Bell’s hell

Please note, we’ll be off tomorrow and Monday for Labor Day, and we’ll see you on Tuesday!

The CDC is plunged into chaos (again) after the White House ousted its director for refusing to support Kennedy’s vaccine policy changes. / The Guardian

See also: “Eugenics plays prominently in the rhetoric being generated.” Here are the resignation letters from other top CDC officials who have resigned to the director’s firing. / Inside Medicine

A senior EPA official who was previously a lawyer representing companies fighting “forever chemical” rules is now pushing to kill those very regulations. / The New York Times [$]

The Dept. of Homeland Security announces it’s waiving Endangered Species Act protections in order to build Trump’s wall through a Texas wildlife refuge. / Mother Jones

Following a federal judge’s order, “Alligator Alcatraz” appears to be on its way to closure. / NPR

See also: “Mystery surrounds $1.2 billion Army contract to build huge detention tent camp in Texas desert.” / Associated Press

The Mississippi Civil Rights Museum acquires the gun that was used to murder Emmett Till. “I’ve never had an artifact affect me like this.” / The Atlantic [$]

“If hundreds of armed troops were endangered by a couple of hundred college students, then those troops aren’t very good at their job.” A visit to Kent State in 2025. / jukeboxgraduate

“If every author in the class filed a claim…it would ‘financially ruin’ the entire AI industry.” Authors have reached a settlement with Anthropic in a class-action lawsuit. / Ars Technica

Taco Bell has doubled its pace for introducing new—and frequently deranged—menu items, creating a sense of scarcity and newness to appease a nation of withering attention spans. / Bloomberg [$]

See also: As Taco Bell experiments with AI drive-throughs, its customers experiment with ordering “18,000 cups of water, please.” / The Wall Street Journal

Toyota is field-testing the use of old EV batteries to help power the production line at a Mazda plant. / The Drive

Scientists have managed to create artificial photosynthesis, a huge potential breakthrough in developing carbon-neutral renewables. / The Independent

Unrelated: The time Sony built a mall in San Francisco. / Obsolete Sony

Based on what we know so far about Trump’s plan to bolt a 90,000-square-foot ballroom onto the White House, there’s every reason to believe it’s the “architectural equivalent of vaporware.” / The Nation

In an article from 2018, recalling when two economists ranked New York’s best deli sandwiches in 1972. / Atlas Obscura

“God forbid any of you CB loyalists would have to update your tattoos.” I’m the abandoned new Cracker Barrel logo, and you can all go fuck yourselves. / McSweeney’s

An argument for Jenny Saville as the UK’s greatest living painter: “sorry, David Hockney.” / Hyperallergic

From the attic: Ben Shattuck explores what it is that makes one piece of great art better than another equally revered work. / The Morning News

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