curated news excerpts & citations
… trying to ‘unbury the lede’
Kristina P. Brant @ Conversation:
Severe flooding raises deadly overdose risk in rural Appalachia, study finds – and the harm lasts for years
When she went to sleep on July 27, 2022, McKayla wasn’t worried about the storm that was raging outside her trailer in southeastern Kentucky. Intense storms came frequently in summer. While the creek in front of her home would often rise, water never came close enough to be a concern.
But at 6:30 the next morning, one of her children rushed into her room panicked. McKayla ran to the window to see their neighbors’ belongings floating by. ,,,
… McKayla lost her home and everything in it.
She had been in recovery from substance use disorder when the flood hit, and the trauma and instability upended her recovery.
…
McKayla’s story is more common than people may realize.
When flooding hits rural areas like Appalachia, it can weaken support systems that have taken years to build. At the same time, residents in drug or alcohol recovery are under extraordinary stress from the loss of homes, jobs and sometimes friends and family.
(Kristina P. Brant @ Conversation more…)
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Matt Day, Mark Chediak @ Bloomberg:
Gas-fueled AI ignites US emissions – AI’s climate costData center developers are turning to bespoke natural-gas power plants, a development that promises to dramatically increase carbon emissions and make it harder for US technology companies to meet their lofty climate goals.
Ninety-nine proposed plants tracked by BloombergNEF would emit about 318 million metric tons of carbon dioxide annually if run at industry-standard rates, according to a Bloomberg News analysis. The entire US electric power industry emitted about 1,485 million metric tons of carbon last year, according to Energy Information Administration data, meaning one slice of data center infrastructure has the potential to lift US power sector emissions by 20%, and as much as a third should the new plants run flat out.
The data center building boom has already strained the US electricity system, prompting reliability concerns and moratoriums on new project approvals. With even greenlit facilities facing yearslong delays connecting to regulated electricity grids, data center developers are seeking alternatives. These include so-called behind-the-meter projects that can be permitted and built without the approval of utilities or the independent system operators charged with ensuring grid reliability.
“There is immense, immense pressure on the whole sector to get power, and get it fast,” said David Pomerantz, executive director of the Energy and Policy Institute, a utility watchdog that promotes renewables. “They’re sort of agnostic if it is clean or dirty.”
(Matt Day, Mark Chediak @ Bloomberg more…)Ed Zitron:
What Happens If OpenAI Dies?I’m not trying to be a buzzkill here, but I have meaningful concerns about OpenAI’s ability to survive, and they’ve only grown more pressing in the last few years.
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Paul Krugman:
A New Level of Trumpian EvilNorth Korea is the worst government on Earth; Trump prefers it to the prosperous democracy next door
I know that Donald Trump does something new and terrible every day, sometimes several times a day. Yet his betrayal of South Korea in favor of his “very good relationship with Kim Jong Un” stands out even among his many betrayals.
Why? Because North Korea isn’t simply a bad government, just another murderous authoritarian regime. It is something that has become rare, even among dictatorships: a full-blown totalitarian state, in which the government controls every aspect of life and even thinking dissident thoughts is a crime.
Let’s be clear: Vladimir Putin’s Russia is an ugly regime, a kleptocracy in which critics of the leader have a habit of falling out of high windows. Xi Jinping’s China isn’t a free society either. But they’re mild and open compared with North Korea, where indoctrination is constant, where everyone must, if they value their lives, constantly praise the leader, whose name and portrait are everywhere
(Paul Krugman more…)Mitch Jackson:
The DOJ Has Lost 23 Straight Cases Trying to Take the Voter File With Your Name in ItMarcy Wheeler:
DOJ Used Pam Bondi’s Trophy Arrests as an Excuse to Spy on Minnesota’s Anti-ICE CommunityMichele Hornish:
when we fight among ourselves, we do the vultures’ work for them
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Heather Cox Richardson:
Letters from an American – August 18, 2026On August 18, 1920, the Tennessee legislature ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by a vote of 50 to 49. The deciding vote came from Harry T. Burn, who supported suffrage but was under pressure to vote no. His mother had urged him to vote yes despite the pressure. “I believe in full suffrage as a right,” he said. “I believe we had a moral and legal right to ratify. I know that a mother’s advice is always safest for her boy to follow, and my mother wanted me to vote for ratification.”
(Heather Cox Richardson more…)
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Katelyn Jetelina @ Your Local Epidemiologist:
Covid-19 and dengue creeping up, vaccinations creeping down, a new mRNA flu vaccine, and more
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BeauHD @ /.Slashdot:
Solar Power and Batteries Have Been Keeping Europe’s Grid StableLiam Gilliver @ euronews:
‘The real challenge starts after sundown’: Europe’s heatwave boosted solar by up to 17% on hot days
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Adam Clermont:
progressives & racists list of agreements
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Karlsruher Institut für Technologie:
Ordinary WiFi can now identify you with near-perfect accuracy
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Brian Allen:
Todd Blanche Said Trump’s $1.8 Billion Slush Fund Was Dead. Senate Democrats Say His DOJ Has a WorkaroundA Federal Judge Protected This Church From Immigration Enforcement. An Undercover DHS Agent Went Inside Anyway
A Navy Destroyer Lost Power for Four Days. Three Hundred Sailors Lost Toilets, Hot Meals and Air Conditioning
Have I Been Flocked?
Brockovich AI Data Center Reporting
resources tracking the “Andes” hantavirus outbreak
Apocalypse Early Warning System
Al Jazeera Death toll and injuries live tracker
Mike Ludwig @ truthout: ICE Says 51 People Died in Custody Under Trump. Experts Say That’s an Undercount.
ICE Accountability Project
Sergio Martínez-Beltrán, Ximena Bustillo, Jasmine Garsd @ NPR: Deaths of migrants in ICE custody hit record high under Trump
- August 1: Edwin Lopez-Cornejo
- July 19: Jose Chajon-Raxon
- July 14: Juan Jairo Coronilla Duran
- July 13: Joan Sebastian Guerrero
- July 7: Lorenzo Salgado Araujo
- June 4: Mamuka Artmeladze
- April 16: Aled Damien Carbonell-Betancourt
- March 25: Jose Guadalupe Ramos-Solano
- March 16: Royer Perez-Jimenez
- March 14: Naseer Paktiawil
- February 25: Nurul Amin Shah Alam
April 1 – Jennifer Peltz and Jake Offenhartz @ AP: Death of a refugee left at a Buffalo doughnut shop by Border Patrol is ruled a homicide - January 24: Alex Pretti
- January 14: Heber Sanchaz Dominguez
- January 14: Victor Manuel Diaz
- January 9: Parady La
- January 7: Renée Good
- January 6: Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz
- January 5: Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres
- January 3: Geraldo Lunas Campos
- December 31, 2025: Keith Porter
Suffering Under President Obama
NACDL Criminal Case Tracker
Texas Tribune: A Walk for Peace: photos of Fort Worth monks’ journey to Washington
Walk for Peace – Dhammacetiya – The Ancient Sacred Buddhist Scripture Stupas
Margaret Chase Smith: Declaration of Conscience
NPR: January 6, 2021: A visual archive
Accountability Initiative ICE List
GriftMatrix
Trump Action Tracker
Timeline: Tracking the Trump Justice Department’s Anti-Voting Shift
Tracking the Lawsuits Against Trump’s Agenda
Trump Pardons Database
Project 2025 Tracker
DOGE Tracker
ProPublica: Elon Musk’s Demolition Crew
Wired: 6 Tools for Tracking the Trump Administration’s Attacks on Civil Liberties
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