Horizon Cutting-room links: Wednesday, 8 January 2025

Federal agencies in the Washington, DC area are Open and employees have the Option for Unscheduled Leave or Unscheduled Telework.

• Telework Employees Not Scheduled to Telework must report to the office on time or notify their supervisor of their intent to use unscheduled leave or unscheduled telework. Employees who request unscheduled telework must be prepared to telework, take unscheduled leave or other paid time off, or a combination-thereby accounting for the entire workday.
• Remote Workers and Telework Employees Scheduled to Telework are expected to begin their workday on time unless requesting unscheduled leave.
• Non-Telework Employees must report to the office on time or notify their supervisor of their intent to use unscheduled leave.
• Emergency Employees are expected to report to their worksites on time unless otherwise directed by their agency

Partly sunny, with a high near 30. West wind 8 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 24 mph.

“Kara Swisher's long-shot Post bid,” Axios

“Kara Swisher, the popular podcaster and pioneering tech journalist, is trying to round up a group of rich people to fund a bid for the Washington Post, she told us. One big problem: Jeff Bezos, the owner, has shown no interest in selling.”

“Swisher — who started in the Post mailroom, and became an early tech reporter at the paper (and later one of the first at The Wall Street Journal) — believes the Amazon founder will eventually want to sell, since the paper has become a managerial nightmare.”

We are very late to this. -JB

“Meta’s fact-checking changes are just what Trump’s FCC head asked for,” the Verge

“The operator of Facebook, Instagram, and Threads has been backing off moderation recently, and fact-checking has always been contentious. But it’s probably smart to do it two weeks before President-elect Donald Trump takes office — and nominates a Federal Communications Commission head who’s threatened the company over it.”

“If you’re also wondering what the big deal is, this is almost textbook jawboning: a form of soft government censorship that Carr and other Republicans have railed against their political opponents for (allegedly, and according to the Supreme Court, probably not actually) performing.”

“Washington Post Lays Off 4 Percent of Its Work Force,” New York Times

“The cuts will affect fewer than 100 people across The Post’s business divisions, which include its advertising sales, marketing and information technology teams.”

“The Post has been in turmoil for much of Mr. Lewis’s tenure, which began a year ago. Sally Buzbee stepped down as the paper’s executive editor in June. Rob Winnett, the editor Mr. Lewis initially selected to replace Ms. Buzbee, withdrew himself from that position. The newspaper also experienced a backlash among its subscribers over a decision to end its decades-long practice of endorsing presidential candidates. Ann Telnaes, the newspaper’s Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, stepped down last week after the opinions section rejected a cartoon depicting Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder who owns The Post, genuflecting toward a statue of President-elect Donald J. Trump.”

“Pentagon Reaches Settlement With Veterans Dismissed Over Sexuality,” The Times

“While the Defense Department has taken steps under the Biden administration to upgrade discharges and restore benefits for L.G.B.T.Q. veterans, the settlement is expected to make the process much easier. It would also help former service members remove references to their sexuality from their discharge paperwork. If a federal judge approves the settlement, it will be binding by law.”

“800-plus 'potential vulnerabilities and biases' may afflict AI-infused medical services,” Defense One

“’More than 800 “potential vulnerabilities and biases’ were uncovered by a Pentagon effort to spot problems with using large language models in military medical services, officials said Thursday.”