REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- Oct. 13, 2013

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.”

The Wires

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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.”

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The Commentariat -- Oct. 13, 2013

Manu Raju & Burgess Everett of Politico: "After Senate Democratic leaders rejected a proposal Saturday by Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to end the budget impasse, the burden to find a solution now falls squarely on Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell -- two shrewd tacticians who have a long, complicated and contentious personal and political history with each other. Republican senators ... reacted to the leadership discussions positively, believing that the two crafty dealmakers could concoct a proposal to reopen the government and avert the nation's first-ever default as soon as next week.... When asked if he is confident he could reach a deal with McConnell, Reid told Politico: 'No.'" ...

... Oh dear. Senate Republicans are "disrespecting" their House colleagues & that peeves Paulie. Jonathan Strong of National Review: "House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan lashed out at Senate Republicans for interfering with the House GOP's talks with the White House to reopen the government and lift the debt ceiling, suggesting his colleagues on the other side of the Capitol were betraying Speaker John Boehner. 'They're trying to cut the House out, and trying to jam us with the Senate. We're not going to roll over and take that,' Ryan told reporters. When asked if he felt 'double crossed,' Ryan said 'you look at the facts and draw your own conclusions.'" CW: Don't Senate Republicans remember who was the 2012 Mr. Vice President First Runner-Up? They should show more respect. Collins got her comeuppance, Paul; Senate Democrats rejected her plan. And yours is a non-starter. ...

... Rosalind Helderman & Jackie Kucinich of the Washington Post: Members of Congress carp at each other. A somewhat humorous read. ...

... Josh Barro of Business Insider: "Ted Cruz is living on another planet.... [He] spoke to the Values Voters Summit, and his speech was really weird. It's like he's living on another planet. On Planet Cruz, there is a massive outpouring of public support for a government shutdown over Obamacare and it's scaring the hell out of Democrats.... When constituencies become aggrieved minorities, seeing themselves as under attack by the establishment, they are vulnerable to hucksters like Cruz, because they disregard outside warnings and evidence that they are being had." ...

... Some People Love Ted. Alexandra Jaffe of the Hill: "Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) won the Values Voter Summit straw poll on Saturday, cementing his title as the de facto leader of the conservative movement."

Paul Krugman: "What's really going on with plutocrats right now ... is that they’re basically willing to accept lousy economic policies from right-wing politicians as long as they get a bigger share of the shrinking pie. This may sound very cynical -- but then, if you aren't cynical at this point, you aren't paying attention. And I suspect that the GOP would have to get a lot crazier before big business bails." Thanks to William P. Coleman for the link. Also, his related parable, contributed to yesterday's thread, is a good one.

** Robert Pear, et al., of the New York Times: "For the past 12 days, a system costing more than $400 million and billed as a one-stop click-and-go hub for citizens seeking health insurance has thwarted the efforts of millions to simply log in. The growing national outcry has deeply embarrassed the White House, which has refused to say how many people have enrolled through the federal exchange.... Interviews with two dozen contractors, current and former government officials, insurance executives and consumer advocates, as well as an examination of confidential administration documents, point to a series of missteps -- financial, technical and managerial -- that led to the troubles. Politics made things worse." CW: When & if this mess ever gets worked out, Kathleen Sebelius should resign; if she doesn't, Obama should suggest it to her.

Fog of War. Maureen Dowd reminisces with Dick Cheney & the gang. They don't remember much.

Gubernatorial Race

Ken Cuccinelli goes brutal:

... James Hohmann of Politico: "'This ad is despicable and the latest sign that Ken Cuccinelli is resorting to desperate and false attacks to make up for the fact that he is one of the most disliked statewide candidates in memory,' said McAuliffe spokesman Josh Schwerin. 'Terry was one of hundreds of passive investors several years ago and had no idea about the horrible allegations against the defendant.'" ...

... Amelia Thompson-Deveaux of the American Prospect examines the effect of third-party candidate Robert Sarvis in the Virginia gubernatorial race. Sarvis is running as a "pure libertarian." Thanks to James S. for the link.

Senatorial Races 2014

Jeremy Peters of the New York Times: Republicans' hopes of regaining the Senate dimmed with the shutdown.

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Krugman's post linked yesterday about the .01% obsession with sucking up the wealth of the nation with a shrinking pie was a good one indeed. The post was updated to include a link to a 1968 article by Tom Wolfe called "The Ultimate Power: Making 'Em Jump."

http://books.google.fr/books?id=fccDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA44&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

The article demonstrates the shallowness and insecurities that the wealthy have among their aspiring social class and their obsession of separating themselves in any way possible from the unwashed peasantry combing the streets. More than popularity and wealth, it's the power to make others willingly put themselves to their service all the while giving platitudes to soothe their tender egos that really motivates these petty and insecure individuals.

It's an interesting perspective to have documented when the article was published in 1968 especially in comparing the evolution of wealth and power among the rich between then and now. 1968 was riding on the cusp of the "trentes glorieuses" of western growth built on the back of the derogatorily named "Third World." The oil shocks of the 1970s coupled with the strengthening of globalization produced an altered model where western wealth spread throughout the globe. The growth of global wealth opened up the gates of the few rich classes throughout the world, where today the .01% Americans now have to showboat their power against their billionaire Brazilian and Chinese counterparts. Holding on to their status symbols, the richest of the rich, the Barons of wealth, has required further bending the system to their wills, lest they be humiliated by the New Rich.

The bifurcation of global wealth, both trickling down across the globe while simultaneously concentrating itself among the world's .01% has produced the morbid paradox of a world (and our country) that has never known such immense wealth yet gives the appearance of severe scarcity because of the immense number of actors looking to share the pie.

That society is eroding beneath their private Manhattan penthouses and skyscrapers is of little concern to them. I would say no concern, but they often wipe their guilt clean by donating to such and such charity or foundations, doing their part in helping "those" people. For a tax deduction of course. I compare this philanthropic giveaway to the self-concerned religious zealots, decrying world poverty and praying God takes care of their little souls because they're busy and can't be bothered... Obviously supporting charities and philanthropic giving is a noble deed, but I'd like to see Lord Blankfein descend from his ivory tower and serve his weekly soup duty in the local food kitchen before he declares himself to be doing God's work.

Interestingly enough, the article ends on the egregious example of the old head of Lehman Bros. who went to the furthest lengths to distinguish himself from even his fellow .01%ers. Fast forward that film and we all saw how that ended. Was it a prelude to the main feature? Only time will tell...

October 13, 2013 |

safari

“John Galt, the central character in Atlas Shrugged, is not named until near the end of the novel. Before his identity is revealed, the question is repeatedly asked, ‘Who is John Galt’. Now we know precisely who he is: John Galt is the idiot responsible for the 2008 financial meltdown, and for the ongoing federal government shutdown in the US.”

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/11/who-responsible-us-shutdown-2008-meltdown-slavoj-zizek

October 13, 2013 |

James Singer

Gotta love this WaBezos Petula Dvorak essay:

“Don’t slam D.C. for the shutdown, America: You sent these wackos here”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dont-slam-dc-for-the-shutdown-america-you-sent-these-wackos-here/2013/10/07/7f7f55ca-2f40-11e3-8906-3daa2bcde110_story.html?hpid=z8

October 13, 2013 |

James Singer

Ezra Klein's take on the disaster that the ACA has become:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2013/10/14/five-thoughts-on-the-obamacare-disaster/?hpid=z4

October 14, 2013 |

James Singer

Hope everything is okay. I always come to RealityChex first, so I missed you this morning.

October 14, 2013 |

Trish Ramey

The House GOP changed the rules to ensure hostage taking lasts until they're ready to concede. This video is an eye opener to ponder the future of such shady tactics. They're stacking with the deck with all they got these days. And democracy slowly wilts away...

http://www.upworthy.com/congress-did-something-so-spectacularly-creepy-that-its-too-unbelievable-to-make-up?c=ufb1

October 14, 2013 |

safari

BWO David Atkins at Hullabaloo"

"Losing whites: the biggest polling problem for the GOP"

http://www.digbysblog.blogspot.com/

October 14, 2013 |

James Singer

Worth a read:

Latin America’s ‘bad boy’ leaders enjoy high support, survey finds

http://www.sacbee.com/2013/10/14/5820661/latin-americas-bad-boy-leaders.html

October 14, 2013 |

James Singer

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