The Full Belmonte, 5/24/2023
No debt limit deal yet, but Biden-McCarthy meeting termed “productive”
President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy failed to reach a debt limit deal in their meeting late yesterday, but both sides said the talks were “productive.”
‘We don’t have an agreement yet, but I did feel the discussion was productive in areas that we have differences of opinion,’ McCarthy said, adding that the ‘tone tonight was better than any other night we’ve had discussions.’
A White House official said disagreements remain, but echoed the speaker’s assessment that the meeting was ‘productive’ overall. It was a ‘solid’ and ‘respectful’ conversation, the official said.
Biden, who did not make public remarks, repeated in a statement the assessment that talks were ‘productive,’ adding that talks between staff negotiators would continue.
With just over a week until the June 1 deadline when the Treasury Department may be unable to pay the country’s bills, there is growing urgency for Biden and McCarthy to find a path to raising the government’s borrowing limit.” [NBC News]
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaking in Rothschild, Wisconsin, earlier this month.
Ron DeSantis
“Ron DeSantis is slated to officially announce his 2024 presidential campaign today, and he’s doing it via Twitter. The Florida governor is planning a conversation with Twitter owner Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces, the platform’s audio feature, to kick off his run. The decision is being seen as part of DeSantis’ strategy to capture the loyalty of right-wing influencers in order to overtake former President Donald Trump for the 2024 GOP nomination. DeSantis has been seen as the most formidable Republican challenger for Trump, but his standing has recently slipped in the polls. Now, experts predict DeSantis will try to seize back the narrative by positioning himself as the unconventional choice for the party.” [CNN]
South Carolina Senate passes 6-week abortion ban
“A new abortion access battle is poised to begin all over again as a bill which bans abortions after six weeks of conception with exceptions for rape and incest is headed to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster's desk to become law. S.474 was passed Tuesday by the state's male dominated, Republican-controlled Senate. Five female senators — three Republicans, a Democrat and an Independent — continued efforts to filibuster the ban. Now abortion advocates have promised litigation as soon as the law takes effect.” Read more at USA Today
Florida school bans elementary students from reading Amanda Gorman's 'The Hill We Climb' poem
“Officials at a school in Miami-Dade County, Florida, on Tuesday banned elementary students from reading "The Hill We Climb," the poem Amanda Gorman famously recited at President Joe Biden's 2021 presidential inauguration. The poem, which has been published as a short book, will now be accessible only to middle school students at the Bob Graham Education Center in Miami Lakes. The former and first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate wrote on Instagram that she was "gutted" and said her publisher – Penguin Random House – is joining PEN America and others in a lawsuit to challenge book restrictions. Read more
•The nation's largest LGBTQ advocacy group joined others in issuing a Florida travel advisory.
•Florida restaurant Hamburger Mary's sues DeSantis for law restricting drag performances.
•Target removed LGBTQ Pride month merchandise after threats.” [USA Today]
Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman speaks during the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Alex Wong, Getty Images
Musk, the new Murdoch
Photo illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios. Photo: Christian Marquardt - Pool/Getty Images
“Elon Musk has displaced Rupert Murdoch and Fox News as king of conservative media in recent weeks, Axios Media Trends author Sara Fischer writes.
Tucker Carlson, booted by Fox exactly a month ago, tells Axios: ‘Thankfully the old system is collapsing in real time.’
Why it matters: Fox News used to be the place where conservatives went to break news. But the right-wing ecosystem has turned on the network, leaving Twitter as the center of media gravity for the Republican Party just as the 2024 election heats up.
The biggest blow to Fox is coming tonight at 6 p.m. ET, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign during a Twitter Spaces event with Elon Musk.
Fox gets second dibs, with DeSantis' "first national TV interview following the announcement," with Trey Gowdy (the former Republican congressman from South Carolina, who's now a Fox host) in Carlson's old slot of 8 p.m. ET, now branded "Fox News Tonight."
In the month since Carlson and Fox parted ways:
Fox ratings have sunk in the 8 p.m. ET hour as viewers flock to rival Newsmax.
Carlson announced plans to bring a ‘new version’ of his old Fox News show to Twitter, arguing that ‘the news you consume is a lie.’
Ben Shapiro's conservative media company The Daily Wire told Axios it plans to put its entire slate of podcasts, which are almost all recorded as videos, on Twitter beginning May 30.
Between the lines: Conservatives aren't just defecting to Twitter — they're throwing grenades at Fox News along the way.
The Daily Signal, a conservative publication owned by the Heritage Foundation, on Monday published a report based on a leak from a Fox News employee handbook — dated January 2021! — that said employees are allowed to use bathrooms aligned with their gender identity.
The leak sparked fury from right-wing voices, including one of The Daily Wire's most popular podcasters, Matt Walsh, who tweeted that without Carlson, ‘there’s no stopping Fox’s march leftward.’
Carlson allies, including Megyn Kelly and Brett Favre, have publicly railed against Fox News in its contract battle with Carlson.
‘The old system is collapsing,’ Carlson told Axios. ‘You can’t claim you've got a democracy if all the information voters receive before a presidential election has been curated by the people already in charge.’
While Musk said last year that he plans to vote Republican in '24, it's unclear which candidate, if any, he would support.
Musk tweeted last year that he would back for DeSantis if he ran— but last Friday praised Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) for a campaign video.
By the numbers: Fox News is still by far the highest-rated cable news network in America, averaging at least 1.5 million viewers per night in prime time. But cable news is rapidly declining. Today, only 66 million U.S. households pay for a cable subscription.
Because Twitter is a private company, public data is no longer available about its operations. But third-party estimates suggest its monthly active user base in the U.S. will be roughly 55 million this year.
While it's impossible to compare audience figures from television to social media, research suggests more Americans are leaning into personalities over institutional media brands to get their news.
The most popular public individual that Americans follow for news is Tucker Carlson, according to a new Gallup survey out Tuesday. (MSNBC's Rachel Maddow was a close second, with Sean Hannity and Trevor Noah tied for a distant third.” [Axios]
New school security push, 1 year after Uvalde
Photo illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios. Photo: Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“Today, the first anniversary of the Uvalde mass shooting, Texas lawmakers are poised to pass measures to fortify school security, as districts spend millions on bulletproof glass and other safety measures, writes Asher Price of Axios Austin.
Why it matters: Parents of children killed in Uvalde wanted more: They pushed to raise the age to buy semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21. Such a measure has not won a floor debate in either chamber.
What's happening: The measures making their way through the Texas legislature would provide incentives to school employees to arm themselves on campus, require school safety inspections and mandate mental health training for teachers.
Lawmakers have sent a bill to the desk of Gov. Greg Abbott (R) that requires school districts to install silent panic buttons in every classroom.
Texas is also considering a proposal, awaiting House approval, that would toughen the state's truancy laws.
The Uvalde shooter had choppy attendance starting in middle school and didn't finish high school.
Texas schools amped up security at graduation last year, in the days following the Uvalde shooting.
At the start of this school year, some Texas districts required kids to wear see-through backpacks.
Austin public schools ended the tradition of parents walking children into their classrooms on the first day of school.” [Axios]
Carter savors tributes, 3 months into hospice
Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross, Ga., outside Atlanta in Gwinnett County. Photo: Alex Slitz/AP
“Three months after entering end-of-life care at home, former President Jimmy Carter remains in good spirits as he visits with family and enjoys regular servings of ice cream.
He follows public discussion of his legacy and receives updates on The Carter Center's humanitarian work around the world, his grandson tells AP's Bill Barrow.
‘They're just meeting with family right now, but they're doing it in the best possible way — the two of them together at home,’ Jason Carter said of Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter, now 98 and 95 years old.
‘They've been together 70-plus years. They also know that they're not in charge,’ the younger Carter said in a brief interview. ‘Their faith is really grounding in this moment.’
Andrew Young, 91, Carter's U.N. ambassador, said he visited the Carters ‘a few weeks back’ and was ‘very pleased we could laugh and joke about old times.’” [Axios]
PreCheck for teens
Photo: Charles Krupa/AP
TSA announced that teenagers (13-17) may now accompany parents or guardians through TSA PreCheck screening when traveling on the same reservation, and when PreCheck appears on the teen's boarding pass.
‘Previously, only children 12 and younger could tag along with their adult travel companions in the trusted traveler lane,’ The Washington Post notes.” [Axios]
Catholic clergy sexually abused Illinois kids far more often than church acknowledged, state finds
By KATHLEEN FOODY and MICHAEL TARM
“CHICAGO (AP) — More than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950, the state’s attorney general found in an investigation released Tuesday,revealing that the problem was far worse than the church had let on.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference that investigators found that 451 Catholic clergy abused 1,997 children in Illinois between 1950 and 2019, though he acknowledged that the statute of limitations has expired in many cases and that those abusers ‘will never see justice in a legal sense.’…” Read more at AP News
How Epstein tried to blackmail Gates
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
“Jeffrey Epstein discovered that Bill Gates had an affair with a Russian bridge player, and later appeared to use his knowledge to threaten Gates, The Wall Street Journal scoops (subscription).
Why it matters: So much is unexplained about the sex offender's frequent meetings with some of the world's A-listers. The revelation sheds light on Gates' entanglement, and illuminates how Epstein worked.
What happened: Gates met the woman, Mila Antonova, around 2010, when she was in her 20s. Epstein met her in 2013 and later paid for her to attend software coding school. In 2017, years after the Gates relationship had ended, Epstein emailed the billionaire and asked to be reimbursed for the course, The Journal reports:
‘The sum was immaterial for the two men and the tone of the message was that Epstein knew about the affair and could expose it.’
A spokeswoman said Gates didn't make the payment, ‘and met with Epstein solely for philanthropic purposes. Having failed repeatedly to draw Mr. Gates beyond these matters, Epstein tried unsuccessfully to leverage a past relationship to threaten Mr. Gates.’
Antonova, the Russian bridge player, told the Journal she didn’t know who Epstein was when they met: ‘I am disgusted with Epstein.’” [Axios]
Missouri man arrested for crashing truck into security barriers near White House
Authorities identified the driver of a truck that crashed into security barriers near the White House last night as a 19-year-old from Chesterfield, Missouri.
“U.S. Park Police said Sai Varshith Kandula was charged with threatening to kill or harm a president, vice president or family member; assault with a dangerous weapon, reckless operation of a motor vehicle and trespassing.
Authorities said the preliminary investigation indicates Kandula ‘intentionally crashed’ into the security barriers outside Lafayette Park. A Nazi flag was seized by authorities at the scene of the incident.
A law enforcement official told NBC News that the suspect made threatening statements about the White House at the scene and was quickly detained. The truck contained no weapons or explosives, the official said.
The white U-Haul box truck crashed into the barriers on the north side of Lafayette Square, just a few hundred feet from the White House, just before 10 p.m. ET.” [NBC News]
Bracing for Default
Traders work the floor at the New York Stock Exchange during the opening bell in New York on May 23.Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images
“U.S. President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy once again failed to reach a deal extending the $31.4 trillion U.S. debt ceiling on Monday. With less than 10 days until the United States potentially defaults on its debt, countries around the world are bracing for the economic waves that could ripple through the global economy if no deal is reached.
The United States has never intentionally defaulted on its debt, so the exact impact that doing so now could have on the international financial system is unknown. However, most economists predict it would be bad—and widespread. ‘No corner of the global economy will be spared,’ Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, told The Associated Press. More than $500 billion in U.S. debt is traded globally every day, and much of that debt is held by foreign governments and investors. A default could see foreign investors charging the United States more money to borrow if Washington becomes a risky investment. Already high interest rates could soar. And some economists even predict a default could create worse conditions than during the 2008 global financial crisis.
But one nation’s economic tragedy is another’s golden ticket. Fueled by fears of U.S. sanctions, both Russia and China have long sought to replace the dollar with the renminbi, reported FP’s Christina Lu, with the so-called BRICS nations considering establishing a common currency to spark de-dollarization. Defaulting on the country’s debt could be enough to convince third-party nations that the United States isn’t trustworthy and that their economies would be better served by investing in Moscow and Beijing.
Defaulting could ‘risk undermining U.S. global economic leadership and raise questions about our ability to defend our national security interests,’ U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned. Since 1960, the United States has raised, revised, or extended the debt ceiling 78 times. Only once did Washington technically default, but that was due to a failure to pay on time. If a default were to happen now, economists predict U.S. stock prices could fall by one-fifth, the economy could contract around 6 percent, and more than 8 million people could lose their jobs.” [Foreign Policy]
“The gray list. Lebanon is likely to undergo special scrutiny for failing to curb money laundering and terrorism financing after a regional financial watchdog placed the nation ‘one mark over the threshold’ to be gray-listed. The report, published by the Financial Action Task Force’s Middle East and North Africa section, details Lebanon’s only partial compliance to stopping corruption, and officials familiar with the draft indicated Lebanon’s scoring was lenient at best.
Being added to the task force’s gray list could hurt the nation’s ability to secure a $3 billion International Monetary Fund deal. In 2019, Lebanon’s annual GDP shrank 21.4 percentage points. The country has since struggled to combat rising poverty, high consumer prices, and corruption. In recent months, Beirut has turned toward oil and gas deals—specifically with Israel—as well as other agreements with Iraq and Qatar to grasp an economic lifeline. But how a gray list designation may impact future global partnerships is yet to be seen.” [Foreign Policy]
Russian soldiers with the Free Russia Legion in February.Lynsey Addario for The New York Times
“A group of Russians who have taken up arms in defense of Ukraine claimed responsibility for an attack in a Russian city near the border.” [New York Times]
“Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of Russia’s Wagner mercenary group, delivered a scathing critique of the outcome of President Vladimir Putin’s war goals in Ukraine.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity remains strongdespite his party’s loss in a crucial state ballot, but his main rival Rahul Gandhi is gaining ground ahead of the 2024 national election.
Turkey’s main opposition leader won the endorsement of a small nationalist party that could help him close the gap with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Sunday’s runoff election.
Public confidence in the US Supreme Court slid amid a flurry of ethics controversies, including revelations a Republican megadonor gave Justice Clarence Thomas luxury vacations, according to a new Marquette Law School Poll.
An opposition coalition that aims to end the South African ruling party’s three-decade hold on power is taking shape ahead of national elections next year.
And finally ... Extracted from branches of acacia trees growing in Sudan’s savanna, gum arabic is a natural emulsifier, making it a key ingredient in the manufacture of cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and everything from Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts breakfast pastries to PepsiCo sodas. The North African nation usually accounts for about two-thirds of world supplies, but exports of the substance have ground to a halt since a conflict between rival military factions erupted last month, raising fears of a global shortage.” [Bloomberg]
Freshly harvested gum arabic sap in Sudan. Photographer: Ashraf Shazly/AFP/Getty Images
“Meta’s privacy battle. A European Union regulator ordered U.S. tech giant Meta to cease its trans-Atlantic flow of user data on Monday, citing privacy concerns. Facebook’s parent company was fined a record-breaking $1.3 billion for transferring EU users’ data to the United States without first establishing a framework to protect EU citizens from U.S. government surveillance. This is the first time a U.S. tech company has ever been ordered to terminate user data flow with the continent.
This is not the first time a U.S. company has faced EU financial repercussions over privacy concerns, though. In 2021, Luxembourg fined Amazon $806 million for violating privacy laws in its advertising campaigns. The Biden administration must now finalize ongoing negotiations with the EU to protect U.S. companies doing business with—and collecting information from—EU citizens.” [Foreign Policy]
“Pegasus strikes again. Mexican authorities are facing yet another scandal involving the alleged use of Pegasus spyware, this time to target Alejandro Encinas, the country’s undersecretary for human rights. This month, a New York Times investigation revealed the senior official’s phone was hacked in a move likely ordered by the Mexican military, which Encinas was investigating at the time. The military is said to be the only entity in the country with access to Pegasus and has a history of targeting more cellphones with the spyware than any other country in the world.
Although Mexico was the first nation to cement a deal with the NSO Group, the Israeli company that makes the Pegasus software, it is not the only country to use it. Hungary, Poland, and Spain have all used Pegasus to monitor and control politicians and activists. And Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi suffered his ‘Watergate moment’ when reports emerged that the government was using Pegasus to surveil journalists. The Israeli Defense Ministry must license the sale of Pegasus to foreign governments with the stipulation that the technology can only be used to combat severe crime and terrorism. Since allegations emerged of Pegasus being used to conduct human rights violations, the Biden administration has blacklisted NSO Group.” [Foreign Policy]
The unique absurdity of the U.S.’s looming debt default
By Ishaan Tharoor
with Sammy Westfall
President Biden hosts debt limit talks with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Vice President Harris and other congressional leaders in the Oval Office at the White House on May 16. (Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters)
“In Washington, the standoff is reaching a white-knuckle moment. In a matter of weeks, the United States could be on the verge of a historic debt default, an act of self-sabotage that has huge implications for the country as well as the global economy. President Biden remains at odds with House Republicans, who are using a looming deadline in early June to raise the national debt ceiling as a means to extract concessions on government spending.
Biden cut short a trip to the Asia-Pacific region, scrapping visits to Papua New Guinea and Australia, to continue negotiations with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). As the impasse drags on, the Treasury Department is reportedly looking at ways in which federal agencies can make upcoming payments at a later date in a bid to conserve cash. ‘Without additional borrowing, a fresh burst of tax revenue or new ways to slow spending, the federal government expects to miss a payment for the first time in modern history in early June,’ my colleagues reported.
The United States is one of a tiny number of nations to impose a hard cap on public borrowing, which in its current aggregate form was first put in place in 1939. Though this is hardly the first time a political party has sought to weaponize the threat of default, Democrats accuse their Republican counterparts of cynically using the mechanism to derail Biden’s agenda and slash public spending through legislation they would otherwise struggle to pass. When in power not long ago, Republicans had far fewer qualms raising the ceiling and blowing past earlier borrowing caps.
‘The issue here is principle: If you accept the idea that you can, in essence, be held to blackmail with the debt ceiling, it will be done again and again. Not to be crass, but it’s essentially negotiating with terrorists who have taken hostages,’ said Dean Baker, an economist at the Center for Economic Policy and Research, a left-leaning think tank, said to my colleagues. ‘More and more people in progressive circles are becoming concerned with it.’
Officials elsewhere are growing concerned about the potential harm caused by the crisis. ‘I just cannot believe they would let such a major, major disaster happen of the United States defaulting on its debt,’ European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde told CBS News last month. ‘This is not possible. I cannot believe this would happen.’
Biden warned that the standoff is imperiling the United States’ position in the world. Given the centrality of U.S. financial markets, which would tank in the event of a public debt default, the situation has flummoxed analysts elsewhere, who don’t understand why the United States would hamstring itself with an artificial construct like this spending cap.
‘The U.S. Treasury market is Washington’s golden goose, and the market shows the golden eggs it lays are still very much in demand,’ Maximilian Hess, principal at London-based political risk firm Enmetena Advisory, which advises clients including credit insurers and other financiers, said to my colleagues. ‘And yet the U.S. has a rule in the debt ceiling that inexplicably says that the golden goose should be taken out back and shot unless it agrees to lay fewer eggs for a while.’
In 2011, House Republicans used their leverage to force President Barack Obama to concede to spending curbs that only recently expired. According to my colleagues, the impasse then caused a credit-rating agency to downgrade the country’s reliability to pay its debt and cost U.S. taxpayers some $1 billion.
Debt ceilings exist in various forms in a handful of other countries. But the vast majority of nations around the world do not impose hard caps on public spending, and certainly don’t go through rounds of legislative gridlock to navigate around debt obligations. Some countries maintain a public debt ceiling pegged to a percentage of national gross domestic product, though many have greater legal flexibility in transgressing these limits. Member states of the European Union are committed to keeping their public debt within 60 percent of GDP, but the rules are soft and there are E.U. mechanisms to provide relief to countries in duress.
‘Debt limits are self-imposed tools to facilitate sound fiscal policy,’ wrote Mrugank Bhusari of the Atlantic Council’s Geoeconomics Center. ‘But in practice they serve as orienting goals or tools of political bargaining at best, and triggers of economic chaos at worst. It is unsurprising that most of the world chooses to have no such limit.’
Denmark is the only industrialized democracy other than the United States to have a debt limit set at a nominal value. But it exists as a formality, set at a level far higher than current Danish debt and therefore never the subject of complicated political wrangling.
‘The debt limit doesn’t make one iota difference in the Danish case,’ Torben Iversen, a political economist at Harvard University, told me. The Danish parliamentary system also ensures that any coherent ruling majority can set the agenda around fiscal policy, whereas the divided nature of American government creates these points of friction and allows ‘counter-majoritarian’ impulses to take hold.
‘In the U.S. system, you can have a majority that wants to raise the ceiling,’ Iversen said, referring to the electoral mandate secured by the Democrats in winning the presidency and a slim majority in the Senate, ‘but then you have a minority that can jeopardize your ability to run the government.’
The polarization in Washington and the hard-line approach of the Republicans, Iversen added, ‘creates perverse incentives to use instruments to undermine the majority and that can’t happen in Denmark or in any parliamentary system.’ He said that the existence of the debt ceiling ‘does not make fiscal or macroeconomic sense’ and has led to ‘unbelievably reckless’ politicking by lawmakers in Washington.
Across the Atlantic, there have been many instances of political paralysis and gridlock, but never over something as potentially arbitrary as debt ceiling. ‘In terms of dysfunction of the political system, perhaps the closest parallels are the kind of protracted coalition negotiations you see in Belgium or the Netherlands or the regular functioning of the U.K. government,’ Stan Veuger, an expert on European political economy and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, told me.
‘To the extent that the current crisis has received attention outside the financial press, it’s portrayed as illogical,’ he added. ‘But the coverage is less panicked than here in the U.S., and framed more like the aforementioned coalition negotiations than one might perhaps expect. It’s generally not portrayed as some sort of illegitimate hostage-taking, at least for now.’” [Washington Post]
Social Media Could Pose ‘Profound Risk of Harm’ to Young People’s Mental Health, Surgeon General Warns
Advisory notes benefits of platforms, but urges action to limit any detrimental effects
A survey cited in the advisory found that 95% of teens use a social-media platform. PHOTO: GETTY IMAGES/MASKOT
“The U.S. surgeon general warned Tuesday of the potential risks of social media to young people, and urged policy makers and technology companies to strengthen standards for adolescents.
Dr. Vivek Murthy’s office said a growing body of research shows the detrimental effects of social media on adolescents. The office’s public advisory said more research is needed to better understand the effects of social media on children and teens.
The advisory noted the benefits of social media, including its use as an outlet for creativity and for finding community. But, the report said, ‘there are ample indicators that social media can also have a profound risk of harm to the mental health and well-being of children and adolescents.’
‘We are in the middle of a national youth mental health crisis, and I am concerned that social media is an important driver of that crisis—one that we must urgently address,’ Murthy said in a statement. The surgeon general said advisories like the one released Tuesday are for significant public health issues that require the nation’s immediate attention. It offers suggestions for policymakers, but doesn’t directly make changes to laws.
Children and teens are particularly vulnerable from ages 10 to 19 as their brains continue to develop, according to the report. The advisory cites a 2022 Pew Research Center survey that found 95% of teens use a social-media platform, and more than a third use at least one ‘almost constantly.’
The advisory pointed to several studies examining a range of adverse effects of social media on adolescents. Those include online harassment, increased exposure to content related to self-harm and racism, and negative impacts on sleep, body image, and physical activity. One 2019 study cited in the report found U.S. teenagers between the ages of 12 and 15 who spent more than three hours a day on social media experienced twice the risk of symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The surgeon general’s office didn’t name any social-media companies in its warning.
TikTok and Meta Platforms, which owns Facebook and Instagram, declined to comment Tuesday. Twitter didn’t comment.
When asked about children and mental health at a March 2021 congressional hearing, Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said connecting with others on apps can have positive mental health benefits. The company has said it has developed tools to support teens and families as they navigate social-media use and age-verification technology that helps teens have age-appropriate experiences.
TikTok, the popular short-form video app owned by ByteDance, added a 60-minute screen-time limit for users under the age of 18 in March.
Snapchat said in a statement Tuesday: ‘As a messaging service for real friends, we applaud the surgeon general’s principled approach to protecting teens from the ills of traditional social media platforms.’
The surgeon general’s report includes recommendations for addressing the issue, including for companies, families and lawmakers. It asks policy makers to improve safety standards, including increasing data privacy for adolescents. The advisory also urges technology companies to take responsibility for the effects of their platforms, share relevant data with researchers and the public and improve practices for responding to complaints swiftly….” Read more at Wall Street Journal
Biden's AI plan
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
“President Biden this afternoon announced a string of plans designed to promote the benefits of artificial intelligence while curtailing risks, Axios' Ashley Gold reports.
Why it matters: The U.S. government is racing to control tools that are suddenly advancing and deploying more rapidly than expected.
The big picture: The intervention has been encouraged by leading AI pioneers — but it's already behind the pace of European regulators.
The White House says an eventual National Artificial Intelligence Strategy will include administration projects and public input.
Among the topics for study:
National security benefits and risks of AI.
Whether AI can help combat climate change.
AI's impact on equity and civil rights, and how existing laws can be updated to account for it.
Whether AI can strengthen or hurt democracy.
Zoom in: A report released as part of the announcements, ‘Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning,’ shows the administration thinks schools will be a key focus of AI regulation
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, told Axios: ‘AI is a game-changer, but teachers need to be the coaches in the game.’
Our thought bubble: AI in schools will pit many interests against each other, Axios' Ryan Heath notes.
Will it free teachers to better support kids, or turbocharge bias and digital divides and ignite a new culture war?” [Axios]
Weaponizing medical AI
Illustration: Natalie Peeples/Axios
“Machine learning can bring us cancer diagnoses with greater speed and precision than any given doctor — but could also ignite another pandemic at the hands of a relatively low-skilled programmer, Axios' Ryan Heath reports.
Why it matters: The medical field is generating some of the most exciting artificial-intelligence innovation. But AI can also weaponize modern medicine against the same people it sets out to cure.
What's happening: As this technology races ahead, everyone — companies, government and consumers — needs to be clear-eyed that it can both save lives and cost lives.
AI in health is delivering speed, accuracy and cost dividends — from quicker vaccines to helping doctors outsmart killer heart conditions.
Next, it's set to help beat the trickiest cancers and boost success rates for in vitro fertilization (IVF).
But disaster can lurk one click or security breach away:
Escaped viruses are a top worry. 350 companies in 40 countries are working in synthetic biology. With more artificial organisms being created, there are more chances for accidental release of antibiotic-resistant superbugs, and possibly another global pandemic.
One person's lab accident is another's terrorism weapon. Researchers in 2022 proved they could create 40,000 new chemical weapons compounds in six hours. They used AI models meant to predict and ultimately reduce toxicity — and trained them to increase toxicity instead.
Today's large language models make things up when they don't have ready answers. Such ‘hallucinations’ could be deadly in a health setting.” [Axios]
Real menus win
Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios
“Restaurants all over the country replaced their paper menus with contactless, scannable QR codes during the pandemic — and the digital menus looked like they were here to stay.
But restaurants are increasingly going back to their old menus, The New York Times' Amelia Nierenberg writes (subscription).
‘The motivation for the about-face is simple, restaurateurs said: Diners just hate QR-code menus,’ The Times reports.
‘[R]estaurants are trying to coax people to eat out, and the seduction of a dining room is part of the get — dusky candlelight and uninterrupted, eye-to-eye conversation. A QR code can kill the mood: phones up, blue lights on, conviviality off.’
By the numbers: Use of QR-code menus is down 27% compared to 2021, according to MustHaveMenus, which manages thousands of digital menus.
That's because restaurants are replacing them with paper menus — or customers are just ignoring the codes and ordering directly with their servers.
What to watch: QR codes are unlikely to disappear from the dining experience altogether.
They can be useful at places like beer gardens where servers may be stretched thin and speedy ordering is a priority.
Many restaurants are using paper menus — but putting QR codes on checks in case customers want to pay quickly with their phones.” [Axios]
Apple
“Apple is bringing more tech manufacturing to US shores. The company announced a multibillion-dollar agreement to develop 5G radio frequency and wireless connectivity components in partnership with US-based manufacturer Broadcom. The components will be designed and built in several American manufacturing and technology hubs. The effort is part of a larger commitment Apple made in 2021 to invest $430 billion in the economy through 2026. It’s also a sign of how bullish the company is on 5G technology. 5G stands for the fifth generation of mobile communications. First rolled out in 2018, the 5G network promises to be faster and handle more connected devices. The technology runs over new radio frequencies and requires extensive updating and expansion of cell towers and other equipment to provide coverage.” [CNN]
JAYSON TATUM AND THE BOSTON CELTICS
“They're not dead yet. The Boston Celtics took some inspiration from the Bee Gees and won Game 3 over the Miami Heat, 116-99, to stay alive in the Eastern Conference Finals. If Boston is going to pull off a historic comeback, it had to start with a Game 4 win.
Trailing 56-50 at halftime, the Celtics were in jeopardy of watching their season melt away in Miami. That's when Jayson Tatum flipped a switch and took over the game for the Celtics.
Tatum scored 14 points in the third quarter, and the Celtics went on an 18-0 run.
Tatum finished as the game's leading scorer (33) and rebounder (11).
Grant Williams provided some unexpected offense off the bench, going 4-of-7 from three-point range for 14 points.
Perhaps more important: Boston's defense held Miami to 25% shooting from three-point range and forced 15 turnovers. Jimmy Butler was able to get his 29 points, but the Celtics neutralized the rest of the Heat's roster.
Down 3-1 in the series, the Celtics still have plenty of work to do if they want to reach the NBA Finals. That work will continue on Thursday night as the two teams head back to Boston for Game 5 at TD Garden.” [CBS Sports]
Double amputee Everest climber pledges to work for benefit of people with disabilities
By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Hari Budha Magar, former Gurkha veteran and double amputee climber who scaled Mount Everest, greets the crowd upon arrival at the airport in Kathmandu, Nepal, Tuesday, May 23, 2023. The former Gurkha veteran had lost both his legs in Afghanistan when he accidentally stepped on an improvised explosive device in 2010. Magar, who was a soldier in the Gurkha regiment, was born in a remote mountain village in Nepal and later was recruited by the British army. He now lives with his family in Canterbury, England. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
“KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — The first double above-the-knee amputee to climb Mount Everest returned from the mountain on Tuesday pledging to dedicate the rest of his life to helping people with disabilities.
Hari Budha Magar, a former Gurkha soldier who lives in Britain, reached the peak of the world’s highest mountain last week.
‘My main aim for the rest of my lifetime is going to be working to bring awareness about disability,’ Magar said on his return to Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.
As a soldier in a Gurkha regiment in the British army, Magar lost both his legs in Afghanistan when he accidently stepped on an improvised explosive device in 2010.
Hundreds of supporters and officials, including Nepal’s tourism minister, greeted him at Kathmandu’s airport and offered him garlands.
He was taken from the airport in an open truck decorated with flowers and waved at people along the way.
‘We all have our own weaknesses and disabilities, but instead of the weaknesses we should be focusing on our strength, and only then we can all lead a better and meaningful life,’ he said.
He said the climb up the 8,849-meter (29,032-foot) mountain was not easy and he thought several times about quitting because of his family.
‘I had made the promise that I will have to return for the sake of my son,’ he said.
On the way to the summit he ran out of oxygen in the tank he was carrying.
‘This was the first time I experienced what it is to be deprived of oxygen. I had the tingling sensation, my hands and feet were cold and I was gasping for breath,’ he said.
He was able to get more oxygen from his climbing partners, but then battled with bad weather as he approached the summit, which he reached late in the afternoon because of his slow pace. Most climbers try to reach the top in the morning because conditions become dangerous later in the day.
He said he saw rescuers pulling the bodies of two dead climbers along the way.
After his successful climb, “I hugged all the Sherpas and cried like a baby, I was so happy,” Magar said in a video released by his press office. “My lifetime goal is to change the perceptions people have of disability. My life changed in a blink of an eye. But whatever happens, you can still lead a fulfilling life.”
‘If a double above-knee amputee can climb Everest, you can climb whatever mountain you face, as long as you are disciplined, work hard and put everything into it,’ he said.
Magar was born in a remote mountain village in Nepal and later was recruited by the British army as a Gurkha. He now lives with his family in Canterbury, England.
Hundreds of Nepalese youths are recruited every year to work as Gurkha soldiers, who are known for their fighting skills and bravery.
In addition to dealing with his own disabilities, Magar also had to battle with legal issues because Nepal’s government had banned disabled people from climbing high mountains. A case was filed in the Supreme Court, which overturned the ban, allowing Magar to continue his plan to climb Everest.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the government halted mountaineering, further delaying Magar’s plan.” [AP News]
Miami zoo apologises for mistreatment of iconic kiwi bird
Image caption,
A North Island brown kiwi chick in New Zealand
By Hannah Ritchie
BBC News
“A US zoo has apologised for mistreating a kiwi, after footage of visitors patting the nocturnal bird under bright lights caused outrage in New Zealand.
Zoo Miami said it was ‘deeply sorry’ about the incident, which occurred during a paid animal encounter between the kiwi and zoo guests.
The kiwi encounter has since been removed from the zoo's offerings.
Pāora was hatched in Zoo Miami in 2019 as part of a breeding programme aimed at ensuring the kiwi species' survival.
Considered a national icon in New Zealand, the flightless kiwi bird is symbolic of the country's unique natural heritage and the basis for the nickname applied to its people.
In videos which went viral on social media on Tuesday, Pāora looked visibly agitated as guests patted it under the lights, trying to retreat into darkness at times.
The uproar in New Zealand was swift and widespread, prompting an online petition and comments from Prime Minister Chris Hipkins who thanked the zoo for taking public concerns seriously.
‘They've acknowledged what they were doing wasn't appropriate, or wasn't right, or wasn't fair, to the kiwi,’ Mr Hipkins told a press conference.
A zoo spokesman told broadcaster Radio NZ that the paid visitor encounter had been ‘not well conceived’, adding ‘we were wrong’.
‘We give you our word that the public will never handle Pāora again,’ said communications director Ron Magill.
Pāora is usually kept out of public view, according to Zoo Miami, which says plans are ‘under way’ to build a special habitat that will provide him the shelter he needs, while also teaching guests ‘about the amazing kiwi without any direct contact’.
Kiwis are beloved by all cultures in New Zealand and considered a Māori cultural treasure - it is incredibly rare for them to be kept in captivity.
New Zealand's Department of Conservation said it would discuss Tuesday's incident involving Pāora with the US Association of Zoos and Aquariums to ‘address some of the housing and handling concerns raised’.” [BBC]
“Lives Lived: Rick Hoyt was a regular at the Boston Marathon who competed in more than 1,000 road races using a wheelchair pushed by his father. He died at 61.” [New York Times]