(This is from 18 yeas ago in August 2007.)
By now I ought to be an expert at transitions, having made it into and out of a dozen jobs in the past 20 years, 8 different houses, and roughly a half dozen serious relationships. So, from this perspective, change has long been The Rule in my life, as opposed to the exception.
But I’m not an expert at how to handle change. More like an expert on extended mid-life crises.
Yesterday I had lunch with a friend who has lived a very different life from mine, at least at work. For almost four decades, he checked in at the corner of Fifth & Mission Streets, entering the door on Fifth to the old San Francisco Examiner; then, since the beginnings of the 21st century, through the Mission Street door to the headquarters of the San Francisco Chronicle.
The Examiner was the flagship newspaper started by William Randolph Hearst, but over the years it ended up as an afternoon paper in a morning town. Finally, when the heirs agreed to sell the Chronicle to the Hearst Corp., my friend and the entire Examiner management team simply moved around the corner and took over the morning newspaper.
As part of the deal, the Hearst Corp. dumped the Examiner, which has since changed hands and is a free, tabloid-style daily. Bereft of direct competition, you might have expected the Chronicle to flourish, but in the Internet Age, that didn’t happen. Instead it has floundered, losing circulation and over $50 million a year.
One day recently, despite his long, loyal service, my friend was called into a conference room by the HR person and handed his walking papers. In the way of this time and place, there was no ceremony, no word of thanks, nothing, just: "Go." Around a hundred veterans of the newspaper business were let go at the same time in that old building, which will soon echo with the muffled voices of ghosts past.
HEADLINES:
Republicans Want to Redraw America’s Political Map (Atlantic)
Canada will recognise Palestinian state at UN General Assembly (Al Jazeera)
The voting rights of disabled people, blind people and non-English speakers took a massive hit this week thanks to a federal appeals court ruling that found individual voters and private groups do not have the right to file lawsuits under a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that only the DOJ can initiate lawsuits alleging violations under Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act, which allows voters who need assistance to bring someone into the booth to help them cast their ballot. The decision, released Monday, is almost certainly destined for a showdown at the Supreme Court. [HuffPost]
Fed keeps interest rates steady but warns about slower economic growth (WP)
Along with a strong second quarter rebound for the US economy, some red flags (AP)
Kamala Harris Will Not Run for California Governor (NYT)
When two human rights groups became the first major voices in Israel to accuse the state of committing genocide in Gaza, breaking a taboo in a country founded after the Holocaust, they were prepared for a backlash. (Reuters)
Why a huge quake off Russia sent waves to Japan, Hawaii and California (WP)
Trump has repeatedly professed a desire to move on from questions about whether he’s included in Department of Justice files outlining the investigation of Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking charges. The White House has insisted that Trump and Epstein’s friendship ended after the president kicked Epstein out of Mar-a-Lago at some point for being a “creep.” Previous reports suggested their friendship ended years earlier, when Trump outbid Epstein for a piece of property in Florida. When speaking with reporters who traveled with him to the United Kingdom, Trump gave yet another explanation for their break. [HuffPost]
Scientists discover a whole new type of ecosystem 30,000 feet deep (WP)
In Game-Changing Climate Rollback, E.P.A. Aims to Kill a Bedrock Scientific Finding (NYT)
The Really Big One (New Yorker)
AI Disruption Is Coming for These 7 Jobs, Microsoft Says (Barron’s)
Zuckerberg claims ‘superintelligence is now in sight’ as Meta lavishes billions on AI (Guardian)
The Real Demon Inside ChatGPT (Wired)
Trump Examined By Doctor After Acknowledging Existence Of Suffering (The Onion)
MUSIC HISTORY:
No comments:
Post a Comment