The Ledes

Thursday, May 1, 2025

CNBC: “Initial unemployment claims posted an unexpected increase last week in a potential trouble sign for the wobbling U.S. economy. First-time filings for unemployment insurance totaled a seasonally adjusted 241,000 for the week ended April 26, up 18,000 from the prior period and higher than the Dow Jones estimate for 225,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. This was the highest total since Feb. 22. Continuing claims, which run a week behind and provide a broader view of layoff trends, rose to 1.92 million, up 83,000 to the highest level since Nov. 13, 2021. Much of the gain seemed to come from one state — New York, where claims more than doubled to 30,043, according to unadjusted data. The increase may have been due to spring recess in New York public schools, according to Sam Tombs, chief U.S. economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. 'Nonetheless, the deterioration in the timeliest hiring and firing indicators over the last couple weeks suggests that jobless claims will trend up over coming weeks,' Tombs said in a note.”

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

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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."

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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Tuesday
Mar082011

International Women's Day

Let's see how the United States is celebrating International Women's Day:

Fox Los Angeles. Here at home, "First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton marked the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day Wednesday by honoring 10 women from around the world with awards that recognize efforts they have made to further women's rights. During the 2011 Women of Courage Awards ceremony held at the State Department, Clinton called recipient of this year's awards 'remarkable,' while Obama lauded it as the 'one of the most important' events she will attend."...

... Also speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Julia Gillard of Australia and, get this, Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein. Here's the reason for Blankfein's presence: he's going to spend a few bucks on the ladies. The State Department readout is here. Here's Clinton's speech:

... No mention in the official transcript of this exchange, supplied by Binoy Kampmark in Counterpunch:

The real interest came after the sugary, salutary speeches were concluded.  Questions asked of Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs Judith McHale, Assistant Secretary of Education Ann Stock and Clinton’s own chief of staff Cheryl Mills caught them off guard.  A Latin American woman (Voice of America News remains, as ever, generic) questioned whether the United States was even ready for a female president.  Mills answered that the country was ‘more than willing to support women in a leadership role and more than willing to actually see a woman as their leader’ though she had to admit that ‘that final hurdle’ had to be crossed.

Michelle Obama spoke late this afternoon at the White House:


Not enough? It's better than what's happening elsewhere:

Nicholas Kristof: "Bangladesh has a woman prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, who has done nothing much for women – and who now is pursuing a campaign of vilification against Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been a champion of impoverished women all around the globe.... It’s astonishing – and so disappointing – to see a woman prime minister who does nothing for her country’s women go after a man who has devoted his life to helping the neediest women. And it’s a reminder that the struggle to achieve gender equality is not a battle between the sexes, but something far more subtle. It’s often about misogyny and paternalism, but those are values that are absorbed and transmitted almost as much by women as by men."

Julie Ioffe in Slate: "Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women’s Day, the brainchild of socialist feminists at the turn of the 20th century. The idea was to give women a day to come together and push for equal rights. Though it isn’t really celebrated in the United States, many countries continue to mark the date with an official public holiday. Here in Russia, it is a major holiday with its own long weekend.... March 8 has become a travesty in modern Russia. In the 20 years since the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia has quickly shed all vestiges of egalitarianism and become ensconced in a deeply patriarchal social order."

Washington Post: Egypt. "According to Twitter reports from Cairo, a march planned for Tahrir Square in honor of the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day was met by an even larger crowd of men deriding the women for being there and harassing them." ...

... Jenna Krajeski has a first-hand account of the strife in Tahrir Square. She concludes, "Mubarak is gone. Misogyny might be a tougher foe."

Tristan McConnell of Global Post: "In Sudan 60 women gathered on a busy street in Omdurman to protest against rape and rights abuses only to find themselves surrounded by 250 police. Ten minutes of chanting and banner waving was all the security men could bear before they quickly arrested half the women and threw them into a truck. The detained women continued to shout slogans so some of the men gave them a beating with sticks for good measure."

David Smith of the Guardian: "Marches by thousands of women in protest at Ivory Coast's president Laurent Gbagbo have ended in bloodshed after his army killed four people. The women made their stand on International Women's Day, less than a week after Gbagbo's soldiers killed seven women at a peaceful demonstration, earning worldwide condemnation. After a small women's march in the Treichville neighbourhood, one of several in Abidjan on Tuesday, security forces burst into the area and began shooting."

AOL News: the five worst countries to be born a woman. "Here are the five countries with the highest (that is, worst) scores on the 2008 Gender Inequality Index, the most recent ranking available": Yemen, Congo, Niger, Mali, Afghanistan.

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