Being and something else

With little warning, Kansas has voided trans residents’ drivers licenses, and yes, “the persecution is the point.” / Erin in the Morning, the Kansas City Star

Amid the Epstein fallout —Bill Gates apologizing, Larry Summers and Richard Axel resigning—memos connected to Trump’s accuser are missing. / The Wall Street Journal [$], AP, The New York Times [$]

Related: The World Economic Forum chief has also stepped down after an internal investigation into his Epstein connections. / The Wall Street Journal [$]

According to data extracted from DHS contracts, ICE and CBP are stockpiling a massive cache of military-grade equipment. / The New Republic

In nuclear crisis simulations using ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, all three models chose the nuclear option. / King’s College London

Unrelated: Tech CEOs can’t seem to grasp why people hate AI so much. / The New York Times [$]

In his new book, Michael Pollan argues that the root of consciousness is feelings, an attribute that will always set humans apart from AI. / The Atlantic [$]

Answers to the question of when, exactly, we feel we’ve entered adulthood reveal the murkiness of aging, which may be better thought of as chapters than phases. / The New Yorker

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“My fellow Americans, I stand before you tonight to make one thing very clear: we are richer than ever before. You aren’t, of course. But we are.” / McSweeney’s

See also: “Trump] is telling people to ignore their lived experience and that economic indicators and what the elites are saying should overpower what [they feel or see.” / The New York Times [$]

By requiring sellers to set fixed pricing wherever their products are sold, Amazon can raise seller fees as much as it likes, as the whole economy pays the Amazon tax. / Pluralistic

A couple that runs an e-commerce newsletter has settled with the eBay executives who allegedly tried to intimidate them by mailing cockroaches and blood-smeared masks. / Reuters

“So you wanted to verify you’re old enough to use voice chat, and now there’s a permanent risk score somewhere documenting whether you might be involved in illegal wildlife trafficking.” / Techdirt

Climate science has long led a double life—the government and academia versus the fossil fuel companies—and that’s now colliding in a battle over who’s allowed to access whose data. / Reckoning Science

“I realize that the Rose Garden is actually represented by a few vinyl window decals of rose bushes.” A visit to an interactive exhibit about the White House. / The Baffler

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