Excellent news. Push your elected leaders to make smart choices and sometimes we can make progress.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/new-brunswick-government-stop-using-x-9.7076199

#NBPoli

Exclusive | Inside Elon Musk’s $1.25 Trillion AI and Space Megamerger
https://www.wsj.com/tech/elon-musk-xai-spacex-merger-2896ae1e?st=sCxHCs&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

It's been 150 days of Kavanaugh stops in America, and it just keeps getting worse, so I checked in with the justice to ask him if he's had second thoughts.

My request for comment did not elicit a response.

The third in a once-every-50-days Law Dork series: https://www.lawdork.com/p/150-days-of-kavanaugh-stops-minnesota

10 Movies to Stream for Black History Month
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/03/movies/black-history-month-movies-streaming.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JVA.p0Fp.4xU7-Ax-sY37

‘Do You Speak Billionaire?’ and Other Stories From the Fall of the Washington Post
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-you-speak-billionaire-and-other-stories-from-the-fall-of-the-washington-post/sharetoken/11d419ff-3811-4857-adcd-33f00f629f2b

‘Do You Speak Billionaire?’ and Other Stories From the Fall of the Washington Post
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/do-you-speak-billionaire-and-other-stories-from-the-fall-of-the-washington-post/sharetoken/b258918a-4b89-4514-b9cb-e1748c79b924

Can the contradictions of the Founding Era be erased?

No, they can-fucking-not.

Nobody is entitled to their own facts, and nobody has a monopoly on truth.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/arts/george-washington-slavery-trump-history.html?unlocked_article_code=1.J1A.3JeQ.V195Ag0kOIBC&smid=url-share

RE: https://mastodon.social/@kottke/116015714946533543

Don’t despair. We will soon have the CIA World Alternative Factbook instead. A beautiful book and massive improvement over that other fake book with dismal ratings.

Nvidia's AI chip sale to ByteDance hinges on conditions set by Trump

> The Trump administration is willing to allow China's ByteDance to buy Nvidia's H200 chips, but the AI chipmaker has not agreed to proposed conditions for their use, according to a person familiar with the matter.

> The US said it would approve the license about two weeks ago, the person said, but Nvidia has not accepted the US government's Know-Your-Customer requirement as now drafted -- to ensure China's military does not access the chips -- among other conditions.
https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10670243 #China #ByteDance #Nvidia #chips #semiconductors #KYC #AI #artificialintelligence #TikTok

“I’m reaching out to let you know about a security incident that resulted in the email address and phone number from your Substack account being shared without your permission. … This sucks. I'm sorry. We will work very hard to make sure it does not happen again.” - Chris Best, CEO of Substack

#WaPo

"The company is laying off about 30% of all its employees, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. That includes people on the business side & more than 300 of the roughly 800 journalists in the newsroom, the people said."

Exec editor Murrray "said that all sections would be affected in some way, & that the result would be a publication focused even more on national news & politics, as well as business & health, & far less on other areas."

🎁 https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/business/media/washington-post-layoffs.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JlA.v0Ft.IOMSKeirCySM&smid=url-share

Last night Marc Elias was on with Jen Psaki enumerating all the election threats. I was literally SCREAMING at my TV, "Ok, you've scared us silly. What are the possible solutions?!" Thank you, Elie, for covering that:

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:obqunmbc6uydprnnioo42ry2/post/3me2gtwfd722y

Brace for 'dangerously low' wind chills, New Yorkers — and no relief until next week
https://gothamist.com/news/brace-for-dangerously-low-wind-chills-new-yorkers-and-no-relief-until-next-week?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Gothamist @gothamist-Gothamist

"St. John’s University…has suspended a short-lived partnership w/ US Customs & Border Protection to train students for careers in homeland security.

…follows outcry from St. John’s students & faculty after the partnership was announced last June.

…comes amid a nationwide backlash over fed'l immigration enforcement…

"…caught in a larger reckoning by Catholic Church leaders who have been increasingly critical of the Trump administration’s mass deportation effort…"

https://gothamist.com/news/st-johns-university-quietly-suspends-partnership-with-customs-and-border-protection

Modern NYC subway gates tested by the MTA use AI tech to track fare evaders
https://gothamist.com/news/modern-nyc-subway-gates-tested-by-the-mta-use-ai-tech-to-track-fare-evaders?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Gothamist @gothamist-Gothamist

Fulton County in Georgia Challenges the F.B.I.’s Seizure of 2020 Ballots
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/us/politics/fulton-county-fbi-raid-trump-gabbard.html?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Politics @politics-newyorktimes

Messy... Trump's CEA chair, Stephen Miran, who went on leave from that role to serve out a Fed governorship that ended last week, just resigned from CEA, so he can keep serving in that Fed role, presumably until Trump gives Warsh his slot. And no-one know what next... https://www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/business/stephen-miran-resigns-white-house

The discussion in the middle here, about US government employees and responsibilities and consequences, might feel especially pertinent for many people you know.
The rest of if, too, is — unfortunately for all of us — good (good, in the sense of well researched and done): https://www.muellershewrote.com/p/how-donald-trump-is-connected-to?publication_id=1669845&post_id=186793825

Even MORE measles in Wisconsin, a UW-Madison student. #measles #madison #wisconsin #uwmadison #student https://www.wpr.org/news/measles-confirmed-uw-madison-student-wisconsin

The Fight Is Upon Us: What The Right to Vote Looks Like on Trump’s Terrain of Violence
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-fight-is-upon-us-what-the-right-to-vote-looks-like-on-trumps-terrain-of-violence/sharetoken/82c83e63-2dc8-4de9-8357-a1237d46b6e1