Bernard Dobranski is the dean and Leon Lysaght is an associate professor of law at the University of Detroit School of Law
There is an unfortunate trend these days to further erode the distinction between law and politics. The formation and enforcement of laws is, of course, connected with the political process. On the other hand, the interpretation of the law should be divorced from the political process as much as possible. The problem is that the Constitution has, more and more, become an arena for carrying on political contests. Where proponents see little hope of legislative success, they have sought to cast their claims in constitutional molds. As a result, there are those who are more concerned with a judge’s politics than with his or her view of the law and the role of the judiciary in our form of government. What is even more alarming is the growing tendency to interpret judicial decisions in political terms that only take account of results.
The blizzard of commentary surrounding the nomination of Judge Robert H. Bork for the vacancy on the Supreme Court has obscured the legitimate issues and served to focus attention on the irrelevant and unknowable. We do not and cannot know whether Bork’s heart was pure on the day he fired Archibald Cox. What we can determine is whether his conduct was within, and indeed required by, the law. We cannot know precisely how Bork, now on the U.S. Court of Appeals, will vote on a variety of issues that will eventually appear before the Supreme Court. What we can reasonably expect to understand is Bork’s opinion as to the nature of the U.S. Constitution and his approach to interpreting it.
In a 1986 article in the San Diego Law Review, Bork sets forth his views on the proper role of the judiciary and the approach that it ought to take to constitutional interpretation. He discusses the problems created by the use of a concept like the “right of privacy” as the criterion for determining the result in Griswold vs. Connecticut. “My point,” Bork says, “is simply that the level of abstraction chosen makes the application of a generalized right of privacy unpredictable.” What concerned Bork was the trend toward generalization in judicial decisions even when the Constitution is silent on an issue, and what this might lead to as a source of unstructured judicial power.
The whole tenor of Bork’s article is strongly reminiscent of the late Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black’s dissent in the Griswold case. “Privacy,” Black said, “is a broad, abstract and ambiguous concept which can easily be shrunken in meaning but which can also, on the other hand, easily be interpreted as a constitutional ban against many things . . . .” Black’s view of the manner in which the Supreme Court ought to interpret the Constitution has much in common with Bork’s as expressed in the San Diego Law Review article.
Both jurists take the position that the function of the Supreme Court is to interpret the Constitution by reference to the words that appear in it. Both believe that the words can and ought to be limiting factors on the discretion that judges have in making their decisions. Yet there is a growing group of law professors who think otherwise. And there appear to be a number of senators who believe that political ideology is the determining factor in judicial decision-making.
But political beliefs held before appointment to the Supreme Court have not been reliable predictors of judicial behavior. Hugo Black’s political background (which included membership in the Ku Klux Klan) would hardly have predicted a judicial record of preserving individual rights. Earl Warren’s performance surprised more than a few people.
More is known about candidates who have had judicial experience than those who have been selected from the political arena. But what is it that we know about current or former judges?
What we know is whether they view the law as a rational enterprise and whether, as judges, they are of the opinion that they must give good reasons for the decisions that they make. We can discover whether they believe that a judge is morally superior and, therefore, morally justified in substituting his or her opinion for the opinions of legislators or the general population. In short, what we can find out, and what we should want to know, is the degree to which the candidate for judicial office is committed to the rule of law.
It is appropriate to ask a political candidate what his or her opinions are in respect to abortion, prayer in schools, gay rights or any other matter within the political domain. What we should ask the candidate for judicial office is his or her opinion with regard to the law on these matters, and whether the candidate is prepared to faithfully apply the law. It is important to determine whether the judicial candidate differentiates between his preferences on matters of social policy and his view of the law on these same issues.
Bork has articulated his views on these matters in numerous law-review articles and judicial opinions. What he has said is neither unique nor radical. As previously noted, his position on constitutional interpretation bears striking resemblance to Hugo Black’s. The view that a judge must justify his decisions by reference to the established meaning of the words does not justify calling him a right-wing ideologue. The nomination, and confirmation, of Judge Bork will not mean substantial change in life as we know it, no matter who “we” are.
Hi and welcome to another edition of Dodgers Dugout. My name is Houston Mitchell. I don’t know why everyone is carrying on about Shohei Ohtani, after all, he did give up two hits and walked three batters.
—I was under the impression that David Corenswet was going to be the new Superman. Apparently, I was wrong.
—So, I’m sitting there watching as Ohtani hits three home runs, strikes out 10 and pitches six shutout innings and wondering what to write about it. There are no words.
—Every Dodgers fan, heck, every baseball fan should pause for a moment and make sure they realize just what an amazing athlete we are watching.
—And to do it all with such apparent grace and humility. All you can say is “Wow!”
—Not everyone in my family is as hardcore a baseball fan as I am, but they all realize what an amazing thing this is.
—Judging just by body language, it looked like the Brewers gave up sometime in the middle of Game 3.
—Brewers manager Pat Murphy spent most of the series telling the media how much the Dodgers spend and how great they are and that’s how the Brewers played, like they were just lucky to be on the same field.
—Dave Roberts is managing the bullpen beautifully, just like he did last season. Blake Treinen doesn’t have it in Game 4, then he gets Trienen out of there as soon as he can.
—Anthony Banda should be high on the trust tree right now. He looks very good out there.
—The Dodgers only had to use 18 players from their 26-man roster to beat the Brewers. Not appearing at all in the NLCS: Position players Hyeseong Kim, Miguel Rojas and Ben Rortvedt and pitchers Ben Casparius, Jack Dreyer, Clayton Kershaw, Emmet Sheehan and Justin Wrobleski. Justin Dean appeared in every game but never batted.
—Just to show it’s a team game, if you take away Ohtani’s three homers, the Dodgers still win Game 4.
—They gave the NLCS MVP award to Ohtani, but consider this: Seven different Dodgers drove in at least one run, six Dodgers scored at least one run, eight Dodgers drew at least one walk.
—The Dodgers had 14 extra-base hits in the series. The Brewers had 14 hits, period.
—Dodgers starting pitchers threw 28.2 innings, gave up only nine hits and seven walks while striking out 35 and had an ERA of 0.63.
—The bullpen threw 7.1 innings, gave up five hits and four walks while striking out six and had a 2.46 ERA.
—This is only the second time the Dodgers swept a best-of-seven series. The other time was in the 1963 World Series, whose starting pitchers were also dominant (they threw 35.1 of a possible 36 innings).
—Speaking of which, up next is the World Series. But we aren’t going to worry about that today, or this weekend. It starts next Friday against either Toronto or Seattle. And I’m telling you now, the Dodgers are going to win that series too.
—But in the meantime, enjoy the weekend. Series like this make it easy to remember that this is supposed to be fun.
Poll time
Which team would you like the Dodgers to play in the World Series, Seattle or Toronto?
Have a comment or something you’d like to see in a future Dodgers newsletter? Email me at [email protected]. To get this newsletter in your inbox, click here.
For those who know of the spectacle that is Juan Gabriel there is no explanation necessary, for those who don’t, no explanation will suffice.
A new Netflix docuseries attempts to capture the magic of the frequently bedazzled genre- and gender-defying showmanship of “El Divo de Juárez,” who died at 66 of natural causes in 2016, while also investigating the internality of the man behind Gabriel — Alberto Aguilera Valadez.
Juan Gabriel was known for his epic stage performances, where he was often accompanied by an orchestra, dancers and dozens of mariachis dressed in tight jackets and sombreros, while belting out such hits as “Hasta Que Te Conocí,” “El Noa Noa” and “Amor Eterno.”
His colorful outfits and flamboyant dance moves drew speculation about his sexuality, but he famously preferred to remain coy on the issue and to this day remains a queer icon throughout the Latin American world.
“Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will,” which premieres Oct. 30, utilizes a goldmine of hundreds of thousands of personal and never-before-seen voice recordings, photos and videos of one of Mexico’s most revered singer-songwriters, giving audiences a holistic look at the pain, joy, contradictions, artistry and genius that informed Gabriel’s worldview and perception of himself.
The project is director María José Cuevas’ second production with the streaming giant — her 2023 documentary feature “The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders” recounted the story of famous Mexican serial killer Juana Barraza, who was sentenced to 759 years in prison for killing 16 elderly women and the suspected killing of dozens more.
Cuevas’ implementation of the juxtaposed duality of Juan Gabriel and Alberto Aguilera Valadez was inspired by his insistence that the two entities were distinct yet symbiotic, as was shown in a 2014 filmed self-interview the singer conducted.
“In order to understand the greatness of Juan Gabriel, I had to know Alberto. He always played with that duality,” she said. “From a very young age he would say in interviews that he invented Juan Gabriel to shield Alberto, he invented an idol in order to protect his private identity.”
In an interview with The Times, Cuevas spoke about her personal connection to the famed singer, the overwhelming archives she had access to and the ways in which Juan Gabriel united and continues to unite people to this day.
This interview was translated and edited for length.
What was your relationship to Juan Gabriel before taking on the task of directing this documentary?
I remember clearly turning on the TV [when I was young] and seeing video clips of Juan Gabriel with his red sweater and white jeans. I later had the opportunity to go to his first performance at the Palacios de Bellas Artes in 1990 with my parents. One is accustomed to going to Bellas Artes for opera, ballet, classical music and the concert began with that formal tone, but there reached a moment where audience members couldn’t keep up the facade of elegance and everyone let their hair down.
For me that moment was incredibly revelatory, I finally noticed that he was a whirlwind in every sense of the word. I didn’t realize at the time that I was present at a such an important cultural milestone. When I watched it in retrospect, from all the camera angles we were privy to for this documentary, I got goosebumps and I wish I could go back to being 18 years old and experience it with the intensity that I have for his music now.
I think that Juan Gabriel always transports us to something personal, but also to something collective. In Mexico, Juan Gabriel’s death was a very collective experience. You would go out into the street and you would hear his music in cars, the corner store, coming out of neighbors’ houses.
How did you gain access to the vast collection of archived materials that are present in the documentary?
That’s really the treasure of the project. Juan Gabriel’s story has already been told, but what makes this project unique is that it’s a story told by [the recordings and photos] he left behind. One of the first things he did after reaching success wasn’t just to buy his mom a house, but also to buy himself a Super 8 camera. From then on he picked up the habit of recording his everyday activities as Alberto Aguilera and later on he always had a camera following around as Juan Gabriel.
From our first meetings with Netflix, I figured we should ask Gabriel’s family if they had anything to share with us. I thought maybe it would be a photo album that was laying around, maybe a box of memorabilia or a few cassettes. So it was to our great surprises when they sent us over a photo of a warehouse with shelves full of every different kind of film. It was crazy. And that’s when I remembered that Juan Gabriel’s close friend and actor Isela Vega was helping him catalog all of his videography.
I never imagined that within those videos that we’d find the public persona of Juan Gabriel and the private persona of Alberto Aguilera. Another elucidating moment was that Juan Gabriel reached a moment where he became conscious of the level of his celebrity and that it wasn’t a coincidence that he recorded most of his life. And there reached a moment where I realized he saved all these recordings so that one day people could revisit all his saved materials and they could reconstruct his personal story through what he left behind.
There’s a moment in the documentary where we’re at one of his concerts and there are men of all orientations in the crowd that are asking JuanGa to marry them. That seemed particularly powerful to me because in that moment the veil of machismo seemed to fall.
Yeah, I think an important part of making this portrait of Juan Gabriel was understanding the context of Mexico in the ‘80s. It was very conservative, very machista and then all of a sudden this guy drops in with all this talent and charisma and he says, “Here I come, get out of the way because I’m gonna conquer everyone.” And that wasn’t so simple at that time. He showed his greatness at any and every stage he was put on. He was able to win over people in every social class in a very elitist Mexico. He won over everyone from the most macho man to women.
Even greater than the achievement that was his performance at Bellas Artes were his performances in palenques when he was young. Palenques being these circular stages where you can’t hide because you’re standing right in the middle of everything. And he would take the stage late at night when everyone was already drunk and they were audiences that were, in general, very machista.
Suddenly a very young Juan Gabriel would appear to perform rancheras. I always say he was a provocateur, but also a seducer because of his ability to win over a crowd. There were audiences that would yell derogatory things at him and that’s when he’d really play with the audience.
It feels almost impossible not to be moved by the music as you watch your documentary.
He’s really magnificent. I remember throughout the whole process of making the doc and I was watching the intimate home videos of Alberto Aguilera and it really reminded me that Juan Gabriel was a human like everyone else [not just this grand entertainer]. I’d put any concert of his and I was bowing at the altar of a star. It’s amazing what a powerful character he was up on that stage.
And how have you seen JuanGa’s legacy represent something very specific in the U.S.?
For Latinos in the U.S. he’s such an important figure because his work pulls people back to their roots. One of his greatest accomplishments as a performer was when he filled the Rose Bowl in 1993. In that moment he showed his influence and strength within the Latino world. He’s absolutely one of the key figures in Latin music.
Sharp words were exchanged after a mother forced a seat swap aboard a flight so she could be situated closer to her kids. But the impacted passenger was not having it
Stern words were exchanged (stock photo)(Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A woman was shamed and insulted after refusing to give up her seat on a flight.
“Last month I took a flight back home after visiting my parents. Boarding time, I walked to my seat, 23A. There was already someone sitting there,” the woman explained on the subreddit Entitled People.
“I had to double-check to make sure it’s the 23rd row. Yep, I was right.”
Rather than accepting that she’d been dealt a bad hand and would be occupying another perch for the flight, the wrong passenger decided to speak up – for principle’s sake, and so she could sit in the seat she had reserved.
“So I told the lady sitting there, it’s my seat. Suddenly, a man on 23D offered me a 23E seat. It turns out they are a family, and the mother didn’t want to be separated from her children (who were in 23B and 23C), so she took my 23A,” the spurned aviator went on.
“I was confused. It’s not like she will be long separated from her children. The children were in 23B-23C, and she and her husband were in 23D-23E—only separated by an aisle! Obviously, I refused. I specifically booked a window seat. It could help me feel at ease looking at the clouds and fall asleep.
“The seat they offered me to trade was a middle seat, 23E. Trapped between the dad (23D) and a random man (23F) in a narrow airplane seat? Nope. I feel suffocated already.”
When the woman explained that she would not accept the wrong seat, tense words erupted.
“I flatly replied, ‘No, I booked the window seat’. The mother immediately felt offended. She replied harshly ‘So you don’t mind we, a family, sitting separately?’ Well, why didn’t YOU book the right seats in the first place? Didn’t say this out loud though, I was only replaying my words ‘That’s my seat’. I was adamant with my answer.
“Finally she’s up, walking away from my seat with angry words she whispered silently towards me. I chose to not pay any attention to them. However, things changed afterwards. Her children were still sitting on the 23B and 23C seat, obviously I could not walk into my seat.
“I asked them politely to get out of their seat so I could get in. What did the mother do? She body shamed me. ‘Kids, get up. Her body is HUGE, she could not get in’.
“My height is above the women’s height average in my country, plus I gained like 10 kgs in the pandemic.”
The woman said the comments hurt her “feelings badly”. According to the passenger, the daughter apologies to her for her mother’s comments.
“The angry tirade stopped around five minutes later, when the mother told her kids to move seats a few rows away. Once more, the daughter pleaded for an apology to me. It’s crazy to think that a 12-year-old was way more emotionally mature than her entitled 40s mother. The whole time her mother spouted insults at me, the daughter looked pale and rigid. Her gaze was fixated on one spot. I assume she was very embarassed. Poor kid,” the woman concluded.
Kelsey Parker appeared on Loose Women this afternoon to speak about the process of grieving her stillborn son Phoenix, as she shared her daughter’s heartbreaking reaction
The podcast host and widow of The Wanted’s Tom Parker sadly announced her third child was born stillborn at 39 weeks in June. Kelsey looked forward to welcoming her first child with partner Will Lindsay, who she found love with two years after Tom’s tragic death from an inoperable brain tumor in 2022.
Kelsey Parker announced the happy news in January, but tragically, five months later, the 35-year-old broke the devastating news that the little boy who they had named Phoenix, was stillborn. She then took time away from both work and social media.
The star appeared on Loose Women to talk about her grief during Tuesday’s episode, in which spoke about the heartbreaking moment she had to tell Aurelia, six, and Bodhi, four, that the family had experienced death again with their younger sibling.
“Time has been really tough,” she said. “Because Aurelia’s six, I wasn’t giving her the right answer to what she wanted. I said, ‘Pheonix has died and Pheonix is with daddy now.’
“And she was like, ‘I hate dad, why does dad keep taking everyone?’ So that wasn’t the right answer. Again, you’re trying to find out for your children, what’s the right way to navigate this?
“And I think with my little Bodhi, he’s been through so much. I was 35 weeks pregnant when Tom was diagnosed, he was only 18 months when Tom died. I’m his hero, so as long I’m okay, he’s okay. But with Aurelia, she’s beyond her years.”
Earlier this year, sitting down to speak with Christine Lampard on Lorraine for the first time since the devastating loss, Kelsey opened up on how she grief once again with her two little ones.
“It’s being honest. It’s telling them facts. Because I never want them to feel like I’ve not been honest and years later they say, ‘Oh but mum, you didn’t tell me this and you didn’t tell me that!'” she said.
“They’ve lost their dad, they know their dad’s with the angels now, so we told them, ‘Phoenixhas gone with your daddy,'” Kelsey revealed she told her children as she shared the devastating news.
The star emphasised how important she felt it was to talk about grief, after she took time off social media to spend time with her family and allowing herself to grieve.
On this afternoon’s Loose Women, Kelsey explained how she went straight back to work following Tom’s tragic death, but this time, she made sure to take the time to grieve for herself.
“You need that moment for you. And I’ve listened to myself this time. I did rush back into work when Tom passed. But I listened to myself this time, and I’m actually proud that I took some time to sit with this.”
Kelly: What was it like growing up? Talk to me about your family.
Andoni: Since I was 10 or 11 years old, I always used to go to school on the train alone to San Sebastian. After school, I took a bus to training, and after I finished training my father came to take me. Both of my parents were working – they have been working always. I am used to moving myself since I was young, which has been good for my independence. When I moved, I was 16 and had to go to a new place. I was living alone which is not the easiest thing. But I think it has been good for me.
Kelly: Did you have any brothers or sisters?
Andoni: No.
Kelly: Who did you play football with growing up?
Andoni: In Spain, when you have a school, you have your morning, you have lunch then you have two hours free. Some people go home, and then they come for the afternoon and evening classes, so it was two halves of the day. In between I used to play football all the time. I couldn’t go back home so I stayed there playing football.
Kelly: If you hadn’t been a professional footballer or manager, what would you have done?
Andoni: I started two careers. I haven’t finished any! I started engineering – too ambitious because I was already playing football. I did more than half of the career but I didn’t finish it.
Kelly: How do you escape football?
Andoni: For me, it is quite easy. I have my wife and two kids and they are not much into football. Once I leave the work environment I go home and sometimes we don’t speak anything about football. It’s very good for me. When I have a day off my wife puts lots of plans in place!
Kelly: Your family have travelled around with you. Is it important to have them with you?
Andoni: My family is very important. They are sacrificing a lot. I am going from country to country to the best clubs I have the opportunity to go, and they have to come with me. I am very clear I couldn’t do this without them. If they tell me one day ‘I want to go back home’, I am leaving. We will go back home. I know there will be a moment in my career when I will have to not be the protagonist, when my kids are older and I won’t be the boss any more. I will be happy and we will go back home and I will be the supporting team behind. I know this moment will arrive.
Kelly: If your wife didn’t plan anything for your day off, what would you do for yourself?
Andoni: I live in a place for nature and walks – Bournemouth is one of the best places in the country.
Kelly: I read you are big into reading. Is that a way you escape?
Andoni: Yes. For me, reading is a big help. You forget a little bit about everything else happening around you. It’s something that has helped me from the mental side. I use reading and I use the bike. They are the two ways I forget about the problems you always have when you are a manager.
ACCIDENTS can always happen when you are travelling – but did you know there are secret codes for different emergency situations?
Whether travelling across the globe on a flight or setting sail on a cruise to the Med, staff have several codes for different situations that need to be addressed.
5
Airports, planes, trains and cruise ships all use codes for different emergenciesCredit: Getty
Whilst many are to alert something less serious, there are some codes that signify something more horrifying is happening.
Here’s a run down of the codes you might hear at the airport or on planes, cruise ships and trains – and what they really mean.
Planes
For most passengers, their worst nightmare is hearing there is a problem whilst flying.
And by using codes, cabin crew often are able to communicate with each other without alerting passengers.
For example, ‘Code 300’ or ‘Angel’ means that a passenger has died on board the plane.
If this happens, passengers will hear ‘Angel’ being used by flight staff, where they will then communicate on what to do including potentially moving the body away from other passengers.
Another code, ‘Squawk 7500’ or ‘Hotel’ rather scarily signals a hijacking.
Pilots will send the transponder code ‘Squawk 7500’ to air traffic control to alert them that the plane is in danger without actually explaining the situation or alerting passengers.
However, passengers may hear ‘Hotel 7500’ to indicate the emergency.
If you hear ‘Pan-Pan’, then it means there is a serious, but non-life-threatening incident on board – this could be mechanical or medical.
Dubai is building the world’s largest airport
There are codes for less serious situations too including ‘Code Yellow’ which alerts staff to a minor medical situation, such as a passenger feeling sick.
Similarly, if you hear ‘Mermaid’ there isn’t anything to worry about – flight crew just used the term to refer to a passenger who is spreading themselves out across more than one seat.
Airports
You won’t just hear codes on the plane, but you might also hear them being announced in the airport.
For example, ‘Code Adam’ means a child has gone missing and is announced to begin a search for the child, including securing exits in case of a potential child abduction.
According to The Telegraph, ‘Code Bravo‘ alerts a general security issue.
There are also a number of codes you might not necessarily hear at the airport, but are used behind the scenes to communicate different issues.
5
Airports even have a code for a missing child to alert staff to start searchingCredit: Alamy
For example, according to The International Air Transport Association (IATA), the code ‘DF’ means that the aircraft has experienced damage, due to incidents such as a bird strike or lightning.
Alternatively, the code ‘DG’ means that an aircraft has damage from ground operations, such as a collision.
Code ‘FS’ signifies there is a flight crew shortage and code ‘FC’ suggests there is a cabin crew shortage.
And code ‘FB’ means that the captain of a flight has requested a security check.
Cruise ships
According to The Telegraph, passengers won’t want to hear ‘Operation Rising Star’on a cruise ship, which means a passenger has passed away.
Alternatively, ‘Operation Bright Star’ or ‘Blue Star’, means there is a medical emergency onboard.
5
On cruise ships, there is a code incase someone has fallen overboardCredit: Getty
‘Code Alpha’ can also mean there is a medical emergency onboard.
If someone has fallen overboard, you’ll hear ‘Code Oscar‘ and rather scarily, ‘Code Echo’ means the ship is at risk of colliding with another ship.
Alternatively, if you hear ‘Code Charlie’, there is a security threat on the ship.
There are some less serious codes as well that you could hear including ‘PVI’, which stands for ‘public vomiting incident’.
And ‘Code Zulu’ flags that a fight has broken out onboard.
5
And on trains or at train stations, you might hear an alert for ‘Inspector Sands’ who isn’t actually a personCredit: Getty
Trains
For commuters or people heading to different destinations in the UK on the train, you could also hear some secret codes.
For example, you might hear someone asking for ‘Inspector Sands’ which means there is a fire.
Depending where you are, the code you hear for fire could also be ‘Mr Sands’.
WHILE there are no official airline rules on what you can and can’t wear on board, there are some unspoken guidelines, as passengers have been kicked off a flight for their choice of clothing.
If you can, avoid dirty or torn clothes, anything with slogans that may be deemed offensive or contain any rude language
Some airlines do allow flip-flops, but others may not accept you on board if you’re wearing beach attire or something too revealing.
It’s also important to check whether your destination has specific laws or local customs around clothing, as the airline may expect passengers to adhere to these before boarding.
For example, Qatar Airways have a dress code as the mid-point is a conservative Muslim country.
If passengers visit Doha as a stopover, they must observe the strict dress codes which include no sleeveless shirts, and pants must be no higher than your knees.
It’s a good idea to opt for clothes which are comfortable such as jeans and a nice top.
Bring layers – flights can get chilly and if you do experience a member of the cabin crew asking you to cover up, you’re already prepared.
The Oracle of Omaha levels with investors by demonstrating the promise and peril of the stock market with just four words.
It’s the end of an era on Wall Street. In less than four months, Berkshire Hathaway‘s (BRK.A -1.26%) (BRK.B -1.40%)Warren Buffett will retire from the CEO role he’s held for six decades. During his 60 years at the helm, he’s overseen a roughly 6,140,000% cumulative gain in his company’s Class A shares (BRK.A), which compares quite favorably to the roughly 43,300% total return, including dividends, delivered by the benchmark S&P 500(^GSPC -0.32%) over the same timeline.
The Oracle of Omaha’s outperformance has made him the most-followed money manager on Wall Street, with some investors riding his coattails to substantial long-term gains.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett. Image source: The Motley Fool.
But the other factor — aside from market-crushing returns — investors have come to appreciate about Buffett is his willingness to share his thoughts and the company traits he looks for when taking stakes in wonderful businesses. Whether it’s Berkshire’s annual shareholder letter or the company’s yearly meeting, Buffett is no stranger to offering up nuggets of wisdom.
Warren Buffett sends a $344 billion warning to Wall Street using just four words
Investors are likely aware of some of the Oracle of Omaha’s core principles. For example, Buffett prefers to buy stakes in companies with sustainable competitive advantages, strong management teams, and hearty capital return programs. He also looks at investments as multiyear or multidecade commitments, with eight stocks in Berkshire’s portfolio currently considered “indefinite” holdings.
But possibly the best investment advice Buffett has ever offered, which perfectly encapsulates the promise and peril of the stock market, was penned in Berkshire Hathaway’s latest annual shareholder letter. While discussing where his company has money allocated, Buffett proclaimed, “Often, nothing looks compelling.”
At his core, Berkshire’s billionaire boss is an unwavering value investor. Though there are some unwritten “Buffett rules” that sometimes get broken, such as investing for the short-term via an arbitrage opportunity, Berkshire’s head honcho isn’t willing to buy a stock if its valuation doesn’t make sense.
Warren Buffett Indicator hits 215%, the most expensive stock market valuation in history 👀 pic.twitter.com/kjnbGN67be
At the moment, stock valuations are historically expensive. Keeping in mind that valuation is subjective, the affably dubbed “Buffett Indicator” recently hit an all-time high. This valuation measure adds up the cumulative market cap of all public companies in the U.S. and divides this figure by U.S. gross domestic product (GDP).
The market cap-to-GDP ratio, which has averaged closer to 85% of U.S. GDP when back-tested to 1970, surpassed 214% in late August. In other words, finding value has been exceedingly difficult for Buffett and his team.
Beginning in October 2022, the Oracle of Omaha began selling more stock than he was purchasing. This net-selling activity has been ongoing for 11 consecutive quarters (Oct. 1, 2022 – June 30, 2025), totaling $177.4 billion in net stock sales. All the while, Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile, which includes cash, cash equivalents, and U.S. Treasuries, has ballooned to a near-record $344.1 billion.
Despite sitting on $344 billion in capital, Buffett prefers to be a net-seller of stocks, and isn’t even buying shares of his own company any longer. It’s as direct a warning as Wall Street will get from Berkshire’s billionaire chief.
Image source: Getty Images.
Patience pays off handsomely in the stock market
Though Buffett’s ominous advice – “often, nothing looks compelling” — perfectly explains why he’s been more of a seller than a buyer amid a historically pricey stock market, it also provides a backdrop of how Berkshire’s boss has been able to deliver outsized returns spanning six decades.
Fundamentally, Warren Buffett is well aware that the U.S. economy and stock market have both expanded over the long run. Even though recessions and stock market corrections are normal and inevitable aspects of respective economic and stock market cycles, optimism prevails over long periods. This means being patient and waiting for price dislocations to become apparent is a winning and time-tested strategy — in case the nearly 6,140,000% aggregate return for Berkshire’s Class A shares didn’t give it away.
In August 2011, shortly after the worst of the financial crisis, the Oracle of Omaha engineered a $5 billion stake in Bank of America(BAC -1.29%)preferred stock. While Bank of America wasn’t desperate for cash, it wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to shore up its balance sheet amid ongoing litigation and a still-uncertain loan portfolio.
When Buffett initially made this investment, Bank of America’s common stock was trading at a 62% discount to its book value. But in the summer of 2017, Berkshire exercised its warrants to purchase 700 million shares of BofA stock at $7.14 per share. This August 2011 price dislocation instantly netted Berkshire a $12 billion (unrealized) profit, which has since grown even larger.
Berkshire’s billionaire CEO recognized a price dislocation with Apple(AAPL -0.16%), as well, in early 2016. The maker of the beloved iPhone was trading at just 10 to 15 times forward-year earnings nine years ago, which is an inexpensive valuation for a company that had been consistently growing by high single digits to low double digits annually. Apple stock has jumped approximately tenfold since Buffett first entered the position, with artificial intelligence euphoria and the company’s rapidly growing services segment doing a lot of the heavy lifting.
Although it can be frustrating waiting for Warren Buffett and his top advisors to deploy Berkshire Hathaway’s treasure chest, being patient has paid off handsomely for decades. When price dislocations do become apparent in the future, Buffett or his successor Greg Abel will be ready to pounce.
Donald Trump says he can be the first Republican presidential nominee to win California since 1988, but his rhetoric on immigration, the environment and guns risks pushing the strongly Democratic state even further out of his reach.
In recent travels across the state, Trump has shown no inclination to modulate his language the way nominees normally do as they turn from their party’s primary toward a wider general-election audience.
Instead, he has emphasized positions that are not only out of step with independents and Democrats whose support he would need to carry California, but also with many fellow Republicans in the state.
“He’s reinforcing all of the negative stereotypes of the Republican brand that have been hurting us for 20 years, which is a peculiar approach to putting California back in play,” said Mike Madrid, a Republican campaign consultant in Sacramento.
At rallies in Anaheim, San Diego, Sacramento, San Jose and Redding over the last week, Trump has riled up overwhelmingly white crowds with his call to build a wall along the southern border and force Mexico to pay for it.
“It’s going to be a big, fat, beautiful wall!” Trump shouted to cheering supporters Thursday night in San Jose.
More than 7 in 10 Californians oppose building a border wall, according to a poll last month by the Public Policy Institute of California.
Though Republicans favored the proposal, they are a sharply diminished force in California elections, thanks largely to a GOP hard line on illegal immigration that has turned away the state’s growing Latino and Asian population. The party’s share of California voters has slid to 27%.
In San Diego last week, Trump deepened his trouble with Latinos as he attacked the judge overseeing a fraud lawsuit against Trump University, his defunct real estate program, calling the judge a Mexican and saying, “I think that’s fine.”
He went further Thursday and Friday, saying the ethnic heritage of U.S. District Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was born in Indiana to Mexican immigrants, made it a conflict of interest for him to handle the case. “He’s a Mexican,” Trump told CNN. “We’re building a wall between here and Mexico.”
Bill Carrick, a veteran California strategist running the U.S. Senate campaign of Democrat Loretta Sanchez, called the initial remark “blatantly racist” and “blatantly stupid.”
“It just makes it harder for him to have any appeal to Latino voters at all – and a lot of other voters,” Carrick said.
Republican leaders have voiced similar concerns on a national scale. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said Thursday that he worries Trump might drive Latinos from the Republican Party the way GOP nominee Barry Goldwater did with blacks after opposing the Civil Rights Act during the 1964 presidential race.
McConnell, who has endorsed Trump, told CNN that Trump made a “big mistake” last week by attacking Republican Gov. Susana Martinez of New Mexico, the nation’s first Latina governor.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks did not respond to a request for comment.
It’s going to be a big, fat, beautiful wall!
— Donald Trump, to cheering supporters in San Jose
Trump can be deft about calibrating his rhetoric at times, routinely muting some of his more controversial positions.
Apart from answering reporters’ questions, Trump rarely discusses his support for barring Muslims from entering the U.S., punishing doctors who perform abortions, overturning the Supreme Court ruling that legalized same-sex marriage, and deporting millions of immigrants in the country illegally.
Trump also refuses to answer questions about his demand in 2011 that President Obama release his birth certificate to prove he was born in the U.S.
And he rarely talks about his belief that climate change is a hoax, a topic he often raised on Twitter in the years before his run for president – and one that could cause him trouble in California.
On the eve of his California visit last week, Trump told a petroleum conference in North Dakota that he would withdraw the United States from the landmark Paris treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
“In a Trump administration, political activists with extreme agendas will no longer write the rules,” he said.
But 8 in 10 Californians, including half of Republicans, viewed global warming as a serious threat to the state’s economy and quality of life, a Public Policy Institute survey found last year. And nearly two-thirds of Californians supported the state making its own policies separate from the federal government to address global warming.
At his California rallies, Trump has steered clear of climate change. But in Fresno, he mocked environmentalists, saying their misguided efforts “to protect a certain kind of 3-inch fish” were depriving farmers of sorely needed water.
It was a sharp break with the custom of California Republicans to use support for environmental protections to appeal to Democrats and the independents who side with them in most statewide elections.
The state’s last Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, made efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions a cornerstone of his 2006 reelection campaign. Schwarzenegger also broke with conservatives in his party on immigration, supporting a path to citizenship for many of those in the country illegally.
When he was first elected in the 2003 recall election, Schwarzenegger also had advantages Trump will not: Most Californians thought the state was moving in the wrong direction, and they strongly disapproved of its Democratic leadership.
“That’s not the mood in California now,” said pollster Mark Baldassare, president of the Public Policy Institute of California.
Trump’s staunch opposition to gun control could also pose problems in the state, where polls have found most voters believe in stronger restrictions on access to firearms. At all of his campaign stops here, Trump has touted his endorsement by the National Rifle Assn. and accused his presumed Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, of trying to abolish the 2nd Amendment.
“We’re going to keep our guns — don’t worry about it,” Trump told the crowd in Sacramento. “You need them.”
Beth Miller, a Republican campaign consultant in Sacramento, frets that Trump could cause long-term harm to GOP candidates in California who embrace his candidacy.
“It could potentially backfire for years to come,” she said. “I think there are going to be a lot of Republican candidates who are going to have to very delicately distance themselves from Donald Trump’s rhetoric.”
As for Trump himself, his prospects in California are grim, according to the latest USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll. It found that 71% of California voters had an unfavorable impression of him, and Clinton would beat him in a hypothetical November match up by 26 points.
Kelly: Has there been a turning point? It’s not been a straightforward linear journey. Your journey has been different to most footballers – from Hereford, Hull, then to the Premier League, winning a European trophy and with England. Is there one moment you can pinpoint that you think, actually, that’s where it all changed?
Jarrod: Probably when I got rejected from Cardiff before I went to Hereford because I went on trial to Cardiff for about six weeks and at the time I thought ‘Right my local team Hereford’s not got anything for me to have that path.’ I’ve gone to Cardiff, thought ‘I’ve done really well for six weeks and they’ve said no as well’. So I was kind of like ‘This is it now then… it’s not going to be.’
But then I think that rejection from Cardiff and then Hereford and then starting back up just made me appreciate it so much more. In the end I was just enjoying playing football because I didn’t know what was going to happen. I didn’t know if it was just going to end and I was playing at Hereford and I thought ‘It can’t get much better than this.’ I was happy with that. Then a few things happened.
I moved to Hull at 17, which was a big lifestyle difference. Three and a half hours away from home was absolutely horrendous but those things have all helped me off the pitch and then it helps you on the pitch as well. But I think if you can mature as a person off the pitch, it helps you.
So, a few things have happened, but I’d say that Cardiff rejection… I thought ‘This was the end, so let me be appreciative of playing when I can.’
Kelly: You’ve played in some huge matches already in your career. Which match, if you could relive one, would you play again?
Jarrod: I think one that sticks with me the most was probably the Europa Conference League final. I had never been involved in any sort of final before. Coming out, getting to the stadium a couple of hours before, going out to look at the pitch as you do, and it was packed.
That feeling of the final whistle going and you’re on the pitch… there’s a replay on YouTube that me and my dad watched the other day of the whole game… after the game ended I think the camera went to me and I had the biggest smile on my face, dropped to my knees and it was just like, the feeling of that, what it meant for us as a group, what it meant for the fans as well. I think that was such a great day.
Kelly: Did you say you and your dad were watching the whole game back recently?
Jarrod: Yeah.
Kelly: That shows you how much it means.
Jarrod: Yeah, he always watches it. He’s into rowing and canoeing, so he’s got a rowing machine and he’ll send me a picture of an hour and 29 minutes and it’s just the whole game. I’ve never watched it before. You knew how it’s going to go but I was still watching a little bit nervous and I’m thinking, ‘I know how the game goes, why am I so nervous?’ I can’t really remember the game fully. It’s been two years now, so to watch it from like two years on in a different way was a weird feeling but I loved watching it.
Kelly: Let’s talk a bit more about Jarrod Bowen the person. You’ve mentioned your dad multiple times already, so let’s start there and family and what it was like in the Bowen household growing up. Take me into a typical day.
Jarrod: Probably a similar upbringing to what most people have. I have a younger brother and sister, so I was the eldest child. They always said I was the favourite child because I was the first born – that’s still a thing. But I loved playing football. A very sporty family. My dad played rugby and football as well. My mum worked at the school that we grew up at. She still works there and that was kind of our life really.
Kelly: You must be the poster boy if your mum’s at the school. You must be like a local hero.
Jarrod: Like I said, my mum, when she comes down, she brings this whole box of things. She says “someone just asked me if…” and she’s the nicest woman in the world, so she will never say no to anyone, so she comes down with this box of stuff and I’ll sign it for everyone. It might be for a raffle or something like that. I’ve grown up in that area, still know pretty much everyone in that area, been to that school, so for them to want my things as well I think it means a lot to me for people to want to put me on the walls and want my signature.
Kelly: I want to know a bit more about your dad. He was an ex-footballer, and he played semi-professional. Is that correct?
Jarrod: He played for Conference-level Forest Green, Worcester… those sorts of teams… Hereford for a couple of years.
Kelly: Is it correct that you still follow his pre-season training routine that he does with you?
Jarrod: Yeah, well… this summer was the first time where I didn’t get called up for England, so I had a five/six-week period. I went home for three weeks I think it was, and we were training on the famous potato fields every single day, so I had a full pre-season with him. This season, my brother was doing it with me, my sister was doing it with me, even Dani [Jarrod’s wife] came out a few times and did it.
Kelly: Was she doing it as well?
Jarrod: Yeah, if you looked at it you would’ve thought, ‘What the hell is going on with this group of people?’ My dad was the kind of instructor, so to speak. It was like his boot camp, we called it, but it was just us running around this potato field and I thought ‘If anyone sees us, they’re going to think what is this? What are this group of four people doing?’ But we did it and it’s something I’ve done throughout my career, so I wanted to do it, and we did it.
Kelly: Does he come to West Ham games? Does he travel?
Jarrod: As much as he can, yeah.
Kelly: It’s far.
Jarrod: Yeah, it’s far, but he tries to come to as many games. He’s already thinking about the Sunderland game. He’s going to drive his camper van.
Kelly: I’m glad you’ve brought the camper van up because I wanted to talk to you about that. That camper van went to the Euros, didn’t it?
Jarrod: Yeah, the camper van went to the Euros! That was him, my brother, my two best mates. They all had a go at driving it. My two best mates were awful at driving it! I think they nearly wrote the camper van off, driving on the different side.
My goodness, is it time for the Cambridge Dictionary’s annual release of the new words that have made it into its hallowed listings already! It seems to come round quicker every year. Possibly that should be “more quickly”. Their grammarian splinter group will let me know.
Far more so than birthdays or adventures in HRT, this event is a great measure of how functionally old you are. How much of the world do you, quite literally, still understand? I have heard of, and indeed enjoy though have never personally deployed, “delulu” – a play on “delusional”. “Tradwife”, too – which is the practice of monetising all the most boring bits of motherhood and domesticity on Instagram, under the guise of upholding conservative tradition. I like to think that among tradwives themselves it also carries the meaning of “socking all the proceeds away in a secret bank account and taking off for Costa Rica the minute the last child turns 18”, but I have yet to confirm.
Then things get harder. “Mouse jiggler” is more innocuous than I first feared and just about inferable (software that makes it look like you are still working if you are not in the office but likely to be remotely observed) but “skibidi” defeated me. It’s a YouTuber’s coinage, and seems to mean everything and nothing. Only those born to the skibidi can use it properly. And that is as it should be. The words “bath chair”, “tartan rug” and “Werther’s Originals” remain for the rest of us.
Tuesday
Spare a thought for the poor Prince and Princess of Wales, soon to be up to their eyes in packing tape and cardboard boxes as they prepare to move from Adelaide Cottage on the Windsor Great Park estate to Forest Lodge on … the Windsor Great Park estate.
Nothing says “I live a life unimaginably distant from yours” than a) the ability to move house at whim and b) to one that’s essentially in the same garden. Yes, there’s an extra four bedrooms in it for them (otherwise it’d just be another cottage, not a lodge, duh!), but imagine a normal doing the equivalent and going to all the expense and stress to move a few doors up the road. Although take away the stamp duty, the unreliable movers, the crippling solicitor’s fees, the dealing with utility companies and estate agents – oh, and the sale price, which I didn’t so much forget as find myself unable to conceive of living a life without – and the whole thing becomes instantly feasible. Who knew? Who knew?
Macron: ‘Get rid of it. Get rid of that sofa, that abomination, and then – then I will come in and we can talk.’ Photograph: ABACA/Shutterstock
Wednesday
Another new word is upon us! What a week we’re having! This time it is “otrovert”. I thought at first it might be something to do with non-innocuous mouse-jiggling, but no. It is a term coined by the American psychiatrist Rami Kaminski for people “whose fundamental orientation is defined by the fact that it is rarely the same direction that anyone else is facing”. (He’s written a book about them.) Oh, for heaven’s sake. That’s mostly just your common-or-garden introvert in a world that’s largely extrovert and they’re just facing into a book – leave them alone. The remainder are simple contrarians, the most wearisome people in the world. They see a received opinion and immediately set themselves mindlessly up against it.
Thursday
Speaking of Jungian archetypes as we tangentially were, researchers are claiming that almost every activity is more enjoyable in company – even reading. Which is just more blatant propaganda from Big Extrovert bent on destroying the last havens of peace for those who don’t follow their busy, cacophonous lead.
We have to start pushing back at this point. We can attack the new contention on any number of grounds. On the practical: is farting better in company? It’s funnier, sure, at least for the farter – but beyond that? And even for the detonator, the law of diminishing returns sets in pretty quickly. On the philosophical: can masturbation, for example, truly be said to be taking place in company? Does it not become subsumed within exhibitionism? And on the methodological: this study was carried out using only American subjects, citizens of the most extrovert, camera-ready nation on earth. To take them as representative samples of humanity is a very great mistake.
Stormtrooper: ‘This is CLEARLY not Tatooine, you planks. Try again.’ Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Friday
Common sense and a small understanding of probability theory tells us it is technically possible – but still. No one really thinks they will live to experience it but on the way back from Edinburgh, where I’d been talking about my new book (Bookish – available in all good bookshops and maybe some bad ones too, if there is such a thing), I did. I had a perfect train journey.
No, honestly. I’ve no reason to lie. I thought all my travel luck had been used up when the 11.05 arrived on time. But then I got on and reservation screens were working and my seat had not been taken. The lady next to me was a reader and knitter. We smiled at each other as I sat down, and that was the full extent of our interaction over the next three and a half hours. During which: nobody yelled into a phone; the few children there played quietly together at their tables; the air conditioning worked and kept us at a comfortable instead of sub-arctic temperature. And the buffet was open.
This really happened. I feel I am going to pay for it somehow in the next few days – I am constantly checking the cats for signs of illness and my bank account for fraud – but until then, I shall revere the memory.
SOCIAL media slang words skibidi, tradwife and delulu have been added to the Cambridge Dictionary.
They are among thousands of new expressions, which also include the working from home term “mouse jiggler” and toxic “forever chemicals”.
Skibidi has different meanings, such as “cool” or “bad”, and can also be used with no real meaning, for example in: “What the skibidi are you doing?”
The term was coined by the creator of a viral animated video series called Skibidi Toilet on YouTube, Cambridge Dictionary said.
Tradwife — short for traditional wife — is a married woman who cooks and cleans and stays at home to look after her children.
And delulu means somebody who chooses to believe things which are not true — as in delusional.
Colin McIntosh, of Cambridge Dictionary, said: “Internet culture is changing the English language and the effect is fascinating to observe and capture in the dictionary.
“We only add words where we think they’ll have staying power.”
The dictionary uses a database of more than two billion words in written and spoken English to observe how new words are used by different people, how often and in which context.
Remote working helped “mouse jiggler” — a device or piece of software used to make it seem as though a shirker is working — gain its place in the dictionary.
And “forever chemicals” are man-made substances which do not naturally break down and pollute the environment or the body.
A made-up word from a 22-year-old ‘Simpsons’ episode finally makes it into the dictionary
1
Social media slang words skibidi, tradwife and delulu have been added to the Cambridge DictionaryCredit: Getty
Karolina says it is possible to enjoy the country if you know the rules (Jam Press)
A woman says a holiday turned into a nightmare when she visited a popular tourist destination as a ‘single blonde woman’. Karolina Wachowicz said she felt like she was wearing a “neon sign” as she walked the streets on her visit to Morocco.
Karolina said: “As a blonde, single European woman, you are not seen as just another traveller, you become the spectacle. Every glance, every comment, every offer of help is loaded with meaning you never asked for.
“Here, it’s not about seeing Morocco as a tourist, it is a daily lesson in holding your boundaries, keeping your nerve, and realising you have to rewrite the rules for every block, market, or bus stop.
Karolina Wachowicz in Morocco (Jam Press)
“In Marrakesh, the onslaught is sharp and constant. Men make comments out loud, sometimes in French, sometimes in Arabic, as you walk by. At first, you think the compliments are harmless, maybe even flattering, but they don’t let up, and you realise their persistence is never just about curiosity.
“Refusing politely is rarely respected; instead, men often push for your name, your plans, your relationship status. Sometimes, a casual ‘I have a boyfriend’ is the only answer that truly stops them.
“Yet the moment you let your guard down, or even just smile out of nervousness, it can be read as a signal to try harder. In cafes and markets, you quickly learn to focus your gaze, answer monosyllabically and keep walking.
Karolina Wachowicz in Morocco (Jam Press)
“Men bombarded me with questions and compliments, even sudden proposals!”
Karolina said the attention became even more intense when she left the city and travelled to small towns and rural villages. The 35-year-old said, “The attention is sometimes suffocating. Simple acts, like sitting in a café or shopping for groceries, become events.
“I couldn’t cross the street without at least one person asking for a photo or money. Marriage proposals were, of course, also common.
“Here, any visible skin or uncovered hair is read as a statement, no matter how modestly you think you are dressed. Suddenly, you realise that even a light summer dress and exposed shoulders can make you the focal point for requests, proposals, or relentless questions.”
Karolina said ‘you become the spectacle’ (Jam Press)
Despite the frequent attention of local men, Karolina said the opposite was true of the women. She said: “Instead of sisterhood, I was met with openly cold, critical stares. Their eyes could slice through me, especially if I wore something slightly less modest than their standard.
“A skirt above the ankle or uncovered arms was enough for some to glare or shake their heads in disapproval. On one occasion, a woman even raised her voice and scolded me in Arabic. I didn’t understand her words, but the tone said it all.”
Despite the challenges, Karolina said it’s possible to enjoy time in Morocco “if you understand just how different the social codes are”.
She added: “Morocco can challenge and exhaust you, but it will also teach you resilience, flexibility, and the importance of cross-cultural kindness, if you’re willing to look beneath the sometimes exasperating surface. “The key to survival is a blend of thick skin, improvisation, humour, patience, and cultural sensitivity.”
United States President Donald Trump has ordered two nuclear submarines to travel closer to Russia, in his latest tit-for-tat with Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev.
On Friday, Trump posted on his platform Truth Social that the submarine movements came in response to the “highly provocative statements” Medvedev, a former Russian president, made this week.
A day earlier, Medvedev had warned that Trump should be mindful of “how dangerous the fabled ‘Dead Hand’ can be”, a reference to Russia’s Cold War-era nuclear weapons system.
“I have ordered two Nuclear Submarines to be positioned in the appropriate regions, just in case these foolish and inflammatory statements are more than just that,” Trump wrote.
“Words are very important, and can often lead to unintended consequences, I hope this will not be one of those instances.”
In recent weeks, Trump has been enmeshed in an escalating war of words with Medvedev, who currently serves as the deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council under current President Vladimir Putin.
Medvedev and Putin have a close relationship: When Medvedev served as president from 2008 to 2012, Putin was his prime minister. Afterwards, when Putin returned to the presidency, Medvedev served as his prime minister from 2012 to 2020.
But as Trump voices increasing frustration with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, he has increasingly singled out Medvedev, a noted war hawk, as a target for his anger. Both men have hinted at their countries’ nuclear capabilities, and their public exchanges have grown increasingly tense.
Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, right, shakes hands with Laotian President Thongloun Sisoulith on July 30 [Ekaterina Shtukina/Sputnik Pool Photo via AP]
A war of words
In a social media post earlier this week, Trump pivoted from a discussion of trade between India and Russia to an attack on Medvedev for his sabre-rattling remarks.
“I don’t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care,” Trump wrote.
“Russia and the USA do almost no business together. Let’s keep it that way, and tell Medvedev, the failed former President of Russia, who thinks he’s still President, to watch his words. He’s entering very dangerous territory!”
Medvedev, meanwhile, has appeared to relish how his words provoke the US president.
“If some words from the former president of Russia trigger such a nervous reaction from the high-and-mighty president of the United States, then Russia is doing everything right and will continue to proceed along its own path,” Medvedev responded in a post on Telegram.
Medvedev then proceeded to reference the zombie apocalypse series The Walking Dead, in an apparent nod to the devastation Russia has the power to cause.
“And as for the ‘dead economy’ of India and Russia and ‘entering dangerous territory’ — well, let Trump remember his favourite films about the ‘Walking Dead’.”
This week is not the first time Trump and Medvedev have taken their beef online. In late June, the two men likewise sparred and flexed their nuclear arsenals.
“Did I hear Former President Medvedev, from Russia, casually throwing around the ‘N word’ (Nuclear!), and saying that he and other Countries would supply Nuclear Warheads to Iran?” Trump wrote on June 23.
He then pointed to the recent US attack on Iran as an example of how the country might respond to other threats.
“If anyone thinks our ‘hardware’ was great over the weekend, far and away the strongest and best equipment we have, 20 years advanced over the pack, is our Nuclear Submarines,” Trump wrote. “They are the most powerful and lethal weapons ever built.”
He also took a jab at Medvedev’s position under Putin, suggesting that Medvedev’s threats were irresponsible.
The high-stakes back-and-forth comes as Trump becomes increasingly frustrated with the lack of progress towards peace in Ukraine.
Since February 2022, a slow-grinding war has unfolded in the country, as Ukraine attempts to repel a full-scale invasion from Russia.
Trump entered his second term as president pledging to be a global “peacemaker and unifier”, and his administration has openly advocated for the Republican leader to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
But his efforts to resolve the dispute between Ukraine and Russia have stalled.
Early in his second term, Trump himself faced criticism for appearing to undermine Ukraine’s cause, accusing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of being a “dictator” and appearing to offer Russia concessions, including annexed Ukrainian territory.
By contrast, Trump initially took a warm approach to Putin, telling Zelenskyy in a fiery Oval Office meeting, “Putin went through a hell of a lot with me.”
But in recent months, that relationship appears to have cooled, with Trump threatening Russia with sanctions as the war grinds on. On July 28, he announced that Russia would have “10 or 12 days” to stop its offensive, or else the economic penalties would take effect.
Then, on Thursday, as Russia shelled the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, Trump slammed its continued military action.
“Russia — I think it’s disgusting what they’re doing. I think it’s disgusting,” he said.
But Medvedev has previously described Trump’s deadlines as “theatrical” and said that “Russia didn’t care” about the threats. He also warned that Trump’s aggressive foreign policy stance may backfire with his “America First” base.
“Trump’s playing the ultimatum game with Russia,” Medvedev wrote on the social media platform X earlier this week.
“He should remember 2 things: 1. Russia isn’t Israel or even Iran. 2. Each new ultimatum is a threat and a step towards war. Not between Russia and Ukraine, but with his own country.”
Speaking to the MailOnline, he said: “Getting a ticket after parking in a private car park does not mean you have committed any offence.
“It won’t lead to a criminal conviction, whether or not you pay it.
“You can challenge a ticket that has been wrongly issued, and the challenge could take you to the county court, where the park operator would have to sue you for non-payment to have any hope of getting you to pay up.”
Adam Aleksic has somehow managed to make linguistics cool. His rapid-fire videos have attracted an audience of millions across the social media universe.
An exclusive look at what we’re reading, book club events and our latest author interviews.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
A Harvard graduate with a linguistics degree, he has now published a book called “Algospeak: How Social Media Is Transforming the Future of Language,” which explores in depth some of his more fanciful and fascinating theories. We chatted with Aleksic about edutainment, brainrot and President Trump as influencer in chief.
(Please note: The Times may earn a commission through links to Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores.)
✍️ Author Chat
Author Adam Aleksic
(Adam Aleksic)
Did you get into linguistics because you wanted to explore online language?
I don’t think you can actually hope to fully be caught up with online language itself, as it’s mutating by the minute. The book is more of a road map of the general patterns we’re seeing. I personally got interested in etymology in ninth grade. I didn’t know I would be going into internet linguistics.
How do algorithms shape and change language on the web?
You can’t avoid talking about algorithms if you’re talking about modern language change. I’m looking at my own videos thinking, “Wow, I can’t say this specific word because of the algorithm. I have to say it another way.”
I use the example of the word “unalive” as a replacement for “kill.” That developed in English-language mental health spaces to circumvent platform community guidelines that were enforced by an algorithm used by Chinese government, which was then retooled for TikTok. Suddenly, “unalive” was all over the internet. Algorithms are creating new words.
In the book, you talk about context collapse, the notion that effective videos are designed to appear as if they are addressed directly to the user, even though they are, in fact, bringing in disparate users to a single focal point.
When you’re looking at a video on your For You page, you really think it’s for you. But it never is.
As a creator, I never think about individual people. I think about what’s going to go viral, but also, what do I want to make? I make the video first for myself, then I make it for the algorithm. Never do I consider the actual people that end up seeing the video.
Your phone is an extension of yourself. You perceive a message coming from your algorithmic version of yourself. The algorithm doesn’t actually align who my intended audience might be with who the actual audience is. It just sends my video to whatever makes the most money.
What about brainrot — the notion that the internet is damaging young people’s ability to think and reason. Does this apply to online language?
I think there’s no such thing as “brainrot” with words. They’ve done neurological studies. No word is worse for your brain than other words. Now, the other stuff, culturally, is another conversation. It probably is bad that these platforms are monopolizing our attention to sell us things. So I can say, linguistically, we’re fine.
Do you think the internet makes us smarter?
It’s an interesting question. What is “smarter”? I know that’s a hard thing to define. I think like with any tool, it can be true. Every tool has good and bad, right?
You talk about rage-baiting and hyperbole, or hype, as a tool to gain virality online. Our president is quite proficient at this tactic.
I think Trump’s language uniquely lends itself to virality. He has these phrasal templates, like “Make X Y Again,” or “This has been the greatest X in the history of Y.” People use his sentence structures as these skeletons, which they can remix. He coined “sad” as an interjection, which I regularly see my friends using. I don’t know how much of it is intentional. Maybe he just stumbled into it. But the fact of the matter is, I think we have Trump in office because he is uniquely suited to the internet.
📰 The Week(s) in Books
Anna Wintour, longtime Vogue editor and chair of the Met Gala, recently announced that she would be stepping back from some of her duties at the iconic Condé Nast magazine.
Hamilton Cain calls “The Aviator and the Showman,” Laurie Gwen Shapiro’s joint biography of Amelia Earhart and her husband, “a vibrant account of the courtship and union of the famous pilot and her publisher husband whose intrusive management of his wife’s career may have cost her life.”
According to Ilana Massad, Kashana Cauley’s novel “The Payback,” a satire about student loans, of all things, is a “terrifically fun book that made me laugh out loud at least once every chapter.”
Valorie Castellanos Clark thinks fan fiction writer turned novelist Brigette Knightley’s debut novel “The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy” is “proof positive that writing fan fiction is an excellent training ground for building a novel.”
📖 Bookstore Faves
Hennessy + Ingalls bookstore serves those with a taste for the visual.
(Hennessy + Ingalls)
Today we are chatting with Carlos Chavez, a bookseller at Hennessey + Ingalls, a sprawling space in downtown L.A. that specializes in books about art, architecture, graphic design and all things visual.
What’s selling right now?
Because we are a speciality bookstore, sales are really across the board. Everyday it can be something different. Someone came in yesterday and bought a bunch of books featuring art from the painter and sculptor Claes Odenberg, for example. We also sell a lot of books on industrial design, and fashion designers have been buying books about shoes. The other day a prop designer came in and purchased books with red covers. It’s a mixed bag.
Art books can be very expensive. Why do you think there is still a market for them, despite the plenitude of images online?
There are still plenty of book lovers who want to hold a book, and they want to see it before they buy it. For many of our customers, books are a great source of artistic inspiration of the kind you just can’t find online. This is the kind of store where customers are free to linger for hours if they want to.
There has been a lot of social unrest downtown this year. How is the store coping?
Business has been up and down. Some days are better than others. I think people were scared to come out, but yesterday was a good day, for example.
Representatives of the Hague Group gathered for an “Emergency Conference of States” in Colombia, urging action and not just words to stop the genocide in Gaza. Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti explains what’s on the agenda.
Butlin’s Bognor Regis, a holiday resort in West Sussex, is one of the most famous holiday parks in the UK and worldwide. Here’s what happened when Parul Sharma went to Butlin’s without kids.
08:20, 05 Jul 2025Updated 08:21, 05 Jul 2025
Butlin’s holiday park is a quintessential British experience(Image: undefined via Getty Images)
As a UK resident, I was recently informed that a trip to Butlin’s is somewhat of a British tradition. Being relatively new to the UK, I had no clue what Butlin’s was. So naturally, I decided to spend a weekend at the nearest one post-haste.
For some background – I relocated from India to the UK in June last year and holiday parks were not a common concept back home. In fact, it would be quite a task to locate one, particularly on the same scale and reputation.
So off I went to Butlin’s Bognor Regis for a ‘quintessentially British’ holiday break. To set the record straight, Butlin’s isn’t a holiday park.
It’s a holiday resort brimming with all the bells and whistles to keep oneself amused within its (vast) boundary walls. Despite being a mere stone’s throw away from the beach, that’s not the unique selling point of Butlin’s, reports the Liverpool Echo.
Parul went to Butlin’s with her partner over the May Bank Holiday weekend(Image: Parul Sharma)
The resort chain prides itself on offering enough activities within its grounds that guests don’t feel compelled to seek excitement at the beach.
Stepping into Butlin’s with my partner during the May Bank Holiday weekend, two things became immediately apparent. Firstly, my partner and I were possibly the only couple without children for miles around.
Secondly, it was shaping up to be a lively weekend.
The accommodation
Butlin’s Bognor Regis boasts three hotels within its grounds – the Shoreline, Ocean, and Wave Hotels – along with the Comfort range of rooms and apartments.
I had the pleasure of staying at the Wave Hotel, conveniently located near all the action and quite frankly, it was delightful. Upon entering the room, we were welcomed by a neon blue glow (as suggested by the name), yellow interiors, and an adorable junior room for children, complete with bunk beds and a quirky porthole on the door.
As a 30-year-old, I was thrilled at the prospect of a lie-in on those bunk beds, each equipped with their own mini-TVs. I could only imagine the excitement a child would feel having that space all to themselves.
Entertainment
Butlin’s iconic white tents are a world unto themselves. They house an arcade, a bowling alley, pool tables, a couple of bars, restaurants, and several stages for entertainment shows – it’s hard to envision anyone getting bored within these tented walls.
I must admit, I was completely taken in by the arcade games, enjoying myself as much as the throngs of delighted children around me. Upon closer observation, I realised I wasn’t the only adult partaking in the fun.
Watching parents in my vicinity revert back to their childhood selves was a joy to behold. After a spirited game of bowling and a few rounds of pool, I found myself reliving the bliss of my 11-year-old self’s childhood paradise.
For families with children, there was a plethora of live shows to enjoy, including The Masked Singer hosted by Mark Rhodes (known for Crackerjack and CBBC’s Junior Bake Off), featuring masked celebrity participants.
Other attractions included Electric Wonderland, Iconic, Snow White and her Magnificent Friends, Animals and Mythical Beasts, and even a chance to meet Gladiators stars Cyclone and Nitro.
These events were always bustling with attendees, and given the vibrant energy they exuded, it’s easy to see why.
The PLAYXPERIENCE
A new addition to Butlin’s Bognor Regis’ already brimming holiday resort is the PLAYXPERIENCE. Having opened its doors in October 2024, the PLAYXPERIENCE was certainly a standout feature of my inaugural Butlin’s weekend.
Spread across two floors and nearly 50,000 square feet, it’sndeniably a sanctuary for gamers and modern tech enthusiasts.
With a VR Cade boasting cutting-edge VR games, laser tag, techputt (mini-golf), digi darts, escape rooms, glow pong, shuffleboard, a batting cage, and neo games – this gamer’s paradise has something for everyone.
Featuring a bar and cafe on-site, I can safely say that me and my passion fruit daiquiri had a fantastic time while partaking in some neon mini golf. Another memorable moment was playing laser tag with playful kids and their equally spirited parents.
It appears that a dose of high-octane, ruthless competition is just the ticket to kick-start the day. As we divided into four teams, it became evident once more that the grown-ups were having as much fun as the youngsters.
That seemed to be the charm of Butlin’s.
Butlin’s Bognor Regis’ holiday resort has introduced a brand-new attraction called the PLAYXPERIENCE
Food and drink
The all-inclusive drinks package at Butlin’s seemed like a no-brainer. With an impressive array of cocktails, spirits, beers, ciders, wines, mocktails, Costa coffee, and soft drinks available – it’s almost worth donning a vibrant neon-orange wristband for three days.
The fact that most of the beverages are quite tasty and do the trick adds to the appeal. And with conveniently located bars and eateries scattered across the resort, we never had to wait too long for a drink or snack.
There was a wealth of choices to suit any budget, whether we fancied breakfast or a buffet dinner.
There was a wide array of cocktails, spirits, beers, ciders, wines, mocktails, Costa coffee, and soft drinks available
We opted for the premium dining package which covered our breakfast and dinner each day. Breakfast was served from 8am to 10:30am daily, and while the selection was broad and catered to both children and adults, I found the actual taste and quality of the food to be average.
But one can’t have it all, I suppose.
We were taken aback when we arrived at 10am on the first day – it seemed everyone was an early riser, and we certainly felt out of place, with people giving us double-takes!
The following day we managed to get there by 9.45am, but it still appeared that everyone was up bright and early for breakfast – not ideal for a late riser like me who prefers to squeeze in as much sleep as possible.
Fairground and Splash Waterworld
A charming little fairground was the icing on the cake of my Butlin’s weekend. From go-karts and adventure golf to mini-rides and a trampoline, the pre-booked All-Action Pass was a hit.
My inner Lewis Hamilton emerged during an exhilarating go-kart race (in which I triumphed – and no, it doesn’t matter that most of my competitors were children).
Although I didn’t take a dip, the sight of joyful families wandering around with damp hair and broad grins was enough to convince me it would’ve been a delightful experience (provided it wasn’t raining and excessively windy).
So, how did my inaugural Butlin’s trip fare in terms of holidays? Three days packed with fun, games, activities, and children. Lots and lots of children.
Perhaps my next visit will be when I have a little one of my own.
Book the holiday
Butlin’s is offering a three-night Showtime Weekend break, which includes accommodation in a two-bedroom Ocean Hotel room in Bognor Regis, starting from £269 on 11 July 2025. The price is based on two adults sharing and encompasses all live shows and activities, unrestricted access to the pool, unlimited fairground rides, and entry to PLAYXPERIENCE.
Dining packages begin at £24.95 per adult, per day, £14.95 per junior (aged 6-14), per day, and £6.80 per child (aged 2-5). For more information, visit www.butlins.com..
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has warned the United States that joining Israeli strikes on his country would “result in irreparable consequences” for the US as his and US President Donald Trump’s war of words accelerates and the Israel-Iran hostilities rage for a sixth day.
In his first televised address since Israel began its attacks on Friday, Khamenei said on Wednesday that Iran “will not surrender to anyone”.
Iran “will stand firm against an imposed war, just as it will stand firm against an imposed peace”, he said.
Responding to threatening remarks made a day earlier by Trump, Khamenei said those who know Iran and its history “know that Iranians do not answer well to the language of threat”.
In recent days, Trump has strongly hinted that the US could join in Israel’s military operation against Iran, saying he is seeking something “much bigger” than a ceasefire.
In comments made on Wednesday on the White House lawn at a flag-raising ceremony, Trump said: “I may do it. I may not do it,” when asked if the US was moving closer to striking Iran.
He claimed, without offering any evidence, that Iran is “totally defenceless. They have no air defence whatsoever.” Iran has said it has had success in bringing down Israeli drones and fighter jets.
“The next week is going to be very big, maybe less than a week,” Trump said without elaborating.
The US has in recent days sent more warplanes to the Middle East and is also sending the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.
The US president claimed Iranian officials reached out to him and suggested visiting the White House, something Iran denies.
“No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to ‘take out’ Iran’s Supreme Leader,” the Iranian mission at the United Nations said in a post on X.
No Iranian official has ever asked to grovel at the gates of the White House. The only thing more despicable than his lies is his cowardly threat to “take out” Iran’s Supreme Leader.
Iran does NOT negotiate under duress, shall NOT accept peace under duress, and certainly NOT…
— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) June 18, 2025
Trump’s comments came after he demanded on Tuesday Iran’s “unconditional surrender”, saying: “We now have complete and total control of the skies over Iran.” He also boasted that the US could easily assassinate Khamenei.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei echoed Khamenei’s sentiments, warning: “Any American intervention would be a recipe for an all-out war in the region.”
Iran is “under an attack by a genocidal” government and it will defend itself with “full force” against Israel’s “war of aggression”, Baghaei said.
Significantly, he added he trusted that Iran’s Arab neighbours would not allow the US to launch attacks on Iran from their countries.
Day 6 of Israel-Iran hostilities
The warnings were issued as Israel and Iran exchanged fire for a sixth consecutive day. The Israeli military said it struck 40 sites in Iran, including centrifuge production and weapons facilities.
The strikes targeted two centrifuge production sites – one in Tehran and one in Karaj, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Reporting from Tehran, Al Jazeera’s Tohid Assadi said explosions were heard near Payam International Airport in Karaj as well as in areas in eastern Tehran. An Iranian government spokesperson also confirmed cyberattacks on at least two of Iran’s banks, he added.
Translation: Another attack near the same previous location in northeast Tehran. Sadr Highway is visible in the footage.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Israeli jets “destroyed the Iranian regime’s internal security headquarters” without providing evidence.
Israel’s military confirmed one of its remotely piloted aircraft fell in Iran after being shot at by a surface-to-air missile. “No injuries were reported, and there is no risk of an information breach,” the military said. Iranian state media earlier had said Iranian forces shot down an Israeli drone and fighter jet.
‘Crazed’ Israeli attacks
Israeli strikes have continued to target other areas of Iran, including the central province of Isfahan. An Israeli strike on a vehicle in Najafabad killed six people, including a pregnant woman and two children, Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported.
According to Iran’s Ministry of Health and Medical Education, at least 240 people, including 70 women and children, have been killed since Israel began attacking the country.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Israeli army said it is “operating freely” in Iranian skies and had shot down 10 Iranian drones.
It also said its forces intercepted an Iranian drone that entered airspace over the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in Syria.
Meanwhile, explosions were heard over Tel Aviv on Wednesday morning as the army said two barrages of Iranian missiles were launched towards the country.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh, reporting from Amman, Jordan, said Iran’s missile attacks are creating an unprecedented “disruption” of life.
“Over the past six days, the Israeli public has experienced something they haven’t in the past: a formidable army that is firing ballistic missiles at Israeli cities and sensitive Israeli sites,” Odeh said.
They’re seeing “reports in their back yard of dozens of buildings damaged and condemned for demolition,” she said. “There are more than 1,300 Israelis who now have to live in hotels because their homes are unliveable, damaged beyond repair.”
The attacks have continued to cause global concern, and many countries have expressed a need for de-escalation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated his country’s willingness to help mediate the crisis.
Speaking to members of his ruling Justice and Development Party in parliament, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country wants to see the crisis resolved diplomatically and Ankara could play a constructive role.
Erdogan accused Israel of waging “crazed” attacks against Iran that amount to “state terrorism”.
Iran’s response, he said, has been natural, legal and legitimate.
Hassan Ahmadian, an associate professor at the University of Tehran, said he doubts the prospects for any diplomatic solution between Iran and the US, which had been trying to reach a new nuclear agreement before Israel launched its attacks.
“The minimal trust that led to the negotiations with the US is currently nonexistent,” Ahmadian said, adding that many Iranians now view the previous round of nuclear talks as little more than a distraction before the surprise Israeli attack.
“I don’t see much of a chance for diplomacy at this point – not until this confrontation ends and we see what comes next,” he told Al Jazeera.
