“It may be a foolish optimism, but if Trump can be nudged in the right direction and convinced, he came up with the idea, as he did with the successor to NAFTA, he might not be quite the disaster so many of us rightly fear. It’s a long shot, but what is life without hope?”
“But then he’ll come out with something like the Truth Social post above, and I’ll be reminded that wealthy and powerful people like Trump or Andreesen or, of course, Elon Musk are often far more ignorant than policy wonks can easily imagine.”
“Counties across the southern half of the U.S., especially those with large and socially vulnerable populations, will be much more exposed to wildfire, drought and extreme heat than other parts of the country as the region’s climate warms in the coming decades, according to new research from the U.S. Forest Service and Resources for the Future.”
How to filter out AI crap from your search results.
RIP, Mike Rinder, former Scientologist turned whistleblower who won an Emmy along with Leah Remini for a documentary about that religion.
“Trump team takes aim at crown jewel of US climate research”.
“Yeah, America can still build stuff“, as shown in a bunch of charts.
“The FBI is warning sports leagues about crime organizations targeting professional athletes following a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent NFL and NBA players.”
“A better way to look at all of this is that we remain in an intense, sometimes violent and close to deadlocked struggle over the future of the country. It is no more done today or tomorrow than it was four years ago.”
There are a lot of reasons why second seasons of popular streaming shows tend to have fewer episodes than Season One did.
RIP, Perry, miniature donkey who inspired Eddie Murray’s Shrek character.
“The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau finalized a rule on Tuesday that will bar medical debt from being included in credit scores.”
“But many smaller bollards are evaluated to withstand impacts of 5,000-pound vehicles, a number that easily covers most cars and trucks but falls well below the weight of even a Tesla Model X, to say nothing of a big, new EV like a Silverado.”
“Is your car company violating your privacy rights?”
“The highly decorated soldier who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack, Las Vegas police said Tuesday.”
RIP, Peter Yarrow, singer-songwriter and co-founder of Peter, Paul and Mary. I had forgotten about this sordid aspect of his life before reading the obituary. Worth remembering, however you ultimately feel about it.
“In essence, the voice phishers are using an automated Apple phone support line to send notifications from Apple and to trick people into thinking they’re really talking with Apple.”
“This is what Musk has become: a machine for reposting red meat for the MAGA base that he almost certainly knows to be bogus.”
I’m sure there are plenty of potential buyers of TikTok. Doesn’t mean the Chinese will want to sell it.
Anita Bryant has died. Whether or not you know who that is, I heartily encourage you to listen to this episode of Slate’s One Year: 1977 podcast, which tells the story of her fight against gay rights in vivid detail.
“Merchan’s action Friday means that Trump’s criminal case is concluded and he enters office —ten days from his sentencing—a convicted felon.”
RIP, Sam Moore, legendary soul singer, one half of Sam & Dave, best known for hits like “Soul Man” and “Hold On, I’m Coming”.