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
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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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INAUGURATION 2029

Commencement ceremonies are joyous occasions, and Steve Carell made sure that was true this past weekend (mid-June) at Northwestern's commencement:

~~~ Carell's entire commencement speech was hilarious. The audio and video here isn't great, but I laughed till I cried.

CNN did a live telecast Saturday night (June 7) of the Broadway play "Good Night, and Good Luck," written by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, about legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's effort to hold to account Sen. Joe McCarthy, "the junior senator from Wisconsin." Clooney plays Murrow. Here's Murrow himself with his famous take on McCarthy & McCarthyism, brief remarks that especially resonate today: ~~~

     ~~~ This article lists ways you still can watch the play. 

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.”

NPR lists all of the 2025 Pulitzer Prize winners. Poynter lists the prizes awarded in journalism as well as the finalists in these categories.

 

Contact Marie

Email Marie at constantweader@gmail.com

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Wednesday
Dec012010

The Commentariat -- December 2

President Obama & Vice President Biden meet with new governors:

AP: "President Barack Obama firmly defended his signature health care bill to a roomful of newly elected governors Thursday, many of them Republicans elected by railing against him and the expanding reach of the federal government."

Reid Wilson of the National Journal: "Members of the Congressional Tea Party Caucus may tout their commitment to cutting government spending now, but they used the 111th Congress to request hundreds of earmarks that, taken cumulatively, added more than $1 billion to the federal budget."

Arthur Delaney of the Huffington Post: Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wy) blocked an unemployment bill which in a Senate speech he said he deplored because it extended unemployment benefits beyond 99 weeks. But the bill does not extend benefits beyond 99 weeks; it extends benefits beyond 26 weeks.

Igor Volsky of the Wonk Room: "McCain ... openly impl[ied] that Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen was not living up to the expectations of leadership because he did not ask the troops if they favored repealing the [DADT] policy." With video. ...

... Adm. Mullen & Secretary Gates tear into Sen. McCain's objections to DADT repeal:

... More here, with a bit of repetition, but compelling exchanges:

With all due respect, Mr. Chairman and Sen. McCain, it is true that, as chairman, I am not in charge of troops. But I have commanded three ships, a carrier battle group and two fleets. And I was most recently a service chief myself. For more than 40 years I have made decisions that affected and even risked the lives of young men and women. You do not have to agree with me on this issue. But don't think for one moment that I haven't carefully considered the impact of the advice I give on those who will have to live with the decisions that that advice informs. I would not recommend repeal of this law if I did not believe in my soul that it was the right thing to do for our military, for our nation and for our collective honor. -- Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, reacting to John McCain's criticism of his leadership

Defense Secretary Robert Gates' opening testimony before a Senate Committee on DADT:

AP: "Directly challenging the Pentagon's top leadership, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday snubbed a military study on gays as flawed and said letting gays serve openly would be dangerous in a time of war." ...

... AND Yahoo News: Update: "Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen shot back at Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for implying that Mullen is not in charge of troops and is thus not qualified to say that the military should end its ban on openly gay service."

At least David Brooks doesn't like Republicans, either:

Two segments in which Rachel Maddow compares racial integration of the military & repealing DADT:

... Here's the New York Times report on the Pentagon's DADT study. You can read the report here. ...

     ... Politico Update: "President Obama says the Pentagon's 'don't ask, don't tell' review 'confirms' that most service members are comfortable working alongside gays. Obama also called on the Senate on Tuesday to 'act as soon as possible' on legislation repealing the ban on gays serving in the military so he could sign it 'this year.'"

Andrew Sullivan on "The Dickishness of the GOP": "I see no other coherent message or strategy since 2008. Just opposition to everything, zero support for a president grappling with a recession their own party did much to precipitate, and facing a fiscal crisis the GOP alone made far worse with their spending in the Bush-Cheney years. There is not a scintilla of responsibility for their past; not a sliver of good will for a duly elected president. Worse, figures like Cantor and McCain actively seek to back foreign governments against the duly elected president of their own country."

Peter Goodman in the Huffington Post: "In Washington, the agenda has long since moved on from bailing out megabanks to figuring out how to stop paying for things that regular people need -- luxuries like health care, retirement benefits and unemployment insurance." ...

... Daniel Indiviglio of The Atlantic: See? Goldman Sachs is bullish on the economy. ...

** "Too Big to Succeed." Thomas Hoenig, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, in a New York Times op-ed, says that to restore integrity to the financial system, Congress must enact legislation similar to Glass-Steagall: "Taking similar actions today to reduce the scope and size of banks, combined with legislatively mandated debt-to-equity requirements, would restore the integrity of the financial system and enhance equity of access to credit for consumers and businesses. Studies show that most operational efficiencies are captured when financial firms are substantially smaller than the largest ones are today."

Neil Irwin & Jia Lin Yang of the Washington Post: "The Federal Reserve pumped trillions of dollars into all manner of banks, investment firms and major companies during the financial crisis, according to documents released Wednesday that reveal for the first time the full scope of the Fed's emergency lending.... The Fed said it does not anticipate incurring any losses; indeed, many of the programs have turned a profit for shareholders." ...

... Junk for Cash. Ben Protess of the New York Times: "Lehman Brother’s collapse in the fall of 2008 inspired panic on Wall Street, but it also presented a little-noticed opportunity for the country’s remaining elite banks: They could now receive cheap Federal Reserve loans without posting quality collateral. As part of an emergency loan program, the Fed accepted as collateral more than $1 trillion in junk-rated investments from Citigroup, Morgan Stanley and others...." ...

We’re talking about huge sums of money going to bail out large foreign banks. Has the Federal Reserve become the central bank of the world? I think that is a question that needs to be examined. -- Sen. Bernie Sanders, "who wrote the provision in the Dodd-Frank Act that required the Fed disclosures" ...

... Sen. Bernie Sanders & Eliot Spitzer discuss the Fed's generosity to Wall Street:

... Sudeep Reddy of the Wall Street Journal: "Top Federal Reserve officials are pressing lawmakers to pair a long-term plan for deficit reduction with new short-term fiscal stimulus to boost an economy that the central bank admits needs more help than it can provide."

Jonathan Cohn of The New Republic: outgoing Gov. Ted Strickland of Ohio wonders out loud how Democrats are losing a fight where Republican plan to extend massive tax cuts for the rich & Democrats want to extend of jobless benefits.

Peter Baker of the New York Times: "President Obama appears to be building momentum for Senate approval of a new arms control treaty with Russia by the end of the year, but it may have to come at the expense of other legislative priorities with far greater support among his liberal base."

Alissa Rubin of the New York Times: "The results of parliamentary elections in Afghanistan have brought a new period of uncertainty, deepened skepticism of the government and stirred volatile ethnic fault lines."

When everything is classified, nothing is classified.... The hallmark of a truly effective internal security system would be the maximum possible disclosure, recognizing that secrecy can best be preserved only when credibility is truly maintained. -- Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, in his Pentagon Papers opinion, 1971

"WikiLeaks' War on Secrecy." Massimo Calabresi of Time: "The number of new secrets designated as such by the U.S. government has risen 75%, from 105,163 in 1996 to 183,224 in 2009.... The number of documents and other communications created using those secrets has skyrocketed nearly 10 times, from 5,685,462 in 1996 to 54,651,765 in 2009. Not surprisingly, the number of people with access to that Everest of information has grown too.... As more individuals handle more secrets in more places around the world, it naturally becomes harder to keep track of them. But more than that, it diminishes the credibility of the government's judgment about what should be secret."

... Fareed Zakaria in Time: "The WikiLeaks documents, by contrast [with the Pentagon Papers], show Washington pursuing privately pretty much the policies it has articulated publicly.... The cables also show an American diplomatic establishment that is pretty good at analysis." ...

... David Corn of Mother Jones: WikiLeaks cables show that "the Obama administration, working with Republicans, was actively pressuring the Spaniards to drop the investigation" of Bush administration officials who participated in authorizing the torture of suspected enemy combatants. The six officials Obama & Republicans got off the hook were Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Douglas Feith, Jay Bybee & John Yoo. ...

AP: "Sweden's Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a court order to detain WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange for questioning over allegations of rape and sexual molestation. The 39-year-old Australian, who denies the accusations made by two Swedish women after his visit to the country in August, had appealed two lower court rulings allowing investigators to bring him into custody and issue an international arrest warrant."

C. J. Chivers of the New York Times: "scores of secret American cables from recent years, obtained by WikiLeaks and made available to several news organizations, show that beneath the public efforts at warmer ties, the United States harbors a dim view of the post-Soviet Kremlin and its leadership, and little hope that Russia will become more democratic or reliable." ...

... C. J. Chivers: "In Georgia, diplomats appeared to set aside skepticism and embrace Georgian versions of important and disputed events.... The last cables before the eruption of the brief Russian-Georgian war showed an embassy relaying statements that would with time be proved wrong." ...

Today, we are all Georgians. -- John McCain, August 12, 2008 ...

... Charlie Savage of the New York Times: "A trove of diplomatic cables, obtained by WikiLeaks ... disclose a perception by American diplomats that Canadians 'always carry a chip on their shoulder' in part because of a feeling that their country 'is condemned to always play "Robin" to the U.S. "Batman."'” ...

... Josh Gerstein of Politico: "... the self-proclaimed whistleblower website [WikiLeaks] and its eccentric founder, Julian Assange, were the subjects of bellicose threats from politicians and world leaders, but to this day have faced fewer immediate legal consequences than those selling fake Coach handbags and unauthorized Disney DVDs."

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