John McQuaid

@johnmcquaid.bsky.social

688 Followers 539 Following

Journalist, author (Tasty, on science of flavor; Path of Destruction, on Katrina); PhD from the UMD Merrill College of Journalism. Research interest: news media, AI risks, and public accountability.

UPDATED with ABC & NBC plans, 12:51 PM: ABC News and NBC News said Thursday afternoon that they will carry Donald Trump‘s primetime address tonight only on their respective streaming sites, ABC News Live and NBC News Now, and not their broadcast networks. [Highlighted] CBS News has yet to reveal its coverage plans. NBC News said it will air a special report on the network after the speech. ABC News will monitor the speech and will break in for a special report depending on developments.
New York Times headline: White House Considers Vetting A.I. Models Before They Are Released The Trump administration, which took a noninterventionist approach to artificial intelligence, is now discussing imposing oversight on A.I. models before they are made publicly available.
Main NYT home page headline: King Charles Stresses Cooperation in Speech to Congress. Video of Charles speaking to Congress.
NYT on SCOTUS shadow docket: In public, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. has cultivated a reputation for care and caution. The papers reveal a different side of him. At a critical moment for the country and the court, the papers show, he acted as a bulldozer in pushing to stop Mr. Obama’s plan to address the global climate crisis. When colleagues warned the chief justice that he was proposing an unprecedented move, he was dismissive. “I recognize that the posture of this stay request is not typical,” he wrote. But he argued that the Obama plan, which aimed to regulate coal-fired plants, was “the most expensive regulation ever imposed on the power sector,” and too big, costly and consequential for the court not to act immediately. In the Trump era, he and the other conservative justices have repeatedly empowered the president through their shadow docket rulings. By contrast, the papers reveal a court wielding those same powers to block Mr. Obama. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. warned that if the court failed to stop the president, its own “institutional legitimacy” would be threatened.
The news organization is becoming more focused on visual journalism and developing new revenue sources, particularly through companies investing in artificial intelligence, to cope with the economic collapse of many legacy news outlets. Once the lion’s share of AP’s revenue, big newspaper companies now account for 10% of its income. “We’re not a newspaper company and we haven’t been for quite some time,” Julie Pace, executive editor and senior vice president of the AP, said in an interview.
(Last sentence highlighted) Harvard has been the top target in Mr. Trump’s sweeping campaign to exert more control over higher education. Hard-liners in his administration had wanted Harvard to write a check to the U.S. Treasury as part of a deal to address claims that university officials mishandled antisemitism, The New York Times previously reported. But Harvard, wary of backlash from liberal students and faculty, has rejected the idea.
Washington Post headline: U.S. to run Venezuela during transition, Trump says
Doug Varone and Dancers, a New York dance company, also said on Monday that it was canceling two performances in April that had been intended to celebrate its 40th anniversary. Mr. Varone, the head of the company, said it would lose $40,000 by pulling out. “It is financially devastating but morally exhilarating,” he said in an email.
Medicare.gov email with banner saying "Stay Healthy with Dr. Oz": Text: James, The holidays are all about joy and celebration! Here are some simple tips to help you stay healthy while enjoying every moment. You don't have to skip the foods you love. Just balance them out. Fill half your plate with colorful veggies, add some lean protein, and whole grains. Remember to watch your portions. And, it's also okay to enjoy treats — just in moderation. One of my favorite go-to meals during the busy holiday season is Baked Fish and Vegetables. I just wrap everything in foil, bake, and enjoy with no cleanup required! Healthy Recipes Stay active, too. Taking a walk after dinner, playing with grandkids, or dancing to your favorite holiday music are small moments that can add up to big benefits for your health. Your health matters to us every single day. Wishing you a wonderful, healthy holiday season! Warm wishes, Dr. Oz
But the biggest sticking point was whether Dunn had caused bodily harm. At one point, the jury sent a note, asking how “injury” is different from “bodily harm.” “The definition of injury isn’t just bodily harm—it’s offensive touch—and we struggled with that because we all said we’d be offended if a sandwich hit us, but then this agent was standing with about 14 other agents on the corner of 14th and U, all kitted out,” the juror told me.
The president would have a choice the film never discusses As the clock ticks down, the U.S. president faces an impossible decision about how to respond to what looks like it will be a direct nuclear blow to Chicago. His aide carrying the football (Jonah Hauer-King), recommends a forceful counterstrike — the "well done" option, as he describes it. But in fact, the president would probably be advised to ride out the attack, Lewis said. U.S. forces are capable of launching their missiles "on warning" before an attacker's missiles arrive, but the country's nuclear doctrine actually emphasizes what's known as a "second strike" capability. That would allow it to strike back even if it were hit with a nuclear attack much larger than the one in the movie. Moreover, in the film, the U.S. is unsure who fired the warhead, so is no clear adversary to hit back at. "It made no sense to me," Lewis said. In a real-world scenario, it is more likely the president and his commanders would wait to see what happened to Chicago. (One possibility raised by several experts NPR spoke to was that the entire launch was a false alarm or spoofed as part of a cyberattack.)
But Leo, in remarks that appeared both careful and bold, urged Catholics not to view the senator — or any political figure — through a single-issue lens. “I think it’s important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I’m not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,” the pope, a Chicago-area native, told reporters, responding to a question from EWTN News. “I understand the difficulty and the tensions,” he said. “But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the church.” More pointedly, the pope said, “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion,’ but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life. Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
F.B.I. director Kash Patel, and his top deputy were headed to Utah on Thursday to more directly oversee the hunt for the person who fatally shot the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, as the gunman remained on the loose more than 24 hours after the shooting.
At its core, the story of Mr. Trump and Mr. Modi is about two brash, populist leaders with big egos and authoritarian tendencies, and the web of loyalties that help keep both men in power. And it is also the tale of an American president with his eye on a Nobel Prize, running smack into the immovable third rail of Indian politics: the conflict with Pakistan.
Wikipedia page for "A Wind in the Door": A Wind in the Door is a young adult science fantasy novel by American author Madeleine L'Engle.[1] It is a companion book to A Wrinkle in Time and part of the Time Quintet. Plot Fourteen-year-old Meg Murry is worried about her brother Charles Wallace, a 6-year-old genius bullied at school by the other children. The new principal of the elementary school is the former high school principal, Mr. Jenkins, who often disciplined Meg, and Meg is sure he has a grudge against her whole family. Meg tries to enlist Jenkins's help in protecting her brother but is unsuccessful. Later, Meg discovers that Charles Wallace has a progressive disease that is leaving him short of breath. Their mother, a microbiologist, suspects a dysfunction of his farandolae, invisible organelles within his mitochondria.
Vibe coding didn’t ignite this longing in me. Instead, I saw more clearly that we’re entering a dizzying age of duality in AI. Is AI going to kill our jobs or create more jobs? Yes. Did I technically build a feature in an app that has since been pushed to a hundred million users, or did I cheat my way through an assignment by leaning heavily on AI and other humans? Yes. [remainder highlighted] Do I need deep foundational knowledge of software programming to be a successful coder, or can I skate by without even knowing the name of the programming language I’m using? Also yes.
NYT headline/summary: U.S. Inflation Report Shows Effects of President Trump's Tariffs: One gauge showed prices increasing at the fastest annual pace in five months, a sign that businesses are passing along tariff-related costs to customers.
Image of 1956 Washington Star story headlined "Now It's Proved: We Can (underlined) Change The Weather!"
Stephen K. Bannon, a former White House adviser to Mr. Trump and influential leader of the MAGA base, said that the dynamics were shifting in part because the reporting in the story seemed “phony,” and because the paper decided not to show Mr. Trump a copy of the letter. “The Murdochs’ bizarre assault on the president galvanized his base because of both content and process,” Mr. Bannon said. “Now we are united as Trump goes on offense — against the Murdochs, the courts and the deep state.”
Google Trends chart from election to May 6 shows initial decline, spike on inauguration, decline, rise in Feb. and then gradual decline.
Mr. Fish told me that his work at Anthropic focused on two basic questions: First, is it possible that Claude or other A.I. systems will become conscious in the near future? And second, if that happens, what should Anthropic do about it? Editors’ Picks Ken Griffey Jr. Is a Photographer Now The Frick Needs a New Piano. Which Would You Choose? Old Friends With Sunny Attire and Spirits He emphasized that this research was still early and exploratory. He thinks there’s only a small chance (maybe 15 percent or so) that Claude or another current A.I. system is conscious. But he believes that in the next few years, as A.I. models develop more humanlike abilities, A.I. companies will need to take the possibility of consciousness more seriously.
Text from Washington Post article: Lamberth found that the government did not act in a careful or considered way in shutting down the agency. “Not only is there an absence of ‘reasoned analysis’ from the defendants,” he wrote in the opinion. “There is an absence of any analysis whatsoever. … It is hard to fathom a more straightforward display of arbitrary and capricious actions than the Defendants’ actions here.”
Paragraphs from Dan Balz analysis: Those factors have produced a series of actions: the deportation of undocumented immigrants, mass firings of federal workers, the elimination of some federal agencies, the decapitation of the leadership of various agencies and units of government, attempted intimidation of outside institutions (universities and law firms specifically), and now, perhaps most importantly, a trade war that is upending the world’s economic order. But in pushing forward, the administration has stumbled on many of these fronts, renewing questions about the capabilities of the president and those he has empowered. Trump’s handling of the trade war is Exhibit A.
Headline: The Strategy Behind Trump’s Repeated Musings About a Third Term The president’s comments deflect attention from other controversies. And they freeze the field of potential successors who might steal the spotlight from a lame duck.
Another election analyst who spoke on the condition of anonymity to offer a candid opinion described what he saw as the goal of the order: “It is to reduce turnout by people he thinks won’t vote for him,” the analyst said.
Newsmax and the Blaze to the Wednesday press pool, were they will work alongside Bloomberg, the NYT, Reuters, AFP, NPR, and ABC. Why are these outlets agreeing to participate in this scheme? For the same reason that mainstream media outlets defended Fox in 2009. Because liberalism’s devotion to fairness and belief in the honor system has made it incapable of taking its own side against those who would replace it with fascism.
Yet Fox News is the most profitable part of the Murdoch empire and likely to be the easiest to sell in the short term. It is separately traded and valued at $25bn, and there will be no shortage of billionaires willing to pay for its access and influence. That the company brings profits and political clout is likely to also make it attractive to the Murdoch heirs, including his 13 grandchildren, whatever their politics. One family adviser was incredulous at the suggestion that the more liberal-minded children would want to change its politics entirely: “the idea that the three siblings gang up and set up Guardian TV is ridiculous.”
Washington Post headline: U.S., Russia hold talks in 'first step' to Ukraine peace, better relations
Los Angeles Times: Gulf of Mexico From Ruthanne Salido, assistant managing editor of the multiplatform desk and co-chair of the standards and practices committee: “It simply comes down to the American president’s lack of authority to rename geographic points that lie outside U.S. boundaries and territories.” Here’s how a newsroom memo put it: “As for the Gulf of Mexico vs. the Gulf of America, the U.S. president does not have the authority to rename the gulf. So we’ll stick with Gulf of Mexico. There’s no need to mention the ‘alternative name at this point unless, of course, that’s the point of the story,’ News copy desk manager John Penner notes.”
Trump pushes ahead as courts, Democrats try to block him The moves reflect the new administration’s dizzying pace as the president and his allies seek to remake the federal government.
How Trump Could Snatch a Third Term — Despite the 22nd Amendment Four ways Trump could stay in power beyond 2028.
Others cautioned that DOGE’s responsibilities could still be substantial. Mina Hsiang, an engineer who was until recently the administrator at the Digital Service, said that revamping government technology systems can pave the way for changes to regulations, spending and other federal functions. Housing DOGE at the Digital Service could help give it a major imprint across dozens of federal agencies and potentially hundreds of programs. “A lot of what we experience as government inefficiency comes from poorly designed and integrated tech systems and the policies that force them to be that way,” Hsiang said. “So there are tremendous opportunities here. It still has the potential to be a very real thing.”
If you want an analogy for the present state of America it’s perhaps not an out-and-out fascist regime, but a Vichy regime. It’s partly fascist but mostly just a reactionary and defeatist catch-all. It’s a regime born of capitulation and of defeat: of the slow and then sudden collapse of the longstanding institutions of a great democracy whose defenders turned out to be senile and unable to cope with or understand modern politics. It’s a regime of born exhaustion, nihilism, and cynicism: the loss of faith in the old verities of the republic. A regime of national humiliation pretending to be a regime of restoration of national honor. It claims to be at once a national revolution and a national restoration. It’s a hybrid regime: a coalition that includes the fascist far right, of course, but also technocratic modernizers who might have once called themselves liberals, the big industrialists, and old social conservatives. Even some disaffected socialists and leftists for whom liberalism was always the main enemy want to give it the benefit of the doubt. It’s a regime of collaboration and sympathy: the #resistance may have dominated the political style of the first Trump administration, but now, as Trump says, everyone wants to be his friend.
In July of 2024, Tyler Cowen, the economist and cultural commentator, wrote a blog post that proved to be among the election’s most prescient. It was titled “The change in vibes — why did they happen?” Cowen’s argument was that mass culture was moving in a Trumpian direction. Among the tributaries flowing into the general shift: the Trumpist right’s deeper embrace of social media, the backlash to the “feminization” of society, exhaustion with the politics of wokeness, an era of negativity that Trump captured but Democrats resisted, a pervasive sense of disorder at the border and abroad and the breakup between Democrats and “Big Tech.”
I'M STUNNED. I just asked chatgpt for "an idea for Paul Schrader film." Then Paul Thomas Anderson. Then Quentin Tarantino. Then Harmony Korine. Then Ingmar Bergman. Then Rossellini. Lang. Scorsese. Murnau. Capra. Ford. Speilberg. Lynch. Every idea chatgpt came up with (in a few seconds) was good. And original. And fleshed out. Why should writers sit around for months searching for a good idea when AI can provide one in seconds?
Paul is admired by some of her colleagues for her willingness to buck liberal-left conventional wisdom. She has written a defense of J.K. Rowling and scrutinized the MeToo movement for overreach, while a recent column criticized the American Historical Society’s vote to condemn the ongoing “scholasticide” in Gaza. But others have said she does little more than produce rage bait, with what one Times staffer referred to as “intellectually lazy” positions. “It is a rarity inside the Times for someone to manage to make enemies on every desk they touch; Pamela is indeed a rarity,” one newsroom employee said. “She should have spent time making allies if she was going to be as divisive a figure as she was internally. But she didn’t put the time in there, or at least did not have the interest.” I’m told, however, that Opinion’s decision to part ways with her is not because of her ideological positions. Kingsbury said, “We don’t discuss personnel matters, but any insinuation I make staffing or editorial decisions based solely on political viewpoints is false.”
Launching troncX, our content curation and monetization engine, to combine existing assets with new artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology to accelerate digital growth. The Company conducted a 30-day pilot of its AI efforts involving 1% of its traffic, delivering a 400% increase in the yield on programmatic revenue.
•Launching troncX, our content curation and monetization engine, to combine existing assets with new artificial intelligence (“AI”) technology to accelerate digital growth. The Company conducted a 30-day pilot of its AI efforts involving 1% of its traffic, delivering a 400% increase in the yield on programmatic revenue.
Furthermore, as Trump's return to Washington appeared more likely, Lewis also appealed to Bezos because of his ease in handling conservative figures. This account is derived from two people with direct knowledge of Bezos' thinking who spoke on the condition that they were not named, as they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. Lewis had been editor of the conservative Telegraph newspaper in London, closely aligned with the Tory party. The Journal is controlled by Rupert Murdoch, for whom Lewis also worked in the U.K. And during a break between media jobs, Lewis had consulted for then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
"None of this would have sounded weird in the 19th century,” Immerwahr said, adding that Trump has embraced a more forceful approach to U.S. diplomacy, appearing to lack the patience for the “sinuous blend of cooperation and consent” that has defined U.S. diplomacy for much of the last century.
I get the sense Will Lewis would not stick around during a Swisher administration? No. Let me give him one thing. He’s got a hard job. They’ve got to stanch the flow of capital out of this business. They’ve got to come up with new business plans. They’ve got to cut costs. No question. They’ve got to cut staff. This is just the way it’s going to have to be on the way there. But to treat this group of people like shit while doing it seems to me not the smartest of ways to do it.
Washington Post headline: Trump’s CDC pick wouldn’t let go of false theory vaccines cause autism Dave Weldon’s long record of promoting the disproven link between vaccines and autism raises concerns among some public health experts about his ability to run the CDC.
He said in the interview with The Times that the meter would use an “augmented intelligence” patent (dubbed the “Reasoning Engine”) that he created in his biomedical endeavors. The meter will be displayed atop a piece of writing to tell readers where it ranks on a scale that will range from “far left” to “far right.” Although he told Jennings the meter would appear on both news and opinion content, Soon-Shiong clarified last week that he intends it only to be an additional label on Times editorials and opinion columns, not news stories.