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.

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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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Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Mar092013

The Commentariat -- March 10, 2013

Please sign the White House petition "Save Social Security." If you think means-testing is a good idea, see my argument as to why it is not -- it's the 12th comment in the Comments section.

Spring Forward

You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe Daylight Saving Time. -- Dave Barry

Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket. -- AmerIndian, when told of Daylight Saving Time

Thanks to contributor Walt W. for the commentary. There are numerous versions of the second "quote," some less politically correct than others. One that makes sense puts the observation in the mouth of an Arizona Indian chief, which would "explain" why Arizona is one of the states that (mostly) does not adhere to Daylight Saving Time. -- Constant Weader

Obama 2.0. Colum Lynch of the Washington Post: "Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations who lost out in a bruising bid for the job of secretary of state, may have the last laugh. Rice has emerged as far and away the front-runner to succeed Thomas E. Donilon as President Obama's national security adviser later this year, according to an administration official familiar with the president's thinking. The job would place her at the nexus of foreign-policy decision making and allow her to rival the influence of Secretary of State John F. Kerry in shaping the president's foreign policy." ...

... Sari Horwitz & Lena Sun of the Washington Post: Thomas "Perez, 51, a first-generation Dominican American, is in line to lead the Department of Labor. President Obama plans to nominate Perez, assistant U.S. attorney general for civil rights, to be labor secretary."

A New Headache for the Orange Man. Molly Hooper of The Hill: "House Republican leaders ... can't count on their members to support them on procedural votes. Sixteen Republicans defected Wednesday in a vote on the rule governing consideration of a government-funding bill meant to prevent a government shutdown. The defections could have caused the rule to fail since most Democrats voted also voted against it.... Republicans were saved Wednesday by the fact that 17 Democrats missed the vote, possibly because of the poor weather in Washington that day. If those Democrats had all voted against the rule, it would have been defeated.... Worse, from a leadership perspective, is that some Republicans say they plan on doing it again if they feel leaders are limiting them from offering controversial amendments on the floor."

... CW: the reason the government almost defaulted on its obligations in 2011 was that Boehner, apparently led by Eric Cantor, caved to his Tea Party caucus. The reason the sequester went into effect was that Boehner caved to his Tea Party caucus. While every sane person thinks a government shutdown would be catastrophic, Tea Party zealots won't be happy till the government shuts down permanently.

Lincoln Caplan of the New York Times: "A half-century ago, the Supreme Court ruled that anyone too poor to hire a lawyer must be provided one free in any criminal case involving a felony charge. The holding in Gideon v. Wainwright enlarged the Constitution's safeguards of liberty and equality, finding the right to counsel 'fundamental.' The goal was 'fair trials before impartial tribunals in which every defendant stands equal before the law.' ... At least 80 percent of state criminal defendants cannot afford to pay for lawyers and have to depend on court-appointed counsel. Even the best-run state programs lack enough money to provide competent lawyers for all indigent defendants who need them....Contempt for poor defendants is too often the norm.... The powerlessness of poor defendants is becoming even more evident under harsh sentencing schemes created in the past few decades.... There is no shortage of lawyers to do this work. What stands in the way is an undemocratic, deep-seated lack of political will."

Going Darker. David Alexander of Reuters: "With debate intensifying in the United States over the use of drone aircraft, the U.S. military said on Sunday that it had removed data about air strikes carried out by unmanned planes in Afghanistan from its monthly air power summaries. U.S. Central Command, which oversees the Afghanistan war, said in a statement the data had been removed because it was 'disproportionately focused' on the use of weapons by the remotely piloted aircraft as it was published only when strikes were carried out -- which happened during only 3 percent of sorties. Most missions were for reconnaissance, it said." ...

... CW: Together, Afghanistan & Pakistan hold only about 3 percent of the world's population. Constant reports on an area where we are at war and scant reports on the vast areas of the world where we are not at war shows the media are "disproportionally focused" on Afghanistan & Pakistan. Ergo, war reporting is totally unjustified & should stop now.

Sabrina Tavernise & Robert Gebeloff of the New York Times: "The share of American households with guns has declined over the past four decades, a national survey shows, with some of the most surprising drops in the South and the Western mountain states, where guns are deeply embedded in the culture. The gun ownership rate has fallen across a broad cross section of households since the early 1970s, according to data from the General Social Survey...." ...

... Annie-Rose Strasser of Think Progress: "The host of The Sportsman Channel’s 'A Rifleman's Journal' was shot and killed in Montana on Friday. The gunman, seemingly a jealous husband, then turned the weapon on himself.... Gregory Rodriguez not only hosted his own hunting show. He was also an editor of Shooting Times and wrote for Guns & Ammo magazine. He was also the CEO of Global Adventure Outfitters, a hunting supply store.... The episode is a tragic reminder that even responsible gun owners can find themselves at the mercy of an unhinged gunman, and that National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre's claim that, 'the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun' doesn't always hold up."

Flip-Flop, Flip-Flop. Annie-Rose Strasser: "Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush went on a Sunday talk show offensive this week to try to clarify his position on immigration reform, but he only managed to create more confusion."

Ben Blanchard & Sui-Lee Wee of Reuters: "Six months ago China's state media was lauding North Korea as a great place to invest as both countries tried to promote a cross-border economic zone. One nuclear test, a long-range rocket launch and much sabre-rattling later and China is a central player in new U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang, something Chinese experts say marks a major shift in Beijing's policy toward its impoverished neighbor. At the same time, Chinese newspapers have been calling North Korea an ungrateful and unreliable liability. Businessmen and officials charged with building commercial ties don't even want to talk about the country." ...

... BUT Jane Perlez of the New York Times: "China's foreign minister said Saturday that Beijing would not abandon North Korea, reiterating China's longstanding position that dialogue, not sanctions, is the best way to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear weapons."

"Dick and George's Excellent Adventure." Historian Andrew Bachevich, in a Washington Post op-ed: "Back in 1947, the promulgation of the Truman Doctrine kicked off Washington's effort to put its imprint on the Greater Middle East, while affirming that Britain's exit from the region had begun. U.S. power was going to steer events in directions favorable to U.S. interests. That effort now seems likely to have run its course. The United States finds itself today pretty much where the British were back in the 1920s and 1930s. We've bitten off more than we can chew." Thanks to contributor Barbarossa for the link. And the headline. ...

... "The Madness of King George." Peter Van Buren on Juan Cole's blog: "... by invading Iraq, the U.S. did more to destabilize the Middle East than we could possibly have imagined at the time. And we -- and so many others -- will pay the price for it for a long, long time." Thanks to Barbarossa for the link.

Mark Mazzetti, Charlie Savage & Scott Shane of the New York Times: "An account of how the United States came to use a drone strike to kill the terrorist leader Anwar al-Awlaki, who was born in New Mexico. The account highlights the perils of a war conducted behind a classified veil."

Rachel Donadio & Andrew Higgins of the New York Times: There is "mounting pressure on the Vatican to clean up its bank -- for decades the subject of dark intrigue and linked to one mysterious death -- as part of a push by the European Union to apply common rules to all the countries and micro-states like Vatican City and Monaco that use the euro. Those pressures continued until the very last days of Pope Benedict XVI's papacy and remain a critical issue for the cardinals now meeting to elect a new pope. As the conclave begins Tuesday, the specter of financial scandal presents a special challenge for Benedict's successor, who must modernize the Roman Catholic Church's finances or risk the Vatican's access to the global banking system, undermining its moral authority and its financial stability."

Simon Walters of the Daily Mail: Queen Elizabeth will "back an historic pledge to promote gay rights and 'gender equality' in one of the most controversial acts of her reign. In a live television broadcast, she will sign a new charter designed to stamp out discrimination against homosexual people and promote the 'empowerment' of women -- a key part of a new drive to boost human rights and living standards across the Commonwealth.... A Buckingham Palace spokesman said: 'In this charter, the Queen is endorsing a decision taken by the Commonwealth.' But he added: 'The Queen does not take a personal view on these issues. The Queen's position is apolitical, as it is on all matters of this sort.' ... Although the charter is not connected with the accession issue, it is seen as a clear indication that she supports new laws designed to give equal Royal accession rights to boys and girls." It's absolutely true because you read it in the Daily Mail.

** Amy Argetsinger of the Washington Post: "President Obama, who dismayed the Beltway elite during his first term by shunning most of this town’s stuffed-shirt banquets, put in a game appearance at the annual Gridiron Club dinner Saturday night. 'Of course, as I begin my second term, our country is still facing enormous challenges,' the president told the gathering -- and then paused for a long sip of water. 'That, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water.'" Read the whole post. Here's the official transcript of the President's remarks, via Politico. Thank goodness the official transcriber was not sequestered out.

Maureen Dowd recalls her salad days at Time mag.

Local News

Igor Volsky of Think Progress: "Iowa state Rep. Pat Grassley (R) — the grandson of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) — introduced a bill earlier this week that increases the amount of instruction in government and 'the tenets of American citizenship' in the state's high school social studies curriculum, but specifically eliminates 'the high school social studies requirement to teach voting procedures.'" CW: the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree.

Adam Peck of Think Progress: "Republican lawmakers in Kansas who are eager to further cut taxes (despite having had to lay off hundreds of public employees) think they have found another program worthy of elimination: a college savings plan specifically designed to benefit the state's poorest students.... Instead, argues Gov. Sam Brownback and his fellow Republicans in the legislature, that money should go to more tax breaks for the state's wealthiest residents."

News Ledes

AP: "The main suspect in the gang rape and fatal beating of a woman on a New Delhi bus, an attack that horrified Indians and set off national protests, committed suicide in jail Monday, police officials said. Ram Singh, who is accused of driving the bus on which the 23-year-old student was raped and fatally assaulted by a group of six men in December, hanged himself with his own clothes, said ... the top police official at Tihar jail."

New York Times: Mildred "Manning was among the Army and Navy nurses of World War II known collectively as the Angels of Bataan and Corregidor. When the Japanese were overrunning the Philippines in early 1942, the nurses treated wounded, dying and disease-ridden soldiers under heavy enemy fire.... When Mrs. Manning died on Friday in Hopewell, N.J., at 98, she was the last survivor of the Army and Navy nurses who had been captured by the Japanese in the Philippines, said Elizabeth M. Norman, who told their stories in 'We Band of Angels.'"

AP: "Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday accused the Taliban and the U.S. of working in concert to convince Afghans that violence will worsen if most foreign troops leave -- an allegation the top American commander in Afghanistan rejected as 'categorically false.'" CW: Yes, Karzai is off his meds again, reminding us yet again of Dick & George's excellent choices.

Reuters: "A joint news conference that had been scheduled for Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has been canceled over security concerns, U.S. officials said. The officials declined to cite the nature of the security threat. But it comes a day after a suicide bombing in Kabul that killed nine civilians, about a kilometer away from where Hagel was holding a morning meeting." CW: most worrisome: Karzai's threat to shoot Hagel for being a Taliban collaborator.

Reuters: "Twenty-one United Nations peacekeepers held by rebels for three days in southern Syria crossed into Jordan on Saturday, after an ordeal which highlighted how Syria's civil war is ratcheting up tensions on its volatile borders. The Filipino peacekeepers -- part of the U.N. Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) that has been monitoring a ceasefire line between Syria and Israel in the Golan Heights since 1974 -- were seized by the Martyrs of Yarmouk rebel brigade on Wednesday."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (9)

My man Andew Bacevich has a historian's perspective on Dick and George's Excellent Adventure:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ten-years-after-the-invasion-did-we-win-the-iraq-war/2013/03/08/9c18c10e-80f3-11e2-8074-b26a871b165a_story.html?hpid=z2

Did we win? Hell no! Was it worth the cost? Hell no!

A friend of mine was told by an Army pilot in 1964 about why we were going to Vietnam: "To show BigNose Charlie [DeGaullr] how it's done." We showed him all right. Showed him so well that the French wanted no part of our Iraq debacle.

March 9, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

Barbarossa: Like your comment. It reminds, however of a friend who became a sometime speechwriter for JFK. Before that, in '54 or whenever, he'd come to California on official business. He camped out with me and mine. One day he brought a copy of the LATimes to the breakfast table. The headline: "Dien Bien Phu Falls." He said: "Nobody'll care about that in another six months."

March 9, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

http://www.juancole.com/2013/03/accomplished-americas-blunder.html

Another take on "Mission Accomplished."

March 9, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterBarbarossa

Rather liked this Obama line from the Gridiron Dinner: "On “maintaining credibility” amid cynicism: “My administration recently put out a photo of me skeet shooting and even that wasn’t enough for some people. Next week, we’re releasing a photo of me clinging to religion.”

@CW Why don't you keep the link to your Social Security petition front and center for the next month on the right side
above the Ledes? Keep pushing it...

March 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterMAG

@MAG. Thanks. Done. Marie

March 10, 2013 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Good idea, MAG. I've posted it to Facebook three times and e-mailed to friends. Would be great to get Credo or Daily Kos or some other group with a huge audience to push it.

March 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterJames Singer

If you're interested in a further look into the Vatican's secret banking institutions, Al Jazeera has a good documentary on it:

http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2011/04/201142773623970335.html

The Vatican essentially writes its own rules since it resides within its own City-State. There is absolutely no way of following the money that comes in and out of the bank, and there are multiple allegations that they launder money for the Italian mafia and other shady business interests.

Between the priestly perverts and the shady finance of hundreds of thousands of euros a year, how again do these old farts represent the humble teachings of Christ? Whenever I see those clowns in their ridiculous attire, I can't help but wonder who they think they really are....

March 10, 2013 | Unregistered Commentersafari

Jon Stewart---watch your back! The Gridiron video confirms that the President has comedic talents!

March 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterCalyban

Bernie still fighting in the trenches. Go Bernie!

March 10, 2013 | Unregistered CommenterDaveS
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