2026-02-28

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• Trends in US Construction Productivity

Horseshit

• Is Love Addictive? Many Say Yes, and It's Changing Our Idea of Romance

• Neanderthals seemed to have a thing for modern human women

  • Research suggests mating direction bias between Neanderthals and humans

• How Stupid Would It Be to Put Data Centers in Space?

• (2017) Tonka beans are illegal in the US

  Tonka beans have an intense flavour that chefs and food manufacturers have enthusiastically embraced. There’s just one problem – it contains a chemical that could, in large enough doses, kill you.

• The Insane Stupidity of UBI

  What do you plan to buy with your free government dollars? Want to buy eggs? Sorry, the egg people stopped making eggs, they are living free on UBI. Want to buy a house? Who built it? Nobody, because they all were getting UBI and didn’t want to build houses anymore. They write poems now. There’s still old houses available, but the price for them has 20xed, well outside of what you can afford.

  The root of this stupidity is that people see themselves apart from society. They don’t know where stuff comes from, it might as well be the stuff fairy that puts it on the supermarket shelves and sets prices. If the stuff fairy was real, UBI might make sense. But we live in a society. We work for each other. At least the adults do. There already is UBI in the world for some people, it’s called allowance. It’s for children and high-end prostitutes.

• BMW using Patents and Trademark to Make DIY Car Repairs Much Harder

• Mondrian Entered the Public Domain. The Estate Disagrees. | Copyright Lately

• Stuck with their parents and childless: how Gen Z can't grow up

Epstein

• Epstein Sought to Establish Behavioral Engineering Institute at Stanford

• Bill Clinton Says ‘I Had No Idea’ of Epstein’s Crimes

  Former President Bill Clinton told federal lawmakers on Feb. 27 that he did not know about crimes carried out by the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. “My brief acquaintance with Epstein ended years before his crimes came to light, and ... I never witnessed during our limited interactions any indication of what was truly going on,” Clinton, 79, who was president from 1993 to 2001, told members of the House of Representatives Oversight Committee in Chappaqua, New York. He added, “I had no idea of the crimes Epstein was committing.”

  • Bill Clinton to Become First Ex-President Forced to Testify to House - Bloomberg

  Bill Clinton is to become the first former US president forced to testify to Congress as he faces questioning Friday on connections to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein. Clinton will be deposed behind closed doors by a House committee investigating Epstein. The questioning will take place in Chappaqua, New York, where he lives with his wife, former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

  • Bill Clinton testifies in House Epstein investigation

  The former president told lawmakers he did not know or have sex with the woman who he was pictured with in a jacuzzi in files released by the Justice Department, sources told CNN. Clinton said in his opening statement that he “saw nothing” and “did nothing wrong” related to the disgraced financier.

celebrity gossip

• Meta tried to block lawyers from asking Zuckerberg about $231B fortune at trial

Obit

• Jeff Galloway, Olympian who inspired people with his run-walk method, dies at 80

• Dan Simmons, author of Hyperion, Song of Kali, dead at 77

  • Hyperion author Dan Simmons dies from stroke at 77

Musk

• Elon Musk Moves Against the Russians in Ukraine

• Government Agencies Raise Alarms About Use of Elon Musk's Grok Chatbot

Electric / Self Driving cars

• The world's first hydrogen double-decker bus fleet dropped

Religion / Tribal / Culture War and Re-Segregation

• Kansas informs trans residents their drivers licenses become invalid on Thursday

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• The Decline of Confidence in Higher Education

• Why People Don't Trust Economists

  why don’t people trust economists? This distrust not only shows up on Twitter or social media in general, but it also shows up in some surveys. I found a couple of surveys that formalized this distrust. In a 2016 study of a few thousand people, a control group of about 300 adults was asked directly how much they trust economists. About 35% said they “only trust economists a little,” and overall, only 60% expressed any level of trust, compared with 40% who reported some level of distrust. The extreme ends of the question show that 10% “distrust a great deal” while 1% “trust a great deal.”

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• New AirSnitch attack breaks Wi-Fi encryption in homes, offices, and enterprises

• Preserving the Web Is Not the Problem. Losing It Is

• DRAM Shortage to Cause 'Seismic Shift' in Smartphone Market, Apple Less Affected

• Thirty years on, Pokémon is still a monster hit

• Smarthphone shipments are expected to drop 12% and prices to increase 14% thanks to our friend Sam and his DRAM Apocalypse.

• Samsung slaps Apple with 100% price increase for LPDDR5X memory modules

• Leaker Says Apple's Lower-Cost MacBook Will Have These 8 Limitations

• A new California law says all operating systems, including Linux, need to have some form of age verification at account setup

  "This is basically impossible for California to enforce" says CatoDomine on the Linuxmint subreddit. "Even if Linux Mint decides to add some kind of age verification, to comply with CA law, there's no reason anyone would choose that version." "It's more likely they will put a disclaimer on their website: "not for use in California."

• FCC opens inquiry into movement of live sports from broadcast TV to streaming

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• ‘Some of the cracks had penetrated through’: Chinese astronauts reveal new details about spacecraft that ‘stranded’ them in space last year.

• NASA shakes up leadership of human spaceflight program in wake of critical Starliner report.

  • NASA shakes up its Artemis program to speed up lunar return

  • NASA announces major overhaul of Artemis program amid safety concerns, delays

  • NASA Cancels Artemis 3 as a Moon Landing Mission

  • NASA announces change to its Moon landing plans

  • NASA announces Artemis III mission no longer aims to send humans to moon

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Anthropic says it 'cannot in good conscience' allow Pentagon to remove AI checks

  • The authoritarian AI crisis has arrived

  • OpenAI's Sam Altman Calls for De-Escalation in Anthropic Showdown with Hegseth

  • Sam Altman says OpenAI shares Anthropic's red lines in Pentagon fight

  • The Pentagon is making a mistake by threatening Anthropic

  • Anthropic refuses to bend to Pentagon on AI safeguards as dispute nears deadline

  • Anthropic says it 'cannot in good conscience' allow Pentagon to remove AI checks

  • The hypothetical nuclear attack that escalated the showdown with Anthropic

  • Trump orders federal agencies to stop using Anthropic AI tech 'immediately'

  • Trump moves to blacklist Anthropic over AI fight with Pentagon

  • Trump Orders US Agencies to Drop Anthropic After Pentagon Feud

  • Trump tells government to stop using Anthropic's AI systems

  • Trump orders federal agencies to stop using Anthropic's AI technology

  • President Trump bans Anthropic from use in government systems

  • Trump Orders Government to Stop Using Anthropic After Pentagon Standoff

  • Federal Government to restrict use of Anthropic

  • Trump directs federal agencies to cease use of Anthropic

  • Trump Will End Government Use of Anthropic's AI Models

  • USA to cut Anthropic from government contracts in six months

  • President Trump orders federal agencies to stop using Anthropic

• Pentagon approves OpenAI safety red lines after dumping Anthropic

• Google workers seek 'red lines' on military A.I., echoing Anthropic

• OpenAI closes $110B funding round in largest private financing

  • Sam Altman: We raised a $110B round from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank

  • OpenAI Raises $110B

  • OpenAI's $110B funding round (investments from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank)

  • OpenAI raises $110B on $730B pre-money valuation

  • OpenAI Finalizes $110B Funding at $730B Value

• CoreWeave slides as surging capex, backlog risks overshadow small revenue beat

• Burger King's AI will listen to orders and 'coach' workers on being 'hospitable'

  • Burger King testing AI headsets to track if employees say 'please', 'thank you'

• Drivers reeling after passengers caught out by AI-powered safety cameras

• Citrini Research research note on AI gets its economics wrong

• Blame RMS for AI Coding

  We should all blame Richard Stallman for the advances in AI coding. If free and open-source software did not exist, LLMs would not have the training data needed to learn how to code. This is one of the deepest ironies of the 21st century.

• OpenAI and Amazon announce strategic partnership

• A.I.-Generated Videos Are Distorting Your Child's YouTube Feed

• Disney Accuses Google of Using AI to Engage in Copyright Infringement

• China's DeepSeek trained AI model on Nvidia's best chip despite US ban

• Experts sound alarm after ChatGPT Health fails to recognise medical emergencies

• Finance techie says cloned Bloomberg's $30k/year Terminal with Perplexity

• 'It's clearly fake': Olympic hockey star disavows AI-generated White House video

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• US regulator scrutinised over bank licence sought by Trump crypto venture

• Two insider cases we've recently closed

• Protracted legal fight expected in Nevada vs. Kalshi

• OpenAI Fires an Employee for Prediction Market Insider Trading

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Block lays off 40% of its staff because of AI, CEO says most CO will do the same

  • Jack Dorseys Block to cut nearly half its workforce in AI overhaul, shares surge

  • Jack Dorsey just halved the size of Block's employee base — and he says your company is next | TechCrunch

  • Block cuts thousands of jobs as it embraces AI

  • Jack Dorsey's fintech announces 40% layoffs, blames AI, gets 23% stock bump

  • Block Layoffs

  • Jack Dorsey lays off 4k, says others will do same 'within the next year'

  • Block Cuts 40% of Its Work Force Because of Its Embrace of A.I

  • How Jack Dorsey Explained Cutting Almost Half of Block's Staff

  • Block shares soar as much as 24% as company slashes workforce by nearly half

  • Jack Dorsey to cut 4k jobs due to AI advances at Square parent Block

  • Block spent $68M on a single party in September 2025

• Netflix backs out, giving CNN and HBO to Ellison

  • Netflix drops bid for Warner Bros, clearing way for Paramount takeover

  • Paramount Skydance victory in Warner Bros. Discovery bidding war came after failed Netflix exec visit to win over White House

  • Tech, TV, Movies and News: Ellisons on Brink of Colossal Empire

  • Warner Bros signs $110B deal with Paramount

• Private credit fund managed by KKR reports jump in troubled loans

• Hornby sells slot car racing brand Scalextric for £20M

• Intel Foundry boss leaves for Qualcomm

• Google paid startup Form Energy $1B for its 30GWh, 100-hour battery

• Chocolate Market Enters New Phase As "Double-Digit Raw Material Deflation" Eases Costs | ZeroHedge

  Cocoa prices have collapsed 75% from their 2024 peaks, and Goldman’s latest note points out that the worst of the cocoa shock for chocolate makers may finally be passing after being squeezed by soaring bean costs through 2023, 2024, and into the first half of 2025. This only suggests that lower chocolate bar prices at the supermarket could materialize later this year.

• Micron's $50B Boise chip expansion powers AI growth, adds 60k jobs

• Tech Has Never Caused a Job Apocalypse. Don't Bet on It Now

• Wall Street hit by UK mortgage lender collapse, raising fears

  • New Credit Blowup in London Has Wall Street Chasing Billions

• FCC approves Charter Communications' $34.5B deal to buy Cox

Trump

• Trump Responds to Anthropic

  • "six month phase out period"

  • Trump Bans Anthropic from All US Federal Agencies

Left Angst

• Denver mayor announces executive order banning ICE from city property

• “Tough on crime” is good for young men

  we find that narrow election of a Republican prosecutor reduces all-cause mortality rates among young men ages 20 to 29 by 6.6%. This decline is driven predominantly by reductions in firearm-related deaths, including a large reduction in firearm homicide among Black men and a smaller reduction in firearm suicides and accidents primarily among White men. Mechanism analyses indicate that increased prison-based incapactation explains about one third of the effect among Black men and none of the effect among White men. Instead, the primary channel appears to be substantial increases in criminal conviction rates across racial groups and crime types, which then reduce firearm access through legal restrictions on gun ownership for the convicted.

• It Can Now Be Plainly Said: Trump Is Planning a November Coup D'État

• The Lancet: Robert F Kennedy Jr: 1 year of failure

  Cutting-edge discoveries and clinical investigations—on subjects ranging from mRNA vaccines to diabetes and dementia—are denied crucial resources while junk science and fringe beliefs are elevated without justifiable explanation. Under Kennedy's leadership, politicisation at the NIH, FDA, and CDC is imperilling the future of US science and innovation and throttling the public health enterprise that keeps the country safe today.

  Kennedy has continued to spread misinformation and push politicised agendas at the expense of the country's most vulnerable. When called to account for his decisions by Congress, he has been evasive and combative. The destruction that Kennedy has wrought in 1 year might take generations to repair, and there is little hope for US health and science while he remains at the helm. Calls for his resignation now number in the thousands. Congress must exercise its duty of oversight and hold Kennedy accountable for his record, or else accept responsibility for endorsing President Trump's decision to let him “run wild on health”.

  • "throttling the public health enterprise" means slightly reducing waste; which is what all the fuss is about. The pigs squeal loudest when the teats run dry.

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Pentagon Laser Shoots Down Customs Border Patrol Drone in Texas

  • Pentagon Fires Another Laser at Drone, Prompting New Air Closure

  • Lawmakers say US Military used laser to take down Border Protection drone in TX

World

• Pakistan bombs targets in Afghan cities, minister calls it 'open war'

  • Pakistan Strikes Afghanistan in 'Open War' Against Taliban Government

  • Pakistan's defense minister says that there is an 'open war' with Afghanistan

• MitID, Denmarks sole digital ID, has been down for over an hour and counting

• Dyson settles forced labour suit in landmark UK case

• The nostalgic winter drink dividing Germany

• Man jailed after selling £7M of fake plane parts

• McDonald’s Germany HIDES Food Ads During Ramadan

  As Ramadan unfolds, McDonald’s Germany has rolled out a campaign that effectively erases tempting food visuals from digital billboards during fasting hours, a move seen by critics as yet another concession to cultural shifts driven by mass immigration. The fast food chain’s digital out-of-home posters display empty fries containers and burger boxes throughout the day, filling them with food images precisely at sunset when Muslims break their fast.

• UK's first geothermal power plant has been turned on

• South Korea set to get a functioning Google Maps

  • South Korea Clears Way for Google Maps to Operate

• India Became One of the Biggest Economies

• European girls aged 13-15 have highest rate of tobacco use for age group

• Suicide forum in breach of Online Safety Act after failing to block UK users

• Why struggling Thailand keeps voting for change that never comes

• Poland Plans Social Media Ban for Kids in Challenge to US Tech

Russia Bad / Ukraine War

• Russia-Ukraine war is Europe's deadliest since 1945

• Russians Shiver as War Worsens Underfunding of Heat and Power Systems

China

• China piles pressure on Japan after Takaichi Sanae's triumph

• Hong Kong jailed my dad to stop me speaking out, says activist

• A Chinese official’s use of ChatGPT accidentally revealed a global intimidation operation | CNN Politics

  The report offers one of the most vivid examples yet of how authoritarian regimes can use AI tools to document their censorship efforts. The influence operation appeared to involve hundreds of Chinese operators and thousands of fake online accounts on various social media platforms, according to OpenAI. “This is what Chinese modern transnational repression looks like,” Ben Nimmo, principal investigator at OpenAI, told reporters ahead of the report’s release. “It’s not just digital. It’s not just about trolling. It’s industrialized. It’s about trying to hit critics of the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] with everything, everywhere, all at once.”

  • OpenAI uncovers Chinese intimidation operation through official's use of ChatGPT

• How China is masking drone flights in potential Taiwan rehearsal

• The Purges Within China's Military Are Even Deeper Than You Think

Health / Medicine

• Vegetarians have 'substantially lower risk' of five types of cancer

• More Americans Under 55 Are Dying of Heart Attacks

• 2-3 Cups of Coffee a Day May Reduce Dementia Risk

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Judge says he will order Greenpeace to pay $345M in oil pipeline case

  Judge James Gion said he would sign an order requiring several Greenpeace entities to pay the judgment to pipeline company Energy Transfer. He set that amount at $345 million last year in a decision that reduced a jury’s damages by about half, but his latest filing didn’t specify a final amount.

• Greenland's largest glacier could soon reach a tipping point, scientists say

• Scientists Are Setting Off Earthquakes. On Purpose