“Supergiant” sea bug named after Darth Vader found in South China Sea CBS
Do Insects Feel Pain? The New Yorker
Archaeologists Are Finding Dugout Canoes in the American Midwest as Old as the Great Pyramids of Egypt Smithsonian
James Galbraith – The Origins of the Modern Era of the Federal Reserve: Five Books Brave New Europe
California Burning
UPDATE on CA Lithium Battery Plant fire near “Salad Bowl of America” (produces 70% of our greens) Jordan Chariton, Threadreader
Thousands evacuate Hughes Fire near LA as California faces fresh threats Axios
Syndemics
USDA Updates Mammalian Wildlife With HPAI H5 List Avian Flu Diary. “As the HPAI H5 virus continues to find new mammalian hosts it is likely to become more deeply entrenched in our shared ecology, increasing the risks that it will find new evolutionary pathways that were unavailable to it when it was primarily a disease of birds.”
Avian Influenza Prevention Zone introduced in Northern Ireland Love Ballymena
COVID study: 40% of children still infectious after symptom resolution Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy
Climate
Snow in New Orleans (1):
I’m still in disbelief this happened. Here it is. Timelapse of historic New Orleans snow storm. Snow got up to 12 inches on my snowboard in the French Quarter. pic.twitter.com/M9byQeZJGL
— Payton Malone WWL-TV (@paytonmalonewx) January 22, 2025
Snow in New Orleans (2):
Snow falls in Houston and New Orleans as rare storm sweeps Gulf Coast.
This is a snowball fight on Bourbon Street, New Orleans on Jan 21, 2025pic.twitter.com/FIrkFnG1T2
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 22, 2025
The hidden cost of unreliable insurance 3 Quarks Daily
China?
Salary caps spread in China’s finance sector amid ‘common prosperity’ drive South China Morning Post
Drone pilots emerge as next sought-after profession in China CGTN
* * * Rubio backs Manila, condemns Beijing’s ‘dangerous’ actions in South China Sea South China Morning Post
Transcription matters Language Log. “Rubio” in Chinese.
* * * DeepSeek: How China’s AI Innovators Are Challenging The Status Quo Forbes. Commentary:
Really interesting how the US and China are taking such different roads on AI.
Beyond the PR that this “Stargate Project” is to “create cancer vaccines”, what it really seems to be about is doubling down on OpenAI’s strategy of building a “money moat” through massive… https://t.co/sfsodx3UYs
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) January 22, 2025
China’s second-largest foundry hires former Intel executive to lead advanced node development Tom’s Hardware
Dutch government excludes most ASML sales to China from ‘dual use’ export data Reuters
* * * Chinese tests of seawater near Fukushima nuclear plant show no impact on marine life South China Morning Post
Myanmar
No laughing matter: Meet the junta’s court jesters Frontier Myanmar
China and the Wars in Myanmar The Irrawaddy
The New Great Game
Opinion: Protests in Georgia should involve not just middle class but all social groups JAM News
Syraqistan
Why is Israel launching a crackdown in the West Bank after the Gaza ceasefire? AP
IDF launches Operation Iron Wall against Palestinian terror in Jenin as PA exits Jerusalem Post. Commentary:
Israel has launched “Operation Iron Wall” in the West Bank’s Jenin, on Day 2 of Trump’s presidency. It is named for Jabotinsky’s 1923 essay, “The Iron Wall”. Here’s an extract: “Zionist colonisation…can proceed and develop only…behind an iron wall.” https://t.co/LWASJQ8M1v pic.twitter.com/DJ5g7UKV2d
— Heidi Matthews (@Heidi__Matthews) January 21, 2025
Trump’s Middle East envoy will enter Gaza as part of ‘inspection team’ Al Jazeera. Steve Witkoff.
Dear Old Blighty
Keir Starmer appoints Jeff Bezos as his “first buddy” Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine Is Burning Through 155mm M777 Howitzer Barrels So Fast The U.S. Army Can’t Keep Up The Warzone. The deck: “The U.S. Army is now trying to meet a requirement to produce at least 30 new barrels for M777 howitzers every month.” Thirty. Oh.
* * * Zelenskyy: Ukraine needs at least 200,000 peacekeepers to prevent renewed Russian aggression Ukrainska Pravda
Trump tells Putin to end ‘ridiculous war’ in Ukraine or face new sanctions BBC
We want to end war in Ukraine so that it does not restart in two to four years – US secretary of state and Russian Foreign Ministry claims to see “small window of opportunity” for agreements under Trump Ukrainsaka Pravda
Trump Administration
Trump’s Crypto Assets Are Nonsense. The Cash They Throw Off Is Very Real Forbes
* * * How Trump’s executive orders will roll out — if courts allow them Al Jazeera
Trump’s glaring policy contradictions are both a blessing and a curse South China Morning Post
Can the United States Actually Purchase Greenland? Foreign Policy
* * * Department of Justice freezes all civil rights division cases: report FOX
Trump hits NIH with ‘devastating’ freezes on meetings, travel, communications, and hiring Science
* * * US military sends troops to Mexico border amid Trump immigration crackdown Al Jazeera
‘Scare tactic’: Bonta slams Trump move targeting local officials over immigration Los Angeles TImes
* * * Trump suggests states should handle emergency response instead of FEMA Axios
Cracks emerge in House GOP after speaker’s threat to saddle California wildfire aid with conditions AP
* * * Demystifying Jared Isaacman, Trump’s NASA nominee Space News
Susan Collins: ‘Troubling’ that Hegseth FBI report omitted key information The Hill
Spook Country
VICTORY! Federal Court (Finally) Rules Backdoor Searches of 702 Data Unconstitutional Electronic Frontier Foundation
Davos
‘The elephant is in the room’: Trump’s return on everyone’s lips at Davos France24
Digital Watch
Decentralized Social Media Is the Only Alternative to the Tech Oligarchy 404 Media
How often do unexpected scientific discoveries occur? More often than you might think Nature
Zeitgeist Watch
Mississippi politician files ‘Contraception Begins at Erection Act’ WLBT. “As written by Sen. Bradford Blackmon, the bill would make it ‘unlawful for a person to discharge genetic material without the intent to fertilize an embryo.’” I assume parody, as for example:
Supply Chain
Imperial Collapse Watch
World’s first submarine-launched drones that swims and flies poses new threat to US Interesting Engineering
Why Aircraft Carriers Are Becoming Obsolete Philip Pilkington, The National Interest
Class Warfare
Amazon closing all Quebec warehouses, laying off more than 1,700 workers CTV. Commentary:
Amazon is closing ALL warehouses in Quebec after unionizing took place at 1 warehouse.
Instead of working with first successful union of Amazon in North America, they chose to layoff all 1,950 workers.
A clear threat to all workers that if they unionize—they will be fired.
The… pic.twitter.com/KyQvTZTEp2
— LongTime🤓FirstTime👨💻 (@LongTimeHistory) January 22, 2025
Stinky bloom of ‘corpse flower’ enthrals thousands BBC
Vegetable Garden Protection Act South Arkansas Reckoning
Antidote du jour (Thomas Fuhrmann):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
