Source: The Hollywood Reporter
“In a surprise move, OpenAI will shut down its Sora AI video app, just months after it was first launched. ‘We’re saying goodbye to Sora. To everyone who created with Sora, shared it, and built community around it: thank you,’ the company said in a statement. ‘What you made with Sora mattered, and we know this news is disappointing. We’ll share more soon, including timelines for the app and API and details on preserving your work.’ A source familiar with the matter tells The Hollywood Reporter that Disney is also exiting the deal it signed with OpenAI last year, in which it pledged to invest $1 billion in the company and agreed to license some of its characters for use in Sora.” (03/24/26)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/digital/openai-shutting-down-sora-ai-video-app-1236546187/
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos says he is working to secure new sources of oil after he placed the country under a state of national energy emergency in response to the war in Iran. Marcos told Filipinos in a televised address that the government would procure one million barrels of oil to add to the current stock, which is good for 45 days. ‘We will have a flow of oil. Not just one delivery, not two deliveries, but a flow of oil-related products,’ he said. The Philippines, which imports 98% of its oil from the gulf, became the first country to declare an energy emergency after local diesel and petrol prices more than doubled in the country since the war broke out on 28 February. The US-Israel war with Iran and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz – a key shipping route – have sent shock waves through global energy markets, causing shortages and price rises.” (03/25/26)
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3ex8ez3717o
Source: Parallax Views w/ J.G. Michael
“Reading the City: Dublin’s History in Its Streets w/ Garvan Rushe.” (03/24/26)
https://parallaxviews.podbean.com/e/grushe/
Source: The UnPopulist
by Tibita Kaneene
“For too long, American populists on the left and right have treated globalism — the free flow of goods, capital, and people across borders — as a concession to corporate interests, a system to apologize for rather than promote. That defensiveness has become a trap: facing Trump’s assault on the principles of free and open trade, Democrats are pushing back, but on tactical grounds rather than making a full, principled case for free trade. Tariffs raise prices for everyone, reduce employment and output, and weaken the democratic alliances Democrats claim to cherish. In failing to make the principled case against tariffs, Democrats cede the language of economic openness to the very forces dismantling it.” (03/24/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/democrats-should-own-free-trade-not
Source: Inequality.org
by Sarah Anderson & Reyanna James
“At least 16 US billionaires owe their wealth to one of America’s 20 largest low-wage employers, corporations where a significant share of workers earn so little they have to rely on public assistance. Of these 16 billionaires, 8 are associated with Walmart. Amazon and Tyson Foods have two members of this elite club, while Home Depot, Best Buy, Starbucks, and Chipotle each have one. For detailed data on wages and CEO pay at these and other leading low-wage corporations, see the recent Institute for Policy Studies report ‘America’s 20 Largest Low-Wage Employers and the Affordability Crisis.’ This article includes updated net worth data from the just-released Forbes 2026 Global Billionaires List.” (03/25/26)
https://inequality.org/article/billionaires-low-wage-workers/
Source: In These Times
by Shane Burley
“Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg, like hundreds of other residents and organizers in the Twin Cities, now keeps a strict schedule — at least every other day — of long volunteer patrols for vehicles driven by federal immigration agents occupying the region. In about two and a half months, thousands of agents unleashed wanton violence across the country as they abduct an average of more than 60 residents per day; shooting, killing and firing chemical weapons at nonviolent protesters, and extrajudicially arrest preschoolers and send them across the country. Things have been hard, but neighborhoods have also become more united and communication has become systematized and effective. ’The day-to-day experiences [are] of being exhausted and having your nervous system very jacked,’ Rosenberg said.” (03/24/26)
https://inthesetimes.com/article/the-new-antifascist-consensus-ice-rapid-response-community-defense
Source: Deutsche Welle [German state media]
“Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen’s hopes for a third term were further complicated on Tuesday, with her left-wing bloc winning the election yet failing to secure a majority. The bloc, which includes the Social Democrats, the center-right Venstre and Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen’s Moderates, took 84 seats in Denmark’s 179-seat parliament. The right secured 77 seats, official results showed. Rasmussen’s party became kingmaker with 14 seats, setting the stage for thorny negotiations as the winners strive to build a coalition government. … Her Social Democrat party had been bolstered with Frederiksen having rebuffed Trump’s threat to take control of Greenland, an island in the Arctic Ocean that is a semi-autonomous territory controlled by Denmark. But Tuesday’s vote represents the worst result for the Social Democrats since the start of the last century, sinking to 21.9%. That’s dramatic fall from the 27.5% they won in the last election in 2022.” (03/24/26)
https://www.dw.com/en/danish-pms-left-wing-bloc-wins-vote-but-with-no-majority/a-76498223
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Israel, America, and the Iran War | Robert Wright & Ron Kampeas.” (03/24/26)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTwjKGXM9xo
Source: Independent Institute
by Alexander William Salter & Bryan P Cutsinger
“Members of Gen Z are right to ask: What jobs will be left for them in the new AI world? After all, artificial intelligence already can draft reports, reconcile accounts, write code, and generate marketing copy in seconds—and it’s improving fast. But new technologies do not eliminate work. They change what kinds of work matter. AI excels at tasks that follow rules and patterns. Feed it enough data and a clear objective, and it performs quickly and cheaply. So, a better question for Gen Zers to ask is: What kind of education and training will hold its value when the tools we use keep changing?” (03/24/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/03/24/gen-z-economics-ai-work/
Source: Liberty International
by Chike Ibewuike
“On March 13, 2026, our partners at the Language of Liberty Institute organized an awareness campaign and interactive discussion titled Liberty, Entrepreneurship, and Nepal at Birgunj Public College in Madhesh Province. The three-hour event brought together bachelor-level students from diverse academic backgrounds to explore the relationship between liberty, economic freedom, and entrepreneurship—with a particular focus on youth empowerment in Nepal. In today’s global economy, entrepreneurship plays a central role in driving innovation, economic growth, and job creation. But entrepreneurship does not emerge in isolation — it flourishes in environments where individuals enjoy freedom of thought, open markets, and the ability to experiment without excessive constraints. Recognizing this, the event aimed to introduce participants to the concept of liberal entrepreneurship, which emphasizes individual initiative, creativity, and economic freedom as key pillars of development.” (03/24/26)
https://liberty-intl.org/2026/03/25/liberty-entrepreneurship-and-nepal-empowering-youth-through-freedom-and-innovation/
