“In 1963, a sixteen-year-old San Diego high school student named Bruce McAllister sent a four-question mimeographed survey to 150 well-known authors of literary, commercial, and science fiction. Did they consciously plant symbols in their work? he asked.” (The Paris Review)
“Largely considered to be the mob’s accountant, whom The New York Times once referred to as the ‘financial wizard of organized crime,’ (Meyer) Lansky headed up a criminal enterprise that extended as far as Cuba, and had long-standing friendships with the likes of Lucky Luciano and Bugsy Siegel.” (Avenue)
“At the heart of the village, the Wagner mercenaries manhandled a local Pendere chief, according to Kolimba and Bissafi, who said the chief was pushed to the ground before having his hands and feet tied with a (Central African Republic) national flag. ‘Somehow, the chief untied himself while no one was watching and ran into a nearby bush,’ said Kolimba. ‘When the Russians sighted him from afar running into the bush, they fired at him but the bullets missed him.’” (The Daily Beast)
“(Rupert) Murdoch gave Jared Kushner ‘confidential information’ about then-candidate Joe Biden's ads ‘along with debate strategy’ in 2020, a filing said, offering Donald Trump's son-in-law ‘a preview of Biden’s ads before they were public.’” (Reliable Sources)
Can A.I. Treat Mental Illness? (TNY)
“But if the mood at CPAC is any indication, the danger of the CCP has become an all-consuming issue for the conservative base in a way it simply has not for Democrats. Nearly every topic discussed in the conference’s first day had a China angle — a change from just one year ago, when a poll of CPAC attendees found that they considered President Biden, not Beijing, the biggest threat to America.” (SEMAFOR)
“My local grocery store in rural Utah has hung, with no apparent sense of irony, a sign proclaiming the company’s support for U.S. workers above a self-checkout machine, a device that uses technology to replace the labor of an employee with the labor of the customer. Much ink has been spilled in explaining how automation threatens some low-skilled workers and what governments should do to help: for instance, countries could support retraining initiatives, revamp education systems, or invest in redistributive schemes. At the same time, many governments hope that machines can save their economies from the consequences of demographic decline and aging.” (Foreign Affairs)
“The EU found the exercise ‘not credible’ and the US called it ‘deeply troubling’, which is itself progress given their previous willingness to paper over the cracks in order to give what passes for democracy a chance in Africa’s most populous nation.” (LRB)
“Sri Lanka’s default highlights the dangers of relying on international sovereign bonds – with high interest rates – to fund development.” (The Diplomat)
“Why the Media Just Can’t Stop Whitewashing the Koch Family The political uses of the ‘poor little rich girl’ narrative.” (Jeet Heer/The Nation)
“The record-breaking drought is forcing Kenya to confront a controversial topic: whether the country should grow genetically modified (GM) crops.” (WIRED)
“AP’s journalism from Mariupol ‘saved tens of thousands of civilians” (Press Gazette)
“Just because ‘Fox News’ contains the word ‘news’ doesn’t make it news. The Shipping News isn’t news. Neither is The Bad News Bears.” (Greg Olear) (Ed note: I would argue that the Bad News Bears contains more actual news than Fox does)
As we now know, Paul Ryan took the same approach to his role as a member of the Fox Corporation board as he did to the Trump presidency. He stayed in the room.” (Morning Shots)
“Among the bugs, glitches, and confounding UX choices that have plagued Twitter since Elon Musk’s October takeover of the company, there’s one particular algorithmic shift that’s rattled many a remaining user: the transformation of the main Twitter stream into the For You feed. (Slate)
“Pre-packaged versions of the food have started popping up at national wholesalers like Costco, online sales are spiking and tteokbokki-specific restaurants are expanding. There also was, of course, that moment BTS singer Jimin helped make it a trending item on social media when he was spotted eating it at a Seoul food market. Tteokbokki is also the preferred food of Ji-Young, Sesame Street’s’ first Asian muppet. (NBC)
"Scorsese’s top pick, 2001: A Space Odyssey, was named the overall favourite from the collective votes. You can check out Scorsese’s top 15 list ..." (NME)
“Sergey Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat and a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, at a conference in India Thursday said that the war in Ukraine ‘was launched against us,’ prompting the crowd to erupt in laughter.” (Business Insider)
“Rather, (JD) Vance’s presence in his early weeks were defined mostly by his Fox News appearances, of which there have been many, and his incendiary interrogations during committee hearings—like the time he asked Gigi Sohn, the consumer advocate Joe Biden has now nominated three times to serve on the FCC, if she would approve of someone who made the statement: ‘President Obama is a raggedy Black supremacist president and his cowardly enablers would rather kill everybody than stop killing white people.’” (Vanity Fair)