‘Jaw-Dropping’ El Niño Bursts Through Temperature Record Months Before Peak

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‘Jaw-Dropping’ El Niño Bursts Through Temperature Record Months Before Peak (Maria)

The author writes, “The ‘jaw-dropping’ El Niño heating up the planet has burst through the highest temperature recorded for the phenomenon — months before its expected peak. … It is likely to be the largest in at least 1,000 years and will pile extra heat into an atmosphere where temperatures are rising rapidly due to human-caused global heating, scientists predict.”

18 Democrats Vote Against Impeaching Trump (Sean)

From The New Republic: “House Democrats launched another Hail Mary bid to impeach President Donald Trump, but the effort was undercut by members of their own party. More than a dozen Democrats joined 213 Republicans in voting ‘no’ Tuesday night. Another 46 Democrats simply voted ‘present,’ including some of the lower chamber’s biggest names: Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Minority Whip Katherine Clark, and Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar. It was the third time in two years that the liberal party has tried to oust Trump from the Oval Office, but the proposal — introduced by Texas Representative Al Green — did not receive support from party leadership before Green forced the vote. One Democrat described the situation to Axios as ‘fucked up,’ while others derided the effort as a distraction, with the spectre of midterms mere weeks away.”

Beyond Ukraine: Why Europe Is Preparing for a Wider Conflict (DonkeyHotey)

The author writes, “Something is spooking Europe. This week, Belarus, Russia’s closest military ally, conducted large exercises near the Suwałki Gap, the narrow corridor connecting the Baltic states to the rest of NATO. The geography that has long made it one of NATO’s most vulnerable points. French President Emmanuel Macron summoned France’s political leaders for a confidential intelligence briefing. … Even the famously neutral Switzerland adopted a new national security strategy calling for greater resilience and an ability to defend itself against an armed attack. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, suddenly announced progress toward establishing a permanent US Army base in Poland. Two weeks ago, he dispatched the CIA Director on a secret mission to warn Moscow against attacking NATO territory. Countries on both sides of the Atlantic seem alarmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin might soon widen his war beyond Ukraine.”

An Idaho County Banned Renewables. It’s Having Second Thoughts (Laura)

From Canary Media: “Jeff Hough did not pull any punches. What his fellow Republican county commissioners were about to do, he said to the packed courthouse, would violate America’s founding ideals. He quoted the Declaration of Independence to make his case. The three-person commission was about to vote on an ordinance that would ban utility-scale solar and wind development in Bannock County, Idaho. ‘We cannot deny the entire county the opportunity to exercise their property rights,’ Hough said. ​That goes against the principles this country was founded on.’ A few minutes after Hough’s emphatic speech, the ordinance passed by a 2–1 vote. Hough was the lone dissenter. Since that consequential vote in March 2024, Hough has become the chair of the county commission and has dedicated himself to overturning that ordinance. He will soon have a chance to make that happen.”

Laziness and Greed: The Deadly Fault at the Heart of Artificial Intelligence (Gerry)

The author writes, “Two threads of the AI story came together today with the revelation of the amount of money OpenAI paid to the hackers who exposed the vulnerabilities of its system last July. It was $6,500. Let’s sit with that for a moment. NBC News quoted a ‘cybersecurity researcher’ who said the security breach revealed by the hackers was serious enough to give ‘China or other countries’ elite hackers the ‘ability to break into OpenAI systems.’ That sounds pretty serious, doesn’t it? Maybe giving OpenAI a warning that there was a backdoor into their system might be worth more than $6,500 to AI companies and the people who own and run them who stand to make billions and billions of dollars when the companies go public with their IPOs, whenever that is.”

Macklemore vs. Everybody (Bethany)

From The American Prospect: “The chain of events that led to the rapper Macklemore’s ejection this week from a concert tour for the sin of proclaiming ‘Free Palestine’ before a screaming football stadium in New Jersey unfolded in trite and predictable fashion. … But then something strange happened: A tidal wave of public backlash turned Macklemore into the undisputed victor of the PR skirmish. All four of Sheeran’s other opening acts quit the tour in solidarity. Celebrities from former star NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to beloved children’s YouTube personality Ms. Rachel to Broadway actress Allie Trimm chimed in to share stories of oligarch silencing. Ticket prices for the remaining dates of Sheeran’s tour on the resale market collapsed. And internet sleuths began picking apart the sordid personal history of Robert Kraft, who by the close of the news cycle had even pledged to donate $2 million to humanitarian relief in Palestine.”

10 Abandoned Cities Reclaimed by Nature That Are Eerily Beautiful (Dana)

From Architectural Digest: “When humans walk away, the natural world wastes no time moving in. In these cities reclaimed by nature — including abandoned villages, forts, and vines creep over crumbling walls, sand dunes push down doors, and layers of volcanic ash cover derelict buildings. That uncanny feeling of wandering through left-behind cities has made for its own niche tourist appeal, and natural elements that overtake these towns in the absence of human residents add another layer of intrigue. Whether the result of natural disasters, shifting industries, or mysteries that remain unsolved, these places offer a haunting reminder of just how quickly civilization can be undone.”