2026-07-08

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• Midtown Manhattan blocks evacuated after beams buckling at construction site

  Several Midtown Manhattan blocks were evacuated Tuesday morning after construction workers discovered the structure of an office building being converted into residential housing was compromised on the 21st floor, officials said. New York City Fire Department and Department of Buildings crews went to 235 East 42nd Street, which is one block west of the United Nations headquarters, around 8:11 a.m. after workers "observed structural support beams beginning to buckle," the NYPD said.

  • Buckled columns at Midtown Manhattan high-rise prompt evacuations

  • Midtown Manhattan skyscraper evacuated over fears is on verge of collapse

  • Authorities warn Manhattan tower could collapse after beams buckle

  • Midtown NYC building 'shifting' and in danger of 'localized collapse'

  • New York City high rise at risk of collapsing

• The Bizarre Flaw in the New Orleans Levees

  What happened in New Orleans in August 2005 wasn’t a natural disaster. Don’t get me wrong; Hurricane Katrina was a big storm. By many measures it was one of the strongest hurricanes to ever crash into a United States coastline. There were about 50 individual locations where levees or floodwalls were breached during Hurricane Katrina. Many of those were situations where the structure was overtopped by storm surge. But out of those fifty, only three of those breaches accounted for the majority of the flows that submerged the heart of New Orleans and led to nearly half of the disaster’s total fatalities and economic damage. All three of those breaches happened at surge levels below what the floodwalls were designed to manage.

• Why the West stopped making land

  Two explanations are commonly proposed for this: first, that the easy spots have already been reclaimed, and second, that improved transportation has made reclamation unnecessary since we can expand cities further inland instead. But neither of these matches the evidence. Other countries still reclaim land at enormous scale, under conditions at least as challenging as those in the United States. The transportation story was once plausible, but not any more. Transportation has stopped improving, and downtown land values have risen so much that reclamation costs would be dwarfed by the value of the land created.

  The timing points to a third explanation. Reclamation stopped abruptly in the 1970s when a wave of environmental regulations made it enormously expensive to reshape the landscape. And it halted at the same time in every other country that passed similar laws. If the legal barriers to reclamation were lifted, we could build hundreds of thousands of new homes near the centers of our most valuable cities. We could build new airports to refresh ailing transportation infrastructure, and we could protect low-lying coastal areas from sea level rise. The disappearance of land reclamation is a choice that we have the power to undo.

Horseshit

• Learning another language appears to slow brain ageing by up to 13 years

• Why Gen Z is falling in love with film photography

• ‘Snake the Bigfoot Hunter’ claims he unearthed scientific proof of Sasquatch — and DNA shows it’s part human.

• How Nashville Became Home to a Full-Scale Replica of the Parthenon

  • Prettier and more functional than the giant glass pyramid Memphis got.

• United Airlines Loses Bid to Dismiss Lawsuit over 'Windowless' Window Seats

• A Peek Inside Jim Henson's Creature Shop, Where Whimsical Puppets Are Designed

• How long can humans live? All evidence points to a maximum of 125 years

• People Keep Sneaking into an Empty IBM Campus. This Town Has Had Enough

• What We Should Learn from Nordic Happiness

• America's missing middle: The shrinking 45-64 population

  The 45-64 demographic typically represents peak earners who anchor municipal tax bases and possess decades of institutional knowledge.

  Gen X was the last generation to experience peak school integration. Today's shrinking 45-64 group includes many adults who came of age in schools with broader exposure to students of other races than the students who came after them. As this group ages out of workplaces, school boards and local civic life, communities of color could lose leaders shaped by that rare integrated moment — just as schools are becoming more segregated again.

• More Americans Are Moving Away from Flood Risk Than Toward It

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Wikipedia Banned Its Co-Founder Because Its Rules Mostly Work

• Are you ready for what it takes to stop ghost guns?

Musk

• Elon Musk's SpaceX is about to trigger a $4.3B buying frenzy

• Wall Street warms to SpaceX ahead of Nasdaq 100 inclusion

• SpaceX Shares Stumble in Nasdaq-100 Debut

• Bond Traders Stunned as Losses on SpaceX's New Debt Keep Growing

• SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth's atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to exempt satellites from regulations

Electric / Self Driving cars

• The New BMW iX5 Hydrogen

• Cops Say Waymo Snitched on Teens for Allegedly Drinking and Shooting a Toy Gun

  • Waymo reports teen riders for bad behavior and delivers them to the police

Robot uprising / Humanoid Helpers

• Are Humanoid Robots Ready to Be Deployed?

• How AI could enable autonomous robot workers in workplaces–and maybe homes

• Richard Dreyfuss’ ex-wife demands futuristic sex toy after running out of men in Idaho.

  Jeramie Rain Dreyfuss, a former actress and screenwriter, has one unusual wish left, according to her daughter, Emily Dreyfuss. Emily said all her mom wants is to fulfill her longtime dream of owning a “sex robot,” the San Francisco Standard reported.

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• After defying Pope Leo and causing schism, SSPX defends its actions

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• When an Engineering Education Doesn't Teach You How to Make Anything

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID

• GitHub abandons offer to burn repos on CD

• Microsoft admits a Windows 11 bug is eating up to 500GB of storage

• A Sad Kind of Convenience - The death of physical media

• Snap sued by parents of girl who was raped by man she met on Snapchat

• U.S. vs. Live Nation: Proposed Final Judgment and Competitive Impact Statement

• DRAM prices are killing the cheap smartphone

• Zombie 'who owns Unix?' lawsuit comes alive again

• Four US states are seeking $1.4T in penalties in August youth safety trial

  • Mark Zuckerberg's biggest legal nightmare yet could cost Meta $1.4T

  • Meta's Teen Safety Case Just Became a $1.4T Existential Threat

• Court tosses Microsoft's appeal in pre-owned software licenses battle

• Meta glasses wearers hit with paywall to use built-in feature

• Microsoft flips Windows Backup on by default outside the EU

• Discord banned 8k users for posting benign grid images

• Disney accuses US media regulator of trying 'to sit in the editor's chair'

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• ‘Once-in-a-millennium’ asteroid flyby will be visible to much of the world in 2029.

  According to their calculations, roughly 90% of the world's population — about 7.6 billion people — lives in regions where Apophis could, in principle, be seen with the naked eye on April 13, 2029. The actual viewing success will depend more on earthly considerations, however, including cloud cover and the extent of light pollution. Scientists say it will appear as a point-like speck of light gliding steadily across, which, at its closest approach, will appear to move by about the apparent width of the full moon every minute.

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Top banking watchdogs issue stark warning over AI-driven cyber attacks

• ABC Australia will trial using AI for journalism

• Never ask a model to do something a deterministic system can do reliably

• YC CEO says he ships 37K LoC AI code per day. A developer looked under the hood

• AI models already ‘doing things their creators never intended’

• AI investors may pivot to hyperscalers from chipmakers, Morgan Stanley says

• The Socialist Temptation of Sam Altman

• AI's Volatile Power Use Tests Grid Limits

• Unis are relying on AI-detection software to catch cheating. Does it work

• AI Giants Are Handing Out Tons of Free Computing Power to Grab Startup Share

• Bank of England sees growing risks to financial stability from AI

• CISA is using Mythos to audit government code

• Amazon Returns to US Bond Market to Fund AI Infrastructure Build

  • Amazon aims to raise $25B from bond sale, Bloomberg News reports

• Stymied datacentre projects threaten global AI revolution

• AI Data Centers' Hidden Water Use Alarms Korea

• China's DeepSeek developing its own AI chip, sources say

  • Facing US export controls, China's DeepSeek plans to make its own chips

• B.C. 'preparing legal action' against OpenAI

• AI's hacking skills are outgrowing existing tests

• US power use to beat record highs in 2026 and 2027 as AI use surges, EIA says

• China's AI Agents Sure Look Tempting Right About Now

• Microsoft Replaces OpenAI, Anthropic with Own AI in Some Apps

• Nvidia CEO blasts bosses using AI as a layoff excuse: 'We're scaring people'

• Policy Statement Concerning the Suppression of Accuracy in AI Systems

• US manufacturers' energy costs soar because of AI data center demand

• AI Giants Are Handing Out Tons of Free Computing Power to Grab Startup Share

• Chinese AI models are gaining ground with U.S. companies as costs surge

• IEEE Rolls Out Large Language Models Training Course

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• Prediction Markets Let You Bet on Whether a Wildfire Will Burn Down Your Town

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Xbox cuts 3,200 jobs as gaming business struggles

  • Microsoft's Xbox to Cut 3,200 Jobs, Divest Five Studios in Major Overhaul

  • Microsoft to cut 4,800 jobs in major Xbox and gaming division 'reset'

  • Microsoft has laid off nearly 5000 people, including 1600 from its Xbox division.

• Samsung profits jump 1,800% as AI chip sales soar

  • Samsung Made More Profit Last Quarter Than the Last Two Years Combined

• Toyota to invest $3.6 billion to move Tacoma pickup truck production from Mexico to Texas.

• OPEC is in a struggle for its survival. It could mean $40 oil.

• Big Tech data centers driving up power bills at America's Rust Belt factories

• JPMorgan, BofA and Others Explore Buying Card Network to Raise Debit-Card Fees

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Supreme Court allows Texas to require age verification for mobile apps

  • Supreme Court declines to block Texas app store law

  • Supreme Court won't block Texas enforcing age verification law for app downloads

• Mitch McConnell’s health emergency sparks questions on whether he will return to Senate

• Sergey Brin and 11 other billionaires and tech elite against California's Tax

Trump

• Trump 'disappointed' with NATO allies, renews Greenland claim

  • Trump renews Greenland threats at NATO summit

Democrats

• The Nazi Tattoo Guy Is Exactly Who You Thought He Was

• Graham Platner’s ex-girlfriend alleges Maine Dem would sneakily pull off condoms during sex

Left Angst

• California MAGA stronghold erupts after shock ruling on conservative paradise: 'They're coming after us'

  Huntington Beach has erupted after a judge ordered the city to adopt ranked-choice voting for council members — amid fears it could destroy the Republican supermajority. Orange County Superior Court Judge Craig Griffin ruled late June that the MAGA enclave needs to move away from its at-large system after a years-long court battle. A wave of Southern California municipalities have been forced to change the way they vote in recent years as courts found at-large is unfavorable to minority voters under the California Voting Rights.

• Netherlands recruited 29 top scientist leaving U.S. under Trump

• Trump's Art of the Self-Deal

• Scientists find no link between Tylenol and autism, again, after Trump warning

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Space Force's high-powered electro beam nullifies hostile satellites

• Chinese Lidar maker with Nvidia ties accused of being cyber risk for U.S.

World

• EU urged to act after Pegasus infects phone of spyware inquiry MEP

• MI5 knew agent was misogynist 'obsessed' with violence, watchdog finds

• EU to delay pre-authorised travel system after border chaos

• How Europe would fight without America

• Why migrants come to Germany for work and then leave again

• Woman suspected of Monaco bombing found shot dead near Kyiv

• Explosions injure 18 in Damascus during Macron's visit

  Eighteen people have been injured after explosive devices went off in central Damascus, Syrian media says, reportedly near the hotel where French President Emmanuel Macron had been staying. State news agency Sana said two devices had been detected by security forces, which exploded as specialised units began the process to defuse them. One device was placed inside a parked vehicle, while the other was concealed in a bin, the agency said.

  • Explosions rock Damascus as France's Macron visits Syria | AP News

• Court allows far-right leader Marine Le Pen to run for president

• Chat Control passed first round in EU Parliament

• Chinese EV makers Geely, Chery take over empty European auto factories

• Cuba begins to restore power to Havana following nationwide blackout.

• Data centres account for almost a quarter of Irish electricity usage in 2025

• All Cars Sold in the EU Now Require a Camera Aimed at Your Face

Israel

• Hamas dismantles government to allow Board of Peace-approved panel to take over.

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• The first American autonomous ground vehicles are fighting in Ukraine

• Ukraine has won the war against Russia, Finnish president tells CNBC

  by managing to preserve its independence and sovereignty for more than four years.

• Ukrainian drones hit Russia's refinery Zelenskyy says Siberia now 'within reach'

China

• Beijing is looking at curbing overseas access to China's top AI models

• China sentences official to death for taking $325M in bribes

• Chinese memory and storage firm expected to more than 60k% jump in profits

Health / Medicine

• Ovaries may turn into an 'immune-like organ' after the menopause

• A Mom Said Infant Formula Killed Her Baby. The Manufacturer Closed the File

• The Colonoscopy Cartel: How Routine Screening Became a Business Model

• Men's average testosterone levels have halved in last 50 years

Pox / COVID / BioTerror AgitProp

• Cases of parasite that causes explosive bathroom emergencies surge to nearly 600

  The CDC has reported that 145 Americans in 17 states have contracted the cyclospora parasite from an unknown source in the US and 20 have been hospitalized. However, health officials in Michigan reported that as of July 4, 572 cases have been reported in the state alone. The CDC's latest update from July 1 listed no cases in Michigan.

  ... For lettuce and greens, the department urged restaurants to buy whole heads of lettuce rather than prewashed, bagged lettuce or salad mixes, throwing away the outer two to three layers of leaves and washing inner leaves under running water.

• New virus catalog reveals which pathogens pose the greatest threat

• British 'First Fleet' brought smallpox to Australia–and may have killed millions

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Too ugly, too noisy, too American? France's great air con debate

• Collapse of AMOC ocean current may be locked in

• Air pollution linked to DNA changes in sperm

• Slow-motion video reveals bumblebee behaviour similar to 'liking' or 'disliking'

• There's a Global Network of Fungi Under Your Feet This Is the First Complete Map

• Why worms (and microbes) are catching on as a manure pollution solution

• The scientists trying to refreeze the Arctic

• Emerging evidence links tire pollution to Alzheimer's risk

• Australia space agency has found 'likely source' of mystery space balls

• Catnip lotion as effective as Deet at repelling mosquitoes