Homing pigeon missiles, dead trout swimming, butt breathing honored with Ig Nobel Prize The Register
Online Dating Caused a Rise in US Income Inequality, Research Paper Shows Bloomberg
Empty Downtowns Are Still Depleting Local Coffers Governing
World Bank, “Puppet Hanging by a Thread” Pluralia
Feeling Gravity’s Pull Nautilus
Climate/Environment
Bizarre, nine-day seismic signal caused by epic landslide in Greenland Ars Technica
Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’ The Guardian
US Militarism Is a Leading Cause of the Climate Catastrophe Truthout
Pandemics
Unprecedented Bird Flu Levels Detected in Texas Wastewater: ‘Concerning’ Newsweek
Centre sets up surveillance as undiagnosed fever claims 15 lives in Kutch Business Standard
After 15-year old son, 42-year-old father’s is the 17th death due to Kutch ‘mystery fever’ Indian Express https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/kutch-mystery-fever-17th-death-9563332/
China?
‘Better sooner than later’: China treading cautiously in raising retirement age to prevent public unhappiness, analysts say Channel News Asia
China new home prices fall at fastest pace in over 9 years in August Business Times
***
From alleged torture, suicide to demotion: Why China’s disgraced foreign minister Qin Gang’s fate is fodder for speculation Channel News Asia
The Logic of China’s Careful Defense Industry Purge The Diplomat
***
PLA monitors German warships’ transit through Taiwan Straits Global Times
Over 30 Squadrons of American Reaper Drones Train For Major Maritime Special Operations Against China Military Watch
The US and Chinese militaries have started talking again — even as they prepare for war Semafor
European Disunion
Politically Dead Man Talking Tarik Cyril Amar, The Ninth Wave. Olaf Scholz.
Syraqistan
Missile fired from Yemen lands in Israel setting off sirens, military says Al Jazeera
Seven Days After Israeli Forces Kill American, Biden and Harris Haven’t Spoken to Victim’s Family Zeteo
U.S. ARMY IS UPGRADING AN ISRAELI BASE TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW BOEING JETS Nick Turse, The Intercept
‘Israel’ not to wage war on northern front until intl. cover secured Al Mayadeen
UN staffer shot dead by Israeli sniper in occupied West Bank The Cradle
Gaza polio vaccination drive a ‘massive success’: WHO The New Arab
Old Blighty
RAF SPY FLIGHTS OVER GAZA RISK COMPLICITY IN ISRAELI TORTURE Declassified UK
O Canada
Ottawa-based company is key to keeping Israeli warplanes bombing Gaza The Breach
New Not-So-Cold War
Alarm in UK and US over possible Iran-Russia nuclear deal The Guardian
The NATO/Ukraine Defeat in Kursk (and Beyond) Gordon Hahn, Russian & Eurasian Politics
Five former UK defence secretaries urge London to allow Ukraine to use supplied weapons for strikes on Russia Ukrainska Pravda
Germany’s Scholz rules out long-range weapons for Ukraine Deutsche Welle
Not enough long range missiles to make a difference for Ukraine Responsible Statecraft
Poland backs ending EU benefits for Ukrainian men of fighting age Euractiv
***
‘Nothing is being covered up’ in Nord Stream blasts probe – Scholz RT
Did ‘Our Little Baby’ Make a Nazi International? Bandera Lobby Blog
South of the Border
Venezuela seizes weapons aimed for CIA-led anti-state plot Al Mayadeen
Mercenary Boss Erik Prince’s Political and Commercial Motivations in Venezuela Orinoco Tribune
Bolivia inks $976mn deal with Russia to tap world’s largest lithium reserves BNE Intellinews
Spook Country
Democrat ‘October Surprise’ Targeting Russia and Trump May be in the Making – US Psy-Op Veteran Sputnik
Biden Administration
Biden decision on U.S. Steel buyout unlikely before election: report Kyodo News
Antitrust
The Secret That’s Driving Up Highway Costs Boondoggle
Trump
Sen. Josh Hawley: Whistleblower Says Lead Secret Service Agent On Day Trump Was Shot Was Promoted After Failing Key Exam Real Clear Politics
Kamala
Exclusive Action News Interview: Kamala Harris discusses economy, guns and more Action News 6 ABC. First solo interview as candidate.
Harris Campaign Takes Lobbyist Donations Despite Saying It Doesn’t Sludge
2024
Meet the Kremlin’s ideal Congressional candidate Popular Information. Sounds reasonable.
Harris Goes Full Cold War in Hopes of the Polish Vote. Spoils of War
JD Vance sells himself to Silicon Valley The Verge
Racehorses, slot machines and election campaigns Searchlight New Mexico
Democrats en déshabillé
Guys, it’s not that big of a deal. A lot of lawyers quit their jobs late on a Saturday night after the FBI seizes the phones of their coworkers. https://t.co/Y7GMZ5v23P
— Sandy Nurse (@SandyforCouncil) September 15, 2024
Imperial Collapse Watch
Here Are the Members of Congress Invested in War Sludge
China’s New Lobbyist: Wall Street Compact’s Substack. “New”?
Eminent officials say NASA facilities some of the “worst” they’ve ever seen Ars Technica
Stranded astronauts make first public statement since being left behind on ISS AP
Boeing
As Boeing Cracks, Is It Capitalism or Kafka? Dollars and Sense
Immigration
How AI images of cats and ducks powered the pet-eating rumor mill in Springfield, Ohio NBC News
Nebraska Evolving Flatwater Free Press. “The perception is that Nebraska’s smaller communities are dying. The reality is that many rural Nebraska counties are now growing for one reason. Immigration.”
Police State Watch
The Public Defender Who Just Won Power Over Confirming Massachusetts Judges Bolts
Our Famously Free Press
New York Times’ Previous Reporting Undermines Its War Escalation Journalism Lee Fang
Digital Watch
Exclusive: Lawmakers dig into federal government’s CrowdStrike use Axios
23andMe to pay $30 million in genetics data breach settlement Bleeping Computer
Intel cleared to get $3.5 billion to make advanced chips for Pentagon — Secure Enclave program ushers leading-edge CPUs to the military Tom’s Hardware
EU OKs $1.9B aid for Intel Polish plant, assuming x86 giant doesn’t end up cutting it The Register
Supply Chain
China’s Seafarer Wages Soar as U.S. Mariners Struggle with Pay Stagflation gCaptain
AI
New Study Suggests AI Could Convince Conspiracy Theorists They’re Wrong Gizmodo
MICROSOFT SECRETLY SELLING AI TO FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES WHILE BRAGGING ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS Futurism
Class Warfare
No sleeping bags, keep moving: California cities increase crackdown on homeless encampments Cal Matters
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“PLA monitors German warships’ transit through Taiwan Straits’
The Chinese are not happy campers about warships from the other side of the planet sailing along their coastlines. Apparently it is the first time that they have done that in 22 years. Not to worry. China could send a few warships to visit the Russian enclave at Kaliningrad in the Baltic and as they sailed by Germany, perhaps they could also do a freedom of navigation transit. I’m waiting for the Chinese to start buzzing these visiting warships with their own warplanes at just over the height of those ships like the Russians have done in the Black Sea. I’m sure that the Chinese have a few hot shot pilots that would love to try it out.
China did a “freedom of navigation” visit to Alaska a few months ago.
Wait. Are they allowed to do that? /sarc
Zeteo: Seven days after assassination of Ayşenur Eygi, Biden and Harris dither, bloviate, and tergiversate, by Prem Thakker.
Recommended. Note the mention of Shireen Abu-Akleh, well-known journalist, which also brings to mind the U.S. government and Gonzalo Lira.
So, brethren and sistren, not only are the Palestinians an inconvenience, but it looks as through the U.S. citizenry is an inconvenience.
Meanwhile, liberals are foaming at the mouth about “fascism.” Funny about how assassinations of journalists are a hallmark of fascism, eh. By their works you shall know them.
“The NATO/Ukraine Defeat in Kursk (and Beyond)”
There has been another effect of the Kursk invasion not mentioned here but talked about by the guys at The Duran. Until then, some of Russia’s allies like China, Brazil and India have been trying to get Putin to negotiate a peace with the implication of a cease fire. As a ceasefire, which leaves all military forces in their present positions, would mean an actual Russian defeat, Putin has been resisting this. But since the Ukrainians did this incursion into Kursk, a lot of the pressure on the Russians has eased off. Putin has tried to show his allies that the Ukrainians are not capable of negotiating for peace and would never keep one. Minsk 1 and Minks 2 should have been evidence of that but apparently India’s Modi and Brazil’s Lula still have hopes for getting a peace. The Russians know that without a demilitarized Ukraine, that before too many years had gone by the Ukrainians would be trying for another war so whatever the Ukraine looks like after this war, it will be one that will no longer be a threat to them.
Empty Downtowns Are Still Depleting Local Coffers, The numbers that “Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a professor of finance and real estate at Columbia University”, provides read funny. We have about $1 trillion of mortgage debt coming due this year, and then there’ll be $600 or $700 billion more the next year and the year after. Put that against in my research, I’ve calculated that the value of office buildings in the U.S. would be lower by roughly 40 to 50 percent. So that’s a $550 billion hit, a massive valuation shock. Am I correct in reading that as ~$2.3T mortgage debt coming due in the next three years against a legacy valuation of ~$1.25T. Can anyone make sense of that?
No mention of PE.
Not so little boxes in the downtown
Not so little boxes made of ticky tacky CRE loans
Not so little boxes in the downtown
Not so little boxes all the same
There’s a new one and an old one
And a tall one and a glassy one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
And the people in the high rises
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there used to be doctors and lawyers
And business executives until the pandemic came
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children are home schooled
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In high rises made of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
There’s a new one and an old one
And a tall one and a glassy one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
Little Boxes, performed by Pete Seeger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUwUp-D_VV0
Empty downtown office space, quite a bleak picture from that article, broadly so on the nation’s ongoing shift post – pandemic from mostly in office to more remote or even hybrid setting. While it’s easier to grasp the impact on residential real estate property taxes ( aka, my home value is much higher, and so shall my tax bill also be higher ! ), the situation around commercial property seems less direct or that’s my two cents.
This is not exactly the same discussion but related, but I’m always or often noting how large and empty certain anchor locations exist in malls or strip shopping centers in recent years.
Rise inequality because of dating apps.
Total garbage but it does bring about a question I would have for statisticians – – how does a study isolate causes when the entire economic and social environment is moving, or has moved, to a completely new paradigm? Or to put it plainly to these authors… Are you sure that dating apps are the cause and not the disconnect between wages and productivity the “coincidentally” happened around the same time?
Re: The AI that debunks “Conspiracy Theories”. I tried it out and it wasn’t very persuasive defending the single bullet theory, LOL.
But one can easily see how these AI’s, especially when they speak in the dulcet tones of HAL, or Scarlett Johansson, will become part of the armamentarium against WrongThink.
Your second line resonates with me. Tone can be very persuasive and often flies under the radar. For instance, I’m certainly going to want to believe whatever Scarlett Johansson whispers in my ear.
Members of Congress invested in war, brings to mind of all things the metal band Megadeth. “Peace sells but who’s buying …”
Peace. It’s good for you and our children but it’s hell on my retirement portfolio! \sarc
“Alarm in UK and US over possible Iran-Russia nuclear deal”
The usual bs. You know, the Iran-is-one-month-away-from-building-a-nuke spiel that we have been hearing since the late 90s. What is really worrying the UK and the US is technology transfer where Russia helps upgrade Iran into a first class military. You can bet that the Russians are passing on a lot of the lessons that they have learned in the Ukraine the past two and a half year. That plus missile tech. That alone must be causing a lot of angst in Tel Aviv. Where is the fun in attacking a country that can attack you back? And it certainly has not escaped their notice that Russia has now installed air defence systems in Iran itself which makes attacking Iran a far more difficult option, especially for Israel and the US. There must be the realization that all those bases that the US built near Iran in order to one day attack it are now actually targets that can be blasted if a war breaks out. The times they are a changin’.
Russia helps upgrade Iran into a first class military. You can bet that the Russians are passing on a lot of the lessons that they have learned in the Ukraine the past two and a half year.
If we go back a decade, before the Russian intervention in Syria, there were visits by the Iranian military in Moscow, including by very high-level officers such as Qassem Soleimani. I have always thought that during the joint planning meetings, the Iranians were passing on a lot of the lessons that they had learned in Syria in the previous two and a half years.
This may explain why, right from the start, the Russians knew exactly where to act, with what kind of weapons, what kind of adversaries they would encounter, what tactics these used, and what capabilities the Syrian armed forces could muster or were direly needing. Commentators were wondering how the Russian intervention could be so effective with such limited, focused means — I contend that the Iranians, who had been in Syria for a while, taught them all the crucial elements about fighting well-armed, Western supported jihadists in a Near-Eastern environment.