July jobs report: Hiring picks up

By Chris Isidore @CNNMoney

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — The job market strengthened in July, a welcome piece of good news that sharply contrasted other recent data pointing toward an economic slowdown.

Employers added 117,000 jobs last month, easily topping the 75,000 gain economists surveyed by CNNMoney had predicted.

Weak job reports for both May and June were both revised higher, adding a combined 56,000 jobs for the year, bringing the total to 930,000 jobs added so far in 2011.

Businesses were busy hiring in July, adding 154,000 workers in the month, topping forecasts of 100,000 new jobs. But those gains were tempered by a loss of 37,000 government jobs, mostly from state and local governments, where budget shortfalls led to layoffs in July, especially in Minnesota where the government briefly shut down.

“What a relief!” said Mark Vitner, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities. “The modest rise allays some fears. The data still show the economy losing momentum, however, thanks largely to government cutbacks.”

Hiring: Yes. No, Maybe so.

U.S. stocks opened higher following the report, with the Dow Jones industrial average adding nearly 100 points in the opening minutes before eventually changing course.

And there was more good news, beyond the headline numbers.

Average hourly wages ticked up 0.4% in the month to $23.13, more than doubling the expected increase. The index of aggregate weekly payrolls also rose 0.6% after dropping the previous month. Both those things could help pump money into the struggling economy.

There were widespread gains across various business sectors, as nearly six industries in 10 added jobs during the month. Among the gainers were the long-battered construction industry, business and professional services, retailers, leisure and hospitality, and manufacturing.
While Friday’s report alleviated some worries, July’s growth was not enough to make a significant improvement in the struggling labor market. Economists estimate the economy needs to add about 150,000 jobs a month just to keep pace with population growth.

Two years after the official end of the recession, 13.9 million Americans remain unemployed, 44% of which have been out of work for six months or longer. About 1.1 million people have become so discouraged they’ve stopped looking for work altogether and are no longer counted as unemployed.

“July’s employment report will go some way to reducing fears that the economy is slipping into another recession,” said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist for Capital Economics. “But it highlights that the labor market has hardly recovered at all from the recession and that the economy is not growing fast enough to reduce significantly the unemployment rate.”

In just the last week, data on consumer spending, manufacturing, job cuts and gross domestic product have all raised concerns that the slowing economy could fall back into recession. Major stock indexes have lost 10% of their value in the last two weeks amid growing worries.  

Does Randy Moss belong in Hall?

Source:SI

Peter King, one of 44 Hall of Fame voters, discusses his thoughts on whether Randy Moss deserves to be in Canton after his 13-year career.

Randy Moss should be a first-ballot Hall of Famer. I believe this firmly, as a guy who watches an inordinate amount of football, who covers the game, and who does not have, deserve, or want a Hall of Fame vote. For most of the last 14 years, nobody could keep Moss out of the end zone. How can you keep him out of the Hall of Fame?

Yes, I absolutely think Moss should be inducted in his first year of eligibility. But I suspect he might have to wait. And on some level, that is fitting. In fact, I can’t think of anything that would sum up Randy Moss’s extraordinary career better than being denied first-ballot induction to the Hall of Fame.

* * *

There have been a lot of controversial players on NFL Draft day — every year brings a couple of new ones. It’s part of the overdone drama of that overcooked event. Brady Quinn sat in the green room for so long that it turned brown. ESPN spent weeks dissecting Tim Tebow’s game, leadership skills and 2036 presidential candidacy.

But we still haven’t seen anything quite like the controversy surrounding Randy Moss in 1998. Nobody doubted his pure talent. Nobody said “Well, in the right system … ” or “If he can overcome his lack of … ” This was a 6-foot-4 receiver who was the fastest man on the field and caught pretty much everything.

No, the controversy was always about his character. The question was uttered a million times: Is he worth it?

He’d had an incident with a girlfriend in high school. Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz wanted him desperately, but Moss was denied admission — that might have been the event that triggered Holtz’s resignation. Florida State took Moss, but he got kicked out for smoking pot.

Moss ended up at Marshall, which wasn’t even in Division I-A at the time. His career there felt like a cartoon — the NCAA could have allowed cornerbacks to carry handcuffs and pepper spray and they wouldn’t have stopped Moss. He became a Heisman finalist — as a receiver from Marshall! — and even managed to cause controversy there. He wore sunglasses to the indoor awards ceremony. The staid NFL averted its eyes. Is he worth it?

Moss famously fell to the 21st overall pick of that draft, to the Vikings.

This week, he retired with numbers that should make the draft-day argument seem silly: 954 catches, 14,858 yards, 153 touchdowns. But that’s the strange thing about Randy Moss. The argument never ended. It just got louder.

In his rookie year, playing a position that is notoriously difficult for first-year players, Moss might have been the most valuable player in the whole league. He had no chance of winning the award, of course. But look: The year before, the Vikings averaged 22 points per game and finished 9-7. They had a new quarterback (35-year-old Randall Cunningham, instead of Brad Johnson) and added Moss. They suddenly had the best offense in league history and should have made the Super Bowl. (They lost to the Falcons in overtime in the NFC title game).

Moss was still considered a jerk, kept in line only by Carter and coach Dennis Green. Sometimes people tried to change the narrative about Moss — he’s matured, he’s mellowed, he’s not the guy you think he was.

But I don’t think Moss ever really changed. He never stopped being moody. He never learned to trust the media. He always coasted when he didn’t think a pass was coming his way — and sometimes coasted when a pass did come his way.

When he had a decent team and quarterback, he was an All-Pro — he probably changed as many defensive game plans as any receiver in history. When he didn’t, like in Oakland, he was a lousy teammate.

Moss didn’t change. But I think the sports world changed. The way we watch football changed. Across all sports, fans saw more highlights and became far more statistically savvy than they had ever been. After years of screaming about low-character guys, we looked more at performance. Fantasy football exploded, and there are no loafing deductions in fantasy football.

In April 2007, the Patriots acquired Moss from the Raiders for a fourth-round pick. He was only 30 years old. He was only one year removed from a 60-catch, 1,005-yard season for a Raiders team that had lousy offensive weapons. I think the average fan saw that trade and thought the Patriots got a steal. And yet: all the Raiders got for him was that fourth-round pick. NFL teams obviously still asked: Is he worth it?

Well, he caught 23 touchdown passes that year and helped the Patriots win 18 straight games. Two years later he was grumbling about his contract again. When he got traded back to the Vikings last year, he immediately started griping about game plans, lashing out at coaches and, in a widely reported incident, chewed out a caterer. The Vikings cut him.

Was he worth it? Moss starred on teams that finished 15-1 (the ’98 Vikings) and 16-0 (those ’07 Patriots), the two highest-scoring offenses in the Super Bowl era. He played for six playoff teams in 14 years. He has 15 more touchdown catches than Hines Ward and Plaxico Burress combined.

Every statistical measurement of Moss’s career indicates that he is a first-ballot Hall of Famer. But something tells me the old-school voters will make him wait. They will look at his history of taking plays off and looking out for himself and hold that against him.

Eventually, though, the Hall of Fame voters will have to accept what fans figured out and NFL teams reluctantly accepted: like him or hate him, Randy Moss was just too damn good. They made him wait until the 21st pick in 1998, but they will have to let him into the Hall of Fame. That should be a fascinating ceremony. Especially if he skips it.

 

Fantasia Barrino confirms pregnancy rumors

 

(CNN) — Singer Fantasia Barrino revealed during a concert Sunday what has been rumored for months — she is pregnant.

“God has given me this child and I don’t have to hide it from none of y’all,” Barrino told fans at the outdoor show in Jacksonville, Florida.

The 2004 “American Idol” winner did not say when the baby is due or who is the father. Her manager did not immediately respond to CNN requests for information.

“You are the first person that I share this news with, and I share this with you because I can relate to you,” Barrino told fans. “And for a while I walked around figuring out ‘What will they say and what will they think about me?’ But now I tell you I don’t live my life for folk.”

Barrino’s weight gain fueled online rumors seven months ago that the R&B singer was expecting a child, but her manager said she was gaining 45 pounds in preparation to play legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson in a movie.

“Fantasia’s pregnant with prosperity,” manager Brian Dickens told CNN on February 8, 2011.

The past year has been difficult for the 27-year-old Barrino, who acknowledged a relationship with a married man last summer. She initially denied knowing Antwaun Cook was married.

She was treated at a Charlotte, North Carolina, hospital for a “sleep aid” overdose several days after Cook’s wife filed a child-custody petition that included allegations of the affair.

Barrino later testified in the child custody case that she knew from the first day of her relationship with Cook that he was married and still living with his wife, according to court records.

Barrino, who has a 9-year-old daughter, delivered a lecture to her younger fans during Sunday’s show, telling them “Take my word and run with it.”

“Little girls, take your time with little boys,” Barrino said. “Little boys, respect the little girls.”

Barrino’s raw talent as a songstress, combined with her hard-luck story as a teenage mother, won her many fans, starting with her winning the third season of “American Idol.”

Her six-year-long entertainment career has been pockmarked with adversity, including being sued by her own father and well-publicized financial troubles.

The debt ceiling battle: Where things stand

Washington (CNN) — After weeks of bipartisan negotiations, President Barack Obama said congressional leaders agreed to a plan that would lift the nation’s $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and avoid an unprecedented default on the nation’s debt — if, that is, members of Congress vote to approve the agreement.

A Senate Democratic leadership aide told CNN that the Senate planned to vote first on the measure on Monday afternoon, and if the measure passes an expected Republican filibuster attempt, the House could vote on it Monday night.
House Speaker John Boehner told fellow Republicans on Sunday night that he hopes a vote will be held on the measure Monday as well, a Republican said.

If the debt ceiling is not raised by Tuesday, Americans could face rising interest rates and the value of the U.S. dollar may drop compared to other currencies, among other problems.

As the cost of borrowing rises, individual mortgages, car loans and student loans could become significantly more expensive. Some financial experts have warned that America’s triple-A credit rating could be downgraded and the stock market — which has already fallen over the past week, in part due to lingering uncertainty over the debt talks — to crash.

Moreover, the federal government will not be able to pay all its bills next month without an increase in the debt limit. Obama recently indicated he can’t guarantee Social Security checks will be mailed out on time. Other critical government programs could be endangered as well.

 

If approved, the plan agreed upon by the White House and congressional leaders would, as a first step, include about $1 trillion in spending cuts spread out over 10 years while raising the debt ceiling by the same amount. These cuts would be “balanced between defense and non-defense spending,” according to a White House fact sheet.

The proposal also would set up a special committee of Democratic and Republican legislators from both chambers of Congress to recommend additional deficit reduction steps. They could call for tax reform to raise revenues, or propose cuts to popular entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security. The White House said in its fact sheet that this group would look to recoup an additional $1.5 trillion through budget cuts or revenue hikes.

This committee’s recommendations would be due by November 23 and go to a vote by Congress, without any amendments, by December 23. If Congress fails to pass the package, a so-called “trigger” mechanism would enact automatic spending cuts split evenly between military and non-military programs. Either way — with the package passed by Congress or the trigger of automatic cuts — a second increase in the debt ceiling would occur, but with an accompanying congressional vote of disapproval.

In addition, the agreement would require both chambers of Congress to vote on adding a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Such an amendment would require two-thirds majorities in both chambers to pass, followed by ratification by 38 states — a process likely to take years.

Where do things stand in the fight to raise the debt ceiling?

It’s not over until the vote

HOUSE

House Speaker John Boehner told House Republicans on Sunday night that there is nothing in the framework of the debt agreement that “violates our principles,” according to a transcript of his remarks obtained by CNN. “It’s all spending cuts. The White House bid to raise taxes has been shut down. And as I vowed back in May — when everyone thought I was crazy for saying it — every dollar of debt limit increase will be matched by more than a dollar of spending cuts. And in doing this, we’ve stopping a job-killing national default that none of us wanted,” he reportedly said.

Boehner told his fellow Republicans, on this same conference call, that his goal is to have a vote on the compromise bill on Monday.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, told reporters Sunday that she needs to see “the final product” in writing before she can decide if she supports it. Pelosi said she would meet with the House Democratic caucus Monday to discuss the matter. “I don’t know all the particulars of what the final product is in writing and what the ramifications will be,” she said, noting the measure will have an impact for a decade or more. Asked about the outcome, she warned: “We all may not be able to support it or none of us may be able to support it.”

A final sticking point in the deal, before it was finalized, related to the percentage of cuts that would come from the military’s budget. Democratic and Republican sources familiar with discussions told CNN on condition of not being identified that Boehner had pushed to minimize military cuts.

The developments Sunday came a day after the GOP-controlled House rejected the debt ceiling plan proposed by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada. That plan was rejected, 246-173. Most Democrats supported Reid’s plan, while every Republican in the chamber rejected it.

On Friday, the House passed a proposal put forward by Boehner that sought to raise the debt ceiling and cut government spending while requiring that Congress pass a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The 218-210 vote was strictly on party lines. The Senate then voted to table Boehner’s bill, 59-41 — effectively killing it.

Boehner’s plan called for $917 billion in savings over the next decade, while creating a special congressional committee to recommend additional savings of $1.6 trillion or more. It would have allowed the debt ceiling to be increased by a total of roughly $2.5 trillion through two separate votes. The $2.5 trillion total would be enough to fund the federal government through the end of 2012.

The plan originally called for a congressional vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution by the end of the year. Boehner then reached out to disgruntled conservatives by amending the plan to require congressional passage of such an amendment as a condition for raising the debt limit by the full $2.5 trillion.

SENATE

Minutes before Obama addressed reporters Sunday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell both announced on the Senate floor Sunday night that the White House and congressional leaders had agreed on a compromise to cut into the nation’s deficit and raise its debt ceiling.

If all goes as planned, Democratic leaders hope to start to debate on the bill between noon and 2 p.m. Monday, a Senate Democratic leadership aide said. A vote on the compromise — which is likely to require a 60-vote threshold — would ideally be late Monday afternoon.

Sen. John Hoeven, R-North Dakota, told CNN that cuts to military spending had been a final sticking point, prior to the final agreement being reached.

Before going on the Senate floor, Reid’s office issued a statement saying, “Senator Reid has signed off on the debt-ceiling agreement pending caucus approval. A senior Senate Democratic aide told CNN on condition of not being identified that while some grumbling is occurring among Democratic senators, they are likely to support the compromise and it “will get the votes.”

Earlier Sunday, McConnell had told CNN that the two parties were “very close” to reaching an agreement. “We had a very good day yesterday,” the Kentucky Republican said, adding that the two sides “made dramatic progress” in negotiations.

Initial news of a possible deal came shortly after the Senate delayed consideration of a debt ceiling proposal by Reid late Saturday night, pushing back a key procedural vote by 12 hours. When that vote occurred Sunday afternoon, Republicans blocked a Democratic effort to end debate on the Reid proposal and move to a vote, extending consideration of the plan while negotiations continue. The vote was 50-49, short of the super-majority of 60 required to pass.

As proposed, Reid’s plan would have reduced federal deficits over the next decade by $2.4 trillion while raising the debt ceiling by a similar amount — meeting the GOP’s demand that total savings should at least equal any total debt ceiling hike. Roughly $1 trillion in the savings were based on the planned U.S. withdrawals from military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reid’s plan also would have established a congressional committee made up of 12 House and Senate members to consider additional options for debt reduction. The committee’s proposals would be guaranteed a Senate vote with no amendments by the end of this year. That commission would be much like the one that’s part of the compromise proposal.

PRESIDENT OBAMA

Obama said Sunday night that the compromise agreement “will reduce the deficit and avoid default — a default that would have had a devastating effect on our economy.” He added that it is structured to ensure “that we will not face this kind of crisis in six months, or eight months, or 12 months.”

He claimed the first part of the agreement, cutting $1 trillion over 10 years, would reduce annual domestic spending to “the lowest level … since Dwight Eisenhower was president.”

The president said that “everything will be on the table” when a bipartisan commission considers ways to cut the nation’s deficit, as mandated in the second step of the compromise. He vowed to “continue to make a detailed case to … lawmakers about why I believe a balanced approach” — one that could include revenue increases — “is necessary to finish the job.”

He said that this isn’t “the deal I would have preferred,” but spoke positively that it makes “a serious down payment on the deficit reduction we need and gives each party a strong incentive to get a balanced plan done before the end of the year.”

A Democratic source told CNN on condition of not being identified that Vice President Joe Biden had engaged in behind-the-scenes negotiations Sunday with congressional legislators.

The president previously had endorsed Reid’s plan and threatened a veto of Boehner’s plan. Obama had said he strongly opposes any bill that doesn’t raise the debt ceiling through the 2012 election — something, he said, that would not happen under the compromise agreement. He also had promised to veto any short-term debt ceiling extension unless it paves the way for a broader agreement, but is open to a very brief extension of a few days to enable congressional approval of a pending deal.

On Friday, Obama urged Senate Democrats and Republicans to take the lead in congressional negotiations. He said the House GOP plan “has no chance of becoming law.” Obama also urged Americans to keep contacting members of Congress in order “to keep the pressure on Washington.”

The president made a nationally televised plea for compromise July 25, though he also criticized Republicans for opposing any tax hikes on the wealthy.

50 Cent angry at record label, threatens to leak Dr. Dre’s next single

 

(EW.com) — Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

50 Cent — the same 50 who owned hip-hop less than a decade ago with both party starters and thugged-out cuts — can’t get his Interscope record label to back his forthcoming album.

The rhymer took to Twitter to express his displeasure and even threatened to pull the plug on the album altogether. “I’m not releasing a album,” he wrote Wednesday. “I can’t believe Interscope is this f—ed up right now. I apologize to all my fans.”

Obviously mad he’s not getting the same attention as his label mate and mentor Dr. Dre’s, he then threatened to leak Dre’s next single from his oft-delayed set, “Detox.” “I love Dre,” he began. “But I’m putting his next single psycho out tomorrow at 2:00.”

“You’re gonna love it. It’s a big song,” he continued.” I just don’t think it deserves a great setup since they can’t seem to get it right when it comes to me.” Is 50 right to even hint that he’ll be this defiant? No. It’s such a childish, jealous act. Who in their right mind would think that this would be the way to make anyone excited about their music?

What he might be better off doing is leaking a good song off of his own album. If he’s got any hit records left in the chamber, that would provide the momentum needed to get him a release date and promo plan. His tired Twitter rant just makes him look like an artist on the brink of being irrelevant.

Deal reached that could end NFL lockout

(CNN) — The NFL Players Association and the league have reached an agreement on a new labor deal, NFL.com reported Monday.

“The league’s 32 player representatives and then all of its players still must vote to approve it, but at this point it appears a formality,” the NFL.com report said.

Negotiators reached the agreement in the very early hours of Monday morning, the report said.

On Sunday, the NFL quoted New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees as telling fans in an e-mail, “The deal is almost done.”

Brees is one of 10 NFL players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league over the lockout.

The lockout started in March.

Both sides over the weekend discussed details players wanted resolved in the agreement. They included the contractual handling of player injury, an opt-out clause in the 10-year deal and “most pointedly, the potential timeline for the recertification of the NFLPA (NFL Players’ Association) as a union,” the NFL said.

The proposed collective-bargaining agreement with 1,900 players would last through the 2020 season.

An originally proposed agreement included a new rookie compensation system, a salary cap of $142.4 million per club in 2011 and additional retirement benefits, according to the NFL.

In a bid to reduce injuries, the pact limited practice times and full-contact practices. Clubs were to receive credit for actual stadium investment and up to 1.5% of revenue each year.

Current players could remain in the player medical plan for life, under the owners’ plan. They also would have enhanced injury protection benefit of up to $1 million of a player’s salary for the year after his injury and up to $500,000 in the second year after his injury.

If players accept the deal Monday, free-agent signing could begin this week and the four-week preseason could go forward with only one hitch, according to the NFL.

The first preseason game — the annual Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, between the Chicago Bears and St. Louis Rams — was canceled because of the delay in opening camps,NFL Commission Roger Goodell said. It had been scheduled for August 7.

The regular season is set to open on September 8.

The owners call for the free-agent signing period to begin this week.

The league’s owners imposed the lockout on March 11, suspending the labor deal in place at the time in hopes of creating a new financial structure.

In addition to Brees, players Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and seven others subsequently filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league on behalf of other current and eligible NFL athletes.

A judge in early April joined that action with another filed by retired players.

Since the lockout, the two sides have faced off in courts and around conference tables. The major issues have revolved around how to divide the billions of dollars of revenue reaped via the league each year, rules of free agency, the rookie wage scale, retirement benefits and a host of other matters.

The heart of the issue between the players and the owners was how to divide the league’s $9 billion in revenue.

Under the old agreement, NFL owners took $1 billion off the top of that revenue stream. After that, the players got about 60%.

The owners said the old labor deal didn’t take into account the rising costs related to building stadiums and promoting the game.

The players argued that the league has not sufficiently opened up its books to prove this.

Winehouse, a voice in control of her art, but little else

Amy Winehouse enchanted people with her sunny rhythm-and-blues music, Gene Seymour writes.

Gene Seymour has written about music, movies and culture for The New York Times, Newsday, Entertainment Weekly and The Washington Post.

Sad? Unbearably so. Shocking? Unfortunately, no.

As this is being written, no one is saying for certain how or why Amy Winehouse died Saturday. British authorities used the word “unexplained” to characterize the circumstances. Those with even casual knowledge of who she was, what she did and how she lived have their suspicions. The multitudes who loved her music are devastated, but the guess here is that precious few of them are surprised. Their worst fears have been affirmed.

Winehouse’s death, at 27, climaxes a near-decade of meteoric success and willful self-destruction. There was always a vexing contradiction between the sunny, buoyant rhythm-and-blues music that enchanted millions and the dismal, exasperating public spectacle she made of herself in tabloids and onstage.

 

At times, these two strains would intersect; most notably, on the platinum-selling single, “Rehab,” with its catchy refrain: “They tried to make me go to rehab/ I said, no, no, no…” It became, for better and worse, a signature tune, crystallizing her approach-avoidance relationship with relieving her drug and alcohol addictions.

Amy Winehouse dead at 27

HLN’s Dr. Drew on Amy Winehouse

Amy Winehouse found dead

She seemed so much in command of her art that it made one wonder even more why she seemed to have so little control of her life.
–Gene Seymour

It hasn’t taken long for reporters to point out that Winehouse’s death comes at the same age as those of Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Brian Jones and Jimi Hendrix, all of whom remain iconic martyrs on the altar of self-destruction. Even those wishing to believe she could still escape such a fate tended to avert their gaze, especially in the last couple of years, from what seemed an inevitable collision.

But in the absence of hard facts (at least for the moment), there seems little point in dwelling or speculating on what killed Winehouse. And even less point in getting mired in maudlin or righteous recrimination. There are more than enough sob sisters lining up to bend our ears sideways with reprisals and cautionary lessons.

However the facts play out, I’d still rather talk about the music — which, as with all the other young casualties cited earlier, will be all that really matters when assessing Amy Winehouse’s long-term value to the world-at-large.

Her music was, as I noted earlier, sunny and buoyant. The songs could be mordantly funny and cheekily self-aware. “Rehab” was the most conspicuous example, but it was no less infectious or winning than the other tunes on 2006′s “Back to Black” the multiple-Grammy-winning album that we must now — alas — acknowledge as her masterwork.

To listen to “Black,” especially now, is to revel in a talent that seemed as enthralled with its own potential as its audience was. Winehouse’s voice put forth a big sound, but it was also agile enough to evoke not only the African-American soul divas of the 1960s and 1970s, but also the jazz and cabaret singers of the 1940s and 1950s who grounded their ingenuity in bending or stretching notes rather than in multiplying or subdividing them. She seemed so much in command of her art that it made one wonder even more why she seemed to have so little control of her life.

Even that enrapturing voice couldn’t overpower the sardonic, perhaps even ghoulish demons lurking within the lyrics. One thinks of the chorus to “You Know I’m No Good”: “I cheated myself/ Like I knew I would…” There were on-line postings Saturday that made reference to this line from “Tears Dry on Their Own”: “You walk away/and the sun goes down…”

No way anybody’s going to stop the deconstructionists from having their ironic way with such lyrics — and I’m kind of sorry I brought it up. Right now, I’d rather think about how she made me smile. Demons — hers and everyone else’s — be damned.