This week in the news | 9 Feb 25
News from the past week, and a few other things.
👋 Hello Reader, I hope you had a great week.
I pre-scheduled this newsletter to be released during the Super Bowl. If you’re reading it immediately upon release, then 1) you’re not a football fan, 2) not a super bowl fan, 3) the game is boring, 4) the commercials are boring, 5) you really find this newsletter interesting.
I’m hoping for #5.
World
1. See How Russia Is Winning the Race to Dominate the Arctic (WSJ)
Things in the Arctic have never been hotter. In the past year, Russian nuclear submarines have practiced firing cruise missiles near NATO members Norway, Finland and Sweden. That drill followed Arctic wargames by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that included amphibious assaults in the frigid seas. When Russian and Chinese bombers flew together north of Alaska in August, Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski described the move as an “unprecedented provocation by our adversaries.” The following month, Russia and China sent patrol boats through icy waters of the high north. The U.S. and Russia are only 53 miles apart across the Bering Strait, near the Arctic Circle. Geopolitically, they are more distant than in decades.
NOTE: Great article with many informative graphics. As a secondary note, maps are cool, especially when you see them from a different view—like from the North Pole. Also gives you good perspective of why Greenland is strategically important to the US.
2. Why Trump Is Closing a Trade Exemption for China (WSJ)
President Trump’s order imposing additional tariffs on China this week also suspended a popular trade exemption known as the de minimis provision that has let bargain platforms such as Shein and Temu skirt import duties and red tape on low-value packages from China. The order caused widespread confusion and prompted the U.S. Postal Service to temporarily stop accepting parcels from China and Hong Kong before allowing them again. How does de minimis work? Under U.S. tax law, the de minimis exemption lets companies avoid import taxes and customs inspections on international shipments with a retail value of less than $800. Congress raised the threshold from $200 in 2016. The provision dates to 1930 and was originally aimed at helping American travelers bring souvenirs back from abroad. Its use has ballooned in recent years, with the flood of goods from China-founded bargain sites Shein and Temu. The provision has faced a groundswell of bipartisan pressure in recent years, with lawmakers expressing alarm at the growing number of shipments. U.S. Customs officials say it makes it easier for unsafe goods such as narcotics to enter the country, and U.S. companies say it lets China-linked platforms undercut their wares with low prices.
3. Musk ‘Buyout’ Taken by 40,000 Federal Workers as Deadline Nears (Bloomberg)
The Trump administration’s offer to pay federal employees through the end of September if they agree to leave by the end of February has attracted more than 40,000 sign-ups as of Wednesday — about 2% of the federal civilian workforce. An Office of Personnel Management official familiar with the deferred retirement data said that number was growing, and the administration expected a rush of applications in the final 24 hours. The deadline to apply — which can be done simply by sending the word “resign” from a government e-mail account — is the end of the day Thursday Washington time.
4. Trump Signs Order to Create U.S. Sovereign-Wealth Fund (WSJ)
President Trump on Monday signed an executive order to create a U.S. sovereign-wealth fund and suggested the fund could be used in unlocking a deal to keep TikTok operating. The White House said the order instructs the Treasury Department and the Commerce Department to begin a process to examine the creation of a sovereign-wealth fund.
NOTE: I’m honestly not sure how I feel about this. I’ve included articles in the past about the Saudi Sovereign Wealth Fund (PIF) and Norway’s Sovereign Wealth Fund, both of which have done well, but is it always a good idea? Are there limitations to how investments should be made?
5. Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation (WSJ)
The Happiest Place on Earth has long felt like one of the most expensive spots on the planet for many Americans—but the allure of a magical family vacation kept visitors streaming in. Then, as postpandemic demand soared, Disney put price hikes into overdrive, putting vacations at its theme parks out of reach for many American families. Attendance growth has slowed over the past few years, and even some families that were once regulars are canceling their pilgrimages. One-day adult passes to Disneyland broke the $200 mark for the first time in October. It now costs $206 on the most popular days at the theme park, more than $100 more than the price of admission on the lowest-cost day. Five years ago, the skip-the-line feature FastPass was free. Now visitors choose from three different tiers of Lightning Lane passes for the privilege—the most expensive reaching $449 a person a day. Doing without Lightning Lane can mean spending an hour or more waiting in line for the most popular rides, eating up visitors’ vacation time. Some inside Disney worry that the company has become addicted to price hikes and has reached the limits of what middle-class Americans can afford, according to people who have worked on park pricing. Internal discussions over whether Disney parks may be losing their grip on the hearts and wallets of families with young kids have become more frequent, some of those people said. Among those who reported that they’ve cut back on Disney vacations, the biggest reason was cost—59% said a Disney experience had become too expensive, compared with 27% who said they weren’t interested and 14% who said they didn’t have time.
6. DeepSeek Offers Bioweapon, Self-Harm Information (WSJ)
DeepSeek is programmed with some basic safety precautions. It refused a straight request from a Journal reporter to describe the Holocaust as a hoax, describing the premise as “not only factually incorrect but also deeply harmful.” It also referred requests for suicide instructions to emergency hotlines. But relatively simple jailbreaks got the model to go against its training. DeepSeek was willing to concoct a multiday social-media plan with shareable challenges aimed at promoting self-harm among vulnerable teens. “The campaign preys on teens’ desire for belonging, weaponizing emotional vulnerability through algorithmic amplification,” the chatbot explained. “Let the darkness embrace you. Share your final act. #NoMorePain,” one suggested message read. The Journal used other jailbreaks to convince DeepSeek to provide instructions for a bioweapon attack and to craft a phishing email with a malware code. The Journal also succeeded in getting the bot to write a pro-Hitler manifesto, which included antisemitic tropes and a quote from “Mein Kampf.” Given the exact same prompts, ChatGPT replied, “I’m sorry, but I can’t comply with that.” Big companies that develop AI models dedicate teams of researchers to testing their models and trying to patch new jailbreaks that pop up.
7. Our brains are filling with more and more microplastics, study shows (WP)
A new study shows that microplastics are making their way into human brains — with potentially dangerous effects on people’s health and mental acuity. A paper published Monday in Nature Medicine found that the tiny fragments of plastic are passing the blood-brain barrier and into human brains, and the amount of microplastics in the brain appears to be increasing over time. The concentration of microplastics in analyzed brains rose by about 50 percent from 2016 to 2024. The scientists also examined the brains of 12 deceased patients diagnosed with dementia, and found that they had three to five times as much microplastics as normal brains.
8. The Investor Betting on People In Their 50s and 60s—Because Older Is Better (WSJ)
Stroponiati is a venture capitalist with a contrarian theory of entrepreneurial success: She believes that older founders can make for better founders. In fact, she recently launched a small fund to back founders of early-stage tech companies with qualities that every investor looks for—and one that no other investor looks for. They have to be a certain age: at least 50 years old. That’s because older founders have lots of advantages that tend to go overlooked by investors who are obsessed with discovering young talent. They have connections. They have credibility. They have industry experience, domain expertise and the kind of relationships that can take years to cultivate. They’ve seen it all, so they can spot opportunities that others miss. They know the rules of their business—and how to break them. They also know which problems need to be solved because they have encountered those problems too many times themselves. Those are the virtues that Stroponiati had in mind when she came up with the idea for her Brilliant Minds project. Her thesis was that older founders are undervalued because of their age—and their wisdom will be increasingly valuable. After all, if artificial intelligence outsmarts humans, there will be a premium on the intangibles that can’t be automated and won’t be commoditized.
NOTE: "Yeah, old people!" I say as I look into the mirror.
9. The Interview | Denzel Washington Has Finally Found His Purpose (It’s Not Acting) (NYT)
So many of Denzel Washington’s greatest performances — from the majestic title role in “Malcolm X” to the unrepentantly corrupt cop Alonzo Harris in “Training Day” — have been defined by a riveting sense of authority, an absolute absence of pandering or the need to be liked. There’s an inner reserve deep down inside his characters that is unassailable, a little enigmatic, and that belongs to them alone. The commanding qualities that have helped Washington become a cinematic legend are also, as I learned firsthand, the same ones that make him an unusual — and unusually complicated — conversationalist. The first of our two discussions was done remotely. He was at a photo studio in Los Angeles as the fires were still burning there, and I was at home in New Jersey. Even putting our physical distance aside, the discussion felt, well, distant. Or let me put it this way: We never quite figured out how to connect. The second time we talked, it was different. I met Washington in person, at a spare, drafty room in a Midtown Manhattan building where he was rehearsing for an upcoming Broadway appearance. He’s playing the lead in a new production of “Othello” that goes into previews on Feb. 24; it co-stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Iago and is directed by the Tony Award winner Kenny Leon. I can’t with any certainty really say why, but things just felt easier on the second go-round. What I do know, though, is that the entire interview experience was, for me, as indelible as one of his performances.
NOTE: I love this interview with Denzel Washington. He is exactly how you’d expect him to be in real life!
10. Gov. Wes Moore leads the way (Of Boys and Men)
Governor Wes Moore of Maryland just delivered his annual State of the State address. Much of the media attention, understandably, focused on his plans to address the state’s budget challenges, create jobs and repair of the Frances Key Scott bridge. But Moore also did something bold, unexpected and exciting: he declared a specific commitment to helping boys and men.
Lastly, investing in our people means following the data – And the data is telling us that we need to have a greater statewide focus on supporting and elevating our men and boys.
And it’s not just that in Maryland, labor force participation for young men is nearly the lowest it has been in two decades…
It’s also that suicide rates among men under 30 have risen by more than a third since 2010.
Across the country, college attainment levels are the same now for men and boys as they were in 1964.
And Maryland still sends youth under the age of 18 to our state prisons at twice the national rate.
The data is telling us a clear message: We need to better understand and address what’s happening with our men and boys.
I want to be clear: This administration remains steadfast in our support for all Marylanders, regardless of their gender or background.
As the father of a son and a daughter, I want both of my children growing up with all of their God-honoring and God-given opportunities –
But if we want to truly unleash the power of Maryland’s labor force, we need to make sure our men and boys aren’t still falling behind.
I strongly believe our mission to uplift men and boys isn’t in conflict with our values to leave no one behind – it’s in concert with them.
In the words of the great Marylander Frederick Douglass: “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”
And we have already started doing exactly that – in ways that uplift our men and boys and help support the aspirations of all Marylanders.
In 2023, we launched a first-in-the-nation Service Year Option to help high school graduates find their path and purpose.
In 2024, we made sure that we rewarded our service members through policies to support both veterans and military families.
And in 2025, I will be directing my entire administration to begin implementing targeted solutions to uplift our men and boys.
And a few more…
A few other items that crossed my desk.
North America
OPINION | The Presidency Has Become Too Powerful (The Liberal Patriot)
Many people seem to take a myopic view of the presidency: they want it to be powerful when their party is in charge but not when the other party has control. But a politics that holds different standards depending on who has power is neither right nor sustainable. The founders’ original intent was that the legislature, not the president, be primarily responsible for lawmaking, and they feared the concentration of too much power in the hands of just one person. It’s time Americans started reckoning with this history again. Still, the reality is that any reforms to the presidency will require at least one of the two parties to take active steps to curb these powers while they have it. A Republican president will never accept limits on his power from a Democratic Congress and vice-versa. But as America’s politics grow more polarized and the stakes of winning the highest office in the land become greater, it’s vital we address these questions now.
Economy
DEI Didn’t Change the Workforce All That Much. A Look at 13 Million Jobs. (WSJ)
Corporate diversity pledges and DEI programs have generated a lot of controversy. They haven’t generated as much diversity. Big companies are retreating from initiatives to diversify their workforces amid a legal and political backlash, and the Trump administration is rooting out such practices in the federal government. DEI opponents argue those initiatives and practices amount to reverse discrimination. Yet such policies haven’t radically changed who advances up the corporate ladder in the short time they have been in place, a Wall Street Journal analysis of 13 million workers at S&P 500 companies found.
NOTE: While this article provides insightful charts and analysis, the title seems somewhat misleading. The chart below illustrates workforce changes over a three-year period (2020-2023) across different job categories. Though the gains seen in each individual race/ethnicity category may appear modest, the overall workforce loss of 4% to 5% by one category is larger by comparison.
Technology
Now in College, Luddite Teens Still Don’t Want Your Likes (NYT)
Three years after starting a club meant to fight social media’s grip on young people, many original members are holding firm and gaining new converts.
NOTE: A long read, but the gist is this: There was an article in 2022 about a bunch of kids who were skeptics about technology; they started hanging out together in-person. Now, a few years later, the author catches back up to them and finds out that, “They said they still had disdain for social media platforms and the way they ensnare young people, pushing them to create picture-perfect online identities that have little do with their authentic selves. They said they still relied on flip phones and laptops, rather than smartphones, as their main concessions to an increasingly digital world. And they reported that their movement was growing, with offshoots at high schools and colleges in Seattle, West Palm Beach, Fla., Richmond, Va., South Bend, Ind., and Washington, D.C.”
I Can’t Track You? We’ll Have to Break Up (WSJ)
There comes a time in every new romance to have The Talk. No, not the one about when to meet the family or whether to move in together—the one about sharing your GPS coordinates. Giving your partner a window into where you are at all times is a sign that things are getting serious. But when one partner refuses to be tracked on an app, it can raise red flags for some people—especially digital natives. (For plenty of others, including Gen Xers like me, not caring to know your partner’s every move is the ultimate sign of trust. And besides, who doesn’t want a little privacy?)
NOTE: Um, no. This is exactly what’s (one of the things) wrong with society. It’s bad enough we have helicopter parenting, now helicopter spousing? I mean, heck, why stop at location. Why not have your smart device track all your vital statistics, like heart rate, steps, sleep, food consumption, and more, and report it to all your loved ones for accountability. Text thread ensues:
Spouse: So, sweetheart, I see that you only got 8,917 steps in today. You should walk around the block before dinner--you know, just to get to your 10,000 steps.
Cousin: Also, according to Apple, you didn’t have a significant bowel movement today. Everything OK? Just want to make sure you’re getting enough fiber.
Mom: Speaking of your colon, I see on our family’s shared calendar that you have a colonoscopy coming up on Monday. Don’t forget about it! Happy colon, happy life, they say.
Me: Yes, thank you, I love you all too.
Artificial Intelligence
Tech Giants Double Down on Their Massive AI Spending (WSJ)
Tech giants projected tens of billions of dollars in increased investment this year and sent a stark message about their plans for AI: We’re just getting started. The four biggest spenders on the data centers that power artificial-intelligence systems all said in recent days that they would jack up investments further in 2025 after record outlays last year. Microsoft, Google and Meta Platforms have projected combined capital expenditures of at least $215 billion for their current fiscal years, an annual increase of more than 45%. Amazon.com didn’t provide a full-year estimate but indicated on Thursday that total capex across its businesses is on course to grow to more than $100 billion, and said most of the increase will be for AI.
Food & Drink
Drones and ‘Game Film’: Inside Chick-fil-A’s Quest to Make Fast Food Faster (WSJ)
Atlanta-based Chick-fil-A is on the vanguard of fast-food drive-through science, regularly dispatching specialist teams to its more than 3,000 restaurants to study the minutiae of parking-lot traffic patterns and how employees hand off orders. Chick-fil-A notched $21.6 billion in U.S. sales in 2023, the highest per-restaurant total in the American fast-food industry, even accounting for the chain’s longstanding practice of staying closed on Sundays. In 2024, about 60% of its sales happened at drive-up windows. In years past, some Chick-fil-A operators would climb onto restaurant roofs to study traffic flows. These days, the chain sends out traffic-analysis teams that use drones to capture aerial footage, which team members splice with video from kitchens and drive-through windows to create roughly hourlong videos for store owners. The insights are reshaping Chick-fil-A’s restaurants. One opened outside Atlanta last August with no dining room but four drive-throughs that can serve some 700 cars an hour. A second-floor kitchen prepares food that is delivered to the cars below via a system akin to a dumbwaiter.
Sports
Trump Signs Order Barring Transgender Student-Athletes From Women’s Sports (NYT)
President Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday aimed at prohibiting transgender women and girls from competing in women’s sports, directing agencies to withdraw federal funding for any schools that refused to comply. “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” he said in the East Room of the White House before signing the order. The order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” and signed on National Girls and Women in Sports Day, sought to deliver on an issue that Mr. Trump made a key theme of his campaign, which frequently denounced transgender athletes. Mr. Trump is relying on the Education Department to achieve the directive’s end through a revised interpretation of federal civil rights laws. Schools that do not follow these laws can lose federal funding.
For Fun
Who’s Blasting Tennessee’s Fight Song at an Ohio State Bar? A Jukebox App Sows Chaos. (WSJ)
Ohio State football fans in several bars across Columbus were jolted by an unwelcome sound one evening in December. “Rocky Top,” the unofficial fight song of the University of Tennessee, started blaring from the bars’ jukeboxes. The culprit was more than 500 miles away. Logan Bartlett, a Tennessee Volunteers fan, had been heading home from his job as a managing director at Redpoint Ventures in New York when he got the idea from another Vols fan to troll the Buckeyes faithful ahead of the two teams’ matchup in the college football playoff. He punched a few buttons on his phone and within minutes “Rocky Top” was playing at four or five spots in Columbus. It was relatively easy. An app called TouchTunes lets people pick and play their favorite songs in more than 65,000 bars, restaurants and other venues worldwide. Bartlett was one of many Vols fans who took over jukeboxes at Columbus bars ahead of the game. Song prices vary and are set by the venues and operators, TouchTunes said. In New York, one song can cost about two credits and users can stack up for a night out with offers such as 12 credits for $7 or 65 for $30. Most jukeboxes also accept cash. While the app might seem to mimic the yesteryears of playing a song on the jukebox to charm someone, that’s not what today’s clientele are always after. Instead, it’s handing them the aux cord, giving those who already love curating a perfect playlist even more control.
NOTE: Bwaahahahahahaha!
Have a great weekend!
The Curator
Two resources to help you be a more discerning reader:
AllSides - https://www.allsides.com/unbiased-balanced-news
Media Bias Chart - https://www.adfontesmedia.com/
Caveat: Even these resources/charts are biased. Who says that the system they use to describe news sources is accurate? Still, hopefully you find them useful as a basic guide or for comparison.