8 billion population milestone
Eight billion. That’s how many people live on this finite planet as of 2022, according to new data from the United Nations Population Division. It’s only been 11 years since we soared past the 7 billion population milestone, which is the fewest years it’s ever taken to add a billion people to the planet (it took all of human history to
Read MoreWall Street Journal: Musk, Twitter deal falling through would be 'loss for free speech'
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal is warning that a reported breakdown in negotiations between Elon Musk and Twitter in the Tech mogul's bid to purchase the social media company is bad news for free discourse. Calling a potential busted deal "a loss for the social-media site as well as for political free speech," the Journal
Read MorePolitical tribalism and the prisoner’s dilemma
Perhaps one of the only things about which observers across the political spectrum might agree is that we live in a highly polarized political era. The two major American political parties at the federal level are increasingly dominated by their respective ideological extremes, much to the frustration of many voters who feel the need to hold their noses before casting a vote for one or the other. Defining what constitutes a political “fringe” is in the eye of the beholder, and pundits are all over the map in sizing what constitutes the sensible center — is it a 30/40/30 ideologica
Read MoreAbe’s assassination heightens an era of instability for global powers
Friday’s assassination of Shinzo Abe, on the eve of national elections for the upper house of the Diet, threatens to roil Japan, perhaps for years. There is already internal turmoil in the U.S. China, Russia and the United Kingdom. Now add Japan to the list. What will the world look like with so many major powers in a state of flux? Abe’s eight-year second term made him Japan’s longest-serving prime minister. His return to power in 2012 ended a period of revolving-door leaders. Since he resigned in 2020 due to poor health, the country has had two prime minis
Read MoreElon Musk mocks efforts to 'force' him to buy Twitter
Elon Musk on Monday tweeted a meme mocking Twitter as it prepares to sue Musk for attempting to back out of a deal to buy the social media giant. The meme shared by Musk includes four sequential images of the Tesla founder in increasingly hysterical laughter, each of which is accompanied by a caption that criticizes the social media platform for Musk’s complaints it did not provide accurate and comprehensive information on “fake or spam” accounts. “They said I couldn’t buy Twitter, then they wouldn’t d
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