You seem to have a misconception of what access the press pass actually provided. It allowed them to be on site, yes, but didn't give them unlimited access to the whole building. Secure areas were still secure. Journalistic ethics prevent them from soliciting classified information. No one in the building has to talk to them. (Sounds a lot like "don't ask, don't tell", come to think of it.) On the other hand, if some fifth tier staffer or a 4-star general feels compelled to provide an unfiltered opinion about something, well, that's one difference between democracy and autocracy. The journalists at the Pentagon exist to keep an eye on how our military is being run. Hegseth said he wanted the most transparent Pentagon ever, then clammed up and stopped providing press conferences and answering questions, and now is kicking out the very people to provide that window for the American people. Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Journalists might indeed be given classified info by motivated leakers, but the Pentagon Papers case indicates that can be permissibile under our Constitution. But they aren't "moles" feeding all the goods to foreign adversaries. Journalists careful vet the information they receive, and are choosy about what they report. The tend to be protect classified information - unlike some people - and will protect sources, methods, and live intel - unlike some people - because they recognize that it can get people killed.

Tom Bowman, who has covered the Pentagon for NPR for the past 28 years, turned in his press pass with the simple argument: "we're journalists, not stenographers."

Hell, even Fox News and Newsmax have refused to go along with this.

The seizure is a significant blow to this criminal organization. Great job!

But the summary is light on details about the victims. Are the "pigs" that got scammed going to get any remuneration from that $15B? Are the trafficked operators still enslaved?

It also doesn't mention any other penalties. Zhi is still at large. (And, if he was has any intelligence, has enough wealth stashed away to live the high life in any number of criminal-hiding countries). Are any other members of the Prince organization under arrest? Will any of them actually see jail time?

I don't disagree that good journalism would have included that figure for comparison. On the other hand, in less time than it took you to write that, you could have found out from the internet: 3.0-4.5 mi/kWh, depending on driving style, weather, heat/AC usage, etc.

It seems to me that solar awnings over carparks are a better use case.

The last coal-burning power plant in New England produced its last electricity a few weeks ago, and the owners are starting decommissioning. It had been operating only as a supplemental power source for years - providing guaranteed reserve capacity for especially hot or cold days. But even the guaranteed payments for that were no longer profitable. The owners intend to repurpose its 500-MW grid connection for battery storage, and the sprawling acreage with a solar park.

For the first time since the grid got started, New England's electricity is now coal-free. The sky has not fallen.

I'll leave the historical vengeance fantasy genre to Tarantino, thank you very much.

I found the end of the article to be ironic:

After a day working on the farm, the Terradot team...gathered around a table for a barbecue. One slowly roasted large skewers of meat over an open fire, carving thick slices that people picked up by hand.
Connor Sendel, the head of operations, stood up and announced that the company’s first project had its design validated by a carbon removal registry — moving them a step closer to delivering their first carbon credit. The room erupted in cheers.

Eating meat, raised using land that used to be rainforest before it was cut down and converted to poor grazing and cropland, and erupting into cheers for spreading rock dust over that same land. I feel a bit more self-reflection is in order.

Wait, are you telling me that the Emperor's newest outfit isn't the most beautiful in all the land? I was told only the ill-cultured and unintelligent nabobs would fail to be dazzled!

Agreed. Jeff Geerling made a 1.2 PB NAS using a rack of drives and a Raspberry Pi. (Wholly inadequate for this South Korea job, but it does show that 1-PB storage isn't that hard or expensive.)

Also: Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!

Wait, according to Fox News, Germany gets lots of sunshine!

Earlier this week, the coal-boosting Trump Administration recently held an auction for coal mining leases on federal lands in Montana. There was only one bid - for a whopping $186,000, which equates to about $0.001 - one tenth of a penny - per ton. That seems to be a pretty clear indication of coal's prospects. But, sure, go on and on about "Beautiful Clean Coal" all you want.

Curious note: the bid came from the Navajo Transition Energy Co.

I am also in the camp that thinks we're in for major and damaging disruption in the job market, due to AI and other automation technology. But the notion that 100 million jobs will be lost in the next 10 years, out of a total workforce of 170 million, doesn't pass the sniff test to me.

I don't think much of their methodology, either. Asking ChatGPT about the potential effects of AI/Automation doesn't mean much unless you then also examine whatever sources ChatGPT can cough up. Most committee staffers are lawyers of one sort or another; surely they've heard the cautionary tales of what happens when you use LLM outputs uncritically. One can get ChatGT to claim the sky is green, or that you (yes, you!) are the messiah, if you give it the right prompt.

Sounds like the next Austin Powers reboot.

When the kaiju battle, it's usually the citizenry that get trampled underfoot.