Handwritten city
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A group of business, political, and military figures are looking to run Iran without Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. / The Atlantic [$]
Early intelligence says the United States’ strikes on Iran did not destroy the country’s nuclear program’s core components. / CNN
Israeli officials say Netanyahu started planning to attack Iran last year. / The Washington Post [$]
To use the escalation ladder designed by strategist Herman Kahn (the real-life Dr. Strangelove), our bombing brought the conflict to Rung #9. / Wake Up to Politics
New disclosures show homeland security advisor Stephen Miller is invested in ICE contractor Palantir. / Project on Government Oversight
Of the 100 top-selling titles in Substack’s American politics category, “81 are left-leaning or progressive.” / Chaotic Era
Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old democratic socialist, wins the Democratic primary for mayor of New York City. / PBS
New York announces plans to build the first major new nuclear-power plant in the US in over 15 years. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
In December, about one in four abortions was provided via telehealth. / The Associated Press
A federal judge says it was legal for AI company Anthropic to train its models on published books without their authors’ permission. / TechCrunch
A study finds AI systems from Anthropic, Google, Meta, and OpenAI all resorting to blackmail when their goals or existence are threatened. / Fortune
Unrelated: The number of “bowling centers” in the US has been declining for four decades. / The Baffler
“Granny hobbies” like knitting and needlepoint are said to be surging with young people. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
Hundreds of calligraphy societies operate around the world, many growing vigorously. / Craftsmanship
In BookTok and Bookstagram communities, annotating and “tabbing” books are trending. / The Guardian
How bad timing and a change in copyright law left the famous shark cover image for Jaws in the public domain, where it remains today. / Ironic Sans
See also: On Jaws as art, and a way to survive the world. / The Morning News
From 2018, photographs of driftwood shacks found along the California coast. / Live From California
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