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.

 

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Saturday
Mar262011

The Commentariat -- March 27

Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times: "The ailing economy and the Tea Party’s demand for smaller government have dominated Republican politics for two years, but a resurgent social conservative movement is shaping the first stage of the presidential nominating contest, complicating the strategy for candidates who prefer to focus on fiscal issues over faith." ...

... Red Meat. Maggie Haberman of Politico: Michele Bachmann "gave the best-received speech of the potential 2012 hopefuls appearance at [crazy-evil] Rep. Steve King's conference and the crowd wildly applauded her brand of populism." ...

... Andy Barr of Politico: "In the latest Gallup poll released Friday, [Mike Huckabee is] the Republican leader, ahead of 16 other presidential prospects. Regardless of what’s being polled, who’s doing the polling or how the question is asked, among Republicans Huckabee typically finishes on top. ...

... BUT Buffalo Beast editor Ian Murphy -- a/k/a Fake Koch -- announces his candidacy for the Upstate New York Congressional seat vacated by CraigsList contributor, barechested Rep. Chris Lee in a better campaign announcement video than any Republicans could devise:

Prof. Juan Cole, an unabashed lefty, writes "an open letter to the left on Libya: ... I am unabashedly cheering the liberation movement on, and glad that the UNSC-authorized intervention has saved them from being crushed." He outlines why the coaltion action against Gaddafi forces is warranted & why leftists' arguments against the action are wanting. CW: if, like me, you've been conflicted about the military action, reading Cole is essential.

Nicholas Kristof: "Mubarak is gone, but an Egyptian woman’s story of torture depicts a revolution far from over.... The lesson may be that revolution is not a moment but a process, a gritty contest of wills that unfolds painstakingly long after the celebrations have died and the television lights have dimmed."

Local News

These changes to Medicaid are basically nothing but a business plan for Rick Scott's Solantic. -- Eric Jotkoff, Florida Democratic Party spokesman ...

... Suzy Khimm of Mother Jones: "Republican governor Rick Scott's push to privatize Medicaid in Florida is highly controversial — not least because the health care business Scott handed over to his wife when he took office could reap a major profit if the legislation becomes law. Scott and Florida Republicans are currently trying to enact a sweeping Medicaid reform bill that would give HMOs and other private health care companies unprecedented control over the government health care program for the poor. Among the companies that stand to benefit from the bill is Solantic, a chain of urgent-care clinics.... The Florida governor founded Solantic in 2001, only a few years after he resigned as the CEO of hospital giant Columbia/HCA amid a massive Medicare fraud scandal. In January, he transferred his $62 million stake in Solantic to his wife, Ann Scott, a homemaker involved in various charitable organizations. ...

... In the 1990s, [Scott] made his money off single-payer health-care programs by cheating them. Today, he's making his money off single-payer health-care programs by running them. No matter how you look at it, it's a step up. -- Ezra Klein ...

... "The Moral of the Story: Don't Elect a Criminal to Be Governor." Steve Benen: "This happens to coincide with a new Scott initiative: mandatory drug testing for state employees, state job applicants, and welfare recipients. Care to guess what Florida company would stand to make a lot of money administering these wildly unnecessary drug tests? If you guessed, 'Solantic,' you're right." ...

... Florida! Where Bestiality Is Legal! The dysfunctional Florida legislature is trying for a third time to pass a law making bestiality a crime. So far, they have not been able to pass what should be an uncontroversial law even though proponents of the bill -- inspired by the sexual abuse & asphyxiation of a goat -- have come up with great motivational slogans like "Baaa Means No." ...

... CW: you may ask me why I'm still living in a state like this. I'm beginning to wonder myself.

Right Wing World

Politico: "Pressed on 'Fox News Sunday' about his adulterous past, Newt Gingrich said it was not hypocritical for him to impeach Bill Clinton while he cheated on his own wife because he never lied under oath." Update: here's the videotape:

Mormons, Sí; Muslims, No. Freedom of Religion for You and Me. Steve Benen: after describing an anti-Muslim rant by Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain, Benen reminds us that "In the fall of 2007, [Mitt] Romney said he would not consider Muslim Americans for his cabinet. Indeed, he said this more than once, in front of plenty of witnesses." Romney, unlike Cain, is a front-runner. ...

... Based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them.
-- Herman Cain ...

... Scott Keyes of Think Progress has more, including a video, of Cain's views & misunderstanding of the First Amendment.

News Ledes

AP: "A magnitude-6.5 earthquake shook eastern Japan off the quake-ravaged coast on Monday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting Japan to issue a tsunami alert. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries, but the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that a tsunami of up to 1.6 feet (a half meter) may wash into Miyagi Prefecture." ...

... Los Angeles Times: "Puddles with 10 million times more radioactivity than would be found in water in a normally functioning nuclear reactor have been discovered at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi facility, Japanese officials said Sunday, raising new questions about the extent of damage to reactor No. 2 and the threat to workers there." ...

... AP: "Nevada has joined several western states in reporting that minuscule amounts of radiation from Japan's damaged nuclear plant are showing up. But as with the other states, scientists say there is no health risk."

WISC: Wisconsin Secretary of State Doug La Follette (yes, of that La Follette family) said the state's budget repair bill has not been published & therefore cannot go into effect, despite Republican plans to implement it anyway.

New York Times: "The United States military intervention in Libya has saved perhaps tens of thousands of lives, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Sunday, as she and Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates defended a mission they acknowledged is drawing increasing skepticism from both liberals and conservatives."

Reuters: "NATO agreed on Sunday to take full responsibility for coalition military operations in Libya, ending a week of heated negotiations over the command structure."

The Hill: "The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said on Sunday that Col. Moammar Gadhafi is 'on his heels' and Libyan people need to take advantage of the situation and remove their dictator. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) heralded the ongoing U.S., British, and French air strikes, and bucked criticism of President Obama’s communication with the Congress, saying that he has clearly laid out the U.S.’s end game in the North African country."

Los Angeles Times: "Libyan rebels took back a key oil town on Sunday in their westward push toward the capital,seizing momentum from the international airstrikes that tipped the balance away from Moammar Kadafi's military. Brega, a main oil export terminal in eastern Libya, fell to rebels after a skirmish late Saturday, said Ahmed Jibril, a rebel commander manning a checkpoint on the westernmost edge of town." ...

... CBS News: "On 'Face the Nation' airing Sunday, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told CBS News chief Washington Correspondent Bob Schieffer that intelligence reports indicate Muammar Qaddafi's forces are planting dead bodies of civilians at sites attacked by coalition forces." CW Note: this is more or less the same "classified secret" Glenn Greenwald wrote about last week.

New York Times: "A day after he said he was ready to yield power to 'safe hands,' President Ali Abdullah Saleh asserted Saturday that his departure was not imminent, leaving unclear when and under what terms he would agree to step down."

AP: "Millions of retired and disabled people in the United States had better brace for another year with no increase in Social Security payments. The government is projecting a slight cost-of-living adjustment for Social Security benefits next year, the first increase since 2009. But for most beneficiaries, rising Medicare premiums threaten to wipe out any increase in payments, leaving them without a raise for a third straight year."

Guardian: "More than 200 people are in police custody after trouble flared in central London following a peaceful march and TUC rally against the government's spending cuts. Eighty-four people, including at least 31 police officers, were reported to have been injured in the violence as a minority of anarchists attacked symbols of wealth in Piccadilly, Oxford Street and Regent Street."

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