Music: Dhafer Youssef — ‘Eyeblink and Eternity (Pt. 1)’
Something ominous — a reminder of the 2008 financial crisis — is happening in the AI economy
Rogé Karma writes: A company that most people have never heard of is among the year’s best-performing technology firms—and a symbol of the complex, interconnected, and potentially catastrophic ways in which AI companies do business these days. CoreWeave’s IPO in March was the largest of any tech start-up since 2021, and the company’s share price has subsequently more than doubled, outperforming even the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks. On Wall Street, CoreWeave is regularly referred to as one of the most…
Trump’s new social media rule poses threat to World Cup and U.S. tourism industry
Politico reports: U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to require tourists to hand over their social media data ahead of next year’s World Cup generated outrage on Wednesday. An elected European official, human rights groups and fan organizations condemned the move and urged the world football governing body, FIFA, to pressure the Trump administration to reverse course. Visitors to the U.S. — including those from visa-free countries such as France, Germany and Britain — would have to submit five years of…
Authorities monitor online criticism of New Orleans immigration crackdown
The Associated Press reports: State and federal authorities are closely tracking online criticism and protests against the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in New Orleans, monitoring message boards around the clock for threats to agents while compiling regular updates on public “sentiment” surrounding the arrests, according to law enforcement records reviewed by the Associated Press. The intelligence gathering comes even as officials have released few details about the first arrests made last week as part of “Catahoula Crunch”, prompting calls for…
Trump chose a casino to promote his economic policies while dismissing the issue of affordability
The Washington Post reports: He had charts that he read from, touting economic data. The stage around him was filled with signs reading, “Lower Prices Bigger Paychecks.” He introduced Pennsylvanians who he said had more take-home pay because of his policies. But if he was supposed to launch a speaking tour to clearly connect with Americans struggling with higher prices and stagnant wages, President Donald Trump didn’t hesitate to veer off course. He mocked the word “affordability,” touted how high…
Status: Venezuelan
By Mauricio Rodríguez Pons This story was originally published by ProPublica It was a chilly afternoon in January, just a week after President Donald Trump returned to the White House, when I met Yineska, a Venezuelan mother who had been living in the United States for nearly two years. Trump’s election, she told me, had put her in a bind. On his first day back in office, Trump announced that he planned to end the humanitarian parole program that…
Miami’s newly elected Democratic mayor says residents are afraid of the federal government
The Associated Press reports: Democrat Eileen Higgins’ victory in the Miami mayoral race marks a setback for Republican President Donald Trump, who endorsed her rival and has touted his 2024 win in the area as a testament to his appeal in Florida and particularly among Hispanic voters. Higgins, who will become the city’s first female mayor, secured a decisive win of approximately 19 points over Trump’s pick, Emilio Gonzalez, signaling a potential shift in voter sentiment. In becoming the first…
Humans have an internal lunar clock. We are accidentally destroying it
PsyPost reports: Most animals, including humans, carry an internal lunar clock, tuned to the 29.5-day rhythm of the Moon. It guides sleep, reproduction and migration of many species. But in the age of artificial light, that ancient signal is fading – washed out by the glow of cities, screens and satellites. Just as the circadian rhythm keeps time with the 24-hour rotation of the Earth, many organisms also track the slower rhythm of the Moon. Both systems rely on light…
Music: Dhafer Youssef — ‘Eleventh Stone’
Republicans and their allies fed the antisemitism monster. Now it’s turning on its masters
Natasha Soffer-Roth writes: In a famous scene from the World War II-era classic “Casablanca,” the corrupt police captain Louis Renault orders the closing of Rick’s Café Américain on the pretext that it has effectively been functioning as a casino. Renault — who has been doing his own gambling in the cafe — loudly declares himself to be “shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here,” moments before a croupier hands him his winnings, which Renault gratefully accepts. Last month, following a cozy,…
Trump’s new national security doctrine gives Putin exactly what he wants
Kyiv Independent reports: The new U.S. National Security Strategy stunned Washington’s allies, casting doubt on the entire post-Cold War security order in Europe. The document takes a direct shot at the EU and questions some of the main principles of NATO, two pillars of Europe’s political and security architecture. It also signals a retreat from the U.S.-led unipolar world while refocusing on the Western Hemisphere. Despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, the document notably avoids criticism of Russia, which has…
USAID hired the right-wing influencer, Mike Benz, responsible for its decimation
Isaac Stanley-Becker writes: If the U.S. Agency for International Development is a front for the CIA, we’re about to find out all about it. A new official inside the agency is prepared to blow the lid off the whole conspiracy. That official is Mike Benz, a right-wing influencer who popularized the notion that Taylor Swift is a secret NATO asset and once wrote, under a pseudonym, “I want white identity politics to grow like wildfire.” Benz rose to prominence last…
America’s largest bitcoin miners are pivoting to AI
Joel Khalili reports: One afternoon in June 2024, I stood up against the fence of a sprawling industrial facility a few miles outside of Corsicana, Texas. Over a metal gate, I watched a bright yellow excavator claw at the dirt and flatbed trucks shuttle to and fro. A hangar-like structure with a gleaming white roof stretched hundreds of meters along the opposite perimeter. The company that owned the plot, Riot Platforms, was busily constructing the world’s largest bitcoin mine. A…
Thanks to Trump, the world’s largest superyachts are increasingly being bought by Americans
The New York Times reports: Today’s superyacht buyers are younger and richer than they were a decade ago, and they’re increasingly American, enriched by the pandemic business boom, a roaring stock market and deep tax cuts. Rather than wait for a gilded retirement, they are buying in their prime, looking for a plaything with all the trappings of home. They’re tethered to the world with Starlink internet while they play in St. Barts or Sardinia, or venture to more out-of-reach…
Decolonise political thought. Africa’s alternatives to liberalism
Gabriel Asuquo writes: When African nations such as Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal and Cameroon claimed independence in the mid-20th century, they inherited more than borders and fragile institutions; they also inherited a political philosophy. Liberalism, born of Europe’s Enlightenment, was presented as the universal grammar of progress. It came clothed in the language of democracy, development and human rights, promising that multiparty elections, private property, free markets and individual rights would secure for Africa a swift entry into modernity. Yet, decades…
Cutting calories by 30% may be sufficient to shield the brain against aging
Science Alert reports: A calorie-restricted diet could slow down the aging that naturally happens in the brain as we get older, according to a new study of rhesus monkeys, and the findings could also be relevant to brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s. Researchers led by a team from Boston University analyzed the brains of 24 rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that had been fed calorie-restricted or standard diets for more than 20 years. After these lifelong dietary differences, the researchers found…