Transcript

6.1.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good Monday morning, everybody. It's June first, and welcome to
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the reading of the Washington Post. As you know, radiois
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reading service and intended for people who are blind or
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have other disabilities that make it difficult to read printed material.
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Your reader for today is Rod Brotherton. Our first news
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story on this first day of June is As new
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Iran deal faces sharp criticism, Trump seeks to widen the
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Abraham Accords in the latest twist to his bid to
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end the war against Iran, President Trump on Monday urged
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several majority Muslim countries to join the Abraham Accords, a
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set of treaties aimed at normalizing relations with Israel, as
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part of the settlement he is seeking to negotiate with Tehran. Trump,
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posting on truth Sersul, said that Saudi Arabia and cutter
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should sign first so called on Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and
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Jordan to join, even though Turkey is recognized Israel since
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nineteen forty nine, and Egypt and Jordan have peace treaties
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with Israel, signed respectively in nineteen seventy nine and nineteen
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ninety four. Trump, after speaking Saturday with leaders of nations
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in the region, said he also envisioned Iran joining the
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Abraham Accords. I am mandatorily requesting in all countries immediately
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signed the Abraham Accords, and that if Iran signs its
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agreement with me as President of the United States, would
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be an honor to have them also be a part
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of this unparalleled world coalition, Trump posted. Analysts, however, expressed
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doubt that the countries would agree to sign off, especially
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when tensions are running high mid ongoing inflicts in Iran, Lebanon,
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and Gaza. Official Iranian policy also calls for the eradication
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of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian state. Bringing
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all of these nations into the Abraham Accords, which so
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far have been joined by Bahrain, Kazakhstan, Morocco, Sudan, and
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the UAE. The United Arab Emirates will bring true power,
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strength and peace to the Middle East for the first
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time in five thousand years, Trump posted. He added it
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will be a document respected like no other that has
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ever been signed anywhere in the world. Trump made his
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pitch some details of the latest effort to reach the
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deal to end the war in Iran and reopened the
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Strait of Hormuz came under withering criticism, including by Republicans
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in Congress of Ted Kruz, the Republican of Texas, posting
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Saturday on X that he was deeply concerned about what
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he was hearing about the Iran deal being pushed by
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some voices in the administration. Cruz praised Trump for the
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military strikes on Iran, but Cruse wrote, if the result
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of that means an Iran regime now receiving billions of dollars,
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being able to enrich uranium and develop nuclear weapons, and
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having effected control over the straight of horm moves, then
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that outcome would be a disastrous mistake. I pray the
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early reports are wrong, Cruse posted. Senator Roger Wicker, Republican
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of Mississippi and chairman of the Armed Services Committee, also
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questioned the emerging accord the rumored sixty day cease fire
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with the belief that Iran will ever engage in good
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faith would be a disaster. We're for posted on X.
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Everything accomplished by Operation Epic Fury would be for naught.
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Senator Lindsay Graham, the Republican of South Carolina, wrote Saturday
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that if a deal is struck, because it is believed
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that the Strait of Horn moves cannot be protected from
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Iranian terrorism, and Ron still possesses the capability to descourroy
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a major Gulf oil infrastructure, then Iran will be perceived
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as being a dominant force requiring a diplomatic solution. It
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is important we get this right. On Monday, Graham called
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Trump's Abraham Accords appeal simply brilliant. Trump cried to quell
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criticism of the deal on Sunday, riding on truth social
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that people know nothing about the potential deal I'm making
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with the Ron, things that haven't even been negotiated yet.
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He said the following day that recognitions and negotiations were
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proceeding nicely. While giving a Memorial They address at Arlington
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National Cemetery on Monday, Trump briefly addressed the war with Iran,
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acknowledging that thirteen wonderful souls had been killed. These incredible
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men and women gave their lives to ensure that the
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world's number one state sponsor of terror will never have
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a nuclear weapon, Trump said, and they won't. They will
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never have a nuclear Weapony added. The audience seated in
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the cemetery's amphitheater cheered arriving back of the White House
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after the speech, the President did not respond to a
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shouted question from The Washington Post about the status of
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the deal with Iran. US and Ranian officials signaled progress
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over the weekend on the development of a framework to
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extend to cease fire by sixty days while they negotiate
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a final accord. However, further details had not emerged yet
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on despite claims by some officials that they would be forthcoming.
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Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday pushed back on
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the suggestion the talks were hitting snags or that the
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emerging deal would set back US interests. On Sunday, Rubio
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had predicted it would be an imminent announcement on a
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deal to reopen the strait of horn Moves, but the
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fact that that didn't happen was something he wouldn't read
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too much into, he told reporters in New Delhi on Monday.
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Thanks a little while here back, Rubio said, regarding the
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expected response from Iron, we have what I think is
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a pretty solid thing on the tape in terms of
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their ability to open up the streets, its straits open
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enter into a very real, significant, time limited negotiation on
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nuclear matter, and hopefully we can pull it off, Rubio
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said at his weekly news conference on Monday. The spokesman
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for Iran's Foreign ministry Ismael Baki, cited progress but not
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an agreement was eminent. Radian parliament speaker Mohammed Begar Galibaf
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and Foreign Minister Abbas Arigichi, two of the country's top negotiators,
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arrived to Doha Cutter talks on the deal, according to
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the Semi Official Mayor News Agency. Trump meanwhile called on
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Saudi Arabia and Cutter to lead the way the expansion
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of the Abraham Accords. It it should start with the immediate
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signing by Saudi Arabia and Cutter. Everybody else should follow suit.
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Trump posted, if they don't, they should not be part
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of this deal, that it shows bad intention. While successive
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US administrations have sought Saudi Arabia and Israel's normalization, Saudi
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Arabia has long maintained they would not bablished ties with
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Israel without the establishment of a Palestinian state. Trump, stressing
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the possibility of including Iran and the Abraham Accords, added, Wow,
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now that would be something special. This will be the
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most important deal that any of these great, but always
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in conflict countries will ever sign. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
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Netanyahu on Saturday on X said that he had spoken
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with Trump about the memorandum of understanding to reopen straight
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or four moves. Netanyahu has not publicly commented on Trump's
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Abraham Accords appeal, but told CBS's Sixty Minutes earlier this
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month that he now sees the possibility of the expansion
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of those agreements. He said that the possibility was the
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result of change and the relative power of Israel. Dan Shapiro,
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US ambassador to Israel in the old administration, wrote on
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AX that while he is a proponent of the eventual
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expanding of the Abraham Accords, tying that expansion to a
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deal to in the war is needlessly complicated and unrealistic,
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especially in the current atmosphere of the unsevered wars in
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the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Iran. Pathways to greater regional
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integration will include economic opportunities, regional arrangements, and progress toward
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an Israeli Palestinian resolution, Shapiro wrote, Trump just publicly demanding
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these leaders fall into line as part of a deal
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to in the war with Iran is not going to work.
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The next story. Trump faces health questions ahead of another
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Walter Reed trip. President Trump on Tuesday is expected to
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undergo his third scheduled medical checkup in thirteen months, as
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outside physicians say they have persistent questions about the nearly
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eighty year old president's health fitness. Trump is the oldest
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president to ever be inaugurated. His scheduled to visit wal
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to Read National Military Medical Center for a medical and
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dental visit, the White House said earlier this month. The
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President went to wal to Read in April of twenty
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twenty five for his annual physically exam, and returned in
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October for what officials characterized as a schedule to follow up,
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sparking weeks of inquiries about Trump's diagnosis and procedures that
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the White House repeatedly sidestepped. Nearly three months after the visit,
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Trump and his White House clarified that the president had
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received the CT scan. His doctor, Sean Barrabella, described the
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imaging as preventative to definitely rule out any cardiovascular issues.
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While the White House has a round the clock medical
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team that can privately attend to the president if needed,
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Walter Reed has facilities for advanced imaging and other procedures.
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Trump also has made two trips to a Florida dentist
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since January, the White House is said, with official saying
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those were for routine cleaning and care. The White House
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has repeatedly said the President is an excellent health, including
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in response to questions this weekend, citing medical reports produced
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by White House physicians, including one from Barrabella in October,
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that said Trump remains an exceptional health. Trump's health and
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fitness have been central to his political identity, in part
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because the President has continually invoked it, seeking to turn
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persistent doubts about his age and to appoint of strength.
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Trump campaigned in twenty three and twenty four by touting
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his vigor, particularly compared within president, by regularly boasting of
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his results and cognitive exams while attacking his opponent as
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sleepy Joe. But as an aging president, he now receives
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some of the same questions that dogged Biden, namely whether
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he is mentally and physically fit to perform the duties
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of the commander in chief. Independent doctors have asked why
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Trump's hands had been repeatedly bruised, why his legs are swollen,
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whether his occasional sleepiness is a sign of a deeper issue,
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saying that they find White House explanations insufficient. This White
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House just doesn't seem to want to acknowledge any physical ailment.
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But older people develop medical issues, and the president is
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almost eighty years old, said Jonathan Reener, a long time
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cardiologist and former vice president for Dick Cheney. There just
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seems to be a lack of can from the White House.
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The growing share of the public has doubts too. The
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Washington Post ABC News IPSOS poll conducted last month found
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that forty percent of Americans who thought Trump had the
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medical sharpness to serve as president, down from forty seven
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percent last September. Forty four percent of Americans thought Trump
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had the physical health to do the job, down from
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fifty four percent last September. Presidents are not required to
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disclose their health records, of the annual trips to Walter
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Reed had become a modern tradition. Some lawmakers in both
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parties called for more checks on chief executives, such as
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creating an independent commission that assessed the president's health. In
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addition to boasting of his physical health, Trump has regularly
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touted his results on cognitive exams, insisting that the tests
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validate his fitness, repeated claims about his cognitive scores as
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recently as a rally on Friday. He also has invoked
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past diagnosis from his physicians, including Representative Ronnie Jackson, Republican
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of Texas, who served as a White House physician in
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Trump's first term. Trump said Jackson told him he was
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healthier than Trump's predecessors Obama and George W. Bush, two
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of whom were at least fifteen years younger than Trump
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when first sworn into office. The two former presidents also
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had consistent exercise routines, a contrast with Trump, who eshoes
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exercise except for golf. I just care that he was
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my doctor, and he said, I'm the healthiest human being
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he's ever Ronnie, am I healthier than these guys? Back there,
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Trump said in February, standing in front of the US
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Naval Academy's football team. Yes, Sir, Jackson replied, all right,
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See this is why I like it, Trump said his age.
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Trumpeted his energy, including its weekend, when they touted his
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commitment to working through Saturday. Trump and some of his
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top deputies, such as Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Junior,
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and mey met Oz but made recurring jokes on the
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scrutiny of the president's health. Doctor Roz looked at his
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metal records medical records and said he's got the highest
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testosterone level he's ever seen for an individual over seventy
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years old, Kennedy said on a podcast with former White
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House official Katie Miller this year. Officialists later said he
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was repeating a private joke. In a sign of how
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serious the White House has treated the issue. Press Secretary
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Caroline Levitt had personally handled questions about the President's health
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before she took maternity leave this month. Trump also has
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spoken directly to some reporters who pursued stories about his fitness.
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The White House has become increasingly aggressive, and rumors have
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read about Trump's health, which have sometimes corresponded with periods
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when the highly visible president abruptly lowered his public profile.
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In early April, hundreds of thousands of social media users
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amplified claims that Trump had been taken to Walter Read,
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drawing the ire of White House officials who said that
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the President was instead sequestered to monitor search and rescue
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operations in Iran. The White House subsequently called and created
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a digital wall of shame that criticized social media influencers
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who had fuel claims about a hospital visit. Page also
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included reporters and news organizations that had merely noted the
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facts about the situation, such as Trump had yet to
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make a public appearance. The response was warranted because this
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was clearly organized misinformation campaign peddled by left wing accounts,
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Levitt told The Washington Post in a statement last month.
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Spreading false and slanderous misinformation about the president is dangerous.
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The White House will always hold people accountable for their
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egregious lies. Trump had been a victim of misinformation, said
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Kathleen Hall Jamison, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center
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at the University of Pennsylvania, who has studied how misinformation spreads.
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The president has also contributed to it. She said, conspiracy
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theories can be accurate, Jamison said, alluding to how Trump's
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political career has been shaded by questions around his health,
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some of his own making, It's perfectly possible and unexplained
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absences are worthy of investigatoration. In interviews, several physicians who
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have treated presidents and other VIPs said they had come
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to distrust the White House's process for releasing information about Trump,
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with some invoking the doubts around Biden too. After a
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decade of delusion, the seat denial or delay from the
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administration and the White House. Physicians regarding presidential evaluations, my
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expectation bar is pretty low, said Jeffrey Coolman, served as
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a physician to former Presidents Clinton, George W. Bush, and Obama.
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I hope they are at least transparently truthful. In interviews
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with Posts, Coolman and other physicians listed several questions they
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focused on as Trump heads to his latest Walter Read visit.
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Trump has touted his performance on the Cognitive Montreal Assessment,
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which is used to screen for to mention cognitive to decline.
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The president has said it was prompted to undergo the
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assessment during his first administration because of persistent questions about
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his mental health. I don't mind being called a brilliant,
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total tyrant dictator, but I don't want to be called dumb,
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he sent at a rally on Friday. Heat of it,
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all presidents and vice president dential candidate should be forced
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to take a cognitive test and then test on intelligence,
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claiming that he would outperform Obama and by Democrats have
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repeatedly called for Trump to have an independent medical evaluation,
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citing as sometimes shocking statements, including his recent threat to
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Enthron's civilization. Some physicians say that given the president's age
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or cognitive testing is warranted too. In addition to a
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cognitive screening test, may need further screening of his cognitive
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executive function. As we know eighty year olds, do you
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have a decline in memory, reasoning, speed of processing, and
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spatial visualization, said Coolman, who detailed his experiences treating presidents
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in a book called Transforming Presidential health Care. Reader said
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that he had concerns about the president's visibly swollen legs,
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which had become a parent last summer. White House last
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July I said that Trump had developed chronic venous insufficiency
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a MILE, but chronic illness related to his age rare
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admission of a presidential health issue. Rainer noted that no
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mention of the condition was made in Trump's twenty twenty
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five medical report. If the condition was present at the time,
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he raised questions about whether physicians missed or did not
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disclose the diagnosis. He said, alternately, if Trump developed swollen
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legs in the weeks after the AI pool exam that
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would indicate a condition called acute edema, and that usually
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warrants an in depth evaluation make sure you don't have
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conditions like congestive heart failure arener sid. The president's October
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medical report said nothing about the condition. The White House
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has also said that recurring bruises on Trump's hands are
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not a sign of a more serious medical condition, chalking
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it up it was daily use of aspirin and frequent handshaking.
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Miner said that he found those explanations not credible. If
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you're taking too much aspirin, that would likely one would
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likely take less aspirin, So that explanation doesn't make a
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lot of sense to me, He said. We've seen a
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similar bruise from time to time on his left hand,
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and I doubt that's his shaking hand, you know, his
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left hand, he added. Biden officials made changes to his
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routine as he approached his eightieth birthday, such as scale
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digling events for the middle of the day rather than
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in the evening, and using shorter stairs to access air
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Force One asked this weekend about whether the White House
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had made any adjustments Trump's age officials said that no
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accommodations had been necessary. Then Gupta, a pullmanologist and ms
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NOW medical assistant an analyst, said that both presidents had
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demonstrated markers of healthy aging, citing Biden's weekend Viking trips,
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Trump's regular golf outings, and both men's travel schedules, But
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he said it was important to consider the scope of
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their jobs too. The more important question is not whether
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they are aging normally, but whether they retained the sustained
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executive functioning, cognitive stamina, and adaptive decision making required for
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the presidency, he said Gupta, who had discussed joining the
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Biden administration, and the senior health role, those are different standards,
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and in my view, both men have shown enough public
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evidence of decline in those domains to raise legitimate concerns
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about fittons for office. Trump's second physical examint Walter read
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last year, had little modern president, with presidents usually making
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just one annual trip unless they have an urgent condition.
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Nearly three months after the visit, and after initially telling
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reporters that he had undergone an MRI exam, Trump and
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the White House clarified that the president had received a
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CT scan as part of his assessment. Physicians have asked
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whether the White House is concealing other essential findings, such
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as whether Trump has privately visited the hospital He has
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never made an undisclosed visit to Walter Reid, Levitt told
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The Post last month. Next, Pope elevates AI ethics to
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a religious imperative with his first encyclical. In his first encyclical,
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Pope Leo the fourteen put forth a defense of human
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dignity in the area and the era of AI, delivering
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a far ranging treatise on the morality of technology that
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included a dramatic plea for guard rails to ensure that
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artificial intelligence eases rather than exacerbates inequality and poverty. Leo
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urged that AIV used to improve conditions for workers, and
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he called for limiting the power of technology companies over
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the vast computing resources that could reshape how human beings live.
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As he addressed social ills related to technology, also delivered
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an apology for the Holy Sees complicity in the slave trade.
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Previous popes have apologized for the historical role of Christians
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and slavery, but Leo drew a connection to the papacy itself,
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writing of its past complicity and blindness and face of injustice,
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of slavery and asking for pardon. An encyclical is among
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the highest forms of papal documents, and Leo's first his
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most important writing to date, physicians AI as the catalyst
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of a new kind of industrial revolution, a cognitive one
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that has already begun to define how the world works, lives, plays, loves,
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and wages war. The document sets a clear tone for
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Leo's early papacy, elevating the critics of AI to a
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religious imperative, the same way Pope frances did with the
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fight against climate change a decade ago. In the insignclical
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called Magnifica Humanitius Magnificent Humanity, the tech savvy US born
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pontiff makes a resounding defense of pacifism. He also urges
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if humanity embrace its own limitations rather than pursue single
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mindedly to overcome them. Leo has emphasized AI since he
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became pope, and the new document also warns of the
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risks of control over humankind's digital space, shifting to the
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for profit corporations of Silicon Valley and away from governments.
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As with every major technological shift, AI tends to amplify
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the power of those who already possess economic resources, expertise
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and access to data, Leo rights and a lot of
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the common good and the universe destination of goods. This
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raises serious concerns since fall but highly influential groups can
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shape information and consumption patterns, influence democratic processes, and steer
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economic dynamics to their own advantage, undermining social justice and
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solidarity among peoples. Though released Monday, the encyclical was signed
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May fifteenth, an odd to a historic document penned by
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his papal namesake Leo the thirteenth in eighteen ninety one.
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The dramatic unveiling of the new encyclical overshadows the document
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itself in some ways. In an unprecedented move, Yo personally
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presided over his presentation and sat on a panel if
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the Vatican with not only leading theologians but also Christopher
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Ola thirty three, the billionaire co founder top AI company,
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and thropic. In formulating the document, Theo said he had
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listened to scientists, engineers, and political leaders, as well as
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parents and teachers concerned for the future of younger generations.
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He spoke worryingly on biased algorithms that can block access
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to health care and employment, and sounded an alarm over
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increasingly autonomous weapon systems practically beyond any human reach to
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govern them effectively. The decision to invite OLAH fuel criticisms
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ahead of the ensickle Coups release that the Vadison was
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tacitly lending its seal of approval to a tech juggernaut
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dancing with very digital devil that Magnifica Humanitas reports to
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warn the world against speaking. While seated not far from
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the Pope, Ola conceded that tech giants operate on an interest,
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often at odds with the common good, betray the Vatican's involvement.
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As necessary, we need information critics tell the labs when
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they are failing, he said, we need moral voices that
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the incentives cannot bend. Despite concerns of a Vatican whitewash,
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the encyclical fire to broadside at tech giants their vast
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control over AI and how it's developed, tech companies have
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pushed the White House to oppose regulation, but Leo, like
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his predator predecessor Francis, forcefully argues in favor of such guardrails.
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He then goes further, calling for a mortal reassessment of
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the powerful tech platforms and the concentration of computing resources
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in the hands of private corporations and billionaires. That dynamic,
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Leo said, risks AI's benefits and harms being distributed unfairly,
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as well as massive environmental damage from energy gobbling data centers.
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The document couples the computational mind of a pope who
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holds a mathematics degree from Villanova University with the values
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of his Augustinian roots. They owe proffers of cajoling even
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quaint argument. In an age of technological disruptors and a
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pursuit of limitless wealth and power by nations and individuals,
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the NonStop race for more, better, and faster may undermine
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the fundamental messy beauty of being human. Leo frames the
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document of Scripture come to life. Humanity, he writes, has
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a choice between two biblical stories, one the Tower of Babble,
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in which humans try to ensure their dominance over everything
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and build a the sky. The other of the Israelites
31:00
reconstruction of Jerusalem, which begins with fasting and prayer and
31:05
emphasizes shared work and community. The primary choice as not
31:11
being yes and no to technology, but rather between constructing
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Babel or rebuilding Jerusalem, between a power that claims to
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dominate the heavens and people who work together in the
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presence of God to rebuild the walls of fraternal coexistence.
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The Pope rights the culmination of an unlikely ten year
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dialogue between Silicon Valley and the Holy See, with benefits
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and risks for both. The Encyclical also courses with a
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message of peace and unity, the defining themes of Leo's papacy.
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Once again, he warns against unchecked political power and the
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rejection of multilateral institutions, while railing against false rationales and
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defenses four, particularly at a time when Ai, he writes,
32:06
is rendering war more impersonal. On the heels of President
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Trump's high profile verbal tax on Leo and the Pope's
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stoic but unvowed response, Some verses in the Encyclicals chapter
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focusing on the nature of modern power easily could be
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interpreted as criticism of the White House. This is especially
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so when Leo expands on his recent assertion that God
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does not justify war. That phrasing could also be interpreted
32:39
as criticism of these israel Defense Forces, the Ukrainian Armed Forces,
32:44
and other militaries that have been using AI to target
32:47
their enemies in bombing and assassination campaigns. Some experts caution
32:54
against interpreting the encyclical aid document by the leader of
32:58
the world's one point four billion Catholic that is intended
33:02
to be read and reinterpreted for centuries as part of
33:06
a few between the American Pope and the American President.
33:11
I think the danger for an American audience is funneling
33:15
everything solely down to some kind of drama between Trump
33:18
and Leo. Anna Rowlands, a British theologian, was among the
33:22
incyclicals presenters, said in an interview, certainly there would be
33:28
questions that can be asked for the US when you
33:31
read that section on power, but there are questions for
33:35
other global leaders as well, and also for the tech
33:39
industry itself. The encyclical, a papal letter to the faithful
33:45
and all people of goodwill, was portrayed by the pope
33:50
as a corollary to the eighteen ninety one encyclical issued
33:55
by Leo the thirteenth called re Rerum Novardrum Things, which
34:01
addressed questions of human dignity during the great leaps of
34:05
the Industrial Revolution laid the groundwork from the modern Catholic
34:09
Church's advocacy for the poor and for labor rights. The
34:16
core spiritual challenge, now Leo rites, is the dehumanization of
34:21
human beings by flattening their differences, reducing them to data
34:27
and performance. Turning them into means working endlessly to perfect them.
34:33
Building for the common good means accepting the limits and
34:37
the weaknesses of humanity without considering them an error to
34:42
be corrected, he writes. Charles Kemosi, a moral theologian at
34:48
the Catholic University and co author of a briefing backed Anthropic.
34:53
In a recent tug of war with Pentagon over how
34:57
the military can use the technology, said Leo was meeting
35:01
a moment. It seems to me that Leo has maybe
35:05
even been elected as pope in part to marshal the
35:09
Catholic response that's going to be analogous to our response
35:14
of the Industrial Revolution, Camosi said. So many people are
35:19
searching around for a kind of ways to make sense
35:22
of what's happening there, he continued, and religious institutions and
35:27
traditions have some of that. Like at our fingertips to
35:31
say this isn't the first industrial technological revolution we've lived through,
35:37
you know. Here's how we responded with Catholic social teachings
35:41
in the past, inviting an anthropic executive to participate in
35:47
the document's presentation at the Vaticans. In its own set
35:51
of signals, the company positions itself as more aware of
35:56
the risks of AI technology than its competitors, and has
36:00
invited religious leaders, including Catholics, to advise it on how
36:04
to develop AI that acts ethically and in a diverse
36:09
range of situations. Text of the encyclical also suggests influence
36:15
from Anthropic. The section describing why AI technology is unpredictable,
36:22
it notes that programmers don't directly code AI software, but
36:27
instead create a scaffolding upon which AI grows. That's the
36:34
same language Anthropic is used to describe as technology. It
36:39
makes me nervous. Paola Cazzola, a law professor at the
36:44
Catholic University of Notre Dame, works on ethical issues as
36:48
chair of the Meta Oversight Board. Set of a partnership
36:52
that could whitewash and industry long resistance to oversight. I
36:58
have no doubt frontier AI companies would love to co
37:03
opt religious communities to bring an ethical improblemature to their work.
37:08
The Reverend Andrea Qucci, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for
37:13
Life in Rome, pushed back against the criticism. Those who
37:19
create the technology also have to bear responsibility to you,
37:24
she said, so we need to talk to them. Prominent
37:29
tech leaders that ridiculed those that call for stricter regulation
37:32
of AI or for a slowdown in technological advancement as
37:37
decelerationists or doomers. Techmogral Petal Feel, for instance, has said
37:44
the twenty first century is the anti Christ is a laudite.
37:50
Leo counters these voices directly, arguing that asking for caution
37:55
and how AI has developed does not mean opposing progress
37:59
in funeral human society must develop strong legal frameworks and
38:05
oversights of AI before it is allowed to advance further,
38:09
he says. He explores technological tendency to create new addictions
38:16
as platforms by to capture user's time and attention, and
38:20
he delves into other eels, including human trafficking, often a
38:25
striking mea culpa for the Holy sees historical role in
38:29
slavery that some experts called more specific on the Vatican's
38:34
institutional complicity than apologies by past popes. Already in the
38:41
early modern period, the apostolic See of Rome, responding to
38:46
requests from sovereigns, intervened several times in order to regulate
38:51
and legitimize forms of subjugation and in certain cases enslavement
38:56
of infidels. Leo wrote it was only in the nineteenth
39:00
century that a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery
39:07
was cleared, articulated notably by Pope Leo the thirteenth. He
39:13
called such actions a wound in Christian memory, writing it
39:17
is impossible not to feel deep sorrow when contemplating the
39:22
immense suffering and humiliation endured by so many. Leo ads
39:28
for this in the name of the Church. I sincerely
39:33
ask for pardon. The words of a pope do not
39:36
hold the same weight as they did in the generation
39:39
of the centuries past. But the document comes as Leo,
39:43
now a year into his papacy, is increasingly embraced globally
39:48
as among the world's most influential defenders of human dignity
39:54
and peace. His stature is sword abid Trump's recriminations, and
40:00
as Leo has spoken out more forcibly about the rise
40:02
of political tyranny and the hijacking of religion for political purposes,
40:07
especially going to war. Some observers described the encyclical as
40:13
an intellectual flex that would further expand Leo's influence. The
40:18
Pope is recognized to be speaking inspired by the Gospel,
40:22
not corrupted by economic interests or interest to confirm personal power,
40:29
said the Reverend Rocco de Ambrosio, political philosophy professor the
40:33
Pontifical Georgian University of Rome. People are responding to that
40:41
for Catholic Church, diminished by its handling of clerical sexual
40:44
abuse scandals, the AI issue has provided an opportunity to
40:49
reassert moral authority. Leading tech companies, meanwhile, have been eager
40:55
when the Church's seal of approval. As the industrial grapple
41:00
with the public relations challenges of a technology that could
41:04
automate and eliminate jobs and amplify misinformation and create new
41:10
cybersecurity risks. The rum Call for AI Ethics, a document
41:16
that counted the Vatican, Microsoft, and IBM among its original
41:20
signators in twenty twenty, has emerged as a goal standard
41:24
of the best AI practices. Pope Francis was an early
41:29
target of deep fakes through the infamous image of the
41:33
Argentine in a Balingancia puffer jacket. Came the first pope
41:38
to address the Group of Seven Forum of World Leaders,
41:42
delivering a speech that delved into the cognitive Industrial revolution
41:46
set off AAI. Leo's deep dive now, however, seen as
41:53
more expansive than Francis's ample writings on AI, elevating the
41:58
issue in the same way that Francis. This is landmark
42:01
and cyclical. Lodatto c Crazy b to U sought to
42:07
reframe the fight against climate change as part of Catholic teachings.
42:11
That twenty fifteen document by Francis also spoke of human limits.
42:17
I think Leo is saying the same thing Caroza said,
42:20
but this time it's about our very selves and the
42:27
next story. Landmark pancreatic cancer drug keeps patients alive for
42:35
twice as long. A pancreatic cancer drug more than four
42:41
decades in the making, It's cracked one of the most
42:44
stubbornly lethal cancers, extending people's lives and keeping their tumors
42:49
in check for twice as long as those on regular chemotherapy.
42:54
The detailed result of the clinical trial presented Sunday at
42:58
a plenary session of the American Society of Clinical Oncologies
43:02
meeting in Chicago and simultaneously published in the New England
43:06
Journal of Medicine, are some of the most hotly anticipated
43:11
medical results in cancer in years. Oncologists who have traditionally
43:17
had few options a little hope to offer patients are
43:21
calling the results unprecedented, compelling and spectacular. It really blows
43:28
it out of the water. It's a really remarkable and
43:31
landmark study, said Harsh Singh, that Program director of the
43:36
Hepatology and Pancreas Oncology and Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute.
43:43
This is possibly the biggest advance we have seen in
43:47
pancreatic cancer period. Scientists and Revolution Medicines, the biotech company
43:56
that developed the pill, are now focused on finding ways
43:59
to make those responses more durable and give people more time.
44:04
But the success shows the power of tardy getting targeting
44:10
hard to hit gene called KRAS, which is the most
44:14
common cancer causing gene driving most cases of pancreatic cancer
44:20
and a fraction of long and coorectal cancers. In the trial,
44:25
five hundred people who had already been treated once for
44:29
pancreatic cancer only to see their disease progress received either
44:35
the experimental pill called dara zonia recib or traditional chemotherapy.
44:43
Those taking the pill lived twice as long for a
44:47
medical median of thirteen point two months, compared with six
44:51
point six months for those just on the chemotherapy. Another
44:56
measure of cancer's therapy effectiveness is the progression free survival,
45:03
the amount of time before tumors start to grow or spread.
45:08
Dera Zonarsib kept tumors and checked for seven point two months,
45:13
compared with three point six months with just the chemotherapy.
45:17
Mark Goldsmith, chief executive of Revolution Medicines, said the company's
45:23
scientists have been working with Urgency, provide all the data
45:27
to regulators through the rolling submission process, and are ready
45:31
to launch the drug commercially if and when they get
45:34
the approval. We've been preparing for this moment for a
45:38
long time. We've been building out all the various dimensions
45:42
that are required to be successful in launching a product
45:45
in the United States and globally, Goldsmith said. Earlier this month,
45:51
the Food and Drug Administration expanded access to the drug
45:55
while reviewing its ongoing The success of the product of
46:00
decades of science is backed by federal funding, philanthropy, and
46:04
the private sector. The mutation in human pancreatic cancer is
46:10
identical to the gene we discovered almost fifty years ago,
46:14
said Edward Skolnik, now eighty six, one of the scienceists
46:18
to reveal that CRASS was the cancer causing gene while
46:22
working at the National Cancer Institute. It's kind of basic
46:26
science is being greatly threatened by the current government policies.
46:31
Helene Ruben, eighty three, of Randolph, New Jersey, was one
46:35
of the patients taking the drug as part of the trial.
46:38
She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in twenty twenty two
46:43
and was able to undergo surgery and chemotherapy to treat it,
46:47
but recently regular medical scans show that the nodules in
46:52
her lung had begun to grow. She started on derazon
46:57
rezib in February. The three pill regimen initially caused her
47:02
to vomit so much that she ended up in the hospital,
47:06
but her physician was able to reduce her dose to
47:08
two pills per day. She said that she had sores
47:12
in her mouth and cuts on her fingertips, much more
47:16
energy than when she was on chemotherapy and that her
47:20
scans look good so far. It's not that I don't
47:23
have a physical response to these pills, that I'm getting
47:28
something that doesn't debilitate me really as much, Ruben said.
47:33
Doctors who treat patients with pancreatic cancer see this drug
47:37
as the beginning of a revolution for the doar disease.
47:42
The drug is still being tested as first therapy for
47:45
newly diagnosed patients, and there's hope that it will work
47:49
even better when given up front. They are focused on
47:53
ways to manage the side effects, which are common and
47:56
can be significant, including a rash and gastroine test to
48:00
little Simpsons. Physicians know that the treatment's not a cure
48:05
and that the cancer will become resistant to it. They
48:08
see the opportunity to develop combinations that will provide longer
48:13
lasting responses. What we have is a wonderful foundation on
48:19
which to now build more effective combinations for our patients
48:23
and our bond. Maatra, pancreatic cancer researcher and director of
48:29
the Pool Mercher Cancer Center at NYU Langune Health, wrote
48:33
in an email. Scientists will drive these more effective combinations
48:40
that is already happening at breakneck speed and our next story,
48:48
the desire for privacy, slowly killing the symbol of the
48:53
American dream. Chipped paint and mildew be damned. First job
49:00
of the day was still a rare treat. Check out
49:03
those new England style post caps. The fence salesman thought
49:08
that a classic mortise and tenon construction. Yes, in being
49:12
thrilled to restore an icon of suburbia, the white picket fence,
49:20
I live for this. Mike Dominique's gushed crowds to run
49:25
his measuring wheel along the weathered planks four feet tall.
49:30
He jotted on his clipboard two and a half inch spacing.
49:34
Look out it framed and not blocked. His client's pale
49:37
blue eighteenth century colonial house. Back at his shop, he
49:41
had just enough cedar to forge a faithful replica. Would
49:46
you like it stained white? He asked the owner of
49:49
Southington Rustic Fence Company. He was forty eight. Crave jobs
49:54
that require craftsmanship. He rarely booked him anymore. Even in
49:59
the amp historic districts of central Connecticut. More buyers sought
50:04
hulking vinyl barriers. His father used to order so much
50:09
Canadian lumber. Mike climbed on the stacks as a kid
50:13
to reach the warehouse rafters. Now their small business wast
50:17
up with polyvinyl chloride, which has starved his inner artist,
50:22
but paid the bills. Mike sales Ledger in recent years reflected,
50:27
but one of his favorite industry podcast was reporting customers
50:32
nationwide increasingly preferred privacy and security styles, the more open designs,
50:39
including the waist high emblem of the American Dream. This spring,
50:45
for the first time ever, no one had hired him
50:48
to install a white picket fence. Yes, staint it white,
50:53
replied the owner, Edward Sink. We made the mistake of
50:56
painting it. The pate just doesn't last. They stood together
51:02
in the dewey garrass, scoping the decay. Some sections were rotting.
51:08
The gate sagged a retired firefighter. Sink blamed his bad
51:13
knees and back. It gets to be a pain to
51:16
do the stuff, he said. Two backyards over six foot
51:20
white vinyl privacy fence reflected. The nine am sunlight wood
51:26
wouldn't produce such a glare. Synthetic materials like that was
51:30
easier to manage, no resealing necessary, a life span of
51:36
thirty plus years, not to mention cheaper Mike didn't get
51:40
a chance to present a head o or heart option
51:44
before his client began explaining, this just says I'm home.
51:49
Sink said. He liked watching the property come into view
51:54
through the two and a half inch gaps, the holly bushes,
51:58
the red barn, the swimming pool. This was the life
52:02
he'd labored to build for his family. Now his son
52:05
was twenty four and daughter was twenty two. Time to downsize.
52:10
He wanted to list the house in two days, and
52:13
he could dangle a brand new fence as a pending upgrade.
52:17
If you could get me a quote, Sink, said Mike,
52:20
since the urgency. Besides, he thought what he advertised was
52:25
perhaps the most traditional of American fences was at a
52:29
risk of extension as soon as possible, he replied. Mike's
52:34
office was cluttered with the evidence of how much had changed.
52:38
It was a wooden pulley from a nineteen fifties drill press,
52:42
the vintage carpentry books he'd tracked down on Amazon, the
52:46
yelled pamphlet extolling the charming picket fence Cape cod style,
52:51
which achieves matchless beauty and protection. I can't let anything go,
52:57
Mike said, still with a chuckle brochure predated his family's
53:01
ownership of the business. His father had moved from Canada's
53:05
eastern seaboard as a penniless eighteen year old to find
53:09
work in a small town he saw as a land
53:12
of blue collar opportunity. Clarence Dominique wound up handling repairs
53:18
with the fence company's founder before leasing to buy it
53:20
in nineteen seventy nine. Back then, Clarence smoked Marlborough lights
53:26
while sewing posts. Everything we made by hand, seventy eight
53:32
year old recall. Most customers wanted stockade fences healthy forty percent,
53:39
though opted for pickets. The design was popular among dwellers
53:44
of Victorian and salt box and Cape cod styled homes
53:48
that weren't concerned about privacy or safety and enjoyed chatting
53:52
with their neighbors. Mike took over in twenty oh one,
53:57
invested in automatic production technology, like the eighty thousand dollar
54:02
machine that helped him crank out ten fences a week.
54:06
At the moment, the robot was router squared, shaping holes
54:11
and what would become a vinyl gait. There's no more
54:14
lumber to climb, just a few dozen panels, sitting in
54:18
a trailer and PVC everywhere. To nourish his spirit, Mike
54:24
geeked out on woodworking podcast and vlogs. The project he
54:29
described as majestic. Each winter, Mike and his wife aimed
54:34
to craft one seed gate from fences, authentic details for
54:38
design and restoration. A book by Peter J. Harrison, his
54:43
esthetic hero. One gate sold for one thousand dollars after
54:47
they posted on Facebook Marketplace, and a man in the
54:51
Hampton sent a truck three days later. What a rush,
54:55
Mike said. Still, he understood to his clients prioritized practicality,
55:03
and he lacked the time or skill to care for
55:05
a white picket fence. Tariffs weren't helping. His cedar supplier
55:10
had hiked prices by a third over the last year,
55:14
compelling Mike to lift his By the time last year,
55:18
he'd sold twenty of those old school designs, a steep
55:22
drop in majestic from his father's days. He had enough
55:26
to keep things interesting. The idea of zero disturbed him.
55:31
Appetites for higher gap free boarders serge during the pandemic
55:36
betting Mike a couple of record seasons, but he'd assumed
55:40
openness would rebound once the world felt safer six springs later,
55:46
making it in America looked less like being seen and
55:51
more like being accessible boxed in, he said. His Google
55:57
calendar that morning and May showed two more consultations. Mike
56:02
knew that what was coming. He'd seen only one type
56:07
of fence in the client's next neighborhood, across the street
56:12
from what she called her dream house. A white vinyl
56:15
privacy fence gleamed under the cloud of sky, and con
56:19
Francesco couldn't see an inch of a neighbor's backyard. Great,
56:25
she said. And respiratory therapist, who was thirty six, moved
56:29
in two years ago to this neighborhood new bills and
56:32
cherished choosing the finished touchings for her four bedroom house.
56:37
A Miami native who loved the ocean, she picked Seaport
56:40
Blue for the vinyl siding. Today's decision what to do
56:44
about the yard. One of the real estate hunts, a
56:48
mother of a five year old and two year old,
56:51
considered historic properties, but she only ever spotted a white
56:54
fence on television. Oh, they look cute and homey American pie.
56:58
She thought her son could probably climb over him. Along
57:02
with practically everybody else, despite having their own backyard swing set.
57:07
Gibbs kept dashing fifty meters to one identical next door
57:12
finding a way to contain them, she reasoned, would be
57:14
the neighborly thing to do. But there was one more
57:18
order from sinc and he said, I'd like to include
57:22
staining mind white. Okay, sounds good, Mike type back, and
57:28
zero orders tentatively ticked to one. And this concludes the
57:32
reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday, June First,
57:35
your reader has been Rod Brotherton. Thank you for listening,
57:38
and now please stay tuned for continued programming right here
57:43
on Radio I