Rex Taylor Reed, the legendary film critic whose sharp wit, uncompromising taste and distinctive prose made him one of the most recognizable voices in American cultural journalism for six decades, died in his sleep on May 12, 2026, in New York City. He was 87.
A South Korea woman who allegedly killed two men and almost a third with laced drinks had asked ChatGPT questions beforehand about how much would be fatal. There are a "growing series of high-profile criminal cases in which people are accused of using AI programs to aid violent crimes," reports NBC News.
Jason Koebler: To browse the internet today, to consume any sort of content at all, is to be bombarded with AI of all sorts. People think things that are fake are real, things that are real are fake. Much has been written about "AI psychosis," the nonspecific, nonscientific diagnosis given to people who have lost themselves to AI. Less has been said about the cognitive load of what other people's AI use is doing to the rest of us, and the insidious nature of having to navigate an internet and a world where lazy AI has infiltrated everything.
In the wake of the Supreme Court's recent decision on gerrymandering, Louisiana's governor suspended the state's primary elections, even though tens of thousands of votes had already been cast. Now he intends to toss those votes.
Steve Hilton, a Republican front-runner in the race for governor of California, recently visited the oldest operating Del Taco in the United States for what he might have thought would be an uncontroversial pit stop. "Check it out: the original Del Taco. There it is," Hilton says in a video he shared on social media last weekend from the fast-food restaurant in Barstow, Calif. "My Barstow street taco. I'm going to enjoy it."
Kotaku: CNBC reports that eBay's board wrote to Ryan Cohen on Tuesday, May 12, to make clear its categorical rejection of the silly man's ridiculous attempt to buy a company five times larger than his own with borrowed money and bad math. A letter signed by eBay's chairman of the board of directors, Paul S. Pressler, calls his offer "neither credible nor attractive."
CNBC: Prices that consumers pay for a wide range of goods and services increased at a faster-than-expected pace in April, as another burst in energy prices raised further concerns about inflation's impact on the U.S. economy. read more
A new CNN poll finds a large increase in Americans calling high prices and the cost of living their top economic problems. Strong majorities are pessimistic about the economy -- almost 7 in 10 believe a recession is likely in 2026 -- and about their own ability to cover expenses. read more
A new poll shows that a large majority of Americans say they think there is too much money in U.S. politics. Politico released a poll on Saturday showing that 72 percent of Americans say there's too much money in politics, whereas 5 percent say they disagree.
Defeat in the present confrontation with Iran ... can neither be repaired nor ignored. There will be no return to the status quo ante, no ultimate American triumph that will undo or overcome the harm done. The Strait of Hormuz will not be "open," as it once was. With control of the strait, Iran emerges as the key player in the region and one of the key players in the world. The roles of China and Russia, as Iran's allies, are strengthened; the role of the United States, substantially diminished. read more
Politico released a poll on Saturday showing that 72 percent of Americans say there's too much money in politics, whereas 5 percent say they disagree. read more
With nearly one-fifth of the world's oil under lock and key thanks to Donald Trump's ill-fated war on Iran, oil derivatives like jet fuel are at a premium. That makes it all the more devastating that the US Air Force leaked some 32,000 gallons of the stuff into the Potomac river over the course of just four months. read more
Most people are well aware at this stage that their activity is being observed on just about every website and platform they visit. But if there is only one place you would hope might be free of invasive trackers, it'd be healthcare exchanges operated by state governments. Don't get those hopes up. According to a report from Bloomberg, all 20 state-run healthcare marketplaces include advertising trackers that share information with Big Tech companies.
Democrat Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, condemned an Israeli real estate expo at the Park East Synagogue which had been promoting homes and land for sale in the occupied West Bank, calling it an "effort to displace Palestinians." read more
Wage growth for workers has stagnated while CEOs' earnings continue to rise, according to a new report released Thursday from Oxfam and the International Trade Union Confederation. In the U.S., according to Oxfam, CEO pay increased about 20 times faster than workers' wages in the past year, based on an analysis of data from the S&P Capital IQ database, the Federal Reserve and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Trump administration is opening the way to import more steaks and ground beef from overseas, part of a broader effort to address record-high beef prices. The administration is planning to temporarily reduce tariffs on beef imports as soon as Monday, according to people familiar with the matter. The move would suspend the annual tariff-rate quota -- which applies a higher tariff rate after a certain level of beef imports are reached -- on all beef-exporting nations, enabling more of the product to enter the U.S. at lower tariff rates.
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