Scientists find whale song, human language share same structure CGTN
Climate
Carbon dioxide reaches record high Arctic News
Inside the CIA’s Decades-Long Climate “Spy” Campaign 3 Quarks Daily
Syndemics
USDA Summary Of Nevada’s H5N1 Genotype D1.1 Spillover Into Cattle Avian Flu Diary
Flu season in the US is the most intense it’s been in at least 15 years AP. We learn nothing:
In @abcnews: according to @CDCgov, flu is spread mainly by tiny droplets made when people cough, sneeze, or talk. They can land in the mouths or noses.
Not in @abcnews: flu is also spread by airborne particles that remain in the air and are breathed in.https://t.co/cngCHvYHqk https://t.co/R5rjkAXLhx
— LET’S AIR (@nousaerons) February 9, 2025
China?
China faces uphill battle to boost demand despite consumer price recovery in January South China Morning Post. Commentary:
Nezha 2 just became the first film in history to gross $1 billion in a single market—China—in just 11 days. It is also the first ever non-Hollywood movie to achieve the $1 billion mark.
Which means that a) China is now obviously able to produce blockbusters on par with Hollywood… pic.twitter.com/VG1yXN6Kh7
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 9, 2025
The US relies on China for key medicines. They won’t be spared from tariffs The Hill
‘What’s high tech about clothing?’ Life on the margins of China’s economic reboot FT
India
Modi’s BJP wins big in high-stakes Delhi election BBC
Syraqistan
Israeli Sources Believe Netanyahu Intends to Derail Gaza Cease-fire as Delegation Heads to Doha Haaretz
How to Measure Famine London Review of Books. The deck: “Alex de Waal on the classification of catastrophe in Gaza.”
It is time to move the UN and international law out of the West Al Jazeera
European Disunion
Paris prosecutors open probe into Musk’s X over alleged algorithmic distortions France24
Economy, migration, defence loom large in German election: A turning point for Europe? France24
New Not-So-Cold War
As Ukraine struggles to field soldiers, recruitment centers are attacked WaPo
Ukraine Inches Closer to Final Call-Up Simplicius, Simplicius the Thinker
* * * Trump confirms call with Putin, says Russian leader wants Ukraine war to end: Report Anadolu Agency
Sharp Turns and Continuity in Donald Trump’s Policy Valdai Discussion Club
* * * Russia Assembles Flotilla of LNG Carriers in Arctic Waters Ahead of EU Transshipment Ban gCaptain
America’s Economic Warfare Is Sowing Its Own Demise Foreign Policy
Trump Administration
What has Donald Trump not done yet? Here are some policy areas where he might act next AP. Note the lacunae:
Would be extremely funny if Steve Bannon became the first right populist ever to do a left populist turn. https://t.co/0we9ZmDKSA
— Briahna Joy Gray (@briebriejoy) February 8, 2025
Spending bill talks bog down after Trump’s efforts to slash government AP
* * * Trump’s Executive Order to Rename Debt and Deficits Stephanie Kelton, The Lens
Directive From New Interior Secretary Weakens Public Land Protections to Push Fossil Fuels Inside Climate News
* * * Russ Vought, tapped as CFPB’s acting director, directs bureau to issue no new rules, stop new investigations FOX. Commentary:
I believe this actually shows that Vought was outwitted. CFPB leadership drew what they needed for the entire fiscal year before he ever got his hands on the agency. https://t.co/lmG4fN8zfp
— David Dayen (@ddayen) February 9, 2025
Why Trump’s in-your-face campaign will never end Axios. New spokeshole:
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says @DOGE is “one of the most important audits of government” in his lifetime.
“These are highly trained professionals. This is not some roving band going around doing things. This is methodical and it is going to yield big savings.” pic.twitter.com/pBEvFEuJ8f
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) February 8, 2025
There’s no reason to believe what Bessent is saying after the “access” imbroglio, especially since there’s no way to independently check it (see below). In addition:
NEW: Government worker says 19-year-old DOGE employees are having 15 minute interviews with federal employees to “justify their existence” before determining if they should be fired.
Lmao, good.
An unnamed federal worker spoke out at a town hall event in Virginia.
“I just… pic.twitter.com/ZcEwsxEzcn
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 8, 2025
“Highly trained”?
US welcomes ‘persecuted South African’ refugees: State Department Anadolu Agency. Commentary:
The idea of Afrikaaners willingly leaving their estates and holiday homes where they have cleaners and gardeners and get to chill by the beach to go be cashiers at Walmart and live in a shitty state apartment in the US is actually so funny 😭 someone needs to make a show
— Uppity African 🍉 (@naledimashishi) February 8, 2025
DOGE
Musk says Treasury, DOGE instituting reporting changes to all government payments Politico:
The government payments will now have a ‘payment categorization code’ for auditing purposes, he wrote in a post on X, the social media site he owns.
Musk also said payments must provide a rationale in a comment field, adding they are ‘not yet applying ANY judgment to this rationale’ but that all payments must have one.
“Yet” is doing a lot of work, there, no? Essentially, Elon wants the memo field on government checks filled out. There is no reason for this, either for the code or the rationale, if you believe (modulo cases of fraud) that all that is required to issue a check is Congressional appropriation (i.e., a statute) or agency approval, as has hitherto been the case. The obvious reason for this architectural change to Treasury’s outputs is to bolt a kludge a second processor onto the existing back-end of the payments system. This second processor take existing outputs as input, but the “reporting changes” would enable the Executive to impound checks based on the category or the rationale (or, for that matter, on the SSN; why not?). A less obvious reason is for future integration into “the blockchain,” perhaps “a bad idea whose time has come.” And even less obvious reason is to alter the checks: If you want to reduce Federal Spending by 20%, reduce the amount of every check by 20%. Not the Pentagon, of course. Or the spooks.
* * * Musk’s DOGE Blocked From Treasury Data in State AGs Lawsuit Bloomberg
Inside the ‘lawfare’ plot to sabotage DOGE Daily Mail
Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew ProPublica.
Can anyone stop Elon Musk’s hostile takeover of the US government? FT
* * * Trump Vs. Education Department: Musk’s DOGE Reportedly Using AI To Look For Cuts—Here’s What We Know Forbes
Elon Musk’s DOGE Is Expected to Examine Another Treasury System Next Week ProPublica
Democrats en déshabillé
How Democrats lost the DEI war Politico
Hakeem Jeffries met privately with Silicon Valley donors in bid to ‘mend fences.’ Politico
The Bezzle
US endowments join crypto rush by building bitcoin portfolios FT
As One State Gets Closer on a Crypto Reserve, Others Jump Into the Fray CoinDesk
Digital Watch
When it comes to AI ROI, IT decision-makers not convinced The Register
Zeitgeist Watch
Should People Be Fired for Social Media Posts? What JD Vance Gets Right and Wrong. Zaid Jailani, The American Saga
Kids in New York keep dying while ‘subway surfing’ on top of trains. Can they be stopped? AP
Arrests in luxury home burglaries targeting NFL, NBA players are the ‘tip of the iceberg’ AP
Realignment and Legitimacy
The doomed politics of MAGA Romantics Unherd. The deck: “Why do they hero-worship a huckster?”
Red states create their own DOGE efforts to cut state government Kansas Reflector
Class Warfare
Workers’ rights caught in collision of Trump’s priorities Axios
Good news:
So, one of my foresters found an American chestnut which showed signs of blight damage but also vigorous resistance, growth, and reproduction. We are in touch with the American Chestnut Foundation and USDA Forest Service geneticists. Real heads know. pic.twitter.com/gLRdyxW0qa
— falling man (@p_feif80) February 7, 2025
On the American Chestnut, see NC here.
Antidote du jour (Cody Pope):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
