Today I'm listening to Who Broke the Internet?, a four-part series by pluralistic@mamot.fr on CBC's Understood podcast.

> Google Search was the gold standard — a product born in a dorm room during the internet’s early, idealistic era. But when internal emails surfaced they revealed a deeper conflict inside the company: was Google making Search worse, on purpose, to boost ad revenue? Google says its changes are all about benefiting users. Critics say it’s all part of a bigger pattern — one that host Cory Doctorow calls enshittification: the slow, deliberate decay of platforms in the name of profit.

Have you noticed internet search has become next to useless? It's like the arms-race between search and spam is ramping up, and not in a good way. Cory lays out the foundation that it isn't that simple, and that the degradation of search was brought on internally.

Check it out here or wherever you get your podcasts!

Doctors in the US have become the first to treat a baby with a customised gene-editing therapy after diagnosing the child with a severe genetic disorder that kills about half of those affected in early infancy.

KJ was born with severe CPS1 deficiency, a condition that affects only one in 1.3 million people. Those affected lack a liver enzyme that converts ammonia, from the natural breakdown of proteins in the body, into urea so it can be excreted in urine. This causes a build-up of ammonia that can damage the liver and other organs, such as the brain.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, the doctors described the painstaking process of identifying the specific mutations behind KJ’s disorder, designing a gene-editing therapy to correct them, and testing the treatment and fatty nanoparticles needed to carry it into the liver. The therapy uses a powerful procedure called base editing which can rewrite the DNA code one letter at a time.

US doctors rewrite DNA of infant with severe genetic disorder in medical first

Gene-editing breakthrough has potential to treat array of devastating genetic diseases soon after birth, scientists say

^{Ian Sample (The Guardian)}

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/14/briefing/trump-family-business.html

https://apnews.com/article/medicaid-cuts-trump-tax-cuts-bill-1e2b12a91a3d12ceb0420ce7053de58e

Summary

A man checked out 100 books from Beachwood Library in Beachwood, Ohio, covering Jewish history, African-American history, and LGBTQ topics, and later posted social media videos showing the books with captions referencing “cleansing” libraries before burning them.

Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative alerted the library about the posts.

The books were worth about $1,700. Since they are not overdue, the library will bill the man later.

Police say the matter is civil unless he fails to pay. He is now banned from returning to the library.

Man checks out 100 books from Beachwood Library, then burns them in social media post

A man applied for a card from the Beachwood Library and, over two visits, withdrew 100 books. He later posted two videos, one in which he burned all of the books.

^{Jeff Piorkowski/special to cleveland.com (cleveland)}

cbc.ca/news/politics/trump-ann…

Perhaps I'm just paranoid.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2833716

Starting on July 1, people riding bicycles in New Mexico will be able to ride through stop signs without coming to a full stop, and stop at red traffic lights and continue even if the light hasn’t turned green — as long as it’s safe to do so.

That’s according to a new state law Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed on Friday.

Senate Bill 73 changes New Mexico’s traffic law to allow cyclists to treat stop signs as yield signs, and to treat red traffic lights as stop signs and proceed if there are no other cars, cyclists or pedestrians.

New Mexico to allow cyclists to roll through stop signs • Source New Mexico

Starting on July 1, New Mexico will ease its traffic laws for people riding bicycles who reach a stop sign or a red light.

^{Source NM}

cross-posted from: 50501.chat/post/188367

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Originally Posted By u/pbeenard16046 At 2025-05-05 10:41:48 AM | Source

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Trump said that instead of a separation of church and state, he will bring "religion back to our country."

Donald Trump signed an executive order yesterday establishing a “religious liberty commission” at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate and present strategies to eliminate “threats to domestic religious liberty.”

During his comments on the order, Trump said that he doesn’t know if there’s a separation of church and state and that we should “forget about that for one time.”

Donald Trump says America should "forget about" the separation of church and state - LGBTQ Nation

^{Alex Bollinger (LGBTQ Nation)}

1:20 AM EST

210/266 polls reporting

Canada election 2025 results: Carleton

Carleton is a federal riding located in Ontario.

^{globalnewsdigital (Global News)}

The Conservative Quebec [sic?] platform, unveiled recently by Leader Pierre Poilievre, says: “A Conservative government would put an end to the imposition of woke ideology . . . in the allocation of federal funds for university research.”

Using similar arguments – especially with regard to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies – the Trump administration has systematically cut federal funding for critical scientific research. Projects studying vaccines, infectious diseases such as HIV, and the health of sexual and gender minorities were specifically axed.

Despite Poilievre’s attempts to distance himself from Trump in some areas, his platform reveals he would follow the same path in attacking critical research, which should be free from political interference.

Voters must take this seriously. Canadians deserve better. We deserve a government that won’t muzzle scientists and won’t silence research when it is not convenient for a political agenda.

Don’t let Poilievre import Trump’s war on science

The Conservative leader’s promise to cut “woke” funding to universities and research echoes the disaster unfolding in the U.S.

^{cletourneau (Policy Options)}

The 8-pound dog went missing on the rugged Kangaroo Island in Australia in November 2023 while on vacation with her owners. After a 529-day search, the pup is finally safe and back in human care.

"After weeks of tireless efforts by Kangala Wildlife Rescue volunteers and partner organizations, Valerie has been safely rescued and is fit and well. We are absolutely thrilled and deeply relieved that Valerie is finally safe and able to begin her transition back to her loving parents, Josh and Georgia."

You can read more HERE.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have in recent days deported the Cuban-born mother of a 1-year-old girl — separating them indefinitely — and three children ages 2, 4 and 7 who are U.S. citizens along with their Honduran-born mothers, their lawyers said Saturday.

The three cases raise questions about who is being deported, and why, and come amid a battle in federal courts over whether President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown has gone too far and too quickly at the expense of fundamental rights.

Lawyers in the cases described how the women were arrested at routine check-ins at ICE offices, given virtually no opportunity to speak with lawyers or their family members and then deported within three days or less.

Lawyers: ICE deports immigrant mother of infant and three children who are US citizens

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have in recent days deported a Cuban-born mother of 1-year-old girl, separating them indefinitely. In two other cases, three children ages 2, 4 and 7 who are U.S.

^{Marc Levy (AP News)}