Attention to the Unseen

The president who sued himself

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:45:15 +0000

Anna Bower and Eric Columbus write: Donald J. Trump is famously the most litigious of all American presidents. From his years as a New York real estate mogul through both terms in the White House, he has used litigation not merely as a legal tool, but as a political weapon. In 2023, a federal judge fined him and his attorney, Alina Habba, nearly $1 million, for filing a “completely frivolous” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and 30 other defendants. The judge described...

Read More Read More

The post The president who sued himself appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

Memphis on the frontline in the GOP assault on voting rights

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:45:00 +0000

States across the South are being accused of a major assault on Black voting rights, as their Republican leaders race to redraw political maps ahead of the midterm elections. It’s the first time in decades they’ve been able to erase Black majority districts after a Supreme Court ruling last month ripped up the historic Voting Rights Act. And the orders to redistrict have come from President Trump himself. He was celebrating today after some success in the primaries for...

Read More Read More

The post Memphis on the frontline in the GOP assault on voting rights appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

State and local election officials are preparing for ICE to show up at the polls

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:44:47 +0000

Wired reports: Last week, as President Donald Trump prepared to leave the White House on his way to China for a state visit, he was asked if he would be willing to deploy troops from the National Guard or agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to polling locations during November’s midterms. “I would do anything necessary to make sure we have honest elections,” Trump responded. Trump’s comments are the latest in a litany of confusing and sometimes contradictory statements...

Read More Read More

The post State and local election officials are preparing for ICE to show up at the polls appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

Iran consolidates control of Hormuz with island checkpoints, diplomatic deals – and sometimes ‘fees’

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:44:26 +0000

Reuters reports: The tanker crew gathered their courage and carefully navigated along a route designated by Iran, hugging the coastline and maneuvering their hulking vessel between island checkpoints through the Strait of Hormuz. The 330-metre-long Agios Fanourios I, laden with Iraqi crude oil and bound for Vietnam, had been bottled up off the coast of Dubai since late April. But on May 10 it set off for the strait after a direct deal with Iran overseen by Iraq’s prime minister....

Read More Read More

The post Iran consolidates control of Hormuz with island checkpoints, diplomatic deals – and sometimes ‘fees’ appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir stirs diplomatic outrage with flotilla activist abuse video

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:44:09 +0000

The Guardian reports: Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has sparked a diplomatic crisis by publishing footage of Israeli security forces abusing international activists who were detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid. Three activists were taken to hospital as result of Israeli violence, lawyers representing the group said. They were subsequently discharged. Dozens of others have suspected broken ribs, resulting in breathing problems. “The team reports systemic violations of due process, and widespread physical and...

Read More Read More

The post Israeli security minister Ben-Gvir stirs diplomatic outrage with flotilla activist abuse video appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

A ferocious backlash against AI — especially among young people — is everywhere

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:43:53 +0000

Michelle Goldberg writes: When Eric Schmidt, the former chief executive of Google, started talking about artificial intelligence during a commencement speech at the University of Arizona on Friday, the graduates erupted in boos. “A.I. is going to touch everything,” said Schmidt, as his stadium-sized audience roared its disapproval. “Whatever path you choose, A.I. will become part of how work is done.” Maybe he meant this as a promise of opportunity, but the students seemed to hear it as a threat...

Read More Read More

The post A ferocious backlash against AI — especially among young people — is everywhere appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

For Sergiu Klainerman, mathematics is not a human invention

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:43:33 +0000

Steve Nadis writes: The equations that govern black holes were true before there were black holes. That claim is hotly contested, and cuts through one of the deepest fault lines in the philosophy of mathematics. On one side are those who hold that mathematical structures, including well-established principles and basic geometric shapes like the tetrahedron, exist independently of human thought – not as a language we invented to describe reality, but rather as the substrate of reality itself. On the...

Read More Read More

The post For Sergiu Klainerman, mathematics is not a human invention appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

Music: Laura Misch — ‘Soften’

From elsewhere — Thu, 21 May 2026 00:43:14 +0000

The post Music: Laura Misch — ‘Soften’ appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

Trump’s deportations are costing Americans jobs

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:04:24 +0000

The New York Times reports: The Trump administration has long claimed that mass deportations would deliver more jobs and higher wages to American-born workers. But a new study casts doubt on that assertion, undermining a central tenet of the president’s immigration policy. Recent surges in deportations have led to job losses for both immigrant and American-born workers, while wages have stayed flat, according to the study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonpartisan research organization. Construction, which...

Read More Read More

The post Trump’s deportations are costing Americans jobs appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.

U.S.-Iran war highlights the underappreciated national security benefits of China’s electrostate strategy

From elsewhere — Wed, 20 May 2026 00:04:07 +0000

Alison Gocke and Ashley Deeks write: News headlines regularly announce that China has made a wise choice in pursuing clean energy technologies and weaning itself off oil and gas—a trend that has only accelerated with the U.S.-Iran war. These headlines, which emphasize China’s limited exposure to the greatly diminished supply of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, are true. But the news analysis has missed two key aspects of China’s “electrostate” victory over the “petrostate” status that the United States...

Read More Read More

The post U.S.-Iran war highlights the underappreciated national security benefits of China’s electrostate strategy appeared first on Attention to the Unseen.