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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.

 

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."

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

Wherein Michael McIntyre explains how Americans adapted English to their needs. With examples:

Beat the Buzzer. Some amazing young athletes:

     ~~~ Here's the WashPo story (March 23).

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.”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Page Links
Monday
Jul042011

The Commentariat -- July 5

I've posted an Open Thread on Off Times Square. Karen Garcia & I have added comments. 

"As His Batshit Chickens Come Home to Roost." Driftglass blames David Brooks for his decades-long promotion of ideas & policies that have led to what Brooks now complains is an immoral, unreasoning gang of Republicans. A tour-de-force (on Driftglass's part, not Brooks'). ...

... AND, while we're at it, Driftglass has figured out a way to save the economy AND give in to Republican demands to cut the deficit. It's the "Rewarding Wealth Producers and Penalizing Moochers Patriotic American Values Re-alignment" Act. The act will make things a little tough on denizens of Sarah Palin's Alaska & Rand Paul's Kentucky, ferinstance, but it's all for the good of the country. ...

... New York Times Editors: "In addition to demanding trillions of dollars in spending cuts in exchange for raising the nation’s debt limit, [Congressional Democrats Republicans] are now vowing not to act without first holding votes in each chamber on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution.... It won’t be enough for Democrats to merely defeat the amendment when it comes up for a vote.... They also need to rebut the amendment’s false and dangerous premises." ...

... Gene Robinson of the Washington Post: "Obama’s in-your-face attitude [on the debt ceiling "negotiations"] seems to have thrown Republicans off their stride. They thought all they had to do was convince everyone they were crazy enough to force an unthinkable default on the nation’s financial obligations. Now they have to wonder if Obama is crazy enough to let them. The difficult work of putting the federal government on sound fiscal footing can’t begin as long as a majority in the House rejects simple arithmetic on ideological grounds." ...

... BUT. Know How to Hold Fold 'Em. Robert Pear of the New York Times: "Obama administration officials are offering to cut tens of billions of dollars from Medicare and Medicaid in negotiations to reduce the federal budget deficit, but the depth of the cuts depends on whether Republicans are willing to accept any increases in tax revenues. Administration officials and Republican negotiators say the money can be taken from health care providers like hospitals and nursing homes without directly imposing new costs on needy beneficiaries or radically restructuring either program." CW: because poor people have to die in the service of billionaires & big corporations. ...

'The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion' -- this is the important thing -- 'shall not be questioned.' -- Tim Geithner, pulling a copy of the Constitution from his pocket & reading a section of the Fourteenth Amendment

... CW: I don't like Tim Geithner & I don't like his inteviewer Mike Allen of Politico, but this video is interesting. As expected, Geithner pushes the "confidence v. uncertainty" meme. But at about 39:30 min. in (cursor forward), Geithner invokes the Fourteenth Amendment option. Whether or not President Obama ultimately resorts to the Fourteenth Amendment, obviously, he has placed that option "on the table" during negotiations. As I've said, if Obama caves to Republican pressure & cuts essential programs for Americans in need, it's because he wants to. He knows he doesn't have to. Thanks to Jim Fallows for the link & the guidance:

... Moderate Republican David Frum, a former Bush II speechwriter: "Why don't the Democrats rebel? Presumably, they elected Obama to stand up for their shared principles. But he's not standing up. He's rolling over. Or being rolled." Thanks to reader Doug R. for the link.

Just in case you thought the WashPo editorial page was worth perusing, there's this from regular columnist & another former Bush II speechwriter Marc Thiessen: AG Eric Holder is "... pursuing his ideologically driven crusade against the CIA’s interrogators." CW: Oh, it gets worse from there. The real crime is giving this disreputable hack real estate in a major newspaper. 

Edward Wyatt of the New York Times on Prof. Elizabeth Warren & the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau which she has organized: "... with no clear signal as to who will run the bureau, many bankers are now worrying that the opposition to Ms. Warren may produce a leaderless consumer bureau." 

Dan Eggen of the Washington Post: "... a new breed of 'super PACs' and other independent groups are poised to spend more money than ever to sway federal elections.... The rise of these independent groups, which can raise unlimited amounts of money..., could end up defining the 2012 campaign. But some of the groups could also pose a threat to established campaigns, which may find it difficult to stop them from wandering off message or committing strategic blunders. One rogue super PAC in Southern California has upended a Republican congressional campaign by producing a crude video depicting the female Democratic candidate as a stripper giving tax money to gang members." (CW: the words "crude video" appear in the WashPo article as "cru de video"; I thought it was some new wine!)

Raymond Hernandez of the New York Times: Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) "has begun a campaign, called Off the Sidelines, to mobilize women across the country, in advance of the national elections next year and as evidence emerges that the slow but steady progress made by women in elective politics has begun to stall. In the past few months, Ms. Gillibrand has activated her network of donors to help female candidates, emerged as a headliner among audiences of women, tried to recruit female candidates, advised women thinking about running, and started a Web site, offthesidelines.org."

Al Hunt of Bloomberg News on the rapid evolution of American attitudes toward gay marriage & how so many politicians (Obama) are still skirting the issue. In the lede, Hunt gives us one more reason to love Mario Cuomo.

Alissa Rubin & Rod Nordland of the New York Times: Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, Gen. David Patraeus & Gen. David Rodriguez, who runs day-to-day operations, are all leaving Afghanistan at about the same time. "From an American policy standpoint, the changing of the guard means little, but from the Afghan standpoint, in which a leader’s personality can determine the policy, the triple departure, along with President Obama’s June 22 speech on the withdrawal of troops, has stoked fears of abandonment, especially for Afghans who have depended on the Americans."

Missed this one. Binyamin Appelbaum of the New York Times: "President Obama announced Friday that he would nominate Thomas J. Curry to lead the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which oversees hundreds of national banks.... Mr. Curry’s nomination responds to the demands of Senate Democrats that the White House replace the acting head of the comptroller’s office, John G. Walsh, whom they regard as obstructing key aspects of the law passed last year to overhaul financial regulation."

Right Wing World *

Flip, Flip, Flop, Flip-Flop. Maeve Reston of the Los Angeles Times: "Mitt Romney has struggled to craft a consistent economic message in recent weeks — first blaming President Obama for driving the country deeper into recession and then backing off that charge during a visit to Pennsylvania. On Monday in southern New Hampshire, he appeared to offer those conflicting messages within one sentence:

The recession is deeper because of our president; it's seen an anemic recovery because of our president.

      ... Reston writes, "Those statements — that the president had driven the economy deeper into recession but also that an 'anemic' recovery had occurred — not only seemed to be contradictory, but also at odds with what Romney has previously argued. In a June..., Romney said Obama 'didn't create the recession, but he made it worse and longer.' Later..., he was quoted by NBC as saying the state's voters '...but [Obama] made it worse.' But when asked to elaborate on those statements..., he backtracked: 'I didn't say things are worse.' On Monday in Amherst, he combined both messages."

* Where a single sentence may be internally inconsistent.

News Ledes

President Obama makes brief remarks in the Brady Press Room about the deficit reduction talks:

** New York Times: "Members of the Afghan Parliament came to blows Tuesday as a majority for the first time began to discuss impeaching President Hamid Karzai, signaling the near-total breakdown of relations between the Parliament and the president as the country teeters on the brink of a constitutional crisis."

Guardian: "President Barack Obama is attempting to block the execution in Texas on Thursday of a Mexican man because it would breach an international convention and do "irreparable harm" to US interests. The White House has asked the US supreme court to put the execution of Humberto Leal Garcia on hold while Congress passes a law that would prevent the convicted rapist and murderer from being put to death along with dozens of other foreign nationals who were denied proper access to diplomatic representation before trials for capital crimes. The administration moved after the governor of Texas, Rick Perry, brushed aside appeals from diplomats, top judges, senior military officers, the United Nations and former president George W Bush to stay Leal's execution because it could jeopardise American citizens arrested abroad as well as US diplomatic interests." CW: pardon my ignorance, but can't the President do this unilaterally?

New York Times: "The Obama administration announced Tuesday that it would prosecute in civilian court a Somali accused of ties to two Islamist militant groups.... In an indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York, the Somali, Ahmed Abdulkadir Warsame, was charged with nine counts related to accusations that he provided support to the Shabab in Somalia and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in Yemen. Mr. Warsame ... was captured on April 19, and a plane carrying him arrived in New York City around midnight Monday, officials said." The article contains a link to the indictment.

The Hill: "The Senate as early as Wednesday could vote on a 'Sense of the Senate' bill that says taxpayers earning $1 million or more each year should 'make a more meaningful contribution to the deficit-reduction effort.' The bill ... was introduced last week by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.). Reid filed a cloture motion on the bill on Tuesday afternoon, meaning a vote to end debate could take place as early as late Wednesday or, more likely, Thursday." ...

... Cornyn Goes Full Emily Litella. NBC News: "Though he may have hinted over the weekend that he would consider raising revenue in order to avoid a government shutdown, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) says not so fast. 'We're not for raising taxes through the front door or back door during a fragile economic recovery....'" Sen. Cornyn told Andrea Mitchell.

The Audacity of Betrayal. New York Times: "President Obama stepped up pressure on Congressional Republicans on Tuesday to agree to a broad deficit-cutting deal, pledging to put popular entitlement programs like Medicare on the table in return for Republican acquiescence to some higher taxes."

New York Times: "Manhattan prosecutors are scheduled to meet on Wednesday with the lawyers for Dominique Strauss-Kahn to discuss whether the sexual assault case against him can be resolved through a dismissal or a plea, according to a person briefed on the matter."

New York Times: "Obama administration officials believe that Pakistan’s powerful spy agency ordered the killing of a Pakistani journalist who had written scathing reports about the infiltration of militants in the country’s military, according to American officials. New classified intelligence obtained before the May 29 disappearance of the journalist, Saleem Shahzad, 40, from the capital, Islamabad, and after the discovery of his mortally wounded body, showed that senior officials of the spy agency, the Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence, directed the attack on him in an effort to silence criticism...."

Reuters: "Prosecutors will drop sexual assault charges against ex-IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn at his next court appearance in two weeks, or earlier, because of doubts about the credibility of the alleged victim, he New York Post said Tuesday." CW: remember to consider the source.

AP: "The initial cleanup along the oil-fouled Yellowstone River could be tested Tuesday as rising waters make it harder for Exxon Mobil Corp. to get to areas damaged by the crude spilled from a company pipeline."

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