Robert Reich

Sunday thought

And you?





Friends,

Earlier this week I responded to many of you who said you were concerned about me. I asked you not to worry about my safety, assuring you I won’t take unnecessary risks, (although I’m not going to stop speaking out).

And not to worry about my health. As I said, I have only a certain number of years left when I can do as much as I’m doing, and I might as well take full advantage of them in this national emergency.

But I’m also concerned about you.

We’re all in this together. Your health and safety, your sanity, your tenacity and resilience, are critically important for getting through this Trump daymare.

It’s not just a national stress test for democracy and decency. It’s also a personal stress test for all of us, including you.

So today I’d like to ask you to share with me — and the rest of us — how you’re doing.

Leave a comment

At A Glance

Thirteen collectibles made more valuable due to spelling errors.

The century-long effort to identify van Gogh's final painting, "Tree Roots."

Why governments are betting big on sports leagues and franchises.

Charting the incredible drop in childhood leukemia death rates.

Leaping lemurs top this annual biodiversity photo contest.

Debating the meaning of Beowulf's opening word.

The physics of the football spiral, with Tom Brady.

Whatever happened to murder hornets?

Mapping manufacturing as percentage of GDP in each US state.

The unlikely history of the birth of Minecraft.

The logistics behind the largest human gathering in the world.

Why the Bible, Torah, and Quran are key texts in philosophical debates.

How cannons spurred the evolution from castles to star forts.

How shoes express and create our social roles.

Divers uncover more historical marvels from 2,000-year-old Antikythera shipwreck.

My Formula for 20-Minute Meals

Quick Clips

 

In The NEWS

Education Department releases $1.3B in frozen funding.

The now-available funding supports after-school and summer programming for low-income families. However, over $5B in funding for educational programming—including English language instruction and adult literacy—remains frozen as the Trump administration conducts a programmatic review to ensure it aligns with the White House's priorities. Earlier this week, more than 20 states filed a lawsuit against the administration over the withheld funds.



US, El Salvador, and Venezuela coordinate prisoner swap.

The US sent 252 Venezuelans deported to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador back to their home country Friday in exchange for the return of 10 Americans detained in Venezuela. As part of the deal, the Venezuelan government also freed dozens of domestic political prisoners and detainees. The exchange follows the Trump administration’s use of a wartime law in March to deport more than 200 Venezuelan men accused of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang, allegations immigration attorneys and family members have denied.



Brazil's ex-president ordered to wear ankle monitor.

The nation's Supreme Court has ruled that former President Jair Bolsonaro wear an ankle monitor as he awaits trial over an alleged coup attempt in 2022. The order comes alongside a raid on his home early Friday morning. Bolsonaro is also barred from leaving his house at night, using social media, approaching embassies, and speaking with foreign officials or anyone under investigation, including his son.



Netflix is using AI to cut costs and save time.

The film juggernaut used visual effects created by generative AI for the first time in one of its original TV shows. Thanks to the technology, creating a sequence of a building collapsing in the Argentinian sci-fi show "The Eternaut" became 10 times faster and financially feasible, CEO Ted Sarandos told investors Thursday. The announcement came as Netflix reported over $11B in revenue last quarter, a 16% rise compared to the same period last year. Learn more about Netflix here.



Scientists pinpoint vitamin D gene with cancer-fighting potential.

A team of scientists has identified the gene SDR42E1 as critical to how the body absorbs and processes vitamin D, a discovery with potential for highly targeted medical therapies. Using CRISPR gene-editing technology, the researchers disabled SDR42E1 in cell lines of a patient with colorectal cancer, cutting off the vitamin D supply the cancer cells needed to survive. The newfound understanding of the gene's connection to vitamin D could also help address vitamin D deficiency, which affects nearly 50% of the global population.



Chevron wins dispute with Exxon Mobil over Hess’ Guyana oil assets.

Chevron has finalized its $53B acquisition of energy company Hess, securing a 30% stake in the over 11 billion barrel-equivalents of oil and natural gas reserves off Guyana, a small nation on South America's North Atlantic coast. The deal had been in limbo for nearly two years due to a contractual dispute brought by Chevron's larger rival, Exxon Mobil. The Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce ruled in Chevron's favor Friday, clearing the way for the merger.



Stratospheric skydiver Felix Baumgartner dies in paraglider crash.

Known as "Fearless Felix," the former Austrian military parachutist became the first skydiver to surpass the speed of sound, reaching 843.6 mph during a more than 24-mile free fall over New Mexico in 2012. The feat set records for the highest manned balloon flight, as well as the highest and fastest jump in free fall. Italian officials confirmed Baumgartner’s death Thursday, after reports of a paraglider crashing into a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant’Elpidio. He was 56.

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

America

 

What is so great about AMERICA???

• Bill of Rights Freedoms
• Military power
• Our Democratic Republic
• Our Education
• Our Healthcare
• Economic Prosperity
• Dream of becoming wealthy
• Law Enforcement
• Home Ownership
• Easy mobility
• Entertainment
• Vacations
• Retirement

According to Artificial Intelligence, 76% of Americans have visited at least one other country while 26% have visited five countries or more.  76% is a significant number, especially when one is comparing the USA to other countries..

YET...

there are many Americans that believe this country is no longer a good or great country and they want to turn America into a country that is no longer special and no longer different or better than the rest of the world.

WHY???

There are many people in America that HATE THE WEALTHY and want to take away their wealth...

and yet,

they continue to buy those products and services that make the wealthy even more wealthy.

If they really wanted to stop the transfer of money from them to others, then STOP BUYING THOSE PRODUCTS!!!!!

When immigrants stop flocking to America to live because life is NOT BETTER in America than it is where they currently live, then we have a problem.

What are the odds of anything like that happening anytime soon???

Somewhat Political

 

Teaching a Kid to Think Like a Genius

I watched a boy in my third-grade class adjust his catapult's arm for the fifth time as he measured distances and recorded numbers on his data sheet. This was a personalized learning project, a time dedicated to intrinsic curiosity. 

I gave no instructions on physics or engineering. He was discovering the relationship between arm length and distance entirely through his own experiments. "The longer arm launches farther!" he announced, super excited. Other students immediately wanted to try the same experiment.

I realized he was doing exactly what Leonardo da Vinci did 500 years ago in a basement laboratory in Milan. Leonardo would dig up cadavers, and then trace muscular structures while his incomplete Last Supper fresco waited upstairs. 

Most artists would never connect anatomical dissection with religious painting. Leonardo saw them as inseparable. The muscles and tendons he traced taught him how human bodies moved and expressed emotion. He would eventually use this knowledge to paint the disciples' lifelike reactions to Christ's betrayal.

READ MORE...

Aerosmith - Sweet Emotion (Live)

Direct Hit

 

Lara Trump

 

Sarah Westall

 

Classic

 

Dinesh Di'Souza

 

Bongino Report

 

At Night

 

TimcastIRL

 

Thrivetime

 

Hyde's Mill

 

A federal grant freeze could disrupt over $24 billion to Native American communities and undermine US obligations to Tribes

The Big THINK

The Fermi Paradox has a potentially terrifying answer: The Dark Forest

Learning to Walk Away

Headlines

Brandon Bell/Getty Images


Chevron closes $53b Hess deal after vanquishing Exxon’s legal challenge. Big Oil got a little bit bigger yesterday when Chevron closed its acquisition of its smaller rival Hess, securing access to coveted oil reserves off the shore of Guyana. Chevron and Hess struck the deal back in 2023, but Exxon brought a legal challenge to block it in the biggest oil feud since somebody shot JR. Exxon claimed Hess was contractually obligated to offer to sell Exxon its stake in a Guyana development the companies operate in partnership with the China National Offshore Oil Corp. before making another deal, but yesterday arbitrators from the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris denied that claim. Chevron quickly wrapped up the deal with Hess a few hours later.

Netflix used generative AI in one of its shows for the first time. Will the next Squid Game be made by a bot? Probably not, but tucked into Netflix’s earnings announcement this week was the nugget that the streaming giant has seemingly picked the pro-AI side in Hollywood’s battle over the tech. Netflix said the Argentine sci-fi show The Eternaut was the first show it had produced that used fully AI-generated shots. The tech enabled a sequence that included the collapse of a building in Buenos Aires, which would have otherwise been outside the show’s budget. “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told analysts.

The GENIUS Act is the law of the land. President Trump signed the bill into law yesterday, setting up a framework for regulating stablecoins—digital currency pegged to traditional assets—that are linked to the US dollar. It’s a big win for the crypto industry, and Trump said it was a “giant step to cement American dominance of global finance and crypto technology.” The law could help push stablecoins into the mainstream, and major companies like Walmart and Amazon have been said to be considering launching their own.—AR

READ MORE...

Robert Reich

landmark’s Nuart Theater in Los Angeles, California

Extended Run!
The Last Class film is also spreading to more theaters






Friends,

I’m delighted to tell you that The Last Class film, about my final semester teaching my 800-student undergraduate course at UC Berkeley, is now playing in 46 theaters in 20 states (and the film team is adding more screenings to the list each day).

Due to all of you showing up to see it, seven theaters in six states have just extended their run of the film for another week:

Ciné Athens in Athens, GA, now thru Thurs, July 24
Rialto Cinemas Elmwood in Berkeley, CA now thru Thurs, July 24
The Quad Cinema in Greenwich Village, NY, now thru Thurs, July 24
Kentucky Theatre in Lexington, KY, now thru Thurs, July 24
Salem Cinema in Salem, OR, now thru Thurs, July 24
The Grand Cinema in Tacoma, WA, now thru Thurs, July 24
Landmark’s Nuart Theatre in West Los Angeles, CA now thru Thurs, July 24

People tell me it’s an uplifting and optimistic film at a very dark time in our history. It’s about the next generation — their energy, excitement, and enthusiasm — and their hopes for the future.

Should you wish to have a look, here’s the trailer.

READ MORE...

At A Glance

Bookkeeping
> $245,300: How much Fyre Festival sold the rights to its brand for on eBay.
> 749 miles: Longest journey by an EV on a single charge, set by Lucid Motors.
> 40: The number of birthday freebies a man secured on his 38th birthday.

Browse
> Snoop Dogg becomes co-owner of Welsh soccer team.
> Legacy of the Appalachian Trail’s first female solo hiker.
> UNESCO just added 26 new World Heritage sites.
> Neanderthals may have had family recipes.
> Inside a movement to help nature through music.

Listen
> Journaling as a strategy to unlock creativity.
> How AI is shaking up the legal industry.

Watch
> The entire history of English in 22 minutes.
> Explaining the golden ratio.
> Why AriZona iced tea is always 99 cents.

Long Read
> Marriage is about learning to braid the bitter with the sweet.
> How a hunter-gatherer community in Central Africa raises parents.

Best of the Week: Girl's note to home residents found on empty toilet paper roll.

Historybook: Inventor and businessman Samuel Colt born (1814); First US women’s rights convention held (1848); Maurice Garin becomes first winner of Tour de France (1903); Sports journalist Stuart Scott born (1965); First GPS signal transmitted (1977).

A zucchini masterpiece, better than pizza! Just grate 2 zucchini! Simply...

Quick Clips

 

In The NEWS

Sports, Entertainment, & Culture
> CBS will cancel "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," retiring the franchise in May 2026, citing financial reasons; the program is the most-watched late night franchise on US broadcast television (More)

> Connie Francis, singer of "Stupid Cupid" and viral TikTok song "Pretty Little Baby," dies at age 87; Francis became the first woman in history to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1960 (More) | Bryan Braman, former Super Bowl-winning linebacker, dies of cancer at age 38 (More)

> The 2025 WNBA All-Star festivities kick off tonight with the three-point contest and skills challenge (8 pm ET, ESPN), followed by tomorrow's All-Star Game (8:30 pm ET, ABC); star Caitlin Clark will miss weekend with injury (More)

Science & Technology
> OpenAI debuts ChatGPT Agent that can control multiple applications on a user's computer to carry out complex tasks such as making purchases, planning trips, creating slide decks, and more (More)

> Surgeons perform world's first pediatric heart transplant using a technique that restarts the heart outside the donor's body; procedure saved the life of a 3-month-old patient, could increase organ donor pool by 20% (More)

> Researchers discover unique electrical patterns that occur as the brain transitions from sleeping to being awake; findings may help lead to new treatments for sleep disorders (More) | Breaking down the different stages of sleep (1440 Topics)


Business & Markets
> US House passes bill regulating dollar-pegged stablecoins, which now heads to President Donald Trump for signing; two House-passed bills governing regulatory oversight of digital assets and barring Federal Reserve from creating its own digital currency head to the Senate (More) | See previous write-up (More)

> US stock markets close higher (S&P 500 +0.5%, Dow +0.5%, Nasdaq +0.7%); S&P 500 and Nasdaq rise to records (More) | Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms investors settle shareholder claims seeking $8B in damages over alleged Facebook privacy violations (More)

> Newsletter publisher Substack raises $100M at $1.1B valuation, achieving unicorn status (More) | AI coding startup Lovable also reaches unicorn status after raising $200M at a valuation of $1.8B (More) | What are unicorn startups? (More)


Politics & World Affairs
> President Donald Trump has been diagnosed with benign condition known as chronic venous insufficiency, White House press secretary reveals; the condition occurs when blood pools in the vein, restricting flow to the heart (More) | Department of Homeland Security reaches deal with Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to get access to data on 79 million Medicaid enrollees (More)

> House of Representatives slated to vote today on Senate bill to reduce $9B in federal spending on foreign aid and public broadcasting (More) | Republicans advance judicial nomination for former Trump lawyer, Democrats walk out (More)

> Israeli strike on Gaza church kills at least three people, wounds 10 others, including the priest; Israel says the strike was a mistake (More)

SOURCE:  1440 NEWS

World War III

 

• Is this a possibility?
• Is this a good possibility??

There are organizations in the USA that have hired a group of experts, many of which are former military personnel, war historians, and those who study global politics...  WHO INTENTIONALLY STUDY AND PREDICT THE POSSIBILITY OF WAR THROUGHOUT THE WORLD and where are conflicts likely to occur.

WHY???

• So that our country can be prepared.
• So that our companies can be prepared.

Where would WWIII break out?

• Europe - because of the Russia/Ukraine war
• Middle East - because of the Israel/Iran (now Syria war
• South China Sea - because of China desire to control Taiwan

Currently:

• NATO is preparing for war
• China/Russia are preparing for war
• USA is preparing for war

WHAT WILL HAPPEN DOMESTICALLY?

• Increase in price of gasoline
• Increase in the price of electricity
• Political blame game
• increased polarization
• Congress must declare war
• Supply shortages (food, building materials, computer chips)
• Heightened terrorist alerts
• Tourists' flights stopped to Europe, etc.
• Possibly a national draft again

It is doubtful, at this point in time, that nuclear weapons will be used but that is always a possibility.  If nuclear is used, long term survival can only take place underground.  

Who would be taken underground to perpetuate the human race?

Humanoid Robots would be able to survive a nuclear holocaust...

Somewhat Political