-union political sentiments in conflict with their desire to bring amenities to underserved neighborhoods."

Michael Schmidt of the New York Times: "James B. Comey, President Obama's nominee for F.B.I. director, said on Tuesday that he no longer believed it was legal to waterboard detainees under United States law. His statements contrasted with the position he took in 2005 when, as President George W. Bush's deputy attorney general, he oversaw the government's legal opinions." ...

... Sari Horwitz of the Washington Post: "James B. Comey ... defended the National Security Agency's surveillance programs Tuesday as a critical tool for counterterrorism but said he would be open to more transparency with the secret court that oversees the government's collection operations." ...

A judge has to hear both sides of a case before deciding. What Fisa does is not adjudication, but approval. This works just fine when it deals with individual applications for warrants, but the 2008 amendment has turned the Fisa court into administrative agency making rules for others to follow. It is not the bailiwick of judges to make policy. -- Former FISC Judge James Robertson ...

... Dan Roberts of the Guardian: "A former federal judge who ... has broken ranks to criticise the system of secret courts as unfit for purpose in the wake of recent revelations by NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. James Robertson, who retired from the District of Columbia circuit in 2010, was one of a select group of judges who presided over the so-called Fisa courts.... But he says he was shocked to hear of recent changes to allow more sweeping authorisations of programmes such as the gathering of US phone records, and called for a reform of the system to allow counter-arguments to be heard."

NEW. Greg Sargent: "The Employment Non-Discrimination Act just easily passed out of the Senate Health and Education Committee -- with three Republican Senators voting for it. The measure, which would end discrimination in hiring decisions based on sexual orientation for all but the smallest businesses, got Yes votes from co-sponsor Mark Kirk (a gay marriage supporter), as well as Lisa Murkowski and ... Orrin Hatch.... This is going to put Republicans in a difficult spot, both in the Senate and (if it passes the Upper Chamber) perhaps even more so in the House." ...

... Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: "The federal government is moving quickly to extend benefits like health care and life insurance to gay and lesbian married couples in response to the Supreme Court decision that struck down the Defense of Marriage Act. And in a sign that the political momentum from that ruling is being felt elsewhere, a Senate committee is expected to approve a bill on Wednesday that would grant protection from discrimination to people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. It would be the first measure of its kind to advance to the floor in either house of Congress."

Jeremy Peters: "In a move that could bring to a head six months of smoldering tensions over a Republican blockade of certain presidential nominees, Senate Democrats are preparing to force confirmation votes on a series of President Obama's most contentious appointments as early as this week. If Republicans object, Democrats plan to threaten to use the impasse to change the Senate rules that allow the minority party wide latitude to stymie action." CW: get that? Democrats "plan to threaten." They do not plan to actually change the rules.

The Saboteurs. Greg Sargent: "It's now become accepted as normal that Republicans will threaten explicitly to allow harm to the country to get what they want, and will allow untold numbers of Americans to be hurt rather than even enter into negotiations over the sort of compromises that lie at the heart of basic governing.... On Meet the Press this weekend, [Chuck] Todd ... accus[ed] Republicans of 'trying to sabotage [ObamaCare].' The current GOP campaign ... is about making it harder for uninsured Americans to gain access to coverage under a law passed and signed by a democratically elected Congress and President, and upheld by the Supreme Court...." ...

     ... To wit: Jonathan Weisman & Robert Pear of the New York Times: "House Republican leaders on Tuesday seized on the Obama administration's one-year delay of a mandate for larger employers to offer health insurance or face penalties, demanding the same postponement for the mandate on individual insurance purchases and promising a series of showdowns aimed at dividing Democrats from the White House." ...

... Emma Dumain & Meredith Shiner of Roll Call: "House GOP leaders head into a crucial immigration meeting with their rank and file Wednesday without a clear strategy for passing a bill and a host of competing factions to corral. Though the afternoon conference is being heralded as a step toward building consensus within the rank and file, members acknowledge it's unlikely to produce a unified path forward." Via Greg Sargent. ...

... Brian Beutler of TPM: "The already narrow path to enacting comprehensive immigration reform pretty much disappeared in the past 24 hours." ...

... Rebecca Leber of Think Progress: "In a joint article on Tuesday, the Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol and National Review's Rich Lowry urged House Republicans to kill comprehensive immigration reform 'without reservation,' claiming there is 'certainly no urgency to pass it.' ... The pundits do not think Hispanic voters would help the GOP in 2014 and 2016 elections. Rather than bring 11 million undocumented immigrants out of the shadows, Kristol and Lowry argue that Republicans would be better served appealing to 'working-class and younger voters concerned about economic opportunity and upward mobility.'" CW Translation: "Stick with white people." ...

... Like Li'l Randy's Favorite White Person. Alana Goodman of the "hyper-conseervative" Washington Free Beacon: "A close aide to Sen. Rand Paul (R., Ky.) who co-wrote the senator's 2011 book spent years working as a pro-secessionist radio pundit and neo-Confederate activist.... Jack Hunter ... joined Paul's office as his social media director in August 2012. From 1999 to 2012, Hunter was a South Carolina radio shock jock known as the 'Southern Avenger.' He has weighed in on issues such as racial pride and Hispanic immigration, and stated his support for the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. During public appearances, Hunter often wore a mask on which was printed a Confederate flag. Prior to his radio career, while in his 20s, Hunter was a chairman in the League of the South, which 'advocates the secession and subsequent independence of the Southern States from this forced union and the formation of a Southern republic.'" Hunter says he's changed some of his views (CW: apparently sometime between August 2012 & now -- must have been quite an epiphany). ...

... Jonathan Chait on why racists love Li'l Randy & Big Ron: "One strange thing about Ron and Rand Paul is that racists keep popping up in their inner circles for no apparent reason. Ron Paul was surrounded by neo-Confederates and published a virulently racist newsletter.... The deep connection between the Pauls and the neo-Confederate movement ... is a reflection of the fact that white supremacy is a much more important historical constituency for anti-government ideas than libertarians like to admit." ...

... Jamelle Bouie in the American Prospect: "In 2009, [Rand Paul's] campaign spokesperson resigned after racist images were discovered on his MySpace wall, and in 2010, Paul landed in a little hot water during an interview with Rachel Maddow, when he told her that he would have opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act for its impositions on businesses, i.e., they were no longer allowed to discriminate against blacks and other minorities.... Hiring a John Wilkes Booth sympathizer fits the picture of the Pauls as a political family that -- regardless of what's in their hearts -- is comfortable working with right-wing racists." ...

... Jed Lewison of Daily Kos: "The question I have is whether being branded as a conservative who tolerates neo-Confederate racism will be an asset or liability. In today's Republican Party, the answer isn't entirely clear." ...

... ** CW: Don't delude yourself with the notion that the Pauls are rare birds. As Scott Lemieux lays out in a Lawyers, Guns & Money post, there are five Tenthers sitting on the Supreme Court. Lemieux points out that the logic of the Roberts decision on the Voting Rights Act is exactly the same rationale that the Taney court applied in the notorious Dred Scott case, which was, um, overturned by a Civil War & two Constitutional Amendments: "Roberts's opinion rests on an utterly anachronistic vision of federal power that was highly dubious before the Civil War Amendments and was rendered completely nonsensical after they were passed. And while the moral implications of compact theory were worse in the antebellum era, as a matter of constitutional law the argument is even worse in the 21st century than it was in the middle of the 19th. The fact that this anachronistic states' rights interpretation of federal power has consistently been used to oppose federal protections of civil rights and is still being used to do so isn't a coincidence, but it's wrong on every level. We fought a civil war against the premises that Shelby County uncritically invokes. But striking down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act is the latest example of the party of Lincoln transforming into the party of Calhoun."

Your Government Actually at Work. Jessica Silver-Greenberg & Edward Wyatt of the New York Times: "Federal regulators are cracking down on questionable debt collection practices by some of the nation's biggest lenders. The push comes after revelations that some of the same practices that have haunted the foreclosures of homes -- like robo-signing and faulty documentation -- have cropped up in efforts to recoup delinquent credit card debt.... On Wednesday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau plans to assert at a hearing that it has the authority to regulate banks' debt collection practices under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law. The act bars the firms from employing 'unfair, deceptive or abusive acts.'"

"A Coup Is a Coup Is a Coup." Dana Milbank: "How long can the euphemisms endure? Egypt's interim government said Tuesday that it hopes to hold elections in six months -- at which time Egypt would again be a democracy eligible for foreign aid. It's theoretically possible the Obama administration could hold out for that long without naming the Situation in Egypt -- but that would be quite a coup."

Maureen Dowd has a date with a sexy French Socialist politician, Arnaud Montebourg. Nice working vacation.

Congressional Races

Tal Kopan of Politico: "Newark Mayor Cory Booker is blowing away the rest of the field in the Democratic primary for New Jersey’s Senate seat, according to a new poll on Tuesday. Booker had the support of 52 percent of those Democrats surveyed in the Quinnipiac poll, compared with 10 percent for Rep. Frank Pallone, who on Monday got the endorsement of the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg's family. The other candidates in the race were in single digits: Rep. Rush Holt was supported by 8 percent and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver got 3 percent. Booker also topped potential Republican challengers."

I've considered it because people have requested me considering it. I'm still waiting to see, you know, what the lineup will be and hoping that, there again, there will be some new blood, new energy -- not just kind of picking from the same old politicians in the state. -- Former Alaska Half-Governor & 2008 U.S. Vice Presidential Runner-Up Sarah Palin, on whether or not she will run for the U.S. Senate next year

There again, no estimate on what fraction of a grueling six-year term she could, you know, be persuaded to serve. -- Constant Weader (Thanks to Julie L. for the link.)

Local News

New York Times Editors: North Carolina "state government has become a demolition derby, tearing down years of progress in public education, tax policy, racial equality in th courtroom and access to the ballot.... North Carolina was once considered a beacon of farsightedness in the South, an exception in a region of poor education, intolerance and tightfistedness. In a few short months, Republicans have begun to dismantle a reputation that took years to build."

Bad News Bob Gets More Bad News. Jim Nolan of the Richmond Times-Dispatch: "Sean McDonnell, the 21-year-old son of Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, was arrested Saturday in Charlottesville and charged with public swearing and intoxication.... The arrest is the latest trouble for Virginia's first family, beset by inquiries into its acceptance of personal gifts from the governor's political donors and its use of mansion resources over the last three-and-a-half years." ...

... Hot Pockets. Alix Bryan of WTVR Richmond: "On Friday, July 5, Gov. Bob McDonnell reimbursed the Commonwealth almost $2,400 for food and supplies taken by his children from the kitchen of the Virginia Executive Mansion.... Most of the items were given to three McDonnell children when they returned to college after weekend or holiday visits.... Virginia Executive Mansion chef Todd Schneider faces four felony counts of embezzlement for allegedly removing food from the kitchen. In the court documents for his own case, Schneider alleged that the governor's family took items from the executive kitchen." But the kids' pilfering is decidedly small potatoes compared to ...

... Update. Bigger Bad News for Bad News Bob. Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post: "A prominent political donor gave $70,000 to a corporation owned by Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell and his sister last year, and the governor did not disclose the money as a gift or loan.... The donor, wealthy businessman Jonnie R. Williams Sr., also gave a previously unknown $50,000 check to the governor's wife, Maureen, in 2011.... The money to the corporation and Maureen McDonnell brings to $145,000 the amount Williams gave to assist the McDonnell family in 2011 and 2012 -- funds that are now at the center of federal and state investigations....All the payments came as McDonnell and his wife took steps to promote the donor's company and its products." ...

... CW: maybe McDonnell should follow the advice of those apparently false rumors that he would resign shortly.

Nick Corasaniti of the New York Times: "Eliot Spitzer is back, and for late-night comedy writers, he might as well be manna from heaven."

News Ledes

CNN: "Iraq veteran turned pro-gun activist Adam Kokesh was arrested on two charges, including having a gun while in possession of an illicit drug, police said Wednesday. His arrest comes after authorities late Tuesday searched the suburban Washington home of Kokesh, who recently made headlines with his July Fourth video posted to YouTube in which he loaded a shotgun in the middle of the national capital's Freedom Plaza." The Washington Post story is here.

Guardian: "The defence has rested its case in the trial of the WikiLeaks source Bradley Manning, rounding off its portrayal of the US soldier as a young man who accepted that he was wrong to have leaked a vast trove of state secrets but who had no 'general evil intent' to 'aid the enemy'."

New York Times: "The new military-led government [of Egypt] accused Mohamed Morsi and his allies in the Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday of a campaign to incite violence against their foes before and after his ouster as president, offering a new explanation for the week-old takeover and hinting that the group might be banned once again."

New York Times: Joseph "Massino, the former boss of the Bonanno crime family [who was serving two life sentences], will be released from federal custody in 60 days, a period the government requested to put in place security arrangements to keep Mr. Massino safe from what are presumed to be a considerable number of enemies. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn had sought a reduction of Mr. Massino's sentence, citing his extensive cooperation: while incarcerated, Mr. Massino had recorded conversations with a Mafia captain, and he has provided investigators with information about hundreds of people associated with not only the Bonanno family, which Mr. Massino took control of in 1991, but also the other crime families across New York."

Orlando Sentinel: "By early Friday afternoon, jurors should be deliberating whether Neighborhood Watch volunteer George Zimmerman is a murderer. After nearly a year and a half of public debate about racial profiling and gun rights, six jurors ... will decide whether Zimmerman killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in self-defense or committed a crime."

Boston Globe: "Escorted by a Humvee filled with heavily armed law enforcement officers, a white prisoner van carrying Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev roared into US District Court in Boston today, rushing past about a dozen people who shouted encouragement to the alleged Islamic terrorist." ...

     ... Update: "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the alleged Boston Marathon bomber, made his first public appearance since the April 15 attack Wednesday in a federal court room and pleaded not guilty to a sweeping terrorism indictment that carries the possibility of the death penalty. With 30 bombing victims in the courtroom, some wearing the Boston Marathon gear, Tsarnaev entered 'not guilty' pleas in a thick accent seven times to groups of charges including using a weapon of mass destruction."

New York Times: "A federal judge on Wednesday found that Apple violated antitrust law in helping raise the retail price of e-books, saying the company 'played a central role in facilitating and executing' a conspiracy with five big publishers."

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