Since humans ran out of new new kinds of animals and foods to domesticate thousands of years ago, we can study almost any edible plant or farm animal as a microcosm of “modern” human history.
This occurred to me when a couple of readers responded to a phrase I used the other day — “industrial clock.” I was talking about how ingrained our work schedules become so we cannot escape the rhythms of the 40-hour week even after we retire.
What I was referring to when I coined that term was the origin of the “coffee break,” which I believe was developed by industrialist tycoons as a way to squeeze more productivity out of workers. I first encountered that historical curiosity when I was reviewing a book on the history of sugar many decades ago.
Like many other crops, sugar started out as a luxury for the rich and powerful but has gradually filtered down to be one of the many excessive burdens of the poor and powerless.
Over 100,000 people have died of diabetes in the U.S. each of the past two years — disproportionately from minority and poor communities.
Taking sugar with coffee or tea became habitual for the poorer classes during the industry revolution. But by now, virtually everyone goes through at least some phase of sugar addiction. It’s endemic.
And of course there are other risk factors for diabetes — smoking and obesity among them — so my analysis should only be taken with a grain of (pick your substance).
But wars have been fought and empires built on control of sugar or tea or coffee or bananas and every other foodstuff; that much is indisputable.
So that is the story of the term “industrial clock” and why I came up with it.
TODAY’s NEWS (64):
Trump reportedly directed Giuliani to press officials to seize voting machines (Guardian)
Book Ban Efforts Spread Across the U.S. — Challenges to books about sexual and racial identity are nothing new in American schools, but the tactics and politicization are. (NYT)
1 in 4 Americans say violence against the government is sometimes OK (NPR)
Rents are up 40 percent in some cities, forcing millions to move — Rising rents are also expected to be a driving force in inflation this year and have been an ongoing policy challenge for the Biden administration. (WP)
Trump offers chilling glimpse into possible second term (CNN)
Former President Donald Trump admitted in a written statement that he'd wanted former Vice President Mike Pence to "overturn the election" and railed against efforts to put laws in place to prevent something like that from ever happening. “Actually, what they are saying, is that Mike Pence did have the right to change the outcome, and they now want to take that right away. Unfortunately, he didn’t exercise that power, he could have overturned the Election!” Trump wrote. Critics immediately piled on. [HuffPost]
Latest congressional map favors Democrats (Politico)
Why Simple Is Smart — Complicated language can send a signal that a writer is dense or overcompensating. (Atlantic)
"Wordle, Josh Wardle’s stimulating and wildly popular daily word game,
is joining The New York Times’s portfolio of original, engaging puzzle
games that delight and challenge solvers everyday. Wordle was acquired for an undisclosed price in the low-seven figures." (NYT)The Radical Woman Behind “Goodnight Moon” (New Yorker)
Campaigning to Oversee Elections, While Denying the Last One — Brazenly partisan candidates who insist that Trump won the 2020 election are transforming races for the once-obscure office of secretary of state. (NYT)
Georgia DA investigating Trump asks FBI for security help (AP)
Kamala Harris drove within yards of pipe bomb on January 6 – report (Guardian)
The skirmish is over a new justice. The battle is against the right wing’s imperial judiciary. (WP)
Republican elected officials such as Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) sought to distance themselves from a pledge Trump made over the weekend to pardon those charged in the Capitol riot should he run for the White House again and win. “I hope they go to jail and get the book thrown at them because they deserve it," Graham said. [HuffPost]
DeSantis aide deletes tweet suggesting Nazi protesters were Democratic operatives (Politico)
Ukrainian police detained a group of people suspected of preparing mass riots in the capital Kyiv and other cities to cause instability as tensions rise with Russia, Ukraine's interior minister said. (Reuters)
US plans sanctions against Putin’s inner circle in case of attack on Ukraine (Financial Times)
Britain Toughens Stance on Russia, as Russia Presses NATO for Assurances — Britain moved to broaden the range of sanctions available if Russia invades Ukraine, as Moscow sent an “urgent demand” to NATO to clarify its stance. (NYT)
The U.S. promised to put Moscow on the defensive at the U.N. Security Council in a session Monday over its massing of troops near Ukraine and fears it is planning an invasion. Any formal action by the Security Council is extremely unlikely, given Russia’s veto power and its ties with others on the council, including China. [AP]
The international cult of Vladimir Putin (Financial Times)
From Stalin to Putin, Ukraine is still trying to break free from Moscow (NPR)
The Hard-Line Russian Advisers Who Have Putin’s Ear — Three reactionary security officials dedicated to “traditional values” and restoring Soviet glory will figure prominently in the decision whether to invade Ukraine. (NYT)
Public education is facing a crisis of epic proportions (WP)
Russia is willing to go to war and incur sanctions over Ukraine, analysts warn (CNBC)
Cyberattacks increasingly hobble pandemic-weary US schools (AP)
"Maus," Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust, shot to the top of Amazon’s bestsellers list after a Tennessee school district banned it from being taught in classrooms last week. “We can teach them history and we can teach them graphic history. We can tell them exactly what happened, but we don’t need all the nakedness and all the other stuff," a school board member said. [HuffPost]
Why a school board's ban on 'Maus' may put the book in the hands of more readers (NPR)
Schools reopened, but students’ mental health is still suffering (Politico)
‘It’s Just Stressful’: Students Feel the Weight of Pandemic Uncertainty — The pandemic has changed children. Some can’t shake that feeling of instability. Others are taking on adult responsibilities. And anxiety is all around. (NYT)
White House frustrations grow over health chief’s handling of pandemic (WP)
Vaccine skeptics are a growing force in GOP politics and Trumpworld too (Politico)
In Germany’s east, far-right extremists find footholds in escalating anti-vaccine protests (WP)
Omicron amps up concerns about long COVID and its causes (AP)
Schools see never-ending drama over masks (Politico)
Demand for babysitters soaring amid COVID surge (NHK)
Hundreds of people in San Francisco and five other U.S. cities marched Sunday to seek justice for Asian Americans who have been harassed, assaulted and killed since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. It was the first anniversary of the death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee, who died after being assaulted while on a walk in San Francisco. [AP]
North Korea confirmed it had launched a Hwasong-12 ballistic missile, the same weapon it had once threatened to target the U.S. territory of Guam with, sparking fears the nuclear-armed state could resume long-range testing. North Korea's unusually active month of missile testing appears aimed at securing global acceptance of its sanctioned weapons programs. (Reuters)
‘Everyone’s Looking for Plastic.’ As Waste Rises, So Does Recycling. — Plagued by plastic pollution, Senegal wants to replace pickers at the garbage dump with a formal recycling system that takes advantage of the new market for plastics. (NYT)
Bracing for cyber-spying at the Olympics (Politico)
During the past four days China has detected some 119 cases of COVID-19 among athletes and personnel linked to the Beijing Winter Olympics, with authorities imposing a "closed loop" bubble to keep participants, staff and media separated from the public. Some 3,000 athletes, along with coaches, officials, referees, federation delegates and media are expected for the Games, due to run from February 4-20. (Reuters)
Olympians worry as ‘Winter’ disappears from Winter Games (AP)
2021 was Los Angeles’s deadliest year for traffic fatalities in nearly 20 years. LAist analyzes why. (Cal Today)
DA drops Andrew Cuomo’s last sexual harassment criminal case (NY Post)
The Betrayal — America’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan added moral injury to military failure. But a group of soldiers, veterans, and ordinary citizens came together to try to save Afghan lives and salvage some American honor. (Atlantic)
From Kabul, pregnant reporter fights NZ govt to come home (AP)
New Zealand responds to pregnant reporter helped by Taliban (BBC)
Sony to Buy ‘Halo’ Creator Bungie in $3.6 Billion Deal (WSJ)
Biden delivered a booming economy. Now he needs the Fed to deal with the fallout. (Politico)
Vodafone has teamed up with Intel and other silicon vendors to design its own chip architecture for nascent OpenRAN network technology, aiming to weaken the grip of traditional telecoms equipment suppliers. OpenRAN allows operators to mix and match suppliers in their radio networks, posing a challenge to the likes of Ericsson, Huawei and Nokia that dominate the market with their proprietary technologies. (Reuters)
The Atmosphere of This Extreme Exoplanet Has an Intriguing Similarity to Earth (Science Alert)
Shankar the elephant: Plea to send lonely African animal home from India (BBC)
We Almost Forgot About the Moon Trees — A collection of tree seeds that went round and round the moon was scattered far and wide back home. (Atlantic)
Polar bears move into abandoned Arctic weather station (Guardian)
Animal Domestication - Table of Dates and Places (Thought.co)
Domestication (National Geographic)
China’s Communist Party Quietly Inserts Itself Into Everyday Life (WSJ)
Anne Frank's betrayal: Dutch publisher apologises for book (BBC)
War Anxieties Loomed Over SNL (Atlantic)
U.S. Sends Military Advisors To Peace-Ravaged Country (The Onion)
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