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TikTok Loses Supreme Court Fight, Prepares To Shut Down Sunday (Maria)
The author writes, “TikTok has lost its Supreme Court appeal in a 9–0 decision and will likely shut down on January 19, a day before Donald Trump’s inauguration, unless the app can be sold before the deadline, which TikTok has said is impossible. During the trial last Friday, TikTok lawyer Noel Francisco warned SCOTUS that upholding the Biden administration’s divest-or-sell law would likely cause TikTok to ‘go dark.’ … TikTok’s claims that the divest-or-sell law violated Americans’ free speech rights did not supersede the government’s compelling national security interest in blocking a foreign adversary like China from potentially using the app to spy on or influence Americans, SCOTUS ruled.”
Suddenly Donald Trump Doesn’t Want To Talk So Much About the Economy (Dana)
From MSNBC: “In opening his press conference Tuesday, the former and future president briefly (and falsely) claimed that ‘inflation is continuing to rage’ before devoting his time to griping about the Green New Deal, Democrats ‘playing with the courts,’ showerheads and windmills ‘driving the whales crazy,’ among other subjects. Trump’s choice of topics is always instructive, and last week’s press conference was a far cry from the one he held last August, when he used a collection of groceries as props to hammer Democrats on inflation. Suddenly, it seems Trump doesn’t want to talk so much about the economy anymore.”
Pro vs. Private Firefighters: ‘We Consider Them a Liability’ (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “As the Palisades Fire raged last week, wealthy local entrepreneur Keith Wasserman put out a tweet he’s come to regret. ‘Does anyone have access to private firefighters to protect our home?’ he posted in the since-deleted tweet. ‘Need to act fast here. All neighbors houses burning. Will pay any amount.’ Blowback to that plea, with many calling it tone deaf, prompted Wasserman to delete it, but it has brought to the forefront the topic of what the New York Times calls a ‘coveted resource’ in fire-prone Southern California: private fire crews, standing guard over homes and businesses they were hired to protect by private citizens, insurance firms, or the government.”
America’s Great Climate Migration Has Begun. Here’s What You Need to Know. (Russ)
From Columbia Magazine: “Around the world, people are now routinely fleeing their homes to escape the effects of global warming. In the African Sahel, a semi-arid region that sits south of the Sahara, altered rainfall patterns are causing farmers to throw down their tools and seek refuge in cities. In Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador, prolonged droughts are killing crops and prompting impoverished families to set out in search of more fertile ground. In Southeast Asia, the rising sea is inundating rice paddies, forcing farmers to quit their livelihoods and retreat inland. … But could Americans experience similar upheavals? Could we, despite our relative wealth and long history of bending nature to our will, one day find that large sections of our country have become uninhabitable?”
Six Big US Banks Quit Net-Zero Alliance Before Trump Inauguration (Laura)
The author writes, “The six biggest banks in the US have all quit the global banking industry’s net zero target-setting group, with the imminent inauguration of Donald Trump as president expected to bring political backlash against climate action. JP Morgan is the latest to withdraw from the UN-sponsored net zero banking alliance (NZBA), following Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs. All six have left since the start of December.”
Gun Violence by the Numbers in 2024 (Gerry)
From The Trace: “Gun violence in the United States continued to decline significantly in 2024, providing yet another signal that the pandemic-era surge has come to an end. Firearm deaths and injuries dropped for a third straight year. Homicides in major cities, mass shootings, and child and teen gun deaths also fell. Yet the toll of gun violence remains. Even as shootings decline, tens of thousands of lives continue to be lost or permanently changed by guns.”
Fish Implanted With Tumor Cells Could Help Oncologists Quickly Personalize Cancer Treatments (Sean)
The author writes, “Can oncologists make better cancer treatment decisions if they consult fish? A clinical trial set to start this month in Portugal aims to find out. Led by developmental biologist Rita Fior of the Champalimaud Foundation, the 5-year study is the first randomized trial in which patients will receive drugs that have been tested beforehand in zebrafish embryos implanted with the patients’ cancer cells. Retrospective studies have shown that so-called zebrafish avatars could have identified successful treatments if they had been deployed in advance, and Fior and colleagues now want to determine whether that ability can benefit patients.”
