Extra, Extra
Make Iron Lungs Great Again? You might want to mask up before reading this next lede from the NYT (Gift Article): “The lawyer helping Robert F. Kennedy Jr. pick federal health officials for the incoming Trump administration has petitioned the government to revoke its approval of the polio vaccine.” Related: Six Childhood Scourges We’ve Forgotten About, Thanks to Vaccines. Let’s not appoint health officials who are nostalgic for the old scourges. While were on the appointee topic: Trump’s Middle East Adviser Pick Is a Small-Time Truck Salesman. I guess it’s refreshing that Boulos is not a billionaire (even though he’s claimed to be). He’s also Tiffany Trump’s father-in-law.
+ Canary in a Cold Brine: “Scientists have been piecing together what happened to the birds, along with other species in the northeast Pacific that suddenly died or disappeared. It became clear that the culprit was an record-breaking marine heat wave, a mass of warm water that would come to be known as the Blob.” Ocean Heat Wiped Out Half These Seabirds Around Alaska.
+ Resistance is Futile: “For decades, Iran poured money and military aid into Syria, backing the Assad regime in its ambition to confront Israel. Now many Iranians are openly asking why.” (It’s actually pretty incredible just how openly they’re asking questions about their leaders and the collapsing axis of resistance. Syria may not be the last domino in this crazy post-Oct 7 era.) NYT (Gift Article): The Syrian Upheaval Has Iranian Leaders Reeling, Too.
+ Lucky Penny? Veteran Daniel Penny, acquitted in NYC subway chokehold, will join Trump’s suite at the Army/Navy football game.
+ Woke AF: “Short sleepers cruise by on four to six hours a night and don’t seem to suffer ill effects. Turns out they’re genetically built to require less sleep than the rest of us.” The ones who need little sleep.
+ Country Club: Post-election Elon Musk is so wealthy that he now has to be compared to whole countries instead of individual people. Only 55 Countries Now Have More Household Wealth Than Elon Musk’s $447 Billion.
+ Florida Mandible: “An invasive predator that can grow up to 20ft, weigh over 100kg and devour prey six times its size – it is enough to make anyone’s skin crawl. That’s what residents of southern Florida have been struggling with for the past few decades, with the rapid growth of the Burmese python population in the Everglades.” The Burmese python problem: how 20ft predators are wreaking havoc on the Everglades.
