May 21, 2026

Governor Newsom signs first-of-its-kind executive order to prepare workers and businesses for potential AI disruption

Governor Newsom signs first-of-its-kind executive order to prepare workers and businesses for potential AI disruption

What you need to know: Governor Newsom is signing a first-in-the-nation executive order to confront the economic impacts of artificial intelligence on workers and small businesses, support workers in sectors impacted by AI transition, and pursue new policies that ensure Californians — not just big tech companies — benefit from the wealth-generating opportunities of the future economy.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today issued an executive order directing California to prepare workers, small businesses, and communities for the economic disruption that artificial intelligence will bring to the workforce. The order mobilizes state agencies, labor experts, economists, universities, and industry leaders to develop new policies, gather data, and identify early warning signs of workforce disruption — while ensuring workers share in the gains created by AI-driven productivity.

The order directs the state to explore policies including severance standards, employment insurance and transition support for displaced workers, worker ownership models, universal basic capital concepts, expanded workforce training, and stronger tracking of hiring and payroll trends to help California respond faster to potential layoffs and economic disruption. Read the executive order here.
“California has never sat back and watched as the future happened to us – and we won’t start now. We have taken the lead on advancing innovation, safety, and transparency. But we must think bigger. This moment demands that we reimagine the entire system — how we work, how we govern, how we prepare people for the future — and that work is starting right here in the Golden State.

Today is just the first step as we rewrite policy and direction, creating a future of work that works for all.”

Governor Gavin Newsom
https://www.gov.ca.gov/2026/05/21/governor-newsom-signs-first-of-its-kind-executive-order-to-prepare-workers-and-businesses-for-potential-ai-disruption/
Much More:

May 19, 2026

Judges toss charges against 9 over US Attorney Darin Smith's 'deeply concerning' misconduct

Three federal judges dismissed felony grand jury indictments against nine defendants Friday, citing misconduct by interim U.S. Attorney for Wyoming Darin Smith that could have prejudiced the jurors.

“This is not a case where a few offhand statements were improperly sprinkled throughout the presentation of evidence in one defendant’s case,” the judges’ order reads. “This misconduct began with some of the first words spoken to the grand jury (and) the misconduct continued to penetrate the proceedings in off-the-record conversations, occurring on the breaks between indictments.

“This is deeply concerning,” the judges wrote.

The judges dismissed felony indictments against Cheyenne Swett, Richard Allen, Michael Scott Hopper, Brian Joseph Johnson, Dennison Jay Antelope, Mathew Christopher Jacoby, Matthew Miller Jr., Wolf Elkins Duran and Jose Benito Ocon. The now-dismissed charges ranged from felony possession of firearms, drug distribution and possession of child pornography, among other things.

https://apnews.com/article/wyoming-attorney-darin-smith-felony-indictments-dismissed-1264bff882521634f9b4fc8d35bceb9a

March 20, 2026

U.S. says Cuba is prohibited from taking Russian oil as two tankers head to island

Source: CNBC

The U.S. Treasury Department has said Cuba won’t be allowed to take delivery of Russian crude, even as the fuel-starved island appears poised to receive two tankers carrying oil and gas.

In a general license published Thursday, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Cuba to a list of countries that would be blocked from transactions involving the sale, delivery or offloading of crude or petroleum products that originate from Russia.

The U.S. had temporarily authorized the purchase of Russian oil stranded at sea last week, as part of an effort to stabilize energy markets during the U.S. and Israeli-led war on Iran. The short-term measure suspended sanctions that were first imposed on Moscow following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The update comes as maritime intelligence providers have been tracking two tankers carrying Russian oil and gas heading toward Cuba.

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Read more: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/03/20/cuba-crisis-fuel-tankers-russia-oil-gas-energy-us-trump.html

March 18, 2026

I heard that Pam Bondi notified Congress that

she is going to appear behind closed doors with them tomorrow at 5PM. She let them know after learning about her subpoena to appear in front of them on April 14. I wonder what is going on?

I heard it from listening to Legal AF

March 17, 2026

Chief Justice John Roberts warns personal attacks on judges have 'got to stop

Chief Justice John Roberts on Tuesday said that personal criticism of judges is dangerous and urged prominent figures to dial down the rhetoric just days after President Donald Trump launched his most recent broadside against the Supreme Court.

Roberts, the head of the federal judiciary, said in public remarks at Rice University in Houston that critiques of the substance of Supreme Court rulings are part of the job but that some more pointed comments have gone too far. He did not mention Trump specifically.

"The problem sometimes is that the criticism can move from a focus on legal analysis to personalities. And you see from all over, I mean, not just any one political perspective on it, that it's more directed in a personal way, and that, frankly, can be actually quite dangerous," Roberts said.

"Personally directed hostility is dangerous and has got to stop," he added.

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/chief-justice-john-roberts-warns-personal-attacks-judges-got-stop-rcna263927

March 17, 2026

Oil Begins Flowing Through California Pipeline Under Trump Order

Oil had not flowed through the pipeline since a 2015 rupture caused an environmental disaster on California’s Central Coast. It sets up a new fight between the Trump administration and state officials.

Oil has begun flowing through a pipeline near Santa Barbara, Calif., for the first time in more than a decade after the Trump administration ordered offshore production to resume there despite strong objections from California officials.

The pipeline had been shut down since 2015, when a rupture caused one of the worst oil spills in state history, releasing more than 100,000 gallons of oil onto California’s Central Coast and covering birds and beaches in tar.

The new owner of the pipeline, Sable Offshore, announced on Monday that it had resumed oil production on Saturday at the direction of Energy Secretary Chris Wright and after Mr. Trump invoked the Defense Production Act, which the Trump administration said superseded state laws.

snip> https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/16/us/santa-barbara-oil-pipeline-trump.html

March 17, 2026

UK security adviser attended US-Iran talks and judged deal was within reach

Exclusive: Jonathan Powell thought Tehran’s ‘surprising’ offer on its nuclear programme could prevent rush to war, sources say

Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, attended the final talks between the US and Iran and judged that the offer made by Tehran on its nuclear programme was significant enough to prevent a rush to war, the Guardian can reveal.

Powell thought progress had been made in Geneva in late February and that the deal proposed by Iran was “surprising”, according to sources.

Two days after the talks ended, and after a date had been agreed for a further round of technical talks in Vienna, the US and Israel launched the attack on Iran.

Powell’s presence at the talks, and his close knowledge of how they were progressing, was confirmed by three sources.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/mar/17/uk-security-adviser-attended-us-iran-talks-and-judged-deal-was-within-reach
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February 27, 2026

Trump Administration Moves to Allow Intelligence Agencies Easier Access to Law Enforcement Files

The Trump administration is loosening restrictions on the sharing of law enforcement information with the CIA and other intelligence agencies, officials said, overriding controls that have been in place for decades to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens.

Government officials said the changes could give the intelligence agencies access to a database containing hundreds of millions of documents — from FBI case files and banking records to criminal investigations of labor unions — that touch on the activities of law-abiding Americans.

Administration officials said they are providing the intelligence agencies with more information from investigations by the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration and other agencies to combat drug gangs and other transnational criminal groups that the administration has classified as terrorists.

But they have taken these steps with almost no public acknowledgement or notification to Congress. Inside the government, officials said, the process has been marked by a similar lack of transparency, with scant high-level discussion and little debate among government lawyers.

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https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-cia-law-enforcement-records-privacy-intelligence-community

February 26, 2026

Breaking: Netflix backs out of bid for Warner Bros

Netflix said on Thursday that it had backed away from its deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, a stunning development that paves the way for the storied Hollywood media giant to end up under the control of a rival bidder, the technology heir David Ellison.

Netflix said that it would not raise its offer to counter a higher bid made earlier this week by Mr. Ellison’s company, Paramount Skydance, adding in a statement that “the deal is no longer financially attractive.”

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/business/warner-bros-discovery-paramount-deal-netflix.html?utm_source=newsshowcase&utm_medium=gnews&utm_campaign=CDAQi5Wps4rD3udyGKGI45SKwrb9tAEqDwgAKgcICjCO64oDMJavPA&utm_content=rundown&gaa_at=la&gaa_n=AWEtsqemZMTYB2YR-H6fbt-O6aeZvIonuriqz5I3fapjD7jGHwLgzNKeZjHPMPWd3vWRRnKDXFQqs6089B3b&gaa_ts=69a0e43b&gaa_sig=bTgp7eGdfTzYhFVmLi9-MxGGZX5ACrLx5Gz2pUtHYuIOYnoSucFCylzTknAoMUPzfUADRdCP8IeUbgC00zXk8g%3D%3D

February 24, 2026

'We got hooked': arrests on US army base spark fear of military coordination with ICE

Francisco Galicia paced his cell at Fort Hunter Liggett, a vast army base 160 miles south of San Francisco, on a Friday evening in January. His mind raced with thoughts of his five daughters waiting for him at home.

Over several hours, immigration agents brought six more men into the frigid, cement-walled cell. As the men shared eerily similar stories of their arrests, Galicia realized they had all driven straight into a trap.

All seven had been driving home from fishing at a popular county lake when an official in a white truck had pulled them over along the same stretch of Jolon Road, a public, two-lane road that, unbeknown to Galicia, cuts through a corner of the military installation.

The traffic stops appeared routine at first: a light out, an open gas cap, a trunk door ajar, driving over the line. But then the officer asked for a social security number. In each case, when the men didn’t give a number, immigration agents arrived within minutes to make arrests, then drove the men to a detention site on the base where they were held overnight before being transferred to an immigration facility, Galicia said.

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/feb/24/us-army-base-arrests-ice-military