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“You can die for your country, but you can’t buy a beer at a bar.” This classic example of incoherence in laws surrounding adult milestones has been the subject of many a rant from teens who consider themselves ready to join the ranks of the legally mature. (Probably a few drunken rants, even.) But the age cutoffs for alcohol and military service both functionally set at the federal levelare the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the utterly confusing mess of state laws governing teens and young adults.

A new study from Bellwetherpulls together age cutoffs in the 50 states for 36 different “adulting” variables, from work to guns to sex to school. The results are a fascinating window into the incoherence of American lawsand offer a look at our changing attitudes about maturity and individual responsibility.

Interestingly absent are any clear patterns based on partisan affiliations. While there were some correlationson abortion, for instancein most cases permissiveness or restrictiveness did not align with blue states or red states in a meaningful way.

The case for coherence in laws governing teens is the same as it is for legal coherence generally: Forcing citizens to live under a complex patchwork of rules and regulations not unified by a logical or intuitive principle makes compliance more difficult and undermines respect for the law.

With the rise of interest in restrictions on social media, for example, there may soon be states where teens could legally own a gun, get an abortion, or have a full-time job, yet not be permitted to do a little dance on TikTok or send a spicy text.

As lawmakers become increasingly eager to play the role of parents, teachers, and bosses for teens and young adults, it’s worth taking a closer look at how well they’ve done in those roles so far.

Check out these striking examples of incoherence around the U.S.

 

Plus, check out your state to see how it stacks up. Clicking on each state reveals the cutoffs for specific laws.

 

 

To learn more about what went into the 36 variables across six different categories, check out Bellwether’s “The Edge of Seventeen”: Sex, Porn, and Marriage: Ages of sexual consent, consent to marry, and the “floor” for marriage and exceptions, plus laws governing online porn, social media, and “sexting” among minors. Habits, Vices, and Expression: Minimum ages for smoking marijuana, piercings, tattoos, and gambling. Education, Employment, and Driving: Age of compulsory school attendance, employment including different types of jobs and rules governing parental consent, and driving from learner’s permits to full driving privileges. Medical Issues: “Mature minor” laws governing general medical care, immunizations, sexually transmitted infection testing, and mental health, as well as abortion and laws governing medical treatment around gender identity. Guns: Age to possess a handgun, possess a rifle or shotgun, and carry a concealed firearm. Privacy and Punishment: Laws governing privacy matters, including at what age parents can no longer access the child’s academic or medical records, and if the state allows corporal punishment.

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Technology

Broadcom tumbles 11% despite blockbuster earnings as ‘AI angst’ weighs on Oracle, Nvidia

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Broadcom tumbles 11% despite blockbuster earnings as 'AI angst' weighs on Oracle, Nvidia

Broadcom CEO Hock Tan.

Lucas Jackson | Reuters

Broadcom’s quarterly results and guidance sailed past Wall Street estimates. It didn’t matter.

The chipmaker’s shares plummeted 11% on Friday, on pace for their worst day since January, as investors ran for the exits on the artificial intelligence trade. Oracle dropped 4% a day after plunging 10% following its earnings report.

AI has been the driver for the stock market and the broader economy this year, so any negative sentiment has potentially far-reaching consequences. The Nasdaq on Friday fell about 1.4%, and the S&P 500 declined declined by nearly 1%.

The companies getting hit the hardest are the ones most closely tied to AI infrastructure, which has been booming as hyperscalers build out their data centers to try and meet what they describe as insatiable demand for compute-intensive AI services. Broadcom makes custom chips for many of the the largest tech companies, and saw its market cap about double each of the past two years before rallying again in 2025.

“This stock is up 75-80% year to date. You’re seeing a little bit of a pullback,” Vijay Rakesh, an analyst at Mizuho, told CNBC’s “Squawk on the Street” on Friday. “We would be buyers on this pullback.”

Mizuho raised its price target on the stock to $450 from $435. It was trading below $364 as of Friday afternoon.

“This is still where the growth is,” Rakesh said. “They are still the big supplier to Google on their entire hardware stack, to Meta, to Anthropic and even OpenAI coming down the road.”

Broadcom reported revenue growth of 28% during the quarter, largely due to a 74% increase in AI chip sales, to a total of $18.02 billion, topping the $17.49 billion average analyst estimate, according to LSEG. Adjusted earnings per share of $1.95 adjusted topped the $1.86 average estimate.

HSBC: There could be much more upside to Broadcom's AI backlog

CEO Hock Tan said Broadcom expects AI chip sales this quarter to double from a year earlier to $8.2 billion, both from custom AI chips as well as semiconductors for AI networking.

One concern among investors is that margins are coming down, at least in the short term, due to higher upfront costs. CFO Kirsten Spears said on the earnings call that “gross margins will be lower” for some of Broadcom’s AI chip systems because the company will have to buy more parts to produce the server racks.

Broadcom also said it had a $73 billion backlog of AI orders over the next 18 months. Part of that is from $21 billion of orders from Anthropic, which the company revealed as a key customer on Thursday.

While OpenAI has been a highly touted customer following a multibillion-dollar agreement announced in October, Tan doused some hope for the deal, telling investors late Thursday that, “We do not expect much in ’26.”

Bernstein analyst Stacy Rasgon said in a note on Friday that “AI angst” was driving Broadcom’s shares lower.

“Frankly we aren’t sure what else one could desire as the company’s AI story continues to not only overdeliver but is doing it at an accelerating rate,” Rasgon, who recommends buying the stock and raised his price target, wrote in the note.

Oracle has been facing more extreme skepticism. The stock is now down more than 40% from its record reached in September. The company beat on earnings but missed on revenue in its report on Wednesday, and investors were disappointed they didn’t get more detail on how Oracle will finance its massive buildout that so far has required mounds of debt.

CoreWeave, which is investing in data centers to offer cloud-based AI services, sank 9% on Friday and has lost more than half its value since peaking in June.

WATCH: Mizuho raises price target on Broadcom

Here’s why Mizuho raised its price target on Broadcom

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Sports

Oilers trade for Pens’ Jarry to solve issues in net

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Oilers trade for Pens' Jarry to solve issues in net

The Edmonton Oilers finally addressed their multiple-season problem in goal by acquiring Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry on Friday.

The Oilers sent goalie Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak and a 2029 second-round pick to Pittsburgh for Jarry and forward Sam Poulin.

Edmonton also made another trade Friday, sending a 2027 third-round pick to the Nashville Predators for defenseman Spencer Stastney.

Jarry, 30, is in his 10th NHL season, all with the Penguins. He had helped Pittsburgh to a surprising start that put it in a playoff seed through Thursday’s games. He was 9-3-1 in 14 games with Pittsburgh this season with a .909 save percentage and a 2.66 goals-against average with one shutout. MoneyPuck had him at 9.8 goals saved above expected.

Edmonton has the second-worst team save percentage in the NHL this season (.873). The Oilers have appeared in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, losing both times to the Florida Panthers. Each run has been plagued by goaltending inconsistency, with Skinner and backup Calvin Pickard unable to provide championship-caliber stability. The Oilers would have preferred adding a veteran goalie to a tandem with Skinner, but that would have been a challenge under the salary cap.

Jarry is signed through the 2027-28 season with a $5.375 million cap hit.

Skinner is signed through this season, and his contract carries an average annual value of $2.6 million. Kulak is also signed through 2025-26, and his contract carries an average annual value of $2.75 million. Both are set to be unrestricted free agents next summer.

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Science

JWST Detects Oldest Supernova Ever Seen, Linked to GRB 250314A

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Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected the oldest supernova ever recorded, tied to gamma-ray burst GRB 250314A. Occurring when the universe was only 730 million years old, the explosion provides a rare glimpse into the first generations of stars and early galaxy growth, highlighting Webb’s unmatched ability to study the distant cosmos.

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