David Lidsky's Blog, page 126

Why Medicaid work requirements place extra burdens on low-income families

A newly passed budget bill aims to reduce federal Medicaid spending by implementing work requirements for enrollees who appear able to work.

Republican lawmakers have been battling over a bill that includes massive tax and spending cuts. Much of their disagreement has been over provisions intended to reduce the cost of Medicaid.

This AI scans Reddit for ‘extremist’ terms and plots bot-led intervention

The PrismX tool assigns users radicalization scores and can hold covert conversations to try to reverse their views.

A computer science student is behind a new AI tool designed to track down Redditors showing signs of radicalization and deploy bots to “deradicalize” them through conversation. 

Federal judge halts Trump’s ban on Harvard’s international students

A Boston judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign students, calling the move potentially unconstitutional and retaliatory.

A federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s ban to prevent international students from enrolling at Harvard on Friday, the latest development in the White House’s escalating pressure campaign against the Ivy League university.

Trump’s unpredictable tariffs are changing the economy

Demanding new tariffs on Europe and Apple, Trump’s wild tariff roller-coaster ride is making it tough to do business—and will put a drain on the economy.

We should have known it was too good to last. After markets enjoyed a month of relative peace in Donald Trump’s trade war with the world—a stretch of time during which Trump paused his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs on most countries and then rolled back his massive 145% tariffs on China—the president reignited the conflict Friday morning with a couple of posts on TruthSocial.

Need to relax? The Internet Archive is livestreaming microfiche scans to a lo-fi beats soundtrack

The archive helps make millions of newspaper, court, and government records publicly available to researchers. Now you can watch the magic happen.

Want to watch history being preserved in real time?

FTC drops final challenge to Microsoft’s $69B Activision Blizzard deal

The agency is walking away from its biggest tech antitrust push, clearing the way for Microsoft’s gaming empire to expand unchecked.

Three years after suing to block Microsoft from buying one of the biggest names in video games, the U.S. government is finally giving up.

Why Starbucks is banning orders under certain names in South Korea

Some customers are turning their coffee purchases into a political movement ahead of the country’s presidential election. Starbucks wants them to stop.

Starbucks in South Korea from using the names of South Korea’s six presidential candidates in their orders ahead of next month’s presidential election.

Why the ‘Mission: Impossible’ movie franchise endures after 3 decades and how it stacks up in terms of box office

The Tom Cruise-led movie franchise is now as old as the TV show was when it first appeared on the big screen in 1996. This weekend marks what may—or may not—be the final bow.

The first Mission: Impossible film came out in 1996 when star Tom Cruise was 34 years old. Fast-forward to Memorial Day weekend 2025: Cruise is 62, and there’s speculation that Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning could be the last movie in the franchise.

‘Bro invented soup’: People are rolling their eyes at the water-based cooking trend on TikTok

Soup may be getting a rebrand on social media, but not everyone is here for the TikTokification of things that have existed for generations.

On TikTok, soup is getting a rebrand. It’s now water-based cooking to you.

Trump threatens 25% tariff on iPhones as Apple shifts production to India

Apple CEO Tim Cook is in the crosshairs as Trump demands U.S.-made iPhones. Analysts say it’s a logistical and financial fantasy.

President Donald Trump is threatening Apple with a 25% tariff if the tech giant doesn’t start producing iPhones in the U.S.