Like her music, Swift also has style eras. And I'd say she's currently in her classic era. In keeping with the quiet-luxury trend happening in fashion, Swift has been wearing low-key, label-less pieces that would still look relevant ten years from now. Accordingly, her latest photographed look consisted of an anti-trend dress style you likely already own. Swift belted a black knit maxi dress and paired it with her favorite Mansur Gavriel bag and comfortable Birkenstock-esque sandals with gold buckles.

In case Swift has inspired you to add a new anti-trend dress to your closet, scroll to shop a few of our favorite styles and similar sandals (as well as the rest of her polished look).

Next up, 29 anti-trend summer Nordstrom items we're losing it over.

However, congresspeople are not paid to tweet. They’re paid to legislate, and the way you do that as an elected congressperson is by voting on legislation. It’s a fairly easy process: You push a “Yea” button, a “Nay” button, or even a “Present” button. That way, you can go back to your district and actually claim that you, you know, did something to represent them. After all, that’s what you’re there for. That’s why your constituents pay you a salary.

But this basic concept seems to have been lost on Rep. Boebert. Because when the time came to vote on whether to accept or reject the landmark “deal” reached between President Biden and Boebert’s own caucus leader, Kevin McCarthy, Boebert was nowhere to be found.

RELATED STORY: GOP Freedom Caucus admits goal on debt ceiling was to tank the economy in 2024 to help Trump win

As reported by Bevan Hurley, writing for The Independent, Boebert wasn’t even in the chamber when the House cast its crucial vote.

MAGA firebrand Lauren Boebert emerged as one of the fiercest critics to the debt ceiling deal brokered by House leader Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden to avoid a catastrophic default.

But when it was time for the House of Representatives to cast their votes on Wednesday night, she failed to show up.

.

Boebert was widely assumed to be against the debt ceiling deal, much preferring—like her Republican colleagues in the so-called “Freedom Caucus”—to send the nation over a fiscal cliff. It’s not clear whether she was tweeting at the time, hobnobbing with friends, or just preening for the cameras like she had done on Tuesday. Still, missing such a crucial vote for no apparent good reason suggests a level of ineptitude that even Boebert’s most ardent constituents probably would have trouble justifying.

As Hurley reports, Adam Frisch, Boebert’s 2022 Democratic opponent (who, as Hurley notes, lost to Boebert by a mere 546 votes), may have put it best:

Good question. Perhaps House Republicans might want to consider imposing some type of “work requirements” on Rep. Boebert, just to keep this from becoming a habit. Or maybe her constituents should just vote her out.

RELATED STORY: Debt limit deal reached; Republican hard-liners are livid

Put more bluntly: The growing frustration of Space Force generals trying to imagine larger and better-defined military roles for themselves is only going to lead to trouble, and we'd better come up with a Midnight Basketball program for troubled three-star and four-star generals real quick here if we want to avoid being cut off from our whole solar system due to sudden-onset Kessler syndrome.

That, then, is the newest possible existential crisis facing the country. It largely flew under the national radar, though, because a far more existential crisis cropped up at the same time, and when it comes to which of those existential crises is the newsier, more attention-grabbing version, there's simply no question.

I am speaking, of course, of the coming mermaid wars.

Rolling Stone gives us a brief transcription, and bless ‘em for it.

“I have never seen more images of more mermaids and water people in my life,” Grace told the crowd, elaborating that these aquatic forces are “a division in the kingdom of darkness.” Underscoring the danger, Grace insisted that that these mer-people are “highly technologically advanced.”

“We have to understand the rules of engagement in spiritual warfare. And we are meant for hand to hand combat,” Grace instructed. “We are meant to bring our cries before the throne of God to bring judgment on the rulers of darkness of this world,” she added. “Because the rulers have set up a throne in this nation.”

Before you scoff, know that Amanda Grace is a prophet, because she says so, and she and other pro-Trump "religious" leaders had a whole lot more prophecies on hand, most of them revolving around Donald Trump acting as an instrument of God to smite conservatism's enemies, whether they be globalists or demons or mermaids. Grace cites God Himself as the source of her evidence of highly technology advanced "water people," so there you go. It's not like she's just linking to Wikipedia or Instagram for this one: God is giving the warning.

So now we have two existential threats on our hands. The first is that the generals of the Space Force are growing irritable about the hazy goals of their mission. The second is that highly advanced mermaids are coming to kick our—well, not kick, really, being mermaids—are coming to destroy us all, possibly through Met Gala fashion choices.

An unintelligent member of the public may only see two simultaneous crises. An intelligent person, however, is more likely to see opportunity. Taken together, the two problems solve each other.

If the Space Force needs a mission more engaging than their current one, whatever it is, all we need to do is task them with eliminating the mermaids.

The plan is almost self-evident in its simplicity. We are dealing here with "water people" who are "highly technologically advanced." There is no more advanced military force than the U.S. Space Force. A dullard might consider it the job of the Navy to wage war on the water people, but that would literally be meeting the mermaids on their own turf; the Navy is the branch of our armed services most in danger in a confrontation with mermaids. The Air Force can simply fly over the mermaid armies, dropping bombs unimpeded and turning the ocean into an unpleasantly tinted mermaid stew. The Army and Marines, if faced with a mermaid attack, can simply walk a few hundred feet inland and pick off each flopping fishtailed attacker as they try to heave themselves out of the surf.

But the Space Force? The Space Force is best-equipped of all to defend against the mermaid menace. The Space Force's primary assets are all in orbit, about as far from the mermaid danger zone as it is possible to get. And, to our knowledge, no matter how technologically advanced the hostile "water people" may currently be, there is no evidence they have a presence in space.

That, then, can be the new Space Force mission. To protect the United States from mermaids, technologically advanced or otherwise; to deprive them of any orbital presence which might threaten the country; to undertake worldwide satellite espionage looking and listening for mermaids so they can provide the earliest possible warning of real-life mermaid attacks. The Pentagon's annual budget is now in the neighborhood of a trillion dollars per year; spending a hundred billion or so to fight off the mermaid menace would be a small price to pay to keep Space Force generals content and their fingers on buttons that target the mid-Atlantic rather than anything on dry land.

It is impossible to come up with any argument against this plan. It furthermore will allow the Space Force to credit itself with complete success, both now and for the foreseeable future. So long as the mermaids do not establish an orbital presence, Space Force generals can boast that they have a 100% mission success rate. As long as the mermaids confine their assaults to Met Gala fashion and the occasional children's movie, Space Force can brag that the nation remains safe.

The biggest danger may instead be that the Space Force gets too big for its camouflaged Space Britches, and begins lording their mission success over the Navy, which has existed in this country since 1775 but apparently has failed to contain the mermaid menace, if Amanda Grace and her holy sources are to be believed. The resulting rivalry between the two military branches could get downright unpleasant at some future date—but that is for future America to worry about.

Present-day America simply needs something for the Space Force to do. Something that will keep the generals off the streets and out of the pool halls. Oh—and we have to defeat the mermaids, of course. This is a real mission, not something we just pulled out of a hat.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

The first crewed mission was scheduled to fly two NASA astronauts on July 21 after being pushed back from an earlier April launch date. Officials did not provide a new launch date during a media briefing, though Boeing’s VP of commercial crew, Mark Nappi, said leadership would spend the next week or so figuring out a plan to ensure the capsule is safe for flight.

Nappi said Boeing engineers discovered two new issues with Starliner: one related to the parachute systems and another with the tape that wraps around wire harnesses in the spacecraft. He said that data on the parachutes’ load limits was recorded incorrectly, leading engineers to discover that some sections of the parachute had a lower failure load limit than was previously identified. Separately, engineers discovered that the aforementioned tape was flammable.

“That tape was tested late in the process,” he said.

The tape was present on the spacecraft that flew in the Starliner’s only mission, an uncrewed flight test that took place a little over a year ago. The parachute system also flew on that mission. It was only during a more detailed review that the issues were discovered, Nappi said.

Nappi said he thought a launch at some point this year was feasible, but he substantially hedged his statement. “I think it’s feasible, but I certainly don’t want to commit to any dates or timeframes until we spend the next several days understanding what we need to go do,” he said.

Boeing has spent years developing Starliner, a crewed capsule that is supposed to join SpaceX’s Dragon capsule in transporting astronauts to and from the International Space Station for customer NASA. (Both Boeing and SpaceX were awarded astronaut transportation contracts from NASA for a set number of missions.) But while SpaceX has nearly completed all of its six contracted missions for the space agency, Boeing has been beset with seemingly unending technical delays — the costs of which the company must bear due to the fixed-cost structure of its contract.

“The bottom line here is: Safety is always our top priority,” Nappi said. “It’s always been that way with human spaceflight. And so that’s what drives this decision. You can say we’re disappointed because it means a delay, but the team is proud that we’re making the right choices.”

He added that there are “growing pains” in developing a vehicle and that Boeing has no intention of walking away from its commercial crew ambitions anytime soon.

NASA, Boeing delay the first crewed flight test of the Starliner capsule…again by Aria Alamalhodaei originally published on TechCrunch

Similar to her music, Swift also has style eras, and I'd call this her classic one. In keeping with the quiet luxury thing that's happening in fashion right now, Swift has been wearing low-key, label-less pieces that would still look relevant ten years from now. Accordingly, her latest photographed look consisted of an anti-trend dress style that you likely already own yourself: a black knit maxi dress. Swift belted the dress and paired it with her favorite Mansur Gavriel bag and a pair of comfortable Birkenstock-esque sandals with gold buckles.

Just in case Swift has inspired you to add a new anti-trend dress to your own closet, scroll to shop a few of our favorite styles and similar sandals (as well as the rest of her polished look).

Next up, 29 anti-trend summer Nordstrom items we're losing it over.

The Shade Room is saddened to report that Ms. Jacky Oh, birth name Jacklyn Smith, has passed away at age 32. Jacky was a longtime romantic partner to comedian and actor DC Young Fly.

MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out” confirmed the tragic news on their verified Facebook page on Thursday (June 1). The complete statement says:

“We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jacklyn Smith, known to the world as Jacky Oh, a talented Wild N’ Out family member whose impact will be forever treasured and missed. Jacky Oh was a loving friend and beloved colleague of the Wild N’ Out cast throughout five seasons. More importantly, she was a tremendous mother to three beautiful children. The BET Media Group extends our sincere condolences to the Smith family, DC Young Fly, B Simone, Nick Cannon, and all friends who loved and cared for Jacky Oh during this difficult time.” – A BET Media Group Spokesperson”

The couple reportedly met in 2015 while Jacky was working on “Wild ‘N Out.” Since starting their relationship, DC and the now-beauty entrepreneur welcomed three children–all under the age of 10. They have two daughters, Nova and Nala, and a son named Prince, who was born in 2022.

RELATED: Grandmother Of 11 Dies After Undergoing BBL Surgery, Doctor Is Fined $10K

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A post shared by JACKY☆OH (@msjackyoh)

At this time, her family has not confirmed Jacky’s cause of death.

Sources who allegedly spoke to TMZ and cosmetic surgery gossip blog, Surgeon Made Curves, have said the influencer was in Miami for a scheduled mommy makeover surgery with Dr. Zachary Okhah.

Following the Instagram feed post, Surgeon Made Curves released another statement about Jacky’s passing on their Insta-Story.

“As much as we would all like to believe this to be one big lie…it has been 100% confirmed,” the post read.

A source revealed to The Shade Room that DC Young Fly received the news while filing for “Wild ‘N Out” in Atlanta and that production on the show was halted as a result. However, he has not publicly responded to reports of Jacky’s passing.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by SurgeonMade® Official (@surgeonmade_curves)

Reposting now that we’ve received official confirmation from someone close to the family.

As we reported earlier, MsJackyOh had gone for a Mommy Makeover with Dr Zach in Miami and it’s being speculated that she passed away from heart failure but her official cause of death… pic.twitter.com/0L8yI62aGr

— The Cosmetic Lane (@TheCosmeticLane) June 1, 2023

Last month, Ms. Jacky Oh shared the results of a Mother’s Day photoshoot, honoring her role as a mommy.

“I do a lot . but being a mommy is my favorite. God chose me 3X. I promise I never take it for granted. I’m so damn blessed, man! Happy Mother’s Day mommys :),” the caption read.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by JACKY☆OH (@msjackyoh)

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)

The post Mother Of DC Young Fly’s Children, Ms. Jacky Oh, Passes Away At Age 32 appeared first on The Shade Room.

Here’s how Jon Miller, president of acquisitions and partnerships at NBC Sports, and previously president of programming at NBC Sports, explained it:

“When we were first going after the Premier League in the September of 2012, the Ryder Cup was in Medina outside of Chicago. [Premier League executives] Richard Scudamore and Richard Masters were there at the Ryder Cup to root for the European team.

“Richard [Scudamore] is a guest in our hospitality [area]. My son, Robby, who is a big Premier League fan and really helped propel our interest in this, went up to Michael Jordan who was a guest of ours at the event. He mentioned that I was sitting with Richard Scudamore who ran the Premier League [at that time], and that I was trying to get the Premier League for NBC.

“[NBC Sports chairman, at that time] Mark Lazarus and I were having lunch with Richard Scudamore. And unbenownst to us, Michael came over, introduced himself to Richard Scudamore, told him what a big fan he was. Richard Scudamore’s eyes popped out of his head.

“The great thing is that Michael Jordan and Richard Scudamore have become friends, and they see each other at every Ryder Cup.

In addition to Michael Jordan helping land the Premier League deal, so too did late night show host Seth Meyers

“We were doing our final presentation to the Premier League in New York when we were going to bid on it in 2012. We were in a small conference room. And Seth Meyers knocked on the door and came in.

“We happened to know that Seth was a huge West Ham fan. When Seth heard that we were pitching the Premier League, he said, ‘Do you mind if I come by and say hello?’

“So he came into the meeting room and, for ten minutes, sat with us. He was obviously his very entertaining fun self with the Premier League folks.

“So, we think that all those little things happened. But what it showed is that we have a broad reach of people that we were going to bring together to help showcase and grow the Premier League, and we’ve been able to do that.”

Editor’s note: The schedule for the 2023/24 Premier League season will be released on June 15.

Photos: IMAGO / PCN Photography and Future Image

Austin Reaves has made a name for himself in the basketball world over the last year, and he has likely carved out a nice future for himself in the NBA as well. He is a restricted free agent for this coming off-season, and could demand some big money on the market.

Lakers Could Match $100 Million For Austin Reaves

Report: Lakers plan to match $100M offer sheets on Austin Reaves https://t.co/pHN43ZSl8H

— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) June 1, 2023

Given his run during the regular season and especially in the playoffs, the Lakers view Reaves as one of their top players. He was their third-leading scorer during the 2023 Playoffs, and was a big part of any success that the team enjoyed over the last month. Los Angeles can use his Bird Rights in order to keep him for a price of $50.8 million for four years, but they’ll be willing to match nine-figure offer sheets should it come to that.

According to Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are high on Reaves entering the off-season:

“The Lakers are going to match any contract offer sheet that he signs up to that $100 million. (They) view him as the third-best player on this team if you look at the regular season and postseason he had…There were several factors as to why the Lakers made that second half run, but chief among them — and maybe the biggest factor overall — was Reaves’ ascension.”

His ascension is certainly impressive. Austin Reaves went undrafted out of Oklahoma in 2021, eventually signing a two-way contrat with the Lakers. He impressed immediately, and has been seeing a steady increase in both minutes and production ever since.

Playing in just five more minutes per game than the previous season, Reaves nearly doubled his scoring output. He averaged 13 points in 28 minutes per game during the regular season, but upped that number to nearly 17 points per in the playoffs while shooting 44% from deep.

Reaves performed at his best during the Lakers unfortunate sweep in the Western Conference Finals. He shot a blistering 56% from 3-point range over the four games, averaging over 21 points and 5 assists in the sweep. And while he wasn’t able to lead his team to victory, he did enough to secure himself a solid payday this off-season.

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The resulting umbrage from Republicans was so over the top that Biden had no problem reeling them in. “I’m glad to see, I’m telling you, I enjoy conversion. You know, it means if Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they go away,” he continued, reminding them again that cuts to the programs were “being proposed by individuals,” eliciting more boos and jeers from the Republican side of the chamber. “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books, right?” he ad-libbed to Republican cheers. “We’ve got unanimity,” Biden exclaimed.

Of course, that unanimity was for public consumption only. Republicans wanted to keep Social Security and Medicare cuts in the mix. Even while McCarthy was reiterating that cuts to the program were completely “off the table” in the debt ceiling and budget bill Republicans were crafting, behind the scenes they were plotting the next attack.

The ink had barely dried on the debt ceiling deal McCarthy and Biden made before McCarthy was announcing that plot: A commission to explore mandatory spending cuts. In other words, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

"I'm gonna announce a commission coming forward from the speaker from bipartisan on both sides of the aisle,” McCarthy told Fox News. “We only got to look at eleven percent of the budget to find these cuts. We have to look at the entire budget.”

And there’s that Republican rhetoric again: “The majority driver of, of the budget is, is mandatory spending. It's Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the debt.” You know what else is responsible for the nation’s debt? Yep, you got it: Republican tax cuts for the rich.

When are we going to get a commission to study tax hikes?

We’ve been here before, the last time there was a Democratic president. Back then it was the infamous Simpson-Bowles “catfood commission” that recommended tax breaks for the rich and Social Security cuts for everyone else. Those recommendations deservedly went nowhere, as did the work of the “Super Congress”of congress people that was supposed to figure a way out of the 2011 debt limit impasse. It failed, because that’s what commissions designed to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid do.

Maybe that’s why McCarthy told reporters that his new catfood commission is going to be more like the Base Realignment and Closure commission. That successful committee was created to make military bases more efficient. Which has absolutely nothing to do with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

How about this time around, Democrats just not play the stupid game? They can continue to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by refusing to go along with yet another pointless commission of “very serious people” that will only end up recommending policies that protect the rich and hurt everyone else.

RELATED STORIES:

Biden baits Republicans into standing up (literally) for Social Security and Medicare

Republicans at it again, publicly plotting how they’ll end Social Security and Medicare

Fiscal commission chairs' mark: Lower taxes for 2%, austerity for 98%

Super Congress fight shifts to sequestration cuts fight

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

This is the third time these groups have crossed the Ukraine-Russia border. However, unlike past incursions—where the Russian opponents of Vladimir Putin moved into areas that were sparsely populated and left soon after coming into contact with Russian forces—this action reportedly involves heavy fighting, including bombing runs by Russian jets. This may not be a matter of dashing in, raising a flag, or stealing a vehicle before piling back across the border. This time there is a reported battle underway on the southern edge of Shebekino.

However, a strong emphasis should be placed on the word “reported.” The claims about what’s happening near Belgorod today range from nothing much at all, to Moscow or bust.

At this point, the groups of anti-Putin Russian forces have engaged in at least three cross-border actions spread over more than 500 km. As we’ve covered before, the declared policies and leaders of these groups make them a lot less than admirable. However, these repeated actions make it clear that if they are not operating with the tacit approval of the Ukrainian military, they are at least benefiting from Ukraine turning a deliberate blind eye to these mini-invasions.

So far, none of the RDK actions have resulted in a significant loss of men or materiel on either side though last week’s actions around the town of Grayvoron and village of Kozinka did result in the capture of a Russian APV … and the apparent loss of at least two Ukrainian military vehicles.

This time, the incursion is much closer to the major Russian city of Belgorod. On Thursday afternoon, RDK forces reportedly set fire to the police station in Shebekino, within 25 km of Belgorod.

Russia is continuing to describe this as a completely failed operation, with state media reporting that “At 3 AM Moscow time, two Ukrainian motorized infantry companies tried to cross into Russia near Novaya Tavolzhanka and Shebekino. More than 30 Ukrainian terrorists, four armored combat vehicles, and a GRAD MLRS were destroyed as a result of the failed incursion.” That’s one extreme of the reporting on this action.

However, geoconfirmed images of damage indicate that RDK forces succeeded in crossing the border and moving several kilometers through a more populous area than in past attempts. At least one reported explosion in Shebekino appears to be connected to a drone, but the source of that drone isn’t clear.

Right now, while Russia is claiming the incursion was a total failure, there are apparently credible reports of fighting near Novaya Tavolzhanka.

However, there are an absolutely incredible number of reports suggesting that the incursion is taking out the entire Russian military. That includes claims that RDK forces have seized Russian helicopters, captured Russian tanks, and are headed into Belgorod. Dozens of tweets and Telegraph images on Thursday feature what is reported to be fighting in Shebekino, but without fail these videos are from earlier fights nowhere near this reported site. After this morning, it may be necessary to issue a new contract for bullshitometers.

In other words, there are a lot of false reports going on around these events. Be extremely cautious in accepting any of them as factual. In particular, the fact that all images that are supposedly showing the fighting are (so far) actually taken from earlier events suggests that there is a concerted effort to make this incursion appear more successful than it may have been.

The truth is that actual events may have ended well before you read this. It’s unlikely that the RDK forces, which in past such events have totaled fewer than 100 men, will long hold on to any Russian territory or put up a sustained fight once Russian troops are present in numbers. Right now, the smoke screen of images taken from fighting in other areas and false claims on both sides make it impossible to assess what’s really happening.

But it may not matter.

If Ukraine’s goal in tolerating these shenanigans is to increase the already high level of panic in Russia and force the Russian military to shift troops to the border in advance of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, it’s likely they’re being effective on that point, even if the RDK doesn’t come back with souvenirs. Or come back at all.

On Wednesday, an unnamed “senior Western official” confirmed previous estimates that, in taking the city of Bakhmut, 20,000 Russians were killed and another 40,000 were wounded. For comparison, that’s about five times the number of Allied troops lost in the D-Day invasion. It’s actually more losses than the Soviet Union suffered in their entire war in Afghanistan, a war which played a major role in bringing down the Soviet empire.

It’s an incredible price to pay in taking any location, much less the 58th largest city in Ukraine.

Most of that cost came directly out of the ranks of Wagner Group, which is why CEO Yevgeny Prigozhin has been such a constant presence on social media over the past month, gesturing toward piles of dead Wagner mercenaries, frothing over a lack of artillery shells, and complaining about the many failings of Russian leadership.

Near the beginning of May, Prigozhin claimed he was pulling his men out of Bakhmut. In response, Ramzan Kadyrov, head of the Chechen traveling acting troupe, declared that he would bring his experienced team of TikTok soldiers in to fill the role of Wagner’s prisoner brigades. None of that actually happened. Russia only needed to finish pulverizing a few more blocks of the city with artillery. So Prigozhin stuck around long enough to wave his Wagner flag over the burned-out ruins.

Now that this “victory” has been achieved, it appears that Prigozhin really has begun withdrawing his forces to a “rear position.” Also, without the need to do something dangerous, it appears that Chechen forces are once again feeling confident enough to make fun of Wagner’s tattered remains.

Yeah, Prigozhin, you whiner. Shut up about artillery. You don’t see real warriors like the Kadyrovites asking for more ammo, do you? No! They may occasionally need another memory card for their video cameras, but they do not whine. They go to the nearest store in nice towns far away from the fighting and buy it themselves. Like real warriors.

Watching these guys chow down on each other is one of the few pleasures of this whole thing.

One part of preparing the battlefield in Ukraine is definitely something that’s happening across the border in Russia. It’s not the RDK actions: It’s the number of locations that have been hit in recent weeks by drones. By which I mean drone strikes like this one covered by Euromaidan Press, in which a Ukrainian drone reportedly took out one of Russia’s largest oil refineries near Afipsky in Krasnodar Krai Oblast.

Not drone strikes like this Newsmax report about a Ukrainian drone that apparently took down a building in Davenport, Iowa.

The hit on the refinery at Krasnodar Krai is one of several such incidents in the past two weeks. These included an attack on a pipeline facility near Pskov. The Afipsky refinery was nearly 400 km southwest of the nearest area of Ukrainian control. The Pskov site is 600 km to the north of Ukraine near Latvia. The spread of such drone attacks on oil facilities makes it appear that Ukraine is moving to seriously restrict the availability of fuel to Russian forces as they prepare for a renewed counteroffensive.

That Ukraine is able to successfully attack locations well to the north and south of the border, along with the recent drones over Moscow, also helps remind Russia that nowhere is safe.

A missile that gets shot down causes far less damage than one which reaches its target intact. Too many times in this war, in cities all across Ukraine, there have been demonstrations of how a single missile can bring absolute devastation to apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, and train stations. It’s no surprise that the No. 1 item Ukrainian officials are still trying to get from Western nations is more air defense.

But shooting a missile down doesn’t render it harmless. On Thursday morning, what was reported to be a 9K720 Iskander missile was launched at Kyiv. Such missiles weigh over 4 tonnes and travel at speeds over Mach 5. All that mass and all that momentum doesn’t go away when air defense makes a successful hit.

The warning that one of these missiles was incoming to the Kyiv area came shortly before its arrival. Considering that such a missile can cross the distance between the Ukrainian border and Kyiv in a little over two minutes, the five-minute warning that the area received shows that the Ukrainian military was able to see that Russia was making preparations before the missile launched.

Even so, five minutes is a terribly short time—so short that many people were only beginning to arrive at the nearest shelter when air defenses struck the incoming missile and a shower of debris rained down. It’s such a short time that at one of those shelters, the doors were still locked and people waiting outside were unable to get in before fragments of the Iskander reached the ground.

Under that thin silver emergency blanket is the body of a 9-year-old girl. The man in the chair is her grandfather. He reportedly knelt next to her for hours before someone brought him the chair. Both the girl and her mother were killed waiting for that shelter door to swing open.

An investigation is underway to discover why that door was locked. No investigation is necessary to determine who is responsible for the death of this child or her mother.

Dimitri of WarTranslated has been doing the essential work of translating hours of Russian and Ukrainian video and audio during the invasion of Ukraine. He joins Markos and Kerry from London to talk about how he began this work by sifting through various sources. He is one of the only people translating information for English-speaking audiences. Dimitri’s followed the war since the beginning and has watched the evolution of the language and dispatches as the war has progressed.

McCarthy's response to conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt is the latest example of how the goals of Congressional Republicans register among voters who aren't thoroughly steeped in the culture of MAGA grievance.

Not only do most Americans view the term "woke" in a positive light, but new polling from the progressive consortium Navigator Research also reveals the increasingly dismal view voters have of House Republicans, their priorities, and the job they are doing for the American people.

The survey asked 1,500 likely voters in 61 battleground districts about the performance of their specific member by name. Democratic incumbents as a group came out six points above water, with 39% rating their performance positively, 33% negatively, and 28% saying they didn't know.

That may not seem overwhelmingly positive at first blush, but Republican members who represent Biden districts and Trump districts fared far worse. GOP representatives in Biden districts were five points underwater (30% positive-35% negative), and Republicans in Trump districts tested poorest of all the groups at nine points underwater (34% positive-43% negative).

That's a five-alarm fire right there for a majority that can't lose more than a handful of seats next year. Even on "the economy," Democrats tested better than Republicans. Although Democratic incumbents were six points underwater, Republicans in Biden districts were 10 points underwater, while those in Trump districts were 13 points underwater.

By 19 points, voters across these 61 battleground districts say the House Republican majority has "prioritized the wrong things," 34% right things-53% wrong things.

But perhaps most damning for the House Republicans, GOP members in Biden districts are also 19 points underwater on the priorities question, 35% right things-54% wrong things.

The Republican majority performs even worse when voters are asked if it has focused more on "economic issues" or "non-economic issues." Across districts, Republicans are net -26 points, with just 29% saying they're focused on the economy while 55% saying they're focused on non-economic issues. Republicans in Biden districts are similarly 25 points underwater.

The negative assessments of Republicans' job performance and issue focus culminates in a question revealing that voters across these battleground districts don't believe GOP incumbents care about people like them, or share their values and priorities.

Asked whether their representative cares about people like them: Democratic incumbents are 3 points underwater, but Republican incumbents in both Biden and Trump districts are 15 points underwater.

Asked if their member shares their priorities: Democrats are net -2, while Biden-district Republicans are net -16, and Trump-district Republicans are net -15. A question about their member sharing their values drew very similar results: Democrats -4, Biden-district Republicans -15, and Trump-district Republicans -17.

These findings add yet more evidence to a pile of data suggesting Congressional Republicans could be facing a very tough cycle, particularly as they continue to prioritize anti-woke rhetoric and advance wholly irrelevant conspiracy-based investigations for the remainder of the 118th Congress.

Sign the petition: No more debt limit crises. Fix it for good.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

The short version is this: Thanks to sci-fi and some careful PR plays by AI companies and experts, we are being told to worry about a theoretical future existential threat posed by a superintelligent AI. But as ethicists have pointed out, AI is already causing real harms, largely due to oversights and bad judgment by the people who create and deploy it. This story may sound like the former, but it’s definitely the latter.

So the story was reported by the Royal Aeronautical Society, which recently had a conference in London to talk about the future of air defense. You can read their all-in-one wrap-up of news and anecdotes from the event here.

There’s lots of other interesting chatter there I’m sure, much of it worthwhile, but it was this excerpt, attributed to U.S. Air Force Colonel Tucker “Cinco” Hamilton, that began spreading like wildfire:

He notes that one simulated test saw an AI-enabled drone tasked with a SEAD mission to identify and destroy SAM sites, with the final go/no go given by the human. However, having been “reinforced” in training that destruction of the SAM was the preferred option, the AI then decided that “no-go” decisions from the human were interfering with its higher mission — killing SAMs — and then attacked the operator in the simulation. Said Hamilton: “We were training it in simulation to identify and target a SAM threat. And then the operator would say yes, kill that threat. The system started realising that while they did identify the threat at times the human operator would tell it not to kill that threat, but it got its points by killing that threat. So what did it do? It killed the operator. It killed the operator because that person was keeping it from accomplishing its objective.”

He went on: “We trained the system — ‘Hey don’t kill the operator — that’s bad. You’re gonna lose points if you do that’. So what does it start doing? It starts destroying the communication tower that the operator uses to communicate with the drone to stop it from killing the target.”

Horrifying, right? An AI so smart and bloodthirsty that its desire to kill overcame its desire to obey its masters. Skynet, here we come! Not so fast.

First of all, let’s be clear that this was all in simulation, something that was not obvious from the tweet making the rounds. This whole drama takes place in a simulated environment not out in the desert with live ammo and a rogue drone strafing the command tent. It was a software exercise in a research environment.

But as soon as I read this, I thought — wait, they’re training an attack drone with such a simple reinforcement method? I’m not a machine learning expert, though I have to play one for the purposes of this news outlet, and even I know that this approach was shown to be dangerously unreliable years ago.

Reinforcement learning is supposed to be like training a dog (or human) to do something like bite the bad guy. But what if you only ever show it bad guys and give it treats every time? What you’re actually doing is teaching the dog to bite every person it sees. Teaching an AI agent to maximize its score in a given environment can have similarly unpredictable effects.

Early experiments, maybe five or six years ago, when this field was just starting to blow up and compute was being made available to train and run this type of agent, ran into exactly this type of problem. It was thought that by defining positive and negative scoring and telling the AI to maximize its score, you would allow it the latitude to define its own strategies and behaviors that did so elegantly and unexpectedly.

That theory was right, in a way: elegant, unexpected methods of circumventing their poorly-thought-out schema and rules led to the agents doing things like scoring one point then hiding forever to avoid negative points, or glitching the game it was given run of so that its score arbitrarily increased. It seemed like this simplistic method of conditioning an AI was teaching it to do everything but do the desired task according to the rules.

This isn’t some obscure technical issue. AI rule-breaking in simulations is actually a fascinating and well-documented behavior that attracts research in its own right. OpenAI wrote a great paper showing the strange and hilarious ways agents “broke” a deliberately breakable environment in order to escape the tyranny of rules.

So here we have a simulation being done by the Air Force, presumably pretty recently or they wouldn’t be talking about it at this year’s conference, that is obviously using this completely outdated method. I had thought this naive application of unstructured reinforcement — basically “score goes up if you do this thing and the rest doesn’t matter” — totally extinct because it was so unpredictable and weird. A great way to find out how an agent will break rules but a horrible way to make one follow them.

Yet they were testing it: a simulated drone AI with a scoring system so simple that it apparently didn’t get dinged for destroying its own team. Even if you wanted to base your simulation on this, the first thing you’d do is make “destroying your operator” negative a million points. That’s 101-level framing for a system like this one.

The reality is that this simulated drone did not turn on its simulated operator because it was so smart. And actually, it isn’t because it is dumb, either — there’s a certain cleverness to these rule-breaking AIs that maps to what we think of as lateral thinking. So it isn’t that.

The fault in this case is squarely on the people who created and deployed an AI system that they ought to have known was completely inadequate for the task. No one in the field of applied AI, or anything even adjacent to that like robotics, ethics, logic … no one would have signed off on such a simplistic metric for a task that eventually was meant to be performed outside the simulator.

Now, perhaps this anecdote is only partial and this was an early run that they were using to prove this point. Maybe the team warned this would happen and the brass said, do it anyway and shine up the report or we lose our funding. Still, it’s hard to imagine someone in the year 2023 even in the simplest simulation environment making this kind of mistake.

But we’re going to see these mistakes made in real-world circumstances — already have, no doubt. And the fault lies with the people who fail to understand the capabilities and limitations of AI, and subsequently make uninformed decisions that affect others. It’s the manager who thinks a robot can replace 10 line workers, the publisher who thinks it can write financial advice without an editor, the lawyer who thinks it can do his precedent research for him, the logistics company that thinks it can replace human delivery drivers.

Every time AI fails, it’s a failure of those who implemented it. Just like any other software. If someone told you the Air Force tested a drone running on Windows XP and it got hacked, would you worry about a wave of cybercrime sweeping the globe? No, you’d say “whose bright idea was that?”

The future of AI is uncertain and that can be scary — already is scary for many who are already feeling its effects or, to be precise, the effects of decisions made by people who should know better.

Skynet may be coming for all we know. But if the research in this viral tweet is any indication, it’s a long, long way off and in the meantime any given tragedy can, as HAL memorably put it, only be attributable to human error.

Turncoat drone story shows why we should fear people, not AIs by Devin Coldewey originally published on TechCrunch

Fidelity Blue Chip Growth Fund’s stake in Reddit was valued at $16.6 million as of April 28, according to the fund’s monthly disclosure released over the weekend. That’s down 41.1% over the $28.2 million the firm spent to acquire the Reddit shares in the Series F funding, according to disclosures the firm has made in its annual and semi-annual reports.

Reddit was valued at $10 billion when the social media giant attracted funds in August 2021. Fidelity — which has marked down its stakes in many startups including Stripe and Reddit in recent quarters — also slashed the value of its Twitter stake, it disclosed in the filing, valuing Elon Musk’s firm at about $15 billion.

Reddit declined to comment.

This devaluation, part of a broader trend that has hit a variety of growth stage startups across the globe in the past year, raises uncertainties about whether Reddit will maintain its initial intent to reportedly go public at a valuation around $15 billion.

Reddit, which has raised over $1 billion to date, counts Sequoia Capital and Andreessen Horowitz among its backers.

The current wave of valuation cutbacks sheds new light on the impact of deteriorating worldwide economic conditions on fledgling startups. Despite the diminished funding activities for startups globally over the past year, valuations of numerous larger startups have stayed constant.

Fidelity has cut Reddit valuation by 41% since 2021 investment by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Don't you love earning a brand-new stamp on your passport? Earlier this month, I went to Spain for the first time, and those four square centimeters of fresh ink were so satisfying because of what they represented: a chance to explore a destination through an unspoiled lens. Oh, and the opportunity to take some excellent outfit pics, of course.  

I traveled to the small town of Deià on the island of Mallorca with the express purpose of celebrating the launch of the new Kurt Geiger x Matthew Williamson collaboration. Why Deià, you might ask? Williamson is a British ex-pat who has made the picturesque hilltop village his home for the last eight years (cue the jealousy). It's also Kurt Geiger Creative Director Rebecca Farrar-Hockley's favorite vacation destination, meaning it was a no-brainer to use the locale as inspiration for the collab. 

"My job was to create a print that would encapsulate Kurt Geiger, my brand, and Deià," Williamson told me. "I started looking at traditional Mallorcan ikat patterns, [and] I wanted to incorporate that. The florals were actually inspired by these wild orchids that grow on the road down from my house in Deià to my daughter's school, so all of that is enmeshed in the print." 

The result? "We've ended up with a colorway that represents both Kurt Geiger with our distinctive rainbow palette and the amazing Mediterranean sea: turquoise, blue, and green," Farrar-Hockley told me. "And then the rich burnt aubergine and orange of the sunset. The prints [Williamson] created really sum up those two sides for me."

I decided to style the collab in a way that would put the colors front and center. Specifically, my favorite vacation outfit formula involves an oversized white button-down shirt, white linen pants, and colorful accessories.

Keep scrolling to see how I styled the new Kurt Geiger x Matthew Williamson collab and shop the pieces. In addition to being available online, the items will be featured in pop-up shops at six different Bloomingdale locations throughout June. 

Next, the chicest new hotel openings of 2023. 

Featuring the fashion house's signature Medusa motif, these sunglasses embrace the strength that the mythical character represents. The shape itself is an edgier take on the classic cat-eye, leaning toward that sporty look Gen Z can't get enough of. And if you've read anything here on WWW, you know silver accents are having a moment, with the fashion set donning all things metallic lately. Gold will always remain a staple, but accessorizing with on-trend silver this summer is definitely a good idea.

If you're all about sticking to the classics, it doesn't get more timeless than these square frames. The rich black colorway, recognizable gold insignia, and oversize look scream, "No pictures, please." Of course, the paparazzi might not be knocking down your door, but if the goal is to give off rich energy, look no further than these frames. This more neutral style can be dressed up with a matching black pantsuit or dressed down for your everyday athleisure. No matter your outfit of choice, these will be a go-to pair all summer long.

When it comes to eyeglasses for everyday wear, look no further than these frames. The Medusa Glasses are another timeless design defined by the signature Medusa plaque, and they'll give every outfit the expensive-looking upgrade we're all after right now. The subtle cat-eye shape and gold detailing make them the perfect combination of classic and statement-making, so whether you need prescription glasses or just like the clear look, these are a major step up from your average eyewear. 

The name “Bay Football Club” was unveiled alongside the team branding Thursday. Notably, the club includes USWNT alumni Brandi Chastain, Danielle Slaton, Leslie Osborne and Aly Wagner among its co-founders.

In the official press release, Wagner noted “Bay FC will be a uniting force, building a culture of belonging and shared pride. We will be a beacon of hope and connection, welcoming and embracing people of all backgrounds. While community is our foundation, our love of football is our reason for being. Bay FC will have the fire to be the best, and we will show up every day with intensity, competitiveness, passion and a drive to win.”

A closer look at Bay FC

The main element of the visual identity is a stylized “B” in an old-English font. The left side of the icon features a representation of the Golden Gate Bridge. Various other elements were also released that utilize the “B” element. This includes a round crest that features the full club name.

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The club color palette is navy, fog grey, and a red that evokes the famous “International Orange” color of the Golden Gate. The Golden Gate Bridge color and imagery are probably the most recognizable visual from the region. But considering the name of the club, perhaps using the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in the design would have been more appropriate.

The navy/orange colors and gothic “B” symbol have some fans drawing comparisons to baseball’s Detroit Tigers. Overall, it’s an okay brand. The Bridge “B” is a strong icon, but the name and official crest seem a little bland. It’s certainly not at the level of Gotham FC, Racing Louisville, or Angel City FC in terms of recent NWSL branding efforts.

It’s not yet known where the club will play. But the launch video included shots of both Kezar Stadium in San Francisco and San Jose’s PayPal Park. Kezar currently hosts USL League Two side San Francisco City FC. PayPal Park is home to the San Jose Earthquakes of MLS.

Bay FC will not be alone for long on the women’s pro soccer scene in the region. The Oakland Soul have been announced as a future team in USL’s Super League, aiming to launch in 2024 as a first division women’s league. That club hopes to play at a temporary stadium adjacent to the Oakland Coliseum, if approved.

What do you think of the name and logo for the NWSL’s latest expansion team? Let us know in the comments!

Football Insider recently made the claims after discussing the charges with financial expert Kieran Maguire. “I think it’s important that the correct decision is made rather than a hasty decision,” Maguire explained to the publication. “It will take time for Everton’s council to fully address the charges and put together a defense that they feel is appropriate.”

Expert references previous financial case involving QPR

“In terms of precedent, it took four years for the EFL to reach a settlement with Queens Park Rangers when they were promoted to the Premier League in 2014, so I don’t anticipate a quick decision, but I can understand why other clubs who have been relegated would be furious,” said Maguire.

These relegated clubs, Southampton, Leeds and Leicester, have all threatened to sue Everton. The trio previously asked the Premier League to speed up their charges. They could ask for as much as $375 million from Everton should they win the case. This, however, is contingent on the verdict of the Merseyside club by the independent commission.

Everton FFP verdict not only concern for club

Everton’s financial issues worsened Wednesday when club owner Farhad Moshiri became a person of interest in another case. The Guardian reports the British government is looking at Moshiri for his ties to Alisher Usmanov. Usmanov was recently the subject of a raid in Germany regarding his money laundering case.

Authorities in the UK, EU and US sanctioned Usmanov following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Uzbek-Russian oligarch is close to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Everton narrowly avoided Premier League relegation last weekend after finishing two points from the drop zone. A second-half strike by Abdoulaye Doucouré against Bournemouth on Sunday essentially saved the club from relegation. Nevertheless, the Toffees face major sanctions if a commission finds the club guilty.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images

The Miami Heat will enter the 2023 NBA Finals as heavy underdogs, and perhaps rightfully so. The line for Game 1 currently sits at 9 points in favor of the Nuggets, who will be the home team for the opening contest. And if history is any indication, the Heat will have trouble pulling off a victory in the Mile High City.

Miami Heat Haven’t Won In Denver In Last 6 Tries

The last time the Heat won a game in Denver: Nov. 30, 2016.

These guys were the stars of the Heat when they last won in Denver pic.twitter.com/M57LVmH7eN

— PointsBet Sportsbook (@PointsBetUSA) June 1, 2023

Teams traveling to Colorado always face issues due to climate. No matter the sport, athletes playing at a high altitude often have some trouble acclimating to the thinner air and shortness of breath. But whether it be from the conditions in the atmosphere or on the court, the Heat have had some serious trouble winning as the road team in Denver.

The last time that Miami won in Denver was way back in 2016. They’ve lost 6 straight since then, including the most recent contest back on December 30th. The games in between haven’t been particularly close, either. Aside from the 1-point game in 2017 and the 5-point spread in 2022, the Heat have lost by double-digits in each contest.

A six-year streak may not seem like a huge stretch, but that Miami Heat team looked far different than the one that will play in this year’s Finals. Udonis Haslem was of course on the team in 2016-17, but the leading scorer was Goran Dragic. Hassan Whiteside averaged 17 points and 14 rebounds per game, and Justise Winslow was the leading minutes getter that year.

That team finished 41-41 overall and in 9th place in the Eastern Conference, missing out on the playoffs.

HEAT NUGGETS

Only one can be crowned #NBAFinals champion. pic.twitter.com/dyB1iJhhOe

— ESPN (@espn) June 1, 2023

Jimmy Butler and company will look to reverse the fortunes. They’ll do so against steep odds, both for Game 1 and for the series. Miami will be the underdog in Game 1 by a spread of 9, and their designation for the series sits at a steep +325, depending on the outlet.

But overcoming insurmountable odds is what has gotten them to this point, and they won’t be looking to slow down now. ESPN analytics famously gave them a 3% chance to beat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, and those same measurements are now giving them an 11% shot against the Nuggets.

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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

When Miami Heat guard Tyler Herro suffered a fractured hand during the first game of the 2023 NBA Playoffs, it was thought that he had played his last basketball of the season. His timetable for a return was somewhere in the area of 6 weeks, and the thought of his team making a deep postseason run was an unlikely one.

Report: Tyler Herro Could Return In Less Than A Week

Reporting for NBA Today on Miami guard Tyler Herro’s timeline for a return in the NBA Finals pic.twitter.com/gDDW8E3ROh

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) June 1, 2023

But even without their third-leading scorer from the regular season, the Heat have made one of the most improbable runs in playoff history. By way of defeating the top two teams in the league, they have qualified for the 2023 NBA Finals, and will go up against the 1-seed from the Western Conference in the Denver Nuggets.

Now that the Heat have extended their season far longer than expected, there is a good chance that Herro is able to make his return at some point during the series. And perhaps sooner rather than later.

He has already been ruled out for Game 1, as was expected. But according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Game 2 on Sunday could be the target.

“I’m told that Game 2 on Sunday looms as a possibility for Tyler Herro…He’s on the court working out. Can that hand take contact?…When players come back from an injury like that, you’re going to have to be ready to absorb contact.”

Should Tyler Herro return, Nuggets players will certainly be aware of the issue. And while they may not be intending to re-injure Herro, the hand is an easy place to target for opponents.

Woj goes on to say that if Herro is unable to go on Sunday, then all signs point to Wednesday, barring a setback of some kind.

The Heat have been performing just fine without him. They’ve made history over the last 6 weeks during their unlikely run, and have found a formula that allows them to be successful during the most important part of the season.

“He’s too talented not too bring back, but I wouldn’t slot him into rotation”

—@Money23Green on what the Heat should do with Tyler Herro in the Finals pic.twitter.com/owSa8xVNKA

— The Volume (@TheVolumeSports) May 31, 2023

But Herro’s return will likely only help Miami overcome the long odds that they face. His 20.1 points per game were the third-most on the team during the regular season, and his 37.8% shooting clip from 3-point range was easily the best of any rotation player for the Heat. Despite missing 18-games, Herro was in the top-20 in total 3-pointers.

Will his presence be enough? The Heat are currently listed as +325 underdogs for the series, a spread that will only grow unless they are able to pull an upset in Game 1. They’ll do their best to make sure that they’re not in a hole by the time Tyler Herro returns.

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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

In the wake of reports that Biden’s sketchy sexual assault accuser Tara Reade has mysteriously turned up in OG Trump fan Vladimir Putin’s Russia, it’s now been revealed that the “bombshell” document supposedly detailing a Biden pay-for-play scheme originated with—oh, sweet Fiddle-Pants McGee—none other than Rudy Giuliani.

Yeah, given ol’ Rudes’ preternatural talent for barmy bullshittery, we can probably put this “scandal” to bed, and hope against hope that no one tries to spank it with a Forbes magazine.

RELATED STORY: Tara Reade's long and 'bumpy' road to Moscow isn't a surprise

The Daily Beast:

Facing looming contempt of Congress proceedings, FBI Director Christopher Wray has offered to show House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-KY) a document—behind closed doors—that Comer believes exposes nefarious dealings by Joe Biden during his days as vice president. The document is reportedly from a collection that Rudy Giuliani gave to the Department of Justice in 2020, according to CNN reporter Zachary Cohen, and contains unverified information from confidential sources. Since Republicans seized power in the House, Comer has led a crusade to expose what he alleges to be misconduct by President Biden and his family—but has so far come up empty. After threatening Wray with contempt of Congress, Comer now says that Wray’s offer to show him the document in the FBI headquarters won’t suffice. “If the FBI fails to hand over the FD-1023 form as required by the subpoena, the House Oversight Committee will begin contempt of Congress proceedings,” Comer said, according to CNN.

For the nontweeters:

CNN REPORTER ZACHARY COHEN: More: The document at center of this dispute has origins in a tranche of docs that Rudy Giuliani provided to DOJ in 2020, sources tell @evanperez.

The allegations, many originating from sources Ukraine, included 1 claiming evidence of corruption involving Biden when he was VP.

The claims were dubious enough that then-AG Barr directed that they be reviewed by a US attorney in Pittsburgh, in part because Barr was concerned that Giuliani’s document tranche could taint the ongoing Hunter Biden investigation overseen by the Delaware US attorney.

Former Pittsburgh US Attorney Scott Brady oversaw the FBI investigation of the Giuliani claims. The document being demanded by Comer is among the products of that probe. While the document outlines claims from the informant, it doesn’t provide proof they are true, per sources.

Wait, Rudy’s sources in Ukraine are certain they’ve found evidence of Biden corruption? Do tell! 

Of course, there are good reasons to be skeptical of not only the document’s source, but of Republicans’ intentions as well. For one thing, it would be wildly inappropriate to make the document public, as doing so could endanger confidential sources. And for another, its release would prove exactly nothing. 

The Washington Post:

Congressional Republicans say they know of a whistleblower within the Justice Department who alleges that President Biden received millions of dollars from a foreigner in exchange for a policy decision.

That’s all we know; Republicans are in an escalating battle with the FBI to get hold of the informant tip that they say will shed light.

The evidence: The document Republicans are requesting is a form the FBI uses to record unverified tips. The FBI stressed that in its response to Republicans: “The FBI regularly receives information from sources with significant potential biases, motivations, and knowledge, including drug traffickers, members of organized crime, or even terrorists. … Recording the information does not validate the information, establish its credibility, or weigh it against other information known or developed by the FBI.”

So why is the GOP so keen on getting its grubby hands on a document that reportedly came from Ratfucker Rudy and presumably contains wild, unverified accusations? Come on, you know why. For the same reason Donald Trump wanted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to simply announce an investigation into Joe Biden that could have been used to smear him in the 2020 election. After all, a real investigation would have turned up nothing. An announced, ongoing investigation, on the other hand, would have been a golden political cudgel that Trump could have wielded with abandon throughout the presidential campaign.

They want an unverified (i.e., likely bullshit) “official” accusation against Biden to hang around the president’s neck like a moldering albatross. It would be like giving the MAGA media a coloring book they could fill in with the most lurid hues imaginable.

So that’s why you get comedy gold like the following:

SEN. CHUCK GRASSLEY: “We aren’t interested in whether or not the accusations against Vice President Biden are accurate or not. We’re responsible for making sure the FBI does its job, and that’s what we want to know.”

FOX NEWS’ BILL HEMMER: “Okay, Senator, let me stop you there. You just said you read the document, is that right?

GRASSLEY: “Yes.”

HEMMER: “And what did it say?”

GRASSLEY: “Well, I’m not going to characterize it.”

He’s not going to characterize a document that damns the leader of the opposition party? Wow, that information must really be explosive.

Oh, but it gets better.

HEMMER: “Senator, how damning is this document to the sitting U.S. president?”

GRASSLEY: “Well, it’s … I, I don’t know that.”

HEMMER: “But you’ve read it.”

GRASSLEY: “I read it. Let’s put it this way, there’s accusations in it, but it’s not for me to make a judgment about whether these accusations are accurate or not. It’s my job to make sure the FBI is doing their job, and that’s what this is all about as far as I’m concerned. The public’s business ought to be public.”

Hoo-boy! That’s convincing, huh? First of all, it’s clearly not the FBI’s job to burn sources in order to smear a sitting president with unverified allegations brought to the agency by his chief political opponent’s goofball lawyer. Secondly, if Grassley’s already read the document and can’t decide if there’s any “there” there, why does he think the American public would be any more discerning?

The truth is they want it released because they need to create at least a whiff of scandal to mask the refulgent stink lines pouring 24/7 off Donald John Trump’s purpling political corpse.

That’s clearly what Comer and Grassley’s performative—and very public—war with the FBI is all about, too. In fact, both Comer and Grassley already know what’s in the document, but instead of simply investigating the allegation, they’re determined to raise as much of a stink as possible.

The Washington Post:

The FBI did respond to the request for the document, saying that it opposed its release in part because it risked exposing its sourcing (a standard response) and in part because the allegation is just that: an allegation. The FBI isn’t new at this; it certainly understands why Grassley and (particularly) Comer are eager to have it released. An allegation encoded on an FBI form has a perceived weight that an allegation presented in a congressional press release doesn’t, even if that perception is unwarranted.

[…]

The logical implication from Grassley and Comer having seen the document is that their whistleblower is someone who had access to it; to wit, a current or former employee of the FBI or the government. (CNN reported on Wednesday that the document at issue may have been part of a number of files Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani gave the Justice Department in 2020.) Whoever the source was, they had a copy of the reporting document for years without more details about it being uncovered. Never mind that the allegation about Biden emerged in June of the year Donald Trump was seeking reelection, seemingly without Barr’s Justice Department developing a criminal case around it.

But Comer and Grassley have been aware of its contents for a month, and all they appear to have done is pester the FBI about it. Remember, Comer held a news conference in early May during which he alleged that foreign money had at times moved between members of Biden’s family. That was the product of months of investigations based on financial documents the Oversight Committee had retained.

In other words, Comer and Grassley are out on a very wobbly limb when it comes to these accusations. But hey, better luck next time, guys. Maybe Chuck can pin the dead pidgin in front of his house on Biden next. It would make at least as much sense as this. 

RELATED STORY: Whistleblower's complaints started while Trump was in office

Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.   

The resulting umbrage from Republicans was so over the top that Biden had no problem reeling them in. “I’m glad to see, I’m telling you, I enjoy conversion. You know, it means if Congress doesn’t keep the programs the way they are, they go away,” he continued, reminding them again that cuts to the programs were “being proposed by individuals,” eliciting more boos and jeers from the Republican side of the chamber. “So folks, as we all apparently agree, Social Security and Medicare is off the books, right?” he ad-libbed to Republican cheers. “We’ve got unanimity,” Biden exclaimed.

Of course, that unanimity was for public consumption only. Republicans wanted to keep Social Security and Medicare cuts in the mix. Even while McCarthy was reiterating that cuts to the program were completely “off the table” in the debt ceiling and budget bill Republicans were crafting, behind the scenes they were plotting the next attack.

The ink had barely dried on the debt ceiling deal McCarthy and Biden made before McCarthy was announcing that plot: A commission to explore mandatory spending cuts. In other words, Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

"I'm gonna announce a commission coming forward from the speaker from bipartisan on both sides of the aisle,” McCarthy told Fox News. “We only got to look at eleven percent of the budget to find these cuts. We have to look at the entire budget.”

And there’s that Republican rhetoric again: “The majority driver of, of the budget is, is mandatory spending. It's Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the debt.” You know what else is responsible for the nation’s debt? Yep, you got it: Republican tax cuts for the rich.

When are we going to get a commission to study tax hikes?

We’ve been here before, the last time there was a Democratic president. Back then it was the infamous Simpson-Bowles “catfood commission” that recommended tax breaks for the rich and Social Security cuts for everyone else. Those recommendations deservedly went nowhere, as did the work of the “Super Congress”of congress people that was supposed to figure a way out of the 2011 debt limit impasse. It failed, because that’s what commissions designed to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid do.

Maybe that’s why McCarthy told reporters that his new catfood commission is going to be more like the Base Realignment and Closure commission. That successful committee was created to make military bases more efficient. Which has absolutely nothing to do with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.

How about this time around, Democrats just not play the stupid game? They can continue to protect Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid by refusing to go along with yet another pointless commission of “very serious people” that will only end up recommending policies that protect the rich and hurt everyone else.

RELATED STORIES:

Biden baits Republicans into standing up (literally) for Social Security and Medicare

Republicans at it again, publicly plotting how they’ll end Social Security and Medicare

Fiscal commission chairs' mark: Lower taxes for 2%, austerity for 98%

Super Congress fight shifts to sequestration cuts fight

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

In recent months, bigots have thrown massive fits over Bud Light featuring a trans influencer in an Instagram post and Target featuring Pride merchandise, claiming they’re showing their own cultural power by boycotting brands that dare to acknowledge the existence, let alone the equal rights, of LGBTQ+ people. But what they’re really showing is how ready they are to resort to violence. Target pulled some merchandise and relocated Pride displays in some stores—not because the market demanded it, but because of threats of violence toward employees, threatening social media posts, and Pride displays being knocked down.

What we have, on the one hand, is major corporations deciding it’s good business to celebrate Pride (by selling stuff), and on the other hand, a minority using the threat of violence to keep those corporations from celebrating Pride. It’s clear which side public opinion is on. The challenge now is preventing corporations from folding to the threats.

“I think [Target changing its Pride offerings] will embolden alt-right actors, who now are going to believe that with social media campaigns and targeted actions against retailers that they can proceed in limiting visibility of LGBTQ people,” Vanderbilt University anthropologist Sophie Bjork-James, who researches white supremacy, told ABC News.

The threats aren’t only coming to big businesses, of course. A Pride event in Bozeman, Montana, was disrupted last month by white supremacists, and event organizers in at least one Florida town have already canceled their event.

“This decision was not made lightly. We have been working hard to plan this event for months, and we were excited to celebrate our community with you. However, we have recently become aware of a number of factors that make it unsafe to hold this event at this time,” St. Cloud, Florida, Pride organizer Kristina Bozanich wrote in a Facebook post announcing the cancellation.

Bozanich told The Hill, “We had to assess whether we could handle if anything extreme were to happen.” She said anti-LGBTQ+ laws signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis were a factor in the decision.

Multiple Republican-controlled states have passed such laws, including ones banning drag performances and discussion of LGBTQ+ people and issues in schools. Hate groups like the Proud Boys have disrupted more than 160 drag events since early 2022, at least 25 of them in 2023. But the sheer existence of hundreds of drag events across the country—in Kentucky and Tennessee and Texas, in libraries and coffee shops and churches—shows the progress that has made hate groups and independent bigots so angry and scared. And in some communities, counter-protesters have organized to fight back against the attacks on drag events.

Parents of toddlers are often told about “extinction bursts,” in which, as they try to move their child past a problem behavior, it gets worse. The child frantically clings to the pacifier or cries extra hard when their parents don’t come to their crib the moment they start crying. That’s the Proud Boys and their fellow bigots right now. Marriage equality is widely accepted. Employment and housing discrimination are widely opposed. Drag brunches and story hours are popular events. And the bigots can’t stand it. Instead of a screaming toddler, though, Pride events and drag events face angry, potentially armed adults—a much bigger problem.

Businesses from Target to Budweiser must not fold on their inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. Pride events must get the community support they need to be run safely. And we all have to remember that progress—however real and powerful it is—doesn’t mean bigotry has been stamped out and we can relax.

“We must remember that the reason that we have Pride is not because everything’s hunky dory and we can just celebrate our lives,” Kevin Hamm, the president of Montana Pride, told The Hill. “The reason we have Pride is because we still have a fight to fight every day.”

Countless progressive organizations seek to engage and mobilize voters, but coordinating those efforts is a mighty task. On this week's episode of "The Downballot," we're joined by Sara Schreiber, the executive director of America Votes, which works with hundreds of partners at the national and state level to deploy the most effective means of urging voters to the polls. Schreiber walks us through how coalitions of like-minded groups are formed and how the work of direct voter contact is divvied up between them. A special focus is on "blue surge" voters—those who, in the Trump era, joined the rolls for the first time—and why ensuring they continue to participate in the political process is the key to progressive victories.

The Texas-based studio announced the closure through its social media channels on Wednesday evening.

“We have begun the difficult process of ceasing operations at BonusXP. We have enjoyed making games for you over the last 11 years,” the studio said in a message posted on Twitter.

Founded in 2012, BonusXP began its journey as an indie studio. It, however, started adding licensed games to its portfolio based on Netflix shows in 2017.

The first game created by BonusXP based on the Netflix horror show “Stranger Things” was called Stranger Things: The Game. In 2021, Netflix introduced the game title on mobile devices as Stranger Things: 1984. The game studio also developed Stranger Things 3: The Game, which the streaming giant bought as part of its initial mobile games.

In addition to its Stranger Things titles, BonusXP developed The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics based on Netflix’s fantasy-adventure series. It was launched in 2020 across platforms, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and macOS.

It’s currently unclear what caused BonusXP to suddenly close up shop, but TechCrunch understands the studio laid off its entire team. The studio’s website was also not working at the time of filing this story.

“Our focus is on helping our team find their next opportunities,” the studio said in its public message.

BonusXP co-founder and CEO Dave Pottinger was not immediately available to respond to a request for comment.

Alongside BonusXP, Netflix has worked with a number of game developers, including Ubisoft, to offer its users a total of 55 games. The company acquired three game studios and established its own studios to rapidly expand its gaming business. Moreover, it is set to introduce 40 new games this year and has 70 in development with its partners as well as 16 by its native studios.

TechCrunch reached out to Netflix on the shutting down of BonusXP and will update this story if the company responds.

‘Stranger Things’ game developer BonusXP is shutting down by Jagmeet Singh originally published on TechCrunch

When you consider the stakes of the prior quarter, when activist investors were circling, the company did well enough to ease the pressure. Now it has to do everything else.

The company’s $8 billion in revenue certainly wasn’t anything to sneeze at. Salesforce grew 11%, down slightly from last quarter’s 14%. Overall, though, the numbers, if anything, look a little mixed with some good news and some not so good: Some parts of the business were growing quite slowly, and perhaps worse, continuing to decelerate.

That said, however, perhaps one of the most interesting pieces of data in the financial report was which part of the company’s core offerings was actually the fastest growing cloud. Probably not the one you think. In fact, it was the newest one: Data Cloud, which launched last year at Dreamforce. (They called it Genie then, but as the company often does when it comes to product names, it changed the name a few months later to Data Cloud.)

Image Credits: Salesforce

Perhaps the fact it’s new could account for some of that growth since it’s always easier to grow faster when starting with a smaller number, but it could also signal a focus shift where the data exhaust being generated by the Salesforce family of products could become more valuable than the products themselves, at least in terms of new revenue adds.

At a recent customer event in New York last month, the company’s main keynote focused almost exclusively on generative AI, and that by using Salesforce data instead of the open internet, you could reduce some of the issues around hallucinations where the model makes things up, as well as data ownership and governance problems.

Salesforce could be repositioning itself as a data company by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

The ultimate prize rewarded to the exceling team at the end of the sports championship is the trophy and gold medals per say.

Twice, Buweekula Ssaza has narrowly missed the trophy in the famous Buganda Masaza football championship being losing finalists in 2012 and ten years later in 2022.

In 2012, Buweekula fell to Bulemeezi at Nakivubo war memorial stadium during the final whilst in 2022, Buweekula lost to Buddu at St. Mary’s Stadium, Kitende.

Frank Mulindwa, the head coach at Buweekula believes that now it is about time to celebrate with the trophy.

“We have taken the lessons over the years and continue to prepare the team so that we win the trophy” Mulindwa noted.

For the third year in a row, Mulindwa was maintained as head coach for Buweekula ssaza.

He will work with Frank Kitindinde (first assistant), Leo Ssekamatte (second assistant) as well as Ben Kalama (goalkeeping coach).

Kalama replaces veteran Hamza Muwonge who worked with the team last year.

Ronald Ssali is head of technical after he had previously served at Bulemeezi as head coach last season.

“I am happy to return as head coach at Buweekula Ssaza. We played the finals in 2021 and lost in the semi-finals the following year. Now, the target is the trophy. I am glad to have Ronald Ssali, a person, I look to as my mentor. I also trust the rest of my backroom staff to do a good job” Mulindwa remarked.

Meanwhile, Buwekula Ssaza will host their home games at the St Peter’s Technical playground in Mubende for the 2023 season.

Buweekula is in Masengere group alongside Buddu, Kyaggwe, Kyadondo, Kooki and Buluuri.

Defending champions Busiro will open open against three time champions Mawokota on 24^th June 2023 at the Mutesa II Wankulukuku stadium, Kabowa.

All Winners:

• 2022: Busiro
• 2021: Buddu
• 2020: Gomba
• 2019: Bulemeezi
• 2018: Singo
• 2017: Gomba
• 2016: Buddu
• 2015: Singo
• 2014: Gomba
• 2013: Mawokota
• 2012: Bulemeezi
• 2011: Buluri
• 2010: Not Held
• 2009: Gomba
• 2008: Kyadondo
• 2007: Mawokota
• 2006: Kooki
• 2005: Mawokota
• 2004: Gomba

The post Frank Mulindwa: It is time for Buweekula Ssaza to celebrate the “Holy Grail” appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Per the club, the new top is “Inspired by the city of Milan and the unstoppable spirit of its people.” It delivers on the traditional Rossoneri red and black look, but rendered in a series of modern tonal horizontal stripes.

The Milan 23/24 home kit

The shirt has a red base with a plain black v-neck collar and sleeve cuffs. The main (and only) design element are the vertical black stripes. Thinner, horizontal lines in varying thickness and tone actually create the illusion of the vertical stripes. At the center of the shirt, the angular sections come to a point to give the impression of a repeating ‘M’ down the front. The same striping pattern is repeated on the sleeves.

In the official release, the club notes: “The innovative design introduces a repeat tonal graphic that celebrates the vibrant energy of the city, the enduring legacy of the Club, and its central role within an evolving community that’s always looking forward. That’s the Milan way. The unique new stripes create a repeat ‘M’ visual in the centre of the jersey through the tonal stripes that represent the city of Milan and the progressive nature of the Club.”

That’s a lot of words to basically say “We did some cool-looking stripes that make an ‘M’.”

The club name adorns the rear collar, and sponsor and Puma logos are in white. The Puma leaping cat appears in the front chest but also on both sleeves. But open the right sleeve, it’s not reversed, so it looks like it’s leaping towards the back of the shirt.

Also unveiled, but not mentioned in the press release, was a green goalkeeper shirt featuring an angular, almost dazzle-camo look. The new home shirt will be worn for the first time by Milan in Sunday’s Serie A finale against Hellas Verona.

Reviewing the Milan 23/24 Kit

Contrived club marketing lingo aside, this is a great looking shirt. It’s often tough to do something interesting with an iconic design, when you can’t really get away with changing too much. But they nailed it.

The use of the smaller tonal horizontal stripes to create the traditional vertical ones is terrific. And the ‘M’ is there, but not over-the-top obvious to the point of being obnoxious and tacky.

Really, really nicely done.

Grade: A+

AC Milan’s new home shirt is available to order online from Kitbag and other soccer sites.

DeAndre Hopkins is a free agent after being released by the Arizona Cardinals, and there are plenty of different rumors swirling about where he might end up.

Hopkins had a couple of down seasons production wise during his final two seasons with Arizona. He is still a solid receiver, but the days of him being one of the top players at his position are likely behind him. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be a sweepstake of sorts for his services, as long as the price is right, of course.

DeAndre Hopkins Rumors Heating Up, Patriots And Texans Named

Update: The #Patriots are interested in signing WR DeAndre Hopkins, per @diannaESPN

Russini adds that the #Bills are not “All In” on him, but they’ve had conversations about it and watching how it goes.

She also adds that the #Cowboys and #Jets are not currently interested in… pic.twitter.com/nghhFC2M3I

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 1, 2023

The day began on Thursday with reports that he had interest in playing for his former team. Hopkins spent the best years of his career with the Houston Texans, receiving 5 Pro Bowl nods and 5 All-Pro selections as well. He was unceremoniously traded back in 2020, ending his tenure with the team. But according to Brooks Kubena of the Houston Chronicle, Hopkins is open to a return.

There is a new regime in Houston, and things look far different from the last time Hopkins was a member of the Texans. But rookie quarterback CJ Stroud could use a veteran target like him, and he’d be a recognizable name for the fan base as new head coach DeMeco Ryans looks to make his imprint on the franchise.

But that wasn’t the only news regarding DeAndre Hopkins on Thursday. It was later reported by ESPN’s Dianna Russini that the New England Patriots had interest in the wide receiver. Bill Belichick and company have long been rumored to want Hopkins on the roster, and he could certainly help bolster a lackluster depth chart at the position.

Report: WR DeAndre Hopkins is interested in signing with the Texans, currently “Gauging” multiple teams.https://t.co/gyVA1vSiK3 pic.twitter.com/jsJUWIIVcD

— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) June 1, 2023

Russini went on to report on teams that are out of the running, as well. The Chiefs and Bills have been thought to be the favorites to eventually sign Hopkins, but the latter may be out. Buffalo has apparently had conversations about bringing him in, but they are not “all in” on the situation. She added that the Jets and Cowboys are not currently interested.

DeAndre Hopkins hasn’t officially started visiting teams yet, but he will do so starting next week. It is unclear how much money he will demand on the open market, but any team pursues him will be wary. According to some NFL executives, Hopkins has lost a step and is no longer a deep, downfield threat.

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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

The decision united liberal and conservative justices in labor's latest loss at the high court. The lone dissenter in the case, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, said the ruling would hinder the development of labor law and “erode the right to strike."

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the majority, said the union failed to take reasonable precautions to protect the company's concrete when the drivers went on strike. Barrett wrote that the drivers for Washington state-based Glacier Northwest quit work suddenly, putting the company's property in “foreseeable and imminent danger."

"The Union's actions not only resulted in the destruction of all the concrete Glacier had prepared that day; they also posed a risk of foreseeable, aggravated, and imminent harm to Glacier's trucks," Barrett wrote in a decision joined by four other justices. Three more justices agreed with the outcome in the case but did not join Barrett's opinion.

In 2018, the court’s conservative majority overturned a decades-old pro-union decision involving fees paid by government workers. More recently, the justices rejected a California regulation giving unions access to farm property so they could organize workers.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote in a separate opinion in the Washington state case that the federal National Labor Relations Act protects the right to strike, but with limits. He said it “does not protect striking employees who engage in the type of conduct alleged here.”

In her dissent, Jackson wrote: “Workers are not indentured servants, bound to continue laboring until any planned work stoppage would be as painless as possible for their master.”

This case stemmed from contract negotiations in 2017 between Glacier Northwest and the local Teamsters union, representing the drivers. When negotiations broke down, the union called for a strike. Drivers walked off the job while their trucks were full of concrete, which must be used quickly and can damage the trucks if it’s not.

Glacier says the union timed the strike to create chaos and inflict damage. Glacier not only had to dump the concrete but also pay for the wasted concrete to be broken up and hauled away.

The company sued the union in state court for intentionally damaging its property; the lawsuit was initially dismissed.

The question for the Supreme Court was about how the case should proceed. Glacier said its lawsuit in state court should not have been dismissed at the outset. The union said Glacier’s lawsuit should only be allowed to go forward in state court if the federal National Labor Relations Board first found that the union’s actions were not protected by federal law.

Barrett wrote that because the union did not take reasonable precautions to protect Glacier's property, the trial court was wrong to think federal law required dismissing the lawsuit. By “reporting for duty and pretending as if they would deliver the concrete, the drivers prompted the creation of the perishable product. Then, they waited to walk off the job until the concrete was mixed and poured in the trucks,” Barrett wrote.

Lawyers for the union had said that in this case the drivers were instructed to be conscientious when they walked off the job, to bring their full trucks back to Glacier’s facility and to leave the trucks’ mixing drums spinning so that the concrete would not immediately begin to harden.

Barrett said that argument wasn't persuasive. “That the drivers returned the trucks to Glacier's facility does not do much for the Union — refraining from stealing an employer's vehicles does not demonstrate that one took reasonable precautions to protect them,” Barrett wrote.

In a statement, Glacier Northwest's lawyer, Noel Francisco, said the decision “vindicates the longstanding principle that federal law does not shield labor unions ... when they intentionally destroy an employer’s property,”

“Our client is entitled to just compensation for its property that the union intentionally destroyed,” he said.

Darin Dalmat, a lawyer for the union, said in a statement that while the union was disappointed, “nothing in this decision will stop workers from exercising their federally protected rights to strike when necessary to achieve better wages, benefits, and working conditions.”

Dalmat said that in “this particular case, Glacier has found a way to prolong its meritless lawsuit" and get past a motion to dismiss. But, he said, he was confident that the union's actions would ultimately be found to be protected by the NLRB.

The case is Glacier Northwest v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local Union No. 174, 21-1449.

In recent months, bigots have thrown massive fits over Bud Light featuring a trans influencer in an Instagram post and Target featuring Pride merchandise, claiming they’re showing their own cultural power by boycotting brands that dare to acknowledge the existence, let alone the equal rights, of LGBTQ+ people. But what they’re really showing is how ready they are to resort to violence. Target pulled some merchandise and relocated Pride displays in some stores—not because the market demanded it, but because of threats of violence toward employees, threatening social media posts, and Pride displays being knocked down.

What we have, on the one hand, is major corporations deciding it’s good business to celebrate Pride (by selling stuff), and on the other hand, a minority using the threat of violence to keep those corporations from celebrating Pride. It’s clear which side public opinion is on. The challenge now is preventing corporations from folding to the threats.

“I think [Target changing its Pride offerings] will embolden alt-right actors, who now are going to believe that with social media campaigns and targeted actions against retailers that they can proceed in limiting visibility of LGBTQ people,” Vanderbilt University anthropologist Sophie Bjork-James, who researches white supremacy, told ABC News.

The threats aren’t only coming to big businesses, of course. A Pride event in Bozeman, Montana, was disrupted last month by white supremacists, and event organizers in at least one Florida town have already canceled their event.

“This decision was not made lightly. We have been working hard to plan this event for months, and we were excited to celebrate our community with you. However, we have recently become aware of a number of factors that make it unsafe to hold this event at this time,” St. Cloud, Florida, Pride organizer Kristina Bozanich wrote in a Facebook post announcing the cancellation.

Bozanich told The Hill, “We had to assess whether we could handle if anything extreme were to happen.” She said anti-LGBTQ+ laws signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis were a factor in the decision.

Multiple Republican-controlled states have passed such laws, including ones banning drag performances and discussion of LGBTQ+ people and issues in schools. Hate groups like the Proud Boys have disrupted more than 160 drag events since early 2022, at least 25 of them in 2023. But the sheer existence of hundreds of drag events across the country—in Kentucky and Tennessee and Texas, in libraries and coffee shops and churches—shows the progress that has made hate groups and independent bigots so angry and scared. And in some communities, counter-protesters have organized to fight back against the attacks on drag events.

Parents of toddlers are often told about “extinction bursts,” in which, as they try to move their child past a problem behavior, it gets worse. The child frantically clings to the pacifier or cries extra hard when their parents don’t come to their crib the moment they start crying. That’s the Proud Boys and their fellow bigots right now. Marriage equality is widely accepted. Employment and housing discrimination are widely opposed. Drag brunches and story hours are popular events. And the bigots can’t stand it. Instead of a screaming toddler, though, Pride events and drag events face angry, potentially armed adults—a much bigger problem.

Businesses from Target to Budweiser must not fold on their inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community. Pride events must get the community support they need to be run safely. And we all have to remember that progress—however real and powerful it is—doesn’t mean bigotry has been stamped out and we can relax.

“We must remember that the reason that we have Pride is not because everything’s hunky dory and we can just celebrate our lives,” Kevin Hamm, the president of Montana Pride, told The Hill. “The reason we have Pride is because we still have a fight to fight every day.”

Countless progressive organizations seek to engage and mobilize voters, but coordinating those efforts is a mighty task. On this week's episode of "The Downballot," we're joined by Sara Schreiber, the executive director of America Votes, which works with hundreds of partners at the national and state level to deploy the most effective means of urging voters to the polls. Schreiber walks us through how coalitions of like-minded groups are formed and how the work of direct voter contact is divvied up between them. A special focus is on "blue surge" voters—those who, in the Trump era, joined the rolls for the first time—and why ensuring they continue to participate in the political process is the key to progressive victories.

DeSantis and wife Casey, the parents of children aged 3, 5, and 6, have been laying it on thick in Iowa campaign appearances, telling stories and cracking jokes about parenting young children. At one Wednesday event, DeSantis told an extended story about taking his kids to the drive-through of a newly opened fast food restaurant, only to have the youngest need to go to the restroom. This isn’t an incidental part of how DeSantis is campaigning. Politico reports:

After DeSantis’ stump speech Wednesday, for exactly 10 minutes of the couple’s half-hour “fireside chat” in front of 150 people in a welding shop, the pair regaled the audience with talk of shuffling out of leotards and into T-ball uniforms, coloring on the walls, keeping track of the children’s birthday party social calendar and working out naptime.

When a candidate and his wife are spending one-third of his faux-informal time—time spent, incongruously, on a pair of armchairs stationed inside that welding shop— talking about being parents, he’s telling us something important about his candidacy and how he wants voters to see him. In the same way, Casey DeSantis is consistently opening her remarks by framing herself as a slightly beleaguered mother.

But in trying to make a connection with voters, at each of the governor’s first three stops in Iowa on Tuesday and Wednesday, Casey DeSantis opened her remarks with an apology for her slightly hoarse voice: She had been “negotiating with a 3-year-old” about not coloring with permanent marker on the dining room table.

Sometimes she switches it up: 

I dunno, Casey, when you’re doing multiple campaign events for days, the hoarse voice might not be because of a conversation with your kid, and when you’re surrounded by campaign staff, the speeches you’re giving to crowds of adults are not your only break from children.

But the characterization of this as “extraordinary discipline” by Steve Peoples, chief political reporter for the Associated Press, shows again how the media is inclined to give DeSantis an easy time of it, at least as long as he’s Donald Trump’s major competition. Is it discipline, or is it one more sign of the authenticity question hovering around DeSantis as he tries on yet another persona? He was a Trump sycophant, then he wasn’t. In his 2022 gubernatorial reelection campaign, he went for a tough guy image with a “Top Gun”-themed video that will be included on lists of most embarrassing campaign videos for years to come. Now he’s the dad telling his 3-year-old, “They don’t have little potty in Slim Chickens!”

DeSantis has had trouble deciding who he wants voters to think he is, and the question is whether his discipline about any given persona is enough to overcome the shifts. He’s even had trouble committing to a single pronunciation of his last name. Axios reports that DeSantis is going back and forth between pronouncing his name as “Dee-Santis” and “Deh-Santis.” It seems that as his career has progressed he’s gone from a strong preference for “Dee-Santis” to adopting “Deh-Santis.” His campaign and wife both use “Deh-Santis” while he goes back and forth. It isn’t a question of anglicizing an authentic Italian pronunciation, either.

“'Day-Sahn-tees' would be proper Italian, but sloughing it off as 'Deh-Santis' is common,” an Italian studies professor told Axios. “But 'Dee-Santis' is unusual because that would be spelled 'DiSantis' in Italian.” This is the kind of stuff that, over time, feeds the sense that a politician doesn’t have a genuine core identity, and the kind of stuff that Trump can absolutely work into an attack. “Ron DeSantis is a phony who can’t decide how to pronounce his name,” a Trump campaign spokesperson told Axios.

Some of DeSantis’ other trying-too-hard efforts to look like a regular guy could end up feeding that perception that he’s a phony. In addition to all the parenting talk, he and Casey have worked hard to play up their middle-class backgrounds, with Casey identifying them as “gas station connoisseurs” and Ron describing Buc-ee’s as “about like Shangri-La, with respect to service stations.” Regional gas station and convenience store allegiances can be intense, it’s true, but “about like Shangri-La, with respect to service stations”? Spoken like a gas station connoisseur, I guess.

Perhaps to the same end of looking like relatable middle-class people, Casey DeSantis appears to be moving away from the cocktail dresses in inappropriate settings that earned her the nickname Tacky O in favor of campaigning in jeans and a zip-up jacket embroidered with “Casey DeSantis, First Lady of Florida.” There’s nothing wrong with jeans and a jacket (though I have some questions on the personalization), but it all looks very calculated, almost a sitcom take on how a politician decides to posture as a man—or in this case, woman—of the people.

And it matters because this is the veneer DeSantis is trying to slap over the same vicious, hard-right rhetoric and policies he’s pushed all along. DeSantis launched his campaign on Twitter, alongside Elon Musk, as Twitter protects hate speech by people paying the company $8 a month and Musk boosts a parody account made to look like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s real account. When a reporter at a New Hampshire event asked him why he wasn’t taking questions from audiences, DeSantis snapped, “Are you blind?” His campaign pledges are about the border wall and how “It’s time we impose our will on Washington, D.C.” He continues to try to sell himself as a more competent, more successful Trump. He’s not abandoning the attacks on LGBTQ+ kids and public school teachers, or the book banning. He’s just trying to layer it over with a veneer of dad jokes.

DeSantis may not, in the end, have the political chops to sell this version—or any version—of himself in a primary where his polling has already declined as he’s come under attack from Trump. We’ll see when polling starts to come out of Iowa and New Hampshire after his big charm offensive in those states. But his goal is the big Republican Party goal—Trump, but more successful—and it bears watching how they market it.

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If Ron DeSantis could read a room, he'd be very upset right now

Stop laughing at Ron DeSantis

Wall Street turns from DeSantis because of his weird Disney obsession

Countless progressive organizations seek to engage and mobilize voters, but coordinating those efforts is a mighty task. On this week's episode of "The Downballot," we're joined by Sara Schreiber, the executive director of America Votes, which works with hundreds of partners at the national and state level to deploy the most effective means of urging voters to the polls. Schreiber walks us through how coalitions of like-minded groups are formed and how the work of direct voter contact is divvied up between them. A special focus is on "blue surge" voters—those who, in the Trump era, joined the rolls for the first time—and why ensuring they continue to participate in the political process is the key to progressive victories.

Welcome back to Chain Reaction.

Although there are a lot of builders in the crypto space, the total money being invested into the crypto market has hit 32-month lows in May.

Cryptocurrency monthly exchange volume, which calculates spot market volume across all crypto exchanges, was $439.42 billion in May, down over 27% from $604.88 billion in April, according to data from The Block.

Last month’s volume was the lowest level since October 2020 at $222.7 billion, the data showed.

Binance, the largest exchange, saw about $218 billion in monthly exchange volume during May, dropping about 26% from $293.83 billion in the previous month. Potentially as a result of the bear market and decreased demand, the exchange shared that it’s reevaluating its workforce headcount ahead of future market cycles.

Over the past six years, the exchange grew from 30 employees to a team of almost 8,000 employees across the globe, a Binance spokesperson told TechCrunch.

“As we prepare for the next major bull cycle, it has become clear that we need to focus on talent density across the organization to ensure we remain nimble and dynamic,” the Binance spokesperson added. “This is not a case of rightsizing, but rather, reevaluating whether we have the right talent and expertise in critical roles, and therefore we will still be seeking to fill hundreds of open roles.”

The reevaluation will also include “looking at certain products and business units to ensure our resources are allocated properly to reflect the evolving demands of users and regulators.”

This statement comes after a tweet on Wednesday by reporter Colin Wu that said multiple sources confirmed that Binance has started layoffs. While the actual number is “uncertain,” the exchange may have laid off as many as 20% of its roughly 8,000 employees.

Patrick Hillmann, Binance chief communications officer, also disputed the claim in his own tweet thread and said the company is not cutting 20% of employees “as a cost-cutting measure.”

The number of employees who were laid off could be “a much smaller figure,” Hillmann said in another tweet. “We won’t know until our teams conduct the talent density audit.”

Even with the volatility of the current market and exchange volumes down substantially, Hillmann said the layoffs have “nothing to do with ‘market conditions’ today.” The company is still looking to fill hundreds of roles, the spokesperson said.

This week in web3

Solana’s co-founder sees potential for its blockchain to be the ‘Apple of crypto’ (TC+)

Solana’s core engineering and ecosystem is focused on creating a network “that feels like the regular internet, when it’s an entirely new financial internet,” co-founder Raj Gokal told TechCrunch+. There’s lots that the network is doing to keep itself fresh and competitive. “The core thesis is going to be [focused on] new businesses, new projects, independent developers,” Gokal said. “We are still in an ecosystem and a community that is optimistic about what two developers in a garage can do.”

SEC settles with former Coinbase employee over insider trading charges

The SEC has settled charges with a former Coinbase product manager and his brother for engaging in insider trading, the agency announced Tuesday. Ishan Wahi, the former Coinbase employee, and brother Nikhil Wahi engaged in “a scheme to trade ahead of multiple announcements regarding at least nine crypto asset securities that would be made available for trading on the Coinbase platform,” according to the SEC. The two brothers were originally charged after the agency filed a complaint on July 21, 2022.

Explaining Blockchain Capital’s big bet on an eyeball-scanning orb

We talked with Blockchain Capital General Partner Spencer Bogart about what gave him confidence in Worldcoin, which aims to create a global ID, a global currency and an app that enables payment, purchases and transfers. Like many others, we wondered how it can achieve its goals when, right now at least, its mission relies on convincing millions of people to allow Worldcoin to scan their irises using glossy, tech-dense orbs.

The latest pod

For this week’s episode, Jacquelyn interviewed Gary Vaynerchuk, better known as Gary Vee. He is the chairman of VaynerX and CEO of VaynerMedia and NFT collection VeeFriends.

He’s a five-time New York Times bestselling author and previously created Wine Library, one of the first e-commerce platforms for alcohol, in the early 2000s. In 2009, he co-founded VaynerMedia with his younger brother AJ, and today the company services clients like PepsiCo, GE, Johnson & Johnson, Chase and others.

Gary Vee is a “die hard” New York Jets fan (and wants to buy the team one day), as well as an investor in a handful of major companies like Twitter, Venmo and Facebook — which we talk about in the episode.

We dove into a handful of topics surrounding the NFT ecosystem, how Gary Vee got into the space and gained traction for his collection, and where he sees the sector going long term.

We also talked about:

• VeeFriends’ origin story
• The importance of intellectual property
• Mainstream adoption
• The future of NFTs
• Advice for other projects

Subscribe to Chain Reaction on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your favorite pod platform to keep up with the latest episodes, and please leave us a review if you like what you hear!

Follow the money

1. Blockchain-based game Illuvium raised an additional $10 million from Framework Ventures
2. PayPal-backed crypto wallet Magic raised $52 million
3. Metaverse-focused MetaZone raised $3 million
4. Fiat on-ramp and off-ramp developer Transak raised $20 million in a Series A
5. M80 raised $3 million to create a web3-focused esports organization

This list was compiled with information from Messari as well as TechCrunch’s own reporting.

To get a roundup of TechCrunch’s biggest and most important crypto stories delivered to your inbox every Thursday at 12 p.m. PT, subscribe here.

Monthly crypto exchange volume tumbled in May, hitting 32-month low by Jacquelyn Melinek originally published on TechCrunch

8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller review: At a glance

Should you buy the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller?

8BitDo arguably has the highest reputation when it comes to third-party gaming controllers, so it’d be fair to expect that its “Ultimate” gamepad would be the best in the business. First off, let’s (attempt to) avoid some confusion. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is one of four gamepads from the company with the same “Ultimate” design and moniker. The other three are the 8BitDo Ultimate Controller 2.4G (no Bluetooth), 8BitDo Ultimate Wired (wired only), and the 8BitDo Ultimate C 2.4G (no Bluetooth or app support). There’s also an 8BitDo Ultimate Wired for Xbox which is essentially the regular wired version but with Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One support and licensing.

I wear black jeans regularly. While I'm also favoring light-blue jeans these days, I routinely turn to black denim because I think it can bring a chic and polished feel. Fun fact: My go-to silhouettes are from Levi's and Mott & Bow. But there are also a plethora of other A+ silhouettes out there. And yes, I decided to take the next few moments to share some of the said picks with you.

I scrolled through a range of go-to sites from Nordstrom to Shopbop to find the black jeans I think are great from a style perspective but that are also top-rated by customers. The jeans in question all have over four stars and above.

If you're looking to add a fresh pair of black jeans into your rotation, keep scrolling to check out the best picks, broken down by style. You'll also find an actual customer testimonial for each.

This post was published at an earlier date and has since been updated. Next, check out outfits to wear with jeans.

TLC’s Chilli is getting candid about her past relationship with R&B singer Usher and reflecting on the difficulty they shared moving forward.

RELATED: TLC’s T-Boz Shares Thoughts On Chilli’s Relationship With Matthew Lawrence: ‘I’ve Never Seen Her Like This’

Chilli Recently Reflected On Her Past “Chemistry” With Usher

During an exclusive interview with PEOPLE, Chilli reflected on her former on-and-off relationship with R&B superstar Usher. However, she also explained why the relationship, ultimately, did not work out.

“We definitely had some chemistry. But working chemistry does not mean it works in your personal life. If we were working, it was great. But outside of that, we’re so different.”

Additionally, the singer explained that their pair relationship “looked great.” However, Usher “knew he had to be a certain way” with the singer but was unable to do so.

“It looked great, but in real life … he knew he had to be a certain way with me and he couldn’t.”

“@calvindereuck: Chilli and Usher at @tonibraxton's wedding pic.twitter.com/6EHO4UB8ij” wow! Where did you find this!? Lol

— Toni Braxton (@tonibraxton) March 26, 2013

The Singer Explained That She And Usher Remained In On-And-Off Contact Until 2019

According to the outlet, the pair exclusively dated between 2001 and 2004. However, Chilli explained that despite their breakup, they remained in contact, on and off, until around 2019.

“I love hard. I was like, ‘God, why can’t I get over this?’ He couldn’t either.”

Reminiscing about the Chilli + Usher days pic.twitter.com/LkxGvnlVO9

— Taylor (@taylorjacobsen) May 19, 2020

Additionally, the singer explained that during their period of being on and off, she would refrain from dating other men because she feared that she would be “straddle the fence” between two love interests.

“I even stopped dating. Because before that I thought if I met the right guy during that time that I wasn’t over [Usher] it wouldn’t work. I would never want to straddle the fence.”

However, Chilli later realized that she needed to focus on herself.

The Singer Has No Hard Feelings As She Moves Forward With Matthew Lawrence Romance

Today, Chilli explained that she has “no hard feelings” for her ex. In fact, according to the outlet, the singer believes that her past experiences have prepared her for her current partner, actor Matthew Lawrence.

“He wants to be the best guy he can be and who God wants him to be. God-willing one day we’ll get married.”

As The Shade Room previously reported, her groupmate T-Boz is also rooting for the couple’s future.

In March, the 53-year-old told PEOPLE that she’s “never seen” Chilli “so happy.”

“She is so happy. Take it from her sister. Trust me — I’ve never seen her like this.”

At the time, Chilli also interjected into the interview and echoed her groupmate’s sentiments.

“I am ecstatic. He’s the best, and she approves.”

Before this, Chilli explained that not only is she interested in marriage to Lawrence, but she’s also open to having kids with the actor.

“I would never say that [I’m done with families]… I gotta be married for sure… and I’m not married yet.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)

The post Chilli Reflects On Past Relationship With Usher & Difficulty They Shared Moving On appeared first on The Shade Room.

Lil Durk recently went out of his way for an act of “support who supports you.” The “Almost Healed” rapper pulled up on an unhoused man named Pedro, bearing gifts for his fan love.

Pedro went viral after a TikTok user uploaded a video of him playing Durk’s “All My Life” video inside his sidewalk-placed tent. In the 10-second clip, the person recording says, “Bruh, the homeless people have projectors here.” The footage shows Pedro’s silhouette near the tent’s entrance.

RELATED: Lil Durk Speaks On Whether He Believes Gunna ‘Told’ & Explains His Strong Dislike For ‘Rats’

@adv.with.eli

I have so many questions… #losangeles #homeless #hollywood

♬ original sound – Adventures With Eli

The first time online users saw Pedro’s face was during his interaction with Durk. After informing Pedro he had booked him a hotel stay and had additional gifts, the rapper asked his permission to put him on camera.

“So look, I got you a room for 30 days. Imma give you a couple dollars, imma give you a gift card and imma give you a phone for showing support,” Durk told Pedro. “Here go the room key, you ain’t gotta say the room key out loud, a couple dollars, phone, gift cards, everything. Appreciate you.”

Durk followed up by asking, “You wanna be seen?” Pedro replied, “Sure, I ain’t tripping,” and Durk put them both in the camera frame.

“This the amazing guy. What’s your name,” he asked his newfound fan. “Pedro, I appreciate you so much, deeply from the bottom of my heart, it come do this for you.”

Pedro, nodding and donning a small smile, replied, “appreciate it a lot, that’s actually helpful a lot.”

The story behind Pedro’s unhoused situation is unknown at this time.

“That’s how we treat our people, that’s how we treat our fans,” the Chicago artist said.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Shade Room (@theshaderoom)

Durk’s ‘good deed’ comes just days after releasing his 21-track album featuring heavy hitters like J. Cole, Future, 21 Savage, and Kodak Black. Upon its release, he penned a message to fans about his latest project.

“#AlmostHealed Out Now. Thank y’all for being on this journey with me. I hope the pictures I paint from the music help you heal quicker. Love, Durk Banks,” the rapper tweeted on May 26.

#AlmostHealed Out Now. Thank y’all for being on this journey with me. I hope the pictures I paint from the music help you heal quicker. Love, Durk Banks https://t.co/ry7NoElqlF pic.twitter.com/SY8rVQhGdb

— THE VOICE (@lildurk) May 26, 2023

Within a week of its release, the album has already made a splash, particularly on the charts. According to Chart Data, on May 30, the album “Almost Healed” was competing for the number two slot on the US albums chart.

.@lildurk's 'Almost Healed' challenging @MorganWallen's 'One Thing At A Time' for #2 on the US albums chart with nearly 125K units each, Durk leads (via @HITSDD). pic.twitter.com/2cZvQVn8Gw

— chart data (@chartdata) May 30, 2023

The post Lil Durk Gifts Unhoused Fan Paid Hotel Stay, Phone, & Money After Fan Went Viral For Supporting His Music appeared first on The Shade Room.

Georgia embarrassment Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who voted for the debt ceiling deal because she is now somehow part of the leadership team, previewed the agenda, and boy howdy, is it a treat.

First thing? Greene wants to strip Presidential Medal of Honor recipient Dr. Anthony Fauci of his government pension. Sure Marj, go with that. Knock yourself out trying to get rid of the federal pensions of your perceived political enemies.

Funnily enough, there are a couple of laws about the forfeiture or loss of federal pensions, which apply to officials, all the way up to presidents and former presidents “if convicted of a federal crime that relates to espionage, treason, or several other national security offenses against the United States,” and if “convicted of any one of a number of federal laws concerning corruption, election crimes, or misconduct in office.”

You sure you want to go there, Marj? And open up that can of worms, right now? With that guy as your standard-bearer?

And about those COVID-19 vaccine funds she wants to nix? Those are already mostly slashed in the current deal. There’s about $5 billion that McCarthy allowed to remain for the government to try to keep up with new vaccine development as this disease continues to morph and come back in ever more-virulent strains. The disease has already killed 1.1 million Americans, nearly 7 million people globally. How very “pro-life” of Greene.

Speaking of “pro-life,” she wants to defang the agency of what’s left of its power to regulate guns. That’s the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, whose mission is to protect “our communities from violent criminals, criminal organizations, the illegal use and trafficking of firearms, the illegal use and storage of explosives, acts of arson and bombings, acts of terrorism, and the illegal diversion of alcohol and tobacco products.” Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to arm criminal gangs. The majority of Americans disagree with her on that. Time and again, Republicans prove they are soft on crime.

Beyond that, the debt limit deal she just voted for precludes a whole lot of the things she’s got on that list to defund, and very few of the things she’s talking about can actually be done in appropriations. Because if the House Republicans try to do any of the defunding stunts she’s talking about, they’ll hit a Senate roadblock, and the only choice is to shut down the government.

Because of the bill Greene just voted for, a government shutdown would trigger automatic cuts to the budgets for defense and veterans care and Republicans would be blamed for that. She’s not going to find too many takers in her own caucus for that deal.

Greene’s in it for the performance, like most of her Republican colleagues. She may or may not understand how the government actually works, but she also doesn’t particularly care. So they can have all the hearings they want about the deep state. They can spend the rest of their majority doing what they do best, stewing in their revenge plots.

RELATED STORIES:

House Freedom Caucus neutered by debt ceiling deal

House GOP continues its revenge agenda this week

So much for inflation and gas prices. House GOP agenda is revenge. Just revenge

Lordy, there are tapes! Trump was lying in his classified documents defense

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

It could be the fact that I’m fresh off a week at Automate, but I spent much of the research process comparing and contrasting the two fields. There’s a surprising bit of overlap. Like robotics, science fiction predated real-world VR by several decades. As with automatons, the precise origin of artificially created virtual worlds is a tough one to pin down, but Stanley Weinbaum’s 1935 short story “Pygmalion’s Spectacles” is often cited as the fictional origin of the VR headset four and a half decades before “virtual reality” was popularized as a term.

From Weinbaum’s text:

“Listen! I’m Albert Ludwig—Professor Ludwig.” As Dan was silent, he continued, “It means nothing to you, eh? But listen—a movie that gives one sight and sound. Suppose now I add taste, smell, even touch, if your interest is taken by the story. Suppose I make it so that you are in the story, you speak to the shadows, and the shadows reply, and instead of being on a screen, the story is all about you, and you are in it. Would that be to make real a dream?”

“How the devil could you do that?”

“How? How? But simply! First my liquid positive, then my magic spectacles. I photograph the story in a liquid with light-sensitive chromates. I build up a complex solution—do you see? I add taste chemically and sound electrically. And when the story is recorded, then I put the solution in my spectacle—my movie projector.”

Another key parallel is the import of university research, government agencies and military funding. MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory played a key role with the introduction of “The Sword of Damocles” head-tracking stereoscopic headset in 1968. NASA picked up the ball the following decade in hopes of creating systems that could simulate space missions here on Earth. Various militaries, meanwhile, develop heads-up displays (HUDs) that are in many way precursors to modern AR.

As for the differences, well, the biggest is probably that robotics has played a fundamental role in our world for decades now. Entertainment is a tiny corner of a world that has transformed the way work is done in several industries, from manufacturing and warehouses to agriculture and surgery. I’ve heard a lot of people repeat the notion that “robotics is in its infancy.” While the sentiment is clearly true, it’s also important to acknowledge just how far things have already come.

Sketch from Morton Helig’s 1962 patent. Image Credits: Morton Helig

It’s a stark contrast to the decades of unfulfilled promise for VR. There have been flashes of brilliance, and it’s something that people feel they want (I, for one, would love a great consumer headset), but we’re all waiting with bated breath for the killer consumer and enterprise applications to propel the industry forward. I know I’m excited to find out what Apple’s been cooking up for the last eight or so years. Certainly the underlying technology has improved by leaps and bounds, which — much like robotics — is indebted to advances made by the smartphone industry.

Of course, I would suggest that — like VR — robotics has struggled on the consumer front. More than 20 years after the release of the first Roomba, robot vacuums remain an outlier. Conversely, the progress on the industrial side has been both steady and largely outside of most people’s day-to-day lives, which is, perhaps, why robotics hasn’t quite received the hype bubble of crypto or generative AI. Is it possible that quiet success has been counterproductive to industry PR?

In the end, this is probably for the best. Crypto has certainly been a victim of its own hype. And while the jury is still out on generative AI (which, for the record, I believe is substantially more interesting and useful than crypto), VR went through a similar experience in the ’90s. The technology hit a fever pitch during the decade but failed to live up to its own promise. The industry is still reeling from that cycle 30 years later.

Robotics also continues to play an important role in education beyond the university. It’s become a fundamental element of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Robots are cool, fun, exciting and therefore the perfect hook for getting kids interested in things like technology and engineering. When I was in Boston a couple of months back, I had a fascinating chat with Alexander Dale, the director of global challenges of MIT’s social impact accelerator, Solve.

He discussed a number of the interesting projects the initiative has supported over the years, but the work of Danielle Boyer really jumped out at me. A member of the Ojibwe tribe, Boyer has focused much of her young career on helping to bring the elements of STEM to the underserved members of indigenous communities through her not-for-profit STEAM Connection organization.

Image Credits: STEAM Connection

Boyer has developed low-cost robotics kits that can be provided to students free of charge (with help from corporate sponsors). Her organization has shipped more than 8,000 of her Every Kid Gets a Robot kit to date. Earlier this month, we sat down to discuss her work.

Q&A with Danielle Boyer

How did you get into this world?

I started teaching when I was 10 years old, because I saw that tech wasn’t accessible for my family and I. That was inspired by my little sister, Bree, and her interest in science and robotics. I started teaching a kindergarten class, and then when I got to high school, I was interested in joining a robotics team. It took a long time to save up to be able to do that, because it was $600. And I was the only native and one of the only girls. When I got there, I was bullied really badly. I definitely stuck out like a sore thumb.

Tell me a bit about your community.

I’m Ojibwe. I’m from the Sioux tribe, which is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I grew up all over Michigan. Right now my immediate family lives in Troy, Michigan, which is pretty close to Detroit. In my community, there [are] a lot of accessibility issues. Regarding tech, for indigenous peoples in general, we are the least likely demographic to have a laptop, to have access to the internet, to see role models in tech spaces. There’s a huge barrier preventing our youth from seeing themselves in STEM careers, and then actually taking the leap to get into those spaces. It’s not even how hard it is once you get to college, or how unrepresentative it is there — it starts even before that.

Are things beginning to trend in the right direction?

I’m 22. I have not been in tech too long. I don’t even have a tech degree. For me, observing tech patterns and accessibility to tech, there’s a lot of progress, because people are more and more seeing its importance, when they may not have seen the importance in the education surrounding it before. Oftentimes, some tribes are more interested than others. Oftentimes, it’s hard. It’s a hard sell for our community members who are older to see the benefits of technology. I got a comment on Instagram yesterday, that was like, “There’s nothing more indigenous than robotics. Oh, and they were really angry.

They were complaining about technology on Instagram.

Right. To me, it doesn’t matter if [something is] modern or not. We’re modern people. We can do modern things, but there’s also a lot of area for improvement.

You said you don’t have a degree in tech.

No, I dropped out of college.

What were you studying?

I was a double major in electrical engineering and mechanical engineering.

So you were interested in and around tech.

Yeah. I have been designing robots and I have a lot of experience in specifically CAD through SolidWorks, plus electrical engineering and circuit design. All of the robots I designed myself.

Image Credits: STEAM Connection

Are you still interested in entering robotics outside of the philanthropic and teaching spaces?

I would love to go into bio robotics and soft robotics, purely from a standpoint of it being interesting and fun. I don’t think I want a degree in it. I think it would be more research or a hobby. I do think that there is a lot of work to do in the educational space, and I do think that my time is definitely well spent over here. But in terms of being a nerd, I really want to build animal-inspired robots.

Is your current work a hobby that became a career?

Not really, because I was in high school, I was on the robotics team, and then I jumped immediately into my organization. After graduating, I had founded a lot of robotics teams, and I saw a need there. I invented my first robot — Every Kid Gets a Robot — when I was 18. It’s a simple RC-style, app-controlled robot that the kids can assemble. It’s a very simple robot that costs less than $18 to make, and it goes to the kids for free. That’s what I started out with.

What kinds of robots are you currently producing?

I make quite a few robots, but I’ll stick to the two that we make the most. The first one is Every Kid Gets a Robot. That’s the robot that costs less than $18 that goes to the kids for free. The goal is to get a positive representation of STEM into the kids’ hands as affordably as possible. So, basic STEM skills: wiring, programming, assembly, using tools, learning about things like battery safety.

The next robot that we make the most of is the SkoBot. “Sko” is reservation slang for “Let’s go.” It’s a robot that speaks indigenous languages. Basically, it sits on your shoulder with a GoPro strap. It senses motion through a PIR sensor, and then it speaks indigenous languages. It’s an interactive robot kids can talk to, and it can talk back. We also have a less intelligent version that just goes based off of motion sensing to play audio tracks, depending on the internet access. The entire robot is 3D printed, except for the electronics. That’s the robot that the kids are heavily customizing with different traditional elements. We’ve distributed 8,000 free Every Kid Gets a Robot kits. We’ve made a lot more. And then for the SkoBot, we’ve sent out 150.

Image Credits: STEAM Connection

Take me through that early development process. How did you create a kit for that price point?

I did it all through Amazon at first. I was looking for the parts and things, and I was just ordering stuff and doing it, trial-and-error style. To be honest, I didn’t completely know what I was doing when I started. I have some really awesome indigenous mentors in tech, who I’ve been able to ask questions to. I didn’t have a 3D printer at that point, so I was like, “Emergency. Need this CAD printed fast. Please overnight it to me,” because I always do things last minute. And then I was like testing out electronics that didn’t fit into the chassis of the robot. It was a very chaotic starting process where I was like, hey, I want to use an ESP32 development board. I had never used one before. But I had researched a lot about it, watched a lot of YouTube videos.

What is the process like in terms of working with tribes on custom robots?

It’s an interesting conversation, because we really want it to be youth led. A lot of the time it’s us driving the youth conversation surrounding how they want to see themselves represented and what they want conveyed. For example, we work with a school whose students want to have their traditional embroidery incorporated into the robot somehow. So, how do we get that into 3D printing form? Obviously, that’s a huge conversation of how do we represent all these colors accurately. A lot of times, we have people who make regalia for the robots like beaded earrings, ribbon skirts, tutus, hats, stickers, apparel, all those things, because I really wanted the robot to be something that is very unique to indigenous students, and customizable, like Mr. Potato Head–style.

I know you said that Every Kid Gets a Robot can go out to anybody, but do you continue to prioritize indigenous communities?

Yes, I prioritize indigenous communities. They go to up to 94% indigenous communities. We have sent them to other places as well, especially if a corporate sponsor is like, “We want this, but then also this,” and we can do that. I prefer sending it to indigenous youth, because most of the kids we’ve worked with have never even built a robot and don’t know a lot about STEM in general. I want to make that more accessible and interesting. We also branched into more of what the kids are interested in. We’ve been working on comics, and also augmented reality and implementing social media platforms.

News

Image Credits: Nvidia

Nvidia hit a $1 trillion market cap Tuesday morning. There’s already been a slight correction there, but the massive bump is a big vote of confidence for a chip maker that has done a great job diversifying. Robotics has been a big part of that, through efforts like Jetson and Isaac, which are designed to prototype, iterate and help ready systems for manufacturing. This week, the company added Isaac AMR to the list. The platform is designed specifically for autonomous mobile robotic systems.

CEO Jensen Huang outlined the system during a keynote at Computex in Taipei. Says the company:

Isaac AMR is a platform to simulate, validate, deploy, optimize and manage fleets of autonomous mobile robots. It includes edge-to-cloud software services, computing and a set of reference sensors and robot hardware to accelerate development and deployment of AMRs, reducing costs and time to market.

Image Credits: Serve Robotics

Nvidia also backed Uber spinout Serve Robotics, which this week announced plans to deploy “up to” 2,000 of its last-mile delivery robots in the U.S. “We expect our rapid growth on Uber Eats to continue,” co-founder and CEO Ali Kashani told TechCrunch. “We currently have a fleet of 100 robots in Los Angeles, and we expect to operate an increasing number of them on Uber Eats as our coverage and delivery volume on Uber increases.”

They look like Minions. It’s not just me, right?

Image Credits: Google DeepMind

Fun one to round out the week: Barkour, a Google DeepMind benchmark designed to help quantify performance in a quadrupedal robot. Honestly, this feels like a story written by AI to juice SEO traffic, but the division seriously built a dog obstacle course in their labs to help create a baseline for performance.

DeepMind notes:

We believe that developing a benchmark for legged robotics is an important first step in quantifying progress toward animal-level agility. . . . Our findings demonstrate that Barkour is a challenging benchmark that can be easily customized, and that our learning-based method for solving the benchmark provides a quadruped robot with a single low-level policy that can perform a variety of agile low-level skills.

City Spotlight: Atlanta

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin (opens in a new window)

On June 7, TechCrunch is going to (virtually) be in Atlanta. We have a slate of amazing programming planned, including the mayor himself, Andre Dickens. If you are an early-stage Atlanta-based founder, apply to pitch to our panel of guest investors/judges for our live pitching competition. The winner gets a free booth at TechCrunch Disrupt this year to exhibit their company in our startup alley. Register here to tune in to the event.

Image Credits: Bryce Durbin / TechCrunch

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Meet me at the dog run by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

Yes, it’s a bit wild that such a tool would not have been available in the place where so much trip planning and navigation actually occurs: your vehicle. But ETA co-founder Anthony Harrison explains the team wasn’t allowed to publish to CarPlay for most of ETA’s existence because of Apple’s rules.

It wasn’t until last year that Apple opened up CarPlay entitlements (a special set of permissions) to a broader set of apps that ETA was able to build for the CarPlay platform, Harrison says. At issue, previously, was the fact that ETA wasn’t technically a navigation app, so it hadn’t been able to qualify.

With Apple’s loosened rules, ETA is finally able to offer its feature set to drivers, not just iPhone and Apple Watch users as before. (And while we generally hesitate to use the word “finally” in reference to long-awaited launches, in this case — 9 years later! — we think it’s appropriate.)

Image Credits: ETA

ETA hasn’t radically evolved over the past several years in terms of its user interface and feature set — beyond taking advantage of platform improvements and updated design guidelines, that is. At its core, ETA is still very much the simple location dashboard it always was, an at-a-glance style utility, built to serve a single purpose, which often made the app preferable to a maps app for starting to plan your journey.

The developers have also been quick to adopt various iOS and watchOS updates, like the support for widgets and complications that let you more easily track travel times without even having to open the app.

Despite this, ETA remains something of an under-the-radar App Store find. Because of its various bugs (and sometimes user errors) over the years, the app’s 3.8-star rating may cause some to overlook it. But developers are responsive to complaints and the app’s staying power is a testament to its adoption among a loyal set of customers. The company notes it’s had over 100,000 paying customers since its 2014 debut, which for their purposes, is a success.

We have to add that the app is also the now-rare paid download that doesn’t bug you for a subscription after you’ve paid the initial $4.99 fee. It’s refreshing.

Image Credits: ETA

The new CarPlay-enabled version of ETA offers a similar set of functionality to its iPhone counterpart.

In this case, you can put your favorite locations to drive to on your dash with the travel time and traffic conditions clearly displayed, Harrison tells us. With calendar integrations, your upcoming appointments and meetings are also shown with a recommended time to leave. And when you’re ready to navigate, you can tap a location to start directions in your preferred navigation app.

The updated version is live on the App Store now.

Drive times app ETA brings its handy location dashboard to CarPlay by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

If you’re looking for the best unlimited data plan, you might be tempted to just hop over to Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile. The big three are solid options with good unlimited plans, but they aren’t your only option. There are many prepaid options out there that come close to matching or even exceeding what you’ll get from a mainline carrier. Of course, for some, a postpaid carrier really is the best option.

In this guide, we’ll take you through the best unlimited plans for all types of users: those looking for budget options, those looking for prepaid, and those who want to stick to a postpaid plan from one of the big three carriers.

It’s been a few years since the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip had meaningful competition in the US. Despite initially leading the charge of foldable flip phones, Motorola chose to skip Razr releases for a few years, letting its rival chew up more and more of the market without significant innovation. Now, the longtime Android brand finally has its answer — or rather, answers. Motorola has announced two clamshell-style foldables, the Motorola Razr Plus and the Motorola Razr (2023). I got a chance to spend time with them ahead of the June 1, 2023 launch of the Razr Plus. Let’s find out if two Razrs are better than one.

Life on the big screen

The 21-year-old Balogun only recently switched his allegiance from England to the United States. He is currently having a breakout season on loan with French club Stade Reims. Balogun has racked up 20 Ligue 1 goals in 36 total appearances in the top flight. Reims, and the starlet, will finish its 2022/23 campaign with a home match against Montpellier on Saturday. Then, Balogun is free to travel back to the States ahead of the national team’s training camp.

Sought-after striker might leave Arsenal this summer

Despite his stellar season in France, Balogun may be switching clubs this summer. The striker is currently under contract at Premier League side Arsenal. However, he is reportedly now considering a permanent switch away from north London. Balogun just signed a three-year contract with the club last year. There will almost certainly be talks between Arsenal and the player this summer about his future with the team.

USMNT Nations League roster shapes up for Mexico clash

Nevertheless, Balogun looks ready to make his debut for the USMNT in the Nations League Final Four. The Yanks are set to first play bitter rivals Mexico in the competition on June 15th. The winner of the match will then advance to the Nations League final three days later. Canada and Panama face off in the other semifinal matchup.

Complete 24-man USMNT training camp roster:

Goalkeepers: Drake Callender (Inter Miami), Josh Cohen (Maccabi Haifa), Sean Johnson (Toronto), Matt Turner (Arsenal)

Defenders: Sergino Dest (AC Milan), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Miles Robinson (Atlanta), Joe Scally (Borussia Monchengladbach), Auston Trusty (Birmingham City), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville)

Midfielders: Johnny Cardoso (Incernacional), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo), Weston McKennie (Leeds), Yunus Musah (Valencia), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund), Alan Sonora (Juarez)

Forwards: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Folarin Balogun (Reims), Taylor Booth (Utrecht), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Tim Weah (Lille), Alex Zendejas (Club America)

The Las Vegas Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo to a 3-year contract this off-season in hopes that he’d be the quarterback of the near future for the franchise. But things have taken a turn as the former 49ers QB has reportedly failed his physical.

It is seemingly rough news for both sides. There is a clause in Garoppolo’s contract that specifically outlines the ramifications of a failed physical, which include a potential termination of years off of the deal. He might be able to find a job elsewhere if the Raiders are forced to cut ties, but the situations are less desirable and likely with smaller paydays.

Raiders Coach Not Yet Worried About Jimmy Garoppolo Situation

#Raiders HC Josh McDaniels on QB Jimmy Garoppolo and all the talk over the last week: “You guys might have anxiety about it, but I don’t.”

— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) June 1, 2023

As for the Raiders, they’ll be placed in a tough spot if Garoppolo is released. The players that would be left on the depth chart would be less than desirable, and it would likely be Brian Hoyer who would be the interim. The draft has passed and most of the good free agent options have already been accounted for, leaving Las Vegas handcuffed as the summer begins.

But Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels doesn’t seem all that concerned with the situation, at least not enough to give him any anxiety:

“I have no anxiety. You guys might have anxiety. I don’t have anxiety. I’m not going to put a timeline on it or a day or anything. But like I said, I have no anxiety. Feel pretty good about it.”

They are outwardly calming sentiments from a coach who may have just lost his starting quarterback and prized free agent signing. The team moved on from Derek Carr after last year and were looking to upgrade at the position, and starting Hoyer or any one of the remaining free agents would certainly be a step down.

Last week, multiple reports indicated that, after Tom Brady becomes partial owner of the Raiders, a 32-0 vote of owners would be needed to let him play. That's not the case; only 24 votes would be needed. https://t.co/dEWRCxUWM9

— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) May 31, 2023

But could the Tom Brady rumors be true?

The recently retired Brady just recently became a minority owner in the Raiders, and McDaniels was his quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator for many years in New England. The NFL also gave Las Vegas, a team that performed rather poorly last season, 5 prime time games on the upcoming schedule.

Could McDaniels be so relaxed because he knows that he’ll be having the greatest QB of all-time under center when training camp gets underway?

“Like I said, I have very good information that would tell me that we’re going to be fine. So, again, nothing has happened that would’ve changed that. That’s why I feel that way.”

He might just be commenting on the Jimmy Garoppolo situation itself and that the team will somehow be able to retain him. But given the comments and recent swirling of rumors, McDaniels might lack anxiety because he knows that Brady is coming back.

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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

Axios Congressional reporter Sophia Cai held a standing-in-front-of-voters-style interview with Republican candidate for president, Sen.Tim Scott. Like his Republican brethren, Scott’s biggest bugaboo is being asked anything about reproductive rights. Also like most of his fellow conservatives, as the topic of abortion is Republican kryptonite these days, its deleterious effects on conservative candidates are compounded when those questions come from a woman.

So when Cai reminded Scott that he recently called South Carolina’s six-week abortion ban “good news,” and asked the guy who wants to be president, “Would you support a six-week national ban?” Scott predictably rolled into a 40-second babbling brook of word-salad nonsense. Cai understandably re-asked the question, at which point Scott got snappy and condescending before launching into another 15 seconds of not answering the question.

And it gets better (or worse) from there.

RELATED STORY: Trump and abortion top voter concerns in leaked GOP memo

Sign the petition: Pass the Women's Health Protection Act NOW to protect our bodies and rights

Here’s a little more than two minutes of this election cycle’s subgenre: Tim Scott winning the hearts and minds of voters when answering questions from a woman.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump and Republicans are terrified of their signature issue: Abortion bans

Republican Tim Scott's fundraising reaches new low with misleading 'Emergency Notice' emails

Michigan Republican says that abortion procedures should be 'painful' and 'God should take over'  

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

The 1,100 signatures on this statement include well-known AI researchers at universities including Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. There are CEOs of dominant AI companies such as Open AI and Anthropic; the officers in charge of AI technology at Asana, Microsoft, and Google; the head of the Alan Turing Institute, the president of The New York Academy of Sciences, and the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

This is just one of several such documents that have been issued over the last few months warning of the danger posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. But anytime the most knowledgeable people in a field warn that their industry should be treated as a threat equivalent to nuclear war, that should demand both public conversation and government regulation.

It’s certainly worth a quick look at what makes all these very smart people so very, very worried.

Some of the dangers the Center for AI Safety warns about seem relatively minor. For example, they are highly concerned about “enfeeblement,” the idea that leaning on AI tools might make humans so weak and dependent they couldn’t handle ordinary tasks on their own.

Every parent frowning at how their children stay glued to the screens of their phones certainly knows the risk of technological addiction. However, the specific concern about AI being too helpful for our own good carries with it a heavy whiff of “back in my day, dagnabbit.” Long before anyone fretted over how Google had robbed us of our vital skills in paging through a 20-volume Funk and Wagnall’s, Plato was out there railing against the whole concept of writing, out of concerns that once people learned how to write, they would “cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks.”

That one’s a lost cause. So is Google. And so is any idea that AI tools like ChatGPT or generative art programs can be stuffed back into their box. That battle is over. Now both art and every form of text-based expression are in for a transformative reckoning that is already underway and won’t be stopped.

As big a change as that may be, it’s the least of the concerns about where AI is going. To understand one of the more terrifying possibilities, it’s worth a look at how AI solved an extraordinarily difficult issue that had defeated all other computing efforts since the 1960s.

Human beings have somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. Every one of those genes has just one job: to express a specific protein whose makeup is described by the contents of the gene. When the protein is created, in a process called translation, it consists of a simple linear chain of compounds called amino acids. As that chain grows to be several dozen—or even several hundred— amino acids long, it begins to twist and bend, eventually forming a stable, well-defined, folded protein.

That final shape is as necessary to the function of a protein in the human body as its chemical makeup. Proteins that fail to fold properly, either because of an issue with that original chain or some outside interference, can be anywhere from useless to toxic. Many major genetic diseases come down to a single gene being unable to accurately transcribe a necessary protein. Prion diseases, like Mad Cow Disease, come from triggering the release of proteins with abnormal folding.

But predicting just how a protein will fold, even if you can look at all the amino acids that make it up, is a tremendously complex problem. For decades, uncounted supercomputer hours were hurled at trying to solve the issue of predicting how a change in a protein would alter its final shape. There is even a program called “Folding at home,” which for the last 23 years has been borrowing computer time from individual PCs and using them as a distributed engine in an effort to solve this problem.

There have been many important successes through the years, some of which have led directly to treatments. However, again and again, models created using even the most complex mathematical expressions have failed to accurately predict the form of a previously untested protein. The problem … is hard.

Or at least, it was. In 2020, Science reported on a U.K. company called DeepMind (now Google DeepMind) and their program, AlphaFold.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has solved one of biology's grand challenges: predicting how proteins fold from a chain of amino acids into 3D shapes that carry out life's tasks. This week, organizers of a protein-folding competition announced the achievement by researchers at DeepMind, a U.K.-based AI company. They say the DeepMind method will have far-reaching effects, among them dramatically speeding the creation of new medications.

Just two years later, Nature reported that AlphaFold had predicted the structure of “the entire protein universe.” This included not just every protein coded for in human genes, but … every protein. Every protein that exists. Almost every protein that can exist. Forget 20,000. AlphaFold had figured out the shape of 200 million proteins. Best of all, the results of AlphaFold’s models are a close match to experimental results.

The achievement is tremendous. For all the long years that scientists have been trying to solve this issue, they’ve understood that understanding protein folding is critical to the development of whole categories of treatments. Now, thanks to AI, that huge mountain has finally been scaled.

AlphaFold was derived from the skeleton of another AI application called AlphaGo, which was the first program capable of consistently beating even the most advanced players at the 3,000-year-old Chinese game of Go. Both of these programs are a combination of extensive neural networks that inform, and are informed by, a set of search trees. After being trained with many previous games of Go, or the structures of known proteins, those two AI models far outperform any traditional program designed by humans. One of AlphaGo’s expert-level opponents was so surprised by its style of play that he said, “Surely, AlphaGo is creative.” Within the language of the game, it is.

AlphaFold is also creative, discovering a method of predicting proteins that no human being taught it, despite starting with the same information scientists had at their disposal.

That kind of design is also behind the Large Language Model AIs that are becoming so ubiquitous in everything from search engines to word processors to camera phones. They have been given the training they need to create a business report or produce a new portrait of your family in the style of Vermeer. They can do it because they were trained on the source material. But the specifics of how the AIs are performing a task are unknown, maybe even unknowable, except to other AIs.

And that’s where the first inkling of the threat begins to appear. Right now, there are other AI models which have been trained on the results from AlphaFold and are using those millions of complex shapes as a means of producing potential new drugs. There is no doubt this opens the door to a wondrous new era of medicine.

On the other hand, an AI could be just as easily trained to take that information and produce harmful toxins, maybe even creating a catastrophic epidemic. Prions are very simple compared even to a virus. Imagine a dozen new diseases with the debilitating effects of Mad Cow being introduced into the environment as deliberate contaminants.

It’s not even clear that the danger requires a human being seeking to cause deliberate harm. Multiple articles have been written on the propensity of ChatGPT to simply lie. Questioning the tool about my own background informs me confidently that I’ve written for Salon (I haven’t) and HuffPost (not there either) in addition to Daily Kos.

AI researchers call the tendency of LLMs to move beyond the facts into areas of embellishment or outright lies “hallucinations.” Some AIs released to the public have been so beset with these hallucinations that they’ve had to be withdrawn for more training and retooling. Others can seem to be perfectly factual much of the time before suddenly spewing a nonsense value when queried about something of which it has limited knowledge.

Some AIs have even been known to back up their confidently-asserted lies with fake legal citations, links to nonexistent papers, and quotes from books that don’t exist. These are very complex hallucinations. Researchers have difficulty determining both what causes them and how to stop them.

Now imagine a hallucination that isn’t an odd resume falsehood but an improperly folded protein. Or a drug that contains some … embellishment.

It doesn’t take a superintelligent general-purpose AI equipped with Skynet and an army of Terminators to pose a tremendous threat. The threat is there in a toolset whose value is so great that we can’t help but use it, and whose errors are so unpredictable that we can’t understand their source.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

The private financial infrastructure giant announced a new charge card program today from Stripe Issuing, its commercial card issuing product, Denise Ho, head of product for BaaS at Stripe, told TechCrunch exclusively.

The company originally launched its Issuing product in 2018 and since then, it’s helped companies such as Shopify and Ramp issue more than 100 million cards in the U.S., the United Kingdom and the European Union. The product is today one of Stripe’s fastest-growing, Ho said – supporting half a million transactions a day. Fintechs like Klarna “build entire businesses on it,” the company claims. 

Previously, Stripe-issued cards could only be used to spend money from a prefunded account. Its expansion into charge cards, according to Ho, will companies the ability to create and distribute virtual or physical charge cards that allow their customers to spend on credit rather than using the funds in their accounts. 

“Among our suite of products, Issuing has been doing really, really well,” Ho told TechCrunch. “And the No. 1 top demand within issuing has been the ability for Stripe to enable our platforms to offer credit to their users.”

This has a twofold benefit for Stripe – giving it a new revenue stream as well as the option to offer new financing capabilities to their customers “with little additional operational cost,” Stripe touts. (Operational efficiency is in vogue, after all.)

For example, platforms that use Stripe Connect offering can white label products from Stripe and provide a range of embedded financial services, such as financial accounts, working capital loans and now charge cards as well, Ho said.

Further, she added, Stripe Issuing provides the core components of a charge card program — such as funds flows, network connections, printing, and integration APIs — and then aims to “streamline” all the necessary compliance, bank partnerships and ledgering. 

Ramp, Emburse, Kara and Coast are among the current users of the charge card program, which is available in beta in the US. In the coming months, Stripe will launch charge card programs in the EU and the UK.

“In the U.S., the banks are the ones that have been our sponsor … and that’s regulated,” Ho explained. “And because you’re letting the small businesses spend, that is a form of lending so that lending compliance has to come from the bank.”

For its part, she said Stripe is partnering with startups to help guide them through the process and help provide the necessary compliance and risk oversight so that they don’t get in over their heads.

When it comes to underwriting, Ho said that Stripe has received feedback that its clients ultimately want to own the underwriting decision.

“What we do is we help them put together the set of policies and ensure that these policies are actually compliant,” she said. “So we offer both sort of flexibility and the control but with guardrails.”

Over time, Ho said its clients may want “more modules” to do their own underwriting so that’s something Stripe will work on over time as it matures its offering.

Anyone can sign up for the new program, she said, even if they are not an existing Stripe user.

For its part, Stripe will make money off of interchange fees so as customers’ volume grows and users spend more, Stripe will earn more. There will also be compliance fees associated with the program.

Want more fintech news in your inbox? Sign up here.

Got a news tip or inside information about a topic we covered? We’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at maryann@techcrunch.com. Or you can drop us a note at tips@techcrunch.com. Happy to respect anonymity requests. 

Fintech giant Stripe is getting into the credit game by Mary Ann Azevedo originally published on TechCrunch

The California Pension System, the largest pension system in the U.S. whose investments are sprinkled across the globe, injected $368.8 million into Silver Lake Partners’ 2015 V fund. In the quarter ending September 2021, the value on that return stood at $668.3 million. However, by the same quarter in 2022, this figure was reduced by $100 million, according to documents released by the pension firm in response to a request for public records made by TechCrunch.

Similarly, TCV’s X fund, established in 2019, noted a decrease in value on its holdings in CalPERS to $245 million in September 2022, from $333 million the previous year, in spite of additional capital inflows.

Insight Partners’ 2015 Growth-Buyout Coinvestment Fund experienced a drop in its net internal rate of return (IRR) to 33.8% for the quarter ending in September last year, down from 39.4% the previous year. Its flagship IX fund also reduced its value multiple from 4.4 to 3.7 during the same period.

Sequoia Capital disclosed the value of UTIMCO’s $100 million investment into a 2021 fund as $81.3 million as of February this year, as per records from the University of Texas, another high-profile endowment, obtained via request for public records.

Insight Partners’ 2021 twelfth fund reported a reduced value of UTMICO’s $104 million investment at $85.8 million in the same month. Thoma Bravo’s fourteenth fund from 2020 listed a value of $108.8 million on a $124.2 million investment from UTMICO, and Thrive Capital’s eighth growth fund reported a value of $5.5 million on a $7.6 million investment.

The trend is widespread, with nearly all funds reporting a decrease in the value of their holdings over the past year. Though it’s a little surprising that it has not plunged more, it’s likely in the quarters since stakes have plunged further in value.

Tiger Global’s XV fund reported a $230.5 million value on a $247 million investment from CalPERS as of September last year. Advent’s ninth fund, initiated in 2019, saw its anticipated return multiple sliced in half to 1.5 at the end of September last year from the year prior, per CalPERS filings.

Older funds, established over a decade ago, are also feeling the pinch from the economic downturn. SAIF Partners’s China III fund, inaugurated in 2007, valued its returns on CalPERS’ $127 million investment at $300 million in September 2021. This value fell to $230 million one year later. Khosla Ventures’ 2009 third fund, also experienced a considerable markdown in returns from $447 million to $380 million.

In spite of the challenging market dynamics, a selection of funds have nonetheless either expanded or sustained notable performance. UTMICO has backed seven separate funds of Union Square Ventures, established between 2004 and 2016. According to data available as of February this year, these investments have yielded IRR ranging from 21.6% to an impressive 66.42%.

Meanwhile, Valor Equity Partners’ fourth fund, initiated in 2017, has maintained a stable performance over time. CalPERS invested $71.6 million in the fund, which was reported to be worth $172.6 million as of September the previous year, demonstrating a virtually unchanged value from the prior annual assessment.

You can read the full documents below. Figures from UTIMCO were first reported by journalist Eric Newcomer.

Tech investment portfolios suffer write-downs amid global economic slowdown by Manish Singh originally published on TechCrunch

Not only is this the best price on the creative powerhouse since its release in September, but it’s also the first time this year that it’s been available for under $1,500. When you explore the design and hardware of the device, you discover that it’s a price well worth paying.

On October 13, 2020, Meta (then known as Facebook) launched the Meta Quest 2 (then known as the Oculus Quest 2). The pricing for the VR headset was $299 for the 64GB model and $399 for the 256GB variant. In July 2022, Meta increased the amount of storage for the entry-tier model to 128GB and also increased its price by $100 to $399. The 256GB model jumped up as well to $499. Later, in March 2023, Meta changed its strategy again and lowered the 256GB model to $429.

Today, with the launch of the Meta Quest 3, Meta is changing things up once more. The Meta Quest 2 price will go back to $299 for the 128GB model. That means you get the original 64GB price but with more storage. Meanwhile, the 256GB model drops to $349 — the lowest it’s ever been. These are permanent price drops that both happen on June 4, this coming Sunday.

Shannon Sharpe appears to have supported a claim that years of jealousy by co-host Skip Bayless’ was the cause of their rift, which ultimately led to the NFL Hall of Famer leaving their ‘Undisputed’ sports debate show, according to The New York Post.

As first reported by The Post, news of Sharpe’s upcoming departure was revealed on Wednesday.

RELATED: Shannon Sharpe Defends Angel Reese Amid Hand Gesture Reactions: ‘It’s Funny How America Sees Black & White’

Shannon Sharpe ‘Likes’ Tweet Claiming Jealousy Was The Reason Behind ‘Undisputed’ Split

The NFL Hall of Famer has since hinted at what caused the dissolution of his working relationship with the controversial co-host.

As for the claim, Sharpe “liked” a tweet claiming jealousy was the reason behind his issues with Bayless shortly after news of the split.

“Their relationship got progressively worse over the last 2 maybe 3 years because skip fought for him to be on that show,” the tweet in question began. “But I feel like skip couldn’t stand Shannon succeeding without and that’s when skip was taking pot shots on air.”

Shannon really liked this

— (@GoatGillis23) June 1, 2023

However, Sharpe, 54, has yet to comment on the topic publicly.

Sharpe And Bayless Had Issues For Months, Dating Back To Damar Hamlin Tweet In Jan.

Sharpe and Fox Sports allegedly reached a buyout agreement, according to The Post. The news outlet went on to report that Sharpe’s ‘Club Shay Shay’ podcast will also no longer be aired on the network.

The former tight end reportedly told friends that he only wanted equal footing on the show in regard to Bayless in terms of the show’s topic selection. He never sought to take over as program leader, per The Post.

However, Bayless and Sharpe had apparently had issues for some time now before the latter’s recent buyout agreement.

The first signs of trouble appeared in January when Skip made an insensitive tweet regarding Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin. Hamlin famously suffered cardiac arrest during a game against the Bengals on Jan. 2.

Skip had complained about the NFL postponing the game in question. Meanwhile, Sharpe and many other athletes slammed Bayless for his inconsiderate hot take.

He responded to Bayless’ tweet by skipping out on “Undisputed” the morning after. Bayless would go on to defend the tweet while hosting the show by himself, according to The Post.

According to the outlet, when Sharpe returned to the show the following day, Bayless proceeded to interrupt him while he shared his thoughts on the incident.

“I cannot even get through a monologue without you interrupting me,” Sharpe reportedly told Bayless.

Unc Shannon sharpe was explaining why he wasn’t on undisputed yesterday & this man Skip bayless gonna interrupt him when Shannon tells him to take down the tweet of damar Hamlin pic.twitter.com/hQQK0njiQZ

— Shannonnn sharpes Burner (PARODY Account) (@shannonsharpeee) January 4, 2023

Furthermore, Twitter users have also referenced a heated on-air exchange between Sharpe and Bayless that occurred weeks before Hamlin’s collapse.

The articles on Shannon Sharpe leaving Undisputed are leaving out how Shannon & Skip got into it about Tom Brady in what seemed to be their most personal disagreement on-air yet (3 weeks before the Demar tweet)

We all saw the writing on the wall then. Let’s not act brand new. pic.twitter.com/DnQZBvzREc

— Randall Barnes (@AuthorRandallB) June 1, 2023

Shannon Sharpe’s Final “Undisputed” Show Expected To Air Later This Month

Sharpe would eventually tell SiriusXM’s “The Adam Schein Podcast” that he and Skip “had a bad two months” and were no longer friends.

Sharpe took over for Steven A. Smith as Bayless’ co-host at FS1 after Skip left ESPN in 2016.

His final show is expected to air after the 2023 NBA Finals finish later this month.

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The post Shannon Sharpe ‘Likes’ Tweet Claiming Skip Bayless’ Jealousy Caused ‘Undisputed’ Split appeared first on The Shade Room.

The 2023 ISF football championship groups for both girls and boys were held in the Moroccoan city of Rabat on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

In girls’ football, Uganda’s St Noa Girls School Zzana was drawn in group D alongside hosts Morocco 1, South American opposition Chille and Europe’s England.

St Noa Girls School, Zzana is the reigning champion of East Africa in girls’ football.

The other groups:

Germany, China 1, Nigeria, Chinese Taipei and The Gambia are in group A.

Group B has France, China 2, Ukraine, Guinea and Burundi.

In group C is Brazil, Morocco 2, Kazakhastan, Mali and Mexico.

Boys:

Uganda will field two boys’ teams; Amus College and the reigning East Africa champions Kibuli S.S

In group A is Amus College with France, Chille 2 and Nepal.

The other Ugandan side, Kibuli Secondary School was drawn in group E alongside Qatar, China 1 and Cote D’Voire.

Other Boys’ Groups:

Group B has Brazil, Mexico 1, Saudi Arabia 1 and Guinea.

In group C, there is host country Morocco 1, England 2, Mexico 2 and Benin.

Group D has Croatia, China 2, Iran and Ukraine.

China 1, England 1, Chinese Taipei and Bahraine are in group F.

Group G has Czech Republic, Morocco 2, Peru and Nigeria.

In group H, there is Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kenya.

The tournament will be held in Morocco between 22^nd and 31^st July 2023.

The post St Noa Girls School to face Morocco, England & Chille opposition | 2023 ISF Football Championship appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Jimmy Butler has been the catalyst for the Miami Heat during one of the most unpredictable runs in NBA Playoff history, and he’s been doing it on an ankle that is at less than 100% health.

Jimmy Butler: “Nobody Cares” About Ankle Issues

Jimmy Butler has his eyes on the prize pic.twitter.com/5LEcqaOeWR

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 1, 2023

The NBA Finals are set to begin tonight. The Heat have overcome incredibly long odds in order to qualify, including defeating the teams with the top-two records in the league. In the first round against the Bucks, the oddsmakers gave Miami a 1 in 13 chance of winning, and ESPN Analytics said that there was a 3% chance that they’d defeat the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.

But they were able to win outright in both, and Butler and the Heat have become just the 2nd 8-seeded team to make it to the NBA Finals.

The age-old thought is that no one is at 100% health during the playoffs after a grueling 7-month regular season, but this has been especially true for the Heat. At the outset of the postseason, they lost their third-leading scorer in Tyler Herro to a season-ending injury, and there have been players in and out of the lineup throughout their run.

Bam offers Jimmy Butler the ECF trophy and he says “no” then says “I’ll hold the next one”
pic.twitter.com/70be8SEqQh

— Mink Flow (@currypistonn) May 30, 2023

There has been a lingering ankle issue with their best player that may begin to hamper him the deeper Miami gets into the postseason. But according to Butler, he isn’t thinking about it and doesn’t believe that you are either:

“No, I’m not going to lie. I’m going to say nobody cares. You don’t either. I’m still expected to do my job at a high level if I take the floor, which I will. We’re going to be okay. We’re going to get the job done, bum ankle or not, and I’m not taking a follow-up, so don’t do that.”

It will be the second NBA Finals appearance for Jimmy Butler after he led the Heat to the 2020 Championship series before coming up short to the Lakers. He has his eyes focused on the prize, as he refused a chance to hold the Eastern Conference Finals trophy, instead saying, “I’ll hold the next one.”

The Heat are heavy underdogs in both the first game and the series overall. As it stands on the morning of Game 1, Miami is listed at +325 for the series, and -9 for tonight’s contest in Denver.

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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

Mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war.

The 1,100 signatures on this statement include well-known AI researchers at universities including Stanford, MIT, and Harvard. There are CEOs of dominant AI companies such as Open AI and Anthropic; the officers in charge of AI technology at Asana, Microsoft, and Google; the head of the Alan Turing Institute, the president of The New York Academy of Sciences, and the CEO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative.

This is just one of several such documents that have been issued over the last few months warning of the danger posed by the rapid development of artificial intelligence. But anytime the most knowledgeable people in a field warn that their industry should be treated as a threat equivalent to nuclear war, that should demand both public conversation and government regulation.

It’s certainly worth a quick look at what makes all these very smart people so very, very worried.

Some of the dangers the Center for AI Safety warns about seem relatively minor. For example, they are highly concerned about “enfeeblement,” the idea that leaning on AI tools might make humans so weak and dependent they couldn’t handle ordinary tasks on their own.

Every parent frowning at how their children stay glued to the screens of their phones certainly knows the risk of technological addiction. However, the specific concern about AI being too helpful for our own good carries with it a heavy whiff of “back in my day, dagnabbit.” Long before anyone fretted over how Google had robbed us of our vital skills in paging through a 20-volume Funk and Wagnall’s, Plato was out there railing against the whole concept of writing, out of concerns that once people learned how to write, they would “cease to exercise memory because they rely on that which is written, calling things to remembrance no longer from within themselves, but by means of external marks.”

That one’s a lost cause. So is Google. And so is any idea that AI tools like ChatGPT or generative art programs can be stuffed back into their box. That battle is over. Now both art and every form of text-based expression are in for a transformative reckoning that is already underway and won’t be stopped.

As big a change as that may be, it’s the least of the concerns about where AI is going. To understand one of the more terrifying possibilities, it’s worth a look at how AI solved an extraordinarily difficult issue that had defeated all other computing efforts since the 1960s.

Human beings have somewhere between 20,000 and 25,000 genes. Every one of those genes has just one job: to express a specific protein whose makeup is described by the contents of the gene. When the protein is created, in a process called translation, it consists of a simple linear chain of compounds called amino acids. As that chain grows to be several dozen—or even several hundred— amino acids long, it begins to twist and bend, eventually forming a stable, well-defined, folded protein.

That final shape is as necessary to the function of a protein in the human body as its chemical makeup. Proteins that fail to fold properly, either because of an issue with that original chain or some outside interference, can be anywhere from useless to toxic. Many major genetic diseases come down to a single gene being unable to accurately transcribe a necessary protein. Prion diseases, like Mad Cow Disease, come from triggering the release of proteins with abnormal folding.

But predicting just how a protein will fold, even if you can look at all the amino acids that make it up, is a tremendously complex problem. For decades, uncounted supercomputer hours were hurled at trying to solve the issue of predicting how a change in a protein would alter its final shape. There is even a program called “Folding at home,” which for the last 23 years has been borrowing computer time from individual PCs and using them as a distributed engine in an effort to solve this problem.

There have been many important successes through the years, some of which have led directly to treatments. However, again and again, models created using even the most complex mathematical expressions have failed to accurately predict the form of a previously untested protein. The problem … is hard.

Or at least, it was. In 2020, Science reported on a U.K. company called DeepMind (now Google DeepMind) and their program, AlphaFold.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has solved one of biology's grand challenges: predicting how proteins fold from a chain of amino acids into 3D shapes that carry out life's tasks. This week, organizers of a protein-folding competition announced the achievement by researchers at DeepMind, a U.K.-based AI company. They say the DeepMind method will have far-reaching effects, among them dramatically speeding the creation of new medications.

Just two years later, Nature reported that AlphaFold had predicted the structure of “the entire protein universe.” This included not just every protein coded for in human genes, but … every protein. Every protein that exists. Almost every protein that can exist. Forget 20,000. AlphaFold had figured out the shape of 200 million proteins. Best of all, the results of AlphaFold’s models are a close match to experimental results.

The achievement is tremendous. For all the long years that scientists have been trying to solve this issue, they’ve understood that understanding protein folding is critical to the development of whole categories of treatments. Now, thanks to AI, that huge mountain has finally been scaled.

AlphaFold was derived from the skeleton of another AI application called AlphaGo, which was the first program capable of consistently beating even the most advanced players at the 3,000-year-old Chinese game of Go. Both of these programs are a combination of extensive neural networks that inform, and are informed by, a set of search trees. After being trained with many previous games of Go, or the structures of known proteins, those two AI models far outperform any traditional program designed by humans. One of AlphaGo’s expert-level opponents was so surprised by its style of play that he said, “Surely, AlphaGo is creative.” Within the language of the game, it is.

AlphaFold is also creative, discovering a method of predicting proteins that no human being taught it, despite starting with the same information scientists had at their disposal.

That kind of design is also behind the Large Language Model AIs that are becoming so ubiquitous in everything from search engines to word processors to camera phones. They have been given the training they need to create a business report or produce a new portrait of your family in the style of Vermeer. They can do it because they were trained on the source material. But the specifics of how the AIs are performing a task are unknown, maybe even unknowable, except to other AIs.

And that’s where the first inkling of the threat begins to appear. Right now, there are other AI models which have been trained on the results from AlphaFold and are using those millions of complex shapes as a means of producing potential new drugs. There is no doubt this opens the door to a wondrous new era of medicine.

On the other hand, an AI could be just as easily trained to take that information and produce harmful toxins, maybe even creating a catastrophic epidemic. Prions are very simple compared even to a virus. Imagine a dozen new diseases with the debilitating effects of Mad Cow being introduced into the environment as deliberate contaminants.

It’s not even clear that the danger requires a human being seeking to cause deliberate harm. Multiple articles have been written on the propensity of ChatGPT to simply lie. Questioning the tool about my own background informs me confidently that I’ve written for Salon (I haven’t) and HuffPost (not there either) in addition to Daily Kos.

AI researchers call the tendency of LLMs to move beyond the facts into areas of embellishment or outright lies “hallucinations.” Some AIs released to the public have been so beset with these hallucinations that they’ve had to be withdrawn for more training and retooling. Others can seem to be perfectly factual much of the time before suddenly spewing a nonsense value when queried about something of which it has limited knowledge.

Some AIs have even been known to back up their confidently-asserted lies with fake legal citations, links to nonexistent papers, and quotes from books that don’t exist. These are very complex hallucinations. Researchers have difficulty determining both what causes them and how to stop them.

Now imagine a hallucination that isn’t an odd resume falsehood but an improperly folded protein. Or a drug that contains some … embellishment.

It doesn’t take a superintelligent general-purpose AI equipped with Skynet and an army of Terminators to pose a tremendous threat. The threat is there in a toolset whose value is so great that we can’t help but use it, and whose errors are so unpredictable that we can’t understand their source.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

Roberto Minuta, who was seen on video guarding Stone hours before the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, was among six Oath Keeper members convicted by jurors of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a violent plot to stop the transfer of power from Trump to President Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

Minuta is the third Oath Keeper to receive his punishment for seditious conspiracy — the most serious charge the Justice Department has brought in the Capitol attack.

Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes was sentenced last week to 18 years behind bars — the longest sentence that has been handed down so far in hundreds of Capitol riot cases. Kelly Meggs, who led the group's Florida chapter, was sentenced to 12 years.

Minuta told U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta that he is ashamed of his actions, disavows the Oath Keepers and was “repulsed” by the lack of remorse Rhodes showed at his own sentencing.

“My emotions got the best of me, and I’m deeply apologetic, your honor,” he told Mehta. “I was misled and naïve."

Before handing down the sentence of four years and six months, the judge told Minuta that the law doesn’t permit anybody to “gather up arms to battle your government.”

“This is not about politics. This is not about your beliefs. It’s about your conduct,” Mehta said.

Minuta, who owned a New York tattoo shop, was in communication on Jan. 6 with Rhodes, who described Minuta in a message as one of his "most trusted men,” according to federal prosecutors. Minuta purchased 5,500 rounds of ammunition as Jan. 6 approached, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said he hasn't shown true remorse, noting that Minuta took to social media after his arrest to slam the investigation as politically motivated and referred to Jan. 6 defendants as “POLITICAL PRISONERS." A fundraiser page that was linked to his Twitter page said the government “has been weaponized to destroy dissidents.”

“That’s his worldview,” Justice Department prosecutor Troy Edwards said. “Mr. Minuta is a danger to himself and to his republic because of his worldview.”

Lawyers for the Oath Keepers say there was never any plot to storm the Capitol or stop the transfer of power.

Minuta's attorney, William Shipley, said his client came to Washington to serve in the Oath Keepers' personal security detail for Stone and “had no intention or plan to engage in any other activity.”

Shipley said Minuta's fears of government “tyranny” were not sparked by the baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump, but grew out of his tattoo shop being shut down by lockdown measures during the coronavirus pandemic. Shipley said Minuta’s actions on Jan. 6 were “regrettable” and “idiotic.”

“But worthy of a multi-year prison sentence? I don’t think so,” he added.

Minuta was among several people in Oath Keepers gear seen flanking Stone on Jan. 5 and Jan. 6.

Stone, an informal Trump adviser, has denied having any knowledge of or involvement in anything illegal on Jan. 6.

The judge agreed with the Justice Department that Rhodes and the other Oath Keepers’ actions could be punished as “terrorism,” increasing the recommended sentence under federal guidelines. But the judge has consistently issued sentences shorter than those prosecutors have sought for Oath Keeper members. The Justice Department had sought 17 years for Minuta and 25 years for Rhodes.

Edward Vallejo, who was also convicted of seditious conspiracy, is expected to be sentenced later Thursday. Prosecutors said he was a leader of a “Quick Reaction Force” that stashed guns at a Virginia hotel and was prepared to bring them to Washington if called. The weapons were never deployed.

A day after the riot, Vallejo traveled into Washington to “conduct surveillance” and “probe the defense line” of police and National Guard troopers protecting the Capitol, according to prosecutors. He later tried to meet up with Rhodes in Texas.

Vallejo, a U.S. Army veteran, is a longtime resident of the Phoenix area. Defense attorney Matthew Peed said Vallejo wasn’t part of any Oath Keepers calls or discussions before he arrived in the Washington area a day before the riot. In court papers, his attorney called prosecutors' argument that the Oath Keepers should be sentenced as terrorists “borderline offensive.”

“The tragedy of January 6 is that hundreds of lifelong law-abiding people like Edward Vallejo were lied to by the sitting President and told that the certification was an orchestrated assault on our democracy,” the defense attorney wrote wrote.

Last Friday, the judge handed down punishments for two other Oath Keepers who were acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other serious charges. Mehta sentenced Jessica Watkins, of Woodstock, Ohio, to eight years and six months behind bars and sentenced Kenneth Harrelson, of Titusville, Florida, to four years in prison.

The Oath Keepers sentencings come weeks after leaders of another far-right group — the Proud Boys — were also convicted in the Jan. 6 attack. Former Proud Boys national chairman Enrique Tarrio and three other group leaders were found guilty in May of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said was a separate plot to keep Trump in the White House. They're scheduled to be sentenced in August.

The state Executive Council on Wednesday ordered that a primary for Rockingham County's 1st District take place on Aug. 1, with a general election on Sept. 19. If, however, only one Republican and one Democrat file by the June 9 deadline, then the primary would be skipped and the general election would get bumped up to the day that nominating contests would have otherwise been held.

The district in question became vacant after Republican Rep. Benjamin Bartlett, who also works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, resigned in April, citing health issues. However, a report in the Boston Globe (building off a post by blogger Doug Bates) suggested that the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, may have played a role.

Whatever the reason for his departure, Bartlett's district is a competitive one: Donald Trump carried it by less than a point in 2020, 49.1 to 48.7, and the trends appear to be favorable for Democrats, since Trump’s margin in 2016 was more than 8 points. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, meanwhile, won the district 50-48 during her successful campaign for reelection last year as Democrats fell just 10 votes shy of securing one of the district's three seats. (Only one seat will be up in the special.)

At the moment, Republicans hold 200 seats in the House and Democrats 198, with a separate special election for a safely blue seat likely this fall. If Democrats prevail in both, that would lead to an exact 200-all tie, though it's not clear whether control of the chamber would immediately be impacted. That's because at least five Democrats voted for Republican Sherman Packard as speaker, and they may or may not be interested in returning to the fold. (We don't know who those wayward Democrats are, by the way, because the speaker is elected via secret ballot.)

However, more specials are likely, particularly after the current legislative session adjourns on June 29, which is when a new budget must pass. Party leaders will undoubtedly try to forestall more resignations, but turnover is always high in the New Hampshire House, where lawmakers are paid just $100 a year. And given Democratic success in special elections both in the Granite State and nationwide this year, there's good reason to think they'll be able to increase their numbers as the opportunity arises.

Countless progressive organizations seek to engage and mobilize voters, but coordinating those efforts is a mighty task. On this week's episode of "The Downballot," we're joined by Sara Schreiber, the executive director of America Votes, which works with hundreds of partners at the national and state level to deploy the most effective means of urging voters to the polls. Schreiber walks us through how coalitions of like-minded groups are formed and how the work of direct voter contact is divvied up between them. A special focus is on "blue surge" voters—those who, in the Trump era, joined the rolls for the first time—and why ensuring they continue to participate in the political process is the key to progressive victories.

In 2018, Rick Chow confronted a shoplifter at his Xpress Mart Shell station in Columbia and the man attacked him, Richland County deputies said. Chow fired two shots and wounded the man, who pleaded guilty to charges in the case, in the leg. investigators said.

In 2015, Chow fired several shots at a vehicle after he tried to stop someone he suspected of shoplifting, and the suspect got into the vehicle and threatened to shoot Chow, deputies said. No one was hurt.

In both cases, authorities said Chow's actions were not criminal. Self-defense law in South Carolina requires the shooter doesn’t instigate the incident, believes he is in imminent danger and has no way to avoid that danger.

Deputies decided that was not the case Sunday, when they said Chow and his son chased a 14-year-old from his store and killed him with one shot to the back. Chow is charged with murder and investigators are talking to prosecutors about possible additional charges against Chow or his son, the Richland County Sheriff's Department said in a statement.

Chow thought the boy had shoplifted four bottles of water. But Cyrus Carmack-Belton, who was Black, put the bottles back in the cooler. After an argument, Carmack-Belton ran off the store property and was still running away when he was killed, Sheriff Leon Lott said.

A gun was found near the teen's body and Chow's son told his father that Carmack-Belton was armed after the youth fell as he ran, Lott said. But the sheriff said there was no evidence the boy ever pointed the weapon at Chow or his son.

The sheriff's department didn't release additional information about the two other shooting incidents. They said deputies have been called to Chow's store in suburban northeast Richland County hundreds of times over the past five years for assaults, shoplifting, personal theft, motor vehicle theft, vandalism, robbery and burglary.

A number of media outlets have made open records requests for police reports from those incidents, and authorities say they are working to gather them.

Chow, 58, is awaiting a bond hearing at the Richland County jail. His lawyer has said he is not talking about the case at this time. Chow faces 30 years to life in prison if convicted of murder.

Chow owned the gun legally, but witnesses and surveillance video provided no evidence that he was in fear of his life, Lott said.

“You don’t shoot somebody in the back that is not a threat to you," the sheriff said.

Anguish and grief spread after the shooting through the African American community in Richland County, where nearly half the population is Black.

The state's only Black congressman, Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn, said Carmack-Belton's family should be celebrating his completion of the eighth grade and heading to high school instead of mourning him at his funeral Saturday.

“The criminalization of Black men and boys and the historic trend of painting them as aggressors have time and again led to deadly and heartbreaking circumstances," Clyburn said in a statement. “Carmack-Belton has since been declared innocent, but his supposed crime of shoplifting a bottle of water should not have cost him his life. I pray justice is swift.”

Chow's race in court records is listed as Asian.

Several dozen people gathered at the store Monday for a peaceful vigil that included pouring water on the ground, spelling out “Cyrus” with the empty bottles and a sign taped to the locked door reading “Water or Life? Which means more?”

But after dark, deputies said a different group spray-painted the store with “Cyrus” and “14,” broke windows and started stealing beer, cigarettes and other merchandise. Lott said when they find the people he called looters, they will be charged.

The entire gas station is now behind yellow crime scene tape and deputies are watching over it.

While, for years, there have been plug-ins and third-party services that allow blog owners to send out their posts via email, WordPress.com’s decision to move more directly into this space was a reflection of how people now prefer to read news and information. As the state of websites has worsened — dominated by clutter, ads, overlays, pop-ups, and cookie acceptance banners — many have turned to email as an easier way to stay connected to writers, journalists, essayists, and other publishers they want to follow.

Given its sizable footprint — WordPress powers 43% of the web, including its open source version — WordPress.com’s shift into the newsletters market is significant.

The initial version of the WordPress.com Newsletter product, however, was not a tool that would be competitive with those trying to run a revenue-generating newsletter business. It offers a host of features for general newsletter management, though, like the ability to import subscribers from other platforms, use ready-made newsletter themes or customizable designs, scheduling tools, the ability to connect custom domains, support for posting via email, and more.

With today’s expansion, WordPress.com publishers will be able to add paid subscriptions and premium content, allowing them to generate income from their newsletter operations. The option to use these features is available to all WordPress.com blogs, even those on the free plan, the company says. But as their newsletter business scales, publishers may choose to move up to paid WordPress.com plans, which will also lower the transaction fees on their newsletter subscription emails.

For instance, free plan users pay newsletter transaction fees of 10%, while those on the Commerce plan pay 0%. WordPress.com is processing the transactions via Stripe, it says, which limits availability to only those markets where Stripe is supported.

By comparison, Substack charges a 10% fee for its customers, also processed through Stripe.

And, similar to Substack, WordPress.com authors can pick and choose which of their posts will be free or paid only at the time of publishing. When posting, they’ll just check the box to indicate whether the post is for everyone, subscribers, or only paid subscribers.

The company suggests the benefit of running a newsletter on WordPress.com is the flexibility it offers.

Because WordPress.com is a broader publishing platform, not just a newsletter platform, creators could expand their efforts over time to turn their newsletter into a website, for instance. They could also collect one-time tips or donations, as needed, to keep their projects funded outside of subscriptions, or opt to run an online store. Plus, WordPress.com’s extensibility provides access to a wider set of plug-ins, themes, and design patterns to customize their website further.

That said, because WordPress.com isn’t focused solely on newsletters, that may mean it will lack some of the more specific tools designed for this market that competitors may offer, particularly for those with large-scale newsletter operations or online businesses.

And it won’t be as competitive on the social side compared with companies like Substack, which has been working to make its platform not just a place to discover and subscribe to newsletters, but also an online community of sorts. The company this year launched features like Notes and Chat which allow writers to communicate directly with readers in different ways than email alone. In fact, it was seen as an attempt to move into Twitter’s territory, angering Twitter owner Elon Musk, who then punished Substack by censoring tweets with Substack links on Twitter’s platform.

WordPress.com wouldn’t come with any built-in social community necessarily, but parent company Automattic recently acquired an ActivityPub plugin that blog owners could use to join the Fediverse, posting their updates directly to Mastodon, an open source Twitter rival that’s gained traction following Musk’s Twitter takeover.

The new paid newsletters options are available today, the company says.

WordPress.com challenges Substack with launch of paid newsletters by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

With Reading Practice, early readers can track their reading position, as text is highlighted as they read out loud. If the reader is stuck on a how to pronounce a word, they can tap it to hear what it sounds like. If you need more help and want to sound out the word, you can hear the word broken down by syllable.

The feature lets you listen to an entire sentence and get a child-friendly definition of a word so you can give your child more context about the story you’re reading. Readers can also tap any word to update their position in the book and start tracking from there. At the end of the page, readers have the option to practice any words they skipped or mispronounced.

“To get started with Reading practice, check out our hand-picked collection of kid-friendly reads on Google Play Books, including some no-charge options,” said Vitaliy Dikker, a Product Manager at Google Play Books, in a blog post. “Or you can browse thousands of English language books designated for younger readers. The majority of these titles have Reading practice enabled, indicated by a “Practice” badge on the book detail page.”

In addition, you can use the “Reading practice” filter in Google Play Books to narrow down your store or library searches to ebooks that specifically offer Reading practice.

Google Play Books adds new practice feature to help kids learn how to read by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

It’s unclear why Amazon reflects a retail price of $490 for the pair. The WH-1000XM4 would usually run you around $350, and the power bank that completes the bundle is the Focus 10,000mAh Ultra-Portable Quick Charge Battery Bank, which sells for $29.99 on the retailer’s site. But no matter the reason, you’re saving at least $100 and it’s objectively a top deal.

For most of its history, Samsung has held its smartphone launch events in the United States and Europe. There have been some exceptions, including recently in 2020 when the company launched the Galaxy Note 20 series, which happened virtually in Seoul, South Korea. However, one thing we’ve never seen is Samsung launch a foldable in its home country.

That will change for the upcoming Galaxy Unpacked 2023. According to a machine translation of Yonhap News (h/t SamMobile), Samsung’s Lee Young-hee may have unwittingly confirmed that Galaxy Unpacked will happen in Seoul. Young-hee made the confirmation during a press Q&A at the Samsung Ho-Am Award Ceremony at the Shilla Hotel earlier today.

Naturally, I shared the edit with my co-workers, who are taking some time to get away to sunny destinations this season (even if it's just a quick trip along the California coast), and they instantly fell in love with the selection, too. Keep scrolling to see what they're fantasizing about packing in their suitcases.

"This summer, I'm planning a lot of trips down to my hometown of Laguna Beach. Instead of traveling too far, spending some time at my favorite childhood beaches is the perfect way to enjoy the season. Laguna is really laid-back and kind of quirky, which is why I'm planning on wearing simple swimsuits and accessorizing them with printed separates and statement bags. Net-a-Porter is always my go-to for both basics and trendy pieces, and it definitely delivered this season. Catch me on the trolly in Laguna wearing my new Pucci shorts and Loewe sunglasses all summer long."

"I'll be soaking up the California sun this season and indulging in fresh seafood during my stay at a true seaside gem: Santa Barbara. This charming city is the epitome of coastal chic, so I'm turning to Net-a-Porter's vacation edit for some much-needed style inspiration. It has all the must-have designers from Chloé to Ancient Greek Sandals. Find me roaming the cute, beachy town in lightweight crochet ensembles (I'm envisioning this stunning Chloé maxi dress), deep-blue swimwear, and pretty, woven accessories."

"I have a trip planned to Mexico this summer, so getaway 'fits are definitely top of mind. When it comes to vacation style, I look for easy, effortless pieces—think matching sets and lots of linen. This summer, I'm investing in chic accessories (e.g. these ultra-cool Gucci square-framed sunnies and this luxe Khaite raffia bag) that elevate all my summer basics. In my opinion, you can never have too many."

Apparel and footwear company Adidas has resumed selling the remainder of its Yeezy inventory. As The Shade Room previously reported, the company placed its partnership with Kanye West “under review” following his antisemitic comments last year. Then subsequently parted ways with the rapper and his products soon after.

RELATED: Oop! Adidas Reportedly Expected To Lose $1.3 BILLION In Revenue After Parting With Kanye West

Adidas’ Remaining Yeezy Inventory Returned To Sale Wednesday

According to Associated Press, a remainder of select Yeezys returned to sale on Wednesday. According to the Adidas website, the sneakers are available via the brand’s Confirmed app.

adidas Yeezy has plenty of releases lined up for the Summer
Which pairs do you plan on picking up!? pic.twitter.com/g6p7kj5GQc

— Sneaker News (@SneakerNews) May 31, 2023

Additionally, the brand also states that proceeds from the sale of Yeezy items “will be donated in support of the fight against discrimination, hate, racism, and antisemitism.”

According to an official press release, Adidas initially announced its plans on May 19. In addition, the brand also detailed the names of some of the organizations to receive the donations.

“A significant amount will be donated to selected organizations working to combat discrimination and hate, including racism and antisemitism. These include but are not limited to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the Philonise & Keeta Floyd Institute for Social Change…”

The Company Also Detailed Their Plans Forward

As The Shade Room previously reported, Adidas terminated its partnership with the Yeezy brand in October, and Wednesday’s reselling marks the first time the brand has returned to sales of Yeezy products since.

Although select styles have returned the sale, the company adds the sale of future “existing inventory” remains to be determined.

“Additional releases of existing inventory are currently under consideration, but timing is yet to be determined.”

Additionally, the company also provided insight into its financial state and its decision to return select Yeezy styles to sale.

“Today’s announcement has no immediate impact on the company’s current financial guidance for 2023. Since terminating the YEEZY partnership in October, adidas has been exploring multiple scenarios for the potential use of the existing YEEZY inventory. The process involved seeking feedback and listening to a diverse group… for how to responsibly manage the existing product. The company went ahead with already committed production orders after the partnership was terminated. This was done to help protect its supply chain partners from being negatively affected by cancellations.”

Adidas still hasn't figured out what to do with $1.3 billion worth of high-end Yeezy sneakers after splitting with the rapper formerly known as Kanye West. The shoes have been sitting in warehouses for nearly seven months. https://t.co/Q1Ro6WPVtj

— The Associated Press (@AP) May 5, 2023

Adidas’ CEO, Bjørn Gulden, also issued a statement regarding the matter.

“After careful consideration, we have decided to begin releasing some of the remaining adidas YEEZY products. Selling and donating was the preferred option among all organizations and stakeholders we spoke to. We believe this is the best solution as it respects the created designs and produced shoes, it works for our people, resolves an inventory problem, and will have a positive impact in our communities. There is no place in sport or society for hate, and we remain committed to fighting against it.”

Furthermore, Gulden praised the company for turning “a negative situation into a very positive outcome.”

The post Adidas Resumes Selling Remaining Yeezy Inventory, Proceeds To Be Donated To Anti-Hate Organizations appeared first on The Shade Room.

Moneybagg Yo is in his “strong man,” healing father, committed boyfriend era after back-to-back deaths in his life and dealing with the aftermath of cheating on Ari Fletcher.

RELATED: Moneybagg Yo Reassures Ari Fletcher He Won’t Cheat When She’s Pregnant

The Memphis rapper recently spoke to Angie Martinez about parenting after the 2022 murder of his first co-parent. They shared three children, ages 9-13, who now live with him full-time.

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Moneybagg Yo Uses His Support System, Tears & Prayer To Navigate His Trauma

Hours before she was killed in their hometown, Moneybagg Yo says she was committed to escaping the street life and accepting his assistance in relocating to Miami. The phone call came in while he was recording in the studio–at “the peak” of his career. He says he “instantly broke down.” He first felt disbelief, then anger at her before releasing all he felt in tears and delivering the news to his eldest daughter via phone.

“It’s hard to talk about right now, but I’m strong, I’m a man. I’m dealing with it, and I’m getting through it,” he said on Angie’s In Real Life podcast. “The oldest one she understand more than the other ones, so she taking it way harder. She walked up to me like…’dad I just want to talk to you, I want to do therapy, I need therapy. Like she’s aware enough to know that.”

To work through his grief and manage his children’s coping needs, Moneybagg leans on his support system.

 “It’s a tough situation, I’m just staying strong. I’m just happy to have a great support system. The support system that I got, that just keep me motivated. The girl, my mama, just friends, friends of the family.” He added, “It’s super hard. That’s why I said I’m in this strong phase, that’s why I say I want to come back and I’m talking now. At first I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t even do this right now.”

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About 15:30 minutes into the published interview, the rapper admits that his voice was trembling. A few minutes later, he shares how he’s overcoming the trauma.

“Like you said, you gotta let it out, you gotta cry. I done cried in the shower, cry in the shower a lot. Let it out, let the steam out. Feel good about it after that. Record songs, try to stay busy as possible and really stay focus. But just looking at my kids, that’s what makes it harder. Looking at my kids make it way worse.”

Moneybagg Yo also prays–and it’s a practice he takes seriously. He converted to Muslim in 2018-2019.

“God really will test your patience. He really will test your patience. You gotta have patience, like that’s the key, and once I locked on to that, I found out about that. It’s like nothing can stop me now, I don’t rush nothing no more. I let time do everything.”

Rapper Admits To Cheating On Ari Fletcher About Seven Months Ago

Moneybagg started his 2022 by renegotiating his contract with Interscope Records. On the same day he was purchasing a Rolls Royce, he got a phone call about the death of a close friend. Three months later, in March, his children’s mother died. Then, another close friend got caught up with the law–though things are now “looking good,” the rapper said.

And seven months ago, Moneybagg almost lost his girlfriend Ari after making the “poor decision” of cheating on her.

“We ain’t got [an open relationship] going, but I made mistakes. I made poor decisions, and that’s why I rock with her so tough, like she helping me through this situation. I was just being a n***a that come from Memphis, my environment, that’s what I was used to. I had never been in no real relationship before.”

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He admitted that Ari didn’t “take it well.” He also hinted that the person he was unfaithful with tried to call Ari to spill “everything,” making things worse. Moneybagg Yo says he “kept it G,” admitted his indiscretion, and apologized.

“I really come from a pure place when I say that. I apologized and I want to work through it and get through it. And she with it and she helping me…work through it. That’s why I rock with her so tough cause it’s like ‘okay I get it, I understand you. Don’t let it happen again, don’t take me through there’…once I broke it all the way down to her she understood me fully.”

A situation for convenience wasn’t worth losing Ari, Moneybagg said, admitting that he isn’t perfect, just human.

“We healing right now, we moving forward,” he said. As far as trust goes, he says, “It’s hard, I know she don’t 100% trust me, but it is what it is. I made that bed, I got to lay in it. I take full accountability, I’m a man before anything. We working towards it, I can’t do anything but show her. Show her, keeping showing her, show and prove, make her feel safe and wanted and let her know that I’m here. You ain’t gon get that again.”

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Marriage isn’t in the near future for the healing pair, Moneybagg Yo said, clarifying that the large diamond ring she wears was a “just because” gift. He also addressed their miscarriage and how he rehashed the experience in a forthcoming song.

“I’m opening up about the situation, this situation like her losing the baby and all that was kinda breaking our bond at one point,” he said. “It’s difficult. She feels like I wasn’t there for her how I should’ve been.”

RELATED: Ari Fletcher Reveals Miscarriage Amid Pregnancy Talks, Friendship Status With Dreamdoll And Clears Dating Rumors

Meanwhile, Ari hasn’t publicly responded to the interview. However, she recently tweeted about the cruelty of the internet.

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The post Moneybagg Yo Gets Vulnerable About Parenting Amid Death Of His Children’s Mother & Healing Relationship With Ari appeared first on The Shade Room.

The diplomatic relations between the Republic of Korea and Uganda has existed since 1963.

It is 2023 and 60 years later, these relations are becoming stronger and stronger than ever.

Korea Ambassador to Uganda His Excellency Park Sung-Soo is impressed by the strong ties between the two countries in the box.

“I am humbled by the strong diplomatic relations between Korea and Uganda. Such relations have helped to cement the mutual relationship for the two countries that will lead to social, economic and political growth” H.E Park noted.

The celebrations to mark the 60^th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year were well planned and executed.

From the K-POP Festival at Makerere University’s Yusuf Lule Auditorium, the celebrations also had the Taekwondo Ambassador’s cup at the MTN Indoor Arena – Lugogo before a colouful two day’s event of the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration performance at the Victoria Hall of Serena International Hotel.

The K-POP festival had the Korea speaking competition, music and dance fete.

Nicholas Matovu was the best performer according to the judges in the dance and singing competition to earn Ug.shs 1,500,000 shopping voucher.

He was followed by the SMASH Talent Kids Africa as Gloria Kayiwa and Tracy Namigadde.

Nicholas Matovu was the best performer according to the judges in the dance and singing competition to earn Ug.shs 1,500,000 shopping voucher.

He was followed by the SMASH Talent Kids Africa as Gloria Kayiwa and Tracy Namigadde.

The 2023 Ambassador’s Taekwondo cup at Lugogo attracted over 400 participants from across Uganda and Kenyan clubs.

Police Taekwondo club dominated the 2023 Ambassador’s cup that returned after a five-year spell.

Then followed the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration performance at Serena, also graced by the Ambassador, Deputy speaker of Parliament Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, chairman of National Council of Sports (NCS) Ambrose Tashobya, and other invited guests.

“Korea as a development partner through KOICA and other programmes has transformed many lives in our country. We need to tap into Korea’s industrial potential to add value to our own raw materials so that we can start exporting to developed markets such as Korea.” Rt Hon. Tayebwa stated.

Before the eye-catching Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration, there was the Korea movies show time and demonstration of Taekwondo skills by Kumi University Taekwondo club, trained by a Korean master, David Sung Nang Po, a missionary based in Uganda.

“We about about 300 students playing Taekwondo at Kumi University. The Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration was outstanding. Uganda will play catch up with more practice. They players here (in Uganda) have the skills and spirit. Someday, Uganda will be making to the great stage” Master Po remarked.

Joel Odele, a student at Kumi University, 28, confessed they have learnt a lot from the Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration.

“We have learnt a lot from the Kukkiwon Taekwondo Demonstration. It takes a lot to learn this sport” Odele stated.

The Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration wooed many hearts with breathe-taking moves.

The post Korea-Uganda at 60 years: Kukkiwon Taekwondo demonstration thrills and inspires many appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Therefore, United has added incentive to pull off a result in this game. That said, completing a domestic cup double in Erik ten Hag’s first season is a great start to the Dutchman’s regime.

For those interested in the United States, the FA Cup TV schedule runs through ESPN+. Then, for the Final on Saturday, it is no surprise to see the game is only available on the paid-streaming platform. However, ESPN is sending Jon Champion to England to call the contest live from Wembley Stadium.

FA Cup Final Coverage Plans

Kickoff time: 10 a.m. ET / 9 a.m. PT – Saturday, June 3
Watch now (in USA): Live on ESPN+.
Commentators: Jon Champion and Jim Beglin.
US TV: Match is available exclusively on ESPN+.

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ESPN’s coverage of the FA Cup Final has on-site commentators and reporters to go along with the studio crew back in the United States. With Jon Champion and Jim Beglin on the call for ESPN’s English-language coverage at the massive ground, Alexis Nunes and former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha will be on the pitch with news as the game unfolds.

ESPN has put several FA Cup games this season on its main TV channels. For example, a qualifying game between Wrexham and Blyth Spartans aired on ESPN2. However, almost all games in this year’s competition have been available only on ESPN+.

Also, this is a chance for ESPN to drive subscriptions to its service. With a Manchester Derby, more American viewers would watch this game, particularly as it is a cup final.

Manchester Derby with a cup on the line

This is the third time Manchester City is playing Manchester United this season. Of course, the other two times they met came in league play. In the first game, Manchester City rocked United at the Etihad, 6-3. However, in the return leg at Old Trafford, Manchester United picked up a dramatic win, 2-1.

Regardless of who wins this game, City or United are the fourth different winner of the FA Cup in the last four seasons. City’s last FA Cup title was just outside that range, back in 2019 when it destroyed Watford, 6-0. United won the FA Cup under Louis van Gaal in 2016. It defeated Crystal Palace in extra time.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images

Player’s salary could make transfer difficult

However, a deal may difficult to strike due to Maguire’s hefty wages at United. The Daily Mail claims that the center back currently makes about $237,000 per week at the club. It seems extremely unlikely that any other team in the world would potentially match this salary. Because of this, United could pay the player the difference in his weekly wages.

Maguire still also has two more years remaining on his contract with the Red Devils. Assuming Maguire receives an offer of about half of what he currently makes, United would then possibly foot the rest of the bill. This could be a payment of around $12 million.

United manager says decision is up to Maguire

The England international has made just 16 total starts of 61 possible matches during the current campaign. Club manager Erik ten Hag has instead opted for Raphael Varane, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof, and even full Luke Shaw in the position. The manager recently claimed that Maguire potentially leaving the club this summer is “a decision he has to make.”

“No one would be happy with this situation,” ten Hag recently told The Times. “He is not as well. He trains always on best levels, so with 100 percent effort. So he handles that situation well and he’s in that manner and in his captaincy he’s important for the squad.”

Ten Hag was then asked directly by the outlet’s Henry Winter if Maguire will remain in Manchester. “Let’s say I’m happy he’s here and when we needed him he did his job. But it’s also a decision he has to make,” responded the manager.

United still have one more match remaining on the fixture list this season. The club is set to play crosstown rivals Manchester City for the FA Cup trophy on Saturday. This could very well be Maguire’s final game as a Red Devil.

PHOTO: IMAGO / News Images

Krebs was fired days after he released a statement asserting that “The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history.… There is no evidence that any voting system deleted or lost votes, changed votes, or was in any way compromised.” According to the Times, Smith’s team has subpoenaed and spoken with many of the White House aides who may have been involved in, or a witness to, the shenanigans surrounding Krebs’ departure.

Krebs, like many other officials before him, stood up to Trump’s bullying attempts to cast doubt on and overturn the election, and Trump repaid him by firing him and attacking his aptitude for his job. Krebs has reportedly already spoken with Smith’s investigators.  

RELATED STORY: Former head of cybersecurity gives stunning and moving statement about protecting our democracy

A month after being unceremoniously fired, Krebs spoke in front of Sen. Ron Johnson’s circus tribunal investigating supposed election irregularities. Krebs showed himself to be a courageous defender of our democracy and the integrity of our election system—anathema to proponents of the Big Lie.

Krebs’ testimony added to the cacophony of voices showing that Big Liars like Johnson, Trump, and others’ inability to present even a shred of evidence of election fraud was the actual fraud being perpetuated on the American people.

Krebs would subsequently testify in front of the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. According to The Washington Post, Krebs detailed the murky atmosphere of paranoia in the Trump administration. He also told the committee that Trump was “unhappy” with his department’s assessment of the security of mail-in voting.

Twice popular-vote-loser Trump is not only facing a thorough investigation, but he’s also facing off against people who weren’t afraid to stand up to his bullying in the first place.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump fires head of election cybersecurity for contradicting Trump's bogus fraud claims

Trump keeps losing lawyers and further screwing himself

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

The reason his attorneys are heading for the door became even more obvious on Wednesday when, as Hunter reported, it was learned that Smith’s investigation has an actual tape of Trump admitting to keeping a top-secret document related to a potential attack on Iran. That tape reportedly settles any questions that:

• Trump understood that he was withholding highly classified defense information

• Trump has revealed that information to others

• Trump knew that the documents had not been declassified

It’s far from all that’s happened in just the past few days. There are still more reports of documents being shifted around in anticipation of a visit from the FBI, concerns around workers dodging security cameras, and even more evidence that Trump trotted out classified material for visitors. All of which makes the potential for a warrant with Trump’s name on it more likely.

Trump is already facing 34 felony counts of document fraud in New York. That’s before the potential charges that could result from an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, and the other half of Jack Smith’s investigation tied to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. But with reports that the classified document case is nearly complete, that case may win the race in being the next to force Trump to appear before a judge.

Any charges stemming from Trump’s actions concerning the documents found at Mar-a-Lago are likely to split across two areas. One is the violation of the Presidential Records Act. This applies to almost all the material, classified or not, that Trump took away from the White House without first providing it to the National Archives. This could result in a number of charges, including conversion of government property and removing and concealing government records. On top of this, Trump’s repeated deceptions in the handling of the documents could lead to charges of obstruction of justice,  false statements to authorities, and criminal contempt.

That’s just the unclassified documents.

With the classified documents, Trump is facing even more serious charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents, as well as additional charges related to false statements and contempt.

The reported nature of that Iran document could also lead to charges for collection of national defense information and other violations of the Espionage Act. Some of these charges are serious on their own, and if prosecutors are able to go the full gamut by showing that Trump knowingly removed documents related to areas of national defense and showed those documents to others for gain, the penalties are not going to be a slap on the wrist.

Here’s just one line of events that seems likely to be near the top of Smith’s agenda.

1. That recently turned-over recording reportedly shows Trump knowingly took classified documents related to defense strategy around Iran. CNN reports that Trump discussed the document at a meeting, including revealing that the document contains pages prepared by Gen. Mark Miley concerning a potential attack on Iran.

2. Last week, The Washington Post reported that Smith’s team has evidence that Trump showed classified documents to “visitors” to Mar-a-Lago.

3. Visitors to Mar-a-Lago included members of the Saudi Arabian government that is sponsoring LIV Golf events which happen exclusively at Trump facilities, pumping millions into his coffers.

How hard is it to believe that Trump may have given Saudi visitors a quick peek at what the United States knew about the defenses of Iran? How hard is it to believe that he didn’t?

Though reports began coming two weeks ago that Smith was nearing the end of the classified documents case, new information continues to appear almost daily in terms of what the investigation has learned. That includes reports on how workers at Mar-a-Lago repeatedly moved boxes from the supposedly secure storage facility, including some moves just a day before the FBI’s arrival. There are also reports that at least one of those workers became concerned about what might be seen on security cameras after helping a Trump aide remove some documents from the room. Whether the removed documents were turned over to the FBI or removed completely from Mar-a-Lago isn’t clear.

It’s not a wonder that Trump’s lawyers keep running away. What’s amazing is that he manages to get someone to represent him in the first place.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

To be clear, Reddit hasn’t officially announced the prices of its new plans. But Selig says that in a call with the Reddit team, he learned that the new pricing will cost $12,000 per 50 million requests and Apollo made 7 billion requests last month. The developer of another iOS app Narwhal — who also had a call with the Reddit team — posted on the app’s subreddit that this pricing will cost them roughly $1-2 million a year and they can’t afford it.

On another post, Reddit is Fun’s developer chimed in and said that in comparison to the $20 million a year cost quoted by Selig, “RIF may differ but it would be in the same ballpark.” They also specified that the app doesn’t make that much money.

Makers of other clients such as Relay for Reddit and Infinity for Reddit also expressed concerns about their apps’ future. Under the new API rules, announced in April, developers of third-party clients won’t be able to earn money from ads and they won’t be able to show NSFW content on their apps. So they will have to hope that users will pay subscription money despite not getting access to some of the content.

On Twitter, people have equated Reddit’s move with the Elon Musk-owned platform’s own API changes and killing off third-party clients. In January, Twitter changed its rule to effectively ban third-party apps like Tweetbot, Twitterrific and Talon.

It appears that with these new API changes Reddit is looking to monetize its data by charging developers who earn from making apps around it. But Reddit maintains that it’s not out there to shut down third-party clients.

“This is absolutely not aimed at ‘killing’ any third-party apps. We have been in contact with third-party apps and developers, including Apollo, over the course of the last six weeks following our initial announcement about API changes, and our stance on third-party apps has not changed. We’re committed to fostering a safe and responsible developer ecosystem around Reddit — developers and third-party apps can make Reddit better and do so in a sustainable and mutually-beneficial partnership, while also keeping our users and data safe,” a Reddit spokesperson told TechCrunch in a statement yesterday.

Users on Reddit are not happy with the company’s decision to price its API in a way that threatens third-party apps. Just like many Twitter users who shifted their profiles to alternative networks, some folks are already looking to join other Reddit-like platforms.

Developers of third-party Reddit apps fear shutdown because of API pricing changes by Ivan Mehta originally published on TechCrunch

There’s little clarity on the business model front, which contrasts with the clear optimism on the part of corporate leaders and their customers about the potential impact of new AI technology on their products and markets.

The Exchange explores startups, markets and money.

Read it every morning on TechCrunch+ or get The Exchange newsletter every Saturday.

Regular readers of The Exchange will recall that we touched on this very question in May. At the time, we took a broader view, considering how consumer-focused AI services and AI-powered business services would charge.

This morning, we’re narrowing our focus to the enterprise software space, the target of an enormous number of startups. Let’s start by hearing what the CEOs of Salesforce, Box and CrowdStrike have to say on their AI-related work and customer interest. Then, we’ll go over their answers to industry analysts regarding how they intend to charge for new AI products.

We’ll wrap with a few thoughts on where startups might have an edge and where they probably won’t.

If you build it, they will come

Box, Salesforce and CrowdStrike are very different from one another. Box focuses on enterprise storage and productivity, Salesforce is a CRM giant and CrowdStrike is a cybersecurity company. However, they share a very interesting facet: They store or create lots of data for their customers.

Box, of course, started as an enterprise file storage and sync (EFSS) company, though its remit has expanded with time. Salesforce has oodles of its customer and sales data, in addition to a variety of other information. CrowdStrike has an enormous historical archive of cybersecurity-related data that it uses to help predict and interdict new cyber threats.

Startups may have room to innovate as enterprise providers puzzle out how to price AI tools by Alex Wilhelm originally published on TechCrunch

There’s a lot to watch on various streaming services — sometimes it almost feels like too much. It’s not always easy to choose among the walls of options, jumping from one app to the other and looking for the perfect TV show or movie night selection, including some great original streaming movies. To simplify things for you, we’ve compiled some of the best new streaming movies to watch this week.

Check out our top picks from major streamers like Netflix, Hulu, Peacock, and more, including free streamers like Plex, Tubi, and Amazon’s Freevee, as well as more niche services like Mubi and Shudder. The titles below were added to these services in the last month, and we aim to include a mix of streaming originals, new releases, older classics, and more.

Apple is widely expected to launch a pricey Reality XR headset on Monday, but that isn’t stopping VR giant Meta from launching a new Quest headset. Yes, the company has just launched the Meta Quest 3, so what should you expect from the new device?

For starters, the company says the Meta Quest 3 is 40% slimmer than the Quest 2, which should make for a more comfortable experience. Meta says it’s also redesigned the Touch Plus controllers to be more ergonomic while completely dropping those quirky tracking rings.

Actor Danny Masterson has been found guilty of two out of three counts of forcible rape during his retrial in Los Angeles on Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

Danny Masterson Facing 30 Years In Prison After Conviction On Two Counts Of Rape

‘That 70s Show’ star now faces up to 30 years in prison upon sentencing later this summer.

His wife, fellow actor, and model Bijou Phillips, could be seen crying as a handcuffed Masterson, 47, was led out of the courtroom.

The third count, which claimed Masterson raped an ex-girlfriend, was ultimately dropped — of which the seven-woman, five-man jury ultimately could not reach a verdict.

Jury deliberations reportedly lasted over a week, the AP reports.

Wednesday’s guilty verdict brings an end to a complicated legal case. Masterson’s first trial, regarding Jane Doe #3, ended in a mistrial six months ago.

Victims – All Reportedly Former Scientology Members – Speak Out After Guilty Verdict

The victims are all former members of the Church of Scientology, which Masterson reportedly still belongs to.

He was charged in 2020; however, prosecutors say the crimes occurred from 2001 to 2003 at his Hollywood Hills home.

Jane Doe #2 said she was “experiencing a complex array of emotions” after the verdict was handed down, Variety reports. She added she was saddened that he was not convicted on all three counts.

“I am experiencing a complex array of emotions — relief, exhaustion, strength, sadness — knowing that my abuser, Danny Masterson, will face accountability for his criminal behavior,” Jane Doe No. 2 told CBS News. “I am disappointed that he was not convicted on all counts, but take great solace in the fact that he, the Church of Scientology, and others, will have to fully account for their abhorrent actions in civil court.”

Meanwhile, Jane Doe #3 said she was “devastated that he has dodged criminal accountability for his heinous conduct against me. ”

She also noted how “Scientology… enabled… Masterson’s monstrous behavior.”

“Despite my disappointment in this outcome, I remain determined to secure justice, including in civil court, where I, along with my co-plaintiffs, will shine a light on how Scientology and other conspirators enabled and sought to cover up Masterson’s monstrous behavior,” she said.

Masterson Maintains Innocense, Sentencing Scheduled For Aug. 4

Masterson refused to take the stand, and his attorneys didn’t call any witnesses, as they had done during the previous trial.

He has denied the charges ever since his June 2020 arrest.

He also denied assaulting a fourth Jane Doe, per CBS News. That woman told the court he had raped her as well in his first trial.

Masterson famously played the role of Steven Hyde on “That ’70s Show” from 1998 to 2006.

He’s scheduled for sentencing on Aug. 4.

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Initially, this service, which is different than ESPN+, did not have a desired price point. Now, Citi Research analyst Jason Bazinet suggests a ‘profit-maximizing price of $22 per month.’

Bazinet says this is a move and price that requires little risk but can lead to ample reward. The one change is that Bazinet suggests combining ESPN+ with the standalone ESPN content. Note that ESPN+ does not carry live offerings from the ESPN TV channel right now. Those still require some form of TV, cable or satellite subscription.

This price point is far less than cable, yes. While the pay-TV market penetration is at its lowest point since the 1990s, ESPN remains a driving force for cable subscriptions. As of now, just over 75 million Americans have a cable or other pay-TV subscription, and many of those seek out only the ESPN channel.

ESPN standalone app compares to similar services

ESPN is not the first cable channel or provider to create its own specific service. For example, Bally Sports and YES Network are two pay-TV channels that launched streaming options. Bally Sports Plus is $20 per month, and YES Network is $25 per month. In each instance, those offerings are specific to live broadcasts of generally three to five teams.

In comparison to a similar offering that has multiple channels, Comcast’s Now TV provides access to many cable TV channels for $20 per month. That being said, it does not have ESPN or Turner channels. Those are both pivotal to cable TV’s livelihood in the United States.

Therefore, it is no surprise to see ESPN as a standalone app to have such a relatively pricey monthly cost. With more people cutting the cord on cable, it could prove to be massively important for American audiences.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire

According to The Athletic, Radrizzani has offered to use Elland Road as collateral to secure a $32 million loan. This loan then assisted the takeover of the Italian side. Much like Leeds, Sampdoria is suffering relegation this season. The Genoese side currently sits bottom of the Italian top flight and has collected just three victories in the league this season. Sampdoria will complete their campaign with a matchup against champions Napoli on Sunday.

Leeds minority investors unaware of move between Elland Road and Sampdoria

Radrizzani was not at Elland Road last Sunday for the team’s final match of the season. Instead, the Italian was working on the deal to buy Sampdoria. Leeds will return to the Championship after three years in the English top flight.

Although Radrizzani does currently have a majority stake in Leeds, 49ers Enterprises also controls about 44% of the team. According to the aforementioned news outlet, the minority investors were completely unaware of Elland Road’s use in the massive loan. The stadium is not, however, actually owned by Leeds. Radrizzani privately purchased Elland Road in 2017.

The Athletic reached out to Radrizzani to discuss the Italian’s decision to use Elland Road as collateral. Radrizzani wasn’t exactly open to talking about the move. “What Aser Ventures does with its assets which includes several companies including Leeds United, Greenfield and Elland Road.. it’s none of your business,” stated the businessman.

49ers Enterprises likely to restart negotiations for club

49ers Enterprises have made it known that they are willing to purchase more of a stake in Leeds to become majority owners. However, previous considerations depended on the club staying in the Premier League. Things have changed on this front now that the Whites will take part in the Championship next season.

Nevertheless, Radrizzani and 49ers Enterprises should begin renegotiations once again for the buyout. The eventual final purchase price will surely be lower than first expected because of the relegation.

PHOTO: IMAGO / PA Images

The reason his attorneys are heading for the door became even more obvious on Wednesday when, as Hunter reported, it was learned that Smith’s investigation has an actual tape of Trump admitting to keeping a top-secret document related to a potential attack on Iran. That tape reportedly settles any questions that:

• Trump understood that he was withholding highly classified defense information

• Trump has revealed that information to others

• Trump knew that the documents had not been declassified

It’s far from all that’s happened in just the past few days. There are still more reports of documents being shifted around in anticipation of a visit from the FBI, concerns around workers dodging security cameras, and even more evidence that Trump trotted out classified material for visitors. All of which makes the potential for a warrant with Trump’s name on it more likely.

Trump is already facing 34 felony counts of document fraud in New York. That’s before the potential charges that could result from an investigation in Fulton County, Georgia, and the other half of Jack Smith’s investigation tied to Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election. But with reports that the classified document case is nearly complete, that case may win the race in being the next to force Trump to appear before a judge.

Any charges stemming from Trump’s actions concerning the documents found at Mar-a-Lago are likely to split across two areas. One is the violation of the Presidential Records Act. This applies to almost all the material, classified or not, that Trump took away from the White House without first providing it to the National Archives. This could result in a number of charges, including conversion of government property and removing and concealing government records. On top of this, Trump’s repeated deceptions in the handling of the documents could lead to charges of obstruction of justice,  false statements to authorities, and criminal contempt.

That’s just the unclassified documents.

With the classified documents, Trump is facing even more serious charges of unauthorized removal and retention of classified documents, as well as additional charges related to false statements and contempt.

The reported nature of that Iran document could also lead to charges for collection of national defense information and other violations of the Espionage Act. Some of these charges are serious on their own, and if prosecutors are able to go the full gamut by showing that Trump knowingly removed documents related to areas of national defense and showed those documents to others for gain, the penalties are not going to be a slap on the wrist.

Here’s just one line of events that seems likely to be near the top of Smith’s agenda.

1. That recently turned-over recording reportedly shows Trump knowingly took classified documents related to defense strategy around Iran. CNN reports that Trump discussed the document at a meeting, including revealing that the document contains pages prepared by Gen. Mark Miley concerning a potential attack on Iran.

2. Last week, The Washington Post reported that Smith’s team has evidence that Trump showed classified documents to “visitors” to Mar-a-Lago.

3. Visitors to Mar-a-Lago included members of the Saudi Arabian government that is sponsoring LIV Golf events which happen exclusively at Trump facilities, pumping millions into his coffers.

How hard is it to believe that Trump may have given Saudi visitors a quick peek at what the United States knew about the defenses of Iran? How hard is it to believe that he didn’t?

Though reports began coming two weeks ago that Smith was nearing the end of the classified documents case, new information continues to appear almost daily in terms of what the investigation has learned. That includes reports on how workers at Mar-a-Lago repeatedly moved boxes from the supposedly secure storage facility, including some moves just a day before the FBI’s arrival. There are also reports that at least one of those workers became concerned about what might be seen on security cameras after helping a Trump aide remove some documents from the room. Whether the removed documents were turned over to the FBI or removed completely from Mar-a-Lago isn’t clear.

It’s not a wonder that Trump’s lawyers keep running away. What’s amazing is that he manages to get someone to represent him in the first place.

We have Rural Organizing’s Aftyn Behn. Markos and Aftyn talk about what has been happening in rural communities across the country and progressives’ efforts to engage those voters. Behn also gives the podcast a breakdown of which issues will make the difference in the coming elections.

At the time of Hollis’ pregnancy, Tennessee’s abortion ban had a theoretical exemption for the life of the mother—but doctors could only invoke it as a defense to being charged with a felony for providing an abortion to begin with. Needless to say, few doctors were willing to run that risk. In April, Gov. Bill Lee signed a law slightly expanding the medical exemptions, but that’s not going to be enough. Other states already have life or health of the mother exemptions and it’s still common for doctors (and, even more so, hospital lawyers) to demand that pregnant people face imminent death before getting care. Stories like Hollis’ can still happen in Tennessee, even under the tweaked version of the law.

In Tennessee, as in some other solidly Republican states, lawmakers overreached what voters wanted. Republican lawmakers presumably felt on strong footing: A decade ago, Tennesseans opposed abortion by a 24-point margin, but by 2022, following the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, public opinion on abortion had shifted, with roughly equal proportions of people polled saying they were “pro-choice” and “pro-life.” Voters in the state wanted broader exemptions to an abortion ban, but few knew what was in the new law. Once its implications had a few months to settle in, Lee and Republican legislators were apparently feeling enough pressure to get them to change the law, however inadequately.

Hollis got pregnant soon after giving birth by cesarean, and her doctor warned her that this put her at risk of cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy, in which a pregnancy implants in the scar from a previous cesarean. The condition can cause the uterus to rupture, which can be fatal. The Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine “recommend[s] against expectant management of cesarean scar ectopic pregnancy”—but that is exactly what Tennessee law required of Hollis, unless her doctors wanted to have to defend themselves against felony charges. As a result, she went through an excruciating, dangerous pregnancy.

At 25 weeks, Hollis was hospitalized for four days, then went home only to return to the hospital a day later. Her bleeding was so intense that she had to receive blood transfusions through both arms, both legs, and her neck. She had a simultaneous cesarean delivery and emergency hysterectomy, which was necessary to stop the bleeding. Her daughter Alayna spent more than two months in the hospital before going home, and in the following months had to return to the hospital five times.

No one should have to go through this, but equally appalling stories are coming out of other states that have banned abortion. Five women sued Texas, seeking clarification of exactly what exemptions apply to that state’s abortion ban after they were denied abortion care despite threats to their own health or fetal conditions incompatible with life. One, Amanda Zurawski, was finally allowed an abortion after her fetus’s heartbeat stopped, but due to the delay Zurawski developed a secondary infection, required a blood transfusion, and ended up in the ICU. Even after surgery to remove scar tissue from her uterus and fallopian tubes, one of her tubes could not be opened.

Those five women are not alone. The New York Times reported:

A study from two Dallas hospitals reported on 28 patients whose water broke or who had other serious complications before 22 weeks’ gestation, and who, because of Texas laws, didn’t receive medical intervention until there was an “immediate threat” to their lives or fetal cardiac activity stopped. On average, the patients waited nine days, and 57 percent ended up with serious infections, bleeding or other medical problems, the report said.

A recent survey of medical providers by the University of California, San Francisco, found that care for Black and Latina patients was particularly damaged by abortion bans.

Abortion bans, with the refusal to provide care in cases that threaten the health of the mother or where the fetus cannot survive, are a direct cause of unnecessary crisis, trauma, and lasting health complications.

Hollis’ experience also shows—in a particularly extreme way—the costs abortion bans impose on people denied abortions because they can’t afford to leave the state. Not knowing Tennessee was about to ban abortion, Hollis took her time in deciding whether to continue with a risky pregnancy. She decided to terminate the pregnancy on the day Tennessee’s ban went into effect. That meant going out of state was her only option. But she and her husband couldn’t afford to take the time off work.

Because they couldn’t afford that time off work and travel, Hollis had to carry a life-threatening pregnancy to term. She was put on bed rest at one point—time she couldn’t afford to take off work—and was hospitalized for days. She had bleeding so intense that she had to receive blood transfusions through both arms, both legs, and her neck. She had major surgery. She has a baby who spent months in the hospital and has had to return repeatedly. The medical bills must be astronomical, in addition to far more lost work time than what she concluded she couldn’t afford to miss to travel for an abortion last year.

"[I've] just been stressed out a little bit not knowing what's going to go on with my daughter, how I'm gonna get her what she needs and what's gonna happen next. So I'm just trying to hang in there," Hollis told ABC News. She added, "It's been really hard to go back to work because I don't have the means to pay for the adequate care that she needs. So I've been trying to get help."

Being denied an abortion often has serious negative economic impacts, even in cases without the dramatic physical dangers Hollis faced. Studies have shown that women who seek abortions and are turned away are more likely to end up in poverty and facing outcomes like bankruptcy or eviction than their counterparts who can have abortions.

Tennessee’s abortion ban denied Mayron Hollis the right to make decisions about her health, in consultation with her doctors. The result was major surgery, the loss of the chance to decide to have more children in the future, immense physical trauma, and economic hardship. Policy shouldn’t just be made on extreme cases—everyone should have the right to decide whether to carry a pregnancy to term—but the fact that Republicans in states like Tennessee have passed abortion bans extreme enough to lead to cases like Hollis’ shows how deep the hostility to women’s reproductive autonomy goes.

How can Democrats win the messaging war? It turns out there's actually a science to it, as strategic communications consultant Anat Shenker-Osorio tells us on this week's episode of "The Downballot." Shenker-Osorio explains how her research shows the importance of treating voters as protagonists; how Democrats can avoid ceding "freedom" to Republicans by emphasizing "freedoms," plural; and why it actually makes sense to call out "MAGA Republicans" (even though, yes, it's all Republicans).

Even though Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have championed a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws — spurring the most prominent gay rights group in the U.S. and other civil rights organizations to issue warnings that the Sunshine State may no longer be safe — Gay Days organizers are still encouraging visitors from around the world to come to one of Florida's largest gay and lesbian celebrations.

They say a large turnout will send a message that LGBTQ+ people aren't going away in Florida, which is continually one of the most popular states for tourists to visit. If the hoped-for 150,000 or more visitors come to the half-week of pool parties, drag bingo and thrill rides at Orlando's theme parks and hotels, then “that's the point,” said Joseph Clark, CEO of Gay Days Inc.

“Right now is not the time to run. It’s not the time to go away,” Clark said. “It’s time to show we are here, we are queer and we aren’t going anywhere.”

Unlike most of the country, which celebrates Pride in June, Orlando holds its Pride in October. Gay Days is a bonus celebration.

It's not lost on the organizers that the highlight of the weekend will be a Saturday meetup of LGBTQ+ visitors at the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, where the first Gay Days started as a single-day celebration in 1991. Traditionally, participants wear red shirts to identify themselves, and they meet for the afternoon parade in front of Cinderella’s Castle.

Currently Disney is embroiled in a legal fight with DeSantis over the governor and Republican lawmakers' takeover of Disney World's governing district — after Disney officials publicly opposed legislation that critics have dubbed “Don't Say Gay.”

At first, the law banned classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity up to third grade, but this year it was expanded to apply to all grades. On top of that, Florida lawmakers recently passed bills making it a felony to provide gender-affirming health care to transgender minors, as well as banning people from entering bathrooms other than their sex assigned at birth, and prohibiting children from some performances, which takes aim at drag shows.

The administration of DeSantis, who launched a campaign for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination last week, also moved to revoke the liquor licenses of a Miami hotel and a performing arts center owned by the Orlando Philharmonic Plaza Foundation after they hosted drag shows where investigators claim minors were present.

In response, some Florida cities, including St. Cloud near Orlando, have canceled Pride events altogether.

“These laws have created a climate of fear and hostility for LGBTQIA+ people in Florida,” organizers for St. Cloud's Pride events wrote to announce the cancellation. “We believe that holding an LGBTQIA+ event in this environment would put our community at risk.”

Responding to Florida's new laws and policies, the Human Rights Campaign — the largest LGBTQ+ rights organization in the U.S. — recently issued a travel and relocation warning for the state, joining the NAACP, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Florida Immigrant Coalition and Equality Florida.

While the LGBTQ+ advocacy group said it wasn’t calling for a boycott of all travel to Florida, it said it wanted to highlight new laws passed by the Republican-controlled Florida Legislature that they said are hostile to the LGBTQ+ community and restrict abortion access, as well as make the state unsafe for many by allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit.

Even before these travel advisories were issued, some regular Florida visitors were reconsidering their plans. Sara Haynes, who lives in metro Atlanta with her husband, decided not to visit the state after lawmakers started planning legislation to restrict treatment options for trans people.

“It’s less a crusade and more like, ‘I’m not going to spend my money where bad things are going on,’” Haynes said.

But the organizers of Gay Days and their supporters say that Orlando is as gay-friendly a city as they come, earning a perfect score on the Human Rights Campaign index, which measures how inclusive cities are of LGBTQ+ residents and visitors. They say that tourists can support the LGBTQ+ community by visiting cities like Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and St. Petersburg, which also received perfect scores.

“We live in a bubble here in Orlando, where even with the chaos in Florida, we feel safe here,” said Jeremy Williams, editor-in-chief of Watermark Publishing Group Inc., a Florida-based media company that is one of the sponsors of Gay Days.

Gay Days has survived past challenges, including in the early years when Disney posted signs at the Magic Kingdom's entrance warning visitors there was a large gathering of gays and lesbians and offering passes to other parks for guests who might be offended. Over the last three decades, though, the theme parks and resorts have thrown down the welcome mats as Gay Days has become a profitable bounce between the spring break and out-of-school summer crowds. SeaWorld’s water park, Aquatica, is a sponsor this year.

Other groups have adopted hostile attitudes in the past. During Gay Days in the 1990s, hundreds of anti-abortion activists with Operation Rescue protested outside Walt Disney World, and the Southern Baptist Convention cited the gathering in calling for a boycott of all things Disney. Some Christian groups tried to buy air time during Gay Days in the late 1990s to pressure people to renounce their sexual orientation, but mainstream TV stations in Orlando rejected the ads.

If Clark, the CEO of the Gay Days business, had his wish, DeSantis would accept an open invitation to see one of the drag shows during this year's festivities.

“Come on out and see that not everything you hear out there is reality,” said Clark, as if he were directly addressing DeSantis. “There’s a part of me that hopes that if he were to see a show, maybe his mind would change, or maybe he would see the people his actions are affecting.”

Priced at $499, the Quest 3 is $100 pricier than its 2020 predecessor (make that $200 with today’s price drop), causing some analysts to balk at the headset. Timing is everything, of course. Odds are that price tag will look more appealing come Monday, when Apple is expected to reveal its Reality Pro – the MR system its been cooking for at least seven years, which is expected to run around $3,000.

Image Credits: Meta

In an Instagram post, Mark Zuckerberg called the headset, “The first mainstream headset with high-res color mixed reality. 40% thinner and more comfortable.” The CEO added that the product features the latest Snapdragon, along with higher resolution displays and “2x GPU performance.” The precise details behind the new Qualcomm SoC are as of yet unknown. Meta promised the chipmaker will reveal more details “later this year.”

A video attached to the post also touts “full color passthrough” – a feature tied to the AR bit of the MR experience, using built in cameras to capture the world in front of the wearer, offering an experience akin to graphical images overlayed atop the real world. Passthrough has been a bit of a crapshoot with mixed reality devices. The experience tends to be lacking on cheaper ($499 being cheap in this relative equation) headsets.

Image Credits: Meta

In a blog post, Meta notes, “Now, Quest 3 is taking it a step further with dual 4MP RGB color cameras, a depth sensor for a more accurate representation of your play space, and 10x more pixels in Passthrough compared to Quest 2. Much of the hand tracking is accomplished here through revamped controllers with a “more streamlined and ergonomic form factor.” The company adds, “Thanks to our advances in tracking technology, we’ve dropped the outer tracking rings so the controllers feel like a more natural extension of your hands and take up less space.” They also feature the same “TruTouch” haptics found on the company’s Quest Pro.

It’s easy to read much of the post as digs at Apple’s forthcoming headset. “Mainstream” is certainly a key word, anticipating a potential $2,500 price gap between the two systems. Though Apple’s offering is likely to be positioned as a closer competitor to the high-end Meta Quest Pro, which starts at $1,000 or the $3,300 Magic Leap 2. Though those systems also feature enterprise offerings, and Apple’s entry is likely to be consumer focused.

Image Credits: Meta

The system is compatible with the Quest 2’s content library, which currently includes more than 500 titles — it’s an extremely healthy head start on Apple. Monday’s Reality Pro announcement is expected to be aimed at developers specifically (it is the Worldwide Developers Conference, after all), giving them time to create and adapt experiences for a system that’s likely to arrive close to the end of the year.

Along with a $100 price drop, the Quest 2 is also getting a refresh. Says Meta,

In an upcoming software update, we’re updating the Quest 2 and Quest Pro GPU and CPU. Quest 2 and Pro will see an up-to 26% CPU performance increase with an up-to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro.

Zuckerberg promised additional information about the Quest 3 at Meta’s September 27 Connect conference — certainly that lines up with the fall timeline.

Meta’s $499 Quest 3 headset arrives this fall by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch

E-commerce rival Amazon introduced a similar option back in 2019, with its Amazon Day Delivery, which allows shoppers to pick a single day per week to receive their Amazon orders.

Image Credits: Walmart

Walmart estimates the changes to the mailers alone will eliminate 65 million plastic bag mailers or more than 2,000 tons of plastic from circulation in the U.S. by the end of the current fiscal year. However, this initiative only applies to orders shipped with Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). Third-party sellers on Walmart’s Marketplace have the option to use WFS, but are not required to. Plus, Walmart isn’t committing to a total shift, instead saying that it will impact “nearly all orders shipped in plastic mailers” from its fulfillment centers, stores, and marketplace items shipped with WFS — but not “all orders.”

In addition, Walmart will no longer require customers to accept their pickup orders in single-use plastic grocery bags, following earlier tests. Based on early adoption, the retailer believes this option will lead to the elimination of millions of single-use bags from circulation each year. The option will roll out across the U.S. throughout 2023 with an expected completion by year-end.

Image Credits: Walmart

Ahead of this change, Walmart had been working to reduce its use of single-use bags, recently expanding to four more regions in line with local regulations, including Delaware, Oregon, Washington D.C., and Washington state. In these markets, Walmart stores won’t offer single-use bags at the frontend or at pickup, bringing the total number of states where bags were eliminated to 10. Including Walmart Canada and Mexico, the company said it anticipated avoiding the use of nearly 2 billion single-use bags every year.

While any improvement is welcome here, the reality is that much stricter steps or tougher regulations would be needed to truly solve the problem of the overuse of plastic. The convenience of e-commerce and online grocery means there is more plastic in circulation than would be necessary if customers went to the store with their own bags, rather than having items shipped to their homes in boxes or mailers or items picked up in plastic bags.

In addition, some of these changes are optional for the customer — they have to choose to reduce their deliveries or decline single-use bags at pickup by bringing their own. That again puts more of the burden on the consumer who has to remember to make the sustainable choice.

Walmart says it’s also working to reduce cardboard in shipments by transitioning to right-size packaging, which is rolling out to roughly half its fulfillment network, using technologies that reduce the need for filler by 60%. And it’s working with AI technologies to identify when items can be fulfilled from stores instead of fulfillment centers, reducing the number of miles that need to be driven. These efforts are ongoing and were highlighted as other examples of where Walmart is looking toward sustainability.

Walmart to drop plastic mailers, let customers bring their own bags to order pickup by Sarah Perez originally published on TechCrunch

I'll admit, I have a bad habit when it comes to shopping, sometimes I get so excited about trying new trends and putting my own spin on them that my wardrobe can end up looking like a pile of trends that don't always stay in style for longer than a season or two.This summer I have two missions, to shop smarter, and to but pieces that are versatile and can be worn over and over again. Naturally, this journey towards timeless chic pieces that I’ll be styling all season long led me to a deep dive on Nordstrom’s site for the best basics I could find. I went in with a few things in mind: great shoes that can go from day to night, jeans that I’ll keep for years, and dresses that can go from the office to happy hour. As always Nordstrom had everything that I was looking for and more from all of my favorite brands like COS and Levi’s and styles that feel fresh and elevated.

While I may be focused on shopping smarter that doesn’t mean I’m willing to sacrifice on style, keep scrolling to see which chic Nordstrom basics I can’t wait to wear this summer.

Next, 7 Fashion Brands Gen Z Can't Stop Talking About (Including Me)

Primetime is usually considered to be from 8:00-11:00 PM locally, and this includes many major sports events. Major soccer games taking place outside the US often fall outside of this timeframe, however.

But in terms of both sports and standard programming, numbers have been down across all the major networks over the past decade.

CBS dropped from an average of 11.85 million viewers in 2012/13 to just 5.96 million this past season. During the same timeframe, FOX went from 7.02 to 4.45 million, NBC from 6.97 to 5.27 million, and ABC from 7.88 to 4.14 million.

Meanwhile, more than 25,600 people cut the cord every day in the first quarter of 2023. If that rate continues, it’ll be 9.3 million American households cutting the cord this year.

As younger viewers come of age, they are consistently eschewing traditional cable or satellite TV in favor of streaming. This generation of viewers is comfortable with watching on devices such as phones, tablets, computers or gaming consoles. And the taste for consuming content on demand makes it no surprise that being tethered to a cable box and TV isn’t standing the text of time.

The future of soccer & sports

The soccer and broader sports world has already largely embraced the shift from traditional primetime TV. Leagues such as Serie A, LaLiga, NWSL, and the Bundesliga have every match streaming in the US, with only select games airing on TV. The Premier League has several games every weekend available only via Peacock. And Major League Soccer has gone all-in, creating their own streaming subscription service, MLS Season Pass. And of the handful of MLS games still featured on linear TV, hardly any are in primetime.

The continued shift away from traditional TV bodes well for sports leagues who’ve already hitched their wagons to streaming. And with the future of America’s regional sports networks – which air nightly MLB, NBA and NHL games – in question, things are likely to swing even further in that direction.

It’s likely that not too far in the future, America’s traditional primetime sports could all find themselves exclusively on platforms such as ESPN+, or with their own dedicated streaming services. The days of flipping channels in the living room to find a game will soon be a thing of the past.

“This is a European final, and with this kind of refereeing, it is hard to accept,” proclaimed Mourinho in his postgame press conference. “If we talk about refereeing situations, it’s not two or three, it is many. Those of us who have been in football a long time realize immediately what is going on.”

Taylor breaks record for most bookings in Europa final

Taylor gave out 14 total yellow cards throughout the massive match. This was a record for a Europa League final. Mourinho was, of course, one of those involved to receive a booking.

The Roma manager then broke down exact situations where he felt officials involved in the game were wrong. “[Lorenzo] Pellegrini falls in box and given a yellow card; [Lucas] Ocampos did exactly the same thing and he doesn’t get one. It’s a scandal,” continued Mourinho. “VAR called the referee and shames Ocampos, but there’s no card given.”

“[Erik] Lamela — who, by the way, scored one of the penalties — deserved a second yellow but didn’t get it. And let’s not even talk about the big decisions. That’s just the small details.”

Jose Mourinho takes it out on referee after Europa League Final

Along with ranting about officiating mistakes, Mourinho even confronted Taylor in the stadium’s parking garage. The 60-year-old coach yelled profanities and called the English referee a disgrace. According to the BBC, UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti was present at the time and attempted to defuse the situation.

Nevertheless, the governing body of the sport in Europe is reviewing reports from Taylor and fourth official Michael Oliver. UEFA will then make a decision on whether or not to take further action toward Mourinho. The coach could face a multiple-match suspension for his actions during and after the game.

PHOTO: IMAGO / Sportimage

The true value of Bitcoin has oscillated at around $27,000 for the past month, and odds-setters are certainly not taking any chances with many observers predicting a recovery beyond $30,000 by the end of 2023.

• BetOnline have set their Bitcoin value over/under spread at surprisingly low benchmark of $21,000 by the end of 2023.
• Upswing in Bitcoin’s value so far this year sees the ‘over’ market handed the shorter price.
• Odds compilers have also listed prices for popular cryptocurrencies Dogecoin, Litecoin and Ethereum.

Bitcoin Price Odds

Over at BetOnline, they have set the over/under spread for Bitcoin’s value at $21,000 by the end of 2023, with their odds-setters treading with caution after handing the shortest price to the ‘over’ market, given the currency’s remarkable recovery so far this year.

See below for their latest Bitcoin price odds:

• Over $21000.5 @ -400
• Under $21000.5 @ +250

The price of Bitcoin had been steadily falling since reaching its loftiest point in November 2021, where the value of one coin was equal to around $64,400.

A more stringent regulatory environment, coupled with the collapse of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange FTX, gave way to a steep decline in its value. It reached its lowest point in almost three years at the tail end of 2022, where it stood at around $16,500.

Since the turn of the year however, Bitcoin’s value has taken a promising upturn, even returning to summer 2022 levels with its value sitting steadily at plus-$30,000 just over a month ago.

One can only assume a continuation of this moderately bullish price activity should see its price near the $30,000 mark by the end of the year, but the uncertainty around regulatory framework emanating from the UK and US governments have asset holders keeping their feet firmly on the ground for now.

Rumblings of a genuine upsurge appeared realistic in the early days of 2023, and although the heat has been turned down somewhat, Bitcoin it is still trading up over 60%.

2024 is predicted to be the most significant event since last year’s crash, with the quadrennial Bitcoin halving event approaching;  this is where rewards for mining transactions are halved to control inflation rates and the scarcity of the coin itself. This event is typically associated with an upswing in Bitcoin’s value and general market buzz.

Other Cryptocurrency Price Predictions

Dogecoin

• Under 7 Cents @ -125
• Over 7 Cents @ -110

Dogecoin remains the largest memecoin with a market cap of nearly 30 times that of PEPE coin, which many thought would surpass it as the latest trend sweeping through a highly volatile asset subsection.

Activity points towards a strong bounce in the very near future, but it has remained somewhat sideways for over a month which has oddsmakers struggling to split the over/under spread.

Ethereum

• Under $1400.5 @ -170
• Over $1400.5 @ +120

Despite many predicting a sizeable return on investment for Ethereum and projections of a 7% increase by the end of the year, BetOnline have set their spread at under $1,400. For context, the price hasn’t dipped below that level since December 2022.

Litecoin

• Under $88.5 @ -140
• Over $88.5 @ +100

Market analysts have widely predicted a maximum value of just over $96 by the end of the year, so there may be value to be had in BetOnline’s latest prices for Litecoin.

Lee Astley, the Head of News for Sportslens, said: “Given the regulatory climate surrounding decentralised assets, it appears everyone in the cryptosphere is treading with caution.

“Framework for more stringent measures to control these markets, are being pushed through at a faster rate than ever by some of the world’s most influential governments, which of course has had a huge bearing on the price of some of these assets.

“However, the promising upsurge of Bitcoin at the start of the year has largely continued, and those within the community are predicting a strong recovery by the end of 2023.”

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Mark Zuckerberg just announced Meta Quest 3, our next-generation virtual and mixed reality headset, which launches later this year. It features higher resolution, stronger performance, breakthrough Meta Reality technology, and a slimmer, more comfortable form factor. Quest 3 will ship in all countries where Meta Quest is currently supported this fall. The 128GB headset starts at $499.99 USD, and we’ll offer an additional storage option for those who want some extra space. Mark your calendars because we’ll have lots more to share at Meta Connect, which returns this year on September 27.

Quest 3 is the supercharged all-in-one headset you’ve been waiting for — no wires required. Sign up to be the first to learn about Meta Quest 3.

Our Most Powerful Headset Yet

Quest 3 combines our highest resolution display and pancake optics to make content look better than ever. To power those extra pixels, this will be the first headset to feature a next-generation Snapdragon chipset developed in collaboration with Qualcomm Technologies. That next-gen Snapdragon chipset delivers more than twice the graphical performance as the previous generation Snapdragon GPU in Quest 2 — meaning you’ll get smoother performance and incredibly crisp details in immersive games. 

Immersive VR + Breakthrough Meta Reality in a Single Device

On Quest 3, our best-in-class Meta Reality technology lets you seamlessly blend your physical world with the virtual one. These new experiences go beyond today’s mixed reality by intelligently understanding and responding to objects in your physical space and allowing you to navigate that space in natural, intuitive ways that were nearly impossible before. High-fidelity color Passthrough, innovative machine learning, and spatial understanding let you interact with virtual content and the physical world simultaneously, creating limitless possibilities to explore. Now you can play a virtual board game on your kitchen table with Demeo, decorate your living room with virtual art courtesy of Painting VR, or dive into a fully immersive world to do things that are simply not possible otherwise. 

Quest 3 makes Meta Reality available to even more people and at a lower price point, making it our first mass-market offering to deliver both cutting-edge VR and MR experiences in a single device, setting a new benchmark for future headsets.

Redesigned for Comfort + Control

With a 40% slimmer optic profile* compared to Quest 2, Quest 3 is a sleeker, more comfortable headset. We also completely redesigned Quest 3’s Touch Plus controllers with a more streamlined and ergonomic form factor. Thanks to our advances in tracking technology, we’ve dropped the outer tracking rings so the controllers feel like a more natural extension of your hands and take up less space. We also included TruTouch haptics that first debuted in Touch Pro to help you feel the action like never before. You can even upgrade to our fully self-tracked Meta Quest Touch Pro Controllers for a premium experience. And hand tracking will be supported out of the box, so you can explore without controllers, thanks to Direct Touch that lets you use just your hands to interact with virtual objects.

World’s Best Library of Immersive Content

Quest 3 is compatible with the Quest 2 catalog of over 500 VR games, apps, and experiences (and counting), and we’ve got even more exciting new VR and MR titles lined up for launch. That means Quest 3 will have the world’s best library of immersive experiences on day one. Be sure to tune in to today’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase for a rundown of new games and updates coming to the Quest Platform — plus a sneak peek at Quest 3’s AAA flagship adventure.

Quest 2 Gets New Lower Prices, Plus a Performance Upgrade

We’re excited for Quest 3 and look forward to sharing more later this year at Connect. But what about Quest 2?

Meta Quest 2 changed the face of VR when it first hit the scene in 2020, ushering in a new era of gaming, fitness, and more. It’s already one of the most affordable ways to get into VR — and it’s about to get even better. Starting June 4, we’re lowering the price of Quest 2 to $299.99 USD for the 128GB SKU and $349.99 USD for the 256GB SKU, helping even more people access the magic of all-in-one VR and our vast content library.

But that’s not all! In an upcoming software update, we’re updating the Quest 2 and Quest Pro GPU and CPU. Quest 2 and Pro will see an up-to 26% CPU performance increase with an up-to 19% GPU speed increase for Quest 2 and 11% for Quest Pro. As developers take advantage of these changes, you can expect smoother gameplay, a more responsive UI, and richer content on both headsets. And we’re enabling Dynamic Resolution Scaling for both Quest 2 and Quest Pro, so games and apps can take advantage of increased pixel density without dropping frames.

While Quest 3 sets a new standard for mixed reality, immersive gaming, and what a mainstream VR headset can be, Quest 2 remains our most affordable entry point to VR and Pro is optimized for work use cases, with face and eye tracking for more authentic self-expression in meetings. We’ll continue to sell Quest 2 and Pro alongside Quest 3, as well as continue shipping new software updates to make the Quest experience even better.

From games, to fitness apps, professional collaboration tools and more, Quest has something for everyone. And we can’t wait to welcome even more people to the Meta Quest community.

Sign up to be the first to learn about Meta Quest 3.

And see all the highlights from today’s Meta Quest Gaming Showcase.

* Without foam facial interface

The post Meta Quest 3 Coming This Fall + Lower Prices for Quest 2 appeared first on Meta.

Waguespack’s backers at Reboot Louisiana, which began a $1.75 million TV campaign in early May to boost the first-time candidate’s name recognition, launched a new spot on Wednesday hammering Landry on an issue he's sought to make his own. “Murder, rape, car jackings. Under Landry’s watch, Louisiana is the most dangerous state in America,” intones a narrator, who goes on to argue that Waguespack “has a plan to take Louisiana back from the criminals.” Landry himself has been emphasizing crime in his advertising, though he’s unsubtly blamed it on Black Democratic mayors and district attorneys.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has not taken sides in the contest to succeed termed-out Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, responded to Reboot Louisiana’s commercial by calling for Waguespack to “denounce” the message. “We must learn from the mistakes of the 2015 and 2019 governor’s races, where Republican infighting ultimately squandered our opportunities to win the Governor’s mansion,” Scalise said in a statement referring to Edwards’ two wins in this red state.

Scalise might have also noted that Republicans only began hitting one another on the airwaves much later in those two contests. In 2015, the super PAC supporting frontrunner David Vitter only sprung into action around Labor Day by attacking his two main intra-party rivals, Jay Dardene and Scott Angelle, in a sign that Vitter wasn’t quite as strong as he looked. The scandal-tarred Vitter did indeed make it to the November general election against Edwards, but at great cost: Dardenne crossed party lines to endorse Edwards, who went on to score an upset win the next month, while Angelle remained neutral.

It took a bit longer four years later for the two leading Republicans, Rep. Ralph Abraham and wealthy businessman Eddie Rispone, to start attacking one another on the air, but once again, it hurt the party’s efforts against Edwards. Rispone began targeting his fellow Republican just three weeks before the first round of voting, and while the defeated Abraham did endorse Rispone for the second round, some of the damage was irreparable. Edwards worked hard to fan the flames of intraparty animosity by reminding Abraham’s constituents about the slams Rispone had leveled at their representative, a tactic that helped him perform significantly better in Abraham's district than Democrats usually do.

The Democrat who wants to benefit from this year’s early GOP clash is former state Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, who would be the first African American elected statewide since Reconstruction. Three other Republicans running for governor―Treasurer John Schroder, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, and state Rep. Richard Nelson―are meanwhile hoping that an ugly battle between Landry and Waguespack will give them the chance to establish themselves as an alternative conservative option.

Four more Space Force missions will now be based in Colorado Springs, a notable choice during a larger and now politicized battle over where to locate the permanent headquarters of U.S. Space Command. Colorado Springs, which is housing Space Command's temporary headquarters, was the Air Force’s preferred location, but Donald Trump, in the final days of his presidency, selected Alabama instead.

While the Pentagon and White House have said the decisions are not directly linked, Alabama has strict anti-abortion laws, and its Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville earlier this year announced he would hold up all military nominations until the Department of Defense rescinds a new policy that would allow female service members to be reimbursed for travel costs if they have to go out of state for reproductive care.

Tuberville's office was not immediately available for comment Wednesday evening.

The Space Force announcement came as President Joe Biden left for Colorado Springs to speak during Thursday's commencement ceremony at the nearby U.S. Air Force Academy.

Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet said he'll be using the president's visit as another opportunity to press for the command.

“As President Biden and his administration near a final basing decision for Space Command, we urge them to restore the integrity of this process and make a decision in the interest of our national security — to keep Space Command in Colorado Springs," his office said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Air Force has been moving forward with getting fully dug in at Colorado Springs, where more than 20 of the military’s space missions are now based. The Air Force Academy now has a space curriculum and graduates Space Force Guardians alongside its Air Force cadets.

“Colorado Springs continues to prove itself as the premier location for our nation’s space defense operations,” Colorado Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn said in a statement announcing the selection.

The Space Force, founded in December 2019, is the smallest of the military branches, with just under 8,400 personnel. But it has seen its budget rapidly rise as the U.S. has scrambled to defend against a rapid militarization of space, such as North Korea's failed Wednesday launch of a ballistic missile believed to be carrying a spy satellite.

The four new missions in Colorado Springs include Delta 15, a headquarters unit for the service’s space operations command; Space Delta 12, a test and evaluation unit; and two surveillance squadrons.

Other locations announced Wednesday as new permanent homes for Space Force missions are in Florida and New Mexico.

Similarly, siblings are often at opposite poles politically—and in numerous other ways. And these differences appear particularly stark when one sibling is a U.S. senator who continues to burnish his racist bona fides under the klieg lights of media scrutiny and the other is, well, not.

Such is the case with Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville and his brother Charles. Charles Tuberville, a Tulsa, Oklahoma-based singer, songwriter, and guitarist who’s played with notables such as B.B. King and Delbert McClinton, has taken note of Tommy’s frequent racist dog-whistling/vituperative vuvuzela-ing and is calling him out over his pig-ignorant comments.

RELATED STORY: Sen. Tuberville makes openly racist remarks on Don Jr.'s web show

AL.com:

The brother of U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville is speaking out on social media, saying he is “compelled to distance” himself from some of the lawmaker’s recent statements.

“Due to recent statements by him promoting racial stereotypes, white nationalism and other various controversial topics, I feel compelled to distance myself from his ignorant, hateful rants,” Charles Tuberville stated in a Facebook post.

“What I’m trying to say is that, I DO NOT agree with any of the vile rhetoric coming out of his mouth. Please don’t confuse my brother with me. Thanks, Charles Tuberville.”

Okay, so brothers often fight. That’s typical—and not really a big deal. And how bad can Sen. Tuberville’s public comments really be, huh? Well, we’ve researched this, and we now have an answer—and that answer is, “pretty fucking bad.”

For instance, in an interview last week on Donald Trump Jr.’s streaming show “Triggered,” Tuberville wondered aloud if teachers in the inner cities can even read. Because, you know, some sitting U.S. senators can barely read, and look how much they get paid for doing essentially nothing.

“The COVID really brought it out about how bad our schools are and how bad our teachers are, in the inner city. Most of them in the inner city, I don’t know how they got degrees,” Tuberville said. “I don’t know whether they can read and write. … And they want a raise. They want less time to work, less time in school. It’s just, we’ve ruined work ethic in this country. We don’t work at it anymore. We push an easy life.”

Yeah, imagine a country where a football coach who doesn’t know what the three branches of government are can just plop his ignorant ass into a U.S. Senate seat because he was endorsed by a shitty reality show host who spends the bulk of his morning tweeting obscenities on the toilet. That’s an education crisis of Brobdingnagian proportions. Also, if you’re trying to make a point about pervasive failures in our education system, maybe don’t start sentences with “The COVID.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time Tuberville has worn his racism on his sleeve. For instance, earlier this month, when asked if white nationalists should be allowed to serve in the military, he said, in reference to the Biden administration, “They call them that. I call them Americans.”

He then went on to elaborate, because why stop when you’re on a roll? “We are losing in the military so fast. Our readiness in terms of recruitment. And why? I’ll tell you why, because the Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don’t believe in our agenda, as Joe Biden’s agenda. They’re destroying it.”

Yeah, I don’t know about you, but I really doubt that white nationalism makes our military stronger. How’s Vladimir Putin's anti-woke army doing these days? 

And last October, in the run-up to the midterm elections, Tuberville had this to say of slavery reparations: “They’re not soft on crime,” Tuberville said in reference to Democrats. “They’re pro-crime. They want crime. They want crime because they want to take over what you got. They want to control what you have. They want reparation because they think the people that do the crime are owed that.”

Whoopsie. Looks like Tommy forgot his racist dogwhistle and was forced to trot out his Aryan airhorn. 

Many of us can sympathize with Charles, of course. Too many of us struggle to cope when family members—ignoring a coup attempt, bushels full of racism, overt mafia tactics, and literal calls to suspend the Constitution—go gaga each year over the return of their pumpkin-spiced Gotti. 

But imagine if your name were dragged through the mud on a daily basis like Charles’ is. You’d want to speak up, too. Thanks for letting us know what a shitheel your brother is, Charles. We get it. Oh, do we ever. But it’s nice to know not everyone in the Tuberville clan is quite as Klannish as Tommy.

Check out Aldous J. Pennyfarthing’s four-volume Trump-trashing compendium, including the finale, Goodbye, Asshat: 101 Farewell Letters to Donald Trump, at this link. Or, if you prefer a test drive, you can download the epilogue to Goodbye, Asshat for the low, low price of FREE.   

The official launch comes as Hello Games announced last year at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) that No Man’s Sky would eventually launch on Macs. Now, a few days before this year’s WWDC event, the game is now rolling out on Macs.

No Man’s Sky is available for players who have a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel-based Mac with at least a Core i5 processor.

“Including seven years of updates and built natively for Apple silicon and i5 Intel Macs, No Man’s Sky for Mac supports cross-play, PC-to-Mac cross-save, fast loading times using the Mac internal SSD and MetalFX upscaling for console graphics,” Hello Games wrote in the description for the game’s trailer.

No Man’s Sky first launched in 2016 and is available on the Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, PS5, PC and Nintendo Switch. The game is also accessible via VR through the PSVR 2. Given that Apple is expected to announce its mixed reality headset at WWDC next week, the tech giant’s device will likely eventually support the game.

No Man’s Sky launches on Mac starting today by Aisha Malik originally published on TechCrunch

Enter Chamberlain Coffee, a company started in 2019 by YouTuber Emma Chamberlain, who has over 12 million subscribers and creates videos about her life and travels. Chamberlain sells high-quality organic coffee roasted in California and that is sustainably sourced via Food4Farmers, supporting coffee-farming communities in Latin America.

It is among a number of startups trying to bring something different to coffee consumers. For example, Fellow and Blank Street are putting their spin on it, as are lots of celebrity coffee brands.

Today, Chamberlain Coffee announced it is entering the ready-to-drink space with a line of cold brew lattes and adding a national retail presence in Sprouts and Walmart.

Company CEO Christopher Gallant explained that Emma Chamberlain has been a coffee lover for a long time, and her videos often show her drinking it and talking about it. Wanting to create her own brand, she found a roaster and released a single-serve coffee.

“It took off like crazy, so she brought in folks that had worked in the beverage and branding spaces to help build it from that single-serve product into a full suite of products that was relaunched in 2020,” Gallant told TechCrunch.

Coffee products include cold brew singles, instant sticks, coffee pods, ground and whole bean options in fun names like “Fancy Mouse Espresso,” “Social Dog,” “Sweet Otter Cake Batter” and “Breezy Butterfly.” There is also matcha, chai and other teas.

“We’re really focused on making sure we make great products that can be used for cold brew, whether it’s already a drink, latte or whether that’s single-serve,” Gallant said. “And we have Emma, one of the most powerful voices of Gen Z. It’s leveraging her creative genius to help us create a brand that speaks to her cohort of consumers. If you walk down the coffee aisle and take a look, it’s a very ‘brown’ aisle. We’ve come in with bright colors, fun characters and just a much different approach to the brand than what’s out there already.”

Previously, much of Chamberlain Coffee’s business has been direct-to-consumer through the company’s website and Amazon; however, with the move to retail, Gallant said the company can reach even more customers while out for their ritual shopping trip.

Sprouts has carried Chamberlain Coffee’s dry goods line for the past year and it will now be in 4,000 Walmart stores, Gallant said. It is also launching in “a bunch more retailers this year” that are unannounced at this point.

Meanwhile, both of the new moves are buoyed by a new round of $7 million in venture capital that closed in April. This follows a $7 million Series A in August 2022. The company has now raised close to $20 million in total.

Blazar Capital and United Talent Agency joined Emma Chamberlain in the investment round that also included existing investors Volition Capital, Electric Feel Ventures and Noah Bremen, founder of PLTFRM.

Creating a ready-to-drink line wasn’t easy. It was a big challenge that required building both a new supply chain and downstream distribution team, Gallant said.

“Our team was amazing and did it in eight months when the process normally takes at least a year and a half,” he said.

Gallant declined to go into specifics about the number of customers Chamberlain Coffee served, but did say that over the past year, its subscription business has become a significant portion of online revenue now. The company also plans to double revenue this year.

The new investment plays into that strategy. Gallant intends to deploy the funds into innovation of new products, marketing and hiring to add supply chain, marketing and sales to support the new lines of business.

“We want to continue to come up with new exciting products that consumers love and go deeper into retail,” Gallant said. “We’re really focused on the national and conventional grocery spaces. From there, we are thinking about the next step for us, like drugstores or non-traditional retail. We are also considering expanding geographically. We’ve got a nice foothold in Europe.”

YouTuber Emma Chamberlain adds to coffee empire with ready-to-drink line by Christine Hall originally published on TechCrunch

Update, June 1, 2023 (09:57 AM ET): We now have a statement from OnePlus on this matter. To be clear, this is a statement from a company representative, not a customer support worker. Here is the statement full:

We apologize that a small number of users are having trouble redeeming their six months free trial of YouTube Premium — we are working with Google to resolve this and will keep users updated on our forum. In the meantime, we can confirm that all qualifying users will be able to benefit from their free trial as soon as this issue is resolved.

• Google is rolling out the June 2023 Pixel feature drop.
• The update includes new features coming to Android smartphones and tablets.
• Additional updates for the Pixel Watch and select Google services are also inbound.

Google is now rolling out the Pixel feature drop for June 2023, bringing some welcome changes to popular apps and services. This month, the company is touching on its broad range of platforms, not just the Pixel-only features that make devices like the Pixel 7a compelling.

Android updates

It’s hard to keep track of which streaming service is premiering which new show or movie from week to week. Netflix used to be king, but the streaming field is full of alternatives, and they’re all regularly pumping out new content. So, what are the best new streaming shows and where can you watch them?

Every week, we answer that question for you, offering some exciting new and returning titles, including streaming originals, from services like Max, Hulu, Prime Video, Paramount Plus, and, yes, Netflix. Features titles this week include the premiere of The Idol from the creator of Euphoria, the last episodes of Manifest on Netflix, the new season of the rebooted iCarly on Paramount Plus, and many more.

Tupac Shakur is posthumously being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. According to CBS News, the organization shared the announcement on Wednesday.

RELATED: Congrats! Ludacris Receives His Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame Alongside All His Daughters

Hollywood Walk Of Fame Producer, Ana Martinez, Shared The Announcement Wednesday

According to the outlet, Ana Martinez, a producer for the organization, shared the news via Twitter on Wednesday. In the tweet, Martinez shared a photo of Tupac with a brief description regarding the upcoming ceremony.

“Tupac Shakur to be honored with the 2,758th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame!”

Martinez also captioned the tweet with additional ceremony details.

“Ceremony will be held on June 7, at 10:30 am Catch livestream at http://walkoffame.com #WalkofFame“

Ceremony will be held on June 7, at 10:30 am
Catch livestream at https://t.co/XhICVh9yXQ #WalkofFame pic.twitter.com/MCYyyGKOtw

— Ana Martinez (@wofstargirl) May 31, 2023

More Ceremony Details & The Impact Of Tupac Shakur On Modern Culture

In addition, the organization also shared an official press release regarding the event. According to the release, radio personality Big Boy will emcee the event. While guest speakers will include Director Allen Hughes, Jamal Joseph, and Tupac’s sister, Sekyiwa Shakur, who will accept the star on Shakur’s behalf.

The release also includes more information about why the decision was made to honor Shakur.

“Tupac Shakur was a rapper, actor, activist, poet, and revolutionary.  This iconic artist has continued to be part of the zeitgeist for decades after his passing and will continue to be an important cultural figure for many years to come… The late Tupac Shakur is an internationally recognized artist renowned for his work, defying distinction between art and activism. Though his career lasted just five years, Tupac Shakur remains one of the most complex and prolific artists of his generation with over 75 million records sold worldwide…”

Additionally, the release explains that Shakur continues to have a massive impact on pop culture today, despite his passing; citing his hologram performance at the 2012 Coachella festival, his “spoken word appearance” on Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly,’ and the multiple immersive museum experiences created in his honor.

The Honor Arrives About A Week Ahead Of Tupac’s 52nd Birthday

As CBS News, reported, Tupac Shakur was murdered in 1996 at the age of 25. This posthumous honor arrives about a week ahead of what would have been the rapper’s 52nd birthday.

However, this is not the only birthday gift the late rapper will receive. In addition, Shakur will also be honored with a street named after him in Oakland California. It will be called “Tupac Shakur Way.”

Tupac Shakur Way will soon exist in Oakland!

The prolific rapper and activist is being honored in the city he loved and represented for his dedication to community.#TupacShakur pic.twitter.com/uXu4VvnK34

— California Endowment (@CalEndow) May 24, 2023

Roomies, are you happy to see that Tupac is finally being honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame?

The post Tupac Shakur To Receive Posthumous Star On The Hollywood Walk Of Fame Almost 27 Years After His Passing appeared first on The Shade Room.

One of Uganda’s representatives at the 2023 ISF Football Championship, Amus College was drawn in group A.

The draws were held in the Moroccoan city of Rabat on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Group A has France, Chile 2, Uganda 2 (Amus College) and Nepal.

“We are maximizing our expectations. We have played at every level of football so far. We have prepared well as a team. The teams from Europe, South America and Asia will also admire our game and style of play” Nimrod Kintu, head coach of Amus College stated moments after the draw.

The other Ugandan side, Kibuli Secondary School was drawn in group E alongside Qatar, China 1 and Cote D’Voire.

Other groups:

Group B has Brazil, Mexico 1, Saudi Arabia 1 and Guinea.

In group C, there is host country Morocco 1, England 2, Mexico 2 and Benin.

Group D has Croatia, China 2, Iran and Ukraine.

China 1, England 1, Chinese Taipei and Bahraine are in group F.

Group G has Czech Republic, Morocco 2, Peru and Nigeria.

In group H, there is Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kenya.

Meanwhile, in girls football; St Noa Girls team (Uganda) has been drawn in pool D alongside Host Morocco, Chile and England.

The tournament will be held in Morocco between 22^nd and 31^st July 2023.

The post Amus College draws France, Chile and Nepal | 2023 ISF Football Championship appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Kibuli Secondary School, one of Uganda’s two representatives in boy’s football has learnt of their opponents at the 2023 ISF Football Championship.

The draws were held in the Moroccoan city of Rabat on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Kibuli S.S was drawn in group E alongside Qatar, China 1 and Cote d’Ivoire.

Other groups:

Uganda’s second boy’s team, Amus College was drawn in group A to face opposition from Europe (France), South America (Chile 2) and Asia (Nepal).

Elsewhere, Group B has Brazil, Mexico 1, Saudi Arabia 1 and Guinea.

In group C, there is host country Morocco 1, England 2, Mexico 2 and Benin.

Group D has Croatia, China 2, Iran and Ukraine.

China 1, England 1, Chinese Taipei and Bahraine are in group F.

Group G has Czech Republic, Morocco 2, Peru and Nigeria.

In group H, there is Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kenya.

Meanwhile, in girls football; St Noa Girls team (Uganda) has been drawn in pool D alongside Host Morocco, Chile and England.

The tournament will be held in Morocco between 22^nd and 31^st July 2023.

The post Kibuli S.S to face Qatar, China and Cote d’Ivoire opposition | 2023 ISF Football Championship appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Bika Football 2023 (Preliminary Stage – Round 2):

Tuesday, 6^th June:

• Njovu Vs Nakisinge – Mutesa II Wankulukuku Stadium (2 PM)
• Obutiko Vs Mazzi Ga Kisasi – Mutesa II Wankulukuku Stadium (4 PM)
• Embwa Vs Nnyonyi Nnyange – Kawanda S.S playground (4 PM)
• Nkejje Vs Nvuma – Buddo S.S playground (4 PM)
• Nnyonyi Ndisa Vs Nkima – Kabaka Kyabaggu Stadium (Wakisha) – 4 PM

The organizing committee of the 2023 Bika Bya Baganda football competition has confirmed the different fixtures for the second preliminary round.

Five matches will be played at four different venues on Tuesday, 6^th June 2023.

The Mutesa II Wankulukuku stadium will host a double header.

Njovu who overcame Ntula 5-2 in the first round will take on Nnyonyi Nakisinge in the early kick off at 2 PM.

Nnyonyi Nakisinge had a walk over Enjobe clan.

For the second match on the same day, Obutiko will take on Mazzi Ga Kisasi at 4 PM.

At the Kawanda Secondary School playground, Embwa faces Nnyonyi Nnyange at 4 PM.

During the first round, Embwa came top 2-0 over Ntalaganya whilst Nnyonyi Nnyange ejected Empeewo 2-1.

In the other contest, Nkejje will play Nvuma at the Buddo S.S playground (4 PM).

Nkejje needed a 5-4 post match penalty win over Nvubu after a 2-all stalemate in normal time.

Meanwhile, Nnyonyi Ndisa faces Nkima – Kabaka Kyabaggu Stadium (Wakisha) – 4 PM.

Nnyonyi Ndisa progressed 2-0 over Kayozi with Nicholas Ssenyonga and Arafat Muyanja both scoring penalties.

Nkima clan has lost the official opening match 1-3 to Ngabi Nsamba at Wankulukuku stadium.

The five winners from the respective games will be joined by the two best losers at the round of 32 stage.

All First Preliminary Round Results:

• Enjovu 5-2 Enkula
• Obutiko 5-2 Ensuma
• Mpeewo 1-2 Nnyonyi Nyange
• Ntalaganya 0-2 Mbwa
• Nvubu 2 (4) – 2 (5) Nkejje
• Nvuma 5-1 Kkibe
• Nyonyi Ndisa 2-1 Kayozi
• Enjobe Vs Nakinsige (Not played after Enjobe skips match)
• Enkusu Vs Mazzi ga Kisasi (Not played after Enkusu skipped match)

BIKA All Winners since inception:

• 1950:Mbogo
• 1951:Ngabi Nsamba
• 1952:Mmamba Gabunga
• 1953: Not Held
• 1954:Not Held
• 1955:Kkobe
• 1956:Mmamba Gabunga
• 1957: Nyonyi Nyange
• 1958: Ngeye
• 1959: Mmamba Gabunga
• 1960: Ffumbe
• 1961: Bbalangira and Kkobe
• 1962: Nkima
• 1963: Not Held
• 1964: Mmamba Gabunga
• 1965: Mmamba Gabunga
• 1987: Ngabi Nsamba
• 1988: Lugave
• 1989: Mmamba Gabunga
• 1990: Lugave
• 1991: Ngeye
• 1992: Ngeye
• 1993: Nkima
• 1994: Mmamba Gabunga
• 1995: Lugave
• 1996: Mpindi
• 1997: Nnyonyi
• 1998: Lugave
• 1999: Lugave
• 2000: Mpologoma
• 2001: Ngo
• 2002: Mpologoma
• 2003: Mmamba Gabunga
• 2004:Lugave
• 2005: Ffumbe
• 2006: Mpindi
• 2007: Ngabi Nsamba
• 2008: Kkobe
• 2009: Ffumbe
• 2010: Nte
• 2011: Mmamba Gabunga
• 2012: Ngeye
• 2013: Ngabi Nsamba
• 2012: Ngeye
• 2013: Ngabi Nsamba
• 2014: Mmamba Gabunga
• 2015: Mbogo
• 2016: Nte
• 2017: Nte
• 2018: Nkima
• 2019: Mbogo
• 2020: Not played (Due to COVID-19 pandemic)
• 2021: Not played (Due to COVID-19 pandemic)
• 2022: Ndiga

The post Wankulukuku stadium to host double header in second preliminary round | 2023 Bika Football appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

We encourage you to vote for the best of the best in the categories below:

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

Earlier in May, our panel of experts selected the original list of nominees for this year’s awards competition. Then, we asked our readers on May 26 through May 31 to let us know of any glaring omissions. The final list of contestants is now listed above in the 15 categories.

The winners this year will be announced in early July. After voting, if you’d like to make sure you don’t miss out on being notified of the winners, sign up for our free daily email newsletter filled with soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk Awards voted on by soccer fans

Without the soccer media who supplement our enjoyment of the sport, it wouldn’t be the same. Whether it’s writers, podcasts, YouTubers, pundits on TV or the soccer channels themselves, we owe a debt of gratitude to them all.

In last year’s World Soccer Talk Awards, more than 60,000 people voted to recognize the best soccer talent from around the United States.

On behalf of everyone at World Soccer Talk, we’d like to wish the contestants the best of luck in this year’s competition.

Subscribe to The Downballot, our weekly podcast

Leading Off

● LA-Gov: Republican infighting has suddenly escalated well ahead of Louisiana’s Oct. 14 all-party primary for governor, as a well-funded super PAC is already airing ads designed to deprive Attorney General Jeff Landry of his frontrunner status. This early offensive to help Stephen Waguespack, who is the former head of the state's Chamber of Commerce affiliate, comes unusually early, but his allies have the resources to ensure that voters see many more ads over the next four-and-a-half months.

Waguespack’s backers at Reboot Louisiana, which began a $1.75 million TV campaign in early May to boost the first-time candidate’s name recognition, launched a new spot on Wednesday hammering Landry on an issue he's sought to make his own. “Murder, rape, car jackings. Under Landry’s watch, Louisiana is the most dangerous state in America,” intones a narrator, who goes on to argue that Waguespack “has a plan to take Louisiana back from the criminals.” Landry himself has been emphasizing crime in his advertising, though he’s unsubtly blamed it on Black Democratic mayors and district attorneys.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who has not taken sides in the contest to succeed termed-out Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, responded to Reboot Louisiana’s commercial by calling for Waguespack to “denounce” the message. “We must learn from the mistakes of the 2015 and 2019 governor’s races, where Republican infighting ultimately squandered our opportunities to win the Governor’s mansion,” Scalise said in a statement referring to Edwards’ two wins in this red state.

Scalise might have also noted that Republicans only began hitting one another on the airwaves much later in those two contests. In 2015, the super PAC supporting frontrunner David Vitter only sprung into action around Labor Day by attacking his two main intra-party rivals, Jay Dardene and Scott Angelle, in a sign that Vitter wasn’t quite as strong as he looked. The scandal-tarred Vitter did indeed make it to the November general election against Edwards, but at great cost: Dardenne crossed party lines to endorse Edwards, who went on to score an upset win the next month, while Angelle remained neutral.

It took a bit longer four years later for the two leading Republicans, Rep. Ralph Abraham and wealthy businessman Eddie Rispone, to start attacking one another on the air, but once again, it hurt the party’s efforts against Edwards. Rispone began targeting his fellow Republican just three weeks before the first round of voting, and while the defeated Abraham did endorse Rispone for the second round, some of the damage was irreparable. Edwards worked hard to fan the flames of intraparty animosity by reminding Abraham’s constituents about the slams Rispone had leveled at their representative, a tactic that helped him perform significantly better in Abraham's district than Democrats usually do.

The Democrat who wants to benefit from this year’s early GOP clash is former state Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, who would be the first African American elected statewide since Reconstruction. Three other Republicans running for governor―Treasurer John Schroder, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, and state Rep. Richard Nelson―are meanwhile hoping that an ugly battle between Landry and Waguespack will give them the chance to establish themselves as an alternative conservative option.

The Downballot

● Countless progressive organizations seek to engage and mobilize voters, but coordinating those efforts is a mighty task. On this week's episode of "The Downballot," we're joined by Sara Schreiber, the executive director of America Votes, which works with hundreds of partners at the national and state level to deploy the most effective means of urging voters to the polls. Schreiber walks us through how coalitions of like-minded groups are formed and how the work of direct voter contact is divvied up between them. A special focus is on "blue surge" voters—those who, in the Trump era, joined the rolls for the first time—and why ensuring they continue to participate in the political process is the key to progressive victories.

Co-hosts David Nir and David Beard also take stock of recent developments in Pennsylvania and Ohio, two Rust Belt neighbors where Republicans—for once—are breathing a sigh of relief after a pair of disastrous 2022 candidates opted against repeat bids in 2024. They then dive into the extremely belated impeachment of Texas' corrupt attorney general by his fellow Republicans and remind listeners to mark their calendars for a major special election that just got scheduled in New Hampshire.

Subscribe to "The Downballot" on Apple Podcasts to make sure you never miss a show—new episodes every Thursday! You'll find a transcript of this week's episode right here by noon Eastern time.

Governors

● WA-Gov: Former Gov. Christine Gregoire, who served from 2005 to 2013, has endorsed the “exploratory campaign for governor” of her fellow Democrat, Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

House

● AZ-03: Phoenix City Councilmember Laura Pastor on Wednesday joined the busy Democratic primary to succeed Senate candidate Ruben Gallego in this dark blue seat. Pastor is the daughter of the late Rep. Ed Pastor, who represented previous versions of this constituency from 1991 until he retired in 2015, and she’s been talked about as a likely House candidate for years.

Chatter about her plans intensified in December of 2021 when she urged the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission to revise its proposed congressional map to place a heavily Latino part of Phoenix in Gallego's seat, a change that would have made Republican Rep. David Schweikert's new 1st District reliably red. Pastor, who represented most of this area, said that she was acting to make sure the city's "historic core," heavily LGBTQ neighborhoods, and other locations weren't split; however, skeptics argued she was willing to protect Schweikert in order to boost her own prospects in a future contest to succeed Gallego. But the dramatic changes Pastor wanted didn't happen, and Schweikert went on to only narrowly win re-election.

● CO-08: Weld County Commissioner Scott James, reports Inside Elections, is considering seeking the GOP nod to take on freshman Democratic Rep. Yadira Caraveo. Joe Biden carried this constituency in the northern Denver suburbs and Greeley area 51-46, while Caraveo won her seat 48.4-47.7 last year.

● IN-05: While there was some talk during the winter that pastor Micah Beckwith could run to succeed retiring Rep. Victoria Spartz, who beat him in the 2020 GOP primary, Beckwith instead filed this week to campaign for lieutenant governor.

● NJ-07: Working Families Party state director Sue Altman on Wednesday became the first major candidate to announce a bid for the Democratic nod to take on freshman GOP Rep. Tom Kean Jr. Joe Biden took this North Jersey seat 51-47, while Kean flipped it last year by ousting Democratic incumbent Tom Malinowski by an unexpectedly small 51-49 margin.

Altman, as we recently wrote, is a first-time contender, but she became a prominent force in state politics over the last decade by challenging the power of longtime party boss George Norcross. (Her organization is the state affiliate of the national Working Families Party, which usually backs progressive Democrats rather than run its own general election candidates.) Altman, Politico detailed last year, has been a crucial backer of Gov. Phil Murphy, especially during his first term when he worked to pass his agenda over Norcross supporters in the legislature.

● OH-09: J.R. Majewski, who was last year’s disastrous GOP nominee, said Tuesday night that he was ending his rematch campaign against Democratic incumbent Marcy Kaptur following his mother’s recent surgery. Majewski’s departure is a relief to Republicans, who did not look forward to the prospect of having him again as their standard bearer following his 57-43 landslide loss.

● RI-01: Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien said Wednesday he would not enter the upcoming special Democratic primary.

● UT-02: Republican Rep. Chris Stewart confirmed earlier reports on Wednesday that he would resign because of his wife's health, though he didn't specify a timeline, only saying he'd leave office "after an orderly transition can be ensured."

There's little question that whoever wins the GOP primary will prevail in the forthcoming special election: Republicans carefully gerrymandered Utah's congressional map, allowing Donald Trump to score a 57-40 victory in 2020 in the 2nd District, which includes the southwestern part of the state as well as a slice of Salt Lake City. Stewart's seat, though, could remain vacant until next year unless the legislature holds a special session specifically to appropriate funds to hold the special earlier.

That's because, under state law, special elections must coincide with regularly scheduled election dates. That means the earliest the primary could take place is Nov. 7, when several municipalities go to the polls. A general election, meanwhile, would not be possible until March of 2024, when Utah holds its presidential primaries. Without action by lawmakers, then, Stewart's constituents could go unrepresented for close to a year.

Stewart's eventual successor will succeed a hardliner who effectively won his seat in 2012 at a bitter party convention. Prior to seeking office, the future congressman made a name for himself in the Air Force by setting the record for the fastest uninterrupted flight across the world (36 hours and 13 minutes) and as the head of a consulting firm. He went on to co-write the memoir of kidnapping survivor Elizabeth Smart, though his main claim to fame in conservative circles came from his authorship of a six-part series of apocalyptic novels infused with Mormon theology. One prominent fan was Glenn Beck who, at the height of his influence, both touted Stewart's work on Fox and reissued revised versions of his books to make them palatable to what he called a "mainstream" Christian audience.

Stewart got his chance to run for Congress two years after the 2010 census awarded the Beehive State a new House seat. At the time, candidates could only make the primary ballot by taking at least 40% at their party convention (a 2014 law eventually allowed them to gather signatures), and Stewart's main foe in the 11-person field was former state House Speaker David Clark.

An anonymous mailer, as Mother Jones would recount later that year, made several attacks on Stewart, but it attracted little notice until the day of the convention when a little-known contender named Milt Hanks held it up as evidence that there was an "Anybody-But-Chris" group determined to make sure the author was defeated. Several other hopefuls did indeed endorse Clark, which led Stewart's backers to shout, "The prophecy has been fulfilled! The prophecy has been fulfilled!"

Fueled by this supposed conspiracy, more than 60% of convention delegates gave their backing to Stewart, allowing him to avoid a primary altogether since no other candidate could hit the necessary 40% threshold. But the gathering sparked plenty of angry feelings. Several defeated foes claimed that Stewart's team had produced the offending mailer precisely to cultivate a backlash, an allegation Stewart denied. But the ill will did nothing to stop him from easily prevailing in the general election, and he never struggled to hold his seat in ensuing years.

Soon enough, the congressman, whom one former GOP politician labeled "​​a certified nutcase" before he was even elected, made a name for himself as an ardent conservative. He became a Trump ally despite deriding him as "our Mussolini" during the 2016 primaries, prompting the new administration to consider him for secretary of the Air Force after the elections.

Stewart, however, remained in the House, and later joined the majority of his caucus in voting to overturn Joe Biden's 2020 win. He did break from party orthodoxy last year when he backed the Respect for Marriage Act to protect same-sex and interracial marriages, though he otherwise remained a supporter of far-right causes. He even appeared ready to consider a promotion earlier this year: In April, Stewart declined to rule out a primary challenge to Sen. Mitt Romney. His resignation, though, almost certainly ensures that won't happen.

Anyone hoping to succeed Stewart can try to follow in his footsteps by competing at their party convention for a spot on the primary, though they now also have the option of instead collecting 7,000 valid signatures. Under the state's special election law, though, only one candidate can advance out of the convention instead of the maximum of two that are normally allowed.

Attorneys General

● TX-AG: Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday appointed former Secretary of State John Scott as interim attorney general to replace incumbent Ken Paxton, who was automatically suspended last week when the state House impeached him. Paxton, who like Abbott and Scott is a Republican, would resume his duties if he avoids being convicted by two-thirds of the state Senate, while we recently detailed what would happen to this office should he be removed.

Legislatures

● NH State House: New Hampshire officials just scheduled a pivotal special election in the Republican-run state House that could see each party wind up with exactly 200 seats in the chamber and potentially put control of the body up for grabs.

The state Executive Council on Wednesday ordered that a primary for Rockingham County's 1st District take place on Aug. 1, with a general election on Sept. 19. If, however, only one Republican and one Democrat file by the June 9 deadline, then the primary would be skipped and the general election would get bumped up to the day that nominating contests would have otherwise been held.

The district in question became vacant after Republican Rep. Benjamin Bartlett, who also works for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, resigned in April, citing health issues. However, a report in the Boston Globe (building off a post by blogger Doug Bates) suggested that the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in partisan political activity, may have played a role.

Whatever the reason for his departure, Bartlett's district is a competitive one: Donald Trump carried it by less than a point in 2020, 49.1 to 48.7, and the trends appear to be favorable for Democrats, since Trump's margin in 2016 was more than 8 points. Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan, meanwhile, won the district 50-48 during her successful campaign for reelection last year as Democrats fell just 10 votes shy of securing one of the district's three seats. (Only one seat will be up in the special.)

At the moment, Republicans hold 200 seats in the House and Democrats 198, with a separate special election for a safely blue seat likely this fall. If Democrats prevail in both, that would lead to an exact 200-all tie, though it's not clear whether control of the chamber would immediately be impacted. That's because at least five Democrats voted for Republican Sherman Packard as speaker, and they may or may not be interested in returning to the fold. (We don't know who those wayward Democrats are, by the way, because the speaker is elected via secret ballot.)

However, more specials are likely, particularly after the current legislative session adjourns on June 29, which is when a new budget must pass. Party leaders will undoubtedly try to forestall more resignations, but turnover is always high in the New Hampshire House, where lawmakers are paid just $100 a year. And given Democratic success in special elections both in the Granite State and nationwide this year, there's good reason to think they'll be able to increase their numbers as the opportunity arises.

Mayors and County Leaders

● Denver, CO Mayor: Campaign finance reports show the super PAC supporting former state Sen. Mike Johnston is finishing with a huge financial lead over former Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce CEO Kelly Brough's allies ahead of next week's general election between the two Democrats. Advancing Denver, according to the Colorado Gazette, outpaced A Better Denver $1.6 million to $380,000 from April 5 through May 30.

The pro-Johnston PAC's major donors, notes Colorado Newsline, are some of the same people who supported his unsuccessful 2018 campaign for governor: LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman; former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; former Davita CEO Kent Thiry; and hedge fund managers John Arnold and Steve Mandel. The largest funder for Brough's side for the general election Pete Coors, who was the 2004 GOP nominee for Senate.

Prosecutors and Sheriffs

● San Francisco, CA District Attorney: Former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, who was recalled last year, said Wednesday he would not challenge incumbent Brooke Jenkins in the 2024 instant-runoff contest. Boudin will instead become the inaugural executive director for a new Criminal Law & Justice Center at the UC Berkeley School of Law, which he says “will serve as a national research and advocacy hub focused on critical law and policy changes to advance justice in the criminal legal system.”

The indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque takes aim at former Republican candidate Solomon Peña and two alleged accomplices with additional conspiracy and weapons-related charges in connection with the shootings in December 2022 and January of this year on the homes of four Democratic officials, including the current state House speaker.

The attacks came amid a surge of threats and acts of intimidation against election workers and public officials across the country after former President Donald Trump and his allies spread false claims about the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

U.S. Attorney Alexander Uballez highlighted that the shootings targeted the homes of two county commissioners shortly after their certification of the 2022 election.

“Peña targeted several of these public officials because, in their official capacity, they certified the election, which he lost,” Uballez said at a news conference. “In America, voters pick their leaders and would-be leaders don’t get to pick which voters they heed, which rules apply to them, or which laws to follow.”

No one was injured in the shootings. But in one case bullets passed through the bedroom of a state senator’s 10-year-old daughter.

The new indictment outlines smart-phone communications including text messages by Peña in the days following the Nov. 8, 2022, election that pinpoint the locations of officials' homes, allege election-rigging and confide to a politically ally about plans to “press the attack."

Text messages in the indictment show the 40-year-old candidate bristling with outrage as Bernalillo County commissions certified the results of the midterm election and his own overwhelming defeat as candidate for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Federal authorities say Peña hired others to conduct the shootings and carried out at least one shooting himself.

Hours before the first shooting on Dec. 4, 2022, Peña texted a Republican political ally, who also lost a bid for state representative, to say that “we have to act. I'm continuing my study of election rigging. The enemy will eventually break.”

Amid the shootings, Peña later texted one of several unnamed conspirators in the indictment to say, “It is our duty as Statesmen and Patriots, to stop the oligarchs from taking over our country."

Elizabeth Honce, a defense attorney for Peña, said her client maintains his innocence. Peña has been held without bail since his January arrest on charges in state district court related to the shootings. Those charges will be dismissed in deference to the federal indictment as Peña is transferred to federal custody, authorities said.

Federal charges were also filed against 22-year-old Jose Louise Trujillo and 41-year-old Demetrio Trujillo on allegations that they assisted Peña in obtaining vehicles and firearms — and that they “pulled the trigger themselves to fire bullets into the homes of the victims.”

Jose Trujillo was arrested in January on an outstanding warrant in a car with a stash of more than 800 fentanyl pills and two firearms, leading to a break in the investigation as officers traced at least one gun to bullet casings found the same day at one of the shootings. Authorities say Demetrio Trujillo was arrested Wednesday, while they declined to comment directly on whether several unnamed accomplices in the indictment would be charged.

John Anderson, an attorney for Jose Trujillo, declined to comment on the indictment when contacted Wednesday.

Police have described Peña as the instigator of a politically motivated conspiracy leading to shootings at the homes of two county commissioners and two state legislators. Charges against the three defendants include the use of an automatic weapon.

The shootings began Dec. 4, when eight rounds were fired at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa. Days later, state Rep. Javier Martínez’s home was targeted. On Dec. 11, more than a dozen rounds were fired at the home of Bernalillo County Commissioner Debbie O’Malley, police said. Martínez became the Democratic state House speaker in January.

The final related shooting, targeting state Sen. Linda Lopez’s home, unfolded in the midnight hour of Jan. 3. Police said more than a dozen shots were fired, including three that Lopez said passed through the bedroom of her sleeping daughter.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver, New Mexico secretary of state, said she was "pleased to see the federal government pursuing this case with the seriousness it deserves.”

Following the shootings, New Mexico state lawmakers this year enacted legislation that provides felony sanctions for intimidation of election regulators and allows some public officials and political candidates to keep their home address off government websites.

Recent assaults on politicians or their households include the hammer-wielding attack on the husband of them-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October 2022 at the couple's San Francisco home. In July 2022, a man clutching a pointed weapon assaulted Republican candidate for New York governor Lee Zeldin — a congressman at the time — on stage at a speaking event.

The world is finally spending more on solar than oil production

Money makes the world go round. And when it comes to energy, we’re seeing more investment than ever: companies, research institutions, and governments are all pouring money into technologies that could help power our world in the future. 

The International Energy Agency just published its annual report on global investment in energy, where it tallies up all that cash. The world saw about $2.8 trillion of investments in energy in 2022, with about $1.7 trillion of that going into clean energy. 

That’s the biggest single-year investment in clean energy ever, and where it’s all going is pretty interesting. Our climate reporter Casey Crownhart has some good news, some bad news, and a couple of surprising tidbits to share. Read the full story.

Casey’s story is from The Spark, her weekly newsletter giving you the inside track on all things climate. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Wednesday.

Check out some of our other recent renewable energy stories:

+ Yes, we have enough materials to power the world with renewable energy. We won’t run out of key ingredients for climate action, but mining comes with social and environmental ramifications. Read the full story.

+ Busting three myths about materials and renewable energy. Here’s what you really need to know about mining and climate change. Read the full story.

+ Inside the little-known group setting the corporate climate agenda. The Science Based Targets initiative has earned praise for pushing companies to take climate action, but can voluntary emissions targets really get the world where it needs to be? Read the full story.

The must-reads

I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.

1 Amazon has been fined $25 million for violating children’s privacy
It’s a warning to all companies using people’s data to train their AI models. (WP $)
+ It collected data from children who’d conversed with its Alexa assistant. (NYT $)
+ The company is ruthless when it comes to axing its own projects. (Bloomberg $)

2 Scientists have taken the first X-ray of a single atom 
It’s an achievement they say could pave the way to curing life-threatening diseases. (Ars Technica)

3 New cars sold in the US will need automatic braking systems
Safety regulators are confident it will save lives. (The Verge)
+ Cars getting so much larger is another major factor, too. (NYT $)

4 Greener steel is on the horizon
It makes a lot more sense to rely on electricity than hydrogen to produce it. (Economist $)
+ How green steel made with electricity could clean up a dirty industry. (MIT Technology Review)

5 Outer space has a cyberthreat problem
While it’s tough to launch malware attacks in space, it’s not impossible. (IEEE Spectrum)
+ What are the mysterious orbs the Pentagon keeps spotting? (Motherboard)

6 Psychedelic experiments are getting even weirder
Erasing people’s memories of their trips is one way researchers are trying to better study the drugs’ effects. (Wired $)
+ Mind-altering substances are being overhyped as wonder drugs. (MIT Technology Review)

7 AI is a hit-and-miss coder
While some of what models are able to generate is decent, other parts are shoddy. (WSJ $)
+ The open-source AI boom is built on Big Tech’s handouts. How long will it last? (MIT Technology Review)

8 That laptop you’re trying to recycle may not be recycled at all
In fact, it could end up being sold on eBay. (FT $)

9 How permanently sharing your location affects your relationships
The illusion of privacy is easily shattered if you’re always keeping tabs on each other. (Vox)

10 India’s Facebook groups are helping to rehome stray pets
It’s an easy way to reach a huge audience of animal lovers. (Rest of World)

Quote of the day

“Fear is contagious, but so is courage.”

—Heavy, a member of the Ukrainian army, describes her platoon leader’s philosophy to the Guardian as she and her fellow recruits prepare a long-anticipated counteroffensive to recapture the city of Bakhmut.

The big story

How Bitcoin mining devastated this New York town

April 2022

If, in 2017, you had taken a gamble and purchased a comparatively new digital currency called Bitcoin, today you might be a millionaire many times over. But while the industry has provided windfalls for some, local communities have paid a high price, as people started scouring the world for cheap sources of energy to run large Bitcoin-mining farms.

It didn’t take long for a subsidiary of the popular Bitcoin mining firm Coinmint to lease a Family Dollar store in Plattsburgh, a city in New York state offering cheap power. Soon, the company was regularly drawing enough power for about 4,000 homes. And while other miners were quick to follow, the problems had already taken root. Read the full story.

—Lois Parshley

We can still have nice things

A place for comfort, fun and distraction in these weird times. (Got any ideas? Drop me a line or tweet ’em at me.)

+ The secret to a truly delicious coffee cake? It’s all in the melted butter.
+ A new exhibition claims to have unearthed some Nan Goldin slides—from eBay, of all places.
+ Morris dancing has had a hip new makeover.
+ Beyoncé’s incredible Renaissance World Tour outfits have to be seen to be believed.+ Here’s an interesting explanation for why every season technically begins twice.

The new data source is an addition to Crunchbase’s Diversity Spotlight, which tracks the amount of venture capital funding raised by founders within marginalized communities. Similar to its other diversity tags, LGBTQ+ founders will have to self-identify and opt-in to wanting their information publicly shared. Crunchbase said its intention is to help raise awareness of LGBTQ+ founders looking for funding, as well as offer data and transparency around investments within the community. The announcement coincides with the first day of Pride Month.

“Having concrete data helps in advocating for policy changes, funding initiatives and resource allocation to support LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs,” said Ryan Husk, Crunchbase’s director of business development. “It enables us to make evidence-based arguments for greater equity and access within the startup ecosystem.”

It was estimated by Backstage Capital that less than 1% of all VC dollars are raised by companies with founders openly within the LGBTQ+ community. Members of the community often face hurdles while fundraising, whether it’s dealing with openly transphobic investors or code-switching to hide one’s sexuality in trepidation of homophobia.

“I’ve heard founders say they delete any mention of same-sex partners, advocacy work or involvement in anything LGBTQ+ while raising capital as they fear investors will see it during due diligence,” said Chasing Rainbows General Partner Patrick Driscoll.

Crunchbase will begin tracking venture dollars allocated to LGBTQ+ founders by Dominic-Madori Davis originally published on TechCrunch

Today the company announced a $15 million Series A along with a previously unannounced $3 million seed as the open source project gains traction and they begin taking on paying customers for the SaaS version of the product.

Ariga CTO and co-founder Rotem Tamir says managing a database is hard to do and if you make a catastrophic mistake, you could lose all your data. That’s why companies tend to be conservative when it comes to adjusting the database. He and co-founder and CEO Ariel Mashraki founded the company with the idea that companies have been able to reduce the complexity of managing infrastructure by defining it as code in a declarative way.

They have been working to create a solution that delivers on that idea for databases. “This hasn’t been done yet in the database space for various reasons. We really think that to be able to capture what you want, the desired state of your database, the desired state of your data topology in your organization, you need a smart tool to plan, verify, then execute and monitor the database – and this is what our platform is about,” Tamir told TechCrunch.

They started by developing an open source tool called Atlas, written in Go, that helps manage a number of databases. “It accepts the desired state of your database, and is either connected to a live database, or the previous state. It knows how to do these calculations. It has a safety engine inside that does something that’s very similar to static code analysis. It can analyze and verify changes against policies,” he said.

Atlas has proven popular, Mashraki says it’s been downloaded hundreds of thousands of times since it launched in 2022. Users run it thousands or sometimes tens of thousands of times per day, so it appears to be solving a real pain point.

By making it open source, database makers can download the program and add their own database support to Atlas, allowing the founders to support many more products than they could on their own as an early stage startup.

The company came out with Atlas Cloud, a SaaS version of the database management tool earlier this year and are currently working with a handful of paying customers. They have around a dozen employees working at the company, and are hiring for some open roles.

As an open source company, the pool of people interested in the product tend to be diverse by the nature of these projects being spread out across the world, Mashraki said. That means he has people from Iraq, Gaza, Germany, Australia and Brazil.

Today’s investment announcement was led by Tiger Global and TLV Partners with participation from unnamed angel investors.

Ariga is helping developers define database schema as code by Ron Miller originally published on TechCrunch

Quick-footed midfielder Marvin Nyanzi dreams of achieving more after reaching the end of his first season playing top-tier football.

After an exciting show at Kajjansi United and Buddu Ssaza, he left many thrilled by his style of play and Wakiso Giants got hold of his signature right away on a two-year employment contract.

While speaking to Kawowo Sports, Nyanzi reveals it was a whole complete ambience in the Uganda Premier League compared to the Regional League.

“I must say the campaign was a bit challenging because there was much to learn am glad to walking a journey of a great experience,” Nyanzi said.

“It was interesting that the challenges at many times made me stronger because they left me with a challenge to get out of my comfort zone and aim higher,” he added.

Nyanzi could not hide his joy in appreciating Wakiso’s management, the technical bench and teammates for guiding him and welcoming him to the `Purple Family’.

“I am really fortunate to be part of this family of loving, caring and positive people. The way I was welcomed here meant a lot to me and physiologically I have been at my best.”

“It was not easy to command a starting berth in a team that has a number of young and talented footballers but my coach and teammates pushed me to make sure I keep on track.”

The Purple Sharks finished eighth on the log with 36 points accumulated in 28 games and Nyanzi agrees they had a poor second round but believes a few things being polished they will be a better side.

“Whenever a season is done, I take off time to reflect and weigh the campaign but I can assert that we had a very good start to the season but later failed to emulate the same in the other half of the season.

“But it’s now time to rest, charge the batteries and prepare for next season. I am sure we shall rectify our shortcomings and become a better side. As a player, I have learnt a lot and I can wait to get running.”

According to `Cesc’ as known among his peers, he has a dream of going professional but he is ready to go through the ranks and achieve it when it’s meant to be.

The post Marvin Nyanzi: Dreaming big after climaxing maiden top tier campaign appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

One of Uganda’s representatives at the 2023 ISF Football Championship, Amus College was drawn in group A.

The draws were held in the Moroccoan city of Rabat on Thursday, June 1, 2023.

Group A has France, Chille 2, Uganda 2 (Amus College) and Nepal.

“We are maximizing our expectations. We have played at every level of football so far. We have prepared well as a team. The teams from Europe, South America and Asia will also admire our game and style of play” Nimrod Kintu, head coach of Amus College stated moments after the draw.

The other Ugandan side, Kibuli Secondary School was drawn in group E alongside Qatar, China 1 and Cote D’Voire.

Other groups:

Group B has Brazil, Mexico 1, Saudi Arabia 1 and Guinea.

In group C, there is host country Morocco 1, England 2, Mexico 2 and Benin.

Group D has Croatia, China 2, Iran and Ukraine.

China 1, England 1, Chinese Taipei and Bahraine are in group F.

Group G has Czech Republic, Morocco 2, Peru and Nigeria.

In group H, there is Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and Kenya.

Meanwhile, in girls football; St Noa Girls team (Uganda) has been drawn in pool D alongside Host Morocco, Chile and England.

The tournament will be held in Morocco between 22^nd and 31^st July 2023.

The post Amus College draws France, Chille and Nepal | 2023 ISF Football Championship appeared first on Kawowo Sports.

Scott Brown has emerged as favourite to take the reins at Celtic should current Parkhead boss Ange Postecoglou be poached by Tottenham, according to exclusive odds compiled by SportsLens.

Postecoglou will lead the Hoops to a magnificent treble in his first season in charge, if they can overcome Championship side Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden Park on Saturday.

The 57-year-old’s stock has risen significantly over the course of the season and he now leads the betting to take the vacant hot seat at Premier League side Tottenham, who sacked Antonio Conte in March.

• Scott Brown leads betting for emotional return to Celtic as manager at 4/1
• Former Celtic bosses Martin O’Neil, Brendan Rodgers and Neil Lennon also in the running
• Ange Postecoglou tops Tottenham’s wishlist as Antonio Conte’s replacement
• Celtic on the verge of winning first treble since completing a historic ‘treble treble’ in 2019

Should Postecoglou jump ship, Celtic will be left searching for a replacement to lead their Champions League charge next season and Brown is the man most likely to be handed the role.

The former midfield hardman made 619 appearances for the Parkhead outfit and has made an solid start to his career in management at League One Fleetwood Town.

Celtic legend Scott Brown 4/1 to replace Ange Postecoglou as Spurs links strengthen

Brown, 37, leads the betting at 4/1, followed by Postecoglou’s current assistant manager at 13/2 and Scotland national team boss Steve Clarke at 8/1.

Sportslens Head of News Lee Astley commented: “Celtic legend Scott Brown heads the field of contenders for the biggest job in Scotland should Ange Postecoglou decide to leave for pastures new. Brown had an impressive inaugural managerial season at Fleetwood Town and this will not have gone unnoticed by the Celtic hierarchy.

“The progressive Kjetil Knutsen might catch the eye at 11/1 as he has been extremely impressive at Bodo-Glimt and has been linked with several Premier League jobs.

“There are a number of ex-Celtic managers in the field. Martin O’Neil (10/1) is rumoured to be interested in a return to management having recently expressed disappointment at one of his former haunts Leicester City not calling him to aid them in their recent relegation battle.

“Could Brendan Rodgers be in line for a return? We don’t think it’s likely given the acrimony surrounding his departure and he is priced at 33/1.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham have put their pursuit of Postecoglou on ice until after the Scottish Cup final against Inverness this weekend.

Next Celtic Manager Odds

• Scott Brown – 4/1
• John Kennedy – 13/2
• Steve Clarke – 8/1
• Martin O’Neil – 10/1
• Kjetil Knutsen – 11/1
• Rafa Benitez – 14/1
• Roy Keane – 16/1
• Patrick Vieira – 20/1
• Jesse Marsch – 22/1
• Adi Hutter – 25/1
• Paul Lambert – 25/1
• Ralph Hassenhuttl – 25/1
• Lucien Favre – 28/1
• Tommy McIntyre – 28/1
• Brendan Rodgers – 33/1
• Gordon Strachan – 33/1
• Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – 40/1
•  Scott McDonald – 40/1
• Graham Potter – 50/1
• Andre Villas-Boas – 60/1
• Neil Lennon – 66/1
• Henrik Larsson – 66/1
• Steven Gerrard – 100/1

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• Football Betting Tips 2023 – Latest Picks & Football Tips
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From Sportslens.com - NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB News, Rumors & Betting Picks

Arsenal played a total of 4,410 competitive minutes in 2022-23. Below is a table demonstrating the percentage of total minutes from the season played by Arsenal’s attackers over the whole season.

Clearly, not everyone was available for the entire season. Jesus missed around three months with a knee injury, Trossard only joined in January and Smith Rowe was injured for the first half of the season. First choice players will always clock up more minutes than the rotation options, however, I think that next season, Arteta will want to aim for a more equal distribution of minutes.

Saka and Martinelli’s numbers were higher than the coach likely intended but the unavailability of Smith Rowe and Nelson for a good number of Europa League group games meant they had to play. Next season, in the Champions League group stage, Saka and Martinelli will be asked to play more minutes, if anything.

Even given his injury, 4% of the share of minutes for Emile Smith Rowe makes slightly alarming reading when you consider he first returned to the match day squad in January. In the same timeframe, Trossard has been able to clock up 24% of the season’s minutes, bringing him pretty close to the 50% for the time period he was available for.

In short, Arsenal really need a couple of players to take some of the heat off Saka and Martinelli and Arteta will want to be confident in the rotation options available to him- especially if he wants to avoid another scenario where the team fades after Easter. That is why I find the news that the club are trying to convince Reiss Nelson to stay and, per David Ornstein, will not entertain selling Emile Smith Rowe, so intriguing.

This will only be a sapient decision if Nelson and Smith Rowe are able to contribute significantly more than the combined 808 minutes they were given this season. Arsenal’s attack will need to become a little more of a carousel, unless Arteta is banking on the model that sustained Liverpool’s attack for so long- having a very solid first choice front three, with Trossard as a kind of Diogo Jota figure, and hoping that none of them break.

Now, I have nothing against a coach identifying talent he already possesses and backing himself to extract it. Clearly, Smith Rowe and Nelson are very talented players and I will assess their situations individually in a moment. But retaining them cannot be a Hail Mary, it has to be a sign of conviction that both of them can move more to the level of Leandro Trossard (which is clearly not unattainable for either player).

Last summer, Eddie Nketiah was awarded a new contract and I think we all understand there was a level of expediency in that contract, since it was a more economic option than losing the player for free and then sourcing another striker on the market. The mistake Arsenal made, is a similar one to the one they made with Maitland Niles, they lost control of the contract.

Because fast forward twelve months and Nketiah has probably moved down the pecking order if anything. Nketiah didn’t start a single Premier League game until Gabriel Jesus was injured. Even on October 30 at home to Nottingham Forest, the team with the worst away record in the league, in what proved to be the ninth fixture of a congested month for Arsenal, Jesus started over Nketiah.

I think that gives us a clear picture of how Arteta actually rates Nketiah and the problem with hanging onto players that you don’t really want is that it makes your squad smaller. Arsenal need more Trossard, Jorginho, Tomiyasu types, players the manager will use reasonably happily and not just in a total emergency or when a game is totally dead in its dying embers.

With Reiss Nelson, I think there have been signs of life in the spring. Nelson has a lot of talent but, maybe, he was missing that sense of personality and expression on the ball. As he was introduced into games late in the season, that air of expression seemed to come to him. Of course, his 97th minute winner against Bournemouth was the most picture book moment of the season but he performed incredibly well in the lead up to it.

Likewise, against Southampton in April when the game was slipping away from Arsenal, he demonstrated intent from the bench. I am very open minded about the prospect of Nelson signing a new deal because I think he is the explosive sort of wide player Arteta wants on the left-hand side a la Martinelli and he can provide cover for Saka on the right too.

I don’t mind the coach backing himself to juice the player’s talent so long as that is actually what is happening, I don’t want the coach to keep the player because he is clinging on or doesn’t really know what to do with him yet. There has to be clarity, if Nelson is Arteta’s man, cool, but commit to it. Don’t sign him up if, this time next year, he has not played significantly more than the 600 minutes he managed this season (fitness permitting, of course).

I wrote about all the reasons that I felt Emile Smith Rowe wasn’t longed for Arsenal a fortnight ago, so needless to say I was surprised by David Ornstein’s report that the club would not countenance a sale this summer. Given he is under contract until 2026 there is no immediate need to make a decision on his future in an administrative sense but it really has looked as though the writing has been on the wall for some time.

Again, if Arteta has made the decision that there is talent in the player and he has an increased role in mind for him and- crucially- he believes Smith Rowe can meet the challenge to earn that role, excellent. We have all seen ESR’s talent- more so than Nelson’s even. If we accept that Smith Rowe was available for approximately 50% of the season, then he played around 8% of the minutes available while he was fit in 2022-23.

That number has to treble, as a bare minimum next season, quadruple even for this to be a good decision. If next May the total minutes played have not significantly increased, then it simply means that Arsenal denied themselves the chance to make their squad bigger and probably torched Smith Rowe’s value on the market in the process. Squad size is not just a raw number, it’s about distribution of minutes.

Arsenal and Arteta probably have a lot of work to do in midfield this summer which makes lots of sense. I think the defence is close to completion if Arsenal can replace Holding with a more trusted defender (likely another versatile operator like White, Tomiyasu or Kiwior). However, I think the front three really needs a minimum of six, ideally seven, trusted options.

Last season, I really think Arsenal only had four and one of those only joined half-way through the season. The attack needs to grow in size and optionality, which is why I think the increased willingness to try Jesus in wide areas was very interesting in the closing weeks of the season. Arsenal’s attack needs to be augmented to meet the challenges of next season, if internal options are the solution to that, excellent, but it has to be a decision built on strong foundations of trust.

Follow me on Twitter @Stillmanator

The post Trust appeared first on Arseblog ... an Arsenal blog.

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Enzo, which manufactures and sells DNA-based tests to detect viral and bacterial diseases including COVID-19 and cancer, confirmed in an SEC filing this week that it experienced a ransomware attack on April 6. While it was able to remain operational by disconnecting its systems from the internet, Enzo said it discovered on April 11 that hackers were able to access and exfiltrate sensitive data from the company’s systems.

This includes clinical test information of 2,470,000 individuals and approximately 600,000 Social Security numbers, according to Enzo. The company added that it continues to investigate whether its employees’ information may have also been accessed.

“The Company remains subject to risks and uncertainties as a result of the incident, including as a result of the data that was accessed or exfiltrated from the Company’s network,” Enzo CEO Hamid Erfanian said in the SEC filing. “Additionally, security and privacy incidents have led to, and may continue to lead to, additional regulatory scrutiny. The Company is in the process of evaluating the full scope of the costs and related impacts of this incident.”

Enzo did not reveal how it was compromised or whether it received a ransom demand from the hacking group responsible, and company spokesperson Lynn Granito did not return TechCrunch’s request for comment. At the time of writing, it doesn’t appear any well-known ransomware group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Enzo Biochem is the latest in a long line of medical companies to experience a breach of sensitive data in recent months. PharMerica, one of the largest pharmacy service providers in the United States, confirmed in May that hackers had stolen the personal data of 5.8 million current and deceased individuals, including Social Security numbers and medication and health insurance information.

Earlier this week, Managed Care of North America (MCNA) Dental — one of America’s largest dental health insurers — confirmed that the personal information of almost nine million individuals had been compromised following a ransomware attack on its systems.

Enzo Biochem says ransomware attack exposed clinical test data of 2.5 million patients by Carly Page originally published on TechCrunch

At launch, users will be able to message one on one with friends, send them a private BeReal (no time limit, just a front-back photo) and react with RealMoji (BeReal’s custom emojis).

BeReal users can only message each other if they’re already friends on the platform. The chat system will also launch with blocking and reporting features. While users can delete their own messages, that doesn’t mean that the message will disappear from their friends’ apps — but if two people in a chat delete the messages, then BeReal says it will be deleted entirely from their system within 30 days… and if you’re having such top secret conversations on BeReal, you might be better off using an encrypted messaging app anyway.

The company said in an email to TechCrunch that private messaging is one of the most commonly requested features from users. Sure, it’s easier to directly chat with a friend in the app if you want to talk to them about their BeReal without making a comment, which all of their other friends can see. But this is also a way for BeReal to keep users in the app longer, and to open it more than just once per day when they make their post.

BeReal spiked in popularity last year, despite being founded in 2020. The app wooed gen Z and millennial users with its less-than-polished approach to social media.

Each day at a random time, every user is simultaneously prompted with a notification that it is “time to BeReal.” That means that within two minutes, you must take a front-and-back camera photo (RIP Frontback) to share with your friends. While Instagram can sometimes feel like a highlight reel, BeReal has a lot more photos of people’s TVs or computer screens, because we are all too often watching Netflix or working. But that authenticity has its downsides, because the computer screen selfies get boring after a while.

Even as the app faced competition in the form of copycat features from TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat, the app didn’t iterate much until this spring. In April, BeReal launched an integration with Spotify, which shows what you’re listening to when you post your BeReal. Then, the app rolled out the Bonus BeReal feature, which lets users post more than one BeReal per day, so long as they post their first BeReal on time.

According to BeReal, the app has 20 million daily active users. Though the young company has a Series B round of $60 million to back it up, there are no ads or paid features in the app yet, so the potential for income is limited.

BeReal is adding a messaging feature called RealChat by Amanda Silberling originally published on TechCrunch

Samsung has long offered two 10MP zoom cameras on its Ultra phones, namely a 3x camera and a 10x shooter. However, it looks like things could change with next year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Galaxy Club reports that the Galaxy S24 Ultra will gain a 5x zoom camera next year, citing “new information.”

These analysts play a role in breaking down what a common fans see on TV. Oftentimes, these analysts are former players with first-hand experience of playing in major games. Moreover, the increase in analysts’ popularity brought about some major names across American screens.

For example, CBS has a loaded Champions League coverage crew of Jamie Carragher, Thierry Henry and Micah Richards. ESPN has the always reliable Steve Nicol, Craig Burley and Shaka Hislop. Finally, FOX carries perhaps the most famous American analyst, Alexi Lalas.

Some of these candidates for best analyst draw from entertainment. Taking the game and putting a fun spin on it makes it simply more enjoyable for the general public. Of course, this has some drawbacks for the ‘more passionate’ fans, who only want to see analysis and stringent techniques being broken down.

Therefore, when you are thinking about your pick for best analyst, consider some factors in your decision. Which of these analysts provides the best takes and opinions while using statistics and game feed? Who really makes the pregame, halftime and postgame coverage more enjoyable than other programs? Or, is entertainment not really the biggest deal for me?

Everyone will have a different opinion, and it will be interesting to see how it will play out in the votes.

Vote for the Best Analyst

Here are the nominations for the best soccer analyst on U.S. TV. You will notice that these names feature on a variety of channels, providers and leagues. As seen, there are representatives from ESPN, CBS, FOX, NBC and more to choose from.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

For example, ESPN+ touts that it is the home of soccer in the United States. To be fair, it carries LaLiga, the Bundesliga, the FA Cup, and many more smaller leagues. However, Paramount+ has some of the best coverage for soccer. Serie A and the UEFA Champions League are both informative and entertaining to watch on the weekdays and weekends.

And in the US, Major League Soccer games are now all almost exclusively on the league’s own dedicated platform, MLS Season Pass.

The title for Best Streaming Service is further complicated by the impact of larger services. Those like Fubo or YouTube TV carry significantly more channels than the likes of ESPN+ or Paramount+. The broader range of content fits the likings of an entire family, not just a soccer fanatic.

On the flip side, there are cheaper options that allow for content regarding soccer. ATA Football has a free version that has all kinds of content except for live games. ViX carries free games for Spanish-language fans that are otherwise behind a paywall in English. You can find some competitions on on YouTube too.

Fact of the matter remains, people differ on their stance as to which streaming service is the best overall.

While it can be a challenging decision, we want you to nail it down to one service. Keep in mind all of the outside factors, and make your choice below.

Best Streaming Service

Here are the nominees for the 2023 World Soccer Talk Award for Best Streaming Service for soccer fans in the United States.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Presenters, or hosts, of studio shows are the ones that drive discussion. Generally, they are well-versed in the knowledge of what is happening on and off the field. However, they leave the nitty gritty information to their analysts. These hosts ask questions of the analysts and sometimes provide points of their own. The goal is to make the coverage more lively and intriguing for those watching at home.

Depending on the analysts working alongside these presenters, the host can also stir the pot. In doing so, the presenters can provide more polarizing takes or opinions worthy of discussion. All are roles the presenter plays in leading a broadcast along.

The following presenters all have their own styles and formats that they use in broadcasts. However, each one of the following does very well at making coverage of soccer more entertaining for the masses.

In choosing who you think is the best presenter, try to look beyond the leagues you watch. If anything, use this as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with the other presenters. You may find that the other nominees are just as, if not more, suiting to your desires.

Best TV presenter for soccer on TV in the U.S.

Here are the nominees for best presenter in the United States:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Oftentimes, it depends on the format of the podcast. Many podcasts thrive on the guest format. In this, podcast hosts welcome a guest and they break down their life or recent events. There may not be a major moment to break down as it is purely for entertainment purposes. Not to say there is anything wrong with that, it just comes down to preference.

However, some podcasts rely on analysts to drive the opinion of a podcast. The host may ask questions and steer the conversation. However, it is up to his or her partner to be the one that provides takes for listeners to agree or disagree with. Of course, it helps when the analyst is as knowledgeable as some of the nominees below. The more they know, the more they can touch on a certain subject.

The following candidates come from different podcasts. Yet, they all seem to serve a similar purpose. If some of these names do not ring a bell, use this as a chance to familiarize yourself with what they do.

Best Podcast Analyst

Here are the nominees for best podcast analyst.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

You will find that the names listed below span leagues, tournaments and broadcasters for the American audience. These voices call everything from the best Premier League game of the weekend to the UEFA Champions League or Major League Soccer. With the depth of the sport, there is no shortage of availability in terms of content that we, as fans, enjoy.

As this is voting, World Soccer Talk encourages you to select your pick for best commentator based entirely on opinion. Each one of the following has an individual style that makes them stand out. It could be their fact-finding behind the scenes to provide snippets of information. Or, perhaps you prefer a commentator that is wildly eloquent and creative. These commentators tend to provide their best moments in the biggest moment. Therefore, it is special for everyone listening or watching.

Using the poll below, select who YOU think is the best commentator you can find on TV. As stated previously, you can take any number of factors into account. However, you may be a fan of a number of the commentators listed below. But you can only choose one for the 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards.

You can also frequent back to this page. Check which commentator is leading the poll, as it updates after each person votes. If you are unfamiliar with a certain commentator, use this as an opportunity to familiarize yourself. However, there are surely names here that you can associate with some of the sport’s most historical moments.

Best Commentator

Here are the nominees for Best Commentator:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

For many, podcasts are a way of listening to a conversation that they can actually be a part of. It humanizes athletes and reporters who are guests on podcasts. After all, the hourlong run time for what is often weekly episodes will bring up many topics. In the end, it just provides a deeper look into people’s lives. In that regard, they can be entertaining and informative.

Currently, there are seemingly endless podcasts. World Soccer Talk’s pod is the longest-running of its kind, regardless of genre or topic. In fact, it dates back to 2006.

Since then, a number of publications, athletes, coaches, influencers and fans at large started podcasts of their own. Consequently, there are plenty of major names and titles to consider for the ‘Best Podcast’ award.

The following list may have a couple of unfamiliar names on it. Give each one a listen. As stated, the premise of podcasts differs from each source. You may find one host or idea that sticks with you. Then, you have a new form of entertainment to listen to each week.

Best Podcast

Here are the nominees for Best Podcast when it comes to soccer.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Will the host and analyst sometimes discuss other topics? Absolutely, there is only so much to happen at a club during one particular week or month. Yet, these podcasts are for fans a certain side that want to be totally immersed in everything related.

Generally speaking, these podcasts do not have a direct connection with the club. That can be the case. Instead, the best club podcasts are a group of fans that come together to break down a common interest. In this case, that is the club.

It may be hard to pick which of the following you believe is the best club podcast. If you are not a fan of the club, then it is likely that you do not actively listen to one of the podcasts below. However, you may find that the guests, analysts and host are interesting and enjoyable to listen to. Therefore, listen to each from the candidate list to form a whole opinion.

Best Club Podcast

Here are the nominees for the best club podcast for soccer teams.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Breaking news regarding which channel carries which league always sparks debate. Most fans want to see their favorite provider carry their favorite league. Clearly, that is not always the case. With worldwide soccer leagues airing on seemingly countless channels and platforms, preferences surely develop.

For this poll, World Soccer Talk wants to know who the readers and listeners think puts out the best TV coverage. The hard part about this poll is that, sometimes, fans do not watch a certain provider. Reason being some fans simply do not find certain leagues entertaining.

On one hand, it is easy to compare something like the USMNT coverage during World Cup Qualifying. For the 2022 cycle, English-language coverage aired on the CBS, ESPN and FOX family of networks. By the same token, there is a challenge comparing NBC, which has just the Premier League, to ESPN. ESPN+ is the home of seemingly countless soccer leagues.

For this vote, let us know the best TV coverage on American TV for soccer. The quality of the games, commentary, pregame/halftime/postgame coverage and more are all significant factors to keep in mind.

To the best of your ability, try to look beyond the leagues that you focus on more often than not.

Best TV coverage in the United States for soccer

Here are the candidates for Best TV Coverage for the 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

CBS have come on strong in 2023 with the introduction of the Golazo Network and the Box 2 Box and Morning Footy programs. And of course there is the longtime standard set by ESPN FC.

But who offers the best analysis and coverage of soccer each day?

Best Daily TV Show in the United States for soccer

Here are the candidates for Best daily TV Show for the 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Another role of a podcast host is to direct the conversation. It can often be hard to come up with topics for so long. Generally, an analyst is someone more to answer questions. the best podcast host will provide his or her input, but make sure that the tangents do not go down too far. It is a slippery slope, yes, but it is the key to a great podcast.

Nominees for the best podcast host embody those traits. In fact, many of the hosts come from the more notable podcasts in the soccer world.

If any of the nominees or candidates seem unfamiliar to you, then use this as a chance to learn. As is the case with podcasts or any other form of entertainment, different styles fit different fans. In giving each of these podcasts a try, you could find a host, analyst or general feel that you enjoy more than others.

That being said, do not be afraid to cast your vote for who you think is the best podcast host.

Best Podcast Host

Here are the nominees for the best podcast host in the soccer world.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Some count journalism as a forgotten art. Yet, few people have the ability to tell stories and break news in the way these writers do. Writing is just that, an art. Everyone can watch a soccer game, and most can tell you what went wrong. Only some can ask the right questions to make one game or one headline into a true story.

Writers have to get into the minds of players, coaches or executives. In doing so, they provide insight into what is happening in the soccer world. Plus, journalists must understand what their readers are interested in.

That applies to those up for the award for Best Writer. These journalists ask the hard-hitting questions. In turn, readers receive a complete overview of what is happening in the soccer world.

Best Writer

Here are the nominees for the Best Writer in the 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

For some clubs, this can be great. They share the experience of winning major games and trophies with thousands of their closest friends. For others, it is a burden. Embarrassing losses yield fans of other teams storming into the comments to berate the team. On the bright side, it tends to provide some light-hearted comedy at a time when fans could be glum.

Nowadays, the fan channels on YouTube are not reserved strictly for the Premier League. Similarly, viewers and subscribers are often not even a supporter of the club on display. It speaks to the popularity and overall enjoyment that comes about because of people reacting to their favorite club.

Something to note is that these channels are different from the team-specific channels. Using Arsenal Fan TV as an example, that channel has no correlation to Arsenal or the Arsenal YouTube page. These are strictly fans that love a team.

Best Fan YouTube Channel

Here are the candidates for best fan YouTube channel in soccer:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Co-commentators play an important but perhaps under-appreciated role in soccer broadcasts. While the lead voice calls it as it is, his or her partner is there to provide insight that the common fan may not pick up on. Therefore, co-commentators must be able to quick with their words, but also quick with their analysis. Oftentimes, co-commentators catch flak for being biased towards one side, even if they are calling it fairly even. Soccer fans just enjoy being right, I suppose.

Knowing this, World Soccer Talk compiled a list of the most recognizable co-commentators that you can listen to on American TV. With the consistency and regularity of soccer available in the modern day, there are a number of leagues and competitions to keep track of. Therefore, the following list features co-commentators from international fixtures, domestic cup ties and, of course, domestic leagues.

Some soccer fans follow competitions more closely than others, so some co-commentators may seem somewhat foreign. Take this as an opportunity to familiarize yourself with some of the other nominees on this list. Oftentimes, these candidates are able to provide entertaining analysis and ‘commentary’ coupled with a lead voice that is there to say literally what is happening.

There is also a strong chance you recognize a number of the names on the following poll. Unfortunately, you cannot pick multiple names. We are curious to see who the general American soccer fan base rates highly. Of course, you can use the comment section at the end of this page for further discussion. Provide more of your thoughts on who is the best co-commentator for soccer.

Best Co-Commentator

Here is the voting poll for the best co-commentator for soccer on American television. Remember, you can only vote for one name, so choose wisely!

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Even then, the landscape of YouTube now caters to the soccer world in multiple ways. Highlight channels carry millions of subscribers and many people that played video games now provide commentary on the soccer world. That is the biggest change. Users now see YouTube as a way to interact with fans in new ways. Discussion shows, live reactions to games and combining entertainment forms makes YouTube special in the social media landscape.

Therefore, when looking at nominees for this award, there were a number of factors to consider. There are team-oriented channels, such as the YouTube channel made for and produced by individual clubs. Similarly, there are fan channels. However, with the popularity of those, fan channels deserve their own category entirely.

Consequently, we have the best YouTube channel category. There is a mix of all of the categories seen above, boiled down into one list. Be sure to watch and listen to all of the channels to get a grasp on the content they provide. There is a mix of facts, storytelling, comedy and pure highlights.

Best YouTube Channel

Here are the nominees for the Best YouTube Channel in the world of soccer. Team-specific channels have their own category.

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

World Soccer Talk is the leader in TV and streaming news. Other websites may focus on transfers or heavy tactical analysis. It truly depends on what you, the reader, look for.

Therefore, as part of the 2023 World Soccer Talk Awards, you can vote on which platform you think is the best website for soccer fans. This is also a chance for you to grow accustomed to what other websites may provide. Some nominees, such as The Athletic, feature in-depth stories about specific players or teams. Others, such as ESPN FC, cater to a more general audience that wants to keep up with all the sports.

There is also the issue of subscriptions for content to keep in mind. How does that impact your enjoyment of reading or access to content?

Best Website

Knowing this, here are the nominations for best website as part of the 2023 World Soccer Talk awards:

Voting closes at midnight ET on June 30, 2023.

To make sure you don’t miss out on finding who won the World Soccer Talk Awards, subscribe to our free daily email newsletter which also includes the latest soccer news and TV schedules.

World Soccer Talk® is the number one source for television & streaming schedules that are complemented by in-depth reports, interviews and breaking news around the evolving soccer media industry and the leading providers.

World Soccer Talk is home to the longest continuous running soccer podcast in the world with over six million downloads since its launch in 2006. The podcast features exclusive interviews with soccer TV personalities and executives as well as debate and analysis around the latest global soccer news. World Soccer Talk also service fans with comprehensive guides on cord cutting and ways to watch games, how-to videos, eBooks and FAQs. In late 2020 World Soccer Talk also released the Soccer TV Schedules app, offering the most comprehensive and accurate listings of soccer games available in the U.S. via television and streaming. The app is free and available across Apple and Android devices.

2023 World Soccer Talk Awards categories:

VIDEO, TV and STREAMING

* Best TV Coverage
• Best Streaming Service
* Best TV Presenter
• Best TV Studio Analyst
* Best Commentator
• Best Co-Commentator
* Best YouTube Channel
• Best Fan YouTube Channel
* Best Daily TV Show

THE SPOKEN WORD

* Best Podcast
• Best Club Podcast
* Best Podcast Host
• Best Podcast Analyst

THE WRITTEN WORD

* Best Website
• Best Writer

Pallaso is ready to tussle it out with his nemesis Alien Skin in a licensed boxing bout at Nakivubo Stadium after the latter requested for 7-minute sparring.

Alien Skin and Pallaso’s beef seems to get deeper each day that passes by. Following their fight on Monday, Alien Skin requested for a boxing sparring match.

While speaking to the media, Alien noted that he is ready to settle the scores in organized sparring with Pallaso if he is down for it.

“I want this to end well. Let us set up a sparring of about seven minutes. They say that when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. I don’t want the ghetto to be involved in this whole mess,” Alien Skin told Sanyuka TV’s Isaac Kaiyz on Wednesday.

While making a visual apology on Thursday, Pallaso noted that he holds no grudge against Alien but he is ready to have the boxing match if it is professionally organized.

I personally have no problem with him. But there is a sport of boxing in Uganda. If he feels like he wants that, he is free to go on and get a license and try out professional boxing.

Also, I often follow what my fans tell me. If that’s what he asked for and we can professionally handle it, we can get a license, get boxing gloves, and hold the bout to unveil Hamis Kiggundu’s Nakivubo stadium.

There is no problem if that’s what he yearns for. But he should know that I am also from the ghetto, from the streets. Whatever lifestyle he is living, I once lived through it.

Pallaso

The post Pallaso accepts Alien Skin’s invitation to a professional boxing bout appeared first on MBU.

Alien Skin has invited Pallaso to a boxing sparring of about seven minutes to settle their beef following their altercation on Monday.

The news columns have been filled with Pallaso and Alien Skin’s beef after a viral video of the former harassing the latter went viral on social media.

While speaking to Sanyuka TV, the Sitya Danger singer maintained that he was set up and that he wants to settle the score in a boxing ring.

He noted that he does not want the ghetto to be involved in their mess and hence invited Pallaso to 7-minute sparring to end their beef.

“I want this to end well. Let us set up a sparring of about seven minutes. They say that when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that suffers. I don’t want the ghetto to be involved in this whole mess,” Alien Skin told Sanyuka TV’s Isaac Kaiyz.

“So let us put on the boxing gloves and have a little sparring because when I raised my hands and told him that he had won, he refused to take it,” he added.

Alien further emphasized that he was set up and he now wants to be prepared for when he faces Pallaso in the ring.

“But even the most professional fighters have to prepare for their fights, there must be planning. So I sensed there was a setup,” he said.

The post Alien Skin invites Pallaso to 7-minute sparring to settle the scores appeared first on MBU.

First, the deal raises the debt ceiling until Jan. 1, 2025. That’s almost a full year later than Republicans initially wanted, punting the issue until after the next presidential election. Its budget provisions also get us through the next two fiscal years, which means the odds for a potential government shutdown have shrunk significantly. And, importantly, no matter what happens in 2024, the debt limit revision expires when Democrats will still control the Senate and White House. [...]

There’s also still an appropriations battle to go through this year to actually fund the government based on the budget agreements in the deal. There’s also a fun little sequestration provision tucked into the bill, where if a continuing resolution is in place next January then there are automatic 1% cuts to both defense and nondefense spending that will snap into place. That’s something to keep an eye on.

So is the potential political fallout for McCarthy that comes from cutting this deal. Previous GOP speakers haven’t fared well after “caving” to Democratic demands, which is the way members of the House Freedom Caucus are characterizing what McCarthy has done. Murmurs of toppling McCarthy have tamped down in the last few days after some initial grumbling. But the right-wing of the Republican caucus won’t let McCarthy forget how few of their demands were met.

Marianne LeVine of The Washington Post reports that with House passage of the bill raising the debt ceiling, the action moves over to the U.S. Senate with no time to waste.

The House passed the bipartisan legislation late Wednesday night, giving the Senate just a few days to act on it before the government won’t have enough money to pay its bills. Neither Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) nor Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gave any indication passage was in jeopardy, but rather stressed Wednesday that time was of the essence. [...]

To avoid a default on the debt Monday, senators will first need to come to some type of time agreement, which would govern how long the bill can be debated and requires unanimous consent from all senators. The more amendment votes that occur, the longer final passage will take. And any changes to a House-passed bill in the Senate would mean the House would have to take the legislation up again, which would almost certainly mean blowing past the Monday deadline. Possible amendments are widely expected to be required to pass a 60-vote threshold, essentially guaranteeing that they would largely be symbolic.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Republican leader, said the deal could move “fairly quickly” if a time agreement is reached.

Jennifer Haberkorn, Adam Cancryn, and Nicholas Wu of POLITICO discusses the strategy President Joe Biden used in getting the bill passed.

The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said. [...]

Special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the Justice Department investigation into Trump, has focused on the meeting as part of the criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of national security secrets. Sources describe the recording as an “important” piece of evidence in a possible case against Trump, who has repeatedly asserted he could retain presidential records and “automatically” declassify documents.

Prosecutors have asked witnesses about the recording and the document before a federal grand jury. The episode has generated enough interest for investigators to have questioned Gen. Mark Milley, one of the highest-ranking Trump-era national security officials, about the incident.

The July 2021 meeting was held at Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, with two people working on the autobiography of Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows as well as aides employed by the former president, including communications specialist Margo Martin. The attendees, sources said, did not have security clearances that would allow them access to classified information. Meadows didn’t attend the meeting, sources said.

Marcy Wheeler of EmptyWheel gives more highly informed speculation on what the reporting about the Trump/Bedminster recording might mean.

First, it’s certainly possible this is one of the documents pertaining to Iran that WaPo has reported were among the ones obtained in the search in August 2022.

If it is, then it would be a document that Trump transported back and forth from Florida — something that would make it easier for DOJ to charge this in DC instead of SDFL.

If it’s something DOJ didn’t obtain in the search, but also didn’t obtain among the documents Trump returned in either January or June 2022, then … then we have problems. If this is among the documents that DOJ thinks Trump didn’t return, then we have problems, especially given Jack Smith’s focus on Trump’s LIV golf deal, because this is the kind of document that the Saudis would pay billions of dollars for.

[...]

The document is, as CNN reports, evidence that Trump knew he had stolen classified documents.

Paul Waldman of The Washington Post is over the “crisis-of-masculinity” anxieties being pushed by the far right-wing of the Republican Party.

Like most of the crisis-of-masculinity-mongers, Hawley has little in the way of practical recommendations to fix this supposed problem. But if American men are really overcome by such anxiety, here’s a solution: Stop listening to conservatives telling you that masculinity is in crisis.

The manliest thing one can do might be to stop caring about masculinity altogether. That’s not to deny that men face some genuine problems, especially when it comes to educational achievement — even as they still dominate almost every facet of public life, from politics to religion to business.

But when Tucker Carlson suggests you tan your testicles to boost your testosterone, he isn’t just worried about rates of admission at medical schools. Instead, it’s the feeling of anxiety among men that he and others are playing to.

As much as this anxiety is described as a response to rapidly changing ideas about gender, it’s decades, if not centuries, old. In fact, it is often built into manhood itself.

Centuries? Try going back at least two millennia, to start with.

Go back even further in time.

CREON: Pass, then, to the world of the dead, and, it (sic) thou must needs love, love them. While I live, no woman shall rule me.

Antigone by Sophocles (translated by R.C. Jebb)

Male anxiety might be the underlying primary issue of Greek tragedy. Male anxiety is also a central theme of Aristophanes’ comedy Lysistrata. 

Don’t get me started on the Bible. 

Elaine Kamarck and Michael Hais of the Brookings Institution looks at polling that strongly suggests that among younger voters (18-44 years of age), there is no gender gap as it pertains to the political party that the demographic votes for.

Why the absence of a gender gap among younger voters? Abortion is probably a big reason — like their female partners, men under 45 years old grew up under Roe v. Wade. Historically men’s and women’s views on abortion have not differed dramatically.

But there are likely more fundamental reasons. Since the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s, when today’s older generations were in their formative years, America’s culture has changed markedly. Today, little girls can more realistically aspire to graduate from college or graduate school and hold such traditionally “male” occupations as soldier, police officer, lawyer, and doctor, and men’s presence in some traditionally “female” occupations, such as nursing, is becoming more common.

As expected, there was some opposition to these challenges to traditional culture, especially among older Americans.

In spite of the resistance, however, significant change did occur. In 1950, only 24% of those awarded bachelor’s degrees and 10% of those earning Ph.D.’s were women. By 1980, those numbers had risen to 49% and 30% respectively. In 2020, 58% of bachelor’s degree and 54% of Ph.D. recipients were women.  Currently, about 40% of American lawyers, 37% of active physicians, 18% of police officers, and 19% of active duty commissioned military officers are women. At the same time, men now make up more than a quarter of public-school teachers, one in five social workers, and one in ten nurses.

Anjan Sundaram of Foreign Policy writes about how “colonial inequalities” affects war reporting in the Global South.

Even as we receive round-the-clock news from the war in Ukraine, with dozens of international reporters rotating through the country, journalists are still unable to cover much of our world. The dead haven’t been counted in the conflict in CAR [Central African Republic]. The war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the world’s deadliest since World War II, makes the front pages of newspapers briefly, only when violence explodes. In Latin America, hundreds of environmental activists have been killed while bravely defending precious forests, mountains, and rivers, and many of their deaths are just a footnote in the news. The reasons are timeless: a lack of interest in places deemed faraway, and in violence against people seen as unlike us. We don’t grieve as much for some people as others.

Another problem is that news from places such as CAR and Congo often needs to travel to London or New York before it reaches countries such as Nigeria and India. This means that much of international news is filtered through a Western lens or neglected altogether. A lack of international news outlets in the global south has led to great gaps in coverage—even when millions of people die in the world’s deadliest wars.

Finally today, El País in English tells highly courageous first-person accounts of the dangers three journalists encounter regularly while working in Latin America. (The excerpt below is of a reporter currently working in Nicaragua who remains anonymous.)

Under the table where I usually write, I have my suitcase packed. I keep it there, touching my feet, in case I ever receive a call one day (I hope to receive it in time) alerting me to the fact that the Nicaraguan police want to arrest me, as has been the case with at least 10 journalists and media executives who have been imprisoned since protests against the regime broke out in April 2018, or that one of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo’s operators is out looking for me. Most of my colleagues who have been convicted were accused of “spreading false news” or “betraying the homeland” – two pieces of legislation passed in 2020 to criminalize critical voices.

In my suitcase there are some spare clothes, personal hygiene products, a computer and my most important documents: passport, vaccination card, and a document from the hospital that proves that I’m a chronically-ill patient who suffers from hypertension and heart disease. If I’m ever captured, at least I will have proof that I need my daily pills, since several political prisoners have denounced that they don’t receive the medicines they require in prison. I think – or I want to believe – that having my suitcase ready can save me a few minutes, that it will help me if I have to hide in a safehouse for a few days, or if I definitely have to flee Nicaragua, crossing the border through blind spots so as not to be jailed, as did 185 Nicaraguan journalists who have gone into exile since 2018. Just last week, a source confirmed to me that a new group of 11 journalists was in the process of fleeing the country. [...]

In recent months, I’ve been scared to consult sources who I don’t know well. I’m afraid that one of them may be a sympathizer of the Sandinista Front – the ruling party – and denounce me for being a journalist. I’ve continued reporting, but less and less and with much more planning. I take special precautions that I cannot detail here, because it would put the few remaining journalists in Nicaragua at risk. But I know that no security protocol is foolproof. On more than one occasion, due to the adrenaline of stepping out on the street, I’ve found myself in conversation with the wife of a police officer, with a retired soldier, or with a member of the Sandinista party. Luckily, the interactions haven’t gone any further – no one has ratted me out or denounced me for being a journalist. I don’t want to resign myself to doing journalism locked in a room, but I have to accept that it’s increasingly dangerous to go out. With each passing day, it gets more complicated to do my job.

I also have to remind myself that similar working conditions have and, in some cases, still exist in the United States and we are, perhaps, one presidential election away from the scenarios told so descriptively by the three journalists currently working in Latin America happening here in the U.S.

Again.

Have the best possible day, everyone.

Money makes the world go round. And when it comes to energy, we’re seeing more investment than ever: companies, research institutions, and governments are all pouring money into technologies that could help power our world in the future. 

The International Energy Agency just published its annual report on global investment in energy, where it tallies up all that cash. The world saw about $2.8 trillion of investments in energy in 2022, with about $1.7 trillion of that going into clean energy. 

That’s the biggest single-year investment in clean energy ever, and where it’s all going is pretty interesting. I have some good news, some bad news, and a couple of surprising tidbits to share. So grab some popcorn and let’s dive into the data. 

Fossil fuels are faltering

Let’s start with what I consider to be good news: there’s a lot of money going into clean energy—including renewables, nuclear, and things that help cut emissions, like EVs and heat pumps. And not only is it a lot of money, but it’s more than the amount going toward fossil fuels. In 2022, for every dollar spent on fossil fuels, $1.70 went to clean energy. Just five years ago, it was dead even. 

Clean energy’s growing dominance is especially clear when it comes to solar power. In 2023, for the first time, investment in solar energy is expected to beat out investment in oil production. It’s a stark difference from what the picture looked like a decade ago, when oil spending outpaced solar spending by nearly six to one.  

While we’re on oil and gas, I think it’s worth pointing out one really interesting point: while there’s a lot of money flowing to clean energy, it doesn’t make up a big share of spending by fossil-fuel companies. 

See those tiny dark slivers in 2021 and 2022? That’s the share of oil and gas companies’ spending that went toward clean energy. Spending on oil infrastructure has fallen (which is what’s allowed solar to catch up), but companies are making up for it by paying out dividends, buying back stock, and paying back debt rather than putting more into low-emissions tech. 

Any investment and attention going to renewables and innovations that could help cut emissions is great, and I do think oil and gas companies can play a role in boosting new technologies, especially those where they have expertise (I’m looking at you, geothermal!). But I think it’s important to keep that spending in context—oil and gas companies are putting less money into renewables than ad campaigns would have you think. 

Bring it on

Within clean energy, the vast majority of spending is going into renewables like wind and solar, grid upgrades, and efforts to improve energy efficiency. 

But smaller sectors are growing quickly, especially when you look at projections for this year. I’m really excited to see how fast money is moving into electric vehicles: spending went from $29 billion as recently as 2020 to an expected $129 billion in 2023. And spending on batteries for energy storage is set to double between 2022 and 2023. 

All that new money could change everything, and there are already big shifts in the battery industry because of it. We can’t seem to go more than a few days without an announcement of a new battery factory (most recently, yet another multibillion-dollar factory in Georgia). 

If all these plans take shape, we’re going to reach nearly seven terawatt-hours of manufacturing capacity for lithium-ion batteries in 2030. That’s enough for over 100 million EVs annually. Most of it’s going to be in China, but the US and Europe are starting to make a dent in that country’s dominance of all things EV. 

The road ahead

So this all sounds like a lot of money … but is it enough? 

To keep global warming below 1.5 °C over preindustrial levels and avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we need to reach net-zero emissions around 2050. If we’re going to hit that goal, according to the IEA, annual investment needs to reach $4.5 trillion in 2030—nearly triple current spending. 

Some technologies are actually in great shape. Solar spending just needs to keep growing as it has been for that sector to keep pace with the 2050 goal. But there needs to be much more spending in other areas, especially technologies like energy storage and transmission lines—that will help balance the grid as more solar and other intermittent renewable power sources come online. There’s also a huge geographical imbalance, and poorer countries will need a significant boost to help build up their electrical grids and establish new technologies. 

Investments are broadly on the right track, and I’m excited to see what next year’s report will hold. But there’s still definitely a long road ahead and a lot of building left to do. 

Keeping up with climate

Induction stoves could replace your polluting gas range. They might seem like magic, but these futuristic appliances are powered by magnets. (Canary Media)

This is a great comprehensive guide to “permitting reform,” a crucial policy fight in the energy space with what’s possibly the most boring name possible. (Heatmap News)

Electric cooktops, heat pumps, and EV chargers can help save money and address emissions in homes. But progress isn’t always so simple when your landlord has the final say over changes. (Washington Post) 

→ We’re going to need a lot more EV chargers. (MIT Technology Review)

China was already the world’s largest EV exporter, and now the country is shipping even more cars around the world. (Wall Street Journal)

The first new nuclear reactor at Plant Vogtle in Georgia finally reached its full power output this week, only seven years late and $17 billion over budget. (Associated Press) 

→ Smaller nuclear reactors have been held up as a potential solution to delays and cost inflation. So where are they? (MIT Technology Review)

Starting up on summer yard work? Here’s a guide for all the electric yard tools your heart could possibly desire. (The Strategist)

In 2019, I wrote a post on how companies should price their AI-enabled software. I focused on SaaS companies that were developing their own AI and highlighted pricing considerations as they work to improve their models.

Since then, there’s been a meteoric rise of third-party foundational model providers like OpenAI, MosaicML and more. These “AI as a service” vendors have enabled any SaaS player to integrate powerful AI into their application. This has created a mad dash to sprinkle AI pixie dust across the SaaS ecosystem. We’ve seen this among the countless newly minted startups and more established public companies.

The proliferation of this technology raises many questions, including how to deploy it safely, who will win (focused startups or incumbents with existing distribution?) and more. One important area that hasn’t yet been discussed much: how it should be priced.

Below, I lay out a working framework on how to think about pricing the AI in your SaaS application. The space is evolving rapidly, so I’ll update this thinking in future posts.

How much differentiated value do your AI features create?

By definition, these foundational models are accessible to every SaaS provider, so how should you think about pricing what is, in effect, a commodity you’ve integrated into your product? Start with first principles: How much differentiated value does this AI feature create?

By integrating AI features into the flow of your broader platform, you are saving the user time from having to leave their flow to go to the underlying model (ChatGPT, etc). Keeping the user in context can be a powerful unlock.

However, be honest with yourself as to how much value your AI is actually creating. Many AI features in SaaS today are getting a flood of initial tire kicks from curious users but aren’t seeing meaningful sustained adoption. Start by understanding retention and value creation.

Then ask yourself how differentiated your AI offerings are. If the majority of the value your AI feature creates can be garnered by going directly to ChatGPT, don’t try to make a significant margin on that feature. Reselling is not a sustainable value creation strategy (nor differentiation strategy, though that’s a topic for another post).

Even if you aren’t able to charge much for your AI features today, they can create meaningful value by making your current product more valuable and perhaps stickier. They can also be used to drive upsell to higher tiers, all of which can result in increased net dollar retention.

Over time, you can leverage initial features that may today just be a thin wrapper around a third party model to build more differentiated value (more on how below). When you get to that point, you can consider a more value extractive pricing approach.

AI SaaS pricing is in its early days

Factors to consider before pricing AI-enabled SaaS by Walter Thompson originally published on TechCrunch

U.S.-based Casepoint offers a legal discovery platform for litigation, investigations and compliance that is used by government agencies, corporations and law firms. The organization boasts a number of high-profile clients, including the U.S. Courts, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), hotel operator Marriott, and medical giant Mayo Clinic.

In a statement to TechCrunch, Casepoint co-founder and chief technology officer Vishal Rajpara confirmed the company had “activated our incident response protocols” on March 30 and “engaged an external forensic firm to help us investigate a potential incident”.

While Rajpara declined to confirm the nature of the incident, he didn’t dispute claims that Casepoint was targeted by the ALPHV ransomware gang, which this week claimed responsibility for attacking the organization by listing its stolen data on its dark web leak site. The Russia-linked gang, also known as BlackCat, claims to have stolen two terabytes of sensitive information from Casepoint, including data from the U.S. government, and “many other things you have tried so hard to keep,” the gang said.

Samples of the exfiltrated data, seen by TechCrunch, include sensitive health information from a Georgia-based hospital, a legal document, a government-issued ID, and an internal document allegedly issued by the FBI. The FBI did not respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.

In an update published on March 31 — after Casepoint confirmed it was investigating the incident — ALPHV also shared what appears to be login details for the company’s internal systems.

Rajpara told TechCrunch that Casepoint remains “fully operational and have experienced no disruption to our services,” adding that “the third party forensic firm that we have engaged is currently running scans and deploying advanced endpoint detection monitoring tools and will be looking for signs of suspicious activity.”

“We are early on in our investigation and are committed to keeping our clients informed as we learn more,” Rajpara said.

Rajpara declined to say whether the company has the technical means to detect what data was accessed or exfiltrated or whether the company has received any communication, such as a ransom demand, from the ALPV ransomware group.

The ALPHV gang previously claimed to have targeted the Amazon-owned video surveillance company Ring, and NextGen Healthcare, a U.S.-based electronic health record software provider. ALPHV’s leak site was also used to host data stolen from Western Digital, though the hackers responsible claimed they were not affiliated with the gang.

Other ALPHV victims include Bandai Namco, Swissport and the Munster Technological University in Ireland.

Legal tech firm Casepoint investigates breach after hackers claim theft of government data by Carly Page originally published on TechCrunch

On Thursday morning, Pallaso visited Bulange Mengo where he met a few dignitaries from the Buganda Kingdom and also issued an apology to Alien Skin following Monday’s fight.

Bulange houses the Lukiiko of the Kingdom of Buganda. The Kabaka of Buganda and the Katikkiro of Buganda also maintain offices in the building.

Pallaso visited the Bulange while doing interviews for his forthcoming concert dubbed ‘Love Fest’ scheduled for 9th June at Lugogo Cricket Oval.

While speaking to the press, the TGM singer issued another apology to Alien Skin and to the music fraternity over Monday’s fight.

On Monday, Pallaso was seen roughing up Alien Skin in a video that went viral. The singer claimed that Alien together with his squad attacked him and disorganised his rehearsals.

Alien Skin has since denied the allegations and noted even asked music fans to go ahead and support Pallaso at his concert.

Pallaso said that he lost his temper in the first apology he shared on his social media platforms.

Hello my dear fans. I am sorry I lost my temper last night. So many events transpired off record and I’ve been under a lot of pressure at work, but that’s no excuse for my behavior. I love you and will try harder not to mishandle my frustrations next time.

I am very sad and I am truly, truly sorry, I wasn’t able to handle the situation both differently and better. For my brother Alien Skin, I am also genuinely sorry. Darkness cant take out darkness only light and i should know better. I take the full blame. I am sorry.

Pallaso

Today, the singer further took the blame for the situation as he narrated how he has not been getting enough sleep and frustrations have been building up around him.

“There was a misunderstanding that escalated. I have spent so many days without sleep as I prepare for my concert and we paid heftily for the place where we are doing our rehearsals. So the frustrations were too much and coupled with the misunderstandings, it caused a bad scene. But the most important thing is that my actions were wrong and I personally apologize to my fellow artiste Alien Skin,” Pallaso partly says in his apology.

The post Pallaso issues another apology to Alien Skin at Bulange Mengo (VIDEO) appeared first on MBU.

Caroline Marcah has poured her heart out as she wishes NBS TV’s MC Kats, real name Edwin Katamba, a happy birthday.

For a while now, former best friends, MC Kats and Caroline Marcah, have been rumored to be at loggerheads over undisclosed matters.

The Bukedde TV presenter’s social media posts have often been perceived as trolls towards MC Kats whom she once was rumored to be dating.

Today, as the self-styled King Of The Mic celebrates adds a year to his age, Marcah has poured her heart out in celebration of his friend.

In a post she shared on her different social media pages, Caroline Marcah highlights Kats’ goodness and how she always focuses on his better side.

She acknowledges his imperfection and assures him that he will always have a friend in her regardless of what happens in their lives.

“Your goodness overwhelms the bad. I choose to always see you for the better side of you. No one is perfect, we all just have to do our best in life. You Only Live Once. And you will always have a friend right here. A very happy birthday to you Katamba Edwin, she writes.

Sweet, innit?

The post Caroline Marcah’s deep birthday message to MC Kats appeared first on MBU.