Extra, Extra
Internet Disservice: “What begins with casual interactions between girls and intermediaries over public-facing profiles and community groups on sites such as Facebook, soon gives way to a broader, nefarious international network. The photos can end up in hundreds of online catalogs that are distributed over Facebook or WhatsApp groups to men who travel the world looking to meet foreign women or prey upon young girls. In other cases, men use dating apps—particularly Match Group Inc.’s Tinder—to hook up with women and young girls once they’re on the ground. In both scenarios, clandestine rendezvous are arranged using home-sharing sites like Airbnb Inc., which afford a higher degree of secrecy than hotels.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): Sex Traffickers in Colombia Are Using Facebook, Tinder and Airbnb to Exploit Minors.
+ Keep Your Pause Off Me: Trump has paused Ukraine aid in a move that a former US ambassador to Russia describes as being the equivalent of the US switching sides in WWII. Zelensky called last week’s Oval Office meeting regrettable and said he’s “ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership.” Here’s the latest from BBC. Meanwhile, JD Vance offended our allies again.
+ Lech and Balances: “Poland’s democracy hero Lech Wałęsa and dozens of other former political prisoners in Poland have written a letter to President Donald Trump, telling him that his treatment of Ukraine’s president at the Oval Office last week filled them ‘with horror and distaste.'” (That’s the new shock and awe.)
+ A Hole: RFK Jr sparks alarm after backing vitamins to treat measles amid outbreak. “Kennedy wrote for Fox News about the benefits of ‘good nutrition’ and vitamin A – but did not explicitly recommend highly effective vaccines.”
+ Skipping Town: Some GOP members of Congress have been taking heat at their town halls, mostly aimed at the DOGE cuts. They’ve figured out a solution. Speaker Johnson tells GOP lawmakers to skip town halls after an onslaught of protests.
+ Up Sh-t Creek: US supreme court weakens rules on discharge of raw sewage into water supplies.
+ Where Protection: “The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau dropped its suit against JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Wells Fargo on Tuesday over their handling of fraud on the peer-to-peer payments network Zelle.” (The bureau is going to keep dropping consumer protection suits until the whole department is rendered functionless.)
+ Wax On, Whacks Off: “Trump’s elevation of the Facebook post showed just how easy it can be for someone like McCune to become part of the president’s unusual media diet — and appear to influence U.S. policy.” WaPo (Gift Article) with a headline that should be put into a time capsule to explain to future generations what 2025 was like: How an Arizona DJ and karate instructor won Trump’s ear on Ukraine.
