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INAUGURATION 2029

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

Page Links
Tuesday
Nov212023

The Conversation -- November 22, 2023

Marie: I couldn't access the photo Forrest M. linked below of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg & his apparently adorable son as they attended President Biden's turkey pardon, but to make up for it, I'm reprising the historic Sarah Palin Turkey Slaughter. Whatta gal! ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: Update. Here's the link to the photo, which looks exactly like the link Forrest M. provided below, so I would guess the problem is on my end.

Donald Trump Is Still Crazy, Ctd. Tommy Christopher of Mediaite: "MSNBC host Ali Velshi cracked up his crew while roasting ... Donald Trump for bragging about getting the coveted -- and entirely made-up -- Hannibal Lecter endorsement....

VELSHI: Then there was this at a rally in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, this month.

TRUMP: Has anybody seen Silence of the Lambs? Hannibal Lecter. How great an actor was he? You know why I like him? Because he said on television on an -- one of the -- 'I love Donald Trump!' So I love him! I love him!

VELSHI: Hannibal Lecter said that.... It does seem that Trump got mixed up about the actor who played the cannibal in the 1991 film. But who really knows? Because Anthony Hopkins never actually publicly supported Trump. Neither did Mads Mikkelsen or Brian Cox, the other actors who portrayed Hannibal Lecter in the past. In fact, Cox is on record calling Donald Trump a, quote, 'effing a-hole and, quote, "so full of" rhymes with spit.'” Thanks to Akhilleus for the lead. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: No sane person would boast that a fictional serial killer admires him; neither is a sane person unable to distinguish between an actor (who never said anything positive about Trump) & the evil character he played on screen. Trump's Hannibal Lecter boast is the ranting of a madman -- and one who doesn't even enjoy a nice Chianti.

President Joe Biden's statement on the 60th anniversary of the assassination of President John Kennedy.

~~~~~~~~~~

Who Killed JFK?

Marie: Yesterday, Forrest M. & Jack M. discussed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Forrest remarked that today (Wednesday) is the 60th anniversary of JFK's assassination, and Jack M. expressed his skepticism of the single-shooter theory. Jack reminded me of the Warren Commission, a Congressionally-authorized commission of eminences grises appointed by President Lyndon Johnson, whose mandate was to investigate the assassination. The commission determined that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in shooting President Kennedy & Texas Gov. John Connolly, who was a passenger in the front seat of Kennedy's open car. The commission also concluded that Jack Ruby acted alone in killing Oswald. The value of the commission's report, to me, was that it shocked me out of my youthful fairytale world where eminences grises were indeed eminent & deserving of the deference I had accorded them. My second thought yesterday was that, even 60 years on, we will not find out who really was responsible for the assassination.

BUT. Come now filmmaker Rob Reiner & journalist Soledad O'Brien with a ten-part podcast which promises to answer the big question of the 20th century. I think you can pick up this podcast "wherever you get your podcasts," but in the right-hand column, I've published one source that currently contains the first two episodes.

Another Speaker Makes a Pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lardo. Annie Karni of the New York Times: "Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday night visited ... Donald J. Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, according to a person familiar with the meeting.... Mr. Johnson, who defended the former president in two Senate impeachment trials and played a lead role in trying to help him invalidate the 2020 election results, is positioning himself as the first speaker to be in complete lock step with the former president.... Last week, Mr. Johnson officially endorsed Mr. Trump -- a move former Speaker Kevin McCarthy resisted...." (Also linked yesterday.)

Andrew Kaczynski & Curt Devine of CNN: "... CNN's review of more than 100 of [House Speaker Mike] Johnson's interviews, speeches and public commentary spanning his decades-long career as a lawmaker and attorney paints a picture of his governing ideals: Imprisoning doctors who perform abortions after six weeks; the Ten Commandments prominently displayed in public buildings; an elimination of anti-hate-crime laws; Bible study in public schools. From endorsing hard labor prison sentences for abortion providers to supporting the criminalization of gay sex, his staunchly conservative rhetoric is rooted in an era of 'biblical morality,' that he says was washed away with the counterculture in the 1960s."

George Conway, Michael Luttig & Barbara Comstock in a New York Times op-ed: "... we need an organization of conservative lawyers committed to the foundational constitutional principles we once all agreed upon: the primacy of American democracy, the sanctity of the Constitution and the rule of law, the independence of the courts, the inviolability of elections and mutual support among those tasked with the solemn responsibility of enforcing the laws of the United States. This new organization must step up, speak out and defend these ideals.... To that end, we have formed a nonprofit organization, the Society for the Rule of Law Institute, to bring sanity back to conservative lawyering and jurisprudence.... Our country ... is in a constitutional emergency, if not a constitutional crisis. We all must act accordingly, especially us lawyers." (Also linked yesterday.)

Danny Hakim & Richard Fausset of the New York Times: "In a fiery courtroom presentation, the prosecutor overseeing the Georgia racketeering case against ... Donald J. Trump argued on Tuesday that one of Mr. Trump's co-defendants had intimidated potential witnesses on social media and should be sent to jail. But Judge Scott McAfee of Fulton County Superior Court chose not to revoke the bond of Harrison Floyd, the co-defendant. Instead, he signed off on modified terms prohibiting Mr. Floyd from posting further comments about witnesses in the case. Fani T. Willis, the district attorney of Fulton County, Ga., took the unusual step of personally arguing on behalf of the prosecution, a few days after she filed a motion accusing Mr. Floyd of intimidating an elections worker and other witnesses for the state -- including Georgia's secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger -- through his posts on X...."

Presidential Race 2024. Colorado. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "The Colorado Supreme Court agreed on Tuesday to take up an appeal of a state judge's ruling allowing ... Donald J. Trump to remain on the state's primary ballot, in a nationwide battle over his eligibility to run for president again. Plaintiffs, citing Mr. Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, argued that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment disqualifies anyone who 'engaged in insurrection or rebellion' against the Constitution after having taken an oath to support it."

According to someone who claims to be Donald Trump's doctor, Donald's "cognitive health" is "exceptional." (Story linked yesterday.) RAS speculated on the nature of the cognitive test the alleged doctor conducted: "I'm guessing that Trump's cognitive test didn't include questions like 'who won the 2020 presidential election?' or 'who is the current US President?' or 'how many feet are in a 10,000 square foot loft?'"

Marie: Someone will have to explain to me why, for the past several weeks, the fortunes of Sam Altman have so often been the top story in the New York Times & other papers. Anyhoo, after no end of melodrama, Sam got his old job back. ~~~

~~~ Maybe This? Eric Lipton of the New York Times: "... swarms of killer robots that hunt down targets on their own and are capable of flying in for the kill without any human signing off ... is [a scenario] approaching reality as the United States, China and a handful of other nations make rapid progress in developing and deploying new technology that has the potential to reshape the nature of warfare by turning life and death decisions over to autonomous drones equipped with artificial intelligence programs. That prospect is so worrying to many other governments that they are trying to focus attention on it with proposals at the United Nations to impose legally binding rules on the use of what militaries call lethal autonomous weapons."

~~~~~~~~~~

Pennsylvania. Chris Cameron of the New York Times: "A federal judge in Pennsylvania ruled on Monday that mail-in ballots that are received on time but are undated should be counted, arguing that a state law rejecting such votes violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The ruling was an opening victory for voting rights groups in a case with national implications heading into the 2024 election, as Republicans and conservative advocacy groups continue to push for stricter voting laws.... In a 77-page opinion, Judge Susan Paradise Baxter of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania said that the law violated the voting protections of the Civil Rights Act because the requirement that voters date their ballots was not 'material to the act of voting.'... The ruling is likely to be appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, where the court's most conservative members have previously supported the state law that requires voters to write the date on the return envelope when sending in their ballots."

Utah Congressional Election. Marianna Alfaro of the Washington Post: "Republican Celeste Maloy, an attorney, is projected to win the special election for Utah's 2nd Congressional District, according to the Associated Press. Maloy will replace Republican Rep. Chris Stewart, who resigned his seat in September because of his wife's health. Maloy -- who served as Stewart's chief congressional counsel -- defeated Democratic state Sen. Kathleen Riebe and five other independent or third-party candidates. Stewart's seat was the last remaining vacancy to be filled in the House." Politico's story is here.

~~~~~~~~~~

Israel/Palestine

The New York Times' live updates of developments Wednesday in the Israel/Hamas war are here: "The Israeli government and Hamas agreed to a brief cease-fire in Gaza to allow for the release of 50 hostages captured during Hamas's assault last month on Israel and the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel, Qatar said early Wednesday. The cease-fire's start will be announced within the next 24 hours, and it will last for at least four days, said the government of Qatar, which helped lead the negotiations. It added that the pause in fighting would also allow for more aid and fuel to reach civilians in Gaza." ~~~

     ~~~ The Washington Post's live updates for Wednesday are here. CNN's live updates are here.

Jacob Magid & Tal Schneider of the Times of Israel: "In an unprecedented vote early Wednesday morning, Israel's cabinet approved an agreement to secure the release of roughly 50 hostages who were abducted into Gaza during the October 7 terror onslaught.... Despite expressing earlier opposition to the agreement, the far-right Religious Zionism party voted in favor, with only members of National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir's ultranationalist Otzma Yehudit faction voting against. Not all details of the agreement have been formally released to the public, but an Israeli government official briefing reporters on Tuesday said the deal is expected to see the release of 50 living Israeli citizens, mostly women and children, in groups of 12-13 people per day."


Matt Seyler of ABC News: "United States fighter jets struck two sites in Iraq used by Iran-linked militants on Wednesday morning local time, according to U.S. Central Command and defense officials. This is the fourth round of American retaliatory airstrikes in response to a near-daily spate of attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria by Iran-backed groups. The attacks began in mid-October, 10 days after Hamas' deadly terror attack on Israel. The Pentagon counts more than five dozen such attacks since then."

News Ledes

CNN: "Federal authorities in Buffalo, New York, say they are investigating a 'vehicle explosion' at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing between the US and Canada, adding that the 'situation is very fluid.' Two occupants of the vehicle are dead, a law enforcement source told CNN. Portions of three ports of entry between Canada and the US near Niagara Falls are closed according to the Niagara International Transportation Technology Coalition. The FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force is working with New York State Police to 'monitor all points of entry,' New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said." This is a liveblog. CNN & MSNBC are covering developments live. ~~~

     ~~~ Marie: According to PM Justin Trudeau, who spoke briefly at a Parliamentary session, four U.S.-Canada crossings have been closed. CNN is reporting that the vehicle sped up & exploded after being directed to a "secondary inspection site." Authorities have not said publicly whether or not they are viewing this as a terrorist attack. ~~~

~~~ New York Times Update: "The United States and Canadian governments went into high alert, four international bridges were closed and cross-border train travel came to a halt after a car exploded on the American side of a Niagara Falls bridge, upending travel plans and sowing fear on the busiest travel day of the year. Two people died Wednesday in the crash after hitting a median at the Niagara Falls International Rainbow Bridge in New York, and a customs officer was slightly injured, but Gov. Kathy Hochul said investigators found no indications of terrorism. The speeding car flew over an eight-foot fence before it burst into a cloud of flames and oily smoke, she said. The crash, which happened around 11:30 a.m. on the day before Thanksgiving, set off a race to protect residents and discover what happened."

Comments Off

Reader Comments (9)

Who killed JFK? Why, ask any congressional Republican.

Joe Biden.

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Melania tells me that she is so happy to not have to go out and buy
a TURKEY, since she's married to one.
And also, she's already DRESSING the part of next first lady in case
she has to move back into that awful old house in D.C.
And she's still content to ride that GRAVY train to the end of the line.
They won't be serving HUMBLE PIE since none of them know the
meaning of humble.

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Marie,

Maybe an answer to your question would be the same as that to why the incessant reporting on Travis Kielce and Taylor Swift.

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterKen Winkes

I don’t know about Melanie, who obviously doesn’t care, but will, as Forrest suggests, stay with the grift until the last penny has been scarfed up. But some people, according to the Orange Monster, LOVE the Donald. In fact, it’s not just the drooling MAGAts who fawn over Fatty, now, apparently, there’s a new bunch of Fat Fascist groupies: serial killers for Trump.

That’s right kids. All manner of pieces of shit crooks, racists, violent extremists, and hate filled Bible bangers Jove Trump. Why not serial killers? Last week, at one of his unhinged rallies, Fatty said “I love Hannibal Lecter, and he loves me!”

Oookaay…Hannibal the Cannibal for Trump. Well, I guess there are so many fattened up body parts to chew on, why not?

So…person, man, woman, camera, TV, serial killer.

A cognitive wonder!

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus

Death Turkey

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Final Review

"Donald Trump had his worst day yet in his ongoing civil fraud trial in New York on Tuesday at the hands of his own key witness, a former Trump Organization executive who linked the former president directly to the fuzzy math at the center of the case.

In one key cautionary note from the 2015 draft, McConney made a notation in ink that "this computation also includes forecasted deals that have not signed yet." In the note, McConney asked whether Trump wanted to exclude some $151 million in as-yet-fictional assets from the net-worth statement."

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterRAS

Another interesting article on the assassination of JFK, but with
probably more questions than answers.
One interesting fact: more than 40,000 books have been published
on the subject. That sounds like enough to fill the Dallas Book
Depository.

https://news.yahoo,.com/really-killed-jfk-60-years-110000301.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=0_00

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Here's a picture of Secretary Pete with his son Gus at the pardoning
of the Thanksgiving turkeys.
Warning to Republicans: image may cause conniptions, fits or
even death if you can't handle the thought of a gay man with a
mixed race child.
https://demoraticunderground.com/100218472315

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterForrestMorris

Buttigieg and son -- scroll about halfway down here

November 22, 2023 | Unregistered CommenterD in DC
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