@#1 ... You, what do you think? ...

From the photo I saw, there looks to be something there.

What that something might be, I have no a clue.

More from the OpEd ...

... There were four pieces I wanted to highlight, both good and bad:

There was, for instance, a breathless Washington Post piece that seemed to imply some level of scandal or "laxness" in the security based on how the dinner wasn't designated a "National Security Special Event," but then (a) failed to mention whether that was a change from any prior WHCA dinner and (b) in its own subsequent reporting explained how the dinner failed to meet the standard for an NSSE, thereby undercutting the whole premise of the "scandal."

At the other end of the thoughtful-and-informed spectrum, one piece worth reading that brings some important nuance was this MS NOW one by Carol Leonnig, just about the only journalist who has written meaningfully about the long-term challenges of the Secret Service. She points out how the Secret Service has narrowly averted tragedy three times in two years when faced with "a low-tech lone wolf."

It's also astounding -- and worrisome -- how quickly and widespread how what one might call the "median online perspective" has coalesced around the incident being staged or a false-flag operation, citing a mix of evidence. It surely wasn't, but it's a troubling sign of how corrupted the public backdrop of trust is and how compromised our information environments are these days. As one person joked yesterday, the strongest evidence it wasn't staged was that no one tried to insider-trade on Kalshi or Polymarket.)

Lastly, I want to highlight Brian Stelter's very smart -- and heartfelt -- essay about how America's elite merely got a taste Saturday night of what it's like to now be a schoolchild in the US: "We need to say out loud that it was actually all too ordinary. In America this is all too common -- a shots-fired moment, a chaotic lockdown, a spasm of violence interrupting a peaceful gathering. Thousands of media and political elites have now gone through what countless millions of other Americans have experienced in their schools, offices, malls and churches. And on most of those occasions, there were no Secret Service agents." I did an entire podcast season about how America lost its mind and sense when it comes to guns, and it's sad that one time after another, we miss the opportunities to change our country's trajectory on gun violence. ...

... As oil prices surge and supply dwindles globally ...

As I wrote a few days ago, the oil tankers that were able to leave the Middle East before Pres trump caused the shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz have mostly (if not completely) reached their destination ports.

Now, there are few tankers on the open seas going towards oil-hungry destination ports.

If the oil shipments through Hormuz were to start tomorrow, it would be weeks to a month or two before any tankers would reach their destination ports.

And then there is the damage inflicted upon the oil processing infrastructure of the various Middle East countries. How long will it take for that damage to be repaired.

While I am not yet in the camp of a "catastrophic rice shock" ... I am of the opinion that it will likely take months to recover once things return the the situation that was in place before Pres Trump caused this turmoil in the energy production and transport markets.

The Virginia Supreme Court did not negate the lower court's decision, it only paused the case while it decides upon the case.

Though, such a pause sometimes indicates how a higher court is thinking of ruling.

That said, this is not yet decided.

Related ...

More from the article ...

... The long-running fight to rein in the government's power to search Americans' phone calls, emails and text messages without a warrant has gained new urgency on Capitol Hill over concerns that AI will supercharge state surveillance.

Privacy advocates warn that if the law enabling warrantless monitoring of Americans is not meaningfully reformed, many citizens could be subject to increasingly invasive AI-powered analysis of communications swept up by foreign intelligence programs as well as commercially available location and behavioral data.

"Imagine instead of doing a query with one person that you turned AI loose on these databases," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said Thursday at a press conference announcing a new bill to close data-collection loopholes. "There's virtually nothing the government can't know about you." ...

@#3

It was 4AM and I enjoy it. :)

So... Truth Social seems to be the latest of Pres Trump business failures?

That is, it seems, beside his assault upon the US Treasury ...

@#3 ... Republicans hate science and knowledge.

Preferring religious dogma and ignorance. ...

I wish I could disagree.

But I cannot.

... and, fwiw, my view of the TED Talks is that back a couple decades ago they were great. I used to watch each and every podcast of theirs.

But of late, not so much. Commercialism seems to have noticed the viewership and has taken them over.

So, enjoy this blast from the great past of the TED Talks.

imo, of course.

YMMV and all that ...

More ...

... TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers are invited to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes ...

@#8 ... The "summer driving season" price hikes have yet to hit. ...

With the price of gas shown prominently across the towns of the US.

btw, did you know that rudge.com is into motorcycles?

That's what one discovers when one (i.e., me) mistypes the name of this most august site.

:)

Is Pres Trump's authority being used and exploited by those around him because of his apparent diminishing mental condition?

@#8

Yeah, We can just disagree about each individual song.

But, overall, I'd proffer that Mr Mason has made a great contribution to music.

Do you disagree with that?

@#2 ... "MAGA" is not a "coalition" it's a slogan that means whatever Trump wants it to mean on any given day - he said it himself: "I am MAGA" - ...

In some aspects (most aspects?) I would tend to agree.

Pres Trump had defined MAGA.

But now, we need to look at MAGA as a living life force.

Will MAGA survive beyond Pres Trump's reign?

If so, from where will it take its marching orders?

It has been obvious that MAGA seems to be unable to think for itself, instead relying upon the dicta of their cult leader.

But what happens when that cult leader is no longer in office?

Or, maybe, that future scenario is not in their plans?

@#2 ... Let them eat paste ...

That seems to be the approach of Sec Hegseth towards our military serving on the ships in the Middle East.

Curious that the aliases of a possible troll farm appear concurrently?

OK, I have been trying to find a live performance with the original lyrics of this tune ...

More from the article ...

... The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) does not yet have access to Anthropic's bug-hunting AI model, Claude Mythos, even though other government agencies do, Axios reported earlier this week.

As if that weren't a big enough slap in the face for the national cyber-defense agency, the list of those who do have access to Mythos includes several unauthorized users, according to Bloomberg News. Members of a private Discord channel specializing in seeking information about unreleased AI models, have gained access to Mythos, according to one unnamed member of the group, Bloomberg reported. "The group has been using Mythos regularly since then, though not for cybersecurity purposes," the person told Bloomberg, supplying screenshots to back up their claim.

As a result of its fear that the powerful model could be used to identify and exploit flaws in software and online services, Anthropic has limited access to a preview of Mythos to an exclusive group of government agencies, industry groups, and software providers through an initiative it calls Project Glasswing. ...

@#52 .... Can you say, "clueless?"

I knew you could. ...

OK, please allow me to explain ...

Putting up a huge ballroom that can, will?, hold hundreds of important people is little more than erecting a target for our enemies.

Now, Pres trump seems to be saying that very ballroom is needed for protection, when that very ballroom might be a target?

Stated differently, why doesn't Pres Trump also paint a huge bulls-eye on the White House?

I ask, what is the difference in his ~logic?~