Did You Hear About This?
The News: NPR has a new chief operating officer
On Jan. 13, Ryan Merkley was named NPR’s new COO. “Throughout his career Ryan has demonstrated a commitment to the public trust, leading organizations that prioritize universal access to the common good,” said NPR president Katherine Maher (who is perhaps best known for describing the First Amendment as the “number one challenge” that makes it “tricky” to remove content).
The View: Merkley’s prior job was Director of the Aspen Institute’s “Commission on Information Disorder,” whose big-name participants included Katie Couric, Prince Harry, and DHS official Chris Krebs. Under Merkley, the Commission drafted a report containing a series of hair-raising proposals, including creating “holding areas” into which “influencers with repeat bad behavior” would be placed for “manual moderation and scrutiny,” and the use of “demonetization” to “remove access to product features for violative behavior.”
Hmm… Maybe COO at NPR stands for Censorship Optimization Officer.
The News: The US is getting its own Iron Dome!
One of Trump’s executive orders that got virtually no attention in the media except for a short piece in the WSJ was a project titled “The Iron Dome for America.” The order asks for a plan to develop an advanced technological defense system based on the very successful system created by Israel. It instructs new Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to submit to the White House within 60 days “a reference architecture, capabilities-based requirements, and an implementation plan for the next-generation missile defense shield.”
The View: The threat of nuclear war via ICBMs is being eclipsed by super-high-tech military style drones that can drop a hundred little bombs for every massive ICBM. America’s current defense (and I mean North America, including Mexico and Canada) is dependent entirely on the US nuclear defense system, which was built to defend against atomic bombs. This transition has been evolving for at least a dozen years. Why haven’t the previous three administrations – not to mention Democrat war hawks and Republican neocons in Congress – ever proposed something like this? The answer is fascinating and scary. And more than 75 years old. If you don’t know the answer, you’ll want to take the Quick Video Course I’m working on, tentatively titled “The Cold War Isn’t Over. In Fact, It’s Been Heating Up for Years.”
The News: Another EV startup fails
Canoo, an EV startup launched in 2020, boasting it had secured deals with the US Army, NASA, Walmart, and USPS, declared bankruptcy in late January and immediately shut down operations. According to The Hustle, the company squandered $600 million in funding and folded owing $164 million to creditors, far more than its remaining assets are worth. Canoo follows other EV manufacturers recently gone bankrupt, such as Fisker and Lordstown Motors.
The View: Tech analysts I know tell me that Tesla has been, since inception, so far ahead of its competitors technologically that it’s nearly impossible for them to catch up.
