In the data-center age, the business of Silicon Valley is more like oil-refining than coding

In the data-center age, the business of Silicon Valley is more like oil-refining than coding

Matteo Wong writes: The AI boom has showered some of the nation’s most prominent companies in market value. OpenAI and Anthropic are now the two most valuable private companies in the world. Google, Microsoft, and Nvidia have become larger than ever. But among the biggest winners has been Caterpillar, a purveyor of yellow trucks and cranes. Caterpillar’s stock has more than doubled in value over the past year, making the company worth six times as much as Nike. Its ascent…

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Data centers have united Americans of both parties in a shared hatred

Data centers have united Americans of both parties in a shared hatred

The Washington Post reports: Kyle Schmidt ticked through what makes him irate about the massive Google data center slated for construction about a mile away from his home near Sand Springs, Oklahoma. He didn’t like that residents were kept in the dark about what would be built on a pristine tract of mostly forested land. He’s worried about the data center’s potential impact on the community’s water supply and on the dream home that his family moved into last year….

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My son was killed by ICE. I want accountability

My son was killed by ICE. I want accountability

Rachel Reyes writes: This spring I watched Markwayne Mullin’s confirmation hearing to become the homeland security secretary. It was most likely the first confirmation hearing I ever watched. I have never been a political person. I tuned in because Mr. Mullin’s words were of personal concern to me. In 2025 a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent killed my son, Ruben Ray Martinez, in Texas. He was 23 years old, a quiet, funny and gentle young man — and an…

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Federal agents were told FBI will no longer investigate ICE confrontations

Federal agents were told FBI will no longer investigate ICE confrontations

The New York Times reports: Federal agents around the country were told in recent days that the F.B.I. would no longer investigate confrontations with immigration agents — cases that sometimes yield evidence that could be used to prosecute Department of Homeland Security agents implicated in violent encounters, according to people briefed on the decision. If enacted, such a change would sharply limit law enforcement scrutiny of immigration agents, as the Trump administration draws mounting criticism over killings at the hands…

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Federal prosecutors are under fire after critics accuse them of smearing man killed by ICE in Houston

Federal prosecutors are under fire after critics accuse them of smearing man killed by ICE in Houston

CNN reports: An FBI agent arrived at a crime scene and saw something suspicious: tied plastic baggies containing unknown substances resembling illegal drugs. He would need to laboratory test the items to be sure. To do that, he would also get a warrant. The Houston incident, following one of the latest deadly shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, mirrors countless routine police encounters that happen daily across the country as officers find suspected drug paraphernalia and seek court…

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Trump’s ex-campaign manager is running an Israeli influence operation targeting the MAGA base

Trump’s ex-campaign manager is running an Israeli influence operation targeting the MAGA base

Time reports: After the U.S. and Iran agreed to a ceasefire deal on June 17, a senior U.S. official was monitoring the online reaction when they noticed something surprising. President Donald Trump’s aides had expected his supporters to celebrate the agreement. Instead, online influencers in Trump’s MAGA movement were excoriating it on social media. One shared an Israeli op-ed titled, “You Could Have Been the Greatest President of All—But You Failed.” Several posted the same video of Qatar’s prime minister…

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Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water

Democrats see an opening in rural states for the first time in decades. In Iowa, it’s about water

Tom Philpott and Nina B. Elkadi write: Chris Jones, the 65-year-old Democratic nominee for Iowa secretary of agriculture, stands at the edge of a pond on a 72-acre farm in eastern Iowa. “What you see here is how fertile Iowa is,” he says, looking intently into the water. Massive bluegills dart about in the clear depths. “When we go up to a corn or soy field, we don’t see this anymore.” Jones isn’t just talking about the fish. He means…

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Trump, not Iran, is the world’s greatest danger. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction

Trump, not Iran, is the world’s greatest danger. He’s a one-man weapon of mass destruction

Simon Tisdall writes: Feckless and clueless, Donald Trump is lost in Iran, unable to find a way out of the disastrous war he started. Once again, the US military is pummelling the country and, increasingly, its civilian infrastructure. As before, this unlawful bludgeoning strengthens the resistance of a hardline regime that cares little for its people’s suffering. How often have Trump and Pete Hegseth, the Pentagon’s wildling lord of bones, hailed a bogus victory? The president claimed this week to…

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Jordan becomes a new focus in the U.S.-Iran war

Jordan becomes a new focus in the U.S.-Iran war

The New York Times reports: The Iranian attack that killed two U.S. soldiers and left one service member missing on Friday was the fourth in five days on U.S. forces in Jordan, multiple American officials said. Taken together, the attacks have wounded dozens of U.S. service members and damaged a number of helicopters. The flurry of attacks and the losses they have caused are a sign that Iranian forces not only still have ample missile stocks but have also become…

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Interview: Zohran Mamdani knows he has political capital. He intends to spend it

Interview: Zohran Mamdani knows he has political capital. He intends to spend it

  Lulu Garcia-Navarro: Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City is riding high. In an era when the public is sour on politics, recent polls show him actually becoming more popular among New Yorkers. It’s fair to say that some of that is vibes: As the Knicks won the N.B.A. championship, Mamdani became one of the team’s main hype men, basking in the reflected glow of their victory; the World Cup has been a raging success with New York City…

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Mamdani says he may still order Netanyahu’s arrest

Mamdani says he may still order Netanyahu’s arrest

The New York Times reports: Mayor Zohran Mamdani said his administration was still discussing whether to arrest the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, if he comes to New York City as expected for the U.N. General Assembly in September. “I believe that Prime Minister Netanyahu belongs in The Hague,” Mr. Mamdani told Lulu Garcia-Navarro this week on “The Interview,” a New York Times show, referring to the home of the United Nations’ International Court of Justice. “He’s a war criminal…

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Trump’s rhetoric is more dangerous than voting machine flaws, experts say

Trump’s rhetoric is more dangerous than voting machine flaws, experts say

Politico reports: Election officials are warning that President Donald Trump’s assertion that America’s voting machines aren’t safe is far more dangerous than the vulnerabilities he highlighted in his Thursday night address. Flaws in electronic voting machines have been well-documented for more than a decade by researchers, and states have poured money into bolstering security. Still, none have ever been exploited by malicious actors to successfully change the outcome of an election. Now officials are worried that Trump’s latest comments —…

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Murkowski slams door shut on supporting SAVE America Act

Murkowski slams door shut on supporting SAVE America Act

Democracy Docket reports: If there were any Republican hopes that Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) might change her mind to vote for the SAVE America Act, she made it clear in no uncertain terms that she will never. “While I support the bill’s core tenets—ensuring that only American citizens vote and requiring identification when voting—I remain opposed to it,” wrote Murkowski in a Wall St. Journal op-ed, not even 24 hours after President Donald Trump made a deceitful plea for the…

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A mitochondrial theory of mind

A mitochondrial theory of mind

Rachel Nuwer writes: It was 9 a.m. on a Thursday, and Martin Picard was watching his blood flow from an IV in his arm through a hole in the wall. He was sitting on a twin bed in a claustrophobic chamber less than a shoulder’s width from a stainless steel sink and porcelain toilet. Every hour over 24 hours, including while he slept, a nurse channeled blood from his arm to a research team next door; at each time point,…

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