Gigantic feline with ridiculously long legs is the tallest pet cat in the world Telegraph (Furzy Mouse).
Warmer winters and humans killed off Europe’s brown bears, researchers find Deutsche Welle
Iconic Monarch Butterflies Could Soon Be Extinct in North America’s West Science Alert
Massive Sunspots and Solar Flares: The Sun Has Gone Wrong and Scientists Don’t Know Why Newsweek
Issuing new loans against unrealised capital gains has created an Australian ‘house of cards’ News.com
The virtual currency boom echoes dotcom fever Izabella Kaminska, FT
Equifax faces legal storm over its handling of data breach FT
Equifax Screwed Up Its Data Breach From Nearly Every Angle New York Magazine
Equifax Data Breach is a 10 out of 10 Scandal TRNN
Equifax finally responds to swirling concerns over consumers’ legal rights WaPo
Equifax Lobbied To Kill Rule Protecting Victims Of Data Breaches David Sirota, International Business Times
North Korea
Why Kim Jong-Un wouldn’t be irrational to use a nuclear bomb first WaPo. Hoo boy.
China ‘shoots down incoming missiles’ during exercise over waters close to North Korea South China Morning Post
The Risk of Nuclear War with North Korea The New Yorker. Long read.
Dangerous Times: North Korea, China and the Threat of Nuclear War and Accident Counterpunch
Seven Steps to a Saner U.S. Policy Towards North Korea The American Conservative
Maritime noose around North Korea tightens Splash 247
China’s Racist Propaganda Rises to Fever Pitch Digital Chosun (TF). TF: “No idea if this is typical of the way they talk about each other. Certainly on the same elevated plane as the ‘freedom fries’ hilarity of pre-Iraq invasion USA.”
Japan’s Abandoned Hotels Are Being Reclaimed by Nature Atlas Obscura
China?
China invests $9.1 billion in Rosneft as Glencore, Qatar cut stakes Reuters
One country, two systems The Economist . Pinyin and Chinese characters.
At least 60 dead, over 200 injured after magnitude-8.1 earthquake rocks Mexico ABC
Hurricane Alley
Irma a Top-End Cat 4 Storm, Now Less than Two Days from Florida Weather Underground
In post-Harvey Houston, extent of water contamination largely unknown Texas Tribune
How Hurricane Harvey Will Ripple Through the U.S. Economy WSJ
Investors in catastrophe bonds flee Irma fury FT
Hurricane Irma And Thinking About Future Climate Change Ian Welsh (MR). Ian sounds a cheerful note!
Trump Transition
Trump signs $15 billion Harvey aid package after Republicans booed top White House officials WaPo
Many GOP lawmakers from storm states refuse to back aid package McClatchy
Deconstructing the DACA Debate RealClearPolitics
Senate Appropriators Reject Trump Administration’s ‘Apparent Doctrine of Retreat’ Roll Call
Ryan’s already-shaky status with GOP colleagues takes another hit McClatchy. As it should; eight years in opposition, and this so-called policy wonk didn’t have a health care bill he could pass.
New report: The corporate attack on the movement for trade justice Corporate Europe Observatory (MT).
Imperial Collapse Watch
The road to torture: How the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” became legal after 9/11 Salon
F-35 firmware patches to be rolled out ‘like iPhone updates’ The Register. What could go wrong?
Spain’s constitutional court suspends Catalan independence bid France24 but Catalonia mayors sign decree approving independence vote, defying Spanish government EuroNews
French neo-colonialists return to Greece under ‘ideal’ conditions unbalanced evolution of homo sapiens (Furzy Mouse).
Democrats in Disarray
The top 15 possible 2020 Democratic nominees, ranked WaPo. #15: Zuckeberg; #1: Sanders. #2: Biden.
Joe Biden’s daughter says ex-VP considering 2020 run CNN
Bernie backers’ attacks on Democrats infuriate the party Politico (MR). Hitting a donkey with a 2×4 probably infuriates it too, but it’s the only way to get the donkey’s attention.
In response to the Democratic Party establishment’s recent attempts to divide the party and grassroots. Medium (MR).
Danny Fetonte’s DSA Resignation Letter Medium. For more on Fetonte see NC here and here.
Health Care
Baucus backs single-payer health system (!) Bozeman Daily Chronicle (ChiGal). Eesh. How’s Baucus gonna pass the Establishment Democrat purity test if he goes and does a thing like that?
Poll: Most Americans want to replace Obamacare with single-payer — including many Republicans WaPo
The ACA is Failing Because It Didn’t Account For Hospital Monopolies in Rural Areas The Intercept. Reading the article, it’s hospital monopolies, period.
Single-payer isn’t the only progressive option on health care Vox. “Universal coverage” vs. “single payer.”
The Case For Confronting Long-Term Opioid Use As A Hospital-Acquired Condition Health Affairs
Powerful painkiller use ‘doubled in 15 years’ BBC
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
The Crypto- Keepers Yasha Levine, The Baffler
#97 What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished? Gimlet (DK).
DolphinAttack: Researchers warn of supersonic voice command hacking SkyNews
Our Famously Free Press
Trust me, I’m lying Eurozine (MT).
U.S. Public Universities Are Falling Behind Bloomberg
Class Warfare
How the aristocracy preserved their power Guardian. “According to a 2010 report for Country Life, a third of Britain’s land still belongs to the aristocracy.”
We Need to Fight for All Undocumented Migrants, Not Just Dreamers The Nation
A tech critic on the sham populism of Silicon Valley Vox
Where the Digital Divide Is the Worst Governing
Terminal Slate. “How the airport came to embody our national psychosis.”
The Narrative of Fear and Insecurity Golem XIX
Oh, Lovely: The Tick That Gives People Meat Allergies Is Spreading Wired
Scientists Hatch Bold Plan to Save Planet From Supervolcano NBC News
Antidote du jour (via):
An eagle in Acadia National Park.
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
