James Tolkan, a Tough-Talking Actor in ‘Back to the Future’ and ‘Top Gun,’ Dies at 94 Mr. Tolkan’s career spanned decades but his breakout roles came as an authority figure in two popular films of the mid-1980s.

James Tolkan, a character actor whose career spanned decades and included roles in “Back to the Future” and “Top Gun,” died on Thursday. He was 94.

China bars executives at Meta-owned AI company from leaving country Manus’s CEO and chief scientist are facing scrutiny from Beijing over the company’s $2 billion sale to Meta.

Authorities in Beijing have barred two executives from a Singapore-based AI firm from leaving China amid a review of the company’s $2 billion acquisition by U.S. social media giant Meta, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Difficult people in your life might make you age faster, study suggests New research suggests that difficult people, a.k.a. “hasslers,” contribute to chronic stress and elevate epigenetic biomarkers associated with aging.

Do you have a hassler in your life, or someone who creates problems or makes life more difficult?

Over time, they might have a detrimental effect on your physical health and possibly make you age faster, new research suggests.

FBI Director Kash Patel fired agents and staff members who once had ties to an investigation into President Trump. Among them were agents who specialized in addressing threats from Iran and its proxies.

Three days after the firings began, the U.S. was bombarding Iran. https://wapo.st/4spt8kJ

The First 36 Hours of War Consumed Over 3,000 U.S.-Israeli Munitions Replenishing stockpiles depends on vulnerable critical mineral chains.

"This is a polite way of saying the American military should be hoping the next salvo with Iran is smaller—and that China won’t do the math to figure out what is left of American precision-guided munitions to defend Taiwan." foreignpolicy.com/2026/03/05/i...

How China’s Surveillance Is Growing More Invasive | Visual Investigations YouTube video by The New York Times

3. It's an important time to watch this excellent video on #China's surveillance state.

Friend, many of these same technologies are quietly coming to your neighborhood.

Many already have.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oo_F...

Yaogan 50-01 cataloged in an unusual 701 x 944 km x 142.0 deg retrograde orbit.

A US early-warning radar of one sort or another has been on Greenland for nearly 70 years—without the need for US sovereignty. Greenland is also covered by Article Five & US could protect it v Russia or China. Conflating Greenland's military importance with the issue of US ownership is dishonest.

So many bad takes comparing Taiwan and Venezuela. Really, sometimes silence is best.

The Class Where ‘Screenagers’ Train to Navigate Social Media and A.I. New technologies are complicating efforts to teach the scrolling generation to think critically and defensively online.

Most teenagers know that baseless conspiracy theories, partisan propaganda and artificially generated deepfakes lurk on social media. At a San Francisco high school, students are learning how to spot them.

Jurors Deadlock in Trial of Linda Sun, Accused of Acting as China Agent A mistrial was declared on charges against the former New York state aide and her husband.

A mistrial was declared in the trial of former New York state aide Linda Sun as jurors deadlocked over allegations that she became rich from acting as a Chinese agent. on.wsj.com/4qlAwN9

It’s Christmas

Well Disclosure Day is coming.

Here is a bit more detail over the last year

Trump repeals tariffs on some foods as Americans face high grocery prices President rolls back import levies on beef, tomatoes, coffee and a host of other agricultural goods after administration officials signaled coming changes aimed at addressing consumer complaints about...

Breaking news: President Trump issued an executive order rolling back tariffs on certain agricultural products — including beef, tomatoes and coffee — in the most significant shift of the president's “reciprocal tariffs.”

Trump’s pardon for allies who tried to subvert 2020 election is a permission slip to do it again, critics warn The language in the pardon also underscores that Trump’s clemency is not limited to people named in the document.

Trump’s pardon for allies who tried to subvert 2020 election is a permission slip to do it again, critics warn

Nation’s biggest law firms back off from challenging Trump policies The pace generated by more than 390 lawsuits challenging Trump administration actions has lawyers from many firms working around-the-clock.

The largest U.S. law firms have been far less likely to challenge President Trump’s policies than they were during his first term, and smaller firms are carrying much more of the burden of high-stakes legal challenges, according to a Post analysis.

Let’s be clear about what happened to Jimmy Kimmel Trump’s most brazen attack on free speech yet.

After years of complaining about cancel culture, the current administration has taken it to a new and dangerous level by routinely threatening regulatory action against media companies unless they muzzle or fire reporters and commentators it doesn’t like.

1. Just so we’re clear, this is the clip that got Jimmy Kimmel’s show shelved by ABC.

If I’m missing any other clips please let me know.

Robert Redford, Screen Idol Turned Director and Activist, Dies at 89 He made serious topics like grief and political corruption resonate with the masses, in no small part because of his own star power.

Breaking news: Robert Redford, the big-screen idol turned Oscar-winning director, independent film advocate and environmental activist, died at 89.

We have failed our children.

RFK Jr. says anyone who wants a covid shot can get one. Not these Americans. Pharmacies and doctors are struggling to adjust to a new regulatory environment for updated coronavirus vaccines that are no longer broadly recommended.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said that anyone can get a new coronavirus vaccine.

But Americans’ experiences trying to get the latest vaccine vary from easily booking appointments to having to cross state lines to access the shots.

Middlebury Institute of International Studies will be closing down most of its programs by June 2027.

Russia Says It Will Stop Abiding by Missile Treaty

Russia Says It Will Stop Abiding by Missile Treaty www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/w...

@RahmEmanuel - The Berlin Wall fell nearly four decades ago…Now, we face a very different threat. And its name is China…Beijing refuses today to play by any rules but its own.”
www.washingtonpost.c...

This passive sensing tech is "Distributed Acoustic Sensing" a.k.a DAS. My colleagues have been implementing this around the world for nearly two decades. So believe me when I say, not all DAS systems are equal. Also believe me when I say that the PLA threat is real. x.com/EurasiaNaval/s...

I'm conservative but even I find this amusing. Given how ridiculous the far right is, it makes any reasonable conservative: (i.e. believes in democracy, kindness and compassion to all) completely incensed that members of the GOP are enabling this bumbling administration.

Well said sir.

"I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."

🎙️New podcast

How might China seek to take advantage of recent actions by the #Trump Administration that have destabilised the international order?

Chris Buckley and Susan Dietz unpack the evolving China-US dynamics.

Listen⤵️
tinyurl.com/yc8nxkdx

@rorymedcalf.bsky.social @davidmandrews.bsky.social