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To keep the Conversation going, please help me by linking news articles, opinion pieces and other political content in today's Comments section.

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OR here's a link generator. The one I had posted died, then Akhilleus found one, but it too bit the dust. He found yet another, which I've linked here, and as of September 23, 2024, it's working.

OR you can always just block, copy and paste to your comment the URL (Web address) of the page you want to link.

Note for Readers. It is not possible for commenters to "throw" their highlighted links to another window. But you can do that yourself. Right-click on the link and a drop-down box will give you choices as to where you want to open the link: in a new tab, new window or new private window.

Thank you to everyone who has been contributing links to articles & other content in the Comments section of each day's "Conversation." If you're missing the comments, you're missing some vital links.

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

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Saturday
May212011

The Commentariat -- May 22

Maureen Dowd writes Queen Elizabeth's wildly successful visit and President Obama's upcoming trip to Ireland. I've added a comments page in Off Times Square for Dowd & have posted my comment on her column. If you want to write about something else, please do. ...

... The Irish Times has a page of stories on Elizabeth's visit to Ireland.

Commenter P. D. Pepe recommends Jon Stewart's take on the defenders of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, charged with sexually assaulting a hotel maid at the Sofitel in New York City:

Chris Hawley of the AP: hotel chambermaids are often the targets of unwanted and unprovoked sexual assaults and advances, and those who may appear to be in the U.S. illegally are the victims of preference.

Steven Erlanger & Maia de la Baume of the New York Times profile Anne Sinclair, the wealthy, famous beauty who is standing by her man, Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Prof. Juliet Williams in a Washington Post op-ed: "One was accused of a crime, and one pleaded guilty to being a cad, but those quick minds in the infotainment business soon got Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Arnold Schwarzenegger into the same story line: Sex and politicians! ... Uh, no. One of these things is not like the other.... When a term such as 'sex scandal' is used to describe behaviors running the gamut from politically irrelevant to legally actionable, I’d say we’ve got a problem. And the weird accident of timing here reveals how badly we still confuse consensual if illicit sex with violence against women." CW: this is exactly what I said last week in a New York Times comment that was decidedly unpopular.

"Apocalypse Not." Christopher Goffard of the Los Angeles Times reports on the Rapture that wasn't. ...

... "The Great Disappointment." Stephanie Pappas of Live Science provides a brief history of what happens to believers when doomsday predictions fail. Here's an interesting one: "After Baptist preacher William Miller predicted the end of the world on Oct. 22, 1844 — a date thereafter known as 'The Great Disappointment' when nothing happened — his followers struggled to explain their mistake. One subset decided that on that date, Jesus had shifted his location in heaven in preparation to return to Earth. This group later became the Seventh-Day Adventist church."

Nicholas Kristof's quiz on the Biblical wrtings on sex is kind of fun. I would quibble with a couple of the specific answers, which Kristof bases on a book by Jennifer Wright Knust, but the general tenor of the Q&A is accurate, and Kristof's point is exactly right: "the Bible’s teachings about sexuality are murky and inconsistent and prone to being hijacked by ideologues."

Herman Cain, another Republican who will never be POTUS, formally announces he'll run anyway. Fox "News": "In 2006, Cain was diagnosed with liver and colon cancer. He says he's been cancer-free since 2007 and credits the nation's health care system with keeping him alive. He says it's one reason he's so opposed to the health overhaul championed by President Barack Obama." CW: Right. And as soon as all Americans are multimillionaires like Cain, I'll agree with him that we don't need a public healthcare system.

Mitch Daniels is not going to run for the job he is not going to get. (Also see today's Ledes.)...

Mitch Daniels is a friend of mine and one of the best governors in the country. While he may not be running, he is an intellectual powerhouse and will continue to play a leading role in the Party's politics and the Nation's policies. Mitch and I agree that America's out-of-control national debt is a threat to our nation's future, and that the next president must restore fiscal responsibility in Washington, DC. Mary and I wish Cheri and Mitch all the best. -- Tim Pawlenty

Ben Smith Translation: Whew!

Right Wing World *

CW: I missed this post by Alex Seitz-Wald of Think Progress, but you do have a right to know, however belatedly, that Sen. Rand Paul is stark-staring mad, & doesn't mind proving it during a Senate committee hearing, where he said, in part,

With regard to the idea of whether you have a right to health care, you have realize what that implies.... It means you believe in slavery.... I’m a physician in your community and you say you have a right to health care. You have a right to beat down my door with the police, escort me away and force me to take care of you? That’s ultimately what the right to free health care would be.

* Where facts never intrude.

Local News

Rachel Stassen-Berger & Bob von Sternberg of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: Bradlee Dean, a Christian minister, delivers an invocation in the Minnesota State House in which he implies President Obama is not a Christian. The prayer caused an outcry on both sides of the aisle & may derail a vote on a state constitutional amendment to outlaw same-sex marriage. Dean said later he favored enforcement of sodomy laws. CW: here's a surprise: "U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann ... has fund-raised for Dean's group and is scheduled to share a stage with him at a Tea Party event ... September." With video.

News Ledes

President Obama speaks at the AIPAC policy conference:

     ... Here's the text of the speech.

New York Post: "Disgraced former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn attempted to lure two attractive hotel employees to his $3,000-a-night hotel suite -- and later put the moves on an Air France flight attendant following his alleged sexual assault on a maid, The Post has learned."

Haaretz: "Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must accept U.S. President Obama's vision for Mideast peace if talks with the Palestinian Authority are to resume, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday." ...

ABC News: "King Abdullah II of Jordan, a key American ally and advocate of the Middle East peace process, says he does not have much hope for progress on negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians in the coming months.... Former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell, who resigned this month as President Obama's envoy to the Middle East after serving two years, said that while President Obama's comments on the 1967 borders were "a significant statement," they do not signal a major shift in policy, especially when land swaps are taken into consideration." With videos of interviews.

President Obama spoke at an AIPAC conference this morning. AP story here. New York Times Update: "President Obama, speaking on Sunday to the nation’s foremost pro-Israel lobbying group, repeated his call for Palestinian statehood based on Israel’s pre-1967 borders adjusted for land swaps, issuing a challenge to the Israeli government to 'make the hard choices that are necessary to protect a Jewish and democratic state for which so many generations have sacrificed.'”

New York Times: "Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana said early Sunday that he would not become a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, telling supporters in an e-mail message that concerns from his family were the overriding factor in deciding to stay out of the race." Washington Post story here. ...

... Don't worry, Republicans; you still have Herman Cain who made a formal announcement yesterday and Tim Pawlenty who will make an announcement tomorrow.

AP: "A spacewalking astronaut ran into trouble Sunday while trying to lubricate a joint in the life-sustaining solar power system of the International Space Station, losing one bolt and getting a washer stuck in a crevice."

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