Emergency Management & Safety Solutions Inc.

A test for lead contamination in water, a project to measure the oldest light in the Universe and a study of heat and drought’s effects on the brain are all on ice after US President Donald Trump’s administration halted research grants to several elite US universities. US science-funding agencies have frozen or cancelled at least US$6 billion in research grants and contracts across a number of top universities (see ‘Science stalled’) as part of the Trump administration’s fight to reshape admissions, teaching, and other aspects of these institutions. Such actions have been justified in various ways or not at all. The Trump administration has alleged that both Columbia University in New York City, and Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, failed to stop “antisemitic violence and harassment” on their campuses during protests over the war in Gaza. Funding at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) in Philadelphia was halted, with the Trump team citing a transgender athlete who swam on the institution’s women’s team in 2022 (Trump issued an executive order on 20 January saying that such activities deprive women of “dignity, safety, and well-being”.) The reasons for funding freezes at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Princeton University in New Jersey and Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, have not been communicated publicly. The Trump team has sent demands to Harvard and Columbia, such as orders to instil more-rigorous student discipline, which it says they must meet to restore funding. Columbia initially yielded, but Harvard did not, and is now suing the administration. More than 200 university presidents have since signed a letter opposing “unprecedented government overreach”. Trump and his Republican allies have long alleged that elite universities are indoctrinating their students with left-wing ideologies. The president signed an executive order yesterday requiring accreditors — whose evaluations determine whether US institutions can receive federal funds — to prioritize “intellectual diversity” at universities. Scientists are now caught in the crosshairs, as the Trump administration uses federal grants as leverage in its fight. https://lnkd.in/ezCR_4AX

Yes, the robots are coming, and now they are running #halfmarathons! In one small step for robot-kind — thousands of them, really — humanoid #robots ran alongside actual humans in a half-marathon in the Chinese capital on Saturday. #Bipedalrobots of various makes and sizes navigated the 21.1-kilometer (13.1-mile) course supported by human navigators, operators, and engineers in what event organizers say was a first. As a precaution, a divider separated the parallel courses used by the robots and people. While flesh-and-blood participants followed conventional rules, the 20 teams fielding machines in the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon competed under tailored guidelines, which included battery swap pit stops. The Sky Project Ultra robot, also known as Tien Kung Ultra, from the Tien Kung Team, claimed victory among the nonhumans, crossing the finish line in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 seconds. Awards were also given out for best endurance, best gait design and most innovative form. You need to go to the article to see all the pictures of the different robots...quite fascinating! https://lnkd.in/eZUfHHHQ

California’s economy has surpassed Japan’s, making the Golden state the fourth largest economy in the world, Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Thursday. According to data from the International Monetary Fund and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, the state's nominal GDP reached $4.1tn, edging out Japan’s $4.02tn nominal GDP. California now ranks behind the US at $29.18tn, China at $18.74tn, and Germany at $4.65tn. Along with the capitals of the tech and entertainment industries, the state, which has a population of nearly 40 million people, is the center for US manufacturing output and the country’s largest agricultural producer. “California isn’t just keeping pace with the world – we’re setting the pace. Our economy is thriving because we invest in people, prioritize sustainability, and believe in the power of innovation,” Newsom said in a statement. The state has outperformed the world’s top economies with a growth rate in 2024 of 6% compared with the US’s 5.3%, China’s 2.6% and Germany’s 2.9%. This week’s new rankings come six years after California surpassed the United Kingdom and became the world’s fifth-largest economy. Newsom noted, however, that the Trump administration’s agenda endangers California’s economic interests. “And, while we celebrate this success, we recognize that our progress is threatened by the reckless tariff policies of the current federal administration. California’s economy powers the nation, and it must be protected.” I am proud of my culturally diverse, beautiful, creative, and innovative state. https://lnkd.in/er9j33MC

If you haven't read or thought much about Project 2025, I encourage you to listen to this brilliant one-session podcast on KQED Forum with David Graham, staff writer at The Atlantic. He digs into the document's highlights and what it tries to accomplish. Many of President Trump’s first policies in office — including removing Temporary Protected Status for migrants, walking back climate protections and denying trans personhood — were laid out and published back in April 2023, in the Heritage Foundation’s playbook Project 2025. “Project 2025 envisions an America where abortion is strictly illegal, sex is closely policed, public schools don’t exist, and justice is harsh,” writes Atlantic staff writer David A. Graham in his new book, “The Project.” In it, he analyzes the nearly thousand-page blueprint to make sense of what we’ve seen from Trump – and what could be ahead. He joins us to share what it all could mean for our democracy. A quick listen will give you the gist of what it is working to accomplish. https://lnkd.in/egQCPpyP

It appears that Elon has changed. To work out what subjects preoccupy Mr Musk & how his views have changed over time, The Economist analyzed his activity on Twitter & X (as it became in 2023). Using #AI to trawl through his 38,358 posts between December 2013 - November 2024, they found that he posts far more often and with a far more political bent. Climate change and clean energy used to be the realm of policy he opined the most, but he now bangs on much more about immigration and free speech, see chart. Mr Musk posts vastly more than he used to. From December 2013 to the middle of 2018, he tweeted just over a dozen times a week, on average. Between then and October 27 2022, when he completed the purchase of X, he was posting 50 times a week, since the takeover, that has risen to around 220 a week. Those who follow him—and over 200m do—may also have noticed a shift in subject matter. From 2016 to 2021 between 30% and 50% of his tweets each year were about Tesla or SpaceX, his two biggest companies. These days only 11% are. Meanwhile, the share of his political posts has risen from less than 4% in 2016 to over 13% this year. He may have more money than anyone else on Earth and the ear of the next president. Still, to a casual observer, he may not seem that different from any other American man in his 50s: lurching rightward politically, online a considerable share of the time, complaining about immigration and mocking the left. https://lnkd.in/e2PCjKeD

Great news! Justice has been busy! A judge blocked Trump’s efforts to add a proof of citizenship requirement to the federal voter registration form, a change that voting rights advocates warned would have disenfranchised millions of voters. The Democratic Party & a slew of civil rights groups challenged that order, arguing the president does not have the power to set the rules for federal elections. US district judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agreed with that argument & blocked a portion of the order that required federal agencies to assess the citizenship of individuals applying to vote at a public assistance agency before they offered them a chance to vote. The order would have made it significantly harder to register to vote, even for eligible voters. A federal judge said the Trump administration’s attempt to make federal funding to schools conditional on eliminating any DEI policies erodes principles that separate the US from totalitarian regimes. US district judge Landya McCafferty partially blocked the Education Dept from enforcing a memo issued earlier this year that directed any institution that receives federal funding to end discrimination based on race or face funding cuts. On immigration, a judge ordered the Trump administration to make “a good faith request” to the government of El Salvador to facilitate the return of a second man sent to a prison there back to the US, saying his deportation violated a court settlement. US district judge Stephanie Gallagher also ordered the administration not to deport other migrants covered by the settlement. She said the settlement agreement that she approved in November on behalf of thousands of migrants required immigration authorities to process the asylum application by the 20-year-old Venezuelan man, identified only as Cristian, before deporting him. The settlement applies to thousands of migrants who came to the US unaccompanied as children and have applied for asylum. While the administration argued that deporting Cristian didn’t violate the settlement agreement because he had been deemed an “alien enemy” under the Alien Enemies Act, making him ineligible for asylum. But Gallagher said the settlement applies to anyone with a pending asylum application, not only those eligible for asylum. Another judge blocked the Trump administration from withholding federal funding from several so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that have declined to cooperate with the president’s hardline immigration crackdown. US district judge William Orrick said a preliminary injunction blocking enforcement of Trump’s executive order was warranted as the local jurisdictions had established that it likely unconstitutionally imposed conditions on federal funding without congressional authorization & ran afoul of the localities’ due process rights. https://lnkd.in/e24Jh68U

The cover of this week's Economist caught my eye...a battered American Eagle, with the phrase Only 1,361 Days to Go. The hyperactive first 100 days of Donald Trump’s second term have been the most consequential of any president this century, perhaps since FDR. Before the inauguration, Americans wondered what sort of government they were getting. Trump is leading a revolutionary project that aspires to remake the economy, the bureaucracy, culture & foreign policy, even the idea of America itself. The question for the next 1,361 days is: Will he succeed? Trump’s presidency has been popular with his voters. His approval with Republicans is 90%. He has faced little resistance as he has charged ahead attacking the civil service, law firms, universities, the media & any institution he associates with the Democratic-leaning elite. As with any revolution, MAGA has a method & a theory. The idea is to bend or break the law in a blitz of executive orders & when the courts catch up, to dare them to defy the president. The theory is one of unconstrained executive power—the idea that, as Richard Nixon suggested, if the president does something then it’s legal. This has already undermined things that actually make America great: a view of the national interest large enough to take in paying for AIDS medication in Africa; a sense that independent institutions have their own value; a belief that your political opponents can be patriots; and faith in the dollar. If this is unchecked, it could lead to authoritarianism. Some MAGA intellectuals admire Hungary, where Viktor Orban exercises control over the courts, the universities & media. America does indeed leave some room for a would-be authoritarian. Congress has created many exceptions to normal rules which can be activated by the president declaring an emergency, and Mr Trump is making full use of them—witness his delight at the president of El Salvador’s ability to lock people up without trial. Although MAGA cannot control the media, it can intimidate their corporate owners—and, besides, fragmentation has diluted the press’s power to check the president. Congress is supine because Republicans owe him their jobs. One worry is that the courts will stand their ground, only for the administration to defy their rulings. Another is that, fearing this, the Supreme Court may try to preserve its authority by pre-emptively caving in. Yet there is another, more likely, scenario in which the extremism of the first 100 days stirs up powerful resistance forces. One such force is investors in the bond & stock markets. Though they were broadly enthusiastic about Trump’s election they have been his most effective opponents, not out of political conviction but because they deal in reality. They are rightly alarmed about the economy being poisoned by tariffs. Uncontrolled budget deficits & incompetent policy could lead to a dollar crash. https://lnkd.in/ehuhNjZa

This is Climate Week in my town San Francisco. Former vice president and environmentalist Al Gore didn't hold back with his comments Monday night as he went after the Trump administration. Gore was the keynote speaker at a special Climate Week event at The Exploratorium in San Francisco. "Our constitution, written by our founders, is intended to protect us against a threat identical to Donald Trump, someone who seeks power at all costs to get more power!" Gore came out swinging against President Donald Trump, who has continually said, "Drill baby, drill!" and his administration's push for using fossil fuels at the start of SF Climate Week at San Francisco's Exploratorium. "Anywhere in the world where there is an effort to pass legislation or regulations that reduce the burning of fossil fuels, they are there with their money, their lobbyist, and their captive politicians blocking it as best they can." Gore, awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for his work on climate change, spoke to this crowd just like Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi and San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. But it was Gore, whose energy seemed to resonate most. "The climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis basically, 80% of it," said Gore, who continued, "Right now, the entire continent of Africa, fastest growing population in the world, has fewer solar panels installed than the single state of Florida in the United States of America. That's a disgrace!" San Francisco's Climate Week, which is taking place this week, includes 1,500 organizations and more than 600 events. It is the largest climate week in the United States. "The climate movement is growing here in San Francisco," said San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie. https://lnkd.in/e3eAVKPj https://lnkd.in/eRvhu8Zh

The Economist describes Trump as America’s poster-in-chief who is very, very online. Compared with his first term, Donald Trump writes less about the economy and more about himself. (BTW - is this what you want from your President?? Asking for a friend...) America’s presidency is often called the hardest job in the world. Yet Donald Trump has found time to moonlight as a prolific social-media influencer. Since January 20th, he has churned out 4,149 words weekly on Truth Social and X, nearly a newspaper op-ed daily. If he keeps it up, his total presidential oeuvre will surpass Marcel Proust’s 1.3 m-word “Remembrance of Things Past” in early 2028. Mr Trump’s current output dwarfs not only his predecessors and their running-mates—Barack Obama, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden all averaged 400-600 words a week—but also his own benchmarks. In the first 100 days of his first term, he plodded along at 686 a week, but sped up to 4,919 during the presidential campaign 2020. The sharpest increase occurred in 2019, when he extended the end of his standard posting hours, which began around 6.30 am Eastern time, from roughly midnight to 2 am or so. In any given week, the president’s social-media use is as unpredictable as his policymaking. However, keen followers might notice that he is most prone to take to the keyboard when he is emboldened, and least when he feels chastened. After accounting for the overall increase in his posting frequency over time, he tends to “go dark” online when his approval rating is unusually low—such as during the government shutdown he instigated in late 2018, the aftermath of his defeat in the election of 2020 and the disastrous roll-out of his “Liberation Day” tariffs this month. Mr Trump’s feed differs from its first-term incarnation in content and volume. Based on the NRC emotion lexicon, a dictionary that assigns a range of feelings to different words, his vocabulary is much less emotional this time, mainly because he no longer faces the investigations and lawsuits that used to trigger his online ire. The biggest changes in the topics of presidential missives, which we identified by feeding them into a large-language model, reflect the day's news. In 2017, Mr Trump wrote much more about Mr Obama, Hillary Clinton, travel bans, investigations of Russian collusion, and repealing the Affordable Care Act. Today, he focuses on tariffs and trade, the war in Ukraine, transgender athletes and Mr Biden. https://lnkd.in/e4mSyMAr

Empires die, not with a with a bang, but with a budget cut. For 85 years, America dominated global science and technology. Was it because they were smarter or braver?! No, because while bombs fell on London, American universities received the equivalent of $9 billion to build radar, rockets, and atomic weapons. Not for winning a war, but imagining a different kind of peace. After victory, America kept pouring money into universities, creating a system where government funding built the labs, professors led the research, and private industry scaled the results. Every microchip in your pocket, every life-saving drug in your cabinet, every satellite overhead exists because America once understood empires are built on knowledge, not just military might. Now America is walking away from her own blueprint. In 2025, America is gutting the very system that made her powerful. America is abandoning the partnership between government, universities, and industry. A partnership that created Silicon Valley, aerospace dominance, and biotechnology breakthroughs. While China invests billions in becoming what America once was, Americans are busy dismantling what they've built. This isn't just shortsighted. It's suicide. Nations rise and fall on their ability to imagine the future. For nearly a century, American labs weren't just imagining that future, they were building it. Now America is turning off the lights. The death of American scientific supremacy won't come with dramatic headlines or fiery speeches. It will come with quiet budget decisions, research grants unfunded, and brilliant minds going elsewhere. It will come with a whimper, not a bang. The question isn't whether America's scientific dominance will end. It's already ending. The question is: will anyone notice in time to care? Or will you only recognize what America lost when someone else's name is on the patents, the breakthroughs, and the future?