ProPublica
@ProPublica@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 6 hours ago
misterdubs
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Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 10 hours ago
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
misterdubs
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Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 10 hours ago
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
MeidasTouch
@meidastouch@threads.net  ·  activity timestamp 10 hours ago
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 10 hours ago
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Text from article: This also came as the Department of Justice dismissed its case against David Hearn, who had been falsely accused of damaging the Reflecting Pool. In court filings, Jeanine Pirro acknowledged there was no evidence supporting the government’s theory and that the damage resulted from construction failures rather than vandalism. The filing also exposed serious problems involving the Department of the Interior’s handling of the project. Frankly, none of this surprised us. We all knew the Reflecting Pool wasn’t damaged because of some elaborate act of vandalism. We knew the contractor had done a poor job, and now the government’s own court filing confirms it. What’s remarkable is how differently this administration behaves depending on whether it’s inside a courtroom or on social media. That’s the story of this regime. It also makes me think about how the same people who lied to the public about the Reflecting Pool continue to lie to the public about the Epstein files, the economy, the deficit, and virtually everything else. While they make grand claims about money supposedly pouring into America, our debt continues to climb, Treasury yields remain elevated, mortgage rates continue squeezing families, and millions of Americans are struggling to make ends meet. The lies never stop.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 11 hours ago
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 11 hours ago
Heading and text from article: Suspected Iranian Hackers Hit Water Systems In Seven States, Trump Blames Minnesota We covered this a bit yesterday, but I want to make sure you have all the latest info. Officials told the Wall Street Journal that suspected Iranian cyberattacks have now struck water infrastructure in at least seven states. The FBI issued a warning after roughly 30 water treatment plants in Minnesota were hit, forcing some utilities into manual operation and prompting boil-water notices. A memo obtained by WIRED ties the Minnesota attacks directly to Tehran. Trump decided to take Iran’s side in all of this, and blamed Minnesota for being, in his words, grossly incompetent, insisting Iran has bigger problems to worry about. Governor Tim Walz shot back that Trump knows exactly who’s responsible and knows other states were hit too, calling it exactly what modern warfare looks like. Given that Iran has been targeting U.S. water and energy infrastructure for years now, across at least seven states, it would be nice if the president at least pretended to care about protecting U.S. citizens.
Heading and text from article: Suspected Iranian Hackers Hit Water Systems In Seven States, Trump Blames Minnesota We covered this a bit yesterday, but I want to make sure you have all the latest info. Officials told the Wall Street Journal that suspected Iranian cyberattacks have now struck water infrastructure in at least seven states. The FBI issued a warning after roughly 30 water treatment plants in Minnesota were hit, forcing some utilities into manual operation and prompting boil-water notices. A memo obtained by WIRED ties the Minnesota attacks directly to Tehran. Trump decided to take Iran’s side in all of this, and blamed Minnesota for being, in his words, grossly incompetent, insisting Iran has bigger problems to worry about. Governor Tim Walz shot back that Trump knows exactly who’s responsible and knows other states were hit too, calling it exactly what modern warfare looks like. Given that Iran has been targeting U.S. water and energy infrastructure for years now, across at least seven states, it would be nice if the president at least pretended to care about protecting U.S. citizens.
Heading and text from article: Suspected Iranian Hackers Hit Water Systems In Seven States, Trump Blames Minnesota We covered this a bit yesterday, but I want to make sure you have all the latest info. Officials told the Wall Street Journal that suspected Iranian cyberattacks have now struck water infrastructure in at least seven states. The FBI issued a warning after roughly 30 water treatment plants in Minnesota were hit, forcing some utilities into manual operation and prompting boil-water notices. A memo obtained by WIRED ties the Minnesota attacks directly to Tehran. Trump decided to take Iran’s side in all of this, and blamed Minnesota for being, in his words, grossly incompetent, insisting Iran has bigger problems to worry about. Governor Tim Walz shot back that Trump knows exactly who’s responsible and knows other states were hit too, calling it exactly what modern warfare looks like. Given that Iran has been targeting U.S. water and energy infrastructure for years now, across at least seven states, it would be nice if the president at least pretended to care about protecting U.S. citizens.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 11 hours ago
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
Heading and text from article: More War Crimes The New York Times has now confirmed through visual investigation what we have been reporting. The U.S. dropped a 2,000-pound bomb, one of the largest in its arsenal, on a home on Qeshm Island, killing a husband, his wife, and their two-year-old son. The Times found no military site anywhere near that house. Not anywhere close. This is a war crime, plain and simple, and Iranian officials are already vowing retaliation, describing it as a continuation of what they call American atrocities in other Iranian towns. From the bombing of a girls’ school to this, the U.S. keeps killing innocent civilians throughout this war. Was AI used for targeting during this strike too? Are they using the same AI bots that they used for their map of Africa which mislabeled every single country and put them in a random order with no relation to reality? That’s why I don’t laugh off these “mistakes,” like when the U.S. mislabels a map because they used AI. Because they are using these systems to make decisions of life and death.
1
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 11 hours ago
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: On several occasions, we’ve been exposed to folks that have been sort of lukewarm on our main offerings, but they really, really wanted to use AI to perform a natural language query on their data. And we thought “Okay, if you really want to see it, maybe we can caveat this appropriately and show you what it might look like.” This was a terrible mistake. It backfired in the most predictable way imaginable – every lukewarm client that saw the chatbot in action, even with us telling them that it was not going to accomplish what they wanted, wanted to buy it immediately. Every other consideration, including millions of dollars that we could plausibly help them achieve by non-AI means, was swept aside. It was like a dark and terrible force seized control of their limbs, plunged their hands into their own chests, and presented their still-beating credit cards to us in grim supplication. We were so mortified by the inexplicable shift in energy that we (wisely) declined to take the money and ended the sales process, and soon thereafter removed Cortex from our list of demonstrations. It would have been too irresponsible to exploit this gap in their reasoning, and frankly, it was already irresponsible to have even run the demonstration – doctors don’t walk around showing off cool pills that they’d never prescribe.
Text from article: On several occasions, we’ve been exposed to folks that have been sort of lukewarm on our main offerings, but they really, really wanted to use AI to perform a natural language query on their data. And we thought “Okay, if you really want to see it, maybe we can caveat this appropriately and show you what it might look like.” This was a terrible mistake. It backfired in the most predictable way imaginable – every lukewarm client that saw the chatbot in action, even with us telling them that it was not going to accomplish what they wanted, wanted to buy it immediately. Every other consideration, including millions of dollars that we could plausibly help them achieve by non-AI means, was swept aside. It was like a dark and terrible force seized control of their limbs, plunged their hands into their own chests, and presented their still-beating credit cards to us in grim supplication. We were so mortified by the inexplicable shift in energy that we (wisely) declined to take the money and ended the sales process, and soon thereafter removed Cortex from our list of demonstrations. It would have been too irresponsible to exploit this gap in their reasoning, and frankly, it was already irresponsible to have even run the demonstration – doctors don’t walk around showing off cool pills that they’d never prescribe.
Text from article: On several occasions, we’ve been exposed to folks that have been sort of lukewarm on our main offerings, but they really, really wanted to use AI to perform a natural language query on their data. And we thought “Okay, if you really want to see it, maybe we can caveat this appropriately and show you what it might look like.” This was a terrible mistake. It backfired in the most predictable way imaginable – every lukewarm client that saw the chatbot in action, even with us telling them that it was not going to accomplish what they wanted, wanted to buy it immediately. Every other consideration, including millions of dollars that we could plausibly help them achieve by non-AI means, was swept aside. It was like a dark and terrible force seized control of their limbs, plunged their hands into their own chests, and presented their still-beating credit cards to us in grim supplication. We were so mortified by the inexplicable shift in energy that we (wisely) declined to take the money and ended the sales process, and soon thereafter removed Cortex from our list of demonstrations. It would have been too irresponsible to exploit this gap in their reasoning, and frankly, it was already irresponsible to have even run the demonstration – doctors don’t walk around showing off cool pills that they’d never prescribe.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
Screen shot of a footnote to an article with text: 5. This is always baffling to me as a matter of being a responsible adult. If I was somehow CEO at a hospital or civil engineering firm, I would not for a second think it's my place to start mandating specific procedures or building techniques without explicit agreement from the professionals on staff – how fucking clueless are the non-technicians who have attended a few talks and are now making mandates about how their extremely expensive professionals are doing their jobs?
4
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Heading and text from article: ‘Memorials Are to Dead People’ She began in the Hall of Nations, a red-carpeted entry hall festooned with flags from around the world. Energetic and assertive, with a near constant smile, Ms. Weiswasser wore her tour guide credentials on a University of Michigan lanyard (her alma mater) that was hung with a pair of silver opera glasses, a gift from a granddaughter. The center’s story, she said, began with President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who in 1958 signed legislation to establish a performing arts center in Washington. President John F. Kennedy championed the cause, and after his assassination Congress passed a bipartisan bill dedicating the institution to him. “That’s how it got its name,” Ms. Weiswasser said, adding pointedly, “This is a memorial. Memorials are to dead people.” She did not mention Mr. Trump, whose board members in December had his name added to the front of the building to make it the “Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.” It was removed under court order last month. As the building took shape in the 1960s, she said, more than 60 nations contributed furnishings and art. Italy’s gift was the largest: 3,700 tons of Carrara marble that sheaths the center’s facade and interior walls, from the same region as the marble for Michelangelo’s David.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
1
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
Text from article: Some days no one turns up for a tour at all. Most days there are only a few, including those curious about all the reports of ruin. When people do come, what do they see? In the Opera House, which no longer has an opera, there is an empty orchestra pit scattered with trash. On the grand terrace overlooking the Potomac River, the flower beds are wilting and weedy. In the corridors and lounges, artwork has disappeared. And yet Sandy Weiswasser, a retired sixth grade teacher who for 18 years has given hundreds of people free tours of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, keeps reporting for duty. In a dogged demonstration of love and loyalty for an institution that has elevated life for her and millions of visitors, she still arrives every Monday for her tour day, knowing she may soon find the doors locked. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser, 87, said. “Now it’s a black hole.”
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Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
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Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Headline and photo with caption. Headline: Kennedy Center Halts Free Public Tours After Five Decades of Service The decision to suspend tours came after a volunteer tour guide was featured in a Times article detailing President Trump’s dramatic revamp of the Kennedy Center. Photo: The front of the Kennedy Center. The signage is still covered by blue and white tarps so that no one can see that Trump's name has been removed. Caption: The Kennedy Center in Washington in June. It has now ended free public tours of the facility.Credit...Jared Soares for The New York Times
Zhi Zhu 🕸️
@ZhiZhu@newsie.social  ·  activity timestamp 2 days ago
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
Text from article: Sandy Weiswasser, 87, a retired teacher and volunteer who has been guiding visitors through the center for 18 years, was profiled in a Times article on the center, published on Monday. “This place used to be really thriving and busy and crowded,” Ms. Weiswasser was quoted as saying. “Now it’s a black hole.” Reached on Thursday, she declined to comment. Last year, Mr. Trump removed the Kennedy Center’s leadership, cut its programming and installed a handpicked board that had his name drilled into the building front. A court ordered the name removed last month. Audiences, performers and visitors have fled from the center, which has lost about 90 percent of its staff and, for now, 100 percent of its paying audience.
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