Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
Anti-science mysticism is enabling autocracy around the globe. In its new incarnation, the far right began to resemble the old far left. In some places, the two began to merge. When conspiracy theories and nonsense cures are widely accepted, the evidence-based concepts of guilt and criminality vanish quickly too.
Replace dark forces with the deep state, and how different is that story from ours? Like the Russians in 1917, we live in an era of rapid, sometimes unacknowledged, change: economic, political, demographic, educational, social, and, above all, informational. We, too, exist in a permanent cacophony, where conflicting messages, right and left, true and false, flash across our screens all the time. Traditional religions are in long-term decline. Trusted institutions seem to be failing. Techno-optimism has given way to techno-pessimism, a fear that technology now controls us in ways we can’t understand. And in the hands of the New Obscurantists—who actively promote fear of illness, fear of nuclear war, fear of death—dread and anxiety are powerful weapons.
For Americans, the merging of pseudo-spirituality with politics represents a departure from some of our deepest principles: that logic and reason lead to good government; that fact-based debate leads to good policy; that governance prospers in sunlight; and that the political order inheres in rules and laws and processes, not mystical charisma. The supporters of the New Obscurantism have also broken with the ideals of America’s Founders, all of whom considered themselves to be men of the Enlightenment. Benjamin Franklin was not only a political thinker but a scientist and a brave advocate of smallpox inoculation. George Washington was fastidious about rejecting monarchy, restricting the power of the executive, and establishing the rule of law. Later American leaders—Lincoln, Roosevelt, King—quoted the Constitution and its authors to bolster their own arguments.
By contrast, this rising international elite is creating something very different: a society in which superstition defeats reason and logic, transparency vanishes, and the nefarious actions of political leaders are obscured behind a cloud of nonsense and distraction. There are no checks and balances in a world where only charisma matters, no rule of law in a world where emotion defeats reason—only a void that anyone with a shocking and compelling story can fill.
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New service will let traders and investors pay for real-time feed of Truth Social posts
President Trump broke with tradition by posting near-constant policy decisions and market-moving news on his social-media platform.
Now his media company wants traders and investors to pay for instant access to his Truth Social posts, the latest example of the first family mixing its business interests and White House affairs.
Postings for the chief of staff job more than doubled last year, with salaries that can reach $400,000.
The chief of staff role is part confidante, part concierge and part consigliere, and gives a CEO breathing space by amplifying their vision and spearheading strategic projects.
The demands of the role are incessant and vary widely, ranging from administrative tasks to strategic and operational duties, and require skills like judgement, communications and influencing others that are tough to automate.
A growing number of corporate leaders, buckling under the stress and uncertainty of the AI age, are looking for a very human solution: A chief of staff.
Disgraced former MP Daryl Maguire’s insistence that he knew nothing of a conspiracy to create false visa applications for Chinese nationals has been rejected by a jury.
“The web was made by people. Not by algorithms, not by models, not by machines that dream in code. By people in rooms, garages, and workshops arguing over protocols, shipping software on floppy disks, building companies from nothing, and connecting the world one awkward, brilliant, human decision at a time. For over fifty years, from ARPANET to the eve of ChatGPT, the internet was built the old-fashioned way:
by human beings working with nothing but other human beings’ work to build on. No co-pilots. No synthetic minds. Just vision, stubbornness, and the trembling hand of a species figuring it out in real time. That era is ending now. Not because the web is dying, but because how we make things is fundamentally changing.
Creation is becoming a collaboration with machines. Which makes the things in this collection, the artifacts, the documents, the failures, the breakthroughs, into something new: relics of the last time we did this alone. The Museum of the Human Web is a collection of objects from that era. Some you’ll remember. Some you never knew existed. Proceeds from the artifact sweepstakes benefit the Internet Archive and the Computer History Museum. A Parallel experience.”
Federal Investigators Say Certain DOGE Records Were Deleted
Wired: “A government report claims DOGE didn’t access sensitive systems. It also says the agency deleted records that would show if they had. On April 14, 2025, a federal IT stafferfiled a whistleblower complaint with Congressalleging that members of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)had accessed and possibly exfiltrated sensitive information from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).
Just days after filing the complaint, Dan Berulis, the whistleblower, found the brakes on his car had been cut after getting into a minor accident near his home. The complaint, which went public in an NPR story the day after it was filed, caused an outcry, with members of Congresscalling for an investigation. The following month, in May 2025, FedScoop reported that the NLRB’s Office of the Inspector General (OIG) opened an investigation.
It remains ongoing. In April 2026, though, the Government Accountability Office (GAO)—a federal agency within the legislative branch that performs audits and investigations for Congress— published its own report about DOGE’s access to the NLRB’s systems, titled “National Labor Relations Board Detailees Did Not Access IT Systems Between April 16 and July 25, 2025.” The report conspicuously only covers the time period immediately following Berulis’ complaint, and does not address any DOGE activity before that point.
But nested in the footnotes of the report is another revelation: In August 2025, shortly after DOGE members left the NLRB but before the GAO’s investigators “requested to observe the systems,” the agency “deleted the team member accounts for system access after the agreement to detail DOGE team staff had expired.” Basically, this means that the digital records of what data and systems DOGE members accessed and when had been eliminated, leaving the GAO no way to confirm what NLRB staff told their investigators…”
ATO reshuffles Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Operations Group Interim succession plan revealed after the appointment of Jacqui Curtis to head the APSC. Senior Executive Service musical chairs to follow.
Taxation commissioner Rob Heferen has revealed that the Australian Taxation Office’s enterprise strategy and design deputy commissioner, Brad Chapman, will take the interim helm of the revenue agency’s Enterprise Strategy and Corporate Operations Group after its two most senior leaders decamped to the Australian Public Service Commission.
Chapman has been appointed the ATO’s acting chief operating officer in the wake of the departure of Jacqui Curtis, who will succeed Gordon de Brouwer as the head of the APSC in a move that comes ahead of the commencement of the public service’s pivotal next enterprise bargaining round.
For the 2026–27 financial year, the Tax Office will focus on simplifying the tax experience, closing the payment gap, strengthening the system, partnering across the ecosystem and equipping its workforce for the future.
The ATO said it will aim to simplify the tax experience of taxpayers by reducing the time, complexity and uncertainty for those interacting with the tax system, particularly businesses and their advisers.
"This shift requires a deliberate and significant change to how tax is administered, embedding tax into the systems people already use, and prioritising simple, digital solutions," it said.
"The result is a system where more obligations are met by default, interactions are simpler, and support is targeted to those who need it most."
Implementing the government's $1,000 instant tax deduction will be another important priority for the Tax Office.
"Over 2026–27, we will establish new systems and processes to validate whether an individual is entitled to receive a standard deduction. We will also update relevant tax return guidance materials and deliver targeted communications for individuals, their agents and employers to assist them to understand the tax deduction changes," the ATO said.
The ATO will also expand pre-filled data for businesses by pre-filling information for contractors using taxable payment reporting system data.
"We continue our focus on identifying opportunities to expand pre-fill for business using third party data, with the aim of delivering similar productivity benefits to businesses that we have for individuals over the past two decades," it said.
The ATO is also expanding its dynamic PAYG instalment pilot to enable businesses to pay instalments based on current business performance.
The Tax Office will also look to progress towards a real-time tax system for businesses by delivering on government commitments, maximising changes within existing legislative settings and identifying opportunities for further reform.
The ATO will also aim to further close the payment gap by focusing on payment outcomes and supporting earlier and more consistent payment of tax closer to when income is earned.
The implementation of Payday Super and the strengthening of payment performance and debt collection remain major focus areas for the ATO.
"We will embed consideration of debt and payment positions into every taxpayer interaction and support taxpayers to make payment where possible," said the Tax Office.
"Beginning with our frontline services, when we engage with taxpayers we will ensure all outstanding obligations are identified and appropriate resolution pathways are provided, that take into account taxpayer circumstances.
"We will build this approach across the ATO to strengthen performance of the tax system, promote a level playing field, and enable earlier, more targeted intervention."
ATO Commissioner Rob Heferen said the ATO needed to evolve to meet the challenges of an "increasingly complex operating environment".
"Our priorities identify where our effort and resources will be focused this year, including strengthening payment performance and debt collection, implementing the Government’s $1,000 instant tax deduction, expanding the dynamic pay as you go instalment pilot, enhancing counter-fraud measures, and delivering key reforms, such as Payday Super," said Heferen.
"A further priority for the year ahead is to support the government’s regulatory reform agenda by reducing complexity, improving administrative efficiency, and minimising compliance costs for taxpayers."
Heferen said the ATO will continue to take firm action against deliberate non-compliance, while supporting the vast majority of taxpayers who want to do the right thing.
"We are committed to supporting taxpayers experiencing vulnerability. We recognise that vulnerability can affect a taxpayer’s ability to meet their obligations," he said.
"Our approach will be empathetic and proportionate, providing appropriate support while maintaining clear expectations."
Kafka on steroids:
Imagine what it is like to be told by your employer that you will be charged with misconduct and may be subject to termination of your employment, if you do not comply exactly with these directions, but you do not know what you must do or not do, in order to comply.
People are willing to spend a lot of money on products and gadgets to get a good night's sleep, including pricey sleep trackers, sleep masks, and sound machines.
The sleep support industry is a $300 million business, with growth coming from functional beverages and sleep powders, but some experts warn that these products may not be effective and can even be harmful.
Experts recommend making lifestyle changes, such as getting sunlight, eating a healthy diet, and limiting screen time, to improve sleep, rather than relying on expensive products and supplements.
There are seemingly no limits to what we will do to get a good night’s sleep.
Buy a pricey Oura Ring or Apple Watch for sleep tracking? Of course. Fill our medicine cabinets with sleeping pills, potions, gummies and elixirs? Obviously. An $89 celeb-approved eyelash-protecting silk sleep mask? Sure. Sound machine? That’s plebe stuff. Real sleepmaxxers prefer Soundcore Sleep A20 earbuds, practically a steal at around $100. Soon you can get your hands on a Kimba, an “AI-powered scent therapy” machine, currently available for preorder; $299 will get you a bedside setup and six months of personalized scents. For big spenders, there’s a $3,000 body-temperature-regulating, manosphere-endorsed mattress cover. Some couples are willing to go even further, outfitting totally separate bedrooms. “There’s more awareness about sleep, which is great, but the pendulum has swung too far,” says Christine Spadola, an associate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington’s School of Social Work who focuses on sleep health.
People want to fall asleep more easily, sleep more hours and have higher-quality slumber. We’re increasingly realizing that sleeping well isn’t just a nice-to-have; it’s a need-to-have, making us less sick and longer-living (not to mention smarter, thinner and, as we all know, better-looking). Social media posts on sleep outnumber those on exercise by 3 to 1 and those on diet by 5 to 1, according to consumer researcher Rila Global Consulting. The wellness industry is notorious for shilling products that cost a lot of money and produce no benefit or even make health issues worse. And marketing to the sleep-deprived makes for particularly easy prey.
At the supermarket, sleep support is now a $300 million business, retail research company Spins says. While nearly all of that is sales of vitamins and supplements, growth is coming from so-called functional beverages, with popular ingredients like ashwagandha and L-theanine. While some evidence suggests these can help with sleep, efficacy in actual products where dosage isn’t always clear, and other additives could change how we react to them, is usually unproven. Nonetheless, sales have almost quadrupled in the past year. Online, there’s the THC-infused Sip Elixirs Dreamberry drink, endorsed by UFC fighter Kyle Daukaus; the More Labs Dream Well guava-flavored shot; and Atlaua’s recovery beverage, designed for athletes and also available in a $99 handcrafted ceramic bottle made for “luxury on-premise hospitality.” Spins breaks out sleep powders intended to be mixed with water into a category separate from beverages — sales of those have increased 54% in the past year. Many of these drinkable sleep aids contain magnesium, a common sleep supplement that has seen such explosive popularity it reached an estimated $1.9 billion in sales in 2025 in the US alone. Trade publication Nutrition Business Journal calls it a “hero ingredient.”
Those ubiquitous sleep trackers have gotten people so fixated on getting just the right amount of shuteye that a medical term has been coined for this type of condition: orthosomnia. Meghan Swidler, a Los Angeles-based angel investor in consumer health tech companies and a holistic health and detox coach, says she was an early adopter of the Oura Ring — and then, after a couple of years of obsessively scrutinizing all her metrics, became an early proponent of throwing it away. “I started to rely on the wearable to tell me how good I should feel,” she says. “I would wake up in the morning, and I would just immediately open my phone, load Oura and check how well I slept.” On days when she felt good but her Oura numbers looked subpar, she would “feel bad and guilty,” she says. “It became this paranoia.” Eventually, she just stopped wearing it, and now, she says, she doesn’t take any supplements or use any gadgets. This summer, she’s living in a camper van in Canada and the US with her boyfriend, turning her phone on airplane mode about an hour before bed, winding down and sleeping eight to nine hours uninterrupted
Despite all the sleep-promoting pills and technologies out there, 6 out of 10 American adults still don’t get the seven to nine hours of sleep the credible science says we need. Maybe we’re just not buying enough stuff. Or maybe the stuff is part of the problem. All those sleep drinks may have us waking up to run to the bathroom, and the caffeine in the sleep chocolate barsand cocoa powders is probably perking us up rather than making us drowsy.
The experts I spoke to largely warned against relying on the essentially unregulated supplement market. Even if certain ingredients, like melatonin, have some evidence behind them, they might actually not be present in the elixir you bought, or they may be in too small doses or too big ones. Even without experiencing results, people with means will buy something that promises a better night’s sleep. “When people are desperate, you do desperate things,” says branding consultant Fred Hart. This is true even though supplements come with some risk. Long-term use of melatonin, for example, is associated with a higher likelihood of heart failure, the American Heart Associationsaid last year. Prescription options like Ambien will almost certainly knock you out, but some research has found that users miss out on much of the “slow-wave activity” of deep sleep, the part of the night that leaves us waking up feeling refreshed and ready to go.
The experts I interviewed also didn’t say we need an Eight Sleep system, the aforementioned $3,000 mattress cover touted by Andrew Huberman and used by the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Muskand Halle Berry. (The company also sells a $1,000 pillow cover and other accessories.) Unlike many of the sleep aids on the market, this one, which constantly changes its own temperature to adjust to the sleeper’s, does have some research behind it, and there are customers who absolutely swear by it.
Studies funded by the company show that people will sleep better with the exorbitantly priced cooling mattress cover (reminder: You still need a mattress to put it on, but luckily they’ll sell you one of those too, for around $2,000), but Eight Sleep hasn’t run any studies comparing its product with the more obvious, inexpensive solutions for lowering your body temperature, like turning up the air conditioning or peeling off some PJs.
At the end of sleep scientist Matthew Walker’s 2017 book, Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, he lists 12 changes we can make for better sleep. Walker is now a scientific adviser at Eight Sleep. Company co-founder Alexandra Zatarain says that if the book were written today, using the Eight Sleep system would be the 13th. People can choose to do as many as they’d like; few will do all. In other words, sleep-oriented shoppers can make a choice: Would I rather try changing my exercise schedule or spend thousands of dollars? For many, the latter might be the easier choice, but whether it’s the better one is unknown — it hasn’t been evaluated. “These things are not exclusive. They don’t replace each other,” Zatarain tells Bloomberg Businessweek. “I say all the time, you don’t have to buy our product.”
The basic requirements of good sleep are undisputed. During the day, get some sunlight, eat a healthy diet, limit caffeine and alcohol, and engage in at least some physical activity. At night, make sure you have a dark, quiet, cool place for your slumber. Then crank your efforts up a notch. Qanta Ahmed, an attending sleep specialist and associate professor of medicine at NYU Langone Long Island School of Medicine, says she often refers patients for “behavioral sleep education,” which advises doing the things many of us already know to do but don’t: engaging in a regular sleep routine, “protecting your total sleep time” (usually, going to bed earlier) and, of course, eliminating — or at least significantly reducing — screen time in the hours before you call it a night. She notes that the trackers can be helpful for some people but warns against any that emit light.
These conditions — dark, quiet, cool — are relatively easy to achieve for many of us, and a range of low-cost ways can get you there if your bedroom isn’t naturally suited. Sleep masks, for instance, can cost just a few bucks. Sound machines can block out noise for a lot less money than fancy earbuds. But for those who struggle even after checking these boxes, changing behaviors becomes even more important — if harder to achieve. While it may be easier to order a $499 “vagus nerve stimulator” or sign up for a $70-per-month Silent Nights body patch subscription than to put your phone down, try the free options first. If you’re still having trouble, consult your doctor, not Amazon.
