|
 |
In the early days of the internet, we found things by browsing through web directories, like the one from Yahoo. That method of discovery was replaced by much more powerful search technologies, led by Google, that enabled us to quickly scour the entire internet and click on links to get to the source material. And so it’s been for more than a quarter century (which is like 10 million years in internet time). But now, the blue links that have defined the internet era, and powered a revolution in business transformation and information sharing, are, like so many other tech job-holders, at serious risk of being put out of work by AI. TechCrunch: Google Search as you know it is over. “Instead of returning a simple list of links, Google Search will drop users into AI-powered interactive experiences at times. Google is also introducing tools that can dispatch ‘information agents’ to gather information on a user’s behalf, along with tools that let users build personalized mini apps tailored to their needs.” But if links die, what happens to the sites they now connect (the same sites that are being repurposed to provide answers to your questions in the new-fangled search box)? As Jay Peters writes in The Verge(Gift Article): “Google doing everything also means a lot of the web that Google relies on collapses under it. If Google Search doesn’t send traffic to publishers or websites who need visitors to make money ... what will Search learn from, and where will it point people to?” And what will become of the serendipity and random discovery that made the internet fun and informative? And what happens to our already isolated tech experiences when we lose the links that not only connect us to information, but to each other as well? Those are questions even AI can’t yet answer. In the meantime, Google and its AI competitors are racing to become the Hotel California of AI’s captive audience age. We are programmed to receive. You can check out any time you like. But you can never leave.
2
Get a Grip
“Less than six months from the midterm elections, the president may be as unpopular as he’s ever been with the general public. But inside the Republican Party, he remains the undisputed kingmaker.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Why Thomas Massie Thought He Was Different. “Last night Massie met the same fate as so many of Trump’s Republican critics: He lost his primary.”
+ There’s no sugar-coating the sad fact that, even after dragging America’s democracy, economy, and global status through the mud, Trump still holds a tight grip on the core GOP voting base. But that same grip may be costly once we get to general elections that feature a broader voting population that views Trump negatively. Trump’s grip is choking his GOP enemies, but it may leave the GOP choking its chicken in November. Dan Pfeiffer sums it up. Everyone Thinks Trump Won Last Night. They’re Wrong (paywalled). “The message to Republicans from Kentucky, Louisiana, and elsewhere is crystal clear — buck Trump and lose your job. The problem for Republicans on the ballot this fall is that the best way to keep their job might be to buck Trump.”
+ In the shorter term, there are now a few more GOP members of Congress who have nothing to lose by expressing their actual views on matters. These folks aren’t exactly profiles in courage, but, in 2026, we’ll take what we can get. The GOP’s YOLO caucus is small but growing.
3
Crime Pays
Yesterday, I wrote: Trump may not be good at wars, economics, or geopolitics, but give him this: He is amazingly good at corruption. And today, here’s the NYT Editorial Board (Gift Article) on Trump’s $1.8 billion slush fund and deal to end all ongoing audits of himself and his family. There Has Never Been an Example of Presidential Corruption Like This. “The fund manages to combine three of Mr. Trump’s most alarming behaviors. One, it is an obvious form of corruption, coming from a president who has used his office to enrich himself, his family and his allies. Two, the fund continues his pattern of using the Justice Department as an enforcer to punish his perceived opponents and protect his friends and allies. Three, the fund is his latest attempt to rewrite history about the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.”
+ Think you’re sickened by the idea of the already-pardoned Jan 6 criminals getting a cut of your tax dollars as a reward for their crimes? Imagine how the Capitol police officers feel. Jan. 6 Police Officers Sue to Block $1.8 Billion Fund.
+ The corruption is nonstop. We’re used to headlines like this one: Trump Has Been Investing in Companies and Then Pumping Them in His Speeches. But even judged by our lowered standards, this corruption stands out. Joyce Vance: “When everything is bad, nothing is bad. People get desensitized. They can no longer keep track of it all. It’s all so awful that none of it gets processed anymore. So I need you to hear me when I say tonight: This is bad. Really, really bad.” (Let’s hope we get to the midterms before we run out of reallys...)
 |
4
Slap Shot
“But the sell-off of youth sports is no surprise. In America, little remains of what used to be called the public commons—the essential parts of life organized for mutual benefit rather than profit extraction. Hospitals, nursing homes, and insurance companies were once mostly nonprofit, run by local boards. No more. Education, from preschool to college, is being colonized by for-profit owners. Even utilities such as electricity and water, once treated as public goods, are being taken over by profit-obsessed investment firms.” Chris Murphy in The Atlantic (Gift Article): My Son’s Hockey Team and the Crisis of American Resentment.
+ The way youth sports has changed also has an impact on what I wrote about yesterday. Americans are increasingly divided, not only politically, socially, and economically, but geographically. Our lack of real-world interaction makes us all the more susceptible to hateful, rage-baiting messages spread by those who benefit from keeping us divided and afraid of one another. Gotta Keep ‘Em Separated.
5
Extra, Extra
Havana Bad Day: “Cuba is not expected to extradite Castro to the U.S. and most indicted foreign leaders are not brought to the country to face charges. But Blanche hinted to the possibility of U.S. action in Cuba when he told reporters there was a warrant for Castro’s arrest, ‘so we expect that he will show up here by his own will or by another way.’” DOJ indicts Raúl Castro over fatal 1996 civilian planes’ shooting.
+ Ebola’s Spread: “Anxious healthcare workers in eastern Congo said Wednesday they are underprotected and undertrained in a rapidly spreading Ebola outbreak of a rare type of the virus in one of the world’s most remote and vulnerable places.” Ebola fears surge on the