Friends & Family

First off, thanks to Laurie Sigillito of the Local NEWS Network (LNN) for promoting yesterday’s essay, “Simple Lives” on LinkedIn.

LNN is a media tech startup I’ve been working with the past few years. It has been widely reported that local newspapers are disappearing; LNN provides a creative solution through its digital network delivering local news and local advertising to communities that otherwise would exist in a news desert.

One of my many essays on local news is “Invisible Ink.”

Next, another on my short list of beloved clients, the Human Rights Data Analysis Group (HRDAG), has opened up a new channel here on Substack called Structural Zero.

Check out the post, “Dictatorships Create a Lot of Data,” by Patrick Ball, HRDAG’s founder. The article explains how the group obtains and analyzes large databases of human right abuses in the quest for justice and accountability in the U.S. and around the world.

I’ve written about HRDAG in the past, including a post called “Making a Difference.”

Finally, on a personal level, today is a special day because my oldest grandson, James Tiglao, is graduating from high school. James is not only a very good student and a top athlete (crew), he is a genuinely good young man of high character and integrity. He is soft-spoken and modest as he steadily accomplishes great things. He’s been accepted for admission to U-C Davis and we are all very proud of him. I’ll be attending the ceremony in San Jose this afternoon.

HEADLINES:

• How press freedoms are under attack in America (Poynter)

• Why Are the Media So Afraid of Trump? (Atlantic)

• Journalism under pressure amid fear of retribution (Axios)

• Trump asked Congress to rescind more than $9 billion in funding it had already approved for public broadcasters, foreign aid and global health efforts, taking aim at those initiatives as “wasteful” and “woke.” The single biggest cut Trump is requesting is a $1.1 billion funding commitment to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funds NPR and PBS. [HuffPost]

• Trump Orders Ban on Entry for People From 12 Countries (NYT)

• Trump tax bill will add $2.4 trillion to the deficit and leave 10.9 million more uninsured, CBO says (AP)

• After Muscling Their Bill Through the House, Some Republicans Have Regrets (NYT)

• 'KILL the BILL': Elon Musk continues to blast Trump's bill in barrage of social media posts (ABC)

• Hegseth orders the name of gay rights activist Harvey Milk scrubbed from Navy ship (AP)

• LGBTQ+ pride festivals around the country have lost millions of dollars in corporate sponsorships this year, as more companies fear being targeted by the Trump administration over their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. Nearly a fourth of corporate donors to NYC Pride, including Mastercard, Citi, Pepsi, Nissan and PwC, have pulled their sponsorships, totaling an estimated $750,000. [HuffPost]

• Trump administration revokes guidance requiring hospitals to provide emergency abortions (AP)

• A drone strike devastated Russia’s air force. The U.S. is vulnerable, too. (WP)

• Ukraine releases new footage of daring AI strikes that crippled Putin’s bomber fleet (Politico)

• Satellite photos show destroyed bombers at a Russian air base that Ukraine said it hit (AP)

• Putin will seek revenge for Ukraine drone attack, warns Trump (BBC)

• Trump says Iran "slow-walking" after negative response to U.S. nuclear deal offer (Axios)

• German city evacuates 20,000 after unexploded World War II bombs are found (WP)

• Texas hospital that discharged woman with doomed pregnancy violated the law, a federal inquiry finds (AP)

• Businesses brace for steel and aluminum tariffs, which double (WP)

• State Department Cables Reveal the Harrowing Consequences of Elon Musk’s USAID Demolition (Mother Jones)

• In his first month, Pope Leo has led some two dozen public events but not made notable appointments, nor announced plans for foreign trips, nor said where he will live at the Vatican. It's a stark contrast to when Francis was selected. (Reuters)

• US immigration officers ordered to arrest more people even without warrants (Guardian)

• A New Era of Trade Warfare Has Begun for the U.S. and China (NYT)

• Amelia Earhart’s Reckless Final Flights (New Yorker)

• A High IQ Makes You an Outsider, Not a Genius (Atlantic)

• Have you received scam texts about an unpaid toll? You are not alone. (WP)

• ‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects (Guardian)

• A Participatory Content-Aware Web (Asimov’s Addendum)

• Future Knowledge podcast from Internet Archive and Authors Alliance (Authors Alliance)

• DeepSeek may have used Google’s Gemini to train its latest model (TechCrunch)

• 5 AI bots took our tough reading test. One was smartest — and it wasn’t ChatGPT. (WP)

• Why AI is still making things up (Axios)

• Phonely’s new AI agents hit 99% accuracy—and customers can’t tell they’re not human (VentureBeat)

• No AI, no job. These companies are requiring workers to use the tech. (WP)

• hild Given First Stock To Learn About Losing Everything Early (The Onion)