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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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.

 

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Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Saturday
Jul092011

The Commentariat -- July 10

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square.

Our job is to protect bank customers, not banks. -- Sheila Bair

** Joe Nocera profiles outgoing F.D.I.C. chair Sheila Bair, who saw the financial crisis coming & warned Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke & Tim Geithner, who ignored her. Nocera conducted an extended interview of Bair. Here's Bair on why Paulson, Bernanke, Geithner & Co. wouldn't back her push to get banks to modify home mortgages to minimize the impending crisis:

[They] thought maybe I was overstating the problem and that it wasn’t going to be that big a deal.... I think some of it was that they didn’t think borrowers were worth helping. There was some disdain for borrowers. ...

... AND Bair delivers knock-out punches to the powers-that-be in Wall Street & Washington in this Washington Post op-ed. CW: Bair is a Republican, and I don't agree with all of her remedies (oh, she's a "belt-tightener"), but it's lovely to read her so effectively knocking the establishment. Too bad she doesn't come right out & say, "Tim Geithner is a tool":

Wall Street seems all too ready to return to the same untenable business practices that brought it to its knees.... And some in government who claim to be representing Main Street seem all too ready to help. Already we have heard rationalization of the subprime mortgage debacle and denigration of those of us who have advocated long-term, structural changes in the way we regulate the financial industry. Too many industry leaders, as well as some government officials, compare the crisis to a 100-year flood. 'Who, us?' they say. 'We didn’t do anything wrong. Nobody saw this coming.' The truth is, some of us did see this coming.

David Rogers & Jake Sherman of Politico on why Speaker Boehner backed off the Big Deal: Majority Leader Eric Cantor & his conservative caucus won't vote for anything that can be construed as "taxes." CW: Rogers & Sherman call this a win for conservatives, but I see it as a win for progressives, too. The smaller the deal, the less damage Obama & his new BFF will do.

Catherine Rampell of the New York Times on why the unemployed are "invisible."

NEW. Tom Levenson of Balloon Juice does a swell takedown of self-proclaimed economic expert David Brooks. Thanks to reader Bonnie for the link. Levenson concludes with a rule set that works for me:

1.  Remember that David Brooks is always wrong.
2.  If your analysis leads you to conclude David Brooks might be right,
     refer to rule 1.

Joshua Miller of Roll Call: "Elizabeth Warren’s calendar sure looks like the schedule of a woman considering a Senate bid, or at least someone being courted by power players in Massachusetts and the Senate Democrats’ campaign operation in Washington. In recent weeks, Warren has met in person or spoke on the phone with Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray, David Axelrod, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Massachusetts Democratic Reps. Barney Frank, Stephen Lynch and John Tierney.... The DSCC declined to comment."

The Final Edition's New Fox Times: "White House Chief of Staff William Daley unveiled a new campaign initiative today designed to 'refresh' the President’s image ahead of the 2012 race." You decide:

Now, this really is the Final Edition. Click on the image to link to the paper. CW: I had no idea the News of the World even had an online presence. It appeas that the news in Britain is mostly "Young Women Wear Skimpy Outfits":

CLICK ON IMAGE TO GO TO SITE.... NEW. AND Andy Borowitz reprints a letter from Rupert Murdoch, which begins,

As details of the scandal surrounding my company, News Corporation, have emerged in recent days..., my defense has been consistent: I had no idea what was going on. Now, I’m sure many of you are wondering, how could I, Rupert Murdoch, one of the most powerful men in the world, have no idea what is going on?  The answer, my friends, is simple: I get all of my information from my own newspapers.  If you relied on News of the World, The Sun, and The New York Post for your information, I can assure you that you wouldn’t have a clue what was going on, either.

... Jack Shafer of Slate has a really good post on Rupert Murdoch's influence on British politicians & why it is unwarranted. "The revolving door between Rupert Murdoch's house of crime and 10 Downing Street tells us all we need to know about giving the government additional oversight of the press." It was the press, after all -- specifically, the Guardian -- that uncovered the News of the World scandal, while the police & the government did squat.

CW: I missed this post by Dahlia Lithwick, but it's well worth a read: In three cases decided this term, the Roberts Court gave corporations guidelines on "how to screw over [their] customers and employees without breaking the law."

Guardian Editors: "The spectre of the old Murdoch, whose demise was signalled last week – voracious and threatening – must not rise again from the ashes of the News of the World." CW: the editorial presents a pretty good summary of what's happened so far.

Right Wing World *

Sandhya Somashekhar of the Washington Post: "A socially conservative group has apologized for including a passage about slavery in a pledge it asked the Republican candidates to sign as a prerequisite for the group’s endorsement in the presidential race. Rep. Michele Bachmann had been the first GOP hopeful to sign 'The Marriage Vow,' which included in the introduction a section that lamented that 'the Institution of Marriage in America is in great crisis.'” Bachmann now claims she only signed part of the pledge, not the part at the top about slavery being so great for marriage. Rick Santorum signed on, too.

* Where white folks think slavery is better than homosexuality, but they're not going to say so anymore.

Local News

Alex Isenstadt of Politico: "... Wisconsin lawmakers unveil[ed] a draft congressional map that boosts three House GOP incumbents including House Budget chief Paul Ryan. The proposal, released Friday afternoon by GOP leaders in the state Assembly and Senate, makes modest changes to the state’s eight districts but provides support to GOP Reps. Ryan, Sean Duffy and Tom Petri — crafting for each a new seat that is slightly more GOP friendly."

News Ledes

New York Times: "President Obama tried on Sunday to revive the chances for a sweeping budget agreement to reduce the nation’s deficit and repair its perilous finances, but Congressional Republicans continued to balk, insisting on a more modest deal to avert a default on the national debt.... The meeting [today among Obama & leaders from both parties] ended after an hour and 15 minutes with little progress, but the two sides agreed to resume talking Monday, and every day after that, until a deal is done." Washington Post story here.

New York Times: "The $12 billion bid by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation to take over Britain’s most lucrative satellite broadcast company, British Sky Broadcasting, ran into fresh trouble on Sunday when the opposition Labour Party promised to take the battle against the takeover to a vote in the House of Commons — a step that, if successful, could deal a fatal blow to the bid." Guardian story here. ...

... Guardian: "Les Hinton [who now runs the Wall Street Journal], Rupert Murdoch's lifelong lieutenant and closest adviser, faces questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report, which found evidence that phone hacking was more widespread than admitted by the company, before he testified to a parliamentary committee that the practice was limited to a single reporter."

New York Times: "Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Sunday that President Obamawould continue to press for the largest deficit reduction possible in negotiations with Congressional leaders over raising the government’s debt ceiling, adding that 'it’s not clear that it’s easier trying to do less.'”

New York Times: "Reporters leaving the newsroom of The News of the World for the final time on Saturday night were told by the police to leave their desks, including their notebooks, untouched. They were allowed to keep only their cellphones. With that, the 168-year-old News of the World came to an end, brought down by a scandal over the interception of voicemail messages that is rocking Britain’s media, its police force and government, and threatens the empire of a previously unassailable mogul [Rupert Murdoch]. The final edition included an apology to readers for the newspaper losing its way."

Think Progress: "Sixteen senators led by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO) submitted a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder last week asking him to examine whether the Voting Rights Act’s prohibitions on laws preventing minorities from voting invalidate so-called 'voter ID' laws, which effectively disenfranchise thousands of elderly, disabled, and low-income voters."

Reuters: "Reports in the New York Times criticizing the Pakistan army and the powerful intelligence agency is a 'direct attack' on Pakistan's security, the army spokesman said on Saturday. Major General Athar Abbas, the Pakistan army's chief spokesman, repeatedly criticized the Times' reporting and said it was part of a calculated plan by 'unnamed officials' to 'weaken the state.'" CW: The Times report, also linked in yesterday's Ledes, is here.

Guardian: Rupert Murdoch flies to Britain to manage damage control efforts as senior News of the World management, including his son James & News International CEO Rebekah Brooks may become subjects of criminal investigations.

Yahoo! News: "The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a court challenge to language on a ballot measure in Missouri. In November 2012, Missouri voters will decide whether or not the Voter Protection Act becomes law. The General Assembly's ballot language is misleading, according to the ACLU.... The [so-called] Voter Protection Act would place stricter standards on voter identification at the polls. If passed, voters would need to show a Missouri photo ID at polling places in order to vote in elections. The IDs require a state-approved birth certificate, which some citizens don't have due to their age. They also cost money."

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