2026-03-07

Horseshit

• Has Taking the Perfect Photo Ruined Tourism?

• A basket of new fruit varieties is coming your way

• Quantum Decryption of RSA Is Much Closer Than Expected

• Which of these two arcades is the "world largest"–and does it matter?

• In 25-Country Survey, Americans Especially Likely To View Fellow Citizens as Morally Bad

• Smoke a joint and get deep with flowers at this guided floral design workshop

• Why Going to Mars Would Be Bad for Your Health

• Jarring alarms out, quieter alerts in. New fire dispatch systems ease stress

• See the oldest fossilized 'butthole' imprint

• Why it takes you and an elephant the same amount of time to poop

• Fiber-free processed foods hit emotional memory fast, especially in older brains

• Re-creating the complex cuisine of prehistoric Europeans

• People love to hate twice-a-year clock change but can't agree on how to fix it

  • If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Epstein

• Withheld Epstein files with accusations against Trump released by justice dept

  FBI documents summarising interviews with a woman who made unsubstantiated claims of sexual assault against Donald Trump have been released as part of the US Department of Justice's (DOJ) trove of Epstein files. The release follows reports that the documents were missing from the DOJ's database, prompting Democrats to accuse officials of a cover-up. The DOJ said it mistakenly withheld the files during its review process because they had been "incorrectly coded as duplicative". The memos describe a series of interviews in 2019 with the woman, who makes uncorroborated claims against Trump and Jeffrey Epstein. The president has consistently denied wrongdoing in relation to the late sex offender.

  According to one of the three memos, the unnamed woman told FBI agents during an interview that she was introduced to Trump by Epstein in the 1980s when she was a teenager. The woman accused both men of sexually assaulting her when she was between 13 and 15 years old. The FBI agents did not have further contact with the woman after the interviews, according to the files. It is unclear whether Trump and Epstein knew each other during the time period that the woman alleges the incidents took place.

Obit

• David J. Farber, Known as the 'Grandfather of the Internet,' Dies at 91

Rank Propaganda / Thought Policing / World Disordering

• Young Americans Aren't Buying Old Narratives on China

  Call it what you want. Post-America. The American Century of Humiliation. The decline of the Burger Reich. However you slice it, the United States’ de facto role as the global hegemon is waning. The wheel of disillusionment turns, and reasons for Americans to grow tired become redundant: dire economic conditions for working people; the cringe-ification of the government apparatus through DOGE; civilians shot in the street by ICE agents; militarized police; towns driven to madness by the hum of AI data centers; the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran; President Donald Trump’s links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein; the disappearance of immigrants at home; and a direct hand in the Gaza genocide abroad, to name just a few. Who, then, could blame American youth for looking at how other countries govern?

  And look elsewhere they have. “Chinamaxxing” is a recent online phenomenon where young Westerners have filled TikTok and Instagram with videos of themselves indulging in commonplace Chinese habits like drinking Tsingtao beer, squatting, and doing qigong, all while coining flippant phrases like “You met me at a very Chinese time in my life” and “You will wake up Chinese tomorrow.” These videos have confounded older generations, whose feelings on China are overwhelmingly negative and aligned with the billions of dollars poured into anti-China propaganda. According to one study from last year, 70 percent of Americans aged 65 and above feel that China poses “a great deal of threat to national security,” compared to just 46 percent of adults under 30. Younger Americans are by far the most sympathetic toward China, and ironic memes aside, their sympathies only seem to be growing stronger.

Musk

• Elon Musk Says ‘Yes’ To $1.75 Trillion SpaceX IPO Valuation As Company Eyes Mars, Orbital Expansion.

Electric / Self Driving cars

• Americans Don't Just Fear Driverless Cars Will Crash – They Fear Mass Job Losses

Edumacationalizing / Acedemia Nuts

• Scientific datasets are riddled with copy-paste errors

• Robot 'mice' developed to inspect hadron collider

Info Rental / ShowBiz / Advertising

• Apple's M5 Max Chip Achieves a New Record in First Benchmark Result

• They haven't alienated all their remaining users yet: Mozilla is working on a big Firefox redesign, here is what it looks like

• How Flightradar24 became the platform to watch global aviation crises unfold

• German media group Axel Springer will buy the publisher of UK's Daily Telegraph

• Over 800 gamers tried and failed to beat a retro 80s game without a guide

• California's OS Age Verification Law Is a Nothing Burger

  It could literally be implemented as a user environment variable $AGE_BRACKET=4 on Linux and fulfill all the requirements.

  • US state laws push age checks into the operating system

• Meta's AI glasses reportedly send sensitive footage to human reviewers in Kenya

• Apple's 512GB Mac Studio vanishes, a quiet acknowledgment of the RAM shortage

• Workers report watching Ray-Ban Meta-shot footage of people using the bathroom

Space / Boomy Zoomers / UFO

• NASA now officially has no plans to use new mobile launcher for Artemis

• With lunar missions looming, scientists grow chickpeas in 'moon dirt'

AI Will (Save | Destroy) The World

• Econonomist interviews Anthropic's boss post Pentagon SCR

  • Anthropic vows to sue Pentagon over risk designation

  • A Dire Warning from the Tech World

  • 'No dictator-style praise': Anthropic CEO says US govt hostility linked to Trump donations; slams OpenAI's Altman in internal memo

  • Where things stand with the Department of War

  • Pentagon designates Anthropic a supply chain risk

  • Why The Pentagon Wants to Destroy Anthropic

  • Altman said no to military AI abuses – then signed Pentagon deal anyway

  • Anthropic sues US Government after unprecedented national security designation

  • Anthropic and The Pentagon

  Despite the histrionics, this is probably the best outcome for Anthropic—and for the Pentagon. In our free-market economy, both are, and should be, free to sell and buy what they want with whom they want, subject to longstanding federal rules on contracting, acquisitions, and blacklisting. The only factor out of place here are the Pentagon’s vindictive threats. In this sort of market, branding matters a lot. Anthropic and its CEO, Dario Amodei, are positioning themselves as the moral and trustworthy AI provider. That has market value for both consumers and enterprise clients. In taking Anthropic’s place in government contracting, OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, vowed to somehow uphold the same safety principles Anthropic had just been pilloried for. How that is possible given the rhetoric of Hegseth and Trump is entirely unclear, but seems certain to further politicize OpenAI and its products in the minds of consumers and corporate buyers.

  The lesson here should not be that one company in our rapacious capitalist system is more moral than another, or that one corporate hero can stand in the way of government’s adopting AI as technologies of war, or surveillance, or repression. Unfortunately, we don’t live in a world where such barriers are permanent or even particularly sturdy. Instead, the lesson is about the importance of democratic structures and the urgent need for their renovation in the US. If the defense department is demanding the use of AI for mass surveillance or autonomous warfare that we, the public, find unacceptable, that should tell us we need to pass new legal restrictions on those military activities. If we are uncomfortable with the force of government being applied to dictate how and when companies yield to unsafe applications of their products, we should strengthen the legal protections around government procurement.

• Donald Knuth says an AI solved a math problem he was stuck on for weeks

• Online harassment is entering its AI era

• UK to delay difficult decisions on AI copyright rules

• Don't Call It 'Intelligence'

• AI Agents Are Recruiting Humans to Observe the Offline World

• Nvidia is pulling back from OpenAI and Anthropic.

• America Cannot Withstand the Economic Shock That's Coming

• SoftBank eyes up to $40B loan to fund OpenAI investment

  • SoftBank Seeks Record Loan of Up to $40B for OpenAI Stake

• Oracle Will Fire Thousands Due to AI Cash Crunch

• What if AI just makes us work harder?

• Many scientists now use AI but fail to disclose it, study finds

• Amazon says Anthropic's Claude still OK for AWS customers to use

Neo Gambling / Crypto con games

• Crypto bill hits new impasse, raising doubts over its future

  Talks on landmark crypto legislation have hit a new impasse after banks said they could not back a compromise pushed by the White House, a development that cast doubt on whether the bill will pass this year and sparked criticism from President Donald Trump ​who accused lenders of trying to undermine it.

• The Wildest Frat Party on Campus? Prediction Markets

• US contractor's son arrested over alleged $46M crypto theft from US Marshals

• Kalshi's and Polymarket’s CEOs are fierce rivals : NPR

• US regulators say banks won't face extra capital charges on tokenized securities

  • Fed clarifies capital rules for tokenized securities

• Polymarket Removes Betting Market on Nuclear Detonation

Economicon / Business / Finance

• Jump at the pump as national average goes up nearly 27 cents

• Capital One to lay off more than 1,100 in latest cuts at Discover Financial HQ

• US economy unexpectedly sheds 92,000 jobs in February

  • U.S. Lost 92,000 Jobs in February

• U.S. Lost 92,000 Jobs Last Month; Oil Soars to $90

• Depleted oil reserve leaves US exposed as Iran war pushes up prices

• BlackRock limits withdrawals as redemptions rattle private credit fund

• Jack Dorsey Is Ready to Explain the Block Layoffs

• Cluely CEO Roy Lee admits to publicly lying about revenue numbers last year

Gubmint / Poilitcks / Law Making

• Tech titans vow to 'take back' California

• Judge orders government to begin refunding more than $130B in tariffs

  • CBP says it can't comply with refund order

  U.S. Customs and Border Protection told a Court of International Trade judge on Friday that it is not able to comply with his order to begin refunding reciprocal tariffs imposed last year by President Donald Trump, which the Supreme Court recently ruled are illegal. CBP in the same court filing told Judge Richard Eaton that the total amount of so-called IEEPA tariffs collected as of Tuesday by the agency and estimated duty deposits related to such tariffs “is approximately $166 billion.”

  • "Our systems can't be reprogrammed that way" is the essence of the argument. Treasury is supposed to do the refunds.

  • US companies denied refunds on Trump's illegal tariffs

• In 9-0 Decision The Supreme Court Remove A Barrier Used By Some Appellate Judges To Slow The Pace Of Removing Illegal Aliens: Appeals Courts must accept facts as found in immigration courts if supported by “substantial evidence” — and may reject such findings only if a “reasonable adjudicator would be compelled” to do so.

• A Simple Idea That Could Change Things for Kids: Child Impact Statements

  There's no such thing as a child-neutral policy. So why don't we require policymakers to say how their decisions affect children?

Left Angst

• U.S. Capabilities Are Showing Signs of Rot

• RFK Jr.'s anti-vaccine policies are "unreviewable," DOJ lawyer tells judge

  • Just like the COVID policies then?

• Attempted suicides, fights, pain: 911 calls reveal misery at ICE facility

• Pokémon Company Objects to White House's Political Memes

• Trump's push for new nuclear weapons begins in Tennessee's oldest town

  small towns like Jonesborough find themselves at the center of a renewed global arms race — one that environmental advocates and community members worry has the potential to pollute local air and waterways. Over 1,000 people live within a one-mile radius of the facility, according to archived federal data. Two public schools are less than three miles away. BWXT has a history of violating federal nuclear regulations, and the state is permitting the company to release hundreds of pounds of radioactive dust annually.

• Pardon Industry Offers Rich Offenders a Path to Trump

• ICE is paying 'eye-popping' prices for warehouse detention centers

• BBC altered Hegseth speech on Iran war

  The BBC mistakenly altered a speech by Pete Hegseth on the war in Iran, making him appear to say the United States was targeting the Iranian “people”. BBC Persian, which broadcasts to audiences inside Iran, mistranslated remarks by the US secretary of defence, telling viewers Washington was bringing death to the Iranian “people”. In fact, Mr Hegseth had said the Iranian “regime” was being targeted. The mistake was seized upon by pro-Israel media campaigners, who claimed that it cast doubt on the BBC’s impartiality. It also triggered a backlash on social media.

Law Breaking / Police / Internal Security

• Las Vegas bio lab contained human samples, testing materials, FBI says

  In an exclusive interview with the 8 News Now Investigators, FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Delzotto, who leads the bureau’s Las Vegas office, said some of the 1,200 samples were too old to produce conclusive results. “It was the conclusion of the FBI lab that the community could not be harmed by what was contained in that lab,” Delzotto said. Delzotto referred to the garage as a bio-storage facility, not a laboratory, adding that the samples and equipment suggested no active work was happening there. “I think the question is, ‘Why does somebody have these materials in a private residence that’s not a doctor, not a lab, not a licensed medical facility of any sort?’” Delzotto said.

  • "nothing to see here" and then they bury all evidence. Usually means they were involved.

• FBI investigating 'suspicious' cyber activity on system holding wiretaps

• San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's security detail attacked in bloody skirmish

  San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie’s police security team was attacked Thursday evening near the edge of the Tenderloin, the city’s most infamous drug-plagued neighborhood — leaving an officer bleeding from the back of his head after a chaotic street confrontation. The mayor was not hurt in the incident, which unfolded just before 6 p.m. near Cedar Street, according to Mission Local. One San Francisco Police Department officer assigned to Lurie’s security detail was left panting and bleeding after he slammed his head during a struggle with a suspect. Tony Phillips, who was booked on suspicion of murder in 2019 but never faced charges, was arrested in the incident. Phillips was arrested in 2019 for allegedly fighting with and stabbing a man in the Polk Gulch neighborhood, per the San Francisco Chronicle, close by to where he allegedly attacked Lurie’s security guard.

External Security / Militaria / Diplomania

• Black-box AI and cheap drones are outpacing global rules of war

• U.S. offers India a 30-day waiver for buying Russian oil

• Hegseth Finds His Footing as Epic Fury's Front Man

• America and Israel Remind the World How Wars Are Fought to Victory  | National Review

  Israel is fighting this war as it has fought every conflict it has waged since October 7, 2023, with the goal of achieving tactical victories at the lowest possible cost in blood and treasure. The full flourishing of the Iranian people would be nice. And who wouldn’t welcome the establishment of a durable and placid social contract throughout the Middle East? Those are fine outcomes, but the IDF has a narrower agenda: break the back of the Iranian regime and rid the world of its terror masters once and for all while putting its soldiers at as little risk as possible. The U.S. has joined the IDF in that enterprise, but Americans have not seen their military fight that kind of war in a long time. For some, it is a disorienting experience.

• From Ukraine to Iran, Hacking Security Cameras Is Now Part of War's 'Playbook'

World

• European Economies Are Not Stagnating

• Bristol social media 'School Wars' trend blamed for attack on 12-year-old girl

  The family of 12-year-old girl attacked at a central Bristol school say the violence was enflamed by a so-called 'School Wars' social media post being shared by young teenagers in Bristol. The post lists Bristol secondary schools on 'red' or 'blue' sides, and associated posts have encouraged organised violence between schools on opposing sides. Similar posts have appeared for schools in Cardiff, Birmingham and London. In footage viewed by ITV News, the 12-year-old girl is repeatedly punched in the face at her 'blue' school by a 13-year-old boy from a 'red' school. He also attacks other children present. We have spoken to the girl's 17-year-old sister who wishes to remain anonymous, for fear of reprisals. She says the 'School Wars' trend presents a real danger to children, whether they want to be involved or not, and believes it has provoked other violent incidents in Bristol. "Whether you're red side or blue side, you're automatically someone that somebody will look at and say, 'Yeah, let's get him.' That's what these kids think and it's disgusting", she told us.

• Indonesia to ban 'high risk' social media for under-16s

  • Indonesia Bans Social Media Accounts for Children Under 16

• UK Treasury not sure about ditching Oracle to join £1.7B program it is funding

• 67 dog breeds could be banned in Britain

  The cross-party committee has developed a 10-point checklist of extreme physical characteristics which can make for a poorly pooch. They include mottled colouration, excessive skin folds, bulging outward-turning eyes, drooping eyelids, under or overbite and a muzzle that interrupts breathing. The assessment - which is currently voluntary but expected to become law within five years - aims to drive out breeds with these sorts of exaggerated attributes. critics have cautioned the new criteria will see some 67 of the most popular types of dog in the UK automatically dubbed unhealthy, according to The Times. This includes widely adored breeds like dachshunds, shih tzus and Scottish terriers - and even the late Queen's beloved Welsh corgis.

• Bolivia Voids Banknotes After Plane Crash, Confusing Businesses, Shoppers

Iran / Houthi

• Iran hits Amazon data centres

  • Iranian news service claims drone strikes on AWS were deliberate

• Iranian Ship Surrenders, First Time Neutrals Intern Warship Since WW2

  The captain of a ship of the Iranian Navy has handed his vessel over to the Sri Lankan government, a neutral party, for internment, saving the lives of his crew hours after another Iranian warship was destroyed nearby by the United States Navy. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) has assumed control of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ship (IRIS) Bushehr, a fleet supply ship (oiler). Sri Lanka has sent craft to receive the 1970s-era ship within its territorial waters and, per local media, has taken off 208 officers and men, who are to be sent ashore. The ship will now be taken by the Sri Lankans to Trincomalee for internment for the duration of hostilities.

• Russia is providing Iran intelligence to target U.S. forces, officials say

  • Russia is aiding Iran's war effort by providing Intel on US Military targets

• Iran had a plan to fight Israel and the US. It all collapsed after October 7.

  since the joint US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran began over the weekend, killing its supreme leader and devastating the regime’s military and infrastructure, the response from the axis of resistance has been fairly feeble. The Iran-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah, which in the past has boasted of the ability to destroy Tel Aviv, fired a “handful” of rockets into Israel, which prompted a much larger campaign of airstrikes by Israel in southern Lebanon and Beirut. Wary of being dragged into yet another war, the Lebanese government has taken the unprecedented step of banning military activities by the group. Yemen’s Houthis, who dramatically shut down most global shipping through the Red Sea two years ago, have been conspicuously quiet. Militants in Iraq claimed a drone attack on a US military base in Erbil, but the attack was intercepted without any casualties, and some groups seem to be staying quiet. The impotent response is part of a larger story of the Iranian regime’s collapse from a fearsome military power to a weakened state fighting for its survival against an emboldened America and Israel. Rather than secure it from attack, its strategy of backing proxy forces in conflicts abroad played a critical part in dragging it into the existential crisis it faces now.

• New imagery suggests U.S. responsible for Iran school strike

• Persian Gulf desalination plants could become military targets in regional war

• Satellite firm pauses imagery after revealing Iran's attacks on US bases

China

• 'What is the game plan?': The Iran war is unsettling China and its ambitions

• Chinese industry call for national effort to invest in advanced chipmaking tools

• China's students used to chase tech, finance jobs. Now, choosing manufacturing

• Hong Kong pro-democracy tycoon Jimmy Lai will not appeal conviction

• Where Are China's A.I. Doomers?

Health / Medicine

• Weight-loss jab could be made for $3 a month, study finds

• Faecal transplants–a treatment for bipolar disorder?

• Whole milk was ‘demonized’ for years. So why is it suddenly cool again? More than 80% of Americans drink milk, and full-fat dairy is the most popular choice

Environment / Climate / Green Propaganda

• Scientists created a digital library full of ants

• Floating wind turbines could soon power AI data centers at sea

• Wrinkles reveal whether elephants are left- or right-trunked, study finds

• Mass stranding of whales on Scottish beach caused by loyalty to their pod

• Global Warming Has Accelerated Significantly

• Shift in the Gulf Stream could signal ocean current collapse

• China's 3K km Green Wall has transformed its largest desert into a carbon sink

• Fishing crews in the Atlantic keep accidentally dredging up chemical weapons