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‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ revives yearslong fight over Democrat-backed settlements
President Donald Trump’s nearly $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” is triggering bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill while simultaneously reigniting a years-old conservative argument against administrations from both parties using the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund to finance politically sensitive settlements with little congressional oversight. The fund stems from Trump’s settlement with the Internal Revenue Service over the […]
3 coaches joins Jaguars through Bill Walsh diversity fellowship
The Jaguars announced three offseason additions to coaching staff through Bill Walsh diversity coaching fellowship.
$775 billion, $1.2 billion, and $38k
Medicaid cuts stemming from Republicans' 2025 tax law are expected to be even bigger than forecast.
Ousted Senate Republican digs in against Trump, takes jab at leadership style
Sen. Bill Cassidy breaks with Trump on Iran war powers and DOJ spending after the president backed his opponent in Louisiana's Senate primary race.
Texas business leader torches California’s billionaire tax push: ‘We don’t punish hard work’
Texas business leader torches California’s billionaire tax push: ‘We don’t punish hard work’
Gabriela von zur Muehlen, chief policy officer for the Texas Association of Businesses, says high-tax states like California and New York are pushing wealth, jobs and investment toward Texas.
Why billionaires, CEOs and manufacturers keep choosing Texas as America’s business capital
Gabriela von zur Muehlen, chief policy officer at the Texas Association of Business, says Texas’ low costs and strong supply chains help attract billionaires, CEOs and manufacturers.
Mental Health Law Needs a Family Bill of Rights
More consensus is emerging that mental health law should better inform and engage loved ones of those with serious mental illness.
Watch Lilly Gets Back Into the Vaccine Business With New Deals
Eli Lilly & Co. is buying three clinical-stage vaccine developers for as much as $3.8 billion as it looks to become a leader in infectious diseases. The drugmaker has been using cash from its obesity drugs to expand into other disease areas. Bloomberg's Gerry Smith reports.
Terra Quantum and Axiom Intelligence Acquisition Corp 1 Announce Definitive Business Combination Agreement at a $3.5 Billion Equity Valuation
/PRNewswire/ -- Terra Quantum AG ("Terra Quantum" or the "Company"), a global leader in quantum technologies, quantum security, and AI-driven optimization...
U.S. Rep. Steil advocates for crypto while industry backs his campaign
Wisconsin Congressman Bryan Steil has benefited from campaign contributions from the crypto industry as chairman of the subcommittee on digital assets.
Drug-testing bill gains momentum
A bill to prohibit medically unnecessary and nonconsensual drug testing of pregnant and postpartum women and newborns is gaining momentum in the state Legislature.
Providers skeptical business tax credit will move the needle on childcare capacity
New Hampshire Gov. Kelly Ayotte and business leaders celebrated the passage of the Child Day Care Tax Credit Program in the Legislature this month, a bill that would allow businesses to receive a tax credit for creating new childcare spots. However, childcare providers say they are skeptical the bill will increase capacity as intended.
‘Restart Multiple Times’—Microsoft Changes Windows Next Week
Microsoft starts expiring critical Secure Boot certificates next week — "the clock is ticking" on a billion PCs.
Imaging societies clash over bill to require that docs consult appropriate-use criteria
The American College of Radiology is seeking to revive the shelved AUC program, while nuclear cardiologists are speaking against these efforts.
Wealth Adviser Shuffle Hits Los Angeles - Los Angeles Business Journal
In Los Angeles and across the country, wealth advisers are packing up their millions or billions of client assets and heading for the door. Adviser
Matt Mahan facing campaign questions, political jabs ahead of CA primary
A pro-Mahan political committee refunded $1 million to Netflix Chairman Reed Hastings, a major backer. Additionally, Mahan faced a corruption complaint related to alleged coordination with a billionaire-funded political action committee.
Universal Health Services (UHS): Cheap NYSE Stocks to Buy According to Analysts
Universal Health Services Inc. (NYSE:UHS) is one of the cheap NYSE stocks to buy according to analysts. On April 29, Universal Health Services reported solid Q1 2026 results, with net revenues increasing 9.6% year-over-year to $4.495 billion. Net income attributable to the company rose to $348.7 million, or $5.65 per diluted share, compared to $316.7 […]
Sen. Schumer says meatpacking bill would lower food prices
The New York state senator on Monday visited upstate New York to introduce the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act.
Star Citizen crosses $1 billion in crowdfunding as Chris Roberts eyes version 1.0
Just one year after reaching $800 million in its unrelenting funding spree, Star Citizen has now crossed yet another significant milestone. The overly ambitious space trading and...
The OBBBA Just Made Charitable Giving More Expensive - Business Owners Have Options
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act imposes new floors on charitable deductions beginning in 2026 - for both corporations and their owners.
New billion-dollar-plus science centre breaks ground at Ontario place
The provincial government has officially broken ground on the new Ontario Science Centre, one of the key components to the revitalized Ontario Place development
Global mental health snapshot: 1.2 billion people are living with mental disorders
Adolescents aged 15 to 19 and women of all ages are the worst affected, especially by anxiety and depression
Semiconductor decoupling. Powell's politics. Industrializing Ogaden. Free trade and the Magna Carta.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. Feliks Topolski, 1907-1989 8th Army’s Front, Italy 1944 Semiconductor decoupling Source: FT One thing that Jerome Powell deeply understood is that chairing the Fed under current conditions is a deeply political job. “Powell has successes and mistakes to his name. But he stands out as having thought more carefully about the Fed’s democratic legitimacy than any chair since Paul Volcker,” said Paul Tucker, a former deputy governor at the Bank of England, referring to the Fed chair who successfully fought the great inflation of the 1970s and early 1980s. … While Powell was at the Treasury in the early 1990s, he watched Alan Greenspan build relationships within the government. That convinced Powell he needed to follow the former Fed chair’s lead and spend more time in Congress than his predecessors Yellen and Bernanke. “The accountability for the Fed runs through Congress,” said Claudia Sahm, a former Fed official who is now chief economist at New Century Advisors. “That’s not just about having people on speed dial — it’s answering questions, explaining policy and getting feedback.” Source: FT Ethiopia’s PM Abiy and Nigerian business tycoon, with Chinese engineering, are driving industrialization in Ogaden/Somali region of Ethiopia. - Michael Masri’s reporting for Africa Report if fascinating. Ethiopia has launched a cluster of large industrial schemes in the Somali region, laying foundation stones for a urea plant and an oil refinery in Gode while opening the first two phases of the Ogaden LNG project. Abiy Ahmed framed the push as part of a broader strategy to link energy, agriculture and industry. “These projects embody more than industrial growth,” he said. “They represent our shared responsibility to harness opportunities, strengthen co-operation and promote peace.” The Gode urea plant, backed by Dangote Group and Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), is designed for 3m tonnes a year. Dangote owns 60%, while EIH holds 40%. Officials say Dangote’s equity totals about $2.5bn, while the state provides land and implementation oversight. Gas from the Calub fields will be piped 108km to the site. Construction is slated for 40 months, with operations targeted for 2028. Ethiopia imports most of its fertiliser, spending more than $1.2bn a year for 1.5m–2m tonnes. Usage was roughly 1.7m tonnes in 2023, almost half of it urea, and demand for 2024–25 is put above 2.4m tonnes. If delivered on time, the Gode plant could cover domestic needs and allow exports to neighbours. Brook Taye, chief executive of EIH, called the venture “a significant milestone in the journey toward industrial self-sufficiency”. Dangote told the groundbreaking crowd that the complex would be integrated with gas supply and a polypropylene unit to support local inputs. He pointed to Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), with a capacity of more than 5,000MW, and noted his group’s cement operations and expansion plans. The Gode refinery is being developed by Golden Concord Group of China. It is designed to process 3.5m tonnes a year of crude and condensate from the Hilala field, with associated storage. Backers say it will ease foreign-exchange pressure from fuel imports and anchor further industrial activity, including a proposed steel smelting site in Dire Dawa. GCL’s chair, Zhu Gongshan, cast the project as “a key step in Ethiopia’s path to energy sovereignty”, underscoring the Beijing–Addis ties. Financing details are still being finalised, but the refinery is central to the government’s energy-security narrative. Source: The Africa Report Dangote’s Ethiopian vision: Dangote began with cement. His crown jewel, Dangote Cement, dominates Nigeria’s market and has 10 operations in other nations in Africa. The formula has been consistent: identify sectors with chronic shortages – cement, fertiliser, sugar – commit massive local investments, and scale up to serve regional demand. Ethiopia was a natural extension of that model. In 2015, Dangote launched the Mugher Cement Plant outside Addis Ababa at a cost of $600m, with an annual capacity of 2.5 million tonnes. The investment gave him a firm foothold in one of Africa’s fastest-growing construction markets. But success came with risks. In May 2018, violent unrest led to the killing of Dangote’s country manager and temporary shutdowns at Mugher. While other investors might have retreated, Dangote doubled down. Today, he is preparing to spend $400m to expand Mugher’s capacity to 5 million tonnes, alongside a new grinding unit near Addis Ababa. Cement is just one market Dangote is targeting. Ethiopia’s enormous state-controlled sugar industry, long plagued by inefficiency and debt, has struggled for years to reform. Its Omo Kuraz Sugar Development Project, touted as one of the continent’s largest initiatives, continues to face delays and mismanagement. … The most ambitious venture of all is the planned fertiliser production complex in Gode, Somali region. Publicised on 28 August 2025, the Dangote Group and Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) deal plans one of the world’s largest single-site urea manufacturing plants. The project costs an estimated $2.5bn and has an estimated capacity of 3 million metric tonnes annually, a rate that would not only render Ethiopia independent, but even a net exporter of fertiliser. EIH, the state wealth fund of Ethiopia, will hold 40%, while 60% is held by Dangote Group. … For Dangote, Ethiopia is a trifecta: Cement demand is projected to grow by 10% annually, its sugar consumption is growing with rapid urbanisation, and fertiliser demand is all but insatiable, given that farming supports the livelihood of 70% of Ethiopians. Source: The Africa Report The stakes for Abiy are high: For Addis Ababa, the $4bn fertiliser project in Ethiopia’s Somali region is no longer simply a manufacturing investment. It is increasingly being framed as a strategic state project tied to food sovereignty, import substitution and the government’s broader attempt to build economic resilience under mounting fiscal pressure. “Becoming self-sufficient in food is our main agenda,” Abiy says during the visit. “Land is needed; we have it. Water is needed; we have it. Human resources are needed; we have it.” The scale is enormous even by African industrial standards. Once operational, the plant is expected to produce three million metric tonnes of urea annually, potentially making it one of the continent’s largest fertiliser complexes. Ethiopian officials say the project now includes a 110km gas pipeline, a 120MW power plant, a polypropylene packaging facility and a two-million-tonne NPK blending plant. For a government grappling with chronic foreign exchange shortages, ballooning import bills and pressure on agricultural productivity, the numbers matter politically as much as they do economically. The decision to anchor the project in Gode is deliberate. Long viewed as peripheral to Ethiopia’s industrial economy, the Somali region is now being repositioned by the federal government as a future irrigation and agro-industrial corridor. Officials argue that the area’s vast land reserves and access to water could eventually support large-scale commercial farming capable of reshaping Ethiopia’s food economy. The government is simultaneously building housing infrastructure for about 5,000 residents near the plant, while officials project broader industrial expansion along the corridor. Abiy goes further, comparing the long-term revenue potential of the Gode development zone with Ethiopia’s flagship state enterprise. “The investments we are making in this Gode area, combined, will generate high revenue for Ethiopia, at par with Ethiopian Airlines,” he says. Source: The Africa Report Feliks Topolski 1907-1982 Topolski’s Chronicle, ‘Nazi Revival’, Vol. 8, Is. 1-2, 1960 HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. Photo by Jakub Dziubak on Unsplash If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $50. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe Grim vision of drone warfare by Sylvie Kaufmann For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe The state of the art in Colbert-studies. Jean-Baptiste Colbert was Louis XIV chief minister from 1661 to 1683 and traditionally seen as an architect of absolutism and mercantilism. Alexander Hamilton later cited him as an inspiration in 1782. Now his legacy is disputed. Daniel Dessert, the chief critic, sees Colbert as the orchestrator not so much of an absolutist state as of an elite cabal. Would be great to have a good English-language review of this important debate. Source: lhistoire Didn’t know that the Magna Carta included free trade provisions Fighting for the right to the beach in Oregon in 1967: Source: Research Gate RAF Station – British and Polish Flags, c. 1940-45, The Ingram Collection Feliks Topolski, 1907-1989 ink and wash If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
Ancient Eukaryote Fossils In Australia Add To Story Of How Complex Life Evolved Over A Billion Years Ago
“Studies like this give us an opportunity to understand these little guys as organisms […] we can picture where they were living, what they were doing and who they were.”
Cancer nearly left my kids without a mom. Funding cuts may halt the science that saved me.
The Trump administration proposes cutting $6 billion from the National Institutes of Health. Philanthropy cannot replicate the scale of government-backed research.
South Philly’s Morning Glory Diner: Homemade breakfasts with a spicy political topping
At the restaurant that “made brunch cool again,” mocking Trump and loving Democrats.
What was the Chargers' worst offseason move?
ESPN's Bill Barnwell identified every team's worst offseason move. Here is the one for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Employees are planning to call out sick, skip work to watch World Cup
Employees are planning to call in sick or take time off to watch the 2026 World Cup. It could cost companies billions in lost productivity.
Star Citizen Crosses $1 Billion in Crowdfunding After 14 Years, Yet Version 1.0 Still Has No Release Date
Star Citizen has topped $1 billion in crowdfunding after 14 years, but Cloud Imperium still has not announced a release date for version 1.0.
Can Exxon build the world’s biggest carbon capture business?
Oil major bets billions on technology but backlash on US Gulf Coast threatens its ambitions
Bernie Sanders warns of 'the most transformative economic revolution in the history of this country'
Sen. Bernie Sanders warned that AI and robotics controlled by billionaires could replace American workers and harm children's social development.
Bills’ Josh Allen Details ‘Awesome’ First Offseason Under Joe Brady
The Buffalo Bills fired head coach Sean McDermott in January. Josh Allen is pleased that Joe Brady is his second NFL head coach.
Uber weighs higher bid for Delivery Hero, FT reports
Uber’s board met on Saturday to discuss raising its offer for German food delivery group Delivery Hero after a major shareholder rebuffed an Uber bid that would value Delivery Hero over 11.5 billion euros ($13.39 billion), the Financial Times reported on Sunday.
14 years after being announced, Star Citizen hits $1 billion in funding.
Announced over a decade ago in 2012, and still floundering in Early Access with no release date in sight, Star Citizen keeps raising money, somehow. According to the funding page, it has now officially crossed the $1 billion mark. [Media: https://www.threads.com/@wario64/post/DYuqFGtGiQc?xmt=AQG0ina5TU2eMHAqf8D67F8GEa7iRI6CPEhaxYPeNO9jVedIr6EJBwqCtZm5OMl8tnQeYqyg]
Jimmy Patronis cheers on transportation improvement bill funding up to $580B
'This is about common sense. Washington’s outdated rules are slowing down American business and driving up costs.'
Demolition in full swing for Buffalo Bills' old Highmark Stadium
Demolition work on the Buffalo Bills' old Highmark Stadium is now in full swing, and started on May 1st.
Star Citizen Hits $1 Billion in Funding, Squadron 42 Release Update
As "Star Citizen" his $1 billion in lifetime funding, Cloud Imperium execs reveal update on "Squadron 42" release date.
California Politics 360 Full Episode | Key vote that could impact future gas prices, utility bills
The Air Resources Board is expected to vote on proposed updates to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program.
Politics chat: Tulsi Gabbard steps down, lawmakers oppose proposed $1.2 billion fund
President Trump posts that negotiations with Iran are progressing. Meanwhile, there's discontent within his own party over his midterm primary endorsements and $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund.
Illinois lawmakers consider grants or loans for Chicago businesses devastated by Operation Midway Blitz
Six months after Operation Midway Blitz, lawmakers are considering if and how to support businesses who struggled financially due to the federal government’s incursion into Chicago.
Private jet travel boom: Where and how the wealthy are flying
Private jet usage is exploding and is reshaping luxury travel trends, from $80 million aircraft to billionaires' habits.
Stephen Colbert Makes Surprise Michigan Public Access Appearance After ‘Late Show’ Farewell
The episode closed with Colbert, Jack White and Jeff Daniels destroying the set and burning it in a flaming dumpster.
Politics: Trump reaches controversial $1.8 Billion IRS settlement
President Donald Trump last week reached a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service to end his $10 billion lawsuit over the leak of his tax returns, which includes a $1.8
Rep. Gluesenkamp Perez explains decision to back policy dubbed ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill
“I voted for this bill because I believe the answer is to bring families in,” the congresswoman said, in part.
New Haven joins lawsuit vs. Trump Administration over $1.7 billion ‘political slush fund’
This week in politics: How Schuylkill County’s legislators voted
The PA House and Senate were both out of session this week, and will return to Harrisburg on June 1. The U.S. Senate and House were both in session this week. The Senate passed seven bills and the House passed 18. Let’s take a look at how S…
Nvidia’s Hidden $60 Billion Business Is About to Overtake Broadcom
For years, investors treated artificial intelligence as a GPU story. Buy the chipmakers, ride the boom, and call it a day. But AI data centers have evolved into something much bigger — sprawling digital factories that need not only computing power, but also ultra-fast networking capable of moving oceans of data with almost no delay. ... Nvidia’s Hidden $60 Billion Business Is About to Overtake Broadcom
The boat-billed heron looks fake but is very real
Their beautiful bulky bills are perfect for scooping up dinner.
International Business Machines (IBM) Is Up 15.8% After Announcing $2 Billion Anderon Quantum Chip Foundry Partnership
Earlier this week, IBM and the U.S. Department of Commerce announced a Letter of Intent to create Anderon, America’s first pure-play quantum chip foundry in Albany, New York, backed by US$1.00 billion in CHIPS incentives and a matching US$1.00 billion cash commitment from IBM plus intellectual property and staff. This partnership not only cements IBM’s role at the core of the U.S. quantum ecosystem but also creates a dedicated 300‑millimeter quantum wafer facility intended to supply multiple...
Unusual stars may be the leftovers of ancient galaxy gobbled up by the Milky Way
Unusual stellar remnants suggest the Milky Way might have eaten a galaxy called Loki billions of years ago, according to new research.
Bond breakout? Big effects of bad data. Immigration and thermostatic politics & dad-chat is coming for dad-books.
Thank you for opening your Chartbook email. Anna Airy, A Shell Forge at a National Projectile Factory, Hackney Marshes, London, 1918 Bond breakout - John Authers Across the developed markets, bond markets are staging a slow-motion car wreck. Looking at the drastic moves in the US, Japan, the UK and France, Barclays’ Ajay Rajadhyaksha commented: “Last week, long bonds broke. Not in one country. In all of them. Simultaneously. Four countries. Four different political systems. Four different central banks. But the same trade — “get me out of duration!”” Each country has its own contributing political problems, but the uniformity of the shift out of long-term bonds with high duration makes clear that something broader is afoot. For Rajadhyaksha, it is “simple and uncomfortable.” The developed world “has too much debt, too little fiscal discipline, and no political appetite for fixing either.” If there’s a trigger, it has been the Iran war and the resulting shock to oil supply. Source: Bloomberg G7 countries are now borrowing at rates that were enjoyed by EM in the early 2020s For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Trade between China and Russia has grown in recent years For contributing subscribers only. Subscribe Big effects of bad data A decade ago nearly nine in ten Americans, when approached, agreed to fill out the Current Population Survey, which is administered to about 60,000 households each month and asks about, among other things, employment. Fewer than seven in ten do so now (see chart 1). For the Consumer Expenditure Survey, which tries to capture 3,700 households monthly, the response rate is down from 68% to 40%. … When the information becomes less reliable, investment decisions get more difficult to make. Some may be delayed, creating a potential drag on the economy. A new working paper by Nicholas Bloom of Stanford University, Erica Groshen, former head of the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) now at Cornell University, and Duncan Hobbs and Michael Strain of the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, hazards an estimate. Preserving trust in “the integrity and quality of official statistics”, the authors claim, generates economic benefits of about $25 for every $1 spent on the BLS, the agency with an annual budget of $700m that is responsible for many of these data. To arrive at their conclusion the quartet analysed an ignoble episode in the BLS’s recent history. On August 1st 2025 Donald Trump sacked Erika McEntarfer, appointed as the agency’s commissioner by his predecessor, Joe Biden. The president alleged, without evidence, that the BLS’s steep downward revision to recent jobs numbers had been “RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad”. In fact, it was the wanton dismissal that looked bad in the eyes of many observers. In the following seven days there was a 50% leap, relative to the week before, in the average value of the index of Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU), which tracks the number of articles mentioning such uncertainty that are published daily in American newspapers. This was a discernible jump even when compared to the chaos caused by Mr Trump’s trade war in April 2025 and his real one in Iran in the past two months (see chart 2). Based on Mr Bloom’s earlier study with other colleagues of the EPU’s impact on business investment, industrial production and employment, the authors estimate that the jump reduced American GDP by over $100bn (0.3%) and non-farm payrolls by 168,000 (0.1%). Source: The Economist Immigration and thermostatic politics (Sarah O’Connor in the FT) A strange thing happened a year and a half ago. No sooner had Americans elected Donald Trump as president on an explicitly anti-immigration platform than US public opinion began to swing much more favourably towards immigration. … to political scientists who study “thermostatic” politics, this development is no surprise at all. Public opinion often moves against the prevailing party, especially if they are perceived to have gone “too far” in one direction. The phenomenon was first explored in the 1990s with reference to fiscal policy, but in recent years it has been particularly evident in the realm of immigration policy. While these swings in opinion polls can make it seem as if people don’t know their own minds, they can be a useful democratic check on governments by sending bright flashing warning lights when policies stray too far from the public’s comfort zone. The problem comes when politicians misinterpret those signals. When people tell pollsters they want less immigration, or think it is bad for the country overall (or the converse), they are often expressing an opinion about how things appear to be going in that moment relative to their preferences, rather than a deep shift in their underlying views. According to Alexander Kustov, a political scientist, most Americans’ views are quite stable and moderate: they support immigration that is controlled and in the national interest, and oppose flows that are disorderly or under-enforced. In the US, he argues the Trump administration over-interpreted dissatisfaction with high immigration under Joe Biden, and implemented policies that went too far for many voters. “People don’t necessarily change their idea about their ideal immigration policy, but they can react to what the government is currently doing,” he told me. “A lot of people are not happy with what the Trump administration are doing — right now we’re not talking about border enforcement, we’re talking about people not just getting harassed, but killed.” But similarly, he added, pro-immigration advocates would be making a mistake to interpret the recent, more favourable swing towards immigration as a deep-seated ideological shift in attitudes. The recent history of UK immigration policy offers another cautionary tale. After the 2016 Brexit referendum, public concern about immigration fell. This was partly because net migration statistics declined, but also because people felt a sense of catharsis and control, says Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a think-tank. By 2019, the public ranked immigration as only the ninth biggest issue of concern, according to Ipsos polling. But when the Conservative government liberalised visa routes for students and care workers between 2019 and 2022, that helped net migration to surge. And so, too, did public concern. Today’s Labour government has implemented another sharply restrictive turn in immigration policy. As Kustov and researcher Caitlyn Yates argue, thermostatic public opinion should be a useful check on politicians. Instead it seems to have helped to magnify the pendulum swing in the UK. The government over-interprets and overreacts to a change in public opinion, which reacts in turn, prompting a sudden swing the other way. Source: Financial Times HEY READERS, THANK YOU for opening the Chartbook email. I hope it brightens your day. I enjoy putting out the newsletter, but tbh, what keeps this flow going is the generosity of those readers who clicked the subscription button. If you are persuaded to click, please consider the annual subscription of $50. It is both better value for you and a much better deal for me, as it involves only one credit card charge. Why feed the payments companies if we don’t have to. Subscribe Anna Airy, Shop for Machining 15-Inch Shells: Singer Manufacturing Company, Clydebank, Glasgow, 1918 Racing for a vaccine … we have been here before! The deadly Ebola outbreak in two African countries driven by a virus species with no vaccine has triggered an urgent search for a potential jab, in a test of troubled global efforts to avert threats posed by emerging diseases. A World Health Organization advisory group is due to would meet on Tuesday to recommend candidate jabs to prioritise for clinical trials, the global health body said. It will assess data including an analysis by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (Cepi), which was set up after failures in the international response to a previous Ebola crisis. The latest Ebola outbreak in Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda has infected hundreds of people and killed more than 80, health authorities say. Cepi’s reaction will be a crucial indicator of its progress towards its wider goal of producing vaccines for pandemic threats in just 100 days, despite steep cuts to international health funding. “If there was ever a time that we could show the world why Cepi is needed and show the world why the 100-day mission is needed, it’s now,” Nicole Lurie, the organisation’s executive director for preparedness and response, told the FT. “We’re happy to accept that responsibility, but obviously we need help from partners — particularly financial help in the long run.” DR Congo and Uganda would make the final decision on whether to press ahead with any vaccine candidates endorsed for clinical trials by the WHO experts, the global health body said. “Other ethical and community acceptability issues will be considered,” said the WHO, which declared the latest outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday. “This will be important to make sure that the trial, if it happens, will be adequately communicated to the population.” Lurie said Cepi had provided information from a survey of research teams and companies working on drugs that might be effective against the Bundibugyo virus behind the outbreak. The organisation hoped soon to announce partners in the quest for a jab, she added, although she declined to give a timescale for when one might be developed. Cepi’s Nicole Laurie said global health bodies were ‘getting some live-fire drills’ with hantavirus and the latest Ebola outbreak. The hunt for a vaccine should be helped by scientific advances including the use of artificial intelligence to find drugs active against viruses, Lurie said. Existing jabs against the Zaire Ebola virus responsible for many previous outbreaks might provide a basis for tackling the Bundibugyo species, she added. “We’ll see how far and how fast we can get,” Lurie said, adding that Cepi had done preliminary work recently on a possible jab for the rat-borne hantavirus responsible for a recent fatal outbreak on a cruise ship. “Both with hantavirus and now with Ebola, [we] are getting some live-fire drills.” Source: Michael Peel in the Financial Times Dad-chat is coming for dad-books. (By Pamela Paul and Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg in the WSJ) They were the go-to gifts for Father’s Day: a book about some little-known chapter of World War II, the sweeping narrative of a shipwreck, perhaps the latest presidential biography. These days, dad books are a dying breed. Nonfiction book sales have been in decline for the past four years, and are now the most challenged segment of the print book market. Publishers say certain types of books still fare well—including celebrity memoirs and religious titles. But in recent years, print sales in such categories as biography, current affairs and business and economics—what publishers refer to as “serious nonfiction” and which tend to resonate especially with men—have fallen considerably. Sales of nonfiction print titles were down nearly 8% through May 9 this year, and sales of books about politics and current affairs were down 19%, according to book tracker Circana BookScan. Publishing has long been subject to cyclical changes, with trends in format and genre taking over bookshelves in grand sweeps. (Remember the adult coloring-book craze? Or the stratospheric rise of romantasy?) But many in publishing believe the decline in serious nonfiction is more existential. “The trend couldn’t be clearer,” said Jonathan Karp, the former chief executive of Simon & Schuster and publisher of the new Simon Six imprint. “This is a sea change and people should wake up and realize we’re living in a new world.” One culprit for the shift: a new media diet for fans of more serious nonfiction. … Sixty-two percent of men and 54% of women consumed a podcast in the prior month, according to a recent survey by Edison Research at SSRS, up from 46% and 39%, respectively, in 2023. “When we have internal meetings to talk about this problem, it always comes around to podcasts,” said Jonathan Burnham, president and publisher of the Harper Group at HarperCollins Publishers. “The man who wants to read American history is now tuning into one of the many good podcasts about history that lends the quiet attention to a serious subject he’s looking for. It makes the idea of sitting down with a 700-page Ron Chernow book less appealing. You’ve scratched that itch.” Source: Wall Street Journal Remarkable report by Novara from the nationalist rally in London in mid May. Anna Airy, Leopard Moth and Plums, 1915 If you’ve scrolled this far, you know you want to click: Subscribe
Poppi's cofounders on building $2 billion business, navigating wealth
Allison and Stephen Ellsworth took big risks and made sacrifices to build Poppi. They're determined not to let their wealth spoil their children.
‘Senators are not happy’: How Trump pushed the GOP to the breaking point this week
President Donald Trump’s relationship with Senate Republicans has hit a new low after a revolt over his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund surfaced deep divisions over the direction of the party and its priorities.
Short Naps, Long Hours: How Autism Clinics Squeeze Medicaid Dollars Out of Preschoolers
The industry has grown rapidly, straining state budgets. A focus on finances has led to overbilling, fraud and even harm.
Senator Bill Cassidy Is A Case Study In Public Health And Political Risk
Bill Cassidy’s Senate primary loss highlights the growing collision between public health and political survival — and offers lessons for America's leaders.
Ted Cruz says senators were ‘screaming’ at Todd Blanche during ‘anti-weaponization’ fund briefing
The private meeting came hours before the Senate postponed a critical vote to advance a partisan funding bill for ICE and Border Patrol.
Stowaway fox given clean bill of health at Bronx Zoo
The state budget process is finally moving along
State lawmakers finally began voting on budget bills in earnest this week.
St. Paul business owner charged in $4M Minnesota Medicaid fraud scheme
A St. Paul business owner is facing federal charges after prosecutors said she stole millions from Medicaid by fraudulently billing for services, including some which were never provided.
Lawsuit Argues Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund Excludes Those He Targeted
The constellation of individuals and groups involved claims to have suffered partisan attacks by the federal government under Trump, yet would not be compensated.
The D.N.C. Chairman, Trump’s $1.8 Billion Fund and More Politics News
He has focused on internal politics, building a loyal base despite tactical disputes.
Illinois healthcare bills at stake as spring session enters final week
The biggest battles in healthcare legislation may involve Big Pharma, but several other health bills are at the make-or-break stage this coming week in Springfield.
Sutter Health to build tallest tower in Emeryville with updated hospital plan
Sutter Health is putting more muscle behind its planned Emeryville hospital campus, unveiling a bigger and taller vision for the $1 billion project that could permanently alter both the city’s skyline and Sutter Health’s role in the East Bay health care economy. The Sacramento-based health system released updated plans for its Emeryville Medical Center, outlining a 17-story, 780,000-square-foot hospital at Horton and 53rd Streets in Emeryville, the San Francisco Business Times reported. The project would include 325 beds at full buildout, up from the 200 initially proposed, and would become Emeryville’s tallest building if completed as designed, surpassing the 310-foot […]
Trump’s ‘Anti-Weaponization Fund’ hit with another legal challenge
The Trump administration’s newly created nearly $1.8 billion fund for allies of President Donald Trump who say they were wrongly targeted by the government was hit with a second lawsuit on Friday, adding to the growing legal and political backlash facing the White House.
Pritzker hopeful on Bears deal as Legislature heads for finish line
Gov. JB Pritzker says he’s confident the Illinois Senate will advance a revised Bears stadium incentive bill as lawmakers race to keep the team from moving to Indiana.
Longtime Clive plumbing business closes, laying off its staff
Bill Rhiner's Plumbing Co. Inc. in Clive shut down May 1, laying off its staff, according to a new filing with the state
House lawmakers seek more AI transparency from the SBA
The House Small Business Committee advanced a bill requiring the SBA to deliver an annual report on its AI use, weeks after the GAO revealed issues with the agency’s inventory compliance.
Ex-Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio tells PBS News he believes he's owed tens of millions from DOJ fund
The former leader of the extremist, far-right group that played a major role in the Jan. 6 insurrection says he’s “excited” about the announcement of a $1.776 billion fund for people who believe they are victims of the justice system.
Opinion | Court Cases About Money and Speech in Politics
Readers discuss court cases about campaign finance. Also: Computer science and the humanities.
Gov. DeSantis approves bills to help high school athletes, including one inspired by Teddy Bridgewater
Coaches will get more leeway and support in doing their jobs of mentorship.
Rumor: Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition Nintendo Switch 2 release date leaked
SEGA has yet to officially announce Sonic Frontiers: Definitive Edition, but the game’s release date has apparently been leaked. billbil-kun reports that the game will launch on June 23, 2026. We’re also hearing that it will cost $50 and a physical release is confirmed. However, it’s unclear if that means a proper cartridge version or a game-key card. June 23...
‘Public outrage at billionaire tax dodging is understandable’
Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
DeSantis signs Florida bill on H.S. sports transfers, coaches' pay
The bill is meant to curb frequent high school athlete transfers and boost pay for coaches.
Pushed to the limit, Republicans show rare defiance to Trump's demands
President Donald Trump’s political revenge tour met its potential match this week as angry, upset Republican senators, pushed to a breaking point by his seemingly insatiable and outlandish demands — particularly a $1.776 billion fund for Jan. 6 rioters and others he believes were wrongly prosecuted — did the unthinkable.
Abu Dhabi is ‘doubling down’ on tourism despite Iran war
The emirate has announced a $1.7-billion investment in the Sphere entertainment venue.
Nevadans have some of the highest grocery bills in the country
According to a study, Nevadans spend almost $10,000 on groceries each year.
Novartis says Avidity's science could apply beyond muscular dystrophies
Novartis eyes Alzheimer's and Parkinson's as it looks to expand the AOC platform acquired in its $12 billion Avidity Biosciences buyout.
Whole Hog Politics: Blue MAGA? Yep. Democrats’ Tea Party? Probably not.
[Watch Whole Hog Politics live: Join us today at 9 am ET at TheHill.com as Chris Stirewalt and host Bill Sammon break down this week’s political news and answer questions from a live online audienc…
Pushed to the Limit, Republicans Show Rare Defiance to Trump's Demands
WASHINGTON (AP) — The day arrived when the Senate just said, No. President Donald Trump’s political revenge tour met its potential match this week as angry, upset Republican senators, pushed to a breaking point by his seemingly insatiable and outlandish demands — particularly a $1.776 billion fund
Hubble Captures Galaxy Cluster
Hubble captured this scene of galaxy cluster MACS J1141.6-1905 in visible and infrared light. The cluster is around four billion light-years away.
New movies to watch this weekend: See 'Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu' in theaters, rent 'Wasteman,' stream 'Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair'
The latest "Star Wars" film disappoints, "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie" hits home screens and horror fans can look to "Passenger" or "Lee Cronin's The Mummy."
'We'll never know if he could have been saved.' The gaps in Trump's rural health fund
Republicans promise that $50 billion in new health funding will help rural America. But it's not expected to aid the years-long effort in North Carolina's Martin County to reopen its only hospital.
Congressional committee advances bill to reform radiologist reimbursement in Medicare
The House Ways & Means Committee on May 21 unanimously advanced the Provider Reimbursement Stability Act of 2026, which is endorsed by multiple radiology societies.
Stowaway Fox Gets Clean Bill of Health and a Name: Basil (Like ‘Dazzle’)
He made his way to New York on a ship from England and then found himself stuck in quarantine at the Bronx Zoo for months.
InPost says FedEx-led $9 billion buyout offer to run from May 26 to July 27
Polish parcel locker company Inpost said on Friday that the €7.8 billion ($9 billion) buyout offer from a consortium made up of FedEx , Advent International and other InPost investors would run from May 26 to July 27.
In a Rarity, Republicans Stand Up to Trump
President Trump faced a wall of opposition from Senate G.O.P. lawmakers, in part over his plan to create a $1.8 billion fund to reward his allies.
GOP immigration enforcement bill stalls amid backlash to $1.8 billion 'anti-weaponization' fund
Senate Republicans abruptly left Washington on Thursday without voting on a roughly $70 billion bill to fund immigration enforcement agencies, frustrated with the White House and at an impasse over whether to try to block a new $1.776 billion settlement fund to compensate Trump allies who believe they have been politically prosecuted.
House rejects Smithsonian women’s museum bill after GOP bans ‘biological men’
The widely backed proposal devolved into a partisan fight after Republicans changed the bill to ensure no transgender people are included in exhibits
Nearly 1.2 billion people worldwide are living with mental disorders. The number has been growing
Nearly 1.2 billion people had a mental disorder in 2023, a new study has found — reflecting a 95.5% increase since 1990.
Governor Spanberger’s vetoes may have political implications
Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger vetoed a number of bills passed by her own party in the General Assembly this week.
U.S. Invests $2 Billion and Takes Stake in Quantum Firms
The Trump administration said it had signed preliminary deals for equity stakes in nine quantum computing companies.
GOP senators balk at Trump's $1.8-billion 'anti-weaponization' fund, force delay in key vote
The discord marked a potential turning point for Congress, which has been largely sidelined under the second Trump administration on the war in Iran and other issues.
DC Wrap: Senate leaves without voting on immigration bill; DNC releases autopsy
A look at the day's biggest stories in national politics
Antonio Gracias’ Valor stands to pocket billions from SpaceX IPO
Antonio Gracias, the founder of Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners and a longtime Elon Musk ally, controls a 4% economic stake in SpaceX.
Oakland: Health Workers, Activists Protest H.R. 1 Funding Cuts, Call For Billionaire Tax
Around 80 people participated in a symbolic "die-in" in East Oakland on Thursday to protest federal funding cuts to healthcare.
As losses from scams surge, Congress asks telecoms to do more to prevent them
A powerful congressional committee is urging major telecommunications companies to do more to protect Americans against scams, part of a widening investigation into the role that U.S. companies play in the surge in cyberscams that cost Americans an estimated $200 billion in 2024.
Stellantis unveils $70B turnaround strategy with 60 new models
Stellantis announces a $70 billion turnaround strategy focusing on core brands, external partnerships and more efficient factory capacity use.
Senate GOP erupts over Trump DOJ 'anti-weaponization' fund, punts ICE, Border Patrol funding
Senate Republicans pause immigration bill push after a tense closed-door meeting over the Trump administration's surprise anti-weaponization fund.