Mop Drop, Fordow Popped
Plus: Spain lowballs NATO, why your resume can’t make it past the bots & who is winning tomorrow’s NYC election?
The bombs, the biggest ever actually, have dropped, and now everyone awaits to see how Iran picks up the pieces, or if they secretly moved them beforehand. That was reportedly the fate of the 400 kilograms (I am an American, so 880 pounds) of enriched uranium housed at Fordow, moved out in what was described as “unusual truck and vehicular activity,” but really not SO unusual considering the mountain was about to be bombed. This is far from the only open question, considering that the administration sought to calm concerns that it was seeking regime change, only to have the top guy in the administration truthing that regime change gets a bad rap for political correctness reasons because toppling a country with 90 million inhabitants is basically the same as wearing a sombrero on Halloween.
So there are lots of questions, speculation, and new reports—take, for instance, this afternoon’s Iranian missile “attacks” on Qatar, for which the Qataris were given advance notice, imbuing the attacks with all the stakes of the Frontier Town Wild West Show. Senate Democrats are calling this unconstitutional, and Kayleigh McEnany is de-deescalatorily asserting that ALL of the world’s dictators are now on notice. Everyone can be said to be mining the Strait of Hormuz for content.
This article in Time explains how, despite the civil unrest in Iran, the strikes caused a “rally around the flag” effect with Iranians now having a common enemy. (Although if you look at the photo accompanying the article, you’ll notice they don’t even have the right number of skulls or bombs on the American flag.) This article is among the several that (persuasively to me) argue that Iran won’t back away from their nuclear ambitions because they have so intricately tied getting a nuke to their national identity.
But a close cousin of that argument is this version in The New Yorker, which made the case that this bombing gets Iran even closer to making nuclear bombs because they will start hiding their dark deeds.
But which is it: Do the Iranians want to be known for pursuing nuclear weapons so as not to lose face in the eyes of Iranians, or do they want to secretly build bombs to get one quicker? I know they’re cousins in the “this makes us less safe” camp, but they are also contradictory.
The New Yorker had all kinds of “This makes us less safe” arguments, this one by editor David Remnick runs 1,500 words and quotes all of two people. One is Donald Trump, and the other is Karim Sadjadpour, a scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace who asks, of course, “Will we look back and say this prevented an Iranian bomb or insured one?” It is clear whose side Remnick takes, and it’s not Trump’s.
Welcome to the Gist List—an explosive news roundup, interesting things you should know, and my thoughts leading up to today’s podcast episode.
Here’s what’s on my mind:
💼 Why you can’t get your resume past a bot.
🇪🇸 Spain gets to kick back on defense spending.
🗳️ New Yorkers go to the polls.
💥 B-2 stealth jets have all the comforts of home.
🧊 What do you do with 4,000 hailstones?
The Gist List
Millions of Résumés Never Make It Past the Bots. One Man Is Trying to Find Out Why (WSJ)
Between 2017 and 2019, Derek Mobley, 50, went through job search hell when he sent out 100 job applications through Workday’s applicant tracking system and received only rejections, some within minutes or hours. Mobley, who is black, disabled and “old” in job market terms (Oh no… 50 is old?!) is now suing Workday claiming discrimination. The suit could compel Workday to reveal how its applicant algorithm works.
Whether he was rejected rightly or wrongly—it is possible to be rejected from 100 jobs if you’re truly a bad fit for them—I want this lawsuit to reveal something. Workday is going to have to prove that they are only engaging in legal discrimination (lack of qualifications, etc.), and we’ll get a chance to peer into the algorithm’s inner workings. It could be, considering that even the big AI companies don’t even know how their LLMs make choices, that it’s a mystery to Workday, or the data used to create the systems might be inherently biased.
And while it is proprietary information, does their super-sophisticated algorithm really provide a competitive advantage over their competitors’ screening software, or does it just have code that reads, “eliminate everyone over 49,” which would, of course, be illegal? It’d be good to know, and I think the public has a right to find out.
Spain Wins Exemption From NATO’s 5% Defense Spending Goal (Bloomberg)
Spain secured an exemption from NATO’s (or “OTAN” as it is known in Spain) proposed defense spending target of 2% of GDP. Trump championed the 5% goal and called them a “low payer” (”mal pagador” en Español). Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who could not be reached for comment because it was siesta time, said Spain will cap defense spending at 2.1% of GDP and called the 5% goal “unreasonable and counterproductive” (or “irracional y contraproducente” as the Spanish like to say).
Even more interesting is the chart included in the article that shows current spending levels. Spain, its military leaders probably off in some vineyard enjoying a Spanish wine, is cheaping out the most with only 1.24% of its GDP, while Greece, a paragon of financial responsibility, is on the higher end at 2.99%. To be fair, it’s much easier to fund defense initiatives when you cut spending on pensions (or, as they say in Spain, ”jodiendo a los viejos”).
Early Voting Turnout Surged Across NYC As Democratic Mayoral Primary Race Tightens (AMNY)
Early voting is done. Election day is scheduled for tomorrow, and the heat advisory in effect isn’t just for handsome socialist Zohran Mamdani. Right now, Mamdani is edging out Andrew Cuomo in Emerson College’s poll, which shows Mamdani winning with 52% to Cuomo’s 48%. The betting markets, on the other hand, are flip-flopping, with Mamadani holding a 60/40 edge, but, as of this writing, Cuomo is in the lead.
I’ll have more of a story for you tomorrow, which will likely go one of two ways:
Mamdani wins: Cuomo barely campaigned, didn’t do any interviews, didn’t address any of the accusations against him and focused on defense rather than offense. Hell, I could have run a better campaign. On the other hand, Mamdani is young, vibrant and has an army of volunteers.
Cuomo wins: Turns out socialism just isn’t that popular and arresting Bibi Netanyahu is low on the list of priorities for New Yorkers who would just like the subway to smell less of human poop.
By the way, I just went live with Ross Barkan, and we discussed Mamdani, his rejection of antisemitism accusations, Cuomo, and where this race might head by tomorrow:
B-2 Bomber Pilots Had Toilet, Microwave and a Cooler for Snacks on Their 37-Hour Fordow Bombing Raid (New York Post)
The B-2 jets used to bomb the Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend had to carry two 15-ton GBU-57 “bunker buster” bombs for an 18-hour trip over and get refueled mid-air multiple times. Since you can’t play Punch Buggy on a trip that long, the jets are outfitted with all the comforts of home, including cots for sleeping, toilets, a microwave, and plenty of road trip snacks. But what kind of snacks? Hot pockets? Trail mix?
Even more interesting is the sheer immensity of these jets. They have a 172-foot wingspan, rely primarily on automation and cost a measly $2 billion each. We used to have a fleet of 20 until we lost one in a crash in 2008. Luckily in 2008 dollars that was a much cheaper total fuck-up. And considering the price tag, we won’t be replacing it anytime soon.
What Do You Do With 4,000 Hailstones That You Collect While Chasing Storms? (AP)
Researchers are taking a pummeling by chasing storms across Texas to measure big pieces of hail to learn more about storm behavior. What are they doing with the melting, celestial ice balls? They’re cutting them up, crushing them, and occasionally, eating them to find out what is happening to the hail as it starts to form in a storm.
It all sounds like good fun, and I’m not sure exactly what they’re learning from this, but they are making some obvious conclusions, like how harder hailstones might mess up your roof while softer ones won’t. They also discovered some less-obvious things like how some of these stones contain moss, microplastics, bacteria and fungi, and taste better dosed with Koldkiss Flavor Syrup available in Tamarind, Egg Custard and Tiger’s Blood.
Funny You Should Mention: Rosebud Baker on Comedy, SNL & Breastfeeding
Rosebud Baker joins Funny You Should Mention with the rare gift of making life’s toughest moments hilarious, and a point of view that’s inseparable from the punchline. Her Netflix special, Motherlode, delivers a pregnancy, parenting, and political edge in one biting package. We talk about her SNL writing process and how to satirize breastfeeding pressure without becoming a parenting brand. Plus: how riding a dolphin convinced her husband to get a hair transplant.
There’s more where that came from. Listen to The Gist, and upgrade to Pesca Plus for the ad-free version.
Have a story you want us to talk about or an opinion you want to share? Email us at thegist@mikepesca.com or share your thoughts in the comments. We might give you a shoutout in our next newsletter or on the air.