🇺🇸 2 years after the alleged gang rape at Cornell's Chi Phi house, the case may end up turning less on anyone's memory and more on what was written down at the time. Jane Doe says 7 fraternity members assaulted her in October 2024 while she was too drunk and drugged to consent. The men deny it, no criminal charges have been filed, and the state attorney general has now taken over the investigation. Both sides are leaning on the records. A recorded phone call, an alleged group chat message inviting others to join in, and an apology text from one of the accused support her account. Her friendly texts after that night, a 2024 sworn statement the DA says described the encounter as consensual, which her lawyer disputes, and the Moonies bar insisting its wristband system meant she was never served there all cut the other way. An Australian study of 108 rape trials found text messages are now routine evidence, often used to argue that an account changed over time, which is why the context around every screenshot matters as much as the screenshot itself. Alcohol runs through every account of that night. One of the accused later texted Doe that he and another man had been too intoxicated to shut things down before they got out of hand. New York criminal law, which governs this case, doesn't treat voluntary drunkenness as automatic incapacity, while Cornell's own affirmative-consent policy sets a much lower bar. Whichever standard applies has to work the same way for every person in that room. California's campus consent law, for comparison, says an accused student's own intoxication is no excuse. Meanwhile, the public verdict is running ahead of the record. Huge crowds marched at Cornell this week demanding expulsions and degree revocations for all 7, and the main administration building was vandalized. The outcry helped put a closed case back on the table, but it can't decide it. What happened in that room will eventually be decided by evidence, and evidence doesn't trend. Sources: AP, BBC, NYT, NPR, CBS, TMZ, SAGE / Writer: Julie

BTS with @wmag Photography: Tim Walker Styling: Jahleel Weaver Editor in Chief: Sara Moonves Creative Directors at Large: Kevin Tekinel and Charles Levai Video: Carolyn Girondo & Russell Elliot Writer: Maxine Wally Hair: Mustafa Yanaz using Fenty Hair Makeup: Daniel Sällström using Fenty Beauty & Fenty Skin Nails: Jenny Longworth Set Design: Miguel Bento Movement Director: Pat Boguslawski Production: 138 Productions Special Thanks to DJ Andy and Liwan

Finally reading "Broken Money" by @LynAldenContact and it's a good reminder that $BTC and other internet-native hard monies will most reward the patient ($ZEC the most credible complement to $BTC, in this category). From 2016-2025 there was a wave of impatience as the promise of blockchains drew crowds of people that didn't deeply understand Bitcoin, and treated the space as simply another tech platform. Bitcoin is more of a social reboot, than a technological one, and such a reboot takes decades to play out. Now, impatience is washing out to other seemingly faster moving waters, taking us closer to what things felt like in 2015 and before... which will once again reward those that understood all along.

Ray Dalio now recommends 10-15% of a portfolio in gold and "a bit" of Bitcoin. "Non-government produced monies like gold and Bitcoin" will "do relatively well" as the debt crisis unfolds.

THE BLOCK: As debt levels rise and central banks increasingly monetize government debt, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio expects a broad devaluation of fiat currencies and poor returns from bonds. "I expect non-government-produced monies like gold and Bitcoin to do relatively well," Dalio wrote Friday in a post on LinkedIn. "I suggest...overweighting gold and a bit of Bitcoin."

cover girrrrrlz!!! baby Rocki served sumn serious on her first cover! came on set and shut her mama dowwwnn!!!! @wmag 🥹💞 Photography: Tim Walker Styling: Jahleel Weaver Editor in Chief: Sara Moonves Creative Directors at Large: Kevin Tekinel and Charles Levai Writer: Maxine Wally Hair: Mustafa Yanaz using Fenty Hair Makeup: Daniel Sällström using Fenty Beauty & Fenty Skin Nails: Jenny Longworth Set Design: Miguel Bento Movement Director: Pat Boguslawski Production: 138 Productions Special Thanks to DJ Andy and Liwan W VOLUME THREE 2026: THE POP ISSUE