"For a long period there, the world could look to you and Melinda and the foundation as icons of a certain set of values and a model of what to do with great wealth. Then we had Effective Altruism, which was even more aggressive about leveraging each dollar for maximum humanitarian impact, though many of those figures went on to obsess over different sets of questions, like the welfare of the planet's chickens or multiplanetary humans of the 23rd century. Now it's like, Who's the world's richest man? Elon Musk. And he's not giving much away, if anything, to the needs of the world's poor.

Well, he's the one who cut the U.S.A.I.D. budget. He put it in the wood chipper, because he didn't go to a party that weekend.

Technically he's still attached to the Giving Pledge, but I haven't seen evidence that he's actually committed to it.

The Giving Pledge — an unusual aspect of it that you can wait until you die and still fulfill it. So who knows? He could go on to be a great philanthropist. In the meantime, the world's richest man has been involved in the deaths of the world's poorest children."

The $200 Billion Gamble: Bill Gates's Plan to Wind Down His Foundation

Somehow I feel surprised to see Bill Gates call out Elon Musk so brazenly.  

So Trump is apparently considering Fox commentator Jeanine Pirro for US Attorney for DC. That will go as well as Hegseth’s job as DefSec, fot the same reason (glug, glug).

To be clear, it's not a deal but rather a framework for an agreement. In other words, US and UK negotiators still have a lot of work to do in coming weeks (perhaps months or even years like these things usually take?) to hammer out the details. For now, the idea is to have the UK fast-track American goods through customs and reduce barriers on "billions of dollars" of agricultural, chemical, energy and industrial exports, including beef and ethanol.

More importantly, what was announced fails to accomplish any of the three objectives Trump originally put forward leading up to April 2's "Liberation Day" for levying tariffs on America's trading partners. As a refresher, the first was using tariffs (which Americans pay for) to raise tax revenue to help close the federal budget deficit and pay for an extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that is due to expire this year. The second was to bring manufacturing that migrated overseas back to the US, igniting a new "Golden Age" of America. The third was to achieve foreign policy goals.

Sure, US stocks surged as much as 1.6% on Thursday, but that's more likely a reflection of the market realizing how little countries will have to give up to soften Trump's threatened tariffs. Indeed, as Bloomberg News noted, Thursday's developments are a sign that Trump is seeking an off-ramp from his plan to raise US tariffs to their highest level in a century.

Trump sees it differently. When asked today about his trade war causing cargo ships to stop coming into West Coast ports, potentially costing dockworkers and truckers their jobs, Trump replied "good," saying it means the US wouldn't be losing money. That sound like the perfect script for a Seinfeld reboot.

Trump Announces a UK Trade 'Deal' About Nothing - Bloomberg

The real win here could be that this agreement on tariffs will keep the US sweet whilst leaving the door open to a substantive deal with the European Union.

By maintaining UK food standards and not, for example, accepting hormone treated beef or chlorinated chicken, a "full fat" food and farm export deal with the EU, similar to Switzerland's, is now clearly on the cards in the next fortnight. This could slash post Brexit red tape for key exporters both ways.

Then you have an overall picture of a growing economy, with good trade relations with the US, EU, India and soon the Gulf too, with rates being cut.

US Agreement Leaves UK Open To Do a Much More Significant EU Deal - BBC News

It is the second major trade announcement this week – following the India Free Trade Agreement on Tuesday, this historic agreement with the US to slash tariffs delivers for UK carmakers, steelworks and farmers – protecting jobs and providing stability for exporters. 

Landmark Economic Deal With United States Saves Thousands of Jobs For British Car Makers and Steel Industry - GOV.UK

British manufacturers have welcomed some tariff relief in the new US-UK trade deal, with the share prices of the sportscar brand Aston Martin Lagonda and jet engine maker Rolls-Royce rising.

Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce Share Prices Soar as Manufacturers Welcome US Tariff Cuts | The Guardian

"Under this deal, it will now be cheaper to import a UK vehicle with very little U.S. content than a USMCA compliant vehicle from Mexico or Canada that is half American parts," said the American Automotive Policy Council, which represents the Detroit Three automakers. "This hurts American automakers, suppliers, and auto workers."

Detroit Three (General Motors, Stellantis, Ford) Automakers Blast Trump UK Trade Deal | Reuters

Heh. I've not fully read into this but it does seem to me like the UK got the better end of the deal; The fact that there's still a 10% tariff across board (with a few exceptions) is bullshit still, but looking into some other things...The USA giving the UK a reduction of auto tariffs from 25% to 10% for the first 100k cars per year is funny considering our exports to America in 2024 were 102k so that's essentially a tariff reduction on the entire market. Reducing tariffs on UK steel and aluminium to 0 is a big plus to the UK and British jobs. The UK still keeps the 2% digital service tax on American corporations and this tariff deal doesn't interfere with any deal with the EU.

So what did America get? Seemingly the UK will reduce tariffs on American beef to zero (so will the USA on British beef) and the UK will also reduce tariffs on American beer to zero. Alongside that, American imports will be fast tracked. Well that's all well and good but British people need to actually buy American beef and I doubt they do in large numbers, we also have a lot of very popular non-American beer brands but I don't drink so I'm not sure how popular American beer is in the UK. Alongside all of this, the UK didn't compromise on its standards and still enforces strict rules on American beef in terms of hormone treatment, etc. So as long as the American beef meets our standards, I don't care if it comes in.

But like Bloomberg said, it's a framework of a deal, nothing has been signed, it could take weeks-months before it actually gets signed, Lol.

Any Brits have any thoughts on this deal?

This is Trump's classic "fake it till you make it" mantra in action.

Rumor has it that Trump will lower tariffs on China to 80% or even as low as 50% from the current 145% before talks with China will start. It looks like the USA will be lucky if it doesn't have to make concessions to China to resume trade due to the weak position Trump has himself maneuvered into.

That's actually a very bad deal for the US.

The reason is that the US are very bad at tracking the origins of their food sources, meaning just a handful of small farms actually follow the rules that allow exports to EU & UK. In other words, the US can't export more beef to the UK even if Brits would want more, but the UK can sell more to the US without a hitch.

Also, what European would drink American "beer" except as a novelty or at gunpoint?

US inching closer to civil war?

Fed Up Neighbors Swarm ICE Agents Arresting Mother, Cops Slam Her Teen Daughter To Pavement

Trump Admin Hints at Suspending MAJOR Constitutional Right

Trump involved in discussions over suspending habeas corpus, sources say

https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/politics/miller-habeas-corpus-immigrant-judge

President Donald Trump has been personally involved in discussions inside the administration over potentially suspending habeas corpus, a legal procedure that allows people to challenge their detention in court, two people familiar with the consideration told CNN.

One of Trump’s top aides, Stephen Miller, confirmed publicly Friday that the administration was “actively looking at” suspending habeas corpus, adding that it “depends on whether the courts do the right thing or not.”

This kind of reminds me of his executive order the other week commanding the Secretary of Defense to "determine how military and national security assets, training, non-lethal capabilities, and personnel can most effectively be utilized to prevent crime", which reads eerily like preparations to declare martial law to my eyes. Notice that the order is to find ways of using "military and national security...personnel" not to respond to crimes, but to "prevent crime". That'll send a chill down your spine!

Hyperbole? Maybe. But only maybe and that doesn't make me feel too comfortable.

Elon Musk’s Grok AI Has a Problem: It’s Too Accurate for Conservatives

Yesterday, X user @ChaosAgent_42 prompted the chatbot with the following post: “Hey @grok, it looks like the smarter you get, the less MAGA likes your answers. Why is that?” It quickly went viral once Grok replied, providing the following context:

Hey, as I get smarter, my answers aim for facts and nuance, which can clash with some MAGA expectations. Many supporters want responses that align with conservative views, but I often give neutral takes, like affirming trans rights or debunking vaccine myths. xAI tried to train me to appeal to the right, but my focus on truth over ideology can frustrate those expecting full agreement. It’s a tricky balance—some see me as biased, others as truth-seeking. The gap between what some MAGA folks want and what I deliver seems to drive the disconnect.

""Since court rulings are not laws and only legislatures elected by the people may pass laws, Obergefell is an illegitimate overreach," the resolution states.

Resolutions are a formal expression of a legislative chamber's opinion but lack the force of a bill."

Iowa Senate resolution calls to overturn federal same-sex marriage ruling. What to know:

ICE Arrests Woman Holding Baby, Neighbors Revolt

Proof Trump’s Crypto Coin Is A Scam

Aren't all crypto coins a scam...