"A major winter storm that already cut electric power to about 350,000 homes and businesses from Texas to the Ohio Valley was set to leave Pennsylvania and New England glazed in ice and smothered in snow Friday, forecasters said."
"There's new evidence, collected from orbiting satellites, that oil and gas companies are routinely venting huge amounts of methane into the air… Methane is the main ingredient in natural gas, the fuel. It's also a powerful greenhouse gas, second only to carbon dioxide in its warming impact." We're fucked.
"Authorities in Argentina are advising drug consumers to throw away any cocaine they may have purchased in the last two days after at least 23 people died after ingesting adulterated cocaine in the Greater Buenos Aires area." Yeah, like that's gonna happen.
Whither AI? "Watson Health was supposed to change health care in a lot of important ways, by providing insight to oncologists about care for cancer patients, delivering insight to pharmaceutical companies about drug development, helping to match patients with clinical trials, and more. It sounded revolutionary, but it never really worked. Recently, Watson Health was, essentially, sold for parts: Francisco Partners, a private equity firm, bought some of Watson’s data and analytics products for what Bloomberg News said was more than $1 billion."
"After every shift in his Seattle emergency department, Dr. Matt Beecroft comes away with some new story of how the omicron surge is making his patients sicker… And not just from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19… Instead, it's the delays and disruptions in medical care — a consequence of overcrowded and short-staffed hospitals — that are leading to, at times, life-threatening complications." Ta-da!
"Moroccan rescuers have spent almost three days trying to reach a 5-year-old boy who is trapped in a well in the north of the African country, state media MAP reported Friday."
"When Lois van Baarle, a Dutch artist, scoured the biggest NFT marketplace for her name late last year, she found more than 100 pieces of her art for sale. None of them had been put up by her… The rise in such thefts comes as the market for non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, exploded last year, growing to an estimated $22bn, attracting Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and driving multimillion-dollar auctions for these new certificates of ownership of digital assets." On top of this forgeries issue, I wonder when it will become apparent that while it may be impossible to "steal" the block chain entry that forms an NFT, nothing prevents multiple copies of the same art to be sold as an NFT. Also, for the sale of art forgeries, the company that makes the sale is also on the hook for damages.
"The U.S. job market came through January in much better shape than expected despite a winter wave of coronavirus infections… Employers added 467,000 jobs last month, according to a new tally from the Labor Department, far outpacing even the most optimistic forecasts. The gains came despite a surge in COVID-19 cases tied to the omicron variant."
"Amazon is raising the price of its annual Prime subscriptions from $119 to $139 per year in the United States, the company announced along with its earnings report Thursday. The price of a monthly subscription will also increase from $12.99 to $14.99."
"A plan to temporarily dismantle a recently restored historic bridge in the heart of Dutch port city Rotterdam so that a huge yacht, reportedly being built for Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, can get to the North Sea is unlikely to be plain sailing." Look, you've got to measure the doorways the appliance has to go through, you know, before you make the purchase.
"Four top aides to Boris Johnson resigned Thursday, marking the latest setback for the British prime minister whose government has been embroiled in scandal in recent days."
"The Biden administration on Thursday accused Moscow of planning a staged mass casualty event on Russia by Ukraine, in order to justify a further Russian invasion of its former Soviet neighbor."
"Across the U.S., educators are being censored for broaching controversial topics. Since January 2021, researcher Jeffrey Sachs says, 35 states have introduced 137 bills limiting what schools can teach with regard to race, American history, politics, sexual orientation and gender identity." Just as an example, it's still controversial to teach evolution in biology classes.
"It was an abrupt move that not many could have foreseen. Despite an impressive three-year showing with the Miami Dolphins, Brian Flores was fired from his position as head coach last month in a surprising end to a contract that was supposed to last for two more years… What's followed could be described as a 'reckoning' for the NFL: Flores filed a class-action lawsuit against the league and its 32 franchises citing racial discrimination, a move that's prompted a closer look at the NFL's hiring practices and the racial makeup of those in power."
"But on Tuesday, voters ousted Moty, handing control of the Shasta county board of supervisors to a group aligned with local militia members. The election followed nearly two years of threats and increasing hostility toward the longtime supervisor and his moderate colleagues in response to pandemic health restrictions… While it’s not yet clear who will replace Moty, the two candidates in the lead attended a celebration on Tuesday with members of an area militia group, the Sacramento Bee reported."
"The select House committee investigating the Capitol riot subpoenaed the phone records of Kelli Ward, the chair of the Republican party in Arizona, and her husband, Michael Ward, according to a lawsuit filed by the couple on Tuesday, Politico reported… Both of the Wards were among those who signed documents that falsely claimed they were the presidential electors for their state in the 2020 election… In July, public records obtained by The Arizona Republic and the Associated Press showed Kelli Ward had pressured officials in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix, to stop counting ballots."
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