PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.
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An Island’s Mice Are Breeding Out of Control and Eating Seabirds. Extermination Is Planned (Maria)
The author writes, “Mice accidentally introduced to a remote island near Antarctica 200 years ago are breeding out of control because of climate change, and they are eating seabirds and causing major harm in a special nature reserve with ‘unique biodiversity.’ Now conservationists are planning a mass extermination using helicopters and hundreds of tons of rodent poison, which needs to be dropped over every part of Marion Island’s 115 square miles (297 square kilometers) to ensure success. If even one pregnant mouse survives, their prolific breeding ability means it may have all been for nothing.”
I Listened to Trump’s Rambling, Unhinged, Vituperative Georgia Rally — and So Should You (Dana)
From The New Yorker: “I’m sure you had better things to do on Saturday evening than watch Donald Trump rant for nearly two hours to an audience of cheering fans in Rome, Georgia. His speech was rambling, unhinged, vituperative, and oh-so-revealing. In his first rally since effectively clinching the Republican Presidential nomination, Trump made what amounted to his response to Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. It’s hard to imagine a better or more pointed contrast with the vision that, two days earlier, the President had laid out for America.”
Tesla Paid No Federal Income Taxes While Paying Executives $2.5 Billion Over Five Years (DonkeyHotey)
The author writes, “In case you need another reason to shout ‘tax the rich’ from the rooftops, it’s here, and it’s going to make you angry. A study found that 35 major US companies paid their top five executives more than they paid in federal income taxes between 2018 and 2022, the Guardian reports. The findings, which come from The Institute for Policy Studies and Americans for Tax Fairness, are even less shocking when you learn the worst offender: Tesla.”
NTSB: Boeing Employees Who Installed Max Door Plug Still Unidentified (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “The federal agency investigating the Jan. 5 midair blowout on an Alaska Airlines 737 MAX on Wednesday laid out the timeline of its requests for information from Boeing and emphasized the company’s continued lack of responsiveness. ‘To date, we still do not know who performed the work to open, reinstall, and close the door plug on the accident aircraft,’ Jennifer Homendy, chair of the National Transportation Safety Board, wrote in a letter to Sen. Maria Cantwell.”
New Mexico Man Dies After Contracting Rare Case of Bubonic Plague (Mili)
The author writes, “A New Mexico man has died after contracting the bubonic plague. The state’s Department of Health said the unidentified Lincoln County resident succumbed to the illness after being hospitalized. This was the first plague death in New Mexico since 2020 — when the state saw four cases — and its first human case since 2021.”
The Ozempic Pushers (Russ)
From The Cut: “Some fat patients say doctors are pressuring them to take the miracle drug instead of listening to their immediate health concerns.”
Gay, Lesbian and Intersex Whales: Our Queer Sea Has Much to Teach Us (Laura)
From The Guardian: “The first documented sex between two male humpback whales is just the latest challenge to our presumptions about sexuality.”
