As the president’s popularity withers, the party has no will to stage an intervention against him Donald Trump wins, Republicans lose. The Indiana primaries on 5 May, in which five of seven Trump-backed candidates ousted stalwart conservative Republican state legislators who had refused his command to redraw congressional districts, has been the only victory Trump can claim recently. Indiana, happ...
As the president’s popularity withers, the party has no will to stage an intervention against him Donald Trump wins, Republicans lose. The Indiana primaries on 5 May, in which five of seven Trump-backed candidates ousted stalwart conservative Republican state legislators who had refused his command to redraw congressional districts, has been the only victory Trump can claim recently. Indiana, happily for him, is not Iran. His appeal still prevails at least over the increasingly narrow band of Maga voters. But the persistence of Trump’s domination is a sign of mounting haplessness. His victory is an augury of repudiation. Maga devotion is hardening in response to his dwindling popularity, a telltale reaction of true believers to a failed prophesy. The cult survives, the party withers. On the same day the Indiana Republicans went down to defeat to sate Trump’s vengefulness, a Democrat won a bellwether Michigan state senate seat by 20 points in a district that Kamala Harris carried by less than a point. The bell tolls for thee. Sidney Blumenthal, former senior adviser to Bill Clinton as well as Hillary Clinton, has published three books of a projected five-volume political life of Abraham Lincoln: A Self-Made Man , Wrestling With His Angel and All the Powers of Earth . He is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...
A tiny bird with a giant ego, Crispin was a remarkable singer – especially if you told him how talented, intelligent and gracious he was I was around four years old when my parents bought me Crispin, my first pet. A handsome yellow canary, Crispin was bad-tempered and behaved like an alpha male. He would spend hours preening. I thought he was enchanting. A gentle female canary, Mariflor, arrived s...
A tiny bird with a giant ego, Crispin was a remarkable singer – especially if you told him how talented, intelligent and gracious he was I was around four years old when my parents bought me Crispin, my first pet. A handsome yellow canary, Crispin was bad-tempered and behaved like an alpha male. He would spend hours preening. I thought he was enchanting. A gentle female canary, Mariflor, arrived soon after. She became Crispin’s other half and the mother of their chicks, Maribel and Quintin. Having a canary family compensated for my lack of siblings and extended family. It gave me a sense of responsibility and filled my life with joy. Continue reading...
An aggrieved caller puts the host of Sarah Cares to the test, examining the limits of her ideas by threatening to kill her husband’s lover If the initial phone call from Scream lasted an entire film, the result would be something like this halfway-decent B-movie thriller. Jessica Morris stars as the presenter of Sarah Cares, a call-in radio show/podcast in which she solves listeners’ emotional dil...
An aggrieved caller puts the host of Sarah Cares to the test, examining the limits of her ideas by threatening to kill her husband’s lover If the initial phone call from Scream lasted an entire film, the result would be something like this halfway-decent B-movie thriller. Jessica Morris stars as the presenter of Sarah Cares, a call-in radio show/podcast in which she solves listeners’ emotional dilemmas, often in tough-love, no-nonsense fashion. On the verge of signing a big-time New York contract, her week goes awry when her studio falls victim to a bomb scare. Then on the following day her phone lines are blockaded by Edward, an aggrieved and apparently abusive husband; Sarah had previously told his wife to ditch him. Edward says that all he wants is moral consistency. Sarah, the supposed font of all wisdom, is living in a sham marriage and he has the proof locked up in his shed: her husband’s new lover Alice (Carly Diamond Stone). Unless Sarah wants Alice’s death on her conscience, she has to abide by two rules: no cops, and complete honesty when Edward asks a question. After the insipid setup involving Sarah’s radio colleagues, and then the hypocrisies of her home life with husband David (Adam Huss) and daughter Maya (Aliza Kate Barlow), Killer on the Air becomes increasingly compelling the more minimalist it gets; a duel between the unravelling DJ and the malevolent green waveform on her screen. Continue reading...
Data from University of Toronto suggests Canadians are avoiding US cities during the second Trump administration A new research tool that tracks cell phone activity has found a 42% drop in visitors from Canada to big metropolitan areas in the US that is much higher than official border-crossing data, suggesting Canadians during the second Trump administration are avoiding US cities in particular. ...
Data from University of Toronto suggests Canadians are avoiding US cities during the second Trump administration A new research tool that tracks cell phone activity has found a 42% drop in visitors from Canada to big metropolitan areas in the US that is much higher than official border-crossing data, suggesting Canadians during the second Trump administration are avoiding US cities in particular. Researchers from the University of Toronto said the tool showed a “year-over-year median decline of approximately 42% in Canadian visits to US metropolitan areas – significantly higher than official border-crossing data, which showed a roughly 25% decline”. Continue reading...
Senator Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic lawmakers are embracing a policy that hardly benefits the middle class Soul-searching within the Democratic party is to be expected after its loss in the 2024 election. Donald Trump’s edge over Kamala Harris in voters’ perceptions of economic competence (perplexing though it now appears following a year of erratic policymaking) was bound to inspire a c...
Senator Chris Van Hollen and other Democratic lawmakers are embracing a policy that hardly benefits the middle class Soul-searching within the Democratic party is to be expected after its loss in the 2024 election. Donald Trump’s edge over Kamala Harris in voters’ perceptions of economic competence (perplexing though it now appears following a year of erratic policymaking) was bound to inspire a call to rethink the party platform. Yet the second-guessing is steering the Democrats down a dangerous path to embracing a tax-cutting strategy that risks defeating the project to enable a healthier, more equitable society. Continue reading...
In 2020 two economists walked into a bar in San Diego and made a bet. Erik Brynjolfsson , head of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, wagered that from 2020 to 2030, artificial intelligence would drive US labor productivity growth to more than 1.8% per year on average. Robert Gordon , an economist at Northwestern University, thought AI progress would be a little slower going. He put his money on pro...
In 2020 two economists walked into a bar in San Diego and made a bet. Erik Brynjolfsson , head of the Stanford Digital Economy Lab, wagered that from 2020 to 2030, artificial intelligence would drive US labor productivity growth to more than 1.8% per year on average. Robert Gordon , an economist at Northwestern University, thought AI progress would be a little slower going. He put his money on productivity growth coming in below 1.8%. At stake: $400, to be donated to charity. As wonky and low stakes as the bet might sound, its outcome will have a much greater impact on our welfare than almost anything Polymarket could dream up . At the heart of the wager is a crucial question: How much is AI going to affect the economy? How fast? And will it be a good thing for workers, or are we all about to be AI’ed right out of a job ? The best way to see how much the AI hype is actually manifesting on Main Street is to look at labor productivity, which has accelerated noticeably in the US in recent years. Productivity—basically, the amount of goods and services an economy churns out divided by the hours worked to generate that output—is one of the most important indicators of economic health . It’s also profoundly personal, says Diane Coyle , an economist at the University of Cambridge and author of The Measure of Progress . “It is the measure that most closely relates to how people’s living standards go up over time.” Technological breakthroughs like the steam engine, electricity, the internet and now AI help workers produce more. “Think about a construction site,” Coyle says. “A worker who gets a digger is going to be more productive than a worker who’s just got a shovel.” Innovation isn’t always welcome. In the 1900s pockets of farmers in the US and Britain vigorously resisted various forms of mechanization , from threshing machines to tractors. But at his farm in Surprise, Arizona, David Vose is embracing AI-enabled automation. Vose has run Blue Sky Organic Farms for more th...
Chinese youth are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for fortune-telling, discovering that AI models are cheaper, faster, and equally effective compared to traditional human soothsayers. On a popular Chinese social media platform, the hashtag #deepseeksuanming, or DeepSeek fortune-telling, has amassed over 55 million views. DeepSeek is a family of Chinese AI models launched in 20...
Chinese youth are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence (AI) for fortune-telling, discovering that AI models are cheaper, faster, and equally effective compared to traditional human soothsayers. On a popular Chinese social media platform, the hashtag #deepseeksuanming, or DeepSeek fortune-telling, has amassed over 55 million views. DeepSeek is a family of Chinese AI models launched in 2023. Many users report that AI fortune-telling has seamlessly integrated into their daily routines....
A leading Chinese aviation engineer has set out a detailed blueprint for building a fully self-sufficient supply chain for large passenger jets. The paper, written by Zhang Yanzhong, a senior academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the former chief scientist of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, acknowledged there was a very real risk that the country could be cut off entire...
A leading Chinese aviation engineer has set out a detailed blueprint for building a fully self-sufficient supply chain for large passenger jets. The paper, written by Zhang Yanzhong, a senior academician at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the former chief scientist of the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, acknowledged there was a very real risk that the country could be cut off entirely from components made in the West. Known as the “father of China’s large aircraft” for his decades...
Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEMKT:VNQ) offers a concentrated portfolio of domestic REITs, while Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (NASDAQ:VNQI) provides broader international diversification and a higher trailing yield. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) provide income and growth potential, but geographic concentration can shift a portfolio’s risk profile significantly. While both funds o...
Vanguard Real Estate ETF (NYSEMKT:VNQ) offers a concentrated portfolio of domestic REITs, while Vanguard Global ex-U.S. Real Estate ETF (NASDAQ:VNQI) provides broader international diversification and a higher trailing yield. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) provide income and growth potential, but geographic concentration can shift a portfolio’s risk profile significantly. While both funds originate from Vanguard, they serve different strategic roles. One focuses exclusively on the domestic property market, while the other looks across more than 30 international markets to capture global real estate trends. Beta measures price volatility relative to the S&P 500; beta is calculated from five-year monthly returns. The 1-yr return represents total return over the trailing 12 months. Dividend yield is the trailing-12-month distribution yield. Continue reading
NEW YORK, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” “CGBD” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CGBD) today announced its financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
NEW YORK, May 11, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Carlyle Secured Lending, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “we,” “us,” “our,” “CGBD” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: CGBD) today announced its financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2026.
When you decide to claim Social Security seems like an individual decision, but if you're married, your choice doesn't just affect you. Your spouse may also get less money if you choose to sign up early. This doesn't mean that applying for Social Security early is always the wrong decision. But you and your spouse should be familiar with the following two potential drawbacks before deciding whethe...
When you decide to claim Social Security seems like an individual decision, but if you're married, your choice doesn't just affect you. Your spouse may also get less money if you choose to sign up early. This doesn't mean that applying for Social Security early is always the wrong decision. But you and your spouse should be familiar with the following two potential drawbacks before deciding whether it's the right call for your family. Image source: Getty Images. Continue reading
AzmanL/E+ via Getty Images Quarterly Commentary All nine One Choice Target Date Portfolios posted negative returns in the first quarter. Market Environment Global financial markets declined in the first quarter amid the war in Iran. Soaring energy prices ignited fears of higher inflation and lower growth, sidelining talk of additional Federal Reserve rate cuts. Before the war, U.S. stocks already ...
AzmanL/E+ via Getty Images Quarterly Commentary All nine One Choice Target Date Portfolios posted negative returns in the first quarter. Market Environment Global financial markets declined in the first quarter amid the war in Iran. Soaring energy prices ignited fears of higher inflation and lower growth, sidelining talk of additional Federal Reserve rate cuts. Before the war, U.S. stocks already had fallen on concerns about artificial intelligence business disruptions and related layoffs. Overall, non-U.S. developed markets stocks outperformed U.S. stocks, and U.S. bonds outperformed global non-U.S. bonds. U.S. stocks endured their worst quarter since 2022. Corporate earnings reports were strong; nevertheless, investors saw surging oil prices and the threat of inflation as diminishing the outlook for 2026. Mid- and small-cap stocks advanced for the quarter and outperformed large-cap stocks, which declined. Value stocks posted gains across the market-capitalization spectrum, while growth stocks fell. Among non-U.S. stocks, both developed markets and emerging markets stocks declined in absolute terms but outperformed U.S. stocks. Bond prices declined modestly. Rising energy prices raised global inflation fears and pushed bond yields higher. Bond prices, which move in the opposite direction of yields, fell. When factoring in bonds' interest rate payments, total returns were essentially flat in the U.S. and slightly negative outside the U.S. High-yield and investment-grade corporate bonds declined amid worries about growth and inflation, while Treasury securities held up better amid some perceived safe-haven buying. Key Contributors Non-U.S. and value-oriented holdings led contributors. Top absolute performers in the applicable portfolios were International Value, Emerging Markets, Small Cap Value, Small Cap Dividend and Mid Cap Value. Shorter-duration and inflation-linked holdings gained. Across fixed-income holdings, Short Duration Inflation Protection Bond, Inflatio...