Co-author โAvondale & Chicagoโs Polish Villageโ (link below)
Chicago, IL
Joined March 2014
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โIn late spring 2020, a source I knew to be reliable called me with a story,โ writes Matthew Cole. โThe Dutch government had hacked into Jared Kushnerโs phone and monitored him as he accessed a Dubai-based bank account. What was odd, the source said, was that the money in the accountโhundreds of millions of dollarsโhad come from a bank in Azerbaijan. Most importantly, Kushner appeared to have transferred significant amounts of money from the Dubai account to other individuals, including a warlord, a mercenary and a one-time hit man. The story sounded preposterous, I told my source. And yet.
Six months later, I found myself speaking with someone else about the UAE government and their use of mercenaries in conflicts around the Middle East and Africa when I asked, on a whim, whether they knew anything about Kushner and bank transfers from a UAE account. My acquaintance grew quiet. Then they replied, โYes.โโ Kushnerโs lawyer denied the bank account existed.
Read an exclusive excerpt from Coleโs book, โPrinces and Thieves: Jared Kushner and Mohamed bin Zayedโs Secret Plot to Remake the Middle Eastโ: vanityfair.visitlink.me/Q5_Wโฆ
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Pretty funny that after Ukraine blew up a Russian bot farm, a bunch of Trump accounts went ๐ค
Re: the (imo) disastrous interview of DSAโs Megan Romer by @NewYorker David Remick. Not sure media training would fix this.
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Photo 1 (widely shared 2023 version): Mitch McConnell and Elaine Chao in a recovery/rehab setting. McConnell wears the red gingham shirt, smiles broadly while holding printed material, seated in the blue chair with white linens behind
Photo 2 (the version associated with the July 12, 2026 update): Appears identical to Photo 1 in every visible detail โ same clothing, exact same pose and expressions, same background, same blue chair, same item in McConnellโs hand, same lighting and composition.
Side-by-side observation: These are the same photograph (originally from April 2023). No meaningful differences exist in subject positioning, clothing, facial expressions, background elements, or any other visual detail. Minor variations in cropping, resolution, or on-screen overlays (e.g., news logos or borders in different articles) may appear depending on the source, but the core image content is unchanged.
This confirms the image being referenced in recent discussions is the older one being recirculated. If you have different specific versions/URLs in mind, share them for further comparison!
Someone has some splaining to do!
#GVerse They lied there is no proof of life from Mitch McConnell team. The conclusion they are covering his likely demise especially with the news about Lindsey Graham. Now it seems 2 out 3 could be the assumption:
Grok assumption: "The two images youโre referring to (the widely circulated 2023 photo and the one presented/re-released in connection with the July 12, 2026 health update) are visually identical. Hereโs a side-by-side comparison based on direct viewing:
Subject and pose: Both show Sen. Mitch McConnell seated in a medical/rehab-style chair (blue armrest visible), wearing the exact same red-and-white gingham/checkered button-down shirt. He is smiling broadly with his mouth open, glasses on, left hand resting on or holding a partially visible item (appears to be printed material/newspaper at bottom left), right hand on his lap. Elaine Chao sits to his right (viewerโs left in the frame) in a white collared blouse, smiling, with her arm positioned similarly near him.
Background and setting: Identical beige wall, white sheets/pillows behind them, and the same blue-and-wood chair/armrest details. Lighting, shadows, and overall composition match precisely.
Expressions and details: McConnellโs facial expression, head tilt, hand positions, and visible skin/hair details are the same. Chaoโs expression, hair, and posture align exactly. No discernible differences in clothing wrinkles, object placement, or environmental elements.
Conclusion: These are the same photograph originally released by McConnellโs team in April 2023 to document his recovery after an earlier fall and concussion. There are no visible differences in content, angle, lighting, or any other detail that would indicate a new or updated image. The reuse of this exact older photo in the current context explains the ongoing discussion about โproof of lifeโ imagery. If you have specific pixel-level differences, crops, or alternate versions in mind (e.g., with added text overlays or different resolutions), provide the exact URLs or more details for further verification."
This guy is such a great communicator
Karl: Youโve got Josh Gottheimer, a Democratic member of Congress, who says, โMany of us believe, as do I, if youโre a socialist, you are not a Democrat.โ
And in fact, they put out a manifesto today. Have you seen this thing?
Mamdani: Sounds pretty socialist to me.
Karl: Itโs not a communist manifesto. Itโs a moderate manifesto saying we are capitalists, not socialists. We believe in a growing, fair, and competitive economy, entrepreneurship, ownership. I mean, this is a direct response. Theyโve made it clear what they think about what you did here on Tuesday.
Mamdani: Well, I mean, you know, thatโs great, but whatโs a party if not its voters?
And Iโm proud to sit in front of you as the mayor of our city, having received more than a million votes a little less than a year ago.
And when weโre talking about these incredible congressional candidates, they won their races, and they won their races with a vision of what politics should beโone that actually speaks to working people.
And for a lot of people who ask themselves, โWhat does democratic socialism mean?โ you can tell them the answer at a theoretical level: itโs the choice to extend democracy from the ballot box to the rest of their lives.
But in terms of what it means, over these last seven months, weโve seen a city with democratic socialist principles at the heart of our administration. And what weโve delivered has been record lows when it comes to murders and shootings.
Karl: So is it pragmatic democratic socialism?
Mamdani: I think democratic socialism, at heart, is pragmatic because, if we cannot deliver for working people, then what is this for? I'm not interested in writing a manifesto or frankly, in reading one. I'm interested in delivering. And that's exactly what we've been showing.
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Campos: While I want to thank CBS news for funding this generous gift towards my education, I want to acknowledge how the recent direction of the outlet stains the legacy of Mike Wallace, the namesake of this scholarship.
If at any time you hesitate to utter the word genocide or remain silent in the face of blatant lies, remember to ask yourself: who is this for?
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Roger Penrose, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and mathematician, explains why we should stop calling it AI and start calling it "artificial cleverness":
He believes the entire field is mislabelled, and the label itself is doing damage.
His objection is simple but cuts deep:
"The name is wrong. It's not artificial intelligence. It's not intelligence. Intelligence would involve consciousness. Well, if it's a machine, it's not conscious."
For Penrose, people have confused raw computing power with genuine understanding.
"People have lost the plot. They've lost it in the power of computing. The thing is that computers have got so powerful that they've lost the thread of what they're doing. But I think consciousness is something different. It's not computational."
He believes the term itself has hypnotized people into a category error:
"People are so hypnotized. The trouble is that AI is a bad term. It means artificial intelligence. Now intelligence in my view is conscious. That's what intelligence is about."
So he proposes a rename. Artificial Cleverness. AC instead of AI.
To illustrate the distinction, Penrose draws on his experience teaching mathematics:
"You have mathematics students. Some of them understand what they're doing. Some are just clever. They can repeat what they've learned. They know how to do it very cleverly. They can calculate very well, but they don't necessarily understand what they're doing."
That gap, between calculating well and actually understanding, is the gap Penrose sees between today's machines and genuine intelligence.
Cleverness can be manufactured. Consciousness, in his view, cannot.
So the question worth sitting with: when we call a system "intelligent," are we describing what it does, or quietly assuming something about what it is?
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the tech world has genuinely not grappled with how many people
despise them and what they make
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Destroying the @InternetArchive's @WayBackMachine would be the equivalent of the burning of the Library of Alexandria - one of the worst losses of knowledge in history.
Media giants are now threatening to do this.
We can't let this happen.
Pass it on.
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Happy 189th Birthday to you, Chicago! The city was officially incorporated on this day back in 1837. โ at Chicago, IL
Very sad. DPUโs donors have never gotten over the Ray Meyer glory years. I wonder how much of the university will still be here in ten years?
DePaul is closing their (quite well-curated) art museum, my colleague @NinaMetz958131 reports. The university is, however, planning to spend $42 million on a basketball facility in Lincoln Park
chicagotribune.com/2026/02/2โฆ
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BEST BIG CITY IN THE US 9 YEARS IN A ROW.
While critics try to paint Chicago as something to fear, the rest of the world knows the truth โ this is the best big city in America.
WE DID IT AGAIN! ๐ Chicago has been voted Best Big City in the U.S. by @cntraveler readers for a record-breaking 9 years in a row! This city is Never Done, Never Outdone.
โจ Spread the news: #ChicagoBestBigCityx9
๐ Read more: choosechicago.com/blog/speciโฆ
#RCA2025 #NeverOutdoneChi
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BREAKING: Governor Pritzker calls for the REMOVAL of Donald Trump as President by invoking the 25th amendment. Governor Pritzker also cited health concerns for the president.
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The head of the FCC seems like a totally normal guy. Thanks for confirming what we already know.
