Colorado rattlesnake “mega den” gaining national attention via webcam for citizen science The Colorado Sun
Near-extinct crocodiles make comeback in Cambodia BBC
Wall Street Senses the Barbarians Are Finally at the Gates Bloomberg. Commentary:
#MorganStanley and #GoldmanSachs are confident that the private equity machine is coming unjammed and will boost fees, says @PaulJDavies https://t.co/uFtlWlnNb6 via @opinion
— Bloomberg (@business) July 18, 2024
Has private equity become a Ponzi scheme? Unherd
Boston 25 is shrinking. You won’t be surprised to learn that private equity is to blame. Dan Kennedy
Climate
With CO2 Levels Rising, World’s Drylands Are Turning Green YaleEnvironment360
Global Economic Governance: What’s “Growth” Got to Do with It? Ann Pettifor, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
World’s largest uncontacted indigenous tribe spotted evading loggers in Peruvian Amazon Anadolu Agency
Water
Alarming study suggests drought side effect is killing off key underground species: ‘We know so little about them’ The Cooldown
Syndemics
Bird flu could become a human pandemic. How are countries preparing? Nature
An H5N1 pandemic is inevitable — here’s why. Canada Healthwatch
U.S. bird flu response builds on lessons learned from COVID (interview) Mandy Cohen, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Cohen: “We have not seen a human-to-human transmission of this virus.” But see 2005; 2006.
GISAID: The Plot Thickens Avian Flu Diary
China?
China halts nuclear arms talks with US over Taiwan support Al Jazeera
WTO says China is backsliding on key reforms and lacks transparency on subsidies South China Morning Post. Commentary:
6/6
downward pressure on global growth, rather than the upward pressure that arises from balanced trade according to real comparative advantage. That is why the WTO should focus on eliminating persistent trade imbalances.— Michael Pettis (@michaelxpettis) July 18, 2024
‘New model for human civilisation’: What is so unique about China’s style of modernisation? Channel News Asia
Inside China’s Psychoboom JSTOR Daily
Bangladesh shuts universities, colleges indefinitely after protests turn deadly Channel News Asia
The Koreas
Korean Nuclear Stocks Soar on Multibillion Dollar Czech Deal Bloomberg
Syraqistan
Israel’s military will begin drafting ultra-Orthodox men on Sunday. It could rattle the government AP
Why does Israel step up its attacks when Gaza ceasefire talks advance? Al Jazeera
Pro-Israel lobby smells blood in coordinated lawfare against media critics Pearls and Irritation
Dear Old Blighty
The King’s Speech: a half-baked hotchpotch that delivers something considerably less than a vision Funding the Future
The Muslim Vote Craig Murray
Same Blade New Left Review
New Not-So-Cold War
Germany plans to halve military aid for Ukraine BBC
TurkStream instead of LNG: Gazprom floods Southeast Europe with pipeline gas (Google translation) Berliner Zeitung
Donald Trump will demand Russia-Ukraine peace talks if re-elected, claims Viktor Orbán FT
* * * Trump on easing restrictions against Russia: We’re forcing everyone away from us Ukrainska Pravda
J.D. Vance: The Math on Ukraine Doesn’t Add Up NYT
Why JD Vance will be good for Europe Unherd
Ukraine clears law on suspending debt payments, resumes formal bondholder talks Reuters
* * * Total of 144 combat clashes occur on battlefield in Ukraine during day, with hottest situation on Toretsk front Ukrainska Pravda
Russia’s retreat from Crimea makes a mockery of the West’s escalation fears The Atlantic Council
Dysfunction Sidelines Ukraine’s Parliament as Governing Force NYT
* * * Russia Is Using Lawsuits to Fight the West’s Sanctions Foreign Policy
Reimagining Russia The National Interest
2024
Biden says he would drop out of race if diagnosed with ‘medical condition’ as pressure from Democrats grows Independent. Commentary:
The unspoken issue with all these positive WH tests?
Since “pandemic is over”and no one is being tested anymore unless highly symptomatic… it suggests POTUS is severely symptomatic (or he’s being treated differently than general public- which is also important to know). https://t.co/x8nYrTYkPY
— Jerome Adams (@JeromeAdamsMD) July 17, 2024
And:
One of the most prevalent problems during covid infections throughout all of the waves has been dizziness, loss of balance, muscle weakness, and the falls that those all cause, especially among the elderly.
— tern (@1goodtern) July 17, 2024
Hubris; nemesis.
* * * The Donald Trump Interview Transcript Bloomberg
* * * RNC 2024 Day 3 updates: JD Vance touts working class roots in debut as VP nominee ABC
Mass deportation line Politico
* * * Trump Seizes on Crypto as ‘Wedge Issue’ as Donors Cheer Him On Bloomberg
Bitcoin hits 1-month high of $66,000 amid hopes of Trump’s pro-crypto stance Anadolu Agency
SPAC = Special Purpose Acquisition Company:
In any normal country, in say the 2004 or 1996 election cycles, this would be a HUGE story and a HUGE scandal for the GOP presidential candidate.
But it's 2024 and it's Trump so nothing matters. https://t.co/mwE4KZUuCR
— Mehdi Hasan (@mehdirhasan) July 18, 2024
* * * A Blind Spot and a Lost Trail: How the Gunman Got So Close to Trump NYT. Commentary:
An extraordinary scene played out at the convention tonight, with US Senators confronting the head of the Secret Service who is here in Milwaukee. More details coming for NYT. https://t.co/LERmj2SaLb
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) July 18, 2024
FWIW:
This is wild!
The day before the assassination
attempt (Friday, July 12th), What appears to be a private equity fund, placed a very large bet using Put Options, on Donald Trump's media and technology company (DJT), which would have gained excessive value had the price of the… https://t.co/Odk8Jsm83t— Ezekiel_38_News (@Ezekiel38News) July 18, 2024
* * * The changes in vibes — why did they happen? Marginal Revolution
Supply Chain
Maersk says Red Sea shipping disruption having global effects Hellenic Shipping News
Healthcare
US Health Care Now Unaffordable for Nearly Half of Americans Newsweek
Nasal Sprays Reduce Sick Days From Respiratory Illnesses in High-Risk Patients MedPage Today
Zeitgeist Watch
“It’s All Just F*cking Impossible:” The Influence of Taylor Swift on Fans’ Body Image, Disordered Eating, and Rejection of Diet Culture Social Science and Medicine
Crowdfunding Regulation (PDF) SSRN. From the Discussion: “Crowdfunding, a groundbreaking financial mechanism, has gained substantial traction in recent years as a means of raising capital for various ventures, projects, and enterprises from a diverse group of individuals or entities. The rapid evolution and widespread adoption of crowdfunding have raised critical regulatory considerations to ensure investor protection, market integrity, and the overall stability of the financial ecosystem.”
Class Warfare
Amazon Prime Day ‘major cause of injuries’ for workers, Senate finds CNN
You Can Never Have Too Much Money, Happiness Researcher Finds Bloomberg
What Happened to Ancient Megafauna? Nautilus
Antidote du jour (Brian Dell):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
In the land of the obese
Will wonders never cease?
A starving Gaza waif
Can’t be rendered safe
AIPAC funding would decrease
Miss Lindsey Graham the Senator
Demands we drain our powder store
This princess will get off her toosh
To play the role of Scaramouche
And launch a splendid little war
Putin met Xi in Beijing
Two excellent friends designing
A world not possessed
By the ghouls of the West
Who do not get to say a damn thing
Mitch McConnell’s now Senate Minority
Yet he still grants AIPAC his authority
By brief calculations
Their humongous donations
Mean they get what they want as priority
Ted Cruz heard that Houston got stormed
Or so he was promptly informed:
‘It looks like Hiroshima’
So Ted rang up FEMA
To explain that the climate has warmed
When the USS Roosevelt bombs Beirut
They’ll be flying straight into a big crapshoot
When your carrier sinks
From Hezbollah’s highjinks
Can you swim in your sailor suit?
excellent as usual
Outstanding Antifa! Best ever.
“Maersk says Red Sea shipping disruption having global effects”
‘Maersk warned on July 1 the coming months would be challenging as disruptions to shipping via the Red Sea continue.’
By disruptions I am sure they mean attacks. About two days ago an uncrewed suicide boat hit the tanker Chios Lion causing a spectacular explosion that must have been felt all the way back to Lloyds of London-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Li2jLU7Qcuk (1:05 mins)
That isn’t going to just buff out.
At a very minimum that ship is likely out of commission for a while, as it will need a thorough inspection of the hull to look for structural damage.
There was a report yesterday that a crude tanker capsized in the Gulf of Aden … unclear whether the Ansar Allah took credit.
What Maersk ment is that a huge number of ships are going around the southern tip of Africa instead of Red Sea.
But its winter meaning huge seas which has caused damage and further delays waiting for calmer seas before many ships can go around. And it also physically slows them down.
That’s according to a number of sites.
It should be obvious by now that the RP is no longer the party of the Mitch McConnell types. It’s not even the same as it was in 2016. I think nothing makes that clearer than Trump’s choice of Mike Pence in 2016 is wildly different from J D Vance today.
As the democrats double down on the PMC vote, and the likes of Kamala Harris, I think they and their supporters need to better understand the appeal of Vance and the republican shift toward working class issues, trade, and foreign policy.
A recent interview at Unheard With Oren Cass, an associate of Vance, is worth watching.
Oren Cass, The philosophy of J. D. Vance
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WuKDboLUZM0
And it occurred to me, jawin w my youngest on 4hr drive to lubbock, yesterday:
Could a lot of vance’ parrotting of traditional gop yelling points be a sop to confuse the reagan dead enders and lindseys of the gop?
Save for his zionism, such righty pablum contradicts a great deal of his past stTements.
Punchinh iran would gel w his israel fetish, but he seems intelligent enough to know that they r now mil allies w rus y china…
Lotsa ink in the water
but you have also this:
“Republican Hawks Want Mike Pompeo and Tom Cotton in Trump’s Cabinet
Some Republicans told POLITICO they want more hawkish figures as a counterbalance to J.D. Vance”
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/07/17/republican-hawks-want-mike-pompeo-and-tom-cotton-in-trumps-cabinet/
(“capital” is getting worse not better)
“Russia’s retreat from Crimea makes a mockery of the West’s escalation fears”
For the Ukrainians the destruction of the Kersh bridge remains their obsession as if the whole war depended on whether it stands or not. But for Neocons, the obsession remains Crimea as can be seen in this Atlantic Council article. There is no other place that they talk about so much. Last year’s offensive had the aim of cutting off the Crimea so that it would fall to the Ukrainians and I am sure that this idea was pushed by Washington as were other pre-war attacks. I guess that they figure that if they can take Crimea, this would lead to Putin’s fall and him being replaced by a more western-friendly regime leading to the Ukraine winning. Whatever.
That article was chock-full of horse manure. Certainly, it had neo-con ghostwriting all over it.
Obsession with Crimea have aways been a part of the Great Game. Ukrainians, Neocons, et al. are just walking in the ol’ limey footsteps.
That article is delusional, drawing as it does conclusions out of all proportion to the significance of the naval theatre in this conflict. Someone also ought to ask the author what significance, if any, similar land-based Houthi interdiction of the Red Sea implies — the spluttering contortions that would draw from the Atlantic Council on the heels of this article ought to be wondrous to behold …
New Biden campaign slogan:
“Four more weeks! Then, it’s Harris Time!”
[Best heard in a voice like Kamala’s, followed by: “ha-ha-ha-HA-HA-HA!!”]
Mike Benz talks about the FBI. X-twtr
“The FBI is where evidence goes to die. Never believe something until the FBI officially denies it. They made a formal determination it was a lone gunman before the night was even over. They made their conclusion before they started their investigation.”
https://x.com/MikeBenzCyber/status/1813736964895699328
“J.D. Vance: The Math on Ukraine Doesn’t Add Up”
Could it be that J.D Vance is an occasional reader of Naked Capitalism? Because what he says is very familiar to readers here. And what he says is true. That the maths does not add up for the Ukraine. He seems to be a very mixed bag though. Most of this article is just common sense but then he will say something like this
‘While some European countries have provided considerable resources, the burden of military support has thus far fallen heaviest on the United States.’
Is he serious? Without the United States, there would have never been a war in the Ukraine. There would be no Neo-Nazi presence in that country, the NS2 pipeline would still be operational. the economies of the EU would not be in taters and hundreds of thousands of people would still be alive. So who is he trying to kid?
For Germany and France “considerable” describes the large donations compared to their available assets.
He got the human resource deficiencies part of Kiev war right and the article was written last April 2024!
Vance seems to have a view toward logistics in his USMC experience. Good point he used “materiel” wrt shortages. Materiel includes the big stuff like gun tubes which US also has none to send as Ukraine wears them out.
Vance could have gone deeper in what the US does not have/give enough.
One point I have observed is to get Kiev built up to an “air land battle” suite of materiel would require a USAF deployment half again the size that was done for Desert Storm. In a much more challenging supply locale.
He’s just being diplomatic. Like his shift at the end advocating a defensive strategy to make negotiations possible. That’s “fantastical” too, especially when the money we sent them for bunker building vanished in thin air, and even the Russian rookie reservists were blown away at how easy it was to get near Kharkiv. He’s a lone voice in both houses, and probably doesn’t see more than pocket change from the MIC, but soon he will be a heartbeat away with a 79 year old boss who is really out of shape and, I must say, looks somewhat shattered from his ear job.
Wash away my troubles, wash away my pain
With the reign of Kamala
Wash away Joe’s sorrow, wash away his shame
With the reign of Kamala
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Everyone is unhelpful, everyone is of like mind
On the road to Kamala
Everyone is plucky, everyone is of like mind
On the road to Kamala
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
How does the right shine
In the rise of Kamala?
How does the right shine
In the rise of Kamala?
I can tell my sister by the deer in the headlghts look in her eyes
On the road to Kamala
I can tell Hunter is screwed by the look in his eyes
On the road to Kamala
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
How does the hard right shine
In the rule of Kamala?
How does the hard right shine
In the rule of Kamala?
Tell me how does the hard right shine
In the rule of Kamala?
(Tell me how) How does the hard right shine
In the rule of Kamala?
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, yeah
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, word salad, ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah
On the rule of Kamala
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, yeah
Shambolic-Kamala
Ah-ooh-ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh-ooh, yeah
On the rule of Kamala
Shambala, by Three Dog Night
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SlWrMpV1vy0
The Nautilus piece on megafauna extinctions is another shot in the continuing war between the Gradualist and Catastrophist camps in palaeontology. Strictly speaking, palaeontology ends at the time of the major megafauna extinctions, roughly 11,400 years ago. That date coincides with the end of the Younger Dryas period.
The Gradualists posit that increasingly large bands of Terran humans hunted the big furrys to extinction. However, before the Modern period, such events were not common. Consider the population differences alone. Several million Terran humans in North America, which is a high figure given the evidence, versus tens of millions of megafauna. Secondly, hunter gatherers seldom hunt their main prey species to extinction. The early Terran humans were not as unsophisticated as all that. Natufian culture sites, an early transitional phase of Terran human culture, from pure hunter gathering to mixed hunting and agriculture, show evidence of domestication of food and ‘helper’ animals. Consider also that the mass extinctions in North America all happened at the same time, the Younger Dryas, along with an evident near extinction of the Terran human populations. The extinctions were not restricted to North America. Mass bone sites of megafauna species have been found in Eurasia as well as North America. Whatever happened, it was a world wide event.
The Catastrophists suggest that some extreme event caused the megafauna, and in North America, Terran human, near extinctions. The evidence for this hypothesis is well laid out by the members of the Comet Research Group.
See: https://cometresearchgroup.org/
This is a Rabbit Hole well worth diving into.
Consider the Moa, the largest of megafauna in NZ, a 10 foot high Emu of sorts that would have the NBA in a tither, were they not all killed and eaten in a century by the Maori utilizing crude weaponry and most important, burning them out of their hidey holes.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moa
Fully agree here. That megafauna must have needed a lot of calories to get by on each and every day but if the climate shifts leading to the loss of the habitat that supported them, then they are all out of luck. And like you pointed out, humans nearly went out because of the the Younger Dryas which lasted about a millennia. It stands to reason that many species were also pushed to the edge or even over it. If humans hunted them to extinction, it would have been like sweeping up the fag ends.
And that link was interesting as they may have a point. Fairly recently they discovered a meteor crater here in Oz. They missed it up to now as the damned thing is over 520 km in diameter – about 323 miles. It is colossal and god knows what the world wide effects of that must have been like when it hit. The article says that ‘is likely responsible for triggering the large-scale glaciation and mass extinction during this period, an event which eliminated about 85% of species’–
https://johnmenadue.com/planet-killer-worlds-largest-asteroid-impact-crater-discovered-in-deniliquin-australia-pic/
“Korean Nuclear Stocks Soar on Multibillion Dollar Czech Deal Bloomberg”
Initially misread this as meaning that North Korea had incorporated its military and you could now invest in nuclear warheads. Silly misreading but if that were the case it would be interesting. Buying and selling stocks in nuclear armaments would be the ultimate scorpion-frog river crossing private equity ethical quandry.
[ If large manufacturing exporters run large, persistent trade surpluses, that is the evidence you need that they are subsidizing their manufacturing sectors at the expense of their trade partners.
— Michael Pettis ]
Since among the 10 largest economies, Japan and Germany have had by far the largest, most persistent trade surpluses, we can conclude that Japan and Germany are subsidizing manufacturers at the expense of trade partners. China has had a relatively small trade surplus, much of which is due to sanctions that prevent China from buying needed and desirable products.
”Trump on easing restrictions against Russia: We’re forcing everyone away from us”
If Trump become President, I think that he is in for a coupla surprises. So he probably figures that he can force the Ukrainians to negotiate by chopping their money – which is true. With the Russians, he probably figures that he can get the Russians to negotiate by promising to lift sanctions. I don’t think that Congress will let him and between now and November, they may try to make aid to the Ukraine Trump-proof. But for the Russians they will not be interested unless larger issues are dealt with at the same time like NATO threats to Russia, nuclear missiles stationed in Europe, etc. The sanctions sting but they have learned to live with them. Certainly they will not settle for a conflict freeze as that would be in effect a Ukrainian victory. So Trump may be out of his depth here if he tries to handle it like one of his real estate deals.