The Weekly Round Up (a little late)
Grab a cup, fill it with your favorite coffee, and sit back with last weeks headlines.
This week got away from me. I have this not-yet-fully-realized-idea for a news brief that I’m hoping to put out on Fridays, but this week got away from me. That is my life right now. Trying to do probably too many things, but why not. It’s a short life. This week was interesting because it started with some major geopolitical news that quickly shifted to a singular geographic based story… Fires in California. As the US news focused nearly solely in on this, few other stories, including ones that would normally be big, made it past minor headlines. Currently the US is focused on California. This is warranted, but also shows a bizarre discrepancy with regards to how we approach other national geographic tragedies… ie, how is that western North Carolina is but a forgotten memory though it suffered an equal tragedy and will take just as long to rebuild… In short, I think it is fairly obvious. Reason one is the fact that the LA fires are still going and have the potential to affect even a larger number, but perhaps more importantly, they are affecting a lot more people who not only have a tremendous more wealth and influence, but who specialize specifically in PR and media. I’m not pointing this out to diminish the tragedy that is the still unfolding LA Fires, but simply to point out that America has a tragically short attention span, and we tend to forget our own citizens with incredible swiftitude (yes I made that word up) when we ought not to.
Without more explanation, here are some of the headlines from last week that I came across:
Monday, January 6, Justin Trudeau announced his resignation amid a series of political and economic challenges, including pressure from within his own liberal party. Internal dissent was exacerbated by recent unexpected resignations of key cabinet members including Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland who expressed disagreements with Trudeau on his handling of the economic policy and the threat of potential tariffs under President-elect Trump.
Net Neutrality rules were overturned by the 6th Circuit court.
“We acknowledge that the workings of the Internet are complicated and dynamic, and that the FCC has significant expertise in overseeing ‘this technical and complex area,’” Griffin wrote. “Yet, post-Loper Bright, that ‘capability,’ if you will, cannot be used to overwrite the plain meaning of the statute.”
The judges also shot down a similar FCC classification affecting mobile broadband providers.
FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement following the ruling that “consumers across the country have told us again and again that they want an internet that is fast, open, and fair.” She continued by saying that Congress must address net neutrality “and put open internet principles in federal law.”
Here is a good explanation:
https://news.bloomberglaw.com/litigation/fccs-net-neutrality-rules-struck-down-by-sixth-circuit
And here is a side note: Growing up we always had an Encyclopedia Britannica in our house. It was updated a few times throughout my childhood. Before the internet, this was a sort of analog version of the internet. I loved it. It was a bookshelf A-Z of topics, with articles, pictures, illustrations, and general information on endless topics. Well, I’ll be damned if Britannica isn’t still around. And here is a link to a good explanation of pros and cons of Net Neutrality on its online site. I was somewhat refreshed, after scouring for some time for an apolitical view of Net Neutrality, to finally find one. You decide what you think… you don’t need anyone else to decide for you. Sure it’s easier if you can say, “I trust x-person, I’ll just think what they do,” but that is no way to live. If we really want to have an opinion on something, we need to know about it first.
Here it is:
https://www.britannica.com/procon/net-neutrality-debate
Out of left field I came across this story: Biden admin seeks a ban on many gas powered on-demand hot water heaters by 2029. This one struck me as unusual because for years on-demand hot water heaters have been considered some of the most environmentally friendly as they do not just consistently heat water even when it is not needed. As a Montanan living around the 47th parallel I have some issues with this massive push to entirely quit natural gas. We frequently have weeks of sub zero temperatures (in fact we are expecting more this week) and in a good storm we can be without power for easily a week plus. In such a situation natural gas is an amazing option for keeping our homes warm without electricity. I can’t imagine trying to rely solely on electricity in any winter climate. But that is merely a personal aside.
Unrelated, and without footnote, one of those stories you pick up and don’t even remember exactly where you heard it, somewhere this week I came across the publicized opinion that upwards of 80% of X accounts are bots. That seemed high so I dove in a found a few, possibly more reliable accounts, and it made me think that likely it could be nearly that high.
Via Forbes less than a year ago “Bots now account for nearly half of all internet traffic globally, with so-called “bad bots” responsible for a third. The proportion of internet traffic generated by bots hit its highest level last year, up 2% on the year before, according to the 2024 Imperva Bad Bot Report. Traffic from human users fell to just 50.4%.” Wild. My mind instantly goes to wondering how many of these bots are created by government agencies here and abroad. It is certainly not just a few.
Under the Not News Catagory: Dick Cheney did not die this week. Rumors spread quickly after he did not appear at the funeral of former president Jimmy Carter that Dick Cheney had died. The reports were based on a parody account, but spread far none the less.
Fire Report: LA fires have burned more than 40K acres of populated area. NBC is reporting 24 dead, more than 12,500 structures destroyed with evacuation orders for 105k residents and another 87k in evacuation warning zones. USA today is reporting 24K homes destroyed. This discrepancy amid such chaos is not unexpected and the tragedy will likely be greater than either report. High winds continue to spread and there are countless reports across social media and news that arsonists are starting more fires.
There are a ton of angles being reported about the California fires. I don’t see any reason to pretend I can cover them accurately or better than others, so I’m not going to try. But it’s a massive tragedy.
Thursday the Biden administration announced a security aid package “under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA)” for $500 million. It includes missiles for air defense, air-to-ground munitions and equipment for Ukraine’s use of F-16 fighter jets.
Editors note: This is a proxy war. And wild that we seem unable to admit as much. Arguing for or against is one thing, but not even talking about what it is, a proxy war, is quite another.
File under: No way! - The British Journal of Sports Medicine published a study suggesting that higher physical activity, including walking, can increase life expectancy by years.
Well, the week starts again tomorrow. Stay tuned. I’ll shoot for getting the next weekly roundup out on Friday (regular post I shoot for Wednesday, but sometimes it’s Thursday.) Have a great week!
Really like the links!