Music: GoGo Penguin — ‘Hopopono’
It was 84 degrees near the Arctic Ocean this weekend as CO2 hit its highest level in human history
Jason Samenow writes: Over the weekend, the climate system sounded simultaneous alarms. Near the entrance to the Arctic Ocean in northwest Russia, the temperature surged to 84 degrees Fahrenheit (29 Celsius). Meanwhile, the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere eclipsed 415 parts per million for the first time in human history. By themselves, these are just data points. But taken together with so many indicators of an altered atmosphere and rising temperatures, they blend into the unmistakable portrait of…
With the U.S. turning its back on refugees, my family’s history seems impossible to repeat
Gershom Gorenberg writes: Before dawn, in a Ukrainian village on a day in May 100 years ago, an 18-year-old Jewish woman and a 20-year-old Jewish man had a hurried marriage ceremony. Then they fled. A gentile neighbor had warned them that there would be great trouble for the Jews of Obodovka that day. The bride’s name was Ettl. The groom was Itzik. The neighbor was right. Four of Ettl’s brothers and a young nephew were among the Jews murdered in…
House panel investigates obstruction claims against Trump lawyers
The New York Times reports: The House Intelligence Committee is investigating whether lawyers tied to President Trump and his family helped obstruct the panel’s inquiry into Russian election interference by shaping false testimony, a series of previously undisclosed letters from its chairman show. The line of inquiry stems from claims made by the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, who told Congress earlier this year that the lawyers in question helped edit false testimony that he provided…
William Barr delivers chilling message to FBI for Trump
Barbara McQuade writes: If you come at the king, you best not miss. That’s the message Attorney General William Barr is sending to FBI agents, whether intentionally or not. Barr has authorized yet another investigation into the FBI’s conduct probing links between Russian election interference and the Trump campaign. Even though two other entities are already investigating the same matter, reports indicate that Barr has appointed Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham to investigate the origins of the Russia probe. In…
The Supreme Court’s mistake in recognizing an individual right to possess a firearm
John Paul Stevens, former associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, writes: District of Columbia v. Heller, which recognized an individual right to possess a firearm under the Constitution, is unquestionably the most clearly incorrect decision that the Supreme Court announced during my tenure on the bench. The text of the Second Amendment unambiguously explains its purpose: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,…
It’s time for the leaders of Saudi Arabia and Iran to start a dialogue
Hossein Mousavian and Abdulaziz Sager write: We write as citizens and foreign policy veterans of two countries that most Americans presume are locked in mortal combat: Iran and Saudi Arabia. In fact, after decades of proxy conflict and frozen ties between our countries, we believe now is the time to explore a new foundation for a lasting peace in our region. Neither of us is a starry-eyed idealist. We are both hardened realists with distrust for one another, and that…
Inside the nucleus, genes’ activity may depend on their location
Jordana Cepelewicz writes: The nucleus of a cell has something in common with a cardboard box full of kittens: People get so fascinated by the contents that they overlook the container. The nucleus itself is often treated as no more than a featureless membranous bag for holding the vitally dynamic genetic material. Yet in fact it has specialized parts and an internal architecture of its own, and scientists have long speculated that precisely how the DNA positions itself with respect…
Music: Dino Saluzzi — ‘Cité De La Musique’
One of the most effective anti-Trump groups is now tackling voter suppression in the states
The Daily Beast reports: One of the foremost agitators of the Trump administration is turning its sights on state governments in the hope it can turn the tide of voter suppression efforts. American Oversight, which launched after the 2016 election with the goal of digging into the unseemly underpinnings of the current president, is launching what it calls a “State Accountability Project.” The objective is, in practice, similar to what the organization currently does. But this time, the target is…
Should the media sever their ties to Facebook?
Mathew Ingram writes: With all that has transpired between Facebook and the media industry over the past couple of years—the repeated algorithm changes, the head fakes about switching to video, the siphoning off of a significant chunk of the industry’s advertising revenue—most publishers approach the giant social network with skepticism, if not outright hostility. And yet, the vast majority of them continue to partner with Facebook, to distribute their content on its platform, and even accept funding and resources from…
There is no evidence of a connection between undocumented immigrants and crime
The New York Times reports: A lot of research has shown that there’s no causal connection between immigration and crime in the United States. But after one such study was reported on jointly by The Marshall Project and The Upshot last year, readers had one major complaint: Many argued it was unauthorized immigrants who increase crime, not immigrants over all. An analysis derived from new data is now able to help address this question, suggesting that growth in illegal immigration…
Rep. Rashida Tlaib lambastes GOP lawmakers for ‘twisting’ her comments about the Holocaust
HuffPost reports: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is pushing back against Republican lawmakers and accusing them of twisting her words to push a “racist and hateful agenda.” Tlaib, who in January became the first Palestinian-American woman in Congress, spoke about the Holocaust and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict during an interview with Yahoo News’ “Skullduggery” podcast on Sunday. When asked to elaborate on her support for a one-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli struggle, Tlaib mentioned the recent commemoration of Holocaust Remembrance Day in…
Plastic waste pact approved with U.S. among few holdouts
The Associated Press reports: Almost every country in the world has agreed on a legally binding framework for reducing polluting plastic waste, with the United States a notable exception, United Nations environmental officials said Friday. An agreement on tracking thousands of types of plastic waste emerged at the end of a two-week meeting of U.N.-backed conventions on plastic waste and toxic, hazardous chemicals. Discarded plastic clutters pristine land, floats in huge masses in oceans and entangles wildlife, sometimes with deadly…
A bizarre form of water may exist all over the universe
Joshua Sokol writes: Recently at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics in Brighton, New York, one of the world’s most powerful lasers blasted a droplet of water, creating a shock wave that raised the water’s pressure to millions of atmospheres and its temperature to thousands of degrees. X-rays that beamed through the droplet in the same fraction of a second offered humanity’s first glimpse of water under those extreme conditions. The X-rays revealed that the water inside the shock wave didn’t…
The English word that hasn’t changed in sound or meaning in 8,000 years
Sevindj Nurkiyazova writes: “One of my favorite words is lox,” says Gregory Guy, a professor of linguistics at New York University. There is hardly a more quintessential New York food than a lox bagel—a century-old popular appetizing store, Russ & Daughters, calls it “The Classic.” But Guy, who has lived in the city for the past 17 years, is passionate about lox for a different reason. “The pronunciation in the Proto-Indo-European was probably ‘lox,’ and that’s exactly how it is…