Bookmarks for 2026-01-07T18:09:16.478Z

• Texas A&M blocks teaching of some Plato readings in philosophy class Added: Jan 7, 2026

  No Plato: Texas university pulls readings on gender ideology in philosophy class

  Site: Houston Chronicle

  Texas A&M University blocked a philosophy professor from teaching certain Plato texts after a new rule against "advocating" gender and race ideology.

  A Texas A&M professor has been told not to teach certain writings from Plato, a staple in introductory philosophy courses, because they may violate the university system's new rules against "advocate" race or gender ideology, or topics concerning sexual orientation, in core classes. “Plato has been censored,” said Martin Peterson, who clarified that he was speaking not on the university’s behalf, but as an individual. Peterson learned the decision Tuesday in an email, which was viewed by the Houston Chronicle. Philosophy department head Kristi Sweet told him that the directive stemmed from the Texas A&M System’s new policy. The email also directed him to remove modules on race and gender ideology or be reassigned to another course. Peterson and other instructors have previously expressed concerns about the rules, particularly that the university would ban topics outright.  “My personal opinion is this is a clear violation of academic freedom," said Peterson. He also chairs the campus' committee on the principle, which holds that professors have the right to research and teach the topics they choose, so long as they are relevant to their expertise and their respective courses. Different sections of the same course were approved that include other works by Plato but don't include modules on race or gender ideology, according to a Texas A&M University statement. "Texas A&M University will teach numerous dialogues by Plato in a variety of courses this semester and will continue to do so in the future," the university said in the statement. "Recently, the head of the Department of Philosophy rejected one section of Philosophy 111, a core curriculum course, because the professor slated to teach the class had included modules on gender and race ideology. These were added following the new policy approved by the Board of Regents specifically prohibiting the teaching of such ideologies." Read more: Here are Texas' biggest higher ed stories from 2025 In November, the A&M Board of Regents passed a sweeping rule banning race or gender ideology "advocacy" in lessons without a university president's approval. The new policy came on the heels of a national controversy over a viral video of a professor teaching about gender identity in a children's literature course. That professor was later fired, and the university president resigned. By mid-December, the regents narrowed the new rule, saying that advocacy on those race, gender and sexual identity-related topics was not allowed in any core curriculum class, but professors could be granted exceptions to "teach" them on a "limited" basis in non-core or graduate-level courses. While many professors were confused about the terminology, the university's statement on Wednesday makes the distinction clearer. Administrators are reviewing core classes to ensure that race and gender ideology isn't taught, in line with the system's policy, according to the university. Peterson communicated with his department head after the initial rule was passed, indicating that he intended to include some of the controversial material in his course section. The director, Sweet, responded on Dec. 19, informing him that she believed he would be affected by the regents’ updated rule. The semester begins Jan. 12. “Put simply, this means that the Board of Regents has clarified that core curriculum courses, which includes PHIL 111 Contemporary Moral Issues, cannot include issues related to race ideology, gender ideology, or topics related to sexual orientation or gender identity,” Sweet wrote in an email.  Peterson then submitted his syllabus for review on Dec. 22. He said that since he last taught the course, he had only made "some minor adjustments"  to modules on race and gender ideology and to a lecture on sexual morality — topics that are “commonly covered in this type of course nationwide” and in the assigned textbook, which is in its 10th edition. He said he also assigns a few passages from Plato's "Symposium," including Aristophanes’ myth of the split humans and Diotima’s Ladder of Love. In those, Plato says there are more than two biological sexes and displays a positive view of homosexuality.  Peterson told the Chronicle he has previously included the topics in his course for about 270 students, which satisfies a "language, philosophy and culture" requirement in A&M's core curriculum. He usually opens his first class of the semester with a disclaimer: Students will read and discuss contentious topics, but he won't won't take stances himself and will only help them learn how to formulate their arguments on either side. Other debated topics in the course include abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, animal ethics, health care ethics, climate ethics and violence and war, according to the syllabus. Peterson said he believes courses naturally evolve over time and that he added the Plato section to supplement the textbook's smaller insights into gender issues. "I'm not picking a fight, I'm just doing my job," he said. "I'm teaching contemporary moral issues. Some contemporary moral issues are related to sex and gender, race, etcetera. I wouldn't be doing my job if I were to exclude those topics from a syllabus because they're controversial." First Amendment concerns In his Dec. 22 response to Sweet, Peterson also cited a Supreme Court case that labels academic freedom a “special concern” of the First Amendment.  “If you interpret (the system’s rule) as prohibiting these topics, I would like to remind you that the U.S. Constitution protects my course content,” Peterson wrote in the December email. “Texas A&M is a public institution bound by the First Amendment.” Sweet's next email to Peterson came on Tuesday, saying that after discussing the syllabus with college leadership, he could either teach an upper-level philosophy course on ethics and engineering, or remove the race and gender modules and the affiliated Plato readings. In its statement, the university said that if Peterson chose not to comply, his course section would be reassigned to another professor "to ensure our students can move forward with the course they registered for without interruption." Peterson told Sweet on Tuesday that he would consult with legal counsel, and he told the Houston Chronicle that he is considering potential litigation. On Wednesday, he said he agreed to teach the course, replacing the lessons at issue with ones on free speech and academic freedom. Free speech organizations like PEN America and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression criticized A&M for rejecting the specific Plato texts in Peterson's course.   “My personal view (not the university’s view): a university that forces philosophy professors to remove texts by Plato from their syllabi is not a serious university, it reduces itself to a political propaganda institution, just like philosophy departments in the Soviet Union,” he wrote in an email to the Chronicle. “We should remember that Plato founded the world’s first university — the Academy in Athens. And now we are not allowed to study his texts!?”  Updated at 5:10 p.m. on Jan. 7, 2026: This story has been updated to include a statement from Texas A&M University.

  

• Texas A&M students ignite off-campus bonfire months after UT game Added: Jan 7, 2026

  A&M students embrace rivalry and ignite bonfire months after UT game

  Site: Houston Chronicle

  The bonfire, according to its motto, represents “the undying flame of love that every loyal Aggie carries in his heart for the school.”

  BRYAN – Aggies started planning for Saturday's bonfire as soon as all 45 feet of last year's burned down. It took nine months of organizing and fundraising, followed by three months of chopping down towering trees, loading and unloading the wood in an open field and slamming them upright to form a prominent teepee. By mid-November, 600 gallons of diesel waited to ignite the almost-finished stack, topped with an outhouse labeled “t.u.” The bonfire, according to its motto, represents “the undying flame of love that every loyal Aggie carries in his heart for the school.” And, for the first time in 13 years, it would also fulfill the other half of the saying, showing “a burning desire to beat the team from the University of Texas," which had been impossible since A&M left the Longhorns and the Big XII behind for the Southeastern Conference. Kirk Bohls: Texas-Texas A&M is the biggest game of them all The return of the rivalry on Nov. 30 heightened students’ energy and renewed attention on the pre-game ritual, which has continued off campus and unsanctioned by the university after the deadly 1999 collapse that killed 12 Aggies. The “Student Bonfire” organization calls its efforts a "living memorial," adopting a "never-again" mentality while remaining protective of the project’s student-led nature. Improving the structure's design hasn't been enough to quell some people's concerns about the safety of hundreds of young adults working on a construction site without a superintendent. That was the basis for their latest challenge last spring, when a Texas A&M System regent tried to bring bonfire back to university grounds with professionals at the helm. The regent did not win out, but if he had, the students said they would have kept building off campus. The way they see it, outsiders could never understand how formative they find it to chop, haul and stack logs in the heat with their friends. Outsiders couldn’t know how attentive they are in the process, they say, and how seriously they try to honor the Aggies who were killed 25 years ago. They got the call a week before the event. The ground had been dry as a bone, and Robertson County was unlikely to lift its burn ban before the fire.  CUT Alan Huang lifted his arms like a ground traffic controller at the airport. The 30-foot tree behind him would fall in the direction he pointed, and the group of men standing in front of him moved to the side. The sophomore picked up his ax and swung, his chops sending chips flying with a certain grace. The students took turns and passed off the tools to their fathers, who came for the day’s work. They hacked and hacked like they did when they participated in bonfire in the 1990s, some maybe a bit rounder and more easily tired, though just as determined. The sons jeered at their dads – “I thought you were good at this” – but a silence set in and the whooshing axes and trees crashing in the distance spoke for themselves. It was about the outdoors, the stretching of muscle, the sweat. They would likely stay for eight hours, and they wanted to cut down as many logs as they could. School spirit: Texas, Texas A&M students celebrate return of the rivalry Once the divot in the wood reached a deep ‘V,’ the men worked on the other side of the tree. Freshman Hayden Harper made the final cut, and it tipped slowly then all at once, bouncing in a cloud of dust as it hit the ground. Harper hunched over and flexed his arms, triumphant. “Whoop!” After months of preparation, the group had found itself in Normangee for 11 or so days of cutting between August and October. An alumnus and supporter of the group gave permission to use the property: a win-win for the landowner who wanted to clear their land 30 miles northeast of Bryan, and the students who needed about 2,500 logs of different sizes. Not all Aggies would spend their Saturdays or Sundays like this, wearing dirty jeans or overalls, helmets and steel-toed boots in 80 or 90-degree temperatures. Tradition is the modus operandi here, and these students feel connected to the people who came before. They speak the same lingo – “redass” for intense, “pungies” for the stumps you have to watch out for on the ground – and some of them wear past generations’ hard hats. Those have been referred to as “pots” for as long as anyone can remember. They also hand down the same leadership structure: “Fish” and returning members join outfits or crews led by chiefs, then come pots of different colors, all overseeing different elements of the task. Junior and senior redpots are the top dogs, running the show with notebooks they’ve inherited from leaders before. This iteration of bonfire began off campus in 2003, away from the watchful eyes of university officials who, facing litigation and accepting liability for future incidents, would no longer allow the group to build on campus without serious changes. It would have been an expensive and potentially culturally compromising decision, then-President Ray Bowen decided. So the aftermath of the ’99 collapse split the university between those who wanted to continue the bonfire tradition off campus, and those who didn’t. A small group of students took up the project, keeping the traditions but changing the structure’s design with the help of post-collapse reports that explained what went wrong. Without the sponsorship of the university, the organization assumes legal responsibility. It has nonprofit status as well as a handful of insurance policies, including one that covers the board and student leadership team, another that would reimburse students for accidents during the build, and another covering the day of the burn. Dion McInnis, one of the early leaders of the off-campus bonfire, said he had a confidence in starting up the event that he now sees as naive. The group’s members learned quickly, however, driven by an immense pressure that forced them at every step to visualize where something could go wrong. “You’re young, you’re confident,” said McInnis, who serves on the Student Bonfire board with other former participants. “You’ve got vigor, vitality, an appropriate dose of fearlessness. Only later in life do you look back on it and go, 'Oh my god.” Bonfire is popular among Corps of Cadets members, as are many of A&M’s traditions: The university was military-only until the 60s, so they originated almost every ritual, like on-campus bonfire in 1909. (The first recorded bonfire was two years earlier, off campus in 1907.) A&M: University enrollment has soared, but Corps of Cadets enrollment hasn't kept pace. Leaders want to change that. Students from across the university join, too, and though leaders are the only ones obligated to be at every meeting, many people are regulars. And because the Longhorns’ entrance into the Southeastern Conference restarted the UT-Texas A&M rivalry, more Aggies than usual were part of the tradition this time around – around 600 active participants.    "Parent cut” in October was a special one for the group. Aggies of old were brought right back to the way things were – maybe less rowdy, as the on-site ban on alcohol was looser decades ago, they said. But they still believe in the lessons they learned in the organization, and some Aggie parents who didn’t participate in the tradition said they have also come to see its value. “We always joke that it’s a cult,” said one of the dads, Barry Huff. “But I really do think it’s the membership. I was in a fraternity in college, and a lot of the stuff that goes on around this is reminiscent. They’re all looking out for each other.” There’s a seriousness at “cut site” that contracts with the hijinks and mayhem that the college age inspires. Each person takes a “cut class” before wielding an ax, and they’re laser-focused while working on a tree. But they curse and make jokes. Everyone who participates in bonfire gets a nickname, and the girls of the Legett crew snickered at one that was given to a boy in another crew – too crude to be named here. “He’s a Legett ex,” one of the girls explained.   Women were first allowed to participate in bonfire in 1978, more than a decade after Texas A&M stopped being a male-only school. Legett is the sole female-only crew now, and they embrace the status. Legett Chair Laurel Huff swung with ease, her cutoff T-shift stating “Kiss my axe” in glitter. The girls cat called at the junior. “She’s slaying." “Meow.” “She needs a raise.” “It’s a lot,” Laurel Huff said. “Everyone is going to tell you the same thing, ‘I’m so tired, I’m so tired.’ But then you’re going to hear, ‘It’s for the right thing, I can’t wait ‘til burn.’” The students continued this way thousands of times, moving among their crews from clearing to clearing. Walton crew members took it from there, loading them all onto a truck bed so they could be taken to the stack site in Bryan. That day in October, they lifted up one tree that might have weighed a ton. Twenty of the biggest boys in the organization screwed their faces in pain as a fellow student yelled, Army-style. He coached them up and toward the vehicle in unison, and on the same command, they hurled the tree toward the bed. It struck with a boom. The boys rested with their hands on their knees, then repeated the same process until the truck was full enough to take off. STACK Early 2000s rap music streamed out of the loudspeakers, and students moved between the stack and the “Cookie Shack” snack haven in its shadow. The bonfire was two tiers strong and going on a third. Mason Taylor sometimes watched them when he stepped onto the balcony of the senior redpots’ “hotel” – a hut the leaders constructed to camp in for a month. He couldn’t help but think that the people below looked like ants on a hill. Most of the students agree that this is the best part of bonfire. There’s adrenaline on the open field in Bryan, with shifts usually starting at 6 p.m. and lasting as long as 6 a.m. The crews also come together during “stack,” creating a sense of togetherness after being separated during “cut.” Taylor and other leaders had to balance the demanding schedule with classes and other activities, but they never tired of marveling at how their work was coming together. Read more by Samantha Ketterer: After incarceration, addictions and cancer, 67-year-old graduate finds 'sense of being' at UH-Downtown Over the past couple weeks, they group had set up a massive operation using some of their $80,000 budget. They tried to use as little heavy machinery as possible, only hiring out a contractor to drill holes in the dry ground for a 45-foot centerpole and four slightly shorter poles that form the rest of the stack’s inner framework. Otherwise, they manually lifted the poles and every log using a pulley system. It had been quick work so far, and students showed up in force for a rare day shift in November. Everything was choreographed, with some people moving a log into place, others connecting it to the ropes and others pulling it up. Once it was on the stack, students hanging on wooden swings swooped over and tied the log to three others with bailing wire. When they finished the tier, they would surround it with a thicker aircraft steel-grade cable to keep it contained. Chainsaws and yelling echoed across the site. The older, more experienced students gave commands to the younger ones, and they followed. “They teach you everything from the time you join,” freshman Paige Patschke said. “You’re constantly learning.” After a week on the stack, even the first-year students could recite the specs of the bonfire if you asked them. The center pole is 45 feet tall and the first, inner tier is 32 feet tall. The other four are 25, 20, 15 and 10, going outward. Those dimensions wouldn’t change, a major difference from the ’99 bonfire and the ones that preceded it. For decades, students went bigger and better, and the tallest stack reached 109 feet in ’69. Height restrictions followed, but there wasn’t necessarily consistency. The stack that fell 30 years later had reached 59 feet, higher than the school-imposed 55-foot limit. Current students also believe that their design is more structurally sound. Each log touches the ground, and the wraparound steel brace is meant to contain the tiers. The ’99 stack instead used the blueprint of a wedding cake, building up, not out. Logs in the second tier wedged into the ones below, creating an internal instability that couldn’t sustain the weight from above. Students working on the stack, in swings and standing unsupported on the wood, were crushed underneath in seconds. A commission that studied the collapse determined that the tradition-laden campus culture created a “tunnel vision” in the organization, which led them to continue with the poor design. And some of their better practices had gotten lost over the years, morphing without notice because of the nature of oral tradition. Taylor and other students in the organization avow that their changes and their attention to detail makes the current process safe – though being an off-campus project and not a workplace means that groups like OSHA aren’t out to check. The students’ word has not been enough to convince some Aggies like Regent John Bellinger, who felt it would be safer if they at least had some oversight by people trained to do the job.   His concerns went so far as to sending letters to the families of the ’99 collapse victims in the spring, asking for their opinions on bringing the event back on campus. The change would have likely transferred the building to a construction company, sources told the Texas Tribune at the time. “This bonfire has minimal oversight for safety measures and there is a concern that even though this is not a university sanctioned event, it still involves several hundred TAMU students who could potentially be at risk,” Bellinger wrote. “As a father whose son helped build the unsanctioned off campus bonfire, I share this very real safety concern.” According to the Tribune report, Bellinger had met with six families, three of whom reportedly gave permission to restart the tradition on campus. Students who participated off campus were furious, and several of the families of the deceased didn’t support changing the student-led aspect of the bonfire either. Their kids loved it for the experience they got, so they only hoped it was being done in a safer way. Yet they couldn’t definitively say that was the case without knowing more details about the process. “I did feel like that they needed a little bit more professional supervision (prior to the collapse), even though they should be able to design and work things as much as they can,” said Richard West, whose son Nathan Scott West was killed in ’99. “It should have been and it should be monitored, kind of like having a construction manager on site to be sure that things are being done in a safe and proper way.” The group's new design was not approved by a professional engineer in an official capacity, though an engineer did review it unofficially, McInnis said. Construction managers are also not present on site, but a board member is there at all times to step in if something veers from the group's standard procedures.  Bowen, the former president, drew the line at criticizing the Student Bonfire group, saying that they deserve credit for building the stack well and to their standards of self-governance. He worked on bonfire as a student at Texas A&M and did not want to stop it, though he decided then and feels now that bonfire should not be on campus.  But Bowen also hoped that some sort of safety personnel was involved in the off campus effort. He said he couldn’t be certain that an entirely student-run project was inherently safe. “If you keep thinking about it, the 21, 22, 23 year olds who work on it now were not around when the bonfire collapsed,” Bowen said. “The institutional memory resides with people in their 40s.” McInnis and most of his friends in the group had secondhand knowledge when they restarted Student Bonfire in 2003. Only one of the leaders, Levi Windle, had worked on the '99 stack. They developed a plan by consulting with their predecessors, and the redpots now stick to the same script.  Taylor, the senior redpot, said the involved students gain leadership skills and real-life practice they couldn't get anywhere else, as many of them are engineers. Underneath it all is an individual responsibility to the victims’ families to be safe, and he believes they adhere to it.  “We do have the families of the 12 come out every once in a while,” Taylor said. “They're like, ‘Look, I may not necessarily agree that you guys should still be building the fire … but you guys are doing a good job, and we appreciate that.’” FALSE START The students finished the stack on Nov. 26. By then, most were aware of the burn ban in Robertson County, with only one good rain over a couple months. They were doubtful that it would be lifted for their Nov. 29 event.  That same day, students got the text from their crew chiefs that they were going to have to wait for the next semester. “I was hoping we'd get it before the Texas game,” senior Jacob Martin said. "That kind of threw what, in my mind, was the vision I had for my last bonfire burn."  For many, it was anticlimactic. Their momentum and excitement at completing the bonfire had no resolution.  Students reasoned with themselves that the stack was at least finished before Texas and Texas A&M played each other. While burn was the most visible part of the tradition, they always said that they build bonfire because bonfire builds them. The final event would still happen, and then they could start the work for next year. On Nov. 30, the Aggies and Longhorns ran onto Kyle Field while the pile of logs sat untouched miles away.  Texas A&M lost the game. BURN Robertson County lifted its burn ban only one week later, and the Student Bonfire organization rescheduled the big event for Jan. 25. Some of the excitement had tamped down over the holidays, with an expectation that burn wouldn’t draw as big of a crowd without the rivalry game. Yet a few thousand people came to the stack site that Google Maps labels as a “place of worship.” It had rained much more since the delay was announced, and on Saturday, irony struck in the form of a consistent drizzle. To many students, weather wouldn’t keep them away from their favorite tradition at A&M, unaffiliated though it might be. “It's a feeling of a spirit that can never be told,” said senior Cole Hudson, who is not in the bonfire organization. "I know that every single thing that has gone into it is for the prolonging of the Aggie spirit and togetherness of all Aggies around." For hours, people wearing pots milled around with classmates and family members. They would dance in the glow of the fire later in the night, but for the time, they smoked meat under tents, lit cigars, and meandered with their dogs in the mud. Firefighters stood at a distance. The crowd formed a circle only 40 feet away from the stack as red pots climbed up the five tiers of logs, spraying three coats of red dye out of a hose and drenching the wood.   At 8:30 p.m., McInnis came on the loudspeakers. They could have gotten a construction team to build the stack, he said, but students did it alone. Cheers came in pockets across the field, and after an invocation and speech from a 70s-era bonfire alumnus, the lights went out and quiet fell over the field.  A student recited "The Last Corps Trip," a poem about 12 Aggies meeting St. Peter, and with some reverence, the redpots lit their torches. They circled the bonfire again and again until they approached it, putting their torches to sheets hanging from the first tier. The fire crawled up the bottom layer as they stepped back, and smaller logs tossed in the air. The stack glowed from within, and the top became engulfed, fingers licking outward in a constantly churning cloud. Embers flew in all directions, and some students hoped to catch them on jackets that had gotten pocked at past bonfires. And people who built the bonfire stared in awe. At least one of those logs was theirs. After months, it was done. For about 10 minutes, the crowd waited for the ‘t.u.’ outhouse to burn.  They chanted their favorite Aggie Yells. Then the came the bugle call, the start of the Aggie War Hymn. Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! Hullabaloo, Caneck! Caneck! It really wasn’t about the burn, many of the bonfire students agreed. All hail to dear old Texas A&M Yet they couldn’t think of much else that compared to this moment.  Rally around Maroon and White They sang with abandon, the first verse once and the second verse twice. Of course, they still hated the team from the University of Texas. Saw Varsity’s horns off! Saw Varsity’s horns off! They grabbed their neighbors and swayed, thousands of eyes locked on a raging fire. It turned their faces hot and their hearts ablaze with pride for their school.

  

• $400,000 INSIDER TRADING ACCUSATION OVER MADURO CAPTURE - YouTube Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Polymarket REFUSES To Pay Out Over "Invasion" Of Venezuela, Insider Trading ALLEGED | Tim Pool

  Site: YouTube

  Become A Memberhttp://youtube.com/timcastnews/joinThe Green Room - https://rumble.com/playlists/aa56qw_g-j0BUY CAST BREW COFFEE TO FIGHT BACK - https://castb...

  

• In 2025, NASA Told ETs, “F*** Off. We Don’t Care If We Kill You.” | by John Sullivan | Jan, 2026 | Medium Added: Jan 7, 2026

• John Carmack on X: "It would be nice if some of the Twitter diaspora returned. So many creatives, but also many developers, that generally enriched the experience are no longer active. Those that performatively left and those with a seething hatred of Elon probably won’t be back soon, but a lot of" / X Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Site: X (formerly Twitter)

  

• Auk | Award-winning indoor smart gardens from Scandinavia Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Auk | Award-winning indoor smart gardens from Scandinavia

  Site: Auk

  Fresh herbs always at your fingertips with the Award-Winning Scandinavian indoor smart garden. Join over 100,000 happy indoor gardeners across 30 countries. Free shipping & 100 days money-back guarantee.

  

• Mamdani's Head of "Office to Protect Tenants" Cea Weaver Melts Down and Cries, with Mark Halperin - YouTube Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Mamdani's Head of "Office to Protect Tenants" Cea Weaver Melts Down and Cries, with Mark Halperin

  Site: YouTube

  Megyn Kelly is joined by Mark Halperin, host of "Next Up," to discuss Zohran Mamdani's head of the "office to Protect Tenants" Cea Weaver melting down and cr...

  

• Distinct AI Models Seem To Converge On How They Encode Reality | Quanta Magazine Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Distinct AI Models Seem To Converge On How They Encode Reality | Quanta Magazine

  Site: Quanta Magazine

  Is the inside of a vision model at all like a language model? Researchers argue that as the models grow more powerful, they may be converging toward a singular “Platonic” way to represent the world.

  

• Tony Dokoupil ends ‘CBS Evening News’ broadcast with ‘salute’ to Marco Rubio Added: Jan 7, 2026

  New ‘CBS Evening News’ anchor ends broadcast with ‘salute’ to Rubio

  Site: The Hill

  CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil ended the network’s evening newscast Tuesday with a “salute” to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The segment heaped praise on Rubio, the former Florid…

  CBS News anchor Tony Dokoupil ended the network's evening newscast Tuesday with a "salute" to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The segment heaped praise on Rubio, the former Florida GOP senator, for taking on a growing number of titles and responsibilities in President Trump's administration, of which Dokoupil said, "Whatever you think of his politics, you've got to admit it's an impressive resume." Rubio currently serves as secretary of State, interim national security adviser and acting national archivist, and was previously tapped for United States Agency for International Development chief before the agency was shuttered. The collection of jobs have led some on social media to create memes of the top Trump diplomat serving in a variety of other gigs spanning sports, business and global leadership. "Now AI memes have added to that portfolio, casting Secretary Rubio as the new governor of Minnesota, the new shah of Iran, the new prime minister of Greenland, the new manager of Manchester United, the head of Hilton Hotels and the highest of high honors of all, the new Michelin Man," Dokoupil said Tuesday. "These memes may not add up to much, but to Rubio's hometown fans, which are many here in Miami, it is a sign of how Florida — once a political punchline — has become a leader on the world stage," the "CBS Evening News" anchor added. "Marco Rubio, we salute you. You're the ultimate Florida man." Dokoupil and CBS News have faced intensifying scrutiny over its coverage of the Trump administration in recent weeks after Bari Weiss was installed as the network's editor in chief. Weiss has come under fire for punting a "60 Minutes" segment before the Christmas holiday that was critical of the Trump administration's immigration policies. She contends the segment was not ready for broadcast, but critics at the network argue it was a politically calculated move. Weiss was hired by David Ellison, the top executive at Paramount who has promised to retool CBS' editorial coverage to represent a more "diverse" set of political viewpoints. A White House social media account shared Dokoupil's segment Tuesday after it aired, writing "we love [Marco Rubio]!"

  

• White House: Trump ‘discussing a range of options’ to take Greenland — including military force - POLITICO Added: Jan 7, 2026

  White House: Trump ‘discussing a range of options’ to take Greenland — including military force

  Site: POLITICO

  The statement came hours after a show of European solidarity against any U.S. attempt to take Greenland from Denmark, a NATO ally.

  

• Stellar & Comet Spectrum Analysis with a Custom Python Pipeline and AI Assistance | by Liena Dreams | Jan, 2026 | Medium Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Stellar & Comet Spectrum Analysis with a Custom Python Pipeline and AI Assistance

  Site: Medium

  A practical guide to stellar or comet spectroscopy

  

• New CBS Evening News Host Tony Dokoupil CRIES in Social Promo Clip, with Mark Halperin - YouTube Added: Jan 7, 2026

  New CBS Evening News Host Tony Dokoupil CRIES in Social Promo Clip, with Mark Halperin

  Site: YouTube

  Megyn Kelly is joined by Mark Halperin, host of "Next Up," to discuss the new CBS Evening News anchor Tony Dokoupil bizarrely crying in a social media promo ...

  

• Megyn Kelly on Adam Carolla Calling Out Tony Dokoupil's Lies: "Nobody Said It Better" - YouTube Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Megyn Kelly on Adam Carolla Calling Out Tony Dokoupil's Lies: "Nobody Said It Better"

  Site: YouTube

  Megyn Kelly on Adam Carolla calling out Tony Dokoupil’s lies: "Nobody said it better."LIKE & SUBSCRIBE for new videos everyday: https://bit.ly/3Aw93ywWatch f...

  

• Quantum structured light could transform secure communication and computing | ScienceDaily Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Quantum structured light could transform secure communication and computing

  Site: ScienceDaily

  Scientists are learning to engineer light in rich, multidimensional ways that dramatically increase how much information a single photon can carry. This leap could make quantum communication more secure, quantum computers more efficient, and sensors far more sensitive. Recent advances have turned what was once an experimental curiosity into compact, chip-based technologies with real-world potential. Researchers say the field is hitting a turning point where impact may soon follow discovery.

  

• How Trump gets Greenland in 4 easy steps – POLITICO Added: Jan 7, 2026

  How Trump gets Greenland in 4 easy steps

  Site: POLITICO

  And worryingly for the Danes, it looks like he’s started …

  

• L.B.Stanza Added: Jan 7, 2026

  L.B.Stanza

• “Stop Designing Languages. Write Libraries Instead” (2016) | Hacker News Added: Jan 7, 2026

  “Stop Designing Languages. Write Libraries Instead” (2016) | Hacker News

  

• L.B.Stanza Added: Jan 7, 2026

  L.B.Stanza

• Mamdani Housing Official Cea Weaver Is a Lunatic | National Review Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Mamdani Housing Official Cea Weaver Is a Lunatic | National Review

  

• Mamdani housing director pushed ‘collective’ property model in resurfaced video | Fox News Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Mamdani housing director pushed ‘collective’ property model in resurfaced video | Fox News

  

• Donald Trump's leading ladies are all flocking to one particular store... and it is quickly becoming a MAGA hotspot Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Donald Trump's leading ladies are all flocking to one particular store

  Site: Mail Online

  The store, based in Washington, D.C., has proved to be a hit with many of the MAGA women, including Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Second Lady Usha Vance, and Kristi Noem.

  

• Scientists Identify 'Astronomy’s Platypus' with NASA’s Webb Telescope - NASA Science Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Scientists Identify 'Astronomy’s Platypus' with NASA’s Webb Telescope - NASA Science

  Site: NASA Science

  After combing through NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s archive of sweeping extragalactic cosmic fields, a small team of astronomers at the University of

  

• DHS KILLS Anti-ICE Woman, RIOTS ERUPT, Democrat WARNS National Guard Will FIGHT FEDS | Timcast IRL - YouTube Added: Jan 7, 2026

  DHS KILLS Anti-ICE Woman, RIOTS ERUPT, Democrat WARNS National Guard Will FIGHT FEDS | Timcast IRL

  Site: YouTube

  Join CrowdHealth to get started today for $99 for your first three months using code TIM at http://joincrowdhealth.com - CrowdHealth is not insurance. Opt ou...

  

• Nature-inspired computers are shockingly good at math Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Nature-inspired computers are shockingly good at math

  Neuromorphic computers, inspired by the architecture of the human brain, are proving surprisingly adept at solving complex mathematical problems that underpin scientific and engineering challenges.

  

• NASA Rockets Toward Artemis 2 Launch With Possible SLS Rollout Next Week Added: Jan 7, 2026

  NASA Rockets Toward Artemis 2 Launch With Possible SLS Rollout Next Week

  Site: Gizmodo

  If the rollout happens on NASA’s current schedule, astronauts could be headed back to the Moon next month.

  

• Your AI Girlfriend Has a Body and Memory Now. Meet Emily, CES's Most Intimate Robot - CNET Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Emily at CES Signals the Next Phase of Human-AI Relationships, and It's Intimate

  Site: CNET

  The life-size sex robot is AI-powered and ready for intimacy.

  

• Elon Musk on X: "In their eyes, enabling freedom of speech is high crime" / X Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Site: X (formerly Twitter)

  

• Michael Shermer on X: "By the way @GadSaad look up the director and screenwriter for A Few Good Men: Rob Reiner and Aaron Sorkin. The dialogue in that courtroom scene was meant to disparage the military ethos. Instead it had the opposite effect—at least, it did in my mind—which is why I used that" / X Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Site: X (formerly Twitter)

  

• An Emboldened Trump Looks Beyond Venezuela - WSJ Added: Jan 7, 2026

• U.S. to Control Venezuelan Oil Sales Indefinitely - WSJ Added: Jan 7, 2026

• Scientists Examined Jupiter's Moon Europa, And Made A Concerning Discovery Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Scientists Examined Jupiter's Moon Europa, And Made A Concerning Discovery

  Site: The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel

  Scientists have made a surprising discovery about Jupiter’s moon Europa, raising new questions about its potential to support life.

  

• Watch This Supernova Remnant Expanding Over Quarter Of A Century In Just 40 Seconds In New NASA Vid | IFLScience Added: Jan 7, 2026

• GOP lawmakers back Trump on Venezuela but draw line at using force to take Greenland | Fox News Added: Jan 7, 2026

  GOP lawmakers back Trump on Venezuela but draw line at using force to take Greenland | Fox News

  

• Dell admits consumers don’t care about AI PCs | The Verge Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Dell admits consumers don’t care about AI PCs

  Site: The Verge

  Dell is now shifting it focus this year away from being ‘all about the AI PC.’

  Dell has revealed that consumers aren’t buying PCs for AI features right now. In an interview with PC Gamer ahead of CES, Dell has made it clear its 2026 products aren’t all about being AI-first, and it’s moving beyond being “all about” AI PCs. “We’re very focused on delivering upon the AI capabilities of a device—in fact everything that we’re announcing has an NPU in it — but what we’ve learned over the course of this year, especially from a consumer perspective, is they’re not buying based on AI,” admits Kevin Terwilliger, Dell’s head of product, in the PC Gamer interview. “In fact I think AI probably confuses them more than it helps them understand a specific outcome.” It’s a surprisingly honest admission from one of Microsoft’s biggest PC partners, especially as the software giant continues to push AI features into Windows and try and convince consumers to buy Copilot Plus PCs. Dell was one of Microsoft’s partners for the initial Copilot Plus PC launch in 2024, adding Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips to its popular XPS 13 and Inspiron line of laptops. Dell even added Qualcomm’s Cloud AI chips to its high-end laptops last year, boosting AI performance for local models. But most of the benefits in Copilot Plus PCs come from the improved battery life and performance of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite chips, instead of AI features alone. Microsoft even struggled to launch its Recall flagship AI feature for Copilot Plus PCs. The controversial feature eventually launched nearly a year after it was originally scheduled, because the feature was delayed following concerns raised by security experts.

  

• The New Food Pyramid Is Upside Down Added: Jan 7, 2026

  The Food Pyramid Is Upside Down Now

  Site: The Cut

  Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the MAHA crowd created new dietary recommendations that prioritize red meat and full-fat milk.

  

• Kai Trump Says She Wants to ‘Stay Out’ of Politics Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Kai Trump Says She Wants to ‘Stay Out’ of Politics

  Site: The Cut

  The president’s granddaughter told Logan Paul that she would “never run” for office.

  

• Good for DNI Tulsi Gabbard! | National Review Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Good for DNI Tulsi Gabbard! | National Review

  

• NASA Just Shared a Stunning New Mars Postcard from the Curiosity Rover, You Have to See It! Added: Jan 7, 2026

  NASA Just Shared a Stunning New Mars Postcard from the Curiosity Rover, You Have to See It!

  Site: The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel

  NASA's latest Curiosity Mars snapshots are so good, they're almost unreal!

  

• EU Sanctions Target Free Speech - WSJ Added: Jan 7, 2026

• A Passing Star Could Fling Earth Out of Orbit Faster Than Anyone Previously Predicted Added: Jan 7, 2026

  A Passing Star Could Fling Earth Out of Orbit Faster Than Anyone Previously Predicted

  Site: The Daily Galaxy - Great Discoveries Channel

  A hidden threat lurking in deep space could one day throw Earth's orbit into chaos. New research reveals a rare but powerful cosmic event that may reshape the solar system, and Earth's fate isn't as safe as it once seemed.

  

• The Hidden Architecture of Ocean Life Is Finally Coming Into Focus Added: Jan 7, 2026

  The Hidden Architecture of Ocean Life Is Finally Coming Into Focus

  Site: SciTechDaily

  Scientists are expanding plankton cells to reveal the hidden architecture that powers life in the oceans.

  

• The Oxygen You’re Breathing May Depend on Iron Dust Falling Into the Ocean Added: Jan 7, 2026

  The Oxygen You’re Breathing May Depend on Iron Dust Falling Into the Ocean

  Site: SciTechDaily

  Rutgers University marine scientists are using New Jersey-developed tools to measure how iron shortages in Southern Ocean phytoplankton reduce photosynthetic efficiency and slow the conversion of light into oxygen. With your next breath, remember that the ocean helps make it possible. Tiny algae

  

• Enjoyed a drink of water today? You've the Moon to thank. And without it, we might not exist | BBC Sky at Night Magazine Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Enjoyed a drink of water today? You've the Moon to thank. And without it, we might not exist | BBC Sky at Night Magazine

  Site: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

  A scientific study suggests that Earth’s water came from a collision between the proto-Earth and another planet.

  

• Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States – The White House Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Withdrawing the United States from International Organizations, Conventions, and Treaties that Are Contrary to the Interests of the United States

  Site: The White House

  MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United

  

• Trump pulls US from global groups including UN climate change agencies Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Trump pulls U.S. from 66 global organizations, including key UN climate agencies

  Site: Axios

  A legal expert questioned if the UNFCC move could be done legally.

  

• Trump withdraws US from UN Global Forum on Migration and Refugees | Fox News Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Trump withdraws US from UN Global Forum on Migration and Refugees | Fox News

  

• Don't be scared of AI, says Troy Baker, because it's gonna push us toward 'the authentic' rather than 'the gruel that gets distilled to me through a black mirror' | PC Gamer Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Don't be scared of AI, says Troy Baker, because it's gonna push us toward 'the authentic' rather than 'the gruel that gets distilled to me through a black mirror'

  Site: PC Gamer

  Which seems a little pollyannaish, to me.

  

• Zimbabwe on the Hudson | National Review Added: Jan 7, 2026

  Zimbabwe on the Hudson | National Review

  

• Democrats and the Newsom Temptation - WSJ Added: Jan 7, 2026

• To Hell with Minnesota | National Review Added: Jan 7, 2026

  To Hell with Minnesota | National Review