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Links 12/30/2023

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A look at NYC’s best animal photos, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society Gothamist (furzy)

Winners of the 2023 International Landscape Photographer of the Year Contest My Modern Met

‘Narratives of Delay’: How the Animal Pharma Industry Resists Moves to Curb the Overuse of Antibiotics on Farms DesmogBlog

Chemicals of ‘Concern’ Found In Philips Breathing Machines Propubluca

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

Are salvaged materials the future of building design? Financial Times (David L)

UK Startup Develops Low Carbon Jet Fuel Made From Human Waste BBC

Surfers take on giant waves as storm hits California BBC (David L)

Pictures show destruction as huge surf pounds US West Coast, flooding some low-lying areas ABC Australia (Kevin W)

Green jobs for fossil fuel workers: The implications of geography and skills for the clean energy transition VoxEU

First EV With Lithium-Free Sodium Battery Hits the Road In January CarNewsChina

“If no one had ever said, ‘Plant a trillion trees,’ I think we’d have been in a lot better space” REDD-Monitor (Micael T)

China?

China Looks To Dominate Building of Lower-Carbon Fuel Ships OilPrice

How Japan is willingly ceding the future to China Asia Times

European Disunion

New Year travel hell as Eurostar tunnels flood: Children ‘in tears’ and thousands stranded after ALL trains from St Pancras are cancelled and trips to France and Disneyland ‘ruined’ (with some travellers resorting to getting the bus!) Daily Mail

German doctors on strike at the height of COVID, flu season DW

Jacques Delors destroyed the European left Thomas Fazi

Wolfgang Schäuble: A criminal figure of German and European politics passes away Defend Democracy (Micael T)

Old Blighty

British life-style: People increasingly turning to food black market International Affairs (Micael T)

NHS in England facing ‘storm of pressure’ as flu and Covid cases surge Guardian

Venezuela To Deploy Defensive Action in Response to UK Threat TeleSUR (Micael T)

The Tit-For-Tat British-Guyanese & Venezuelan Drills Serve Each Side’s Soft Power Interests Andrew Korybko

Gaza

‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 84: Gaza at ‘catastrophic threshold’ of famine, West Bank marks ‘deadliest year on record’ for Palestinian children Mondoweiss (guurst)

* * *

It’s Time to End the ‘Special Relationship’ With Israel Foreign Policy (Li)

The Biden administration once more bypasses Congress on an emergency weapons sale to Israel Associated Press

* * *

Conscription in Israel upends families as war in Gaza drags on France24

* * *

South Africa files case at ICJ accusing Israel of ‘genocidal acts’ in Gaza Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

South Africa Invokes Genocide Convention against Israel Sam Husseini

The ICJ Filing (guurst)

Israel Says It’s Anti-Semitic To Invoke The Genocide Convention Over Gaza Caitlin Johnstone (Dr. Kevin). Doing US exceptionalism one better.

* * *

German State Television, of all places, has published a glossary to justify genocide. Dr. Goebbels would be proud if he was still in charge. Eastern Angle (Micael T)

* * *

How Yemen is blocking US hegemony in West Asia The Cradle (Micael T)

No, Don’t ‘Take the Fight’ to the Houthis Daniel Larison (Micael T)

* * *

Assassination Will Not Help Israel Ian Welsh (Micael T)

New Not-So-Cold War

Biggest Ever Rus Missile Strike Rocks Ukr; Medvedev, Lavrov: No Ceasefire, US Looking For Way Out Alexander Mercouris

Poland says ‘everything indicates’ a Russian missile briefly entered its airspace and left 9News (Kevin W)

ZELENSKY’S DRUG EMPIRE: HOW UKRAINE TURNED INTO EUROPE’S LARGEST DRUG PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION CENTER Foundation to Battle Injustice

Moscow’s anti-sanctions tsarina: What the woman leading Russia’s Central Bank says about economic war with the West RT (UserFriendly)

Russia’s stunted LNG coup Energy Flux (Micael T)

Patrick Lawrence: To Retrieve History Scheerpost (Anthony L)

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

When You Roam, You’re Not Alone LawFare (David L).

4-year campaign backdoored iPhones using possibly the most advanced exploit ever ars technica (bob)

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Global South does not like the West’s “rules-based order” International Affairs (Micael T)

Trump

Maine’s secretary of state explains her reasons for barring Trump from primary ballot CBS (Kevin W)

Sen. Collins: Maine secretary of state’s decision to bar Trump from ballot ‘should be overturned’ The Hill

Our No Longer Free Press

Are You in an Anti-Free Speech State? We Now Have The Definitive List Jonathan Turley (Chuck L)

One more just war or just one more war? The New York Times and all the military propaganda that fits Dennis Broe

AI

AI-Created ‘Virtual Influencers’ Are Stealing Business From Humans Financial Times

Michael Cohen Used AI To Feed Lawyer Bogus Cases New York Times

The Bezzle

Class Warfare

The question is, are we happy to live in a world that deliberately creates destitution for some? Richard Murphy

From FedEx to airlines, companies are starting to lose their pricing power CNBC

Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “This was taken at the Los Angeles Arboretum and Botanic Garden. In Los Angeles, CA.”

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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118 comments

  1. Antifa

    ELECTION YEAR
    (melody borrowed from It Came Upon The Midnight Clear)

    Come New Year’s Day it’s Election Year
    That vintage two-party chokehold
    Phone calls and vicious ads back and forth
    And this year they’re AI-controlled
    They want us to care how this contest ends
    When voting won’t change a damn thing
    We worry more about kids and friends
    And the shocks our monthly nut brings

    Our Congress is a great bordello
    Of insider trading and grift
    While billions goes to the One Percent
    The working people get stiffed
    How can we vote for the Large Orange Man
    Or the wandering wraith in DC?
    Neither man can still drive a car
    How will they drive our country?

    Ye gods and fishies, send sweet relief
    And spare us this dreadful pursuit
    Our President’s not commander in chief
    He’s just there to look good in a suit
    Is there no way we can roll the dice
    Or make them both fight in the ring?
    The whole show’s purchased to be precise
    The One Percent own the whole thing

    Why bother with this absurd pretense?
    Their promises are heated air
    No one in Washington’s on the fence
    Money is why they are there
    Huge corporations now rule the world
    They fund all elections as well
    The system’s cracked from the very start
    Just like our Liberty Bell

  2. The Rev Kev

    “How Yemen is blocking US hegemony in West Asia”

    The US does not have a lot of great options as far as Yemen is concerned. US missiles will run empty long before Ansarallah runs short of drones and missiles. And you get the feeling that Ansarallah are holding back on their best stuff. The US could land 50,000 US marines along the coastline to shut down those missiles sites but there are two major problems. How does the US get troopships close enough to land that force without being hit by missiles and drones? More critically, I do not think that the US could even put together a 50,000 strong landing force of US Marines. Even to try would take several months at least.

    There is the idea that the US could bomb Yemen to stop those missiles. But then what happens when Ansarallah in retaliation destroys with missiles and drones the US base at Djibouti – the only site where those warships can reload their missiles when they run empty. What do those warships do then? A coupla years ago I said that we are now in an Age of Missiles where smaller countries have leveled the playing fields with countries like the US, UK and France using cheap missiles. I was half right and half wrong. I did not see the use of small, inexpensive drones tilting the equation even further. But if it stops the promiscuous bombing of countries at a whim or a deliberate lie, then bully for them.

    2. ISL

      and how would the US support logistically 50,000 troops in Yemen? Tooth to tail requires 450,000 for the US military logistics given how prone US equipment is to breakdown in the harsh desert environment (it was designed for parade grounds). Half a million – the US couldn’t do it without a draft or withdrawing all forces from other parts of the globe and it would take a year or longer. And can 50,000 US combat forces prevail against Yemen? Unlikely. It would take four or five to one – 250,000, requiring support troops of 2 million.

      Funny how the US evolved into the paper tiger it was accused of (when it wasn’t) just to steal a buck (or 21 trillion bucks).

    3. redleg

      Take it one step further: think about how the US missile reloads get to Djibouti and how vulnerable the logistical setup- transport, loading, storage, etc.- for rearming is.

    4. CA

      The US does not have a lot of great options as far as Yemen is concerned….

      [ A startling insight, at least to me. This now seems clearly correct. ]

      1. JTMcPhee

        Too bad MYODB is never one of the menu choices.

        But like the “settler” said, in a very Noo Yawk accent, when the Palestinian he and his thug compadres and Diaper Force muscle whose house and land he was stealing asked “Why are you doing this?”, “Somebody is going to do it but I’m here first.”

        Monrovitch Doctrine, enshrined in the self-published Pentateuch.

    5. Karl

      The future is not just drones, but coordinated swarms of drones.

      During the Chinese winter Olympics of Jan. 2022 I saw a demonstration of this capability. About 1000 small drones lit up the night sky, each drone like a pixel with its powerful colored light beaming down, all programmed to dance together to form amazing 3D figures. One figure I remember was a huge planet earth rotating. On signal, the earth would rotate. On signal, the drones would form other figures, then dance back to their pre-assigned landing points.

      Now imagine a swarm of drones carrying bombs, missiles, jamming, flak, you name it. Levelling, indeed. Our proud navy, each ship a sitting duck.

      It’s interesting to contemplate that much of this technology (1st generation) was probably developed by the U.S. MIC. Then the civilian spinoffs came. Then the patents expired. Then the Iranians, Russians and Chinese reverse-engineered them. You could call this “technological blowback.”

      Then the MIC will develop anti-drone-swarm technology. It will be late to the next battle and very expensive to operate and maintain. Maybe it will even work some of the time.

    1. castilleja

      Yes! And then I’ve read that the zoo was keeping Flaco in a cage the size of a bus stop – before his escape to freedom and celebrity status.
      And why isn’t one of those gorgeous photos of him in the wilds of Central Park or perched on a fire escape in the awards list?

  4. Victor Sciamarelli

    On Gaza and the special relationship:
    “During…[the] ground and aerial bombardment…by the Israeli armed forces, the country’s infrastructure suffered destruction on a catastrophic scale. Israeli forces pounded buildings into the ground, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble and turning villages and towns into ghost towns, as their inhabitants fled the bombardments. Main roads, bridges and petrol stations were blown to bits.”
    “Entire families were killed in air strikes…scores lay buried beneath the rubble of their houses for weeks…”
    “In carrying out its punishment campaign, Israel has left behind a shocking level of destruction outside the direct battle zone.”
    “One Israeli soldier who helped ‘flood’ the area with cluster bombs said, ‘What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs.’”
    Actually, this is a small sample of remarks from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and military expert William Arkin on the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war lifted from Mearsheimer and Walt in their book “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy.”
    Consider as well from M&W, “After warning the residents of that area to leave, Minister of Justice Haim Ramon-who had said that, ‘We must reduce to dust the villages of the south- announced…that, ‘all those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hizbullah.’” Some things never change, especially the propaganda behind the unconditional US support for Israel war crimes.

    1. The Rev Kev

      “One Israeli soldier who helped ‘flood’ the area with cluster bombs said, What we did was insane and monstrous, we covered entire towns in cluster bombs.’”

      That was what Israel did after Hezbollah defeated them back in 2006. The Israelis saturated the south of Lebanon with cluster bombs fired by artillery to kill and injure the people that were returning to rebuild their villages. They did this after they pulled their forces back into Israel and it took ages to clear them all out.

      1. Victor Sciamarelli

        Israel invaded and occupied parts of Lebanon for 18-years from 1982 to 2000. From 2000 until July 2006, there was a constant give and take between Israel’s IDF and Hezbollah. In July 2006, Hezbollah crossed Israel’s northern border and killed three soldiers and captured two other soldiers. They also fired some rockets, yet, no civilians or additional soldiers were killed.
        My point was that although Hezbollah precipitated the war, Israel’s response to the attack was to target the entire civilian population as well as the civilian infrastructure much like the war crimes it’s conducting in Gaza today. Moreover, the propaganda justifying the war crimes then, such as Israel is the victim with a right to defend itself, was very similar to the propaganda today.

        2. Karl

          What did Israel learn from the Israel-Lebanon war? All that death and destruction, 20 years ago, and Hezbollah is back, stronger than ever.

          While the U.S. was distracted by Iraq, Israel learned that it could get away with indiscriminate mass killing of civilians in Lebanon.

          Whatever outrage Israel caused in the West from its war in Lebanon died down for a decade. It used that time, not to build a basis for peace but to steal more land in the West Bank. Then another flare-up occurred, this time in Gaza in 2014. It committed another round of mass killings then, but unlike today it pulled out of Gaza entirely. Was this because of pressure from Obama?

          After 2014 another ten years of “peace” followed, during which Israel amassed more land in the West Bank. Then another congenial pro-Israel hawk got elected, who, like GW Bush, is giving Israel free reign to do what it wants in Gaza.

          If history is any guide, the outrage will die down again. Trump may even give Israel the green light to annex portions of the West Bank, Netanyahu’s longer term goal.

          Such is the pattern. How long will the U.S. let it continue?

  5. The Rev Kev

    ‘hello world
    @hellowo63335565
    Can you imagine? This is Afghanistan. Just a few years ago, they were living under the barrage of U.S. military bombardment, and now Chinese solar energy companies have moved in!
    Once again, America bombs, China builds.’

    It’s been less than three years since NATO was chased out of Afghanistan. I was pretty sure back then that the plan was to keep that country destitute as was done with Vietnam after their 1975 victory. Biden swiping Afghanistan’s money fit that idea. Looks like the Chinese may have worked out that bringing that country in from the cold would benefit a lot of people, including themselves. Can you imagine what a similar video would look like twenty years from now with what might be possible? If they can unlock their mineral wealth and use the profits into developing that country, it may mean that that country will fully stabilize. Hey, maybe in twenty years from now that country could be invited into the BRICS. I am sure that Iran to their west would probably support them in this by then.

    1. timbers

      Not to mention, that what might also occur to any American watching that video…”why can’t Merica do that here in Missouri/Kansas/Kentucky/etc what China is doing in Afghanistan, since we’re sending all that $$$ to Ukraine and Israel?”

      1. vao

        The TAPI has an interesting history. It was a project proposed by an Argentinian company. The USA intrigued and manoeuvred to evict that company, and control the project, going as far as inviting the Talebans to the USA so as to negotiate a deal. The actions by Al-Qaeda and the subsequent invasion of Afghanistan put a provisory end to the project.

        Because of the TAPI, many people have assessed the whole Afghan affair as another operation by the USA to control the source and flow of hydrocarbons around the world.

    3. digi_owl

      It very much benefits China, as going through Afghanistan to Iran and on would provide a southern route past the Caspian sea for overland shipping.

      And frankly just because they have a nasty view on women do not mean Taliban are backwards other aspects. Supposedly a large number of zealots of all religions hold engineering degrees.

      1. Polar Socialist

        Yeah, something about peace and stability in Central Asia that China (also Russia, Iran and all the countries of Central Asia, come to think of it) would find preferable to forever war.

        I once saw a (TED?) talk about the fact that women’s liberation in the what are now called western liberal democracies started with electricity, plumbing and a washing machine. I think it was the lecture’s Swedish grandmother who had pointed this out – if all your waking hours are spend getting water and firewood and heating the water for washing, cooking and dishes, you don’t have time or energy left to emancipate.

        It’s more likely than not that removing poverty (and warlords) from Afghanistan will improve women’s lot much more than precision bombing (and warlord) ever could. Add some electricity and home appliances, and you can’t keep them down at the farm anymore. Or will they be needed there, if the machines can do most of the work.

        It can take a generation or two, but given a chance people in general want their offspring to have better lives than they have. Even for their daughters.

        1. Judith

          Also a lot more helpful than micro-loans from Samantha Power that the women will be unable to repay (and be in debt – how liberating).

        2. Roger Boyd

          Exactly what Mao did post-1949 in China, basic health services to reduce diseases, proper distribution of food to stop hunger, and extension of schools to provide literacy. 1949-1958 produced a massive leap in social welfare. 1959-61 produced a setback (an actual famine plus some hubris from the previous decade) but then the Chinese economy grew from then on.
          The average lifespan massively improved in those first 10 years, as did the position of women.

          1. CA

            https://english.news.cn/20230201/7e9c03616e09460ab11e642dcf172052/c.html

            February 1, 2023

            A ladle of water at villager’s home

            BEIJING — Ten years on, middle school teacher Ma Hailong can still clearly remember General Secretary Xi Jinping visiting his home and tasting water in the jar with a ladle.

            A few days before the Spring Festival in 2013, Ma’s grandfather received Xi, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, in their home in Yuangudui Village, Weiyuan County, in northwest China’s Gansu Province.

            While chatting with the Ma’s, Xi noticed a water jar and scooped some water up to his mouth, but immediately frowned at the taste.

            “There were still some stains on the ladle, but he drank the water without hesitation,” recalled Ma, then a university student. “The general secretary truly cares about whether we have access to safe water. He has us ordinary people in his heart.”

            Located in a mountainous area some 2,400 meters above sea level, Yuangudui village had been plagued by droughts for generations, and local residents had to take a long trek to fetch water.

            The day after his visit, Xi toured a water diversion project, calling for greater efforts to ensure local residents have access to clean water.

            By December 2014, the first phase of the water diversion project had been completed, bringing clean water to the villagers of Yuangudui.

            Greater changes have since taken place in the village….

            1. The Rev Kev

              You compare Xi drinking a ladle of water and deciding that things had to change to Obama pretending to drink a glass of water in Flint, Michigan….

          2. digi_owl

            I think there was an article linked recently about Bolsheviks doing something similar between the wars in what is today eastern Ukraine. Setting up schools and building sanitation in the villages neglected by the monarchies.

        3. CA

          https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/business/philippines-coconut-plantation.html

          December 30, 2023

          Workers on a Philippines Coconut Farm: Born Poor, Staying Poor
          In the groves of the Philippine island of Mindanao, people living in rural areas struggle to feed themselves in the same way as their ancestors.
          By Peter S. Goodman

          Like most of those working in the coconut groves that fill out the northern lip of the Philippine island of Mindanao, Diego G. Limbaro has never imagined another life. His father pulled himself up the skinny tree trunks of the surrounding plantations, wielding a machete to detach coconuts. So did his father’s father.

          Such multigenerational experiences are typical throughout the Misamis Oriental province. Harvesting coconuts — separating the meat from the husk, and processing the bounty into oil and juice — is one of the very few ways to earn sustenance.

          People labor six days a week in the tropical swelter, through torrential rains and under the punishing sun. Their pay is determined by the price of coconut oil as influenced by traders around the globe. The typical farmer earns perhaps 60,000 pesos a year — about $1,100….

        4. CA

          https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/30/business/philippine-economy-colonial-legacy.html

          December 30, 2023

          ‘There’s No Other Job’: The Colonial Roots of Philippine Poverty
          Decades after independence, the Philippines lacks the kind of factory economy that has lifted up other Asian nations, tying millions to farm work.
          By Peter S. Goodman
          Photographs and Video by Jes Aznar

          Rodino Sawan stepped into the wire harness and dug his toes into the muddy track that threads the sweltering plantation. He pushed forward, straining against the cargo trailing behind him: 25 bunches of freshly harvested bananas strung from hooks attached to an assembly line.

          Six days a week, Mr. Sawan, 55, a father of five, tows batches of fruit that weigh 1,500 pounds to a nearby processing plant, often as planes buzz overhead, misting down pesticides. He returns home with aches in his back and daily wages of 380 Philippine pesos, or about $6.80.

          One day last year, the plantation bosses fired him. The next day, they hired him back into the same role as a contractor, cutting his pay by 25 percent.

          “Now, we can barely afford rice,” Mr. Sawan said….

      2. hk

        That characterization (about religious zealots and engineering degrees) applies to US, too. Dan Kahan, Yale law Prof (and trained sociologist) has repeatedly found that many of preconceptions about creationists (ie religious zealots) and scientific literacy does not wash, precisely because so many creationists are in fact well educated in sciences, and further, the contrast becomes even sharper when questions are suitably rephrased, eg “evolution is true” vs “many scientists believe evolution is true,” etc.

  6. CA

    https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1740911712763875526

    Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

    South Africa has launched a case against Israel at the UN’s international court of justice (ICJ), accusing them of genocide

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/29/south-africa-accuses-israel-of-committing-genocide-in-gaza …

    Looks like, unlike Germany, South Africa have drawn the correct lesson from their own history: oppression of a people should never happen again, to anyone. They have asked the ICJ to convene in the next few days to issue “provisional measures” calling for a ceasefire, an order supposed to be legally binding under international law. Israel likely wouldn’t respect it – they’ve already responded by calling the case “blood libel” – but such a ruling would still likely sway international public opinion even further in favor of a ceasefire.

    8:44 PM · Dec 29, 2023

    1. CA

      https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1740979543748612501

      Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

      Very important and badly needed article by Bernie Steinberg, who was the executive director of Harvard Hillel (the University’s Jewish Center) during 18 years, calling to “stop weaponizing antisemitism”:

      https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2023/12/29/steinberg-weaponizing-antisemitism/ …

      He writes that the “cynical weaponization of antisemitism” is done “by powerful forces who seek to intimidate and ultimately silence legitimate criticism of Israel and of American policy on Israel… Let me speak plainly: It is not antisemitic to demand justice for all Palestinians living in their ancestral lands.”

      1:14 AM · Dec 30, 2023

    2. Kouros

      It looks that ICJ can ask for the operations to stop even before giving a definite ruling on “genocide”.

      However, the evidence is overwhelming. Mearsheimer has an article on substack on that I am sure he would be more than happy to testify…

      As for the blood libel accusation, I am saying now for more than a month that, while in the past, this was a Christian fabrication, now the whole world can see the joyful abandon with which Israel is killing Palestinians, especially children… This time arround the accusation will stick and the stain will be not removable.

      1. The Rev Kev

        Kinda hard to ignore up to 10,000 dead children and more than 1,000 children with one or both legs amputated. And maybe they had to have them amputated without anesthesia in a throwback to the Civil War era.

    1. The Rev Kev

      On a related note, I heard that Hunter Biden may not have to face those gun charges for possession – as he will be claiming that he was only exercising his Second Amendment rights.

    2. Thomas F Dority

      Found the following quote from the 1920’s – unknown author
      “He isn’t really a big time crook unless you must let him alone to prevent the loss of public confidence.”

    3. FreeMarketApologist

      While I think the public has somewhat moved on from SBF, I think there’s still ‘strong public interest’ in prosecuting him for all his crimes, not just the most glaring ones. Additionally, given that he will be appealing his current convictions, wouldn’t it be in the interest of prosecutors to have him convicted on a few more charges, just to ensure that he’ll be put away for a long time, even if one or two charges are overturned?

      The article mentions that there will probably a restitution order related to the first crimes. If he’s not going to be prosecuted on the campaign finance and bribery charges, does that mean that campaigns and individuals get to keep they money they got? I’d suggest that prosecutors might have been encouraged by those from whom they could seek jobs in the future to not investigate exactly who got exactly how much, as it might be viewed as a career limiting move.

      1. griffen

        It’s from the playbook found in the Eric Holder era as Atty General, under, wait for it, a Democrat as POTUS. Yeah, many here can quickly recall the weight of such considerations, applying the law to US and global banking and finance firms following the Global Finance Clustermess circa 2008 and onward. Citigroup, to cite on glaring example, may not have existed anymore and a damn shame that might have been.

        Pity poor Lanny Breuer, losing sleep in his role as the assistant AG to Holder.

        1. Restore Vigilantes

          Kamala’s Kids revisited:

          When S.F. D.A., Harris refused to allow ICE to deport Honduran heroin dealers because “they were children.” Decades later, the ruination of the city, and state, because of her and her cohort continues. Massive drug dealing by same Hondurans, their children and grandchildren is now spreading nationwide. 780 plus deaths of homeless in S.F.

          Notice the humanistic narrative from the house organ of the San Francisco Family and California Democratic Supermajority?

          “Dealers, many of whom the Chronicle reported have fled poverty and violence in Honduras, are no longer visible during mornings or afternoons. Police and a few dealers said some of those Honduran dealers are now selling in other U.S. cities. The dealers who remain are much more cautious and operate in a more violent environment. And there are signs that new dealers are entering the markets,”

          https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/drug-market-tenderloin-soma-18579159.php

          San Francisco is a metastasizing political tumor with the Kamal’s nose under the white house tent and Willie Brown’s other appointment, as governor and potential replacement for Biden.

          Not just junkies: Now your grandmother gets nearly beaten to death in a showcase public place by the untouchable housing projects “children.” Mayor London Broil, (Breed), does nothing but perform.

          “A 63-year-old woman was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries Wednesday after she was assaulted by a group of teenagers in downtown San Francisco, police said. Officers are searching for two girls and one boy ages 16 to 18 suspected of attacking the woman “with multiple punches, kicks, and her stick” around 3 p.m. at a commercial parking garage on Mission Street near Yerba Buena Gardens, the San Francisco Police Department said.” Happy Holidays!

  9. The Rev Kev

    “Zelensky’s drug empire: How Ukraine turned into Europe’s largest drug production and distribution center”

    Should have guessed this. The most corrupt country in Europe becomes a narco state? Who could have guessed. But as money dries up from the west to continue this war, no doubt we will see the Ukraine – or what will be left of it – delve into other areas of dodgy funding. Maybe cryptocurrency scams, maybe hacking other country’s systems and force them to pay ransom to unlock their hacked networks. Maybe they could study what the North Koreans did to survive. No doubt the Russians will stomp down hard on that sort of stuff in areas that they take over. But for the rest? I suspect that we will be hearing more and more about this country in the years to come well after this war is over.

    1. Pat

      Pretty sure that cybercrime was big in the Ukraine before we were supposed to cheer their hackers on for operating in Russia. This article slipped through the nets.
      2018 bust of Ukrainian hacker and associates.
      I would not be surprised if human trafficking became a top industry. It does seem to be the one that gets to grow without as much pushback since there are few rich and powerful victims of it.

    2. ambrit

      Sorry to have to say it Rev Kev, but the Ukraine has been at the forefront of “Arms Length Electronic Exploits” since at least the Maidan Coup in 2014.
      After 2014, the Ukraine became a Gangster State, with all that entails: narcos, ponzos, cryptos, sextos, hackzos, and the whole panoply of “orts and scraps of odds and sods.”
      Side note; as I was googling about in support of this comment, I discovered that the Wikipedia article on the Maidan Coup hews to a strictly Pro-west narrative. It is titled, funnily enough “Revolution of Dignity.” That being the case, it is no surprise that the article does not mention the Banderites, Azovs, etc. Throughout, the Yanukovitch government is portrayed as the villain.
      Orwell would recognize this right away.

      1. Martin Oline

        We should not look down on Ukraine just because it is a Gangster State. Like Yemen, they have unknown abilities that have made them successful survivors. I had the uncomfortable feeling while reading this that intelligence analysts of the narco business there deliberately targeted Hunter. Papa Joe was in charge of the Ukraine desk in the Obama White House so he was no stranger to Ukraine. Could someone from Ukraine have suggested the whole Burisma board employment thing to Joe, knowing that Hunter Biden could be compromised? He has proven to be a big consumer.

        1. ambrit

          “…unknown abilities that have made them successful survivors…”
          Those that live that is. Perhaps, following the Jackpot theory, this population decline is a part of the plan? As Lambert likes to say; Eugenicism in all it’s ruby tinted glory.

    3. digi_owl

      Expect current events in Sweden (also spilling into Norway by the looks of it) to just be a prelude of what will happen across Europe as these newly minted drug lords tries to muscle onto markets using NATO supplied weapons.

  10. THEWILLMAN

    That nature article on Covid brain damage markers is pretty dense for me but from what I could understand, also terrifying. No neurological symptoms but had Covid vs didn’t have Covid yielded elevated signals of brain damage biomarkers in the former. During infection and post infection weeks later. Since the biomarkers break down, the weeks later part likely means ongoing damage. From immune response? What does this mean for vaccines then?

  11. Bugs

    “New Year travel hell as Eurostar tunnels flood: Children ‘in tears’… ”

    Thought I’d mention a crapification story here – the Eurostar used to be a real pleasure to take for perhaps its first twelve years of existence. Comfortable seating, easy on /off, a decent meal served at your seat and a club car with a real bar. All that is gone now and the trains are overcrowded, noisy and seem like they’re never even cleaned more than once a day. I’m willing to actually fly into London City Airport rather than take that train.

    1. digi_owl

      Looks like Eurostar has been through the same privatization rigmarole as most of European rail is being subjected to, and is these days owned by Canadian pension funds and US asset managers.

  12. Katniss Everdeen

    RE: Maine’s secretary of state explains her reasons for barring Trump from primary ballot CBS (Kevin W)

    “I take the Constitution very seriously. I swear an oath to uphold it. I take the First Amendment very seriously,” Bellows said.

    Trump has argued that he cannot be disqualified from the presidency over his conduct surrounding the 2020 election and events of Jan. 6 because his speech is protected by the First Amendment.

    But Bellows rejected that argument, saying, “The law is very clear that the First Amendment doesn’t permit incitement of an insurrection.”

    According to her bio, bellows is one of those rare politicians who is NOT a lawyer. She has a BA from Middlebury College. It’s refreshingly egalitarian that at least one state in the union does not require all that arduous, time-consuming, expensive legal education to interpret the constitution for its population where “voting rights” are concerned.

    Clearly we can now get rid of that messy, stodgy, overly “conservative” supreme court that keeps on getting in everybody’s “constitutional” way when they’re trying to get rid of Trump.

    1. Carolinian

      Perhaps Maine, being a small state, doesn’t have enough lawyers to spare one for the office of Secretary of State. It’s a labor problem.

      Meanwhile small state South Carolina has had trouble hiring competent ex governors and current senators (although Graham is at least a lawyer). The rest of America needs to cut us some slack.

    2. Divadab

      Her highest and best employment was as an activist. Which she still is- an utter partisan hack, with limited reasoning ability and zero legal understanding. She’ll go far with the Democrat Party. You go girl get that nasty man and grab the brass ring while you’re at it.

      1. davidz

        I could be wrong, though she is in good company with those Colorado Supreme Court justices.

        and of course we can forget the calls to Georgia state officials.
        or the calls to michigan
        or the 100s of elections lawsuits by Trump & Republicans that got thrown out all over the country,
        or their lawyers who all lied and are now co-operating with the state lawyers.

        It’s easy to forget all that and more.

        2. Late Introvert

          It’s easy to also forget Joe, Hillary & Co. doing worse. And having the FBI on their side, unlike Bad Orange Man.

  13. pjay

    – ‘Jacques Delors destroyed the European left’ – Thomas Fazi

    -‘Wolfgang Schäuble: A criminal figure of German and European politics passes away’ – Defend Democracy (Micael T)

    The old architects are dying off, but their handiwork lives on.

    The political moral of this story is captured in Fazi’s concluding paragraph (of the original article):

    “Ironically, this didn’t just lead to the demolishing of the Left’s cherished European social model, to the benefit of financial-corporate interests (and, of course, Germany), but it also paved the way to the demise of the European socialist Left — and to the rise of the populist Right. More than anyone else, it is the latter who, today, should pay tribute to Delors.”

    Though we never had a socialist political party to destroy, we had Clinton, elected in 1992 – the same year as the Maastricht treaty was passed – with the same relative result. Tony Blair was elected a few years later.

    Lots going on in the world around this time. The Soviet Union collapsed and got to experience a special accelerated version of neoliberal magic. Though China would benefit from their own economic “liberalization” for many years, I think they were already watching these developments and drawing the obvious lessons about their own economic sovereignty. For this wisdom they are now demonized.

    Looking back, it was a momentous period in history.

    1. digi_owl

      I can’t help think that the collapse of the USSR was in part what brought this on, as it removed any semblance of a valid alternative to ball to the wall capitalism. While USSR was keeping pace (and sometimes pulling ahead, as seen with the early space race) the left had an example to point to as a functioning non-capitalist economy.

      China did it indeed better, in that they opened up but also set rules that allowed them to play on the greed of Wall Street and co.

  14. Tom Stone

    I watched a few minutes of the Obama’s latest release and was once again struck by how vapidly smarmy, performative and greedy they are.
    That the Obama’s were the best Politicians money could buy says a great deal about the Dollar’s decline in value.

    1. Roger Boyd

      The man was birthed by the US security state. Mother working for USAID (i.e. CIA regime change front) just before the Indonesian coup/genocide, and then married one of the senior coup/genocide operators in Indonesia, grandma running the CIA accounts out of Hawaii, dad doing lots of “work abroad”. Magically got into an elite college in California, then magically got into Columbia University where no one remembers him, then magically into Harvard Law. Then taken on by the foundation-industrial-complex to manufacture the right image, then magically got to speak at the Democrat convention then “came from nowhere” to become president. The perfectly produced courtier, with the supine arrogance to go with it.

      2. DavidZ

        I could be wrong, though from my old senile fading memories

        – Obama talked a good game.
        – people were hoping for a better future than the mess of 8 years of GW & Republicans (6 trillion wars, preventing states from reining in mortgage fraud, no investment in infrastructure)
        – Obama the first “black” president, made him self-impose a kind of barrier on what kind of change he was willing to go for.

        His mistakes being
        – tried to be bipartisan and negotiate with republicans when they clearly said that they had no interest after his election win.
        – he learnt from the Clinton healthcare debacle and decided not to go against the insurance industry and institute real reform, despite what the people wanted.
        – royally messed up the post GFC corruption cleanup, because he didn’t want to go against the monied classes.

        His wins
        – didn’t start a major war, that Libya thing hasn’t been forgotten.
        – Healthcare improved for a lot of people (mostly helped the healthcare business interests)

        I don’t think we need CIA and other connections to see that he was a mediocre president because he wanted to win a second term + softness for the monied interests, who would donate to ensure his second term win.

        1. Jabura Basaidai

          you’re way too kind and forgiving – he gave the banks a pass when Iceland jailed the mo-fo’s – i’m a real estate broker and been in the business for over 20 years – the joke was that if you could fog a mirror held under the client’s nose they got a loan – it was big time fraud and i steered anyone i worked with to stay away from variable rate loans and other subprime trash like liar’s loans – still remember the Time cover with him mocked up as FDR and the New Deal – ok, he wanted a second term but he sure didn’t go for the goalposts when he got it – and please take the time to read the Covert Action piece, you responded too quickly to have read it – Obama was a first class tool –

            1. Jabura Basaidai

              second that – had to hold back to not get the big M on my response – worse than a tool, he knew exactly what he was doing and what he was doing was not what the folks that elected him expected – to put it mildly – Obamacare was and is still a cluster$!#& – giveaway to big pharma and corp med – Libya led to Syria where our troops are illegally occupying and stealing oil – oh yeah, he had Hellary as Sec of State, what a plus(sarc) –

        2. The Rev Kev

          You forgot Syria where he financed, trained and equipped tens of thousands of Jihadists to be sent in to terrorize the Syrian people. He also did what he could to destroy US-Russian relations such as shutting down the Russian consulate in San Francisco. And of course he saved the bankers from the catastrophic mistakes that they have made and put the American tax-payers on the hook for all those losses. But if you want to know what Obama was all about, just remember his performance in Flint, Michigan where he pretended to drink water to show people there that is was all OK. He was literally mocking people worried about their children being poisoned to their faces and joking about it. In my books, that is worse than the deliberate neglect that Biden has done for the victims in East Palestine and Maui.

            1. The Rev Kev

              You’re not wrong. There was an article about how American trainers were dispirited with training these Jihadists as they knew that they would have to deal with them further down the track. I wonder how mnay of thoe recruits ened up fighting for ISIS. And a lot of those arms did come from Libya in a rat line that was organized by the US Ambassador there – until Jihadists killed him in Benghazi back in 20012. But I think that a fair amount of weapons and ammo also came from east Europe as well before the Ukraine heated up. Both the UK and France were heavily involved here as well.

              1. The Rev Kev

                ‘I wonder how mnay of thoe recruits ened up fighting for ISIS.’

                Make that ‘I wonder how many of those recruits ended up fighting for ISIS.’ Wife kept on calling me away from the keyboard for jobs to do for her as I was trying to type this passage.

  15. Jean

    Are salvaged materials the future of building design?

    Definitely are part of building today.

    Here’s a website that demonstrates how you can most efficiently harvest salvaged wood and save a fortune on materials. https://verdant.net/building_ideas.htm

    We have rebuilt two houses and an accessory dwelling unit using free dumpster dived wood and materials, and or have traded such for things we’d have to otherwise buy.

    Except for long roofing material and facias, pretty much everything one can use for carpentry is sitting in a dumpster. Site discusses techniques to legally get it, store it, and reuse it.

    1. digi_owl

      Wood construction, done right, allows for over time replacement of parts of the structure rather than require the full demolition as is the case with reinforced concrete.

      I’m tempted to say that the mcmansions aims to mimic the look of such a building, using mismatched windows and near random extensions.

    2. LifelongLib

      It was 20-odd years ago, but I recall hearing in a lecture that home builders waste 35% of their wood, because minimizing waste would cost more in labor than it would save in materials.

      1. skippy

        Now we have come full circle from timber being shipped to site – in board feet – for the necessary amount too mostly prefab/pre-cut, and framing is more like an IKEA build. Then you have the amount of composite materials used, not to mention what was once a B- grade is the new A+ grade material.

        Then you have the whole destruction of the skilled trades system and business model used by builders e.g. now you will have crews of apprentices poorly trained by some private school, which is subsidized by Gov, and pumps out bodies which then in turn are left to the Free Market too sort the wheat from the chaft. These bodies are then again subsidized by Gov so some business will employ them during their apprenticeship. hips

        As such now days sites will have gangs of apprentices thrown at them and then a solid journeyman sent in to fix all the faults, this dynamic plays out between all concerned right up to and post key hand over. Best of all 90+% of warranty goes poof after the original owner sells on …

        RE these days is based on creating MBS [mortgage backed security] and not building long term RE stock for family formation. All so originators can create 25+ years of debt income streams which the originators get profit today and pass on the risk to investors for income streams … rim shot …

        PS personally I would not buy anything built post late 70s or custom built with a strong chain of responsibility from breaking ground to key handover.

    3. Eclair

      My husband’s truck driver dad and his carpenter/sheep farmer granddad, built their house using beams (6″ x 6″ ?) from a demolished 19th century furniture factory in town. Husband waxes nostalgic about the years of his childhood when he, his brother, and three neighbor boys spent days pulling nails from the old beams.

      We live in the house in the summer and that place is rock solid.

    4. jhallc

      I just finished (Ok not really finished as it’s never really done) my second gut and rehab of an early 1900’s bungalow. While I could not save the interior wallboard (1/4 inch cellulose fiberboard) as I needed to insulate the walls behind it, I did save the nearly 1000 board feet of knot less hard yellow pine trim. It was time consuming to remove without splitting and de-nail but, it looks great once I flipped it over and sanded the back side. The painted side, likely lead based, is no longer exposed. Most contractors flipping a home do not want to take the time to do this as they want to get it “finished” and move on to the next project. I lived in the first home for 25 years and plan to stay in this one until I go out in a box.

      1. skippy

        Kudos jhallc …

        This is my day job now, referbing local 100-ish year old homes. Money is good yet at a recent job a lady, around late 70s, lived on the street her entire life commented … that the house I worked on never looked so good during all those years.

        This is a common occurrence at all my jobs, hence why on some streets I have done 5+ homes over a few years.

        Even with all the whack going on out there and post ex-wifes stroke its a joy to use all the skills built up over decades in preserving these homes that have had so many families live in them and will continue to do so. Blessed be Festool ….

      2. Jen

        My cousin was doing some work on his brother’s house and discovered the floors in the unfinished attic were solid hickory. He instructed his crew to remove them and replace them with plywood flooring, knowing his brother couldn’t have cared less. Eventually he found the right project for them.

      3. Procopius

        I recently looked up my childhood home on Google Streets. It’s still there. The snowball tree in the front yard is gone, as is the hedge, but otherwise it looks just as I remember it. It’s 84 years since I moved into it as a baby, and still being rented. I have no idea when it was built, but I suppose early 20th Century. We just built the house I’m now living in three years ago, it’s mostly reinforced concrete, and I don’t think it’s going to last as well.

  18. juno mas

    RE: Giant Waves

    Yes, they are (relatively)! Even Santa Barbara Point is getting Classic long ride swells in the 8-10 foot range. Great form in the morning; but gets blown out in the afternoon. The video of the rogue wave hitting just down the coast in Ventura is amazing to watch. Keep an eye on the guy (colored vest) with the bicycle on the left. He tries to retreat but gets swept into a wall and then appears submerged (and attached to the bike) in the wave flow to the left of the retreating truck. The power of the ocean is not to be trifled!

  19. XXYY

    It’s Time to End the ‘Special Relationship’ With Israel Foreign Policy

    Quite remarkable to read a piece like this in a mainstream foreign policy journal. Not that the statements in it are particularly novel or insightful to anyone on the American Left, but the idea that they could be said out loud in a prominent outlet is new.

    The obvious parallel, not mentioned by Walt, is a previous apartheid state at the southern tip of the African continent. For many decades, the horrific living conditions of non-whites in South Africa were well known, but tolerantly overlooked by the US and other Western states. Then, all of a sudden, they weren’t, and the former status quo collapsed with dizzying speed.

    It’s not at all hard to imagine a similar dynamic taking place with Israel.

    1. Late Introvert

      If only our entire elite didn’t have kompromat at the hands of Epstein/Mossad, and the deep and everlasting desire to stay rich and powerful at all costs.

      IOW, it will be ugly if that does happen. They will not go willingly, and they have nukes.

      1. The Rev Kev

        The kompromat is held not so much by Mossad but by organizations like the FBI and goes way back Back in the 30s and earlier if a Senator was making noises about cutting their budget, they would check their files and send an agent or two to talk to the Senator. They would say, for example, that their sources have revealed that somebody may be trying to blackmail him over the mistress that he is keeping on the side but the FBI is on the case and is trying to hunt those people down. That Senator, being no fool and knowing the rules of the game, would thank the FBi agents for their help and any talk of FBI budget cuts would be dropped.

          1. steppenwolf fetchit

            Since the blackmail method didn’t work on MLK, the ” nazi paperclipping deep state” found another method which did work.

  20. CA

    Dean Baker was seemingly alone among American economists in realizing China would advance so remarkably in technology; more has already come about and seems surely to continue to come about:

    https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1741106791357075670

    Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

    That’s quite funny: Amazon was just condemned in a German court for IP theft of Chinese company Huawei (they infringed on a Huawei patent for Wifi 6 technology).

    https://www.juve-patent.com/cases/huawei-and-bird-bird-successful-against-amazon-in-dispute-over-wifi-routers/

    Huawei and Bird & Bird successful against Amazon in dispute over wifi routers

    Amazon may no longer sell its own wifi routers in Germany, as they infringe a Wifi 6 patent from Huawei. This was decided by Munich Regional Court last week following the oral hearing. The ruling does not affect the sale of third-party wifi routers via the Amazon platform.

    9:39 AM · Dec 30, 2023

  21. Jen

    COVID update from NH – they’re gonna need a bigger Y axis on the wastewater charts, and that’s for data collected on 12/26.

    On my grocery run today I spotted at least 15 people wearing masks; almost all N95s.

    1. ChrisRUEcon

      > On my grocery run today I spotted at least 15 people wearing masks; almost all N95s.

      Wow! Double digits! Have not seen that since the mandatory masking phase … anywhere including hospital visits.

      #StaySafe

    2. MaryLand

      I know 3 people who have Covid and strep at the same time. The double whammy packs a punch. Mask up!

    3. Late Introvert

      Two co-workers out with Covid last week. They stopped masking a long time ago. The boss said “feel free to mask up at work”. I work at a Senior Center. Sigh.

  22. Jake

    I say this somewhat tongue and cheek, but at the same time very seriously. When you look at what the israelis are doing in gaza, and what they say about what they are doing when they don’t think outsiders are listening, I get the feeling myself that I can sort of understand why people ever came up with the whole replacement theory thing. It is completely fair to say that the israelis are on a quest to replace every palestinian. And I have always had a problem with the complete and total ban on discussing groups of people trying to replace other groups of people. It’s happening all over the place and it’s got nothing to do with judaism, but the authoritarian instinct in this era to call anyone and everyone who talk about it antisemitic is so tiresome.

      1. ambrit

        The problem here is that any people who would carry any “weight” in the public discourse chime in with such “unapproved” opinions soon lose their status, financial security, and chances of future self sufficiency. The “Status Quo” is ruthless and merciless. Only when the “Status Quo” undergoes a shift in opinion does the mass of the public ‘get a break.’
        Expect soon to see low level “consumers” denied basic necessities for “non-compliance.”
        The “Social Credit Score” is a genius level concept for maintaining social control in the electronic age. Truly, this system has been around in one form or another since the dawn of Terran human culture.
        The only way one can respond negatively to a socially ‘approved’ demand for fealty to the ruling ideology is if one has the strength and or cunning to stand on one’s own. There is a reason why an earlier agitprop of sorts for the counter culture was called “The Night Thoreau Spent in Jail.”
        See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Night_Thoreau_Spent_in_Jail

    2. DavidZ

      The GRT in the US is all bollox IMO.

      there are a bunch of things going on
      1. There is inward migration from all the places south of the border the US has destroyed over the years with economic sanctions, war on drugs, support of authoritarian regimes and dictators, militias and right-wing death + terror groups to maintain US friendly regimes.
      2. Rich people have fewer kids generally, and since “white” people are higher up on the economic totem pole, they tend to have fewer kids vs. all the “coloured people” who end up having more kids. There are economic reasons – can’t afford condoms, abortion costs, can’t go to a doctor for contraceptives etc.

      The first is what causes angst with the “invasion” + “open borders”. If Right-Wing America wants to stop people from moving for a better life, then they need to take the knee off the throat of all the countries south of the border where people are trying to get a fairer economic system in place with similar benefits that Americans take for granted like – free education, fair wages, food etc.

      The second – make a fairer economic system which allows people at the lower rungs make a decent living and have a decent life, with free healthcare and they will have fewer kids, because they’ll be able to afford healthcare, condoms and also hope for the a better life for their (fewer) kids.

      For both these things – “right-wing” America and Republicans need to give up both power and money for the general welfare of the whole country and since they can’t and won’t – they will moan about GRT, invasion, open borders – anything except taking concrete actions that actually work.

      1. steppenwolf fetchit

        . . . ” 1. There is inward migration from all the places south of the border the US has destroyed over the years with economic sanctions, war on drugs, support of authoritarian regimes and dictators, militias and right-wing death + terror groups to maintain US friendly regimes. ” . . .

        And also , now, too . . . carbon skyflooding leading to climate breakdown followed by agriculture breakdown in parts of Central America leading to coming famines leading to famine-climate refugees.

        Famine-climate refugees fleeing the effects of the man-made global warming which the Murdoch Press assures all its conservative content-consumers is a liberal hoax.

  23. Willow

    > Biggest Ever Rus Missile Strike Rocks Ukr; Medvedev, Lavrov: No Ceasefire, US Looking For Way Out Alexander Mercouris

    Much more likely the European person/country negotiating Ukraine’s surrender will be Tusk/Poland not Macron/France. Poland is only country which will have any ‘moral authority’ to negotiate on Ukraine’s behalf and Tusk will be a trusted set of hands. Also likely why Macron fired his head of foreign intelligence because he wasn’t given a heads up earlier enough to force his way in.

  25. thousand points of green

    Here’s a thought about some possible Green Jobs at Coal Wages and Coal Retirement right where the strip mining and mountaintop removal mining is happening now.

    Pay all the strip miners and mountaintop removal miners a Coal Wage and a Coal Retirement to re-build or new-build basic utility soil on all the strip mine benches and de-coaled mountain flat-tops. And then restore rough and ready forests on them composed of tree , shrub, bush and plant species who can take poor and/or rought soil conditions. If they could change from an Identity based on coal to an Identity based on mine-scar repair, then they might well be willing to stop stripping and start regreening . . . if the pay and retirement and etc. is as good.

    1. ambrit

      This would have to be a Government program. No self respecting Late Stage Capitalist would “waste” the shareholder’s money on anything that would take decades to bear fruit. “Hit your targets on the Quarterlies and get the big bonuses. Tie money up in long term projects and you get a Pink Slip.”

      1. thousand points of green

        It would be something for a legitimate political party to run on, if legitimate political parties can arise in the teeth of ruling class determination to prevent them from arising.

  26. Glen

    More on how it will be difficult to restrict the free flow of technology to China.

    US wants to contain China’s chip industry. This startup shows it won’t be easy
    https://www.reuters.com/technology/us-wants-contain-chinas-chip-industry-this-startup-shows-it-wont-be-easy-2023-12-29/

    The OPC technology mentioned in the article is typically implemented as software optimization applied during the design of the masks as part of the EDA (electronic design automation) software tools :

    Optical proximity correction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_proximity_correction

    In the last Cold War the export restrictions prevented the selling of controlled technology (equipment) or arms because restrictions of the equipment would prevent the manufacture of “advanced technology”. One example was the restrictions on 5 axis CNC technology because it made it much more difficult for the Soviet Union to manufacture quiet props for submarines:

    Toshiba–Kongsberg scandal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toshiba%E2%80%93Kongsberg_scandal

    But the reality even back then as that the USSR had no shortages of extremely good scientists and engineers that understood the theory of designing quiet props, they just had limited access to the technology that made manufacturing those props much easier. This is not really the current situation with regard to China.

    China has almost complete access to state of the art theory, technology, and manufacturing, and has made it a national priority to advance. If China continues this effort, and America’s response is just a giant bailout to the same corporations and corporate culture which are losing the technology race (CHIPS Act), then the current trends of China advancing, and America falling behind will continue.

  27. Paradan

    So, I was just down at BevMo and have discovered that non-alcoholic whiskey is an actual thing. Also Tequila, Gin, etc. Now I’m a huge fan of the craft non-alcoholic beers, but seriously, liquor? What the hell are you gonna do with a quart of whiskey that doesn’t burn on the way down, like what’s the point?

    1. Trees&Trunks

      Maybe it is all the PMC world of beautiful symbols void of content?

      For some reason I came to think about the black metal scene. There are bands that are singing about evil and Satan and an audience that listens to the very same songs about evil and Satan and enjoy it. However, when it turns out that maybe some of the people in the bands take their lyrics about evil seriously and support Nazis (because they are evil), then the same audience recoil in horror and demand cancellations.

      https://www.metalsucks.net/2023/05/18/bassist-vacates-marduk-after-on-stage-nazi-gesture-magnus-devo-andersson-to-fill-in/

      https://www.metalsucks.net/2018/04/11/nazi-imagery-why-watain-and-marduk-dont-get-a-pass-while-slayer-and-metallica-do/

      There must be no real contentn only symbols for distractive, not teflective or transformative, consumption. That is PMC symbol politics extended to cultural theory.

    2. Pat

      I can imagine a niche use. If the non alcoholic versions continue to have a taste profile similar to the originals when heated they could be substitutes for baking and cooking to allow for non alcoholic versions of recipes. Otherwise I am with you.
      And I am not a drinker.

  29. steppenwolf fetchit

    Here is a short video of Professor Jeffrey Sachs talking about how America is sharing Israel’s present and future isolation because of the Biden Adminstration backing Israel’s current approach to ” fighting Hamas”, which is actually cover for “making Gaza uninhabitable”. He thinks he sees worldwide patterns of trade, dollar usage, etc. already grinding around to America’s future disadvantage because of worldwide dismay and appallment over what the BidenAdmin is choosing to support.

    ( After I listened to this I began wondering if Biden is really the Accelerationist choice and if another term of Biden will actually provide the acid bath that dissolves the establishment’s empire entirely away in just a few years time. If Biden term two would actually destroy the American empire faster and more thoroughly than Trump could, would ‘Genocide Joe’ be the preferred choice of Americans who really want to end the American empire as fast as possible? It looks like it could pose a moral dilemna.)

    Anyway, here is the link.
    https://www.reddit.com/r/TheMajorityReport/comments/18uowrg/columbia_professor_jeffrey_sachs_the_us_is/

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