How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis World Development Perspectives. From September 2024, still germane.
Global economy could face 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 from climate shocks, say actuaries Guardian
The world is moving on to trade without the US FT
California Burning
Making Sense of the Giant Fire that Could Set Back Energy Storage Inside Climate News
Syndemics
Osterholm Podcast: The Potential Environmental (Airborne) Spread of H5N1 Avian Flu Diary. Osterholm: “… the very real possibility that the H5N1 virus may be carried by contaminated `dust’ from poultry farms, infecting other nearby farms, animals, and potentially even humans….” Well worth a read.
Scotland in bird flu lockdown as prevention zone established The National
* * * Kansas tuberculosis outbreak is now America’s largest in recorded history Bloomberg
* * * Amyloid-forming potential of Betacoronavirus including SARS-CoV-2 Cell. From the Abstract: “The findings of this study imply the high potential of some Betacorona viruses, including the Wild type of SARS-CoV-2 and some variants, such as Gamma and Delta, to develop prion-like sequence which can act as a regulator for viral infections.”
* * * Alberta’s COVID-19 pandemic response : Alberta COVID-19 Pandemic Data Review Task Force : final report Alberta Government. Commentary:
Holy s**t! The anti-vax Alberta task force also included John Conly 😳 pic.twitter.com/No5F2cbs1Y
— Bean & Sprout’s Mom (@beansprouts_mom) January 25, 2025
China?
What China Got Right About Big Tech Foreign Policy. The deck: “Unlike Trump, Xi understood that a new class of business titans could hijack his country’s political system.”
‘Very important step’: Chinese scientists turn E coli into a photosynthetic life form South China Morning Post
China urges prudence over plenty in rural projects as local debt clouds linger South China Morning Post
Myanmar
Ex-U.S. Envoy Reflects on Trump’s Likely Myanmar Policy The Irrawaddy
Syraqistan
‘Thank you to Al-Qassam Brigades for the good treatment’: Released Israeli soldiers says to Hamas’ armed wing fighetrs Anadolu Agency
With the ceasefire in Gaza comes a gruesome challenge: Counting and collecting the dead AP
Gaza checkpoint contractor is shell company of ‘generational wealth management’ firm The Grayzone
* * * Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon to continue beyond 60 days, Netanyahu announces L’Orient Today
Israel to Extend Military Presence in Lebanon With Trump Administration’s Blessing Foreign Policy
* * * Trump lifts Biden’s hold on 2,000-pound bombs to Israel Axios
Trump wants Jordan and Egypt to accept more Palestinian refugees and floats plan to ‘clean out’ Gaza AP
* * * The Settler Couple Running a Network of Israeli Communities Across Europe, Funded by Israel Haaretz
Iran War Hawks Getting Wrecked In Trump Personnel Fight Ryan Grim, DropSite News
Dear Old Blighty
Gaza protest: How Starmer and the Met have joined forces to quash all dissent Middle East Eye
New Not-So-Cold War
Reality hits home: “Ukraine is running out of Ukrainians,” US Secretary of State Solidarity
Why is Ukraine struggling to mobilise its citizens to fight? Al Jazeera
When the symbols of Ukrainian resistance fade Al Jazeera
* * * Vladimir Putin calls Donald Trump ‘clever’ and suggests talks, including over Ukraine EuroNews
Putin ready to talk to Trump, Kyiv says no talks without Ukraine, Europe France24
* * * NATO chief: Cost of Russian victory in Ukraine would be ‘trillions not billions’ Atlantic Council
Trump Administration
Trump’s Q&A on Air Force One goes from the plane’s color scheme to the fate of TikTok and Canada and He’s emboldened, he’s organized and he’s still Trump: Takeaways from the president’s opening days AP
Trump’s ‘ice maiden’ chief of staff launches brutal takedown of Elon Musk as she REFUSES to give him a West Wing office and issues stark warning over being ‘co-president’ Daily Mail. Susie Wiles. “Wiles, a 67-year-old veteran of GOP politics, saw her first victory on Trump’s first day in office when he confirmed Musk would not have a desk in the West Wing. The chief administrator of DOGE must also report to Wiles, a sign of her control over the White House.”
* * * How Pete Hegseth’s nomination came back from “90% dead” Axios. Commentary:
I don’t think the media or the DC intelligentsia realize that to a lot of us veterans, the fact that Pete Hegseth developed a drinking problem after coming home from the GWOT, and then BEAT said drinking problem, is a huge PLUS in our minds and is in no way a negative.
We all…
— Cynical Publius (@CynicalPublius) January 25, 2025
Trump fires independent inspectors general in Friday night purge Politico. But:
IGs telling Trump, “No.”
This is how you resist. pic.twitter.com/TAVJtMoJyl
— ⚖️🪴🇺🇦🌈🇮🇱🇵🇸 (@rogertansey) January 25, 2025
‘I am terrified’: Workers describe the dark mood inside federal agencies Politico
Antitrust
The first days of Boss Politics Antitrust Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Did a Private Equity Fire Truck Roll-Up Worsen the L.A. Fires? Matt Stoller, BIG
Immigration
ICE Raids Are an Escalation of Our Long-Simmering De Facto Cold Civil War Daring Fireball. Yes, and sanctuary cities are a “nullification” of which John C. Calhoun would be proud.
Trump’s attempt to end birthright citizenship would overturn more than a century of precedent AP
Digital Watch
How small Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek shocked Silicon Valley FT
OpenAI vs. DeepSeek: A Comparative Analysis of Capital Expenditure (CapEx) Investing Medium. Commentary:
China’s #DeepSeek could represent the biggest threat to US equity markets as the company seems to have built a groundbreaking AI model at an extremely low price and w/o hav\ing access to cutting-edge chips, calling into question the utility of the hundreds of billions worth of… pic.twitter.com/wMVyczpRgT
— Holger Zschaepitz (@Schuldensuehner) January 24, 2025
Tech leaders respond to the rapid rise of DeepSeek VentureBeat. Commentary:
Will explain what I think is happening with Sam Altman’s trousers. Hopefully this thread will help you understand what to look for when shopping for pants. 🧵 https://t.co/pZNqXpCE1o
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) January 25, 2025
Lambert here: I hope Altman loses his pants. And his shirt.
* * * Google Search Now Requires JavaScript Michael Tsai
Democrats en déshabillé
‘Give us a little time’: Democrats search for a guiding principle against Trump Semafor
Carville’s advice to fellow Dems on Trump: ‘Let him punch himself out’ The Hill
The Final Frontier
Guillotine Watch
A Start-Up Claimed Its Device Could Cure Cancer. Then Patients Began Dying. NYT
Mailboxes, used cars and other things making life hell in Asheville FOX
We Only Have Ourselves: The How-Tos and DOs and DON’Ts of Mutual Aid Kim Kelly, Literary Hub
Antidote du jour (Diego Delso):
Bonus antidote, “The cats who came in from the cold”:
I put a whole bunch of blankets on the couch outside and made him a little tent. You can just see him peeking out.
I hope he is warm enough.
Everyone say Hi Bruiser! pic.twitter.com/fl5ZO7kkgh
— Jennifer 🟥🔴🧙♀️🦉🐈⬛ 🦖 (@babybeginner) January 24, 2025
A long thread with many cats. Double bonus antidote:
— Ramin Nasibov (@RaminNasibov) January 22, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
