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Following his invasion of Venezuela, Trump suggests Colombia, Cuba, and Mexico could be next, and renews his intention to annex Greenland. / Axios, NPR
For context, Venezuela has the world’s largest oil reserves, produces comparatively little, and “has a type the US needs.” / By the Numbers
See also: “The world doesn’t need the extra Venezuelan oil today, or next year or even in 2027 and 2028. It would be needed in the early 2030s.” Trump now has his very own oil empire. / Bloomberg [$]
Veteran reporter James Fallows says Trump clearly made the case for his own impeachment during “the most disturbing presidential press conference I have seen in my life.” / Breaking the News
Spencer Ackerman: “The US has, once again, entered the Fuck Around phase and, once again, expects it to be eternal.” / Forever Wars
No one wants to read books about Trump anymore, no matter if it’s fact-based reportage, juicy insider tales, or hagiographies targeting the base. / The Atlantic [$]
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xAI’s Grok chatbot rolls out a feature where users can ask it to create images of anyone—without consent, and including children—in various states of undress. / The Verge
Related: Journalists need to stop “reporting” that Grok has apologized—as an AI language model, it isn’t sentient, and therefore can’t “apologize.” / The Present Age
To kill a rogue AI, you can’t merely turn it off and then back on again; instead it “might require killing the internet, or large parts of it.” / Vox
See also: An AI pioneer says some models are showing signs of self-preservation, and argues against giving them rights, as it would mean we can’t shut them down. / The Guardian
“What if there’s no ethical way to have unlimited access to every book, film, and record ever created?” Why I quit streaming and got back into cassettes. / 404 Media
Someone has uploaded what is purportedly a collection of unreleased Boards of Canada tracks, including some longstanding fan favorites. / YouTube
English is becoming easier to read, but the reason isn’t only shorter sentences, it’s also that the written word is more closely resembling spoken English. / Works in Progress
A rundown of the various “off-target benefits” of vaccines, where the risk of seemingly unrelated conditions—such as dementia—are reduced by, say, a flu shot. / The New York Times [$]
See also: A virologist has created what may be the first-ever vaccine that is delivered as a beer. / Science News
And now a brief chat with new supporter, Sadie B.!
Sadie, hi! When did you start reading TMN? I think I started reading TMN after someone posted a thing about the Tournament of Books on MetaFilter.
We love MetaFilter. (Hi, Matt.) Sadie, any particular reason you decided to support today? I'm always looking for good news websites, and after I unsubscribed from the Washington Post, I had extra news money to subscribe to other sites with. Jeff Bezos can suck it.
In the members area, unlocked links from Bloomberg, the Atlantic, and the New York Times ↓