Mayoral losses deal blow to GOP in conservative strongholds

Mayoral losses deal blow to GOP in conservative strongholds

The Washington Post reports: Republicans suffered surprising losses Tuesday in mayoral races in Jacksonville, Fla., and Colorado Springs, dealing a blow to the GOP in two longtime conservative strongholds and highlighting the limits of waging hyperpartisan campaign battles in local races. In Jacksonville, Florida’s most populous city, Democrat Donna Deegan upset Republican Daniel Davis by about 4 percentage points to win the mayor’s race. Deegan’s victory flips the mayoral seat of the largest city in the United States that was…

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Christiane Amanpour voices dissent over Trump town hall, says she had ‘very robust exchange’ with CNN chief

Christiane Amanpour voices dissent over Trump town hall, says she had ‘very robust exchange’ with CNN chief

Oliver Darcy writes: It has been one week since CNN’s town hall with Donald Trump — and the fierce fallout stemming from the event is still reverberating. While accepting the prestigious Columbia Journalism Award and serving as the school’s 2023 commencement speaker, Christiane Amanpour on Wednesday became the first network anchor to publicly voice dissent with management over the town hall, which has spawned a storm of fierce backlash. Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, disclosed that she had met with…

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ChatGPT can’t think – consciousness is something entirely different to today’s AI

ChatGPT can’t think – consciousness is something entirely different to today’s AI

Illus_man / Shutterstock By Philip Goff, Durham University There has been shock around the world at the rapid rate of progress with ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence created with what’s known as large language models (LLMs). These systems can produce text that seems to display thought, understanding and even creativity. But can these systems really think and understand? This is not a question that can be answered through technological advance, but careful philosophical analysis and argument tells us the answer…

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New evidence in special counsel probe undercuts Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified

New evidence in special counsel probe undercuts Trump’s claim documents he took were automatically declassified

CNN reports: The National Archives has informed former president Donald Trump that it is set to hand over to special counsel Jack Smith 16 records which show Trump and his top advisers had knowledge of the correct declassification process while he was president, according to multiple sources. In a May 16 letter obtained by CNN, acting Archivist Debra Steidel Wall writes to Trump, “The 16 records in question all reflect communications involving close presidential advisers, some of them directed to…

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I’ve never seen the Kremlin so rattled

I’ve never seen the Kremlin so rattled

Anna Nemtsova writes: A mysterious drone attack on the Kremlin. A car bombing that wounded a key advocate of the invasion of Ukraine. Four military aircraft shot down in a single day — inside Russia’s borders. If the Ukrainians and their allies wanted to rattle the Russian leadership, it’s working. Never, in more than two decades of covering Vladimir Putin’s regime, have I seen it in such an obvious state of chaos and disarray. These days, Kremlin-watchers don’t have to read tea leaves or…

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Premature calls for Ukraine-Russia talks are dangerous

Premature calls for Ukraine-Russia talks are dangerous

Hein Goemans and Branislav Slantchev write: Russia’s war in Ukraine has been raging for more than a year. And for more than a year, various international leaders—including French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping—not to mention domestic pundits and politicians, have been calling for negotiations to end the bloodshed. Though well-intentioned, these appeals fail to take into account the fundamental nature of war, which requires the fighting to play out before a lasting peace can be a realistic…

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The truth about Russia, Trump and the 2016 election

The truth about Russia, Trump and the 2016 election

Glenn Kessler writes: There have been four major investigations into Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election and the FBI’s handling of the subject — a 2019 report released by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III, a 2019 Justice Department inspector general report, a bipartisan report by the Senate Intelligence Committee issued in 2020 by a GOP-controlled Senate, and now a 2023 report released by special counsel John Durham. All told, the reports add up to about 2,500 pages of dense prose and sometimes contradictory conclusions. But broad themes…

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Elon Musk at home among the anti-Semites

Elon Musk at home among the anti-Semites

Yair Rosenberg writes: Last night, Elon Musk made two rookie social-media mistakes: He tweeted after 10 p.m., and he echoed paranoid anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists. “George Soros reminds me of Magneto,” he declared, likening the financier to the Marvel supervillain, both of them Jewish Holocaust survivors. In case the meaning was unclear, Musk quickly clarified to another user, “He wants to erode the very fabric of civilization. Soros hates humanity.” Criticizing George Soros is not inherently anti-Semitic. He is one of…

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New genetic analysis of 290 people suggests humans emerged at various times and places in Africa

New genetic analysis of 290 people suggests humans emerged at various times and places in Africa

Carl Zimmer reports: Scientists have revealed a surprisingly complex origin of our species, rejecting the long-held argument that modern humans arose from one place in Africa during one period in time. By analyzing the genomes of 290 living people, researchers concluded that modern humans descended from at least two populations that coexisted in Africa for a million years before merging in several independent events across the continent. The findings were published on Wednesday in Nature. “There is no single birthplace,”…

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Bees can learn, remember, think and make decisions – here’s a look at how they navigate the world

Bees can learn, remember, think and make decisions – here’s a look at how they navigate the world

A bumblebee lands on the flowers of a white sloe bush. Soeren Stache/picture alliance via Getty Images By Stephen Buchmann, University of Arizona As trees and flowers blossom in spring, bees emerge from their winter nests and burrows. For many species it’s time to mate, and some will start new solitary nests or colonies. Bees and other pollinators are essential to human society. They provide about one-third of the food we eat, a service with a global value estimated at…

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Democracy suffers when citizens are uninformed

Democracy suffers when citizens are uninformed

A high school student in California holds a sign in protest of her school district’s ban on critical race theory curriculum. Watchara Phomicinda/The Press-Enterprise via Getty Images By Boaz Dvir, Penn State The Florida Department of Education announced on April 10, 2023, that it had rejected 35% of the social studies books publishers submitted for approval and use in the state’s public schools. The move was based on a determination the books contain references to social justice issues “and other…

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Dominion made Tucker Carlson’s firing a condition of settlement with Fox, according to board member

Dominion made Tucker Carlson’s firing a condition of settlement with Fox, according to board member

Variety reports: The mystery surrounding Tucker Carlson’s ouster from the airwaves at Fox News — and his future plans in media — are coming into sharper focus. On April 26, Carlson spoke by phone with one of Fox Corp.’s eight board members, who told the host that his recent benching was a condition of Fox News’ settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the conversation. The unnamed board member told Carlson that the condition does…

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Giuliani accused of offering to sell Trump pardons for $2 million each in new lawsuit

Giuliani accused of offering to sell Trump pardons for $2 million each in new lawsuit

NBC News reports: A woman who said she worked for Rudy Giuliani during the last two years of the Trump administration alleged in a wide-ranging lawsuit that Giuliani, the former president’s personal attorney, discussed selling presidential pardons and detailed plans to overturn the 2020 election results. In a 70-page complaint filed in state court in New York on Monday, Noelle Dunphy said that after Giuliani hired her in January 2019 he sexually assaulted and harassed her, refused to pay her…

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Twitter’s chief troll slanders George Soros with antisemitic slurs

Twitter’s chief troll slanders George Soros with antisemitic slurs

The Washington Post reports: Elon Musk made a series of attacks on George Soros overnight, tweeting that the Jewish-born investor and liberal philanthropist, who often is subject to virulent antisemitic conspiracy theories, hates humanity and “wants to erode the very fabric of civilization.” Musk, who has overseen an increase of antisemitism and other hate speech on Twitter since he bought the social media platform last year, did not give a reason for singling out Soros. But he made his comments…

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