Wealthy Ramp Up Spending As Other Americans Tread Water

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Wealthy Ramp Up Spending As Other Americans Tread Water (Maria)

The author writes, “Higher-income Americans and those with college degrees have ramped up their spending more quickly in the past three years than other consumers, according to new data released Tuesday, evidence of worsening inequality that may explain some of the growing pessimism about the economy. The data, released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, also show that in the last quarter of 2025, lower-income and rural households faced more inflation than high-income households.”

The Real Story Behind the Midnight Immigration Raid on a Chicago Apartment Building (Dana)

From ProPublica: “For months, the Trump administration has justified its dramatic midnight raid on a Chicago apartment complex by saying that it had intelligence that the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had taken over the building. But officials have provided no evidence to back up the claim. Now, new documents confirm in the government’s own words that what prompted the raid was more pedestrian: allegations that immigrants were squatting in the complex. And the landlord had given federal officials, who were already targeting immigrants in Chicago, the blessing to search the building.”

Israeli Military Found Gaza Health Ministry Death Toll Was Accurate. Will These Deniers Admit It? (Laura)

From The Intercept: “After more than two years of denying the number of Palestinians it is killing during its campaign in Gaza, the Israeli military decided the death toll estimate kept by the Health Ministry in the Gaza Strip was an accurate count of those killed in the besieged territory. The military, which routinely dismissed health ministry figures as Hamas propaganda, is analyzing the data to distinguish how many are combatants and how many are civilians, according to Haaretz. The report confirms past stories from the Israeli website Local Call as well as Vice. The ministry is part of a Hamas-controlled government in Gaza, but human rights advocates, a prestigious medical journal, and the United Nations have said for years that its tallies of the dead have been found to be accurate. The ministry also periodically releases names and other identifying information about those killed in Gaza.”

Trump Is Still Posting About Arresting Obama and Prosecuting Election Workers (Sean)

From Mother Jones: “Amid multiple national crises, President Donald Trump spent [last] Thursday morning posting — not for the first time — about how his predecessor Barack Obama should be arrested, and how Georgia election workers should be prosecuted, in both cases citing unsubstantiated claims. Trump’s fixations on going after Obama and Georgia aren’t new, but they now come at a moment of intense backlash across the country over his administration’s violent campaign targeting both immigrants and citizens in Minneapolis and nationwide.” 

Kenyan Job Seekers Were Lured to Russia, Then Sent to Die in Ukraine (Russ)

The authors write, “Hundreds of Kenyans have been recruited by the Russian military to serve on the front lines in Ukraine, according to former recruits and their families. Many have never returned. Most men said they were tricked — offered civilian or ‘safe’ security jobs in Russia, only to be handed a weapon and sent to the battlefield. Others were current or former soldiers who joined up as mercenaries, lured by promises of higher wages. The survivors described inhumane treatment by Russian commanders and harrowing scenes of slaughter. While there have been isolated reports of Africans conscripted by Moscow to fight, The Washington Post uncovered an extensive clandestine pipeline stretching from Nairobi to the forests of eastern Ukraine. Russian recruitment in Kenya is more widespread, and more deadly, than previously reported, and the effort extends across the continent.”

Tesla’s Own Robotaxi Data Confirms Crash Rate 3X Worse Than Humans Even With Monitor (Reader Jim)

The author writes, “Tesla’s nascent robotaxi program is off to a rough start. New NHTSA crash data, combined with Tesla’s new disclosure of robotaxi mileage, reveals Tesla’s autonomous vehicles are crashing at a rate much higher than human drivers, and that’s with a safety monitor in every car. According to NHTSA’s Standing General Order crash reports, Tesla has reported 9 crashes involving its robotaxi fleet in Austin, Texas between July and November 2025. According to a chart in Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings report showing cumulative robotaxi miles, the fleet has traveled approximately 500,000 miles as of November 2025. That works out to roughly one crash every 55,000 miles. For comparison, human drivers in the United States average approximately one police-reported crash every 500,000 miles.”

This AI Spots Dangerous Blood Cells Doctors Often Miss (Mili)

The author writes, “A new artificial intelligence system that examines the shape and structure of blood cells could significantly improve how diseases such as leukemia are diagnosed. Researchers say the tool can identify abnormal cells with greater accuracy and consistency than human specialists, potentially reducing missed or uncertain diagnoses. The system, known as CytoDiffusion, relies on generative AI, the same type of technology used in image generators such as DALL-E, to analyze blood cell appearance in detail. Rather than focusing only on obvious patterns, it studies subtle variations in how cells look under a microscope.”