Tootfinder

A profile of Apple SVP John Ternus, the head of hardware engineering, who sources say is the front-runner to succeed Tim Cook, who wants to reduce his workload (New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/08/technology/apple-ceo-tim-cook-john-ternus.html…

Apple’s John Ternus Could Be Tim Cook’s Successor as CEO
John Ternus, a low-profile but influential executive at Apple, could be next in line to replace the company’s longtime chief executive, Tim Cook, if he steps aside.

Humphrey's Executor: SCOTUS weighs Trump's power to fire (Axios)
https://www.axios.com/2025/12/08/what-is-humphreys-executor-scotus-trump-ftc-firing
http://www.memeorandum.com/251208/p60#a251208p60

The US military has always had a massive global advantage against enemies by having bases all over the world. There are bases in every NATO country. This would appear to be a powerful threat to anyone willing to oppose American hegemon, and under normal conditions it would be.
But a lot of those kids serving on those bases joined, not because they love America but, because they needed a ticket out of poverty. They joined for the education, for the money, maybe a bit for the adventure, but, more than anything, to escape the ghetto or podunk backwater that trapped them. Under normal times, this is the best deal they could expect. Maybe they risk their lives, usually they sit around being bored for a few years, and they get to come out with respect and paid college.
But what they are being offered is normal in most of the countries they're stationed in. Free healthcare, cheap or free education, is just what citizens in a lot of countries have come to expect. If the US attacked a NATO country, how many would snap up citizenship if they were given a chance to defect? Bonus points for taking some hardware with you, I'm sure.
But there are some who love their country. There are some patriotic Americans on those bases. Some of them joined specifically to protect the US from all enemies, foreign *and* domestic. Given a chance to fulfill that oath or violate international law, what happens?
There are a good number of former military folks too who now are unsafe in the countries they served, who would do just about anything for citizenship in any EU country and almost any NATO ally. Some of those folks know things they swore an oath to never share, but the country they swore an oath to has betrayed them. Today there's no value in leaking those secrets, but in a war between the US and NATO allies things would be different. Some of those former military folks still believe in their oath, and know exactly who the real enemy is. What happens when there's a real threat of war, when they can use their knowledge to fulfill that oath to protect the US against those domestic threats?
There are a bunch of civilian tech workers who have become targets of the regime. Some of them had clearance, or know about the skeletons in the closet. They know about critical infrastructure, classified systems, all sorts of things that would be extremely valuable to an opponent. But the opponents of the US have always been a frightening *other*, never familiar societies these folks look up to, have visited, have thought about moving to, are trying to escape to.
All I'm saying here is that invading Venezuela and kidnapping the president has a very different calculus than does attacking Greenland. I don't know if Trump or his people are able to understand that, but if he and his folks aren't then I hope European leaders are. But more than that, I hope it never comes down to finding out.
But perhaps we should all think about what we would do to make sure things ended quickly if American leadership ever made such an incredible mistake.

Pleased to see this article translated to English. Wide implications.
The Securitization of Minerals in the EU: Why Europe is Not Immune to the Resource Curse - resilience
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2026-01

The Securitization of Minerals in the EU: Why Europe is Not Immune to the Resource Curse
This article examines how access to mineral raw materials in the EU has been transformed through a process of securitization over the last two decades. What was once mainly a matter of economic policy and trade has been reframed—through narratives constructed by industrial lobbies and political allies—as an existential issue for European security and survival.

A software engineer explains AI fatigue, compounded by a FOMO treadmill of using labs' latest tools, thinking atrophy, and more, alongside boosted productivity (Siddhant Khare)
https://siddhantkhare.com/writing/ai-fatigue-is-real

AI fatigue is real and nobody talks about it | Siddhant Khare
You're using AI to be more productive. So why are you more exhausted than ever? The paradox every engineer needs to confront.

Trump Promises Executive Order to Block State A.I. Regulations (Cecilia Kang/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/08/us/politics/trump-executive-order-ai-laws.html
http://www.memeorandum.com/251208/p65#a251208p65

An Airwallex executive warned in 2023 that China staff were pushing to access client data; Keith Rabois accuses Airwallex of enabling Chinese access to US data (Lucas Baird/Australian Financial Review)
https://www.afr.com/companies/finan…

Airwallex data access concerns over about China-based staff accessing customer data
A senior executive warned about improper access of private customer details presumably “driven by [China]“, but received pushback due to revenue concerns.

SCOTUS appears ready to give Trump greater firing powers, over sharp liberal warnings (Chris Geidner/Law Dork)
https://www.lawdork.com/p/scotus-ftc-slaughter-humphreys-executor
http://www.memeorandum.com/251208/p134#a251208p134

Sources: wealthy Californians are quietly mobilizing on WhatsApp and calls in a long-shot bid to oust Rep. Ro Khanna, who supports a controversial wealth tax (Theodore Schleifer/New York Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/07/us/politics/ro-khanna-calif…

California Tech Executives Plot Against Rep. Ro Khanna Over Support of Wealth Tax
It’s hard right now to be a progressive Democrat in the heart of America’s tech industry.

How the Supreme Court is using Trump to grab more power for itself (Ian Millhiser/Vox)
https://www.vox.com/politics/471611/supreme-court-trump-slaughter-unitary-executive
http://www.memeorandum.com/251208/p111#a251208p111