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The Ledes

Friday, May 3, 2024

CNBC: “The U.S. economy added fewer jobs than expected in April while the unemployment rate rose, reversing a trend of robust job growth that had kept the Federal Reserve cautious as it looks for signals on when it can start cutting interest rates. Nonfarm payrolls increased by 175,000 on the month, below the 240,000 estimate from the Dow Jones consensus, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. The unemployment rate ticked higher to 3.9% against expectations it would hold steady at 3.8%.”

The Wires
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The Ledes

Thursday, May 2, 2024

Wisconsin Public Radio: “A student who came to Mount Horeb Middle School with a gun late Wednesday morning was shot and killed by police officers before he could enter the building. Police were called to the school at about 11:30 a.m. for a report of a person outside with a weapon.... At the press conference, district Superintendent Steve Salerno indicated that there were students outside the school when the boy approached with a weapon. They alerted teachers.... Mount Horeb is about 20 minutes west of Madison.”

Public Service Announcement

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

The Mysterious Roman Dodecahedron. Washington Post: A “group of amateur archaeologists sift[ing] through ... an ancient Roman pit in eastern England [found] ... a Roman dodecahedron, likely to have been placed there 1,700 years earlier.... Each of its pentagon-shaped faces is punctuated by a hole, varying in size, and each of its 20 corners is accented by a semi-spherical knob.” Archaeologists don't know what the Romans used these small dodecahedrons for but the best guess is that they have some religious significance.

"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.”

Contact Marie

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Page Links
Sunday
Feb102019

An American's Guide to the Seven Deadly Sins

By Brother Akhilleus

... I put it to all the evangelicals, deliriously worshipful of Fatty, to consider how many of the Seven Deadly Sins can be ascribed to his wonderfulness.

Let’s check them off, shall we?

Pride.

In spades. Enough for seven additional variations of this particular sin. Also, smarter than all the generals. Check. Got it.

Envy.

Has there ever been a leader so envious of his predecessor that he sought, so furiously, to diminish his every accomplishment? I’m sure if Fatty could make the sweet, smart, decent Obama kids vanish, he would, they showing up his own venal, rapacious rabble.

Wrath.

There is no wrath like that of an ignorant, narcissistic, needy knucklehead scorned. A glance at a single day’s worth of angry, contemptuous tweets seals the case.

Sloth.

How many hours a day does he actually work? One? Two, at most? Sloth, like you read about. He couldn’t be slothier if he had three toes and hung upside down in a tree.

Avarice.

Why, just today we find that he had organized a scheme to weasel money at his inauguration. He was a clutching, scheming, avaricious ass hat before he was even sworn in.

Gluttony.

Keeping McDonalds in the black by himself. Plus, just look at that fat ass.

Lust.

Pussy grabbing, porn star banging, adultery on a scale with sex mad philanderers from Victorian pornographic novels.


Of course, I’m leaving off other sins that could be a lot more deadly: stupidity, ignorance of world affairs, and treason for just a few.

Is this the guy chosen by god? He must been having a bad deity day.

Let us just say that evangelicals clearly don’t care if their Glorious Leader runs the gamut of sins, venal, mortal, deadly, or doofus. As long as they can stick it to their enemies.

I’m thinking that’s a sin too. But I’m too exhausted of all this evil now to go on. Time to watch some Mr. Rogers on YouTube and clear the mind of such Trumpian-winger foulness.

Comments Off

Reader Comments (4)

""What matters isn't how a person's inner life finally puts together the alphabet and numbers of his outer life. What really matters is whether he uses the alphabet for the declaration of a war or the description of a sunrise--his numbers for the final count at Buchenwald or the specifics of a brand-new [WALL]" Mr. Rogers

February 10, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterPD Pepe

I watched "Won't You Be My Neighbor" last night. In the first fifteen minutes, it showed King Friday the 13th being afraid of change and wanting to build a wall. I think that was the first episode. Wow!

It looks as if Fred Rogers tried to treat every person with respect and kindness. Sounds pretty Christian to me.

February 10, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterNiskyGuy

@Nisky Guy: From the Pittsburgh City Paper (June 2018):

"Connected over a week’s worth of episodes, one plot line addresses change, violence and border issues. Fearful of change, King Friday XIII (the puppet ruler of the Neighborhood of Make-Believe) orders a border wall to be built to keep the neighborhood safe. Lady Aberlin takes balloons, tied with messages of peace and love to them, and floats them across the wall, convincing the king to tear down the wall. Those episodes were the first five shows."

Just in case somebody didn't realize Donald Trump is a throwback to the bad ole days.

February 10, 2019 | Registered CommenterMarie Burns

Marie,

Nice selection of images of president* sinner. Reminds me of medieval stained glass windows created to show the largely illiterate worshipers how not to be. Unfortunately, these images depicting Fatty’s many sins show his largely illiterate worshippers how to be exactly like their hero.

February 10, 2019 | Unregistered CommenterAkhilleus
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