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The Ledes

Thursday, April 25, 2024

CNN: “The US economy cooled more than expected in the first quarter of the year, but remained healthy by historical standards. Economic growth has slowed steadily over the past 12 months, which bodes well for lower interest rates, but the Federal Reserve has made it clear it’s in no rush to cut rates.”

The Wires
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The Washington Post offers tips on how to keep your EV battery running in frigid temperatures. The link at the end of this graf is supposed to be a "gift link" (from me, Marie Burns, the giftor!), meaning that non-subscribers can read the article. Hope it works: https://wapo.st/3u8Z705

"Countless studies have shown that people who spend less time in nature die younger and suffer higher rates of mental and physical ailments." So this Washington Post page allows you to check your own area to see how good your access to nature is.

Marie: If you don't like birthing stories, don't watch this video. But I thought it was pretty sweet -- and funny:

If you like Larry David, you may find this interview enjoyable:


Tracy Chapman & Luke Combs at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Allison Hope comments in a CNN opinion piece:

~~~ Here's Chapman singing "Fast Car" at the Oakland Coliseum in December 1988. ~~~

~~~ Here's the full 2024 Grammy winner's list, via CBS.

He Shot the Messenger. Washington Post: “The Messenger is shutting down immediately, the news site’s founder told employees in an email Wednesday, marking the abrupt demise of one of the stranger and more expensive recent experiments in digital media. In his email, Jimmy Finkelstein said he was 'personally devastated' to announce that he had failed in a last-ditch effort to raise more money for the site, saying that he had been fundraising as recently as the night before. Finkelstein said the site, which launched last year with outsize ambitions and a mammoth $50 million budget, would close 'effective immediately.' The New York Times first reported the site’s closure late Wednesday afternoon, appearing to catch many staffers off-guard, including editor in chief Dan Wakeford. As employees read the news story, the internal work chat service Slack erupted in what one employee called 'pandemonium.'... Minutes later, as staffers read Finkelstein’s email, its message was underscored as they were forcibly logged out of their Slack accounts. Former Messenger reporter Jim LaPorta posted on social media that employees would not receive health care or severance.”

Washington Post: “The last known location of 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by world-renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was in Vienna in the mid-1920s. The vivid painting featuring a young woman was listed as property of a 'Mrs Lieser' — believed to be Henriette Lieser, who was deported and killed by the Nazis. The only remaining record of the work was a black and white photograph from 1925, around the time it was last exhibited, which was kept in the archives of the Austrian National Library. Now, almost 100 years later, this painting by one of the world’s most famous modernist artists is on display and up for sale — having been rediscovered in what the auction house has hailed as a sensational find.... It is unclear which member of the Lieser family is depicted in the piece[.]”

~~~ Marie: I don't know if this podcast will update automatically, or if I have to do it manually. In any event, both you and I can find the latest update of the published episodes here. The episodes begin with ads, but you can fast-forward through them.

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Sunday
Dec262010

The Commentariat -- December 27

** David Savage of the Los Angeles Times: Supreme Court Justices Sotomayor & Kagan have shifted the debate during oral arguments to the left. ...

... Joan Biskupic of USA Today: Justice Sonia Sotomayor has become something of an advocate for prisoners, often protesting the Supreme Court's decisions not to hear prisoners' appeals. ...

     ... Update: Adam Liptak of the New York Times elaborates.

... Andrew Cohen, in The Atlantic, lists the year's top 10 must-reads in the law. I've linked to a number of them in the past; some I haven't read. With links. Cohen links to the text of David Souter's Harvard Commencement speech. Video of the speech is here.

** Jacob Weisberg of Slate: "... if [President] Obama has declared war on inequality, inequality seems to be winning." Weisberg lists the following major fails: (1) the tax-cut deal he made with Republicans; (2) outsized Wall Street & CEO compensation; (3) no increase in working-class wages; (4) more Americans without health insurance; (5) no improvement in education; (6) expansion of the estate tax deduction; 7 finally (7) there has been a real increase in income inequality. CW: Weisberg is wrong about one thing: he says, "income inequality never killed anybody." Yes, it does, according to statistical data gathered by Robert Wilkinson & Kate Pickett. ...

... Here's a pdf of Tim Noah's series on income inequality to which Weisberg refers. CW: I haven't read it yet, but I will. The abstract for Malcolm Gladwell's New Yorker piece, which Weisberg also mentions, is here; the article is subscriber-only. ...

... Paul Krugman notes rising prices in the commodities market and attributes them to the fact that we're living in a finite world in which the U.S. is no longer the main player. ...

... James Surowiecki of the New Yorker states what should be -- but isn't -- the obvious: the rise in unemployment is the result of decreased demand. Surowiecki knocks down (as well as explains) the "structural" argument. He also says if we don't fix it, it will remain broke. ...

... The Editors of the New York Times again urge President Obama to stand up to Republicans, this time with regard to implementation of financial reform. "d expect Republicans to cut off financing for Dodd-Frank, adding that the law is a job killer. Could he be more wrong? Americans’ concern about financial reform is that it is too weak, not too strong. They are furious at the banks.... The Republicans’ intentions could not be clearer. What is unclear is the Democratic strategy — in Congress and the White House — for thwarting them."

Ashley Halsey of the Washington Post: "As the Obama administration works to harden domestic defenses against terrorism, some experts point to a potential vulnerability from thousands of flights that pass over the United States each week. Although the United States regulates overflights, the cargo aboard them is not screened to federal standards and passenger lists are not matched to names on the terrorist watch list maintained by the Transportation Security Administration."

Bill Carter & Brian Stelter of the New York Times compare Jon Stewart's advocacy for passage of the 9/11 responders bill with specific instances of reporting by Edward R. Murrow & Walter Cronkite.

Ben Smith & Byron Tau of Politico: Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is living the high life at the expense of the poorest state in the nation. Many of his expenditures, especially his use of a Cessna jet to attend private & political functions, are highly questionable. CW: I don't think presidential hopeful Haley is going to enjoy seeing his sleazy shenanigans repeated laid out in the national media.

Oops, I missed this one: Karl Rove accidentally predicts President Obama will be re-elected in 2012. Via Ben Smith.

Your Goverment Screwing Crooks AND You. William Rashbaum of the New York Times: "An arm of the United States Marshals Service undervalued what could amount to untold millions of dollars in assets forfeited by white-collar criminals — including some from the family of Bernard L. Madoff — and sold them for far less than they were worth, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court in Manhattan." 

The Zombie Death Panel Brouhaha. Jay Solomon has a story in today's Wall Street Journal on the new Medicare guidelines that include end-of-life consultations, similar to the one by Robert Pear of the New York Times, to which we linked yesterday. Solomon includes a White House clarification/denial: "Reid Cherlin, a White House spokesman, said it was incorrect to suggest the policy of reimbursing end-of-life discussions was new. 'The only thing new here is a regulation allowing the discussions … to happen in the context of the new annual wellness visit created by the Affordable Care Act.'"