Trump Loyalists Elevated to Powerful Roles at the Pentagon After Firing of Defense Secretary (Reader Jim)
The author writes, “The Pentagon on Tuesday elevated three Trump loyalists to powerful positions a day after the sudden termination of Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and following the resignations of multiple senior officials in the Defense Department. … In a lengthy statement released Tuesday afternoon, the Pentagon said that Anthony Tata, Ezra Cohen-Watnick and Kash Patel had been promoted to key roles.”
‘There Are No Boundaries’: Experts Imagine Trump’s Post-Presidential Life (Dana)
From Politico: “From profiting off his lifetime Secret Service protection to trolling the Biden administration by cozying up to dictators around the world, Trump’s stint as ex-president could be as disruptive and norm-busting as the last four years have been.”
Arizonans With Developmental Disabilities Were Promised Help. Instead, They Face Delays and Denials. (Reader Steve)
From the Arizona Daily Star: “Arizona’s Division of Developmental Disabilities, or DDD, aimed to keep people with developmental disabilities at home with family, or in small group settings, rather than place them into institutions. For many years, it worked. The division sent nurses, speech therapists and respite workers to assist families with the responsibilities of caring 24/7 for relatives with autism, cerebral palsy, epilepsy and intellectual disabilities. Care providers were well paid. There were no long waiting lists for help, as there were in other states. But … the state’s vaunted system does not always deliver on its promises after years of budget cuts, poor management and leadership turnover.”
Leaving Fish in the Ocean Reduces Carbon Dioxide Emissions (Mili)
The author writes, “Leaving more big fish — like tuna, sharks, mackerel and swordfish — in the sea reduces the amount of carbon dioxide released into the Earth’s atmosphere. This is because when a fish dies in the ocean it sinks to the depths and sequestrates all the carbon it contains with it. This is a form of ‘blue carbon.’ Big fish are about 10 to 15 percent carbon.”
The Pandemic Shutdown in San Francisco Had Sparrows Singing Sexier Tunes (Dana)
The author writes, “Elizabeth Derryberry has been studying the songs of white-crowned sparrows for over a decade. Her 2012 work recording and analyzing birdsongs helped demonstrate that San Francisco sparrows slowly shifted their songs to a higher register to be heard above the hustle-and-bustle of city life. In March of this year, when shutdown measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic rendered the city’s once-busy streets nearly silent, Derryberry was struck with an idea. … She wondered if the city’s sparrows — the same ones adapted to sing through the drone of city sounds — were shifting their songs. Derryberry hypothesized that without the onslaught of low-frequency sounds characteristic of urban life, the sparrows would drop their volume and pitch. In a new study … she demonstrated just that.”
