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☆ What Makes a Garden a Work of Art? Piet Oudolf Explains.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( Margaret Roach | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

There is a transcendent quality to the gardens of the Dutch designer Piet Oudolf, which overtake us with the sense that we have arrived at a place where we would like — and very much need — to spend more time. Drawn into the complex textural mosaic of muted colors, we can exhale. And yet, Mr. Oudolf is quick to point out, his work is the art and craft of garden making. It is not ecological landscape restoration. His medium is naturalistic, yes, but it is not nature.

☆ Failures in Ukraine haven't left 'cracks' in Putin's hold on power, German spy chief says, warning Russia has what it needs to wage a long war
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-23 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Germany's spy chief, Bruno Kahl, said there are no "cracks" in Putin's system despite Russia's failures in Ukraine. The Kremlin has gone to extraordinary lengths to stifle opposition to the war in Ukraine. Kahl warned that "Russia is still capable of waging a long-range war" in Ukraine. In this kind of environment, it's difficult to get an accurate read on public sentiment toward the war in Russia. Russia was expected to easily defeat Ukraine, and its failures in the war have raised questions as to whether Putin's firm grip on power in Russia might slip.

☆ UK's Sunak says China poses world's biggest security challenge
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Katya Golubkova | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"China poses the biggest challenge of our age to global security and prosperity. They are increasingly authoritarian at home and assertive abroad," Sunak told reporters after the G7 summit in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Sunak said Britain and other G7 countries would pursue a common approach to reduce the challenges posed by China. Sunak also said Britain would start training Ukrainian pilots this summer to support its air force in its war with Russia. At the three-day summit the G7 signalled to Russia their readiness to stand by Ukraine for the long term.

☆ Opinion: A cerebral rock star is dead
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Opinion John Avlon | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

He is the author of “Lincoln and the Fight for Peace.” The views expressed in this essay are his own. These celebrated writers were the subject of long-form profiles and occasional tabloid scandals, treated as cerebral rock stars and voices of their generation. They were a post-punk crew that migrated from the UK to the US, including Hitchens, Tina Brown and Salman Rushdie. In his final book, “Inside Story,” part memoir and part novel, Amis returned to his friendship with Hitchens in the 1970s, prior to their becoming famous. It chronicles a doomed affair, flashing forward at times to the decline of their friend Saul Bellows from dementia, as well as Hitchens’ death.

CNN —A Michigan teen who used a slingshot to ward off a kidnapper from his sister told CNN he “grabbed anything I could get” to save her. Shane Smith told CNN Saturday. Owen spotted the attack from inside his home and used his slingshot to hit the attempted kidnapper twice. The kidnapper then fled into the woods, taking a well-used trail used by the community, police said. Owen said he got his first slingshot when he was “probably seven or eight.”Owen said the community in Alpena has been showing support for him.

☆ After OpenAI hearing, A.I. experts urge Congress to listen to more diverse voices on regulation
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-19 | by ( Lauren Feiner | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +11 min

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman testifies before a Senate Judiciary Privacy, Technology, and the Law Subcommittee hearing titled 'Oversight of A.I. But at Tuesday's hearing on AI oversight including OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, lawmakers seemed notably more welcoming toward the ChatGPT maker. watch nowAt Tuesday's Senate hearing, lawmakers made comparisons to the social media era, noting their surprise that industry executives showed up asking for regulation. Experts cautioned that the kinds of regulation Altman suggested, like an agency to oversee AI, could actually stall regulation and entrench incumbents. Diversity of voicesA key message AI experts have for lawmakers and government officials is to include a wider array of voices, both in personal background and field of experience.

☆ Accused Leaker Received Repeated Warnings Over Handling of Classified Information, Prosecutors Say
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Nancy A. Youssef | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A courtroom sketch shows Massachusetts Air National Guardsman Jack Teixeira in U.S. District Court in Boston last month. Photo: Margaret Small/Associated PressNearly seven months before federal authorities charged an airman with unauthorized retention and transmission of national defense information, members of his unit saw him take notes from classified information, access classified information not related to his job and repeatedly told him to stop, according to memos submitted as part of prosecutors’ latest court filings.

☆ 5 in-demand freelance gigs new graduates can pick up ‘pretty quickly’—some pay more than $100/hour
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-17 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Freelance work can also provide a stream of income and help you develop some skills even before you start a nine-to-five. Here are five freelance gigs for recent grads to consider, why they could be a good fit and how much experienced freelancers are charging for them. can put together a portfolio of their work pretty quickly and then immediately compete for jobs," she says. Social media marketing"Businesses are always looking for help keeping up to date and promoting their brand via social media," says Lilani. Social media specialists charge as much as $90 per hour on Upwork.

☆ In Taiwan, former UK PM Truss warns against appeasing China
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

TAIPEI, May 17 (Reuters) - Former British prime minister Liz Truss will say in Taiwan on Wednesday that the West must avoid appeasing China and show unwavering support for the self-governed island, in a speech that risks further damaging Britain's relations with Beijing. Truss is the most well-known British politician to visit Taiwan since former prime minister Margaret Thatcher in the 1990s, and her trip comes at a time when relations between Britain and China are the worst in decades. China claims Taiwan as its own and has not renounced the use of force to ensure eventual unification. Beijing has previously condemned visits by British lawmakers to Taiwan for what it calls interference in China's internal affairs. "There are still too many in the West who are trying to cling on to the idea that we can cooperate with China on issues like climate change," Truss will say.

☆ Meet Bob’s Dance Shop, ‘World-Class Vibe Curators’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Margaret Fuhrer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

If you lived through the early 2000s, the phrase “flash mob” might arouse a vague feeling of dread. Then, several years and several vibe shifts later, came flash Bobs. Like their older cousins, flash Bobs involve fake-impromptu gatherings in public spaces. But as orchestrated by Bob’s Dance Shop — a group of five performers that its founder Vince Coconato describes as an “immersive dance crew” — the mobs lean silly, colorful and joyfully queer. Eighty colorfully attired mobbers took to the cobblestones, performing a disco-inflected number to a remix of “Le Freak” by Chic.

☆ Britons face biggest tax rise since 1979, think tank says
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, May 16 (Reuters) - Britons face the biggest tax-raising drive since the start of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's term of office in the coming years as more people are pushed into paying the top rate of income tax, a leading think tank said on Tuesday. Britons pay income tax at a rate of 20% on income over 12,570 pounds ($15,865) a year and 40% on income over 50,270 pounds with a higher rate beyond that. Isaac Delestre, an IFS research economist, said inflation's recent surge was pushing up nominal earnings of many workers and dragging them into the higher tax rate bracket. The Conservative Party pledged not to increase income tax rates in its 2019 election manifesto. "A third of the expected record fall in household incomes this year is likely to be a result of this tax rise," the IFS said.

☆ Charging Daniel Penny, the Subway Samaritan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( The Editorial Board | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Images: Margaret Small/Reuter/Zuma Press Composite: Mark KellyEvery subway rider in New York City knows the experience. You get on a train, and a passenger nearby is shouting to himself or at others. Daniel Penny , a Marine veteran, took that risk on May 1 and intervened to subdue Jordan Neely , a homeless man who was acting erratically, shouting and claiming he had little to live for. Mr. Penny subdued Neely, put him in a chokehold, and Neely died. On Friday the Manhattan district attorney charged Mr. Penny with second-degree manslaughter for which he could serve up to 15 years in prison.

☆ Who is Sam Altman? The man behind ChatGPT is about to have his moment on Capitol Hill
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jennifer Korn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

New York CNN —For a few months in 2017, there were rumors that Sam Altman was planning to run for governor of California. Altman, the CEO and co-founder of OpenAI, the artificial intelligence company behind viral chatbot ChatGPT and image generator Dall-E, is set to testify before Congress on Tuesday. Maybe I’m wrong?’ Thank God someone with so much power has so much humility.”Others want Altman and OpenAI to move more cautiously. OpenAI co-founder & CEO Sam Altman speaks onstage during TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 at Moscone Convention Center on October 03, 2019 in San Francisco, California. Similar generative AI technology is quickly finding its way into productivity and search tools used by billions of people.

☆ Opinion | Against Despair: An Open Letter to Graduates
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

As you enter the world, remember, too, how beautiful this place is. It will make you feel better about the mess your species has made of things if you can find a way to help. Being in the wild world will make you feel better. I promise you will feel better. Fall in love with the wild world, and you are taking the first step toward saving it.

☆ Owen Davidson, Who Won 8 Grand Slams With Billie Jean King, Dies at 79
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Alex Traub | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Owen Davidson, an Australian tennis player who formed a dominant mixed doubles team with Billie Jean King in the 1960s and ’70s, winning eight Grand Slam titles with her, along with five doubles titles with other partners, died on Friday in Conroe, Texas, a suburb of Houston. Davidson came of age during a heyday for Australian tennis, with peers like Rod Laver, Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, John Newcombe and Margaret Court. Unlike those players, Davidson did not have significant success in singles tennis, never advancing beyond the semifinals of a Grand Slam tournament. From 1965 to 1974, he won 11 major mixed doubles titles and two men’s doubles titles. In 1967, he swept every major mixed doubles event, winning the Australian Open with his countrywoman Lesley Turner Bowrey and then winning the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open with King.

☆ Nikki Haley Says Pledging a Federal Abortion Ban Wouldn’t Be ‘Honest’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Maggie Astor | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley refused on Sunday to endorse a federal abortion ban at a specific number of weeks’ gestation, saying that to do so would be to lie to the American people about what is politically possible. “I think the media has tried to divide them by saying we have to decide certain weeks,” Ms. Haley said in an interview on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.” “In states, yes. At the federal level, it’s not realistic. It’s not being honest with the American people.”She was responding to a question from her interviewer, Margaret Brennan, about why she would not join another likely candidate, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, in endorsing a 20-week national ban. But her comments on Sunday stood out for the explicitness of her rejection of committing to a gestational limit.

☆ Gun Owners vs. Gun Nuts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-12 | by ( Holman W. Jenkins | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +1 min

Wonder Land: When we began to devalue conscience, blurring a pragmatic understanding of right from wrong, we unleashed the whirlwind that engulfs us now. He is reported to have participated in a pestilential online gun culture, replete with tasteless japing about mass shootings. When Democrats have drummed up the votes to disarm Americans or significantly impede their ability to buy guns, text me. I’m referring of the fetishization of guns that has left so much of the gun culture—once personified in Charlton Heston—in its dust. Representative in reality but increasingly less so in public perception are the majority of capable, responsible gun owners who keep guns for legitimate reasons, use them in disciplined fashion, handle them safely with respect for the people around them.

☆ A Fantastical Art Gallery Masquerading as a Suburban Garage
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-11 | by ( Alice Newell-Hanson | Jared Soares | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

ON A QUIET residential street in Arlington, Va., one garage is not like the others. Clad in white corrugated steel, the structure is tall and thin with a sharply peaked roof, suggesting a giant pencil poking up through the earth. At the center of the spread are a pair of ornately dimpled pastel-glazed earthenware vases by the French ceramist Saraï Delfendahl, each the size and silhouette of a baby elephant’s foot. A chubby-armed sky blue ceramic chandelier by the New York-based artist Braxton Congrove hangs from the ceiling. The 12 unique place settings feature, among other items, an orange tumbler with three spiky legs by the New York-based artist and tableware designer Grace Whiteside and a clay oyster plate inlaid with shells by the ceramist Michele Mirisola of Brooklyn.

☆ ‘Compost Happens’ and Other Common-Sense Advice From Experts
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Margaret Roach | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When it comes to composting, where things break down — or don’t — is often where we get in our own way. We make the whole process too hard by fixating on details instead of the big picture. Commercial composting operations rely on those rules, and the science behind them, to produce material that is consistent and meets regulatory guidelines. We backyard composters can go a little easier on ourselves and still have great results, producing soil-improving bounty from our organic waste. Ms. Novak, who is also the founder and director of Growing Chefs, a field-to-fork food-education program, lives in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, where she composts in her backyard, too.

HOW THE LAWSUITS DIFFERDisney's lawsuit was filed in federal court and alleges that DeSantis violated the company's protections under the U.S. Constitution, including its First Amendment right to free speech. In contrast, the state court lawsuit against Disney focuses on the procedures the old board followed in approving the agreements with Disney. The Florida district is asking the state court to void the Disney agreements. The district could file a motion in federal court to ask Walker to dismiss or pause Disney's federal case while the state court proceeds. Legal doctrines hold that federal judges should refrain from hearing a case where there is a related state court proceeding, particularly when a state court decision could resolve the federal lawsuit.

☆ Kyrsten Sinema, eyeing GOP voters, knocks 'both political parties' when asked about election deniers in Arizona
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

In 2024, Sinema would likely need support from conservative voters who doubt the 2020 election. "Well, we're currently living in a climate where it's okay to say things that aren't true," Sinema said. "What I think we're facing in our country today is this situation where people don't know what's true and what's not true," said Sinema. Sinema again blamed "the two political parties" for becoming "more extreme." Lake says she's "seriously considering" a Senate campaign, and Sheriff Mark Lamb, already running in the GOP primary, has also cast doubt on the validity of the 2020 election.

☆ Richard Dreyfuss on new Oscars diversity rules: ‘They make me vomit’
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Lisa Respers France | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Actor Richard Dreyfuss is not a fan of the Academy Awards’ new diversity guidelines. Officials announced in 2020 that beginning in 2024, movies must meet certain criteria for representation to be eligible for the Academy Award for best picture. “I don’t think that there is a minority or a majority in this country that has to be catered to like that,” Dreyfuss went on to say during the interview. “Is someone else being told that if they’re not Jewish they shouldn’t play the Merchant of Venice? “Because it says that we’re so fragile that we can’t have our feelings hurt.”CNN has contacted reps for Dreyfuss for further comment but has not yet received a response.

☆ Mitch McConnell says he 'would love to have had' Kyrsten Sinema caucus with Republicans
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Despite leaving the Democratic Party, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema says she'll never become a Republican. McConnell added that the "decision was made" when she decided to keep caucusing with Democrats. The Arizona senator, who left the Democratic Party to become an independent in December, nonetheless continues to informally caucus with her old colleagues, at least on paper. But in an interview with CNN published on Monday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged that he would welcome Sinema to the Senate Republican conference — but that there's no active discussion of the idea. "I mean, I just, I'm laughing because I literally just spent time explaining how broken the two parties are," Sinema added.

☆ Opinion | Is Red State Gun Reform in Sight? Tennessee Is About to Find Out.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-08 | by ( Margaret Renkl | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The mailbox that most breaks my heart is the one where the red and black bow is hanging just behind a new pink bow. In the weeks since the shooting, that family has welcomed a new baby girl. The belief in the possibility of new life even as reminders of the ceaseless, senseless loss of life are everywhere around us? I wish you could have seen the crowds demanding sensible gun legislation and supporting the Democratic representatives Justin Jones, Gloria Johnson and Justin J. Pearson, who weeks ago defied Republicans to demand gun reform from the House floor. Day upon day during the final weeks of the legislative session, the crowds were there, filling the statehouse halls and grounds.

☆ Independent Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who left the Democratic Party last year, says she's 'absolutely' done with parties and won't join the GOP: 'You don't go from one broken party to another'
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-07 | by ( John L. Dorman | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Kyrsten Sinema told CBS News she's "absolutely" done with political parties and won't join the GOP. She left the Democratic Party last year and became an Independent before a potential reelection bid. "It's okay not to agree a hundred percent with another," the Arizona senator told Margaret Brennan. There was less willingness for individuals to have their own opinions to make their own decisions," Sinema told Brennan. I mean, I just, I'm laughing because I literally just spent time explaining how broken the two parties are," Sinema replied.

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