Light pollution indicators for all the major astronomical observatories British Royal Astronomical Society. “The results show that two-thirds of all large observatories have already surpassed the critical 10 per cent increase in radiance over the assumed natural levels.”
How Protecting Trees Can Fight Gentrification Mother Jones
After substation shooting, federal regulator orders review of security standards Maryland Matters
Open House The Baffler. “Capitalism favors a certain kind of family unit. Networks of kinship that don’t fit its mold find themselves policed, surveilled, and otherwise punished. It’s something Indigenous communities know all too well.”
Because the bell rings The Imperfectionist
This WWII weapons bunker has a new mission: sheltering a scientist’s insect collection LA Times
Climate/Environment
Keystone pipeline raises concerns after third major spill in five years Guardian
Pipeline company says Kansas oil spill contained, but chemicals found downstream KCUR
Drone no-fly zone issued over Keystone oil spill site in Kansas Kansas Reflector
Water
Basin designated non-expansion area by state water chief Mohave Valley Daily News. “The first new [irrigation non-expansion area] in Arizona in 40 years.”
Groundwater depletion in California’s Central Valley accelerates during megadrought Nature
Pilot program encourages farmers to switch to drought-friendly crops Your Central Valley
#COVID-19
Nearly 250 million people in China could have COVID-19, leaked document shows RFA
Analysis: As COVID soars, China has 2 chains of command Nikkei Asia
China stops declaring daily Covid cases as wave strains hospitals, funeral services SCMP
Myanmar
Junta Watch: Dictator Trains Sights on ‘Unethical’ CDM doctors The Irrawaddy
Syraqistan
US working with Saudi Arabia on strategic military plans, general says Al-Monitor
Saudi Arabia: Flash floods hit the city of Mecca Middle East Monitor
Old Blighty
Britain’s winter of discontent is the inevitable result of austerity FT(!)
UK Insurers, Banks Hope for Substantive Financial Services Reforms in 2023 Insurance Journal
There’s out of touch and then there’s a millionaire asking a homeless man in a homeless shelter if he’s in financial services pic.twitter.com/d905ygvfOX
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) December 24, 2022
China?
New Not-So-Cold War
From a PMC class traitor:
Sudden Increase In Russian Navy Activity In Black Sea Naval News
Bakhmut Meatgrinder & Copium The Real Politick with Mark Sleboda
The Ukraine Lobby Bandera Lobby Blog
Preparing for the Final Collapse of the Soviet Union Hudson Institute. Lambert: “What they really believe. We’ll see how it works out.”
A German-China-Russia triangle on Ukraine Indian Punchline
Germany steps in to help railway companies pay electricity bill Rail Freight
European Disunion
🇳🇱 ❌🗳️Netherlands wants to ban parties that undermine the “democratic order”
If the law is passed, the Supreme Court of the Netherlands will be able to impose a ban on the activities of political forces as a last resort ” if they pose a threat to the democratic rule of law”.
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 23, 2022
Biden Administration
Industrial Policy is Not a Remedy for Income Inequality Counterpunch
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
A Roomba recorded a woman on the toilet. How did screenshots end up on Facebook? MIT Technology Review
Imperial Collapse Watch
“The new legislation means that the United States will no longer be a sanctuary for war criminals”
15+ year ago, I found that Army investigators ID’d Vietnam vets who could be tried for war crimes. They were living in the suburbs. Some are still there. https://t.co/r0pG4X1EEh
— Nick Turse (@nickturse) December 23, 2022
Uncompensated Allies: How Contracting Companies and U.S. Government Agencies Failed Third-Country Nationals in Afghanistan Brown University’s Costs of War Project
Lee Harvey Oswald, the CIA, and LSD: New Clues in Newly Declassified Documents Ryan Grim
2024
Of course the hotly anticipated Final Report from the Jan 6 Committee would not have been complete without shoehorning in a random dot-connecting section on Russia. Apparently on that fateful day, Trump was doing “exactly what the Russian government wanted” pic.twitter.com/rPCWnOyXqg
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) December 23, 2022
GOP Clown Car
Democrats en déshabillé
Could Democrats Really Elect a Moderate Republican Speaker? The American Prospect
1. This is an accurate description of oppo research and describes why oppo research did not discover the deceptions of Congressman-elect George Santos
But it skips over a larger problem: the Democratic Party’s failure to invest and prioritize researchhttps://t.co/kshv7oPfNp
— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) December 22, 2022
Groves of Academe
“The party-planning process will be streamlined and more administrators will be hired to help facilitate student social life.”https://t.co/xJJ6fDkbma
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) December 23, 2022
Our No Longer Free Press
Twitter Files: What We’ve Learned So Far Matt Taibbi
Class Warfare
The untold exploitation and misery in America’s weed industry LA Times
To get a sense of how much @mallofamerica loves and protects the workers that make it run. @kare11 @MPRnews @MNAFLCIO pic.twitter.com/mqkSvJlF0e
— We Do The Work (@WeDoTheWork7) December 23, 2022
Extreme Cold Weather Stretches U.S. Homeless Shelters’ Capacity US News
Judge: Does the city concede that there is no avenue for a homeless individual to voluntarily access a shelter bed at this juncture?
City: That is correct
— HDizz (@dizz_h) December 22, 2022
The Bezzle
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was ‘chilling’ in the American Airlines lounge at JFK before flying business class to his parents’ home to await trial Business Insider
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
