Just One Thing: Imagine this crime stat
I don't spend much time on news from cities outside of Colorado but in the aftermath of the attempted carjacking of the former DOGE staffer known affectionately as "Big Balls", there's been a bunch of reporting on crime in DC and one particular data point struck me...even as someone who grew up around DC and has known it to be a crime-ridden city for decades: So far this year, about 60% of carjackings have been commented by juvenile offenders (under the age of 18.)
President Trump is rightfully angry and seems on a mission to clean up DC. (Remember, the federal government has significant authority over DC that they don't have elsewhere.)
Trump vows to push homeless people out of DC and get 'our Capital BACK'
I note in this article that there are a lot of repeat offenders. Not surprising. The system clearly doesn't punish these offenders harshly enough so they feel very little risk in committing crime over and over.
60% of DC carjackings this year are committed by people under the age of 18: DC police unit focuses on stopping juvenile crime – NBC4 Washington
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One More Thing: AI rock star hoax
A rumor made its way around the interwebs like wildfire over the last several days: that former Beatle Paul McCartney went to visit an ailing and frail Phil Collins (of Genesis and solo fame) in the hospital and sang "Hey Jude" to him while strumming the guitar.
The pictures of the visit, including folks watching/listening in the back of the room, are fairly good. But it's all an AI hoax.
Fact Check: Debunking rumor Paul McCartney visited Phil Collins in hospital
I note that in the pictures Paul is playing guitar right-handed (right hand strumming, left hand making the notes on the neck of the guitar) but McCartney actually plays guitar left-handed.
I don't care so much about the specifics of the story as I care about how this is surely a harbinger (and not the first) of a "news" hellscape that we'll be living in sooner rather than later, with the primary casualty being trust in almost everything.
(More on this topic below...)
First is the AI hoax stuff. Second is McCartney actually playing guitar. Seems like a dead-giveaway, don't you think?
Photo: AFP Contributor / AFP / Getty Images
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Today's Guest
Jeff Bridges is a Democratic member of the Colorado State Senator and chairman of the critically important Joint Budget Committee. He is also a candidate for State Treasurer. We will discuss the upcoming special session of the state legislature which will primarily be focused on filling a roughly $800 million budget hole for the current fiscal year caused by a decline in revenue from the federal government (about $1.1 billion for this year alone but offset by about a $300 million expected surplus in other revenue.)
Jeff Bridges for Colorado Treasurer
Gov. Jared Polis calls special session for Colorado Legislature - CBS Colorado
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Other Stuff
This is nuts. Either it's OK to sell these things or not. It's NOT OK for the US gov't to be a protection racket. Nvidia, AMD exports to China will face 15% US fee, Trump officials say
Nvidia, AMD to Pay 15% on China AI Chip Sales in US Deal
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This is inevitable: Goldman warns that tariffs will soon have an even more visible impact on prices and that consumers will be shouldering more of the burder: Consumers are already paying two-thirds of tariff costs, says Goldman Sachs | Fortune
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I often get frustrated with government but I rarely get angry. I'm angry about this: Air Force denies retirement pay for some transgender service members being removed from service - CBS News
We're talking about people who have years of service, combat deployments, etc., being forced out because some "Christian" dislikes them. And then when their early retirement (that they don't actually want to take because they want to serve) gets approved, some other high-ranking "Christian" rescinds the approval. It's nasty, unnecessary, harmful to the country, and just evil. Trump should be ashamed to have this going on in his administration.
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This is a remarkable story, especially quotes from people high up in cybersecurity for the US gov't saying they didn't know about the program. While there isn't currently evidence of malign behavior by Microsoft's China-based employees, it's utterly crazy that any American company contracted with the US gov't would ever allow a Chinese national to have any connection to US gov't computer systems, even if theoretically they're walled off from the most sensitive data in the systems.
Microsoft stops relying on China engineers for Pentagon cloud support
Microsoft ends use of China-based engineers to patch DOD systems - Defense One
This is the report that seems to have caused Microsoft to quietly change their behavior: Microsoft “Digital Escorts” Could Expose Defense Dept. Data to Chinese Hackers — ProPublica
Bourbon has some issues:
How Kentucky bourbon went from boom to bust
No One Wants to Talk About the Oversupply of Scotch and Bourbon | VinePair
Kentucky whiskey faces declining sales, Bulleit down 7% | Lexington Herald Leader
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It's a bird...it's a plane...it's a power outage! Fish Falls From the Sky, Causes Fire and Power Outage: Report
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Not the most important story but a great one (and I didn't get to it last week): 3 people from U.S. base in Antarctica evacuated in high-risk rescue operation: "Nothing short of heroic" - CBS News
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Trust will be the biggest casualty. But since trust is at least sometimes required to live a normal life, systems will have to evolve to make trust possible. At the moment I don't know what that looks like...and probably neither does anybody else given how fast this is all evolving:
Opinion | The Era of A.I. Propaganda Has Arrived, and America Must Act - The New York Times
AI chatbots more persuasive than humans in online debates, study finds - The Washington Post
AI is about to get a lot better at being your friend
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More about AI...the upside for marketing but you can imagine how it does into the above topic about "propaganda": 7 Surprising AI Stats Boosting Ad Targeting Success Rates
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I don't think the winner was nearly ugly enough: Photos of the World's Ugliest Dog Contest held in California | AP News
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Small update on story we've been highlighting on the show: Exclusive | Gasparino: Inside the enormous Biden effort to 'debank' Trump after Jan. 6
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Absolutely no way this happens on the schedule he's calling for. And maybe not for many more decades, if ever: Duffy to announce nuclear reactor on the moon - POLITICO
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Today's Videos
I don't know this musician but I sure like what he did here. I wonder if the lady and her baby left the concert
Maluma stops concert to scold mom for bringing baby without ear protection
If this were a regular season game, this would have broken the NFL record by 4 yards (which is a lot)!
Sticking the the NFL, Shedeur Sanders played a lot in yesterday's Browns-Panthers preseason game and played quite well. Gives the coach there something to think about...maybe more than he thought he had to think about. As one reporter put it, Sanders looked like he belonged there.