David Lidsky's Blog, page 207

What’s happening with Social Security? DOGE firings and Trump attacks raise concerns about checks

President Trump and Elon Musk have repeated false claims that payments are being made to dead people, which Senator Bernie Sanders called a lie, to ‘lay the groundwork’ for cutting benefits.

President Donald Trump’s falso claim that there is “shocking levels of incompetence and probable fraud” in the Social Security system during his address to Congress Tuesday is just the latest in a series of attacks from the Republican administration, sparking concern over the program’s future.

Democrats put the ‘TV President’ in a supporting role during his own address

President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress was political theater, but he wasn’t the only one in the spotlight.

There are few stages in politics like a joint session of Congress for a president to get their message out to a wide (captive) audience, but members of Congress have increasingly attempted to wrest that stage back for themselves. Tuesday’s speech was the latest in a growing trend.

The top 4 food innovation and technology predictions of 2025

How we’re shaping the future, one bite at a time.

The Fast Company Impact Council is a private membership community of influential leaders, experts, executives, and entrepreneurs who share their insights with our audience. Members pay annual membership dues for access to peer learning and thought leadership opportunities, events and more.

This new dating app is bringing a Pokémon Go approach to romance

Left Field, a new NYC-based dating app, ditches endless swiping for real-world encounters.

Ever miss the thrill of the 2016 Pokémon Go craze? A new anti-swiping dating app has come to fill that void, but instead of cute Pokémon you can catch yourself a hot date.

Here’s how Trump’s trade war could impact your wallet

Trump’s trade war, with new tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China, could impact the prices of groceries, alcohol, cars, homes, and more.

The U.S. has entered a trade war. Donald Trump’s decision to impose 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada, as well as a 20% tariff on Chinese goods, could have wide-reaching and long-lasting impacts on the bottom line of millions of Americans. These follow reciprocal tariffs, where the U.S. matches the tariffs other countries charge for imported U.S. goods, imposed last month by the White House. (Canada and China have already retaliated with tariffs of their own.)

Target and Best Buy said they’ll raise prices due to Trump tariffs. These other companies could be next

Retailers from auto shops to athletic brands have indicated that tariff costs will likely be passed on to the consumer.

Target and Best Buy, two of the country’s largest retail chains, warned their prices will increase after President Donald Trump’s 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada went into effect on Tuesday, sending the stock market plunging more than 650 points and shooting shock waves through the financial system. Adding fuel to the fire, Trump also said he would double tariffs on all Chinese imports from 10% to 20%.

‘Trump Take Nest Egg’: How 2025’s best meme evolved to take on our tanking economy

A popular Bluesky meme let inflation-weary consumers vent about egg prices. Now they’re using it to comment on a lot more, including tariffs.

After the president announced tariffs would go into effect—sparking a trade war that sent the S&P 500 plummeting 1.8% on Monday—a new meme has begun taking hold on Bluesky: Trump Take Nest Egg.

This DOGE staffer’s GitHub posts might help us understand how Elon Musk wants to bring AI into the government

Jordan Wick’s GitHub posts reveal tools for analyzing federal employees and their digital histories, raising questions about how Musk’s government efficiency group wants to wield AI.

The internet posts and side projects of Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) worker Jordan Wick could give some clues for how Musk’s efficiency group might attempt to use AI to downsize and retool the government.

This new nipple shield solves one of the biggest mysteries of breastfeeding

Munchkin designed its first nipple shield to make milk flow visible to mothers.

For many new mothers, one of the most mysterious and elusive parts of breastfeeding is the latch. While some babies’ mouths manage to automatically make an airtight seal around their mother’s nipple, others can have difficulties, or physical impediments, that make achieving good suction and proper nursing almost impossible.

How to watch President Trump’s first address to Congress live for free

Technically not a State of the Union speech, the address is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET and will air on most live-streaming services.

President Donald Trump will address a joint session of Congress tonight for the first time since his second term began. This is technically not a State of the Union speech, but we’ll get into all that and how to watch it live below: