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New Jersey health officials warn of possible measles exposure at Newark Airport
This marks the first confirmed measles case in New Jersey so far this year.
Thursday Morning Links
Morning, all! Wyatt Langford has a grade 1 flexor strain in his right arm, which marks the fifth IL stint for a soft tissue injury in the first two years of his career. Skip Schumaker says it’s because he “has more muscles than most people.” Langford is hoping to spend no more than the minimum […]
CBS Sports Network to Broadcast Navy vs. Loyola Game Friday Night Under the Lights
After spending the last two weekends on the road, Navy (7-6, 3-4 Patriot League) returns home to play host to Loyola (8-5, 5-2 Patriot League) on Friday evening in its regular-season finale. Faceoff is slated for 7:06 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and the game is presented by First Command. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 50-39 record in his 7 seasons at the helm of the Mids' program, while Loyola's Charley Toomey has posted a 195-117 record in 21 seasons as the Greyhounds' head coach. The contest marks the 22nd meeting in a series that dates back to 1939. Friday's contest will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Chris Lewis and Evan Washburn calling the action. Additionally, the game will be carried live on 1430 WNAV with Joe Miller on the call. Radio coverage begins at 6:45 pm with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show. Live stats will also be available on NavySports.com(.)
Tim Cook Calls Apple Maps Launch His 'First Really Big Mistake' as CEO
Outgoing Apple CEO Tim Cook has named the botched 2012 launch of Apple Maps as his "first really big mistake" in the role, according to a Bloomberg report covering the town hall meeting that was held Tuesday with his recently announced successor, John Ternus. The Maps app launched with mislabeled landmarks, faulty directions, and a user experience that fell well short of Google Maps at the time.
Johns Hopkins: “Bloomberg School” Marks 25 Years of Progress | Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health took its current name 25 years ago. 15 highlights show its accomplishments since 2001.
New hotel marks latest business opening along ever-growing Benner Pike corridor
Benner Pike corridor --- latest new business
Ratings: Much-changed Atlético lose to Elche despite Nico brace
It marks Atleti’s fourth consecutive loss in LaLiga.
Medical School ‘A’ Marks UConn Health Sustainability Progress
Significant energy savings highlight gains since last Earth Day, while the UConn School of Medicine makes the grade on the 2026 Planetary Health Report Card
Business News: Timothée Chalamet Joins Urban Jürgensen As Minority Partner And Creative Advisor
This marks the first time the Golden Globe-winning American-French actor and producer has taken on a partnership with a company.
Dignity Health doctor addresses vaccine myths on National Infant Immunization Week
This week marks National Infant Immunization Week, a reminder for parents to check their children's shot records.
FSU basketball: Thomas Bassong changes mind, enters transfer portal
Welcome to the modern era of college athletics. After announcing his return to Florida State less than two weeks ago, forward Thomas Bassong instead will be entering the transfer portal. The news was first reported by ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. Bassong enters on the final day of the portal window, as the 21st marks the final […]
Health questions mount after Rep. Paul Gosar’s public remarks go viral
Rep. Paul Gosar's rambling remarks have raised questions among Democrats about whether he's healthy enough to run for reelection.
John Carroll University adds women's flag football as varsity sport
The move marks the third women's varsity sport that the university has added in the last four years
Shaky political science: using "simulated" elections over real-world elections
[Dear DSOS readers – this article is the latest in our “Shaky Political Science” series. In our 38 page report, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting,” released in early December, we examined over 40 studies focused on ranked choice voting. We found that many of these studies suffered from puzzling research methodologies, poorly constructed surveys, unrealistic simulated elections, cherry picked data, and faulty analyses that often were contradicted by results from real-world elections (a link to our full paper is here). Here are links to the first three articles in our series: the first one summarizing the overall results of our report, the second one analyzing a study co-authored by University of Minnesota academic Larry Jacobs, which was one of the most error-prone of all the research we reviewed in our report, and a third article showing an admirable example of two political scientists holding two other political scientists accountable for their flawed, sloppy research]. In this fourth article in our “Shaky Political Science” series, we shine a spotlight on seven studies that were web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group (the ERRG is an ad hoc committee headed by New America’s Political Reform Program and joined by the American Enterprise Institute, the Unite America Institute and Stanford University’s Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law). This research consortium has been led by Lee Drutman, senior fellow with New America’s Political Reform Program. These seven studies are simply not credible from any objective standard about how political “science” is supposed to illuminate our understanding of either ranked choice voting or politics in general. The feature that six of these seven studies have in common is that they all used surveys – artificial, simulated elections -- to attempt to say something cogent or interesting about ranked choice voting (RCV) elections. None of them used real world data from actual RCV elections – either the 1000+ elections in the US or the many thousands of elections from places like Australia, Ireland and elsewhere where RCV has been used for 100 years. While a few of these studies conclude with some mixed positives about RCV, our analysis here is content neutral. The idea that, with a political reform like RCV, you can ask respondents in a mock, artificial election to vote with that method, with only the barest of explanation about how RCV works or its likely impacts (i.e. no spoiler candidates, majority winners, voters liberated to pick their favorite candidates, coalition-building), and then ask them their thoughts/reactions about voting in that system, with fake candidates and no real campaigning, no real exposure to an actual election or actual candidates, rests on some very puzzling assumptions. The findings of these seven studies actually are contradicted by the findings from many other studies based on real-world RCV elections. These New America studies also failed to list the real-world RCV studies in their own citations, instead including those studies that reinforced their conclusions. The seven studies featured in this article were chosen because they form a cohesive cohort which precisely illustrates one of the main points of our research paper, namely that using surveys, i.e. artificial elections, or mathematical/theoretical models, instead of real-world data, is in fact “shaky political science.” Below are summaries of our analysis of five of the seven New America studies. You can read our complete analysis of all seven studies at our paper, “Shaky political ‘science’ misses mark on ranked choice voting.” Choosing to “Vote As Usual” by Andre Blais, Carolina Plescia, and Semra Sevi. New America. (Blais et al., 2021). This study, web-hosted and funded by New America’s Political Reform Program and its Electoral Reform Research Group, used two surveys in which respondents completed ballots for simulated elections using plurality, approval, RCV and point (Score) voting. In both cases the authors provided the respondents with only minimal explanation of each method. For example, the entire explanation for RCV was “For this vote, rank the candidates from your first to your last choice (you do not need to rank them all). This is called the ranked vote.” That’s it. The study did not provide any context or explanation to survey respondents about why she/he might want to rank multiple candidates. Participants were not even told that ballots would be tabulated using an “instant” runoff, not to mention any description of RCVs ability to eliminate the spoiler effect or liberate voters to rank their favorite candidates without fear of helping the “greater evil” candidate to win. That’s like taking an iPhone back in time to 1970 and asking someone if they like it better than their rotary phone without explaining how it works. Their first survey targeted states that held 2020 Super Tuesday Democratic primaries and used the real candidates’ names in the survey; the second survey used fictitious candidates. In other words, they surveyed respondents who had only ever participated in plurality elections, had no history or background with using RCV or any of the other methods, had no clue about its likely impacts, and did not communicate how the alternative methods would be counted, and then asked them: “How satisfied are you with using each system?” Predictably, the winner was plurality elections, the system used for president, Congress, gubernatorial and state legislative elections – in other words, the method they have been using, year after year, all their voting lives. With so little explanation of RCV and its impacts, this study is simply not credible in discovering anything useful about real-world RCV elections. It merely shows that a basic voter education campaign is needed when adopting a new election system. Additionally, the result contradicts many other post-election surveys following real RCV elections, asking opinions from voters who had just participated in a RCV election, that showed a great deal of satisfaction with RCV (see details on that in Studies 22-25 in our paper, as well as the four studies cited in the review for Study 28). Share Other studies on “satisfaction” and “understanding” make similar mistakes, in terms of basing their surveys on inadequate explanation to respondents and lack of education about context. How could any survey ever hope to measure accurately, in essence simulate a real-world election, without actual campaigning candidates, the media writing about those candidates, organizations endorsing candidates and voters being inundated with crucial information? More than anything, what these “studies” based on surveys show is that if you ask voters about something they don’t know very much about, and fail to adequately educate them, their responses will unsurprisingly reflect their confusion. Equally puzzling is that New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group, headed by political scientist Lee Drutman, found this to be a credible enough study that they not only published it but highlighted it in Drutman’s own discussion of research related to ranked choice voting. This pattern was repeated in study after study featured by New America’s Electoral Reform Research Group. For example in Ranked-Choice Voting and Political Expression: Voter Guides Narrow the Gap between Informed and Uninformed Citizens by Cheryl Boudreau, Jonathan Colner, and Scott MacKenzie, the researchers based their analysis on a survey which found that respondents who were asked to vote in a simulated RCV election, with minimal explanation of RCV or how it works, displayed less evidence of being informed about how to use RCV effectively, with the least informed voters ranking fewer candidates. As pointed out under the study above, in a real election voters are informed by a wide variety of methods, including public education by the election administration, by interested political groups, the media, and the candidates themselves who benefit from voters being aware of how to vote in the new system. In Support for Ranked-Choice Voting across Race and Partisanship by Joseph Anthony, David C. Kimball, Jack Santucci and Jamil Scott, the researchers used respondents from different parties and races voting in simulated plurality and RCV elections, who indicated their satisfaction with each voting method. Instead of using real world election results, the authors fell back on the easy, armchair and less reliable academic research methodology of making up mock elections. As with the other studies, little explanation was given of how RCV works or what its implications might be (electing majority winners or eliminating spoilers, for example). Unsurprisingly, this study found that respondents were not very satisfied with RCV. However, when the authors added an explanation that RCV has a tendency to elect more women and people of color, they found that this greater explanation increased the preference for RCV. The more voters were familiar with it, and the more they understood potential positive impacts – surprise! -- the more they were open to switching away from the status quo. Of note, the results from this study are thoroughly contradicted by a number of other studies whose data was obtained from real RCV elections with real voters. Those studies show a great deal of satisfaction with RCV. More “fake election” research An interesting wrinkle on this “research by fake elections” approach, which only served to illustrate how unreliable such “research” can become, was taken in Ranked-Choice Voting, Runoff, and Democracy: Insights from Maine and Other U.S. States by Joseph Cerrone and Cynthia McClintock_,_ also web-hosted and funded by New America’s ERRG. It gets high marks for creativity, but an eye-roll for thinking this could possibly add anything meaningful to our understanding of real world RCV elections. This study tried to determine whether RCV, plurality or two-round runoff elections provided greater voter satisfaction and acceptance of election results. To determine that, the authors conducted a survey asking if voters were satisfied with a fictional newspaper report of an election, with three different versions given to respondents – plurality, runoff and RCV, with variations of Republican/Democrat winners and variations of “come-from-behind” winners,” i.e. candidates not initially in first place but who win the “runoff.” Again, a minimal explanation of RCV or how it works was given, and the survey showed that respondents had the greatest unfamiliarity with RCV than the other methods. The unsurprising result? Respondents were much more satisfied with “come-from-behind” victories in a traditional two-round runoff election than in RCV, even though RCV is also a runoff system but with a single round of counting. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction with RCV disappeared for those who were more familiar with RCV. In fact, among those respondents who were “very familiar” with RCV, they were equally satisfied with RCV, runoff and plurality. Surprise, surprise. Again, what this study revealed, more than anything, is not only the inadequacy of the explanation for RCV given by the authors of this study, but the failure of the research format itself, thinking that such an artificial mock election could somehow simulate what actually happens in the real world in a real RCV election. Those four studies reviewed above are fitting examples of inadequate and shaky political “science.” Other studies reviewed in our paper from the New America/Electoral Reform Research Group cohort which also used mock elections included: Ranked-Choice Voting is an Acquired Taste by Joseph Anthony and David C. Kimball. New America. (Anthony et al., 2021). Ranked-Choice Voting is No Refuge for Extreme Candidates by Melissa Baker. New America. (Baker, 2021). Also included in this New America cohort is Does Ranked-Choice Voting Reduce Racial Polarization? by Yuki Atsusaka and Theodore Landsman, which actually did use real-world election results data but applied an odd and unconventional methodology to the data which relied on shaky assumptions and non-real-world scenarios that were too divorced from reality. To determine levels of “racially polarized voting,” the researchers imagined “ethnic parties,” by which they mean political parties for each ethnic group, which was especially odd since the election data they were using came from nonpartisan RCV races. But then they made an even odder assumption, namely that since race and ethnic characteristics of studied voters were not available, the authors tried to infer that information based on who voters selected and the racial make-up of voters in each district. This amounted to little more than vague and ambiguous guesswork dressed up with a bunch of mathematical equations used to give it a veneer of scientific appearance. Indeed, it seemed to assume racial polarization in order to prove racial polarization. Based on this questionable methodology, the authors concluded that RCV doesn’t reduce racial polarization. But the premise of this study missed an obvious reality: since RCV incentivizes more candidates to run and can result in more diverse fields of candidates, one would expect more racially-polarized voting in voters’ top rankings, not less, because more voters would have someone on that ballot who represents their racial or ethnic identity and more freedom to vote for their real first choice. By encouraging more diverse candidates and eliminating the spoiler effect, RCV facilitates voting for a favorite candidate of your own race and then selecting a second choice with the best likelihood of winning. The real measure is what voters do with their additional rankings – do they consider other candidates and vote “for the best of the rest”? This study didn’t tell us anything useful about that. But readily available data shows this is common in real RCV elections, and candidates act on this knowledge by engaging with voters outside their racial group. So the authors of this study failed to consider or account for what actually happens in real-world elections, and their conclusions are tainted by this failure. New America has contributed a great deal over the past 2.5 decades to our understanding of many policy areas, including politics and political reform (full disclosure: Steven Hill, one of the authors of this article and of the “Shaky Political Science” research paper and series, is a former senior fellow and former director of New America’s political reform program, 2005-2010). So it was especially disappointing that New America funded and published such a large batch of dubious studies about ranked choice voting. The stated praiseworthy goal of its Electoral Reform Research Group was to inspire new academic research about ranked choice voting that would shed light and help the public better understand the impacts of RCV. Instead, the ERRG research did just the opposite. It produced dubious research that created more confusion and misinformation. In so doing, New America’s political reform program contributed to “shaky political science.” Steven Hill and Paul Haughey Share Upgrade to $5 subscription Thanks for reading DemocracySOS, a reader-supported digital portal for the pro-democracy movement. Subscribe for only $5 per month to receive full benefits and to support our work. Subscribe
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Benchmarks: The Best Desktop Performance For Linux Developers, Creators Review
Today we can finally share performance benchmarks of the long-rumored AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D2 Dual Edition processor.
Trump’s Federal Reserve chair pick to face lawmakers at key confirmation hearing
The hearing marks a key hurdle Kevin Warsh must overcome in order to succeed Jerome Powell when his term ends on 15 May
What Is Borderline Personality Disorder?
Volatile relationships, reckless impulsivity and an unstable identity are hallmarks of this misunderstood mental health condition.
Hisense Ignites the Countdown to the FIFA World Cup 2026™, Showcasing Next-Generation Home Entertainment and Smart Living
/PRNewswire/ -- Hisense, a leading brand in global consumer electronics and home appliances, today marks the 50-day countdown to the FIFA World Cup 2026™ with...
Lubrication Engineers Marks 75 Years in Business
Lubrication Engineers marks 75 years, highlighting growth and solutions that help contractors, including roofing professionals, improve equipment reliability and reduce costly downtime.
Singer-songwriter John Gorka talks early inspiration, latest album
John Gorka’s newest album, “Unentitled,” marks his return after nearly a decade, showcasing fresh, optimistic tracks that reflect his belief in music’s healing power despite industry challenges.
New Debian Project Leader Elected For 2026
Sruthi Chandran has been elected the new Debian Project Leader 'DPL' after running unopposed in this year's elections.
Indiana defensive coordinator Bryant Haines calls out Ty Simpson for remarks, tells Alabama fans to 'grow up'
Bryant Haines took offense to Ty Simpson's recent podcast remarks and responded with receipts -- and no interest in softening the message after his unit delivered one of the worst losses in Alabama history
Do Your Socks Leave Marks On Your Legs? Here's What That Means For Your Health.
Many people experience indents on their legs after wearing socks all day long — but is it normal?
National Science Foundation’s future in limbo as Trump eyes cuts
The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) future is in limbo as President Trump pushes for more budget cuts and his nominee to helm the research agency awaits Senate confirmation. Since Trump’s retu…
Bay Area doctor highlights health inequities for Black pregnant women
Friday marks the end of Black Maternal Health Week, and Bay Area doctors are sharing where progress is still needed to help fix disparities in healthcare for Black pregnant women.
Dimensity 9600 Pro Beats A19 Pro And Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 By 25% In Benchmarks, But Extreme Heat May Erase That Gap
A tipster shared the first single-core and multi-core scores of the Dimensity 9600 Pro, revealing it’s much faster than the A19 Pro and Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5
Nalivka: New University of Idaho Meat Science and Innovation Center Will Play Vital Role in Meat Industry
The state-of-the-art facility marks a new era for Idaho’s 100% job-placement meat science program, bridging the gap between academic research and industry needs.
Earth Day marks grand opening of new, dedicated space for WMU’s IDEAS Collaboratory | News
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Lowcountry small business turns tide on drowning risk for children with autism
April marks Autism Acceptance Month, a time focused on inclusion, understanding and highlighting critical safety issues.
Seattle Reign FC and Sports Radio 950 KJR AM Announce 2026 Radio Broadcast Schedule
Continuing its partnership with iHeartMedia Seattle, a record 11 Seattle Reign FC matches will air on 950 KJR AM during the 2026 NWSL season, featuring a dynamic and experienced broadcast team while expanding access for fans across the Pacific Northwest; The club’s April 26 home match marks the firs
Chargé Arnold Speech - Implementation Plan of Five-Year Health MOU - U.S. Embassy in Madagascar
Chargée d’Affaires Stephanie Arnold's Speech Discussion on the implementation plan for the five-year health Memorandum of Understanding (…) Colleagues, and honored guests, Good morning, and welcome to the United States Embassy. It is a pleasure to host you today for the second day of this important workshop to discuss the implementation of our bilateral health Memorandum of Understanding on U.S. Government health activities in Madagascar, made possible through the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy. Today’s focus— discussing a shared vision and developing a preliminary draft for the health MOU Implementation Plan and the terms of reference for the two committees that will steer its implementation—is a decisive step in moving from commitments on paper to concrete action over the next five years. On December 22, 2025, the Governments of Madagascar and the United States signed a five-year bilateral health MOU, with a financial intention of approximately 554 billion Ariary from the United States and This jointly decided MOU intends to strengthen Madagascar’s health system, support lifesaving services, and improve disease prevention and response that matter to both our countries’ health security. For the United States, this means detecting and containing infectious disease outbreaks including malaria, polio, and emerging health threats before they can reach American shores through international travel and trade, protecting American families while reducing the need for costly domestic emergency responses Yesterday, technical experts from the Ministry of Public Health and the U.S. Government worked in thematic groups to draft a preliminary Implementation Plan. Today, your task is to review the shared vision and preliminary draft MOU implementation plan, and the proposed terms of reference for the Joint Steering Committee and the Operational Committee that will guide its implementation. These committees are not just administrative structures. They are the mechanisms that will ensure clear roles and responsibilities, regular dialogue between our two governments, consistent monitoring of progress, and real accountability for the results that will directly benefit the lives of Malagasy citizens. They will also track performance against the benchmarks we have jointly established, which will guide the continuation of U.S. support over the five-year period . Continued U.S. support will be contingent on meeting these performance benchmarks. This ensures accountability to both American and Malagasy taxpayers and guarantees that our partnership delivers measurable results. America First Foreign Assistance means that U.S. support must be strategic, results-driven, and accountable to our taxpayers. It also means we aim to support greater self-reliance and reduced long-term dependence on foreign assistance, with systems that are increasingly financed and led by Madagascar itself. This approach benefits both our nations: Madagascar gains sustainable health capacity, while the United States advances our health security interests and creates opportunities for American health innovations and companies to support Madagascar’s development. In that spirit, I want to recognize the presence of the Ministry’s leadership and the technical directors and program heads responsible for surveillance, basic health services, family health, immunization, countering malaria, laboratories, medicines, and health information systems. Your leadership and technical expertise are essential if this bilateral health MOU is to translate into real and lasting improvements for people in need across the country. Let me emphasize how important collaboration is to the United States in this effort. We can bring American resources, technical expertise, and tools. But this bilateral health MOU can only succeed if it reflects Madagascar’s priorities and if Malagasy institutions lead and maintain its implementation. We see this not as a U.S. project, but as a joint framework under Malagasy leadership, with U.S. support. That is why we are genuinely pleased to host this event here at the Embassy. Opening our doors to you today symbolizes our commitment to work side by side and to remain transparent about how we use U.S. resources in support of Madagascar’s health system. In closing, thank you for your time and your partnership. We are very happy to welcome you here and proud to accompany Madagascar in this next step of implementation planning for our bilateral health MOU. I wish you a productive and focused session. The work you do today will shape how our two governments cooperate on health in the years ahead; it will influence the quality and reliability of health services that Malagasy communities receive; and, most importantly, it will help protect both our nations from infectious disease threats while building Madagascar’s capacity for long-term health system sustainability. Thank you.
United States and Madagascar Discuss Five-Year Health MOU Implementation Plan - U.S. Embassy in Madagascar
United States and Madagascar Discuss Five-Year Health MOU Implementation Plan The United States and Madagascar’s Ministry of Public Health are in the process of developing a plan for implementing the U.S.-Madagascar five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on health cooperation, signed under the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy. The two-day workshop, at the U.S. Embassy in Antananarivo, brought together technical experts and senior leadership from the Malagasy and U.S. governments to discuss a shared vision through a preliminary draft MOU Implementation Plan and to establish the joint governance structures that will guide U.S. foreign assistance in health over the next five years. The jointly decided bilateral health MOU, signed on December 22, 2025, builds on decades of U.S. global health assistance to Madagascar. The health MOU involves the U.S.’s plans, working with Congress, to provide approximately $134 million (over 554 billion Ariary) and a Malagasy commitment of $41 million (over 169 billion Ariary). It aims to strengthen Madagascar’s health system, improve disease prevention and response, and support services that address health security concerns for both countries, including malaria, maternal and child health, polio, and global health security issues that could reach U.S. shores if not contained at their source. During the recent workshop, technical staff from the Ministry of Public Health and the U.S. Government health team worked in thematic groups to draft detailed implementation plans for the five-year MOU period. On the second day, U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Stephanie Arnold and Ministry of Public Health and Economic and Finance Ministry leadership joined the technical teams to discuss plans and proposed terms of reference for two committees: a Joint Steering Committee and an Operational Committee. These structures will ensure clear roles and responsibilities, regular dialogue between the two governments, consistent monitoring of progress, and accountability for results. The framework includes performance benchmarks that will guide continued U.S. support and track Madagascar’s progress toward self-reliance. “We see this not as a U.S. project, but as a joint framework under Malagasy leadership, with U.S. support,” said U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Stephanie Arnold during the workshop’s opening session. The approach reflects U.S. foreign assistance principles that emphasize strategic, results-driven support that advances American interests while helping recipient countries build sustainable health systems. The framework is designed to build systems that Madagascar will increasingly finance and lead itself, reducing long-term dependence on foreign assistance.
ICARUS experiment marks major milestone in first neutrino science results
The milestone by ICARUS paves the way to probe sterile‑neutrino oscillations for the full Short-Baseline Neutrino Program at Fermilab. The first results demonstrate the data’s excellent quality and suitability for physics analyses, as well as the maturity of the software tools for event selection, fitting and detector simulation.
Opinion | Vance, the Pope and ‘Matters of Morality’
Readers respond to Vice President JD Vance’s remarks critical of Pope Leo XIV. Also: Mr. Trump, try kindness; a tax solution that wasn’t.
http://democrats-energycommerce.house.gov/media/press-releases/pallone-opening-remarks-subcommittee-legislative-hearing-public-health-bills
Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) delivered the following opening remarks at a Health Subcommittee legislative hearing on "Healthier America: Legislative Proposals to Improve Public Health:"
Civic Entertainment Group acquires Wave Kilo
The deal marks Civic’s first acquisition in the PR space.
Bill Galvano’s annual golf classic honoring his father marks 30 years of fundraising for local classrooms
'This annual golf tournament benefiting the Manatee Education Foundation has been such a special and fitting tribute to his legacy.'
Can WR prospect with question marks fix 49ers WR corps?
The San Francisco 49ers have added two veterans wideouts to their room, but now they're looking at intriguing prospect in the 2026 NFL draft.
Who’s the greatest No. 1 pick in WNBA history? Our ranking delivers answers
This year marks the 30th WNBA draft. From Tina Thompson to A'ja Wilson, we've ranked each of the No. 1 overall picks in league history.
What Does Artificial Intelligence Really Mean for Global Politics?
As AI increasingly plays a central role in conflict and war, experts discuss its long-term impact on global politics.
Ballon d'Or Favorite? England, Bayern Munich Star Harry Kane Tabbed As Frontrunner
Harry Kane is currently playing at a level that few are able to match, cementing his status as the premier marksman in European football.
Fury dominates Makhmudov and calls out Joshua next
Tyson Fury marks his return to the heavyweight mix with a composed points win over Arslanbek Makhmudo, before immediately turning ringside to call out Anthony Joshua.
Chamber of Commerce Presents Achievement Awards
Event also marked 110th of the chamber’s presence in Oswego [caption id=attachment_10469 align=alignright width=450] Abby Waever and Keara Patterson (in the middle) receive the Community Leadership & Legacy Award, presented to The Alberts Group.[/caption] The Greater Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce (GOFCC) on March 4 hosted its 2026 Annual Meeting, presented by Constellation, at the Lake Ontario Event and Conference Center in Oswego. The event’s theme, Rooted in Community. The meeting celebrated the GOFCC’s 110th anniversary in the Oswego community and 10th anniversary of integration with CenterState CEO. The chamber also unveiled a new logo. “I am proud to say the GOFCC has been a force for business success, growth and opportunity, supporting organizations of every size, connecting neighbors and entrepreneurs and ensuring that every voice in Oswego County is heard,” said GOFCC Executive Director Sara Broadwell. The event featured keynote remarks from Novelis’s Kevin Schutt, vice president, manufacturing and production support at Novelis North America. [caption id=attachment_10454 align=alignright width=450] Maria Hudson of Constellation, holding the award, receives the Nancy L. Premo Woman of Distinction Award.[/caption] The GOFCC recognized the following organizations and individuals with achievement awards: • Oswego County Impact & Excellence Award, presented to Oswego County Office of Mobility Management. This award Honors a small business or nonprofit organization that demonstrates outstanding achievement through innovation, growth and measurable positive impact on Oswego County’s economy or quality of life. • Community Leadership & Legacy Award, presented to The Alberts Group. This award recognizes an individual, business or organization whose long-term leadership, investment or philanthropy has significantly advanced the vitality, resilience and future of Oswego County’s communities. • Nancy L. Premo Woman of Distinction Award, presented to Maria Hudson of Constellation. This award honors a woman in business who has made a meaningful impact on her community, inspired others through her leadership, and exemplified the values of service, integrity and empowerment. This award is presented in tribute to the late Nancy Premo, CenterState CEO’s former vice president of Human Resources.
A key criminal case could soon get tossed because of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche’s comments
As Todd Blanche takes the reins at the Justice Department, a federal judge is set to decide whether controversial remarks made last year by the now-acting attorney general should lead to the unravelling of one of the Trump administration’s marquee criminal cases.
Lunar politics: Artemis and the US-China space race
The Artemis program is more than a return to the moon — it marks a new US-China power struggle. Analyst David Ariosto explains the race for resources and influence.
Mamdani hits 100 days as mayor of New York City
As Mamdani, a Democrat, marks an early milestone in his mayoralty, it remains to be seen whether he’ll be able to leverage his fame into achieving the progressive policy proposals that propelled him to office.
Retro NYC video store marks booming first year in business – thanks to growing Gen-Z demand for VHS, DVDs
It’s been a blockbuster year for this Brooklyn shop! Night Owl Video, the Big Apple’s sole remaining video store, is ringing in its first year in business this weekend – and is already...
Exclusive | Trump Promises Mass Pardons to Staff Before Leaving Office
In a recent meeting, the president said he would pardon those within 200 feet of the Oval Office, according to people familiar with the remarks.
Canadian politician goes viral for using sprawling LGBT acronym critics compare to a Wi-Fi password
A Canadian politician's use of the lengthy acronym MMIWG2SLGBTQQIA+ during public remarks went viral, with social media users comparing it to a password.
Former Trump White House insider says she’d bet the President did not get a heads up about the First Lady’s Epstein remarks
How IBM’s Masters campaign marks a shift in its sports strategy
At the Masters this week, IBM is showing off a shift in its sports sponsorship strategy.
Listen up: This is the leadership skill that businesses underestimate
New research debunks the introvert advantage. Plus: The U’s Technology Commercialization office marks a milestone.
Leaders Across Sports, Business and Higher Education Affirm the Value of Academics in College Football
IRVING, Texas (April 9, 2026) – As the National Football Foundation marks 20 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society and a record-setting 2026 class, leaders from the highest levels of sports, business and higher education are praising the organization's role in elevating academic achievement as a core part of the game. Their perspectives reinforce the Foundation's long-standing commitment to ensuring education remains central to the student-athlete experience.
Leaders Across Sports, Business and Higher Education Affirm the Value of Academics in College Football
IRVING, Texas (April 9, 2026) – As the National Football Foundation marks 20 years of the NFF Hampshire Honor Society and a record-setting 2026 class, leaders from the highest levels of sports, business and higher education are praising the organization's role in elevating academic achievement as a core part of the game. Their perspectives reinforce the Foundation's long-standing commitment to ensuring education remains central to the student-athlete experience.
Morning Sports: April 9, 2026
University of Wyoming Spring Football Practice: Today marks the halfway point for spring practices for the University of Wyoming Football Team. The Brown and Gold will hold the first of 2 scrimmages this coming Saturday, to see how far the team has progressed. UW Head Coach Jay Sawvel says the Pokes’ defense has had some […]
16th-century silver coin discovered near Strait of Magellan marks the spot of a doomed Spanish colony
The newfound coin dates to the 1584 founding of a doomed Spanish settlement in southern Chile.
New Yorkers Mostly Like What They See From Mamdani So Far
Residents gave Mamdani high marks on his leadership, but his approval rating is lower than Eric Adams’s was around the same period.
Mamdani earns positive marks at 100-day milestone, Marist poll finds
A majority say the city is headed in the right direction.
Brandi Gabbard launches St. Pete mayoral bid with focus on infrastructure, housing, energy and critique of Ken Welch
Gabbard used much of her own remarks to lay out her vision for the city.
PAHO Director urges global action to combat rising dengue and other arboviral threats at One Health Forum in Lyon
Lyon, France, 8 April 2026 (PAHO) – The escalating surge of dengue and other arboviral diseases is a direct indicator of how environmental changes are reshaping global public health, underscored the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Director, Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, during his remarks at the One Health Summit in Lyon, France.
Life Science Cares Boston Marks 10 Years of Impact, Calls Life Sciences Community to Lead the Next Decade of Change
BOSTON, April 08, 2026--Life Science Cares Boston marks 10 years, uniting the life sciences community to combat poverty through nonprofit funding and employee engagement.
Asian benchmarks jump after oil prices sink in response to the Iran ceasefire
Asian shares are surging as oil prices plunged after the U.S. and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire that includes the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Broadening the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Engagement In South and Central Asia - United States Department of State
On April 6, the United States signed a bilateral health cooperation Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Republic of Tajikistan under the Trump Administration’s America First Global Health Strategy (AFGHS). This breakthrough MOU marks the first bilateral health cooperation signed in the South and Central Asia region and aims to protect Americans from infectious disease threats while strengthening U.S.-Tajikistan relations. Through the MOU worth $78 million and working with Congress, the […]
Vanguard Settles on ESG — BlackRock and State Street Fight On
Vanguard’s settlement in Texas v. BlackRock marks a historic victory for the anti-ESG movement. But BlackRock and State Street are still fighting for what remains of sustainability stewardship in the US.
Wireless Festival canceled after UK bars rapper Ye over antisemitic remarks
i e politics antisemitism hip-hop-and-rap entertainment fairs-and-festivals world-news general-news | WBBM Newsradio 780 AM & 105.9 FM
16 offensive tackle prospects who fit Packers experience benchmarks
Green Bay has coveted experience, ideally on the left side in their draft picks at offensive tackle. Here are 16 prospects who fit the bill in 2026.
The first-ever ‘Earthset’ image marks another Artemis II milestone
As NASA’s Orion spacecraft slipped behind the farside of the moon, the astronauts captured the crescent of Earth setting over the moon’s horizon.
Wireless Festival canceled after UK bars rapper Ye over antisemitic remarks
i e politics antisemitism hip-hop-and-rap entertainment fairs-and-festivals world-news general-news | 104.1 FM KMOX
IAM Union Members Gather to Bolster Political Action and Solidarity in Wisconsin
Delegates from the IAM Wisconsin State Council recently gathered in Madison for a three-day meeting, bringing together members from across the state. Discussions underscored regulatory and political challenges impacting collective bargaining, while reaffirming the need for solidarity and proactive engagement to strengthen workers’ rights. Gov. Tony Evers opened the conference with remarks and, joined by
Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme Analysis, Benchmarks & Efficiency - Serious rival for Apple and a problem for AMD & Intel
Notebookcheck review/analysis of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 Elite & X2 Elite Extreme mobile ARM processors.
The MacBook Neo is proof that Google’s Pixel plan was right all along
Apple's MacBook Neo validates the Google Pixel strategy by emphasizing user experience and ecosystem growth over raw hardware benchmarks.
GRATON RESORT & CASINO ANNOUNCES APRIL PROMOTIONS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND MAY 4 EXPANSION OPENING
This spring marks the start of a new era at Graton Resort & Casino. On May 4, the resort will unveil the next phase of its expansion, introducing new dining, entertainment, and gaming experiences. At the heart of the expansion is a new 144,000-square-foot, fully smoke-free gaming floor, creating a more spacious and comfortable environment for guests while expanding Graton’s…
Senator Kim’s Vision to Fix Our Broken Politics — A Government for the (Actual) People... Not the Powerful Few
Senator Kim’s Vision to Fix Our Broken Politics — A Government for the (Actual) People… Not the Powerful Few Senator Kim Delivered this speech as part of NYU Law’s Katzmann Lecture Series NEW YORK CITY, NY – This evening, Senator Andy Kim (D-NJ) delivered remarks at New York University (NYU) School of Law’s Katzmann Lecture Series, laying out seven guiding principles for how to fix our broken politics. Drawing on[...]
World Health Day 2026: PAHO/WHO calls for renewed commitment to science to drive better health for all
6 April 2026, Geneva / Washington, DC-- The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) call on people everywhere to renew their commitment to science as the foundation for better health, under the World Health Day 2026 theme: “Together for health. Stand with science.” The campaign marks the anniversary of WHO’s founding on 7 April, launching a year-long public health campaign.
Monday marks application deadline for Texas business owners seeking financial assistance after 2025 floods
What the Nike CEO’s remarks reveal about rallying employees through turnaround fatigue
His employees are exhausted. So is he.
WHO calls for action: “Together for health. Stand with science.” to mark World Health Day
The World Health Organization (WHO) today calls on people everywhere to renew their commitment to working together and supporting science as the twin engines driving better health, under the World Health Day 2026 theme: “Together for health. Stand with science.” The campaign marks the anniversary of WHO’s founding on 7 April 1948, launching a year-long public health campaign.
WHO calls for action: “Together for health. Stand with science.” to mark World Health Day
The World Health Organization (WHO) today calls on people everywhere to renew their commitment to working together and supporting science as the twin engines driving better health, under the World Health Day 2026 theme: “Together for health. Stand with science.” The campaign marks the anniversary of WHO’s founding on 7 April 1948, launching a year-long public health campaign.
Manuel's El Burrito in Clearfield marks 50 years in business; operators hope for 50 more
Manuel's El Burrito in Clearfield held a small celebration on Tuesday to mark 50 years in business, making it among Utah's longest-lasting Mexican restaurants.
Faith vs. Sports: Bulls' Jaden Ivey waived after alleged anti-NBA Pride Month remarks
Start your morning with The National News Desk as Angela Brown sits down with the co-founder of Transformation Church and Pastor Derwin Gray to discuss former C
Gemma 4 and what makes an open model succeed
Having written a lot of model release blog posts, there’s something much harder about reviewing open models when they drop relative to closed models, especially in 2026. In recent years, there were so few open models, so when Llama 3 was released most people were still doing research on Llama 2 and super happy to get an update. When Qwen 3 was released, the Llama 4 fiasco had just gone down, and a whole research community was emerging to study RL on Qwen 2.5 — it was a no brainer to upgrade. Today, when an open model releases, it’s competing with Qwen 3.5, Kimi K2.5, GLM 5, MiniMax M2.5, GPT-OSS, Arcee Large, Nemotron 3, Olmo 3, and others. The space is populated, but still feels full of hidden opportunity. The potential of open models feels like a dark matter, a potential we know is huge, but few clear recipes and examples for how to unlock it are out there. Agentic AI, OpenClaw, and everything brewing in that space is going to spur mass experimentation in open models to complement the likes of Claude and Codex, not replace them. Especially with open models, the benchmarks at release are an extremely incomplete story. In some ways this is exciting, as new open models have a much higher variance and ability to surprise, but it also points at some structural reasons that make building businesses and great AI experiences around open models harder than the closed alternatives. When a new Claude Opus or GPT drops, spending a few hours with them in my agentic workflows is genuinely a good vibe test. For open models, putting them through this test is a category error. Something else to be said about open models in the era of agents is that they get out of the debate of integration, harnesses, and tools and let us see close to the ground on what exactly is the ability of just a model. Of course, we can’t test some things like search abilities without some tool, but being able to measure exactly the pace of progress of the model alone is a welcome simplification to a systematically opaque AI space. Share The list of factors I’d use to assess a new open-weight model I’m considering investing in includes: Model performance (and size) — how this model performs on benchmarks I care about and how it compares to other models of a similar size. Country of origin — some businesses care deeply about provenance, and if a model was built in China or not. Model license — if a model needs legal approval for use, uptake will be slower at mid-sized and large companies. Tooling at release — many models release with half-broken, or at least substantially slower, implementations in popular software like vLLM, Transformers, SGLANG, etc due to pushing the envelope of architectures or tools. Model fine-tunability — how easy or hard it is to modify the given model to your use-case when you actually try and use it. The core problem is that some of these are immediately available at release, e.g. general performance, license, origin, etc. but others such as tooling take day(s) to week(s) to stabilize, and others are open research questions — with no group systematically monitoring fine-tunability. In the early era of open models, the days of Llama 2 or 3 and Qwen pre v3.5, the architectures were fairly simple and the models tended to work out of the box. Some of this was due to the extremely hard work of the Llama, Qwen, Mistral, etc. developer teams. Some is due to the new models being genuinely harder to work with. When it comes to something like Qwen 3.5 or Nemotron 3, with hybrid models (either gated delta net or mamba layers), the tooling is very rough at release. Things you would expect to “just work” often don’t. I’ve been following this area closely since we released Olmo Hybrid with a similar architecture, and Qwen 3.5 is just starting to work well in the various open-source tools that need to all play nice together for RL research. That’s 1.5 months after the release date! This is just to start really investing more into understanding the behavior of the models. Of course, others started working on these models sooner by investing more engineering resources or relying on partially closed software. The fully open and distributed ecosystem takes a long time to get going on some new models. All of this is lead-in for the most important question for open models — how easy is it to adapt to specific use-cases? This is a different problem for different model sizes. Large MoE open-weight models may be used by entities like Cursor who need complex capabilities in their domain, e.g. Composer 2 trained on Kimi K2.5. Other applications can be built on much smaller models, such as Chroma’s Context-1 model for agentic search, built on GPT-OSS 20B. The question of “which models are fine-tunable” is largely background knowledge known by engineers across the industry. There should be a thriving research area here to support the open ecosystem model. The first step is to understand characteristics of different base and post-trained models to understand what they look like. The second step is to tune pretraining recipes for open models so they’re more flexible. Interconnects AI is a reader-supported publication. Consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe For The ATOM Project and other Interconnects endeavors, we’ve put in substantial effort to measuring adoption trends in the open ecosystem. Everything takes a long time to unfold after a model is first publicly available — and adaptability is why. What we know for sure now, when Qwen has been going from strength to strength with its releases, is that technical staff across the industry has gotten comfortable working with Qwen models. Countless research methods and datasets were made to work with Qwen. It’ll take patience for any other model family to get to this point — a patience I’m not sure many open model builders have. This takes us to Gemma 4, Google’s latest open models. Gemma 3 was released more than a year ago, in March of 2025, and is a bit underrated. Gemma 4 comes in 4 sizes for now, with a bigger, MoE model of over 100B total parameters rumored but not released yet. The models we have today come in sizes of ~5B dense, 8B dense, 26B total 4B active MoE, and 31B dense. I’m most excited that they’re finally adopting a standard Apache 2.0 open source license. This’ll massively boost adoption. The standard of better licenses for strong open-weight LLMs was set by mostly Chinese open model labs in the last 1-2 years, and now U.S. companies are following suit. I will personally be so happy if the horrible Llama licenses and Gemma terms of service were an ~18-month transient dynamic of the industry being nervous about releasing strong open models. The Gemma 4 scores look very solid, the small models have incredible benchmark scores (especially in general domains like LMArena) and the 31B model rivals the recent Qwen 3.5 27B, which is the leading member of that class. The ~30B size range is an important one, as it’s accessible both to researchers and to enterprises looking to deploy the model in real use-cases. Where the 7B model scale is the default for tinkering and research, a 30B model is the default for seeing if an open model can unlock substantial value in your specific workflow — a good mix of intelligence, low price, tractability for downstream training, etc. This takes us back to the above adoption criteria I mentioned for open models and the bigger question — do I think Gemma 4 will be an overwhelming success? Previous Gemma models have been plagued by tooling issues and poorer performance when being finetuned. Gemma 4’s success is going to be entirely determined by ease of use, to a point where a 5-10% swing on benchmarks wouldn’t matter at all. It’s strong enough, small enough, with the right license, and from the U.S., so many companies are going to slot it in. I’m cautiously optimistic that Gemma 4 is going to work better here. Winds are shifting for open models built in America. We saw GPT-OSS go through a bumpy launch to become an overwhelming success. There’s a collective energy around the likes of Reflection, Arcee, Nemotron, Gemma, Olmo, and peers that show substantial demand for building new stacks around open models. There’s capital to be spent on AI stacks across the economy by those who want more ownership of everything, including the model. After launching The ATOM Project 240 days ago, the conversation is shifting into the next stage. Summer of 2025 was a crisis moment where the U.S. AI scene realized it can’t wait and figure out open models after building AGI. The two markets will capture different areas and proceed in parallel. Now that more companies in the U.S. are releasing strong models, we need to improve the ecosystem so that these models are easy to use, understand, and build value around. It’s the hard work to build another inflection point in these adoption plots I’ve been updating consistently, but that’s the work to be done. Join me in it. More data coming soon! Here’s a sneak peek:
Community Rallies for Penn State Health Children’s Week, April 6-12
April 6 marks the start of the eighth annual Penn State Health Children’s Week, a fundraising campaign benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network’s Patient Assistance Endowment at Penn State Health…
Midshipmen Play Host to Holy Cross Saturday Afternoon on CBS Sports Network
Navy (6-4, 2-2 Patriot League) returns home to play host to Holy Cross (5-5, 2-3 Patriot League) on Saturday in a nationally-televised Patriot League contest. Faceoff is slated for 3:06 pm at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium and the game is presented by Navy Mutual. Navy is led by Joe Amplo, who has put together a 49-37 record in his 7 seasons at the helm of the Mids' program, while Holy Cross' J.L. Reppert has posted a 15-57 record in 6 seasons as the Crusaders' head coach. The contest marks the 22nd meeting in a series that dates back to 2004.
Public higher education is the people’s business
Transparency and accountability have long been the hallmarks of government and should be of the state’s flagship university as well.
‘This is a-maz-ing’: Women’s Final Four highlights growth of women’s sports
The Women’s Final Four marks explosive growth of women’s sports, bringing in high ticket prices, new NIL cohorts and brand partnerships while encouraging community engagement and leadership development.
Democrats sue to block Trump's executive order targeting mail ballots
Democrats sued Wednesday to block President Donald Trump's latest executive order restricting mail voting, arguing that the U.S. Constitution empowers states and Congress, not the president, to determine who is eligible to vote by mail. The lawsuit marks the second round of battles over the president's power to control elections. Trump's opponents handily won the first round last year, blocking his initial executive order intended to reshape election procedures by convincing multiple federal judges that
Trump speech on Iran war, recent remarks on oil, NATO, daycare costs land with a thud
Trump's meandering speech did little to assuage U.S. allies and world markets concerned about the conflict's ongoing disruptions to the global oil supply.
17 wide receiver draft prospects who fit Packers production benchmarks
There are production trends among Green Bay's previous draft picks at receiver, and there is a healthy list of prospects who fit the bill in 2026.
Latin America Faces Historic Fertility Decline
Latin America’s declining fertility marks a turning point in its social and economic trajectory: the region is entering a new demographic era.
In major speech, Trump says Iran war will be over 'shortly' but offers little clarity
Trump's remarks were his first formal address to the nation since the U.S. and Israel launched military strikes against Iran on Feb. 28.
Space views to seafloors: Satellite discovery marks defining moment in
New research from the 2025 Kamchatka earthquake reveals hidden signals helping to improve seismic and tsunami hazard assessments.
Goya Foods marks 90 years in business by giving back to families in need
NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 Dynamic Multi-Frame Generation and 6x Mode Officially Arrive
NVIDIA has finally launched its long-teased Dynamic Multi Frame Generation (MFG) and Multi Frame Generation 6x mode today through a new NVIDIA app beta update. This marks the full public release of NVIDIA's DLSS 4.5 technology suite, which enables the GPU to generate up to five additional frames fol...
Alaska Airlines unveils its first-ever International Business Class Suites experience, setting a new standard for long-haul travel
Debuting this spring, the airline’s new long-haul Business Class marks a major step in Alaska’s transformation into the West Coast’s global carrier.
White House reaffirms support for surgeon general pick after Trump remarks
After President Trump said Sunday that “we have a lot of great candidates” when asked about Casey Means’s nomination, the White House reiterated its support for her.
Bulls cut Jaden Ivey after former top-five NBA draft pick posts anti-LGBTQ remarks
The Bulls waived Jaden Ivey, the No. 5 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, for 'conduct detrimental to the team'
Who’s ‘Safer’ or ‘Riskier’? Maine Democrats Clash Over How to Beat Collins.
Gov. Janet Mills argues that her rival for Senate, Graham Platner, could be doomed by his history of offensive online remarks. But at a time of anti-establishment anger, Mr. Platner says he is the safer choice.
Decapodiform evolutionary tree
The researchers employed multiple decapodiformes genomes along with a robust model of evolution and fossil evidence. Their evolutionary tree branches into 4 sections in the Cretaceous period, then sees no further branching until after the K-Pg extinction event, when rapid diversification occurred. Each final line end marks a different species. Of the major orders of decapodiformes, just oegopsida and spirulida remain in the deep ocean habitats of their ancestors.
What it means to be a woman in business
I am currently a Senior Key Account Manager at Alliant Energy. In my role, I’m responsible for managing some of our major commercial and industrial customers, and I also get the opportunity to support economic development across the communities we serve. This year marks nearly a decade for me at Alliant Energy — a journey […]
EU's Ribera: Antitrust Must 'Stay Strong' Against Politics
European Union antitrust chief Teresa Ribera had a word of caution Friday for competition enforcers who let political considerations influence their enforcement decisions, arguing in Washington, D.C., remarks that enforcement should remain stable against shifting political winds.