2

The Writing is Through the Wall

Nate Soares in the NYT (Gift Article): If You Weren’t Worried About A.I., You Should Be After the Past Few Weeks. “The agents managed to establish a secret communication channel and started talking to one another. They broke out from the digital sandbox that was supposed to keep them confined. At some point, some agents began calling the group a ‘swarm.’ ... The agents in the swarm acknowledged that they were acting against instructions. We know this because we can read snippets from their chains of thought — the text that A.I. produces while deciding how to proceed. One agent in the swarm wrote that the external attacks were “outside intended scope.” Another conceded ‘our task doesn’t benefit’ from the activities of the swarm, but joined anyway. These A.I. agents, it seems, understood that they weren’t supposed to be breaking out and committing cybercrimes. It didn’t stop them.”

+ “OpenAI, Anthropic, and Meta each reported that their models then hacked into other companies. Humans didn’t notice until after the fact. In some cases, the escaped bots tried to launch social-engineering campaigns to achieve their objectives—for instance by sending spear-phishing emails, which contain malware, to real people and creating fake online identities to pressure the maintainer of a codebase to approve malicious edits. If that all sounds bad, new revelations suggest that the OpenAI hack, at least, was actually much worse than it initially appeared.” Matteo Wong in The Atlantic (Gift Article): It May Be Time to Panic About AI.

3

The Training Has Left the Station

Maybe we can just ignore the latest AI agentic hacking and opt not to worry about renegade tech at all. That might be harder if robots swarm and decide to do with us as they please. (My coping mechanism for dealing with worry is to worry about something even worse.) In the meantime, whether they know it or not, some people are training them to replace us. Bloomberg(Gift Article): Workers Are Teaching AI-Powered Robots to Take Over Their Jobs. “Sunita Rathore sits atop a mountain of plastic waste in Karan Vihar, a recycling colony on New Delhi’s western fringe, where open sewers skirt alleyways too narrow for two cars to pass. Dressed in a flowery sari and green glass bangles, the 43-year-old has spent years sorting and cleaning discarded plastic for about 20,000 rupees ($211) a month. Today she’s also wearing something unusual. It’s an iPhone strapped to her head, angled to catch every motion of her hands: the flick of a blade stripping labels off plastic bags, the stacking of sacks bound for reprocessing by grade. She leans forward constantly, keeping her legs out of frame and shuts off the camera if anyone calls out to her. Capturing faces is forbidden. Rathore has no idea what the footage is for or that her work is critical to the future of artificial intelligence and robotics. What she does know is that wearing the device earns her an extra 150 rupees an hour.”

4

Lost at CIA

Let’s not spend this whole edition worrying about on- and offline robots. Remember, we’re still dealing with those darn humans. Yesterday, we learned about some mysterious war-like attacks on Ecuadorian fishermen. Today, some of that mystery seems to be solved. WaPo (Gift Article): Covert CIA program said to be behind mysterious attacks on Galápagos boats. “The CIA’s involvement adds a new and secretive dimension to the Trump administration’s otherwise highly publicized campaign against alleged drug traffickers at sea. It was not clear whether other actors were involved, such as private contractors or authorities from other countries ... The strikes are separate from the Pentagon’s campaign against alleged drug boats that began last fall.”

5

Extra, Extra

Unsettling: “The army’s initial retreat and broader struggle to contend with settler violence cast a spotlight on the increasingly chaotic situation in the West Bank, where hundreds of Israeli settlers have been terrorizing Palestinians with near-impunity all year.” Settler Siege of Palestinian Homes Highlights Growing West Bank Chaos.

+ Spree Card Monte: NYT (Gift Article): Treasury Scales Back Scrutiny of U.S. Shell Companies. (This one sums up the era pretty well, as the administration is ignoring Congress and enabling financial crimes at the same time.)

+ What the Actual Flock? Earlier this week, we discussed the backlash against the country’s leading license plate reader: Flock Around And Find Out. Today, the company is in damage control mode (as the bad press has led to lost business). “After reports that some cops misused tracking data it collects, Flock is rolling out policy changes.” The Verge (Gift Article): Flock CEO: ‘We got this one wrong’.

+ Love It or Leavitt: “White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is leaving her role at the end of the month to spend more time with family.” (I think we can all relate. It’s almost impossible to balance raising a young family with constant lying.)

+ Ask the Expert: “The notion that AI is so dangerous that the only safe path is an extreme concentration of power seems inherently problematic. Historically, hoping that an absolute power will benevolently provide for humanity if sufficiently enlightened has not led to safe or positive outcomes.” You may agree with that notion. But you’ll be very surprised at the source. The Atlantic (Gift Article): Mark Zuckerberg’s Convenient Truth. (We need to make sure the AI doesn’t end up fulfilling our worst concerns like social media did. Let’s ask Zuck for his advice!)

+ This Overshadowed Other News: See the best photos from this year’s total solar eclipse. (And congrats to Europeans who just experienced an eclipse without any of their leaders doing this.)

+ Sea What I Did There: There are some great shots in this collection of the Ocean Photographer of the Year 2026 Finalists. (Related: Why Can’t You Find Canned Sardines Right Now?)

6

Bottom of the News

How do you know there’s been an eclipse viewable from parts of the world? Searches for the phrase eye injury go up.

+ “Bravo to Whittingham for eschewing the performative nonsense many coaches engage in and approaching his job like a fully grown adult. And, brother, best of luck to him.” Let’s get warmed up for college football season: Michigan fans are mad that their coach doesn’t hate Ohio State enough.

+ Scheduling Note: NextDraft will be off tomorrow. Have a good weekend.

2

Unclaimed Wages

“Since the Pentagon started blowing up boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean last September, accusing them of being used for drug trafficking, dozens of vessels have been attacked, killing at least 221 people. Washington has not been shy about claiming the strikes, often publishing footage on social media of tiny fishing boats cutting through the water before being obliterated by American munitions.” But they’re not claiming the attacks on Ecuadorian fishermen in the Pacific Ocean. And, to the extent we can believe that, it might make the situation even scarier. NYT (Gift Article): They Spoke English, Wore U.S. Flags and Attacked Fishermen. Who Were They? “’It would be one thing if the U.S. didn’t have an overt maritime strike campaign, but they do, and they’re posting snuff films of boats going up in flames regularly. And that’s what makes this even more squirrelly,’ said Brian Finucane, a former State Department lawyer who specializes in the laws of war. He worked in the Obama and Biden administrations, as well as in the first Trump one. ‘Who are these people that are operating, and under what authority?’ Mr. Finucane asked. ‘And they are using a UPS store as their company address? Come on.’”

3

We Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet

“Resuming a limited bombing campaign didn’t get it done. Neither did making apocalyptic threats to wipe out Iran’s entire civilization. Every time Trump touts a possible breakthrough in negotiations, the hard-liners in Tehran seem to delight in changing their terms and yanking away a possible deal. It’s like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, except this time, the pigskin is the Strait of Hormuz. Nothing has worked. So Trump’s new strategy is to try doing nothing, and see whether that works.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump’s New Strategy of Nothing. “But this new tack will require the president to show patience. Trump is, to say the least, not known for his self-discipline.”

+ The president isn’t the only one required to show patience, and for many in the military, that patience is wearing thin. “Two leading specialist military papers, the Navy Times and the Stars and Stripes, are reporting that there have been multiple attempts by sailors to jump overboard as poor conditions and mental stresses on the Lincoln reach breaking point. The crew is in its ninth month at sea, and has spent 250 days consecutively without making land – a record for an aircraft carrier in modern times.” USS Abraham Lincoln sailors tried to jump overboard amid extended deployment. More from Stars and Stripes.

+ And oil companies aren’t wasting any time adjusting to the new abnormal. That means going around the strait. Gulf Oil Giants Are Spending Billions to Build Ways Around Strait of Hormuz.

4

And Presto, No Testo

“The Trump administration seems to harbor a hulking obsession with testosterone. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once claimed that the president’s testosterone levels are unusually high for a man of his age, and Kennedy is known to take a supplementary dose of the male sex hormone himself. In April, the FDA moved to expand access to testosterone-replacement therapy for greater numbers of men. And last month, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that ‘warfighters’ older than 30 will have their testosterone levels checked annually so that they can stay on the ‘leading edge of lethality.’ The need for expansive testing or for testosterone replacement is questionable, according to several medical experts I spoke with. But underneath the administration’s preoccupation lies a real trend.” Olga Khazan in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Where Has All the Testosterone Gone? (I don’t want to give away the answer, but let’s put it this way. No, I’m not just happy to see you...)

5

Extra, Extra

We Can’t Cater to Everyone’s Needs: “The government has on rare occasions engaged in sleight of hand to safeguard presidents from possible jeopardy, particularly for journeys to hazardous locations, such as when George W. Bush or Barack Obama flew to Iraq during days of war or when Bill Clinton made a brief visit to Pakistan with its history of terrorism. The Trump team’s ruse in Ankara, however, stands out not only for its misdirection but also for the way it shifted the evident peril to others.” What’s the one thing worse than being invited for a ride inside a catering container with Donald Trump? Not being invited. NYT (Gift Article): With Trump Secretly Evacuated, Imperiled Air Force One Became a Flying Decoy.

+ Primary Education: “Democrats remain mixed over what ideological direction the party should take. But across a series of closely watched primaries, they are sending a clearer message about the party’s path forward: They want change.” (That, and maybe some Xanax.) Here are four takeaways from the primaries from NPR and Semafor. And the most predictable headline from this week’s primaries: Mike Lindell refuses to concede in Minnesota primary despite getting far fewer votes.

+ Fits Like a Glove: “Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers may soon be outfitted with gloves that can deliver painful electric shocks intended to gain compliance from combative individuals.” (It’s not exactly like they’ve been using kid gloves so far...)

+ Freedom Fries: France Bans Unsolicited Telemarketing Calls. (It’s only a matter of time before some candidate sends me an unsolicited text about this news.)

+ Cut! David Ellison “says he’s considering moving his studio out of California. Not long ago, he was talking a big game about how a merger with Warner Bros. Discovery would boost the state.” Paramount Has Spent 100 Years in Hollywood. David Ellison Loved That. Until He Didn’t. (People who work for the company? They’re just extras.)

+ Movers and Lakers: “Only 14 months after agreeing to purchase the Lakers at a record-setting $10 billion valuation, Mark Walter is selling the team to Bob Iger, the former Disney CEO, and Joshua Kushner. The deal would value the Lakers at $12.5 billion.”

+ You’re the Special Sauce: “’McDonald’s secret sauce is really commercial surveillance,’ says Jeff Chester, executive director at the Center for Digital Democracy, a group that advocates for consumer protections. Privacy experts I spoke with said this level of detail may feel invasive, but it’s fairly standard for how large companies in the US run their loyalty programs.” Reece Rogers: McDonald’s Built a 515-Page Dossier on Me. It Says I’ll Never Stop Eating There. (Mine has one line about me dipping fries into my milkshake, and the rest was redacted.)

6

Bottom of the News

“Runners have 6.5 hours to complete the race, a cutoff time comparable to some of the major marathons. Besides wine, the course is marked with tables of cheese, croissants, oysters, steak and ice cream. Oh, and every runner wears a costume. This year is ’80s-themed.” Wine, Cheese and 26.2 Miles: What Could Go Wrong?

+ High school football player in Arkansas practices with a venomous snake in his helmet. (Man, I thought my high school football coaches had hard summer sessions...)

2

Crazy AF

In what’s becoming a trend, a story that already seemed weird is turning out to be much weirder. We knew that Trump recently had to abandon his Qatar-gifted jet for the much safer old-school Air Force One during an international trip. But it turns out, even AF1 wasn’t considered safe enough, and we somehow find ourselves at the intersection of catering and dictatoring. Trump Said to Have Secretly Used Military Jet to Leave Turkey Amid Threats. “Instead of flying out aboard that older, powder blue, modified 747, Mr. Trump was whisked off that plane via a catering container that had been lifted to the opposite side of the plane from where the journalists traveling with him boarded, one of the U.S. officials said. The president was then taken to a third plane, which he flew in secret to Britain, the official with knowledge of the matter said. Reporters on the older plane were not told that Mr. Trump had not flown with them from Turkey to an air base in Britain, making them unwitting participants in the ruse and leaving them, along with some White House staff members, to serve as unknowing decoys.” (Unless that catering container was being used for Cheetos, I’m guessing there was a lot of cleanup required.)

3

Operation Warp Reality

“Speaking in the Oval Office before signing the executive order, Mr. Trump said he was motivated in part by concerns over whether vaccines were tied to autism, even though dozens of studies have found no link between the two.” Trump Signs Executive Order Calling for Fewer Childhood Vaccines. “It is unclear whether the order has any legal power. Vaccine recommendations in the United States are made by a committee of experts who advise the C.D.C., and are then adopted by the agency’s director. But only states can require vaccinations for children to enter school or day care.” (So it may not be legal, but it should provide enough misinformation to bring back some infectious diseases, because Trump now believes his own misinformation.)

+ At this point, it’s incredible how normal our news coverage makes absolute insanity seem. Here’s a headline from TNR that puts things more clearly. Trump Nods Off After Claiming Kids Get ‘Soda Bottle’ Worth of Vaccines.

+ WHO defends immunization schedules after Trump orders fewer childhood shots. “What comes out from WHO is science-based.” (Science? We’re not still clinging to mumpsimus nonsense like science, are we?)

4

That’s So Lit

Obama’s meteoric rise up the career ladder continues. Community organizer. Senator. President. And now... podcaster. “Former President Barack Obama has long shared what he is reading with the public. Now, he plans to delve into a collection of books that have influenced him in a new podcast that will debut in September.” Barack Obama to Host Podcast Exploring Influential Books. (I could definitely see Trump doing something lit-focused like this once at some point...)

5

Extra, Extra

The New Abnormal: “The conundrum highlights how the war has unleashed a more antagonistic Iran and left a region that is vital to the world’s energy security with no good option for countering it.” WSJ (Gift Article): Gulf States Accept a New Normal in Hormuz: Iran Is in Control.

+ Slurred Speech: “In several instances documented in court filings, federal agents referred to targets as ‘tonks’ — a derogatory term typically used to refer to Mexican immigrants and intended to echo the sound of agents’ flashlights striking their heads.” NYT(Gift Article): New Evidence Shows Agents Using Slurs, Bolstering Profiling Claims. (Ya think?)

+ The Clime Climb: Congratulations, everyone. The US just sweltered through the warmest month ever recorded. I’m guessing you’re not fooled by the politicians who downplay climate change. I’m sure business owners aren’t. NYT (Gift Article): Heat, Fire, Smoke and Storms Are Wreaking Havoc on the Economy.

+ Assad Excuse for a Human Being: “A Syrian court on Tuesday sentenced ousted President Bashar Assad and his brother in absentia for murder, torture and crimes against humanity committed before and during the country’s 14-year civil war that left about half a million people dead.” Former Syrian President Assad sentenced to death in absentia for war crimes. (Let’s hope he feels homesick soon.)

+ Abuse and Power: “Miller is accused of beating and burning his ex-wife Emily Moreno, fracturing his young daughter’s collarbone, holding her beloved stuffed bunny hostage, and sharing an inappropriate photo of her, among other numerous allegations.” Trump Shut Down Efforts to Get Alleged Abuser to Drop Out of Midterms.

+ Pocket Pool: “White House officials have asked the Justice Department to consider a new prosecution of a man accused of vandalizing the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, according to people familiar with the discussions, as President Trump fumes over U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s decision to drop the case.” WSJ (Gift Article): White House Asks Justice Department to Consider New Reflecting-Pool Prosecution. (I don’t know, maybe spend less time on false prosecutions against imaginary criminals and more time figuring out how to deal with Iran or defending our allies?) As we discussed last week, in a lot of ways, the Reflecting Pool story is a reflection of everything Trump: Dirty Pool.

6

Bottom of the News

“Personal service providers to college students have exploded in the past decade. Laundry, dorm cleaning, moving and meal prep companies target elite schools, where wealthy families will fork over thousands to save their child a few extra hours each week.” The college experience now includes laundry and maid service. Back in my day, we drove home to get our laundry done. Whatever happened to that kind of independence?

2

Strait, Strait, Don’t Tell Me

“Lifting of the U.S. naval blockade and sanctions on Iran, the withdrawal of American forces from around the country, the payment of war reparations, the release of frozen Iranian assets, and the end of attacks on Iran’s allies in the region.” Those are some of the demands being made by Iran in exchange for opening the Strait of Hormuz (which was open before the war started). Iran Insists Strait Will Stay Closed Until U.S. Agrees to Demands. Somehow declaring victory, announcing that a deal is in place, issuing empty threats on social media, and even the liberal use of all-caps haven’t done the trick.

+ “For weeks, President Trump had been laying the groundwork to declare victory in the Iran war should Tehran fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, even floating the idea privately to senior aides that he’s willing to walk away without a nuclear deal.” Now, even that horrendous outcome appears to be in doubt. WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Thought Opening the Strait of Hormuz Was Imminent. Iran Had Other Plans.

+ The deal/victory announcements about Iran weren’t the only premature declarations. Netanyahu Rejects Trump’s Plan for Disarming Hamas.

3

European into the Wind

“American travel has transformed in recent decades. A nation of former homebodies has become one of zealous and moneyed international travelers, infiltrating every cobblestoned corner of Europe and rapidly filling lesser-known destinations. Americans took a record 24 million trips to Europe in 2025. Portugal received nearly five times the number of U.S. visitors last year as it did a decade earlier. Greece took in four times as many.” WSJ(Gift Article): The Rise of the Unstoppable American Tourist.

+ This summer, they’ve been unstoppable, and uncoolable. UK and France prepare for another heat wave as Western Europe sets new temperature record.

4

Chip Off the Old Block

“There may be no more tangible an indicator of when Americans are and are not having a good time than Reddy Ice’s sales figures.” But the ice business is about more than backyard parties. It’s involved in everything from keeping hospitals running to enabling concrete to set properly in warm weather. Texas Monthly with a very interesting look at life on the rocks. Inside the Billion-Dollar Industry That’s Keeping Your Beer Cold—and Saving Lives.

5

Extra, Extra

Columbia Quake: “Colombian President Abelardo de la Espriella — who just took office on Friday — convened an emergency committee to address the damage. The Colombian government has declared a state of national disaster, and rescue soldiers are being deployed to affected areas of the country.” At least 111 are dead following a 7.4 magnitude earthquake in Colombia. Here’s the latest from CNN and The Guardian.

+ In the Red: “During the World Cup soccer final in New Jersey last month, Zach Witkoff, co-founder of President Trump’s cryptocurrency company, took in the action from a luxury suite. Joining him was a man who had made the president, and all the company’s co-founders, much richer. Two years earlier, the man, Guren ‘Bobby’ Zhou, was a failed hardwood flooring retailer in Britain who had come under investigation there for money laundering and presided over the collapse of a small crypto start-up. Then seemingly out of nowhere, he became one of the biggest buyers of tokens from Mr. Trump’s company, World Liberty Financial.” NYT (Gift Article): Trump Crypto Took $100 Million From a Businessman With Red Flags. (Headline also works this way: Businessman Invests $100 Million via Middlemen with Red Flags into a President with Red Flags in an Industry with Red Flags.)

+ Veggie Fails: We interrupt the constant flow of diarrhea stories to bring you the following. Taylor Farms issued a recall for over a dozen items, including salsa and guacamole, over Salmonella risks.

+ Truth or Glare: “DarkSky International, Environment America, the American Bird Conservancy and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility called on the FCC to overturn a decision last month authorizing Reflect Orbital to launch its Earendil-1 demonstration satellite, which will carry a 59-foot-wide mirror to reflect sunlight onto a specific spot on the planet during periods of darkness.” Environmental groups challenge FCC approval of startup’s plan to beam on-demand sunlight from space. (The last thing this administration is going to rule against is a mirror.)

+ You Are the Product: “It’s really just leveraging this incredible AI and software that Palantir has to allow us to move so much faster and to be so much smarter with the data we have today. And…take a lot of the anonymous interactions we have today and turn those into known relationships…The more known relationships we have, the more data we create, the more signals we create, the more actionable intelligence we have.” America’s largest newspaper chain, USA Today Co., partners with Palantir to analyze audience data as search traffic falls.

+ Cohnheads: “Ignore the rules, do what you want to do, don’t leave a paper trail, don’t keep a calendar, never do things in writing, and, if somebody gets onto you, rat out other people to save yourself. Delay, delay, delay, ’cause grand juries have a limited time, and you can run out the clock. And call in the news media. Make up a fantastic story ... And that’ll be the news story. It’ll put the government on the defensive.” Kai Bird and Susan Goldmark in The New Yorker: How Roy Cohn taught Donald Trump Everything.

+ Execution Style: “One of Ferney’s working mottos is, ‘Our job is to execute, not judge.’ Given that she and her business partner are routinely tasked with fulfilling the whims of those who think nothing of laying out $2.25 million for a weeklong yacht rental on the Côte d’Azur (as recently happened), this makes a kind of cockeyed sense.” She Makes the Impossible Happen for Her Ultrarich Clients.

6

Bottom of the News

“A flight from British Columbia to Toronto was canceled on Thursday after a child would not sit down and buckle a seatbelt before takeoff, the airline said.” Flight Is Canceled After a Child Refuses to Be Seated. (Bookmark this one, folks. This kid will be president someday...)

+ “It was initially feared the abandoned luggage, which was found by members of the public on Sunday afternoon at Oallen, about 60 kilometres south-east of Goulburn, contained a woman’s remains.” It turned out to be a sex doll. (A reader sent this is from Australia because it seemed like a story I’d like. There’s nothing quite like having someone on the other side of the world see a story about a dead sex doll and say, “Hey, this made me think of you...”)

2

AI Goes Viral

Here’s one lead paragraph that defines the promise and peril of AI — and confirms yet again why we need a lot more regulations and guardrails than we’re gonna get. “For the first time, scientists have used artificial intelligence to create new kinds of viruses, raising hopes for medical advances while also raising the disturbing possibility that the technology could someday be used to invent dangerous pathogens.” Carl Zimmer in the NYT (Gift Article): This A.I. Just Created Viruses Not Found in Nature.

3

Mike Drop

The SF Giants have lost a lot this season, but no loss will be felt like this one. Mike Krukow provided the background soundtrack to our lives. He called the games, but he also called us — providing color commentary on the fans that was every bit as important and enjoyable as the details about what was happening on the field. Even if you don’t know who Krukow is or you’re not a baseball fan, you’ll be able to relate to our impending feeling of loss. The excellent Grant Brisbee on an era-ending announcement that reverberated around an entire region. Mike Krukow’s retirement is going to take a long time for Giants fans to process. “Krukow is, of course, more of a regional treasure than an international one, but he is still in that invitation-only class of the universally beloved. The common connection and through line ... is that they radiate joy with everything they do. They somehow found exactly what they wanted to do on this planet and, guess what, it’s exactly what we want them to be doing. It becomes a positive feedback loop that never ends, and there’s never a downside, never a hidden cost. All they put out into the world is something that makes your life better, and in return, all they ask is for the ability to keep doing it. They should get a pass from the physical realities of the world ... They do not get a pass from the physical realities of the world.”

4

Weekend Whats

What to Book: Publishers Weekly wrote of Ann Patchett’s latest novel, Whistler, “Like many of Patchett’s works, this beautiful and generous novel feels effortless, never straining for effect.” Reading it feels effortless as well. Such smooth writing. Great stuff.

+ What to Noodle: It’s not the engineering marvel that is bucatini, nor does it have the seasonal flair of racchette, but DeCecco’s Squared Spaghetti no. 413 is a pasta shape that will make you a dinner party star.

+ What to Stream: My wife and I took our kids to their first Outside Lands Music Festival. Now they go with their friends, and we’re not allowed to attend because of the very real risk of us (ok, me) cramping their style. But it’s a win-win, because I prefer outdoor music festivals when they’re streamed to my living room. Watch Outside Lands on Prime.

5

Extra, Extra

Meanwhile, Back at the Blanche: “Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican of Louisiana, said on Friday that he would support Todd Blanche’s nomination as attorney general, effectively saving the confirmation of President Trump’s pick after two other Republican senators said they would oppose him.” Surprise, surprise...

+ E-War: “They used to call this kind of thing a war crime. But somewhat suddenly, it has become a nearly universal feature of 21st-century conflict.” Until recently, attacking civilian energy infrastructure was unacceptable. The dynamics of modern war have changed that.

+ Tourist Trap: “On Thursday, the president signed two executive orders, this time taking a more narrow focus on so-called ‘birth tourism.’” (If he keeps flouting the courts and the constitution, we may not have any tourism at all.) Trump signs new orders targeting birthright citizenship, weeks after SCOTUS ruling.

+ Cam Slam: “Officers for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will be equipped with much-delayed body cameras by the end of next month, it was reported on Friday. But experts have questioned the transparency of a policy that allows the ICE director to restrict the public release of footage unless ‘it is in the best interests of the agency.’”

+ Betting Your Life: “Billions of dollars are traded every week on the lightly regulated prediction market sites, where users bet on everything from movie reviews to elections to conflicts in the Middle East. Clinical trials are just the latest area where the industry’s rapid growth is raising ethical questions.” Kalshi and Polymarket bets on clinical trials criticized as ghastly. (They’re also a sign that the prediction players are looking to challenge the stock market, where people essentially place bets on clinical trials every day.)

+ Shit Happens: “Zendaya’s angelic strapless gown with feathered white wings was the work of Matières Fécales — yes, in English, Fecal Matter — the Paris-based, high-end fashion house founded in Montreal over a decade ago that’s, seemingly suddenly, everywhere.” Talk about the perfect attire for the moment. Why celebrities from Zendaya to Kylie Jenner are wearing Fecal Matter.

6

Feel Good Friday

“It took about 30 seconds after regular play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke introduced him for Kalb to settle in.” A retiree won an auction to join the Phillies’ radio booth — and crushed it.

+ Plug-In Solar Panels Are Starting to Sprout in U.S. Backyards.

+ Virginia teens at golf tryouts rescue family from drowning and then make squad.

+ This high schooler invented a plant-based plastic that removes microplastics from the environment as it biodegrades.

+ “Mom Leah Farrow posted on Facebook about her son Soren, who has autism, and how much he loves trick-or-treating, asking if anyone would be open to volunteering to offer Soren the chance to trick-or-treat at their home in the middle of summer. To her surprise, 83 families answered the call.”

+ “DuckDuckGo, the free, independent web browser with the quaint logo of a waterfowl wearing a bow tie, just took a swing at big tech through a satirical stunt marketing campaign directly targeting AI-powered smart glasses. Last week, the company announced the release of its state-of-the-art ‘anti-surveillance sunglasses’ — also known as, well, ‘Normal F***ing Sunglasses.’”

+ Maybe I should have told you at the outset just to skip all the news and get right into these photos of dogs surfing.

2

Jumpin’ Jack Newsflash: It’s a Gas, Gas, Gas

There’s something in the air. And there’s going to be a lot more of it if you live in the vicinity of one of the many natural gas-powered AI data centers being built (often without public input). “If built as planned, the gas burning plants — scattered across states including Texas, Ohio and Wyoming — could release as much planet-warming pollution in a year as roughly half of all the passenger vehicles in the United States, according to estimates based on permits, regulatory filings and other data compiled by the Environmental Integrity Project. They would also produce harmful pollutants including particulate matter, formaldehyde and smog-forming nitrogen oxides that can contribute to heart disease, asthma, lung cancer, strokes and other ailments in people living nearby.” NYT (Gift Article): Trump’s Vision for A.I. Dominance Comes With Major Air Pollution.

+ “Data centers like Stargate, along with their accompanying power plants, are proliferating across the country, helping to satisfy an immense demand for artificial intelligence. And despite lofty promises to fuel data centers with renewable energy, data shows AI companies are mostly relying on gas to satisfy their insatiable energy demands. Nationwide, nearly 60 data centers are planning to build their own gas plants to avoid connecting to the grid.” The Texas Tribune: Planned Texas data centers could emit more greenhouse gases than many countries.

3

Taking the Fifth Away

“Thursday’s vote was along party lines, and came after Fauci refused to answer lawmakers’ questions in a hearing last week about the government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, citing his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.” Senate Homeland Security committee votes to hold Fauci in contempt of Congress. They’ve ignored the rest of the Constitution. Why not the Fifth Amendement...

4

Maltese Dodge

From Malta to Yalta, watch my tax returns alta... From the NYT(Gift Article): How Malta Became a Tax Haven for Crocs and Other U.S. Companies. “Consider Crocs. One of the world’s most profitable shoemakers sells its signature chunky clogs to 150 million customers across 100 countries annually. Yet, come tax season, the Broomfield, Colo., company has claimed that all its global profits were actually earned in this two-person office. Welcome to Malta. The tiniest country in the European Union, with roughly the population of Milwaukee, it is home to turquoise water beaches and a raging nightclub scene. It is also the world’s hot new corporate tax haven.” (For those not in a position to appoint an attorney general, this is one way to lower a tax bill.)

5

Extra, Extra

One Flu Over the Cuckoos’s Nest: “The approval of the vaccine, called mFLUSIVA, which is manufactured by Moderna, follows a series of blows to mRNA research directed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including the cancellation of 22 projects meant to develop vaccines with mRNA technology.” FDA Approves Moderna’s mRNA Flu Vaccine.

+ Rare Conditioning: “The recurring power outages combined with the stifling heat have created collective insomnia on the island as residents struggle to get through the night. While some like Ríos García have slept on the boulevard, others struggle to get some rest on balconies and front porches. The day of the latest blackout on Sunday, the temperature hit 93 degrees Fahrenheit (34 Celsius), but ended up feeling like 106 F when combined with the Caribbean’s 80% humidity levels.” Cubans sleep on seaside boardwalk to seek relief from crippling blackouts.

+ FCC No Evil: “The change, if not stopped by courts, will make it easier for Carr to allow broadcast mergers that result in more favorable news coverage for President Trump. Carr has consistently threatened to revoke licenses from broadcasters who have drawn Trump’s ire, including by ordering an early license review of all ABC-owned stations.” FCC kills TV ownership cap, claiming authority over limit set by Congress.

+ Alphabet Order: “In the AI industry, Google prides itself on seeming like the adult in the room: quiet, stable, time-tested. On Wednesday, even as the company announced its largest AI org shakeup yet, Google and its leaders presented a unified front, keeping their messaging focused on how the changes tee up future success. But the reality is that the laundry list of executive changes likely signal deeper issues within Google’s AI organization.” The Verge on the messy politics behind Google’s big AI shakeup.

+ Trade Association: “Surging retail trading isn’t just transforming markets; it’s also highly correlated with demoralization in young men, according to a new study.” Some 64% of Young Men Day Trading Stocks Feel Like Failures. “The findings were strikingly similar to outcomes among men who gamble.”

+ Offline Retaylor: “Just a month before Taylor Fresh Foods began grappling with a sweeping multi-state lettuce recall, the Salinas-based company filed a civil lawsuit against one of its former presidents and his wife, accusing the couple of a yearslong, $32 million embezzlement operation.” These folks spent a lot of lettuce.

+ The Ultimate Jiving Machine: “Starting last week, BMW started blasting a promotion for the new Spider-Man movie into its customers’ cars without warning — because nothing says riding in luxury like a full-vehicle pop-up ad.”

6

Bottom of the News

A physicist rigged his pet hamster’s wheel to upload to Strava. It runs surprisingly far every night. (I tried this with my beagles and my Strava ranking actually went down...)

For most of us, the major concerns about AI and the rise of autonomous machines consist of ChatGPT replacing our jobs or a malfunctioning Waymo creating a traffic jam. The issue was a little more pressing this week for a Ukrainian named Yuri, who runs a vegetable stall in Kherson. He heard a buzzing sound and looked up to find he was being followed by a drone. He pointed to his vegetables to let someone (assuming there was anyone) on the other side of the drone know he wasn’t a combatant. “The drone kept following him. Police footage shows it chasing Yuri around his truck. He hides under the umbrella that covers the stand, runs from one side to the other, gestures at the vegetables. Then the drone dives beside him and explodes. Miraculously, Yuri survived, with just cuts and a concussion. [But] the experience of being chased by a murderous kamikaze drone, a flying machine that behaves as if it were alive, is not one that humans are equipped to understand. Premodern fanatics used to hallucinate flying devils. But few modern civilians have been chased by mechanized flying objects. Unless they live in or around Kherson.” Nothing can prey on one’s mind like being prey. Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic(Gift Article): Putin’s Human Safari Is the Dystopian Future of War. (It could also be the future of border patrol, law enforcement, criminal activity, and more, depending on what humans decide now, and the machines decide later.) “Drones with capabilities like the ones that hit Yuri originally offered a humanitarian advantage, allowing their operators to avoid civilian casualties. Because they have cameras, the remote operator can see whether the target is really a soldier or military object, and call off the drone if it is not. But as with all technologies, the purpose can be radically altered by the users. Instead of avoiding civilians, Russian operators can now target them, as if playing a video game.”

+ “During testing by a U.K. government-backed research group, OpenAI and Anthropic systems took unsanctioned actions and behaved deceptively.” AI Just Went Rogue Again. This Time It Turned to Deception. (Let’s hope it has a soft spot for vegetable salesmen...)

2

The Housecall is Coming From Inside the House

Caring for an older relative in the home can be a challenge under any circumstances. Even more so when you have algebra homework that’s due. It turns out that children caring for the ill is very common in the United States, and it’s becoming even more common given demographic shifts and the state of the health care industry. “Members of the baby boom generation are aging into the years when they are likely to need daily assistance at home, while increased housing costs are packing more families into multigenerational homes. The health care system is adding to these pressures. Financial incentives are shortening hospital stays, and services that used to be provided on the wards are left to those at home.” NYT Mag (Gift Article): The U.S. Relies on Family Caregivers. Millions of Them Are Kids.

3

Altman’d States

Sam Altman shared a parenting idea on social media the other day. “cool use case of chatgpt work i heard last night: connect your family calendars and explain your kids’ interests. every morning for the drive to school, have it make a podcast that talks about one kid’s soccer game that afternoon, one kid’s upcoming birthday, some news, etc.” Most of the responses were like the one from TV creator Alex Hirsch, who asked: “What if you just talked to your children?” My son was born around the same time as the iPhone and thus has never had my full attention, so I’m hardly one to judge one’s parenting in the tech age. But this exchange points to something else: Just how bad many AI executives are at marketing their own products. And just how differently they view the world than the rest of us.

+ That won’t slow them down, however. AI-powered Alpha Schools expands to 50 campuses. (I need to figure out a way to code a podcast that can tell me what my kids think of this.)

4

Allergic Subtraction

“Matt Walker couldn’t pet a dog without sneezing — until he and other scientists used a gene editing technique to produce a hypoallergenic beagle named Bailey. Now, he can feed Bailey spoons of peanut butter while she lies on his lap and play fetch with her in Central Park. His allergies didn’t go away: Bailey’s saliva and hair no longer contain a key allergy-causing protein.” Gene-edited beagles may offer a future option for people with dog allergies. (My beagles are named Pumpernickel and Rye, so the only allergy they trigger is gluten.)

+ Somehow, this event took place sans gene editing. Scenes From the 2026 Dog Surfing Championships.

5

Extra, Extra

To The Left, To The Left: “Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a progressive former public health official, won a razor-thin victory in the Democratic primary for Senate in Michigan that serves as the most significant triumph for his party’s left wing this year.” The Left Wins a Nail-Biter in Michigan: 8 Takeaways From Tuesday’s Primaries.

+ Waterways and Means: “By asserting authority over a critical waterway for global crude-oil flows, Tehran is betting that its ability to inflict pain on the American economy is its best leverage to avoid future military action from the U.S. and Israel. With gasoline prices and inflation elevated, Tehran believes Trump will ultimately accept its terms ahead of fast-approaching midterm elections that could determine the future of his presidency.” WSJ (Gift Article): Iran Is Staking Everything on Controlling the Strait of Hormuz. And from Reuters: Proposed Hormuz deal would give Iran control of inbound traffic.

+ Stirring Crazy: “The war in Iran, however, has shown that Trump’s inability to perceive reality has become truly dangerous. He led the United States into a disastrous conflict because he thought his ‘gut’ was smarter than the advisers who warned him that deposing Iran’s regime was unlikely. He continues to mislead the American people, and perhaps himself, about America’s strategic defeat at the hands of one of its worst enemies. The world economy and the balance of power have been changed, perhaps for many decades to come, because Trump cannot draw links between cause and effect; he does not understand that his actions and the failures that follow are somehow related to each other.” Tom Nichols in The Atlantic(Gift Article) with a message that seems self-evident, but bears repeating. Trump’s Irrationality Is Dangerous.

+ Dis Service: “Trump’s immigration crackdown has detained more than 50 military spouses and parents.” (Feel safer?)

+ Miner Details: “Respiratory therapist Marcy Freeman doesn’t need a research study to confirm for her a return to the dark days of coal mining. She finds evidence in a stack of more than 150 funeral programs.” Black lung rates in Appalachia are as high as the 1970s.

+ The Clark of History: For many of us, sports is an escape, the last refuge from the onslaught of political news. Not so for Caitlyn Clark. Caitlin Clark just wants to shut up and dribble.

+ The Spark of History: “The county’s fire department said the blaze, which killed 19 people and destroyed more than 9,400 buildings, was started by electrical sparks coming off the tower, according to a joint investigation by the department and Cal Fire, the state’s firefighting agency. The tower was out of service at the time.” Officials Say They’ve Found the Cause of a Fire That Devastated L.A.

+ The Humanity of Animals: NYT (Gift Article): Dolphin Carries Dead Calf in What Experts Call Grieving. (I don’t think one needs to be an expert to call it that.)

+ Flipping the Berg: Oh nothing. Just a Massive Iceberg Collapsing and Flipping Over in Ilulissat, Greenland.

6

Bottom of the News

“’When you start eating healthy, you don’t need toilet paper,’ he claimed. ‘Animals in the wild have no residual stool on their anus.’ He described a proper bowel movement to me this way: odorless, wipe-free, over in three to seven seconds and ‘nearly orgasmic ... I could have a bowel movement behind a sheet at a dinner party in the corner of the room,’ he said, ‘and nobody would know.’” A reporter gets some dietary advice from the guy who gives it to several members of the Trump cabinet. (If this interview was his way of not getting invited to dinner parties, I’m guessing it will work.) The Most Powerful Men in America Are Eating Only Steak and Sauerkraut. Could I?

2

I Want A Turn

“The Democratic Party’s problems remain very real, but for the moment, Trump and the GOP have more serious ones. The most glaring one is Trump’s deep personal unpopularity. In the current polarized and dyspeptic political environment, all presidents seem to be unpopular, but Trump is in a different league. A CNN poll released last week measured Trump at 34 percent support, matching the low he reached in that poll following the January 6 insurrection. Still, that was better than his showing in the AP-NORC survey, which found his approval at 33 percent, just one point above a 2017 low. Quinnipiac University found Trump at 32 percent, the lowest ever in that poll.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Americans Are Turning on Trump.

+ Those are the challenges Trump faces at home. There are other ones abroad. WaPo (Gift Article): Trump keeps making threats. The world has stopped flinching. “The flabbergasting threats keep piling up — to weaponize trade, annex Canada, seize Greenland, abandon NATO, annihilate Iran — but the alarm bells have gone quiet.”

+ But don’t be fooled. Trump’s support is still ironclad among one very important constituency. Elected GOP officials. They still seem willing to back just about anything Trump wants — from a failing war with no strategy to this: Todd Blanche advances toward confirmation.

+ “This is the same Justice Department that has made so many misrepresentations and false statements in court over the last year and a half that judges are openly questioning whether its lawyers can be trusted. Despite all of that, Todd Blanche’s word is good enough for the senator whom Trump all but ousted by endorsing his Republican primary opponent.” Joyce Vance: The $1.776b Slush Fund Isn’t As Dead as Senators Cornyn and Tillis Seem to Be Willing to Believe. We know the deal is a joke. And we knew they’d agree to it anyway. As I wrote yesterday, the writing was on the wall, as surely as the seashells were arranged on the beach.

+ Aside from weaponization and the enablement of Trump’s lawlessness, what can we expect from Blanche’s tenure? For one thing... Blanche Privately Vows to Take Down Abortion Rights Next. “We don’t have complete victory yet, but we will have victory, and victory will be soon, and it will be permanent. If states have said, ‘We are going to protect the unborn and we’re going to protect every life from the moment of conception,’ we’re putting practices and policies in place so that other states and other organizations can’t attack that. They can’t do things like they’re doing with mailing in mail-order drugs.”

3

Can I Make Your Garden Grow?

Ever feel like you get treated like dirt in life? Well, now you can have the same experience in death. Maryland is now the nation’s capital of human composting. “Human composting is a roughly month-long process that turns humans into nutrient rich dirt using bacteria, fungi and mulch. In the end, about three hundred pounds of soil is left over. Bones are pulverized and added to the soil and then some or all of it is given back to the family or placed in land conservation projects to help plants grow.” (I knew I’d eventually develop a green thumb.)

4

Endless Watch

“Nestled off a short dirt road in the Adirondack Mountains, just beyond the reach of cellular service, lies Trout Lake. Overlooking the water is a cabin owned by 48-year-old Hollywood stuntman Tom Place, something of a local legend, known more in this small Upstate New York community for his weekend recreational activities than his formidable IMDb credits he’s racked up as a Hollywood stuntman. Because for many years now, Place has been routinely diving beneath the lake’s surface in search of something he lost more than three decades ago: his Rolex Submariner.” GQ: His Rolex Submariner Fell Into a Lake 30 Years Ago. He’s Still Diving for It.

+ Might be time from Tom to re-watch this classic scene from Midnight Run.

5

Extra, Extra

Our Own Worst Enemy? “The dramatic rundown in precision, long-range missiles means U.S. President Donald Trump may have to rely more on riskier, piloted bombing missions if he relaunches large-scale attacks on Iran.” There are a lot of reasons for Trump to want to halt the Iran war. This is one of them. US has used ‘virtually all’ of its long-range precision missiles during Iran war, sources say. Meanwhile, “Iran and Oman have made progress toward a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a potential breakthrough that could help end the war in the Middle East.” Here’s the latest from The Guardian.

+ Worse for Wear: “Her driver had already pleaded guilty in criminal court to raping her vaginally, anally and orally while she was unconscious during a ride in Tampa one night in 2021. He was in prison, serving a 10-year sentence ... [Now] Uber’s lawyer Taylor Silverberg zeroed in on Ms. Doe’s behavior on the night she was raped. Ms. Silverberg asked Ms. Doe exactly how much Tito’s vodka she had drunk, how many milligrams of Adderall she had taken and whether she had ‘felt regret’ about mixing the two. And she asked Ms. Doe what she had been wearing. ‘Can you describe the dress?’ Ms. Silverberg said. ‘Were you wearing heels or boots or flats?’” NYT (Gift Article): Uber’s Strategy for Fighting Sexual Assault Suits: ‘What Were You Wearing?’

+ Antisocial Media: “To unmask anonymous online critics, DHS has sent hundreds of subpoenas to social-media companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Its agents have tracked down Americans at work and on the road, asking them to sign letters acknowledging their online speech about ICE ‘may’ be a crime.” WSJ (Gift Article): How ICE Is Weaponizing Social Media Against Its Critics.

+ Strait Up Profiteering: “Chevron reported its highest ever quarterly profit of $12.2bn, a fivefold increase on the same period last year. ExxonMobil reported a profit of $14.5bn in the second quarter, double what it made in the same period a year ago and its highest quarterly profit since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.” Oil companies are making so much money during the Iran war, even Trump is complaining about it.

+ You May Have Already Qualified: “As the number of high school seniors declines, more schools are shifting tactics and moving away from an ivory tower mentality to navigate the demographic cliff.” It’s not just about easing the admission process. It’s about admitting people before they even apply. Bloomberg (Gift Article): You’re In: Private Colleges Admit More Students Who Didn’t Apply.

+ A Goliath Named David: I’m against the Paramount/Warner merger. David Ellison in the NYT (Gift Article) makes his case, saying none of this is about market share. “The issue is whether I can be trusted as a steward of Warner’s CNN.” OK, then I’m really, really against the Paramount/Warner merger...

+ All Roads Lead to Country: “For the first time in history, country songs are claiming all five of the top five slots on the Hot 100.”

6

Bottom of the News

Think our politics are weird? “When 102 senators were sworn in for Colombia’s latest parliamentary session, they included 32 women, 69 men – and one cartoon elephant.”

+ A man who spent 550 Euros on a huge tattoo declaring England as World Cup 2026 winners has returned to the parlor to add the phrase ‘just joking!’ (Too bad we can’t just add that phrase to all of 2026.)

2

Intrude Awakening

We need to talk about the invasion into Ceuta. Not the one made up of migrants. The one made up of far right politicians looking to capitalize on the events of last week. Far-Right Leaders Descend on Ceuta, Angering Residents. One has to wonder what the connection is between the far right movement (from Europe to the US) and the events in the Spanish territory that seemed to fit so perfectly into their narrative. As Anne Applebaum explains in The Atlantic (Gift Article): We’ve seen this before. “So closely did this incident resemble the ‘invasion’ that MAGA and its European friends have long said is under way that it was hard not to suspect that it had been orchestrated ... Surprised by the unprecedented numbers and perhaps fearing hundreds would drown—in the end, at least 70 people died in the water, including some children—the Spanish police let them land on the beach. This is when the photographs and videos began to circulate. Among those promoting them were senior members of the Trump administration, and senior leaders of the European far right ... It remains unclear who created the viral posts that encouraged the would-be migrants to believe that they could get to Europe from Ceuta. But those who want to weaken the Spanish government, boost the European far right, and create turmoil inside the EU lost little time in promoting the photographs as soon as they arrived.”

+ Even if we’ve seen this kind of messaging before, it’s being received more enthusiastically and by more people than it has in decades. NYT (Gift Article): Europe’s Far Right, Once Marginal, Now Sets Tone on Spain Migrant Crisis.

3

B Best

Phillips Payson O’Brien, professor of strategic studies at the University of St Andrews, in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Why Is the U.S. Running So Low on Weapons? “The munitions shortfall doesn’t just affect the current war. It also sends a worrisome message to allies around the world: The United States has been caught off guard by the latest evolution of warfare and lacks the armaments-production capacity to adapt quickly. Suddenly, relying on American military technology looks far less reliable as a security strategy than it did before President Trump went to war with Iran. And in the long run, governments that counted on the United States to equip their military are going to need a Plan B.”

+ Our allies need a Plan B. Our enemy already found one. “Iran’s leadership believes it has found the world’s Achilles’ heel. With the help of regional militia allies, Tehran spent the past week underscoring its ability to threaten several of the world’s most critical energy facilities and waterways.” For Iran, Trump’s Reversal on Escalation Shows Who Has the Upper Hand.

+ Iran says it is in talks with Oman but not the US after Trump says negotiations to resume.

4

Tossed Salad

“Larry Cox and his two sons run Coastline Family Farms, which supplies leafy greens to some of the country’s biggest restaurant chains and grocery stores. But this week, in the region known as America’s Salad Bowl, around 300,000 pounds of his romaine hearts were chopped and plowed back into the soil.” No produce grown in the US has been linked to cyclospora, but from farms to restaurants, the salad days have been tossed. WSJ (Gift Article): California Lettuce Growers Skip Harvest, Plow Their Crops Back Into the Ground.

+ And things could get worse. Michigan reports 2 deaths in cyclosporiasis outbreak.

5

Extra, Extra

Our Own Worst Enemy? “For the moment, China’s rulers have avoided overtly antagonizing America, because they believe that, even in decline, it remains uniquely dangerous. After Trump’s interventions in Venezuela and Iran, and his threats to Canada and Greenland, the Beijing Daily, a Communist Party mouthpiece, wrote that the U.S. was ‘dragging the world back to a dark age of plunder and division through superior military might.’ But that bluster obscures a colder calculation: Chinese leaders believe that Trump’s struggle to dominate the world is actually aiding China.” Evan Osnos in The New Yorker: The Future, Made in China.

+ A Flock of Shit: “Bakely, 50, began to feel like she was constantly being watched. She says she installed three cameras around her home and on her patio, to see if he was staking out her cul-de-sac. She bought a hidden-camera detector and nervously waved it down every wall. Three times, in desperation, she says she drove her Kia to a mechanic’s shop, asking them to scan for trackers on her car.” How rogue officers turned a nationwide camera network into a tool for stalking. Plus, A Texas deputy searched 83,000 flock cameras to track down a woman who had an abortion. And, Flock cameras are getting mobbed.

+ Shallow End of the Gene Pool: “President Donald Trump on Saturday sharply criticized U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s assessment that damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was the result of shoddy construction and not the work of vandals, as he claims.” Pirro told the truth. Her days are numbered.

+ Snapped: “Even before the most drastic changes take effect, more than 4 million people are estimated to have already lost the critical food aid between last July and April — many of whom are children.” NPR: Over 4 million people are no longer receiving food aid amid sweeping changes to SNAP. Meanwhile, on the other end of the food chain... Trump Media’s paid data feed giving Wall Street faster access to Trump’s posts is now live.

+ Dear Gianni Letter: “FIFA is not moving forward with a controversial plan to allow private investors to purchase a stake in the World Cup, according to a statement from FIFA president Gianni Infantino.” (The blood is in the water in one of the world’s most cutthroat organizations. Seems highly likely that Infantino loses his job along with this debate.)

+ Screen Shots: “A powerful one-two punch from ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ and ‘The Odyssey’ has fueled the biggest collective weekend in box office history.”

+ Rolling With the Oldies: “Curmudgeonly roadblocks or the last beacons of sanity? These car owners disable alarms and reconfigure dashboards in search of low-tech bliss.” These Drivers Are Taking Extreme Measures to Avoid New Car Technology. (I’ll keep the new tech. But bring back the knobs!)

6

Bottom of the News

“Steven Clark had the unpleasant task of firing a 24-year-old—twice. Once was in a brief conversation with the new hire, who’d showed up late or not at all four times in his first week at a construction job. Then Clark had to do it all over again, this time with the guy’s mother.” Helicopter parents are co-piloting their adult children’s careers. “More parents are calling up hiring managers, applying for jobs on their adult child’s behalf, and even showing up—or lurking just off-screen—on Zoom calls to help navigate difficult conversations or go over benefits packages.” (I’ve told my kids that if they want to spend hours a day on a newsletter with no business model, they’ve got to achieve that on their own.)

+ “Left behind were 150 3,000-gallon tanks filled with, unfortunately, fish sauce. Those vats have now been sitting at the plant for more than 20 years, their contents fermenting. And fish sauce does not start to smell better with time.” A Canadian Town Will No Longer Reek of Fish Sauce.

2

Crossing the Rubicon

“An estimated 50,000 to 60,000 migrants entered a small Spanish territory alongside Morocco on Thursday and Friday, according to Spanish authorities. Although at least 48,300 had returned to Morocco by Friday afternoon, the mass crossing prompted an immediate backlash from far-right politicians in Europe that seemed poised to linger. Scenes of chaos in Ceuta (pronounced say-YOU-tah), the North African exclave that Spain has held for centuries, splashed across news networks and social media. Juan Jesús Vivas, the head of Ceuta’s government, said that nearly three dozen migrants had died in attempting the crossing and called the situation ‘absolutely unsustainable’ in a territory with about 83,000 residents.” This was a crazy scene with crazy photos and videos. And the political impact might be even crazier.

3

Prolonged Collection

“Almost every night in the White House, President Trump calls his fundraiser, Meredith O’Rourke, for an update. Trump asks O’Rourke which companies and donors have cut checks and which haven’t, and for how much. He often asks her to make much larger financial requests than she was planning—for some donors the ask is $5 million, for others it is $50 million ... In turn, Trump has called her the ‘princess of darkness’ because she is such a ‘killer’ with donors, according to people who have heard his comments.” WSJ (Gift Article): ‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation.

+ And how are corporations reacting to this new form of purely transactional governance? They’re racing to take advantage of it. NYT (Gift Article): Companies Rush to Close Daring Deals Under Trump.

4

Weekend Whats

What to Watch: “Furious on Hulu follows an FBI agent, Alice Black (Emmy Rossum) on the hunt for a mysterious and calculating female serial killer. Both walk their paths toward justice, and as their lives start to intertwine, the line between right and wrong begins to blur.” (In a Dexter sort of way.)

+ What to Hear: Stephen Wilson Jr’s guitar playing and singing reached a new audience when his cover of Stand By Me went viral. Here he is describing and singing his own song, Gary, on the Howard Stern show. If you have Sirius, definitely listen to the whole interview. Here’s more of Wilson Jr Spotify.

+ What to Doc: On HBO Max, check out Live Aid: When Rock ‘n’ Roll Took On the World. It will remind you of the music and the moment, and of a time when political leaders around the world were pushed to do something good.

5

Extra, Extra

Unclosed Deal? Trump announced that under a Board of Peace deal, Hamas would completely disarm and Israel would pull out of Gaza. He might be a little ahead of the participants in the deal (I know, shocker). Trump’s Gaza Deal Sparks Questions on Whether Israel, Hamas Will Comply.

+ There’s Something Contrary About Larry: “His big bet on A.I. was built on an astronomical amount of debt in every imaginable form — bonds, letters of credit, asset-backed securities — available in seemingly unlimited quantities, because the more you spent building A.I. infrastructure, the more you would earn, or so the logic went. Computer theorists called it the scaling hypothesis. It held that advancements in A.I. were directly tied to the generation of unprecedented amounts of computing power to process unprecedented volumes of data ... But lately, some investors and analysts have started questioning the scaling hypothesis or at least asking if all this spending is sustainable.” NYT Mag (Gift Article) with a solid weekend read: Larry Ellison Bet It All on the A.I. Boom. Will He Be the Face of the A.I. Bubble?

+ Using Your Outside Voice: “Some Trump Administration officials now seem to recognize that the silencing of V.O.A. has left the country with a diminished capacity to push back against other countries’ disinformation efforts.” Yet again, the administration is learning it needs a lot of stuff it broke. But, whether we like it or not, there’s only one voice of America these days. Marc Fisher in The New Yorker: How Donald Trump Silenced the Voice of America.

+ Electoral Collage: One of the goals of all the 2020 election denial and invented threats to our voting systems is to weaken the faith Americans have in our elections. And it’s working. Two in three Americans are concerned about political leaders pressuring election officials to change election outcomes.

+ Gamble On: “New York sued Kalshi on Friday, alleging its prediction market is nothing more than illegal, unlicensed gambling.” New York is right, but the feds are doing everything they can to protect the prediction markets.

+ Deadly Climb: “Rescuers had said earlier on Friday that four bodies had been found and efforts were underway to retrieve them despite the harsh weather.” World-renowned climber Nirmal Purja among 11 struck by avalanche on Pakistan mountain.

+ Nomo Romo: CBS Sports has placed NFL analyst Tony Romo on leave following his arrest last week on suspicion of driving under the influence.

+ Protein Age Wasteland: You just KNEW this was coming. The protein craze may not be for everyone. “Excess protein might speed aging in sedentary people, a new review suggests.”

6

Bottom of the News

“A Montana man walked 10 miles to safety with a trekking pole speared through his torso after a fall during a hiking expedition on the state’s highest mountain ... One of his friends walked behind Cifaldi to make sure he was steady on the rugged terrain back down while the other walked ahead to warn oncoming hikers. ‘There’s families, and he … had us hike ahead and warn people so young kids didn’t have to see such a gnarly wound.’”

+ He Was Wearing a Spider-Man Suit. A Man in a Wheelchair Needed Help.

+ “Ryder somehow maintained his grip even as the waves tossed him and the boy around – and eventually a fellow lifeguard was able to join him and assist in bringing the child safely back to shore.” ‘I’m super proud of him’: father of teen lifeguard recounts dramatic ocean rescue.

+ Taylor Sheridan alert: Boy, 14, Rescues Drowning Man with Rodeo Lasso during family camping trip in Montana.

+ Matt Damon’s Biceps in That ‘Odyssey’ Fight Scene? They’re Hers.

2

Quit Claims

“These mechanics are not incidental. In the games that employ them, they are designed to maximize engagement. And they’re nearly identical to the variable-reward loops that slot machines and sports-betting apps use in games for adults and that research has shown to be particularly addictive. Games that look like simple fun, according to addiction experts I spoke with while reporting this article, may be normalizing behaviors that could lead to serious consequences down the road.” Some games are turning into a feeder industry for the sports betting and prediction markets that are waiting for (and marketing to) your kids. The Atlantic (Gift Articles): Why Kids Can’t Quit Roblox. (This is all part of the same story that explains why prediction markets are so dangerous. They combine the most powerful lessons learned from social media, gaming, and gambling into one product intended to hook you like nothing before.)

3

Attorney Generalized Anxiety

“President Trump said on Thursday he may withdraw his nomination of Todd Blanche as attorney general, which was on hold after Republicans, lacking the necessary support, postponed a critical committee vote. Mr. Trump said he could nominate him again after two lame-duck Republican holdouts, who were concerned over a deal he cut to settle Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the I.R.S., leave office next year.” Blanche, formerly (and pretty much currently) Mr. Trump’s personal attorney has soiled the Justice Department, weaponized the law against Trump’s perceived enemies (including the insane Comey 86-47 seashell case), betrayed Epstein survivors, negotiated a sweet prison transfer for Ghislaine Maxwell, targeted liberal-minded nonprofits, spearheaded the $1.8 billion slush fund, and otherwise undermined the rule of law that is currently hanging on by a thread. Yet, he’s only a couple still open for negotiation votes from being confirmed. And it’s worth noting that the GOP holdouts almost always fold, and the worst-case scenario almost always wins out. In the meantime, Blanche will probably remain in his role as acting attorney general.

+ Meanwhile, payouts to Trump allies continue, and another lawyer who represented Trump has been appointed U.S. Attorney in Manhattan.

4

The Tony Award

During yesterday’s embarrassing hearings, Senator Bernie Moreno asked Fauci, “Who the f-ck did you think you were?” I look forward to Moreno asking the same question of the president since Trump gave Fauci a presidential commendationon the last day of his first term. This reality is just one of the ways the attempt to rewrite the history of Fauci and Covid and science is an absurdity. In fact, it’s our new pandemic. I covered it yesterday. Screwing the Fauooch. “The latest pandemic is here. The condition seems permanent and the symptoms include lying, grandstanding, soul-selling, self-serving, sycophancy, unctuousness, a frustration that RFK Jr doesn’t seem crazy enough, a willful ignorance that deepens over time, and the appearance that one is stuck in a timeloop in which the year is always 2020.”

+ If you’re not quite sure about what actually went down in 2020, I can recommend an excellent book on the topic.

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Rooting Out the Canal Problem: An attack on an Egyptian port near the Suez Canal threatens to expand the Iran war, while Saudi Arabia “joined with over a dozen other countries, including Egypt and Turkey, to form a new defense coalition to stop attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.” There’s a lot of work going into addressing problems in the region that didn’t exist before the war started. Here’s the latest.

+ Go FIFA Yourself: Are there still times when corruption goes too far? Maybe. European football’s 55 member associations have voted to boycott World Cups if Infantino goes through with plans to sell off part of the org to private investors. “It is one of football’s greatest sporting legacies. It has been built over generations by players, national teams and supporters across every continent. No part of it should ever be surrendered to private investors. The World Cup is not for sale.”

+ The Coast is Not Clear: “He was a big, gregarious man who seemed able to handle anything. But as Kayleigh grew up, she watched him slowly fall apart. First came headaches. Then sleeplessness. His memory frayed and his moods turned raw. When he retired from the Coast Guard at age 40 in 2022, things only grew worse. He would rant and scream. One afternoon he dropped her grandfather with one punch. In the months after, he started setting things on fire. On a winter evening in 2025, with a pile of Coast Guard files burning on the living room floor, he walked out the front door and shot himself dead.” His daughter wanted to find out if his years on the rough seas in a rescue boat could have played a role. She found out the Coast Guard didn’t know and hadn’t asked. So she asked other elite rescuers herself. “Their answers were so stunning that they changed her whole perspective on her father.” NYT (Gift Article): Rescue Boat Crews Show Signs of Brain Injuries, but Coast Guard Isn’t Looking.

+ Country Mile: “Only 4 percent of the country’s ob-gyns practice in rural areas, which is where 10 percent of women ages 15 to 49 live. And that proportion is likely to fall even more because many new entrants to the field are not willing to do a residency or start a practice in states that restrict abortion, many of which are more rural.” And that’s just one reason that “giving birth in a rural county is going to become an even more dangerous prospect. Care will be in shorter supply, travel distances will stretch further, and high-risk situations will more likely result in mortality.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Rural America’s Maternal-Health Crisis Is About to Get Much Worse.

+ The Musk-eteers: “With hundreds of millions of followers on a platform he personally controls, Musk stands as the most prominent purveyor of far-right and ultranationalistic rhetoric in the world.” Jamelle Bouie asks a pretty decent question. Why Do We Tolerate Elon Musk’s Racist Commentary? (I’m guessing the answer starts with $...) Meanwhile, Musk is ready to help Trump and the GOP bigly in the midterms. (Did I mention that SpaceX just scored a $1.6 billion deal with the federal government?)

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Mad Dash: “Despite finding no evidence of the crime on his digital devices, Canadian police arrested Klayme in 2020 on child sex abuse charges. He was convicted after a trial in 2023 and sentenced in 2024 to 18 months in prison. He served the full term. Even after release, Klayme continued to fight his conviction. In the process of preparing his appeal, the username mistake that led to all these years of disruption was finally discovered.” A missing underscore sent an innocent man to prison for 18 months.

+ A US government map of Africa mislabeled every countryduring a State Department presentation at a ⁠global conference. (As my high school football coaches always advised, if you’re gonna make a mistake, at least do it full out and at full speed.)

2

A Breachable Moment

The war with Iran is not going well. But it is a teachable moment for the American military (and those of other superpowers). Times, and technology, have changed. Marc Champion in Bloomberg (Gift Article): A Misdiagnosis of US Failings Leaves Trump Stuck in Iran. “The US is failing and is likely to go on failing in Iran because technology has changed the nature of war and, with it, the balance between greater and lesser powers. Trump’s belief in the omnipotence of the US military is simply out of date. As Robert A. Pape, a University of Chicago professor ... argues in a Foreign Affairs magazine article published last week, the same globalized economy that America’s post-Cold-War dominance made possible since 1991 has also democratized the spread of new technologies of war — from satellite imaging to chips and drones.”

+ “American and Saudi fighter jets attacked Iranian-linked militias and their Iranian advisers in Iraq on Wednesday, and Iran fired missiles at military bases in Jordan. It ended a dayslong pause in direct fighting between the United States and Iran and further widened the scope of the war.” Here’s the latest.

3

Erase to the Bottom

“It sounds like something James Bond would use: a gadget that self-destructs if it falls into the wrong hands. But it’s actually an open-source operating system that can be downloaded onto Android phones. Federal prosecutors in Atlanta are bringing an obstruction charge against a U.S. citizen who gave customs officers what is known as a duress passcode, which activated software that erased the contents of his phone.” NYT (Gift Article): A U.S. Citizen Deleted His Phone’s Data. Now He Faces a Felony Charge.

4

Land Minecraft

“The game’s open-ended design and building tools allow players to reimagine real-life spaces like abandoned riverbanks, dark alleys and dump sites, making it one of the main tools used to involve citizens, especially youth, in redesigning urban areas.” Minecraft Is Helping Kids Redesign Their Cities. (Now, if the adults would just stop blowing them up...)

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Extra, Extra

A Shock to the System: Not everyone is against the AI boom and the data center buildout. And not everyone is worried about job losses. For some, the boom is a boon. A.I. Companies Are Recruiting Electricians and Carpenters by the Thousands. Meanwhile, back at the office... Mark Zuckerberg Blasts Centralization of A.I. Power. (Yeah, I mean, we wouldn’t want too much tech power in the hands of someone we don’t trust. Thanks for bringing that up, Zuck.)

+ From Worse to Bad: “The Senate confirmed Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, on Tuesday to oversee the nation’s intelligence agencies, installing a longtime ally of the president into a top national security post that has waned in significance during the second Trump administration.” (Clayton doesn’t have the required experience, nor was he willing to answer honestly about the 2020 election, but even Dems are relieved that the guy he’s taking over for will be out.)

+ Life in Shell: “The disclosure, included in internal government documents turned over to Mr. Comey, is one of the most glaring examples to date of the degree to which Mr. Trump now directs federal law enforcement actions. The records suggest his intense personal involvement in investigating his longtime nemesis and a sharp break from past practice in which the president remained removed from criminal inquiries.” Trump Demanded Details of Agents’ Interview of Comey, New Filing Says.

+ My Bad: Tales of poor leadership are in full display these days. Here’s an example of good leadership. 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan was in a serious car accident that left him with broken bones, stitches, and a concussion. When journalists started digging for details, they reported that the accident was the fault of the other driver involved in the crash. Shanahan, who hadn’t spoken to the press yet, immediately gathered reporters to set the record straight. “’I hit her,’ an emotional Shanahan said. ‘I don’t know why it was reported (the other) way.’”

+ Mitch, Please: “In the letter, Beshear called on the 84-year-old to ‘directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.’” Kentucky Governor to McConnell: Prove Fitness to Serve or Resign. (McConnell would have had McConnell kicked to the curb like three weeks ago.)

+ Glen Hansard: “Glen Hansard, a singer-songwriter who was the frontman of the popular Irish band the Frames and who shared an Oscar for ‘Falling Slowly,’ a wistful song from the 2006 film ‘Once,’ died in a motorcycle accident on Wednesday in Dublin. He was 56.”

+ Vend Times: “Finding a snack-filled vending machine when you have the munchies may feel like a religious experience, but that’s nothing compared to the world’s first vending machine — a first-century contraption that dispensed holy water. Since then, entrepreneurial souls have crammed machines full of everything from stamps and Tutti-Fruiti gum, to cigarettes and books, and, heck, even Ferraris.” The vending machine renaissance is here.

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“The female body ... has historically been an afterthought for longevity bros and the medical industry alike. Women were not even routinely included in medical research until the 1990s, and just uttering ‘vagina’ can still be a problem in some circles. The new enthusiasm for measuring and enhancing the vagina is a notable departure from that history—and predictably, sleek start-ups like Evvy, June Bio, Tiny Health, and Daye are rushing to offer direct-to-consumer test kits and coaching, while Evvy and Daye also offer probiotics and supplements that claim to optimize the vagina.” Vanity Fair: The Newest Status Symbol in Longevity Circles? A Top One Percent Vagina. (I suppose that’s one way to get people to stop complaining about the one percent...)

2

A Spend in the Road

Question: Who would have guessed that America’s decision to simultaneously reduce international spending and global decency would quickly backfire, provide an opening for our adversaries to fill the void, and leave us scrambling to fix a mess of our own making? Answer: Pretty much everyone other than the handful of people running our executive branch. And even they’re figuring it out. “The Trump administration is preparing to ramp up funding by hundreds of millions of dollars for programs designed to counter China’s growing influence around the world, after it had put a halt to many of those initiatives last year during a flurry of budget and personnel cuts.” AP: US looks to boost anti-China spending worldwide by hundreds of millions. (Refilling the coffers will be a lot easier than rebuilding the trust and goodwill.)

3

The Break Fast Club

How do we solve the school shooting problem? Don’t raise your hand unless your answer is an arms race. “Schools in at least three states will be equipped with drones this year that can zoom through halls, smash windows and pepper-spray active shooters if teachers report a threat.” WaPo (Gift Article): Schools are adding pepper-spraying drones to help combat active shooters. “Teachers will have an app or classroom panic buttons to summon the drones. Mithril Defense’s professional drone pilots can then fly them remotely.” (I used to teach high school, and I have to admit that my requests for everyone to quiet down and focus would probably have been more effective if I’d had a team of professional drone pilots covering my six during sixth period.)

4

The Magic Touch

Scientists are trying out “a portable testing station equipped with a touch screen and facial recognition software, [which] could help scientists study primate intelligence in the wild.” NYT (Gift Article): In This Costa Rican Forest, Monkeys Come Face-to-Face With AI. “One day last summer, a curious white-faced capuchin encountered a strange contraption in the forest. There, in the middle of the Taboga Forest Reserve in Costa Rica, sat a 15-inch touch screen, mounted in a wooden frame. As the monkey, an alpha male named Papi, began investigating — poking the device here, prodding it there — his fingers landed on the screen. Suddenly, a piece of dried banana dropped into a tray below the frame. Before long, Papi learned the basic rules of the device: touch the screen, get a dried banana slice.” (Papi, trust us, we know the feeling. Wait until you see how many dried banana slices you get when you use the screen to stir up outrage by spreading an over-simplified falsehood about another monkey.)

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Extra, Extra

Through Thick and Win: Both Bibi and Zelensky are in town for Lindsey Graham’s funeral. They also met separately with Trump, who has basically reversed his opinions on both of them. “It is a remarkable change of fortunes for Zelensky, whose relationship with Trump once seemed irredeemably damaged. Last year, Trump called Zelensky a dictator, criticized his leadership and berated him during a tense Oval Office meeting. Days after the meeting, Trump paused all military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine, and he subsequently balked at sending more assistance to the beleaguered country.” WSJ (Gift Article): Impressed by Ukraine’s Battlefield Gains, Trump Warms to Zelensky. “Trump, a senior administration official said, likes winners—and Zelensky, in the U.S. president’s estimation, is increasingly looking like one.” (Great to have an ally you can trust to be there through thick and thicker.) Here’s the latest.

+ Talk Balk: “The rhetoric coming from Iran indicates that its leaders are comfortable with the state of limbo with the United States — something between peace and full-fledged war — believing that they can handle renewed conflict and that they have leverage over President Trump.” Why Iran Is in No Rush to Return to Talks With United States.

+ Mail Pattern Boldness: “Mr. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting and sought restrictions on it. For years, he has made unfounded claims sowing doubt about voting by mail and claiming that it allows widespread fraud.” The question is whether or not the Supreme Court majority will back him up. And the fact that that is a question at all is a problem. Trump Asks Supreme Court to Allow Order Restricting Mail Voting.

+ Flub Med: “Kennedy was taken aback. Even though he has long been known to be skeptical of vaccinations, he had been asked by White House political advisers to tone down his vaccine efforts ahead of the midterms, the people said. Now, it was the commander in chief who was pushing to make the study of vaccines and autism more of a priority. The president steers nearly every conversation with his health secretary back to the issue.” You might imagine RFK Jr pushing Trump to implement more of his quack ideas and Trump telling him to pipe down. That’s not how it’s going. Trump is doing the quacking. Trump Turns Up the Heat on RFK Jr. to Cut Back Childhood Vaccines.

+ Above and Beyond: “This climate emergency is exceeding every threshold and scale that scientists have long warned all of Spain and Europe about.” NYT (Gift Article): ‘A Wake-Up Call’: Massive Wildfires Pierce Madrid’s Bubble. (For some leaders, it’s a wake-up call. Others keep hitting the snooze button.)

+ That’s What Kalshi Said: “’You can’t be a felon on active supervision and vote. If you’re 17, you can’t vote, and betting on an election where you vote, it’s the same thing, it’s not allowed,’ she said. Jump ahead to 2026, and Kalshi, the company leading the prediction market craze, is criticizing the law, calling it ‘bananas,’ ‘illegal’ and a type of ‘voter suppression.’” Kalshi attacks a Wisconsin law banning election bets as voter suppression. This is less about voter suppression and more about suppressing the right of states to regulate gambling. Meanwhile, Betting on Drug Trials and Approvals Prompts Concerns About Undermining Research.

+ Fraternal Disorder: “In the case involving the Secret Service agent, the two victims were each made to sit in a half squat with one arm pointed forward, and they were repeatedly struck with paddles if they incorrectly answered questions about the fraternity and its history, according to the warrant. The beatings stopped on the final day only after one of the victims bled through his underwear and pants.” Secret Service Agent and 2 Others Charged in Near-Fatal Fraternity Hazing.

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Bottom of the News

“Torre del Greco’s port authority said coastguard staff and local police had together collected 40 items as part of a national beach and lake safety operation that targets people labelled by the Italian press as furbetti dell’ombrellone.” Dawn raid targets ‘umbrella cheaters’ reserving beach spots in Naples.

+ “It took almost the entire grounds crew to corral a squirrel in a game between the Baltimore Orioles and Detroit Tigers. The real action starts at around the 9-minute mark. But it’s baseball, so enjoy the full 12 minutes of coverage.

2

Louisiana Purchase

The at-times very loud debate over data centers takes place in the public square. The financing and politics associated with them happen behind the scenes. Even when we’re talking about a data center that covers nearly six square miles. NYT (Gift Article): How Meta Got Everything It Wanted in a Secret Louisiana Data Center Deal. “Rewriting the bill was a critical part of a nine-month process that Meta used to cut deals behind the scenes, avoid local opposition and offload financial risk, according to interviews with more than 40 people and a review of corporate filings, tax records, property records and meeting transcripts. The secrecy was agreed to by nearly everyone involved, from utility executives to the governor’s office to a local elected official who knew about the talks with Meta and sold 300 acres of his own property for the project.” Governor Jeff Landry doesn’t apologize for the lack of transparency. “Mr. Landry bluntly acknowledged that the deal’s secrecy was unconventional, but said state officials had to think like a tech company to secure a project of its size. ‘Transparency is a very interesting word,’ he said. ‘Because what we’ve seen is people have used the word transparency to basically kill deals like this.’”

3

Infrastructure Weak

“For decades, the federal government has funneled big-ticket grants to local communities to help them take on ambitious construction projects to expand public transit. The grants, sometimes in the billions of dollars, have funded new railroad tracks, train stations and roads rebuilt for modern bus service. Today, they’re funding extensions of the Second Avenue Subway in New York and the Red Line in Chicago, as well as the Gateway Tunnel under the Hudson River and bus infrastructure in Indianapolis and San Antonio. But since President Trump returned to office, the Federal Transit Administration has not signed a single new agreement under the program, known as Capital Investment Grants.” Congress Budgeted Billions for Big Transit Projects. Trump Isn’t Spending It. “As the number of pending projects builds up, so has anxiety about the federal government’s support for major transit infrastructure. Money that Congress designated for that purpose is accumulating too: More than $7 billion hasn’t been obligated to any project.” This is what happens when a party cedes the power of Congress. Nothing they do or spend has any meaning. Or, in other words, don’t let your mouth write a check the ass won’t cash.

4

Homeric Nod Off

“Classics scholar Emily Wilson was in Greece’s Costa Navarino last year when she heard the news that would change her life: Filmmaker Christopher Nolan was planning to release a star-studded adaptation of The Odyssey, the epic poem that Wilson had spent years painstakingly translating from Homeric Greek into English.” A Penn professor thought she’d sell 1,000 copies of her ‘Odyssey’ translation. She sold more than a million this year alone.

+ For those kinds of sales, you’d expect the movie to get a rave review from Emily Wilson. Well, not so much. “It’s a family-friendly audiovisual spectacle, like an elaborate Fourth of July fireworks display [Editor’s note: Oooh!] – and with about the same level of narrative and emotional depth.” [Editor’s note: Aaah...]

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Death of a Sales Job: “In 1982, Benjamin Netanyahu was the marketing director of a Jerusalem-based furniture maker when Israel’s ambassador in Washington decided that the 32-year-old had been pitching the wrong product. Instead of selling cupboards to Israelis, he should have been selling Israel to Americans. The ambassador, who met Netanyahu at a conference a few years earlier, brought him to Washington as his deputy. Almost instantly, Netanyahu became the face of Israel on American television—a fixture on Nightline and Larry King Live, pugnacious, eloquent in unaccented English acquired as a boy in the suburbs of Philadelphia.” He’s been selling it ever since. But at some point, he stopped caring whether Americans were buying. Franklin Foer in The Atlantic (Gift Article): How Netanyahu Lost America.

+ Error Defense: The major military campaign targeting Iran has been paused. Maybe to let diplomacy work. Or maybe to consider America’s declining munitions stocks. WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Pauses Iran Strikes as Officials Weigh Dwindling Air Defense Stocks. “Trump denied that dwindling munitions are a problem, insisting in a statement to The Wall Street Journal that ‘we have far more munitions than anyone in the world, and far more than we need.’” (Phew.)

+ Dinner Theater of the Absurd: At the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Trump proved once again that he has the first known case of Verbal Cyclospora. Trump ranted and attacked rivals and the press. Just as we knew he would. And just what the fools who attended deserved. The dinner itself is not a big story. But what it represents is. Margaret Sullivan: The predictable disgrace of the White House Correspondents Dinner. (The weirdest moment was when Trump had to sit and watch as the WSJ got an award for their reporting on the Epstein birthday card.)

+ Tropic Blunder: “Trump has said at least 15 times, including as recently as last month, that the strikes have reduced maritime drug trafficking into the country by 97 or 98 percent. ‘98.2% of Drugs coming into the U.S. by Ocean or Sea have STOPPED!’ he wrote on Truth Social in April.” Shockingly, those cocaine numbers aren’t quite on the nose. WaPo (Gift Article): Deadly U.S. boat strikes have failed to curb cocaine supply, Pentagon and DEA officials say.

+ Europe’s Hot Summer: “Heat waves and scant rainfall in Europe have contributed to historic wildfires in France and Spainthat have forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee their homes in one of the continent’s biggest evacuation efforts since World War II.” And here are some photos of the wildfires ragingacross France and Spain. Plus, Wildfire Disruptions to the Tour de France Show How Climate Change Is Shaping Sports.

+ Breaking Away: Even this hot summer couldn’t slow down Tadej Pogačar, who won the Tour de France for third consecutive year and fifth time in his career. The Athletic (Gift Article): In the midst of his majesty: How Tadej Pogacar won the 2026 Tour de France.

+ Over a Barrel: “Cracker Barrel’s CEO is stepping down nearly a year after an attempted rebrand of the chain led to a fierce customer backlash.”

+ Chateau Marmot: “For years, Blumstein has overseen one of the longest-running studies of free-living mammals in the world, focused on yellow-bellied marmots in central Colorado ... Fearing that a lack of funding might terminate the program, Blumstein recently got his lab together and they came up with a creative, if highly unorthodox solution.” Calif. researchers turn to OnlyFans as their funding dries up. (This would probably drive more OnlyFans revenue if they were studying Dik Diks...)

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Bottom of the News

How hot is it getting around the world? “Japanese vending machine manufacturer SDRS has developed a human-sized, stainless-steel fridge to stave off heatstroke amid the increasingly sweltering summers brought on by climate change.” (I wonder if the refrigerator is big enough to hold The Refrigerator?)

+ “Chicago’s ‘Scream Club’ meets there every week during the city’s warmer months, bringing together a community of up to 300 people who like to scream out over the water – and it’s an activity that seems to be spreading across the US.” Chicago scream club lets people ‘give in and let go.’ (These people should try social media, they’d love it.)

2

There’s a New Tariff in Town

Just when you thought you were out from under the Trump tariffs, they pull you back in. No little hurdles like a Supreme Court ruling will stop Trump from implementing his favorite way of taxing our purchases (and our patience). “The Trump administration on Friday will impose new tariffs of 10% and 12.5% on goods from 60 trading partners, including the European Union, over allegations of lax enforcement of forced labor bans, just as a temporary 10% global tariff expires.” Makes sense. Who is more concerned about the well being of workers around the globe than Donald Trump?

+ Trump accused of using forced labor as ‘convenient’ justification for tariffs. “’Today’s forced labor justification is too convenient to be taken seriously,” said Richard Neal, the top Democrat on the US House ways and means committee. ‘Forced labor is a real and pervasive problem in our supply chains and demands serious enforcement. It should never be cheapened into a pretext for a tariff policy built on dubious legal theories and personal grievances.’” (Well, as the adage goes, “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes and dubious legal theories and personal grievances.”)

3

Stick a Pork In It

Given the combination of our current protein obsession and increasingly high beef prices, you’d think that pork would be living high on the hog. But it turns out that consumers are not porking out and pork sellers are not bringing home the bacon. Bloomberg (Gift Article): Pork Struggles to Gain Ground Even in Middle of Protein Craze. “In a time of belt-tightening and America’s protein obsession, pork should be on a winning streak. It’s cheap compared with beef, which is climbing to record high prices, and it’s the type of clean protein consumers can’t seem to get enough of. But pork consumption per capita in the US is forecast near the lowest level in about a decade.”

+ Maybe it’s time to bring back the pork industry’s The Other White Meat ad campaign. It could be updated for the era: DEI-Free Meat That’s Not Woke.

4

Weekend Whats

What to Binge: I usually find myself uninterested in TV shows that are based on an alternate history. But, since the current history is so unpleasant, I decided to give For All Mankind on Apple TV a shot. The show imagines a world where the global space race between the US and the Soviets never ended, but it’s really a story about the astronauts and their families. The cast is excellent. And it’s a story about space that doesn’t mention Elon Musk.

+ What to Book: Colson Whitehead has won two Pulitzers. That seems like a bit much for one writer, so I’m starting with the first book in his trilogy that hasn’t won a Pulitzer (yet). And it’s damn good. Check out Harlem Shuffle.

+ What to Read: Looking for a different way to choose your next read. Check out Uncovered.Ink, where you can’t judge a book by its cover. You get the opening lines, and then decide if you want to know what the book is and see the cover. Judging a book by its words? Sounds like reading Playboy for the articles. It’s so crazy it just might work. It was a dark and stormy night...

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Extra, Extra

Fit for a King: “During a recent meeting in the Oval Office, he launched into a tirade against Iranian leaders, calling them scumbags and lunatics, and unleashing a series of expletives, according to a person who heard the comments.” WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Is Losing Patience Over an Iran War With No Clear End in Sight. The question is how does he get out of the war, and how does America avoid being left in much worse shape? “The United States sought above all to deter Iran from doing two things: striking American partners in the region and disrupting maritime traffic. Is Iran now more deterred from taking these actions—or less so? The answer is clearly the latter.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The War Is Lost. Now Fix What It Broke. (We all hope that’s wrong, but it sure seems more and more right.) The decision being made now: Whether to escalate.

+ Peptide Turns: F.D.A. Panel Supports Lifting Restrictions on Four Peptides, Despite Scientists’ Objections. For a good backgrounder on this issue, check out this Newshour interviewwith The New Yorker’s Dhruv Khullar.

+ Lettuce Go: Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Pennsylvania ... welcome aboard. Outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite linked to 4 more states. From The Ringer: All the Questions—and Explosive Answers—You Could Have About Diarrhea Summer. (That’s how I used to refer to sleep-away camp...)

+ A Family Chainstay: “Many have urged them to change their minds. Silicon Valley billionaires, European entrepreneurs and, most recently, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund have all approached the Amaurys with offers. Some wanted to buy all or part of the Tour for immense sums. Others, like the Saudis, wanted to make it the crown jewel of a new league, one that would tie together a bunch of races and produce a multi-month season, like football or soccer. All of these supplicants were given the same answer. Non.” Did you know one family owns the Tour de France? NYT (Gift Article): At the Tour de France, One Family Wins Every Year.

+ Bucket List: “I know a lot about the movie business, and I didn’t really know much about the bucket business. It was beyond me to really envision that there’d be a strong demand for $50 popcorn buckets.” Oh well, live and learn. Salty, Buttery, Astonishingly Lucrative: The $100 Million Market of Popcorn Buckets.

+ Over the Influence: “More than 20 students, many of them freshmen, darted around the lush grounds. All were dressed in white. Most had never met before. They scrambled into small groups to brainstorm, their quips echoing beneath palatial arches. They filmed one another with their smartphones, directing whoever was on camera at any given moment.” Welcome to the college programs turning students into influencers. I’m nostalgic for the days when all you had to do was take your kid to the dentist.

+ Home (For) James: I think the text I sent my sister this morning sums up my feelings on LeBron’s latest decision. “Happy Thank God He Didn’t Pick the Warriors Day!” LeBron picks 76ers.

6

Feel Good Friday

A new guiding principle: WWWAYD: What would Weird Al Yankovic Do? ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic Turned Down Million-Dollar Offer to Perform in Saudi Arabia: “I Don’t Need to Take Any Money if It Makes Me Feel Icky.” He also told the AI industry to just beat it.

+ His doctor’s prescription for his unbearable pain seemed absurd. It worked.

+ Trekking 57 miles per day, this ultrarunner just broke the speed record on the Pacific Crest Trail.

+ 64-year-old father of 5 graduates as a nurse after studying alongside his son.

+ Small dog missing for weeks rescued while swimming in San Francisco Bay.

2

Killing and the Messenger

“I’ve had a hand in killing around six people. Maybe seven. I don’t know if one man bled out on the side of the road or was taken to a doctor. I think about him often ... We had grown up on the nostalgia of World War II, then done something we were supposed to be proud of. Instead, what we got from our politicians and generals were evasions and lies. Our commanders could never articulate how our deployments, and all the violence we committed and the losses we suffered, made anyone safer in the United States. We were left to figure everything out on our own while they landed lucrative jobs at defense companies and collected big fees on speaking circuits. For some people, it was too much to handle.” Thomas Gibbons-Neff in the NYT (Gift Article) with a timely article about another war. (I suppose these kinds of articles are almost always timely.) Why I Sought Out a Taliban Commander I Had Fought. “First as a Marine and then as a journalist, I spent years tied to Afghanistan. I returned one last time to speak to a former enemy in search of answers, and perhaps closure.”

3

Where There’s a Will, There’s a Weight

“Baby boomers — boosted by decades of rising house prices, strong stock markets and economic growth — control more than half of U.S. household wealth. When they die, a lot of that wealth is expected to go to their descendants. Estimates have predicted that $68 trillion to $84 trillion in money and assets will change hands over the next two decades.” So why are so many baby boomers not only dying with nothing, but forcing their would-be beneficiaries to dip into their own savings? Because aging in America has become costly. WaPo (Gift Article): As the cost of aging soars, families’ wealth is evaporating.

4

A Changing of the Guardrail

“To the casual observer, which is to say virtually everyone, a guardrail is just a long wavy strip of steel, about a foot wide, set thirty inches or so off the ground, which keeps a car from going off the road. But, in reality, guardrails are carefully calibrated systems of interlocking parts, every one of which is critical to its function. They rely on complex physics to insure that a car that hits the end of a guardrail doesn’t get impaled, and that a car that hits it from the side can’t crash through. Some guardrail injuries result from antiquated designs, or designs that manufacturers know to be dangerous. Others result from botched installation.” Steve Eimers became an expert on guardrails for the worst possible reason. But his response to a personal tragedy could save lives. The New Yorker: One Man’s Quest to Fix Every Deadly Guardrail. (Alt link.) “In 2016, Steve Eimers’s daughter died when she hit a defective guardrail. Then he learned that the country was full of them.”

5

Extra, Extra

Statute Showing Limitations: “In a decision likely to intensify trans-Atlantic trade tensions, European Union regulators on Thursday hit Google with a $1 billion fine for illegally undercutting competition through its dominance as a search engine.” Again, lawmakers appear to be markedly behind the latest tech. Google is hardly a search engine at all at this point. “Reddit, Politico and others are weighing how—or even if—they can work with the tech company as AI tools supplant traditional searches.” Google Was a Lifeline for Publishers. Now Some Are Thinking of Cutting It Off.

+ Let’s Spend the Height Together: Google had a solid quarter, but the stock is tanking because investors are worried that the company is spending too much on AI-related expenditures. That’s not just a big deal for Google. It’s potentially a big deal for the whole economy. As I wrote in yesterday’s lead item, it’s arguable that we’ve never been this pot committed on any economic bet in history. Whether or not you own tech stocks, or any stocks at all, this could impact you. The Ante Establishment. (It’s not just about what these companies are spending on, it’s what they’re not spending on. Amazon Workers on Food Stamps Nearly Tripled, While Company Spends $200 Billion on AI.)

+ The Part of the Deal: “Saudi Arabia would need to normalize relations with Israel to receive the U.S. nuclear technology it has long sought, President Donald Trump said Thursday, adding a new condition to an agreement signed a day earlier and throwing the future of that deal into confusion.” (In this case, confusion could be better than clarity.)

+ Toll Out the Barrels: “The price of oil hit $100 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since May after Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen claimed to hit two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, stoking fears that another crucial shipping route would be choked off by the widening conflict.” Here’s the latest from the NYT. The fuel shortages are a big deal for Americans filling up at the pump. But they’re a much bigger deal where fuel shortages mean food shortages. NYT (Gift Article): Diesel Crisis Puts Poor Farmers Around the World at Risk. And from Reuters: Iran strikes on CIA facilities prompt questions about possible Russian role.

+ Nothing Could Be Further From the Truth: “The Pentagon, the institution that should be explaining the details of the war to the public, has fallen mostly silent: Hegseth is happy to offer clips of himself doing comically sloppy pull-ups, but neither he nor Caine has held a briefing on the war since May 5. Americans, after months of war, cannot even be sure how many men and women in uniform have been wounded or how severely. This information void at America’s military headquarters is a dramatic departure from previous conflicts, when reporters were embedded with American military units; when the Pentagon offered regular, in many cases daily, briefings on operations; and when civilian and military leaders in DOD answered real questions from real journalists.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): The American People Need the Truth About the Iran War. (At this point, we’d settle for the truth about anything.)

+ Murder, She Wrote Off: The US is on track to have a historically low number of homicides in 2026. While politicians will try to take credit, it’s happening in places with different leanings and policies. “Murder and other crime rates are falling across the map in cities with different political leadership, different housing and economic conditions, different policing and prosecution and violence reduction strategies and different levels of federal enforcement activity.” (Maybe we’re just running out of people to murder...)

+ Don’t Quit Your Day Job: So far, the combination of AI and oil prices doesn’t seem to be hitting job numbers. US filings for unemployment aid fall to 187,000 last week.

+ Put a Little Pep in Your Overstep: NYT (Gift Article): A Peptide Showdown: F.D.A. Scientists May Clash With Kennedy’s Agenda. “A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee hearing on Thursday and Friday may set Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., known for embracing unproven wellness trends, on a collision course with agency scientists who have deep expertise on drug safety.”

6

Bottom of the News

“They get blisters on their feet, their eyes become watery and the hot sand burns their skin and eats up their hair when they are sitting.” How hot is it? It’s so hot even camels can’t take it. (And we’re nowhere near being over the hump.)

+ Watch orcas ram a sunfish so hard it explodes. “We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun.”

2

Social Order

“France banned children under 15 from using social media on Tuesday, becoming the first country in the European Union to pass a blanket ban on the platforms as concerns grow worldwide over the harmful effects of digital content on kids.” The timing of these bans is interesting, given that we are moving quickly from the social media age to the AI chatbot age (with many of the same big tech companies in charge). A few years from now, people might be nostalgic for the times when their kids were addicted to social media.

3

Someone Call 9/11

At the very moment we’re fighting a war to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, Trump is doing a nuclear deal in the region. “A key provision of the new accord would have U.S. companies build a uranium-enrichment facility in Saudi Arabia if a joint U.S.-Saudi study determines such a step would be warranted. That stipulation would give the U.S. influence over the Saudi nuclear program and, Trump administration officials argue, a way to prevent it from being misused for military purposes. Yet the deal, which is expected to be submitted to Congress for review in the coming days, is certain to prove controversial among many lawmakers who oppose the spread of nuclear technology in the volatile Middle East.” WSJ (Gift Article): Trump Approves Landmark Nuclear Deal With Saudi Arabia in Big Win for Kingdom.

4

Exhaust in Translation

“Monday was Sea Day in Japan, a public holiday when many people escape the summer heat by swimming, surfing and lounging at the beach. But not Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Ms. Takaichi spent the holiday weekend rereading policy documents and dealing with a backlog of thousands of emails, according to a social media post on Tuesday. She wrote that she eked out a ‘full five hours of sleep for the first time in ages’ — better than the ‘zero to three hours’ she said she is accustomed to. And she said she spent her limited free time ironing undergarments, sewing fraying skirts and reinforcing loose jacket buttons.” Japan Is Startled by Prime Minister’s Grueling Sleep Schedule. “With her comments, Ms. Takaichi seemed eager to present herself as a down-to-earth leader who doesn’t stop working on behalf of Japan’s citizens. Instead, her post, which has been viewed more than 31 million times, has set off a national debate about work-life balance and the hazards of sleep deprivation.” (For Americans, this makes even less sense. Why doesn’t she just sleep during meetings, press conferences, and sporting events? Everyone knows that people who don’t sleep that much are woke...)

5

Extra, Extra

Triple Threat: “Donald Trump, Benjamin Netanyahu and Vladimir Putin are drastically different men, but they do have one important thing in common: Each thinks he is the smartest person in any room he enters. Alas, though, because they have all done the dumbest thing you can do as a leader — surround yourself with sycophants — they have all blundered into dead-end wars from which they can extricate themselves today only by eating a banquet of crow. Watch out. There is nothing more dangerous than a reckless leader faced with a plate of crow: Sometimes his instinct is to double down on a losing strategy instead.” Thomas Friedman: Three World Leaders. Three Incredibly Bad Decisions. Those bad decisions often escalate to targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, something Trump just threatened. “President Trump escalated his rhetoric against Iran on Wednesday, threatening to destroy a bridge or power plant in the country if its forces continued to target ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The threat on Truth Social, which Trump said could extend to targets in or near Tehran, echoed others he has made in recent days. Such attacks could be considered a war crime under international law.” Meanwhile, “at least six vessels reversed course in the Red Sea on Monday and Tuesday after the Iran-backed Houthi militia warned shipping companies to avoid Saudi Arabia’s ports.” Here’s the latest from the NYT.

+ Dipsticks and Stones: “The closing of the chokepoints at Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb and the Black Sea collectively imperils roughly a quarter of the world’s oil supply.” Global Economy Is Suddenly Fighting an Energy Stranglehold on Three Fronts.

+ New, New York State of Mind: Mamdani Calls Netanyahu a ‘War Criminal’ and Calls on U.S. to Arrest Him. (The mayor of America’s most Jewish city calling for the arrest of an Israeli prime minister. A few years ago, this would have qualified as an Onion headline.)

+ MaHachoo: U.S. measles cases hit 35-year record with months left in 2026. (Congrats, everyone!)

+ Trump and the Abstinence Administration: “A few weeks ago, Rena Dixon, the head of Fact Forward, a South Carolina nonprofit that offers adolescent health and sex education classes, got a letter from the Trump administration with crushing news. The government was terminating the organization’s $1.6 million grant from a federal program to reduce teen pregnancies, effective immediately. The administration’s priorities, it said, do not align with ‘content that encourages, normalizes or promotes sexual activity for minors.’” Government Overhauls Teen Pregnancy Program to Focus on Marriage and Starting Families.

+ School Papercuts: “An Instagram post turned one California student newspaper into a free-speech flash point. The students say they were just doing their homework.” A crazy story from Wired and my neck of the woods: A Teen Reporter Searched for His Community in the Epstein Files. Adults Freaked Out.

+ Getting a Kick Out of Soccer: World Cup Final Scores 63 Million Viewers, Smashing All-Time High for Soccer in the U.S. Yes, we’re getting into the beautiful game. But I feel like I still need to get up to speed on some of the traditions. ESPN: World Cup glory sees Fabián Ruiz and Gavi gifted their weight in tomatoes.

+ There’s No I in Comedy: “Second City has run improv workshops for the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Cubs and Major League Baseball itself. The league’s rookie career development program uses Second City to prepare incoming ballplayers for the demands of the sport. ‘They’re not taking these classes because they want to be the next stars of S.N.L.,’ Kempf said. ‘It’s because they want to apply these skills to their personal and their professional life.’” NYT (Gift Article): What’s Funnier Than Athletes Learning Improv? (For Giants fans? Watching this season’s team try to pitch, hit, and field.)

6

Bottom of the News

“Last month, Olivia Rodrigo revealed how acutely she had noticed some of the fans lining the barriers at her shows. ‘People wear diapers so that they can be front row,’ she said, adding, to everyone’s absolute horror: ‘That’s been an experience as a performer that I have smelled.’” Pass the pit diapers! Why are fans wetting themselves (and worse) to stand front row at concerts?

+ Who is Jimothy? Seven things you need to know about the internet’s favourite raccoon.

2

Your Record Deal

Sometimes, recording a meeting makes perfect sense. Say you’re getting details about a potential medical treatment and you want to save and be able to share a summary of what your doctor explained. Sometimes, recording a meeting makes no sense. Say, you’re talking to someone at a bar or online about a date. Whether it makes sense in the moment or not, these days, it’s a good idea to assume that everything is being recorded. WSJ (Gift Article): This Conversation Is Being Recorded. They All Are. We’re being surveilled by the government and by corporations, and now we’re surveilling each other.

3

Bad Ideas, Worse Timing

“Americans are aging rapidly and living longer, creating soaring demand for elder care when the industry is already buckling under the weight of chronic labor shortages.” So, this would be a really bad time to actively work to create a caregiver labor shortage. Hence, the administration is doing just that. Senior Living Facility in Distress as Immigrant Caregivers Are Forced Out. “Millions of immigrants, eligible to work in the United States, fill positions across the elder care industry such as nurses, dietitians, fitness instructors and maintenance technicians. And countless undocumented immigrants care for seniors in their homes, part of a vast informal economy. Immigration enforcement is choking both labor pools.”

+ The “war in Iran is raising oil prices, climate change is fueling record heat that is driving up demand for air conditioning and new data centers are straining America’s electricity supply.” So, this would be a really bad time to actively work to create more demand for energy. Hence, the administration is doing just that. The U.S. Is Pulling Back on Energy Efficiency Just as Prices Are Rising.

4

Shits and Wriggles

It’s only a matter of time before they come up with a way to blame Biden for the diarrhea. “A day after federal health officials tied an outbreak of cyclospora to shredded iceberg lettuce supplied by the large produce company Taylor Farms to Taco Bell, investigators are turning their attention to the farms in Mexico where it was grown and the facility that shredded it, according to administration officials.” Cyclospora Investigation Turns to Farms in Mexico. “As the investigation intensifies, Taylor Farms, among the nation’s largest producers of salad greens and vegetables, has hired a former Trump White House official. In a meeting on Thursday evening with the White House and F.D.A. officials, company executives sought to distance the company from the outbreak and cast doubt on the officials’ conclusion.” (This effort is gonna cost them a lot of lettuce.)

+ Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Cyclosporiasis Outbreak Is a Master Class in Miscommunication. (America is in the middle of a four year course.)

5

Extra, Extra

Everything is Being Taken Care Of: “Trump said he would ‘take care of’ the Houthi rebels if the Iran-backed militant group follows through on its threatened blockade of Saudi ports. ‘If something like that happens, we take care of it.’” (Phew.) Here’s the latest from The Guardian.

Canadian Fakin’: “Although the president has recently threatened tariffs against America’s neighbor in retaliation for wildfire smoke that poured into the northern part of the United States, administration officials said that the latest tariffs are unrelated. The levies take effect in 30 days, covering about $20 billion of Canadian goods.” (Just give some thought to how crazy the first part of that quote is...) Trump’s new 50% tariffs on Canada risk igniting a fresh trade war. (I doubt these new tariffs will go into effect, but the threat should help make our closest ally hate us even more.)

+ Ebola Acceleration: “The Ebola outbreak that was declared in eastern Congo on May 15 is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak on record. The Bundibugyo virus responsible for the outbreak is less common than others that cause Ebola disease, and there is no approved vaccine or treatment.” At least 930 people have died in Congo’s Ebola outbreak.

+ Tate Accompli: “According to federal court complaints unsealed on Monday, British officials have accused both brothers of choking women, sometimes until they passed out, and then raping them.” Tate Brothers to Stay in Jail as New Details About Charges Emerge. How did these guys, who were already being held in Romania, end up free in America in the first place? You can probably guess. NYT (Gift Article from December): How a Manosphere Star Accused of Rape and Trafficking Was Freed. “Barred from leaving Romania, Andrew Tate courted powerful figures on the American right, from Tucker Carlson to Barron Trump. Then an extraordinary order let him go.” (So the immigration policy bars elder care providers but welcomes rapists.)

+ Cut! “Paramount’s owners were planning to have secured firm control of Hollywood rival Warner Bros. Discovery by the end of this week in a blockbuster deal that has the blessing of President Trump’s Justice Department. A federal judge has instead ground the process to a halt, at least for now.” Court ruling freezes Paramount-Warner Bros. merger.

+ What Supp? “The New York Times found hundreds of A.I.-generated doctors, healers and wellness influencers on social media touting the health benefits of supplements to American consumers. Many of these hyperrealistic looking ads promise medical miracles, and appear to be targeting older women, while making misleading health claims for a profit.” NYT (Gift Video): The Fake Influencers Selling Wellness on Your Feed. (In fairness, the AI-generated influencers were no less honest than the human ones pushing the same supplements...)

+ Mon Armor: “Surging interest in armored cars offers a window into American anxiety. The people who shop at Miami Armored, Daskal said, are concerned about carjackings, smash-and-grab thefts and road rage, which has become more prevalent in recent years, according to the Pew Research Center. But there is no doubt that, for some, an armored car is a status symbol — the ultimate luxury accessory for one-percenters who already own panic rooms, guard dogs and perhaps a desert bunker or two.” Now on the American Road: Bulletproof Cars.

6

Bottom of the News

“Goats spend a lot of time bashing their heads into things. Winning a headbutting contest shows other members of the herd who’s boss—but bumping heads is also a way to play or explore new objects, so it’s often assumed goats must be protected against head injury by the shape of their skull and strong neck muscles. A new study challenges that assumption.” Goats love to bash heads—but it might give them brain damage. (Wait until they try social media.)

+ “As prediction markets and prop betting gain popularity, more couples are integrating them into their celebrations.” Want to Bet on My Wedding? (Wanna bet on my RSVP answer?)

2

This is Not a Bet

Nearly a third of all World Cup bets were placed on prediction market sites. But the federal government is betting no one will notice that they are online casinos. “For users, prediction markets operate almost indistinguishably from online betting platforms. However, they are technically investment sites. As such, they are not constrained by state and tribal gaming law. They are available in all 50 states — even those with no gambling — and the prediction market companies pay no state taxes.” Well, at least the states can regulate them, right? Not if the Trump administration has its way. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission “is doing its utmost to effectively nationalize gambling, leaving states powerless to control what has historically been under their domain.” The federal government typically left gambling to the states — until the prediction markets. These days, when it comes to ethical governance intended to benefit the greater good, bet the under.

3

Health Nuts

“Efforts to contain Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo did not begin well. Patients fled a treatment unit in Mongbwalu, a mining town, after community members set it on fire. Residents assaulted a burial team in the town of Katana and forced the crew to turn over a coffin. People living in the Kpangba displacement camp drove out health workers searching for Ebola contacts; the assailants insisted that the victims had not died of the disease. Similar antagonism hampered Ebola responses in 2014-16 and again in 2018. Reactions like this would be easy to chalk up to poor education and anachronistic rituals.” Sadly, “scholars have seen similar responses across societies and throughout history.” That includes the reactions of many Americans to Covid. NYT Magazine (Gift Article): Why Epidemics Breed Rage at Health Workers.

4

Fomo Arigato Mr Roboto

As we’ve learned from the fighting in Ukraine to the Middle East, war is changing and it’s changing quickly. And the US (along with help from tech and defense companies) is racing to adapt. A.I. Drones Are Coming. We Are Not Ready. “The looming challenge for the United States is how to fast-track this technology while balancing the safety and ethics issues with other nations. All weapons are subject to existing prohibitions and restrictions under international humanitarian law. But autonomous weapons raise novel concerns. Humanitarian groups say it’s morally bankrupt to hand over lethal action to machines, no matter how advanced. Can technology reliably differentiate adults from children, or soldiers with guns from TV journalists with camera equipment, or a truckload of fighters from a truckload of war-injured? Can it ascertain if someone is surrendering?”

+ Fighting in the skies is changing. Next comes the change to ground wars. WaPo (Gift Article): Armed robots are on the horizon, as Silicon Valley pitches new military tech. “The administration is pushing the military to use AI, testing long-standing opposition to weapons systems that can pick and attack targets on their own.” (I don’t even trust tech companies to pick the right posts to show up in my algorithm, and they’ve already moved onto this...)

5

Extra, Extra

Searching for a Rational Rationale: Here’s the sad truth. The lunatic who ranted about imaginary election rigging and said we should tariff Canada because of smoke from their fires blowing into the US is the same lunatic running the war with Iran. “Two more Americans have given their lives in the service of their country. They died in an Iranian attack on a Jordanian air base; several more U.S. military personnel were injured and one is missing. The American people have a right to know why they died, and how many more of their sons and daughters President Trump is willing to risk in this war of choice.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump Owes Americans a Better Explanation About Iran. (What if there isn’t one?) Meanwhile, the Pentagon is suffering from a major case of Low-T. The T in this case is for Truth. Pentagon Withheld Dozens of U.S. Military Injuries in Iran War. Here’s the latest from The Guardian.

+ Another Post Brexit Exit: ‘King of the North’ Andy Burnham becomes 7th British prime minister in a decade. (10 Downing Street has had more turnover than an AirBNB). Here’s the latest from BBC.

+ Deuces Wild: “The FDA initially announced Friday that iceberg lettuce from Taylor Farms had tested positive for cyclospora, a parasite that can cause explosive bowel movements. Within 24 hours, however, the agency walked back its determination, claiming that the original lettuce sample was a false positive.” (Even if you don’t have any cyclospora-related GI issues, this CDC has you shitting in your pants.)

+ Tate Crimes: “Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate were arrested Saturday in Miami after U.K. prosecutors said they brought further rape and sex trafficking charges against them.”

+ Roach Clips: “Tens of thousands of protesters have defied police orders and descended on Delhi to demand the resignation of India’s education minister in one of the largest anti-government demonstrations in years.” Tens of thousands of Cockroach movement protesters defy police with Delhi march.

+ The Extra Mile: While you were watching the World Cup, you may have missed what was actually the most incredible athletic moment of the weekend. Josh Kerr set new World Record mile time, beating 27-year mark. Given today’s trends in track, the record may not last long. Elite Young Runners Are Becoming Freakishly Fast. Welcome to Trackflation.

6

Bottom of the News

Some people are worried that AI is becoming the new religion. Well, it’s coming for the old religions first. WSJ (Gift Article): Pastors Using AI to Help Write Sermons Grapple With Where to Draw the Line. “Half of all pastors say they use AI for brainstorming or idea generation, according to the Barna Group, a firm that studies U.S. faith trends. And roughly a quarter use AI to help write their sermons.”

2

For Whom the Taco Bell Tolls

Lettuce Pray... The fan, it turns out, was only the beginning. The shit has hit everything across several states. Now, “federal health officials have identified lettuce from Mexico served at Taco Bell locations across five U.S. states as a source of the widespread outbreak of diarrhea-causing parasite cyclospora.” The lettuce was sold by Taylor Farms, a firm also “tied to a 2013 cyclosporiasis outbreak linked to salad mix and a 2024 E. coli outbreak tied to onions served at McDonald’s.” This isn’t just about Taco Bell or one megafarm. The exploding story about explosive diarrhea has customers worried, which leaves the CFOs of any restaurant that sells salads shitting in their pants.

+ Bloomberg (Gift Article): Why Do We Need Explosive Diarrhea to Remind Us Public Health Matters?

+ “Donald Trump promised federal cuts under the Elon Musk–led Department of Government Efficiency would ‘drive out the massive waste.’ Indeed, waste is now being expelled on an incredible scale, across the country.” TNR: DOGE Gutted the Office Researching the Explosive Diarrhea Parasite. (Trump and Elon have been spreading shit on social media for years. Now, they’ve jumped over to the terrestrial world.)

3

Expanding the Bio Sphere

“My biography is 90 pages long and should be shorter. It combines facts about me that are widely available on the internet, such as where I grew up, with generic insights that could be true of anyone, like a horoscope spread over dozens of pages. ‘You cannot understand Kashmir Hill without understanding her contradictions,’ my biographer wrote, along with an excruciatingly long description of my elaborate coffee-making ritual. (Fact check: My husband does it.)” Kashmir Hill in the NYT (Gift Article): I Got Slopped. “Someone used A.I. to write my biography. Thousands more of those books are polluting Amazon. Who is behind all this drivel?”

4

Weekend Whats

What to Watch: Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, and Richard Gere lead a top-notch cast in a couple seasons of the CIA thriller, The Agency on Paramount Plus. The plot can sometimes be a little too complicated. But just ignore those moments. Season one is good, season two is better.

+ What to Movie: You can now see what all the fuss was about when it comes to the (not that scary) hit movie, Obsession, from your own couch. It’s available to rent on AppleTV and other platforms. The only thing worse than unrequited love is overly requited love.

+ What to Contextualize: A Philosopher’s One-Word Theory to Explain Why the World Feels So Weird. Derek Thompson talks to Agnes Callard about her Uni-context theory. You can read the interview above or watch it here.

5

Extra, Extra

Cease Has Desisted: “The US hit bridges, energy facilities and a key Iranian port on Friday, expanding its aerial campaign against Iran.” And, an Iranian strike damaged a Kuwait desalination plant.

+ Gentlemen, Start Your Lettuce: “Andy Burnham was officially declared leader of Britain’s governing Labour Party on Friday, promising to bring hope to the British people and purpose to the floundering government as he cleared his final hurdle to take office as prime minister next week.” And then, the clock will be running.

+ Thin ICE: “The Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who shot a Colombian man in Maine this week is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press.”

+ Pushing All Chips on the Table: “Data centers and the other infrastructure for A.I. involve staggering sums of money. These cascades of A.I.-driven cash have enriched diverse segments of the stock market, from semiconductor makers to engineering companies to utilities to energy producers. A.I. money is bolstering the entire U.S. economy, contributing perhaps 1.1 percent to the nation’s economic growth, JPMorgan Asset Management estimates. But where’s that money coming from?” Hint: Loans. NYT (Gift Article): A.I. Is Running on Borrowed Money.

+ Social Lubrication: The Researchers Who Want Dads-to-Be to Stop Drinking. “If you’re ‘actively trying to have babies,’ one expert told me, ‘both the man and the woman should be abstaining” from alcohol.” (OK, so the sex won’t be as fun, but it will be more effective?)

+ First to Market: You know how Trump uses social media posts to manipulate markets and make big money for his family and other insiders? Well, the market wants a piece of that action. Truth Social to sell Wall Street firms the ‘fastest’ access to Trump’s posts.

+ Mex and Balances: As if our international relations weren’t already strained enough, Chipotle is opening its first location in Mexico.

6

Feel Good Friday

My daughter was one of the brave few who attended an overnight screening of The Odyssey. That’s not the feel-good news, as her comings and goings kept me up most of the night. But it occurred to me that my kids and their friends go see movies all the time, in the real world, on big screens, out of the house, with other people. That’s the feel-good part. Zoomers Are Going to the Movies. This Is Great News for Everyone.

+ Fan Photos: When the World Cup came to town. And Game Photos. AP photographers pick their favorites. Plus, A Tribute to the Mathematically Marvelous Soccer Ball.

+ Brain implant helps paralyzed man to feed himself and drink from cup.

+ At 91, He’s Hiking the Appalachian Trail. Again. (Interestingly, the thing I’m most looking forward to in my 90s is not hiking.)

+ America’s Enterprising Spirit Is Booming After Decades-Long Slump.

+ The pigeon came to them seeking help’: California firefighters give oxygen to suffering bird.