Today’s news briefs include Jews forced to meet in secret at DNC convention; Job numbers slashed; and California and Big Tech to fund journalism.
Government again slashes job growth numbers
The U.S Labor Department has admitted it overcounted job growth by 818,000 from April 2023 through March this year reports the Associated Press. The now says job growth averaged just 174,000 a month in the year that ended in March — a drop of a 68,000 a month from the 242,000 that were initially reported and which received favorable news coverage at the time. The Harris campaign this week continued to tout the incorrect numbers as evidence of an economic recovery. Economists had initially questioned the numbers as the Biden administration has regularly revised numbers down. These numbers were scheduled to be released after the election but news reports say they were leaked. The AP reports the “final” numbers will now be released in February of 2025.
California to “rebuild” journalism with $250 million
California will pay $250 million to fund journalism driven by artificial intelligence. It “becomes first state to direct millions of dollars from taxpayer money and tech companies to help pay for journalism and AI research under a new deal announced Wednesday,” the AP reports. In a partnership that has been questioned for its integrity, the state will be aided by Big Tech to pay roughly $250 million over five years and is “set to kick in in 2025 with $100 million the first year, and the majority of the money would go to news organizations, said Democratic Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, who brokered the deal.” Gov. Gavin Newsom said the aim is to “rebuild” journalism.
Jews forced to meet in secret at the Democrat Convention
The Jerusalem Post reports that a Holocaust survivor and former Antidefamation League national director Abraham Foxman said Jews had to meet in secret at the Democrat National Convention. He made the shocking statement after a Jewish DNC event on rising antisemitism was disrupted by anti-Israel activists. “Brick by brick, wall by wall, Zionism will fall,” the activists chanted in a video published by Agudath Israel. The ADL noted that the event was not about Zionism and that the group “had been targeted for being “visibly Jewish.” Foxman’s successor Jonathan Greenblatt confirmed the statement on X saying, “Targeting a group of people simply for the offense of being visibly Jewish is antisemitic,” Protesting an event about protecting the Jewish community is antisemitic. The Democrat convention ends Thursday with Kamala Harris accepting the nomination.
–Dwight Widaman and wire services
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