The Liberal.ie: Had @elonmusk not bought Twitter and changed it to X, today in London wouldn’t have happened … Elon saved free speech …

Posted on May 17, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
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Profound from Julian Assange: Of late 3 experiences when history of emails, blogs, X, were just wiped clean with no possibility of regaining access … Julian Assange warns us. “He who controls the present controls the past” … in the tone of George Orwell warnings

Posted on May 17, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
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VP JD Vance: “I think that Europe is at risk of engaging in civilizational suicide”

Posted on May 17, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
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Mario Nawfal on X: China just switched on the world’s largest offshore solar farm …. powers 2.67 million people

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
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Steve Hanke: Just as I predicted, the summit in Beijing ended with Chairman Xi holding all the cards and Trump holding a losing hand. TRUMP = CAME AWAY WITH A KICK IN THE SEAT OF THE PANTS.

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

Steve Hanke

@steve_hanke

Just as I predicted, the summit in Beijing ended with Chairman Xi holding all the cards and Trump holding a losing hand. TRUMP = CAME AWAY WITH A KICK IN THE SEAT OF THE PANTS.

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The Meeting Between Xi Jinping and Donald Trump and What It Means for the World

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

A Charlie Rose Global Conversation with Richard Haass

https://open.substack.com/pub/charlierose/p/the-meeting-between-xi-jinping-and?r=4ckljm&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Richard Haass is one of the best and best-known interpreters and explainers of foreign policy, the relationship between nations, and the management of their ambitions.



He has bridged the two poles of diplomacy and public intellectual at the Council on Foreign Relations, where he served as President and is now President Emeritus. A graduate of Oberlin College and a Rhodes Scholar, he served in government under Presidents Carter, Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, and then spent 20 years as President of the Council on Foreign Relations.



This is a crucial moment to examine the forces at work in foreign policy with the meeting between the President of China and the President of the United States.



We will talk about the issues under discussion in Beijing and around the world as two of the most powerful people in the world meet in China and war continues in Iran and Ukraine.

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Ray Dalio

The Changing World Order

Jun 20, 2022•Charlie Rose

Thomas Friedman

The columnist examines the beginning of the second Trump term

Feb 18, 2025•Charlie Rose

1

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Orthodox Christians… Vigilantes appearing in Russia. Why?

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

May 15, 2026 #LGBTQ#BBCEye#Putin#

May 15, 2026 #LGBTQ#BBCEye#Putin#

BBCEye investigates the emergence of Russia’s largest nationalist group — vigilantes taking the law into their own hands, targeting migrants and people they see as going against ‘traditional values’. Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 https://bbc.in/3VyyriM Fiercely religious, they call themselves patriots, and their mission is to save Russia from foreign ideology and influence. This investigation reveals the funding behind Russkaya Obshina and the scale of their raids — through interviews with victims of the group’s activities, supporters, and former members, unpacking their methods and ideologies. 00:00 Pray, raid, repeat: Inside Russia’s nationalist vigilantes  01:56 Katya’s story 05:54 The rise in Russian nationalism 08:20 A case captures Moscow’s attention 13:11 What Russkaya Obshina supporters want 16:25 Why are pro-Kremlin vigilantes emerging now? 20:14 Katya’s court trial 22:05 RO: Substance or Hype? 24:31 Who funds Russkaya Obshina? 26:41 Katya’s serves her sentence 27:55 Raziya faces consequences 29:31 Russia’s path forward

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Axios: Meet your robot mechanic

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
Meet your new robot mechanic
 
Automated Tire’s SmartBay. Photo: ATI

AI is coming for one of America’s dirtiest jobs: tire changes, Axios’ Joann Muller reports.

Demand for tire service is accelerating, in part because EVs need more frequent replacements.

Meanwhile, tire shops are struggling to hire technicians. 

Andy Chalofsky, a serial tire entrepreneur, says automation is the answer.

His latest company, Automated Tire Inc., has developed SmartBay, a robotic system that can inspect vehicles, swap tires and balance wheels with minimal human help. 

The AI-powered system lets a single technician manage up to three service bays simultaneously.

Chalofsky says that robots can do a tire service in 30 minutes. That’s more than twice as fast as human workers. 

ATI leases the system to dealerships and tire shops for just under $5,000 per month — less than what it costs to hire an experienced technician.

Go deeper … Get Axios Future of Mobility.
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Fortune: Who is investing in Microsoft?

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015

Investing Microsoft

Bill Ackman has been quietly buying Microsoft since February, when AI fears were dragging the stock

By 

Eva Roytburg

Fellow, News

May 15, 2026, 11:14 AM ET

Add us on

US hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 4, 2026.

US hedge fund manager Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during the 29th annual Milken Institute Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California on May 4, 2026.Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images

Bill Ackman is going against the grain to back Microsoft.

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Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund run by the billionaire investor, has built a new position in the software giant. 

And in typical Ackman fashion, he disclosed the stake in his trademark style: a lengthy post on X on Friday ahead of his firm’s quarterly 13F filing (a required filing for institutional investment managers with over $100 million in assets). He did not disclose the size, but called it a “core holding.”

Pershing started accumulating shares in February, after Microsoft’s stock fell about 10% the day after Q2 earnings, with a 1% lower-than-expected cloud growth alongside a surge in capital spending. “We were able to establish our position at a valuation of 21 times forward earnings, broadly in line with the market multiple and well below Microsoft’s trading average over the last few years,” Ackman wrote in the post.

Microsoft’s stock is down more than 15% year-to-date as it fights to prove that its Azure cloud business has enough revenue to justify its AI spending. The erosion of its partnership with AI, which was recently restructured to strip Microsoft of exclusive distribution rights, only furthered those concerns.

Ackman sees that restructuring as a pivot to a multi-model architecture that can better suit the needs of its enterprise customers.

  • He also argues that investors underestimate Microsoft’s 365 productivity suite and its stickiness, saying the suite is “deeply embedded” in enterprises and “nearly impossible to replicate,” he wrote.

Ackman pushed back on concerns over Microsoft’s $190 billion 2026 capex budget, arguing it as growth investment on a J curve rather than a threat to margins. He also pointed out that Microsoft’s market capitalization does not yet reflect its 27% economic interest in OpenAI— worth approximately $200 billion at the startup’s most recent funding round valuation, he said.

The Microsoft buy continues Ackman’s pattern of stepping into Big Tech during periods of AI-related skepticism.

“We acquired Alphabet when the stock declined substantially on the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, Amazon in the weeks following Liberation Day, and Meta more recently on the market’s response to the company’s unexpectedly large capex guidance,” he wrote.

The Fortune 500 Innovation Forum will convene Fortune 500 executives, U.S. policy officials, top founders, and thought leaders to help define what’s next for the American economy, Nov. 16-17 in Detroit. Apply here.

About the Author

By Eva RoytburgFellow, News

Eva covers macroeconomics, market-moving news, and the forces shaping the global economy.

See full bio

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Axios: The Powell school of leadership

Posted on May 16, 2026 by michelleclarke2015
The Powell school of leadership
 
Photo illustration of Jerome Powell surrounded by an image of the Fed's facade, market lines, and abstract squares. 
Jerome Powell. Photo illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios. Photo: Andrew Harnik and Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images
 
Axios’ chief economic correspondent Neil Irwin, who had a front-row seat for Jerome Powell’s eight years as Federal Reserve chair, reflects on Powell’s legacy as Kevin Warsh takes over:

Powell guided the U.S. economy through extreme tumult and fought off unprecedented presidential efforts to undermine the Federal Reserve’s independence.

But it’s Powell’s approach to duty and public service that is his ultimate legacy as a leader and that will shape his place in history.

For the better part of the last decade, I’ve either watched on a screen or been physically present for pretty much everything Powell has said in public. Two sentences stick most in my memory.

😷 It was April 2020. The world was on lockdown, the unemployment rate was nearly 15%, GDP was in free fall, and the future appeared bleak.

📜 “None of us has the luxury of choosing our challenges; fate and history provide them for us,” Powell said. “Our job is to meet the tests we are presented.

“The big picture: Powell’s mistakes contributed to the painful inflation of the early 2020s.

But he has led a crucial American institution for eight long years with a deep sense of public purpose.

Read Neil’s full analysis.
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