Feed aggregator

The agency reports that losses from social media scams have increased eightfold, and that social media scams resulted in higher losses than any other method scammers used to contact consumers.

They were doing it in Texas...

Core Scientific is trading coins for tokens, revealing plans on Monday to convert a 300-megawatt bitcoin mining operation in Pecos, Texas, to an 1.5 gigawatt AI datacenter campus.…

We tend not to think of John Williams’ “Imperial March” as anything other than an aural cue to signify intergalactic fascism and incompetent officers getting force-choked. We definitely don’t think of classical romance. Well, we don’t, but clearly, YouTuber Algal the Bard sure does. In his latest video, he gets out his medieval lute-guitar and harp, and gives us Star Wars‘ iconic Imperial March, only the “romantic serenade” version. And you know what? It works. Who knew Darth Vader’s theme could put us in the mood for Arthurian fantasy and kingly courts? You can watch Algal the Bard’s version of “Darth Vader in Love” below:

One nice touch from Algal the Bard is that the “Imperial March” eventually segues into “Across the Stars” from Attack of the Clones. Most Star Wars fans will recall that this is the romantic love theme of Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala. Now that track absolutely evokes classical romance in every single way. All of those romantic vistas shot in Italy, where they shot the planet Naboo, were directly inspired by Renaissance paintings. Sure, Anakin’s dialogue in those scenes wasn’t exactly Shakespeare, but bless their hearts for trying. But both those pieces of music are Anakin’s theme music in very different eras of his life.

Lucasfilm

Most of Algal the Bard’s other videos are Medieval-style covers of classic rock songs. There’s Iron Maiden, Blue Oyster Cult, you name it. But there are other nerdy selections among his works. There’s The Legend of Zelda, Conan the Barbarian, and even the music from Fallout. Hopefully, we get some other Star Wars offerings in the future. After all, who deserves a romantic classical tribute more than Princess Leia? John Williams’ Leia theme would be perfect for this style of music. To check out more videos, be sure to head on over to Algal the Bard’s YouTube channel.

The post Romantic Medieval Cover of the Imperial March Somehow Works appeared first on Nerdist.

Stuart Fails to Save the Universe, the upcoming spin-off of The Big Bang Theory, has itself an official release date. Via Deadline, we’ve learned that the comedy series will hit HBO Max this July. The announcement was made at CCXP Mexico over the weekend. The series focuses on the character of Stuart David Bloom, the owner of the comic book shop Comic Center of Pasadena, who was a regular recurring character on The Big Bang Theory. David Sussman will once again play the character of Stuart. At the CCXP panel, they also announced that iconic composer Danny Elfman is writing the show’s theme music. Elfman most recently created the theme music for Wednesday on Netflix.HBO Max

The series will deal with Stuart attempting to restore reality after he breaks a device built by Sheldon and Leonard, accidentally bringing about a multiversal Armageddon. It sure seems as if everyone is all about the Multiverse these days. Even sitcoms. Stuart’s girlfriend Denise (Lauren Lapkus) helps Stuart out during this cosmic adventure, along with his geologist friend Bert (Brian Posehn), and quantum physicist Barry Kripke (John Ross Bowie). In the upcoming series, the cast will meet alternate-universe versions of characters we’ve come to know from The Big Bang Theory. Although who exactly is still under wraps. And we can imagine, much wackiness shall ensue.

Chuck Lorre, the co-creator and executive producer of The Big Bang Theory and all of its spinoffs to date, writes and executive produces the new series. Joining him is Big Bang co-creator Bill Prady. Another name among the executive producers is Zak Penn. Penn got a writing credit on the first Avengers, even though Joss Whedon completely tossed out his script. It’s wild how Hollywood works. With a July release date, we expect to hear more about Stuart Fails to Save the Universe around Comic-Con time.

The post BIG BANG THEORY Stuart Spin-Off Gets a July HBO Max Release appeared first on Nerdist.

Elon Musk and Sam Altman are set to square off in court over OpenAI’s mission.

In his lawsuit, Musk accuses Altman of illegally transforming OpenAI from a nonprofit into a massive for-profit organization—one that is expected to go public as early as this summer at a valuation of nearly $1 trillion.

Here’s the messy backstory: The week after Musk sued OpenAI in 2024, the company claimed that its founders realized early in its development that it needed to raise money to obtain enough computing power and other resources to build its AI. To acquire investors, it first had to become a for-profit company. The nonprofit—now called the OpenAI Foundation—created the for-profit OpenAI as a subsidiary. OpenAI claimed in December 2024 that, back in 2017, Musk agreed that a for-profit move was necessary, but wanted “absolute control” as sole CEO—and a merger with Tesla. Following a reported power struggle with Altman to take control of OpenAI in 2018, Musk left the company’s board. OpenAI said that Musk left to avoid potential conflicts of interests as the CEO of Tesla. 

Musk is now demanding that the billions of dollars made by the for-profit be returned to the OpenAI Foundation. He also wants Altman to be kicked off the leadership team of both the for-profit and non-profit organizations.

OpenAI was founded in 2015 by Musk, Altman, and nine others. Musk and Altman were named co-chairs, and on the day of its launch, the nonprofit stated its goal to “advance digital intelligence” in a manner “to benefit humanity as a whole, unconstrained by a need to generate financial return.” In its 2018 charter, the company promised to halt focusing on its own models and help another group “if a value-aligned, safety-conscious project comes close to building AGI [or artificial general intelligence that outperforms the work of humans] before we do.” 

To put it lightly, this is a far cry from what the company looks like today. It’s got energy-guzzling data centers, a chatbot that’s been involved in multiple mass shootings, and, according to what tech journalist Karen Hao told us in 2025, poses “the greatest threat that we’ve seen to democracy to date.” Oh, and not to mention the deal with the Pentagon to provide its technology for military purposes. (Following backlash from users, Sam Altman posted on X last month that they would amend their agreement to “not be intentionally used for domestic surveillance of U.S. persons and nationals.”)

Here is re-post of an internal post:

We have been working with the DoW to make some additions in our agreement to make our principles very clear.

1. We are going to amend our deal to add this language, in addition to everything else:

"• Consistent with applicable laws,…

— Sam Altman (@sama) March 3, 2026

OpenAI has gone from trying to benefit humanity to making humanity clean up its messes. As I wrote earlier this month, the company released 13 pages of “ambitious ideas” to add safety nets as AI advances to outperform human beings, even those who are assisted by AI.

Altman and OpenAI’s decisionmakers clearly don’t care about their lasting damage. They attribute the growing animosity toward AI to the struggle to, as OpenAI co-founder Greg Brockman put it last week on the science and tech podcast Core Memory, “help people really understand what it is that this technology can do for them.” 

But there’s a difference between what AI can do and what it should do. While Musk and Altman fight over OpenAI’s structure, and Musks licks his wounds after potentially losing yet another power struggle, they don’t seem to be listening in any real way to the people this technology is meant to help.

(Disclosure: The Center for Investigative Reporting, the parent company of Mother Jones, has sued OpenAI for copyright violations. OpenAI has denied the allegations.)

Itron, Medtronic disclose breaches in Friday filings

Digital intruders recently broke into two major tech suppliers - utility-technology firm Itron and medical-device maker Medtronic - according to filings with federal regulators.…

OpenAI has won major concessions from its largest shareholder, Microsoft, that will allow it to sell products on AWS, while Microsoft get more cash in a revenue-share agreement.

Ineffable Intelligence, a British AI lab founded a mere few months ago by former DeepMind researcher David Silver, has raised $1.1 billion in funding at a valuation of $5.1 billion.

Eish shame man! Maybe you shouldn't ask AI to set the rules for AI use?

South Africa has pulled its draft national AI policy after discovering that it was citing sources that exist only in the fertile imagination of a chatbot.…

Xu Zewei is accused of participating in a Chinese government hacking group that broke into thousands of U.S. organizations and stole COVID-19-related research.

No ads, no algorithm, and you actually have to physically tap phones to add a friend

It's been more than a decade since social media platform Friendster went dark, but a new owner has brought it back from the dead - sort of - with the hope he can give exhausted users of modern platforms a reprieve. …

“You can really feel Walt’s presence here.”

For years, countless Disneyland fans and cast members alike have told me that. It’s not something you hear nearly as often at Walt Disney World, though. That always made sense to me. Walt personally oversaw the construction of Disneyland, but died almost five years before Magic Kingdom opened. If you’re going to feel his presence anywhere, it’s at the park he built.

That oft-shared sentiment was very much on my mind before I made my first visit to the Happiest Place on Earth recently. Would I, someone who has loved Walt Disney World for almost 40 years, feel Walt’s presence at Disneyland? I had my doubts for my own reasons, but I wanted to try. And to make that happen I knew where to look for him. If I were going to find Walt, I’d try finding him in the part of the park that meant the most to him personally, the Disneyland Railroad.

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My doubts over feeling Walt’s “presence” had nothing to do with doubting anyone else’s sincerity. It is quite the opposite, actually. I absolutely believe they have that experience. As someone who loves learning the history and lore behind the places I care about, I would be the exact type of person who would have a similar one at Disneyland. I’m also a sentimental person, and no one does sentiment better than Disney. Plus, you know, I also really love going to Walt Disney World. I know some will scoff at that, but being there make me feel close to my late sister and our childhood family trips.(Go ahead. Scoff now. Scoff now.) Now it brings me joy as something my wife and I share with our son. (Still scoffing? Bold. But, uh, he wasn’t on this trip because we were in Anaheim for a wedding, so….)

The difference is those are real people I have real memories with. I’m sentimental, yes, but I am sentimental about places and the people who went there with me. I’ve never been nostalgic about famous people*, especially historical figures. That’s what Walt Disney is to me. He created something tangible and enduring I love, but he also died long before I was born. Disney as a place might be real to me, but Walt Disney is more like a legend.

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(*This has been true my entire life. I’m from Massachusetts, but when I stand outside Paul Revere’s house in Boston’s North End I don’t “feel” his presence. It’s incredible his house is still there and you can go inside. But all I tend to “feel” is hungry since it’s right near one of my favorite restaurants.)

Despite all of that, I wanted to give myself the best shot to have this exact Disney fan experience. And as someone deeply invested in the history of both Walt Disney and all of the parks that bear his name, I knew the best shot I had to “feel” his presence was on the Disneyland Railroad. That was always going to be my best shot I had to find Walt.

Although this little vacation was personal, I spoke to a Disneyland rep about my visit before I went. Without me mentioning any one of this, she said, unprompted, the same thing so many others had. “You can really feel Walt’s presence here.” I then told her what I just told all of you, that I was curious if I would have that experience but wasn’t sure I would. I then told her my plan was to ride the train since it meant the most to Walt. That’s when she asked if my wife and I would be interested in Disneyland’s Railroad Guided Tour. It’s an intimate 90-minute excursion you can book. It lets guests “get a look into Walt Disney’s love for trains and discover the impact it had on the Disneyland Resort.”

Yes, I did want to do it.

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The tour meets on Main Street, the other part of the park I most associate with Walt since he had an apartment there. Guests receive a commemorative pin with their name, a tour badge with a lanyard you get to keep, a hand fan, and a snack. (Our group of 10 got a Strawberry-stuffed Croissant from Jolly Holiday Bakery Cafe. It not only ruled, it was on my “must-try” handwritten “snack list,” a real thing I spent real time coming up with before visiting. At the end of the tour, we also got a great Disneyland map poster.)

The tour then takes you to different parts of the park, starting out front, to learn about Walt’s lifelong relationship with trains. His passion led directly—as in “Disneyland might not exist if Walt didn’t love trains” kind of directly—to the creation, shape, design, and construction of the park. As we would learn, it also shaped many of the attractions throughout. Those attractions then went on to influence Disney parks around the world. Each park is essentially a stop along Walt’s own enduring train line.

Our guide was Giorgio, a wonderfully affable and knowledge host whose Jungle Cruise skipper sense of humor helped keep the experience from ever feeling dry. The tour includes a lot of information and anecdotes spanning Walt’s childhood to the construction of Disneyland and beyond. The laughter from the group showed Giorgio’s puns, some truly terrible in the best way, helped keep everyone engaged. He was polished but wholly sincere the way the best cast members always are.

It helped he was always easy to hear even amid a packed spring break crowd, because the tour includes ear pieces. Disneyland makes it so you never have to huddle or worry about your host getting drowned out. That also allows you to look around while your guide is speaking.

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For the first half of the tour, Giorgio took us along multiple spots on Main Street, U.S.A. We then went to Frontierland, the Central Plaza, and Fantasyland. The last stop, in the shadow of the Matterhorn, was my favorite. There we learned about how Walt’s vacation to Germany led to Disneyland’s monorail. As the monorail (which I loved as a kid at Walt Disney World) quietly glided past Giorgio as he spoke it was hard not feel sentimental.

As someone who cares about the history and development of Disney Parks, I found the tour informative and fun. I already knew a lot of what we learned, but there were still new insights and stories I had never heard or read before. But what I really appreciated is that the tour is also really peaceful even among the throngs of people in the park. I’m someone who tends, no matter how much they try otherwise, to go 900 mph at Disney. The tour forced me to slow down and take the whole park in, all without worrying about wait times or lightning lanes. It was just really nice.

Only, I hadn’t felt Walt’s presence. Not yet. But something fundamentally changed for me when I asked Giorgio a question between stops. I told him I was planning to write about this tour and was curious what he thought was the most important thing for people to know. What Giorgio told me instantly changed how I felt about what I was doing. “It’s not that Walt loved trains,” he said, “It’s that he was obsessed with them.”

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“Obsession.” It seemed so obvious the second Giorgio said it. It should have been, considering everything we’d been hearing about Walt’s lifelong experiences being around, working on, and building his own trains both at home and in his park. And yet, it hadn’t been the word or idea that had shaped the way I understood Walt’s relationship with trains.

“Passion.” “Love.” Those are the words I’d been thinking of. “Love” is the word Disney itself uses in the description for the tour. But those are different in meaningful ways from “obsession.” They don’t have the same connotation. They don’t suggest “compulsion” the way obsession does.

Once I heard Walt’s relationship to trains expressed that way, it reshaped the way I thought about every Disney park. Every attraction with a train element—the Disneyland Railroad, the monorail, Big Thunder Mountain, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway—whether Walt built them or not, they suddenly became a tangible extension of him. If all of Disneyland is special to Walt, his trains were something extra special within it. I knew that before. This was when I truly understood why.

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I was thinking about what Giorgio said and what Walt’s obsession meant as we headed off for the second part of the tour. In ToonTown, we would finally ride the Disneyland Railroad inside the Lilly Belle.

Disneyland’s Lilly Belle is named for Walt’s wife, Lillian. She helped design and decorate the special parlor car in 1974, almost a decade after her husband’s death. It’s reserved for tours and VIP guests at the park. (The Lilly Belle was also the name of the miniature ridable model train Walt had at his own home. It was hugely influence in the creation of the Disneyland Railroad.)

The Lilly Belle contains personal items and decor taken from and inspired by the Disney family. It also looks a lot like it did when it first made its way around the park’s perimeter, the berm. That’s also why the Lilly Belle doesn’t have air conditioning. Excessive heat isn’t always a problem when you ride inside the enclosed parlor car. It was an issue on the record-setting hot March day we were there. To help us deal with the heat, everyone got personal electric fans.

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(We actually missed the Lilly Belle’s train by a minute when we got to ToonTown. We had to wait for it to go around the whole park before getting in. Giorgio made up the delay to everyone by giving us two special Lightning Lane passes instead of just the guaranteed one that comes with the tour. That second Lightning Lane easily made up for the extra 45 minutes the tour ran. My wife and I used it to skip a two-hour wait for DCA’s Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT! later in the day. Like I said, well worth it.)

The Lilly Belle is a very cool attraction, especially if you care about trains, the history of the park, or Walt himself. It’s also a very unusual one at Disneyland, and not just because you can only ride it under special circumstances or via a pricey luxury tour ticket. It’s not a recreation of a train car Walt built or road. (Though it does resemble his Main Street apartment in many ways.) He never road in it himself, either. It’s just something fun and different that was made for VIPs. And yet, like everything else in the park, it felt very much like an extension of Walt. It was inspired by him and made to honor him. It was a tribute to his obsession. And that can be felt at every attraction in Disneyland and the many parks it spawned, because they only exist because of that obsession.

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(That might sound like hyperbole, that without Walt’s love of trains Disneyland might not exist. That is until you learn about Ward Kimball, his own train obsession, and his long and vital partnership with Walt. Disneyland without Ward Kimball is impossible to even imagine.)

As our tour ended I was grateful to have done it. It’s expensive, yes, but it’s perfect for history lovers and those looking to experience the park in a different way. I also think it makes for an amazing gift.

And now is when I’m supposed to tell you that as we drove around the park—past scenes of dinosaurs and into Main Street U.S.A. (where we briefly met the train conductor), through Frontierland’s quiet beauty, and back to ToonTown—that it finally happened. This where I’m supposed to tell you that like so many others I felt Walt’s presence at Disneyland.

Only I didn’t. At least not in the way I feel my sister’s at the Magic Kingdom or my Uncle Peter’s when I’m in Boston’s North End. Instead I felt something else entirely: a new appreciation for something I already loved. Because while Walt Disney will always feel like a historical figure to me, as I rode in the Lilly Belle, Walt’s parks and what they mean to me felt more real than ever.

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That tour helped me understand how Walt Disney turned his own obsession into something he could share with others. I understood how his obsession gave me something I love so much I feel compelled to share it with the people I love.

So no, I didn’t find Walt on the Disneyland Railroad. I found something even better. Fittingly, his train made me feel more connected to him.

Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He wants to do more tours at Disney Parks. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.

The post Looking for Walt Disney’s Presence Along Disneyland’s Railroad appeared first on Nerdist.

Executives from Citi, Home Depot, and Capcom describe early work with AI agents

While AI agents have moved from experimental tools to customer-facing workers in a matter of months, the next challenge is governance and reliability once those agents touch real money, real shoppers, and real creative output.…

Skye's new AI app attracted investors before it even launched — a sign of interest in a more AI-aware iPhone.

Artist Barry Windsor-Smith is one of the most legendary names in comics. This is mainly thanks to his detailed line work and striking images on series such as Conan the Barbarian, and the iconic Wolverine story Weapon X. Now, publisher Fantagraphics has teamed up with Marvel to bring some of Barry Windsor-Smith’s earliest work in deluxe hardcover format. Coming this spring is The Marvel Creator Collection: Barry Windsor-Smith at Marvel. This three-volume series collects the artist’s earliest published work, going back to 1969. You can see the first images from the collection, collecting pages originally from Avengers #66, in our gallery down below. These pages show some of the earliest appearances of the Vision, who would go on to become one of Marvel’s most stalwart Avengers.

The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” Barry Windsor-Smith at Marvel Vol. 1 Click To View Gallery Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics Marvel Comics/Fantagraphics Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics Marvel Comics/Fantagraphics Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics Marvel Comics/Fantagraphics Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics Marvel Comics/Fantagraphics

Due out at the end of April, The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” will feature early pre-Conan work on titles such as X-Men, The Avengers, Doctor Strange, and Iron Man. This will also include his amazing run on “Ka-Zar” of the Savage Land in Astonishing Tales. These stories helped close out Marvel’s Silver Age era, and usher in the Bronze Age. In addition to the previously mentioned series, this collection will collect individual stories from horror titles Chamber of Darkness and Tower of Shadows. Future volumes will collect Barry Windsor-Smith’s work from later groundbreaking Marvel series like Machine Man.

Fantagraphics/Marvel Comics

In a statement, here’s what Fantagraphics’ founder Gary Groth had to say about this upcoming celebration of Windsor-Smith’s decades of Marvel work:

I have literally been following Barry Windsor-Smith’s career since 1969 when he debuted at Marvel Comics and immediately became my 2nd favorite artist (after Jack Kirby). So, it is a distinct pleasure to have the privilege of finally presenting all the work he did for Marvel (with the exception of Conan) in a gorgeously produced 3-volume hardcover series

The Marvel Creator Collection No. 1: “Back to the Savage Land” is due out on April 29, 2026, from Fantagraphics. You can pre-order it now from the official Fantagraphics online store for $49.99.

The post Barry Windsor-Smith’s Marvel Comics Getting Deluxe Collection (Exclusive) appeared first on Nerdist.

Facebook provider also working with energy storage firm to keep 100 hours of juice on hand

With AI demand growing, Facebook parent Meta is looking for new ways to power its datacenters, with one ambitious project pledging to send solar power down from orbit. Another agreement offers Meta the opportunity to store enough power to keep its bit barns going, even when the grid is over capacity or down.…

Say what you will about House of the Dragon as an adaptation. (As both George R.R. Martin and myself have.) But d*mn if the show doesn’t know how to cut one seven bloody hells of a trailer. The latest look at the show’s upcoming third season is an intense, violent, sad affair that teases an explosive new entry. It makes good on House Targaryen’s promise. There will be plenty of fire and there will be plenty of blood. And the ones set to suffer the most are the family members bringing both to Westeros.

“There will be no doubt who the gods have chosen to rule.”

That’s the tagline for this newest promo for season three of HBO’s first Game of Thrones‘ prequel series. We’re not so sure this is a matter forthe gods, though. This is about dragons, both human and fire made flesh.

In this trailer we see Rhaenyra and her supporters having the advantage. However, as Queen Alicent tells her former friend-turned enemy-turned accomplice, ruling comes at a great cost. And that’s without factoring in that the Targaryen civil war is clearly far from over. There are still plenty of battles to be fought and plenty of losses to be endured.

HBO

While we won’t give away any spoilers, book readers will definitely spot some big moments (and/or their fallout) destined to occur this season. (That one very emotional reaction….we know. We know.) Even those unfamiliar with George R.R. Martin’s history knew multiple big battles loom at the start of the season. The show’s sophomore outing set up some huge conflicts without delivering them.

Was that a mistake? Some would say yes. (It’s me, I’m some.) But the tradeoff is that season three could be the show’s best yet. We’ll find out when House of the Dragon returns to the skies of Westeros this summer. The third season debuts on June 21, 2026.

The post HOUSE OF THE DRAGON Season 3 Trailer Is Violent and Emotional appeared first on Nerdist.

Enola Holmes 3 on the way to our Netflix screens. A while ago, Netflix announced that not only was Enola Holmes 3 on the way, but that the third movie in the franchise had already begun to film in the UK. In addition, the streamer revealed the cast and synopsis of Enola Holmes 3. Now, we know that Enola Holmes 3 will hit Netflix on July 1. That’s refreshingly close and fans are ready after a four year wait for her return.

Netflix

Here’s everything we know so far about the upcoming movie starring Millie Bobby Brown.

Enola Holmes 3 has gathered an excellent cast. As mentioned, Millie Bobby Brown will be back as the main character and Sherlock Holmes sibling, Enola Holmes. Joining her are Louis Partridge, Himesh Patel, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Helena Bonham Carter. Excitingly, Henry Cavill will also be back in Enola Holmes 3, returning to the cast as Sherlock Holmes himself. We’ll definitely be excited to see more of Cavill and Brown as the duo of detective siblings.

Netflix

As to what mystery lies in store for us in Enola Holmes 3, Netflix isn’t saying much yet. The official synopsis for Enola Holmes 3 reads as follows: “Adventure chases detective Enola Holmes to Malta, where personal and professional dreams collide on a case more tangled and treacherous than any she has faced before.“

We love a new setting and a tangled and treacherous case. We just hope Enola’s professional aspirations don’t end up ruining her personal desires. Philip Barantini will direct the Enola Holmes 3 movie with a screenplay by Jack Thorne. The Enola Holmes franchise is based on The Enola Holmes Mysteries book series by Nancy Springer. So, anyone wanting to get a jumpstart on enjoying the next film should pick up a copy.

Netflix

Of course, Enola Holmes and Enola Holmes 2 are available to stream on Netflix right now. We cannot wait to see Enola Holmes 3 on Netflix this July.

Originally published January 7, 2026.

The post ENOLA HOLMES 3 Reveals July Release Date appeared first on Nerdist.

Natural gas power plant costs have nearly doubled in two years and take 23% longer to build as data center electricity demand skyrockets.

At 11:00 PM Sunday night, Donald Trump endorsed a conservative influencer’s suggestion that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be renamed National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (NICE), “so the media has to say NICE Agents all day everyday.”

“GREAT IDEA!!! DO IT .” the President wrote. He has rarely been able to resist the magic of a good rebranding opportunity. Days after his inauguration, Trump announced that the Gulf of Mexico would henceforth be known as the “Gulf of America,” though that name has not caught on in the year since.

A few months later, he renamed the Department of Defense as the Department of War.

This, at least, was an honest move. The United States has been at peace for fewer than 20 years out of its 250-year history; calling our nation’s war-making machine the Department of Defense has always been a euphemistic choice.

Some of his renaming attempts have been more baldly self-centered: see the recently-re-dubbed Trump-Kennedy Center.

But none of these rebrands, no matter their motives, have reshaped the realities of the things they name: the gulf is still the gulf, whether of Mexico or of America. The Department of Defense or War is still vacuuming up over half the federal government’s discretionary budget in order to bomb at least seven different countries during Trump’s second term.

And whether National is tacked onto ICE or not, they’ll still be the same agency: bloated, overfunded, and killing roughly one person in their custody per week.