California's first-ever anti-data center ballot measure is shaping up to be an absolute shellacking for the tech industry -- part of a wave of opposition rising across the country, as communities and lawmakers grapple with the frenzied push to build AI infrastructure.
A US trade judge took the unusual step of personally responding to the Trump administration's appeal of his order to refund $166 billion in tariffs the Supreme Court declared unlawful, calling the government's filings "colorful" and questioning its legal stance.
The House Armed Services Committee adopted a provision for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would demand the Pentagon inform Congress why senior military officers were fired or dismissed within five days. The requirement was introduced by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and was adopted Thursday without objections in a bipartisan voice vote.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes plans to seek a new indictment against allies of President Donald Trump who aided his quest to overturn the 2020 election, her office said Thursday after the state's high court shot down an effort to revive her sprawling first indictment against them.
Night shift work is not for the weak. Staying awake from dusk through to dawn, as many nurses, doctors, and emergency responders do, seems to take a toll on the body and mind. But does it have an impact on the brain?
'The Most Bipartisan Issue Since Beer': Opposition to Data Centers
www.nytimes.com
... Americans have soured on data centers, polls show, and the sentiment is profoundly bipartisan. How will that change our politics?
The monthly meeting in Lyon Township, a small town in southeast Michigan, was packed on a recent Monday, even though the main item on the agenda was an easement for a drain.
Residents, holding notes and water bottles, lined up at the mic to talk about the actual issue on everybody's minds: the proposed large-scale data center.
They had come prepared.
"Just a reminder," said a man in a black puffer vest, who identified himself as Larry. "An N.F.L. football field is 57,600 square feet. A 1.8-million-square-foot hyperscale data center is about 32 football fields."
A motorcyclist asked about the potential effects on traffic. Someone asked if the proper procedure had been followed to preserve a habitat of endangered bats. A woman in a pink shirt played a recording of noise from a data center in another Michigan town.
When a town board member gently interrupted a speaker to say her time was up, she exclaimed, "I haven't even gotten off my first page!"
Lyon Township voted for Donald J. Trump in 2024, but party loyalties hardly seemed to matter. In an era when Americans are divided on everything -- even the cars they drive and the TV shows they watch -- data centers seem to have bridged the partisan divide.
Early evidence suggests that Americans -- once agnostic -- are now souring on them. Last month, Maine became the first state to pass a moratorium on data centers -- only to have the governor, a Democrat, veto it -- and similar measures have been introduced in at least 13 other states and dozens of municipalities. ...
This also happened ...
Zelensky proposes face-to-face talks in open letter to Putin
www.bbc.com
... Volodymyr Zelensky has called for a face-to-face meeting between himself and Vladimir Putin in a renewed bid to end the war.
In an open letter to the Russian president, the Ukrainian leader said it would be "wrong to simply wait" until the war in Europe becomes the focus of the US's attention once more, adding peace could only come "through direct engagement between" Ukraine and Russia.
He also called for a full ceasefire for the duration of proposed negotiations - something Putin ruled out earlier on Thursday. ...
Related ...
Putin to confront weak economy at 'Russian Davos', under threat of Ukrainian drones
www.france24.com
... Russia's Vladimir Putin will address a flagship investment forum in Saint Petersburg on Friday, as the war in Ukraine drags the economy into stagnation and days after brazen Ukrainian drone strikes rocked his home city. ...
Jim Carroll Band - City Drops Into The Night ((1980)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
It's when Billy's whores are workin'
They're workin' with the skeleton crew
It's when the sky over Jersey
That sky starts to drain from view
It's when my woman pawns her voice so
So she can make her old excuses sound new
But I just want one clue
'Cause when the city drops into the night
Before the darkness there's one moment of light
When everything seems clear
The other side, it seems so near
What seemed wrong?
I think it's gonna be just about right
Before the city drops, the city drops
Into the night
It's when the door to the River
That door is like 26 miles
It's when ambitious little girls start
They start to dream about a change in style
It's when the slick boys got their fingers
They got their fingers in the telephone dial
But I think I'll just wait a while
'Cause when the city drops into the night
Before the darkness there's one moment of light
When everything seems clear
The other side, it seems so near
What seemed wrong?
I think it's gonna be just about right
Before the city drops, the city drops
Into the night
It's when the sneak thieves are checkin'
They're checkin the alleys for unlocked doors
And Billy's sister's gettin' frantic 'cause
'Cause Billy's sister's little brother can't score
It's when the woman from the dream is
Oh my God! That's the woman on the floor
Each promise was just one promise more
'Cause when the city drops into the night
Before the darkness there's one moment of light
When everything seems clear
The other side, it seems so near
What seemed wrong?
I think it's gonna be just about right
Before the city drops, the city drops
Into the night
It's when Teddy's ghost is on the roof
Beatin' his drum
And Teddy's best friend is two blocks East
And he's makin' Teddy's ex-girlfriend come
You know, they mistook Teddy's blind trust
Just to prove that Teddy was dumb
But listen, you know, I think they are both just scum
'Cause when the city drops into the night
Before the darkness there's one moment of light
When everything seems clear
The other side, it seems so near
What seemed wrong?
I think it's gonna be just about right
Before the city drops, the city drops
Into the night
It's when the body at the bottom
That body is my own reflection
But it ain't hip to sink that low
Unless you're gonna make a resurrection
They're always gonna come to your door
They're gonna say, "It's just a routine inspection"
But what you get when you open your door
What you get is just another injection
And there's always gonna be one more
With just a little bit less until the next one
They wait in shadows and steal the light from your eyes
To them vision's just some costly infection
But listen, you should come with me
I'm the fire, I'm the fire's reflection
I'm just a constant warning to take the other direction
Mister, I am your connection
'Cause when the city drops into the night
Before the darkness there's one moment of light
When everything seems clear
The other side, it seems so near
What seemed wrong?
I think it's gonna be just about right
Before the city drops, the city drops
Into the night
...
@#3 ... It's always seems so... surreal, that the Cult ignores the Fact that there was a REAL Coup Plot and plotters, people from Project25 and such, that REALLY DID hatch a plan for DJT to OVERTURN THE ELECTION.... and that it almost werked. ...
And that MAGA cult seems to be trying to rewrite history to prove their view.
Trump's Jan. 6 story becomes GOP's status quo
thehill.com
Found this ...
Push for raw milk intensifies across the US, despite illness outbreaks and scientists' warnings (April 2026)
www.nbcnews.com
... Backers of raw milk are pushing to make the potentially dangerous product more widely available and easier to obtain, even as a new disease outbreak " one of at least five in the past year " sickens U.S. children.
More than three dozen bills supporting raw milk have been introduced in statehouses across the nation, The Associated Press found. A growing number of states are making it legal to sell. Dairy farmers say they can barely keep it in stock, even though prices can exceed $10 or $20 a gallon. ...
There's also this tune ...
Gigolo Aunts - Everyone Can Fly (1999)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
Turn off your mind
And go back with me to a better time
Do you see the same moon I do
When I'm thinking of you
Well that's ok
We can try again another day
Do you feel the same breeze I feel
Lifting you up
Lifting me up
Lifting us up
'Cause everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
You just have to try
Turn off the lights
And don't be afraid of another night
Do the promises you couldn't keep
Make it hard for you to sleep
Well that's ok
Everybody makes the same mistakes
As the stars shine the night away
Let them lift you up
Let them lift you up
Let them lift you up
'Cause everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
You just have to try
Did you ever stop and think when you were twenty '
You'd be where you are today
Isn't it funny how things change
Some things never stay the same
What a shame...
Forget the grade
I can see you turning a greener shade
Do you feel the same faith I feel
Let it lift you up
Let it lift you up
Let it lift you up
'Cause everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
Everyone can fly
You just have to try
You just have to try
You just have to try
Everyone can fly...
...
The The - This Is the Day (1983)
www.youtube.com
Lyrics excerpt ...
...
The protagonist in this song is depressed and not doing anything with his life. He spends all of his time inside reflecting on his past instead of living. This keeps him from creating any new happy memories or moving forward.
Interestingly, this song is a second-person narrative. However, some of the insights the narrator has are so specific "all your friends and family ... the side of you they'll never see," one can infer that this is an internal dialogue.
The lyrics are positive and end with the protagonist's resolve that things will change today. However, this contrasts with the melancholy tone of the music which belies the truth that today is in fact, not the day that anything will change.
[Verse 1]
Well, you didn't wake up this morning 'cause you didn't go to bed
You were watching the whites of your eyes turn red
The calendar on your wall
Is ticking the days off
You've been reading some old letters
You smile and think how much you've changed
All the money in the world
Couldn't buy back those days
[Chorus]
You pull back your curtains and the sun burns into your eyes
You watch a plane flying across the clear blue sky
This is the day your life will surely change
This is the day when things fall into place
[Verse 2]
You could've done anything if you'd wanted
And all your friends and family think that you're lucky
But the side of you they'll never see
Is when you're left alone with the memories
That hold your life
Together like glue
...
Saw reporting of this on the local evening news recently ...
Exclusive renderings of Penn Station overhaul show Trump's name with presidential seal
gothamist.com
... The winning plan to rebuild Penn Station features renderings of a new train hall with American flags at the entrance, gold-accented railings, columns and escalators " and a presidential seal featuring President Donald Trump's name, according to internal materials obtained by Gothamist.
The new plan for Penn features raised ceilings, adding as much as 50 feet of overhead space to parts of the cramped station, according to documents that include architectural renderings, schematics and engineering notes. The plan also includes two brand new entrances: one on Eighth Avenue where the Theater at Madison Square Garden currently sits, and another along 31st Street. Windows would be installed at the taxiway that sits between the Garden and a neighboring skyscraper that shares the block.
Last week, Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced they'd picked Penn Transformation Partners as the "master developer" for Penn Station. The group includes architects, engineering firms, real estate developers and other private companies. Members of the group released some designs for a plan in 2023 to renovate the station, but the new renderings reveal how the plan was revised to fulfill Amtrak's request for a "classical look."
The winning plan to rebuild Penn Station features renderings of a new train hall with American flags at the entrance, gold-accented railings, columns and escalators " and a presidential seal featuring President Donald Trump's name, according to internal materials obtained by Gothamist.
The new plan for Penn features raised ceilings, adding as much as 50 feet of overhead space to parts of the cramped station, according to documents that include architectural renderings, schematics and engineering notes. The plan also includes two brand new entrances: one on Eighth Avenue where the Theater at Madison Square Garden currently sits, and another along 31st Street. Windows would be installed at the taxiway that sits between the Garden and a neighboring skyscraper that shares the block.
Last week, Amtrak and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced they'd picked Penn Transformation Partners as the "master developer" for Penn Station. The group includes architects, engineering firms, real estate developers and other private companies. Members of the group released some designs for a plan in 2023 to renovate the station, but the new renderings reveal how the plan was revised to fulfill Amtrak's request for a "classical look." ...
@#1 ... Once they get past the mid terms and before the next Congress is sworn in, they will vote to approve the billion. ...
I'm not yet convinced of that.
Though to the point your comment raises, now that the primary season is (for the most part, if not completely, over) the Republicans in Congress seemed to have grown what appears to be the start of a backbone.
Of course, the question that lingers out there, like an unclaimed air biscuit ...
Will that nascent sprout of a backbone be cultivated so it can grow?
Or will it be showered with MAGA herbicide to kill it off?
Time will tell.