"I have overseen more Supreme Court nominations as senator, vice president and president than anyone living today. I have great respect for our institutions and separation of powers. What is happening now is not normal, and it undermines the public’s confidence in the court’s decisions, including those impacting personal freedoms. We now stand in a breach." So said Joe Biden as he endorsed sweeping changes to the Supreme Court including: 18-year term limits, a binding and enforceable ethics code, and a constitutional amendment to prohibit the blanket immunity that the Court just offered to presidents. This stance is a change for Biden, but the Court changed first. During the Trump administration, we learned that the norms and unwritten rules of the past don't hold when someone is willing to flout them. From recusal refusal, to the acceptance of millions of dollars worth of gifts, to decisions that shock legal analysts, today's Supreme Court has flouted in a new era of minority rule. That said, Biden's proposals (for which Kamala Harris has declared her support) have little chance of moving forward. "Term limits and an ethics code are subject to congressional approval, and the Republican-controlled House is unlikely to support either. Both proposals would require 60 votes to pass the Senate, and Democrats only hold 51 seats in the upper chamber. Passing a constitutional amendment requires clearing even more hurdles, including two-thirds support of both chambers, or via a convention of two-thirds of the states, and then approval by three-fourths of state legislatures." Hence, these moves are as much political as anything. Just like today's Supreme Court. WaPo (Gift Article): Biden endorses Supreme Court reforms, amendment to limit immunity.

2

Ven Diagram

"Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which Maduro controls, claimed early Monday that he won 51 percent of the vote to opposition candidate Edmundo González’s 44 percent, despite independent exit polling and partial results that suggested González captured twice as many votes as Maduro." World leaders cast doubt on Maduro’s claim of victory in Venezuelan election. Once authoritarian-minded leaders take hold, they're difficult to uproot.

+ "Edison Research, which conducts high-profile election polling in the US and other countries, published an exit poll showing González had won 65% of the vote, while Maduro won 31%." Venezuela on a knife-edge as opposition accuses Maduro of rigging election.

+ Related: Trump Says Americans ‘Won’t Have to Vote Anymore’ If He Wins. "It’ll be fixed; it’ll be fine; you won’t have to vote anymore, my beautiful Christians." (What does this guy have to do to convince people he’s anti-democracy, incite an insurrection?)

3

The Mother Lode

"When judged by almost any standard other than the revolutions caused by electricity or the internet, generative AI has already done extraordinary things, of course—advancing drug development, solving challenging math problems, generating stunning video clips. But exactly what uses of the technology can actually make money remains unclear. At present, AI is generally good at doing existing tasks—writing blog posts, coding, translating—faster and cheaper than humans can. But efficiency gains can provide only so much value, boosting the current economy but not creating a new one." There's no doubt AI is a big deal that will have a big impact on many industries. But can it live up to the unprecedented levels of investment? The Atlantic(Gift Article): Silicon Valley’s Trillion-Dollar Leap of Faith.

+ "Meta may be cutting back on its metaverse dreams, but it’s striving for its AI goals at full speed. JPMorgan analyst Doug Anmuth said Meta’s company-wide costs could reach up to $50 billion in 2025, fueled by AI spending."

+ The Mother Load: All that spending means a lot of AI which means we'll have a lot of new issues to deal with. Like even bigger questions about what's true. Christopher Beam in The Atlantic: My Mom Says She Loves Me. AI Says She’s Lying. "A few weeks ago, I called my mom ... 'Do you love me?' I asked. She said yes. I asked why. She listed a handful of positive qualities, the kinds of things a son would be proud to hear—if they were true. Later, I plugged a transcript of her answer into Coyote. The verdict: Deception likely."

4

We Didn't Start the Fire

"In a nod to the Montgolfier brothers, the French pioneers of the hot air balloon whose first designs took flight in 1783," the Paris Olympic flame is out of the ordinary in a couple significant ways. First, it's airborne. Second, it's fueled by electricity. "The ring at the base of the balloon houses 40 LED lights which illuminate a cloud of water vapour produced by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles to give the flickering and smoke effect of real flames."

+ Officials have canceled triathlon swim training for the second day over poor water quality in the Seine. Maybe they should call it a Quadrathlon this year. Surviving the water is an event all its own.

+ "Although breaking faded from pop-culture consciousness in the late-1980s, competitions soon began to thrive worldwide." A Comprehensive Guide to Breaking, the Newest Sport at the Olympics.

5

Extra, Extra

Northern Exposure: "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed retaliation during a visit to the scene of a rocket strike that killed 12 young members of a minority Druze community in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights." Who are the Druze? The hit community is a reminder of how multicultural Israel is. It's also a reminder of how close the region is to an all-out war in the North. Dexter Filkins in The New Yorker, writing before the latest rocket attack: Will Hezbollah and Israel Go to War?

+ Iowa Ban: "What this means is that one in three women of reproductive age in America lives in a state with a Trump abortion ban." So said Kamala Harris about what could become the biggest issue in this election: Harris urges Americans to vote after six-week abortion ban takes effect in Iowa.

+ No Pal O' Mine: "In Silicon Valley, the spectacle of tech billionaire attacking tech billionaire has suddenly exploded, as pro-Trump executives and their Democratic counterparts have openly turned on each other. The brawling has spilled into public view online, at conferences and on podcasts, as debates about the country’s future have turned into personal broadsides." Guys who were once part of the Pay Pal mafia are now ripping into each other in public. The rest of us are being reminded that there's too heavy a concentration of wealth and power in America. NYT(Gift Article): It’s Silicon Valley vs. Silicon Valley as Political Fights Escalate. (I'll take the side rooting for democracy.) Some of these billionaires are more dangerous than others: Elon Musk posts deepfake of Kamala Harris that violates X policy. (X "policy" ... Give me a break.)

+ Reelin in the Years: "A trio of studies published in the past year all suggest that the protein Reelin helps maintain thinking and memory in ailing brains, though precisely how it does this remains uncertain." Scientists may have found a clue in the Alzheimer's fight. A protein called Reelin keeps popping up in brains that resist aging and Alzheimer’s.

+ Still Going Viral: "If you have cough-and-cold symptoms, at this point, living in Los Angeles, you should really think that they are COVID until proven otherwise." This thing won't go away. COVID surging in California.

+ Chill Factor: Yes it's the age of AI, but the year's biggest IPO by far is for a company focused on a more traditional technology. Refrigeration. Lineage runs the world’s largest network of global temperature-controlled warehouses.

6

Bottom of the News

"Even if you sip Slurpees on the regular, you might be surprised to learn that 7-Eleven, despite being founded in Texas, is a Japanese-owned company." And the 7-Elevens in Japan are a hell of a lot nicer than the ones in America. Could the better version of the store be coming here? Japan-Style 7-Elevens Are Coming to America — and That Means a Vastly Improved Menu. (You could find an improved menu swimming in the Seine.)

+ "The island can technically handle seven of these building-size boats at a time ... but when they all show up at once it becomes a problem." Locals Told To Stay Home As 11,000 Cruise Ship Tourists Descend On Santorini.

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