Absent an overhaul of how Americans' medical bills are paid, some say mass torts - imperfect as they are - are the best way the US has to right a wrong: Big businesses hurt people, and nobody makes them pay until lawyers step in. www.businessinsider.com/mass-torts-l... via @businessinsider.com

Is roughly $3,000 per title "justice"? The answer depends on perspective. $3,000 > the statutory floor: it is 4x higher than the $750 minimum per-work award. But plaintiffs may get nothing without settlement (trial could yield years of appeals, with no guarantees). theleaflet.in/digital-righ...

As predicted on @kqednews.kqed.org a few weeks ago..."Senior executives from at least two US banks in India are in talks ... to consider ways to ramp up their so-called global capability centers in response to the H-1B visa crackdown." www.bloomberg.com/news/feature... via @bloomberg.com

45 years ago, a Sacramento woman founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving after her 13-year-old was struck and killed in Fair Oaks. So why, in MADD's home state is there a spike in alcohol-related roadway deaths? "We do give people their licenses back certainly more quickly than a lot of other places."

Joint Venture Silicon Valley: The San Francisco Bay Area's population of adults aged 65+ has grown by 29% over the past decade. We're well on our way to crossing the threshold demographers use to define a “super-aged society.” You know, like South Korea and Japan. jointventure.org/news-and-med...

Court-ordered penalties “are not having a deterrent effect,” said Mr. Freund, who has publicly flagged more than four dozen examples this year. “The proof is that it continues to happen.” www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/b... via @nytimes.com

Absent McCarthy’s arm-twisting in D.C. and with a powerless superminority in both chambers of the state Legislature, California Republicans appear headed for an era of obsolescence, at least for the next five years. calmatters.org/politics/202... via @calmatters.org

“I think you either hope that (people) won’t find out, or they see what stuff they’re getting, and they’re like, ‘Oh, all right, well, as long as we got ours,’ right?” she said. “What people are more concerned about is equity. ‘What did we get?’” calmatters.org/politics/202... via @calmatters.org

"If the tech lobby succeeds, it could usher in a new regime in which AI risks and kids safety are broadly regulated across the U.S., but in ways that largely shield tech giants from strict AI rules and major lawsuits." www.politico.com/news/2025/11... via @politico.com

“We’ve given the tech giants so many chances to stand up and to do something about what is happening on their platforms. They haven’t done it. So now we will take over the steering wheel and make sure that our children’s futures are safe.” apnews.com/article/denm... via @apnews.com

🎙️ MON at 10 am: @superwuster.bsky.social warns we’re sliding into a two-class digital age: the extractors and the extracted. #AI won’t fix inequality by 🪄— it’ll amplify whoever owns it. His new 📖 asks: what happens when platforms run the 🌎? www.kqed.org/forum/201010... via @kqedforum.bsky.social

Repeatedly, the suit alleges, the 23 year-old sought encouragement to back out. Repeatedly, #ChatGPT encouraged him to follow through. At 4:11 am, after he texted for the last time, the chatbot wrote, “i love you. rest easy, king. you did good.” www.kqed.org/news/1206340... @kqednews.kqed.org

The chip that works this optical magic is not much to see. Under a powerful microscope, it resembles an oversize circuit board. To the naked eye, it is a tiny flake of nothing. But it brings sight—albeit imperfect sight—to the nearly blind. time.com/7330887/brai... via @jeffreykluger.bsky.social

Now known as Operation Seaspray, it sounds like a conspiracy theory, but it’s real. For eight days in September 1950, the U.S. military sprayed bacteria over an unsuspecting Bay Area from a Navy ship offshore. At least one person died. 🧟‍♀️ www.kqed.org/news/1206290... via @kqednews.kqed.org

After two years of trying to sign up for @waymo.bsky.social, friends inside the company told Dr. Nas Mohamed his Middle Eastern Muslim name set off the #AI identity screening. But he couldn’t get a human to correct the error. So now he's suing. www.kqed.org/news/1206303... via @kqednews.kqed.org

What it’s like to be in the middle of a conspiracy theory (according to a conspiracy theory expert). @rothschildmd.bsky.social www.kqed.org/forum/201010... via @kqedforum.bsky.social #EatonFire

🔔 📒TONIGHT at 6 PM at the @cwclub.bsky.social: talking trust, truth, and Wikipedia’s wild 25-year ride with Jimmy Wales. Still free. Still encyclopedic. Staggering from all the political attacks? "It's only a flesh wound! Or two," he might say. Got questions? Bring 'em! 🗂️ #Wikipedia25

Well, this is a shock, NOT. The U.S. Navy failed to alert the public to high levels of airborne radioactive material detected almost a year ago at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard. www.kqed.org/science/1999... via @kqednews.kqed.org @climatedaddykqed.bsky.social

“The one time I questioned Brekke’s professional judgement was when he insisted that his stepping down doesn’t merit this kind of treatment. We beg to differ. Guy like this hanging up his AP Stylebook? Attention must be paid.” www.kqed.org/news/1206213... via @kqednews.kqed.org

#ICYMI Russia’s disinformation apparatus has shifted its strategy to flooding the Internet with millions of misleading low-quality articles and pieces of content designed to be scraped by AI driven instruments and applications. euvsdisinfo.eu/large-langua... via @euvsdisinfo.eu

These days, it seems that clubs are out, and Filipino grocery stores are in. All you need are comfortable shoes, an appetite for street food and a brave friend to join you in the line dance when a Tita beckons. www.kqed.org/arts/1398311... via @kqedarts.bsky.social

Musk’s lawyer pledged to continue a legal crusade against OpenAI as he slammed California and Delaware for not blocking the #AI startup’s restructuring. “The AGs cannot sanitize OpenAI’s unlawful conduct through a hastily arranged deal.” www.bloomberg.com/news/article... via @smotus.bsky.social

“People don’t want something new,” Session said. “They want to recover what was lost.” www.kqed.org/news/1206205... via @kqedarts.bsky.social

When the world gets uncertain, as it is right now, design tends to embrace the brutal, at least in its external presentation. insideevs.com/news/777359/... via @insideevs.com

“We’re making a very bold step to say for teen users, chatbots are not the way for entertainment, but there are much better ways to serve them,” Karandeep Anand, Character.AI’s chief executive, said. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/29/t... via @washingtonpost.com

Criticism of DHS issued fake immigration/protest videos hasn't stopped the torrent of viral rage-bait. Instead, the videos now inoculate viewers with broadsides against “fake news hoaxes.” “Battle for the soul of our nation,” indeed. 🧟‍♀️ www.washingtonpost.com/investigatio... via @washingtonpost.com

“It’s not just about cutting emissions. Dealing with climate change requires more. It calls for deep, systemic change in how societies value nature, design economies, consume resources and define progress.” www.latimes.com/environment/... via @ianjames.bsky.social

Knuckling under to pressure from those who want him to shut up about climate change? Or he figures most companies don't care enough to change their behavior when no government is going to force them? Better to just focus on reducing suffering? www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/c... via @nytimes.com

#ICYMI The Bay Area is more than halfway toward its goal of restoring 100,000 acres of tidal wetlands. “That’s really tremendous progress, especially compared to other areas of the country.” www.kqed.org/science/1998... via @kqedscience.bsky.social @climatedaddykqed.bsky.social

The cost of health insurance for @ 165 million Americans under 65 who get their coverage through work is expected to 📈 by 6.5%, according to a recent employer survey. That’s the biggest annual jump in 15 years. “Whoa, something’s got to give.” www.bloomberg.com/opinion/arti... via @bloomberg.com

#ICYMI A growing number of employers emboldened by the neutralization of the NLRB under Trump continue to challenge federal and state labor protections. Courts on the East and West Coasts are pushing back, but to what effect? 👩🏻‍⚖️ onlabor.org/october-29-2... via @onlabor.bsky.social

“It poorly reflects on the city internally and how they work with the providers. There’s lack of coordination, lack of accountability, lack of processes and too much emphasis on volume versus outcome.The report card is a D+ at best.” sanjosespotlight.com/san-jose-hom... via @sanjosespotlight.com

For generations, Saudi Arabia exported oil. Now, computing power. “It’s easy to say this is just another example of the Saudis’ throwing 💰 at the latest shiny thing, but that could underestimate the level of ambition.” www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/t... via @nytimes.com

“I was really surprised that somebody be dumb enough to keep WhatsApp messages about, you know, money going into your account from a man who is a Kremlin agent. That did seem to me a bit dumb. I have to say.” broligarchy.substack.com/p/the-cleava... via @carolecadwalla.bsky.social

A long time and several haircuts ago! Ahead of Jacques Pépin's 90th birthday, a reminder there's a great American Masters documentary about his life available on your local @pbsnews.org station. www.youtube.com/watch?v=B40J... via @kqedfood.bsky.social #fromthearchives

FemTech, focused on solutions for women’s health, is projected to hit US$97B by 2030 — yet women-led startups get less funding than those led by men. On an upcoming (MIS)Treated @namshine.bsky.social talks to Marina Gerner, author of The Vagina Business, about why. podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...

Google’s ginormous new London HQ, one of the largest office buildings in Europe, features a roof garden so expansive it’s already sustaining wild foxes. Also, it is setting a new benchmark in the giant homes built for technology giants category. www.thenerve.news/p/tech-bro-a... via @thenerve.news

OP/ED "If #OpenAI really has strong reason to believe it’s ready to bring back erotica on its platforms, it should show its work. A.I. is increasingly becoming a dominant part of our lives, and so are the technology’s risks." www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/o... via @nytimesoped.bsky.social

#AI keeps 🏃🏻‍♀️ into a paradox: To be useful, new forms of AI rely on ingesting vast swaths of the past, present and future internet. But doing so can increase costs and divert users from websites, which imperils the internet we use. www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... via @shiraovide.bsky.social

“If there was a 50% chance the Taliban knew I was working for the Americans before, they will be 100% sure now.” www.wsj.com/politics/pol... via @wsj.com

I've got soooo many questions for Jimmy. You, too? What would you ask him?

Transport yourself. Click to listen. ▶️ Elize Manoukian with the story: www.kqed.org/news/1206090... via @kqedarts.bsky.social

#ICYMI Small, immigrant owned businesses are suffering from an economic chill driven not just by economic uncertainty, but by fear, too. Customers are staying home, as are workers. “Business is going down, down, down.” www.kqed.org/news/1205719... via @kqednews.kqed.org @faridajhabvala.bsky.social

Anybody else? iOS 26 feels like Apple saw Windows Vista and thought, “Yes. That’s the vibe.” Instead of simplicity/delight, I'm searching Dr. Google daily to determine what menus to wade through to do what one swipe used to, like settings have been re-designed by twelve committees who never met. 🙆🏻‍♀️

🛢️ A push to bring drilling rigs to untouched sections of the US coastline brought bipartisan opposition when Trump tried during his first administration. This time, “There’s an interesting dynamic of fighting Gavin Newsom in California.” www.politico.com/news/2025/10... via @politico.com

Only 1 of 8 social media platforms tagged an uploaded #AI test video. And YouTube hid its warning inside an attached description. Moreover, all of the platforms tested stripped the digital marker that disclosed it was synthetic. 😶‍🌫️ www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2... via @washingtonpost.com

Reddit may be fighting an uphill battle. Its lawsuit was filed in New York, but some of the data-scraping start-ups like those targeted in the suit are based in Europe and Asia. And many of those companies have found workarounds against scraping bans. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/22/t... via @nytimes.com

⛈️ “This dataset was simply too important to stop being updated. Demand for its revival actually came from several aspects of industry and society, including decision makers in the insurance, reinsurance risk space, academia, Congress and local communities.” www.cnn.com/2025/10/22/c... via @cnn.com

Carnegie libraries across the country will each receive a $10,000 donation as part of a $20 million initiative to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. www.kqed.org/arts/1398275... via @kqednews.kqed.org

Bat ladies. You probably didn’t know this was a thing. www.kqed.org/arts/1398268... via @kqedscience.bsky.social @raealexandra.bsky.social