Friday Mix

HEADLINES:

• Trump Is Unleashing a Chaos Economy (Atlantic)

• Schumer backs down on fight against GOP’s government funding bill as Democrats face reckoning over Trump strategy (CNN)

• Judge orders Trump officials to offer jobs back to some fired probationary workers (WP)

• Trump’s tariffs may end up blowing up the US dollar hegemony (Al Jazeera)

• Trump’s Tariffs on Steel and Aluminum Go Into Effect, Inciting Global Retaliation (NYT)

• S&P 500 slides into a correction as trade and inflation weigh on traders (WP)

• Who loses if Social Security breaks (Axios)

• Putin backs US ceasefire idea for Ukraine, but says details need to be sorted out (Reuters)

• A breakdown of the 31 EPA deregulatory moves around water, air, climate (AP)

• White House pulls CDC director nomination (Axios)

• Trump threatens 200% tariff on European alcohol as trade war escalates (CNN)

• Pete Hegseth to overhaul US military lawyers in effort to relax rules of war (Guardian)

• E.P.A. Targets Dozens of Environmental Rules as It Reframes Its Purpose (NYT)

• I Was a Columbia Student Journalist. Here’s What to Know About Mahmoud Khalil. (Politico Mag)

• US relies on rare foreign policy provision to try to deport Mahmoud Khalil (Guardian)

• They flew into hurricanes for NOAA - until they got caught up in Doge firings (BBC)

• Google DeepMind unveils new AI models for controlling robots (TechCrunch)

• With Manus, AI experimentation has burst into the open (Economist)

• Drones, robots and China’s next AI darlings (Financial Times)

• China manufacturing, AI pose an ‘existential threat’ to US in robotics sector (South China Morning Post)

• IBM’s CEO doesn’t think AI will replace programmers anytime soon (TechCrunch)

• Egg Companies Assure Customers Dozen Has Always Meant 9 (The Onion)

Questions

One of my numerous short-term jobs in the chaotic second half of my career was editor of an online prediction site, where users submitted their best guesses of what stock prices, sports scores or political polls would indicate at some fixed date in the future, usually days or weeks away.

I curated the submitted questions, wrote others, and reported the results. It was a fascinating experience in coordinating the so-called "wisdom of the crowds," backed by venture capitalists on Sand Hill Road.

Among our partners were media companies, including the New York Times and the Washington Post. They saw the service as a novel way to gauge reader interest in various topics.

I didn't think much about it at the time, but what we were doing was part of a larger attempt by media outlets to shape their content to appeal to more people -- a kind of popularity contest for what used to be decided independently of any user feedback.

Since my earliest days as an online editor/producer, I'd used a similar technique -- opinion polls -- to survey our users on provocative questions. At The Netizen/HotWired in 1996, we staged regular polls about the presidential candidates that election cycle, for example.

But by far our most popular poll was when we asked "Do you prefer a Mac or a PC?"

The results were trending PC early on until a prominent Mac enthusiast got involved, which dramatically altered the results. This was an early opportunity for me to witness the unprecedented power of online influencers.

As part of his effort to get out the vote, the Mac enthusiast attacked me as the editor of The Netizen, assuming for some reason that I was a PC-sympathizer, without verifying whether his assumption was true.

(In fact I strongly preferred Macs -- the only computers I had ever owned were Macs.)

But I was and am a journalist, so our poll presented the question in a neutral manner, since we didn’t want to bias the results.

Meanwhile, the anonymity of the online environment made it easy to attack me or anyone else via email, or on bulletin boards and the like, without giving them a chance to respond. That of course was the opposite of the journalistic process I was accustomed to.

I didn't take the Mac attack personally -- it was the first of many -- because it was clear to me that in the new age when everyone had an equal voice, this was how the game would be played. The real problem, of course, was how this spread of social media would affect the world of traditional journalism, which I believed was fundamentally about the search for truth.

It’s been my mission from those days until now to try and counteract the excesses of social media by working to promote and protect traditional journalism and our methodology. To me that's a vital step if we are to preserve the democratic experiment that has been going on in this country for 250 years.

Can anyone make a discernible difference in something this enormous? IDK, but I'll probably die trying.

(I published the first version of this essay in 2021.)

HEADLINES:

• How Mahmoud Khalil became the face of Trump’s crackdown on campus protests (AP)

• E.U., Canada retaliate against Trump’s tariffs as trade war escalates (WP)

• Decoding the Ukraine ceasefire plan line-by-line (BBC)

• Ukraine Turns Tables With Cease-Fire Proposal but Putin Has Little Incentive to Sign (WSJ)

• Talk of ceasefire and aid spurs hope in Ukraine, anger in Russia (WP)

• Opposition party wins the most votes in Greenland election amid Trump takeover talk (NPR)

• “Terrifying”: Trump Press Sec Drops Dark Hint about Coming Crackdowns (TNR)

• RFK Jr. Makes More Alarming Comments About Measles Amid U.S. Outbreaks (HuffPost)

• White House insists Musk cuts to Social Security, Medicare won’t affect benefits (WP)

• Musk has turned a dangerously flawed view of “waste” into a philosophy of government. (Atlantic)

• Environmental justice offices to close under Trump administration, impacting vulnerable communities (Scripps)

• Education Department, with mass layoff, cuts nearly half of its staff (WP)

• The Education Department was created to ensure equal access. Who would do that in its absence? (AP)

• Google DeepMind’s new AI models help robots perform physical tasks, even without training (Verge)

• ChatGPT firm reveals AI model that is ‘good at creative writing’ (Guardian)

• Everyone in AI is talking about Manus. We put it to the test. (Technology Review)

• Report: Fun Aunt Has To Go Away For A While (The Onion)

 

Distractions

Watching the news can be toxic these days. It sometimes seems as if Trump is determined to squeeze every last bit of decency out of our public life, leaving only a sordid, corrupt oligarchy in place going forward.

Watching this take place can make a person feel somehow complicit and therefore soiled as a result. Furthermore, usually reliable escapes like the political thriller “Zero Day” feel a little too close to reality for comfort.

Seeking an alternative, I happened upon a spring training baseball game Tuesday, broadcast from Scottsdale, Arizona. The teams playing were the Giants and the A’s and late in the game, storm clouds began to sweep into the valley surrounding the stadium.

It was the bottom of the 8th when the rain started to fall. Simultaneously. the Giants’ hitter smacked a two-run homer over the right field fence, providing what proved to be the margin of victory.

It was only a game and an exhibition game at that. But while watching it, I felt newly relieved that despite the mess Trump is creating of so much of our society, there still is the coming of baseball season to anticipate.

And that, temporarily at least, brought some relief.

HEADLINES:

• Ukraine agrees to proposal for ceasefire with Russia as US restores aid and intel sharing (CNN)

• U.S. to lift pause on Ukraine aid as Kyiv agrees to 30-day ceasefire proposal (WP)

• Inside the DOGEThreat to Social Security (New Yorker)

• Musk eyes Social Security and benefit programs for cuts while claiming widespread fraud (AP)

• Crash Investigators Urge Tighter Rules for Helicopters at Reagan National Airport (WSJ)

• The FAA’s Troubles Are More Serious Than You Know (Atlantic)

• Trump Administration Live Updates: President Says He Will ‘Probably’ Reconsider Doubling Metals Tariff on Canada (NYT)

• Trump threatens, then reverses, new Canadian tariffs (Axios)

• Stocks sink again, as Trump doubles down on tariffs (NPR)

• How the US economy went from booming to a recession scare in only 20 days (CNN)

• RFK Jr. seeks to tighten loophole allowing chemicals in U.S. food supply (WP)

• RFK Jr. Reportedly Had a Call With Texans Helping Distribute Unproven Measles Remedies (Mother Jones)

• Who Gets to Determine Greenland’s Future? (New Yorker)

• Greenland goes to the polls.(Reuters)

• OpenAI launches new tools to help businesses build AI agents (TechCrunch)

• OpenAI Wants Businesses to Build Their Own AI Agents (WSJ). 

• Local Teen Invents Masturbation (The Onion)

ARCHIVAL VIDEO:

• "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" Joan Baez - 2017 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Tuesday Mix

Headlines:

• Will Trumpian Uncertainty Knock the Economy Into a Recession? (New Yorker)

• Trump Promised Americans Booming Wealth. Now He’s Changing His Tune. (NYT)

• Ontario slaps 25% increase on electricity exports to US in response to Trump's trade war (AP)

• There’s only one thing in Mark Carney’s in-tray: Trump (Guardian)

• Trump’s tariffs face long odds in bid to bring factories home (WP)

• Russia says it was hit by ‘massive’ drone attack ahead of crucial talks between US and Ukraine (CNN)

• Protestors demand release of Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil as judge blocks deportation (NBC)

• Leader of student protests at Columbia facing deportation after arrest by immigration officials (AP)

• Protests erupt after Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil taken by ICE, Trump says arrest is first of many (NBC)

• Cracks are forming in America’s economy. Trump is a big reason why (CNN)

• Turmoil within DOGE spills into public view (WP)

• Bernie Sanders steps into leadership of the anti-Trump resistance (AP)

• Top 'Washington Post' columnist resigns, accusing publisher of killing piece (NPR)

• Washington Post restructuring newsroom; columnist resigns (The Hill)

• Chinese tariffs on U.S. farm products take effect as trade tensions mount (WP)

• DOJ: Google must sell Chrome, Android could be next (ArsTechnica)

• The surprising truth about low performers (Business Insider)

• Syria’s government signs a breakthrough deal with Kurdish-led authorities in the northeast (AP)

• Hamas is offering a truce with Israel for 5 to 10 years, a U.S. official says (NPR)

• How the AI Talent Race Is Reshaping the Tech Job Market (WSJ)

• Noom Weight Loss Quiz Guarantees Personalized Insults Tailored To Users’ Insecurities (The Onion)

 

Trump's List

When during his campaign Trump promised “retribution” on his enemies if he won, it’s safe to say most people thought that either it was just overheated rhetoric or a plan to target a few prominent people.

But as it has turned out, Trump had a much bigger target in mind — taking his revenge out on our entire nation.

As Jamelle Bouie argues in the Times, “It is hard to describe Trump’s first month and a half in office as something other than a retribution campaign against the American people.”

He continues: 

“Under the cover of an audit, he has empowered Elon Musk, his de facto co-president, to take an ax to any and every program that helps ordinary Americans. The so-called Department of Government Efficiency has stripped funds or personnel or both from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the National Park Service, the National Weather Service, FEMA, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Social Security Administration, among others. It has degraded the federal government’s ability to deliver critical services to tens of millions of Americans and is endangering direct payments to millions more. There is no apparent rhyme or reason to these cuts, only a nihilistic drive to cause as much damage and to make it as irreparable as possible.”

If you were wondering whether or not you’d make it onto Trump’s enemy’s list, relax. We all did.

(Thanks to Doug Foster for pointing me to Bouie’s piece.)

HEADLINES:

• Trump Promised Retribution. Turns Out He Had a Very Big Target in Mind. (NYT)

• Canada’s Liberal Party chooses Mark Carney to succeed Justin Trudeau (CNN)

• Tariffs Are Bad. Tariff Uncertainty Is Even Worse. (Bloomberg)

• Trump declines to rule out recession amid tariffs’ effects on markets (WP)

• Trump's Canada, Mexico tariffs try to 'stop the bleeding' in US economy: UAW chief (ABC)

• Companies warn investors that sweeping federal cuts might hurt business (WP)

• As Trump upends foreign policy, Berkeley scholar sees irreparable damage to U.S. power and prestige (U-C)

• Musk Doesn’t Understand Why Government Matters (NYT)

• The Fool’s Gold of a Crypto Reserve (WSJ)

• Homeland Security appoints new leadership at ICE amid faltering deportation push (Reuters)

• House Republicans unveil bill to avoid shutdown and they’re daring Democrats to oppose it (House Republicans unveil bill to avoid shutdown and they’re daring Democrats to oppose it (AP)

• Republican Medicaid cuts could shutter rural hospitals, erode maternity care (WP)

• Iran criticises 'bullying countries' after Trump letter for nuclear talks (BBC)

• US condemns Syria violence after hundreds killed in sectarian clashes (Financial Times)

• China has a message for Trump: the US won’t stop its rise (CNN)

• Hamas says talks with US focused on release of American hostage in Gaza (Reuters)

• Israel cuts off electricity supply to Gaza (NBC)

• How China came to dominate the world in renewable energy (WP)

• Police Catch Man Smuggling Cocaine Under Toupee (The Onion)

What Have We Done?

Somebody once observed that while non-profits only make up about 5 percent of the country's GNP, they account for 95 percent of its social conscience. Legions of farmworkers and food handlers get sick and die every year while getting our food planted, harvested, packed and shipped to our tables.

Capitalism is not about compassion, of course, it's about generating profits. And in the process the free-market system generates all kinds of what economists call externalities, like environmental damage and health impacts.

Left to its own devices, capitalism in truth creates a lot of collateral damage.

When we formed the non-profit Center for Investigative Reporting in 1977, we were aware that our work would challenge many entrenched economic interests, and that did happen on many occasions.

One of our earliest and long-running investigations was called the Children's Environmental Health Project. We had determined that the regulatory standards established by such agencies as the EPA and FDA were based on what was good for an average-sized man, not a woman or a child.

For example, the amount of pesticide residues allowed in food products -- despite lab evidence that they caused cancer or birth defects -- was determined by assessing the threat to (say) a 32-year-old man weighing 160 pounds and living in Kansas City. Such a person, BTW, was among the *least* likely to be affected by pesticide poisoning.

At the same time, this process neglected the unique vulnerabilities faced by an 8-pound baby growing up in Birmingham, Alabama. Infants are born with immature organ systems and are therefore much more vulnerable to environmental insults than a fully grown human being.

Our stories were essentially a regulatory critiques and a call to action. We argued that environmental health regulations should be based on the potential damage to the most -- not the least --vulnerable. Over time, we had some positive impacts though today much work remains to be done on this issue.

I often think back to those early investigations we did in the 70s and the 80s when stories turn up now of official concern about the weakening immune systems detected among each succeeding generation living in our highly industrialized, polluted world.

Many problems like food allergies, reduced sperm counts, autism, rare diseases, and the inability to withstand pandemics could reasonably be traced back to the continuous chemical assault on the bodies of our children and their children.

Of course, humans adapt to their environment and have some native abilities to fight off new bacterial and viral threats, but our massive difficulty with Covid-19 causes an old journalist to wonder:

What in the world have we done to ourselves?

(I first published this four years ago today.)

HEADLINES:

• Inside the Explosive Meeting Where Trump Officials Clashed With Elon Musk (NYT)

• Anger at Elon Musk turns violent with molotov cocktails and gunfire at Tesla lots (WP)

• ‘It’s like a whipsaw’: Donald Trump’s tariff U-turns unnerve businesses and investors (Financial Times)

• Trump’s Policies Have Shaken a Once-Solid Economic Outlook (NYT)

• Misfiring Wall Street Wealth Machine Is Anxious Omen for Economy (Bloomberg)

• She voted for Trump – he fired her (Reuters)

• Multistate lawsuit seeks to reverse Trump administration purge of federal workers (WP)

• Hegseth Has All the Wrong Enemies (Atlantic)

• CDC plans study into vaccines and autism (Reuters)

• Stephen Miller's outside army (Axios)

• Justice Dept. ousts national security officials in latest purge (WP)

• Doctors push back as parents embrace Kennedy and vitamin A in Texas measles outbreak (Reuters)

• ‘Prepare for disruption’: Alabama leader warns of Department of Education closure (AL.com)

• France, Germany, Italy and UK back Arab plan for Gaza reconstruction (Reuters)

• Poland seeks access to nuclear arms and looks to build half-million-man army (Politico)

• Trump spurs Russia, Ukraine toward peace deal (Reuters)

• Microsoft reportedly ramps up AI efforts to compete with OpenAI (TechCrunch)

• CEO Worked Way Up From Son Of CEO (The Onion)