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Keystone Oil Pipeline Shutdown Could Quickly Lead to Higher Gas Prices (Maria)
The authors write, “The nearly 2,700-mile Keystone oil pipeline was shut down Tuesday morning after it ruptured in North Dakota, halting the flow of millions of gallons of crude oil from Canada to refineries in the U.S. and potentially leading to higher gasoline prices. South Bow, a liquid pipeline business that manages the pipeline, said it shut down the pipeline after control center leak detection systems detected a pressure drop in the system. The company estimated that 3,500 barrels of oil were released.”
Not Even Wealth Is Saving Americans From Dying at Rates Seen Among Some of the Poorest Europeans (Reader Jim)
From NBC News: “Fifty years ago, life expectancy in the US and wealthy European countries was relatively similar. That began to change around 1980. As European life expectancy steadily increased, the US struggled to keep pace — and its life expectancy even began declining in 2014. Today, the wealthiest middle-aged and older adults in the US have roughly the same likelihood of dying over a 12-year period as the poorest adults in northern and western Europe, according to a study published Wednesday in The New England Journal of Medicine. Some medical and health policy experts say the trend is a sign of deep-seated issues not just within the US health care system, but with the typical American lifestyle of overconsuming junk food, not getting enough exercise, and facing loneliness or financial stress.”
Putin’s TV Goons Jump for Joy at Trump’s Tariff ‘Buffoonery’ (Sean)
The author writes, “Russian state TV propagandists are riding the Donald Trump rollercoaster. Moscow initially believed the American president would cave to their demands on trade and Ukraine, but that hasn’t happened the way they envisioned — despite Trump’s unprompted concessions. While the mood in Moscow has soured, Trump’s ill-conceived decision to impose tariffs on ‘Liberation Day’ [last] Wednesday — Russia excluded — brought joy and delight to state television. During Thursday’s broadcast of The Evening With Vladimir Solovyov, pundits marveled at the ‘buffoonery’ of the Trump administration’s decision to disrupt global trade and undermine the American economy.”
How a Global Online Network of White Supremacists Groomed a Teen to Kill (Laura)
From ProPublica: “In August 2019, Juraj Krajčík, then a soft-faced 16-year-old with a dense pile of brown hair, immersed himself in a loose collection of extremist chat groups and channels on the massive social media and messaging platform Telegram. This online community, which was dubbed Terrorgram, had a singular focus: inciting acts of white supremacist terrorism. Over the next three years, Krajčík made hundreds — possibly thousands — of posts in Terrorgram chats and channels, where a handful of influential content creators steered the conversation toward violence. … On Oct. 12, 2022, Krajčík, armed with his father’s .45-caliber handgun, opened fire on three people sitting outside an LGBTQ+ bar in Bratislava, killing two and wounding the third before fleeing the scene.”
Texas Student Journalists Are Being Censored, but That Won’t Stop the Presses (Russ)
From The Nation: “On University of Texas campuses, students have found other ways of newsmaking that free their publications from editorial control by their schools and state.”
Ideology May Not Be What You Think but How You’re Wired (Mili)
The author writes, “So sharp are partisan divisions these days that it can seem as if people are experiencing entirely different realities. Maybe they actually are, according to Leor Zmigrod, a neuroscientist and political psychologist at Cambridge University. In a new book, ‘The Ideological Brain: The Radical Science of Flexible Thinking,’ Dr. Zmigrod explores the emerging evidence that brain physiology and biology help explain not just why people are prone to ideology but how they perceive and share information.”
How Do You Re-Home a Rhino by Helicopter? Upside Down (Dana)
From the BBC: “Zipping through the skies over South Africa, a 1,300kg (2,865lbs) horned herbivore is dangling by its feet from a helicopter. It may be a shocking sight to behold but, within the last decade, the use of helicopters in rhinoceros conservation has been gaining momentum in South Africa, Namibia, and Botswana. Black rhinos are critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). However, thanks to conservation efforts, their numbers are on the rise. Today, black rhinos have a population of roughly 6,500 — up from the 1990s’ low point of less than 2,500, when poaching and habitat loss drove the species to the edge of extinction.”
