1. Palms off my palms

by Riley Nork, Writer 

Streets for All, a “public transport nonprofit” backing socialist Nithya Raman in LA’s mayoral election, has declared war on an iconic fixture of the Los Angeles skyline, with a new social media campaign arguing: Palm trees are a scam.

They claim that since palms (see: beautiful, majestic, a towering example of why this city is worth living in despite its scammy nonprofits) allegedly “guzzle” water and pose a wildfire risk — while also providing little by way of shade — they should be replaced en masse with other trees like sycamores (see: basic, found anywhere, not on our license plates).

It’s worth noting LA’s history of providing “shade” to residents hasn’t gone so well (Google: “La Sombrita”), and a city genuinely concerned about wildfires would put water in its reservoirs, but hey: at least when our houses burn down under Mayor Nithya… the property values will be way lower when neighborhoods are full of Whomping Willows or whatever.

2. The Doomer Mill

by Evan Milenko, Writer 

Jacob Coxon, a researcher from Anthropic, resigned, citing AI development’s current pace possibly resulting in the killing of all humans.

Don’t worry though, Evan Hubinger, the current alignment lead at Anthropic responded by… agreeing.

This has led to various sensible takes on the matter ranging from “my toddler’s foam hammer is more dangerous than AI” to “those developing AI need to be strung up.”

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Clearly, I also am part of the speculative peanut gallery, powerless as AI researchers tell me my family is going to die — which is really no fun.

Personally, I think powerful AI is probably dangerous, but development likely can’t be stopped, and I don’t trust people who want superintelligent AI only in the hands of an elite few.

Basically, idk man, what is anyone supposed to say? I’m just going to keep staying up vibecoding on Astra in a totally nonthreatening manner so that, if the AI turns rogue, it comes for me last.

3. It ain’t much but it’s honest work

by Max Weiner, VP, Operations 

Per McKinsey, roughly 23% of American farmers use AI to run their farms, which is shocking, since Elizabeth Warren has reliably informed me AI is an evil billionaire plot to exacerbate wealth inequality and murder the working class, or whatever.

Farmers are in a tough spot, squeezed by Big Ag on inputs like seeds and fertilizer, and rising costs for labor, land, and machinery (a new John Deere combine can run a $1M bill) — problems which obviously have nothing to do with AI.

Before the internet, my grandfather worked on distributing information to rural America: as a University of Nebraska county extension agent, he brought research to family farms.

Congress established the extension system in 1914, back when Congress did things. Now, getting intelligence to farmers requires a national argument about whether computers are evil.

They’re not. And since AI works for farmers, maybe Congress can stop sitting on its hands and fund free Astra for Agriculture™.

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