The Ledes

Friday, February 28, 2025

New York Times: “Boris Spassky, the world chess champion whose career was overshadowed by his loss to Bobby Fischer in the 'Match of the Century' in 1972, died on Thursday in Moscow. He was 88.”

New York Times: “The actor Gene Hackman was found dead in a mud room in his New Mexico home and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, was found dead on the floor of a bathroom on Wednesday, according to a search warrant affidavit. An open prescription bottle and scattered pills were discovered near her body on a counter in the bathroom. A dead German shepherd was found between 10 and 15 feet away from Ms. Arakawa in a closet of the bathroom, the affidavit said. There were no obvious signs of a gas leak in the home, it said, and the Fire Department did not find signs of a carbon monoxide leak. The maintenance workers who found them said they had not been in contact with the couple for two weeks. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Thursday afternoon that 'there were no apparent signs of foul play.'... The causes of their deaths had not been determined.”

The Wires
powered by Surfing Waves
The Ledes

Thursday, February 27, 2025

CNBC: “Initial filings for unemployment benefits hit their highest level of the year last week in another potential signs of weakness in the labor market. Jobless claims for the week ended Feb. 22 totaled a seasonally adjusted 242,000, up 22,000 from the previous week’s revised level and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, according to a Labor Department report Thursday. The level of claims matched the highest since early October 2024 and comes amid questions over broader economic growth and worrying signs in recent consumer sentiment surveys.”

CNBC: “High mortgage rates and elevated home prices combined to crush home sales in January. Pending sales, which are based on signed contracts for existing homes, dropped 4.6% from December to the lowest level since the National Association of Realtors began tracking this metric in 2001. Sales were down 5.2% from January 2024. These sales are an indicator of future closings.”

New York Times: “Gene Hackman, who never fit the mold of a Hollywood movie star, but who became one all the same, playing seemingly ordinary characters with deceptive subtlety, intensity and often charm in some of the most noted films of the 1970s and ’80s, has died, the authorities in New Mexico said on Thursday. He was 95. Mr. Hackman and his wife were found dead on Wednesday afternoon at a home in Santa Fe., N.M., where they had been living, according to a statement from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department. Sheriff’s deputies found the bodies of Mr. Hackman; his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64; and a dog, according to the statement, which said that foul play was not suspected.” ~~~

     ~~~ Update. New York Times: “An investigation was underway on Thursday after the prolific actor Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead along with their dog at a house in New Mexico, the local authorities said. The bodies of Mr. Hackman, 95, and Ms. Arakawa, 64, were found by sheriff’s deputies in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Santa Fe on Wednesday afternoon, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. The couple had lived in the Santa Fe area for years. Sheriff Adan Mendoza of Santa Fe County said in a phone interview that an associate of Mr. Hackman and his family had placed an emergency call on Wednesday afternoon after discovering the bodies of the actor and his wife.”

New York Times: “Michelle Trachtenberg, a touchstone of millennial youth culture who grew up onscreen, rising to fame as a troubled teenager on the supernatural 1990s series 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and as a conniving young socialite on 'Gossip Girl,' was found dead on Wednesday in Manhattan. She was 39. The New York Police Department said in a statement that officers, responding to a 911 call just after 8 a.m. on Wednesday, found Ms. Trachtenberg unconscious and unresponsive in a Manhattan apartment. She was pronounced dead by emergency medical workers, who had also responded.”

Help!

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

Link Code:   <a href="URL">text</a>

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."

Democrats' Weekly Address

Marie (Feb 23): As far as I can tell, there isn't any. I hope I'm wrong, but it looks like Democrats are so screwed up, they can't even put together a couple of minutes of video to tell us how screwed we are.

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."

As we watch in horror the rapid destruction of our democratic form of government, it is comforting to remember there is life outside politics. I took a break a while ago to enjoy a brief lesson in the history of the moonwalk: ~~~

But it may go back even further:

And this chronological account is helpful:

New York Times: “Chuck Todd, the former 'Meet the Press' moderator and a longtime fixture of NBC’s political coverage, told colleagues on Friday that he was leaving the network. A nearly two-decade veteran of NBC, Mr. Todd said that Friday would be his last day at NBC.... Mr. Todd, 52, is the latest TV news star to step aside at a moment when salaries are being scrutinized — and slashed — by major media companies. Hoda Kotb exited NBC’s 'Today' show this month, and Neil Cavuto of Fox News and CNN’s Chris Wallace departed their cable news homes late last year.”

CNBC: “ CNN plans to lay off hundreds of employees Thursday [Jan. 23] as it refocuses the business around a global digital audience.... The layoffs come as CNN is rearranging its linear TV lineup and building out digital subscription products. The cuts will help CNN lower production costs and consolidate teams, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. Certain shows that are produced in New York or Washington may move to Atlanta, where production can be done more cheaply, said the people. For the most part, the job cuts won’t affect CNN’s most recognizable names, who are under contract, said the people. CNN has about 3,500 employees worldwide.... NBC News is also planning cuts later this week, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss nonpublic changes. While the exact number couldn’t be determined, the job losses will be well under 50....”

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

Page Links
Friday
Jan072011

The Commentariat -- January 8

Sheryl Gay Stolberg of the New York Times profiles William Daley, President Obama's new chief of staff. ...

... Ben Smith of Politico: "The appointment of Bill Daley to the top staff job in the Obama White House has dealt the final blow to a dearly held fantasy of parts of the left: that a truly liberal president has been ill-served and misinterpreted by Rahm Emanuel and other center-right aides." CW: don't blame Glenn Greenwald; he's known all along. ...

... Glenn Greenwald on the Daley appointment: "Shipping in a JP Morgan executive to be White House Chief of Staff isn't a cause of any of this; it's just a nice symbol for what our political culture is.... There's a ... direct causal line between the vast number of Wall Street officials in key administration positions and the full-scale exemption from accountability which financial elites enjoy even for the most egregious lawbreaking.  When you compile all of those appointments in one place, the absolute stranglehold large-scale corporate interests exert over virtually all realms of government policy is quite striking.  But it's nothing more than what the economist Nouriel Roubini meant when he told the makers of the 2010 documentary 'Inside Job' that Wall Street has 'captured the political system' on 'the Democratic and the Republican side' alike, or what Simon Johnson describes as 'The Quiet Coup.'"

Michael Powell of the New York Times interviews economist Robert Reich, who -- along with other noted economists -- criticizes President Obama for his lurch to the right. CW: I don't think Obama lurched; he was there all along; he's just one of the "meritocrats" Reich describes, "whose kids go to private school and whose primary savings are in the stock market rather than in their homes. Their assumptions are different in profound ways from most struggling Americans.”

Igor Volsky of Think Progress: Republicans are calling the Affordable Care Act [CW: and every other Democratic-sponsored law or bill] a "job-killer." But "Harvard economist David Cutler argues in new paper released [Friday] that repealing the health law would reverse [employment] gains and could destroy 250,000 to 400,000 jobs annually over the next decade." Here's a pdf of Cutler's analysis. ...

... Greg Sargent: so why aren't Democrats pushing back against the "jobs-killing" malarkey with punchy lines about "deficit busting" repeal. "Dems simply have to get better at this game." ...

... Adam Chandler & Luke Norris in Slate: "When Judge Henry Hudson ruled last month that ... part of ... the health care law [was] unconstitutional because it requires people to purchase private insurance..., the law's opponents could unwittingly resurrect another alternative they won't like — the 'public option.' If the part of the health care law that's unconstitutional is the part telling people to buy private insurance, an obvious solution is to pass a health care law including a public health plan, which would operate like Social Security and Medicare. In other words, the public option." ...

... This is a point Rep. Dennis Kucinich has made repeatedly. Here he is talking to Bill O'Reilly just a couple of days ago. He makes the healthcare point about 2:20 min. in:

     ... BTW, I love Kucinich for going on Fox "News" & having relatively calm conversations with blowhards like O'Reilly. This is one thing Democrats need to do.

New House Homeland Security chair has a long history of supporting & consorting with terrorists. Justin Elliott of Salon. Rep. Peter King, (R-NY) a decades-long supporter of the IRA, an Irish terrorist group, broke with them in 2005 when they condemned the U.S.'s involvement in Iraq & Afghanistan, but he still maintains ties to some members. ...

... Elliott links to this Huffington Post column by IRA victim an Amnesty International Policy Director Tom Parker. Parker writes,

There is no way to varnish the fact that for twenty years Congressman King consistently supported a violent armed group that murdered men, women and children in pursuit of its political goals. It is also worth noting that those victims were citizens of America's closest ally in the struggle against Al Qaeda.

Lunatics on Parade, Brought to You by Our Republican Friends. Ezra Klein: "In the Wyoming state legislature, 10 congressmen and three senators have co-sponsored" a bill "to make it a felony to implement the health-care reform law -- which is ... the official law of the land." Never mind that "the Wyoming legislature ... has sworn to protect and defend the" Constitution; these members have decided to defy it. That's because Congressional Republicans have frightened the public and these dumb Wyoming legislators by taking "a bill that echoes past legislation Republicans have introduced and called it, as Sen. Jon Kyl did, 'a stunning threat to liberty.'"

Gretchen Morgenson of the New York Times on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling "that U.S. Bancorp and Wells Fargo erred when they seized two troubled borrowers’ properties in 2007, putting the nation’s banks on notice that foreclosures cannot be based on improper or incomplete paperwork."

CW: I'll give Dahlia Lithwick what I hope is (but probably won't be) the last word on the Repubican reading of a sloppily-expurgated version of the Constitution. Read her whole post, which concludes,

For Republicans who want to restore this country to the sanctity of the Constitution as written, and to show reverence for the men who wrote it, today's exercise in putting forward an official 'new and improved!' version was a truly baffling first step.

Laurie Goodstein of the New York Times: "A three-year investigation into financial improprieties at six Christian ministries whose television preaching bankrolled leaders’ lavish lifestyles has concluded with the formation of an independent commission to look into the lack of accountability by tax-exempt religious groups. Senator Charles E. Grassley, an Iowa Republican and the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, issued a report saying that self-correction' by churches and religious groups is preferable to legislative or regulatory solutions.... Mr. Grassley recommended repealing or modifying I.R.S. rules that prohibit churches from endorsing political candidates.... The Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said of this proposal, 'It’s a sign that this investigation has gone seriously off course.'" CW: no kidding.

Campbell Robertson of the New York Times: "... state and local officials ferried a group of reporters to ... [Bay Jimmy, Louisiana], one of the hardest-hit areas on the Gulf Coast, and criticized BP and federal agencies for not mounting a sufficiently aggressive [oil spill cleanup] operation.... [At a press availability here,] Billy Nungesser, the pugnacious president of Plaquemine Parish ... told the commander to do something that cannot be printed here."

New York Times Editors: "To keep the Defense Department running, President Obama was forced to sign a spending bill on Friday with a particularly harmful provision that bars spending to transfer detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, to the United States for trial. As wrongheaded as this prohibition is, the president was right not to declare his intention to defy it in an accompanying statement.... In the signing statement, Mr. Obama called the ban 'a dangerous and unprecedented challenge' to the executive branch’s authority to decide when and where to prosecute detainees." You can read the President's statement here.

Local News

Marc Lacey of the New York Times: "The state declared the Tucson schools' Mexican-American program illegal, even while similar programs for other students were left untouched." CW: read the whole article; it seems to me both sides are wrong.

Now, here's a stupid scandal I can get into. Radar Online: "Congresswoman Mary Bono Mack has been caught on camera in a lurid scandal where another woman is apparently licking her breast.... The woman apparently licking Bono's breast is Edra Blixseth, a disgraced former billionaire who is at the center of a criminal investigation probing whether she made fraudulent representations about her financial worth to a number of banks." CW: and why do I care? Because Bono Mack's husband is Connie Mack IV, my stupid Congressman, who is preparing for a run for the Senate against Florida's Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. Anything to derail Connie Mack can't be all bad -- even something this ridiculous.

Comments Off