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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Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Tuesday
Mar082011

The Commentariat -- March 9

** The Terrorists I Love by Peter King.... Scott Shane of the New York Times: Rep. "Peter T. King, whose House committee is holding hearings on the radicalization of American Muslims, once fervently supported a terrorist group, the Irish Republican Army."

Janet Hook of the Wall Street Journal: "Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D., Nev.) said that efforts to bridge the parties' $50 billion difference in proposed budget cuts for the remainder of fiscal-year 2011 could reach beyond domestic discretionary spending and move into tax policy and programs such as farm subsidies." ...

... Good Luck with That. Julie Hirschfeld Davis and Heidi Przybyla of Bloomberg News: "Almost 8 in 10 people say Republicans and Democrats should reach a compromise on a plan to reduce the federal budget deficit to keep the government running, a Bloomberg National Poll shows. At the same time, lopsided margins oppose cuts to Medicare, education, environmental protection, medical research and community-renewal programs." ...

... AND Harry Reid gets it really wrong on repeal of an aspect of healthcare reform. This is a little wonkish, but Harry's bright idea -- borrowed from House Republicans -- could end up costing you a bundle. Ezra Klein has a detailed explanation.

Glenn Greenwald on President Obama's indefinite detention policy for terror suspects incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay: "... Obama -- for reasons having nothing to do with Congress -- worked from the start to preserve the crux of the Bush/Cheney detention regime." ...

... Dafna Linzer of ProPublica: "Obama said he remained committed to closing the prison, a pledge he made on his first full day in office. That pledge, enshrined in his first executive order, was widely seen as a repudiation of the detention system his predecessor built. But the new order suggests that Obama's original pledge was more about dismantling a facility than a system."

David Nakamura of the Washington Post: "Spurred by memories of the World War II-era roundup and internment of 110,000 of their own people, Japanese Americans, especially on the West Coast, have been among the most vocal and passionate supporters of embattled Muslims. They've rallied public support against hate crimes at mosques, signed on to legal briefs opposing the indefinite detention of Muslims by the government, organized cross-cultural trips to the Manzanar internment camp memorial in California and held 'Bridging Communities' workshops in Islamic schools and on college campuses."

Ezra Klein wrote a post on Sunday briefly noting a book by Ed Glaeser titled The Triumph of the City. Based on his reading, Klein concluded,

... cities make us smarter, more productive and more innovative. To put it plainly, they make us richer. And the evidence in favor of this point is very, very strong. But it would of course be political suicide for President Obama to say that part of winning the future is ending the raft of subsidies we devote to sustaining rural living. And the U.S. Senate is literally set up to ensure that such a policy never becomes politically plausible. ...

      ... So Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack gave Klein a call to say he took the post as "a slam on rural America." Vilsack says farmers deserve subsidies because they're "good and hardworking people." Klein says his suburban parents are "good, hardworking people, too," but they're not getting equivalent subsidies. Klein provides a transcript of their conversation. I would say Klein gets the better of Vilsack. Of course, it's Klein's post. ...

... Speaking of farm subsidies, Sam Stein reports that at least three of those "good, hardworking" Republican Wisconsin state senators who plan to vote for some enforced belt-tightening for Wisconsin public workers receive substantial federal farm subsidies. CW: this of course follows the Republican political policy: "Slash spending unless it's spending for me."

On the Senate floor, ConservaDem Sen. Joe Manchin (WV) criticizes President Obama for not leading on the budget battle. Politico story by Jennifer Epstein & Scott Wong here:

Jay Newton-Small of Time loves cowboy poetry. But maybe not as much as Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid loves cowboy poetry.

Right Wing World

It's the Media's Fault. Mike Joyella of Mediaite: "Potential GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee has more to say about Natalie Portman and the president’s roots in Kenya. For better or worse." With audio.

Shit Happens When You Work So Hard for America. There’s no question at times of my life, partially driven by how passionately I felt about this country, that I worked far too hard and things happened in my life that were not appropriate. Newt Gingrich to CBN's David Brody on why he had extra-marital affairs. Watch on an empty stomach:

There was a Congressional Research Service report that just was issued in February, and we discovered that secretly, unbeknownst to members of Congress, over $105 billion was hidden in the 'Obamacare' legislation to fund the implementation of 'Obamacare'. This is something that wasn't known. This money was broken up, hidden in various parts of the bill. -- Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), March 6, 2011

This is a crime against democracy. No one knew that Harry Reid, [Nancy] Pelosi and Obama put $105 billion in spending in the bill. ... This is a bombshell. -- Bachmann, March 8, 2011

There is no 'bombshell' except Bachmann's bombast. She is correct that Congress already has appropriated some spending in future years, but her claim that this money was "hidden" does not have credibility. The money for these programs was clearly described and analyzed by the Congressional Budget Office before the legislation was voted into law. -- Glenn Kessler, the Washington Post Fact-Checker

Wingers Fall Out of Love with Sarah Palin. Noreen Malone of The New Republic has the details.

Local News

Lizette Alvarez of the New York Times: "The Florida Legislature, convening its 60-day session on Tuesday, quickly set its sights on measures that would link the pay of new teachers to student performance and allow school boards to fire teachers more easily for mediocre results. The final bill is expected to clear the Legislature next week. Unlike last year, when similar legislation was vetoed by the former governor, who considered it too extreme, this slightly softened version is expected to win Gov. Rick Scott’s approval easily. The far-reaching bills ... would position Florida as a leader among those states taking on teachers’ unions." ...

... Disenfranchising Democrats. Peter Wallsten: Florida Repubicans are set to roll back voting rights for ex-felons. Because, guess what? -- A lot of them are black & they'll vote for Obama. ...

... Jeff Burlew of the Tallahassee Democrat: "A state Senate committee is set to hear Sen. Greg Evers' bill today that would allow guns to be carried openly by people with concealed-weapon licenses. The proposal also would allow guns on state university campuses, where they're currently banned. Last month, Robert Cowie of Orange Park, the father of Ashley Cowie, a Florida State University student killed Jan. 9 in an apparent rifle accident at an off-campus fraternity house, urged lawmakers not to push forward with the bill." Here's video of Dr. Cowie's testimony, which is heartbreaking:

 ... Miami Herald Update: "The NRA was handed a rare defeat Wednesday when Senate Republicans scrapped plans to allow some people to bring guns on college campuses. The defeat was born of a tragic frat house shooting at Florida State University on Jan. 9." CW: this is very good news, but it is not a lesson in the glory of democracy. The Herald story goes on to report that Cowie is a close friend of "one of the most powerful members of the Senate, John Thrasher, R-St. Augustine. As Rules Committee chairman, he wields considerable influence over which bills can reach the full floor of the Senate for a vote."

News Ledes

** Chicago Sun-Times: "Acting on perhaps the most significant issue he will ever face, [Illinois] Gov. [Pat] Quinn Wednesday signed landmark legislation to repeal the state’s 'seriously broken' death penalty and then commuted the death sentences of the 15 men on Death Row."

** New York Times: Wisconsin "Republicans voted to strip collective bargaining rights from public workers after discovering a way to bypass the [senate] chamber’s missing Democrats." ..

... Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "Senate Minority Leader Mark Miller (D-Monona) said Democrats who have been boycotting the Senate for three weeks would return to Wisconsin once the bill passes the Assembly...." ...

... Wisconsin State Journal: "Gov. Scott Walker has offered to remove limits on wage negotiations and keep some other collective bargaining rights for public employees, according to e-mails his office exchanged with one of the 14 Democratic senators.... The e-mails were released by the governor's office Tuesday afternoon following public records requests from media outlets. The proposed changes, which also would allow collective bargaining for employees of the UW Hospital and Clinics to remain, are only a 'starting point' for reaching an agreement on the bill, said state Sen. Bob Jauch, D-Poplar."

Washington Post: "David S. Broder, 81, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The Washington Post and one of the most respected writers on national politics for four decades, died Wednesday at Capital Hospice in Arlington of complications from diabetes."

AP: "Muslim-Christian clashes in the Egyptian capital Cairo have killed 11 people and wounded more than 90, security and hospital officials said on Wednesday. The clashes broke out Tuesday night when a Muslim mob attacked thousands of Christians protesting against the burning of a Cairo church last week."

Washington Post: "The United States and its European allies are considering the use of naval assets to deliver humanitarian aid to Libya and to block arms shipments to the government of Moammar Gaddafi, even as they weigh the legality of imposing a no-fly zone without United Nations authorization, according to U.S. and European officials."

Reuters: "The Obama administration on Tuesday appealed a judge's ruling in Florida that struck down its landmark healthcare overhaul law as unconstitutional because it required Americans to buy healthcare insurance or face a penalty."

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