“To put it simply, Elon Musk’s brief time in Washington made American life worse, with actions that will continue to reveal the true extent of their immense damage for years to come.”
“Exclusive State Department records show: As the Trump administration abandons its humanitarian commitments, diplomats are reporting that the cuts have led to violence and instability while undermining anti-terrorism initiatives.”
“As I said, I’d love it if Musk failed. But he didn’t. He accomplished a ton. He ran an anti-constitutional blitzkrieg through the federal government, did massive harm, violated a slew of criminal laws. And he only tired of his antics when the reputational harm to his companies became steep enough to really endanger them. He’s a destructive crook who needs to be held accountable for his actions. And that’s exactly what this press roll-out, along with gauzy interviews, is all about thwarting.”
“Hundreds of ‘DEI’ books are back at the Naval Academy. An alum and a bookshop fought their removal.”
“Call Centers Replaced Many Doctors’ Receptionists. Now, AI Is Coming for Call Centers.”
“The Trump administration is making the country less safe for domestic violence victims”.
“As American cities have grown in size and population and gotten hotter, they — not the federal government — have become crucibles for climate action: Cities are electrifying their public transportation, forcing builders to make structures more energy efficient, and encouraging rooftop solar. Together with ambitious state governments, hundreds of cities large and small are pursuing climate action plans — documents that lay out how they will reduce emissions and adapt to extreme weather — with or without support from the feds.”
“Shari Redstone better change her tune, or she, her board, and her corporate officers may go to prison on bribery charges in 2029.” Or even sooner than that.
“Support for the law firms that didn’t make deals has been growing inside the offices of corporate executives. At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals, according to general counsels at those companies and other people familiar with those decisions.”
From the “they can dish it out but they sure can’t take it” department.
RIP, Valerie Mahaffey, Emmy-winning actor who was on a ton of shows including more recently on Young Sheldon and Dead to Me.
RIP, Jonathan Joss, actor known for King of the Hill and Parks and Recreation.
“One of the constants in the evolution of the openly gay athlete in the major North American men’s professional sports leagues — the NBA, NFL, MLB, NHL and MLS — is that everyone who comes out is providing a for-free blueprint for those who dare to be next.”
“The first is that even very positive technological revolutions (say, the Industrial Revolution) end up hurting a lot of people. Second, this revolution is coming to us under the guidance and ownership of tech billionaires who are increasingly wedded to and driven by predatory and illiberal ideologies. Both those facts make me think that we should approach every new AI development from a posture of skepticism, even if some or most may end up being positive. Trust but verify and all that.”
“We’ve overproduced [computer science] degrees without addressing how exploitative and gatekept the tech hiring pipeline has become. Entry-level roles are vanishing, unpaid internships are still rampant, and companies are offshoring or automating the very jobs these grads trained for.”
“The [Council for Christian Colleges & Universities] makes a lot of noise about defending its “religious freedom” but as Trump and Rubio explicitly restrict that freedom, they seem content to sit back and take it. OK, then.”
RIP, Betsy “Sockum” Jochum, last surviving original player from the All American Professional Girls Baseball League, who debuted with the 1943 South Bend Blue Sox. The AAGPBL Facebook page has more.
“[Former University of Michigan President Santa] Ono will no longer be a top educator at the biggest, most beloved schools we have. But if his former colleagues are paying attention, he has at least offered them one parting educational gift. Ono is proof that there is no length the leadership of the country’s crown-jewel universities can go to that will convince right-wing assailants to give them a soft landing. Ono played a stupid game and won a stupid prize.”
“The tale of how smart toilet startup Throne landed its seed round is so full of serendipities, one could almost believe it was orchestrated by the hand of Fortuna, Roman goddess of providence.” They’re in Austin, I found this link via the daily email from CityCast Austin. Lance Armstrong is an investor. It actually sounds useful, but OMFG.
RIP, Edmund White, prolific and pioneering gay author.
“I cannot think of anything like this level of politicization being formally introduced into the hiring process. Under the George W. Bush administration, it was a scandal when appointees in the Justice Department were caught scanning candidate CVs for civil servant positions to try to discern their political leanings. Now they will just ask them to explain how they can serve President Trump’s agenda. Within the space of a generation, backdoor politicization practices went from being a source of shame to a formal policy.”
“For decades, the FBI and the Justice Department have been the main enforcers of laws against political corruption and white-collar fraud in the United States. In four months, the Trump administration has dismantled key parts of that law enforcement infrastructure, creating what experts say is the ripest environment for corruption by public officials and business executives in a generation.”
RIP, Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball icon known as “Mr. Pro Baseball” in Japan.
“Everyone has a story. You ask them where they live, where they work and there’s usually something interesting. We’re writing human-interest stories with [Shohei] Ohtani as a cover.” That’s from an LA Times story about the Japanese sportswriters who track down and write stories about the fans who catch Ohtani home run balls.
RIP, Jim Marshall, Hall of Fame defensive lineman mostly for the Minnesota Vikings, one of the “Purple People Eaters”, held the NLF record for consecutive games played with 282.
“The US Institute of Peace Digs Out of Under DOGE’s Weed Stash and Tries to Rebuild”.
“Now, here’s a story you don’t see every day. London-based AI startup Builder.ai has filed for bankruptcy after it was discovered that its “AI” services were secretly operated by a team of 700 human employees in India, masquerading as AI chatbots.”