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Links 1/19/2024

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Plantwatch: the strange organism so tough it can survive in space Guardian

Why Holes at the Bottom of the Ocean Disappear and Reappear Atlas Obscura

Will the Expanded BRICS Finally Dethrone the Dollar with Help from Crypto? InfoBrics. By Betteridge’s Law, no.

Climate

Greenland’s ice sheet melting faster than scientists previously estimated, study finds CBS

Flying Kites Deliver Container-Size Power Generation IEEE Spectrum

The Movement to ‘Make America Rake Again’ Reasons to be Cheerful. Don’t rake. Let them rot in place!

#COVID19

California health officials shorten COVID isolation period to 1 day KTLA. That’s not an isolation period. It’s a sick day.

China?

Chinese stock rout accelerates as foreign investors sell out FT

Myanmar

Is China Playing Both Sides in Myanmar? Foreign Policy

‘Worst leader’: Military’s winter of discontent Frontier Myanmar

The Koreas

North Korea says it held underwater test of nuke-weapon system Anadolu Agency

Dear Old Blighty

Physician associates aren’t doctors and shouldn’t be regulated as such, says BMA Guardian

Syraqistan

Maersk CEO Sees Red Sea Shipping Disruption Lasting ‘at Least a Few Months’ Reuters

Proposed EU maritime force in Red Sea would work with US Navy ships Stars and Stripes

Suez Canal diversions pile pressure on Egypt’s distressed economy Reuters. Commentary:

* * *

Mission Not Accomplished:

* * *

French Foreign Minister Rebuked for Suggesting Israel Is Immune From Genocide Charges Common Dreams

Israel-Palestine war: Why is the media ignoring evidence of Israel’s own actions on 7 October? Jonathon Cook, Middle East Eye. Post is from December 13, but this is is current commentary from Cook:

‘Unlawful, Unethical, Horrifying’: IDF Ethics Code Author on Alleged Use of ‘Hannibal Directive’ During Hamas Attack Haarez

* * *

Israel-Gaza war: Palestinian envoy to UN thanks China, ‘a true friend’, for its support South China Morning Post

Reviving ISIS: A US weapon against the Resistance Axis The Cradle

Bernie Sanders backs US attack on Yemen WSWS

European Disunion

Hungary not convinced that Sweden is suitable for NATO membership: Premier’s top aide Anadolu Agency

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia Rules Out Nuclear Arms Talks With US Over Ukraine Support Bloomberg

* * *

More countries join talks on Ukraine leader’s peace formula. But Russia is absent and war grinds on AP

China won’t soon mediate on Ukraine war, Australian envoy warns Politico

Ukraine is piling pressure on China to help bring an end to the war. But Beijing’s peace plans are focused on Gaza CNN

Unfulfillable Promise: Mediation Efforts in the Russian-Ukrainian War since 2014 PONARS Eurasia

* * *

‘Active defence’: how Ukraine plans to survive 2024 FT

Paris dismisses Russian claim of French ‘mercenaries’ in Ukraine France24

With ‘God’s-eye view,’ secretive surveillance flights keep close watch on Russia and Ukraine AP

* * *

Ukraine – Iovi Snubs Bovi – Huffy Bovi Moos Back Moon of Alabama

Grabbing $300 billion of Russian assets is no panacea, West cautions in Davos Reuters

South of the Border

Communication by and for the People: A Conversation with Thierry Deronne (Part I) Venezuelanalysis. Part II.

Biden Administration

Congress passes stopgap bill to prevent a shutdown until March, sending it to Biden NBC

Texas refuses to comply with Biden administration’s cease-and-desist letter about border access NBC. Didn’t we settle this in the Nullification Crisis of 1832-33?

Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fashion

‘‘It’s the industry’s dirty secret’: why fashion’s oversupply problem is an environmental disaster Guardian

The Supremes

Supreme Court likely to discard Chevron SCOTUSblog

Supreme Court Overruling Chevron Doctrine Would Be an Oedipal Act Bloomberg

Chevron, de Novo: Delegation, not Deference John Duffy, Virginia Public Law and Legal Theory Research Paper No. 2024-03

* * *

The Supreme Court Is Now Complicit in Texas’ Armed Standoff With the Feds Slate

Digital Watch

Mark Zuckerberg’s new goal is creating artificial general intelligence The Verge. No. 

Where is the AI boom? Experts caution new tech will take time FOX

AI imagines what the world’s most famous artists would have made of container shipping Splash 247. Please stop.

Report: Bing Gained Less Than 1% Market Share Since Adding Bing Chat Search Engine Roundtable

* * *

‘Like the Sixth Finger in an AI-Rendered Hand’ Daring Fireball

Spook Country

‘Alarming’ surveillance: Feds asked banks to search private transactions for terms like ‘MAGA,’ ‘Trump’ FOX

Inside Biden’s secret surveillance court Politico

Police State Watch

‘It’s the wrong house’: Audio of Ohio police raid that left a baby injured raises new questions NBC

Gunz

Justice Department report finds ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ during Uvalde, Texas, shooting AP

Boeing

India’s newest airline orders 150 Boeing Max aircraft, in good news for plane maker MarketWatch

MMT

In the wild, no doubt from Darity’s work:

“We’ll spend it into existence” is, of course, the right answer.

Imperial Collapse Watch

House committee raises doubts about US Navy’s Indo-Pacific logistics Channel News Asia

Class Warfare

Does Working from Home Boost Productivity Growth? (PDF) Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Physicists Design a Way to Detect Quantum Behavior in Large Objects, Like Us Science Alert. Or our cats.

Hearing and Doing Plane & Pilot

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

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207 comments

  1. Antifa

    CHOCK-A-BLOCK
    (melody borrowed from I Am A Rock by Simon & Garfunkel)

    The Houthi crew
    Gathered missiles in November
    All on their own
    Fighting the Israelis’ dreadful Gaza show
    They are standing tall with Hamas saying NO
    It’s Chock-a-block — you can’t get by them!

    They need no walls
    Their launchers are all mobile
    Their aim is to terminate
    All Israeli shipping with their only gain
    An end to Gaza’s hunger and its pain
    It’s Chock-a-block — you can’t get by them!

    The Gate of Tears
    It’s not far from shore to shore
    They shut it down oh so easily
    America’s been bombing or anyway they’ve tried
    But the Houthis have good places they can hide
    It’s Chock-a-block — you can’t get by them!

    So far it looks
    Like the owners of the shipping
    Have all yielded from no armor
    Ships are too expensive to permit their loss
    Which means there’s three more oceans they must cross
    It’s Chock-a-block — you can’t get by them!

    Chock-a-block it will stay

    Till no child in Gaza cries . . .

  2. WillyBgood

    Yeah! Let’s have a Texit! The new Saudi Arabia! Texans now require passport, federal funds only come in the form of big oil subsidies and arm sales. New Petraxis dollar?/s

  3. The Rev Kev

    “Justice Department report finds ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ during Uvalde, Texas, shooting”

    Rumour has it that the cover of that detailed report has white feathers embossed on the cover.

    1. JBird4049

      From the videos of the massacre, there was no ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ to me.

      Instead, it looks like a bunch of grown adults with body armor and guns refusing to do their duty as police officers to save children from being slaughtered. It showed a lack of moral courage to commit to their responsibilities as grown men and women in this world.

      1. The Heretic

        There had been a proposal that the solution to prevent a massacre is to arm every teacher with a gun in the classroom and hope that an armed teacher could stop a gunman. But.. if a group of trained police officers who would have experience facing danger, armed with guns, and protected with body armour, were hesitant to intervene, what hope would a teacher have in stopping a gunman?

        I do not hope this ever happens, and I do not wish this event on them, but hypothetically speaking, I wonder how NRA members would comport themselves if a gun man, at an outdoor rally, started firing at them? Would they draw their weapons and calmly shoot back? Or would there be some cowardice and a a demonstration sorts of all sorts of ‘unexpected behaviour?’ Again, I do not wish it on them.

        1. Hickory

          Not saying I support arming teachers, but an obvious reason to favor it is that the police might just not care enough to help. Uvalde is only one example.

          The more people can take care of their own safety needs, ideally collectively with others, the better. Societal-level problems are harder to deal with locally, but the police don’t help with those either

          1. JBird4049

            No, I strongly support the Second Amendment, but expecting the average person to carry a weapon is nuts. Expecting the people who volunteered to be trained and paid for that, not so much.

  4. Wukchumni

    Justice Department report finds ‘cascading failures’ and ‘no urgency’ during Uvalde, Texas, shooting AP
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    There’s yellow cops in Texas that did nothing in Uvalde
    Nothing could be done, to stop a murder spree
    Parents cried when their children died, it likely broke their heart
    And sadly they will forever remain apart

    They’re the yellowest cops that Texas ever knew
    Armed and dangerous, they just sat there as time flew
    You may talk about your Texas Rangers and sing of the Alamo siege
    But the yellow cops of Texas put on a show for all to see

    Where the mass murderer is going, out of their sight
    He walks along the classrooms with all his assault rifle might
    I know that families in Uvalde parted long ago
    The yellow cops promised to serve and protect and didn’t do so

    They were the sweetest little rosebuds that Texas ever knew
    Cut down in elementary school, it wasn’t as if the police had a clue
    You may talk about your Texas Rangers and sing of the Alamo siege
    But the yellow cops of Texas put on a show for all to see

    Oh, now we find out how incompetent they were, hearts are full of woe
    Families can’t do the things together like they did so long ago
    They’ll play taps daily, nothing is like before
    And the yellow cops of Texas shall be remembered forevermore

    They were the sweetest little rosebuds that Texas ever knew
    Cut down in elementary school, it wasn’t as if the police had a clue
    You may talk about your Texas Rangers and sing of the Alamo siege
    But the yellow cops of Texas put on a show for all to see

    1. Eclair

      Oh yeah! ‘The Yellow Cops of Texas,’ could become a meme. Tie-in with their fellow Texas National Guardsmen who stand by while mothers and babies drown in the Rio Grande. That’s whyTexas don’t allow no abortions. Pour sauver les infants! (Does a Lambert-like head-bang against wall.)

  5. The Rev Kev

    “The Movement to ‘Make America Rake Again’”

    Say, didn’t Trump tell people that Finland did not have fires like they have in California because the Finns raked their forests? Now there is a shovel ready program ready to go. But some people want big powerful leaf blowers as some sort of status symbol without thinking about the consequences-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scOuWVKod5o (45 secs)

  6. timbers

    The Movement to ‘Make America Rake Again’ ……….. 1). Many leaf blowers are lithium battery powered. I got one free when I purchased my battery powered lawn mower, though I rarely use it beyound cleaning out debris from my garage. 2). I use ear plugs when I do use it, even though battery powered are less noisy than gas powered. 3). In my neighborhood, blowing leaves mostly pushes them into your neighbors yard or onto the road which the wind pushes back onto your yard or your neighbors. 4). I mow my yard leaves which shreds them, leaving them to remain as they are. 5). Not sure how long I can do that as the trees I’ve planted are growing larger each year, dropping more leaves.

    1. The Rev Kev

      How about setting up a mulch pile at the back of your garden which will give you over time – after the worms have been through them – a great source of compost for your garden? Don’t know if it is practical for you though obviously.

    3. Amfortas the Hippie

      i was astonished to learn…a long time ago…that some people actually had to fight their cities/hoa’s to mulch leaves rather than raking and bagging them.
      weird.
      i rake up a bunch every year and store them in metal trash cans with lids in the sun(to neutralise the little bark scorpions that hitch a ride), until i need them inside for the composting toilet.
      breaks down a lot better than pine shavings.
      and makes a rich compost for the pasture…or wherever i intend to plant a tree.
      a lot more get raked/blown into the big raised beds that are right there close to tthe Big Oak….along with the goose feathers that accumulate around that tree during winter(and goose poop), because the geese are encouraged to bivouac there so i can better keep an eye(and lights) on the nests, and capture whatever goose babies emerge from them for safe rearing.(if theyre destined for food, instead of replenishing the herd)

    4. hemeantwell

      The article is good, but I’ve no idea where they got the price for the top o’ the line Stihl, over 2K. I was curious since getting something to blow off the roof, avoiding some of the hazard of shoving a broom around, is appealing. (As for lawn leaves, we rake some under the bushes and let the rest compost). Stihls top out at $700, and the most powerful handheld is 480. Other brands with roughly the same power cost around 250.

      And that wraps up today’s consumer guide.

      1. Joe Fleischer

        Actually followed your link-and yes the blower with backpack battery professional style is over 2000 dollars-so update the consumer guide!

      2. playon

        Whatever you do, don’t pressure wash your roof, it will knock the gravel off of the shingles, shortening the life of the roof.

  7. The Rev Kev

    “Grabbing $300 billion of Russian assets is no panacea, West cautions in Davos”

    Keep on saying that trying to do this is like playing with forty year-old sweaty dynamite but which has the potential to blow up the western-based economic system. They know this but that is one huge honey pot and you just know that there are people in the EU and US that want to get their hands on a chunk of those assets for themselves. Certainly Biden could use it to help fund his campaign this year – after it had been laundered first through the Ukraine like those other funds were that were ‘donated ‘by Sam Bankman-Fried. But the Ukrainian do not want to wait so they have come up with a scheme – Reparation Bonds! They will issue bonds and the collateral for them will be the frozen Russian money that they expect to be released. What could possibly go wrong? It is like me taking out a loan and using my neighbours house as collateral. Sounds legit-

    https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/reparation-bonds-could-unlock-300-bln-ukraine-2024-01-15/

    1. Feral Finster

      Don’t kid yourself. The “asset seizure” (aka “open piracy”) is baked in the cake, it’s just a question of time, and Treasuries have barely budged.

      1. lyman alpha blob

        Rather than seizing Russia’s assets, if the Ukrainians really need $300 billion so badly, why not just declare reparations for nazis and have Uncle Sugar fire up the printing press?

  9. timbers

    “Texas refuses to comply with Biden administration’s cease-and-desist letter about border access NBC” ——— Maybe China & Russia could help out by sending troops and long range missiles to Texas so she defend her State’s Rules Based Order?

  10. zagonostra

    >Bernie Sanders backs US attack on Yemen WSWS

    I didn’t know what was the term “Judas Goat” referred to until I got to know Bernie, and much later than my multiple donations to his erstwhile campaign failures – failures that were probably gamed out long before he decided to run – that I regretfully made.

    He is now providing the same service for the war criminals in Washington in relation to Yemen. Just as he ignores the previous history of Zionist displacement, terrorist violence and occupation against the Palestinians

    1. The Rev Kev

      I could be wrong here but I think that a lot of people realized that Bernie was total crap on foreign policy but that his strength was domestic policy with medicare for all at the heart of it. He was the real hope and change that people wanted. When he abandoned medicare for all back in April of 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic sweeping through America, that essentially left him with nothing left to bring to the table. Telling people to vote for his good friend Joe Biden just drew a line under it all.

      1. Wukchumni

        ‘Kernel’ Sanders & AOC showed us who they are, we should believe them when they go against the grain.

          2. juno mas

            Would that be the radical Marx theorist that became a more moderate political actor in his later years?

            1. Jabura Basaidai

              the same – i knew Saul – met him through his daughter and son-in-law – incredibly interesting man – Saul’s wife Peggy was also interesting too and considerably outspoken – she was secretary/treasure of hotel & restaurant workers local,when she died the wake was held at the DIA – their son David coauthored a book about growing up with communist parents – when i worked in downtown Detroit at a restaurant i would visit Saul sometimes during my split shifts and chat since he lived walking distance away – a warm and generous man – i would probably use pragmatic rather than moderate – Saul fought Franco with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade in Spain – did you know him?

          3. samm

            Of course! Great supporter of the WWI war effort, the issue that lead to the dissolution of the Second International.

            If history rhymes, Sanders is definitely carrying the tune.

      2. NotTimothyGeithner

        My gut is the donors have told Biden they will email stingy if the number don’t improve soon, and in response, the collies have been let loose. Fetterman’s Philly tough guy act is played out. He will just look clownish when he tries to hold a rally of a few senior citizens disabled by long cover threatening to beat up Trump in September.

        1. Jabura Basaidai

          hope somebody opposes him in next election and his traitorous behavior bites him hard and maybe he has a real breakdown – boo hoo –

            1. Jabura Basaidai

              ok, you’re right – turn the other cheek and just vote the liar out and be done with it –

              1. ambrit

                But what is to discourage the others just like him lurking in The Swamps of the world if he is not visibly and savagely punished for his transgressions? Punishment for crimes is also a public act, aimed at the Public. That the Law shall be seen to be enforced is a valid interest.

      3. junez

        Sanders has been a major disappointment. However, would the progressive movement have been better off without Sanders? His campaigns and others, like Occupy Wall St, have all, I think, had a lasting effect by spreading Left ideas and showing their popularity, as well as connecting activists.

      4. Mark Gisleson

        Your memory is excellent. In conversations at various Bernie gatherings “…but his foreign policy” was practically a catch phrase.

        If you wanted to know what was wrong with Bernie, all you had to do was ask one of his supporters. We had no illusions.

        Otoh, ask a Hillary Clinton supporter about Her liabilities and you’ll get thirty minutes on what a [family blog] Trump is.

        Mature voters know their candidates. Fascists know their enemies.

    2. IMOR

      Biden owes Lambert $600, but because I was already familiar with sheepdogging and Judas goats, I’m probably DQ’d from even a partial refund of six hundred from my contributions to Bernie. (But I did SO love watching former bosses and colleagues in the D party twist and squirm in response to his candidacy- a piece of the situation Rev correctly i.d.’s in his comment.)

      1. Randy

        I gave a little to Obama, more to Bernie and even a little to AOC and Tulsi Gabbard.

        I am SOFA kingdom.

      1. Jabura Basaidai

        good question – maybe the cha-ching from all his books? – but if that were true he’s burning his bridges as he crosses them –

    4. Feral Finster

      Funny how Sanders was very much against the War On Yemen when Trump was in charge, but now that Biden is occupying the White House, then that makes it okay!

      Oh well, look on the bright side! Imagine if Sanders actually were to have won in 2016 or 2020? Can you imagine the cognitive dissonance that the Bernie Bros would have to engage in to rationalize his inevitable serial betrayals?

      Like Obama cultists, but without being able to play the race card.

      And humans wonder why I support policies but not politicians.

      1. Jason Boxman

        If Sanders had won, it would have been a PMC strike much like Trump experienced. He’d have no choice but to govern as a “centrist” Democrat, complete with poor foreign policy. Nonetheless, like Biden on anti-trust, it’s possible some good might have come from his administration. We’ll never know. Thanks Obama!

        1. NYMutza

          The jury is still out on Biden’s anti-trust moves. So far, nothing has been accomplished. Of course, they continue “fighting”.

  11. John

    Re: Texas, the border, and the Feds. I have begun thinking of it as either back to the Articles of Confederation or, for something catchier, Soft Secession.

    If the Supreme Court has any difficulty in slapping this down, we are in for interesting times.

    1. JBird4049

      Legally, an American state can fight its own (defensive) war until aided by the federal government. This is a reason for a state being able to have its own military. How is this any different? I am thinking that while the Federal government is supposed to regulate and control the external borders of the country, if it cannot or will not do so, does not a state have the right by necessity to do so? If the Biden Administration was doing everything it could to control the border, then it would be different.

  12. The Rev Kev

    ‘Jonathan Cook
    @Jonathan_K_Cook
    The Israeli Haaretz newspaper interviews the army’s ‘ethics’ chief, Asa Kasher, of Tel Aviv university, about two major incidents on October 7: ‘

    When you look at how many Israelis were killed that day there emerges an ugly truth. First you remove those Israelis soldiers killed in action as that was normal combat operations. With the remainder, I am thinking that more Israelis were killed that day by their fellow Israelis rather than Hamas or those ratbag groups that came through the fence. And they are still doing it. One Israeli mother learned that her son – a captive – had been gassed to death ‘like Auschwitz’ by the Israeli army using poisonous gases. I would have thought that that was chemical warfare that but that is just me. But wait, there is more. So she set up a headstone on her son’s grave that said that he was ‘kidnapped, abandoned, and sacrificed in Gaza by the Israeli government.’ Well the IDF did not like that so they went in and removed the stone from that grave-

    https://thegrayzone.com/2024/01/18/israeli-army-gassed-auschwitz-soldier/

    The Israeli government really does want those hostages dead.

    1. CA

      https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/west-enabling-genocide-gaza

      January 17, 2024

      In Gaza, the West Is Enabling the Most Transparent Genocide in Human History
      This is extraordinary because the states supporting Israel, above all the United States, have claimed the high moral and legal ground and lectured the states of the Global South about the importance of the rule of law.
      By RICHARD FALK

      Recall Samuel Huntington’s controversial, yet influential, 1993 Foreign Affairs article, “The Clash of Civilizations,” which ends with the provocative phrase, “The West against the rest.” Although the article seemed far-fetched 30 years ago, it now seems prophetic in its discernment of a post-Cold War pattern of inter-civilizational rivalry. It is rather pronounced in relation to the heightened Israel/Palestine conflict initiated by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israeli territory with the killing and abusing of Israeli civilians and IDF soldiers, as well as the seizure of some 200 hostages.

      Clearly this attack has been accompanied by some suspicious circumstances such as Israel’s foreknowledge, slow reaction time to the penetration of its borders, and, perhaps most problematic, the quickness with which Israeli adopted a genocidal approach with a clear ethnic cleansing message. At the very least the Hamas attack, itself including serious war crimes, served almost too conveniently as the needed pretext for the 100 days of disproportionate and indiscriminate violence, sadistic atrocities, and the enactment of a scenario that looked toward making Gaza unlivable and its Palestinian residents dispossessed and unwanted….

      Richard Falk is Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University.

      1. .human

        That music festival near the border seems more and more to have been a honeypot. The only question I see is is was it LIHOP or MIHOP ( let it happen on purpose or make it happen on purpose, the clsssic 9/11 question.)

        1. Wukchumni

          I would guess a small slice of those at the rave had been to Burning Man, its a similar gig in some ways, and there are smaller Burning Man events all over the world, with the Israeli one being the largest of them.

          Imagine if you will, a few hundred people being murdered in cold blood @ Burning Man, and then having Marjorie Taylor Green claim that their deaths must be avenged, that’s how utterly disconnected Likud would be with the ravers.

        2. Jabura Basaidai

          i read, can’t find article, that the festival was supposed to end on Friday but when asked the Israel authorities gave permission for it to continue on Saturday – it all seems too convenient and useful for the attack on Gaza –

    2. Feral Finster

      “The Israeli government really does want those hostages dead.”

      Of course. The question is what to do about it.

  13. Verifyfirst

    If I were the woman in Washington state who was put in jail for being actively infectious with TB, I would cite the new CA one day “quarantine” rule as my defense. Monkeypox, TB, yellow fever, measles, they should all have equal rights with covid, since all are level three pathogens.

    Join me in the fight for pathogen equality–all level three pathogens deserve the same freedom covid has! Solidarity and Justice For All pathogens!

    (Interestingly, the police transported her in a vehicle with separate front and back air systems, and she was lodged in a special negative pressure cell….almost like they thought she was an infection risk….. Did you know more active duty police and fire/EMS died from Covid during the pandemic than from any other cause?). Go ahead, tell me we are morons without telling me we are morons…..

    Btw–no coverage of the US Senate’s Long Covid hearing yesterday? Seems to have been pretty successful, as these things go.

    1. t

      I’m in.

      And let’s not forget sexually transmitted diseases! Already many laws on the books with penalties for “knowingly” transmitting HIV. (California has one.) So everyone in, working at, or visiting that jail, including delivery van drivers can appeal to that logic.

  14. upstater

    We have a row of 8 maples which produce huge amounts of leaves. We mow and direct them into rows, then rake on a tarp and add then into the garden soil (heavy clay). We also have 2 tulip trees and red oaks; these would form dense mats and take 2 years to compost on their own, so chopping them and and raking on to a tarp then using them in the gardens is a higher purpose. Lastly, ticks and lyme are a big thing here; leaves and twigs left on the ground are favorite haunts for ticks. Everybody including the dog has had Lyme. NOT recommended!

  15. zagonostra

    >Israel-Palestine war: Why is the media ignoring evidence of Israel’s own actions on 7 October? Jonathon Cook

    Remember, Israel and its supporters have sought to compare the Hamas attack on 7 October with the Nazi Holocaust. They have concocted grotesque fables to present Palestinians as bloodthirsty savages deserving of any fate that befalls them.

    It’s too late to erase the images for those millions if not billions of people who have seen the horrors of Palestinian civilians, children and women, innocent old and you men, being subject to Israel’s genocide. Once seen, they can’t be unseen or reasoned away. Whether the term “genocide” is given the imprimatur of the ICJ or not, this “Zionist Holocaust” will long be remembered and will be a blight on Israel in 80 years from now just like the “Nazi Holocaust” is a blight on the history of the German people.

    1. The Rev Kev

      Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov has come out and said that the Holocaust doesn’t give Israel impunity. He then added ‘According to this logic, we can do whatever we want. That won’t work if we want to systematically uphold international law.’ And he was a point. About six million Jews and five million others were slaughtered in WW2 by the Nazis. But how many did the Russians lose? Some twenty seven million people? For three quarters of a century we have been hearing again and again of the Holocaust but I do not think that will work that much anymore when people ask ‘But what about the Palestinian 10,000 children killed by Israel?’ The Israelis are saying that they are doing this to take back their ancestral lands. Yeah, about that-

      https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/5/1/75/730630

      1. timbers

        Garland Nixon (Critical Hour at Sputnik) says South Africa is preparing a filing to the UN Court naming US & UK as enabling Israeli. Good if true. Wish Ukraine post 2014 could be included in the mix, but SA is doing good work.

        1. Yves Smith

          This tactically is a HUUGE mistake. Wait for the ruling on provisional measures, FFS. This will make the Collective West put even more thumbscrews on the judges.

      1. JBird4049

        Well, the Germans did commit atrocities in Belgium during the First World War, but like with the raid by Hamas with its atrocities, they were exaggerated by the Allies for propaganda purposes.

  16. PlutoniumKun

    India’s newest airline orders 150 Boeing Max aircraft, in good news for plane maker MarketWatch

    The airline – Akasa Air – seems to have modelled itself on Ryanair (buying a very similar range of 737’s and using a similar model), so its unsurprising they are sticking to the 737. There are huge benefits for discount airlines to buy new (they can push maintenance onto the manufacturer) and to stick with one aircraft type to simplify staff training and maintenance. So its unsurprising that airlines like Akasa are doubling down on the Max. Especially so as there is a very long waiting list for new A320’s.

    One big driver for Indian airlines is that northern India is perfectly located geographically as a hub for European to Asian flights, but India lost out in the original race to the Gulf States. But they are attempting to fight back now with the longer range versions of the 737 which are potentially far cheaper to run than widebodies. The Max 10-200 version they’ve bought is essentially the chicken coop of the skies, they have shoved in close to 200 seats in a very old aluminium body.

    Oddly enough, the big loser out of Boeings travails is the Chinese manufacturer, Comac. The Comac C919 was designed as a cheap alternative to the A320/737 duopoly, but has failed to win orders outside China. Airlines like Akasa should have been the prime market for Comac, but it seems that in desperation Boeing is cutting its prices significantly – Ryanair as usual managed to use Boeings problems to drive an even harder bargain than before, and other airlines are on their coat tails. Its become impossible for Comac to compete on price.

    The A320-737 duopoly must be one of the most enduring and profitable in business history. Every attempt to break into it has failed (including Comac, Mitsubishi, Sukhoi and Bombardier) and no matter how much Boeing screws things up they still keep selling the 737 as buyers have very little choice.

    1. Mikel

      “The A320-737 duopoly must be one of the most enduring and profitable in business history.”

      According to a speech Putin made during his re-election campaigning, Russia has plans to ramp up their commercial airline production. Reported on by The Duran.
      Don’t know what will come of it, but there it is.

      1. PlutoniumKun

        The only airliner still in construction in Russia is the aging Tu-204. It was never a big success – they’ve usually only built around 2-3 a year. There are also a number of other old designs that could theoretically be put back into production – the IL-96 being one.

        The Sukhoi Superjet had enormous potential and seemed a great design, but proved catastrophic – although much of what happened is shrouded in secrecy it appears to have been rushed into production far too quickly, with fatal results (three hull losses). Its been something of a disaster, and has been abandoned in all but name (more than one name, as they attempted a name change, presumably for commercial reasons).

        The Irkut MC-21 also looked promising but has been plagued with technical problems and delays, and there seems to be no interest in it from foreign buyers.

        There are also a number of joint Chinese-Russian projects, but these all seem to be hitting the dust – the record of these is very poor, mostly due to probably correct Russian suspicions that the Chinese use them to extract as much technology as possible.

        Building large commercial aircraft is very, very difficult- there have been far more failures than successes. The French, with Airbus, were really the last ones to successfully challenge the established players, and that was due to some very brave decisions made half a century ago. The Russians clearly have the engineers to build good commercial aircraft, but building up an industry to compete with the established players will take enormous resources and a lot of time.

        1. Polar Socialist

          Russian aviation industry has been busy for two years now replacing all imported parts in MS-21 and SSJ-100. The biggest issue has been suitable domestic engines; PD-14 for bigger airplanes and PD-8 for smaller ones. I think they also managed to replace all the French components of the SaM146 engine.

          If I’m not completely mistaken, completely domestic version of SSJ-100 flew last October for the first time. Some of the domestic subsystem providers are still going trough the official verification, but UAC has already started to take from storage and refurbish the older stock of Tu-214 and Il-96 with new engines and avionics. First cargo versions very recently delivered to operators.

          The news is that on Yakovlev plant in Komsomolsk-on-Amur the first dozen of MS-21 and SSJ-100 each are already being constructed (since they did manage to solve the domestic production of the composite wings) for deliveries starting this year. The idea, I believe, is to install the domestic subsystems as they are cleared for commercial use by the aviation regulators. The factory is looking to hire 4500 new employees.

          It seems that the Russians are serious about rebuilding their domestic aviation industry. And I doubt they can produce enough planes to export them for several years, even if somebody outside was interested – MS-21 has 125 ordered and SSJ-100 has 170. That’s years of production to catch up. They’ll never be build at the rate of Boeing or Airbus, I’m sure.

    2. digi_owl

      Range is a likely reason.

      A C919 seem to come some 1000km short of the A320 or the 737 MAX.

      If one want to do international flights, range offers more destinations and flexibility.

      1. PlutoniumKun

        Its simply not a very good aircraft – its running costs are significantly higher than the alternatives, there is no good reason for any airline to buy one when there are alternatives.

        Airbus succeeded because they took a big risk in making a technological leap in front of Boeing. It could easily have gone wrong. But IMO Comac was far too conservative in its approach and all they succeeded in doing was producing a mediocre aircraft that was already outdated by the time of its first flight. Mind you, Sukhoi and Mitsubishi were much braver in their tech choices and they failed too.

  17. CA

    https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1748146528894816710

    Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

    Yet another huge scientific figure decides to move to China: Huajian Gao, who sits on both the US’s National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, joins Tsinghua University in Beijing as a full-time chair professor.

    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3248720/prize-winning-us-physicist-gao-huajian-returns-china-after-decades-overseas

    Prize-winning US physicist Gao Huajian returns to China after decades overseas

    ‘Master researcher’ joins Tsinghua University for next chapter of glittering international career that has included top awards in his field
    The expert in solid mechanics said he is thrilled to be back in China and hopes to inspire his students to do cutting-edge research

    7:53 PM · Jan 18, 2024

    1. CA

      Three of the top 5 publishers of high-quality science research papers are Chinese institutions. Seven of the top 10, and 10 of the top 20 publishers are Chinese institutions:

      https://www.nature.com/nature-index/institution-outputs/generate/all/global/all

      The Nature Index

      1 August 2022 – 31 July 2023 *

      Rank Institution ( Count) ( Share)

      1 Chinese Academy of Sciences ( 7399) ( 2219)
      2 Harvard University ( 3706) ( 1137)
      3 Max Planck Society ( 2613) ( 656)
      4 University of Science and Technology of China ( 1840) ( 639)
      5 University of Chinese Academy of Sciences ( 3157) ( 636)

      6 French National Centre for Scientific Research ( 4444) ( 625)
      7 Nanjing University ( 1423) ( 597)
      8 Tsinghua University ( 1808) ( 586)
      9 Peking University ( 2188) ( 576)
      10 Zhejiang University ( 1424) ( 542)

      * Annual Tables highlight the most prolific institutions and countries in high-quality research publishing for the year

    2. Roger Boyd

      I was just talking to some fellow academics a couple of nights ago on Canadian moves to ban links with a list of Chinese institutions and to generally make life difficult for Chinese researchers. They are full in with the propaganda about China stealing everything, which may have been somewhat true about 15-20 years ago. Nowadays China is the leader in many fields, and all the anti-China hysteria is doing is helping Chinese PhDs, post-docs and professors to get the hell out of the US and Canada. “Cutting your nose off to spite your face” is so applicable here.

      At the same time Canada is running a huge diploma-mill scam with residency as a graduation present, delivering lots and lots of badly educated immigrants to keep working class wages down. Not exactly the best way to boost productivity! Given current trends, China’s GDP per capita PPP could be 2/3rds of Canada’s late next decade, which would mean that there will be huge areas of China richer than Canada (e.g. Shanghai).

      1. CA

        “I was just talking to some fellow academics a couple of nights ago on Canadian moves to ban links with a list of Chinese institutions and to generally make life difficult for Chinese researchers…”

        Interesting and important remarks, but I simply do not understand how all this has come to pass. How could the Wolf Amendment of April 2011, which prevented Chinese scientists from working with NASA on space exploration, have ever come to pass? However, the aggressive problem has worsened significantly.

        The US now takes as given that Chinese technology advance must be undermined, so severely limiting Chinese growth. China has proposed that the United Nations declare and affirm a national right to development, while the US has prevented voting on the matter.

      2. CA

        China just passed 4 million domestic invention patents, of which more than 40% are high-value, but a while ago prominent academics were telling students that the Chinese could not be technologically innovative. Of course, Joseph Needham of Cambridge had long before started writing what are now 27 volumes on Chinese scientific accomplishments. Needham’s work is monumental, how could the work have been turned away from?

        https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/20/archives/joseph-needham-the-real-thing.html

        June 20, 1971

        Joseph Needham, the Real Thing
        By Richard Boston

        https://www.nytimes.com/1982/04/18/books/the-china-the-west-knew-nothing-about.html

        April 18, 1982

        The China The West Knew Nothing About
        By Jonathan Spence

        SCIENCE IN TRADITIONAL CHINA: A Comparative Perspective.
        By Joseph Needham.

  18. Victor Sciamarelli

    It’s not clear what Sweden needs to do to satisfy Orban. I didn’t think you had to do much to get into NATO.
    Consider Iceland which is a NATO member and it doesn’t even have a military. There’s no army, navy, or air force. I think the coast guard has two boats in order to keep an eye on illegal fishing.

    1. The Rev Kev

      The Icelandic police have firm orders that if the Russians ever invade their country, that they will be expected to go out and arrest them.

    2. Benny Profane

      The Reykjavík airport would make an excellent first outpost for our air force. As long as there isn’t one of those pesky volcanic eruptions at the time.

    3. digi_owl

      Iceland was pretty much a US protectorate after WW2, as Keflavik was a US military airstrip with a civilian function attached.

      In more recent years NATO members have taken turns stationing fighters there to police the airspace.

  19. Robert Hahl

    Re: North Korea testing a nuclear weapon under water. Are we talking about capsizing ships or making tsunamis? I once (and I do mean once) heard about a secret treaty to prevent development of tsunami generating weapons. I suppose that is now kaput.

    1. Aurelien

      I couldn’t find a detailed description of this weapon anywhere, but one thought that occurs is that it might be a descendant of the nuclear depth bombs that were used in the Cold War for attacking SSBNs. It’s described as an “underwater drone” which may mean it’s intended to be used against US Carrier Battle Groups, where with a nuclear weapon you don’t need to score a direct hit.

      1. digi_owl

        Sounds oddly similar to what Russia supposedly has a sub equipped with, that was much worried about early on in the Ukraine SMO should things escalate.

        That said, Nuclear tip torpedoes have existed since the 60s. And torpedoes have become increasingly sophisticated. Most today trail a wire to allow the sub to make targeting and course adjustments underway, much like a missile from a helicopter or plane.

      2. NYMutza

        I recall reading that during the Cuban missile crisis the Soviet Union had a diesel powered submarine in the waters near Cuba armed with nuclear torpedoes. This particular submarine was never detected by the US Navy and so was not forced to surface as were other Soviet subs in the area.

    2. PlutoniumKun

      I’m no physicist but my understanding is that the only possible way to make a tsunami is by using the very biggest nuclear devices – 50 MT and upwards. This is far beyond North Korea for now.

      But it did occur to me when I read the account that Seoul is uniquely vulnerable to a weapon like this, given that you can simply cruise down one of several rivers in North Korea to get to the estuary of the Han. A nuclear device exploding (even within North Korean waters) would no doubt send a gigantic wave up flooding the upmarket areas of Seoul on either side of the river.

      The US did research on using very large conventional bombs to flood coastal forts in Japan during WWII – I think it was concluded that in shallow coastal water it would be possible to do a lot of damage.

      But as Aurelien suggests, its more likely that this would intended as a long range weapon that could threaten carrier groups in the Japan Sea.

      1. digi_owl

        Not quite. What the can do is attempt to set of a underwater landslide by detonating at the foot of a ridge. That is usually how tsunamis form after a earthquake as i understand it. There is a not insignificant worry that a big enough landslide along the Atlantic ridge could send such a wave against say Scotland and Norway.

        1. PlutoniumKun

          That’s true, although the Pacific structures don’t have the overhanging glacial tills that caused the mega Tsunami’s of the post glacial period in the north Atlantic. Although the really unstable structures are around the Azores – those are the ones that give geologists nightmares (I know a prominent and somewhat eccentric geologist who insisted to his wife when housebuying that she was only allowed look at houses 20 metres or more above sea level for exactly this reason).

          Now that I think of it, he had also worked extensively in north Korea in the 1990’s (connected with an NGO, back when they were permitted in), but I assume this wasn’t a topic he advised on.

    3. nippersdad

      If there is a treaty against them it must not have been very effective. There was a scare last year in Britain about Russian nukes that could cause a tsunami, and even the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists got in on the fun:

      “Over the past few years, tabloid news outlets have painted a hauntingly vivid picture of a towering, 1,000-foot-tall radioactive tsunami violently crashing onto British shores, pulverizing everything in its path, and transforming whole cities into barren, lifeless lands.”*

      Dramatic! But it appears that they are very real.

      * https://thebulletin.org/2023/06/one-nuclear-armed-poseidon-torpedo-could-decimate-a-coastal-city-russia-wants-30-of-them/

      1. JBird4049

        If any of those tsunami torpedoes were ever used, we would have more to worry about than the tsunami as the attacking country be using its other nuclear weapons as it would be nuked by the victim. Restated, we would be in an all out nuclear exchange that would hurt the entire world.

  20. Pat

    I wish I thought the MMT and reparations push was helpful, I really do. Instead I think we have now seen Bowman’s real punishment for being a horse’s a** with the fire alarm and getting caught so spectacularly.
    “Jamal, since over half the country thinks you are an idiot already you get to be the face of a new reparation plan. Even better you are going to fund it using MMT. It won’t go anywhere, but will help make both things more unpopular and less credible. Even as we pretend for the rubes who vote for us that we are “fighting” for their priorities. “

  21. The Rev Kev

    “Proposed EU maritime force in Red Sea would work with US Navy ships”

    ‘It’s not clear why Italy and other plan backers, such as France and Germany, want to establish a separate task force.’

    I could take a guess. It may be that they do not trust the US Navy commanders as in at all. That they might order EU ships into harm’s way so that if there are any casualties, that they will be European ones and not American ones. US sailors getting killed so that Israel gets their cargo quicker and cheaper is not a good look for old Joe, especially in an election year. EU sailors getting killed would be merely an inconvenience quickly written off.

    1. Wukchumni

      It isn’t difficult to get the idea that the US Navy is every bit as good as the Russian fleet was 120 years go.

          1. ambrit

            The Royal Navy could send the Fleet out under the command of Admiral BoJo.
            He too could send up the “Z” flag, and thus confuse the Enemy.
            “We have seen the enemy and they are US!”

                1. Wukchumni

                  Rapid fire ribald is the same no matter the century, when expressed ever so elementary, Watson.

        2. PlutoniumKun

          There were two prominent Admiral Makarovs…. I’m never quite sure which one the various Admiral Makarovs in the Soviet/Russian navies were named after….

  22. Wukchumni

    Houthi & the Blowfish or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bombing of Yemen

    What does he offer the country aside from a 3 front war, galloping inflation and divisiveness up the ying yang?

    If he runs again, he’ll be lucky to equal Jimmy Carter’s numbers in 1980~

      1. Wukchumni

        Oddly enough, whereas i’d see 50 or so Trump campaign posters, etc. in the run-up the 2020 election on Hwy 99 in a 60 mile stretch-only saw 1 last week, and this is the very beating heart of Cali’s Bible Belt, more evangs than you can shake a stick at, what gives?

        3. Amfortas the Hippie

          what i can glean from eavesdropping on my now limited off-farm forays…as well as what little online local duckblind observations of my local yokels…is that there’s a general consensus that the “other side”(in this case, independents…since dems are evil commies, and were already lost) is a lost cause, and if ya aint already on board the trump train to save america, no amount of cajoling will bring you there.
          i’ve seen zero new trump signs/flags/banners this go-round….but there’s quite a few out this way who have maintained their displays from 2016…mostly flags on lighted flagpoles, no less…well maintained, with worn out flags apparenntly replaced.
          these are relatively well off people.
          handful of trump bumperstickers appear new(w 2024 on them)…but no trucks covered in flags roaming the highways like before.

          1. Wukchumni

            In the past on Hwy 99 in Godzone, the display of Trump signage was more of a rote example of displaying their penchant to poor passengers en route to somewhere else, and why they would miss a chance to do that again, is a bit mind boggling.

            Can you think of another Presidential candidate with their own flag?

            1. NYMutza

              Food grows where water flows. As long as the water flows your God Zone doesn’t care who is POTUS.

    2. OnceWere

      Since the days of Carter and Reagan, American voters have turned into nothing more than sports fans who just want their team to win. It puts a floor under both teams’ numbers so I wouldn’t bet on seeing a Reagan or Johnson style landslide ever again.

      1. Wukchumni

        All Benedict Donald has to repeat is the Reagan mantra…

        Are you better off today than you were four years ago?

        Game, set & match

        2. OnceWere

          Might be enough for the win but we’re talking about the 10 or 20 point victories of the days of yore. Bet on a close-fought victory or loss that forces neither party to examine their priors or modify their approach in any way.

          1. Pat

            I think you may be underestimating how many groups outside of the PMC base that Biden and the Dems who follow his lead in lockstep have pissed off.

            The popular vote might be close, but right now I would say that Biden is in danger of losing every swing state. That would give him a massive electoral college loss. (The real volume in popular votes is in the top blue states – California alone accounted for Clinton’s lead.) It will not take much for a loss in many states. In at least one I looked at, Muslim voters staying home, not even switching votes, could do Biden in.

      2. Kouros

        Byzantium was famous for such antics, with the struggles for power btw greens and blues. One such incidents led to 20-30,000 dead in Constantinopolis… The imperial army ended up hacking them all, friend or foe (one of those two colours were for the emperor).

  23. IMOR

    “….BRICS Dethrone the Dollar…?”
    You’ve got the top two gold producers and three of the top ten holders of gold reserves…and you’re talkin’ crypto?
    Not a serious article, though the pursuit of different settlement currencies is a legit ongoing endeavor.

    3. John k

      Just my hazy thoughts here…
      You need reserves if your combined capital and trade flows are negative to maintain a stable currency. Alternatively, you could let your currency fall, which imo tends to discourage capital flight and encourage exports.
      Globalists like stable currencies because it protects their foreign investments.
      The dollar’s reserve status, and the west’s major lenders, are supported by countries that tolerate capital flight.
      Imo argentina, with its continuous need for west reserves that they then borrow from west banks, is therefore not a good candidate for BRICS.

    4. Adam Eran

      In related news, the Sacramento Bee just (re)published the first [Bloomberg] editorial in living memory espousing MMT principles.

      I’m used to seeing deficit scolds like George Will in this supposedly “liberal” paper…. Although, they just endorsed Barbara Lee for Senate, so maybe private equity purchasing McClatchy did not require them to sacrifice **all** their principles…just most of ’em.

  24. IMOR

    “Foreign investors, who by the end of 2023 had sold about 90 per cent of the $33bn of Chinese stocks they had purchased earlier in the year…”
    Pretty sure all NC readers can identify in/from this Financial Times quote a) short-term, frustrated pump and sell off tactic by those getting hurt in the Chinese correction, and b) two of the usual suspects in China’s current financial turmoil . ( The one that’s not literally spelled out is the PRC’s suicidal welcoming embrace of financialization, of ‘investors’ whose entire presence is electronic bits there and press releases in their home nations.)

    1. CA

      “The one that’s not literally spelled out is the PRC’s suicidal welcoming embrace of financialization…”

      Forgive this criticism, but China is a 5,000 year old civilization that is decidedly non-suicidal.

      Chinese planners are working with deliberate care on the efficiency of financial institutions in facilitating the “real economy.” Beijing and Shanghai will not become Wall Street or Fleet Street. Even Hong Kong financial companies are being directed to looking towards the non-speculative real economy. What was speculative financial property lending, for instance, has already been contained and past excess is being methodically corrected:

      https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-01-16/Xi-stresses-boosting-high-quality-development-of-China-s-financial-sector-1qpzX9IeQYU/p.html

      January 16, 2024

      Xi vows to build China into a safe, efficient and competitive ‘financial power’

      Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday stressed sustained efforts in building a “financial power” that features Chinese characteristics, aiming at a safe, efficient and internationally competitive financial system.

      Xi noted that a financially robust country should be based on a strong economic foundation, possessing leading economic, scientific, technological and overall national strength in the world.

      At the same time, a country with great financial strength should also boast a series of key core financial elements, namely, a strong currency, a strong central bank, strong financial institutions, strong international financial centers, strong financial supervision and regulation, and a strong financial talent pool, he said…

      1. IMOR

        No forgiveness required, CA- it’s what we’re here for! “Financial power with Chinese characteristics” is a callback coinage to the days when Mao was a rock star, i.e., fine with me. (Though as opposed to Chinese culture and civilization, couldn’t a couple-three Chinese governments/dynasties be said to have pursued slowly suicidal policies- for those governments?)

        1. PlutoniumKun

          Indeed, the long history of China is one of periods of stability with often quite sudden and dramatic collapses. Although whether this is down to culture or geography or just coincidence, depends on which historian you believe.

          China, like all countries which focuses on maintaining a strong positive balance of trade inevitably creates internal financial stresses due to domestic financial suppression along with the monetary ‘impossible trinity’. In many ways, China has replicated the errors made by Japan and South Korea, but this is part of the inevitable growing pains of rapid catch up growth. The Chinese stock market in particular has been highly volatile and makes Wall Street and the City of London look quite meek and conservative in comparison.

          The particular issue right now seems to have been due to hot money flows betting on rapid post-covid growth in China, now getting cold feet. I doubt if its really all that significant for the Chinese in broader terms as its a long time since they were dependent on foreign currency inputs. The real problems are in domestic banking and connected to massive bad loans on property, but thats another topic.

      3. CA

        China has a trade surplus that is more than 2% of GDP, an inflow of foreign investments to real assets, about $2.3 trillion dollars in foreign currency reserves, another $1.3 trillion in foreign securities in a sovereign wealth fund and among the strongest of real domestic currencies since 1994 when the measure became broadly systematized.

        https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=gxkQ

        January 15, 2018

        Real Broad Effective Exchange Rate for China, Germany, India, Japan and United States, 1994-2023

        (Indexed to 1994)

      4. NYMutza

        The Chinese people like money just as much as those in the West. If they find out that it is easier to make money via financialization rather than industrialization that is the direction they will go. Just as water takes the path of least resistance, so does money.

        1. CA

          Just as water takes the path of least resistance, so does money.

          [ Interesting, but ultimately meaningless tautology.

          Sort of like the work of Branko Milanovic, “Capitalism, Alone.” Milanovic is brilliant, and reasonably receptive, having a multicultural heritage. Milanovic knows several societies well and a number in outline, but simply does not know China.

          I do appreciate the response. ]

    1. The Rev Kev

      If that is true, then why is it that none of the released Israeli female hostages reported being sexually assaulted? Kinda weird that.

    2. nippersdad

      Max Blumenthal/Electronic Intifada/Mondoweiss have been reporting on and debunking all of that for the past two months now. There is simply no evidence of it, and the Guardian’s reputation precedes it.

      1. pjay

        Yes, these are the same questionable sources and debunked stories as far as I can tell, being trotted out yet again by the Guardian as if they were startling new revelations. “Journalism” at its finest!

        1. nippersdad

          What really shocked me was how Israel centered a lot of its’ case on debunked propaganda at the ISJ. No shame at all. That they could only muster a Guardian or NYT level Yellow Journalism defense was sad, even for them.

          I’m not sure any defense was even possible, but to sink that low was a sure sign that they have no legal defense and that pounding the table was all they had. It would have been better for them to just ignore the whole thing.

    5. Dissident Dreamer

      Nothing new and nothing which remotely justifies the headline re “systematic” use of rape. I’m not saying that there were no rapes (nor that there were) but the idea that the insurgents were instructed to rape seems highly unlikely and there’s no evidence presented for it.

      Grave doubts have been raised over the credibility of the group which retrieved bodies, I think in Grayzone. The focus of the NYT version of the rape story (the woman in black) was immediately disproved by her family who said they’d had a text saying she was ok and then another 4 minutes later saying she was dead. The horror stories about babies on washing lines etc have also been disproved (only one baby was killed in crossfire). In short, Israeli credibility is shot.

      Funnily enough though, that article came out straight after this one”

      Different rules’: special policies keep US supplying weapons to Israel despite alleged abuses – Guardian

      It reads more like the aforementioned Grayzone than the Guardian and I’d say it comes straight from former Senator Patrick Leahy of the eponymous Leahy Law which set the rules about selling arms to countries suspected of war crimes. Understandably he’s pissed off that his rules are being ignored. It’s all about pre Oct 7 situations but of course it’s even more relevant to now.

      I got the link via the search function because it doesn’t seem to be on the regular website any more. Odd that.

    6. Kouros

      Hamas et co must have had some very specially made pants and underpants to allow that to happen on heir stride. Plus the not yet mentioned container with Viagra…

    1. Robert Hahl

      So far I have one grandcat and a granddog. Of course that could change at any time but I don’t expect it to happen.

    2. Mikel

      My off the cuff calculation: If guaranteed grandchildren is the desire, probably need to have at least 3 children.

      1. JBird4049

        A functional society with a functional economy and functional medical system would be a bigger help. A couple might really want children, but if there are no jobs that are both stable and pay enough, and if using the “healthcare” system means become destitute, they might decide not to have children. Whatever their feelings are. Having children is the greatest responsibility the average couple is ever going to have after all, and the good ones would take seriously before having children.

        1. petal

          I wanted a child more than anything, but my low pay and the potential medical and daycare bills (not to mention housing cost) have made it impossible. I am heartbroken and it will be my biggest regret.

          2. cgregory

            Have you considered that there are children who need you? You can be a foster parent to an infant, and it is possible that the foster care stipend, plus the other social supports available to the child, will make it possible for you to live your dream.

            Friends of mine in New York state planned to adopt, and they found there was a waiting list of 25,000 children. Be assured there is a child out there right now who will call you “Mom” for the rest of your life.

          3. juno mas

            …and I am impressed with your ability to foresee the often insurmountable challenge of bringing a child into the American way of life without a secure financial future. My best to you.

        2. Mikel

          Even after all the financial ducks line up in a row…the more children, the greater chance of gramdchildren.

    3. marieann

      OK….I have no grandchildren and I am perfectly fine with it. I really don’t think we live in a world where children have a good future.
      My 4 lunch buddies between them have around 20 grandkids so I don’t believe we will have a shortage of people…and I am sad that these children will have a shaky future.

        1. undercurrent

          Maybe the privilege of having front row seats to that forthcoming hit, The End of Humanity (As We Know It.)

  27. The Rev Kev

    “Mark Zuckerberg’s new goal is creating artificial general intelligence”

    Had a horrible thought. Suppose that down the track it is decided that individual AIs should be based on a human personality to make them more friendly and relatable to people. And when it came time for Facebook to have their own AI front, that Mark Zuckerberg insisted that it had to be modeled after his own personality. Can you imagine?

    3. Jason Boxman

      The only good news in this is that, given there’s no possibility of success here, that he might waste his money in a way that’s less destructive to the world at large than whatever else he might’ve wasted money on. Granted that’s a lot of money, so there’s a ton of resources misdirected to data centers, graphics cards, and so on for his AGI wet dream. But I have no doubt it could be much worse.

  28. ChrisFromGA

    Re: France denying they have mercs in Ukraine

    Well, that’s the whole point of using private military contractors vs. official soldiers – plausible deniability.

    The bodies won’t be brought back in flag-draped caskets and afforded a military funeral. Most likely the relatives will have to pay bribes to Ukrainian officials to get the remains back.

    1. Aurelien

      The most likely explanation is that they are former Foreign Legionnaires, who after a minimum of five years’ service would be reasonably fluent in French and would use it to communicate amongst themselves, even if they had never served together. Although French citizenship is open to Legion members after a certain time, by no means all of them take it, and once they leave the government has no control over them and where they go, nor any legal responsibility for them.

        1. Aurelien

          It’s not, actually because it means that precisely this kind of story gets out, although the ex-legionnaires are not French citizens and the French state can’t control them. The analogy would be stories that “UN military personnel” were active in Gaza speaking English, and you were to discover that the individuals were ex-military and had once worked for the UN on contract, and use English as a common language. The one thing that governments don’t like is having their nationals, or people who might be confused with their nationals, running around places without their permission or knowledge, because you never know what they are going to get up to.

          There’s no FL “uniform” as such, especially if they are wearing battledress, though there are insignia and shoulder-boards that former legionnaires often keep.

      2. vao

        The most likely explanation is that they are former Foreign Legionnaires

        During the siege of Mariupol, aircraft making a daring attempt to extricate some mysterious personnel from the city was shot down by the Russians. Pieces of French Foreign Legion uniforms were found in the wreck. Reportedly, Macron had also tried to negotiate the release of some people (deemed important enough for Macron to step in) from the Azovstal complex.

        I have also seen several combat videos where “foreign volunteers” fighting for Ukraine communicated with each other in accented French. However, I do not remember to have seen such videos since Spring 2023.

      3. The Rev Kev

        Sorry but I cannot buy this argument. France has been involved in the Ukraine since the Maidan and lately they keep on doubling down with cruise missiles and more artillery. Are there former Foreign Legionnaires in the Ukraine? Of course there are and some are French and some are American, some from the UK and some from Scandinavia as well as Poland and other countries. But there were some 13,500 foreign mercenaries that went to the Ukraine in total and the number of ex-Foreign Legion troopers could only have been small. French domestic intelligence has said that of the 400 French fighters in Ukraine now, about 30 are already known as neo-Nazis but many of them would be from the regular French military, special forces and no doubt spooks as well. And Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu has said that yes, there are French fighting in the Ukraine but the government is helpless to stop them. Yeah, right. But there is this tidbit-

        ‘Mercenary work has been illegal in France since 2003, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of up to €75,000 euros ($81,000). The way the law was written, however, allows French nationals to “volunteer” in foreign military forces.’

        https://www.rt.com/news/590976-france-lecornu-mercenaries-ukraine/

    2. PlutoniumKun

      Its not clear to me from what I’ve read as to whether the accusation are that they are mercenaries employed by the French, or French freelancers hired by Ukraine. I would assume its the latter, in which case the French probably don’t care much either way.

  29. IMOR

    The crash in Egyptian govt revenue caused by increasing avoidance of Red Sea / Suez Canal route is a feature for the Houthis, not a bug. Egypt was part of the Saudi side fighting the Houthis in Yemen (mainly by blockading and bombing civilians and historic sites, it seems) prior to the two-year ceasefire that just collapsed. Egypt beginning with the ferment and crackdown of 2013 and ending up with the govt and set of policies it has now is a self-own of which even the U.S. State Dept. could be proud! (Or maybe already is.)

    1. PlutoniumKun

      That’s a very good point – the Houthi may be hoping to pressure Egypt into allowing weapons/fighters into Gaza via their border.

      Although from what I recall, the Egyptians provided the minimum possible aid to RSA in the attacks on the Houthi, although that may have changed. In many ways, Egypt is a client state of RSA so has minimal room for maneuver if and when RSA demands soldiers.

  30. cgregory

    If Rep. Jamaal Bowman and his colleagues are smart, they can get their names down in American history by pushing refurbishment of every American public school as the proper form of reparations for slavery.

    Not only will it bring the economic boost to pay for itself as Bowman understands, it will also provide the descendants of slaves with a far longer-lasting benefit than an infusion of cash. Any money handed out will simply be shoveled upward, while a school will be around for a lot longer.

    And– it will be supported by a very large portion of the white population.

  31. lyman alpha blob

    From Greenwald last night, Trump comes out against central bank digital currency (CBDC) –

    https://rumble.com/v47u8k9-system-update-214.html

    I don’t know if Trump understands what his pledge means – according to the report he’s saying it at Ramaswamy’s request, along with another pledge to pardon Assange. Not sure I believe him, but again it’s almost like he’s asking for my vote. He won’t get it (unless he’s in jail, then I might change my mind), but I like hearing that. At the very least, it puts these issues which don’t get much press into the public consciousness.

    The problem here is that Greenwald isn’t an economics person and he admits to not really understanding the issue all that much. The person he brought on the explain the situation is a bitcoin humper, and of course the cryptobros aren’t going to like the competition and the guy promotes bitcoin as the answer to all government problems. Wrong wrong wrong.

    Greenwald has a fairly wide audience and could really use someone who could explain why both CBDC and crypto are not the way to go if we really want to live in a free society.

  32. Buzz Meeks

    Thank Chuck “the Schmuck” Schumer for his theatrical grandstanding on Supreme Court anointments and giving Trump fast tracking on Federal judgeships.

    All part of the plan for a reich wing judiciary and what you are now seeing in Texas. More evidence of the Schumer fifth column marching on.

    1. Wukchumni

      If one were to set up a phalanx of motion picture cameras, poor Chuck wouldn’t have any idea which one to bull rush.

    2. undercurrent

      Or the Schumer filth column? He’s way, way too busy leading cheers for “No ceasefire” in Gaza, than to represent American citizens. Why the voters in New York re-elect him over and over again is, to use one of Chuck’s favorites, jaw-dropping. Or maybe, they just want to keep him out of the state. At any rate, if he ever loses his current gig, I predict a bigger future for him as a professional emetic.

  33. Wukchumni

    Will the Expanded BRICS Finally Dethrone the Dollar with Help from Crypto? InfoBrics. By Betteridge’s Law, no.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A year ago on the Rocky Mountaineer train from Vancouver to Banff, I spent much time with my nephew in his later 20’s, discussing stuff.

    I asked him if he invested in crypto, and he related that he had, and I asked him how many other friends had done also, and he told me at least 50 others that he knew of, and he went to USC, so these came from moneyed homes i’d imagine.

    I know nobody in my circle of family & friends that has bought crypto, how about the rest of you?

    1. begob

      I overheard a colleague at work last week: “… would have been worth a million by now.”
      Me: “Bitcoin?”
      Him: “Yep.”
      I left it at that.

      It is said the love of money is the root of all evil; my variation is that regret for money foregone drives a man mad.

  34. Mikel

    “Where is the AI boom? Experts caution new tech will take time” FOX

    Here’s one possible scenario: If they can get back to the even easier money type of monetary policy, they can achieve the narrative of “AI productivity gains.”

  35. Screwball

    From the TDS OOTH (outrage of the day) file; The latest Lincoln Project video is trending among my stage 6 TDS afflicted PMC friends. The same people to ridicule anyone who believes in religion, and hates evangelicals with every inch of their body (because they back Trump) now think God created a dictator.

    God created a dictator Twitter link with hashtag of name.

    One guy is exhausted with this because people still can’t see Trump for what he is. This is the same guy who thinks they should shut down the government and let retirees starve to force congress to allocate more money to Ukraine and Israel (because Trump = Putin = Hitler).

    I’m pretty much exhausted with people like him. I don’t think we can vote our way out of this mess, but these people ARE part of the problem if there is any hope to change that.

    1. LifelongLib

      Unfortunately, “ridicule [of] anyone who believes in religion” isn’t confined to the “PMC”. There have been a number of comments here on NC that were I a Christian would make me feel unwelcome on the “Left”.

  36. Wukchumni

    In the endgame of the fall of Communism, all I ever really saw for sale from the ex-USSR was mostly in the realm of military collectibles, and small arms ammo, the latter almost give-away dirt cheap. (perhaps a contributing factor to how gun crazy the USA has become since 1991, hmmm?)

    I used to go the Pomona gun show before the turn of the century-kind of the biggest of them all-certainly in the west, which was a feast for the eyes if you are an observationist, and I could become a general in the USSR for $200, as long as the uniform fit in terms of qualifications. Lots of USSR & other Helsinki Accord country stuff also on offer, could have outfitted a platoon on the cheap.

    I knew a numismatist about 10 years older than me, who made a living going to South America in their early days of hyperinflation in the 1980’s, looking for coins to buy, and he could get righteous deals from recently desperate sellers, and then had to deal with getting aged metal discs across borders, a hurdle I wouldn’t have wanted to bother with-as my forte was first world foreign countries.

    After awhile those with something to sell had already parted with it, and it was way early in the saga, Argentina has had many epochs of hyperinflation since the early 1980’s, and is ongoing in fact.

    I recall him telling me that his favorite method of staying a month in Buenos Aries was to book a hotel room and rate and by the time he checked out, sometimes it was 1/3rd of the original rate in Yanqui $’s, on account of out of control inflation.

    What becomes of us when the deal goes down, what does the rest of world carve from our carcass?

  37. Feral Finster

    “Inside Biden’s secret surveillance court Politico”

    So explain to me again, using very small words so that I understand, how this is not straight up Big Brother?

  38. Tom Stone

    I’ve been thinking about “Trump must be stopped at all costs”, the recent behavior of the Biden Administration (FU) and the recent actions of America’s “Elites”.
    Nordstream comes to mind and so does the inclusion of American “Citizens” on Obama’s Kill List which included a 16 year old American Citizen who had never been charged with a crime.
    The latter murder included a fair amount of collateral damage, nearly two dozen dead and maimed.
    Of the people I know ( Or thought I knew) with TDS most would be OK with Trump being killed to keep him from office.
    To “Save OUR Democracy”.

    1. Pat

      I would hope that anyone in power who thinks Trump must be stopped would still have enough sense to know that killing him would blow this country up. It would also put a very real target on the backs of numerous political entities, elected and appointed.

      Unfortunately the fact that these idiots haven’t yet gotten that lawfare and the 14th amendment stunt are now also tools for their opposition so I cannot give them that much credit.

      By the way I also think cancelling the election is also a very very bad idea.

    2. ilsm

      Refer to Mao’s cultural revolution in China, “Save OUR Democracy” is same w/o 6 foot dunce hats…. DEI/CRT.

      There was no 2d amendment in China.

      Remove those statues of Robert E Lee.

    3. Screwball

      Of the people I know ( Or thought I knew) with TDS most would be OK with Trump being killed to keep him from office.
      To “Save OUR Democracy”.

      Without a doubt. The ones I know would be OK if his followers were killed as well. Their blood lust against their enemies (real or imagined) are off the charts. They have been in hate mode ever since Orange Hitler took down “It’s my turn” Hills and still haven’t seen enough revenge.

    4. Feral Finster

      Well, none other than Robert Kagan wrote an OpEd for the WaPo recently that did just about everything short of call for the Huey Long Retirement Plan if Trump were to get elected. “Muh Democracy Dies In Broad Daylight” and stuff, God forbid that the voters have a say in something so important.

      Of course, as we all know, Caesar’s murder totally saved the Roman Republic, right?

  39. JTMcPhee

    In case we missed it,

    “ Half of recent US inflation due to high corporate profits, report finds —
    Thinktank report says ‘resounding evidence’ shows companies continue to keep prices high even as their inflationary costs drop”

    Need to keep our collective eye on all the practices by our betters that impoverish us and aid the processes of crapification and “decline…”

    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/jan/19/us-inflation-caused-by-corporate-profits?utm_term=65aa7257ea2501ec1a892c80b1b2e848&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email

  40. Mikel

    “Paris dismisses Russian claim of French ‘mercenaries’ in Ukraine” France24

    I guess Russia can bake some pastries near the front lines and film the reaction of the forces they are fighting. May provide some proof.

  41. Wukchumni

    California health officials shorten COVID isolation period to 1 day KTLA.
    ~~~~~~~~~~

    What a difference a day of isolation made, twenty four little hours
    Brought the sun and the flowers where there use to be rain
    My yesterday was blue dear
    Today I’m a part of you dear
    My lonely nights are through dear
    Since you said you were mine
    Oh, what a difference a day made
    There’s a rainbow before me
    Skies above can’t be stormy since that moment of bliss
    That thrilling kiss
    It’s heaven when you find romance on your menu
    What a difference a day made
    And the difference is you, is you too are now Covid positive

    What a Difference a Day Makes, performed by Jamie Cullum

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZPpve2vDVI

  43. Willow

    > China won’t soon mediate on Ukraine war, Australian envoy warns Politico

    Not just Australian envoy but a former Prime Minister who’s doctoral specialisation is China. Always clear headed and straight up about the realities of China.

    Weird that Politico would add this quote from someone like Andrew Forrest at the end, a corporate CEO who’s seen in Australia politically as a bit of a tosser (though businesswise very successful): “If there was any mischief towards a nuclear weapon of any type … by Russia, that support or that benign resistance would evaporate straight away.” Was Forrest set up to say this? Setting the up narrative for a false flag Russian nuke attack on Ukraine?

  44. Susan the other

    Rep Jamaal Bowman of NY re the $14Tr in reparations? “We’ll pay it into existence.” Indeed we will. What’s not to love here? I can’t think of a better place to begin to set the world straight. Bowman would make an excellent candidate for president with a clear-minded vision like that.

    1. cgregory

      Bowman could refurbish every public school in America for less than $2 trillion, a sizeable boost to employment and the economy, and he’d win the thanks of every family with children under the median income — which is the majority of American families with children.

  46. JaaaaaCeeeee

    LeRoy Cook’s post “Hearing and Doing”, linked from Plane and Pilot, complains at too-wordy radio and controller terminology. Cook ignores that general aviation’s safety record, which has improved over recent decades, is partly because of refining radio and controller terminology. Yet Cook wants controllers to just let pilots blunder around finding their way to the runway, ignores the near misses and crashes avoided because of terminology refined, while he uses some nonsensical arguments, writing like he is a barnstormer in a fabric airplane who just wants to fly without thinking and talk as little as possible on the radio. Cook claims that all the pilots he knows agree with him, but my instrument rated pilot hubby says no pilot he knows would agree. Words matter, and hubby points out the foolishness of Cook’s claim that ATC uses too many words:

    When a pilot taxis up to a runway, he used to be told one of 3 things by the air traffic controller, to “hold short” of the runway, or to “position and hold”, or that he is “cleared for takeoff”.

    “Line up and wait” replaced “position and hold”, because too many pilots heard only the word “hold” when told to “position and hold”, and positioned themselves ON THE RUNWAY, causing many near misses. The new instruction is the exact same number of syllables, so Cook’s complaint is every bit as silly, as the difficulty of getting used to the new terminology is doable and worthwhile.

    Another example of Cook’s willfully ignorant complaint of too many instructions being issued by ATC, is that he ignores that complicated taxiing instructions are only issued at complicated airports. For example, the one-runway Palo Alto, CA (busiest one-runway airport in the country) controller can instruct a pilot to “taxi via Charlie, line up and wait, runway 31”. Flying out of much bigger Oakland, the instruction would be longer, for example, “taxi via Charlie, Bravo, cross runway 28 right, line up and wait, runway 28 left”.

    My pilot hubby adds that he is instrument rated, and before he takes off, he may get a controller clearance that sounds like, “Cleared to Carson City, via after departure, turn right 060 degrees. Proceed direct VOLPE intersection, Victor [airway] 23, Victor 95, Victor 43, direct. Climb and maintain 6000, expect 13000 five minutes after departure. Departure frequency 131.4, squawk 2351. Advise tower you have ATIS Papa”. He is expected to read all that back correctly to ATC the first time, and is happy to say it, since it is necessary for safety. This is not old-fashioned barnstorming, which has its place, but not at busy airports.

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