Friday, May 9
Thursday, May 8
Robert Reich
A Mother’s Day truth about the “Fertilization President”
The White House’s avowed concern about the nation’s declining birth rate is a pretext for something else.
Friends,
With Mother’s Day this Sunday, I wanted to raise a real problem — but one that’s being grotesquely distorted by Trump and his lackeys.
Births in the United States increased by just 1 percent in 2024, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly a record low.
It means ever-fewer workers supporting ever-more retirees. There are now about 3 workers for every retiree in America. That ratio is projected to drop to about 2 workers per retiree in just five years.
It’s a real problem, but Trump’s vow to remedy it — he’s calling for a $5,000-per-birth “baby bonus” and says he wants to be known as the “fertilization president” — has nothing to do with solving it.
At A Glance
Rare snail filmed laying an egg from its neck.
This countertop robot will cook for you.
The high school juniors with $70K-per-year job offers.
The centuries-long history of the Panama Canal.
Pope Francis picked 80% of cardinals who'll elect his successor.
What if the Giving Tree said "no" to the boy?
Take an interactive internet road trip.
The most romantic places to get engaged.
Clickbait: A flesh-eating parasite returns to North America.
In The News
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) proposes $7.5B federal tax incentive for the film industry in response to President Donald Trump's announcement of possible tariffs on foreign-made films (More)
> Kentucky Derby winner Sovereignty will skip the Preakness Stakes (May 17) but will run at the Belmont Stakes (June 7), the third leg of horse racing's Triple Crown (More)
> Inter Milan tops FC Barcelona to advance to UEFA Champions League final, will face off against the winner of Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain in the other semifinal matchup (More)
Science & Technology
> Engineers develop electronic "Band-Aid" capable of delivering drugs directly to internal organs; battery-free device may provide a platform for advanced health monitoring and therapies (More)
> Brain study reveals humans process faces from other races differently than their own, with less detail and differentiation; results confirm phenomenon known as the "other race effect" (More)
> Researchers demonstrate quantum communication network over a distance of 11 miles using single photons and conventional fiber optics, marking a step forward in realizing "unbreakable" quantum encryption (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close lower (S&P 500 -0.8%, Dow -1.0%, Nasdaq -0.9%) as investors resume caution over global trade and await conclusion of the Federal Reserve's two-day policy meeting today (More) | This Thursday's 1440 Business & Finance newsletter unpacks annuities; join here for free (More)
> DoorDash to buy UK rival Deliveroo for $3.9B and US hospitality tech company SevenRooms for $1.2B; DoorDash is America's largest food delivery service ahead of Uber Eats (More) | Uber to buy 85% stake in Turkish food delivery platform Trendyol GO for $700M (More)
> EV-maker Rivian posts better-than-expected Q1 results, but slashes deliveries forecast for 2025 amid tariffs (More) | AMD tops earnings estimates, but says revenue will take $1.5B hit from US chip restrictions to China (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Germany’s parliament elects conservative leader Friedrich Merz in second round of voting; Merz becomes first chancellor in Germany’s postwar history to have lost a first-round ballot (More) | Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney meets with President Donald Trump, rejects suggestion of US acquisition of Canada (More)
> Supreme Court allows Trump administration to proceed with ban on transgender people serving in the military while litigation continues (More) | The order impacts at least 4,240 service members, roughly 0.2% of the military (More)
> President Donald Trump says the US will stop bombing Houthi rebels in Yemen after Oman confirms a ceasefire was reached with the militant group (More) | Israel says its airstrikes disabled Yemen's main airport in Sanaa following Houthi rebel attack on Tel Aviv's main airport (More)
SOURCE: 1440 NEWS
Freedom
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Nothin', don't mean nothin' hon' if it ain't free, no-no...
Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby McGee... 1971
Being an American is a different kind of freedom that nobody but Americans can feel. Even as an legal immigrant becoming an American citizen is just not the same as being BORN HERE.
Freedom is not enjoyed nor is it appreciated as much by the wealthy as it is by those Americans who are not wealthy. Money will let you be free in communist countries and in some cases dictatorships as well... so, having MONEY is not the same thing as AMERICAN FREEDOMS.
However,
are Americans really free???
Freedom of Speech... yes, we have, but can we really say/print anything that we want?
- In your own home you can
- In public you cannot
- At work you cannot
- At school you cannot
- In church you cannot
- In the military you cannot
- To law enforcement you cannot
Freedom to own Firearms... yes, we have, but there are restrictions on person weapons ownership that are more restrictive in blue states than red states.
- In many red states you can carry sidearms in public
- In many blue states you cannot
- Shoot someone inside your home is one thing but shooting them on your land is another
- Owning firearms is good for hunters and collectors
- Owning firearms is not necessarily good for protection
Our American government is currently a DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC which is a little different than just a Democracy... there are some that want to change our DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC into a SOCIALISTIC form of government which would then change our level of freedoms.
Having American Freedoms means that you can actually vote yourself out of having a Democratic Form of Government... that is how free we are... no other country in the world has that kind of freedom.
Once you vote yourself out of a Democracy, then it is damn difficult to vote yourself back in...
Our Founding Fathers were smart, but they were not that smart because they did not anticipate what our society would be like in 2025.
Figure steps closer to humanoid robots in workplace and home with F.02
California-based robotics outfit Figure has today announced its second-generation humanoid robot, which is initially being aimed at production lines in commercial settings, but the company is promising a bipedal butler in our homes in the near future.
Figure was founded in 2022 by entrepreneur Brett Adcock – of Vettery and Archer Aviation – with the aim of bringing a "commercially viable general purpose humanoid robot" to market. We caught up with Adcock last year, publishing a series of three interview pieces, and have followed the progress of its first robot from first steps to learning and performing tasks to joining BMW's workforce, and then gaining OpenAI chattiness.
Wednesday, May 7
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