Extra, Extra
A Bleak Sequel: “The first time Darfur tipped into chaos, there was at least some degree of Western pressure. This time, there’s little celebrity activism or political attention, and impunity for abuses is rife.” NYT (Gift Article): A Massacre Unfolding in Sudan. “The fighters rampaging across Darfur are armed, organized and funded better than ever. And they are backed by one of the wealthiest countries in the wider region, the United Arab Emirates, which is also a close partner of the United States. (The Emirates has denied backing either side in the conflict.) Then, fighters rode mainly on horses and camels; today, they drive armored vehicles and pickups. Before, they torched villages; now, they fire heavy artillery and fly sophisticated drones.”
+ Trill Seekers: “Amazon.com Inc.’s cloud unit has signed a $38 billion deal to supply a slice of OpenAI’s bottomless demand for computing power. Amazon shares jumped.” These deals are constantly being announced and they always boost stock prices. But so far, OpenAI is on the hook to invest about $1.4 trillion into chips and data centers. That sounds like a lot. Meanwhile, Anthropic warns that AI is showing signs of introspection. (At least then we’ll be able to tell it apart from humans…)
+ Take 48.7 Billion of These… In terrestrial deals, Kimberly-Clark is buying Tylenol maker Kenvue in a cash and stock deal worth about $48.7 billion. (I’m sure the administration’s attacks on Tylenol won’t end up being at all related to this deal…)
+ Say It Don’t Pay It: “Employees of nonprofit organizations that work with undocumented immigrants, provide gender transition care for minors or engage in public protests will have a hard time getting their federal student loans forgiven under regulations advanced Thursday by the Education Department.”
+ Who Dat? During his latest 60 Minutes interview, Trump explained that he has no idea who Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is, despite pardoning the billionaire founder of the cryptocurrency exchange like a week ago. If you’ve got the stomach for it, you can read the full transcript of Norah O’Donnell’s interview with President Trump. If you want a slightly (but just slightly) shorter read, you can just read the falsehoods.
+ Big Head Toddler and the Monsters: “The republic will not fall because Vice President J. D. Vance has decided that swearing is edgy, and the juvenility of American public life did not begin with the Trump administration. But the larger danger under all of this nastiness is that President Donald Trump and his courtiers are using crass deflection and gleeful immaturity as means of numbing society and wearing down its resistance to all kinds of depredations, including corruption and violence.” Tom Nichols in The Atlantic (Gift Article): A Confederacy of Toddlers. “Whatever the reason for their immaturity, the effect is miserable policy and a corroded democracy. The public is poorly served and does not get answers to important questions. Tariffs? Inflation? Immigration? Peace or war? Who’s responsible for these choices? Your mother, apparently.”
