News You May Have Missed

Many of the Loop’s editors are news junkies–and we can’t cover it all for ourselves! We collect here interesting articles which received light coverage in mainstream USA media.


September 2023

Exploding watermelons blamed on climate change
https://www.today.com/food/news/watermelons-exploding-foaming-rcna100186

Health impacts of microplastics
https://www.sustainableplastics.com/news/microplastics-found-pass-blood-brain-barrier-even-though-ingested-drinking-water

Pirates are back!  In Oakland, California
https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/boats-docked-at-oakland-marina-being-targeted-by-pirates/

Federal deficit balloons again
https://www.axios.com/2023/09/04/federal-deficit-double-despite-economic-growth

San Francisco so bad, federal workers told to stay away
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/drugs-crime-nancy-pelosi-federal-building-18292237.php

Proposed: King County minimum wage of $19/hour
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/king-county-looks-at-19-minimum-wage-in-unincorporated-areas/

August 2023

Notre Dame's golden dome is coming back
https://www.nd.edu/stories/golden-hour/

Solid tumor cancer treatment breakthrough AOH1966 patent granted, Phase 1 trial starts
https://www.cityofhope.org/city-hope-scientists-develop-targeted-chemotherapy-able-kill-all-solid-tumors-preclinical-research

Has The Room-Temperature Ambient-Pressure Superconductor Been Replicated?
(With history as a guide, assume this is a material with exotic properties while not actually being a superconductor at room temperatures.)
https://thedeepdive.ca/has-the-room-temperature-ambient-pressure-superconductor-been-replicated/

Facial recognition and false arrests
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/06/technology/facial-recognition-false-arrest.html

AI Banned from Future Dungeons and Dragons books
https://games.slashdot.org/story/23/08/06/197228/ai-generated-art-banned-from-future-dungeons-dragons-books-after-fan-uproar

Leprosy in Florda?  Yes, but...
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/hansens-psyop-saturday-august-5-2023

A deep dive into antioxidants, and why cows and pigs are immune to SARS-CoV-2
https://jessicar.substack.com/p/the-spike-protein-ace-2-cysteine

July 2023

CDC in 2020, based on evidence of CO2 buildup, recommended workers
wear N95 respirators for no longer than 1 hour
https://blogs.cdc.gov/niosh-science-blog/2020/06/10/ppe-burden/

Total aid to Ukraine so far
https://minre.gov.ua/en/2023/06/29/170-billion-in-international-aid-to-ukraine/

The largest Lego fan convention in the Pacific NW comes to Bellevue
https://www.brickcon.org

They are watching and listening--via "your" Device
https://www.azernews.az/region/212009.html

Worked with US Special Forces in Afghanistan, even survived
taking the last flight out.  Loses his life to DC criminals.
https://thenationalpulse.com/2023/07/08/afghan-interpreter-given-special-visa-after-bidens-withdrawal-shot-dead-by-d-c-thugs/

BRICS trade bloc looking at gold-backed currency
https://bigleaguepolitics.com/brics-plans-to-introduce-gold-backed-currency-to-challenge-globalist-financial-system/

Bees are still not doing well at all
https://survival.news/2023-06-29-us-beekeepers-lost-48-honey-bee-colonies-last-year.html

Nevada license plate telling Californians to "go back" is pulled
https://apnews.com/article/nevada-license-plate-recall-california-da72e2eb8a01b883c90e2dadc2d4766f

Maine woman punches bear to protect her dog
https://apnews.com/article/black-bear-woman-bitten-maine-1ad636d74a117e5db7297e44866a9499

June 2023

Are annual physicals a good idea?
https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2016/9/26/13029358/annual-physical-tv-doctors-america

WA's first Director of Equity fired
https://www.king5.com/article/news/politics/investigation-inappropriate-workplace-behavior-former-equity-director/281-dc85cb3b-768e-4322-aec1-556e068d1290

Contamination in mRNA production
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/bio-shocks-monday-june-5-2023-c-and

A popular sweetener is harmful?
https://www.theepochtimes.com/health/researchers-discover-toxic-sweetener-damages-dna_5307637.html

It's getting harder and harder to buy home insurance in California
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/allstate-insurance-state-farm-california/
(Note that getting a home loan requires getting insurance. This could become a problem.)

May 2023

Military recruiting woes
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/05/02/we-are-going-fall-short-army-will-miss-its-recruiting-goal-year.html

Bed Bath & Beyond declares bankruptcy
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/23/business/bed-bath-beyond-bankruptcy/index.html

UK trying losing companies from its stock market exchange
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-proposes-simplify-rules-help-encourage-companies-list-uk

New York City mayor breaks ranks on border crisis
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/04/29/eric-adams-new-york-immigration-00094491

Inslee leaving, Ferguson steps up
https://www.axios.com/local/seattle/2023/05/02/inslee-replacement-wahington-governor
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/wa-attorney-general-bob-ferguson-announces-campaign-for-governor/

Rivian R1T fender bender--$42k in repair costs
https://www.thedrive.com/news/rivian-r1t-fender-bender-turns-into-42000-repair-bill

April 2023

USA cancels hypersonic missile program
https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/03/30/us-air-force-drops-lockheed-hypersonic-missile-after-failed-tests/

A trend to watch: "de-dollarization"
https://www.aier.org/article/de-dollarization-has-begun/
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/why-regime-needs-dollar-be-global-reserve-currency

Germany slows EV transition
https://www.sae.org/news/2023/03/european-ice-ban

WHO accuses China of hiding data relevant to Covid origins
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/health/covid-origins-who.html

RESTRICT act is a lot more than a TikTok ban
https://reason.com/2023/03/31/the-restrict-act-would-restrict-a-lot-more-than-tiktok/

Actor with major roles in John Wick, Bosch TV series, The Wire, Lost, Oz dies suddenly
https://news.yahoo.com/lance-reddick-cause-death-disclosed-182407141.html

March 2023

The kids are not alright:
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/13-numbers-show-how-dramatically-we-have-failed-americas-children

Petition calling on DoJ to cease prosecution of Julian Assange
https://cpj.org/2022/12/cpj-partners-send-letter-calling-for-us-to-drop-charges-against-julian-assange/

Taylor Swift has a surprising fan
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/attorney-general-merrick-garland-swiftie-1235279303/

California loses both people and tax base
https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/02/california-population-exodus-housing/

Religion popping up in surprising places
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/02/asbury-kentucky-university-christian-revival/673176/
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/eric-adams-bemoans-prayers-out-schools-guns-came

Viet Nam as a lens for Ukraine
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/does-it-take-a-war

Hidden passage in Great Pyramid of Giza
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/most-important-discovery-21st-century-archeologists-find-hidden-corridor-great-pyramid-giza

February 2023

Ichtyiosaur maternity ward?
https://apnews.com/article/science-nevada-5d178d49678731ddbee9e0b323c19d8b

Critical to solar power and EVs are the many mined materials from Africa. The impact of such mining was the focus of recent meeting
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/01/23/us-africa-summit-profits-mining/

UnitedHealthcare and the question of how cost affects their decisions
https://www.propublica.org/article/unitedhealth-healthcare-insurance-denial-ulcerative-colitis

CNET starts using AI to write their articles, faces a backlash, and "pauses" it
https://www.theepochtimes.com/cnets-use-of-ai-to-write-articles-sparks-concern_4992346.html
https://news.slashdot.org/story/23/01/20/230209/cnet-pauses-publishing-ai-written-stories-after-disclosure-controversy

Big Tech layoffs, and the NSA swoops in
https://www.theepochtimes.com/us-layoffs-reach-two-year-high-as-big-tech-cut-thousands-of-jobs-in-january_5029736.html
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/feb/3/nsa-wooing-thousands-laid-big-tech-workers-spy-age/

The UK military is precariously depleted
https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/02/04/uk-military-would-run-out-of-ammo-in-just-one-day-of-fighting-russia-warns-general/
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/british-army-no-longer-able-to-defend-uk-and-its-allies-us-general-warns/ar-AA16WSFW

January 2023

Congress passes bill forcing railroad compromise
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/

Government banning TikTok back in the news
https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/29/tech/south-dakota-tiktok/index.html
https://justthenews.com/government/security/sun-19-states-have-put-restrictions-or-banned-tiktok-due-national-security

Russia launches a variety of new warships
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/missiles-deep-russia-just-launched-new-ballistic-missile-submarine-198661
https://www.thedefensepost.com/2022/12/29/russia-new-warships-submarines/

...and orders more advanced anti-ship missiles
https://www.navalnews.com/naval-news/2022/11/russia-orders-additional-tsirkon-hypersonic-missiles/

Unintended consequences of bad faith behind Minsk accords
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202212/1281708.shtml

President of European Commission cites Ukraine KIA number, this part of her
speech is subsequently trimmed from all media.
https://news.yahoo.com/von-der-leyen-statement-death-163600213.html

Twitter, now owned by Musk, provides new transparency into
past decisions via "The Twitter Files"
https://www.westernjournal.com/can-read-twitter-files-right/

Did the CIA kill John F. Kennedy?  A generation-spanning question
receives new life
https://theintercept.com/2022/12/22/deconstructed-jfk-files-cia/

DEA announces record Fentanyl seizures in 2022
https://www.dea.gov/press-releases/2022/12/20/drug-enforcement-administration-announces-seizure-over-379-million-deadly

Mysterious cell tower-like devices popping up around Salt Lake City
https://ksltv.com/516749/why-are-antennas-popping-up-all-over-the-foothills-salt-lake-city-seeks-to-solve-mystery/
Many guesses are that these are nodes in the decentralized Helium network.

Progress with the Notre Dame reconstruction
https://aleteia.org/2023/01/06/notre-dame-cathedral-on-track-for-2024-reopening-spire-to-rise-in-2023/

December 2022

Who’s buying all this gold? https://www.marketplace.org/2022/11/22/somebodys-been-on-a-gold-buying-bender-its-not-clear-who-or-why/amp/

The tripledemic may not be as dangerous as feared https://www.science.org/content/article/competition-between-respiratory-viruses-may-hold-tripledemic-winter

Stanford president under investigation for academic fraud https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/education/stanford-president-under-investigation-after-school-newspaper-report

GE buys out NY Times’ entire advertising for a day–print, digital, even a custom wrapper for the paper https://www.axios.com/2022/12/06/ge-new-york-times-advertising-entire-paper-edition

TSMC hedging against possible China action? https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/06/tsmc-to-up-arizona-investment-to-40-billion-with-second-semiconductor-chip-plant.html


November 2022


Stripe cutting 14% of its workforce in preparation for “leaner times”. https://slashdot.org/story/22/11/03/1342250/stripe-cutting-headcount-by-14-as-it-readies-for-leaner-times


Egypt is a choke point for Internet cables. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/22/11/03/1450215/why-egypt-became-one-of-the-biggest-chokepoints-for-internet-cables


Turkey experiencing hyperinflation. https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/turkeys-inflation-hits-fresh-24-year-high-83-after-rate-cuts-2022-10-03/


USA fading influence over Saudi Arabia. https://news.yahoo.com/saudi-arabia-reiterates-commitment-china-000000903.html


October 2022


Notre Dame’s restoration is drawing on ancient and lost skills. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/20/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-rebuild-medieval-carpenters-guledon?CMP=share_btn_tw&fbclid=IwAR0NnTJ0QYZ5rswboMokhhkp3jmSJGBBFG0c3aEKRMMkKXoGdh_N1vaol2g


China is having their own mini-2008, and their citizens protest when they aren’t allowed to withdraw money from their own bank accounts. The government sends out police and… tanks? https://www.newsweek.com/video-chinese-tanks-protecting-banks-customers-prompts-rumors-1726696


Rural hospitals are doing so badly, some are almost being given away. https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2022/08/some-rural-hospitals-are-in-such-bad-shape-local-governments-are-practically-giving-them-away.html


The UK approval document for Pfizer mRNA does not recommend it for the pregnant and nursing. (Scan down to the Toxicology section.) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/regulatory-approval-of-pfizer-biontech-vaccine-for-covid-19/summary-public-assessment-report-for-pfizerbiontech-covid-19-vaccine


Researchers are using “AI” to scan and integrate data sets of voter rolls, address changes, and property tax records to detect out of date voter registrations. This is an early article; the technology has evolved considerably. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/technology/unregistered-voter-rolls.html


Key Alzheimers origin of disease theory that has been the center of clinical research and funding for nearly 2 decades is probably a fraud. https://www.science.org/content/article/potential-fabrication-research-images-threatens-key-theory-alzheimers-disease?cookieSet=1