Wednesday, January 22, 2025
NATO as the Fly in Russia’s Baltic Sea Soup
The West uses common, minor, and likely accidental damage to a few submarine cables to further militarize the Baltic Sea and harass the “shadow fleet.”
Knowing Less About AI Makes People More Open to Having It in Their Lives – New Research
A study on receptivity to AI use sadly skips over some fundamental questions.
Close to 30 Million Americans Face Limited Water Supplies, Government Report Finds
Struggles over water use and cost are set to intensify as usage outstrips supplies.
2:00PM Water Cooler 1/21/2025
~ Today’s Water Cooler: Politics, Syndemics; January 6 pardons; DOGE Executive order; Improving surgical masks (many methods) ~
How Los Angeles Can Fireproof Communities, Not Just Houses
Ideas about how to reduce fire risk in Los Angeles do not appear to go far enough.
Four Lawsuits Targeting DOGE Filed Immediately After Trump Swearing In Demand Compliance with FACA, Other Laws
DOGE is dodgy! Who’d have thunk it? Four fast-off-the-block filings seek to bring it to heel.
Cold War 2.0 in Mexico: US and Russian Embassies Lock Horns Over International Study Programs
The German embassy also joined the pile-on, with slapstick consequences.
How Trump 2.0 Could Herald a New Age of Authoritarian Capitalism
To discuss: “Trump’s weaponisation of US power poses a threat to peace, prosperity and the planet.”
Trump Shreds Emoluments Clause with New Memecoin while Norms Fairy Weeps (and Melania Joins the Fun)
Even tech bros are aghast.
The Next Unwind of Social Guarantees: Home and Medical Insurance
A Wall Street Journal column suggests that elite conventional wisdom favors more gutting of medical and home insurance as unduly “socialized”
There’s No Growth, so What Should Labour Do?
Labour’s dilemma — which has parallels in other countries — leads to vague aspirations that are almost meaningless, and probably undeliverable. So, what should it do?
