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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.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts. — Anonymous
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves. — Edward R. Murrow
Publisher & Editor: Marie Burns
I have a Bluesky account now. The URL ishttps://bsky.app/profile/marie-burns.bsky.social . When Reality Chex goes down, check my Bluesky page for whatever info I am able to report on the status of Reality Chex. If you can't access the URL, I found that I could Google Bluesky and ask for Marie Burns. Google will include links to accounts for people whose names are, at least in part, Maria Burns, so you'll have to tell Google you looking only for Marie.
Thursday
Jan132011
A Tale of Two Tea Parties
In a column titled "A Tale of Two Moralities," Paul Krugman writes, "Today’s G.O.P. sees much of what the modern federal government does as illegitimate; today’s Democratic Party does not.... What we’re talking about here is a fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government."
My comment is buried again today, so I've reproduced it here:
If you want to eliminate violent and incendiary language, you have to eliminate the modern tea party movement itself, which has as its model a violent act of vandalism, sponsored by the merchant class & carried out by ruffians. The Boston Tea Party -- to one extent or another -- precipitated the American Revolution, which was the ultimate act of civil disobedience.
Any language that attempts to delegitimize the other side would have to go if "civil discourse" is the goal. I don't mean just the birther narrative; I mean language that characterizes the other side or government employees as enemies of the country or of the Constitution. Last week, Rep. Darrell Issa said, "The enemy is the bureaucracy." Who do you think the bureaucracy is? It's people like those Census workers CNN commentator Erik Erikson said he would shoo off his property with "his wife's shotgun" & Rep. Michele Bachmann said she would refuse to answer.
Erikson's reaction to the census, a Constitutional requirement, brings to mind my next taboo. Erikson said of the census, "The servants are becoming the masters. We are working for the government. We are becoming enslaved by the government."
So ditto for language that suggests the "government" or the other side is going to "take away our freedoms" or "enslave us." In the midst of his call for civility (ha!) on ABC's "This Week," former House Majority Leader Dick Armey urged tea party members to "continue to do their duty and defend our liberties." Defend our liberties? Parse that tea party code & what have you got? "Defend" = take up arms; "Our" = "It's US (WE) against THEM; "Liberties" = our natural and/or Constitutional freedoms, of which THEY want to deprive us.
Other euphemisms for acts of violence are just as bad. Sharron Angle's "Second Amendment remedies" comes to mind; she is providing a "Constitutional" rationale for violent acts against the government.
Whichever side of the national debate is correct, the side that believes the government is illegitimate, that it is attempting to "take away our freedoms," that taxation amounts to "tyranny" and that "revolution" may be the only remedy -- cannot tone down the rhetoric & speak with civility. Civility is antithetical to a movement that proposes revolution.
New York Times: "The Republican National Committee selected a new chairman on Friday, with Reince Priebus of Wisconsin surviving seven contentious rounds of balloting to succeed Michael Steele as party officials expressed a desire for new leadership to prepare for the 2012 presidential election. Mr. Priebus, who broke away from Mr. Steele’s inner circle to run against him, pledged to pay off the committee’s $21 million debt and strengthen state parties across the country...." CW: he also pledged not be nearly as fun.
Anthony Shadid of the New York Times: "The reported departure of Tunisian President Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, after popular protests in his North African country, electrified an Arab world whose residents have increasingly complained of governments that seem incapable of meeting their citizens’ demands and bereft of ideology save a motivation to perpetuate themselves in power.... Since their beginning, the protests have been closely followed by Arabic-language networks, as well as social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter."
Poppycock. -- Col. T. V. Johnson, a Quantico spokesperson, in response to the assertion that Bradley Manning, the accused WikeLeaker, is being mistreated (other expletives Col. Johnson commonly uses: "Egad!" "Horsefeathers!" and "Upon my word!") ...
... Scott Shane of the New York TimescontrastsManning's living conditions with those of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, in a Washington Post op-ed, has advice for Presidents Obama & Hu on how to avoid a U.S.-China cold war. "The aim should be to create a tradition of respect and cooperation so that the successors of leaders meeting now continue to see it in their interest to build an emerging world order as a joint enterprise."
Steven Pearlstein of the Washington Post: the Obama administration has made significant concessions to the business community over the past few months. "By the unwritten rules of political reconciliation, they demand and deserve a similar response. The most obvious and effective would be a clear statement from the business lobby that it will not support Republicans in their effort to repeal last year's health reform legislation." ...
Richard Dunham of the Houston Chronicle on Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas' senior statewide officeholder, announcement that she will not seek re-election in 2012.
Bryan Walsh of Time has a good article, with lots o' links, on the EPA's decision to veto "the largest single mountaintop mining removal permit in West Virginia history." West Virginia Democrats Sens. Joe Manchin & Jay Rockefeller & Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin were among those who harshly criticized the EPA for canceling the permit. Here'sAndrew Restuccia of The Hill on Rockefeller's letter of protest to President Obama. Ken Ward, Jr. of the Charleston Gazette reports on Tomblin's reaction.
Alex Pareene of Salon: "For a bunch of people who worship the Founders and like to play dress-up American Revolutionary War, Tea Partyers sure hate knowing anything remotely reality-based about the Founding Fathers. Tennessee Tea Party groups have introduced a proposal to take what few minorities there are in American history textbooks out of American history textbooks, along with any negative portrayals of the wealthy white men who led this young nation in its infancy."
Andrew Downie of Time on the Brazilian floods: "The devastation of the flooding will be made more bitter for its victims by the fact the deluge was so desperately predictable. Brazil is a tropical nation with a heavy rainy season that often bursts the banks of rivers, and yet each year's flooding brings death and destruction that could have been avoided with adequate planning and management."
President Obama speaks at a memorial service at the University of Arizona:
... Here's the prepared text of the President's speech. He added during his speech that Rep. Giffords opened her eyes for the first time just after he had visited her this afternoon. New York Times story here. ...
... Michael Crowley of Time has a thoughtful, slightly mixed, review of the speech. The speech -- and the review -- end on a high note. Says Crowley: "These calls to our better angels -- directed less at the secondary issue of public discourse and more at the first principles of what we value as a society and the nobility of public service -- perfectly matched the heartbreaking occasion. All the better that Obama delivered these words with both lyrical eloquence and moral authority. It was certainly the finest rhetorical moment of his presidency--and perhaps of his life." ...
... Amy Sullivan of Time highlights Crowley's misgiving: "I suspect I was not the only one who squirmed uncomfortably at the implicit message: These victims did not die in vain; they died in part so that we might have a reason to call on Republicans and Democrats to cut it out and start acting like adults." ...
... Amy Davidson of the New Yorker: "Obama’s speech was one of his best in a long time; it wasn’t so much a rallying cry as a call to sustain an embrace." ...
... Politico's headline: "Obama Takes Opportunity Palin Missed." Jonathan Martin: "At sunrise..., Sarah Palin demonstrated that she has little interest — or capacity — in moving beyond her brand of grievance-based politics. And at sundown in the west, Barack Obama reminded even his critics of his ability to rally disparate Americans around a message of reconciliation."
New York Times: the funeral of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Greentook place in Tucson today. ...
... ABC News: "Arizona lawmakers successfully curbed members of the Westboro Baptist church from picketing the funeral of the Tucson massacre's youngest victim, Christina-Taylor Green. On Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Jan Brewersigned a new law that requires protesters to remain 300 feet from a funeral site. The law, which took effect immediately after it was signed, took only 90 minutes to pass in Arizona's legislature. Triggered by Westboro's plans to picket the funeral of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Thursday, the law passed by a unanimous vote."
Washington Post: "NASA has named a backup commander for the Space Shuttle Endeavour's forthcoming mission to the International Space Station, a trip scheduled to be led by Mark Kelly, husband of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, (D-Ariz.) wounded in the Tucson shooting.... Astronaut Rick Sturckow will serve as Kelly's backup commander; ... Kelly remains commander of the mission." ...
... Arizona Republic reporters: "Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffordsis continuing to exhibit progress, from opening her eyes spontaneously and tracking people and objects to moving all her limbs, her doctors said Thursday morning.The physicians at University Medical Center described the steps as 'a major leap, a major milestone for her.'" ...
... Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "Nancy Pelosi ... was in Gabrielle Giffords‘ hospital room when she [Giffords] opened her eyes for the first time since being shot in the head last Saturday.... Mrs. Pelosi, along with two other Democrats, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, were in the room, shortly after President Obamaand First Lady Michelle Obama finished their visit to the hospital...." ...
... Anne Kornblut of the Washington Post: "Giffords opened her eyes a total of five times and reached for her husband's hand, according to the people in the room." ...
... Update: here's a bit more from Robert Gibbs' press gaggle aboard AF1 on the return trip to Washington. ...
... Update 2. The Women: this is terrific. A White House stenographer recorded a press gaggle by Sen. Gillibrand & Rep. Wasserman Schultz aboard AF1. ...
... Rep. Wasserman Schultz & Sen. Gillibrand tell of their hospital visit to Rep. Giffords:
Jennifer Medina of the New York Timesprofiles Dr. Peter Rhee, chief of trauma at Tucson's University Medical Center.
Joe Klein of Time has a smart, brief column in which he asks -- and implicitly answers -- two questions: "Given the flood tide of massacres perpetrated by crazy people, have we made a grievous error in our policies regarding the confinement of the mentally ill? ... Are there any limits at all to our gun fetishism?" Klein notes that "Even such a conservative stalwart as Judge Robert Bork said, in 1989, that the Constitution's Second Amendment guaranteed 'the right of states to form militias, not for individuals to bear arms.'" ...
... Gail Collins: "Congress should have an actual debate about Representative Carolyn McCarthy’s bill to reduce gun violence." ...
... Nicholas Kristof suggests reframing the gun debate (what gun debate?) as a public health issue. We don't regulate guns as seriously as we do toys. ...
... Then there's this: There is a rash of legislation further infringing on Second Amendment rights that has been unwisely proffered in the wake of events in Tucson. If members of Congress wishes to carry a weapon in the federal District of Columbia, it should be permissible. Accordingly, we are in the process of drafting a bill that will allow members of Congress to do that. -- Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas)
Dana Milbank: "... a day that was originally supposed to see a fiery clash over repealing the health-care law turned out to be the most uplifting day in Congress at least since the Sept. 11 attacks. Breaking only for a prayer service, the members spent eight hours exchanging vows to do better by each other." ...
... BUT John Bresnahan of Politico: "Senior Democrats - who to date had been impressed with [Speaker John] Boehner’s response to the Arizona tragedy - expressed surprise at what they saw as an unmistakable misstep by the new speaker: appearing at a partisan political event on the same night as the the president, first lady Michelle Obama, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Arizona congressional delegation come together at the memorial service....
The left had this all planned out even before the incident occurred. -- Sen. Rand Paul, on the Tucson shootings (no link, but an unimpeachable source)
Washington Post: "The black bag that alleged Tucson gunman Jared Loughner is said to have had with him in the hours before last weekend's shootings turned up Thursday in a dry stream bed near his neighborhood. It was a diaper bag ... and it contained ammunition that matched the type used in the attack." ...
... Here are copies of reports Pima Community College wrote & collected on Jared Loughren's problems at the school. ...
... A. G. Sulzberger & Trip Gabriel of the New York Times: "After the release of detailed reports on Mr. Loughner’s bizarre outbursts and violent Internet fantasies that [Pima Community College] had kept, the focus has turned to whether it did all it could to prevent his apparent descent into explosive violence last weekend." CW: my answer: hell, no. And I still fault the parents, too. ...
... Amy Gardner, et al., of the Washington Post: "A picture of [Jaren] Loughner gleaned from interviews with more than two dozen friends, classmates, teachers and neighbors, as well as from his own writing in online forums, shows no evidence that politics or government were among his defining or enduring obsessions. Rather, his deepest, most disturbing questions were about the very nature of reality: He appeared to have lost any clear sense of the line between real life and dreams or fantasy." ...
... Marc Lacey & Serge Kovaleski of the New York Times: "Officials at Pima Community College, where Jared L. Loughner was a student, believed that he might be mentally ill or under the influence of drugs after a series of bizarre classroom disruptions.... In 51 pages of confidential police documents released by the college on Wednesday, various instructors, students and others described Mr.Loughner as 'creepy,' 'very hostile,' 'suspicious' and someone who had a 'dark personality.' He sang to himself in the library. He spoke out of turn. And in an act the college finally decided merited his suspension, he made a bizarre posting on YouTube linking the college to genocide and the torture of students."
Was this juxtaposition of two stories on the front page of yesterday's New York Times Web edition a editorial goof? Or -- maybe it's really all the same story. Via Jim Fallows of The Atlantic.Jeff Zeleny & Michael Shear of the New York Times: Sarah Palin's video speech "... stirred an emotional response from some Democratic lawmakers, Jewish groups and even some fellow Republicans, who said it was in poor taste for Ms. Palin to deliver her statement on a day that was devoted to remembering victims of last weekend’s shooting.... The video ... seemed to be aimed at appealing to her committed supporters rather than winning over her critics...." ...
... Karen Tumulty & Peter Wallsten of the Washington Post: Sarah Palin's attempt to diffuse controversy about her blunt language & crosshairs chart backfired -- because of the blunt language she used in her presidenty speech. ...
... You have to look at it and see, what are they like when they’re tested, what are they like when they’re not scripted, what are they like when they’re pushed. And I would contend to you that if Governor Palin never does any of those things, she’ll never be president, because people in America won’t countenance that. They just won’t. -- Gov. Chris Christie (R-NJ)
If you want to eliminate violent and incendiary language, you have to eliminate the modern tea party movement itself, which has as its model a violent act of vandalism, sponsored by the merchant class & carried out by ruffians. The Boston Tea Party -- to one extent or another -- precipitated the American Revolution, which was the ultimate act of civil disobedience.
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