A Convenient Truth | This Isn’t The Op-End | Gentrificasia

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” – Mark Twain

“Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.” – Ibid.

A Convenient Truth: The Northern Sea Route is a passageway with “no queues and no pirates,” at least for the present. It runs from the edge of Alaska to the top of Scandinavia along Russia’s desolate Siberian coastline. Climate change is causing a deeply troubling retreat of sea ice, particularly at the poles, which in turn is making maritime transit along this fabled route possible for extended summer months.Russia, China and other countries’ commercial shipping interests are anticipating that the Northern Sea Route will become the melt-season (between July and October) alternative to Egypt’s Suez Canal, trimming weeks off transit times and slashing fuel costs for vessels shuttling between ports in Europe and Asia, as well as the Americas. Experts say climate models suggest ice-free summers in the Arctic will occur between 2050 and 2070, with some scenarios forecasting even more rapid change happening as soon as 2030.

An expensive new ice-class container ship, the Venta Maersk, owned by Danish shipping giant Maersk, is attempting the world’s first navigation of the Northern route. Among the crew are experienced Russian pilots, to help avoid the hazards of floating ice, while four Russian nuclear-powered icebreakers are ready to assist if the Venta gets into trouble. This “new Arctic” will be a boon to some, but environmentalists say it’s extremely distressing for those who worry about the future of life on this planet.

The Arctic environment today is still relatively pristine and sparsely populated, but as more and more ports are built, and tankers laden with oil and gas operate in extreme conditions, fears escalate of another disastrous oil spill like the one in 1989 from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska’s Prince William Sound. Then there’s “black carbon”, the sooty pollution emitted from ships and industry that spreads across the ice and speeds its melting.

Additional reads:

I’m Getting Too Old For This Soviet: Alexei Navalny, a famous Kremlin critic, used YouTube ads to call for rallies and protests following Putin’s announcement of his plans to change the retirement age in Russia. This resulted in a large protest that ended in the arrest of 800 people. The ads were taken down after Russian officials sent a letter to Google informing them that the ads were technically illegal in Russia since they “bar political campaigning 24 hours before elections.” Google removed the ads stating, “We consider all justified appeals from state bodies. We also require advertisers to act in accordance with the local law and our advertising policies…” This marks the first time Google has worked with the Russian government. (Guardian)

– “Putin bets on parks and trains to win over Moscow’s middle class. His bet is paying off.” He’s really taking back the phrase, “he made the trains run on time.” (WaPo)

Gentrificasia: Fewer and fewer of the Foxconn workers who make iPhones in Shenzhen, China can afford to live where they work. City leaders are trying to transform this high-tech hub into China’s version of Silicon Valley, converting older, affordable apartments into sleek modern units to attract members of the growing Chinese middle class. It’s the irony of factory workers who were the backbone of China’s zooming industrial growth becoming victims of the country’s prosperity. (WaPo)

Year Of The Dead: At least 30,000 people were killed in Mexico last year. 40,000 are missing. Authorities hope to identify some of those people after studying over 400 human skulls, more than 100 ID cards, and about 200 items of clothing found in mass grave sites recently discovered in the state of Veracruz. (WaPo)

Protests In Basra: Anti-government protesters in the southern Iraqi city of Basra set fire to the Iranian consulate on Friday. Earlier in the week the offices of a major Iran-linked militia and an Iran-backed political party were set on fire. Demonstrators have been calling for an end to Iran’s influence in Iraq, and for an end to dysfunction in Iraq’s government. (NPR)

Syrian Airstrikes: On Saturday Syrian and Russian warplanes launched dozens of airstrikes on Syria’s northern province of Idlib. At least seven civilians were killed. The Syrian government’s attempt to reclaim the last rebel-held stronghold in the country could set off a humanitarian crisis among the area’s 3 million civilians, half of whom were already displaced from elsewhere in Syria. (WaPo)

Good Morning, Afghanistan: 17 years into the war in Afghanistan, and it’s resembling Vietnam more and more. US government officials routinely issue inflated reports of progress being made there that is contradicted by actual facts. The American military says the Afghan government effectively “controls or influences” 56 percent of the country. In truth, since 2017, the Taliban holds more Afghan territory than at any time since the US invasion. More than 2200 Americans have been killed in the conflict, and the US has spent more than $840 billion fighting the Taliban insurgency and paying for relief and reconstruction. Since the international coalition has mostly withdrawn and left the majority of the fighting to Afghans, their death toll has steadily risen. Almost 7000 Afghan police and soldiers died in the first 10 months of 2016. In the past month three military bases have fallen to insurgents in northern Afghanistan and dozens of police, soldiers and civilians have been killed. (NYT)

This Isn’t The Op-End: Reporters asked President Trump Friday was asked whether Attorney General Jeff Sessions should investigate the New York Times for publishing an op-ed by an anonymous official in the White House who said, among other things, Trump is unfit for office. The president said publishing the article was a matter of national security and Sessions should investigate it as such. Asked whether any action should be taken against the Times, Trump said “I’m looking at that right now.” (NPR)

Barack Is Back: Former President Barack Obama has restrained himself from openly criticizing his successor, but all that changed Friday in a speech at the University of Illinois that kicked off his midterm campaigning. Obama directly attacked President Trump, saying the man in the Oval Office isn’t just a political opponent but a threat to the core of America itself. “I’m here as a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president,” Obama said, “to deliver a simple message, which is that you need to vote, because our democracy depends on it.” (Politico)

Hit Him With A Far-Right Hook: Jeffrey Winder was charged with punching the organizer of the “Unite the Right” rally, Jason Kessler. He was initially going to serve 30 days in jail, however, after Winder appealed that verdict, a jury decided that while he was guilty he should face the most minimal punishment possible: a fine of $1.Winder’s attorney praised the decision and those involved stating, “They were all kind.” (NPR)

– “Discreetly Tracking Down Sex Partners To Stop A Surge In STDs: The U.S. is in the middle of a steep and sustained increase in sexually transmitted diseases.” (NPR)

– “David Brock: I knew Brett Kavanaugh during his years as a Republican operative. Don’t let him sit on the Supreme Court.” (NBC)

– “Prosecutors Admit They Wrongly Accused Russian of Offering Sex for Republican Access” Are you blushing or just a Commie? (NYT)

– “Emirates airline: Passengers sick on Dubai-New York flight: Nineteen people have been taken ill after an Emirates airline plane landed in New York, officials say.” We understand…No one really wants to go to JFK. (BBC)

– “Tesla Stock Takes A Hit — After Elon Musk Does The Same: Tesla shares fell more than 6 percent on Friday, after top executives resigned and CEO Elon Musk appeared to smoke pot in a video.” Musk once again showing us that he’s the coooool multi-millionaire CEO. (NPR)

– “The Bullet in My Arm: I grew up in a gun-loving town in Alabama. My grandfather’s store sells firearms. But only after I was shot did I begin to understand America’s complicated relationship with guns.” (Atlantic)

– “The YouTube stars heading for burnout: ‘The most fun job imaginable became deeply bleak’: Why are so many YouTubers finding themselves stressed, lonely and exhausted?” Thanks for watching guys, leave a like and a comment and don’t forget to SMAAASH that never ending feeling of doubt. (Guardian)

– “Having Trouble Finishing This Headline? Then This Article Is for You.” (NYT)

– “The Omnivorous Sharks That Eat Grass: Sharks are not known for their taste for greenery. But at least one species of shark enjoys a salad of sea grass as well as the prey it hunts.” Just when you thought it was safe to be grass. (NYT)

– “The Incapacitated President: Trump’s own aides don’t trust him to lead the country. Meanwhile, the only people who can stop this crisis pretend it doesn’t exist.” (Slate)

– “The End of Amazon: How, when and why the e-commerce giant will fall.” (BOF)

– “A New Spotify Initiative Makes the Big Record Labels Nervous: For decades, the path to stardom in the music industry has usually gone through a major record company.” (NYT)

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