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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Saturday
Mar122011

The Commentariat -- March 13

David Sirota, in a Washington Post op-ed, thinks we're living in a 1980s timewarp.

Maureen Dowd doesn't think a no-fly zone over Libya is a good idea, & she takes to occasion to slam Paul Wolfowitz, which all by itself is a good idea.

Nicholas Kristof gives a full-throated endorsement of increasing teacher pay, & he explains why. He's right.

AND Frank Rich sings his swan song.

The Associated Press reports that union leaders had asked both Vice President Biden & Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to go to Wisconsin in support of public unions. Nothing doing.

Bio-Diversity. Ben Smith: "Aides to John McCain initially added Sarah Palin to his 'short list' of potential running mates because McCain wanted a woman on the list, according to his campaign manager."

Bill Maher & Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) argue about the content of the Kuran:

Right Wing World

What I love about New Hampshire is ... you're the state where the shot was heard around the world in Lexington and Concord. -- Michele Bachmann, in a speech yesterday in New Hampshire ...

... CW: See, there is a Lexington Ski Club in New Hampshire, and Concord is the New Hampshire state capital. Any doofus could make the mistake of moving Lexington & Concord, Massachusetts, to New Hampshire, though a doofus running for president, speaking from prepared text in the critical state of New Hampshire, might be advised to find out where "the shot heard 'round the world" was actually fired. Video clip here. ...

... Derek Wallbank of the Minneapolis Post: Bachmann said the same thing at a Friday night fundraiser in New Hampshire. ...

... Scott Conroy of Real Clear Politics: "Bachmann's contorting of a basic fact about the fight for American independence was made all the more glaring because of her repeated references throughout her speech to the nation's founding."

Lawrence O'Donnell parses Newt Gingrich. Now we know what the Newt really meant:

Local News

Another Candidate for America's Worst Governor. Chris Christoff of the Detroit Free Press, on the way Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, a Republican, added a $100 appropriation to a bill, which makes the bill exempt from voter referendum. The bill, which Democrats & the AARP oppose, taxes "pensions and other retirement income while cutting business taxes."

A farmer brings his tractor to Madison to participate in a farmer tractor-parade protest of the new Republican law that allows Gov. Walker to eliminate or reduce programs like BadgerCare, which assist Wisconsin farm families. Getty image.Jessica VanEregen of the Madison, Wisconsin, Capital Times: farmers, most of them Republicans, are brining their tractors to Madison (Saturday) to protest the Republican "reform" bill which Gov. Walker signed into law last week. According to a spokesman for the Wisconsin Farmers Union, "many of those coming to Madison are upset by the realization that Walker's agenda is 'sacrificing Wisconsin's quality of life for everyone, not just unions.'"

News Ledes

New York Times: "Japanese officials struggled on Sunday to contain a widening nuclear crisis..., saying they presumed that partial meltdowns had occurred at two crippled reactors and that they were bracing for a second explosion, even as they faced serious cooling problems at four more reactors." Story has links to other Times stories about the quake, tsunami & aftermath. ...

... Update: "Japan faced mounting humanitarian and nuclear emergencies Sunday as the death toll from Friday’s earthquake and tsunami climbed astronomically, partial meltdowns occurred at two crippled plants and cooling problems struck four more reactors. In one town alone, the port of Minamisanriku, a senior police official said the number of dead would 'certainly be more than 10,000.' The overall number is also certain to climb as searchers began to reach coastal villages that essentially vanished under the first muddy surge of the tsunami, which struck the nation’s northern Pacific coast."

... CNN: "The powerful earthquake that unleashed a devastating tsunami Friday appears to have moved the main island of Japan by 8 feet (2.4 meters) and shifted the Earth on its axis." ...

... Guardian: "Several years ago, the seismologist Ishibashi Katsuhiko stated, specifically, that such [a nuclear plant] accident was highly likely to occur. Nuclear power plants in Japan have a 'fundamental vulnerability' to major earthquakes, Katsuhiko said in 2007."

AP: "Libyan state television reported Sunday that forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi have retaken the oil town of Brega in eastern Libya, swiftly advancing on the poorly equipped and loosely organized rebels. The report could not immediately be verified. Libyan TV has issued faulty reports claiming territory in the past." ...

... Politico: "The White House on Saturday lauded Arab nations for their global call to do more in pressuring the Qadhafi regime and supporting the Libyan opposition."

AP: "Israel said Sunday it has approved hundreds of settler homes after five members of an Israeli family — including three children — were knifed to death as they slept in a West Bank settlement over the weekend. The attack and the government's response threatened to drive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking even further out of reach."

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel: "Unbowed and unrepentant, 14 Democratic state senators returned to the Capitol on Saturday and received a tumultuous welcome from tens of thousands of pro-labor demonstrators." ...

... Reuters: "Up to 100,000 people protested at the Wisconsin state Capitol on Saturday against a new law curbing the union rights of public workers that is seen as one of the biggest challenges in decades facing U.S. organized labor."

AP: NFL "owners imposed a lockout on the players Saturday, essentially shutting down operations. That came hours after talks broke off and the union dissolved itself, meaning players no longer are protected under labor law but instead are now allowed to take their chances in federal court under antitrust law. Nine NFL players, including superstar quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees, and one college player headed for the pros filed a class-action lawsuit in Minnesota and asked for a preliminary injunction to block a lockout, even before it went into effect.

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