News Vérité

President Trump’s plans to construct a ballroom adjoining the current White House survived a vote in the Supreme Court and can proceed. The vote was 5-4, tellingly with Chief Justice John Roberts once again siding with the Liberal/Democrat wing in voting nay. The vote actually only gives the go-ahead while a final decision is reached in a case brought by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. That suit is based upon one member’s feelings that her “aesthetic, cultural and historical interests” were harmed by the ballroom construction.  The ruling by the five conservative justices said that “mere offense, disagreement or distaste” isn’t enough and that the Trust lawsuit thus lacks legal standing. The Trump administration had sought a review by SCOTUS, arguing the current judicial hold on the project would cause “irreparable harm.” The Trust lawsuit isn’t expected to be resolved before most of the construction is finished, while other lawsuits will be subject to this ruling’s same standard. The three far-leftists, joined by often-left Roberts, noted that the project was “likely unlawful” because Congress hadn’t approved it. Roberts said the Trump administration suffers “an apparent absence of statutory authority” to build the ballroom.

Bill Gates has issued a warning about the trajectory of artificial intelligence, describing the technology as an “evolutionary milestone” that could stand as humanity’s greatest equalizer or become its worst source of systemic injustice. While he remains a vocal advocate for AI’s potential to transform global health, education, and agriculture, Gates cautions that society is entering what he calls a “turbulent AI era” without a coherent plan to manage its consequences. Rather than treating AI as a uniformly positive or negative force, Gates outlines a series of distinct risk categories and pairs them with concrete policy proposals designed to help societies navigate the transition. Accelerated Job Displacement Gates argues that AI’s disruption of the labor market will differ sharply from previous industrial shifts. Where past waves of automation primarily affected manual and repetitive tasks, AI is poised to rapidly impact white-collar cognitive work—including software engineering, legal services, and customer support. He also warns that the disruption will not stop at desk jobs. Dexterous robotics could begin competing for blue-collar positions in construction and hospitality by the end of the decade, extending the pressure of automation into sectors long considered resistant to it.

Facing a potential fine of $1.7 trillion in a federal lawsuit, Meta — owner/operator of Facebook and Instagram — has agreed to a $16.68 billion settlement. As part of the settlement, Meta agrees to limit youths under 18 to two hours a day on its social media platforms. Meta is also turning off push notifications during school hours and shutting down its sites to those under 18 from midnight to 6 a.m. The lawsuit was brought by 47 U.S. states and territories. The issue was not content, but Meta’s deliberately designing its platforms “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” while failing to adequately address the harm they caused to the “mental and physical well-being of America’s youth.” Meta admitted no wrongdoing in the settlement and urged other social media companies to follow in its footsteps in restricting youthful usage and safeguarding those under 18. “We want to ensure teens benefit from this new industry standard, but we cannot do it alone. These protections will only be truly effective if we work with our peers—TikTok and YouTube—to put the same measures in place,” Meta wrote in announcing the deal.

Dolly Parton, the country music superstar whose decades-long career made her one of the most recognizable entertainers in the world, has died at age 80. No cause of death was provided, though later reports said she may have been battling cancer. President Trump immediately ordered that flags be flown at half-mast in her honor. Tributes poured in from around the globe. While Parton’s music brought her global fame, those who followed her closely say her philanthropic work — much of it channeled through the Dollywood Foundation and focused on literacy, disaster relief, and healthcare — left an equally lasting mark on the communities she touched. Roots in Rural Poverty Parton was one of 12 children raised in a “dirt-poor” household in Sevier County, Tennessee, an upbringing she often cited as the foundation for her charitable instincts. Her father, Robert Lee Parton, left school early to help support his family and never learned to read or write. Parton said she witnessed the limitations and embarrassment that illiteracy caused him throughout his life, an experience she later pointed to as the origin of her lifelong focus on childhood literacy. That same period also exposed her to the area’s high dropout rates and