An American panopticon of databases

An American panopticon of databases

Ian Bogost and Charlie Warzel write: If you were tasked with building a panopticon, your design might look a lot like the information stores of the U.S. federal government—a collection of large, complex agencies, each making use of enormous volumes of data provided by or collected from citizens. The federal government is a veritable cosmos of information, made up of constellations of databases: The IRS gathers comprehensive financial and employment information from every taxpayer; the Department of Labor maintains the…

Read More Read More

Gaza on brink of catastrophe as aid runs out and prices soar, groups warn

Gaza on brink of catastrophe as aid runs out and prices soar, groups warn

The Guardian reports: Soaring prices of basic foodstuffs, diminishing stocks of medical supplies and sharp cuts to aid distribution threaten newly catastrophic conditions across Gaza, Palestinians and international aid officials in the battered territory are warning. Humanitarian organisations including the World Food Programme and Unwra, which supplies food and services to more than 2 million Palestinians across Gaza, have now distributed the last of their stocks of flour and other foodstuffs to the dozens of community kitchens in the territory…

Read More Read More

Rising up from a collective silence, universities organize to resist Trump

Rising up from a collective silence, universities organize to resist Trump

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration’s swift initial rollout of orders seeking more control over universities left schools thunderstruck. Fearing retribution from a president known to retaliate against his enemies, most leaders in higher education responded in February with silence. But after weeks of witnessing the administration freeze billions in federal funding, demand changes to policies and begin investigations, a broad coalition of university leaders publicly opposing those moves is taking root. The most visible evidence yet was…

Read More Read More

Federal work shaped a Black middle class. Now it’s destabilized by Trump’s job cuts

Federal work shaped a Black middle class. Now it’s destabilized by Trump’s job cuts

NPR reports: Shirley Hopkins built careers for herself and countless other Black workers through a federal government job. While working in the National Institutes of Health’s human resources office, she became known as the “recruitment lady.” It wasn’t spelled out in her job description, but she made it her personal mission to encourage more Black students in the Washington, D.C., area to apply for the federal agency’s internship and youth employment programs. “When I was young, I was not able…

Read More Read More

They criticized Musk on X. Then their reach collapsed

They criticized Musk on X. Then their reach collapsed

The New York Times reports: Anastasia Maria Loupis runs a popular account on X that used to receive hundreds of thousands of views each day for her far-right commentary, conspiracy theories and antisemitic statements. In late December, she criticized Elon Musk, the site’s owner, over his support for visa programs that many of President Trump’s supporters despise. Her reach plummeted on X and never recovered. When Mr. Musk purchased X in 2022, he promised to create a free speech haven…

Read More Read More

Orangutan healed his own wound using a known medicinal plant

Orangutan healed his own wound using a known medicinal plant

Smithsonian magazine reports: In June 2022, a team of researchers observed a behavior never before witnessed in the animal world: A Sumatran orangutan named Rakus self-treated an injury using a medicinal plant. At Gunung Leuser National Park, a rainforest reserve on the western Indonesian island of Sumatra, scientists heard from the treetops a series of “long calls,” a behavior that usually preempts assertions of male dominance or aggression. The next day, they saw Rakus with an open wound on his…

Read More Read More

The Trump administration is trying to intimidate the judiciary

The Trump administration is trying to intimidate the judiciary

Adam Serwer writes: The arrest of Wisconsin Judge Hannah Dugan over allegedly obstructing the apprehension of an undocumented immigrant is an attempt to intimidate the judiciary. You can just ask Attorney General Pam Bondi. “What has happened to our judiciary is beyond me,” Bondi told Fox News, commenting on Dugan’s arrest. “They’re deranged. I think some of these judges think they are beyond and above the law, and they are not. We are sending a very strong message today: If…

Read More Read More

‘Build bridges, not walls’: Pope Francis held a moral mirror to modern politics

‘Build bridges, not walls’: Pope Francis held a moral mirror to modern politics

NBC News reports: Even in death, Pope Francis’ moral voice rang out across the world. With 40,000 packed into Vatican City’s St. Peter’s Square, another 250,000 in the surrounding streets and millions more watching on TV and online, world leaders, including President Donald Trump, were reminded of Francis’ central messages during his funeral Saturday. “‘Build bridges, not walls’ was an exhortation he repeated many times,” Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re said during the homily for the late pope. “His gestures and…

Read More Read More

The Trump administration’s war on children

The Trump administration’s war on children

By Eli Hager This story was originally published by ProPublica The clear-cutting across the federal government under President Donald Trump has been dramatic, with mass terminations, the suspension of decades-old programs and the neutering of entire agencies. But this spectacle has obscured a series of moves by the administration that could profoundly harm some of the most vulnerable people in the U.S.: children. Consider: The staff of a program that helps millions of poor families keep the electricity on, in…

Read More Read More

Pentagon leadership vacuum overwhelms Hegseth’s office: ‘It’s a free-for-all’

Pentagon leadership vacuum overwhelms Hegseth’s office: ‘It’s a free-for-all’

Politico reports: The circle of top advisers in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s orbit has shrunk in recent days to little more than his wife, lawyer, and two lower-level officials — leaving the Pentagon’s lead office without longtime expertise or clear direction. Hegseth’s decision to fire three senior aides last week and reassign his chief of staff has blown a hole in his leadership team, severing essential lines of communication across the department and leading to fears about dangerous slip-ups such…

Read More Read More

Voters oppose Trump power grab

Voters oppose Trump power grab

The New York Times reports: [A New York Times/Siena College poll found] [b]road majorities said they would prefer to place limits on exactly the kinds of powers that Mr. Trump has tried to exercise: 61 percent of voters, including 33 percent of Republicans, said a president should not be able to impose tariffs without authorization from Congress. 54 percent, including 26 percent of Republicans, said a president should not be able to eliminate programs enacted by Congress. 63 percent, including…

Read More Read More

Some federal agencies are walking back workforce cuts with critical functions at risk of failure

Some federal agencies are walking back workforce cuts with critical functions at risk of failure

Government Executive reports: Some federal agencies are asking employees to reconsider their plans to leave government or requiring those it has designated for termination to come back to work, as the Trump administration seeks to avoid catastrophic interruptions to pivotal government operations. The Agriculture Department is already planning for reduced or ceased work in key areas such as avian influenza response, according to employees involved in those efforts, causing the administration to ask employees to reverse course and rejoin government….

Read More Read More

Ancient tusk fragments hint at social learning among early humans 400,000 years ago

Ancient tusk fragments hint at social learning among early humans 400,000 years ago

ZME Science reports: In the plains of western Ukraine, researchers digging through ancient soil found a handful of small, broken pieces of ivory that might change how we think about early humans. The fragments—24 in total—came from the tusks of a long-extinct mammoth species. Most were unremarkable at first glance. But as scientists studied them more closely, they noticed patterns and shapes that didn’t seem like they had been accidentally broken. Some pieces had been chipped in a way that…

Read More Read More