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Links 9/19/2023

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The hunt for wild crocodile eggs that feeds the designer handbag craze Washington Post (furzy)

‘Monstrous’ sea lice and jellyfish invasions blighting Scottish salmon farms Guardian (Kevin W). Eeew.

The Loss of Dark Skies Is So Painful, Astronomers Coined a New Term For It: ‘Noctalgia‘ Space

Economic relationships in Pre-Columbian Mexico show that Aztec rulers were ruthless exploiters PhysOrg

What Makes Life Tick? Mitochondria May Keep Time for Cells Quanta (David L)

Nobel disease: Why some of the world’s greatest scientists eventually go crazy Big Think (Micael T)

Tolerogenic Vaccines: An Exciting New Approach to Autoimmune Diseases Eric Topol (Dr. Kevin)

Florida, Cradle of Brazilian Butt-Lift Deaths Improbable (Micael T)

#COVID-19

No, Covid can never, ever be ‘just a cold.’ Here’s why Nate Bear

Climate/Environment

Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power New Atlas. Chuck L: “If this pans out it will be big.”

Wildfire prep for homes is growing, thanks to climate change, insurance and tech NPR (David L)

Note in the northeast. Both north and east are farming areas and have been parched during this rainy season:

‘This Is Huge’: Newsom to Sign Historic Climate Disclosure Bills for Big Corporations Common Dreams (David L)

California accuses Big Oil of covering up climate change risks in lawsuit Financial Times (Kevin W)

And what would be the carbon cost of this level of surveillance?

Iron Dust Could Reverse the Course of Climate Change New York Times (David L). From earlier in the week, still germane.

Study finds human-driven mass extinction is eliminating entire branches of the tree of life PhysOrg (David L) :-(

Florida’s coral reef is dying. Only one thing can save it. Vox (furzy)

China?

China-aided poverty alleviation project brings hope to Cambodia’s remote village Bangkok Post (furzy)

The real lessons of Japanification are getting lost Satyajit Das, Nikkei

India

India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor is a geopolitical pipe dream Indian Punchline. I did not write this up, but it looked silly on maps. Too many modal changes: from rail to sea to rail to sea to rail.

‘Credible evidence’ India behind alleged assassination of Sikh leader, says Trudeau Guardian (Kevin W). As the related Financial Times article indicates, Trudeau says the evidence is from intel services and they are investigation. This is a hell of a charge to levy while basically admitting you don’t have all the facts.

Live India expels Canadian diplomat as Sikh murder row escalates BBC

Africa

Note a rapidly quashed coup attempt could be depicted as “no coup attempted”:

European Disunion

Europe must finally isolate itself t-online (furzy, via machine translation, original here). Moar garden v. jungle, immigration version.

Italy extends detention period to deter migrant crossings after Lampedusa surge France24 (furzy)

Human rights in Russia have ‘significantly’ worsened since Ukraine war began, UN-backed expert says Associated Press (furzy)

Thousands hold protest in Prague, demand Czech’s pro-Western govt. resign PressTV (Anthony L)

Berlin is introducing an upper limit for living space: only one room per tenant Tichy’s Insight (Anthony L, machine translation, original here)

Old Blighty

The buildings were a sign of civic pride’: anger as art colleges around the UK close their doors Guardian (Kevin W)

Keir Starmer pledges to seek major rewrite of Brexit deal Financial Times (Kevin W

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine SitRep: Weird Claims, High Losses Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

Live: Ukraine says grain ship has left Black Sea port despite Russian threat France24 (furzy). Russia has said it would stop ships to inspect them for weapons….

Russian Economy To Grow 2.8 Percent in 2023: Putin teleSUR (furance)

UKRAINIAN CHILD ABDUCTORS “WHITE ANGEL” AND “PHOENIX” ARE SUPERVISED BY NATO STRUCTURES AND ACT ON ZELENSKY’S PERSONAL ORDERS Foundation to Battle Injustice (Micael T). Russian counterpropaganda, which does not make it false.

Chechen Strongman Appears in New Video Amid Speculation of Ill Health Moscow Times (furzy)

Syraqistan

Imperial Collapse Watch

AMERICA HAS LOST ITS DIPLOMATIC MOJO Larry Johnson. Not to diminish Johnson, but this has been a theme of the Duran duo for weeks.

US aerospace operations revamp faces turbulence Asia Times

Biden

Jesse Watters: Biden family has been doing business with Chinese diamond dealers Fox. Li: “Wowsers, using diamonds to launder money, note the Chinese firm was not a dealer.”

GOP Clown Car

Lauren Boebert issues apology after finding out Beetlejuice shows have really good night vision camera AVClub (Dr. Kevin)

Our No Longer Free Press

With democracy on the ballot, the mainstream press must change its ways Margaret Sullivan, Guardian. Kevin W: “Warning. Do not read while drinking coffee.”

Court Blocks California’s Online Child Safety Law The Verge

Culture Wars

Chicago-area libraries forced to close again due to violent threats NBC Chicago (Dr. Kevin)

YouTube suspends Russell Brand from advert income BBC. Note he hasn’t even been charged with a crime…and the article complains that Rumble has not yet demonetized him.

Take it from a comedian – Russell Brand has never been funny, writes Simon Evans Telegraph. Lordie, the jealousy. I heard of Russell Brand and he was a successful comedic actor. I never heard of a comic called “Simon Evans”. Does he at least have a decent following in the UK? And just about all movie/TV stars rise thanks to the medium, and not so much on their merits, with some noteworthy exceptions like RADA alumni, Cate Blanchette, and Linda Hunt.

Google Antitrust Suit

US Argues Google Wants Too Much Information Kept Secret In Antitrust Trial Reuters

AI

AI destroys principles of authorship. A scary case from educational technology publishing. Marco Kalz (Anthony L)

Inflation

Tight Diesel Markets Could Add To Inflation Woes OilPrice. From a couple of days ago still germane. We warned of tight diesel markets, then that abated, and now it’s back.

Central banks must keep interest rates high until inflation is tamed, says OECD Financial Times

Financial Stability Needs Supervisors With the Ability and Will to Act IMF Blog. I can’t even…

Get a rabbit London Review of Books (Anthony L). A favorite topic: dodgy data.

The Bezzle

Musk says X could charge users ‘small monthly payment’ in fight against bots South China Morning Post

Hundreds of Flying Taxis To Be Made In Ohio Associated Press

Class Warfare

Striking unions impacting the economy at a level not seen in decades CNBC (furzy)

The stakes of the US autoworker strike could not be higher Financial Times (Kevin W)

Republicans squeeze Democrats on labor as UAW strike explodes in Michigan Politico (Kevin W)

Strikes and Bidenomics Matt Stoller

Antidote du jour:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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196 comments

    1. Yves Smith Post author

      No, not that. This was a fat fingered error of putting 18 rather than 19 for the post firing day. You can see the headline was correct.

      Plus McConnell brain worms produce freezes, which is not what happened here.

  2. griffen

    I am heeding the advice, no coffee yet for the Guardian article. Here’s a wowser mid way through the page…”the mainstream media wants to be seen as non partisan…” and later “our core mission is to communicate truthfully…” Vomit inducing may commence.

    Ugh then there’s a Paul Krugman anecdote on the “Biden miracle and the Goldilocks economy”. Damn it all inflation is not low. Clowns, send in the damn clowns; Pennywise to be clear. It’s still early yet but I do have some cheaper whiskey available. Maybe a little smidge in the coffee.

    1. Katniss Everdeen

      “When one of our two political parties has become so extremist and anti-democratic”, the old ways of reporting don’t cut it, wrote the journalist Dan Froomkin in his excellent list of suggestions culled from respected historians and observers.

      Couldn’t agree more. Where froomkin and i would disagree I suspect, is in which political party he is referencing.

      1. Carolinian

        It is amazing that people like Sullivan and Froomkin–who were once styled as independent voices–turn out to be such tools. As they used to say around the hippie newspapers: “just tell me where I need to go to sell out.”

        Blame it on the rice bowls but also the post Watergate movie propaganda that the press are some kind of guardians of democracy. At the Froomkin/Sullivan level their careers depend on access so naturally they come to identify with the powerful instead of “telling truth” to them.

    2. Benny Profane

      Yeah, looks like Ms. Sullivan is taking that WH memo all about rallying around the Big Guy very seriously.

      Do any of these people actually shop for food? Are they in the market for a house? Two kids in college?

      1. NotTimothyGeithner

        The Team Blue outrage about Trump not hiring “respected” Republicans is the explanation. The Team Blue courtier class represented by Obama and Clinton alums has produced virtually no elected officials. Imagine that, between the Obama frenzy and 6 years where Bill was the only Democrat, their power is just dependent on connections with others.

        They are aware of inflation hence the deranged talking point. It’s they are worried about having incomes at all. Neera Tanden might get a job at the Clinton library, but what about her staff?

        Newsome will never be president, but Bill flooded DC with Arkansas cronies. California has an unending supply of people to bring in. The President is the biggest celebrity in the world. Lobbying, TV, and appointment jobs are all at risk over one job.

        Politics is just like the Clinton Foundation. Once, it’s no longer useful as a bribery front everything dries up. The old joke was Bill had to work as Epstein’s wingman before the 2004 loss opened up a path for Hillary.

        They are aware of the inflation, but they are aware of how tenuous the good and cash out jobs are.

      2. Jabura Basaidai

        “Many are unaware of, or – because of mistrust in the government or in the media – simply don’t believe the positive economic news.”
        oh yeah BP – or gas, rent, forget about buying a house when private equity is paying cash, bet those two kids in college have friends living in cars, health care, etc. etc. etc…….

        a few of my ex-friends will slurp this up but not the majority of folks living paycheck to paycheck – and they wonder why Drumpf is getting traction –

        1. JBird4049

          Even if you a Never Trumper, it is very likely you are voting Blue because of the horror show that is Team Red. This being so, why is anyone, anyone at all, surprised at Biden getting bupkis traction? This is the same for most people voting for Team Red. It is the same, just in reverse.

          Despite the hermetic bubbleverse of our political class and their overlords, I smell wisps of fear from them. People’s unconscious is often smarter than their conscious awareness.

          1. Jabura Basaidai

            “It is the same, just in reverse.” yep, mirror images trapped in their own silos – maybe should have stated it as why Drumpf isn’t losing traction – and there is no doubt something is wafting about with the scent of fear –
            reminds me of a phrase from Dylan’s “Ballad of a Thin Man”

            You raise up your head
            And you ask, “Is this where it is?”
            And somebody points to you and says
            “It’s his”
            And you say, “What’s mine?”
            And somebody else says, “Well, what is?”
            And you say, “Oh my God, am I here all alone?”

            But something is happening here
            But ya’ don’t know what it is
            Do you, Mister Jones?

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=we37yX3zpKA

            1. JBird4049

              For the past few weeks as all the pundits swear that the economy is good, good, good, this quote from the start of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens has been prodding my mind. As the book climaxes with the Terror and visits with Madame Guillotine, I guess this is why. Sometimes, it is really interesting trying to figure out just what my mind is trying to tell me. No direct communication, just flashes of clips from film and quotes from books, often as not.

              It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

              If you read the book, read this and maybe a few pages more. Then skip the rest of section one as only sections two and three are any good.

              1. Jabura Basaidai

                have only read “Great Expectations” by Dickens will order up a copy of ‘Two Cities’ from Thrift Books – do think we’re heading into a ‘winter of despair’

          2. griffen

            Per this article and during the weekend a short piece from Salon, it’s the best of times and America has entered an era of peace and prosperity. I do think it might look that way from many second floor balconies or the front hull of a nice gleaming yacht. But on the other hand, as frequently discussed herein, inflation continues to be problematic…Treasury Secretary Yellen was on CNBC earlier today and described it as the ideal outcomes or best of both worlds…

            If things were so very good, 2024 would be shaping up ala 1984 when Mondale won in one state alone, and Reagan was swept into a second term. The sole thing Joe has presently in common with Ronald is a need to be minded at all hours. Democrats just can’t possibly fathom there is suffering, and if it happens in a red state well the deplorable MAGA followers are deserving of their hell. Seems like we will find out next year if voting against something, or someone, so reviled is the DC equivalent to the voting for the other…

            1. Jabura Basaidai

              think a lot of dems not part of the PMC are suffering too and though they may, in spite of their own suffering, think that the MAGA folks have it worse when we are all caught in the same mess – meanwhile “Treasury Secretary Yellen was on CNBC earlier today and described it as the ideal outcomes or best of both worlds…” this ‘goldilocks’ BS is spewed as if it is really believed by the masses – what’s that scent in the air????

    3. JohnA

      I love the way she goes on about criticism of Biden’s age. It is not his age, per se, it is mental capacity. Dementia can start at a much younger age than 80 and similarly some people at 100 can be totally bright and alert. Biden clearly indicates signs of rapidly accelerating mental decline not necessarily closely linked to his actual age.
      Any why the ‘evidence free calls for impeachment’. The media turn a blind eye to the Biden family business dealings. Whatever merits Hunter has to be paid millions by foreign organisations, it is worth at least looking for evidence of his name and his dad being key to this, and that the big guy is given his cut. Biden bragging on camera he got the Ukrainian prosecutor fired to stop him investigating Hunter and Burisma, should raise enough flags to at least raise a few eyebrows in the media in terms of looking for evidence.

      1. Benny Profane

        Hell, just Hunter making major bucks for Burisma was good enough for me, before all this.

        I sat next to a 92 year old woman at dinner Saturday night and had a stimulating conversation. You’re right, it isnt just age.

        1. TimH

          It still amazed me the relatively small amounts of money to graft a top level US politician. A million here and there for the Bidens, Hillary on her few $100k speech tours etc. Yes, lotsa dosh for you and me, but noise to the new-money tech billionaires, let alone the established industry oligarchs.

          1. Benny Profane

            The Clinton’s claimed 250 million of personal income, not foundation bucks, between both of them leaving the WH, when they were crying about being in the poorhouse, which I think was true, and 2015, the last time of filing before the 2016 campaign. A few years saw 20 plus million income. That’s not a small amount. I know it ain’t silicon valley wealth, but, add on all the insider trading tips that flow in, and I’ll bet they could be billionaires, or close. With a B. Most retired CEOs probably see that and say, what the hell?
            Oh, and it was 250 grand from Goldman, three times, I think. He got more for his speeches.

      2. Lex

        I agree that mental capacity rather than pure age is the primary concern. But that’s the only concern. Young presidents look old after a single term for a reason. There aren’t many jobs with a higher stress level or a more brutal travel schedule than POTUS. The last two presidents have both been seniors and both famously spent huge amounts of time on “vacation” (as much as a president can be on vacation). I think that’s indicative of how well they can handle the pressures of the job.

        80 is not the new 40. And while 80 years old regularly have a great deal to contribute to society, normalizing it as a fine age for a president is probably a very bad idea.

        1. The Rev Kev

          ‘Young presidents look old after a single term for a reason.’

          Have noticed that myself over the decades. That after a coupla years doing the job it really wears them down and you can see that they have physically aged. Certainly there is a lot more gray hair after their first term and Obama himself had a lot of gray hair peppering his thatch by the time he had to leave office. The fact that it does not seem to be effecting Biden that much tells me that he is not really doing the job of President but is just the front-man for the people who are. Sometimes he goes off script and says he is only doing what other people tell him to do.

                1. Jabura Basaidai

                  Lemmy? doth thou mean Lemmy Caution of Alphaville? just wondering –
                  although would lean toward agreement with the assessment

        2. Harold

          Both Reagan and Biden suffered major insults to their brains, Reagan, who was shot right after taking office, and Biden, whose medical history included two brain aneurysms.

          1. Hibiker!

            Both Reagan and Biden also delivered insults to the brains of the electorate, so it balanced out in the end.

    4. pjay

      The first sentence was enough for me:

      “Christiane Amanpour has reported all over the world, so she recognizes a democracy on the brink when she sees one…”

      It goes down hill from there, but leading with the insights of this intrepid “democracy” warrior is a big fat hint of what is coming.

      1. Feral Finster

        I’ve traveled all over the world, too, so I can recognize an MSM propagandist or Renaissance courtier and professional toady when I see one.

        Anyway, the United States is in no wise a “democracy”, nor is it a “democratic republic” but an oligarchy featuring unlimited political bribery for those who can afford pricey lawyers, along with some vestigial trappings of democracy to keep the rubes from asking too many questions.

        “By means of ever more effective methods of mind-manip­ulation, the democracies will change their nature; the quaint old forms— elections, parliaments, Supreme Courts and all the rest—will remain. … Democracy and freedom will be the theme of every broadcast and editorial. … Meanwhile the ruling oligarchy and its highly trained elite of sol­diers, policemen, thought-manufacturers and mind-manipulators will quietly run the show as they see fit.”

        — Aldous Huxley

    5. t

      I’m still trying to settle my stomach from the Slate article in yesterday’s WC regarding Bill Clinton’s noble efforts and how they werw thwarted by… stuff.

    6. ilsm

      Talk points memo (tpm) is talking a trump, bin Salman Putin triad if the 2024 election goes w/o a hitch.

      More 2016 lies about crossing the neocons as allying with Putin.

      Early, but we have 7 years experience with this blither.

    7. Insouciant Iowan

      Is Ms. Sullivan’s turn to truthiness right after this Biden puff-piece? It’s not that Biden is “old.” Bernie Sanders is old but makes sense even when he’s, um, compromising. We’re seeing Joe “God Save the Queen” Biden dribble away in real time. Just ask Transportation Secretart “Booty Juice.” Surely Ms. Sullivan is aware–but maybe not. She’s a MSM writer, not to say reporter.

  3. furnace

    “Thousands hold protest in Prague, demand Czech’s pro-Western govt. resign PressTV (Anthony L)” I enjoyed this little detail in teleSUR’s account of the events yesterday, with

    There were also banners in the crowd that read “Down with the U.S. minions” and “Down with NATO,” according to the Czech News Agency (CTK).

    Almost makes me remember the times when there actually was a proper anti-imperialist movement in the continent. But hey, obscene inflation and massive unemployment are as good as motives as any to oppose US and EU adventurism. I wonder if we are going to see massive protests being widespread from now on.

    1. Feral Finster

      There have been similar protests in Prague in the recent past.

      Nobody in the Czech Republic or the EU cares about public opinion.

  4. The Rev Kev

    ‘Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek speaks out on the WEF’s plan to impose a personal carbon allowance, linked to a digital identity card, under the guise of solving the climate’

    Before she started talking about how his would work, I was wondering what Klaus Schwab’s carbon credit card would look like. But by the time she finished, it was all clear. People like him would still have their present colossal carbon footprint while all the peons would have to sell him their credits to keep on surviving. In other words, there would be no change whatsoever to the present system and just as much carbon if not more would be catapulted into the air annually raising global temperatures. Of course under this system rich people would be able to buy all the carbon credits they would need to keep their air-cons running 24/7. It is just as well that we do not live in an era where time itslef becomes a commodity. That is, people like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos extend their lives indefinitely by buying time off the poorer peons.

    2. digi_owl

      This nerd keep finding parallels with tabletop RPGs, in this instance one called Fading Suns.

      In it humanity has spread among the stars thanks to ancient alien gateways.

      But as those gateways also sometimes mutate travelers in dangerous ways, humanity has regressed to religious feudalism.

      As such the church has decreed space travel as unholy, but has given the noble houses an exemption so that they can do so “at humanity’s benefit”.

      1. Geof

        Oh yes. Furthermore, space travel produced a deep spiritual awakening:

        Each astronaut experienced a sublime moment of ecstasy and profound remembering of some deep truth once known and since lost

        But pilots with expanded consciousness “were harder to control.” So the ships were redesigned with buffers that blocked the effect. Rogue awakened pilots were hunted down and destroyed.

        Many roleplaying settings turn out to be not dystopian enough. Take Daedalus, the most dystopian setting in Guardian’s of Order’s 2004 Ex Machina, which depicts walled cities of privilege surrounded by wasteland:

        Daedalus is a setting that’s about ninety degrees from the reality we live in, where technology and paranoia combine to create a utopia for those willing to give away their independence to live there. It’s place where every need is taken care of, where every want is satisfied so long as you don’t question or rebel.

        Every want, eh? What optimism!

        The 1980s classic Paranoia satirizes the cold war, depicting life in a post-nuclear underground bunker of anti-communists whose lives are controlled by the Computer. “Happiness in mandatory. The Computer is your friend.” The 2016 reboot replaces communism and nuclear war with an unspecified disaster and internal decay. Written in an actual society of mutual and computer surveillance, with a cornucopia of woke excess, it basically satirizes… a crappy version of the 1980s.

        I feel like there’s no point to fantasy or dystopia anymore. They can’t compete with reality. Any fantasy approaching the absurdity of real events would be unbelievable. Lovecraft’s description of Cthulhu rising and humanity going collectively insane used to seem quaint and ridiculous. But, uh… didn’t than happen already? In 2016? 2020? 2021? Every day this week?

        How many people are already begging for buffers so they won’t have to remember something once known, since forgotten?

    3. Vicky Cookies

      I like to think of such consumer-oriented proposals for large scale societal change as examples of the ‘demand-side fallacy ‘, whereby if proles were pure enough, voting with their dollars for green products and practices, we would then solve our common problems, “because markets”. If we just follow the new rules of the road, ignoring who made the rules, and who built the road (literally, in the case of the u.s. highway system) we’ll be fine.

      1. digi_owl

        Speaking of roads, Romans roads were built for much the same reason as the US highway system. To facilitate easier movement of the military. Yet they remained in use long after the empire splintered.

        If one look back, it is with some deep irony that one observe that most societal progress coming out of the needs of the military.

        It may well be that our best bet for getting off the fossil fuel addiction will be DARPA programs and like meant to keep forward bases going without a constant tanker convoy.

      2. Henry Moon Pie

        I have to disagree with you there, Vicky. It’s supply side only solutions that are unrealistic. People who say “Stop Oil Now” or try forcing an institution to divest its oil stocks are ignoring the role played by oil in our society. With the oil shut off, we’d be Mad Max in weeks if not days. There would be no food, no getting to work, etc.

        These days, the oil companies are hardly trying to addict us to oil. They accomplished that job a long time ago. It’s the “demand side” that goes bonkers every time the price of gasoline goes up 15-20%. Old Joe had to sell off half of the available Strategic Petroleum Reserves to save his political bacon. Ask Jimmy Carter about requests made to the American public to cut down a little on the energy consumption.

        Without the demand, the middle-class, suburban lifestyle with all the solo driving, eating out, long distance vacations, the omnipresent air conditioning, a drop in production would be possible without throwing the society into chaos. Americans’ mean carbon footprint is about twice the European one, and the European one is 50% higher than places like China. We are in a league of our own when it comes to energy consumption.

        There need to be some serious come-to-Gaia conversations with Americans about energy use, especially the upper 15-20% who are responsible for half the carbon emissions.

        1. Kouros

          Exactly!

          This is my deep, gut feeling when I walk the dog around my neighbourhood without walkways and houses with 2,3,4,5 cars on their driveways…

        2. Vicky Cookies

          “Come-to-Gaia conversations”, I like the way you put that. Americans are ~4.5% of the global population and use about 20% of energy produced. And, as you said, much responsibility rests with the upper socioeconomic strata. Institutions, however, not only insofar as current energy use levels are the result of structures they built (yes, highways, but also the consumer society in general) still wear the polluting crown; cars make for around 30% of emissions in the U.S., but the military remains the largest (global) institutional emitter. The food system is also destructive and wasteful, from the farm to the delicery truck to the grocery store. Until these last points are addressed in policy circles, such as with talk of imperial contraction, and high speed rail, I’m inclined to forgive the suburban family with the overloaded power strip, weighted for damages.

    4. Henry Moon Pie

      There should be no credits to buy because we are already way over the carbon budget anyway. There’s a lag between when the carbon is emitted into the air and when the warming effect appears. It’s complicated, but one rule of thumb used is that the lag is 10 years. So the weather we’ve been having could be said to be the result of the carbon that was already in the air 10 years ago–and we’ve been setting records for new carbon emissions every years since except for 2020.

      So there is no remaining carbon budget for non-essential purposes, so there should be no credits allocated to anyone.

      Rationing is the way of proceeding with the highest potential for fairness. Doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to be fair, depending on who’s doing the rationing.

      1. .human

        US aerospace operations revamp faces turbulence.

        I wonder what the carbon cost of that “elephant walk” is?

    6. Roger

      We have to be very careful with the Dutch right-wing highly disingenuous utilization of anti-WEF slogans to bolster their utterly neoliberal and climate-denial agenda. Eva Vlaardingerbroek and her husband are both part of the far right, and the Dutch farmers basically want unlimited property rights – i.e. the right to do whatever they want to with no regulations and stuff the democratic rights of the rest of the Dutch. We are seeing this a lot with the far right grabbing onto “anti-WEF” sloganeering when in fact much of their agenda directly aligns with the WEF. All while supporting Ukraine and neoliberalism.

      Milei in Argentina is another example, from his background (HSBC, advisor to WEF, funded and provided with media access by an Argentinian billionaire) he is obviously an oligarchic tool while throwing out lots of slogans to cover up his agenda of turbocharged neoliberalism. He admires the Menem government of the 1990s that sold off huge chunks of the state at knock down prices amid incredible levels of corruption.

      As Gramsci noted, when the elites can no longer gain consent from the masses through what is called “liberal democratic capitalism” they turn right. The current Italian leader links back to the time of Mussolini, and she throws out the same “anti-WEF” slogans while fully supporting the neoliberal agenda and Ukraine.

      Tradable individual carbon quotas are actually an excellent idea, as they would provide a direct limitation on emissions while also acting to distribute wealth from the rich to the poor – as the rich had to buy the unused parts of the carbon quotas from the poor to be able to live lavish lifestyles. Of course the WEF will work hard to nullify the wealth/income redistribution benefits.

      We are being provided with a false choice, WEF climate change action which loads the cost onto the poor or no climate action which still supports the thieving of the commons by the rich. The real choice should be an equitable fight against climate change, but of course that is the one that cannot be provided to populations.

      1. caucus99percenter

        Still, the EU and the Dutch Rutte-led government overreached. Hence the nationwide success of the new BBB party (Farmer–Citizen Movement), extending far beyond just affected farmers and regions.

        More than regulation of property ownership is at stake when the government is ordering some farmers to leave their profession entirely, even requiring a binding agreement that they will never farm anywhere else either, even in another country, for the rest of their lives, as one of the conditions for receiving payment for their land being de facto expropriated.

    7. Mikel

      They speak with forked tongues.

      The same mofos talk about the long war in Ukraine.
      Then anything could be going down in Africa any day now.
      Saber rattling at China, too.

      Nations that bicycle their industry around the globe for cheapest labor and zero regulation have to come up with BS financial products like “carbon allowance” for domestic consumption. Rentier economies. Let them eat FIRE.

      1. Jabura Basaidai

        oh yeah, they are first class mofos – worthless sacks of skin stealing air from you and me – would be better if they ate something else, perhaps Pb(82)?

  5. JohnA

    Re Nobel disease: Why some of the world’s greatest scientists eventually go crazy

    A new biography of Alfred Nobel published a couple of years ago, made the case that Nobel had contracted syphilis as a young man, and this was one of the reasons he never married. When I saw this headline, I thought it was about that disease that has devastating consequences on both physical and mental health.

  6. The Rev Kev

    “Economic relationships in Pre-Columbian Mexico show that Aztec rulers were ruthless exploiters”

    ‘This is extremely important because it helps explain how a little Spanish army of just a few hundred men could quickly overrun the Aztec Empire. The highly centralized tax collection was so resented by vast regions of the Empire that their populations, whose living standards were only slightly above subsistence, actually took arms on the Spaniards’ side.’

    It wasn’t just a little Spanish army but hordes of Allies as well. During the Fall of Tenochtitlan the Aztecs fielded some 80,000 warriors while the Spanish had 1,000-1,400 soldiers but some 200,000 Allied warriors. This reminds me of the fall of the Roman Empire when there were stories of how when the barbarian tribes invaded, that the heavily taxed and oppressed peasants were pointing out to them to the road going to Rome itself.

      1. JTMcPhee

        And the tiny minority that owns us may be putting a lot of resources into developing pathogens that reportedly are aimed at selected groups of us Morlocks, as part of maintaining the purity of the “garden:” https://www.opindia.com/2022/03/usa-admits-biolabs-in-ukraine-says-biological-attack-russias-fault/

        The Safari search function, not surprisingly, turns up hundreds of articles that “debunk” or presume the debunking of the “Russian propaganda” reporting of Russian findings at biolab facilities that came under their control during the SMO. I also note the rolling nature of information control in the search space: there was an article from peoplesnews in the original page of Safari results that by its headline supported the Russian reporting. This article disappeared after I rolled down a couple of results pages and then tried to go back to it. Nah, there’s no such thing as smart censorship, is there?

        The sheer mass of self-referential “debunking” articles from dozens of sources in and out of govt, selling the shtick that this was all just discounted “Russian propaganda,” was a surprise, though it shouldn’t be to an apparently not cynical enough person like myself.

        We mopes are so forked…

        On another thought, maybe related, the local news reports the police are struggling to deal with the phenomenon of “road exclusion,” where a flash-mob message brings a whole lot of disaffected mostly young people to an agreed section of the public highway where they run drag races, “drifting” competition, or actual road races over dozens of miles. I got the crap scared out of me when driving home on I-275 from Tampa and had a swarm of over 100 hot cars and crotch-rocket motorcycles zoomed up from the East at well over 100 mph, weaving through the mope traffic only going 10 or 15 mph over the posted limit. Not a cop in sight, and not a damn thing even multiple cops could have done about it.

        One has to wonder if that kind of outlaw energy and anomie might be summoned to respond to the repressors to at least retard the descent into the Brave New World of 1984…

        1. Margarita Evans

          As soon as you see an really interesting article, open it in a new tab or window, without going back and forth. File it in archive.org ‘s forever vault.

          Search.brave.com is the most open search engine. Combine that with Firefox and the ad blocker and you’ll have the best internet experience. Yes, we send checks to Yves and Labert.

          JT, get a dashcam, install it, drive in a straight line, without wrecking yourself, and let them crash into you, you’ll have evidence that way.

        3. John9

          Don’t worry. Things will calm down considerably once the electricity is off and there’s no more available gas.
          Pillage on the Visigoth plan will not suit most marauding Amrikans.

        4. Henry Moon Pie

          Re: taking over roads, etc.–

          I’m sort of glad to hear that this goes on elsewhere. Masses of dirt bikes taking over streets, closing down intersecting streets, etc. is combined with drifting and drag races on the major streets around us beginning about 10 PM. Mad Max rarely visits our street so far, but just outside our little cocoon, things have gone pretty crazy.

    2. Feral Finster

      I didn’t think that it was any secret that a lot of natives subject to the Aztec Empire were absolutely thrilled when Cortez showed up, yeah sure, need soldiers want women we got those and we’ll convert to whatever religion you want, just make that big bang thing go boom again and please use it to do something about getting rid of those Nahuatl jerks please Don Herman.

      Not trying to be a jerk, but you have to be pretty far down the multiculti rabbit hole to think that the Aztec Empire was any different from any other empire.

      1. Margarita Evans

        Just love it when the Latinas around me start blabbing about “Mi cultura!”

        “How do you feel about thousands of human sacrifices?” Always draws a blank.

      2. JBird4049

        To make this somewhat related today, the Aztecs several generations before had had a debate over whether to have an empire or not, and IIRC, whether to expand human sacrifice. Obviously, the peace faction lost. Also, there had (has?) always been in Mesoamerica a culture of sacrifice, but often of just a personal nature. Read up on the Mayan rulers self torture and blood letting. The Aztecs just took to the very extreme and I think for political reasons.

    3. Roger

      Thankyou for some historical accuracy! Divide and conquer has always been the imperial playbook, the Brits perfected it in their empire. Too many fetishize previous imperial regimes that were overthrown by the Western invaders. Those regimes were brutal in their subjugation of other groups, therefore providing many allies for the Western invaders who acted as friends while it was in their favour. Same in North America, where the southern British colony allied itself with one Amerindian nation to survive after the destruction of Jamestown by another. Of course, they paid back the help by subjugating their Amerindian allies later on.

      Jared Diamond was a scientist and an amateur historian and it showed with his highly misleading and massively simplistic view of the destruction of the Central and South American empires. A great takedown of Guns, Germs and Steel by bad Empanada: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq6EuZj4axA

      2. paul

        In one his books he reflected that he had never seen a pipeline problem that wasn’t caused by governmental failure.

        I found that surprising.

  7. FreeMarketApologist

    Re: Congo coup: “The country’s president is in New York,…”

    He’s here with many other leaders and their retinues for the UN sessions. It would be nice if other leaders got worried about losing control when they’re away, and all returned home, so we could get our streets and sidewalks back. I don’t think the world will miss out on anything if the sessions were canceled.

    (The gridlock is pervasive in midtown and up and down the east side, not just near the UN.)

    1. Feral Finster

      Andrew Korybko had some useful commentary about the alleged coup, and some more useful commentary about the state of alt-media:

      https://korybko.substack.com/p/sundays-fake-news-about-a-coup-in?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=835783&post_id=137174381&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1cc3o&utm_medium=email

      “Accordingly, Russian media and supportive social media accounts are therefore much easier to manipulate since a lot of them lack the professional competences to judge for themselves whether something is credible and many also don’t have the authoritative contacts to check for sure. Rather, most tend to unquestionably circulate unconfirmed reports and spin them however they imagine to be in Russia’s benefit instead of waiting for the facts or only cautiously sharing rumors with their audience.”

      For my part, I’d say that it’s not that they don’t know how check unconfirmed reports. It’s that they don’t want to.

      1. digi_owl

        I dear say nobody waits for confirmation these days, because by then they risk the competition having run with it already and gotten both the attention and the ad revenue.

      2. jrkrideau

        Russian media and supportive social media accounts are therefore much easier to manipulate since a lot of them lack the professional competences to judge for themselves whether something is credible

        This ilack of competence is likely true but am I really expected to believe most of the Western media and supportive media accounts are any more knowledgeable?

  8. Henry Moon Pie

    Ocean geoengineering–

    Nice of the NYT to give yet another start-up “in the climate space” give its sales pitch for a risky Hail Mary since actually cutting carbon emissions would be un-American. Woods Hole scientists are not too enthusiastic. Side effects could leave the oceans full of jellyfish and empty of fish, or it could warm the ocean’s surface and make our warming problem worse.

    1. Jabura Basaidai

      HMP – you nailed it, but it ain’t no Hail Mary – and civilization keeps on swirling in the porcelain goddess – oh wait, maybe there are some carbon credits i can buy with my WEF ID card – man oh man when ya think it can’t get more desperate – well then, let’s just get some chemtrails going too –

  9. Wukchumni

    We got it together, didn’t we?
    Nobody, but you and me
    We got it together, baby

    Not my first son, my last son, my everything
    And the answer to all my dreams
    You’re my son (son), my swoon (swoon), my guiding star
    My kind of wonderful, that’s what you are

    I know there’s only, only one Beau too
    There’s no way, they could have made two
    You’re all I’m living for
    Your acquiescence I’ll keep for evermore
    You’re not the first, you’re the last, my everything

    In you I’ve found so many things
    An arrangement so new only you could bring
    Can’t you see it? You
    You’ll make me feel this way
    You’re like the first First Son on a brand new payday

    I see so many ways that they can prosecute you
    ‘Til the day you’re in the all bar motel
    You’re my reality, yet I’m lost in a dream
    You’re not the first, (the last son) the last son, my everything

    I know there’s only, only one like you
    There’s no way they could prosecute too
    Hunter, you’re my reality
    But I’m lost in a dream
    You’re not the first, (the last son) you’re the last son, my everything

    You’re the first, the last, my everything, by Barry White

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zmRvhFEYo

    1. Verifyfirst

      I’m fine with kicking her while she’s down–not as if it will even register with her! And this part–if true–isn’t getting near the attention it deserves. Her date for this event was:

      “Quinn Gallagher, the co-owner of Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar in Aspen.

      According to the New York Post, Gallagher is a registered Democrat, and Hooch Craft Cocktail Bar is a gay-friendly bar that hosted “a winter Wonderland Burlesque & Drag Show” back in January, per an invitation advertising the event on social media. In 2020, the bar also hosted events for Aspen Gay Ski Week, according to Facebook posts unearthed by the Post. The tabloid reported that Boebert and Gallagher have been “dating under the radar for months.'”

      https://news.yahoo.com/lauren-boebert-beetlejuice-date-owns

      So aside from the vaping inside a crowded theatre, the groping and being groped, the repeated taking of flash pictures after being told not too, and the loud singing and gesticulating, we have the drag show sponsoring date, who she apparently did not even know was a Democrat (cuz why would politics come up, if you’re in Congress?).

      That’s quite a list for one evening……

      1. Amfortas the Hippie

        Anybody got her onlyfans link?
        I couldnt find it on her congressional site.
        /s
        But i wouldnt be shocked to see that next
        , esp after that demrep got outed thusly.
        (And to be clear, i dont care if anybody at all makes a few clams from their exhibitionist tendencies….its the hypocrisy i find odious)

        1. playon

          We need more out-front, honest politicians here in homeland USA. Remember when back in the 80s Italian stripper La Cicciolina ran for parliament and won? Now there’s a new kid on the block – Milly D’Abbraccio:

          https://www.reuters.com/article/us-italy-elections-porno/porn-star-unveils-italy-campaign-weapon-her-bottom-idUKL1080561820080410

          “The veteran of Italy’s adult entertainment industry has plastered images of her derriere all around the Eternal City in a bid to win a seat in Rome’s city hall.”

          1. Amfortas the Hippie

            i agree.
            i dont hold such things against people, only their later hypocrisy.
            like that “Wide Stance” guy many moons ago…”Ted, just admit it…”
            own it.
            i’ll never run for office, of course…i dont have the patience for bullshit*, mainly…but also because there’s prolly video out there.
            and someone would billboard it because they fear my shining mind and thus feel inadequate.

            (*my vision of the frozen lake level of Hell is one of those white tie gala events…i’ve been the help for a couple,back of the house only…and couldn’t stand the over the top Fakeness of it all)

        2. Jabura Basaidai

          yo AtH was going to answer some of your question from Links 2days ago but no reply link after your question – my family goes back 4 generations in Detroit, corporate lawyers in the first 2 generations and strong supporters of the DIA – my grandmother had some interesting stories about her great grandparents from Germany and tales about Anna Dodge – Jabura is an amalgam of 4 names; my girlfriend at the time, her pooch (Aura), me and my pooch (LB) – say the four names long enough, fast enough and stoned enough it turns into Jabura – spent a couple of decades in and out of several martial arts from late teens to late 30’s – in Shotokan there is a higher kata called Bassai Dai which is where the second one comes from –

          1. Amfortas the Hippie

            that is way cool,lol.
            i pointed it out to my eldest that night…after we’d all 3 sampled the homegrown…and there we were, high, saying “jabura basaidai”,lol.
            sounded vaguely Silk Roadish, like someone Polo or Tamerlane wouldve known…so we jammed Kashmir(the orchestral live version).
            he went in, and i got into Huun Huur Tuu,lol.
            s’pose its a good thing i have no neighbors.

            1. Jabura Basaidai

              crank it to 10 brother – saw Page with the Yardbirds in ’68 and again in ’69 with Zeppelin at the Grande Ballroom in Detroit – my cadre of friends from the old neighborhood thank our lucky stars for the time we were alive and that the Grande was ours for 5 years – inf’ingcredible – saw everyone there – usually$2.50 to get in –
              https://historicdetroit.org/buildings/grande-ballroom
              https://www.concertarchives.org/venues/grande-ballroom

              1. Amfortas the Hippie

                long day driving miss daisy, so i’m in my cups and have opened the entire heavy metal file to be shuffled around.
                volume to max on both devices.
                had a hogleg of those homegrown apples,lol.
                fifty years of “metal”…heavy on the 70’s.
                (dont really care for anything in that genre after metallica)

                used to be a radio station in houston…am1097…that played all the old bonn scott and weird 70’s hard rock.
                thats what i replicate out here, as best i can.
                with soundgarden, etc thrown in for good measure.

                but heavy metal nights are quite rare…takes chewing my tongue to hamburger being in the car with mom all day.
                i diverted her expertly into tales of family anecdota.
                so no rage event, thankfully.
                still pretty stressful, though

                1. Jabura Basaidai

                  sound like an excellent son – always easy to get my parents, when they were still with us, to chat about the past – was the oldest of 4 –

  10. .Tom

    What’s the nature of the changes Keir Starmer pledges to seek with EU as reported by FT? I can’t get past the captchas at archive.ph.

    1. The Rev Kev

      If you can’t access that article through archive.ph, then put the title ‘Keir Starmer pledges to seek major rewrite of Brexit deal’ into a Google search. When the results come back, look for the link to the Financial Times article and click it and it will open up for you.

      1. John Beech

        I gave up on archive.ph due to the captcha, also.

        And for some reason, any link to haaretz.com gives me a 403 error – forbidden.

        Moreover, poking around reveals no way to clear this up so haaretz has been forbidden for me, no idea how or why, but it is a shame.

      2. Jabura Basaidai

        v – that’s exactly what needs to be done – i’ve disabled java and turn it on as ‘temp trusted’ in firefox only when needed – never have seen a captcha –

      3. .Tom

        That actually helped. Thanks vao.

        The answer is: the FT offered few specifics. Starmer wants to reduce cross-border trade barriers and didn’t mention what he plans to offer in exchange for the concessions he seeks from the EU.

    3. Randy

      I gave up on the endless captcha loop provided by archive.ph too. I am using Firefox.

      Archive.org works well though.

  11. Wukchumni

    Lauren Boebert issues apology after finding out Beetlejuice shows have really good night vision camera AVClub
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    They’re gonna put me in a video
    They’re gonna make a big star out of me
    We’ll make a film about a man that’s sad and lonely
    And all I gotta do is act naturally

    Well, I’ll bet you I’ma gonna be a big star
    Might win again next election you can’t never tell
    The video’s gonna make me a big star
    ‘Cause I can play the part so well

    Well, I hope that urgency comes in the movie
    Then I know that you will plainly see
    The biggest fool that’s ever hit the big time
    And all I gotta do is act naturally

    We’ll make a scene about a man that’s sad and lonely
    And begging me down upon his bended knee
    I’ll play the part but I won’t need rehearsin’
    All I’ll have to do is act naturally

    Well, I’ll bet you I’ma gonna be a big star
    Might win again next election you can’t never tell
    The video’s gonna make me a big star
    ‘Cause I can play the part so well

    We’ll make a scene about a man that’s sad and lonely
    And begging me down upon his bended knee
    I’ll play the part but I won’t need rehearsin’
    All I’ll have to do is act naturally

    Act Naturally, by Buck Owens

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__SMDtF_DsY

    2. ChrisFromGA

      What, you don’t believe that smoke emanating from her lips was really from the fog machine used by the production crew?

      Lauren should have swiped left on the Democrat dude. Would have saved her a lot of trouble.

      As an aside, there seems to be a phenomenon where the recently divorced tend to revert back to teenage hormonal days right after the big D. Kind of like gettin’ yer ya-ya’s out, for old times sake.

      Kind of sad but it is what it is.

      2. JTMcPhee

        I had an attorney I eventually fired in Divorce #1, a slimy guy who only represented men, tell me once the action had been filed to “go out and f-kc your brains out.” Chicago 1985, when the corrupt Cook County courts had a five-year backlog of divorce cases awaiting trial dates. Wonder how many of his clients were dopey and addled enough to take such advice, especially if they were aiming for any kind of custody of their children. The human part of the world has never been a nice place.

        What’s the Vegas line on Armenia vs Azerbaijan?

  12. kramshaw

    India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor is a geopolitical pipe dream Indian Punchline.

    Multipolarity had a good chat about the IMEC / CEC, linking it to the long time Polish dream of the Intermarium

    I wondered about the number of modal changes as well. But when I first saw the map I thought, it seems a bit strained for the US to block Eurasian integration by promoting Eurasian integration–perhaps something like this could represent a healthier way for the US to engage with the world? Andrew Collingwood disabused me of that notion, and Philip Pilkington explained why the strategy of building up Poland and the Balkans as a rival power doesn’t really work on paper.

    1. Lex

      When I look at that map I wonder why you wouldn’t just leave the goods on a boat and transit the Suez Canal. This looks like someone realized that China, Russia and Iran are building trade corridors to bypass US sea lane control and thought, “Transport corridors are the new thing, we need one too!” And so the map was drawn less to solve a problem and more so that the US/EU could have a transport corridor project to talk about.

  13. LawnDart

    Re; The Bezzle

    Hundreds of flying taxis to be made in Ohio, home of the Wright brothers and astronaut legends

    The PR volume is massively ramping-up on flying cars/flying taxis/eVTOL aircraft, with American manufacturers attempting not to be completely overshadowed by the Chinese in the next several days when China announces the world’s first Type Certification of an eVTOL aircraft.

    This means that “air taxis” will begin commercial operations in China this year.

    These particular Chinese “air taxis” already have over 40,000 “trial” flights, most with passengers, whereas the Americans have had only a handful of unmanned experimental flights.

    China’s FAA, known as the CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) already has the rules and regulations in place to permit these flights, to manage the airspace, and to begin to develop what is called the low-airspace economy– unlike the FAA, which is years behind.

    Yeah, in this new industry there’s a lot of beezle and BS, but China’s got the real deal going, whereas the Americans mostly have PR. This leap forward is a really, really big deal for China– and a geopolitical statement as well.

    With the coming Chinese anouncement, fur is gonna fly: national pride and face are at stake. Expect a lot of heated MSM coverage of this sector soon– very soon.

    1. The Rev Kev

      You know those tank cages that they are using in the war in the Ukraine to protect them against drones? You might to have to start installing them on your roof to protect yourself against these so-called flying cars as they start falling out of the sky. Seeing the crashes and foul-ups caused by those automated cars, can you imagine the same but with drivers who aren’t pilots or who depend on the flying car’s automated systems to do the flying for them? I would not be surprised to see similar stories happening in China in spite of their preparations.

    2. JM

      I appreciate the sci-fi aspect of flying taxies, but how on Earth do these make sense versus cars, much less public transportation? I’m no engineer, but it seems to me that the energy required to get a person, much less several people, aloft with sufficient safety precautions and fuel for extended operations would quickly become noncompetitive. I assume I’m missing something, or else this seems like another Uber/crypto/AI scam.

      I’m also not looking forward to when one of these crashes into the top of someones home, or into a random highrise.

      1. LawnDart

        Traffic congestion: a way to help relieve it or bypass it. And Israel recently used them in emergency/accident-response scenarios:

        Israeli startup tests flying taxi ride to hospital

        https://www.reuters.com/video/watch/idRW177513092023RP1

        And consider the topography in China– like San Francisco, many hills and mountains.

        The (viable, not Xpeng) Chinese eVTOLs are tiny compared to those of the west (two-person, not four or more plus pilot). These are part of what is called Urban Air Mobility or UAM for short. Another term you will hear of is Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) which covers autonomous systems. The “flying taxis” that China is about to certify are UAM, or eVTOLs designed for short-hop, intercity use. Intracity or regional “air taxis” are on their way too.

        This initiative in China is fully supported by the CCP, the central government and several regional governments But elsewhere, there indeed are many so-called start-ups in this emerging industry that are looking to cash-in on what will be a multi-billion dollar industry… or more specifically, cash-in on the ignorance and greed of would-be investors.

        These Chinese electric aircraft are not toys that will chauffer HNW individuals around (unlike those of the west), but are being sold for around $300K a pop– not $3M.

        As far as energy-requirements go, China has the infrastructure to support electric vehicles at scale: the antiquated US infrastructure is incapable of supporting the widespread adaptation of electric vehicles. And for individual aircraft or other electric vehicles, battery-tech is advancing at light-speed and shifting away from dependency on rare-earths.

  14. The Rev Kev

    ‘Seen on the red line this morning. COVID is surging and there are ads on the subway telling people to “forget” masks—despite overwhelming evidence that masks help prevent the spread of COVID.’

    The only way that this makes sense is if the health authorities want people to get infected so that there will be ‘herd immunity’. Yes, herd immunity is not possible with a Coronavirus but that is besides the point. If those health authorities had to reverse gear and tell people to mask up and that vaccines will not protect them, then they will have to admit that not only were they wrong the past three years but that they have been covering up this fact and were lying. So to save their careers, they are still going with the Disney version of how to protect yourself from this virus. Those McMansions aren’t going to pay for themselves after all.

    1. Sutter Cane

      Before covid, cancer wards often required masks but now even oncologists refuse to wear them. The response to covid makes me feel like I’m going crazy.

      I know completely withdrawing from society isn’t healthy but the urge to just lay low until the madness passes is difficult to shake.

      1. Will

        During a pandemic, withdrawing from a society that is not only refusing but discouraging adoption of measures to protect itself from illness seems to be the only healthy choice.

      2. antidlc

        We’re not crazy, Sutter.

        I decided to “lay low” as much as possible, but I’m not sure how long it will be until the “madness passes”.

  15. marcel

    Re: Single-bladed floating wind turbine promises half the cost, more power New Atlas. Chuck L: “If this pans out it will be big.”
    I fear gyroscopic effects will destroy the thing.
    Imagine the blades spinning around one (almost horizontal) axis. If the wind strengthens, lift develops, and the system rotates around its ballast as it lifts itself to a more vertical position.
    But that 2nd rotation, around an horizontal axis perpendicular to the first, will induce a gyroscopic effect, and the result is that the whole construction will turn around a vertical axis, and instead of the wind blowing from behind, the wind will blow from the side, or perhaps the front, which is not the intended design.
    A 2nd order effect is that when there is such a vertical rotation, a two-blade rotor has a very small moment of inertia when the blades are in a vertical position, but a very large moment of inertia when the blades are in a horizontal position (this is the major reason why “classic” designs have a three-blade rotor: its moment of inertia does not depend on the position of the blades).
    So when there is a vertical rotation, the whole structure will start vibrating.
    This may work out fine with calm & steady winds. But the dynamic effects of wind gusts in near-cyclone conditions (design top wind speed is around 160mph) might (will?) bring havoc if there is no control equipment.

    1. Skip Intro

      I think the torque from the gyroscopic effect you describe will change sign with wind fluctuations, so as the prop rotates up it goes one way, when the wind slackens it does down and the torque reverses. I don’t think it will spin, but rather flutter.

    2. Chas

      I think you are correct. I once had a Jacobs wind generator and learned that it was the Jacobs brothers, Marcellus and Jacob who discovered that a three-bladed windmill is the most stable. This also was an important discovery for propellor-driven airplanes. So perhaps the Dutch company can switch to three-bladed props and solve the problem that simply.

      1. digi_owl

        Just spitballing here, but could this be a lesser issue for something floating on water? This similar to how they secure buildings against earthquakes by allowing the base to move slightly relative to the ground.

    3. PlutoniumKun

      I can’t recall the details, but my understanding is that the processes you are describing are a limiting factor on the size of single or double bladed turbines, but for medium sized turbines it can be designed out. So I doubt this type of turbine can be made up to the 8 to 12 MW capacity of the biggest modern off-shore turbines, but if its a lot cheaper to build, this may not be a big deal. This design is not, however, new, I’ve seen proposals for very similar off-shore turbines going back at least a decade and a half. They are generally unsuitable for on-shore turbines as they generate more noise.

      The biggest issue I see with that design is that it will not be possible to build these with hub heights to allow clearances for birds – most migrating birds and sea birds fly within 50 metres of the surface, so are essentially below the blades of most modern turbines. These ones may be problematic for any sites along migration routes, assuming anyone cares about migrating birds.

      1. Vandemonian

        Although I’m completely lacking in relevant knowledge and expertise, I sometimes wonder about the benefits of using a Savonius rotor. Why do they appear so rarely as an option?

    4. Duke of Prunes

      There was a time when I would read a comment like this and think “of course the engineers have considered and compensated for all of this in their design”. With the rash of stupidity that seems to have taken over, I no longer make these assumptions.

  16. Benny Profane

    So, the NYT is running with a front page (internet) story today, Evidence Suggests Ukrainian Missile Caused Market Tragedy https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/18/world/europe/ukraine-missile-kostiantynivka-market.html?smid=nytcore-android-share. Written by no less than six reporters, which is getting ridiculous, this reporting by team trend. Anyway, I remember waking up to the initial reporting of this event, and everyone immediately said it was a Russian missle intentionally aimed at the market, including, of course, the NYT. Funny, though, that article disappeared from their website within hours, and they seem to have scrubbed it from available archives, but this was the kind of thing I’m talking about from AP: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-blinken-counteroffensive-6c1545768d77d927a5cda148fc197e3c “Russian missile turns Ukrainian market into fiery, blackened ruin strewn with bodies” with very dramatic Oh The Humanity language disguised as reporting. First thought was, where were these people for eight years when the Nazis were shelling Donetsk? But, second, boy, did this sure look like a classic Zelensky false flag with Blinken in Kiev at the very same time, and the immediate press releases saying, see, see, what savages these Russians are?? (And we’re giving this guy more powerful missles?)

    So, why the 180 at the NYT? They could have just let this narrative fade into the past. Why did they lock six reporters in a room to come up with this? As Alex Christoforou says a lot, something is goin’ on. Are we supposed to believe this?: “Ukrainian authorities initially tried to prevent journalists with The Times from accessing the missile debris and impact area in the strike’s immediate aftermath. But the reporters were eventually able to get to the scene, interview witnesses and collect remnants of the weapon used.” Really? I imagine a crowd milling and surging at the yellow tape boundary in this movie, and young reporter with ID on a lanyard pushes forward with photographer, announcing, “NYT! NYT! Let me through!” And, of course, the authorities bow and do so. Oh, and here, we found some missle fragments for your investigation. C’mon, man.

    Something is going on. Zelensky is in the US when this article hits. He just fired the defense ministers. Who knows, a big surprise may be around the corner. Stay tuned.

    1. Lex

      Most analysts (generally Russian friendly analysts) concluded that it was a US HARM missile while the NYT article is saying it was a wayward Buk AD missile. Funny that coincidental timing with Blinken arriving in Kiev. But even Ukrainian adjacent analysts like Ropcke immediately concluded that the direction of flight made it impossible to be Russian.

    2. Feral Finster

      “Written by no less than six reporters, which is getting ridiculous, this reporting by team trend.”

      My SWAG is that this was done in order to spread blame in case State decides that No Criticism Of The Beacon Of Freedom Is Allowed.

      Everyone can blame someone else on the team and the team blames the intern.

    3. Mikel

      “…Written by no less than six reporters, which is getting ridiculous, this reporting by team trend…”

      Add a few more writers and they can match the numbers it comes up with these days to “write” a 3 minute pop song.

  17. Ghost in the Machine

    Is it true that the US consumes 80% of the world’s opiates? That would be a pretty long arc of karma for the West regarding the opium wars. Though the elite deserve the karma not the weak who suffer.

    1. digi_owl

      Yeah, that came to mind as well. I know they say that revenge is best served cold, but this has to be glacial.

    2. Amfortas the Hippie

      I could make at least a couple of thouand if i decided to sell my monthly allotment…even in this little place.
      I wont, of course…because that behavior justifies the idiotic hoops i must traverse to get the d3rn pills.
      My dr showed me the dea bs he must go thru to get me a refill, and its pretty crazy.
      Also hafta do a pee test to make sure im ingesting them rather than selling them.
      Again, im a model pain patient…and never even caught a buzz from this stuff.
      Dr was made to put me on gabapentin instead of bumping up my dose after a year and a half, too…but im already weaning myself off that, after a month and a half,lol…last thing i need is worse depression and suicidal ideation(mild, but rather shocking in its novelty for me)
      Burn the dea down, and salt the earth.
      A new new deal would do wonders for the opioid crisis.

      2. Jabura Basaidai

        have a buddy in Colorado – was(always is) a Marine who did 2 tours in the jungle and has an allotment as well from something sustained – never mentioned a pee test – never asked for details – good to read you stopped gabapentin, was prescribed it and tried once and never took it again – yep agree with your DEA assessment – they’re all crooked as a dog’s leg anyway –

    3. Mikel

      “incompetence and ineffective control is the true cause of the pervasive drug problem in the US”
      That all depends on what one thinks is being controlled.

      1. JBird4049

        The only people who take the the blame and the punishment are those with the least power, but really, I can make a good case that they are the least to blame, while everyone else, including, but not exclusively, the Chinese manufacturers are the true villeins. If they want to perpetuate another Opium War, that is on them and no one else.

        Chinese deliberately make the drug precursors, with which the Mexicans create and sell to the wholesalers, both legal and not, the actual filth. This include people like the Sacklers. The retailers, both legal and not, then sell it to the desperate, the poor, the ones crippled by the pain of old injuries, the lost and hopeless. Everyone, including the government and the police make money off this.

  18. The Rev Kev

    “YouTube suspends Russell Brand from advert income”

    Say, isn’t this the same way that it all started for Julian Assange? A coupla women coming forward with charges that could not be substantiated and which the women themselves were unwilling to press charges for with one running off to Israel to be unavailable? And the Swedish legal system twisting itself into a pretzel trying to charge him while absolutely refusing to actually interview the guy. I’m sure that Scotland’s Alex Salmond would have firm opinions on this matter.

      1. Alice X

        Russell Brand allegations: What is the star accused of?

        From the piece, there are reports from four women:

        One woman alleges that Brand raped her without a condom against a wall in his Los Angeles home. She says Brand tried to stop her leaving until she told him she was going to the bathroom. She was treated at a rape crisis centre on the same day, which the Times says it has confirmed via medical records

        I would like to hear the woman’s characterization because rape is an act of violence and that is really, really bad. So without a condom means possible evidence and importantly, she reported it the same day. But how did the Times confirm that via medical records which it should not have access to?

        The other three references in the BBC piece do not mention contemporaneous reports.

        This is going to require some sorting out.

        1. JBird4049

          I have no problem believing Russell Brand is a rapist, but this does have form as man is being accused, tried, condemned, and punished without trial, using whispers, innuendo, and badmouthing as had happened to other critics of the regime.

          Crying wolf as a tool for political control is despicable. Not only are actual rapists having their defense bolstered, actually innocent people are being destroyed by these accusations.

          1. Wukchumni

            Brand closely resembles our fantasy image of Jesus, any wonder why the concerted effort to crucify him?

    2. Feral Finster

      For that matter, Andrew Cuomo had a long and well-documented history of seamy sexual behavior, so where was the rush to judgment?

    4. AK

      The only sensible comments on this I have come across to date were by Robby Soave and Briahna Joy Gray in Rising, a news programme produced by US newspaper, The Hill. It’s here:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qr_Kjd0xXNA

      They described it as “extremely disturbing” that you could be cancelled and deprived of your livelihood based on anonymous allegations of what you supposedly did decades ago.

  19. t

    Noble disease – turns out the combination of having enough ego to get your ideas center stage, and then being celebrated and left alone to do whatever you want to do with no responsibilities other than your own great ideas isn’t a blueprint for mental health, perspective, and empathy. That said, the piece had more references to normal genius who managed to contribute to science and technology and not vlow up their personal lives and become cranks.. (In the “went on to” stories.)

  20. Expat2uruguay

    The bonus antidote, of a dog bringing stuffed animals to its food bowl over and over again while it wears some ridiculous Dolly over its head is not cute at all. It doesn’t feel like an antidote at all. Did anyone enjoy it who can explain it to me?
    PS, I know I’m late to the party, but I’m putting my donation in today!!

    1. Ignacio

      If the dog was trained to do that i would agree: not antidote. If not think twice. That video might be telling with regards to animal behaviour. Great antidote in that case.

      1. KLG

        Imagine a cat doing the same thing, trained or not. I say that as one who is mostly a cat person. Dogs have masters, cats have staff.

        1. Stephanie

          My cat did do that, off and on, for a few years until I created a toy box for him (a basket on the floor that I would throw his stuff into whenever I swept beneath the radiators). Now he just grabs his faves out of the toy box when he wants to play and waits for me to replace them.

          I guess this probably just proves your point about cats having staff.

      2. Expat2uruguay

        I thought it was obvious that the dog was trained to do that, since there was no other actions in the video about the dog interacting with the stuffed animals. Just over and over again performing the trick for the promised treat, which was obviously given immediately since each segment of the video ended as soon as the dog had completed the task.

        It’s an anti-antidote in reality. Very depressing to think of US citizens trained to vote in the same way, to create the appearance of caring about what their leaders do in their name.

    2. CanCyn

      Two things bothered me – the weird scarves aside (dogs should not wear clothes) and the fact that dogs don’t need that many toys that they can help themselves to, it can lead to possessiveness and resource guarding. All that aside, it made me laugh. To be clear, the dog didn’t do that all at one time. The humans have just edited a bunch of separate times together.
      I have friends whose poodle likes to take his stuffed toys out on to the back deck. He takes them from the basket, one at a time, and drops them here and there on the deck. He can be a bit of an anxious dog but he seems to enjoy doing this particular task. When all are moved, he seems quite satisfied. And doesn’t get upset when they’re all put away, or immediately move them back. He just does it now and again. My friends did not train him or encourage him in any way and they don’t play fetch or tug with him with the toys when they’re out on the deck.

    3. neutrino23

      The thing over the ears is meant to keep the long ears of the dachshund from hanging down into food or a water dish. We had a short haired dachshund whose ears we could sort of fold back to accomplish this.

      Not sure why the dog is bringing the toys to the food dish. Maybe they are companions. When we went out our dog would collect my shoes to keep her company. Dachshund are really curious little creatures.

    4. Ann

      Dachshund owner here. The dogs pictured are long haired dachshunds. Their ears drag the floor and many people put these little “snoods” around their necks to keep the ears out of the food. Some cocker spaniel and basset hound owners do the same. These two seem to have several different patterned versions. The owners probably put them on the dog, tuck in the ears, and then let them loose to go to their food dishes, then take them off after the meal. One seemingly likes to bring a stuffed toy to the dish whenever he goes to eat. Cute!

  21. furnace

    Anyone following the current Armenia-Azerbaijan happenings? Seems like war might be breaking out again. Given the last post on the matter by Conor, I fear Armenia may be up for another kick on the teeth.

    1. Polar Socialist

      Azerbaijan calls it an anti-terrorist operation, so it’s all good. Meanwhile Armenian defense minister wants Armenia to leave CSTO and prime minister is calling EU and US for help.

      I’m expecting Azerbaijan to be dismissed from Eurovision the soonest.

      1. Ignacio

        Here Expat2Uruguay might chime in since there is significant diaspora in Uruguay and Argentina. I have gone to check media in Argentina and they (Armenian diaspora) are seemingly very, very unhappy with Pashinian who has arguably pushed Azerbaijan towards Nagorno-Karabaj.

  22. Lex

    When people come to visit they always remark on the ability to see the night sky. And it’s not like I live out in the wood. I live right in town though one of only 20,000 people. I don’t think about it much because it’s normal to me and usually tell visitors that if they ready want to see the sky a walk down to the lakeshore will improve dramatically over my back deck and a drive 15 minutes north will blow their minds.

    But I do notice the lack of a night sky when I’m at the second house down south in the big shitty. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s probably important to be regularly confronted with Nature as much bigger and more powerful than us. A real night sky gives us the proper scale of our own existence, even if it’s cluttered with satellites streaking across it.

  23. Jabura Basaidai

    “The US, with 5% of the world’s population, consumes 80% of the opioids produced in the world… incompetence and ineffective control is the true cause of the pervasive drug problem in the US”
    HAH! – the true cause is the duplicity we live with as a nation – escape through drugs the only option for too many – control is a joke – have seen the tragedy first-hand unfortunately – not really laughing…………

  24. Ignacio

    Forget masks, vaccine still protects.

    If someone has a very bad reaction after vaccination the pic in the Metro makes for a start to find someone to sue.

  25. The Rev Kev

    “It rained all day and all night. Khon Kaen will now be a canal”

    Heard this guy talking decades ago about being in the middle of a city in Asia when the rains came in but hard. Quickly the streets started flooding like in that video and he thought that there was a disaster in the making when he noticed that the locals were not concerned. When he asked around later, he found that that city did not have underground drainage pipes which meant that excess water would just flood through the city and it was just part and parcel of life there. I suppose the same must have been true of Europe and colonial countries in earlier times but which no longer happens.

    1. playon

      When we lived in Chiang Mai there were occasional torrential downpours in the summer, a monsoon I suppose. I had never seen rain that heavy before (or since). It was on a street market day, lasted about half an hour but nobody seemed too concerned. I remember riding our bikes back from the market and the water was deep enough that the bike pedals would be underwater for part of the rotation. Chiang Mai is in the hills and doesn’t have flood issues like Khon Kaen however.

    2. rowlf

      I saw the same in São Paulo Brasil. A sudden storm that led to about two feet of street flooding downtown and an hour or so later it was all gone.

      A friend in Bangkok sends me pictures of his car up on supports to keep it above the flood water from time-to-time.

  26. LawnDart

    RevKev (my reply moved),

    Accidents are partially why China got rid of pilots– they’re expensive and make mistakes: China’s eVTOLs are autonomous.

    Along with these eVTOLs/”drones” China has approved an airspace management system that largely eliminates the need for additional air traffic controlers (and again, to reduce or eliminate the potential for human error):

    https://www.unmannedairspace.info/urban-air-mobility/ehang-announces-caac-approval-of-its-airspace-management-cloud-system/

    The tests and inspections that these machines undergo are as thorough as anything your commercial airliner goes through, so I highly doubt they will be “falling from the skies” as flight safety-standards have been in no way relaxed for these aircraft (however, in USA there was an attempt/are attempts to do just this: that is why Joby is under military flight certification, not FAA).

    Here’s a link to one of China’s tests:

    https://youtu.be/6Ob8kjAOW0E?si=HQOoHnIGcErchJfx

    1. The Rev Kev

      At least the Chinese engineers are not working to the motto ‘Move fast and break things.’ I guess that we will have to see these things work in practice at scale.

      1. LawnDart

        That came up in discussion not long after an American competetor crashed one (to be fair, this incident did arouse the ire of the FAA and resulted in an NTSB investigation: the company involved tried to play it off as “pushing the envelope or testing the limits”).

        [Edit: yes, the same one linked in Links]

        https://newatlas.com/aircraft/joby-crash-evtol/

    2. MaryLand

      I wonder how the environmental impact of these flying taxis compared to that of on the ground taxis. I’m guessing it’s worse.

  27. The Rev Kev

    ‘Alex Christoforou
    @AXChristoforou
    They successfully crushed Germany-Russia relations. Now it’s time to destroy Germany-China trade.
    Germany’s real enemy is not China or Russia. it’s the guys who blew up Nord Stream and now want to blow up the trade pipeline with China.’

    It might actually be worse than suggested here. At the moment the EU is rebuilding the Iron Curtain from the First Cold War to keep any Russians out of the continent. Any ordinary Russian visiting there risks having his car, mobile, computers, clothes and luggage seized from them. Note that this never happened during earlier times. So it seems that Germany at least is gunning for China now so it may be only a matter of time until no Chinese citizen will also be unable to visit the EU either. Brussels make think that they are building a fortress but in fact they are only building a backwater.

    1. Skip Intro

      The new iron curtain is facing the other way. Impoverished Europeans will be prevented from accessing Russian energy and industrial products, and forced to smuggle consumer items they can no longer manufacture in to the west. And when they are finally cut off from China, they will long for the days of cheap and plentiful plastic swastikas.

    2. Feral Finster

      “Brussels make think that they are building a fortress but in fact they are only building a backwater.”

      The Eurocrats know full well, but since they will not personally suffer, they do not care.

      Eurocrats are proud of how little they care for the concerns of ordinary citizens, they flaunt how out of touch they are.

    3. lyman alpha blob

      Wait, hasn’t Europe turned itself into a backwater before? Welcome back, Middle Ages! History may not repeat itself, but it does often rhyme.

  28. Mikel

    “Dutch political commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek speaks out on the WEF’s plan to impose a personal carbon allowance, linked to a digital identity card, under the guise of solving the climate…”

    Carbon allowance: another financial product from the rentiers.
    Don’t fall for it.

  29. Carolinian

    Re Chicago libraries and the row over “book banning”–quite a lot of pearl clutching over this from the MSNBC crowd who are nevertheless all for censorship as long as it is of the right targets. Of course no need to ban books when you can simply not publish or not buy them and these days the book business is very much of the MSNBC persuasion. At my own library in this very Republican state the new book political selections run maybe 80/20 in favor of woke topics and authors versus conservatives. While the latter may not be to my taste the former aren’t either.

    However I suspect this lineup is less about our library management than what the publishers are putting out. There have been reports of some controversial conservative authors being dropped by their publishers on political grounds.

    And finally in a digital age libraries are fading altogether as a source of information and tend to discard any archive role. Good luck trying to find older political books that may be important but never get checked out. That high horse they are riding is shrinking.

  30. PlutoniumKun

    India-Middle East – Europe Economic Corridor is a geopolitical pipe dream Indian Punchline. I did not write this up, but it looked silly on maps. Too many modal changes: from rail to sea to rail to sea to rail.

    I strongly suspect that this was cooked up just to give the participants something to press release at the end of the conference, but as a point of principle a multi-modal economic corridor is a much better idea that simply building ports and railways linking up mis-matched economies as is the primary feature of the Belt and Road project (even the very name gives away its nature).

    Almost all historical growth zones have been mixed mode corridors – usually along coasts (Mediterranean or US north-east coast) or rivers (Mississippi, Yellow River, Rhine, etc), which allowed nodes to link up, both in terms of heavy cargo, communications and people. Their success is based on far more than shifting cargo more cheaply, although that is important. Its about creating larger functional economic units, both in terms of industrial scale and in human scale. The more people are in functional contact, the greater the rise in productivity. While they usually start up along a convenient physical corridor over time they develop more complex networks – this can be seen by the way high productivity areas in Europe, the US, China and Japan have distinct elongated clusters such as the Boston-NY corridor, the Low Countries/Rhine/North Italy ‘banana’, or the Guangzhou/Shenzen/HK axis in China.

    Simply linking two points with a new railway is not necessarily a good thing – railway construction in 19th Century Ireland and Argentina and India simply allowed for greater resource extraction by the dominant node. This is a key reason why an obsession with simply linking places up with goods trains or HGV’s or highways is not necessarily a good way to drive productivity upwards. In fact, the historical record of such infrastructure is very mixed to say the least. For every Suez Canal there are any number of bridges to nowhere.

    1. digi_owl

      I kinda also wonder if it is an attempt at dragging the Saudis away from Iran, just as there is talk about a Russia Iran transport corridor that may provide overland transport of Chinese goods to the middle east.

      Right now any shipping between the Pacific and the Atlantic goes through a couple of choke points that give USA a whole lot of control. Thus going overland, even if rail do not have the gross tonnage of container shipping, sidesteps that. And with China now having linked up to Russia’s Trans-Siberian railroad, they no longer have to deal with the various -stans and the whole issue of the Kashmir.

    2. cousinAdam

      Multi-modal is “tolerable” if the freight is modular- ie in shipping containers. Happens all the time between rail, big rigs and container ships. Am I missing something?

      1. Phenix

        The amount of energy needed to move cargo over land is far greater than the energy needed to move cargo over water.

        We are entering peak energy and China is doing it’s best to continue its unlimited growth model while it’s demographics crater. The Chinese can bring more workers online (Yves pointed out that they have a lower retirement age) but in the long term they simply run out of people and have seemingly built an infrastructure system for 1.5+ billion people.

        The last projection saw has the US and China with the same # of people when I retire/die. That is a lot of infrastructure to maintain when energy and human resources dwindle.

        We (Americans) are in a similar situation except we can still function as an autarky. Our leaders are incompetent but our geography is amazing.

  31. Bronx Richie

    The Dutch wind turbine looks fantastic. Well done those guys, and thanks for spotting it and bringing it to our attention

  32. Matthew G. Saroff

    Another CFA nation experiencing a coup?

    It’s almost like being under French monetary hegemony is destabilizing, but it can’t be that.

  34. IMOR

    AP News headline this a.m.:
    “Germany went from envy of the world to the worst-performing major developed economy. What happened?”

    ‘Tis a mystery!

    AP is on a remarkable headline and deck disingenuousness jag lately, even for MSM paragons. Kinda fun, actually, to scroll through every couple days.

  35. cfraenkel

    Re Trudeau’s ‘credible evidence’. The timing of this announcement is awfully convenient…. Antagonism over supposedly harboring Sikh leaders goes back decades, though there hasn’t been much smoke from that direction for 5ish years or so. On the other hand, the Liberals have been whistling past the housing affordability graveyard for years, just last week or so had their plummeting poll numbers wake them up that the electorate is out for blood, and there’s nothing they can realistically do about it, so deflect, distract and find something else to talk about is the name of the game.

    1. jrkrideau

      Admittedly Trudeau is an idiot in foreign affairs but it’s hard to believe he’s this stupid. This opens the Liberals s to more attacks from Skippy Poilievre.

      I wonder if someone in the caucus wants to embarrass him and is dumb enough to repeat the Huawei fiasco?

  36. Simple John

    Clicking the “Subscribe to post comments” brings up page source code.
    I’m sending a check for $1000.
    It’s not obvious where I was supposed to inform Eve.
    Best to spell out in gory detail when you want something done your way.
    Best regards,

    1. Yves Smith Post author

      ZOMG, thanks SO much!

      “Subscribe to comments” was an RSS feed for comments. That may be depricated if it was not moved off Feedburner. I will call this to the attention of our tech maven Dave.

      1. Acacia

        The RSS feed has been working fine for me. I use it all the time and I have heard a number of others do as well. The “page source code” is just proper RSS.

        I sincerely hope it won’t be deprecated, as it provides a chronological view of comments not otherwise available from NC.

        Also, bear in mind that a RSS feed for comments is very useful as page loading of Links and WC is now horribly slow — not due to the NC server itself (yes, I’ve checked), but rather due to all the embedded tweets and the crapification of Twitter/X/whatever that load in from other servers, causing it to work very slowly.

        In sum, IMHO loss of RSS would very negatively impact the NC experience.

    2. Lambert Strether

      The code that appears is in fact what the RSS feed, er, feeds:

      <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><rss version="2.0"
      xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
      xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
      xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
      xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"

      Give the URL for that page to your RSS reader, copy the link from the “SUBSCRIBE TO POST COMMENTS” button, or copy this link:

      https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/09/links-9-19-2023.html/feed

      and everything should be OK.

  37. paul

    RE Scottish salmon
    I am aghast that anyone would eat this muck.
    Parasite riven,chemically saturated stock swimming about in its own shit and piss for its entire, wretched life is not my idea of good grub.

    1. some guy

      I tried some farmed salmon once, just to see. It had the barest hint of a whisp of the ghost of a taste vaguely reminiscent of salmon.

  38. Old Sarum

    In defence of Simon Evans:

    Being submerged in British comedy from an early age as I was, I am somewhat surprised that Russell Brand is referred to as a comedian. I was under the impression that he is a pretty-boy influencer who had somehow made it to mass-media recognition; but there you go!

    JO BRAND however: https://youtu.be/8WlsfUv6zLU?si=4MdGE_q7UiWgcTzW (contains family-blogging)

    Pip-pip

  39. Wukchumni

    Wildfire prep for homes is growing, thanks to climate change, insurance and tech NPR
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Been an incredibly quiet wildfire year in Cali with just 250,000 acres burned, versus Canada’s almost 43 million acres torched!

    Not out of the woods yet (the truth is, i’m surrounded by woods) this year, but it seems the risk is much less as our wet winter was combined with a fair amount of rain this summer, keeping everything moist.

    Every year allows me to push the perimeter as far as getting rid of burnables and whatnot on the all cats & no cattle ranch, for which i’m grateful.

Comments are closed.