💥BEN HODGES: Putin in LIFE-or-DEATH situation! Kremlin on FIRE!

💥BEN HODGES: Putin in LIFE-or-DEATH situation! Kremlin on FIRE!

The Economist Magazine Cover For 03/29/2025

Cover Story: Elon Musk’s efficiency drive Inbox The Economist Unsubscribe 11:02 AM (3 minutes ago) to me The Economist Read in browser March 29th 2025 How we chose this week’s image SUBSCRIBER ONLY Cover Story How we chose this week’s image Insert a clear and simple description of the image Edward Carr Deputy editor In most of the world our cover is devoted to Elon Musk and his revolution against the federal government in Washington. In the Middle East and Africa we write about Israel’s remarkable resurgence after the horrors of October 7th 2023, and the hubris that now looms. Of all the things President Donald Trump has done at home since his inauguration in January, putting the Department of Government Efficiency under Mr Musk has turned out to be the most polarising. Mr Musk’s fans believe that in the 2010s a priesthood of partisan bureaucrats schemed with the media and universities to impose a progressive agenda on America. To them, dismantling this soft authoritarianism requires rough tactics. By contrast, Mr Musk’s critics see him as a self-dealing villain drunk on far-right ideology. We started with a moody Musk in black and white and an elevated Elon peering down at the mortals scurrying around Washington like ants. The world’s richest man has transformed at least two industries. Just imagine if he could pull off the same trick with the federal government—an organisation whose annual expenditure of $7trn is roughly equivalent to the combined revenues of America’s 20 biggest companies. Across the West, voters are frustrated because their governments are more adept at slowing things down than at making them go. We have worked up the super-human Musk. He does, after all, conceive of himself as a saviour who will put people on Mars and turn humankind into a multiplanetary species. Ordinarily, chances to start government afresh crop up only in times of war, plague or natural disaster. A sympathetic reading of DOGE is that Mr Musk is trying to bring creative destruction to bureaucracies by other means. But that looks much too optimistic. So far DOGE has broken laws with abandon and destroyed careers. It has lied about waste and seized personal data protected by law. Some federal employees still have to send weekly emails listing five things they did last week. But the inbox is full and they bounce back. To make this cover work, we needed a lot more edge. That thought took us to a Cybertruck running amok on America’s most famous lawn. Or perhaps it could be carting off the Capitol dome—which is not too far from the truth, given that DOGE wants to close outfits like the Department of Education that are supposed to fall under the purview of Congress. These images have an extra piquancy because Tesla has recently recalled a batch of Cybertrucks. But we wanted to show the machinery of the state, rather than the legislature or the White House. The feathers are flying and the federal government is at risk of becoming roadkill. For the final cover, we jazzed up the eagle, plonked the truck in the desert and gave it a personalised number plate. Rather than seeking to make government work better, DOGE’s actions so far look as if they are designed to expand the president’s power and root out wrongthink. Facing lawsuits and some adverse rulings, Mr Musk and others have attacked judges, accusing them of staging a coup. Mr Musk—and America—have a huge opportunity. They must not blow it. Just 18 months ago Israel was in grave peril. Surrounded by enemies, bickering with its main ally in Washington and reeling after Hamas’s attack caused the most murderous day in the country’s history, the Jewish state seemed vulnerable and confused. But it has staged a remarkable turnaround. It is fighting again, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon and in Syria and with full American backing. Unfortunately, its military supremacy comes with bitter strife at home and a danger of over­extension. We started with a photograph of the West Bank. But it struck our correspondents as out of date. The army is waging its biggest offensive in the West Bank in decades. More than 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from four refugee camps in the north. Far-right lawmakers are pushing ahead with plans to expand Jewish settlements. Or perhaps we could go with a collage of the prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. His government is using aggressive tactics to curb the independence of Israel’s institutions. In recent days the cabinet has endorsed the firing of the head of the Shin Bet, the domestic security agency, and of the attorney-general. The two officials happen to be involved in investigations of Mr Netanyahu’s aides over allegations of graft and other sins. The prime minister says he is innocent. We preferred this idea, however. Israel is planting flags—in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank. This new, hegemonic Israel is the product in part of the lingering trauma of October 7th. Before the massacre Israel sought to avoid all-out conflict, contenting itself with periodic strikes against its foes, to assassinate threatening leaders or destroy sophisticated weapons. When it fought, as it did several times against Hamas, it kept the wars short. The goal was to deter and weaken its adversaries, not to obliterate them. In hindsight, many Israeli generals and spies see that policy as naive. They are no longer willing to tolerate threats on their borders—even hypothetical ones. The trouble is that hegemony will impose a heavy burden on the Israeli army, on society and on the economy. Can Israel carry it? You can browse all of our covers from 2024—and learn about the creative decisions that went into each one—in this interactive Cover Story annual. Related → Is Elon Musk remaking government or breaking it? (Leader) → Elon Musk is powersliding through the federal government (United States) → Israel’s expansionism is a danger to others—and itself (Leader) → An unrestrained Israel is reshaping the Middle East (Briefing) Cover image • View large image (“Elon Musk’s efficiency drive”) • View large image (“Israel’s hubris”)

A Hot Earth Is Normal

Some Like It Hot Humans may struggle to survive in hot weather, but the planet does just fine. In fact, the Earth existed in a greenhouse climate free of ice caps for much of its history and only developed its ice caps through a lucky coincidence. A new study shows that ice caps formed due to a fortunate combination of low global volcanism and widely dispersed continents with large mountains, which facilitated global rainfall, and enhanced processes that remove carbon from the atmosphere, said researchers at the University of Adelaide in Australia. “The important implication here is that the Earth’s natural climate regulation mechanism appears to favor a warm and high-CO2 world with no ice caps, not the partially glaciated and low-CO2 world we have today,” explained Andrew Merdith, lead author of the study. Researchers believe Earth’s general tendency towards a warm climate has generally prevented catastrophic “snowball Earth” glaciations, allowing life to prosper. Researchers have long tried to explain the cold intervals in Earth’s history by following clues such as decreased CO2 emissions from volcanoes, the reaction of CO2 with certain rocks, and increased carbon storage by forests. Now, researchers were able to conduct the first comprehensive test of all these cooling processes using a new long-term 3D Earth model developed because of advances in computing. The team concluded that no single process could create these cold climates and that the cooling was produced by the combined effects of several processes that took place at the same time. “Over its long history, the Earth likes it hot, but our human society does not,” said co-author Benjamin Mills, adding that this study carries implications for global warming and that we should not always expect Earth to return to the cooler climate of the pre-industrial age.

Reporter Posts Strike Plan from Trump Team Text Thread

Nursing Is the Toughest Major to Get into at the University of California System

UC’s most competitive major has a 1% acceptance rate, and it’s not computer science By Nanette Asimov, Higher Education Reporter March 22, 2025 Gift Article Magdalena Guerrero, a sophomore at CSU East Bay in Hayward, was unable to get into the school’s nursing program because she applied slightly too early. Administrators said they could not make an exception for her application because the program is so competitive. Magdalena Guerrero, a sophomore at CSU East Bay in Hayward, was unable to get into the school’s nursing program because she applied slightly too early. Administrators said they could not make an exception for her application because the program is so competitive. Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle Winning admission into the University of California’s most competitive majors — including computer science, engineering and business — is about as likely as hitting a home run your first time at bat. Yet even those subjects are not the hardest to get into. That honor belongs to nursing, for which you might have to hit two home runs. In a row. Just 1% of the nearly 6,000 yearly applicants to UC’s undergraduate nursing programs, at UCLA and UC Irvine, are permitted to walk through the door. Advertisement Article continues below this ad See more on majors: Look up acceptance rates for every UC, CSU major Most popular majors: List of 'impacted' and high-demand majors at every UC and CSU College Guide: Key data and acceptance rates for every UC and CSU Data Tools: Majors that lead to the best-paying jobs for UC and CSU graduates Nursing is also notoriously hard to get into at 17 of the 20 California State University campuses offering the program — even though hospitals across the state are short the equivalent of more than 40,000 full-time nurses, as UCSF reported in 2021. Nursing jobs pay well in California – typically around $120,000 — and thousands of brainy, compassionate students want in. Magdalena Guerrero is one of them. The Cal State East Bay sophomore chose nursing as a high-school freshman and never wavered. “I love nursing so much,” said Guerrero, 19, who in October applied for next fall’s nursing program at the Hayward campus, a 12-minute commute from her Union City home. “I’m super-competitive,” said Guerrero, a straight-A student who completed her nursing prerequisites last fall and sometimes spent 13 hours a day in the library, her head in the books from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. “I loved it. I ate there — I brought my snacks. I love studying. I love the knowledge.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad ‘Even more selective’ than Ivy League The story of how and why Cal State East Bay rejected Guerrero’s nursing application is the story of why that major is the most crowded — and confounding — across all public universities in California. “We’re even more selective than getting into Yale,” Mark Lazenby said of UC Irvine’s nursing school, where he’s the dean. (The Ivy League school took 6.53% of applicants last fall.) “A lot of young people want to become nurses,” Lazenby said. “They want to do good with their lives. We hear this over and over again — that nursing can lead to gainful employment and a lot of career options. At the same time, it’s meaningful work that benefits society.” Advertisement Article continues below this ad By 2030, with every baby boomer locked into old age, the need for nurses will only skyrocket, he said. So what’s stopping California’s universities from welcoming every applicant? A view of the UCLA campus from the top of the Janns Steps. A view of the UCLA campus from the top of the Janns Steps. Jen Osborne/Special to the S.F. Chronicle Money is the driving factor At UC Irvine and UCLA — which together admitted 118 nursing students out of 11,776 who applied in 2023, the most recent data available — the answer is money. UC Irvine’s engineering school, for example, spends less than $10,000 a year to educate each student. The nursing school spends at least twice that amount, said Lazenby. Advertisement Article continues below this ad A lecture hall packed with engineering students needs but one professor. But in nursing, where the stakes are about patient survival, every group of 10 students needs a single, attentive instructor. Also expensive: computerized mannequins, which reside in hospital simulation rooms and suffer sudden heart attacks and massive strokes. These cost a couple hundred thousand dollars each, Lazenby said. At CSU, where 20 of the 23 campuses offer nursing, only Dominguez Hills, Monterey Bay and Northridge report no overcrowding. Schools ration seats because it’s hard for them to hire enough qualified instructors. “Anybody who comes to teach full time takes about a 50% pay cut compared to working at the hospital,” said Elaine Musselman, director of San Francisco State’s nursing school, which, like many CSU campuses, struggles with the hiring problem. Advertisement Article continues below this ad As a result, San Francisco State’s nursing school is offering admission to just 28 of its 328 applicants for next fall. That’s 8.5%, compared with the school’s 84% admission rate overall. The campuses try to get around the problem by inviting full-time nurses to teach part time, maybe once a week. People sit in a courtyard outside the Health and Social Sciences building at San Francisco State University last September. People sit in a courtyard outside the Health and Social Sciences building at San Francisco State University last September. Lea Suzuki/The Chronicle Hosting by hospitals required But another reason for the overcrowding is unique to nursing programs: They are required to partner with hospitals that are willing to host and teach students in actual healthcare settings. Engineering, business and computer science programs never encounter this issue. “Nursing is very hands on, so they can’t just learn by the textbook,” Musselman said. “You need to work with real people.” These are called clinical placements, and there aren’t enough of them. California has more than 140 nursing programs, many of them at community colleges or more costly private colleges, and all are competing for clinical placements. About 15 years ago, hospitals generally paired one clinical instructor with up to 12 students at a time, once a week. Today, hospitals tend to host no more than eight students at a time, which requires schools to arrange for placements twice a week so every student can participate. The pandemic’s massive nurse burnout is only part of the reason for limiting the student groups, although this is changing as COVID recedes. Another reason is the domino effect of hospitals increasingly sending patients home to recuperate instead of admitting them. Those who stay tend to be sicker, which in turn leaves nurses with less time to help students, Musselman said. Magdalena Guerrero said she was devastated when her application to the highly competitive nursing program at CSU East Bay in Hayward was rejected because of a timing error. Magdalena Guerrero said she was devastated when her application to the highly competitive nursing program at CSU East Bay in Hayward was rejected because of a timing error. Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle ‘It’s awful’: No leniency for application glitch This is the world into which thousands of California students hope to enter each year, including Guerrero, the Cal State East Bay sophomore. Last semester, as she completed her last two pre-nursing requirements, earning As in human anatomy II and microbiology, Guerrero’s excitement grew. She beat the deadline for submitting her application for next fall’s nursing program, then waited for April, when she expected good news to arrive. Instead, she heard from the administration on Feb. 17. She had just finished a psychology class and had sat down to do homework when she noticed the email. “I was super excited,” she said. But the message contained bad news. It said Guerrero had been disqualified because her transcript lacked her two final prerequisites — the ones she had aced. In her exuberance, Guerrero had sent in her application a shade too early. If it had been any other major at Cal State East Bay, a school that — like many CSU campuses — is losing enrollment, administrators would have bent over backward to fix the glitch and help the stellar student join her preferred major. “But this is how narrow the bottleneck is for nursing,” said Monika Eckfield, chair of Cal State East Bay’s nursing department. “If we make an exception for her, then we have to it for hundreds of others.” Guerrero felt devastated. “I felt something inside of me kind of, like, broke,” she said. “I blamed myself over and over. The letter took away my spark. I’m just now getting on my feet.” Guerrero said she recognizes that nursing is “so overcrowded they couldn’t give me a second chance.” Still, she said, “I wish they could have been more lenient. I can’t imagine how many students are going through the same thing. It’s awful.” Students and faculty travel through the UC Irvine campus in 2023. The acceptance rate for the school’s undergraduate nursing program is just 1%. Students and faculty travel through the UC Irvine campus in 2023. The acceptance rate for the school’s undergraduate nursing program is just 1%. Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images A search for solutions UC Irvine turns away 99% of nursing applicants: 5,800 students last year. Lazenby, the dean, called on the state to invest more money not only in traditional nursing education, but also in the kind of research-intensive schooling that UC provides to its nursing students. All professors have doctorates and teach their students to interpret medical research or to become researchers themselves. Many students go on to graduate school and become hospital leaders. “The state has to decide whether it’s going to invest in research-intensive nursing education, because it is costly,” Lazenby said. “Yet, the value of human lives should not be pitted against that cost. We shouldn’t say, ‘We’ll educate nurses on the cheap.” It’s a hope that became a little less likely after Thursday, when UC system President Michael Drake announced that the university was in such financial jeopardy that a systemwide hiring freeze was necessary. One reason, he said, was a proposed 8% funding cut from the state, which Gov. Gavin Newsom has also recommended at CSU. However, improving state finances could erase that problem. More of a problem, Drake said, is the potential loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in research funding that Trump administration officials are threatening to withhold from universities – as they have already done at Columbia University — to punish what they have said was an insufficient response against pro-Palestinian protesters on campus last year. Meanwhile, the state’s public universities are strategizing to figure out how to enroll more nursing students. At San Francisco State, a 2023 partnership with Sutter Health to guarantee clinical placements for eight students over four semesters “allowed us to increase our enrollment by 25%,” Musselman said. While Cal State East Bay accepted just 48 of its roughly 500 nursing applicants for next fall, Eckfield said she hopes that will improve with a pending reorganization of scattered programs — nursing, kinesiology, social work, public health, speech and hearing – into a single College of Health. “So even if students come in with the intention of (entering) the nursing program, if they don’t get in, they’ll see that it’s not the end of the road for them. They can stay and finish out their bachelor's degree,” Eckfield said. Sophomore Magdalena Guerrero holds her water bottle, covered with nursing-themed stickers, at CSU East Bay in Hayward. Sophomore Magdalena Guerrero holds her water bottle, covered with nursing-themed stickers, at CSU East Bay in Hayward. Santiago Mejia/S.F. Chronicle Still determined Guerrero has no intention of giving up nursing. Cal State East Bay has a different nursing program at its Concord campus — 90 minutes from Guerrero’s home — and she is about to apply there for spring 2026. She could reapply to the closer Hayward campus, but the earliest she could get in would be fall 2026. “What if I didn’t get into Hayward a year from now?” Guerrero said. “Because nursing here in California is SO competitive, I cannot miss an opportunity. “I understand that I’m young. But at the same time, I have this passion, this spark. I’m willing do anything — even if it takes an hour and 30 minutes on BART,” she said. “Nursing is everything to me.” Reach Nanette Asimov: nasimov@sfchronicle.com; Threads: @NanetteAsimov March 22, 2025 Photo of Nanette Asimov Nanette Asimo

Deep Intel on the F-47 Sixth Generation Strike/Fighter