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.
|
Listen To This Story
 |
Colombia Deforestation in 2024 Among Lowest Levels in 23 Years: Minister (Maria)
The author writes, “Deforestation in Colombia in 2024 is expected to have reached a higher level than during the previous year but is still forecast to be among the lowest levels in more than two decades, Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said on Monday. Deforestation fell by more than a third to just over 792 square kilometers (305 square miles) in 2023, down from around 1,235 square kilometers in 2022, according to the environment ministry.”
Senate Democrat Alleges FBI Chief Pick Is Secretly Overseeing Firings (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “The top Democrat on the US Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday alleged that President Donald Trump’s FBI director nominee Kash Patel has been secretly overseeing the ouster of the bureau’s leadership before being confirmed for the role. Senator Dick Durbin said he learned about Patel’s alleged role in the firings from several whistleblowers, and he has asked Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to investigate. Durbin, of Illinois, said that Patel was working with senior White House and Justice Department staffers to oversee the removals.”
AP Statement on Oval Office Access (DonkeyHotey)
From the AP: “Today we were informed by the White House that if AP did not align its editorial standards with President Donald Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, AP would be barred from accessing an event in the Oval Office. This afternoon AP’s reporter was blocked from attending an executive order signing.”
Global HIV Care Thrown Into Chaos by Trump: ‘I Will Be Sick and Maybe Die’ (Laura)
From The Intercept: “When she saw the news on TikTok and CNN that the United States would halt funding HIV medication, Gwendolyn Dube, a 36-year-old single mother in South Africa who was diagnosed with AIDS as a child, thought to herself, ‘People are going to die.’ In his first week back in office, President Donald Trump’s administration announced it would exit the World Health Organization and implemented, via an executive order on ‘Revaluating and Realigning United States Foreign Aid,’ a 90-day pause on the disbursement of all foreign aid. This included pausing all funding for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.”
Canadians Are Canceling Travel Plans to US and Threatening Boycotts (Reader Steve)
The author writes, “It started with President Donald Trump making ‘jokes’ about Canada becoming the 51st US state. Then he imposed a 25% tariff on imports from the country, which has since been postponed by one month. But the good-natured Canadians are not taking this lying down — they are canceling their vacations to the US after weeks of tension played out globally between the two allies. … Canadians jumped into action, showing their displeasure with their neighbors. Normally polite Canadians booed American teams at sporting events. On social media, there are calls to check labels in supermarkets, and American alcohol is being dropped from shelves in some cities. People are also boycotting other American brands, including Starbucks, Amazon, and Netflix.”
Is AI Making Us Dumb? (Sean)
From TechCrunch: “Researchers from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University recently published a study looking at how using generative AI at work affects critical thinking skills. … When people rely on generative AI at work, their effort shifts toward verifying that an AI’s response is good enough to use, instead of using higher-order critical thinking skills like creating, evaluating, and analyzing information. If humans only intervene when AI responses are insufficient, the paper says, then workers are deprived of ‘routine opportunities to practice their judgment and strengthen their cognitive musculature, leaving them atrophied and unprepared when the exceptions do arise.’ In other words, when we rely too much on AI to think for us, we get worse at solving problems ourselves when AI fails.”
Thousands of Danes Sign Petition To Buy California From US (Dana)
The author writes, “In response to President Donald Trump’s continued musing about the U.S. acquiring Greenland from Denmark, Danish citizens have launched their own effort to purchase America’s most economically prosperous state. An online petition seeking the ‘Denmarkification’ of California has seemingly garnered nearly 200,000 signatures, with a pitch to Danish citizens that purchasing the Golden State would provide them with more sunshine, dominance in the tech industry, limitless avocado toast, and easy access to Disneyland — which organizers say would be renamed to honor fairytale author and poet Hans Christian Andersen.”
