John Cox

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www.buzzfeednews.com

The 2010s Have Broken Our Sense Of Time

The 2010s marked the shift from the internet as a discrete destination to an omnipresent algorithmic feed woven into daily life, with platforms like Instagram and Twitter replacing chronological timelines with engagement-based algorithms that fundamentally altered how information, politics, and culture reach us. This transformation—enabled by smartphones, streaming services, and social media's evolution—created a disorienting temporal experience where past and present collapse, making figures like Trump the ideal vessel for such a system while spawning cultural backlash (vintage watches, vinyl records, digital detox rhetoric) that ultimately fails because the internet has become inseparable from physical reality. The essay argues that what defines the decade isn't any single technology but the complete merger of our online and offline identities, creating a perpetual state of algorithmic fragmentation that keeps us perpetually scrolling, reacting, and unable to escape.

Permalink social mediatechnologyculturestreaming

apple.news

7 Side Hustle Ideas That Are Perfect for Introverts — Inc.

For introverts who find social interaction draining, numerous side hustles allow earning significant income from home with minimal face-to-face contact. Options range from creative pursuits like online retail, stock photography, and plant selling, to service-based work such as proofreading, website testing, and bookkeeping—with some positions paying $30 to $57,000+ annually. Many platforms like Etsy, Fiverr, and Upwork enable these workers to connect with clients remotely while leveraging their existing skills or interests.

Permalink applenewslinkside hustle

apple.news

I tried everything to get better sleep. These five items actually helped — Guardian US

A journalist with chronic sleep issues and sound/light sensitivity reviews tech tools she's actually used to improve her sleep, ranging from a $20 pair of Loop earplugs to a $349 Elemind headband that uses brain-wave stimulation. She finds that while some devices are genuine snake oil, several genuinely help—particularly the Elemind for fall-asleep assistance and travel, noise-canceling earbuds for blocking disruptive sounds, and a bone-conduction pillow speaker that doesn't require in-ear wear. The piece emphasizes that these tools work best when you're genuinely trying to sleep rather than as magical fixes, and offers budget-friendly alternatives alongside premium options.

Permalink healthwellnesssleepprivacy

The Atlantic

Inside the Meltdown at CNN

Tim Alberta's profile chronicles Chris Licht's troubled tenure as CNN's new leader, examining his ambitious but largely failed effort to reorient the network toward ideological centrism and win back Republican audiences. Through extensive reporting and interviews, Alberta documents how Licht's grand pronouncements about fixing CNN's perceived liberal bias alienated his own newsroom while failing to attract the conservative viewers he courted, culminating in a disastrous May 2023 Trump town hall that showcased his strategic miscalculations. The piece portrays a well-intentioned but isolated executive caught between his corporate overseers' demands and his staff's open hostility, ultimately revealing the limits of one man's ability to reshape a major news organization through force of will alone.

Permalink politicsnewsbusinessmedia

Business Insider

144 Republicans Who Voted For Default - Business Insider

During the 2013 government shutdown and debt ceiling crisis, 144 House Republicans, including fiscally conservative Paul Ryan, voted against a compromise bill that would reopen the government and prevent default, while 285 members (all Democrats and some Republicans) voted to pass it. The piece argues that Ryan's vote against averting default undermines his reputation for fiscal responsibility, and that any truly responsible leader would have prioritized the country's interests over political posturing.

Permalink politicsnewsbusinesseconomics

html5bookmarks.com

BuzzFeed News

These Republicans Who Voted To Cut Food Stamps Personally Received Large Farm Subsidies

House Republicans who voted to cut $39 billion from food stamps over a decade included several members whose family farms had received substantial government agricultural subsidies—Rep. Stephen Fincher received $3.4 million in farm subsidies while quoting scripture to justify denying aid to those unwilling to work, Rep. Vicky Hartzler's farm received over $800,000, and Rep. Kristi Noem's family ranch received $3.4 million. The hypocrisy highlighted the inconsistency of lawmakers accepting government payments for agriculture while arguing against public assistance for the poor based on principles of personal responsibility.

Permalink politicsnewsagriculturebudget

Slate Magazine

Freakonomics

Freakonomics » One Thought About the Two Deaths in Asiana Airlines Flight 214

A Boeing 777 crashed in San Francisco on July 6, 2013, killing only two people—a remarkably low toll that could easily have been catastrophic. The piece uses this accident to highlight a striking disparity in media attention: while the crash dominated nearly every U.S. news outlet's coverage, roughly 143,000 people have died in traffic accidents since the last fatal U.S. commercial flight in 2009, yet receive a fraction of the attention. The author questions whether the crash's rarity alone justifies its blanket coverage as the top story, or whether news judgment relies too heavily on anomaly rather than actual human cost.

Permalink safetynewseconomicsaviation

www.nytimes.com

303 See Other

The U.S. Postal Service operates two surveillance programs—the century-old "mail covers" system and the more recent Mail Isolation Control and Tracking program—that collectively monitor the exterior information of virtually all mail processed in the country, creating a comprehensive map of Americans' communications without requiring judicial warrants. Law enforcement agencies request mail covers tens of thousands of times annually for criminal and counterterrorism investigations, citing their effectiveness in solving crimes, but critics argue the programs are easily abused and amount to the same invasive surveillance as the NSA's electronic monitoring, yet Congress has not revisited the issue since brief hearings in 1976. A Buffalo bookstore owner and former environmental activist discovered he was under postal surveillance and has now sued the government, exemplifying concerns that the system enables tracking of political dissidents without proper oversight.

Permalink privacysecuritynewssurveillance

The Big Picture

Cheney Admits that He Lied about 9/11 | The Big Picture

Dick Cheney admitted in a Showtime documentary that he unilaterally authorized shooting down the hijacked plane on 9/11, contradicting his previous testimony to the 9/11 Commission that President Bush had pre-authorized such orders—the Commission found no documentary evidence this authorization ever occurred. The article argues Cheney used the 9/11 attacks as justification for numerous policies and military actions that were actually planned beforehand, and falsely linked Iraq to the attacks to support the torture program and other expansions of executive power he championed.

Permalink historysecuritypoliticsnews

Boing Boing

the Guardian

Untitled (http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/dec/28/after-the-sheikhs-christopher-m-davidson-review?CMP=twt_gu)

Christopher Davidson argues that the Gulf monarchies have survived through a combination of oil wealth, modern institutions grafted onto traditional authority, and strategic spending on services and Western support, but that internal pressures—youth unemployment, rising expectations amplified by social media, and external threats like Iran's nuclear program—are building toward potential collapse within two to five years. Andrew Hammond's analysis of Saudi Arabia specifically debunks claims of meaningful reform, showing that despite gestures like women driving, the regime remains fundamentally unchanged in its denial of political participation, instead channeling citizens toward consumption and religious observance while maintaining arbitrary dynastic power.

Permalink politicsnewseconomics

the Guardian

Eyewitness: The Earth at night | World news | guardian.co.uk

NASA's new satellite has captured nighttime imagery of Earth revealing human settlement patterns and activity across continents with far greater resolution than previously possible, showing the distribution of cities, infrastructure, and population density through light emissions from Europe, Asia, and Africa. The photographs demonstrate how artificial lighting from human civilization creates a visible glow that can be detected from space, providing scientists with detailed data about urbanization, energy use, and human geography across the globe.

Permalink photographysciencenewsclimate

Businessweek.com

It's Global Warming, Stupid - Businessweek

Hurricane Sandy's devastating impact—40 deaths, $50 billion in losses, millions without power—illustrates how climate change amplifies severe weather events even if it doesn't directly cause individual storms. Scientists and corporate reinsurers increasingly agree that warming oceans provide more energy for storms, the atmosphere retains more moisture, and altered Arctic patterns can intensify coastal hurricanes, with evidence suggesting these mechanisms were at work in Sandy specifically. The piece argues that despite political gridlock and declining public concern about climate change, the U.S. must pursue pragmatic solutions including natural gas as a bridge fuel, carbon pricing mechanisms, improved disaster infrastructure, and renewed federal commitment to climate negotiations—otherwise, increasingly frequent catastrophic storms will continue destabilizing the economy.

Permalink sciencenewseconomicsclimate