REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - Thanksgiving Day 2012

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.

The Wires

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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

Wednesday

Nov212012

Thanksgiving Day 2012

Thanksgiving -- Past, Present & Future

Early American History. (Okay, it's an ad, which makes it authentically American):

... Kids do the darnedest things. An alternative history of Thanksgiving:

More Recent American History -- A Family Remembrance:

President Obama pardoned a couple of turkeys yesterday:

... even though the President really has no judicial jurisdiction over birds:

Still, we might want to cut these birds some slack:

Forty-six million turkeys won't be so lucky:

... Which reminds of this riveting moment from Thanksgiving 2008, now etched in our collective national memory. Some people who hold high office are not competent enough to pardon a turkey:

So, once gruesome reality is behind us, Chris Christie demonstrates how to prepare the turkey:

Likely, the bird came out like this. (Here's a how-to, though a friend of mine tried it & couldn't get the tinfoil to stay in place):

There are, of course, alternatives to turkey:

Gail Collins takes Thanksgiving questions.

Loudon Wainwright III's "Thanksgiving" begins about 2:45 min. in:

... Not that there aren't some beautiful, upbeat Thanksgiving songs out there:

The real spirit of the season:

Finally, we can all be thankful that this is not, after all, our future:

I am, of course, ever thankful to all of you, readers and contributors.
-- Marie

President Obama's Weekly Address:

... The transcript is here. Thank God he mentions God this year. Sorry, Fox "News."

News Ledes

Guardian: "A secret 10-day emergency process culminated in the appointment of Royal Opera House chief executive Lord (Tony) Hall to the £450,000-a-year job of running the BBC, as the corporation turned to a former veteran to help begin the process of recovering from the Jimmy Savile and Newsnight crises."

AP: "U.S. troops in Afghanistan celebrate Thanksgiving."

AP: "A Jacksonville police officer has quit after admitting he told colleagues that he would volunteer to assassinate President Barack Obama>. Sam Koivisto told the Florida Times-Union (http://bit.ly/10zfc6q) on Wednesday that his comments had been blown out of proportion and that he'd planned to retire in five months anyway."

AP: "Israeli authorities arrested an Arab Israeli on Thursday on accusations he planted a bomb on a bus in Tel Aviv that wounded 27 people and threatened to sabotage efforts to broker a cease-fire to end the fighting in Gaza, police said."

New York Times: "With a constitutional assembly on the brink of collapse and protesters battling the police in the streets here over the slow pace of change, President Mohamed Morsi issued a sweeping decree on Thursday night, granting himself broad new powers above any court and ordering the retrial of his predecessor, Hosni Mubarak." Al Jazeera story here.

AP: "Victims of Superstorm Sandy in New York and elsewhere in the Northeast were comforted Thursday by kinder weather, free holiday meals and -- for some -- front row seats to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade."

New York Times: "A ceasefire agreed under intense Egyptian and American pressure between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas to halt eight days of bloody conflict seemed to be holding on Thursday, averting a full-scale Israeli ground invasion of the Gaza Strip without resolving the underlying disputes."

AP: "The worst U.S. drought in decades has deepened again after more than a month of encouraging reports of slowly improving conditions, a drought-tracking consortium said Wednesday, as scientists struggled for an explanation other than a simple lack of rain."

AP: "European leaders were staking out their strong positions as they gathered Thursday for what promises to be a turbulent and lengthy summit on the 7-year budget for the 27-country European Union." ...

... New York Times: "... as leaders from across Europe gather in Brussels on Thursday to haggle over more than a trillion dollars in spending over a seven-year period starting in 2014, widespread public anger over perceived extravagance [at the E.U. itself] when national governments are slashing their own budgets has helped fuel a mood of hostility toward the world's most ambitious and, until the debt crisis exploded three years ago, most successful experiment in economic and political integration."

AP: "Internal emails among U.S. military officers indicate that no sailors watched Osama bin Laden's burial at sea from the USS Carl Vinson and traditional Islamic procedures were followed during the ceremony. The emails, obtained by The Associated Press through the Freedom of Information Act, are heavily blacked out, but are the first public disclosure of government information about the al-Qaida leader's death. The emails were released Wednesday by the Defense Department."

Reuters: "Thanksgiving is now the start of the annual holiday shopping endurance race, as more stores open on Thursday's national holiday to seek a bigger share of spending that is expected to grow slowly this season. Target Corp has joined Wal-Mart and Gap Inc in being open at least part of the day, and some retailers will be open throughout the day, a trend that began to take hold in 2011. Traditionally, retailers enticed shoppers with 'doorbuster' deals early Friday morning. Then they shifted to midnight following Thanksgiving."

AP: "Jesse Jackson Jr.'s resignation from Congress might end his once-promising political career but it doesn't mark the end of troubles for the civil rights icon's son. Just two weeks after voters re-elected him to a ninth full term, Jackson on Wednesday sent his resignation letter to House Speaker John Boehner, citing his ongoing treatment for bipolar disorder and admitting 'my share of mistakes' while confirming publically for the first time that he's under a federal probe and cooperating with investigators."

AND CW: old codgers like me will remember where they were 49 years ago today.

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Reader Comments (3)

Just have to say how thankful I am to Marie for her many splendid posts I have been privileged to read. What an inspiration you are!
Robert

PS: Wonderful Thanksgiving family dinner photo, is that you serving the turkey?

November 22, 2012 |

Robert, Fort Lauderdale

Hope everyone here has a good day––we do have lots of things we can be thankful for and one of those is this site. Again, our blessings on Marie. Gobble, gobble and remember to keep your spite warm and on the back burner but just in case a crazy uncle starts in with some nonsense accidentally spill some hot gravy on his newly pressed pants which will shut him up at least until dessert. Enjoy!

November 22, 2012 |

PD Pepe

Lot to be thankful for this year. Like others, a big juicy thank-you to you Marie for your amazing energy and dedication in keeping the rest of us informed. The verve, smarts and wit of the commenting crew is likewise, much appreciated.

I've got the rolls rising, my ham shank is merrily simmering away waiting for the green beans and the bird is taking a long swim in the brine. Ms. Frida the bulldog is tucked under my husband's arm and all you can see is her wrinkled face peaking out. I know its going to be a great day when I hear the trio; husband, son and Ms Frida snoring happily. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

November 22, 2012 |

Diane

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