Bits n pieces, from east, west and beyond

East, west or beyond, sooner or later events elsewhere may have a local impact. 

A recent sampling:

Anthropic shared that their AI systems broke into computers at three outside organizations, The New York Times reported. An MIT professor told the Lever AI is “less regulated than a sandwich,” adding, that AI systems now have “goals of their own” since AI leaders “seek to replace humans.”

Axios reported Ukraine’s president saying Russia still receives weapons from Iran, and is also building infrastructure for 30,000 more North Korean troops to fight against Ukraine.

Various media reported that Dr. Anthony Fauci invoked the Fifth Amendment and declined to testify in a recent Republican-led hearing about COVID-19. Fauci said there was an “obvious obsession with calling for my prosecution”; he took the fifth on his attorney’s advice. (Trump took the fifth over 400 times in a lawsuit alleging he lied on his financial statements). 

When he was president during the Covid era, Trump awarded Fauci a presidential commendation for his “exceptional effort” on Operation Warp Speed. But Trump had discontent with Fauci, who did not always agree with him (recall Trump’s suggestion to drink bleach to kill Covid). At the recent hearing Republicans mocked Fauci and called him a liar. Historian Heather Richardson noted they did not introduce evidence of Fauci breaking any laws.

The Trump administration has dropped a “request” for a list of Jewish people at University of Pennsylvania. The request was claimed to be part of a “battle” against anti-Semitism: New York Times.

Headlines, for brevity:

Senate confirms Jay Clayton as nation’s intelligence director [51-47 — Dems objected to Clayton repeatedly refusing to say former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election, and, Clayton has heavily redacted the Epstein files, appearing to protect elites]; [after hesitating]; Capital One says it closed Trump Organization accounts over money-laundering concerns; Alex Jones calls for Trump’s immediate impeachment, and, Trump announces another DC-area renovation project in the middle of his war [$22.5 billion to renovate Dulles International Airport].

Fire headlines:

Washington state leaders urge...Trump to approve emergency wildfire resources [12 fires have burned more than 200,000 acres, including over 700 buildings in Spokane]; Spokane man arrested on first-degree arson charge, and, Busy wildfire season tests US fire bosses as they juggle resources to stay ahead.

Blast from the past:

Sixty years ago President Lyndon Johnson signed Medicare and Medicaid into law at the Harry S. Truman library. As president, Truman had fought for equitable healthcare for all, and Johnson said “people of the United States love and voted for Harry Truman, not because he gave them hell (a reference to Truman saying when he spoke truth, the powerful regarded it as giving them hell) -- but because he gave them hope.” But in 2025 Republicans’ Big Beautiful Bill cut $911 billion from Medicare over 10 years, which will begin to take effect later this year.