Preparation H

Hegseth's Little Stick, Shutdown Looms

Speak softly and carry a big stick. That was the core phrase behind President Theodore Roosevelt’s Big Stick Diplomacy; an American value that has apparently been replaced by something more like, Look what a big d-ck I have diplomacy, as Pete Hegseth turned a massive gathering of more than 800 military commanders into something that resembled a product launch for a new Low T miracle cure. “In the days before the event, Democratic lawmakers and military specialists questioned the cost and disruption to daily operations caused by the meeting, as well as the security risks of concentrating so many top military commanders in one place. All, it appeared, for Mr. Hegseth to be able to lecture military leaders with decades of combat experience on an enhanced ‘warrior ethos’ in a forum that was televised live.” During the meeting, the president ominously argued that “we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military.” And he was referring to American cities. Loud talk and big sticks coming soon to a military theater near you... NYT (Gift Article): Trump and Hegseth Recount Familiar Partisan Complaints to Top Military Leaders.

+ “President Trump did not have many bad things to say about America’s foreign adversaries. He spoke about Vladimir Putin in largely neutral terms (only saying he was ‘disappointed’ in him) and barely mentioned China. He did, however, speak with great moral clarity about certain classes of Americans whom he views as a grave threat: The American left: ‘They’re really bad. They’re bad people.’ Again, he’s talking about Americans here. His own domestic political opponents: ‘They’re vicious people that we have to fight, just like you have to fight vicious people. Mine are a different kind of vicious.’ American journalists: sleazebags.’ Residents of American inner cities: ‘animals.” The most consequential parts of the commander-in-chief’s speech were the sections in which he attempted to prepare flag officers for increased deployment of the military in American cities ... He said America is ‘under invasion from within.’” (That’s true, but not in the way Trump means it.) The Bullwark: Trump prepares the generals for what comes next.

+ While Trump is trying to change the name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, it sure seems like he and Hegseth are mostly preparing the department to fight the culture wars. Trump and Hegseth declare an end to ‘politically correct’ leadership in the US military.

2

Shutdown Hearted

“During the first eight months of his second presidency, Donald Trump has tried to hollow out the federal workforce by any means possible, including paying more than 200,000 people not to work, disassembling entire agencies via the Department of Government Efficiency, and fighting in court any effort by employees to hang on to their job. This week, Trump could try his most audacious move yet: using a government shutdown to conduct mass firings.” The Atlantic (Gift Article): Trump’s Grand Plan for a Government Shutdown.

+ The big question for now is whether the Dems hold the line and try to defend health care (and whether or not, in this environment and with their current messengers, that message can even break through). Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries face a big leadership test in the shutdown fight.

3

Take Your Medicine

“Fever ravaged the body of 5-year-old Suza Kenyaba as she sweated and shivered on a thin mattress in a two-room clinic in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The pigtailed girl who liked pretty dresses was battling malaria and desperately needed medication that could save her life. That medication, already purchased by a U.S.-taxpayer-funded program, was tantalizingly close — a little more than seven miles away. But it hadn’t reached the clinic where Suza was being treated because President Donald Trump’s suspension of foreign aid had thrown supply chains into chaos.The injections Suza needed had traveled thousands of miles to the Central African nation, USAID and other records show, only to be stranded in a regional distribution warehouse in the same city where she was gasping for air. Less than a week after her symptoms began, Suza was dead.” WaPo(Gift Article): Trump’s USAID pause stranded lifesaving drugs. Children died waiting. (Does the Nobel committee have a prize for this?)

4

Tilly Putty

Tilly Norwood is an actress looking for representation in Hollywood. That may not seem unusual for a new performer looking for fame. But here’s the twist. Tilly Norwood is AI. Creator of AI Actress Tilly Norwood Responds to Backlash: “She Is Not a Replacement for a Human Being.”

+ “Two years after AI protections for both writers and actors ruled the Hollywood labor strikes, production studio Particle6 is introducing an AI-generated ‘actor’ it hopes can rival real-life human movie stars like Oscar winner Natalie Portman and Oscar nominee/accidental AI symbol Scarlett Johansson.” Vanity Fair: AI ‘Actor’ Tilly Norwood Is Young, Ambitious—and ‘the End of the Industry as We Know It.’

+ Take a look at this video from Particle6 that features Tilly and is completely AI generated.

5

Extra, Extra

Godzilla v King Kong “We are no longer in a world where broadcast pioneers like Capital Cities/ABC’s Tom Murphy and local community owners who believed in acting in the public interest have any role. Courage in the face of governmental criticism and governmental power is barely present. Consolidation into behemoths with interests beyond the airwaves and the digital platform now rule. Whether it is Disney or Paramount, Universal or Nexstar, it is all about the bottom line, and the fear of retribution by a thuggish regime means that every value beyond the money goes out the window.” Norm Ornstein: Will Our Corporate Media Godzillas Have the Guts to Defend Democracy? “Five companies—five—now control 90 percent of the media marketplace.” (Here’s one clue: YouTube agrees to pay Trump $24.5m to settle lawsuit over account suspension.)

+ Lookie-Loo Larry: Since only a handful of people are gaining control of nearly all media, it’s worth noting how they think about things. Larry Ellison once predicted ‘citizens will be on their best behavior’ amid constant recording. Now his company will pay a key role in social media. “Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”

+ Orange Pilled: “The White House is planning to unveil a direct-to-consumer website for Americans to buy drugs, dubbed TrumpRx, while also announcing that Pfizer plans to lower prices on several of its medications in the U.S., according to people familiar with the matter.” White House to Announce ‘TrumpRx’ Drug-Buying Website, Deal With Pfizer. (I guess the domain TrumpRex was already taken...)

+ Job Corpse: “It’s not just recent college graduates who are struggling to find entry-level positions. Out-of-work mid-career employees are taking part-time jobs, and hiring has stalled in industries from professional services to manufacturing. More than a quarter of the jobless have been out of work more than a half-year — the highest share since the mid-2010s excluding the pandemic-era years.” Bloomberg (Gift Article): Millions of Workers Are Left Out of the ‘Low-Hire, Low-Fire’ US Job Market.

+ Switching Sides: “When the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, Shamil Lukozhev was sure he’d die. The Russian soldier feared he’d be shot because he wouldn’t be able to pull the trigger on his own gun. He couldn’t bring himself to kill someone who was defending their homeland. More than 3½ years later, Mr. Lukozhev says he has no problem shooting at those he once served alongside.” Globe and Mail: The Russian reversal. A unit of deserters fights for Ukraine and hopes for Putin’s downfall.

+ Binded With Science: “Dr. Agarwal is among more than 20 researchers who have left their work at Meta, OpenAI, Google DeepMind and other big A.I. projects in recent weeks to join a new Silicon Valley start-up, Periodic Labs. Many of them have given up tens of millions of dollars — if not hundreds of millions — to make the move.” NYT (Gift Article): Top A.I. Researchers Leave OpenAI, Google and Meta for New Start-Up. “Periodic Labs aims to build artificial intelligence that can accelerate discoveries in physics, chemistry and other fields.” (Yes, more of this. I can figure out how to write my own emails...)

+ Beneath the Ice: “The move is a striking about-face, just a few days after the Department of Homeland Security released a statement denouncing the officer’s conduct as ‘unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE.’” ICE officer seen on video pushing woman to ground has returned to duty.

+ Talking Shop: “OpenAI said it will allow users in the U.S. to make purchases directly through ChatGPT using a new Instant Checkout feature powered by a payment protocol for AI co-developed with Stripe. The new chatbot shopping feature is a big step toward helping OpenAI monetize its 700 million weekly users, many of whom currently pay nothing to interact with ChatGPT, as well as a move that could eventually steal significant market share from traditional Google search advertising.”

6

Bottom of the News

“Although consumers have traded down to less expensive private-label versions of coffee, peanut butter, syrup and chips, butter is a different story. Once people have tasted better butters, they don’t want to go back, said Lydia Clarke, co-owner of two Southern California cheese shops that sell specialty butters from brands including Rodolphe Le Meunier, Maison Bordier and Ploughgate Creamery. ‘You realize, ‘I can cut other things out of my life, but I cannot cut this butter out,’ Clarke said. ‘The world is on fire. We have butter and cheese.’” Bloomberg (Gift Article): The Latest Little Luxury: Fancier, Fattier Butter. (I mean, mediocre butter is pretty good, too.)

+ From the Swiss Alps to a solar eclipse: the 2025 Bird Photographer of the Year – in pictures.