Friday's Top 60

 TODAY’s HEADLINES (60)

1. Biden warns Americans in Ukraine to leave, says sending troops to evacuate would be 'world war' (NBC)

2. Russia started the active phase of military drills in Belarus as Britain launched new diplomacy in a standoff over Ukraine, warning Moscow that going to war with its neighbor would be disastrous for Russia, Ukraine and Europe. Britain ordered 1,000 troops to be on a state of readiness to provide support in the event of a humanitarian crisis caused by any Russian aggression. (Reuters)

3. Ukraine tensions: Russia accused of sea blockade (BBC)

4. On Ukraine’s front line, echoes of wider risks with Russia (WP)

5. Congress at an 'impasse' over how to deter Russian invasion of Ukraine (Politico)

6. Russia and UK exchange barbs after frosty Moscow meeting (Financial Times)

7. Military aid from US, UK arrives in Ukraine before drills (NHK)

8. Massive Russian Military Drills on Ukraine Border Ratchet Up Threat (WSJ)

9. How suicide became the hidden toll of the war in Ukraine (BBC)

10. The Next Vaccine Debate: Immunize Young Children Now, or Wait? — It’s not clear whether three doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will adequately protect young children. But the F.D.A. may authorize the first two doses anyway. (NYT)

11. Half the world is now fully vaccinated. But the global divide is stark, experts say. (WP)

12. VIDEO: C.D.C. Director Urges Caution in Easing Mask Rules — Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said her agency was working on new guidance for the states, but that it was not yet time to lift mask mandates across the nation. (AP)

13. Abrupt end to mask mandates reflects a shifting political landscape (WP)

14. Most vulnerable still in jeopardy as COVID precautions ease (AP)

15. What It Could Mean If You're Letting Friendships Slip Away During COVID (HuffPost)

16. How Is America Still This Bad at Talking About the Pandemic? — America’s leaders could stand to learn four lessons on how to communicate about COVID. (Atlantic)

17. Africa transitioning out of pandemic phase of Covid, WHO says (Guardian)

18. Covid increases long-term heart risks, study of U.S. veterans finds (WP)

19. A top researcher says it's time to rethink our entire approach to preschool (NPR)

20. Prices climbed 7.5% in January, compared with last year, continuing inflation’s fastest pace in 40 years (WP)

21. Higher Inflation Is Probably Costing You $250 a Month (WSJ)

22. U.S. Government Recorded $119 Billion Budget Surplus, Its First Since Before Pandemic (WSJ)

23. Why US inflation is so high, and when it may ease (AP)

24. Inflation keeps getting worse: A peek inside the mounting trouble for the Fed and Biden (Politico)

25. The economy is strong but voters aren't feeling it. That's a problem for Biden (NPR)

26. Denmark in talks to allow in US troops for first time in decades (Financial Times)

27. One Menacing Call After Another: Threats Against Lawmakers Surge — A review of threats against members of Congress shows how a mainstreaming of violent political speech has prompted a growing number of Americans to target elected officials. (NYT)

28. Trump denies flushing documents down White House toilet (Politico)

29. Republican rift exposes choice: With Trump or against him (AP)

30. Democrats are increasingly worried the Supreme Court will completely hollow out the Voting Rights Act and limit recourse for advocates suing over GOP-led efforts to gerrymander and disenfranchise voters of color. Speaking after the court allowed Alabama’s gerrymandered congressional map to go forward, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock told HuffPost: “I think the warning signs of our democracy are flashing.” [HuffPost]

31. Why Congress is moving against sexual harassment, 4 years after #MeToo (Politico)

32. Afghan evacuation was disrupted by pleas for help from U.S. officials and the public, commander says (WP)

33. Afghan Refugees Held for Months in the U.A.E. Protest the Conditions

    Thousands who fled amid the collapse of the U.S.-backed government in Kabul last summer complain of prison-like conditions while waiting to continue to the U.S. (WSJ)

34. Top D.C. lobbying firm reps company alleged by former employees to have paid off Taliban  (Politico)

35. Afghanistan: Evidence mounts of Taliban reprisal arrests and killings (BBC)

36. Turkey’s Doctors Are Leaving, the Latest Casualty of Spiraling Inflation (NYT)

37. The business impact from U.S.-Canada border closures is bringing fresh urgency to Canadian authorities' efforts to quell the two-week-old protests against the government's pandemic measures, even as the national capital Ottawa sees early signs of a return to normalcy. Ottawa's anti-vaccine mandate protests are spreading globally - with New Zealand and France the latest flashpoints. (Reuters)

38. Covid: Trucker protests may hit Super Bowl, US security agency says (BBC)

39. Truckers’ bridge blockade forces shutdowns at auto plants (AP)

40. 'I just don't feel safe': Ottawa residents describe fears amid trucker protest as Canada's far right comes into focus (NBC)

41. VIDEO: Pelosi in Favor of a ‘Governmentwide’ Stock Ban — Nancy Pelosi of California, the speaker of the House, said she would agree to a ban on the ownership and trading of individual stocks by members of Congress if the ban also applied to members of the judicial branch. (AP)

42. White House records obtained so far by January 6 committee show no record of calls to and from Trump during riot (CNN)

43. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) finally said he agreed that the Capitol riot was a violent insurrection, his clearest condemnation thus far after dodging the issue. “No one would disagree with that,” he told reporters. Many Republicans have been loathe to say as much, and the Republican National Committee censured GOP Reps. Liz Cheney  and Adam Kinzinger last week for sitting on the Democrat-led panel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack. [HuffPost] 

44. Biden administration plan calls for $5 billion network of electric vehicle chargers along interstates (WP)

45. Washington Post to Expand Health, Climate Coverage in Bid for More Readers (WSJ)

46. Police fatally shot at least 1,055 people in 2021, the most since The Post began tracking (WP)

47. Forget the Office—Salesforce Is Making a Wellness Retreat for Workers (WSJ)

48. China-based financier, once reprimanded by U.S. regulators and barred from taking his company public, played a bigger role than is publicly known in the shell company that agreed to merge with former President Donald Trump’s new social media venture. (Reuters)

49. Hong Kong democracy and media freedom has ‘entered endgame’ (Guardian)

50. What romance novels can teach us about attraction (Vox)

51. The Next Century’s Big Demographic Mystery — Experts can’t agree on how many humans will be on Earth by 2100. The implications could be profound. (Atlantic)

52. Possible 3rd planet spotted around Proxima Centauri, the sun's nearest neighbor star (Space.com)

53. SpaceX’s newest fleet of satellites is tumbling out of orbit after being struck by a solar storm. — Up to 40 of the 49 small satellites launched last week have either reentered the atmosphere and burned up, or are on the verge of doing so, the company said in an online update. (AP)

54. NASA probe captures first images of Venus' surface in visible light (Fox)

55. Watch these robotic fish swim to the beat of human heart cells (NPR)

56. Uber Expects to Be Cash-Flow Positive by Fourth Quarter of 2022 (WSJ)

57. Uber adds passengers, food orders amid omicron surge (NPR)

58. A missing game of Wordle helps end a 17-hour hostage ordeal (BBC)

59. And the Wordle backlash begins: ‘Blaming this on the Americans’ (NY Post)

60. British Pub Closes After 1,000 Years Due To Pandemic — you'd think the Black Plague would've prepared the owners for the pandemic. (The Onion)

Hopeful Moves

 Maybe there’s some hope for the country yet, given Republican leader Mitch McConnell’s decision to break with the Trump faction and label the Jan. 6th riot a “violent insurrection” as opposed to the Republican National Committee’s absurd assertion that it was "normal political discourse."

McConnell also rejected the party’s sanctions against Reps Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the House panel investigating that insurrection.

This comes on the heels of Mike Pence defending himself against Trump’s claims that he could have legally overturned the results of the 2020 election on the day of the riot.

I must say that McConnell and Pence are getting close to becoming likable.

This is an election year, of course, and these guys are veteran politicians. I am using the word “hope” because they probably aren’t taking these positions as a matter of principle but as an indication of a split in the GOP on the question of whether to continue following Trump. 

The stakes are clear. The mid-term elections this November will determine which party will control Congress for the next two years of Biden’s Presidency. If McConnell thought the Trump/QAnon faction had the upper hand, presumably he would follow their lead.

That he isn’t doing that is a positive sign that the Republican Party may yet return to sanity in a post-Trump era. It’s only one sign, but as I am an optimist by default, I’m grabbing on to it.

***

The other big item today is long-time Internet guru Tim O'Reilly debunking the hype around Web3: "Get ready for the crash," he tells CBS. The hubbub around cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse, including sky-high valuations for startups, has a familiar ring to O'Reilly, who sees echoes of the dot-com boom and bust in the breathless boosterism around blockchain.

TODAY’s NEWS (43):

1. Putin Is Operating on His Own Timetable, and It May Be a Long One (NYT)

2. VIDEO: European Leaders Warn Russia Against Attack on Ukraine (AP and Reuters)

3. Fears of Ukraine invasion rise as top Russian commanders fly to Belarus for massive joint military drill (WP)

4. What Satellite Images Reveal About Russia’s Military Buildup Around Ukraine (WSJ)

5. Ukraine and Russia to launch parallel military drills as U.S. nears deal on potential sanctions (WP)

6. Americans Are Frustrated With the Pandemic. These Polls Show How Much. (NYT)

7. What a bottle of ivermectin reveals about the shadowy world of COVID telemedicine (NPR)

8. Violent crime to labor shortages: Mayors say Covid's toll on cities is far-reaching (Politico)

9. Pence rebuked Trump -- and received an outpouring of GOP support in response (CNN)

10. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuked the RNC for calling the Capitol riot "normal political discourse" and for censoring Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for serving on the Jan. 6 House panel. McConnell said the RNC shouldn't be sanctioning Republicans “who may have different views from the majority.” He also broke with many Trump-allied Republicans in calling the riot a “violent insurrection” meant to stop the peaceful transition of presidential power. [HuffPost]

11. Government Reveals Trove of Evidence in First Jan. 6 Trial (NYT)

12. Republican and Democratic lawmakers across the United States are drawing political maps that will likely deepen polarization and encourage more extreme candidates by eliminating competitive congressional seats, a new Reuters analysis shows. (Reuters)

13. The Incredible Vanishing Trump Presidency — The Presidential Records Act was not designed for a president as lawless and shameless as Trump. (Atlantic)

14. One in five applicants to white supremacist group tied to US military (Guardian)

15. ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests disrupt another U.S.-Canada border crossing as more arrests are made (WP)

16. New Zealand convoy clogs streets near Parliament to protest vaccine mandates (NPR)

17. U.S. trucker convoy to Washington gathers steam (Politico)

18. Congress moves toward banning members from trading stocks (CNBC)

19. More than 40 members of the Congressional Black Caucus urged Attorney General Merrick Garland to be “relentless” in challenging state laws restricting voting rights. The lawmakers said in a letter that the “future of our democracy is at stake,” highlighting a spate of GOP-led laws have disproportionately disenfranchised Black voters since the 2020 election. “Our message is simple: Be creative. Be relentless. Be unapologetic in your commitment to do whatever it takes to ensure that every American has their vote counted,” the letter says. [HuffPost]

20. Abductions, beatings cause Afghan women’s rights activists to go quiet (WP)

21. New COVID surge batters Afghanistan’s crumbling health care (AP)

22. Living in a woman’s body — The Taliban fear our beauty, strength – and resistance (Guardian)

23. Failed and on fire: New poll details citizen anger at climate change responses (Politico)

24. The manatees are starving — Florida’s beloved “sea cows” shouldn’t have to eat lettuce. Yet here we are. (Vox)

25. Scientists may have discovered the first quadruple asteroid in the solar system, a space rock with three orbiting moons. (NYT)

26. Astronomers Watch a Star Die and Then Explode as a Supernova – For the Very First Time (SciTechDaily)

27. U.N. postpones space diplomacy talks after Russia asks for more time (Politico)

28. Major breakthrough on nuclear fusion energy (BBC)

29. Hong Kong’s young journalists decry the ‘death of free press’ (Financial Times)

30. Journalists won a major settlement after attacks by the Minnesota State Police during protests. (HuffPost)

31. It’s Your Friends Who Break Your Heart — The older we get, the more we need our friends—and the harder it is to keep them (Atlantic)

32. Love and logins: Who gets custody of passwords in a breakup? (AP)

33. LinkedIn Might Just Be the Best Social Network (WSJ)

34. Facebook owner Meta Platforms is struggling to stop counterfeiters from pushing fake luxury goods from Gucci to Chanel across its social media apps, as the company barrels into ecommerce. (Reuters)

35. Silicon Valley is no longer the edgy tech frontier as workers flee Google and Amazon for crypto and Web3 startups, recruiters say (Business Insider)

36. Internet guru Tim O'Reilly on Web3: "Get ready for the crash" — The hubbub around cryptocurrency, NFTs and the metaverse, including sky-high valuations for startups, has a familiar ring to O'Reilly, who sees echoes of the dot-com boom and bust in the breathless boosterism around blockchain.(CBS)

37. Hijab ban sparks protests among students in India (NHK)

38. An advocacy group filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board against the N.C.A.A., the Pac-12 Conference, U.C.L.A. and the University of Southern California — the latest step in a push to give employee status to college athletes. (AP)

39. SF DA Boudin fires back at Police Chief Scott as feud intensifies (KTVU)

40. New Zealand parrot steals camera and films airborne escape – video (Guardian)

41. A new program in Canada gives doctors the option of prescribing national park visits (NPR)

42. Maine family’s lost cat turns up after six years – in Florida (Guardian)

43. Study Finds Average Squirrel Lives Through Human Equivalent Of 7 Action Films Every Day (The Onion)

Body of Insight

 A while back, in the wake of a breakup, I more or less lost the urge to eat. Breakfast was the first casualty. 

Lunch survived. Several friends at work, aware of my circumstance, kindly made sure I ate with them every workday. This confirmed that my appetite was fine. 

As for dinner, that became a question of whether it was one of the nights with my kids or not. If it was, I ate robustly; otherwise, not so much.

After a few months of this, I’d lost enough weight (~20 pounds) that my boss at the time — not a guy who would usually comment on such matters — said I looked thin. The way he chose to make this observation was to point out that he himself wasn’t losing weight because every day he happily ate all three meals with his (third) wife.

“I got lucky,” he smiled. I smiled back, because I’d been wondering where he disappeared to every lunch hour.

Alas, his comment didn’t exactly improve my mood or my appetite, though it did suggest to me that maybe I should start looking for my own (third) wife.

While that never panned out, my objective today was not to distract you with sad tales of lost love or multiple marriages. but rather to take note of a remarkable piece of work by science writer Florence Williams, as detailed in the Washington Post.

When her husband of 25 years left her in 2017, Williams noticed immediate changes in her body, including a dramatic 20-pound weight loss, same as had happened with me. Unlike me, she decided to investigate why this happened and whether there was anything she could do about it.

The result of that investigation is her book, “Heartbreak: A Personal and Scientific Journey.” And it is of particular interest in the present circumstances of the dramatic rise in severe loneliness (which has tripled) and the general isolation suffered by many of us during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Williams interviewed scientists who explained that as the hyper-social creatures we’ve evolved to be, suddenly finding ourselves alone and isolated may provoke a number of physical changes. 

According to the Post, “To the nervous system, being dumped is like being left alone in the wild, and it reacts accordingly. ‘You’re about to be attacked by predators, you don’t have safety in numbers,’ Williams said, ‘and so your body [produces] more white blood cells’ — inflammation to deal with the wounds. That means the body must make less of the interferon proteins that help people combat viruses.”

As the Post notes: “Inflammation in the short term is helpful in healing from a wound inflicted by predators. But over the long term it is associated with heart disease, cancer, stroke, dementia and early death. And, as it turns out, it also can predispose people to getting sicker from Covid.”

In the U.S., of course, there has been a steady increase in single occupancy households over time. For obvious reasons, elderly people are at particularly high risk of ending up in such circumstances. And of course it is the elderly who have disproportionately suffered and are still suffering from Covid.

Williams’s work made me better understand how my own body had reacted to that heartbreak years ago, and to similar situations before and since. Then again, I always knew that losing (or gaining) weight was the least of my problems. Too much time alone is the main health risk for me.

If there is a moral to this story I suppose you don’t need me to figure it out. 

***

Thanks to Susan Zakin for alerting me to this fascinating and useful piece. And while I’m at it, let me remind you all to check out Susan’s fascinating and useful publication, Journal of the Plague Years.

TODAY’s NEWS HEADLINES (35):

1. Dumped by her husband, an author dove into loneliness and resurfaced with lessons for a pandemic (WP)

2. How to Want Less — The secret to satisfaction has nothing to do with achievement, money, or stuff. (Atlantic)

3. Covid deaths highest in a year as omicron hits unvaccinated and elderly

   Omicron has been particularly lethal to people over 75, the unvaccinated and the medically vulnerable, according to doctors and public health officials. (WP)

4. Scientists raise alarm over ‘dangerously fast’ growth in atmospheric methane (Nature)

5. As Protest Paralyzes Canada’s Capital, Far-Right Activists Abroad Embrace It (NYT)

6. Canadian police make arrests amid ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests and seize fuel, vehicles (WP)

7. 5G and QAnon: how conspiracy theorists steered Canada’s anti-vaccine trucker protest (Guardian)

8. Truckers in Ottawa block a key border crossing, as their protest morphs and drags on (NPR)

9. Canadians warn against ‘foreign interference’ as U.S. Republicans back ‘Freedom Convoy’ (WP)

10. Officials in New Jersey, Connecticut, Delaware, California and Oregon said they will lift indoor mask mandates for schools and other public places in coming weeks, seeking a return to "normalcy" as soaring COVID-19 infections fueled by the Omicron variant abate. The changes signal a growing inclination by political leaders in those states, all led by Democrats, to take pandemic-weary residents off an emergency footing. (Reuters)

11. Republicans, Wooing Trump Voters, Make Fauci Their Boogeyman (NYT)

12. The United States faces heightened threats from extremist groups domestic and foreign, underscored by last month's hostage standoff crisis in a Texas synagogue and bomb threats at many historically Black colleges and universities, a government agency said. The warning comes after some schools across the United States canceled classes and issued shelter-in-place orders last week. (Reuters)

13. China locks down southern city as omicron variant surges (AP)

14. Polio, Chickenpox, Measles … Covid-19? The Case for Vaccine Mandates in Schools. (NYT)

15. VIDEO: Jill Biden Is ‘Disappointed’ that Free Community College Is Off the Table (AP)

16. Supreme Court Restores Alabama Voting Map That a Court Said Hurt Black Voters (NYT)

17. Faced with disappearances, beatings and intimidation, Afghanistan’s women’s rights activists go quiet on the streets(WP)

18. Afghanistan: Watching the destruction of a nation? (BBC)

19. Documents detail U.S. military’s frustration with White House, diplomats over Afghan evacuation (WP)

20. Ukraine crisis: Macron says Putin pledges no new Ukraine escalation (BBC)

21. Europe ramps up Ukraine crisis diplomacy amid ‘extreme tension,’ as Kremlin calls on West to accept its demands(WP)

22. Both Sides of Taiwan Strait Are Closely Watching Ukraine’s Crisis (NYT)

23. As bitcoin drifts towards mainstream maturity in 2022, daring crypto investors are eyeing up new sources of explosive action: "altcoins" that power online games and worlds. But, be warned, the foothills of the unformed metaverse are no place for the faint-hearted. (Reuters)

24. In India, wearing hijab bars some Muslim students from class (AP)

25. As Officials Look Away, Hate Speech in India Nears Dangerous Levels (NYT)

26. How Manchin used politics to protect his family coal company (Politico)

27. Turtles dying from eating trash show plastics scourge in UAE (AP)

28. These Animals Are Feasting on the Ruins of an Extinct World — Scientists had no idea how an underwater Arctic volcano could sustain so much life. And then they noticed the black tubes. (Atlantic)

29. These two countries are responsible for 'junkyard' in Earth's orbit (CNN)

30. Astronomers Join Forces to Push Back Against Satellite 'Pollution' Ruining The Skies (Science Alert)

31. Citizens globally blast politicians' lack of action to combat climate change — Poll (Politico)

32. Why buying a car is still such a miserable experience right now (NPR)

33. 'I have sinned': US nun gets one year in jail for $835k theft (BBC)

34. Hamsters can transmit Covid to humans, data suggests (Guardian)

35. New Ancestry.com Feature Warns Users When They Might Want To Stop Sticking Noses Where They Don’t Belong (The Onion)

The Last Blues Song

Therapists are starting to see an uptick in patients concerned about climate change. There are few remedies either the patients or the therapists can imagine to address the problem. Recycle more efficiently?

It’s never too late to become a better citizen of the planet. But it may be too late in the larger sense. Each of us can feel anxious or depressed as we contemplate the steady stream of evidence that we are doomed to endure a cycle of warming temperatures that will render most if not all of the planet uninhabitable, and indeed it would be weird if we didn’t.

But feeling increased anxiety or grief isn’t going to change anything unless it translates into the collective will as human beings to do something about it.

In our democratic society that translates into boring stuff like forging political alliances that can implement policy changes that mitigate global warming; and also funding scientific research into potential technologies that may help future populations adapt to the environment or alter it (or our bodies) in ways not yet understood.

If this all sounds like science fiction, there are SciFi writers who are already well ahead of this curve, but I won’t get into their work now.

The point here is just like the technological options to deflect some future asteroid from colliding with earth, we already have the capacity to imagine solutions to climate disasters, which may or may not prove to be successful when the time comes.

But in order to do that, and to retreat to the mundane, we cannot continue to devolve into petty partisan fights like the Republicans and Democrats have managed to do with Biden’s climate initiatives.

Biden started out with an ambitious agenda, rooted in science and perfectly reasonable from a non-partisan perspective. But it required our elected officials to agree on some version of a package that ultimately became mired in political posturing that failed to reach consensus.

So where is the popular outrage? Non-existent. Are we so beaten down by the pandemic, Trump’s lies, and personal matters that we cannot come together on this one vital issue — the issue of survival?

If so, thus is sad concluding chapter of human evolution, which of course will never be read by future generations.

We’ll be extinct.

TODAY’s HEADLINES (37):

1. ‘Taking the Voters Out of the Equation’: How the Parties Are Killing Competition — The number of competitive House districts is dropping, as both Republicans and Democrats use redistricting to draw themselves into safe seats. (NYT)

2. The World Is Sliding Toward Authoritarianism. So Are the Olympics. (Politico)

3. Heading into 2024, the Republican National Committee has no obligation to support the former president, but that doesn’t mean they’re taking their chance to explore new territory. GOP officials are already devoting considerable energy to undercut any potential Trump rivals while embracing his politicized rhetoric, even though they are required in bylaws to remain neutral. “If President Trump decides he’s running, absolutely the RNC needs to back him, 100%,” said Michele Fiore, an RNC committee member who has represented Nevada since 2018. “We can change the bylaws.” [AP]

4. Overhaul of Electoral Count Act ‘Absolutely’ Will Pass, Manchin Says — Senators working to overhaul the law said recent revelations about former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election made their work even more crucial. (NYT)

5. French President Emmanuel Macron flies to Moscow in a risky diplomatic move, seeking commitments from Russian President Vladimir Putin to dial down tensions with Ukraine, where Western leaders fear the Kremlin plans an invasion. (Reuters)

6. In Ukraine’s capital, residents grapple with the threat of war (WP)

7. US intel indicates Russian officers have had doubts about full scale Ukraine invasion (CNN)

8. Ukraine crisis talks move to Moscow and Washington (AP)

9. Macron opens talks with Putin in Moscow to ease tension over Ukraine (Financial Times)

10. Daniele Ek, the CEO of Spotify, apologized to his staff in an email amid the firestorm over podcast star Joe Rogan’s use of racist slurs on his show. Ek strongly condemned “racially insensitive language,” but said he doesn’t believe “silencing Joe is the answer.” Rogan himself pulled down more than 70 episodes of “The Joe Rogan Experience” after a video compilation of the host using the slur multiple times was circulated on social media. Rogan apologized, but racism adds to pressure on Spotify over Rogan's misinformation about COVID-19. [HuffPost]

11. As the protest against the Canadian government's health measures and vaccine mandates entered an eleventh day, police have threatened to clamp down after facing criticism for lack of action that has crippled the national capital. (Reuters)

12. Across Asia, spike in virus cases follows Lunar New Year (AP)

13. England’s oldest pub, possibly 1,229 years old, shuts doors due to coronavirus hardships (WP)

14. California’s coronavirus death toll has topped 80,000, with another 3,000 deaths projected by the end of the month. (Associated Press)

15. Two Years Into Pandemic, Shoppers Are Still Hoarding (WSJ)

16. The 'Great Resignation' leaves schools reeling (Politico)

17. The future of the pandemic is looking clearer as we learn more about infection (NPR)

18. Shionogi may apply for COVID-19 drug approval soon (NHK)

19. School chief’s ouster in Colorado prompts an uproar (WP)

20. Climate Change Enters the Therapy Room — Ten years ago, psychologists proposed that a wide range of people would suffer anxiety and grief over climate. Skepticism about that idea is gone. (NYT)

21. Ex-Israeli, Palestinian negotiators propose confederation (AP)

22. Israel inquiry to look into alleged police use of Pegasus spyware (Guardian)

23. Afghanistan’s Health Care System Is Collapsing Under Stress — Hospitals and clinics are struggling to hold up amid a cash shortage and a vast surge of malnutrition and disease. By one estimate, 90 percent may close in the next few months. (NYT)

24. Aid agencies call for Afghan cash flows to be unblocked to relieve crisis — Humanitarian disaster intensifies as sanctions against Taliban hinder imports of basic goods (Financial Times)

25. UN experts: North Korea stealing millions in cyber attacks (AP)

26. Kids are flocking to Facebook’s ‘metaverse.’ Experts worry predators will follow. (WP)

27. Chimps Seen Performing First Aid on Selves, Each Other (WSJ)

28. ‘Giant obstacle course’: call to reroute major shipping lanes to protect blue whales (Guardian)

29. Rogue black hole spotted on its own for the first time (Space.com)

30. A brain circuit tied to emotion may lead to better treatments for Parkinson's disease (NPR)

31. RSS3 aims to be the decentralized information processor of Web3 (Cointelegraph)

32. The minimum wage in Los Angeles will rise to $16.04 from $15 on July 1. (City News Service)

33. Let Your Kids Be Bad at Things — When parenting becomes about perfectionism, you’re missing the point. (Atlantic)

34. Why so many fast-food chains started here — A&W, McDonald’s, IHOP, Taco Bell, Carl’s Jr, Jack in the Box, Del Taco, In N Out, Baskin-Robbins and Panda Express are among 50. (Cal Today)

35. Canada, far-right capital of the world (Politico)

36. Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost Poke Fun at Their Marriage in Hilarious Super Bowl Ad for Alexa (People)

37. Man Tries To Regain Sense Of Control In Chaotic Universe By Learning To Juggle (The Onion)

LYRICS FOR A DYING PLANET

“The Thrill Is Gone”

B.B. King

Songwriters: Lew Brown / Ray Henderson

The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
The thrill is gone, baby
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong, baby
And you'll be sorry someday

The thrill is gone
It's gone away from me
The thrill is gone, baby
The thrill is gone away from me
Although, I'll still live on
But so lonely I'll be

The thrill is gone
It's gone away for good
All the thrill is gone
Baby, it's gone away for good
Someday I know I'll be open-armed baby
Just like I know, I know I should

You know, I'm free, free now, baby
I'm free from your spell
Oh, free, free, free now, baby
I'm free from your spell
And now that it's all over
All that I can do is wish you well

Covid: Why U.S. Is Failing

Despite its vast wealth, the U.S. has suffered and continues to suffer a far higher death rate from Covid-19 than other wealthy countries. The Guardian has summarized the major factors why this is true:

• Low vaccination and booster rates. Less than two-thirds – about 64% – of Americans are vaccinated, and only 48% of those are boosted, despite ample vaccine supply.

• People in poorer households still struggle to get vaccines – and time off to recover from any side effects. Some 15% to 20% of unvaccinated Americans say they are still interested in getting their shots, but the U.S. has no guaranteed sick leave.

• A dysfunctional privatized health care system. People who lack health insurance tend to wait longer to be seen by physicians, making worse outcomes more likely. They are also more likely to have pre-existing health conditions that put them at greater risk for Covid.

• Low trust in government. One predictor of Covid deaths by country is trust in government, according to a recent report in the Lancet: countries with lower levels of trust in government had higher rates of cases and deaths.

• No public health mandates. National leaders in the U.S. are unable to mandate precautions, like masks or vaccines, for the entire country, with responsibilities largely falling instead to state and local leaders.

• Vast wealth disparity. This is a major risk factor for Covid deaths in any society.

• Political division. From the beginning, the pandemic has been overly politicized in the U.S., with simple public health measures becoming needlessly divisive. People have died as a result.

That the Guardian is a British publication makes its assessment of the problems in the U.S. especially noteworthy for Americans. All too often, people in the U.S. tend to become isolated from the perspectives of those outside of our borders.

We do this at our own peril because we live in a giant media bubble here. And because we are currently so divided among ourselves, and consumed by our ongoing internal political psychodrama, Americans easily lose sight of how badly we are handling the challenges of this pandemic as a nation.

If there were a global report card system for grading individual countries on their performance in the fight against Covid-19, most major powers would be getting a passing grade but only a B- or a C+.

The U.S., however, would be getting at best a D. It’s time to sit up and listen to our peers.

TODAY’s NEWS (30):

1. Vastly unequal US has world’s highest Covid death toll – it’s no coincidence —As the US passes 900,000 Covid deaths, much of the blame has fallen on individuals despite vast income inequality and vaccine accessibility issues (Guardian)

2. U.S. Warns of Grim Toll if Putin Pursues Full Invasion of Ukraine (NYT)

3. Russian official dismisses U.S. assessment on possible invasion as alarmist (WP)

4. Officials: Russia at 70 percent of Ukraine military buildup (AP)

5. U.S.-Led Air Bridge of Weapons to Ukraine Seeks to Shore Up Kyiv (WSJ)

6. Protest against vaccine mandates paralyzing Canada capital, mayor says (Reuters)

7. Afghan Refugees Face Two-Tier System in Europe — Educated elites evacuated to Europe after the Taliban’s return are welcomed, but they struggle with their lives in exile, even as their poorer compatriots are shunned. (NYT)

8. Afghanistan’s unnecessary plight (Edit Bd/Financial Times)

9. Trump’s relentless document destruction: ‘He never stopped ripping things up’ (WP)

10. Trump’s GOP: Party further tightens tie to former president (AP)

11. Republicans straddle line on RNC's Jan. 6 rhetoric (Politico)

12. 'Snake oil salesmen' advised Trump on 2020 election, Pence aide says (Reuters)

13. Trump tirade on ‘racist’ DAs echoes other racist tropes (AP)

14. Amid Slowdown, Immigration Is Driving U.S. Population Growth (NYT)

15. Facebook’s Wall Street meltdown could be just the beginning for some tech stocks (WP)

16. The U.S. is considering a radical rethinking of the dollar for today's digital world (NPR)

17. As NFTs flourish, U.S. Treasury raises alarm over money laundering in art (Reuters)

18. North Korea: Missile programme funded through stolen crypto, UN report says (BBC)

19. Indian arrest of prominent Kashmiri journalist provokes outrage (Financial Times)

20. Cuomo Plans Comeback Months After Sexual-Harassment Claims (WSJ)

21. How Ernest Shackleton’s icy adventure was frozen in time (BBC)

22. Bengals, Rams, Bitcoin: Crypto Ads Invade Super Bowl (WSJ)

23. The 1918 flu didn’t end in 1918. Here’s what its third year can teach us. (WP)

24. Can Biden tackle rising crime without abandoning police reform promise? (Guardian)

25. Fatal Force: Police shootings database — The Post has created a database containing records of every fatal shooting in the United States by a police officer in the line of duty since Jan. 1, 2015. It is updated regularly as fatal shootings are reported and as facts emerge about individual cases. (WP)

26. Florida’s Bonefish Are Riddled With Human Drugs — Some fish have been found to have 17 different types of pharmaceuticals in their blood. (Atlantic)

27. CNN exec Zucker’s ouster shows peril of hiding work romance (AP)

28. There’s a massive star in our galaxy’s halo, far away from the usual star-forming haunts. How did it get there? (Sky & Telescope)

29. CDC turns to poop surveillance for future COVID monitoring (Ars Technica)

30. ADHD Prescription Label Stapled Into Baby Book (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS:

“Go Your Own Way”

Fleetwood Mac

By Lindsey Buckingham

Loving you
Isn't the right thing to do
How can I ever change things
That I feel

If I could
Maybe I'd give you my world
How can I
When you won't take it from me

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

Tell me why
Everything turned around
Packing up
Shacking up is all you want to do

If I could
Baby, I'd give you my world
Open up
Everything's waiting for you

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way

You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
Another lonely day
You can go your own way
Go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day

You can go your own way
You can call it
Another lonely day
You can go your own way

One Sick Sunday

If it is true as reported in the Wall Street Journal that more people around the world are sick right now than at any time since the 1918 flu epidemic, that should be noted somewhere — at least as an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records.

“The world is living through a unique moment,” says the Journal. “In the past five or six weeks, the Omicron coronavirus variant has likely gotten more people sick than any similar period since the 1918-1919 flu pandemic, according to global health experts.”

The CDC says that around 500 million people or almost 30 percent of the world’s population of 1.8 billion in 1918-9 were sickened with the flu, with about 50 million of them dying.

The latest figures from the WHO suggest that around 393 million people have gotten sick from Covid-19 with about 5.75 million dying. Since the world population is now around 7.75 billion, Covid is clearly much less lethal than the 1918 flu, though it appears to be the worst pandemic we’ve had in a century.

That’s about all I (or rather the Journal) has got for you on this Sunday morning, but hopefully it provides a talking point for your weekend musings.

TODAY’S NEWS (35):

1. Strong Jobs Report Shows Resilient Economy Despite Covid Wave — A gain of 467,000 jobs in January defied forecasts that the Omicron variant would hobble the labor market. (NYT)

2. Emboldened China opens Olympics, with lockdown and boycotts (AP)

3. In Beijing, Olympic Spectacle and Global Power Games — The opening of the Winter Games gave Xi Jinping and Vladimir V. Putin a chance to cement their partnership against Western censure. (NYT)

4. Newly deployed U.S. troops arrive in Europe as Russia bolsters its own forces (NPR)

5. U.S. warns China risks embarrassment if it backs Russia on Ukraine (WP)

6. Can the Technology Behind Covid Vaccines Cure Other Diseases? — Researchers are developing tools for using messenger RNA to fight the flu, cancer, HIV and other diseases—but challenges remain. (WSJ)

7. U.S. Covid Death Toll Surpasses 900,000 as Omicron’s Spread Slows — New case reports are waning, but deaths have yet to peak, and Americans are wondering what long-term coexistence with the coronavirus might look like. (NYT)

8. The Omicron coronavirus variant appears to have made more people ill at the same time than in any period since the flu pandemic of 1918-1919, experts say. (WSJ)

9. How past pandemics may have caused Parkinson's (BBC)

10. Donald Trump still looms over American politics (Financial Times)

11. Trump’s ‘circular firing squad’ threatens GOP midterm gains (Politico)

12. RNC rebukes Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger, calls Jan. 6 ‘legitimate political discourse’ (WP)

13. Trump’s GOP: Party further tightens tie to former president (AP)

14. The End of the Republicans’ Big Tent — The party has no tolerance for dissent within its ranks. (Atlantic)

15. Trump and allies try to redefine racism by casting White men as victims (WP)

16. A year after Trump purge, ‘alt-tech’ offers far-right refuge (AP)

17. Mike Pence 'Did the Right Thing'—GOP Voters Praise Speech Against Donald Trump (Newsweek)

18. GOP takes mail voting to court in swing states Biden won (Politico)

19. Single bomber carried out Kabul airport attack - U.S. military (Reuters)

20. Amazon, Other Potential Suitors Circle Peloton (WSJ)

21. California liberals seethe after Democratic legislature kills single-payer (Politico)

22. The War Between the SFPD and D.A. Chesa Boudin — The relationship between San Francisco's cops and its progressive district attorney was tense from the start. But on the eve of the brutality trial of a cop, an allegation of misconduct against Boudin's office has prompted a bitter legal and political battle. (SFC)

23. Mass swarm of dead fish in Atlantic prompts European inquiry (AP)

24. Why a Pricier Amazon Prime Is Still Worth It (WSJ)

25. Facebook’s Wall Street meltdown could be just the beginning for some tech stocks — With the Fed signaling that higher interest rates are coming, investors have begun shedding some of their priciest stocks in favor of bets on companies poised to prosper as the economy adjusts. (WP)

26. SpaceX, NASA investigating parachute problems on last 2 flights (Fox)

27. How ‘super-enzymes’ that eat plastics could curb our waste problem (Guardian)

28. US military faces crisis in Hawaii after leak poisons water (AP)

29. Climate change is altering the way snow smells (WP)

30. People Really, Really Hate the Future of the Internet — Will the big promises of Web3 and crypto ever come to fruition? Or will it all turn out to be a fever dream? (Atlantic)

31. Tequila could overtake vodka as America’s favorite liquor 

as sales boom (CNBC)

1. Publishing innovator Jason Epstein has died at 93 — He co-founded The New York Review of Books and worked with such novelists as E.L. Doctorow, Vladimir Nabokov and Philip Roth. (NPR)

2. Urdu, Chinese, even Old Norse: how Wordle spread across the globe (BBC)

3. Todd Gitlin, a Voice and Critic of the New Left, Dies at 79 (NYT)

4. Smoke Alarm Sick Of Being Yelled At For Doing Its Job (The Onion)

 

Nobody Came (Afghanistan Conversation 24)

NOTE: This is the latest in a series of conversations I have been having with a young Afghan man living in Helmand Province since his country’s government fell to the Taliban last August. The situation for people there is dire. I am withholding his identity to protect his safety.

Dear David:

It's the afternoon of a cold Friday, I'm sitting at the edge of a field. In one corner, about twenty people are playing football, and in the other one youths are playing volleyball and cricket. At the edge of a field, some people are watching them. 

Next to me is a man who seems to be in his 40s, watching the games. He wears a worn-out coat and pants. I ask him whether he enjoys watching football. He says "I just want to not be at home, seeing my kids who don't have enough food or suitable clothes. That just brings me pain. What can I do and where is the work for me to earn money?”

He continues:  “I go to the crossroads every day to see if someone needs a laborer, but no one comes for me. About 200 other laborers are also sitting at the edge of the street waiting to be taken for work. Before the collapse of the country, building construction was underway and we had our work. Now no laborer is taken for work.”

He continues: “I can not supply enough food for my family so I will try to leave Afghanistan for Iran though I don't know if I can reach there through the smuggling route. If I reach there, I would have new challenges in life as it's been said there is no work there because of the huge numbers of Afghan immigrants.” 

Here in Afghanistan this winter the situation is getting dire. People are getting desperate due to not having work and the high cost of food. 

Today, I talked with one of my friends, Ali, via phone. He lives in Kabul and told me that he hasn't paid his rent for about six months. He doesn’t even have soap or shampoo or other necessities. But the landlord comes every day to ask for rent money. Ali said he is close to being thrown out. I told him that although my situation is not good I can give him about $20 when I next get my salary. 

Later, when I crossed a road, I saw hundreds of people crowded the gates of a government office. clamoring for aid. Nobody came out to help them.

TODAY’s NEWS (38):

1. Putin, Facing Sanction Threats, Has Been Saving for This Day — Since paying the price for annexing Crimea in 2014, Russia has tried to make its economy sanctions-proof, hoarding currency to insulate the country. (NYT)

2. Xi meets Putin in show of solidarity as U.S. warns against helping Russia evade Ukraine-linked sanctions (WP)

3. Turkey, a Sometimes Wavering NATO Ally, Backs Ukraine — In a public rebuke of Russia, Turkey will expand supplies of one of the Ukrainian Army’s most sophisticated weapons, a long-range, Turkish-made armed drone. (NYT)

4. Russian President Vladimir Putin touched down in Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, bringing with him a deal to increase natural gas supply to China amid rising tensions with the West. Russia and China called in a joint statement for NATO to halt its expansion while Moscow said it fully supported Beijing's stance on Taiwan and opposed Taiwanese independence in any form. (Reuters)

5. U.S. Exposes What It Says Is Russian Effort to Fabricate Pretext for Invasion — Officials said Russia was planning a fake video showing an attack by Ukrainians on Russian territory or Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine. (NYT)

6. Wetlands and radioactive soil: How Ukraine’s geography could influence a Russian invasion (WP)

7. Russia, China oppose further expansion of NATO (NHK)

8. Dismal Russian Record in Occupied Eastern Ukraine Serves as Warning (WSJ)

9. U.S. government officials twice dismissed questions from reporters who asked for evidence to back up claims, suggesting that the reporters should take the government at its word. One instance was the allegation that Russia is attempting to create a pretext for its troops to invade Ukraine. The other was the lack of proof of the killing of top ISIS militant Abu Ibrahim al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi in Syria. [HuffPost]

10. Fauci is the villain in new GOP campaign ads (Politico)

11. Food Prices Approach Record Highs, Threatening the World’s Poorest — The prices have climbed to their highest level since 2011, according to a U.N. index. It could cause social unrest “on a widespread scale,” one expert said. (NYT)

12. US economy defies omicron and adds 467,000 jobs in January (AP)

13. U.S. Hiring Accelerated as Economy Weathered Omicron — Unemployment rate ticked up to 4% as more joined the workforce (WSJ)

14. The Internet Is Just Investment Banking Now — The internet has always financialized our lives. Web3 just makes that explicit. (Atlantic)

15. Mark Zuckerberg lost $29 billion in net worth as Meta Platforms' stock marked a record one-day plunge, while fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos was set to add $20 billion to his personal valuation after Amazon's blockbuster earnings. Amazon said it was raising the price of its annual U.S. Prime subscriptions by 17%, as it looks to offset higher costs for shipping and wages that it expects to persist this year. (Reuters)

16. Facebook Parent Meta Faces Uphill Battle in Video Fight With TikTok (WSJ)

17. Meta plunges and sets off Wall Street’s worst drop in nearly a year. — Shares of Meta, the parent company of Facebook, fell more than 26 percent, a loss that wiped more than $230 billion off its market value. (NYT)

18. Shares of Facebook parent company Meta saw a historic plunge after the company reported a rare profit decline due to a sharp rise in expenses, shady ad revenue growth, competition from TikTok and fewer daily U.S. users on its flagship platform. Meta’s shares fell more than 26%, lopping more than $230 billion off the company’s overall value. That’s the largest single-day decline for a company on record. [AP]

19. You Can Get Crypto Right and Still Play It Wrong (WSJ)

20. The Crypto Backlash Is Booming — Web3 is making some people very rich. It’s making other people very angry. (Atlantic)

21. India's official COVID-19 death toll crossed 500,000, a level some data analysts said was breached last year but was obscured by inaccurate surveys and unaccounted dead in the hinterlands. Japan's serious COVID-19 cases crossed 1,000 for the first time in four months, as the Omicron variant fueled record infections and burdened the medical system. (Reuters)

22. COVID falling in 49 of 50 states as deaths near 900,000 (AP)

23. Americans get sicker as omicron stalls everything from heart surgeries to cancer care (NPR)

24. A poll from the Public Policy Institute of California released this week uncovered the lowest levels of optimism about the pandemic since last spring.

    The survey found that 67 percent of Californians believe that the worst of the pandemic is behind the United States, compared with 86 percent who felt that way in May 2021. (Cal Today)

25. Discovery of HIV variant shows virus can evolve to be more severe — and contagious (NPR)

26. CNN, MSNBC, NYT, WaPo completely avoid Johns Hopkins study finding COVID lockdowns ineffective (Fox)

27. Pence: Trump is ‘wrong’ to claim VP had right to overturn election (WP)

28. A Search Begins for the Wreck Behind an Epic Tale of Survival — Ernest Shackleton’s ship Endurance was crushed by Antarctic ice in 1915. Now, a team of researchers is heading to the Weddell Sea where it went down. (NYT)

29. Shackleton's Endurance: The impossible search for the greatest shipwreck (BBC)

30. Koningshaven Bridge, a 95-year-old Dutch national monument, will be partially dismantled this summer so Jeff Bezos' superyacht can pass through after the boat is built. Bezos will pay for the bridge’s deconstruction and reassembly. Dennis Tak, a Labor Party city councilor for Rotterdam, said the move would create jobs locally. Rotterdam citizens don't seem happy about it though — a Facebook event invites people to hurl rotten eggs at the ship as it passes. [HuffPost]

31. The Problem With the Genius Myth — The label erases the complication and collaboration that are central to the artistic process (Atlantic)

32. The San Francisco Art Institute has formalized plans to integrate with — and eventually be acquired by — the University of San Francisco. (Cal Today)

33. EU plans to ban use of synthetic pesticides in parks (Guardian)

34. Mount Everest: Mountain's highest glacier melting rapidly, new study shows (BBC)

35. Puffy Planets Lose Atmospheres, Become Super Earths (NASA)

36. Extremists are set to take over this California county. Will more of the state be next? (LAT)

37. Vikings target Jim Harbaugh explains why he's staying at Michigan, says he's chased the NFL for the last time (CBS)

38. Fossilized Evidence Reveals Extinction Of Dinosaurs Led To Brief Epoch When Asteroids Ruled The Earth (The Onion)

TODAY’s LYRICS

“Take It On The Run”

REO Speedwagon

Written By Richrath Gary Dean

Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from another you been messin' around
They say you got a boyfriend
You're out late every weekend
They're talkin' about you and it's bringin' me down

But I know the neighborhood
And talk is cheaper when the story is good
And the tales grow taller on down the line
But I'm telling you, babe
That I don't think it's true, babe
And even if it is, keep this in mind

You take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run

You're thinking up your white lies
You're putting on your bedroom eyes
You say you're coming home but you won't say when
But I can feel it coming
If you leave tonight, keep running
And you need never look back again

You take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run

Take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run

Take it on the run, baby
If that's the way you want it, baby
Then I don't want you around
I don't believe it
Not for a minute
You're under the gun
So you take it on the run

Heard it from a friend who
Heard it from a friend who

Heard it from another you been messin' around