Bess

@leferkins.bsky.social

107 Followers 727 Following

I love learning and teaching and thinking and reading.

Excerpt from Financial Times article about Will Lewis leaving the WaPo: Senior management at the Post were livid when they discovered that Lewis was attending festivities around the Super Bowl in San Francisco around the time of the news of the job cuts. It came off as "callous", said a newsroom source, adding that "the Super Bowl thing was the last straw" "Bezos lost patience after the Super Bowl thing", ", the source added. Bezos, in a statement on Saturday, said the Post "has an essential journalistic mission and an extraordinary opportunity". "Jeff, along with Matt and Adam, are positioned to lead The Post into an exciting and thriving next chapter." Bezos did not mention Lewis in his statement.
Black and white photo from (probably) late 19th century with a 1/10th replica of the Great Buddha of Kamakura. It is on the coastline and there is an island behind it with Victorian-era architecture. It appears to be on the coastline of New England (Boston or Rhode Island, most likely) or possibly New York. There is a plaque on the front of the statue that says "this idol is a true replica of a [something] bronze statue in Mara, Japan. The original is 10-fold larger. Idol and [something something] by Tanimara, F.A.J., Tokyo"
Philadelphia Inquirer headline that says "McCormick steps up legal fight over undated ballots, as Bob Casey defends counties that them in defiance of court orders" accompanied by a photo of Connecticut resident and possible incoming PA Senator Dave McCormick.
Excerpt from p. 79 of Autocracy, Inc. in the chapter called Controlling the Narrative: This tactic, the so-called "fire hose of falsehoods" produces not outrage but nihilism. Given so many explanations, how can you know what actually happened? What if you can never know? If you can't understand what is going on around you, then you are not going to join a great movement for democracy, or follow a truth-telling leader, or listen when anyone speaks about positive political change. Instead, you will avoid politics altogether. Autocrats have an enormous incentive to spread that hopelessness and cynicism, not only in their own countries, but around the world.
Excerpt from the article highlighting how Liz Cheney and Gov Pritzker represent the elite but Elon Musk and RFK, Jr. somehow represent represent economic populism.
Online poll question - While Pennsylvania families are struggling under Bob Casey, criminals and illegal immigrants have not. Casey voted to give stimulus checks to prison inmates and illegal immigrants.