Sports

Philly Wins The Super Bowl!

The Eagles say no, to Chiefs three in a row.

Well, that Super Bowl was something, wasn’t it? The Philadelphia Eagles decided they were tired of the Chiefs hogging all the spotlight and took matters into their own hands. They absolutely dominated the game. Jalen Hurts looked like he was playing Madden on easy mode—everything clicking, nothing stopping him. The guy was out there making plays like he was on a mission to remind everyone that yes, the Eagles are for real, and no, they don’t care what you think about it.

As for the Chiefs? Yikes. They had a shot at history—a third straight Super Bowl title. You know, that little thing that could’ve cemented them as the modern-day dynasty. Patrick Mahomes was out there playing hurt, and while I’ll give him credit for trying to channel some “gritty” energy, it wasn’t enough to overcome the disaster that was their defense. It’s almost like the Chiefs forgot that defense is actually part of the game. Philly’s offense looked like they were taking a stroll in the park while Kansas City just couldn’t keep up.

There were a few moments when it felt like the Chiefs might pull a rabbit out of their hat—Mahomes limping around, looking like he had just run a marathon in sandals—but nope. The Eagles were simply too good. They snatched the game away before the Chiefs even had a chance to blink.

And so, the Chiefs miss their shot at history. The three-peat dream? Gone. Instead, the Eagles get to walk away with the trophy, and Chiefs fans are left with the sound of what could’ve been ringing in their ears.

Super Bowl Headlines:

💍 2025 Super Bowl: Chiefs blown out for second time shows Patrick Mahomes-Tom Brady comparisons need to stop.

💰 Saquon Barkley, the Eagles and a win for NFL running backs.

Business

DEI, a Hot Topic These Days

Big companies keep rolling back iniatives.

More companies are joining in on the elimination of DEI initiatives, as General Motors, Pepsi and Disney (amongst others), excluded DEI references from their investor reports. 

While some companies have made no bones about their decision to move on from DEI (“diversity, equity and inclusion”), some others are trying to quit the initiative quietly. 

An NPR analysis of regulatory filings found that more than a dozen of the largest U.S. companies have deleted some, if not all, references to DEI from their most recent annual reports to investors. 

This differs from this time a year ago, when these same companies all made references to DEI in their disclosures. However, at least some of that language had been rewritten since, with some no longer mentioning the word “diversity” at all.

These companies include Disney, Google, General Motors, General Electric, Pepsi, Intel, PayPal, Chipotle, Comcast, 3M, Regeneron and Phillip Morris. Most have not disclosed their reasons for the changes, but some did tell NPR that they’re re-evaluating some of their DEI programs, as well as examining President Trump’s new executive orders. 

This comes after companies like Walmart, Target, Amazon, Meta, Ford and other big companies made splashier headlines with their announcements of eliminating their DEI plans.

But for most companies, “it makes very little sense to issue a press release saying, ‘I’m going to stop’ - because that’s like waving a red flag to a bull,” explains Shiva Rajgopal, a professor of accounting and auditing at Columbia University. “Whenever practices change, the folks who drop them silently are usually in the majority.”

And that seems to be the change in 2025. While companies were more public with their changes a year ago, now, they’d rather do it in the undercover of the night. A la Art Modell leaving Cleveland (NFL reference. The Super Bowl WAS yesterday, after all). 

However, it is ironic, as the President currently in charge is more in favor with the removal of DEI, unlike a year ago.

Around the Water Cooler:

🤨 Trump says US may have less debt than thought because of fraud.

🛑 DOGE-Backed Halt at CFPB Comes Amid Musk’s Plans for ‘X’ Digital Wallet.

Tech

Alexa is Getting an Upgrade

The original home AI is stepping it up.

Amazon was originally ahead of the curve in the world of “digital assistants” (with Alexa), but will now be attempting to catch up to others. 

Alexa was originally backed by cheap, but capable, hardware, such as: smart speakers, smart displays and plenty of other accessories. However, with a lack of changes or upgrades, Alexa has remained stagnant for several years now. Both in terms of features and profitability.

Therefore, Amazon is finally ready to do something about it, as it will leverage the massive improvements that AI has brought to the table in order to make Alexa smarter. 

Amazon has teamed up with Anthropic, the makers of Claude AI, to improve Alexa, even investing $8 billion in the company. A key upgrade will be the ability for Alexa to handle multiple prompts (the current version is mostly limited to simple one-off commands). For example, the new Alexa will be able to order you a burger, while also changing the ingredients before sending out the order.

It will also remember your preferences, which will come in handy when asking to play music or to recommend a restaurant. 

The improved variant has been referred to as “Banyan” (Bania?) and “Remarkable Alexa” internally.

The current model of Alexa, titled “Classic Alexa,” will remain available and will be free, though Amazon has ceased development of new features for it. 

As for the new version, Amazon has considered charging $5-10 a month for it. If 10% of Alexa’s current active users sign up for a $5/month subscription, that would bring in $600 million a year.

Amazon executives will be meeting on Friday to decide how to proceed.

What’s New:

🎮 Sony is giving PS Plus members extra days following PSN’s big outage.

👓 Apple’s plans for AR glasses may not have been scrapped entirely.

Politics

Bumps in the Road for Trump

President Trump’s attempts to change things are hitting legal roadblocks.

Trump signed more than 50 executive orders during his first weeks in office, with the goal being to reshape the government. Whether that be altering immigration, transgender policies, or even government employees. 

While Trump signed a lot of executive orders, the lawsuits that they’ve led to aren’t lagging too far behind. So far more than two dozen lawsuits, and a number of court decisions, have halted (at least temporarily) some of Trump’s actions. 

Three such decisions were released on Thursday. Retirees and union members filed a legal challenge to the Treasury Department’s decision to allow staffers from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) access to the federal government’s massive payment and collections system. A group of union members also filed a suit to block DOGE, as did 19 states (led by New York) on Friday. 

A pair of unions also sued the Trump administration over its efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development on Thursday. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols issued a very limited written temporary restraining order on Friday. 

Also, labor unions for federal workers sued to stop Trump’s attempted program of government buyouts, arguing that his administration does not have the legal authority to offer such buyouts. A federal judge in Boston blocked the government from implementing the buyouts until at least this week.

Federal judges in Maryland and Washington state issued nationwide preliminary injunctions last week to block Trump’s changes to birthright citizenship, following a number of lawsuits across the country. A pair of federal judges also temporarily blocked a federal aid funding freeze.

And so the tug of war continues…

From The Hill:

😙 Senate Democrats Create New Portal for Trump Whistleblowers.

😱 Trump’s DEI order leaves academic researchers fearful of political influence over grants.

U.S. News

Another Plane Down in Alaska

Crews are searching for survivors.

A regional airline flight that had disappeared in Alaska on Thursday was found a day later. Sadly, all 10 people who were aboard were dead, the U.S. Coast Guard reported after the discovery of the plane. 

The aircraft was found about 24 miles southeast of its intended destination (Nome). Two rescue swimmers identified three bodies inside the plane, while the seven others are “believed to be inside the wreckage,” but aren’t accessible at this time, according to USCG Lt. Commander Mike Salerno.

The Cessna aircraft, operated by Bering Air, disappeared while traveling from Unalakleet to Nome, two cities in Western Alaska that are separated by the Norton Sound inlet. It was about 12 miles offshore when its position was lost, according to the Coast Guard. There were nine passengers and one pilot aboard. 

The aircraft “experienced some kind of event which caused them to experience a rapid loss in elevation and a paid loss in speed” around 3:18 PM local time, Coast Guard Lt. Commander Benjamin McInture-Coble said. 

The aircraft had broken into pieces following its crash to the snowy surface.

And so continues a scary few weeks for aircrafts. This was the third deadly plane crash in the span of just nine days. All three involved smaller aircrafts. 

Around the Country:

⛰️ Trump’s proposed ‘land grabs’ mean US now seen as a risk, says Munich security report.

🍁 Trump on why he wants Canada to be 51st state.

Economy

Jobs Are Down, But So Is Unemployment

It was a good news/bad news situation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics report that was released on Friday.

What do you like first, the bad news? Well, that’s the fact that only 143,000 jobs were added for the month. Which is well down from the 307,000 jobs that were added December, andddd well below the 169,000 jobs that were forecasted.

Job growth was highest in health care (44,000), retail (34,000) and government (32,000). 

All right… ready for the good news? Even with the aforementioned data, the unemployment rate fell to 4%! That’s the lowest it has been in nearly a full year. Furthermore, wages rose more than expected, too. Average hourly earnings increased 0.5% for the month and 4.1% from a year ago, compared with respective estimates for 0.3% and 3.7%.

Labor force participation increased 0.1% last month to 62.6% overall. The percentage of discouraged workers and those holding part-time jobs for economic reasons held steady at 7.5%.

“Those who had hoped for a soft report that would nudge the Fed back into rate-cutting mode didn’t get it,” explained Ellen Zentner, chief economic strategist at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management.

Federal Reserve officials are watching the numbers closely, as they contemplate their next monetary policy moves. 

This was, of course, the first job report released since President Trump re-took office on January 20th. 

From The Street:

🪒 Goldman Sees Trump Immigration Moves Shaving US Economic Growth.

📈 Americans, including Republicans, now fear higher inflation this year.