An elusive California mammal has just been photographed alive for the first time SFGATE. The Spined Democrat?
Delta and Japan Airlines planes collide at Seattle Airport Daily Mail. ‘Tis a mystery!
The Collapse of Ego Depletion Speak Now, Regret Later
Infrastructure Laundering: Blending in with the Cloud Krebs on Security
Climate
The climate crisis is set to erase $1.47 trillion in US home values. Here are 5 areas predicted to get hit hard. Business Insider
Carbon Dioxide Has Driven Drastic Changes In Earth’s Global Temperature Over The Past 485 Million years Astrobiology
Water
Report Reveals World’s Fourth Largest Lake Now a Deadly Desert Science Alert
Syndemics
Preprint: Active Surveillance of Companion Animals During The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic Reveals > 25% Infected Avian Flu Diary
Deadly version of H5N1 bird flu spills over into Nevada dairy cattle LA Times. Meanwhile in NY:
😬😬😬😬😬 New York State may be trying to tell us something. https://t.co/55gWQbLITa pic.twitter.com/cQxU8pps5D
— Danielle Langlois (@DanielleLangWa) February 6, 2025
And:
Dead on Arrival: The Signals We’re Ignoring… Again
In NYC, when someone dies at home, a green flier appears on the door—a quiet but grim signal of loss. The medical term? Dead on arrival.
Another signal? Searches for “refrigerator trucks” are rising again. Last time they… pic.twitter.com/VENAHm7w7m
— Dr. Sean Mullen (@drseanmullen) February 6, 2025
* * * Nasal COVID-19 vaccine based on WashU technology to enter U.S. clinical trials (press release) Washington University in St. Louis
China?
Year of the Snake comes with a bite for Chinese consumers facing an economic slowdown NBC. Commentary:
🇨🇳‼️Chinese cars at smartphone prices: Revolutionizing the budget car market‼️
February 5, 2025
In China, the prices of new cars have reached incredibly low values, which are comparable to the prices of modern smartphones. Chinese automakers have managed to offer vehicles at… pic.twitter.com/TJnLThlJXw
— Djole 🇷🇸 (@onlydjole) February 5, 2025
China reopens antitrust probe into Google, Nvidia, and Intel may be next Tom’s Hardware
China launches WTO dispute over Trump tariffs South China Morning Post
India
The Big Ideas That Narendra Modi is Fully Committed to as India’s Leader The Wire. Gentlemen, I as leader will use power like a drum and leadership like a violin.
Africa
Africa’s expanding rail links benefit Chinese contractors and mineral needs South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
Malaysia says forced resettlement of Palestinians would be ethnic cleansing Al Jazeera
Saudi Arabia denies Trump’s claim, says no normalization with Israel without Palestinian state Anadolu Agency
* * * US officials now say Trump only wants to displace Palestinians from Gaza temporarily AP
Mulvaney says Trump’s Gaza Strip proposal ‘wasn’t him’ The Hill
Trump’s real-estate instincts clash with his America First worldview BBC
Towards a Trump Tower in Gaza? Al Jazeera
What Trump Really Wants in Gaza Foreign Policy. Commentary:
The Palestinian condition became a magnet for incorruptible and morally uncompromising souls. https://t.co/h3ewVFanOi
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) February 1, 2025
* * * Report: Netanyahu gifted Trump a golden pager; US president: ‘That was a great operation’ Jerusalem Post. Classy!
* * * Trump calls for ‘nuclear peace agreement’ with Iran rather than blowing country ‘to smithereens’ FOX
* * * In Damascus, café Rawda is a ‘lounge’ for exiled opponents and artists returning to Syria Le Monde. Commentary:
I just spent 17 days in Damascus, from January 14 to January 30. I had never imagined I would learn this much in such a short period of time.
I know it’s a cliché, but in this (long) thread 1️⃣🧵, I want to reflect on these two weeks that—perhaps selfishly—brought me so much.
— Benjamin Fève (@BenjaminFeve) January 31, 2025
European Disunion
Why is Poland going nuts for 19th century artist Józef Chełmoński? EuroNewss
Hungary claims Ukraine spent “substantial funds” to discredit PM Orbán Ukrainska Pravda
New Not-So-Cold War
Most of USAID aid goes to Ukraine BNE Intellinews
Russia rejects Ukraine’s sovereignty and insists on further annexation – ISW Ukrainska Pravda
Kremlin confirms contact with Trump’s team, saying it has become more frequent Ukrainska Pravda
North Korean soldiers in Russia: Were they ever there? Responsible Statecraft
Bringing Out the Dead Scott Ritter Extra
South of the Border
How Trump could pave the way for China in Latin America LA Times
Ecuador to close its borders over the weekend Anadolu Agency
Feral Hog Watch
Wild hogs: why a gang of rogue pigs is causing chaos in Norfolk Guardian
Trump Administration
USAID and the Media in a ‘Time of Monsters’ Columbia Journalism Review
The 24-Hour Reality Check: Musk’s Impossible Power Grab And America’s Crisis TechDirt. Well worth a read.
Elon Musk will now ‘plug in’ to also commandeer US air traffic control system, says Transportation Secretary The Independent. Commentary:
As someone who understands at a very deep level the history and architecture of the United States’s air traffic control systems, I’ll tell you what I told Elon the other day:
With all due respect, Sean, you are full of shit.
Signed,
A Real Software Engineer
— Grady Booch (@Grady_Booch) February 5, 2025
Elon Musk’s Enemy, USAID, Was Investigating Starlink’s Contracts in Ukraine Gizmodo
Justice Dept. official accuses FBI chief of ‘insubordination,’ tamps down talk of revenge on agents AP
* * * ‘Things Are Going to Get Intense:’ How a Musk Ally Plans to Push AI on the Government 404 Media
Trump OPM buyout offers leave federal workers with risky decisions The Hill. Commentary:
A federal worker sent me audio of a call that HR did today with staff about “deferred resignation” agreements offered by DOGE … I think this is pretty well understood by now but helps confirm what many suspect
The audio goes:
Employee: Lets say I accept the agreement tomorrow…
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) February 5, 2025
Trump’s birthright citizenship order is put on hold by a second federal judge AP
Trump budget bill could see ‘roughly’ $1 trillion in baseline spending cuts, top Republican says FOX
Legislators push to move crypto laws within Trump’s first 100 days Axios
Police State Watch
Officer-Involved: The Media Language of Police Killings The Quarterly Journal of Economics. From the Abstract: “We first document that the media use semantic structures—such as passive voice, nominalizations, and intransitive verbs—that obscure responsibility more often in cases of police killings than in cases of civilian killings…. [O]ur results suggest that narratives crafted by police departments are a more likely driver of media obfuscation.”
The Final Frontier
The Cislunar Competition Lawfare
Missing link still needed to save Mars Sample Return Space News
Healthcare
UnitedHealth Hires Defamation Firm Over Social Media Posts Bloomberg Law
Your Doctor Is Like Shakespeare (And That’s A Problem) 3 Quarks Daily
Zeitgeist Watch
Runaway teen hides in makeshift toilet paper fort in the middle of Walmart for days unnoticed Daily Mail
Avoiding Outrage Fatigue while Staying Informed Scientific American
Antidote du jour (Raf24~commonswiki):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
