Author: nick
Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) suspended his campaign for California governor on Sunday after sexual assault and misconduct allegations triggered a rapid political collapse that has upended the race to lead the nation’s most populous state. Subscribe Today Get daily emails in your inbox Swalwell announced the move in a post on X, apologizing to supporters for what he called “mistakes in judgment” while insisting the allegations are false and should be fought outside the campaign. His exit capped a dramatic reversal for a candidate who recently appeared to be emerging from a crowded Democratic field, attracting support from…
I posted this morning about Doe v. OpenAI, the interesting and important lawsuit that alleges that “[d]riven by a ChatGPT-fueled delusional spiral, her ex-boyfriend [Doe’s] stalked and harassed her for months—generating dozens of fake psychological reports about her via ChatGPT and distributing them to her family, friends, and colleagues, which escalated to leaving her voicemails threatening her physical safety.” Regular readers of the blog might ask: What’s with this Jane Doe business here? Why is this case being litigated under a pseudonym, when other tort cases generally aren’t? (Pseudonymity is a rare exception to the general rule that people must…
When you’re on the crest of an electoral "wave," all sorts of wonderful things seem possible. That’s increasingly true for Democrats as they prepare for the 2026 midterms. Source link
The Virginia redistricting battle could be the difference between Democrats controlling the House of Representatives next year. Source link
Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online, by Fortesa Latifi. Gallery Books, 288 pp. Last Halloween, a clever costume “won the Internet,” as the saying goes. Kate Snyder of Brooklyn posted a picture of herself in a tiny smocked dress, knee-high socks, and a white cardboard heart surrounding her white-painted face. Her caption reads “[I’m] the toddler of a celebrity mom who wants to protect my identity but she also want[s] to post my outfits.” Snyder’s post received thousands of likes on Instagram and even made its way over to a Reddit snark page (more…
Photograph by Nathaniel St. Clair US president Donald Trump says that his war in Iran – currently in a supposed ceasefire – resulted in “total and complete victory. 100%. No question about it.” The Iranian regime, via a statement from its Supreme National Security Council, also claims “great victory.” If the war is really over (I’m skeptical), who actually won? Well, not you. “You can no more win a war,” said Jeannette Rankin, “than you can win an earthquake.” Rankin, the first woman ever elected to the US House of Representatives, entered Congress in 1916, just in time to vote…
Virginia’s special election on April 21 could transform redistricting into a class war, echoing Oliver Anthony’s Source link
On a recent episode of “The Pitt,” a jaundiced patient learned her liver problems were likely caused by what she’d assumed was a healthy habit — taking a turmeric supplement five times a day. “With doses that large of turmeric, there have been cases of liver failure,” medical resident Trinity Santos told her. “From eating a spice?” the yellow-skinned patient exclaimed. Behind this fictional exchange is a factual concern: The cooking spice turmeric has become a popular anti-inflammatory supplement, but in some cases, it can cause liver injury. It’s a risk posed by a number of supplements marketed as being…
Ginned up by social-media influencers, the so-called right-wing civil war has little connection to MAGA voters’ concerns. Source link
Last week I wrote about the possibilities of genetically engineering humans. The quickie version is this – we are already using genetic engineering (CRISPR) for somatic changes to treat diseases, and other applications are likely to follow. Engineering germline cells, which would get into the human gene pool, are legally and ethically fraught, but it’s hard to predict how this will play out. I have also written often about genetically engineering food. I think this is a great technology with many powerful applications, but it should be, and largely is, highly regulated to make sure that anything that gets into…