Extra, Extra
Payback Time: “A federal judge ruled that the US government must begin paying out more than $130 billion in tariff refunds to US businesses in another setback for the Trump administration after the Supreme Court struck down the president’s wide-reaching ‘reciprocal’ tariffs.” (Wait, I thought other countries paid for the tariffs…)
+ The Claude Squad: Consumers have migrated to Anthropic in support of their stand when it comes to the Pentagon. Now, some defense experts have backed the company in a letter to Congress. Anthropic’s investors? Meh. Meanwhile, a leaked memo from Anthropic’s CEO suggests that the acrimony is due in part to the fact that “we haven’t given dictator-style praise to Trump.” All this aside, Anthropic’s AI tool Claude has been central to U.S. campaign in Iran.
+ Vlad Handing: “Russia is one of the biggest winners in the early days of the largest U.S. military confrontation in decades, as Iranian missiles deplete stocks of Patriot interceptors that Ukraine needs for its defense.” Oh…
+ Hey Norm! “At least four of the companies awarded contracts so far are owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm founded by billionaire Steve Feinberg, who until last year ran the company and is now the deputy secretary of defense — the second-highest-ranking official in the Pentagon. Feinberg oversees the office in charge of the Golden Dome for America project.” There’s a word for this. The Norm. Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate.
+ Membership Has Its Untowards: “The group chat — verified by two people in the group — reveals the extent of racism and extremism within the highest ranks of campus Republican Party leadership in Miami at a time Florida’s Republicans are reckoning with an increasingly emboldened far right.” ‘Nazi heaven’: Inside Miami campus Republicans’ racist group chat. (These guys should reserve this kind of commentary for X, where it belongs.)
+ If These Malls Could Talk: A London Shopping Mall Was Dying. Then Taylor Swift Put It in a Music Video.
