Reading archive 2023-10-19

It's a global climate solution — if it can get past conspiracy theories and NIMBYs

Reading archive 2023-10-18

China owns the EV supply chain. Now it wants to sell you a car.: European consumers use Chinese products every day. Will they also embrace cars by companies such as BYD that have their sights set on the European market?

‘Killers of the Flower Moon’: An admirable yet vexingly uneven film: Less whodunit than who-didn’t-do-it, Martin Scorsese’s latest drama does away with the suspense of David Grann’s nonfiction book about a series of murders of Osage Indians

Opinion  The Supreme Court blew a chance to fix its second-worst decision ever

After months-long fight, Maine man can keep emotional support chickens: C-Jay Martin’s neighbors in Bangor rallied to help him keep his backyard chickens, which were not allowed by city ordinance

Reading archive 2023-10-17

Opinion  What ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ taught my Oklahoma town

Think you need another car? Consider an e-bike instead.

Reading archive 2023-10-16

The make-believe Republican primary: Is the ‘race’ for the GOP nomination a boondoggle, or is this what democracy looks like?

A 15-year-old known for tough questions was kicked out of a GOP event: Quinn Mitchell said New Hampshire Republicans accused him of being a Democratic operative and escorted him out before allowing him back in

Why you should be lazy and leave your leaves in the yard: Fallen leaves can provide critical wildlife habitat and benefit soil health

Blurry videos are prodding officials to rethink whether this bird is extinct: The U.S. government is holding off on its decision to declare the ivory-billed woodpecker dead, saying it needs more time to consider all the video and photo evidence

These houses are at risk of falling into the sea. The U.S. government bought them.: ‘It will be a safer beach,’ says the National Park Service official who pushed for the buyouts and has seen other homes collapse and scatter debris for miles

Using toilet paper is grosser than you think. Here’s a better idea.

Reading archive 2023-10-15

Want to live to a healthy 100? Longevity doctor Peter Attia has advice.

Old U.S. government buildings get a second life fighting climate change: Robin Carnahan, who heads the General Services Administration, is spearheading the unprecedented effort

Israel Is Walking Into a Trap: Storming into Gaza will fulfill Hamas’s wish.

Reading archive 2023-10-14

Battling A Green Glacier: How A Native Tree Became A Threat To Nebraska’s Grasslands: Is there such a thing as too many trees? In Nebraska—home of Arbor Day—ranchers are battling the inexorable march of redcedar trees across Sandhills grasslands that sustain both livestock and birdlife.

With all eyes on Gaza war, violence is quietly mounting in the West Bank

A flood of misinformation shapes views of Israel-Gaza conflict: The barrage of false images, memes, videos and posts — mostly generated from within the region itself — is making it difficult to assess what is real. - "One such story is an allegation that Hamas beheaded babies in Kfar Aza, a kibbutz near Israel’s southern border with Gaza. The unconfirmed story appears to stem from a single Israeli news report on Tuesday.

...

"Less than a day later, the Israeli government backtracked. 'There have been cases of Hamas militants carrying out beheadings and other ISIS-style atrocities,' according to a Thursday statement provided to CNN. 'However, we cannot confirm if the victims were men or women, soldiers or civilians, adults or children.'"

Opinion  A war that must be waged with an eye toward what comes after

U.S. institutions under fire for their support — or silence — on Israel

A trans woman joined a sorority. Then her new sisters turned on her.: A 21-year-old University of Wyoming student was looking for community. Instead, she faced death threats, a federal lawsuit and an attempt to kick her out. - "On Fox News, newly hired network contributor Caitlyn Jenner called Artemis 'a perverted, sexually deviant male.' A column in the Daily Mail by Meghan McCain — the daughter of the late U.S. senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) — called Artemis an active threat. 'Let’s call this what it is — an invasion of women’s spaces by biological men under the guise of acceptance,' she wrote.

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"A few nights before the spring initiation ceremony — one of the chapter’s most sacred and joyous rituals — the lawsuit plaintiffs walked in en masse, wearing matching black sweatshirts, emblazoned with the name of the law firm they hired to sue their own sorority." [ed. note lol shocking that these women love drama and hate each other]

Reading archive 2023-10-13

U.S. intel deemed wider conflict between Israel, Hezbollah ‘unlikely’: Top secret intelligence document from February said longtime enemies had settled into posture of ‘mutual deterrence’ - "An anti-Israeli stance lies at the heart of Hamas and Hezbollah’s identity. Hamas, a Sunni Palestinian group, and Hezbollah, a Shiite Lebanese group, have been at odds over the civil war in neighboring Syria, with Hezbollah propping up President Bashar al-Assad and Hamas supporting his ouster."

Ark. Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to face GOP-led audit over $19K lectern

China’s promise of prosperity brought Laos debt — and distress: More than $1 trillion in Chinese loans to the developing world is building sparkling infrastructure, but the cost is still being tallied - "This year’s State of Southeast Asia survey by the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore saw a majority of respondents from Laos, almost 60 percent, say they would prefer the region to align with the United States over China, a sharp reversal from the previous year’s survey. A growing number of respondents, more than 72 percent, also indicated they were worried about China’s economic influence.

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"'As an Australian company, we haven’t seen the benefits,' said one executive in Laos, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. Only companies connected to the Chinese and Lao investors in the project appear to be able to get access, and without those connections, 'it is almost impossible to utilize the rail,' the executive added.

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"In March 2022, Anousa Luangsuphom, 25 — an activist widely known as Jack in Laos — launched a Facebook page called “The Power of the Keyboard,” using satire and memes to criticize both his government and China’s reach into his country. He also called for the end of one-party rule in Laos. 

"On April 29, Jack changed his Facebook profile picture to one bearing the motto 'Fighting for Laos’ survival, so we don’t become China’s slave.' He then went about his day — serving khao piak sen, a Lao noodle soup dish, at the shop he worked in, before meeting friends at a coffee shop and bar. That evening, a man entered the bar and asked in a few words of Lao if they were still serving alcohol. He briefly exited before returning and shooting Jack in the face and chest."

Proposed Metro Fare Evasion Bill Faces Skepticism From Residents, Councilmembers