Orca mothers forgo future offspring to care for their full-grown sons New Scientist
Super-cooperators Aeon. “Clear and direct telepathic communication is unlikely to be developed. But brain-to-brain links still hold great promise.”
Climate/Environment
Dust as a solar shield Plos Climate. From the abstract: “A simpler approach is to ballistically eject dust grains from the Moon’s surface on a free trajectory toward L1, providing sun shade for several days or more. Advantages compared to an Earth launch include a ready reservoir of dust on the lunar surface and less kinetic energy required to achieve a sun-shielding orbit.”
We were promised smaller nuclear reactors. Where are they? MIT Technology Review
Warehouse boom transformed Inland Empire. Are jobs worth the environmental degradation? LA Times
Water
Drought may have doomed ancient Hittite empire, tree study reveals Guardian
Drought, disease and insects killed 36 million trees across California in 2022 The San Diego Union-Tribune
Loofah-inspired gel purifies contaminated water with warmth of the sun New Scientist
The Salinas River and the foretold flood High Country News
#COVID-19
Indoor air quality should be monitored in public places, says Chris Whitty Guardian. England’s chief medical officer.
700,000 dead. 4,000 weekly covid deaths fully normalized. Public pacified with zero new safety regulations or support programs. Vaccines and treatments on track for full privatization and profit maximization. Excess savings of working class and poor drained. Let’s finish the job. https://t.co/ec6swmKQOU
— wsbgnl (@wsbgnl) February 8, 2023
Bird Flu
Tracking the bird flu, experts see a familiar threat — and a virus whose course is hard to predict STAT News
Syraqistan
US sanctions preventing Syria from receiving aid – FM Al Mayadeen
Line in the Sand The Baffler. On “The Line,” a 105-mile-long mirrored and enclosed luxury horizontal skyscraper in the Saudi Arabian desert.
Old Blighty
New government departments are ‘re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic’ amid multiple crises The Canary
India
Oil giant TotalEnergies ices massive green hydrogen plans with Adani after share rout Recharge News
Hedge Funds Hunting for Adani Bargains Are Using This Playbook Bloomberg
China?
China Rejects “Shoot First, Talk Later” Attitude Moon of Alabama
Balloon ‘panic’ intensifies push against China in Washington Al Jazeera
Americans far less hawkish on North Korea and China than policy elites: poll Responsible Statecraft
China Hasn’t Given Up on the Belt and Road Foreign Affairs
China’s hypersonic triad pressing down on US Asia Times
Trapped by Empire Dissent Magazine. Guam.
Myanmar
International service contractors still profiting in Myanmar, bankrolling the junta Upstream
European Disunion
Nationwide Strikes Disrupt French Fuel Flows OilPrice
Hungarian government continues sacking hundreds of high-ranking military officers Daily News Hungary
Hungary gave €800mn grant to lure Chinese gigafactory, according to Chinese media bne Intellinews
New Not-So-Cold War
The coming existential threat: do we act in common or is it going to be every man for himself? Gilbert Doctorow
Will it Bend or Will it Break? Trying to Understand the World
Britain Pledges to Train Ukraine’s Pilots, Signaling That Warplanes Could Come Next New York Times
U.K. Commits To Training Ukrainian Fighter Pilots, Many Questions Remain The Drive
Lawmakers worry about weapons makers’ ability to meet demand Defense News
Ukraine ‘can count on France to win this war’, Macron tells Zelensky in Paris France24
***
How America Took Out The Nord Stream Pipeline Seymour Hersh
White House rejects report that US was behind Nord Stream sabotage AFP
US has questions to answer over Nord Stream blasts, Russia says Al Jazeera
From Lambert: “Nothing on the front pages of the Times or WaPo. Odd!
Note that the Vox link at the bottom is wrong, it’s to a 2015 story by Hersh on the White Helmets so either
1) the algo is wrong, but this has happen a lot with other searches on Hersh (and on Google generally, which now seems to ignore date restrictions on search)
2) this foreshadows the attack to come on Hersh’s credibility”
***
Everyone wants to reap the fruits of INSTC Rail Freight. On the International North-South Corridor between Russia, Iran and India.
UN mission on Lachin corridor only possible with consent of Azerbaijan, Armenia, says Russia Anadolu Agency
MEP: French gendarmes will be sent to Armenia as part of EU mission Armenia News
O Canada
Toronto says no to immediate 24/7 warming centres, but will study the idea further CP24
Toronto police board approves proposed $48M funding increase despite criticism CBC
Biden Administration
Half of Americans Say They’re Worse Off, Most Since 2009 Bloomberg
Soul on Ice The American Prospect. On now-former secretary of labor Marty Walsh.
“Healthcare”
New York’s Plan for Mentally Ill Homeless People Is Not the Solution, Expert Says MedPage Today
Police State Watch
PAPER MAIL GAVE ME HOPE ON RIKERS ISLAND. DON’T TAKE IT AWAY FROM IMPRISONED PEOPLE. The Appeal
“AN IRREVERSIBLE INJUSTICE”: MISSOURI EXECUTES LEONARD “RAHEEM” TAYLOR DESPITE DOUBTS OVER HIS GUILT The Intercept.
Our Famously Free Press
PATRICK LAWRENCE: The Press Reckoning on Russiagate Consortium News
A NewsNation reporter was arrested during a news conference held by the Ohio governor about a train derailment.
Watch the video: https://t.co/0SWIs3q2bu #RushHour pic.twitter.com/hdq23is7Zl
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) February 8, 2023
Rail Workers Tried To Warn Us the Ohio Train Derailment Would Happen The New Republic
Rail Companies Blocked Safety Rules Before Ohio Derailment The Lever
Infrastructure, Safety, And Equity: A Conversation With Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Forbes. From Feb. 2. Buttigieg: “We’re having new conversations about safety resources that we haven’t seen when it comes to public transit, and haven’t seen in a very long time when it comes to rail, airports, and seaports.”
Class action lawsuits filed against Norfolk Southern for East Palestine derailment WKBN
Nothing to see here. Just the toxic cloud from the controlled explosion from the East Palestine train derailment.
As of 9pm, the outside smells of chlorine at our house, located about 15 miles N of the site. #EastPalestine #trainderailment pic.twitter.com/paVSV7vsZD— Haley 💙📚 (@hale27storm) February 7, 2023
Class Warfare
Hyundai in talks with U.S. Labor Department over Alabama child labor Reuters.
The good and the bad of Iowa’s bill that would bring big changes to child labor laws Des Moines Register
Local businesses teaming up to fight school lunch debt Dakota News Now
— ☭ᴅᴀᴠɪᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴇxᴍᴏ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴜɴɪꜱᴛ🏳️🌈 (@SLCSocialist) December 9, 2022
Gig Companies Are Manipulating Their Workers. Dark Patterns Laws Should Step In NYU Journal of Legislation & Public Policy
Tech
How Big Tech rewrote the nation’s first cell phone repair law Grist
The Bezzle
Crypto Bank Whack-A-Mole Dirty Bubble Media
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
