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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."

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.”

New York Times: “Joy Reid’s evening news show on MSNBC is being canceled, part of a far-reaching programming overhaul orchestrated by Rebecca Kutler, the network’s new president, two people familiar with the changes said. The final episode of Ms. Reid’s 7 p.m. show, 'The ReidOut,' is planned for sometime this week, according to the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly. The show, which features in-depth interviews with politicians and other newsmakers, has been a fixture of MSNBC’s lineup for the past five years. MSNBC is planning to replace Ms. Reid’s program with a show led by a trio of anchors: Symone Sanders Townsend, a political commentator and former Democratic strategist; Michael Steele, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee; and Alicia Menendez, the TV journalist, the people said. They currently co-host 'The Weekend,' which airs Saturday and Sunday mornings.” MB: In case you've never seen “The Weekend,” let me assure you it's pretty awful. ~~~

     ~~~ AP Update: "Joy Reid is leaving MSNBC, the network’s new president announced in a memo to staff on Monday, marking an end to the political analyst and anchor’s prime time news show."

Y! Entertainment: "Meanwhile, [Alex] Wagner will also be removed from her 9 pm weeknight slot. Wagner has already been working as a correspondent after Rachel Maddow took over hosting duties during ... Trump’s first 100 days in office. It’s now expected that Wagner will not return as host, but is expected to stay on as a contributor. Jen Psaki, President Biden’s former White House press secretary, is a likely replacement for Wagner, though a decision has not been finalized." MB: In fairness to Psaki, she is really too boring to watch. On the other hand, she is White. ~~~

     ~~~ RAS: "So MSNBC is getting rid of both of their minority evening hosts. Both women of color who are not afraid to call out the truth. Outspoken minorities don't have a long shelf life in the world of our corporate news media."

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Saturday
Sep182010

Woman of the Middle Atlantic

Maureen Dowd: reports on Christine O'Donnell's fascnation with the writings of J.R.R. Tolkein & C. S. Lewis. "We the People in the Ruling Class Elites do think O’Donnell comes across as alarmingly loopy." Dowd writes, "She might have gone a broom too far, though, when she once told Bill Maher that she had 'dabbled into witchcraft' and went on a date with a witch that included 'a midnight picnic on a satanic altar.'”

Here's the "dabbling into witchcraft"/satanic altar segment:

C-SPAN has the 2003 O'Donnell footage on Tolkein's portrayal of women in the Lord of the Rings cycle here. in a video titled "Women of the Middle Earth." I really could not bear to listen.

Here's O'Donnell's speech to the Values Voters. Her remarks about C. S. Lewis' Narnia books begin at 4:40 min. in. Bear in mind, these are remarks she made days ago, not when she was a teenager.


The Constant Weader comments on the practical aspects of O'Donnell's "phantastic philosophy":

We all had childhood fantasies & we all did and said stupid things when we were young. The difference between Christine O'Donnell and us is that we grew out of those fantasies & modified our stupid ideas. Christine O'Donnell, candidate for U.S. Senate, still sees the world in terms of children's books. (Yeah, I know Lewis' & Tolkein's stories are allegories, but the subjects of their allegories & the theologies they espouse are still nonsense.)

O'Donnell probably doesn't have time to date witches (I thought the boy witches were warlocks) anymore, but -- like all extremist conservatives -- she's still deeply into voodoo economics. She favors the flat tax, which reduces the burden on the wealthy & raises the burden on the poor & middle class. She favors a balanced budget amendment yet she has repeatedly pledged "never" to raise taxes & she would reduce capital gains taxes & estate taxes (which she calls "death taxes," of course). Obviously, O'Donnell's proposed tax cuts make balancing the budget essentially impossible. You would think she would know this with the personal financial troubles she has had -- the same trouble millions of Americans have -- with balancing her own budget. She seems unaware that when you've got more outgo than income, you've got a budget deficit. It's, you know, unbalanced.

Still, O'Donnell doesn't mind if we spend more. She thinks it might be a good idea to start a war against Iran. Hard to see an economic downside to that. She does have one "foreign policy" idea to save a little money. She wants us to discontinue funding the United Nations. At least she's consistent, since ignoring the U.N. fits in well with the "bomb, bomb, bomb Iran" policy. Many of O'Donnell's wackiest ideas come from her conservative Christian background. Too bad "peace on earth" wasn't one of them.

The number one issue on Americans' minds today is jobs. What's O'Donnell's policy on how to create more jobs? Oh, she doesn't have one. But if you're out of work & get sick, too bad, because O'Donnell wants to "defund, repeal & replace federal health care with free market" care. The private sector has worked so well so far.

Barack Obama may be too "cool" and "disengaged" for Maureen Dowd -- & for me -- but we are all better off with a cold fish politician who is sensible than with a passionate partisan who looks to religiously-oriented children's books to inform her philosophy of governance.

Update: "Dabbling into Witchcraft" Is Not an Excuse to Bail on the Washington Elite:

      Dave Weigel of Slate isn't buying O'Donnell's "I had to go on a picnic" excuse. He says O'Donnell had plenty of time to get to the picnic after taping the shows in Washington. Weigel wonders why the networks didn't allow O'Donnell's Democratic rival Chris Coons to replace her on the shows "because, you know, he's winning the election so far." Via Amanda Terkel of the HuffPost.

Update 2: AP: "Republican Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell is making light of comments she made more than a decade ago when she was in high school about having dabbled in witchcraft." CW: does this make sense? O'Donnell is 41 years old. This would have made her about 30 years of age in 1999 when the show reported aired. Why was she still in high school? ... Here's the video:

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