The Supreme Court hands DOGE a victory in accessing Social Security information
The Supreme Court has handed DOGE at least a temporary victory. The team can keep accessing information collected by the Social Security Administration, including medical and mental health records.
Explanatory 'Verticals' Give Big-Name Journalists More Power
Ezra Klein, founder of The Washington Post's Wonkblog policy website, is planning to leave the Post, according to a report in Friday's The New York Times. The Times says the Post's new owner, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, and the Post's publisher turned down Klein's request for a dollar amount in "eight figures" to launch a new explanatory journalism venture. It's a boom time for so-called "content verticals" among news operations, with new projects being launched by the Times, The Wall Street Journal and ESPN, among others.
Arctic Methane Bubbles Not As Foreboding As Once Feared
European scientists were alarmed in 2008 when they discovered streams of methane bubbles erupting from the seafloor in Norway's high Arctic. This gas, which contributes to global warming, was apparently coming from methane ice on the seafloor. A follow-up study finds that methane bubble plumes at this location have probably been forming for a few thousand years, so they are not the result of human-induced climate change. But continued warming of ocean water can trigger more methane releases in the Arctic, with potentially serious consequences to the climate.
Forest Service May Try To Recoup Rim Fire Costs With Logging
The U.S. Forest Service has proposed a large salvage logging operation in the area affected by last year's historic Rim Fire, which burned 410-square miles of California's Sierra Nevada. The proposal is meeting stiff opposition from environmental groups who say the land is better left untouched.