A New Zealand mountain is granted personhood, recognizing it as sacred for Māori AP
Ambassador Chas Freeman: Israel, Palestine, US, Iran, Russia-Ukraine, Middle East, China (video) India & Global Left, YouTube
Gold stockpiling in New York leads to London shortage FT
DC Airport Collision
American Airlines plane has collided with a helicopter in midair during approach to Reagan National, FAA says Yahoo Finance. The flightpath of the helicopter:
Here is the full ADS-B data available for the unknown military aircraft that crashed into AA5342. Can anyone from the aviation community comment on the altitudes of <500ft AGL or if those are even accurate off ADS-B transponders? pic.twitter.com/1OIJtDMhyl
— Mark David Gaal (@MarkDavidGaal) January 30, 2025
Before D.C. Airport Collision, Lawmakers Brushed Off Warnings And Boosted Flights The Lever
California Burning
Too little, too late: Residents say they were in the dark as fire spread with no evacuation order AP
Syndemics
Will bird flu spark a human pandemic? Scientists say the risk is rising Nature
ECDC: Avian Flu – Virus mutations and Response Strategies Avian Flu Diary
How pandemic helped the far right rise to power and what can be done about it European Pravda
China?
Why DeepSeek disruption is the China risk Wall Street can’t ignore South China Morning Post
Can Trump Strike a Grand Deal With Beijing? Foreign Policy
US Navy confirms drone ‘hellscape’ for use against PLA in Taiwan Strait is on track South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
Syria’s Ahmed al-Sharaa named president for transitional period Al Jazeera
New ICJ president plagiarized in the name of Christian Zionism The Grayzone
Is Turkey Breaking Its Own Oil Embargo? Foriegn Policy
The Fragile State of Turkey: A Nation on the Brink of Collapse Modern Diplomacy
Turkish foreign minister calls Middle Corridor most reliable, swift trade route Anadolu Agency
New Not-So-Cold War
‘Tis a mystery!
Why would Russia regard it as gravely threatening to have NATO sitting on the other side of its border just because EU bureaucrats like this are openly musing on the importance of going into Russia, smashing it, changing its government, and breaking it up into little pieces? https://t.co/ufxmgts8j4
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) January 29, 2025
Defence Ministry says Ukraine is ready to share combat experience with NATO Ukrainska Pravda
* * * Bundestag meeting to approve €3 billion for Ukraine closed early Ukrainska Pravda
Putin says peace talks with Ukraine possible, but not with Zelensky France24
* * * EU debates return to Russian gas as part of Ukraine peace deal FT
European Disunion
EU pledges ‘full support’ to Denmark against Trump’s Greenland ambitions Anadolu Agency
Trump Administration
DEI consultants respond to affirmative action rollback Pitchbook. The lead: “President Donald Trump’s new executive order ending affirmative action for federal contractors has already started to shake up private equity-owned businesses selling services in this space.” That’s a damn shame.
Trump to prepare facility at Guantanamo for 30,000 migrants Reuters. Commentary:
The precedent for Trump’s order was set by George HW Bush and Bill Clinton, who detained thousands of Haitians at Guantanamo during the early 1990’s, following the US-backed coup that removed Haiti’s elected leader, Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
This was Gitmo in 1991: https://t.co/id77EWm7Nt pic.twitter.com/VzuwLUE9as
— Max Blumenthal (@MaxBlumenthal) January 30, 2025
Trump makes moves to expand his power, sparking chaos and a possible constitutional crisis AP
Tension builds around Tulsi Gabbard’s confirmation with key GOP Senators undecided FOX
Trump pledges to deport ‘Hamas sympathisers’ on college campuses Al Jazeera
Deferred Culling Email to President Nyarlathotep’s Workforce McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. “The Reformed Cult of the Dread Lord will be built around four pillars….”
A Tumultuous Week for Federal Cybersecurity Efforts Krebs on Security
Lobbying firms tied to Trump report wave of new clients Politico
No US funding used for condoms or family planning in Gaza: Aid group Anadolu Agency
Christianity today:
JD VANCE: There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world
A lot of the far left has completely inverted that pic.twitter.com/XkoTiKgq3g
— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) January 30, 2025
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[a] 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'[b] 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'[c] There is no commandment greater than these.”
13 For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another.
As you can see, “family” doesn’t enter iinto it. I don’t know whether Vance is ignorant or heretical; considering the travesty that “family-friendly”/”family values” conservatives have made of Christianity, suspect the latter.
The Supremes
Justices take up case on right to sue over mistaken SWAT raid SCOTUSblog
Digital Watch
Beware tech bosses bearing dusty economic paradoxes FT
Deep Impact Ed Zitron, Where’s Your Ed At?
AI systems still can’t count Language Log
* * *
The Bezzle
The Dawn of PolicyFi CoinDesk
Zeitgeist Watch
The Shift to Vibes Unpopular Front
CVS gives customers a way to get into locked cabinets The Hill
No Matter How Many Chili Cook-Offs I Win, Everyone Still Sees Me As ‘That School Shooter’s Mom’ The Onion
Healthcare
What an Undervaccinated America Would Look Like Katherine Wu, The Atlantic
The Final Frontier
Astronomers discover 196-foot asteroid with 1-in-83 chance of hitting Earth in 2032 Space.com
Satellite backlog emerges as key constraint at the nation’s busiest spaceport Space News
Asteroid fragments upend theory of how life on Earth bloomed Nature. The deck: “Samples from Bennu contain the chemical building blocks of life — but with a twist.”
Class Warfare
Meritocracy:
I think about this HN comment a lot. pic.twitter.com/UIf6uVjzmZ
— Sahil (@sahilypatel) January 29, 2025
Yanis Varoufakis on What Comes After Capitalism (transcript) Yascha Mounk
Antidote du jour. Via Diego Delso:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
