Saturday, June 21
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Indiana Pacers top Oklahoma City Thunder 108-91 to even NBA Finals series at 3-3 with decisive Game 7 set for Sunday (8 pm ET, ABC) (More) | Men's College World Series finals set; LSU to take on Coastal Carolina in best-of-three series for NCAA baseball title (More)
> Los Angeles Dodgers deny ICE agents entry to Dodger Stadium parking lot ahead of tonight's game; Department of Homeland Security denies ICE presence, says federal agents were parked at the stadium for reasons unrelated to operations (More)
> Justin Baldoni's legal team granted access to private text messages between Blake Lively and Taylor Swift amid legal battle over Lively's allegations Baldoni sexually harassed her on "It Ends With Us" set (More)
Science & Technology
> SpaceX Starship explodes on launch pad ahead of 10th test flight; official cause of blast under investigation, company cites "major anomaly" (More) | See video here (More)
> Engineers develop method to double the tensile strength of carbon fiber-reinforced composites; materials are lighter than aluminum but stronger than steel, have applications in aerospace and vehicles (More)
> Study suggests life persisted during "Snowball Earth"—a period around 700 million years ago when the planet was covered in ice—by living in shallow pools of near-freezing water (More) | "Snowball Earth" 101 (More)
Business & Markets
> Oil prices rise nearly 3% as Israel vows to intensify attacks on Iran while the US response to the conflict remains uncertain (More)
> America’s millionaire population grew by 379,000 last year to a total of 23.8 million, the most of any country, per new UBS report (More)
> Switzerland's central bank slashes key interest rate by a quarter percentage point to 0% amid deflationary pressures (More) | What is deflation? (More) | See interest rates around the world (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Federal appeals court allows President Donald Trump to retain control of National Guard in Los Angeles while Gov. Gavin Newsom's (D) lawsuit proceeds (More) | Trump extends cutoff for ByteDance to sell TikTok by 90 days; third extension brings new deadline to Sept. 17 (More)
> Hurricane Erick makes landfall in Oaxaca, Mexico, as a Category 3 storm, with winds of up to 125 miles per hour—the first major hurricane of the 2025 Eastern Pacific season (More) | Heat wave estimated to affect 255 million people across the US (More)
> South Africa opens investigation into the 1985 kidnapping and killing of anti-apartheid activists known as the Cradock Four (More)
Rain as a Symbol
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All week-long rain has been in the weather forecast for the mornings, afternoons, and evenings, making it rather difficult to find an appropriate to where one's grass is dry enough to mow.
What is interesting here to me is that RAIN as a symbol in literature can be both positive and negative depending upon with the author is trying to convey to their readers.
Rain represents:
- purification
- renewal
- cleansing
- a fresh start
- growth
Rain also represents:
- sadness
- despair
- destruction
- death
- emotional turmoil
What to look for when reading literature is how the author uses the rain symbol. For instance, the novel can begin with a flood that creates mass death and destruction, setting the reader up for a rebuilding scenario among other ideas.
Another characteristic is when the author has it raining constantly throughout the story where there are very few passages where there is no rain at all. The reader is subconsciously influenced towards despair and depression intentionally.
Most of the people who are reading on a regular basis don't spend time dwelling on symbols and what they mean... they are just interested in reading a story that is entertaining and keeps their attention.
With all that rain in my life this week, one would think I would be in despair or depression as I look for a break from raining. The reality is that the rain has not bothered me at all, other than paying attention to the weather outside so I can find a time to mow.
HOWEVER, if I was at the coastline during the summer months and the week I was there, it rained almost every day, I would have instantly become an unhappy camper. When I go the coast, I want to be outside under an umbrella watching the waves and listening to books on tape.
Scientists Turn Light Into a Never-Before-Seen Solid With Reality-Bending Quantum Properties
In a groundbreaking scientific achievement, researchers have managed to transform light into a super solid material, marking a revolutionary step in understanding states of matter. This pioneering development merges the characteristics of solid and superfluid states, unlocking new pathways for studying quantum mechanics and presenting vast implications for technological advancements.
Friday, June 20
Headlines
Sergio Flores/AFP via Getty Images
SpaceX Starship exploded during a routine test. The rocket “experienced a major anomaly,” according to the company, leading to a catastrophic failure on the launchpad late Wednesday night in Starbase, TX. Though the Starship was completely destroyed, there were no reports of injuries. The explosion occurred during preparations for the rocket’s upcoming 10th launch and continues a string of pratfalls for Elon Musk’s space company. The seventh and eighth launches ended with fireballs, while the ninth test flight, in May, had a propellant leak that caused a chaotic splashdown in the Gulf of Mexico. The Starship is fundamental to SpaceX’s mission to eventually land humans on Mars. Watch the rocket explode here.
The latest on Israel-Iran. The conflict further intensified on its seventh day, with Israel hitting a nuclear facility in Iran, and Iran striking a major hospital in the south of Israel. Israel’s defense minister threatened Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying he “can no longer be allowed to exist.” Iran reportedly imposed a nationwide internet blackout to prevent Israeli cyberattacks, while several US-based airlines, including United and American, suspended flights to some parts of the Middle East as the conflict escalated. According to reports, President Trump has approved plans for an imminent US strike on Iran but has not yet given the final order.
X could soon offer stock trading on its app. “You’ll be able to come to X and transact your whole financial life on the platform,” CEO Linda Yaccarino told the Financial Times, promising that users will have the ability to make investments and trades on the social media site. Owner Elon Musk has long dreamed of turning X into an “everything app” where users can do a lot more than just make fun of Jim Cramer’s financial advice. X already announced last year that it would soon partner with Visa to launch a digital wallet. As the FT noted, though, a deeper push into financial services would likely invite regulatory scrutiny for a company that’s already on thin ice with many advertisers.—AE
Robert Reich
Friends,
Draw a circle around all the assets in America now devoted to Artificial Intelligence.
Draw a second circle around all the assets devoted to the U.S. military.
A third around all assets being devoted to helping the Trump regime collect and compile personal information on millions of Americans.
And a fourth circle around the parts of Silicon Valley dedicated to turning the United States away from a democracy into a libertarian dictatorship led by tech bros.
Where do the four circles intersect?
At a corporation called Palantir Technologies and a man named Peter Thiel.
In Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, a “palantir” is a seeing stone that can be used to distort truth and present selective visions of reality. During the War of the Ring, a palantir falls under the control of Sauron, who uses it to manipulate and deceive.
At A Glance
Leaping lemur, octopus offspring top a nature photo contest.
How to delete personal data on your old computer.
See newly discovered butterfly species.
Meet the Grand Canyon crew with a terrifying job.
Artist turns real-life spaces into scaled-down replicas.
Old design concepts for retro-futuristic cars.
How many people are in space right now?
Clickbait: Man pops the question to AI chatbot girlfriend.
In The NEWS
Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> Oklahoma City Thunder take on the Indiana Pacers tonight (8:30 pm ET, ABC) in Game 6 of the NBA Finals; the Thunder are up 3-2 in the best-of-seven series and will look to win the franchise's second NBA title (More) | Buss family to sell majority stake in Los Angeles Lakers at a $10B valuation, the largest ever sale of a US sports team (More)
> Film and TV mogul Tyler Perry accused of sexual assault in $260M lawsuit; actor Derek Dixon alleges Perry threatened career retaliation if Dixon didn't accept his advances (More) | Karen Read found not guilty in murder of boyfriend, police officer John O'Keefe (More)
> David Hekili Kenui Bell, actor best known for "Lilo & Stitch" live-action film adaptation, dies at age 46 (More)
Science & Technology
> US health officials approve twice-a-year preventive HIV shot after clinical trials showed a reduction of at least 96% in new infections; researchers say it may bring a long-sought end to the AIDS epidemic (More) | See previous write-up (More)
> Self-driving startup Waymo files permit to conduct self-driving testing in Manhattan with human oversight; company has fully autonomous cars in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin (More)
> China’s “Dragon Man” skull identified as belonging to a Denisovan; 146,000-year-old specimen allows facial reconstruction of the ancient human relative (More) | Fewer than a dozen remains of the species, mostly small fragments, have ever been recovered (More)
Business & Markets
> US stock markets close mixed (S&P 500 -0.0%, Dow -0.1%, Nasdaq +0.1%) (More) | Federal Reserve leaves benchmark interest rates unchanged, still forecasts two more rate cuts this year (More) | See overview of the Fed's projections (More)
> US Steel shares stop trading on NYSE as Japan's Nippon Steel finalizes its nearly $15B purchase of the iconic American firm; combined company will become world's fourth-largest steelmaker (More)
> Cryptocurrency firm Circle shares rise roughly 34% a day after the US Senate passed a bill to establish federal regulations for stablecoins—cryptocurrencies pegged to the US dollar; bill now heads to the House (More)
Politics & World Affairs
> Israel says it destroyed Iran’s internal security headquarters (More) | The US moves at least 30 military planes to Europe as President Donald Trump weighs direct US involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict (More) | See live updates (More)
> Federal judge blocks executive order limiting passport sex markers to male and female (More) | State Department resumes processing of foreign student visas, requires access to applicants' social media accounts (More)
> Medicare and Social Security trust funds projected to run short of funds by 2033 and 2034 respectively, limiting full benefit payouts, per new report (More)
The Weak Cannot Grow Old
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My mother and my father used to both tell me that growing old was not for weak people. I never fully understood what that meant until I grew old and then grew even older.
Aside from all the typical childhood illnesses and except for having HEPATITIS twice before graduating high school (which now shows up in my bloodwork as never having Hepatitis before - go figure?), I HAVE NEVER BEEN SICK until I reached the age of 60.
Now, I have always seen both my family doctor and dentist twice a year for as long as I have lived. But, since elementary school, I have never had a cold for instance, nor have I had the flu. I may have felt bad for twenty-four hours but nothing more.
At age SIXTY... that changed... I had a triple bypass level heart attack, a few months after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. I got the flu a couple of times. Five years later I was diagnosed with Melanoma that went away and came back twice and for which I am still being treated. Chemo treatments screwed up my Thyroid and three years ago, I had 5 lower back disks fused.
I would also like to add that up until the age of sixty, I was very active, running, walking, daily exercising, using strength machines and was never overweight. Due to the anti-nausea meds, I have been taking since age 60, my weight has increased to where I am now 20-30 pounds over my recommended weight limit.
At 77 years of age, almost 78, I can fully understand and appreciate what my parents said about the weak not growing old. Old age is not for sissies... it is serious business.
My advice is stay young as long as you can and if you cannot stay young, stay healthy and never allow yourself to get overweight. Your body will no longer like you if and when you do.
