Landslides, Lithuania, Libertarians, & Lots of AI News
May 28, 2024
Hello, readers – happy Tuesday! Today, we’re talking about the U.K.’s military tactics, a weekend of devastation in Gaza, Lithuania’s elections, a landslide in Papua New Guinea, the Libertarian party, Elon’s AI company, and Google’s chatbot struggles.
Here’s some good news: Scientists say they’ve found a way to recycle cement from demolished concrete buildings – cement is a major contributor to global warming because of the chemical reactions limestone reaches high temperatures by burning fossil fuels. Also, the inaugural class from Oklahoma State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine at the Cherokee Nation (the first physician training program on a Native American reservation) graduated this week.
“As beautiful as simplicity is, it can become a tradition that stands in the way of exploration.” – Laura Nyro
How To Lose An Election In 10 Days

Ahead of national elections on July 4, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that his Conservative Party will institute some form of mandatory military or civilian national service if they win. The last time that Britain had any form of mandatory service was between 1947 and 1960 when young men were forced to complete 18 months of mandatory military service.
Under the new plan, 30,000 of Britain’s roughly 700,000 18-year-olds (roughly 4%) would spend 12 months working in the military, mainly in supportive roles such as logistics or cyber defense. The remaining 18-year-olds would be made to spend one weekend every month volunteering in local communities, helping out at charities, hospitals, and fire departments. The Tories estimate that the plan will cost 2.5 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) per year, with 1.5 billion pounds ($1.9 billion) taken from the U.K. Shared Prosperity Fund, which was set up to help strengthen lower-income communities.
The Labour Party described the plan as a “desperate 2.5 billion pound unfunded commitment” from a party “bankrupt of ideas,” with one prominent member predicting “it’ll never happen.”
Two Really Bad Looks In Rafah
On Monday, a member of Egypt’s security forces was shot and killed during an incident at the Gaza-Egypt border area near Rafah. Israeli media said that the death was the result of an exchange of fire, but both Israel and Egypt say they’re still investigating exactly what happened.
Meanwhile, on Sunday night, an Israeli airstrike hit a refugee camp located in a dedicated safe zone for those fleeing Rafah, killing at least 45 Palestinians and wounding almost 200 others. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the airstrike a “tragic mistake” after receiving harsh international criticism for the civilian deaths. Shortly after the strike, however, the IDF said it had killed two senior Hamas officials in an airstrike based on “precise intelligence” – so, was it a mistake or a precise attack?
“The devastating images following an IDF strike in Rafah last night that killed dozens of innocent Palestinians are heartbreaking. Israel has a right to go after Hamas, and we understand this strike killed two senior Hamas terrorists who are responsible for attacks against Israeli civilians,” said one U.S. spokesperson in response to the attack. “But as we’ve been clear, Israel must take every precaution possible to protect civilians.”
Nausėda Nets A Win

- Lithuania’s incumbent president Gitanas Nausėda won his re-election bid over the weekend, securing another five-year term in a landslide victory. With 90% of ballots counted, Nausėda received 74.6% of votes in Sunday’s second-round election. His opponent, Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, won just 23.8% of ballots cast in the election.
- “Now that I have five years of experience, I believe that I will certainly be able to use this jewel properly, first of all to achieve the goals of welfare for all the people of Lithuania,” Nausėda told reporters. While both candidates have backed increasing defense spending through a tax hike, they differ on social issues and relations with China – Šimonytė is more socially liberal, and Nausėda is friendlier with Beijing.
An Avalanche Off Australia
- A landslide in Papua New Guinea’s northern Enga province has buried over 2,000 people alive, according to the country’s government, and displaced over 1,250 people. While locals attempt to rescue people using sticks and shovels, the government is still working to secure better access to the affected areas to bring in heavier equipment. Meanwhile, flowing water beneath the debris and the threat of falling rocks continue to make rescue operations risky.
- An official from the country’s National Disaster Center said it “caused major destruction to buildings, food gardens and caused major impact on the economic lifeline of the country.” “Many of the houses are buried under eight metres of dirt so if the land doesn’t stabilise then it has to be done predominantly by hand then that will take a significant amount of time,” said the head of the CARE International Papua New Guinea aid group.
More Mixed Nuts
- Iran’s acting president addresses new parliament after helicopter crash killing president (Politico)
- New Caledonia state of emergency to be lifted, says Paris (Reuters)
- Seven killed and over 1 million evacuated as Cyclone Remal lashes South Asia (CNN)
- Zelenskiy calls on world leaders to attend Ukraine ‘peace summit’ after deadly Kharkiv strike (Guardian)
- U.S. Lawmakers Visit Taiwan and Vow Support in Face of Chinese Military Drills (NYT, $)
Middle East Mixed Nuts
- Rep. Jared Moskowitz mocks the ICC as ‘the Harry Potter Ministry of Magic’ (Politico)
- Police and protesters clash in Tel Aviv as rallies across Israel demand Gaza ceasefire (CNN)
Big Don Gets Big Boos
- Former President Trump made an appearance at the Libertarian Party’s convention on Saturday, and the crowd wasn’t exactly thrilled about his presence – the crowd was audibly booing at some points. Trump released a statement on Sunday about not getting the nomination from the party, saying, “The reason I didn’t file paperwork for the Libertarian Nomination, which I would have absolutely gotten if I wanted it (as everyone could tell by the enthusiasm of the Crowd last night!), was the fact that, as the Republican Nominee, I am not allowed to have the Nomination of another Party.”
- While we’ll never know for sure if Trump would have gotten the nomination or not (though we can certainly take a guess), Chase Oliver was selected as the actual nominee. After seven rounds of voting, the 38-year-old took the top spot. Oliver is hoping to take Libertarian values mainstream. He doesn’t seem to have any false hopes about actually winning the White House – Oliver said he believes earning 2% of the vote nationally in November’s general election is a reasonable goal.
Big Venture Backs Big E
- xAI, the AI firm founded by Elon Musk, has raised another $6 billion from investors like Sequoia Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, according to a blog post released by the company yesterday. xAI said the new money would be used to take the firm’s “first products to market, build advanced infrastructure, and accelerate the research and development of future technologies.”
- xAI is responsible for Grok, which is available to paying X users. After over a year of OpenAI essentially ruling the AI market, this new funding could be just the boost Musk’s company needs – Musk was a founder of OpenAI but parted ways with the company years ago over disagreements about the company’s direction.
More Nuts In America
- Idaho Drag Performer Wins Over $1.1 Million in Defamation Suit Against Blogger (NYT, $)
- Colorado rancher and dozens of cows killed in lightning strike (NBC)
- Texas’ Tony Gonzales tries to fight off YouTube personality in runoff election where “anything can happen” (CBS)
- At least 21 dead in Memorial Day weekend storms that devastated several US states (AP)
- Publisher of Call of Duty, maker of AR-15 style rifle and Meta named in wrongful death lawsuits by families of Uvalde victims (CNN)
- Trump revives false claim that Biden authorized ‘deadly force’ for Mar-a-Lago search (Guardian)
AI Overview Goes Into Hallucination Overdrive
- Google has been rolling out its AI Overview search feature since last May, but the algorithm has been suggesting some very interesting things to users. Examples include telling users to eat boogers to boost their immune system, encouraging them to put glue on their pizza, and even suggesting that they eat rocks. In response to social media posts and memes about the broken feature, Google has been rushing to manually disable AI Overviews on certain search results, making some of the funniest results quickly disappear.
- “Many of the examples we’ve seen have been uncommon queries, and we’ve also seen examples that were doctored or that we couldn’t reproduce,” said one Google spokesperson. While the company has increasingly invested in new AI features as it struggles to catch up to Microsoft and other competitors, it seems the tech giant is struggling to get the basics right.
- “[These models] are constitutionally incapable of doing sanity checking on their own work, and that’s what’s come to bite this industry in the behind,” said one AI expert. While it’s easy to make an AI return correct results 80% of the time, he says, companies are struggling to make them actually 100% reliable – which is a huge problem for corporations looking to create a consistent product. Maybe AI could help them come up with a solution?
More Loose Nuts
- Military labs do the detective work to identify soldiers decades after they died in World War II (AP)
- A potentially habitable Earth-size planet was discovered just 40 light-years away (NBC)
- What’s to become of the mementos left at Arlington Cemetery? (WaPo, $)
- Italian teenage computer wizard set to become the first saint of the Millennial generation (AP)
- Tech company blames recruiter for ‘whites only’ job posting (NBC)