2026-03-21

Worthy

• Now it can be told!

  pooty soon some Mexicans drive up from the South and commence to unload kilo after kilo of marijuana onto a little rubber dinghy, wade north a few strides and unpack it. Within minutes, they unloaded 200-300 kilos onto our virgin soil, three cops and me looking on, my kids frolicking in the surf. Relieved of their load, the smugglers teased my kids and played with them. Then down comes from the north a big pickup truck, and its driver and riders they all throw kilos and the dudes in it help pile weed into the truck bed, and throw a tarp on it, and tie down the tarp. Me and the cops and all the dopers yukking it up the while.

Horseshit

• Planets most likely to host alien life, according to astronomers

• Suddenly Everyone in San Francisco Is a 'Builder,' Whatever That Means

• The Loneliness of a Room of One's Own

• Why Tech Bros Are Now Obsessed with Taste

• Dinner and a show – for one. More Americans are doing things solo

• Project Hail Mary is in theaters–but do the linguistics work?

  Though a little light on the science, the movie goes hard on the relationship between schoolteacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) and an extraterrestrial named Rocky, and it’s a ride well worth taking. But as good as it is, the movie shares a small flaw with the book: Despite having very few things in common, Grace and Rocky learn to communicate with each other extremely quickly. In fact, Grace and Rocky begin conversing in abstracts (concepts like “I like this” and “friendship”) in even less time than it takes in the book.

• 'Dune' tried to warn us against AI

• Peter Thiel's 'Steroid Olympics' Startup Wants to Sell You the Sketchy Peptides

• Is smoking making a comeback? Celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Hudson Williams are making it look cool again.

• Why Can't You Finish Anything?

• Jury says firm must pay $22.5M after pregnant employee's baby died

celebrity gossip

• For Banksy, crime does actually pay

Obit

• Chuck Norris Has Died

  • Chuck Norris, Walloping Star of Walker, Texas Ranger, Dies at 86

  • Chuck Norris dies at age 86

  • Action Movie Star Chuck Norris Has Died Aged 86

  • RIP Chuck Norris

  • Chuck Norris Has Died

  • Chuck Norris Dies at 86

  • Chuck Norris dies at age 86

  • Chuck Norris, 'Walker, Texas Ranger' star and martial artist, dies at 86

Musk

• Tesla Has Its First Semi-Truck and It's a Hit with Truckers

• Tesla expects Dutch decision on self-driving technology by April 10

• San Francisco jury finds Elon Musk defrauded Twitter investors during takeover

  • Elon Musk misled Twitter investors, jury finds

  • Elon Musk Misled Twitter Investors Before 2022 Buyout, Jury Says

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Uber to Invest Up to $1.25B in Rivian Robotaxis

• Nigerian Firms Embrace Kit-Based EV Assembly for Cost Savings

Robot uprising / Humanioid Helpers

• What the US Could Learn from Asia's Robot Revolution

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• What to Know About the Push to Display the Ten Commandments in Classes

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Oregon School Cell Phone Ban: 'Engaged Students, Joyful Teachers'

• Notre Dame – families with incomes under $150k will pay zero tuition

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Amazon plans smartphone comeback more than a decade after Fire Phone flop

• Judge Rules Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Workaround Does Not Infringe Masimo Patents

• US Takes Down Botnets Used in Record-Breaking Cyberattacks

  • Authorities disrupt largest IoT DDoS botnets

  • US, Germany, Canada disrupt botnets that infected devices

• Live Nation CEO: 'disgusting' that a top exec talked about 'robbing fans blind'

• The Long Farewell to Mark Zuckerberg's Metaverse

• Walmart is flooded with previous generation Nvidia RTX 4000 series graphics cards.

• The hottest new phone is Tin Can, a 'landline' for kids

• Open Community License v1 — /dev/lawyer

  I don’t see this as a particularly well drafted license. The combination of both a commercial/non-commercial segmentation and share-alike terms makes it particularly complex, functionally speaking. At the same time, there’s little language here to help tame that complexity with clarity. Still, I probably wouldn’t hesitate to rely on this license as a hobbyist doing things no one would confuse for business. Everyone else should have a look and think twice. And that’s probably the point.

• HP realizes that mandatory 15-minute support call wait times isn't good support

• Can Jonah Peretti Save BuzzFeed from Extinction?

• Time to end the 'uncontrolled experiment' of social media on kids scientists say

• Tcl's German QLED ban puts pressure on TV brands to be more honest about QDs

• CBS News Radio to Shutter Amid News Division Cuts

• Trump FCC lets Nexstar buy Tegna and blow way past 39% TV ownership cap

• Cyberattack leaves drivers with breathalyzer systems unable to start vehicles

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• Blue Origin FCC application to launch 51,600 datacenter satellites

  • Jeff Bezos announces plans for data center megaconstellation

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Meta AI agent's instruction causes large sensitive data leak

• CAIveat Emptor: What You Tell AI Can and Will Be Used Against You

• Jeff Bezos in Talks to Raise $100B Fund to Transform Companies with A.I

• Pentagon: Anthropic's Chinese employees are security risks

• Economists have caught the AI bug

• Mediahaus suspends senior journalist for using fabricated quotes produced by AI

• Signal's Creator Moxie Marlinspike Is Helping Encrypt Meta AI

• HSBC Mulls Deep Job Cuts from Multiyear AI-Fueled Overhaul

• Prolonged high oil prices could 'crimp' AI boom, WTO warns

• Nvidia's Huang pitches AI tokens on top of salary

• Mistral CEO: AI companies should pay a content levy in Europe

• Horror Novel 'Shy Girl' Canceled over Suspected A.I. Use

• Google declares 'vibe design' is here as Figma's stock price sinks

• Inside Mark Zuckerberg's turbulent bet on AI

• Walmart's AI move could lead to surge pricing; shoppers and experts are outraged

• US startup advertises 'AI bully' role to test patience of leading chatbots

• Edward Jones insists AI will not replace its $2.5T financial adviser network

• Thousands have swooned over this MAGA dream girl. She's made with AI

• Tech Workers Max Out Their A.I. Use

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• Winklevosses Say Job Cuts at Gemini Exchange Reach 30%

  • Winklevosses Gemini Space Station sued by shareholders over strategy, departures

• Kalshi Has Been Temporarily Banned in Nevada

• Polymarket Says It Deals Truth, but Its Social Feeds Are Filled with Falsehoods

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy

• Bluesky announces $100M Series B after CEO transition

• Alphabet no longer has a controlling stake in its life sciences business Verily

• JPMorgan, Goldman offer hedge funds way to short private credit

• Saudi Arabia Sees a Spike to $180 Oil If Energy Shock Persists Past April

• Pacific islands appeal for help as oil prices surge

• The Iran war is roiling commodities far beyond oil

• Supermicro down 28% after cofounder charged with smuggling Nvidia chips to China

• Top US Lawyers' Fees Have Skyrocketed. Be Prepared to Pay $3,400 an Hour

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Washington Legislature Passes 9.9% Millionaire Tax; Awaits Governor Signature

• Anthropic meets with House Homeland Security behind closed doors

• US debt surpasses $39T, adding $1T in 5 months

Trump

• White House releases AI policy blueprint for Congress

  • The White House just laid out how it wants to regulate AI

Left Angst

• FBI started buying Americans' location data again, Kash Patel confirms

• Lina Khan was right – Khan's FTC tried to expand the scope of antitrust law

  • That's the job of Congress; not the courts, not the agency.

• The Trump administration's campaign to counter content bans in Europe

• How DOGE and Trump Invited Silicon Valley into America's Nuclear Power Regulator

• What's Going on with the IRS?

• Trump Friend Asked ICE to Detain the Mother of His Child

• Defense workers' morale has plunged under Trump, survey finds

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Super Micro Co-Founder Charged in Plot to Send AI Tech to China

  • US Tech Execs charged with smuggling Nvidia chips to China

  • Supermicro's co-founder arrested for smuggling $2.5B in GPUs to China

  • Supermicro Employees Arrested, Smuggling Nvidia Chips

  • Trio charged over alleged plot to smuggle Nvidia chips from US to China

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Pentagon Seeks $200B to Fund Iran War

• U.S. weighs lifting Iranian oil sanctions to keep price in check

• 'Multiple waves' of unauthorized drones spotted over strategic US Air Force base

• Putin offers to stop sharing Intel with Iran if US cuts off Ukraine

• US to deploy additional troops to the Middle East, officials say

World

• Starmer's digital ID reboot raises same old questions as its Blair-era ancestor

• Norway's Consumer Council takes aim at enshittification

• Essex police pause facial recognition camera use after study finds racial bias

• Why is US tech giant Palantir suing a small Swiss magazine?

• Welcome to Paris, the City That Said No to Cars

• French sailor's fitness app bungle exposes location of aircraft carrier

  • Officer reportedly leaks location of French aircraft carrier with Strava run

• Europeans think Trump can shut down their internet

• Canadians Want Lower Immigration Even as Population Growth Stalls

• Major phone carriers to launch 'Japan Roaming' for use in disasters

• Work from home and drive more slowly to save energy, global body urges

• The Cartel Olympics

• Switzerland announces halt to weapons exports to US amid Iran war

Iran / Houthi

• Iran hangs three men, including 19-year-old wrestler in executions over protests

• Ukraine deploys units to five Middle East countries to intercept drones

• How the Iran war threatens global food supply

• Closure of Hormuz is 'greatest global energy security threat in history'

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Russia suffers deadliest day of year with 1,700 troops lost

China

• China could be the biggest public funder of science within two years

• User claims access to 10 petabytes of China's military secrets

• China Not Committed to 2027 Taiwan Invasion, U.S. Intel Report Says.

• China doesn't want you to know about Operation Yellowbird

Health / Medicine

• UK Officials to investigate if meningitis outbreak bacteria has mutated

• Obesity Drug Tests Upended by Placebo Patients Leaving Early

• Weight-loss treatment is on the verge of a dramatic shift – again

• Researchers find link between ultra-processed foods and infertility in US women

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• A meningococcal disease outbreak is spreading in the UK. Here’s what to know.

• You're likely infected with a brain-eating virus you've never heard of

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• 3M's PFAS exit killed the supply chain for two-phase immersion cooling in DCs

• Chemical pollutants are rife across the oceans

• Ecological vaccination: strategy to prevent zoonotic spillover from bats

• Australia's New South Wales State to Prohibit New Coal Mines

• 'Hybrid organ': a union of trees and fungi could revolutionise forest management

• Why Is a Democratic Governor Undermining a Conservative Conservation Success Story?

  The pressure to remove the horses is coming from a federal bureaucrat — now Acting Supervisor of the Tonto National Forest — who oversaw the aggressive wild horse roundups from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, resulting in Arizona wild horses being shipped to slaughter auctions in Texas. Documents obtained through public records requests show that the Forest Service is pushing state officials to reduce the Salt River herd to as few as 21 horses — a number that would effectively eliminate it.

• There's No Way the American West Will Have a Normal Summer

• The US is looking at a year of chaotic weather

• Carbon dioxide levels are higher than humans have ever experienced

• Red kite with sausage roll snapped by Banbury photographer

• Are we in for a super El Niño this year? Early projections say maybe

• Hawaii dam at risk of 'imminent' failure as catastrophic flooding hits Oahu