Listen To This Story

No ‘Friend’: Critics Deface NYC Subway Ads for AI Jewelry That Listens to All Your Conversations (Maria)

The author writes, “‘AI doesn’t care,’ a vandal scrawled on a New York subway ad promoting a wearable AI pendant called Friend, designed to monitor a user’s conversations and serve as a companion ‘who listens, responds, and supports you.’ … The vandalism is part of a huge online archive collecting defaced ads that the Friend campaign inspired, as many New Yorkers responded with vitriol to marketing claims that the AI ‘friend’ would never ‘bail on dinner’ or abandon you to ride the subway alone. ‘Friends don’t let friends sell their souls,’ another vandal wrote.”

Indigenous Nations Plan a Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across the US-Canada Border (Dana)

From Mother Jones: “Just west of Fort Qu’Appelle in Saskatchewan, the Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation is working across the US border to revive centuries-old trade routes as part of a new Indigenous-governed trade corridor. Trucks from the First Nation could soon be transporting food, furniture and even critical minerals south of the border along ancestral pathways once used to move buffalo hides and pemmican across the plains—without paying taxes or tariffs. For generations, Indigenous peoples freely exchanged goods, knowledge and culture across the land that is now divided by the Canada–US border. Those networks were disrupted by colonial laws that divided families and communities but they are now being reimagined as a modern supply chain grounded in Indigenous law and sovereignty.”

Federal Agents Knock Down Elderly Couple During Portland Protest (DonkeyHotey)

From The Oregonian: “An elderly couple says they were charged and knocked down by federal agents as they peacefully protested on Saturday in front of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, just blocks from their home. Laurie Eckman, 84, said she and her husband Richard Eckman, also 84 and a Vietnam war veteran, were rushed by  federal officers ‘for no apparent reason.’ She said her husband was leaning on his walker and wearing his Vietnam veterans cap as he was pushed to the ground.”

South Carolina Legislators Weigh Toughest Abortion Law in the Country (Sean)

The author writes, “A push to enact the strictest anti-abortion law in the country was on center stage [last] Wednesday at the South Carolina State House. Dozens of people made their voices heard at a hearing on the controversial bill — and more came out for a rally and a prayer vigil outside where lawmakers were meeting. The South Carolina General Assembly is out of session right now, but a Senate subcommittee took hours of testimony, for and against a bill called the ‘Unborn Child Protection Act.’ If enacted, it would be the most restrictive abortion law in the country. South Carolina’s current law is already one of the nation’s strictest, banning most abortions after around six weeks into a pregnancy. After that, it only allows them in cases involving rape, incest, fatal fetal diagnoses, and to save the mother’s life. This new bill would ban all abortions from conception — with no exceptions except to save the mother’s life.”

Stephen Miller’s High School Classmate Says His Hispanic Heritage Ended Their Friendship: ‘He Didn’t Like That Fact’ (Reader Jim)

From The Independent: “Stephen Miller’s former high school friend claimed the future deputy White House chief of staff ended their friendship more than two decades ago because of his Hispanic heritage. ‘One of the things he did say was that he didn’t like the fact that I’m of Latin heritage,’ Jason Islas recalled. Islas said Miller, the architect of some of the Trump administration’s most controversial anti-immigration policies, ditched him because of his ethnicity when the former friends left their Santa Monica middle school in California and moved to high school. … ‘The conversation was remarkably calm,’ Islas is quoted. ‘He expressed hatred for me in a calm, cool, matter-of-fact way.’”

Scientists Solve 30-Year Mystery of a Hidden Nutrient That Shields the Brain and Fights Cancer (Mili)

The author writes, “An international team of scientists, co-led by researchers at the University of Florida and Trinity College Dublin, has cracked a decades-old mystery in human biology: how our bodies absorb a micronutrient that we rely on for everything from healthy brain function to cancer defense. Queuosine — pronounced ‘cue-o-scene’ — is a vitamin-like micronutrient that we can’t make ourselves but can only get from food and our gut bacteria. It’s vital to our health, yet its importance went unnoticed for decades.”

‘A Really Monumental Day’ for Chicago River: Clean Enough for Hundreds to Swim In (Laura)

From Inside Climate News: “More than 250 swimmers jumped into the Chicago River [in September], marking the first open-river swim in the once-polluted urban waterway in nearly a century. … The swim marked a significant milestone for the health of the Chicago River, once known as a fetid soup of industrial and animal waste rather than a recreational hub fit for humans. ‘This is a really monumental day for the city of Chicago and for the Chicago River system. This demonstrates that we have invested in clean water public access, and that the future of our river is swimming and recreation,’ said Margaret Frisbie, executive director of Friends of the Chicago River.”