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The Ledes

Thursday, July 3, 2025

CNBC: “Job growth proved better than expected in June, as the labor market showed surprising resilience and likely taking a July interest rate cut off the table. Nonfarm payrolls increased a seasonally adjusted 147,000 for the month, higher than the estimate for 110,000 and just above the upwardly revised 144,000 in May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday. April’s tally also saw a small upward revision, now at 158,000 following an 11,000 increase.... Though the jobless rates fell [to 4.1%], it was due largely to a decrease in those working or looking for jobs.”

Washington Post: “A warehouse storing fireworks in Northern California exploded on Tuesday, leaving seven people missing and two injured as explosions continued into Wednesday evening, officials said. Dramatic video footage captured by KCRA 3 News, a Sacramento broadcaster, showed smoke pouring from the building’s roof before a massive explosion created a fireball that seemed to engulf much of the warehouse, accompanied by an echoing boom. Hundreds of fireworks appeared to be going off and were sparkling within the smoke. Photos of the aftermath showed multiple destroyed buildings and a large area covered in gray ash.” ~~~

The Wires

The Ledes

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

New York Times: “The Rev. Jimmy Swaggart, who emerged from the backwoods of Louisiana to become a television evangelist with global reach, preaching about an eternal struggle between good and evil and warning of the temptations of the flesh, a theme that played out in his own life in a sex scandal, died on July 1. He was 90.” ~~~

~~~ For another sort of obituary, see Akhilleus' commentary near the end of yesterday's thread.

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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.”

Page Links

Tuesday

Jan282014

S.O.T.U. 2014

Zeke Miller of Time: "While the speech was light on new proposals, [President Obama] is looking to build on whatever momentum the State of the Union provided with a four-state swing that starts Wednesday. "

CW: It is remarkable that the three men on the dais all came up from near-poverty. (The most powerful female politicians, BTW, came from middle- or upper-middle-class homes: Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Dianne Feinstein, etc. Hmmm.)

Charles Pierce describes the speech as "Clintonian" & explains why. Also, "(John Boehner's face seemed to darken as the evening went along, like the side of a mountain that faces the sunset.)" ...

... Nope, Charles. The address wasn't Clintonian. It was Dubyan. Hadas Gold of Politico: "President George W. Bush's former speech writer said that President Barack Obama plagiarized his former boss in Tuesday's State of the Union address. Speaking to Fox News's Megyn Kelly, Marc Thiessen, the lead writer on Bush's 2007 State of the Union address, said he found Obama's speech Tuesday night 'eerily familiar. Barack Obama has gone from blaming George W. Bush to plagiarizing George W. Bush,' Thiessen said." Proof? They both talked about "hope and opportunity." CW: Yeah, because no politician (Bill Clinton, "born in a little place called Hope") ever mentioned stuff like "hope & opportunity" before Mark Thiessen hit upon the novel idea. ...

... Update: According to this other Politico headline, "McMorris Rodgers promotes ‘hopeful’ agenda." Just another plagiarist, I guess.

Josh Marshall of TPM: "They say history is written by the winners. What I heard him saying was that he wants and will start writing the history of the future with his presidency, even if his ability to put it into effect may be limited."

Steve M. sees a glaring error in President Obama's effectively turning Cory Remsburg into a metaphor for Congressional gridlock. ...

... John Cassidy liked the Remsburg metaphor a lot better. ...

... CW: I can't help thinking that the only thing that can get all those bastuds on their feet is human carnage incurred in the service of international dominance. Was that the Capitol or was that the Colosseum? Whether or not you read Cassidy, I suspect you instinctively know that Obama was playing to the cheap seats when he introduced Remsburg.

Jose DelReal of Politico: "President Obama might have been the State of the Union's headliner on Tuesday, but Vice President Joe Biden stole the show on twitter." Some amusing stuff from reporters with time on their hands. ...

... Elias Isquith of Salon: "Twitter’s higher-profile conservative pundits, activists, and politicians nevertheless responded as if the president had set a copy of the Constitution on fire while pledging allegiance to General Mao." Isquith posts a few examples. ...

... 11:45 pm Tuesday: Rachel Maddow just wiped the floor with crazy Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas). Heulskamp has spent too much time on Fox "News" (& maybe "Press the Meat"). Chris Hayes later had a big laugh over Huelskamp's claims. ...

... Update: You can view the segment here. ...

... AND Rep. Grimm Threatens to Murder Reporter for Asking Question. Adam Edelman & Joseph Straw of the New York Daily News: "Embattled New York Republican Rep. Michael Grimm [Staten Island] threatened to 'break' a NY1 reporter and throw him off a balcony after President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. The confrontation occurred on Capitol Hill when reporter Michael Scotto followed up questions about the President's speech by pressing the congressman on a federal investigation into his fund-raising." With video. CW: Possibly slightly worse than calling Rachel Maddow a "cheerleader," as Heulskamp did. The House should sanction Grimm for threatening Scotto, which he did inside the U.S. Capitol building, & the DOJ should investigate & charge him with assault. If my dearly departed Rep. Coke had to leave the building, I don't see why that thug Grimm should be welcome. Maybe he could get a job in the Christie administration. There's a bridge between Staten Island & Jersey. ...

... Here's the NY1 story, with transcript of the exchange between Grimm & Scotto.

If Barack Obama discovered the cure for cancer, these assholes would complain that it took him too long. Then they'd find a way to claim that Reagan had actually discovered it first. -- Akhilleus

Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post: The SOTU in three GIFs.

Alexandra Jaffe of the Hill: "Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) pitched a libertarian vision for the nation in his rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.... The potential 2016 presidential contender made his case for limited government in a 10-minute Web video that highlighted his proposal to tackle poverty with 'economic freedom zones' and railed against welfare programs, while exhorting listeners to 'choose a new way' of government." Includes video.

CW: If this is "the face of the national tea party," evidently the tea party needs no greasepaint to look like a clown. AP photo.Brady McCombs of the AP: "Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee was the face of the national tea party Tuesday night, delivering the movement's response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union speech. Lee pinned the widening wealth gap on the president's policies and tout the ideas of a new generation of leaders including himself and Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas."

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "After five years of fractious political combat, President Obama declared independence from Congress on Tuesday as he outlined a series of limited initiatives on jobs, wages, retirement and the environment that he will take without legislative approval." ...

... Update. New Lede: "After five years of fractious political combat, President Obama declared independence from Congress on Tuesday as he vowed to tackle economic disparity with a series of limited initiatives on jobs, wages and retirement that he will take without legislative approval."

Here's the text of the SOTU as prepared for delivery (via the New York Times).

Paul Krugman is stuck in a CNN green room with no bourbon so he's liveblogging the SOTU.

The New York Times' liveblog of the SOTU is here. ...

... Michael Shear: Rep. "Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington offered an upbeat, but critical, rebuttal to President Obama’s State of the Union address, in the process avoiding mistakes of previous responders." CW: Did not take gulps of water, sweat profusely or remind people of a buffoonish teevee character. ...

... Video of Rodgers' response & the text of her remarks is here.

... Carl Hulse: "Senator Mitch McConnell is not amused. The Senate Republican leader from Kentucky said he learned only Tuesday afternoon that the Democratic governor of his home state, Steve Beshear, would be sitting with Michelle Obama to watch the president deliver the State of the Union address."

Paul Kane & Robert Costa of the Washington Post: There will be four GOP responses to the SOTU. (1) The official party response by Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, (2) the Tea Party response by Sen. Mike Lee, (3) a Spanish-language response by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, "the most senior Hispanic Republican, [who] is expected to hew closely to McMorris Rodgers in the Spanish-language response," & the Acqua Buddha response by Sen. Rand Paul. ...

... The only thing missing in this group is the snake charmer. -- Chris Matthews on MSNBC

Jon Favreau, formerly President Obama's chief speechwriter, on what it's like producing the SOTU speech: "The president puts in back-to-back 2 a.m. nights rewriting his speech to make it 'sing' and hopefully sway Congress."

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If the expectation was for Obama to limp lamely through his remaining years as our President last night's speech should have changed that assessment. There was a rougher tone in his voice, more determined, forceful. He has no intention of fucking around with those whose main agenda is to put roadblocks on everything he wants to do. It's unusual for presidents to ratchet it up during their last years––Reagan slowed down to such an extent people forgot he was even there––Dubya wanted to wash his hands of the whole mess, eager to get back to his bushes and paintbrushes. Obama is a man with plans and if he can get just half of what he proposes we can be grateful.

I thought the adulation for the wounded warrior was, besides being touching and heart rending, symbolic of the country itself, wounded, but striving to right itself, to heal itself. I also thought there are thousands of war wounded vets just like this young man whose lives are torn apart by horrific wars we find ourselves engaged in.

I thought JJG's mention of Cathy McMorris Rogers' speech reminiscent of a fifties sitcom––"I can almost smell the apple pie" was perfect. God, of course, was there with her on the couch giving her the strength and fortitude to deliver that sweet speech that was devoid of particulars which is exactly what Republicans have given us.

January 29, 2014 |

PD Pepe

Correction: It wasn't JJG, it was MAG re: the above reference.

Meant to mention that no sooner had the SOTU speech ended but that beady eyed, bumptious Texan was cruising on CNN and Fox dissing the President's plan for moving forward. Cruz wastes no time to regurgitate his weasel speak. Truly an amazing man.

Larry Summers on Charlie Rose had an opportunity to quash Glen Hubbard's assertion that raising the minimum wage, not cutting the SNAP program along with continuing unemployment payments wouldn't make a dent in the economy. And Doris Kearns told us that Teddy Roosevelt used the executive order many, many times––"How do you think we have all the preserved land that we have now?" she asked. I smiled ear to ear.

January 29, 2014 |

PD Pepe

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