Welcome to the Overnight News Digest (OND) for Tuesday, January 05, 2015
OND is a regular community feature on Daily Kos, consisting of news stories from around the world, sometimes coupled with a daily theme, original research or commentary. Editors of OND impart their own presentation styles and content choices, typically publishing near 12:00AM Eastern Time. Creation and early water-bearing of the OND concept came from our very own Magnifico - respect is due.
This diary is named for its "Hump Point" video: How to Swear Like a Brit by Anglophenia
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Top News |
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Let's drink to being a champagne environmentalist
By Andrew Simms
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. . .
Unrelenting, bleak and disconnected is no way to start a new year. But what if there was a seasonal subject that could tell the climate story, explain how we might change and adapt and, at least if you live in the UK, provide a little pleasure too?
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The world of wine, and especially the sparkling kind, can seem frivolous. But shifting patterns of global production are becoming a bellwether for climate change. Rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns pose particular problems to an industry which is so sensitive to weather that even mild seasonal variations can be tasted in every glass of the final product. Some grapes, like pinot noir, prosper only in a temperature range of 14C-16C.
Increasing extreme weather events like the damaging European heatwave of 2003, revealed an acute vulnerability, for example, of traditional champagne-growing areas. Winemaking literally dried up. Last summer saw fears of a repeat. Wine reveals how a warming world challenges us to find new, more benign production methods and also to rethink our consumption habits.
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“I think that as human beings, until we experience something like real pain, we can generally find a way to rationalise things and pretty much defer tough decisions,” says Randall Grahm of the Bonny Doon Vineyard, a wine maker near Santa Cruz, celebrated for championing terroir and biodynamic growing techniques. “But, wells are running dry. The 2015 vintage is possibly the earliest harvest on record in California, and wild-fire flames are licking at the edge of Napa Valley.”
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Rising temperatures are changing the characteristics of the grapes and the wine they produce, he says, and not in a good way. Alcohol content is going up and natural acidities are declining, eroding the wines’ finesse and elegance. In response, makers are trying to find new grape varieties or rootstocks, avoid local regulatory obstacles to planting new vineyards, and respond creatively to climate change.
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North Korea announces hydrogen bomb test
By (BBC)
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The North Korean authorities say they have successfully tested a hydrogen bomb amid reports of a tremor near the main nuclear test site.
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If confirmed, it would mean Pyongyang is intent on pursuing its nuclear programme with little regard for the major political and diplomatic costs that will inevitably accompany this unwelcome development, says Dr John Nilsson-Wright of Asia Programme at Chatham House.
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Unlike an atomic bomb, powered by nuclear fission, a hydrogen bomb is powered by the fusion of lighter elements into heavier elements Such bombs can be as small as a few feet long and can fit in warheads of ballistic missiles
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The BBC's Kevin Kim in Seoul says analysts will now focus on trying to detect if any gases have leaked from the subterranean explosion to conclude what type of nuclear material may have been used, if it indeed it was a test of a hydrogen bomb.
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NRA responds to New York ammunition bills with menacing photo of lawmakers
By Ellen Brait
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A National Rifle Association publication targeted a pair of New York state legislators who sponsored recent bills aimed at limiting ammunition by tweeting a threatening photo on Monday of several bullets strewn across polaroid pictures of the two women.
New York state senator Roxanne Persaud and Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon, both Democrats in Brooklyn, sponsored twin bills a few weeks ago to help control the sale of ammunition by limiting bullet purchases over a 90-day period to twice the gun’s capacity, and stopping the sale of ammunition to those unauthorized to own such a weapon.
“If I have a cold, I can’t buy Sudafed without ID, but I can walk into any gun shop and walk out with enough bullets to arm a small army without showing any kind of ID,” Simon said in a joint release. “The sky is the limit. The San Bernardino shooters had 6,000 rounds of ammunition. We need this legislation so that cannot happen here.”
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Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the NRA on Monday said the group was unfazed by Obama’s executive actions.
“This is it, really?” Jennifer Baker, an official with the NRA’s Washington lobbying arm, told the New York Times. “This is what they’ve been hyping for how long now? This is the proposal they’ve spent seven years putting together? They’re not really doing anything.”
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International |
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ASaudi-Iran standoff: War or a grand bargain?
By (Al Jazeera)
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Arab Analysts, speaking to Al Jazeera, ruled out the possibility of a military showdown between the two countries but warned that the worsening relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran will most likely exacerbate Sunni-Shia tension in the region and most importantly complicate efforts to combat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIL). Samer Abboud, Associate Professor of international studies, University of Arcadia, Syria
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The animosity between Saudi Arabia and Iran is about many regional issues and not confined to the execution of Sheikh al-Nimr or the burning of an embassy. So the mending of relations will have to be part of "a grand bargain". The international community will find itself now under mounting pressure to broker a settlement between Riyadh and Tehran, that will most probably have a positive impact on many of the conflicts in the region, especially the war on terrorism.
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With falling oil prices and increased regional militarisation, the de-escalation in tensions between Iran and Saudi Arabia seems to be the most rationale choice.
. . . After the decisive storm campaign in Yemen, the ongoing attempt to build strong relations with Turkey, the decision to execute the Shia religious leader Nimr al-Nimr, and the cutting of diplomatic relations with Tehran, Riyadh has moved fast to change the dynamics of the relations with Tehran.
The Saudi decision may have little impact on the conflict in Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. It appears that Riyadh will work with Turkey and other regional players to drain Iran politically. This would include complicating the domestic politics in Iran as the country is preparing for parliamentary and expert council elections in the last week of February.
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USA |
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This company wants to make billions by pumping water from the Mojave Desert
By Kate Yoder
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Deserts are not exactly known for having an ample supply of water — quite the opposite, by definition — but an underground oasis lies beneath the toasty, solar-rich surface of the Mojave Desert. According to the Guardian, Cadiz Inc. plans to pump 814 billion gallons from the desert’s aquifer to L.A. and other California communities. Joanna Walters from the Guardian reports:
Slater has already got contracts to sell the water for $960 an acre foot (the amount of water it takes to cover an acre of land in a foot of water). That works out at $2.4 billion over the 50 years of the company’s water extraction deal with San Bernardino County. His problem, however, is convincing politicians, regulators, and the public that pumping water 200 miles from the desert aquifer to L.A. is a good idea.
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Slater does not seem worried about potential impacts of the project, which he calls “environmentally ‘benign,’” according to Walters. The rest of us remain unconvinced.
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Welcome to the "Hump Point" of this OND.
News can be sobering and engrossing - at this point in the diary, an offering of brief escapism:
Random notes related to this video:
A former CBBC presenter is gaining recognition across the pond for a new series of online films designed to explain British habits to the US.
But Portsmouth-born Kate Arnell's latest instalment is practically turning the air blue as she translates typical UK expletives to Americans who are mystified by Anglo-Saxon terms such as 'bloody' and 'sod'.
In her latest episode called How To Swear Like A Brit, she issues a disclaimer, saying, 'If you're a bit sensitive and swearing is not your thing, simply cover your ears.'
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The 31-year-old, who hosts Anglophenia on BBC America in which she vlogs about all things British, then launches into a slew of crude words.
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While it is supposedly a lesson for those across the pond, the short video makes interesting viewing for those who are already well-versed in the vocabulary of British swearing.
Ms Arnell began her TV career as an MTV presenter before working for CBBC and Disney
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'I started out at MTV. They were looking for a host for their new channel, so I sent in a tape and got the job!' she told BBC America.
'They threw me in at the deep end, presenting live daily shows, interviewing pop stars and playing music video requests. It was great fun and I learned a lot!
Back to what's happening:
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Environmental |
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As Technology Marches On, Reservoir Caretakers Stay At Their Posts
By Grace Hood
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As technology advances, many industries are being disrupted by increased automation. But when it comes to managing and protecting the water supply, there are many tasks that still require a combination of people and technology.
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Doug Billingsley is one of those caretakers. While lots of us start our workday staring at a computer screen, his typical day begins with a snowmobile ride that feels like a bucking bronco. By snowmobile, snowshoe or foot, he looks after about a half-dozen northern Colorado reservoirs that feed the city of Greeley's water supply. He does it multiple times a week. And he's done the job for two decades.
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When it comes to dam safety, human eyes are still one of the best tools to recognize problems, according to Bill McCormick, the dam safety chief for Colorado. Take for example an earthen dam, a type of dam made with compacted earth. Automated tools monitor water seepage; small amounts are common. But if new seepage starts in another location, automated sensors can't catch that problem.
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"They're trusting me to take care of the city's assets. And I'm up here enjoying life," he says. "I'm by myself 90 percent of the time. I'm out here in nature. I talk to myself and nobody judges me. It's great."
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Science and Health |
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Kepler Has Uncovered a Trove of New Planets in Our Cosmic Backyard
By Maddie Stone
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If you thought the Kepler spacecraft’s glory days were over, think again. Today at the 227th meeting of the American Astronomical Society, astronomers announced a whopping 234 new exoplanet candidates discovered by Kepler in 2014. The best part? All of them are just tens of light years away.
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Since the spring of 2014, Kepler has moved across the plane of our solar system (the ecliptic plane), observing different parts of the northern and southern hemisphere skies for 80 days at a time. The scope is currently on its eighth K2 observational campaign, and it’s still going strong. With a little luck and NASA’s blessing, we can expect at least ten more campaigns over the next few years. Moral of the story? Never say a broken telescope is useless.
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While the K2 candidates still need to be verified with additional observations, you can bet astronomers are going to be giving them a close look over the coming years. These worlds are much, much closer to Earth than the planets identified during the original Kepler mission. That makes them promising targets for future, high-res imaging studies, which begin with the James Webb Space Telescope in 2018.
Indeed, K2 planets are among the first extrasolar worlds whose atmospheres we’ll be able to study in detail. Once we can decode atmospheric chemistry, we can start to say with confidence whether any of the myriad worlds beyond our solar system are habitable. Just maybe, we’ll get lucky and find ourselves a true Earth-twin, right in our cosmic neighborhood.
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Technology |
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Man with inflatable penis implant will lose virginity to sex worker
By David Pescovitz
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Last year, Mohammed Abad, 43, whose penis was destroyed when he was hit by a car as a child, received an 8-inch implant involving two tubes that inflate his reconstructed flesh phallus when he pumps it up via a button in his scrotum. The implant was the culmination of years of reconstructive surgery. . .
"I am so honoured that he chose me to take his virginity," she said. "We plan to have a dinner date so we can get to know each other and then two hours of private time. I’m not charging him.”
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Cultural |
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Temba Bavuma hundred for South Africa transcended cricket
By Jonathan Agnew
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I've been very lucky - I have followed South Africa and witnessed their first tour after they came back into world cricket in 1991 following the wilderness years of apartheid.
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They are trying very hard to overcome the legacy of those years so Bavuma, as the first black African to score a century for South Africa, is massively symbolic.
The South African authorities will be hoping his achievement resonates amongst an enormous number of people who might be inspired to take up cricket. It is very, very important.
In only his seventh Test match, Bavuma played superbly well and proved he is worthy as a Test batsman regardless of his skin colour.
He batted absolutely brilliantly and was a breath of fresh air. He attacked when England had taken three wickets in 20 minutes and had a real chance of putting South Africa under pressure.
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Meteor Blades is known to offer an enlightening Evening Open Diary - you might consider checking that out tonight if you haven't already.