Living with porpoise
To garner approval for his projects, Trump consistently cites “national security,” which is apparently why his triumphal arch now has snipers. / The New York Times [$]
See also: In documents related to his ballroom construction, the president pushed back on fire and safety violations: “I am the code.” / The Washington Post [$]
The White House loosening protections for wolves won’t help America’s ranchers as much as not importing hundreds of thousands of pounds of cheap beef. / Inside Climate News
Four of the beluga whales relocated after the closure of a Canadian aquarium have now died, raising concerns that aquariums maybe aren’t the conservation venues they market themselves as. / Vox [$]
Unrelated: The New Bedford Whaling Museum, which is not an aquarium, turns a disappointed visitor’s “worst aquarium ever” review into merch. / My Modern Met
News that animal behaviorists are using AI makes people wonder: Will we be able to speak dolphin? “I think we’re doing the animals a disservice by focusing on that question.” / The Guardian
See also: A 2003 “interview” with the US Navy’s AWOL mine-sweeping dolphin. / The Morning News
Birdsong has been shown to improve people’s moods, except when you can hear traffic noise in the background. / Jalopnik
See also: SpaceX’s planned launch facility in South Louisiana could disrupt the wetlands ecosystem, including bird migration, local experts warn. / The Lens
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Texas will appeal a federal judge’s order that the state is in violation of the Eighth Amendment, and must fully air condition all of its prisons. / The Texas Tribune
The Read Max AI September 2026 Discourse Matrix outlines the differences between the doomers, the accelerationists, the maximal skeptics, and a fourth as-yet-unnamed group. / Read Max
“Human development has always been constrained by the limits of available and easy-to-exploit energy.” Why AI is a natural next step from the nuclear age. / Foreign Policy
Emily C. Hughes connects Walter Benjamin’s Arcades Project to the Backrooms, which are “corporate alienation taken to a fantastical extreme. There is nothing comforting here.” / Darker Times
How to transport a block of butter from France to America, or why you can’t count on your hotel’s minibar to keep your cargo cold. / The Wall Street Journal [$]
A news aggregator that highlights local newsrooms and specifically shuts out “chains, hedge-fund papers, and metro dailies." / Give Me Some Good News
Today is John Coltrane’s 100th birthday, and to celebrate here’s a cover of “Miles’ Mode” by Tortoise’s Jeff Parker. / Bandcamp