Extra, Extra
New Epstein Episode: “In one email from April 2011, Mr. Epstein told Ms. Maxwell, who was later convicted on charges related to facilitating his crimes, ‘I want you to realize that that dog that hasn’t barked is Trump.’ He added that an unnamed victim ‘spent hours at my house with him, he has never once been mentioned.’ ‘I have been thinking about that,’ Ms. Maxwell wrote back.” NYT (Gift Article): Epstein Alleged in Emails That Trump Knew of His Conduct. And Read 3 Jeffrey Epstein Emails That Mention Trump. (Why do I have a feeling the next thing we’ll be reading is the pardon of Ghislaine Maxwell…)
+ Clickbait Tackle: Google is trying to take down a group sending you all those spammy texts. (AI can do a lot, but when it comes to the stuff users really want, lawsuits are apparently still the best weapon.)
+ I-Phone, Therefore I Am: “You can present your Digital ID in place of a REAL ID at TSA checkpoints using your iPhone or Apple Watch. But Apple notes that it isn’t a replacement for your physical passport, and that you can’t use it for international travel or border crossings.” Apple launches a Digital ID and says it’ll be accepted by the TSA.
+ Head Out on the Highway: “Waymo is finally ready to hit the highway. Starting today, the company’s robotaxis will gradually start to include more highway trips in its routes in Phoenix, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.” The best detail of the driverless highway experience so far comes from Rachel Swan in the SF Chronicle. Her Waymo was stuck behind a truck that had its blinker on but wasn’t changing lanes. “So the Waymo car signaled and passed the truck on the left, providing a clear view to its driver-side window. Inside, the driver was steering with one hand and holding a cell phone to his ear with the other.
He appeared not to notice that the car beside him had nobody at the wheel.”
+ Your Job Sleeps With the Fishes: “There are few American mariners today because only a small proportion of international commercial shipping is done with vessels flying under the American flag, meaning they are registered in the United States, follow the Coast Guard’s regulations and employ American citizens. The jobs pay well, but often require people to be away from home for months at a time. Demand for civilian mariners could soon rise because President Trump and a bipartisan group of legislators in Congress want to revitalize the American shipbuilding industry.” Mariners Wanted: Six-Figure Salaries and Months at Sea. (If you can promise there’s no internet access, I’m in…)
+ Edit Discredit: Margaret Sullivan on the BBC editing story that ended up edited out the organization’s top brass. “Yes, this was a bad mistake that was not adequately acknowledged or corrected when there was a chance to do so. That is something that calls for internal examination and external acknowledgment, some of which has occurred. But the current aftermath of the long-ago error – the film was published last year before the US presidential election – is significantly out of proportion.” And more on the backstory: Make no mistake – this was a coup’: the extraordinary downfall of the BBC’s top bosses.
+ Sandwich Bar Exam: “The group was careful to avoid politics, she said, and instead focused on several key questions: Had the sandwich actually ‘exploded all over’ CBP agent Gregory Lairmore, as he’d testified? (Specifically, they analyzed—and at times mocked—Lairmore’s claim that ‘I had mustard and condiments on my uniform, and an onion hanging from my radio antenna that night.’) What was Dunn’s intent in flinging the grinder? And what actually constitutes ‘bodily harm’?” Ashley Parker in The Atlantic (Gift Article): Inside the Sandwich Guy’s Jury Deliberations.
