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‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reacts to latest eviction (exclusive)
‘Big Brother’ host Julie Chen Moonves reacts to latest eviction, Kamu’s tea party move, and if the other side of the house will ever make a move.
Noncompliance issues plague Mission Health. But time might be on its side.
Even if HCA's operation of Mission Health is found in noncompliance, it may be able to wait out the expiration of the purchase stipulations.
Few signs of talks between US and Iran as Trump hears from different corners on path forward
Despite President Donald Trump’s claims Iran is “begging” for a deal, some US officials fear regime figures appear more committed than ever to wielding leverage over the Strait of Hormuz and firing missiles toward American troops.
Cowboys’ Quinnen Williams Could Create Seahawks Contract Problem
As market-resetting deals for Jalen Carter and Quinnen Williams loom, Seattle faces a financial tightrope to retain Leonard Williams and anchor their championship-caliber "Dark Side" defense.
Digital Science appoints Stephen Leicht as CEO; Daniel Hook joins Holtzbrinck Group as Chief Scientific Officer
Digital Science has announced that Daniel Hook will take up the role of Chief Scientific Officer at parent company Holtzbrinck Group, with company President Stephen Leicht succeeding him as CEO.
Why Hybrid Healthcare Is a Business Imperative for Indiana Employers
Access to healthcare is more than a recruiting or retention tool. It’s one of the largest line items on the balance sheet and a critical factor in workforce stability. As costs and expectations rise, employers and employees want a simpler, more integrated healthcare experience.
Power List interview: Amanda LeFever
Amanda LeFever joined High Point University President Nido Qubein in the Power List interview, a partnership for discussions with influential leaders. The interview was edited for clarity. Amanda LeFever is president and co-founder of Greensboro-based Mission Mobile Medical Group, which launched in 2020. From a single unit, it now has more than 250 partners […]
Trump defends DOJ weaponization fund and attacks Cornyn, further imperiling Blanche nomination
President Donald Trump said acting Attorney General Todd Blanche “should be immediately approved” as his permanent pick for for the role and defended a controversial $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that’s at the crux of why the nomination has not yet moved forward.
Upfront: Kind of a Big Dill
This month’s magazine isn’t titled the Mount Olive edition. Maybe it should be. Columnist Dan Barkin writes about the surprising turnaround at the University of Mount Olive. It’s a vital part of the town whose more than 4,500 residents live in Duplin or Wayne counties, 70 miles southeast of Raleigh. President Ed Croom clearly understands […]
Trump to meet cabinet at Camp David as Iran war drags on
President grapples with finding a resolution to Middle East conflict that has pushed up gasoline prices ahead of vital midterm elections
For college students, a school’s state politics can matter as much as its academics
Students are looking beyond the usual admissions rankings and tuition prices to consider whether a campus — and the state its in — reflects the rights and values they need to feel safe.
Whole Hog Politics: Does Trump not know or not care how bad things are for the GOP?
[Watch Whole Hog Politics live: Hill Insider members can join us live today at 9 a.m. ET as Chris Stirewalt and host Bill Sammon break down this week’s political news and answer questions from a li…
Lelantos Holdings Transforms Roswell Cinema into 50,000-Square-Foot Airtopia Family Entertainment Destination
Roswell, New Mexico--(Newsfile Corp. - July 31, 2026) - Lelantos Holdings, Inc. (OTCID: LNTO), through its Airtopia Adventure Parks subsidiary,...
FIFA wants World Cup expansion assessment amid pressure on Infantino
FIFA is seeking an independent agency to assess the expansion of the men’s World Cup to 64 teams, according to documents seen by the Press Association. FIFA’s president, Gianni Infantino, is under increasing pressure amid mounting opposition to plans to seek private investment in a company which would run the World Cup, with three confederations having rejected it and his senior adviser having quit over it.
AOC 2028: could she be the first female US president?
Leftwing Democrats are having their political moment in the sun, with Zohran Mamdani in New York, Adbul El-Sayed in Michigan and the endless calls for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to run for president in 2028
Trump’s Immigration Push Keeps Expanding With New $100,000 Fee Idea | WSJ Politics Newsletter for July 31
Plus, inside Trump’s unprecedented fundraising operation and the rise and fall of Anthony Fauci
Thousands of Women Reported Disrupted Periods in June. Here's The Science Behind It.
Was it a real trend?
The Long-Awaited Canon Super Telephoto Zoom Is Finally Arriving This September
After years of rumors, confidence is higher than ever that Canon will launch the RF 300-600mm f/5.6L IS USM super telephoto zoom alongside new EOS R gear.
Does public health *need* MAHA?
Last week, our friend Dr. Craig Spencer sparked an ongoing volatile discussion with his Atlantic article “Public Health Needs MAHA.” Some have come out in strong dissent, others are cheering, and others are simply lamenting that we find ourselves in such a divided world to begin with. We will dare to dip our toes in these controversial waters, too. Does public health need MAHA? We think in some ways yes, and in other ways, no. MAHA leaders versus the everyday MAHA supporter The vitriol in this debate mostly comes from one collapsed distinction: the leadership of MAHA is not necessarily the same as the people who support it. Say “MAHA” and most people picture RFK Jr. Fair enough, as he coined the term and holds most of the power. And, yes, some MAHA followers treat Kennedy as something close to a saint. But talk to the grassroots, and it’s not a monolith. They’re Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. People who distrust vaccines and vaccine supporters. It’s a wide, eclectic coalition. The data backs this too: 4 in 10 Americans support the movement—that’s a lot of people! But according to polls, vaccines and medical choice (the issues most tied to Kennedy personally) are cited by only 4% as their reason for supporting the movement. For many, the motivations are much broader. Many MAHA supporters are signing up for the idea that “something needs to change” with health in this country. They’re asking good-faith questions about corporate influence on our health systems, health care costs, nutrition, chemicals, and clean air and water. These are all questions that plenty of public health professionals recognize as legitimate and also care about very deeply. Blurring the lines between the leadership and grassroots does real damage in two important ways: It hands the 4 in 10 exactly the narrative already fed—that the health ecosystem doesn’t listen, doesn’t care, and paints every critic with the same brush. It gives the actual bad actor more power. RFK Jr. has done irreparable damage and can’t be trusted. What the MAHA movement gets right A healthy population is something the public health field was literally built on, and many of these topics are things we have dedicated our lives to. Yet the MAHA movement has captivated nearly half the country in a way the public health establishment has failed to achieve. So that means MAHA is doing something right. Some of it may be timing (after a Covid-19 pandemic and deep frustration and mistrust with institutions). The movement also does three other things really well: 1. It gives a new, louder voice to system failures. While MAHA is not a monolith, one theme stays consistent across their stories: the system failed them. For some, it was the system that flooded their communities with opioids and then walked away. For others, it was the system that let their business collapse during Covid with no safety net in sight. For others still, it was the system that failed to help them manage a complex chronic illness, bouncing them from physician to physician without any real answers. And in many ways, our health ecosystems are failing Americans. Why are medical bills so incomprehensible? Why do some kids get a healthy school lunch and others don’t? Why do an epidemiologist and a MD/PhD student have to start newsletters in the middle of the biggest public health emergency in a century, just so people can get straight information? Because the systems failed. This deep-seated frustration driving many Americans to search for solutions elsewhere needs to be recognized. 2. MAHA has brilliant comms central to their efforts. MAHA figured out something most health institutions still have not: the information landscape changed. It’s participatory now, not top-down; influence runs through many nodes in a community, not one institution; and storytelling and telling audiences “what you really think” moves people more than data dumps do. MAHA goes where audiences are listening, using podcasts, social media, and memes in ways most health institutions would scoff at—but it works. 3. They are very good at organizing. A MAHA meeting feels like a rally: energy, speakers, music, and most importantly, an action for everyone. Someone’s writing the next policy brief, someone’s seeding a narrative, someone knows the next legislative deadline, someone’s sending the text messages for a campaign. None of this is new (ask the civil rights movement), but MAHA knows it works and has capitalized on it. What MAHA gets wrong This list could be much longer, and this newsletter has spent a lot of time covering it, but here are a few things: Poor use of scientific evidence. This is the fundamental problem with many MAHA policies: the hype outpaces the science, and experts are often villainized for pointing this out. MAHA leadership has traded real solutions for cheap wins. For example, instead of taking on the powerful food industry and passing real reforms, it has celebrated french fries made of beef tallow and taken out artificial dyes from still very sugary children’s cereal. These changes won’t move the needle on America’s diet. MAHA leadership has tried to dismantle vaccine access in the U.S. While many MAHA supporters emphasize other issues, the effort to change vaccine policy has become MAHA’s signature effort. This is not surprising given RFK Jr.’s extensive track record campaigning against vaccines. It has rallied behind the wrong leader. RFK Jr. has a decades-long track record of villifying doctors, scientists, and public health workers, well before he became HHS secretary. He is known for his decades-long work sowing distrust in vaccines as well as life-saving treatments like antiretroviral therapy for HIV. This is not a serious person who can move the needle on health in the U.S, and he has already done serious damage. Public health needs more than defense Defending the evidence is absolutely necessary so health in the U.S. doesn’t move further backward. The public health establishment is very good at defense. The problem is this defense often sounds like defending the status quo, which has failed many people. Public health needs to offer an alternative to RFK Jr.’s MAHA—one that is rooted in evidence, truly listens to and addresses people’s frustrations, and has innovative solutions and the courage to change the systems. How do we get there? Find common ground. Do you know what most people care most about? The abysmal cost of healthcare. Start there. Fight for the human loudly. Too often, communications and engagement center on science with a capital S, funding mechanisms, or the CDC/FDA/NIH. Not the person. So the public doesn’t see themselves in it. Instead, they see people fighting for the very powerful systems that they feel negatively impact their health and well-being. Let the public feel and hear that you see their frustrations, you get it, and you’re fighting for them within the system. Recognize when pro-science messages are alienating people. Facts absolutely matter, but angrily venting only alienates people further. Our friend Elisabeth Marnik recently wrote a New York Times article about her experience growing up unvaccinated and how listening and empathetic conversation are the only ways to reach people that really work (a position backed by communication science). Her comments section was full of hateful comments from pro-vaccine individuals attacking her for daring to suggest we approach vaccine-hesitant individuals with empathy. It is possible to both stand firm behind scientific evidence and empathize with people who don’t trust it. Lean into politics smartly. Often, public health has shied away from politics: Don’t touch it, lest you get burned. But this fails to recognize that the third rail is what fuels the train: who is elected determines our budgets, our priorities, and our authority. Being political means being very savvy in strategy on both sides of the aisle, knowing your audience, and recognizing that political capital is as scarce as financial resources and needs to be allocated accordingly. Bottom line So does public health need MAHA? That’s not really the right question. Public health has a responsibility not to dismiss 40% of the country who feel heard by this movement and are frustrated that the system has failed them. And it has a responsibility to stick to the evidence and recognize MAHA leadership for what it is: a danger to our nation’s health. Both can, and should, be done. Love, YLE and KP A big thanks to Craig Spencer, who had the courage to put his neck out there to start a much-needed discussion at such a critical moment—one that is determining the identity of an entire field. Kristen Panthagani, MD, PhD is completing an emergency medicine residency and research fellowship focusing on health literacy and communication. In her free time, she writes the newsletters You Can Know Things debunking health myths and rumors and The Public Health Roundup. Views expressed belong to KP, not her employer. Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE) comprises a team of experts, ranging from physicians to immunologists to epidemiologists to nutritionists, working together with one goal: to “translate” ever-evolving public health science so that people are well-equipped to make evidence-based decisions. The YLE suite of newsletters reaches over 475,000 people across more than 132 countries. This newsletter is free to everyone, thanks to the generous support of fellow YLE community members. To support the effort, subscribe or upgrade below: Subscribe
A New Kind of HIV Pill Just Passed Its First Test in Humans
Could this be a new weapon against HIV?
Analysis | Trump’s poll numbers just took another turn for the worse
The president of the United States is more unpopular than he has ever been, according to a series of polls of American voters ahead of the 2026 midterms.
CMS announces end to Medicare Part D prescription drug subsidies
With the change, premiums are expected to rise. However, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services confirmed they cannot inflate by more than 6%, as capped by the Inflation Reduction Act.
I learned from Elon Musk and Travis Kalanick, built my own AI startup
I spent my 20s working at Tesla, Apple, CloudKitchens, and Rivian to learn from top founders before launching my own AI manufacturing startup.
Opinion | Trump’s funding threat is anti-science, not scientists’ fault
Trump’s proposal would substitute political, ideological, and religious considerations for scientific criteria.
FIFA insists 'nobody is selling football' after UEFA threatens to boycott tournaments if plans to sell off stake in World Cup go ahead
FIFA: Nobody is selling football. This is not something FIFA would ever entertain; UEFA reacted furiously to FIFA plan to seek private investment in competitions including World Cup; FIFA president Gianni Infantino has publicly backed the plan
LIVE! UFC Belgrade Early Weigh Ins Results!
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is just over 24 hours away from the upcoming UFC Belgrade mixed martial arts (MMA) event, which is set to go down this Sat. (Aug. 1, 2026) on Paramount+ from inside Belgrade Arena in Belgrade, Serbia. UFC Belgrade will be headlined by a Welterweight clash between hometown boy Uros Medic and […]
Can bodies acclimate to 115-degree heat? A doctor breaks down the science
Residents spending time outside in July say they have gotten used to triple-digit heat, but medical experts warn that heat acclimation only protects the body to a point.
Collins, Ossoff trade attacks over health care and controversy on Georgia campaign trail
Collins held a news conference outside Monroe County Hospital in Forsyth, where he highlighted his health care agenda and criticized Ossoff’s record in the Senate.
Democratic candidates grapple with past stances on defunding the police ahead of key midterm races
Democrats are trying to convince voters that lawlessness under President Donald Trump is a major threat.
Coastal residents more likely to have worse midlife health
People who live by the coast in midlife are more likely to have worse health, finds a new study in England and Wales led by UCL researchers.
Sonoma County updates health advisory due to poor air quality caused by the Woodside Fire
8:15 P.M. UPDATE: Conditions are changing quickly and the air quality conditions have evolved to "hazardous" and "very unhealthy" levels. The Sonoma County Health Officer today issued the following health advisory: Areas of Sonoma County may experience "very unhealthy" or "hazardous" air quality caused by the wildfire event along the coast near Timber Cove and Salt Point State Park. People may experience adverse health effects from the smoke over Sonoma County and across the region. Below are some things you can do when the air quality is poor.
Defying Trump, Cornyn uses his lame-duck power
In standing in the way of Todd Blanche, President Trump’s choice for attorney general, a liberated Sen. John Cornyn is wielding his leverage.
Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) Stock Looks Reasonable On Cash Flow But Stretched On Earnings
Sphere Entertainment stock has delivered a very strong 360.9% return over the last 5 years, while the latest valuation checks are more cautious, with the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) estimate pointing to upside and market multiples suggesting the shares are already pricing in a lot of good news. Recent swings in the share price add to the debate about whether the current US$148.32 level offers enough margin of safety. Over 5 years, Sphere Entertainment has returned 360.9%, which puts today’s...
NBC Sports Philadelphia weighing adding courtside voice for Sixers after LeBron James arrival
NBC Sports Philadelphia is budgeting to add a courtside voice to its Sixers broadcasts ahead of LeBron James’s arrival this season, network vice president of content Alexandra Matcham told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I think you need a voice on the court where Alaa [Abdelnaby] and Kate [Scott] can’t be to give us insight, do pre-…
Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) Could Be 16% Undervalued Following Its Earnings Report
Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) moved into focus after its latest quarterly report. The company posted a Q2 net loss alongside higher sales, and the stock reacted positively as results topped market expectations. See our latest analysis for Sphere Entertainment. Sphere Entertainment's latest results came after a strong run, with a year to date share price return of 57.29% and a 1 year total shareholder return of 244.53%. This hints at building momentum despite a 30 day share price pullback of...
Iris Taylor, Detroit health care and education leader, dies at 74
Taylor was serving as DPSCD's board treasurer after retiring as president and CEO of Detroit Receiving Hospital when she died.
Defying Trump, Cornyn Uses His Lame-Duck Power
In standing in the way of Todd Blanche, President Trump’s choice for attorney general, a liberated Senator John Cornyn is wielding his leverage.
The Federal Government’s $33.6 Trillion Health Care Problem
The Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) latest report on federal health-insurance subsidies estimates the federal government will subsidize health coverage by approximately $2.4 trillion in 2026, by $3.9 trillion by 2036, and by a total of $33.6 trillion over the intervening decade. For all the focus on health care costs in the United States, CBO’s new […]
Exclusive | ‘The Boss Wants This Money’: Inside Trump’s Unprecedented Fundraising Operation
Meredith O’Rourke, nicknamed ‘princess of darkness,’ carries out the president’s desire to wring hundreds of millions from companies for his projects.
CDC, public health preparedness nominees advance in Senate
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on Thursday approved President Donald Trump’s nominees to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and to serve as a key assistant secretary, two leadership roles that the administration has struggled to fill. The committee voted 12-11 along party lines to advance Sean Kaufman to serve […]
Texas economy booms as businesses, residents flee high-tax states
FOX Business correspondent Lauren Simonetti reports on how Texas' business-friendly environment and low regulations are attracting major companies on ‘Mornings with Maria.’
'Worth a conversation': Inside Florida's recommendations for treating mental health in children
Family medicine physician Dr. Jessica Gray discusses Florida's new guidance advising against immediate psychiatric medication for most children on ‘Fox & Friends.’
Xbox CEO says the team has one year to start growing again
“Our reset has not been easy.”
‘There was no other option’: Inside Fauci’s intensely planned hearing strategy
Dr. Anthony Fauci arrived at a high-stakes Senate hearing on Wednesday with a single, modest goal: Survive. The former top government scientist felt he accomplished that mission, people close to Fauci told CNN.
Wisconsin's 2026 primary for governor gets shaken up again
Four candidates remain in the topsy-turvy 2026 Democratic primary for governor as Mandela Barnes ends his campaign — Inside Wisconsin Politics considers the state of the race in its closing […]
Rick Wright named President of American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine
Vanderbilt's Rick Wright, MD, MMHC, has been named President of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine.
A Shocking New Book Reveals Why JD Vance Might Be Even More Dangerous for America Than We Thought
Let’s hope the vice president’s is so unlikeable that it keeps him from climbing the ranks any higher.
Supercharged millet could help children's gut health without usual supplement side effects
Every day in the urban slums of Mumbai, hundreds of young children were fed toddler-appropriate porridge, soft curry or fresh-baked goods. For some, these were made of ordinary pearl millet, an ancient ...
In a cosmic first, astronomers detect 2 sibling supernovas that came from a pair of bound stars
Astronomers have identified a supernova remnant beside the well-known Jellyfish Nebula (IC 443), and evidence suggests both are the wreckage of two stars that once orbited each other before exploding separately.
Barcelona renew interest in Hoffenheim attacker Fisnik Asllani
Kicker confirms a report originating in Catalan sports newspaper Sport regarding FC Barcelona’s interest in Hoffenheim attacker Fisnik Asllani. Apparently, the Blaugrana are once again considering T...
Trump’s Nominee to Oversee VOA, Sarah B. Rogers, Suggests Return of Journalists on Leave
The statement by the nominee, Sarah B. Rogers, signaled a stark reversal of the president’s earlier efforts to shutter Voice of America and other federally funded news groups.
How views on Trump's handling of Iran have shifted, according to this poll
Most Americans say the war in Iran has not been worth fighting, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating on Iran has fallen slightly since last month, according to a new AP-NORC poll.
What is a brand extension? 'Jeopardy!' attempts to answer TV's questionable future
"Jeopardy!" is TV's most-watched entertainment show — and its median viewer is 70. Inside Sony's push onto ESPN, Netflix and YouTube to find a younger audience.
Amtrak business class vs. coach: I liked the cheaper train ride
I rode business class and coach on an Amtrak train between New York City and Rochester. The perks in business class weren't worth the extra money.
How to manage token costs while keeping agentic goals on track
Learn about AI tokenomics and how Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA helps reduce token costs by running AI agents locally.
Urban League report says Trump administration is harming Black Americans' chances at American Dream
Released on Thursday, the annual “State of Black America” report grimly describes Black Americans' economic and political prospects as having worsened due to policy changes from President Donald Trump's administration.
Oakland sports events to catch in August
Roller derby’s Summer Slam, Oakland Spiders' championship quest, Ballers host Gary Payton and Too $hort, Roots hold a Bad Bunny halftime drag show.
Leopold Aschenbrenner and the Wall Street lesson every genius learns
Leopold Aschenbrenner's hedge fund collapse shows how even brilliant investors can get crushed when markets turn.
Sen Darline Graham drops campaign video on heels of brother's funeral services amid tight primary timeline
Sen. Darline Graham, the sister of the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, dropped a campaign video as she runs for U.S. Senate with President Donald Trump's endorsement.
Shohei Ohtani Injury Won’t Effect Deadline Plans, Says Friedman
Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said the Shohei Ohtani's injury won't impact their deadline plans.
First look: Kamin Science Center's indoor go-karts
Axios Pittsburgh took the first laps inside the new racing attraction. 🏎️
Will business back smaller lot sizes?
Business groups are considering backing a ballot measure that would reduce minimum lot sizes in Massachusetts.
Maine House speaker vows to avoid conflicts with new job
With 186 members, Maine has a part-time, citizen Legislature, many of whom work outside the State House.
NJ Chamber of Commerce to Honor 10 Women Business Leaders and Advocates Who Are Making a Difference
These Exceptional Women Will Receive the NJ Chamber’s ‘Women of Inspiration’ Awards The New Jersey Chamber of Commerce announced today that it will honor 10 exceptional women who have used talent and hard work to create economic opportunities and help make New Jersey a better place to live and work. The women will be recognized[...]
Why Democrats Won’t Stop Forcing Votes On Trump’s Iran War Powers
Even after winning approval of a measure calling on President Trump to end the war, they continue to call votes to force Republicans to answer for it.
Health Privacy Legislation Advances in the Senate
CDT supports stronger privacy protections for consumer health data that falls outside of HIPAA. We’ve consistently called for privacy protections that move away from outdated notice and consent regimes and instead embrace limitations around corporate data practices that limit data collection, retention, sharing, and use of data that is necessary for the products and services […]
Elon Musk Plans at Least $100 Million in Midterm Spending to Help Republicans
Elon Musk, a year after a huge blowup with President Trump and the Republican Party, is said to be planning to spend in at least eight states to help them in November.
Kamala Harris' new $8M mansion is in a neighborhood with virtually no Black residents
Kamala Harris' $8 million Malibu mansion sits in a census tract that is 94% White and 0.2% Black, despite her career fighting racial bias in housing.
Situational Awareness keeps Anthropic stake in portfolio sale to Citadel
Ken Griffin's fund bought a majority of Leopold Aschenbrenner's public equities book, but none of the firm's private holdings.
Linda Perhacs found ‘safe’ 8 months after 82-year-old folk singer went missing
Linda Perhacs, a pioneering psychedelic folk musician, has been found safe eight months after she was discharged from a Los Angeles-based residential care facility.
Why Some Family Health Insurance Is Now Pricier
LDI/CHOP experts estimated the potential effect of the expiration of enhanced ACA Marketplace subsidies on family premiums across income levels.
Rob Martinelli
Pepper has appointed Rob Martinelli as Executive Vice President, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to strategic growth and operational excellence.
Health coach compared 4 fitness wearables: 1 was best for performance
A health coach wore an Apple Watch, Whoop, Oura Ring, and Fitbit at once to see which is best. He found a clear winner for fitness, health, and sleep.
Senate committee advances nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz for CDC director
Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to be director of the nation’s top public health agency advanced on Thursday, setting aside concerns that she will not stand up to political meddling.
Senate committee advances nomination of Dr. Erica Schwartz for CDC director
Dr. Erica Schwartz’s nomination to be director of the nation’s top public health agency advanced on Thursday, setting aside concerns that she will not stand up to political meddling.
Why Trump is Afraid of International Law
The administration sees a risk that “woke” institutions will go after its officials once the president is out of office.
Jets insider makes Geno Smith's biggest responsibility crystal clear
Geno Smith must prove the Jets' offense won't resemble last season's disappointing unit.
Trump says he may temporarily pull Blanche's nomination for attorney general as Republicans seek concessions
President Donald Trump said Thursday he may pull acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s nomination for attorney general, looking to avoid concessions to holdout Republicans.
Melanie Van Dusen Named to Sports Business Journal's 2026 Game Changers: Women in Sports Business Class
/PRNewswire/ -- Berk Communications, a MikeWorldWide company, today announced that Executive Vice President and Co-Head of Sports Melanie Van Dusen has been...
Trump says he’s open to temporarily withdrawing Blanche nomination amid GOP resistance
President Donald Trump says he wouldn’t object to temporarily withdrawing Todd Blanche as his nominee for attorney general amid resistance from two Republican senators.
New court docs reveal how MrBeast pitches brands like Slack, Walmart
We dug through court documents to reveal MrBeast's ad rates and details of his pitches to Walmart, Slack, and Sony.
Trump touted his tariffs in Michigan despite rising costs. Even some of his supporters are worried
During President Donald Trump's rally in Milford, the crowd was adoring. But even some of his ardent supporters said prices are too high and tariffs had caused short-term economic pain.
Kennedy to host cooking show with focus on inexpensive meals
Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has launched a show geared towards teaching Americans how to cook healthy, inexpensive meals. “Thanks to President Trump, we flipped …
Business Briefs: July 31, 2026
Greenfield Savings Bank welcomes new first vice president, commercial loan officer GREENFIELD — Greenfield Savings Bank recently announced that Douglas Gilbert has joined the bank as first vice president, commercial loan officer. Gilbert brings more than 30 years of banking experience and a strong background in accounting and commercial lending. “We’re excited to welcome Doug […]
Business advisory committee takes root in Orange Cove
Orange Cove residents, business owners come together for inaugural meeting of Downtown Business and Tourism Advisory Committee
This Week in Jacksonville - Business Edition: Experts urge tighter HOA oversight after $11 million fraud
Kent Justice tackles a question a lot of HOA homeowners are asking after the “Hammocks” case in South Florida: could HOA fraud happen here — and would anyone catch it in time? Kent’s guest is Marc Rodriguez, EVP of Market Operations at RealManage, who breaks down how financial oversight can fail inside volunteer-run boards, what practical controls can stop fraud before it starts, and how technology can add real transparency for both board members and homeowners.
Compared to Estimates, Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) Q2 Earnings: A Look at Key Metrics
Although the revenue and EPS for Sphere Entertainment (SPHR) give a sense of how its business performed in the quarter ended June 2026, it might be worth considering how some key metrics compare with Wall Street estimates and the year-ago numbers.
Late for Work: Sports Physical Therapist Doctor Offers Encouraging Outlook for Nnamdi Madubuike
Ravens players who have a lot at stake entering training camp. Vega Ioane and Ryan Eckley make a preseason All-Rookie Team. The Browns are ‘strongly considering’ signing former Raven Jadeveon Clowney.
The National 2026 live updates: Latest from today’s National Sports Collectors Convention outside Chicago
Follow live coverage of the 46th National Sports Collectors Convention from Rosemont, Illinois
Money has strangled sports. Now Fifa is putting soccer up for sale
Gianni Infantino’s plan for a Fifa subsidiary is odious – but it’s hard to feel surprised
Record absence of world’s oldest head of state reignites health speculation
Cameroon’s president has not made statement or been seen since leaving for ‘brief private stay’ at Swiss hotel on 7 June
Senate panel delays vote on Blanche attorney general nomination
Key Republicans have demanded more assurances about the settlement of President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the IRS
The new "science golden age" looks suspiciously like a grift
This edition of PN is made possible by paid subscribers. Become one ⬇️ 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 The Trump regime is trying to usher in a “Golden Age in Science” where scientific research is run like a Trump family business, artificial intelligence is all that matters, profit is everything, and expertise is for chumps. Or at least that’s the vision emerging from a new 123-page “Report to the President” from Michael Kratsios, the Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. In a normal administration, you could probably skip over learning about a science policy document — but this is no normal administration, and this is no normal science policy document. Instead, it’s Trump’s attempt to end the actual golden age of science that was kicked off in 1945 with the publication of '“The Endless Frontier” by Vannevar Bush. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) [ Harmeet Dhillon demonstrates danger of posting through it ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Liz Dye · Jul 29 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/harmeet-dhillon-portland) Bush, at President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s request, laid out a vision of federal support for science that centered on funding universities to do basic research, saying that as long as those institutions were “vigorous and healthy and their scientists are free to pursue the truth wherever it may lead, there will be a flow of new scientific knowledge to those who can apply it to practical problems in Government, in industry, or elsewhere.” Kratsios’s report is supposed to be the successor to Bush’s, and even apes the format, but this isn’t really a document about science policy. It’s one about ending science research as we know it in favor of shoveling cash at big tech companies. While it might be temping to wave this away as an aspirational policy document, Trump has already begun to shift billions in research funds to AI projects and has taken a hatchet to science funding across the board. He’s teed up the shift Kratsios proposes here, and since neither Congress nor the Supreme Court seem inclined to stop him from doing whatever he wants with taxpayer money, it isn’t doomering or hyperbole to say we are staring down the barrel of a world where the only “science” the government intends to support is for-profit tech and defense advancements. Science for dummies Part of how you can tell this isn’t a document about science is that you are immediately faced with an absolute wall of business-speak of the worst sort. Did you know we must “tightly couple our science and technology enterprises to ensure that groundbreaking ideas invented in the United States are rapidly prototyped, tested, manufactured, and scaled domestically”? You do now! That tone isn’t surprising, because Kratsios has no background in science or research. He has a bachelor’s in political science and spent most of his career working for Peter Thiel at Thiel Capital. After a stint in the first Trump administration as Chief Technology Officer, where he also did not do any science, Kratsios was tasked in 2020 with overseeing the Pentagon’s research budget for a brief time, a position that, as the Wall Street Journal put it, “carries a great deal of power in terms of dictating investment allocations.” He spent the Biden years at Scale AI as “head of strategy,” which you will also note is neither a science nor a research job. But Scale AI has contracts with the Department of Defense and, as the Washington Post wrote in 2023, “has been aggressively pitching itself as the company that will help the US military in its existential battle with China.” And now you have the necessary background for our new golden age, which is going to be a golden age of taking money away from scientists and universities and giving it to companies like Scale AI. A note from Aaron: Working with brilliant contributors like Lisa takes resources. If you aren’t already a paid subscriber, please become one to support our work. 👇 Subscribe In a genuinely galling move, Katsios spends a lot of time slamming universities because of “administrative burdens on researchers” and the “well-documented inefficiencies” in academia, the message being that those damn universities waste the time of amazing researchers with paperwork. Except it’s the administration that is attempting to impose inefficient, unnecessary burdens on those researchers with a proposed Office of Management and Budget rule that would require senior political appointees to approve every science grant and ensure it aligns with Trump’s personal priorities. Researchers would also have to seek prior government approval to attend conferences or publicize their research. And political appointees could terminate any grant at any time if they feel like it. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) [ The murder of expertise ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) Lisa Needham · Jun 11 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/omb-rule-science-funding) But when it comes to AI, we’re going to “restore permissionless innovation.” The report proposes to give lucky ducky innovators a pile of cash up front for grants lasting five years or longer, saying “awards should be fully-funded in year one, with all resources earmarked upfront, to minimize administrative burdens and reduce pressure for researchers to generate intermediate results to secure continued funding.” Yeah, wouldn’t want to have to make the Very Special Tech Bros show results or get money parceled out year by year like the plebes at universities. The report also proposes that we should have “fast grants” with “simplified applications requiring just a few pages of writing” because that is definitely how science works, just writing a bit off the dome and getting some cash. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) [ Tech elites are turning AI into ChatGPTrump ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Paul Waldman · July 29, 2025 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-ai-action-plan-altman-llms) Oh, and we should have prizes and challenges, where multiple teams compete. The proposed prizes include incentives like “advance procurement commitments,” which means the federal government agrees to buy whatever is being developed. There’s also “regulatory fast-tracking,” making sure all those great AI thingies don’t have to wait too long to be unleashed on a market. These aren’t incentives to do science. These are incentives to develop things with tax dollars that you can then sell to the government for more tax dollars. In the suggestion that might be the most unhinged, the most very opposite of how both government and research work, our new age will include “golden tickets.” That’s where an individual reviewer in an agency — yes, just one person — can “recommend unconventional proposals that may not pass consensus-driven review panels” because somehow this will “surface valuable ideas too divisive for committees and attract higher quality reviewers by empowering them to exercise independent scientific judgment.” Yes, that’s saying that a random person in an agency should be able to shovel money at some idea even if it can’t pass a review panel, and that the opportunity to do so will attract better employees because apparently all the best minds in science are chomping at the bit to be allowed to unilaterally fund AI research based on their personal vibes. But that isn’t at all how actual science works, and actual scientists aren’t unhappy about review panels. They work collaboratively, not siloed in some secret race to create the next AI chatbot. A 2020 study by the National Bureau of Economic Research examined whether peer review panels succeed in helping agencies predict which research ideas will best advance science. Peer review was better at finding “diamond in the rough” applicants than a single government program official. How about that. Trump always wants a taste It’s painfully clear that what Katsios is trying to do here is turn the whole of government science research and funding into the sort of “move fast and break things” paradigm that is the hallmark of big tech. That method works to line the pockets of tech executives, but it isn’t science. There’s a reason the government funds different kinds of research than private tech companies do. What Katsios either fails to understand or deliberately ignores is that the federal government is the main funder of basic research precisely because it can take a long time for it to bear fruit and is not intended to be profitable as such. “Basic” here does not mean rudimentary or simple, but rather research that is designed to advance scientific knowledge instead of achieving a specific outcome or product. Big tech companies don’t widely fund that sort of research, because it doesn’t make them money. Industry dollars account for only about 20 percent of basic research funding, while the government contributes around 60 percent. Big tech companies and startups do, however, rely on and benefit from that basic research. A 2019 study found that 35 percent of all patents obtained by venture-backed startups from 1976 to 2016 cited federally supported research. Basic research funded by the NIH contributed to every single drug the FDA approved from 2010 to 2016. [ ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) [ The Saudi nuclear farce and governance by whim and meme ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Noah Berlatsky · Jul 27 [ Read full story ](https://www.publicnotice.co/p/trump-saudi-nuclear-deal) Unlike inventing the next ChatGPT, actual science is slow and iterative. Government funding of research that, on its face, would not appear to lead to any big new invention is actually what underpins those big new inventions. If the government hadn’t funded research into desert lizard venom, we wouldn’t know about semaglutide, and we wouldn’t have Ozempic. If research scientists hadn’t studied how bees optimize nectar foraging within a colony, we wouldn’t have the algorithm that assigns internet traffic across computer servers. The report assiduously ignores that a symbiotic, profitable relationship between the federal government, universities, and private companies already exists. Each federal research dollar generates about $1.50 to $3.00 in long-term economic benefits. The $36 billion the government awarded in NIH research funding in fiscal year 2025 generated $94 billion in new economic activity. Trump’s proposed new golden age is intended to strip those billions from universities, resulting in the dismantling of departments and the shuttering of labs. But Katsios has a plan for that: Universities should just become trade schools to churn out no-show STEM degrees! “Require universities and community colleges to embed practical technical training and externships into STEM curricula. Let hands-on experience and industry credentials count toward degrees.” It’s quite the feat to, on the one hand, strip schools of funding for scientific research while simultaneously demanding to control what is taught and, oh, also, colleges need to give degrees to employees at big tech companies just for being employees at big tech companies. The new golden age would also exacerbate the brain drain Trump’s policies have already caused. Nature found that in the first quarter of 2025, US scientists submitted 32 percent more job applications abroad than in 2024. A March 2025 poll by Nature of roughly 1,600 scientists found that over 1,200 said they were considering leaving the country. Europe is investing $565 million to make it a “magnet for researchers” and provide funding for scientists who relocate. The new golden age is also about embedding Trump’s xenophobia into the fabric of American science. The report complains of an “over-reliance on foreign students” that “creates a security challenge our institutions are ill-equipped to address” and that a “reliance on foreign talent sidelines American students.” This is, to put it mildly, nonsense. International students pay far higher tuition and often receive no financial aid. Their tuition dollars are what make it possible for American students to get financial aid. In the 2023-2024 school year alone, international students contributed $43.8 billion to the US economy and supported over 378,000 jobs. Those 1.1 million international students accounted for only six percent of the total number of students in higher education that year, but were such an economic engine that for every three international students, one job was created or supported. It’s impossible not to wonder whether part of Trump’s loathing for universities and their leading role in scientific research is that there is no way for him to corrupt the process and make money off it in the same way he can by giving millions and billions to Silicon Valley types who, in turn, give him millions in cash. There’s no way for his children to invest in universities that the government then gives no-bid contracts to, fattening the family’s bottom line, which is pretty much the Trump sons’ current venture capital practice. Trump and Katsios’s view of science is narrow, cramped, and wrong. We’re not in a crisis, we’re not a failed state. We’ve been a science superpower for decades, and the only thing that threatens that is Donald Trump. Tech bros are already living high off the hog in this administration. They don’t need any more of our tax dollars. Hopefully this new golden age never comes to pass. Thanks for reading Public Notice. This post is public so feel free to share it. Share We’ll be back with more tomorrow. If you appreciate today’s PN, please do your part to keep us free by signing up for a paid subscription. 🚀 Subscribe to PN 🚀 Thanks for reading, and for your support.
Public Health reports first heat-related deaths in 2026 | Idaho Department of Health and Welfare
The first heat-related deaths in Idaho this year have been reported to public health officials at the Department of Health and Welfare. Three Idaho residents, all over the age of 55, died in the past week when temperatures in Idaho exceeded 90 degrees. All three lived in different communities across southern Idaho.
The US ‘golden age’ science strategy: what Europeans need to know
The US has unveiled what officials claim is the most radical overhaul of the public R&D system in a generation, which if implemented could have significant implications for transatlantic research collaboration. Science: A New Golden Age derides universities as “legacy institutions” and instead wants to prioritise funding on technological challenges, new research labs and funding that follows individual scientists, rather than being linked to their institutions. “Too much of our research enterprise has come to serve itself rather than the scientists within it,” writes Michael Kratsios, director of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the only named author of the report. “Federal funding agencies should support a broader range of performers.” But some critics argue that the strategy is a smokescreen, using genuine problems in academia as an excuse to further weaken US universities, which US vice-president JD Vance has labelled “the enemy..”Even as it talks of a “golden age” for science, the White House has proposed halving the 2027 budget of the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and has put forward double-digit cuts for other funding bodies, such as the National Institutes for Health. It asked for similarly steep savings in 2026, but Congress stopped them going through. Science: A New Golden Age says success will be measured by the extent to which scientists are “free” to pursue the most “vital questions,,” painting academia as currently hidebound by bureaucracy, sluggishness and consensual conservatism. And yet the Trump administration is simultaneously planning new rules that will hand political appointees unprecedented powers to screen and cancel grants. The report has pretentions to be the successor to Science: The Endless Frontier, the seminal 1945 document in which presidential science advisor Vannevar Bush set out the case for post-war government funding of basic research, helping to spur the creation of funders such as the NSF. Even the title page font is the same. But it remains unclear if the latest report will leave anything like as lasting a legacy.Here, Science|Business explains some of the biggest proposed changes in Science: A New Golden Age, and how Europeans think it might change the landscape of their biggest science partner.Universities under fireA key target of the report are US universities, which it repeatedly suggests are outmoded as research institutions. It criticises the NSF for channelling resources “overwhelmingly to a single type of performer, the university-based, principal investigator-led research group..” Universities “extract” money from researchers’ grants to support “growing administrative bloat,” alongside legitimate uses. The Trump administration has been trying to cut the overhead costs in federal research grants that flow to universities. Instead, new institutions are being built. In May, the NSF announced it would spend $1.5 billion on two new so-called X-Labs, focused on scientific instrumentation and quantum systems. The idea is that they fill a niche in the landscape, tackling problems that are too big for a university lab, but too early stage for private start-up funding. Parallel with Europe?This shift to new research organisations parallels moves in Europe to set up new innovation agencies, such as Germany’s Sprind, the UK’s Advanced Research and Invention Agency, and the EU’s European Innovation Council. The Dutch and French governments are looking to set up their own entities too. There’s now an emerging consensus, evident in a number of new strategies, that public R&D needs to be shaken up, Charles McIvor, an economist at the OECD, has written in response to Kratsios’s plans. “What stands out for me across these strategies [in the US, Germany, South Korea and Japan] is that governments are realising that the old ways of delivering STI [science, technology and innovation] programming no longer works,” he said in a LinkedIn post. Metascience wins?The document is, at least on the face of it, also a big win for some policy thinkers in the US who want far more experimentation with new forms of research grant and institution.It name-checks a litany of new public R&D ideas, from focused research organisations and advance market commitments to “golden tickets,” which allow grant reviewers the power to hand applicants money without requiring the consensus of other review panellists.Related articlesEuropean researchers sound the alarm that Trump rule changes will hit cooperationFocused research organisations: what are they, and how do you set them up? NIH turmoil risks reciprocal EU-US access to health research funding In addition, every federal research funding agency should set up a metascience unit, the strategy says, “with authority to run controlled experiments on review and funding mechanisms.” The UK has already set one up, the strategy points out. This mirrors recommendations to the European Commission. In 2024, a report led by former Portuguese science minister Manuel Heitor also advised the EU to set up an “experimental unit” to test out new methods of funding research. So far, however, Brussels hasn’t put forward any plans to do so. Bypass universitiesBut there’s a worry that the Trump administration is using the metascience movement to justify an overhaul of public R&D that punishes universities, which it sees as centres of political resistance. Last year, it threatened to cut Harvard University’s federal funding unless it hired and admitted a “critical mass” of new faculty and students to create “viewpoint diversity” across campus. It’s also attempted to strip academics of funding for working on politically forbidden areas, like LGBTIQ people’s health.The new strategy appears to be a “move to bypass the power of universities full stop and allow funders and political bureaucracies to handpick the projects and people who will execute them,” said Jean-Claude Burgelman, a former senior official in the Commission’s research directorate, on LinkedIn.The EU’s science counsellor in Washington, Florent Bernard, wrote that the plans risk diverting public research funding so that it “solely serves private interests.” “Who, if not independent universities, will do research that demonstrates the impact of tobacco on lung cancer or the role of human activities in our current climate crisis?” he wrote.Should we take it seriously?“I would view the overall document as a bad faith argument,” said Cole Donovan, director of science policy at the campaigning group Stand Up for Science, and a former OSTP official. “I don’t see the project itself as something that can be isolated from the broader attack on the system.” He thinks the argument that academia has become dysfunctional and in need of radical reform is being deployed as part of a “PR argument” to legitimate moves against US scientists. The strategy presents ideas like metascience units as new, whereas there were moves to set them up at the NSF during the previous administration of Joe Biden, Donovan said. The other caveat here is that the OSTP has limited power to carry out any of these recommendations. While Kratsios has issued a memo to research agencies telling them to implement the recommendations in the report, he doesn’t have direct budgetary control. “As a former OSTPer myself, this does not seem like a document that is realistic,” said Donovan.
After Hobbes vs Rousseau: Politics must move beyond human nature
Since the great debate between Hobbes and Rousseau, our political theory has been organised around a single question: is human nature essentially good or essentially corrupt? Graham Harman, the philosopher behind object-oriented ontology, argues that this is simply the wrong question to be asking. The real forces governing our collective fate - climate change, artificial intelligence, geography, and pandemics - are non-human; therefore, questions about human nature are not the central ones. Instead, Harman proposes a politics reorganised around our relationship to non-human objects and environments, in which quasi-government institutions incentivise and deter actions with the aim of extending the survival of the human race. “It is easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.” This has become one of the most popular phrases among twenty-first-century intellectuals. Often misattributed to Fredric Jameson, it has been warmly embraced by such influential authors as Slavoj Žižek and the tragically departed Mark Fisher, and has fueled the notion that the major problem with the political Left is that it simply needs to become more speculative and creative. Naturally, this is never a bad idea in any human pursuit. But what if the political distinction between Left, Right, and Center itself results from a failure of imagination? SUGGESTED READING Hobbes vs Rousseau: are we inherently evil? By Robin Douglass This particular division has been with us only since the summer of 1789. During the simmering prelude to the French Revolution, it referred originally to the physical position in the National Assembly of radical figures on one side and loyal monarchists on the other. These positions are linked with two entirely different camps of modern political theory. On the Left we find a series of authors ranging from the moderate (Locke) to the supercharged (Rousseau) to the truly radical (Marx), all of them contending that exploitation of the many by the few justifies revolutionary overthrow of the existing order. On the Right they are countered by the likes of Machiavelli, Hobbes, and Schmitt, a group of thinkers convinced that corrupt human nature can be tamed only by force. In the words of the Nazi supporter Schmitt: “One could test all theories of nature and state and political ideas according to their anthropology and classify these as to whether they consciously or unconsciously presuppose [humans] to be by nature evil or by nature good.” This is the division we continue to face today, even in the daily retail politics of Western democracies.___Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims.___The most refreshing feature of David Graeber and David Wengrow’s 2021 book The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity was their awareness that the forced choice between Rousseau and Hobbes (as they put it) is no longer sufficient. Our species has regularly proven itself capable of both the noblest gestures and the most scathing cruelties, making it hard to define us as essentially either emancipatory or brutal in our aims. Far from being stationed “beyond good and evil,” we seem to be fully entangled with both. We are not naturally good or evil, Graeber and Wengrow contend, but naturally experimental and imaginative. They rest their case on the archaeological record, which seems to bear witness to numerous episodes of seasonally shifting governments and festivals, which vacillate in the same society (even in the same year) between the egalitarian and the dictatorial. Such praise of political experiment makes a good fit with the generally anarchist position defended by these authors. Yet it is also what I find most disappointing in their position. Although they are right that the forced choice between Hobbes and Rousseau falls short of what our new situation requires, the authors simply replace it with praise for the human being as a political tinkerer and performer. In other words, they give us just another theory of human nature, one that would not have been out of place in the sixteenth or seventeenth century. What other options might we have?___The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature… We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them___One fresh approach would be to treat politics within a broader framework than human nature, given that the polis does not exist in a vacuum filled exclusively with people. When Bruno Latour went to observe the baboons of Kenya with the San Diego anthropologist Shirley Strum, they jointly concluded that these primates were more socially interdependent than our own species. Each baboon is so reliant on the dynamics of the group that they find themselves locked into constant surveillance of their potentially dangerous peers. The group structure turns out to be inherently volatile. Humans, by contrast, are able to stabilize their societies to a large degree through the mediation of inanimate objects. Although one’s position in society may seem to fluctuate over time, considerable stability is produced through such items as apartment keys, wedding rings, and identification cards, all of them serving to secure us a place distinct from that of our fellows. The Italian philosopher Maurizio Ferraris has written at length about the crucial role of documents in establishing social relations, making him a hero among notaries in his country. Proper names and license plates cement our position amidst other humans, as do symbolic achievements such as graduation from a top university or distinguished wartime service with its various medals and ribbons. None of this is found among baboons, despite their closeness to us on the evolutionary tree: after all, we did share a common ancestor just 25 to 30 million years ago. SUGGESTED VIEWING The goodness paradox With Richard Wrangham The time is ripe for a retheorization of politics on the basis of something other than human nature, whether understood in the manner of the Left or of the Right. We are not just alienated and limited by objects, but also empowered and unleashed by them. But initially, it is true, we face non-human things primarily in the form of constraints. It would be difficult, perhaps impossible, to form a human civilization underwater, deep underground, atop Mount Everest, or in outer space. Human dependence on the non-social background takes on subtler form in discussions of political geography, especially unloved on the more idealistic Left. Consider the luckless position of Poland during World War II, sandwiched between Hitler on one side and Stalin on the other. By contrast, note the good fortune of the United States in not having a military peer positioned on any land border. Anglo-American geopolitics, since the writings of the American naval commander Alfred Thayer Mahan and the British geographer Sir Halford Mackinder, has been wedded to the notion that one or more liberal offshore naval powers should prevent any authoritarian “heartland” regime from gaining effective control of Eurasia. That remains the case whether the opponent is the impatient Napoleon, the swashbuckling German Kaiser, the villainous Hitler, the murderous Stalin, or the industrial juggernaut Chinese. In their current Foreign Affairs article “Heartland vs. Rimland,” Michael Beckley and Hal Brands analyze the current and coming state of the world on the basis of these same rather durable principles. In recent years a similar outlook has been embraced, in inverted form, by the Putin-loving Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin, an icon of the Rightist intellectual underworld. For Dugin, the Anglo-Saxons are an evil force bent on destroying the spiritually superior people of the land: much like Athens in its failed war with Sparta, or Carthage in its eventual collapse against Rome. But the shared notion on both sides is that any strategy that fails to take geography into account is likely to end up as a defeated form of excessive optimism.___When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole.___More striking for us today than geography is the non-human object called climate, which threatens rimland and heartland equally. Even if we contend that humans are one hundred percent responsible for triggering the climate crisis, it remains non-human in the sense of being an independent force beyond our effective control. In a major work published just before his death in 2002, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory, the American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould noted the tendency of evolutionary theorists to focus too closely on the fate of individuals in view of their successful or failed adaptation to circumstances. With climate change, however, we confront a force that goes well beyond the scope of any individual life. Whereas Richard Dawkins extended evolutionary questions downward from individuals to the sub-individual gene, Gould pushed it upward, speaking of entire species or clades as impacted by environmental change. The asteroid that struck the Yucatán 66 million years ago is only the most famous example of this sort. In the wake of that catastrophe, large animals needing abundant supplies of food were at a fatal disadvantage by contrast with the smaller birds and mammals of the planet. When dealing with environmental degradation, then, we are doing business with forces that promise dire effects on our species as a whole. The effect is to shift our attention away from individual beings towards the survival of the group.In the United States in particular, the COVID-19 pandemic sparked considerable backlash among those who asserted a nearly absolute degree of individual freedom. In California I encountered those who demanded that their businesses be allowed to reopen, that it was enough to cover their mouths but not their noses, or that they should have the right to enter any public area despite refusing vaccination. Yet public health is probably the clearest argument against libertarianism, which often merely asserts the autonomy of individuals against any claims of the commons. In normal times the individual is worth defending; under conditions that threaten the survival of part or all of our species, compulsion may be our only resort, as with perfectly reasonable blackouts and rations in wartime. To rebuild human society under the constraints of climate change will be one of the great challenges of the century to come, as will our improvised grappling with artificial intelligence. Such phenomena pose existential risks for humanity, and leave far less room for tolerance of individual brattiness. Cases are mounting of devastating wildfires caused by arson. Recently it was reported that there is even a website where one can bet on the location of coming wildfires, raising the specter of deliberate blazes set to collect on wagers. The death penalty has steadily lost support in a world where many stress the infinite value of human life. But if we focus instead on entire ecosystems, those who purposely burn the forests may begin to look worse than serial murderers.___The politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere.___So far I have spoken of force, authority, and punishment: measures sure to have greater appeal to those who identify with what we know as the Right. But other implications of the post-anthropocentric world are likely to have different backers. If non-human objects are seen as structuring political space, it stands to reason that they can no longer be introduced solely by the pace of technical breakthrough. Fields ranging from cybernetics to energy will demand increased politicization once they are reconceived not just as products of individual human investment, but as renovations of collective political geography. This need not involve world government, with its inherent risk of tyranny, but may involve quasi-governmental enforcers of prestige along the lines of a less corrupt FIFA or International Olympic Committee, punishing deviant states not with violence but with less tangible incentives.Politics will never lose its historic links with conflict and faction. But rather than factions aligned by differing theories of human nature, the politics of the future may be splintered by disagreement over such topics as how to manage our environing background and how to permit or restrict the entry of new objects into the political sphere. This will prove just as incommensurable with the modern Left/Right spectrum as a globe is with a two-dimensional map.
Breaking down FIFA’s stake sale, how it compares to other sports and whether it’s necessary
The intention is to raise $4.2billion from outside investors, which led to the narrative that FIFA wants to sell (part of) the World Cup
A call for ‘help': The Phillies' many avenues before the trade deadline
Bryce Harper said the Phillies need “help” on both sides of the ball. Here are the avenues Dave Dombrowski could pursue before August 3.
The Stakes for Wake
Peter Rodriguez took over as the school’s 15th president as it seeks to expand enrollment and navigates the NIL era.