What We Can Learn From a Dog’s Way of Looking At the World Lit Hub
Why Does February (Usually) Have 28 Days? Conversable Economist
Climate/Environment
After wildfires, what distance are extra precautions a good idea to protect against smoke, soot, and ash exposures? Harvard School of Public Health
Wildfires and Arctic ice clouds: An unexpected connection Earth.com
Pandemics
CDC says Kansas tuberculosis outbreak isn’t the largest. Here’s what KDHE meant The Topeka Capital-Journal
Kansas tuberculosis outbreak reminds us of long battle for public health — and importance of trust Kansas Reflector
Africa
More than 700 killed as DR Congo military fights M23 rebels Al Jazeera
What’s Happening In Congo Is A Proxy War! African Stream
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Trump Vows to Cut Off Aid to South Africa Over Land Policy Bloomberg
Musk, Thiel and the shadow of apartheid South Africa FT. From September, still germane.
The Koreas
How MAGA Made Its Way to South Korea In These Times
Trade Wars
Here are some goods in the crosshairs of Trump’s tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China AP
Monopoly Round-Up: What Did Trump Just Do on Tariffs? BIG by Matt Stoller
Trump’s tariffs, cuts may well put tech in a chokehold, say analysts The Register
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S TARIFFS ARE A NECESSARY SOLUTION The White House
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Mexico vows retaliation to Trump tariffs without detailing targets Reuters
List of products from the United States subject to 25 per cent tariffs effective February 4, 2025 Department of Finance Canada
Tariff war with US likely to put Canada into recession, say economists Business Standard
American neighbours, you depend on us a lot and we are happy to work together but it’s got to be a two-way street. pic.twitter.com/tCKEHWPytN
— Chrystia Freeland (@cafreeland) February 2, 2025
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Trump’s Oil Tariffs A Boost For European And Asian Refiners Reuters
EU ‘will respond firmly’ if Trump decides to impose tariffs on the bloc Euronews
Trump appears to spare Britain tariffs – for now The Business Times
China?
China Shrugs Off New Trump Tariffs but Bruising Trade War Looms Asharq Al-Awsat
China’s factory activity growth slows again as Trump tariffs loom South China Morning Post
Big Swing: Chinese golf cart makers are moving to US to dodge tariff blitz
Old Blighty
UK seeks smoother trade with EU but customs union is ‘red line’, Cooper says The Guardian
The sewage crisis is your fault: How water firms use same deceptive tactics as Big Oil and Big Tobacco Big Issue
Syraqistan
Gaza deal’s future hangs on Trump-Netanyahu meeting Axios
Netanyahu heads to Washington to meet Trump, hoping to ‘redraw’ Middle East Times of Israel
ICC issues arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Hamas commander UN News. From Nov. 21, apparently not still germane.
Netanyahu to postpone talks on second phase of ceasefire deal Al Mayadeen
Families of Israeli hostages accuse Netanyahu, government of obstructing swap deal Anadolu Agency
Trump invites Jordan’s Abdullah to White House while pushing him to take in Gazans The Times of Israel
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Iran unveils new air defence system and ballistic missile Bne Intellinews
Syria’s new leader al-Sharaa meets Saudi crown prince on first trip abroad France24
European Disunion
It’s France vs. the rest on buying US weapons Politico
New Not-So-Cold War
From Proxy War to Proxy Peace Let Me Tell You…
Both Ukraine, Russia must ‘give a little’ to end war, Trump envoy says AFP
Zelenskyy Says Excluding Ukraine From US-Russia Talks About War is ‘Very Dangerous’ AP
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The Empty Tank: Is Demise of the Ukrainian Army Near? Gordon Hahn, Russian & Eurasian Politics
Europe Divided Over Plans to Escalate Ground Force Deployments in Ukraine: France and UK Lead Push For Escalation Military Watch
European leaders will ‘wag tails’ for Trump – Putin RT
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Zelenskyy: Putin fears talks with Ukraine as he cannot admit defeat Ukrainska Pravda
Zelensky says Ukraine only received around $75 billion of the $177 billion in aid sent by the United States.
“I don’t know where all this money is.” pic.twitter.com/9ixFuhbj15
— Russian Market (@runews) February 2, 2025
Panama Canal
Won’t renew Belt and Road deal with China, says Panama president amid US pressure The Economic Times
Rubio’s Stop in Panama Opens a Campaign Against ‘Shadow Fleet’ of Vessels Skirting U.S. Sanctions on Iran and Russia New York Sun
Imperial Collapse Watch
Senior USAID security officials put on leave after attempting to refuse Musk’s DOGE access to agency systems CNN
Is this the same Musk who said “We will coup whoever we want”?:
This isn’t how you talk when you’re just looking to cut waste and make government more efficient pic.twitter.com/yyVEirXn7l
— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 2, 2025
A lot of celebration about the Trump administration/DOGE coming for USAID, but:
Not currently buying the idea that Trump doing things like restructuring USAID and imposing tariffs on allies marks the end of the US empire, or even the beginning of the end. Trump is presently threatening BRICS nations against undermining US dollar hegemony and working to seize…
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) February 2, 2025
Holy crap everyone’s getting this wrong. Yes USAID & co are CIA cut outs that use soft power to destroy nations. This purposeful dismantling of them isn’t because Trump wants to stop our power but to build it in other ways, majorly hard power abroad & more surveillance at home.
— Fiorella Isabel (@FiorellaIsabelM) February 2, 2025
Trump 2.0
Elon Musk spent more than $290 million on the 2024 election, year-end FEC filings show CNN
The Young, Inexperienced Engineers Aiding Elon Musk’s Government Takeover Wired.
Education Department places dozens of officials on leave over Trump’s DEI order, union says USA Today
We need an international alliance against the US and its tech industry Disconnect
Kamala
CBS agrees to release Harris transcript to FCC amid Trump lawsuit The Hill
Democrats en déshabillé
‘We Have No Coherent Message’: Democrats Struggle to Oppose Trump New York Times. They have a message:
House Dem leader Hakeem Jeffries:
“Sinwar is gone. Sinwar is gone. And Hamas is on the run… and Iran is at one of its weakest points in decades.
“We can’t take our foot off the gas pedal until Iran is brought to its knees — for the good of the world.“ pic.twitter.com/MvvfwQrn2u
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) February 2, 2025
And:
You’re watching the Super Bowl next week.
Wait till Trump’s tariffs raise your pizza prices.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) February 1, 2025
Police State Watch
Oklahoma’s Mental Health System Under Threat: A Deep Dive into House Bill 1343 Dissent Speaks. “….proposes to completely dissolve the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services (ODMHSAS) and transfer all its functions to the Department of Corrections.”
Immigration
Marines arrive at Guantanamo Bay as Trump’s migrant deportation plan moves ahead at warp speed Daily Mail
Homeland security chief declines to say whether women, children to be held at Guantánamo The Guardian
Texas National Guard to make immigration arrests under Trump admin deal Axios
AI
DeepSeek might not be as disruptive as claimed, firm reportedly has 50,000 Nvidia GPUs and spent $1.6 billion on buildouts Tom’s Hardware
DeepFreak Epsilon Theory
Add F*cking to Your Google Searches to Neutralize AI Summaries Gizmodo
Class Warfare
Teamsters bureaucracy calls off Costco strike at last minute, sparking outrage from workers WSWS
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
