About Editing and Writing

Is Working From Home Really Working?

March 23, 2023

From a New York Times guest essay by Steven Rattner headlined “Is Working From Home Really Working?”:

Quiet quitting. Working from home. The Great Resignation.

Whatever you want to call it, the attitude of many Americans toward work appears to have changed during the long pandemic — and, generally speaking, not for the better. This new approach threatens to do long-lasting damage to economic growth and prosperity.

Until Covid, most employed Americans had workdays that followed a decades-old pattern: Wake up, shower, breakfast, commute, spend at least eight hours in an office or a factory, commute home and maybe enjoy a glass of wine or a beer. Rinse and repeat, every Monday through Friday.

Coffee Lovers Gain 1,000 Steps a Day But Get Less Sleep

March 23, 2023

From a Washington Post story by Anahad O’Connor headlined “Coffee lovers gain 1,000 steps a day, but get less sleep, study shows”:

A rigorous new study that examined the health effects of coffee consumption found good news and bad news for coffee lovers.

The research showed that coffee has striking effects on physical activity levels, causing people to move more, taking, on average, 1,000 extra steps a day — a significant boost in activity that might help explain why coffee consumption has long been linked to better health.

When Scientific Publications Endorse Political Candidates

March 22, 2023

From a Jack Shafer Fourth Estate column on politico.com headlined “Unnatural Endorsements”:

During the 2020 presidential campaign, the prestigious scientific publications the Lancet and Scientific American broke with tradition and, for the first time in their long runs, endorsed a candidate. The Lancet and Scientific American were not outliers in their field in 2020. Nature agreed with its fellow eggheads by casting its virtual ballot for Joe Biden, while the New England Journal of Medicine all but voted for Biden in an October 2020 editorial titled “Dying in a Leadership Vacuum,” which ripped former President Donald Trump.

The Politics of a Trump Indictment

March 22, 2023

From a New York Times column by Ross Douthat headlined “The Politics of a Trump Indictment”:

If you intend to indict and try a former president of the United States, especially a former president of the United States whose career has benefited from the collapse of public trust in the neutrality of all our institutions, you had better have clear evidence, all-but-obvious guilt and loads of legal precedent behind your case.

The case that New York prosecutors are apparently considering bringing against Donald Trump, over hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels that may have violated campaign finance laws, does not have the look of a slam dunk. The use of the phrase “novel legal theory” in descriptions of what the case might entail is not encouraging.

Bill Gates Says Artificial Intelligence Is the Most Revolutionary Technology in Decades

March 22, 2023

From a Wall Street Journal story by Alyssa Lukpat headlined “Bill Gates Says AI Is the Most Revolutionary Technology in Decades”:

Bill Gates said he believes artificial intelligence is the most revolutionary technology he has seen in decades, on par with computers, cellphones and the internet.

“The development of AI is as fundamental as the creation of the microprocessor, the personal computer, the Internet, and the mobile phone,” he wrote in a blog post on Tuesday. “Entire industries will reorient around it. Businesses will distinguish themselves by how well they use it.”

The Moral and Legal Case for Sending Russia’s Frozen $300 Billion to Ukraine

March 22, 2023

From a Washington Post column by Lawrence H. Summers, Philip B. Zelikow, and Robert D. Zoellick headlined “The moral and legal case for sending Russia’s frozen $300 billion to Ukraine”:

Russia’s assault on Ukraine has become a brutal war of attrition — militarily but also economically and socially. Russian President Vladimir Putin recognizes the nature of this struggle. Ukraine, having lost one-third of its GDP, with one-third of its population already displaced and the lights flickering on and off, could win battles and still lose the war.

Warren Boroson: Journalist Who Surveyed Psychiatrists Who Declared Barry Goldwater Mentally Unfit to Be President

March 22, 2023

From a New York Times obit by Sam Roberts headlined “Warren Boroson, Who Surveyed Psychiatrists on Goldwater, Dies at 88”:

Warren Boroson, a journalist who conducted a survey of psychiatrists that declared the 1964 Republican presidential nominee, Barry M. Goldwater, mentally unfit to be president — provoking a libel suit from the candidate and prompting a psychiatric association to muzzle its members from ever diagnosing a public figure from afar — died at his home in Woodstock, N.Y.

Winners of the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics

March 22, 2023

From the Center for Journalism Ethics:

A team of Associated Press reporters has won the 2023 Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics for their work documenting the Russian attack on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol in March of 2022.

For almost three weeks, video journalist Mystyslav Chernov, photographer Evgeniy Maloletka and video producer Vasilisa Stepanenko were the last international journalists on the ground documenting the atrocities committed as Russian forces closed in on Mariupol. With AP journalist Lori Hinnant, the team brought the shocking new realities of the war in Ukraine to an international audience and put pressure on Russia to open humanitarian corridors.

Nancy Pelosi on How Women Can Succeed in Politics and Business

March 22, 2023

From a Wall Street Journal story by Natalie Andrews headlined “Nancy Pelosi on How Women Can Succeed in Politics, Business”

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s advice to women aspiring to succeed in politics or the workplace is simple: Know your motivation and don’t be afraid to throw a punch.

The California Democrat, the first woman to serve as House speaker and one of a few in history to hold the position twice, was interviewed by Wall Street Journal Editor in Chief Emma Tucker at WSJ’s Women in the Workplace Forum at Lincoln Center in New York.

Trump at Mar-a-Lago: Magical Thinking and a Perp-Walk Fixation

March 22, 2023

From a New York Times story by Michael C. Bender and Maggie Haberman headlined “Trump at Mar-a-Lago: Magical Thinking and a Perp-Walk Fixation”:

Donald J. Trump claims he is ready for his perp walk.

Behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, the former president has told friends and associates that he welcomes the idea of being paraded by the authorities before a throng of reporters and news cameras. He has even mused openly about whether he should smile for the assembled media, and he has pondered how the public would react and is said to have described the potential spectacle as a fun experience.

About Editing and Writing

Is Working From Home Really Working?

Coffee Lovers Gain 1,000 Steps a Day But Get Less Sleep

When Scientific Publications Endorse Political Candidates

The Politics of a Trump Indictment

Bill Gates Says Artificial Intelligence Is the Most Revolutionary Technology in Decades

The Moral and Legal Case for Sending Russia’s Frozen $300 Billion to Ukraine

Warren Boroson: Journalist Who Surveyed Psychiatrists Who Declared Barry Goldwater Mentally Unfit to Be President

Winners of the Anthony Shadid Award for Journalism Ethics

Nancy Pelosi on How Women Can Succeed in Politics and Business

Trump at Mar-a-Lago: Magical Thinking and a Perp-Walk Fixation

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