REALITYCHEX.COM - Constant Comments - The Commentariat -- November 5

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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.”

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Thursday

Nov042010

The Commentariat -- November 5

The Republican primaries will be a production of Fox "News."
-- Chris Wallace of Fox "News":

Charlie Savage of the New York Times compares George W. Bush's account of events in his soon-to-be pubished memoir Decision Points with news accounts of the events. Interactive.

Helene Cooper of the New York Times: "While [President Obama's] domestic agenda may end up being stalled for the next two years, national security remains his domain, no matter how unfriendly Congress may be. And the United States’ relations abroad, political and foreign policy observers say, may be the broadest avenue left for Mr. Obama to accomplish anything during the remainder of his current term."

More Bad News. Michael Shear of the New York Times: "President Obama is moving to cool down his war with the United States Chamber of Commerce, one of the most bitter political feuds of the last two years." Obama sent Tim Geithner out for a two-hour chat with Chamber CEO Tom Donohue. CW: do you think those two were discussing your interests? ...

... What a shame for the nation that President Obama doesn't have the guts to follow Paul Krugman's advice: "Mr. Obama’s economic policy ended up being a political disaster precisely because he tried to play it safe. It’s time for him to try something different."

John Dickerson of Slate: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell says President Obama must get in line with him & support legislation that reflects "the will of the people." However, McConnell's ideas of what "the people" demand are distortions.

Mark Hosenball of Reuters: "In an e-mail to newly elected House Republicans, Eric Cantor, likely to be the next House majority leader, said the Republican leadership would spotlight oversight findings in floor debates to point up what Republicans say is excessive government spending. Every week, the Republicans plan to publicize 'one major oversight hearing ... that plays into our overall focus on job creation and reducing spending,' Cantor said."

Gene Robinson: "Nancy Pelosi ... is losing her job not because she does it poorly but because she does it so well." ...

... ** William Saletan makes a similar point in Slate: "Democrats didn't lose the battle of 2010. They won it." Congresses come and go. The healthcare law is forever. ...

... Jonathan Karl of ABC News: "High-level Democratic sources in the House tell ABC News [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi is seriously considering staying in Congress and running for the position of minority leader. Pelosi is methodically calling every Democratic House member who won on Tuesday, as well as many who lost, sources tell ABC News. In the process, she is weighing her options and gauging her support." With video. Diane Sawyer interviews Pelosi here; we embedded a clip yesterday; here's more:

... MEANWHILE. Jonathan Allen & John Bresnahan of Politico: "Utah Rep. Jim Matheson, a co-chairman of the Blue Dogs, told POLITICO on Thursday that Pelosi should not be a candidate for minority leader." ...

... AND. Brian Beutler of Talking Points Memo: "Rep. Heath Shuler (D-NC), who dodged the shellacking on Tuesday, says if Pelosi makes a play to be Minority Leader, he'll run against her." ...

... New York Times Update: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday that she would run to remain the leader of the House Democrats." ...

... Time Update: "Democrat Jim Clyburn announced he will challenge [Steny] Hoyer [for the No. 2 spot]. Clyburn, a South Carolina Dem, is a leading member of the Congressional Black Caucus and the highest ranking African American ever to serve in the House.

Jordan Fabian of The Hill: "House Democrats were swept out of power because party leaders tried to hard to 'appease' Republicans on major issues, said a high-profile member Thursday who lost his seat Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) said Democratic leaders should have been more aggressive and shut Republicans out of the negotiating process."

Jonathan Weisman of the Wall Street Journal: "... President Barack Obama is getting pilloried by the right on the cost of his 10-day trip to Asia, with outlandish hyperventilation going directly from suspect Indian media reports to conservative U.S. media outlets and commentators without a pause for fact-checking.... Now a new rumor has emerged courtesy of India’s NDTV. Mr. Obama, the outlet says, 'will be protected by a fleet of 34 warships, including an aircraft carrier, which will patrol the sea lanes off the Mumbai coast.' The White House called that ridiculous. But on the conservative Drudge Report website, it’s on the home page – in huge type." ...

... AND, Michele Bachmann, never one to let facts get in the way of a good rant, is outraged at the made-up cost of the India trip. With video of Bachmann being outraged & blatantly inaccurate.

California Sends a Competent Leader to Sacramento. Adam Nagourey & Jennifer Medina of the New York Times: Jerry Brown was California's youngest governor when he was elected in 1974; Tuesday he was elected as its oldest. Despite the state's deep fiscal problems, Brown knows what to do & how to do it. He's already begun meeting with state lawmakers. ...

... Florida Voters Choose a Crook. Damien Cave of the New York Times: Governor-Elect Rick Scott's "proposals, and his approach to business, suggest that residents here may soon see an approach to government closer to the conservative, budget-slashing overhaul proposed for Britain."

Nate Silver: "... polls conducted by the firm Rasmussen Reports — which released more than 100 surveys in the final three weeks of the campaign, including some commissioned under a subsidiary on behalf of Fox News — badly missed the margin in many states, and also exhibited a considerable bias toward Republican candidates." Rasmussen overestimated "the standing of the Republican candidate by almost 4 points on average."

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