Extra, Extra
Border Follies: On Thursday, the two presidential contenders are making dueling visits to the border. Instead of visiting the border, maybe they should visit Congress where negotiated legislation remains in a MAGA headlock. WaPo (Gift Article): Trump vs. Biden on immigration: 12 charts comparing U.S. border security. Meanwhile, “a federal judge has temporarily blocked a Texas law that would have allowed local police to arrest people suspected of being in the state illegally.”
+ Private Chat: “Each of the 4.4 million times someone has typed in words or phrases linked to abuse, a warning message has blocked the page, saying that kind of content is illegal. And in half the cases, a chatbot has also pointed people to where they can seek help.” Wired: A P-rnhub Chatbot Stopped Millions From Searching for Child Abuse Videos. (The big story here is how many millions of people search for this kind of material.)
+ Losing Touch “Maybe the extraordinary nature of the current moment is hard to see from inside the United States, where so many other stories are competing for attention. But from the outside … nobody doubts that these circumstances are unprecedented. Donald Trump, who is not the president, is using a minority of Republicans to block aid to Ukraine, to undermine the actual president’s foreign policy, and to weaken American power and credibility.” Anne Applebaum in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Why Is Trump Trying to Make Ukraine Lose?
+ Ohana Montana: “While the people of Waimea understand that Benioff is behind the recent land purchases, hardly anyone seems to know his plans. Some guess he’s building a Salesforce training center and moving in engineers; others say he’s generously donating to the community and helping local schools. Most people just shake their heads.” A tech billionaire is quietly buying up land in Hawaii. No one knows why.
+ The Weight is Over: Think weight loss medications are big now? Oprah Winfrey Leaves Weight Watchers Board After Disclosing Use of Weight Loss Medication.
+ Rich and Richer: “Richard and I were born three days apart in the same hospital and for most of my life he’s been like a brother to me. He had that rare combination of being the funniest person and also the sweetest. But today he made me sob and for that I’ll never forgive him.” That’s Larry David on comedian Richard Lewis, who died of a heart attack Tuesday at the age of 76. Here’s a look at one of his early appearances on Letterman and talking to Rich Eisen on what it’s like to dine with Larry David.
