Dave Philipps

Sergey Brin in a crowd. A headline reads: “Google Co-Founder Urges Workers to the Office ‘at Least' Every Weekday.” Photo credit: Pool photo by Julia Demaree Nikhinson.

“I recommend being in the office at least every weekday,” Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google, wrote in a memo. He added that “60 hours a week is the sweet spot of productivity.” nyti.ms/41yElFc

Number of Trans Troops Far Lower Than Estimated, Pentagon Figures Show The Defense Department said 4,240 service members, or about 0.2 percent of those in uniform, have a diagnosis of gender dysphoria. Previous estimates had put the number at triple that figure.

For the first time the military provides number on transgender military service. And they’re stunning. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/27/u...

Military and Veteran Benefits, News, Veteran Jobs Military.com helps millions of military-connected Americans access military and veteran benefits and news, find jobs and enjoy military discounts.

In Marine Drill Instructors, a Stunning Pattern of Suicide. Important reporting by @kelsbbaker.bsky.social and @dflawrence.bsky.social. Would like to know what the instructor's blast exposure was in the years before their last assignments. Military.com www.military.com/daily-news/i...

Defense Bill Orders Military to Take New Action on Brain Injury Mandates in the annual appropriations act, passed on Wednesday, call for the Pentagon to track and mitigate risks to troops’ brains from firing their own weapons.

The NDAA requires comprehensive action on blast exposure and brain injuries www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/u...

The Once Booming Drug Town Going Bust Under Taliban Rule Funding its war against the United States, the Taliban reaped millions from boom towns trading opium, heroin and meth. Victorious, the group crushed the trade, leaving ghost towns in its wake.

The US spent almost 20 years trying to eradicate Afghanistan’s opium industry. The Taliban has succeeded www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/w...

Subway Surfing’s Deadly Lure in New York City For more than a century, people have climbed on top of moving trains in search of a thrill. Now social media has attracted a new generation of daredevils.

“Since God made the subways, people have been doing stupid things on them.” www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/n...

Seeking Relief From Brain Injury, Some Veterans Turn to Psychedelics Unable to find effective treatments at home, veterans with brain-injury symptoms are going abroad for psychedelics like ibogaine that are illegal in the U.S.

Tree bark and toad poison and a quest for healing. How combat vets are seeking relief from brain injury through psychedelics. The trend is strong among Special Operations, especially Navy SEALs. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/16/u...

Military pauses Osprey flights again after more metal failures are found in near-crash in November The Pentagon is temporarily pausing flights again of its V-22 Osprey fleet after weakened metals in a part inside one of the aircraft broke apart in flight in November, causing an engine failure and a...

apnews.com/article/ospr...

Google Makes New Quantum Computing Breakthrough Google unveiled an experimental machine capable of tasks that a traditional supercomputer could not master in 10 septillion years. (That’s older than the universe.)

Google said its quantum computer needed less than five minutes to perform a calculation that one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers could not complete in 10 septillion years, a length of time that exceeds the age of the known universe. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/t...

Top-Gun Navy Pilots Fly at the Extremes. Their Brains May Suffer. A confidential Navy program is studying whether intense fighter jet operations can cause devastating brain injuries in flight crews.

The Navy says flying jets does not cause brain injuries, but this fall it launched a confidential effort, called Project Odin's Eye, to screen every TOPGUN pilot. Pilots say its about time. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/08/u...

The Metamorphosis of Pete Hegseth Three military deployments reshaped the views of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department.

How Pete Hegseth evolved from a by-the-book young officer to a defender of troops accused of war crimes. Latest episode of The Daily.

www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/p...

He was a great guy, and his unusual mind allowed him to do something truly remarkable. For people in Colorado a visit to his place was almost a right of passage. I’ll miss knowing he’s out there, stacking stone.

He had no plans to ever stop working.

He was very aware of his demons, and I think the castle helped keep him sane.

But he was fundamentally a kind and loving person who opened his project for all to see, free of charge.

Jim also struggled with some serious mental health issues, and was prone to involuntary rants that scared the bejesus out of visitors.

Of course he drove the local authorities nuts with because the castle in no way fit building codes, but he was able to get around the laws since the castle wasn’t a building, it was art. Luckily, it never collapsed on anyone.

The plan, which existed only in his mind, seemed to have no end.

At the time Jim had been at work for decades and it was natural to wonder how much longer he could go.

Here’s page 2.

Also, in a time before drones, there was also no way to capture the weird aerial angles I wanted.

There was no better way to fuse the eccentricity that was at the foundation of both the man and his creation.

Yep, Dave Philipps, investigative reporter/Pulitzer Prize-winner had a burning desire to draw comics. I’m not very good at it. But drawing seemed like the right way to capture the quirky nature of Jim Bishop.

Jim Bishop was a Colorado man who had a lifelong obsession to build a castle by hand. He just died at 80. His castle lives on. In 2007 I drew a comic strip about him for The Colorado Springs Gazette. I’d like to share…

Pete Hegseth’s Metamorphosis: From Critic of War Crimes to Defender of the Accused President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick to lead the Defense Department was described by peers as a skillful soldier who became embittered by military dysfunction.

When Pete Hegseth was an earnest, young Army lieutenant, he was cleareyed that warcrimes were indefensible. By the end of his Army career, he was their leading defender. www.nytimes.com/2024/11/21/u...

The Osprey's safety issues spiked over five years and caused deaths. Pilots still want to fly it The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service members in Japan. But there are still questions as to whether it should be.

After being grounded for months following a string of crashes, the V-22 Osprey is back in the air. But there are questions as to whether it should be.
apnews.com/osprey-safet...

Military suicides rose in 2023, continuing a troubling trend Officials said that the suicide rate among troops has increased steadily over the last decade.

More than a decade of costly and time-consuming prevention efforts don't seem to be working. www.militarytimes.com/news/pentago...

Chronic Brain Trauma Is Extensive in Navy’s Elite Speedboat Crews The pounding that sailors’ brains take from years of high-speed wave-slamming in the Special Boat Teams can cause symptoms that wreck their careers — and their lives.

“Seeking an edge in combat, the Navy has created boats so powerful that riding in them can destroy sailors’ brains” via
@NYTimes www.nytimes.com/2024/11/12/u...