Maine is on track to become the first state in the US to ban the construction of new data centers.
Lawmakers in more than 10 states have proposed temporary bans. And dozens of local governments have already passed measures
The WSJ has a new map on data center politics:
www.wsj.com/tech/ai/thes...
Sec. Hegseth endorses the Ellison/Paramount takeover of CNN, presumably because a Trump-aligned owner will push for more favorable coverage of the Iran war and the US government.
Iran's bombardment of Gulf Arab states is destroying their reputations as economic fantasy-lands under the protection of American empire
“A drone a day keeps Gulf stability at bay"
Wall Street contemplates a long-term Iran conflict, from the Yahoo Finance Morning Brief newsletter:
finance.yahoo.com/news/wall-st...
The Pentagon and National Security Council significantly underestimated Iran’s willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to US military strikes while planning the ongoing operation, CNN reports www.cnn.com/2026/03/12/p...
One way to think about the asymmetry in goals and strategy in the Iran war:
Trump is running out of military targets and is eyeing the market.
Iran is trying to trigger a global economic crisis.
President Trump saying that there's "practically nothing left to target" in Iran gets at a very basic critique of AI adoption in warfare: finding targets to bomb in a faster, cheaper way is not, in itself, a solution to this kind of asymmetrical conflict.
I think the market is overvaluing Trump's commentary and his language around an anticipated victory. He can declare victory or that we are close to victory but he can't control Iran's decision making or the economic consequences. Market optimism is still linked to belief in a short term conflict
Dystopia movie, first ten minutes, establishing the mood
What role did AI target selection play in the likely US bombing of an elementary school in Iran?
And if it did play a role, how will US officials argue that such target misidentification was not "deliberate"?
Trump’s capitulation economy:
Both White House-aligned firms win, Netflix walks away, OpenAI steps in.
In the AI case, the theory is Sam Altman is playing word games about what OpenAI agreed to and the Pentagon is doing ethical arbitrage, favoring looser standards and the company it likes
Putting Netflix’s business decision aside (which may have been politically motivated), Paramount and the Ellisons controlling or having influence over CNN, CBS, and TikTok is raising alarms with media watchdogs. The expectation is a more Trump-aligned media landscape. www.wsj.com/business/med...
I’ve enjoyed the looksmaxxing & Clavicular nonsense as weird internet/ GenZ anthropology
But this piece does a great job of explaining a new propaganda machine involving accounts paid to clip & share videos. It’s astroturfing culture for the algorithmic age
www.couldabeenatthe.club/p/the-intern...
"the DoJ is in effect waving through the Paramount deal"
"...The contrast with the scrutiny facing Netflix’s bid may also reinforce perceptions that the administration is putting its thumb on the scale."
www.ft.com/content/41c5...
The Washington Post profiled a Nashville comedian who set up a fake ICE deportation tip line, and posts deadpan videos of him talking to the tipsters on the phone, including a kindergarten teacher who reported her own student's parents.
By @drewharwell.com
wapo.st/4kM4qbF
A genuinely amazing experience: reading a funny, insightful personal essay about the AI-induced software Armageddon, written by a writer and programmer, that isn’t 4000 words too long, self published on Twitter, and composed by an AI
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/o...
Two updates from the India AI Impact Summit:
1) Sam Altman of OpenAI and Dario Amodei of Anthropic refuse to hold hands on stage, and end up doing an awkward closed fist salute
2) Bill Gates pulled out hours before his keynote as his ties to Epstein receive renewed scrutiny
thats great
The skepticism aimed at this wave of AI resignations partly comes from the opportunism & trend chasing that people saw in the “tech apostates,” employees from Big Tech who, years later, became outspoken critics of social media. Early adopters of tech, late adopters of criticism
This gets at a bigger idea that separates journalism from Big Tech & the obsession over data collection. The entire point of a newspaper is curation. Story judgment. Discovery
Endlessly chasing data signals as a roadmap is what got us the ubiquitous algorithmic feed of CONTENT
A screenshot of the weather app showing 21 degrees in Washington DC and sunny all day
My cold weather psychosis is seeing this and thinking “oh it’ll be warm today”
A key question for Kevin Warsh, the person Trump just nominated to become the next Fed Chair, is whether he will proceed with Senate confirmation while the current Chair, Jerome Powell, remains under criminal investigation.
Sen. Tillis said he will move to block Warsh.
YouTube hosting the Oscars is another example of its media ascendance. Netflix and Warner Bros will lean on that framing to justify their merger, as if worthy competitors are all around them: www.yahoo.com/entertainmen...
Warner Bros. says the Ellisons of Paramount:
-“consistently misled” them
- made an offer not actually guaranteed by the Ellisons (but used a revocable trust)
- Tried to entice WB's CEO with a 9-figure pay package if the deal went thru
Kushner's fund has pulled out
www.nytimes.com/2025/12/17/b...
"Bond markets, reacting to a global realignment on trade and rattled by uncertain expectations of American governance, have introduced another puzzling inconsistency in the US economy"
finance.yahoo.com/news/theres-...
New Netflix/Paramount drama unfolding
This supports the idea that Paramount/the Ellisons are overplaying their Trump connections
What's going to matter more for the Netflix deal?
The Trump-inspired corporate dealmaking environment and a shrinking of the big tech backlash (Facebook's recent antitrust victory)
Or the corporate favoritism in play with Paramount as a Trump ally? (CBS/all the media payouts to Trump)
Engraved bullet casings have become shooters’ manifestos
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/...
After Dallas Shooting, a Rush to Score Political Points Before the Facts Are In
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/24/s...
A story from WaPo about killers using the spectacle of shootings to manipulate the media/politicians, as a dark performance art, most recently through bullet engravings, provides a lens to read this NYT story about "scoring political points" in the aftermath of the ICE shooting: