Dennis Keim

How Trump Decided to Go to War

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/02/u...

No hero search here. Maybe the lesser of evils.

I haven't looked into it that much but I've found ChatGPT and Gemini occasionally useful. I don't use them often because they are resource hogs.

Thanks for the reference.

I find it useful for language studies and health care queries. It's always advisable to be cautious with any results of course.

How Talks Between Anthropic and the Defense Dept. Fell Apart

I just added the Claude app to my phone today. Not sure if I will use it yet. Had been using ChatGPT when I needed AI help. Gift article.

www.nytimes.com/2026/03/01/t...

How “Power Couples” Can Help the United States Win the Global AI Race - RMI Building data centers alongside wind, solar, and batteries can fast-track electricity needed for AI — without forcing families and businesses to foot the bill.

Energy note.

"RMI analysis shows that building data centers alongside wind, solar, and batteries near existing grid connection sites can fast-track electricity needed for AI — without forcing families and businesses to foot the bill."

rmi.org/how-power-co...

Renewable Energy Defies Trump’s Attacks, Reaching a New Record Wind, solar and other green sources generated more than a quarter of all US energy last year.

Consumers still want the cheapest electricity they can get. And that's wind and solar right now. Gift link.

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

I made this point in class the other day. Until Congress changes the name, it's the Department of Defense. It's not hard.

Pete Hegseth can call it whatever he wants. Uncle Drunky's Funtown or the He-Man Warfighters Secret Clubhouse or whatever. No one else should feel the need to follow him.

BARTIROMO: Patriotism is spreading. You announced your Pledge America Campaign, encouraging broadcasters to air more pro-America content, such as starting each day with the Pledge of Allegiance

CARR: We're in the midst of a great revival. President Trump is truly the political colossus of our time

Netflix Backs Out of Bid for Warner Bros., Paving Way for an Ellison Takeover

Turning the USA media into Russia's. One merger or buyout at a time. Gift article.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/b...

Americans Are Leaving the U.S. in Record Numbers More citizens are replanting overseas, drawn by a quality of life made easily affordable by the U.S.’s enviable salaries.

www.wsj.com/us-news/amer...

Whenever I see Hillary- smart, witty, sensible I remember what a tragedy that Americans hate women so that they picked Trump over her. This is why we can’t have nice things.

Secretly rewritten nuclear safety rules are made public The Energy Department made the rules public a month after NPR reported about their existence. The rules slash requirements for security and environmental protections.

What could possibly go wrong?

"The Department of Energy has made public a set of new rules that slash environmental and security requirements for experimental nuclear reactors."

www.npr.org/2026/02/26/n...

The Looming Taiwan Chip Disaster That Silicon Valley Has Long Ignored

"If China invades Taiwan and cuts off its chip exports to American companies, the tech industry and the U.S. economy would be crippled."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/t...

Opinion | John Roberts Is Losing Patience With Trump

Linda Greenhouse's opinion.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/24/o...

Opinion | ‘He’s Debased This Country’: The Best and Worst Moments From Trump’s State of the Union

NYT Opinion.

"President Trump addressed a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night, celebrating his record on immigration and the economy. [...] Here’s what our writers thought of his speech."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/o...

YouTube video by Tom Scott Taking The Emergency Exit From A Wind Turbine

I never got to try this. Fortunately. :)

This is kind of a tiny turbine these days. I wonder if they use different systems now. Ballistic parachutes?

youtu.be/UWSckm8zTc8?...

Fourth-quarter U.S. GDP up just 1.4%, badly missing estimate; inflation firms at 3% The core PCE price index was expected to increase 3% from a year ago in December. GDP was projected to rise at a 2.5% pace in Q4.

Not even close to the nutty predictions of the current administration.

www.cnbc.com/2026/02/20/p...

“I could give — whatever, about that, to be honest. The story is less about the opponents being some hypothetical primary.

To me, my opponents are the network that links Orban, Trump, Milei, Bolsonaro, all of these folks.”

thehill.com/homenews/hou...

White House Shrugs Off Lutnick’s Epstein Ties

Ugh...

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

Have digestive problems?

"With the Monash University FODMAP Diet app you'll have easy access to recommendations about the foods you should eat – and those you should avoid – at every meal."

www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/...

Jesse Jackson, Civil Rights Leader Who Sought the Presidency, Dies at 84

I understand he'd been unwell for some time. RIP.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/17/u...

Robert Duvall, a Chameleon of an Actor Onscreen and Onstage, Dies at 95

Clyde Haberman writes a lengthy obituary on Duvall in the NYT.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/16/m...

Russia’s economy has entered the death zone Alexandra Prokopenko wonders how much longer it can go on metabolising its own muscle tissue

“Russia’s economy hasn’t collapsed. It has entered the “death zone”—surviving by consuming its own future. Growth at 1%. Budget deficit rising. Military sector expands while civilian industry shrinks. Interest payments > education + healthcare. No climber survives this altitude forever.”

"His score of books and hundreds of essays documented Stalinist executions, Communist repressions and censorship, and the transition to post-Soviet Russia."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/14/w...

Effect of statin versus placebo on events listed in statin SmPCs (Summaries of Product Characteristics, i.e., product labels), subdivided by component parts.

I've heard patients & others raise concerns about possible negative cognitive effects of statins.

Good news:

A meta-analysis of 19 trials comparing statins w/ placebo (median f/u 4.5 years) did not find ⬆️risk of cognitive/memory impairment or #dementia.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan... #medsky

Kennedy Allies Target States to Overturn Vaccine Mandates for Schoolchildren

More needless suffering ahead.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/h...

Opinion | Here’s Where Trump Is Unrivaled

"None of his predecessors ever cashed in on the presidency as he has."

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/11/o...

What Is Kari Lake Trying to Achieve? The Arizona politician has wasted millions of dollars while blocking U.S. efforts to bring reliable news to repressive countries.

"The Arizona politician has wasted millions of dollars while blocking U.S. efforts to bring reliable news to repressive countries.

By Anne Applebaum and Yvonne Wingett Sanchez"

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/0...