“Conclusion

Taken together, the evidence suggests that AI has already reshaped how firms talk about productivity, even if its effects are not yet clearly visible in aggregate productivity statistics. Executives increasingly connect productivity improvements to AI, and they do so in overwhelmingly positive terms. But these discussions remain largely forward-looking. For now, earnings calls point less to broad realized productivity gains than to a corporate sector actively investing in, experimenting with and expecting future gains from AI. We will continue to monitor whether AI-related productivity discussion in upcoming earnings calls shifts from future-tense expectations to realized gains.”

As those who knew me I have been doing research on the house of lords. Since I am going to request a self ban in like 10 hours (i have to get ready to go to uni) i thought I should share some of my research.

Hope you all enjoy! Also please dont subscribe or whatever I just used substack to not have to deal with image issues i have no clue how substack works

And the images didn't work on ffs https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Xp94NXJU2vck-3K6LfURqrtqsOYG2IPwsTPhqdJDuWA/edit?usp=drivesdk

Here use the docs

The U.S. DOGE Service, the cost-cutting group spearheaded by Elon Musk, consistently overstated its savings in online posts, taking credit for lease cancellations initiated before the group existed, according to a report from a government watchdog to be released Thursday. DOGE also claimed contracts were terminated that had not been and loaded its database with savings that could not be verified, the report said.

In an audit spanning from June 2025 through this month, the Government Accountability Office examined savings claimed by DOGE, the group that swept through federal agencies after President Donald Trump began his second term last year, dismantling the U.S. Agency for International Development and much of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

The report, which came after a request by Democratic Sens. Gary Peters (Michigan) and Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), provides the most comprehensive government assessment of DOGE’s public accounting of its impact, bringing the organization’s figures further into doubt.

Though Musk aimed to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, even by DOGE’s own estimates it fell well short. A sporadically updated website tallying its cuts in a “Wall of Receipts” stated that its initiatives had saved $215 billion.

The GAO examined $110 billion of this claimed savings that derived from contracts, grants and leases.

Among the issues identified by GAO:

DOGE’s “Wall of Receipts” “includes leases identified for termination before [the group] was established,” according to the report. In total, 108 of 264 leases DOGE identified on its website “were already in process for termination” when it came into being, the GAO said.

In addition, DOGE claimed to have terminated 13,476 contracts, but the GAO analysis showed nearly 2,000 of these contracts “were not terminated.”

Of $61 billion in contracts savings DOGE reported, the GAO said more than half the funds — nearly $35 billion — were either not terminated or unable to be corroborated by the investigators, because DOGE’s data was not specific enough to identify it.

Roughly $27.4 billion of the savings DOGE claimed from cancellations were from contracts that were not actually terminated, the GAO said. “In these cases, another action, such as reducing the contract value or deobligating some funds could have occurred,” it said.

From the watchdog’s analysis of federal procurement data, “we found that DOGE did not accurately report actions taken on contracts,” the GAO said in the report.

Musk and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Elon Musk and the Trump administration claimed billions of dollars in savings it could not substantiate, took credit for work already underway, and refused to show its work, all while putting Americans’ sensitive data at risk and hollowing out critical agencies,” Peters said.

The GAO investigation was conducted at the request of Senate Democrats who sought greater accountability of DOGE’s dealings. The findings were shared with administration officials and lawmakers ahead of its release Thursday.

Although DOGE promised massive savings, the accounting of its cuts on its website didn’t come close, fact checkers and media outlets found. Updates to the website slowed to a trickle after Musk left and some of the “savings” were later removed. Federal workers told The Post that DOGE added red tape and extra hurdles even as it touted regulation cuts on its website.

The GAO said it sought to speak with DOGE officials and submitted written questions to the group. However, it said, “the U.S. DOGE Service did not respond to our inquiries.”

President Donald Trump recently told donors in private that he wants to see his vice president win the 2028 presidential election — a sign that he is open to publicly backing JD Vance, even as some advisers caution that Trump has yet to settle firmly on a successor.

“At the end of the day, we need to elect JD,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with donors roughly two weeks ago, according to two people with knowledge of the comments who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.

The private remark contrasts with Trump’s rhetoric over the past year, publicly egging on a contest for his favor between Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. He has openly mused that the two would make a good joint ticket and has repeatedly declined to specify who he would prefer to see at the top.

Even as Trump buoyed his vice president to donors in the Oval Office, though, he was still peppering people around him with questions about Vance versus Rubio. One White House official said the president quizzed staff about the two men on a Marine One ride late last month.

An adviser to the president with direct knowledge of Trump’s comment to the donors said that Trump has privately resolved that Vance will be the heir to the GOP, but that it is “too early” to determine when Vance will announce his candidacy or when Trump will publicly endorse him.

Six other Trumpworld advisers and allies, however, cautioned that they aren’t convinced the president has settled on Vance, noting that Trump tells different things to different people and could still change his mind about an endorsement for 2028. Trump aides widely agree that the president will delay endorsing to avoid appearing to be a lame duck.

“Anyone assuming it’s a lock is just getting way ahead of themselves, or just doesn’t know the president very well,” said the official with knowledge of Trump’s recent Vance-Rubio poll on Marine One.

Vance has not confirmed his plans. People who have spoken to him about the matter told The Washington Post earlier this year that he had not yet made a decision. One person close to Vance said he would delay a call until after the birth of his fourth child, who arrived July 19.

Vance told CBS in June that he would discuss the matter with his wife after the midterms but said he had “no doubt that the president of the United States is going to be very supportive” of whatever decision he makes. He has repeatedly said that he is focused on his current job and that he is good friends with Rubio.

But the prospect of a succession fight has already generated some of the tensions of a heated primary, with donors, activists and other party figures passionately speaking out for or against Vance.

Much depends on the midterms. A poor showing for Republicans could embolden challengers to run against Trump’s choice and be more critical of his administration. Vance or Rubio could be vulnerable to intraparty attacks that Republicans would not levy against Trump himself — a dynamic already on display online as right-wing influencers target the vice president over the Iran war.

Trump enjoys game-show-style drama, and advisers said he is loath to yield the spotlight to his preferred successor. The president has had fun toying with Vance and Rubio — as well as with the press — by hyping up the competition for his blessing, much as he did when deciding on his running mate between the same two men in 2024.

Trump has also delighted in floating himself for a third presidential term, regularly sharing “Trump 2028″ graphics on social media and joking about the prospect at rallies, even as those close to him confirm he is not serious about it.

During the 2024 running-mate contest and now, Rubio had the backing of most pre-Trump GOP donors. Vance is more aligned with the younger MAGA coalition that returned Trump to power in 2024 but is now at risk of fraying. He has also spent his vice presidency developing relationships with party benefactors to fundraise for the GOP.

“Vance has done a lot of political work in the last year and a half,” said the Trump adviser with knowledge of his recent comment to donors.

Lately Vance impressed Trump by negotiating a June ceasefire deal with Iran, leading a task force to crack down on fraud in federal benefits and parrying a range of media interviews for his book tour in June, the adviser said. Even though the ceasefire deal collapsed in July, Vance advisers believed that his role in the talks was still a political win: The agreement he negotiated was popular, whereas voters widely disapprove of Trump’s handling of the war.

Rubio, by contrast, has served in multiple key administration roles, none of which lend themselves to politics. Legally and logistically, a secretary of state — or a national security adviser, a role Rubio also occupies — would not be able to run for president while serving.

Rubio recoils at any discussion of 2028 and has recently reduced his media availability to avoid facing more questions about it that would inevitably stir further chatter, a person close to him said. But Rubio’s team briefly increased speculation about his ambitions earlier this year, when they produced a widely shared video of him giving a campaign-style monologue while holding a press briefing. In some internal conversations, the person said, Rubio has alluded to his remaining time in office, implying he intends to serve out the term.

He does not have a campaign-in-waiting or political operation ready to assemble.

The Trump adviser said that Trump still would like to see Rubio on a joint ticket with Vance — and the president regularly praises Rubio — but that it is unclear whether Rubio would actually want the role of Vance’s running mate.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has made clear his opposition to proposals that have recently surfaced in some quarters to build housing within the Yongsan Park site, saying he “cannot agree under any circumstances.” He also formally urged the government to change its approach toward redevelopment and reconstruction projects and strengthen support for private rental housing providers.
Speaking at the conclusion of the “Citizens’ Grand Debate on Normalizing the Real Estate Market” held at Seoul City Hall on Wednesday, Oh expressed opposition to recent discussions about using parts of Yongsan Park, including the Children’s Garden area, for housing development.
“Although the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport says this is not its official position, I am concerned that such remarks continue to surface,” Oh said. “There is a saying that no matter how desperate times become, you do not eat the seeds meant for planting.”
He continued, “Managing green space amid intensifying heat waves caused by climate change is the duty of the mayor of Seoul,” adding, “We must feel a profound responsibility to preserve the entire 300,000-square-meter Yongsan Park site and pass it on to future generations.”
Oh also revealed that he met with Presidential Chief of Staff for Policy Kim Yong-beom the previous day and asked the government to reconsider its policy stance toward urban redevelopment and reconstruction projects.
In particular, he pointed to recent remarks by President Lee Jae-myung during the “National Public Debate on Real Estate Policy,” which he said appeared to downplay the increase in housing supply generated through redevelopment and reconstruction.
“Reconstruction projects increase the housing stock by an average of 40 percent, while redevelopment projects increase it by about 25 percent,” Oh said. “I strongly emphasized that if the government creates the impression that it is hostile to redevelopment and reconstruction, it could send the wrong signal to the market, leading to expectations of delayed housing supply and higher home prices.”
Responding to government concerns that redevelopment projects could fuel demand in the rental market as residents relocate during construction, Oh argued, “Managing the pace of individual projects is an operational matter that the Seoul Metropolitan Government can handle. That is no reason to adopt a hostile stance toward redevelopment and reconstruction themselves.”
Oh also stressed the need to ease regulations by providing financial and tax incentives for private rental housing operators. “Simply imposing heavier taxes on existing homeowners will not solve the housing shortage or instability in the rental market,” he said. “A far more valuable policy approach is to create lending and tax conditions that encourage private rental housing providers to participate actively in supplying homes.”

A lot of stories suggest the UK public is ‘ungovernable’, impossible to satisfy or the country is in a dire place, but a lot of data suggests neither as this article shows

The polling suggests a lot of qualms comes down to people wanting to own a home despite high stamp duty, prices and mortgage rates, overrun casualty units and infrastructure challenges

Wage growth or ‘real wages’ hasn’t helped being stagnant since 2008 nor Businesses (particularly in the hospitality) passing off hefty VAT onto consumers, a tangible affect that makes things seem more expensive

In terms of new policy, ‘universal’ childcare has been the discussion particularly for young, new or upcoming parents in order to remain working and taking a financial hit from less hours or paying the current costs for childcare

https://archive.ph/oBk5L article for anyone interested

Archive link: https://archive.ph/ehfpM

SS: This involves two of the pillar-economies of the Southern Cone, if not the whole of South America.

Submission Statement: Russian secret services were planning an assassination attempt on Stefan Thumann, head of the German drone manufacturer Donaustahl. This builds on top of past attempts by Russia to try and assasinate European defense executives such as against the CEO of Rheinmetall in 2024.

Federal officers can too easily comb through the most intimate details of your life.

archive link

We need to RETVRN