• IRS has just announced: (1) Nearly one third of its audit staff have been laid off, necessitating numerous dropping of tax return audits in process; (2) the Internal Revenue Service agency is “poised to become more earnest in its use of artificial intelligence during the auditing process”; and (3) that ‘improper payments’ exceeding $21.4 Billion were refunded last year related to Childcare, Opportunity, Earned Income, and Net Premium tax credits.

 

  • TODAY’S ‘COOL MOM’ AND ‘COOL DAD’ ARE ‘TYPE C’ – the newest evolving Parenting style, somewhere between Type A high-control and Type B laid back, who focus on “providing emotional support and nurturing resilience while setting clear boundaries and expectations.”  Type A parents depend on schedules with rigid routines & rules, while Type B encourage kid-to-be-kids with minimal structure, which does build independence but leaves children uncertain and often confused around expectations. Type C is middle ground, recognizing that “resilience, empathy, mutual respect and emotional intelligence are as critical as academic or behavioral success in a child’s development and that they thrive best in structured but nurturing environments.” Examples are: active involvement in after-school activities but without micro-management; encouraging kids to problem-solve themselves; and encouraging open communication without fear of punishment or expectations of perfection.”  [POPSUGAR.COM]

 

  • DARWIN’S THEORY OF EVOLUTION INCLUDED THE POSSIBILITY THAT FIRST HUMAN WORDS may have come from mimicking birdsong, a kind of interspecies exchange. Latest research now suggests we may be eventually speaking with animals, as generative A.I. models sort through millions of recorded vocalizations from marine mammals (dolphin, porpoise, whale) who “learn through vocal imitation and, like us, communicate via complex   arrangements of sound that appear to have structure and hierarchy. Purportedly, humpback whales have exchanged acoustic conversations in a form known as ‘whup/throp’ over a 20-minute period, have learned to mimic the A, E, O and U vowel sounds, and given vocal ‘performances’ sometimes lasting up to 24-hours projecting their voices over miles of open water. The linguistic barrier is looking porous.”   [THE GUARDIAN]

 

  • “FINANCIAL INNOVATION IS LIKE A VIRUS, finding weaknesses in existing incentive schemes and regulation… Setting and policing the boundary between regulated banks and unregulated financial giants – Private Credit non-bank players in private markets which trade in privately-held companies and extend illiquid loans – involves risk takers who inevitably respond to regulation by just shifting their activities into areas that are watched less closely… Concern is rising since retail investors can now access products as complex as anything changing hands on a trading floor. Exchange-traded funds (ETF), once considered staid investment vehicles, are booming as asset managers structure them to offer individuals the sort of risks and rewards one might find in a casino, with cryptocurrencies only fueling the speculative fever.” THE TRANSFORATION OF WALL STREET:  www.economist.com/special-report/2025-05-31   

 

THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK

 

  • California’s high speed rail project is in default of federal grant agreements and looks to lose over $4 Billion in funding from Dep’t of Transportation attributed to “chronic mismanagement, unrealistic projections, and failure to meet key obligations, despite receiving billions in taxpayer money. The Federal Railroad Administration concluded that the bullet train as ‘no viable path’ to finish the first operational segment, based on a $7 billion funding gap, missed procurement deadlines, and ‘substantially overrepresented’ ridership forecasts.” What a surprise!   [EPOCH TIMES]

 

  • Rigid ‘return to office’ policies aren’t so rigid after all. Latest analyses find that stubborn employees are actually attending often half the ‘requirement,’ and Managers are unlikely to terminate high-performing workers whose only shortcoming is imperfect attendance – especially in light of AI and other technology adoption which reduces the need for ‘command-and-control’ rigidity. “The most effective leaders recognize that trust and flexibility aren’t just employee perks, but rather essential ingredients for navigating today’s workplace transformation.”  [TIME]

 

  • Recommended summer read: NEXUS – YUVAL NOAH HARARI — “Humanity is rapidly rushing toward Artificial Intelligence without regard for the fact that AI is an alien information network putting us on the verge of ecological collapse caused by the potential to escape our control and enslave or annihilate us.”