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Links 9/25/2024

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Dear patient readers,

Apologies for the lack of original posts. One we expected to come in didn’t and finding a replacement chewed into time to draft one of our own.

* * *

Daring rescue of deer trapped upside-down between buildings (video) BoingBoing

EU state declares war on beavers RT (Kevin W)

100 Unsettling Pictures Of Liminal Spaces That Might Give You The Heebie Jeebies Bored Panda. I only got started, given 100, but some seemed cool.

Scientists explore origins of horseback riding through human skeletons PhysOrg (Anthony L)

Archaeologists discover southern army fought at ‘Europe’s oldest battle’ Antiquity (Anthony L)

The joy of foraging aeon. I am a coward about stuff like this but I have no doubt many readers are enthusiasts. I remember Into the Wild.

Swiss police make arrests over suspected death in ‘suicide capsule’ Guardian

Pain is ‘dramatically’ different in men and women The Hill. Articles like this are a big pet peeve of mine. Statistically, in classes as large as “men” and “women” the differences within a class will be greater than between classes. Yours truly has very high pain tolerance. I am sure that there are many men with very low pain thresholds. In fairness, this article does say acculturation plays a role.

‘The final warning sign’: drug-resistant typhoid is spreading in Pakistan Bureau of Investigative Journalism (Paul R)

#COVID-19

Genetic tracing of market wildlife and viruses at the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic Cell. Lambert featured yesterday in Water Cooler but important no to miss.

Acute COVID-19 severity markers predict post-COVID new-onset psychiatric disorders: A 2-year cohort study of 34,489 patients Molecular Psychiatry (Robin K)

Long COVID syndrome: An unfolding enigma The Indian Journal of Medical Research (Robin K). I had not seen this before: “Risk factors for long COVID include… reactivation of Epstein Barr (EB) virus and human herpes virus 6”

Microbiota-Based Therapeutics for COVID-19 and Sequelae Human Microbiome (book extract) (Robin K)

COVID-19 Infection and Medicines in Pregnancy in Canada European Psychiatry (Robin K)

Climate/Environment

Most electric-car batteries could soon be made by recycling old ones Economist (Kevin W)

Is recycling beyond fixing? Here’s why California thinks so. Washington Post (Kevin W)

World’s Biggest Cement Producers Bet on Green Alternative Bloomberg. ma: “These people are just diddling themselves…..all very clever, but will never scale remotely in time to matter…..”

Plan to refreeze Arctic sea ice shows promise in first tests New Scientist

California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores CNN

China?

China’s PLA launches intercontinental ballistic missile into Pacific Ocean Reuters

Japan says it received no advance notice of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch Anadolu Agency

European Disunion

Farming must pay for its emissions, says EU chief climate scientist Financial Times

Northvolt resembles a hostage drama Aftonbladet via machine translate (Micael T)

Old Blighty

Keir Starmer claims keeping winter fuel payments could have sparked Liz Truss-style meltdown on markets and warns UK faces taking more asylum seekers – as he begs Brits to be ‘patient’ with his ‘painful choices’ in Labour conference speech Daily Mail

Gaza

The Exhilaration of First Strikes: In Lebanon, Israel Repeats the Mistakes of 2006 Resistance News

Lebanon’s Hezbollah launch rocket targeting Mossad base near Tel Aviv Reuters. Israel shot it down. I have not seen accounts as to whether this was Hezbollah’s best missile type; they have held those back so far.

Voices of Lebanon: People fleeing for their lives as Israel attacks Aljazeera

Israel in TURMOIL: Hezbollah CRUSHES IDF’s Lebanon Offensive | Ghadi Francis & Lowkey Danny Haiphong, YouTube

A contrary view to Danny Haiphong’s interviewees. An open issue is that Israel, including the IDF, has low tolerance for pain. Norman Finkelstein: “Israel Is A Crazy State” Glenn Greenwald, YouTube

Going From “The Civilian Buildings Are Hamas” To “The Civilian Buildings Are Hezbollah” Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)

Blinken Rejected Officials Who Concluded Israel Deliberately Blocked Humanitarian Aid to Gaza. ProPublica (Robin K)

The Bankruptcy of the ‘No Daylight’ Approach Daniel Larison

Lebanon: Memories of War New York Review of Books (Robin K)

New Not-So-Cold War

Zelensky looks to Biden to back Ukraine ‘Victory plan’ BBC (Kevin W). Good luck with that.

SITREP 9/24/24: PR Tour Sours as Ukraine’s Lackluster ‘Victory Plan’ Met with Doubts Simplicius

US must get out of Ukraine – Trump RT

Power games over Ukraine’s electrical grid spark rule-of-law fears Politico. WFT? Still whining about Zelensky removing the energy chief weeks ago? And calling Ukraine an EU candidate in the subhead?

Imperial Collapse Watch

Trump

Trump Hack Continued Into Last Week Semafor

From Politico’s EU morning newsletter:

TRUMP IS COMING FOR YOUR JOBS: “You will see a mass exodus of manufacturing from China to Pennsylvania, from Korea to North Carolina, from Germany to right here in Georgia,” former U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday.

Zero-sum vision: Debuting his plan for “relocating entire industries” to the U.S., Trump promised a 15 percent “Made in America tax rate” and said he would appoint a manufacturing envoy whose “sole task … will be to go around the world and convince major manufacturers to pack up and move back to America.” Autoworkers, he said, would get special attention. (As if Germany’s embattled car industry didn’t have enough to worry about.)

Haitian group in Ohio files criminal charges against Trump and Vance over false pet-eating claims Associated Press (furzy)

Bombshell transcripts: Trump urged use of troops to protect Capitol on Jan. 6 , but was rebuffed Just the News. Yes, this is a stone right wing site. But it quote a transcript released by a Congresscritter.

California Passes Law To Ban or Restrict Smartphones in School Reuters

Our No Longer Free Press

Cognitive warfare in the West Voltaire.net (Micael T)

British Intel’s ‘Counter-Disinfo’ War Goes Global Kit Klarenberg (Micael T)

The Bezzle

Caroline Ellison Sentenced for Two Years in FTX Fraud Crypto Times

September consumer confidence falls the most in three years CNBC (Kevin W)

Private Credit Faces Worst Reckoning Since ‘08, NY Life CIO Says Bloomberg. CalPERS of course joined this party late, meaning it is sure to have heavier exposure to weaker credits.

Class Warfare

Striking Boeing machinists denounce company’s “Best and Final Contract Offer” WSWS. Note that there has been no negotiation after the strike was called.

5,000 Kansas Private Jet Workers Strike – Duke Football Players Aid NC Amazon Union Drive – Boeing Strike Enters 2nd Week Mike Elk

They fight the world’s richest man for their dignity Aftonbladet (Micael T)

Amazon, Tesla, Meta Considered Harmful To Democracy The Register

Antidote du jour (via):

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142 comments

  1. Antifa

    GAZA
    (melody borrowed from Dreams  by Stephanie Nicks as performed by Fleetwood Mac)

    You’ve locked two million in, you say that you won’t feed ’em
    Water supplies have been shut down
    You’ll starve them all—there is no way you can conceal it
    While Hamas is still waiting underground

    This unholy mess looks a lot like Stalingrad
    Spreading illness with America ‘ironclad’ at any cost
    Ironclad at any cost

    Your blundering has your own troops complaining
    Prayers can’t keep their souls from decaying
    When winning means you’re stuck at status quo
    Fighting the mujahideen goes slow
    Goes slow

    (musical interlude)

    Your grunts are wearing thin and short of ammunition
    Low on morale and mental health
    It seems to me your troops have gone to all extremes and
    Find themselves in rubble covered Hell

    This unholy mess looks a lot like Stalingrad
    Spreading illness with America ‘ironclad’ at any cost
    Ironclad at any cost

    Blundering has your own troops complaining
    Prayers can’t keep their souls from decaying
    Winning means you’re stuck at status quo
    Fighting the mujahideen goes slow

    Your blundering has your own troops complaining
    Prayers can’t keep their souls from decaying
    When winning means you’re stuck at status quo
    Fighting the mujahideen goes slow
    Goes slow

    It goes slow

    (Oh woe woe) goes slow

    Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Scientists explore origins of horseback riding through human skeletons”

    You would figure that if they found one or two bow-legged skeletons, that this would indicate someone who spent a long time on horseback. You wonder if they excavated skeletons of known cowboys from the old west, that they could learn what to look for. Between gravestones, census records, contemporary newspapers articles, historical records, etc. it would not be that hard to identify men who spent a long time in the saddle back then.

    Reply ↓
    2. wilroncanada

      The Rev Kev
      Old Shakespeare joke, about seeing cowboys for the first time:
      What manner of men are these
      Who wear their legs in parentheses?

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    3. Not qualified to Comment

      Haven’t read the story yet but if they’re looking for joint wear indicating riding rather than walking, the introduction of saddles and even more-so the stirrup which came later would have made a huge difference to weight-bearing and posture when riding. A cowboy in a western saddle with stirrups was almost in an armchair compared to a bare-backed Apache.

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  3. Zagonostra

    >British Intel’s ‘Counter-Disinfo’ War Goes Global Kit Klarenberg (Micael T)

    Britain’s shadowy, spook-infested Counter Disinformation Unit…regularly gathers Washington’s spying services together to coordinate on national security matters.

    … The newly-released file reveals British intelligence is exporting this sinister “counter-disinformation” credo to every corner of the globe.

    London’s “wider disinformation policy work” at home take on a particularly disquieting character… CDU’s operations interact with a wider domestic legislative framework, which allows authorities “to take action against companies that fail to comply with the government’s online speech regulations,” while prosecuting and penalising alleged disseminators of “disinformation”.

    America’s quest to be free of British domination/influence has failed. From 1776 up to and beyond Steele dossier, the British Spider continues to spin it’s deadly web and the “third Rome” continues to spread its poison.

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      1. JM

        Hahaha! But I’d say you’re basically right, NWSL is on over-the-air TV now and there is very little diving. Two weeks ago a player got their brow stitched up on the pitch.

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    2. Joker

      You can tell the difference between a hit in the testicles and a childbirth by the number of individuals that want to do it again. :)

      Reply ↓
    3. fjallstrom

      I noticed these two paragraphs:

      Studies have found that women do more catastrophizing, or dwelling on their pain and making it out to be much worse than it actually is. That practice is associated with greater pain severity.

      Women are also more likely to seek help for pain than men are. But when they do, health care providers more often dismiss, psychologize and undertreat their pain, potentially worsening existing disparities.

      If we turn these around, than women are not listened to and believed in health care, so they need to report higher pain levels to get help.

      Of the hundreds of millions of chronic pain patients around the world, they [women] comprise roughly 70 percent.

      Patients are by definition people who are still in the health care system, people who have given up on health care are not patients. They are not necessarily well.

      While women are less listened to, in my experience men give up on health care faster, or rather women keep on insisting on health care longer. My experience is from socialised medicine, so it isn’t a matter of being able to pay.

      It is rather a matter of chronic pain by definition is pain that can’t be cured, and medicine first looks at possible diagnosises that can be cured, and then at best systematically works its way to a correct diagnosis and optimal treatment. This journey can take years, and many doctors. It leaves ample room for the patient to give up after a doctor has said something less emphatic like “there is no treatment” or “you are not ill, you just want drugs”. If doctors appointments takes effort and doesn’t give anything positive and you are in constant pain, giving up on health care can be a very rational decision.

      I have worked in patient organisations and met more men than women who treat their cronic pain outside the health care system, with legal or illegal means. My guess is that doggedly insisting on health care in a way needs an identification as cronically ill, which in turn is harder to square with male identity.

      Reply ↓
      2. Tom Stone

        I have dealt with chronic pain that has varied from unpleasant to transcendent for more than a third of a century and I can attest that our current “Healthcare” system is not good at dealing with chronic pain.
        At present I am undergoing treatment for lower back pain caused by severe compression of the L4-L5 area, unfortunately my idiosyncratic reaction to drugs has once again complicated treatment.

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      3. Amfortas the Hippie

        here in texas, the default belief is that men cant have chronic pain…as if such a thing even existed.
        until i actually got my hip replacement(after almost seven frelling years), few around here believed in my pain…lotsa passive aggressive bs…which is a large reason for my hermithood.
        as far as getting the necessary pain meds, i lucked out w my doctor…his only fear is that the medical board, dea, whatever, will cause him problems because of me,,,so we dot every t.
        the rules and flaming hoops change every few years…as the old crusaders move up into better paying busybody spots…and the new crusaders hafta make their mark.
        currently, i must pee in a cup periodically…so as to make sure i’m actually full to the brim with hydrocodone metabolites…cause if i aint, i must be selling them,lol.
        (worth a lot of money on the street, turns out…but i wont further all that…stuff i need is hard enough to get already).
        were i forced to go to a “Pain Management” doctor…since its Texas…they’d test me for weed use, too…and disqualify me if any weed metabolites were found in my pee.
        because under Texas enlightened jurisprudence, if you smoke pot…you are a Drug Addict…and therefore cant be trusted with vicodin.

        one of the biggest problems with Pain is that its entirely subjective.
        there are no objective tests to say, “yes…Amfortas is actually in a lot of pain all the time”.
        they hafta take my word for it.
        hence the famous…and ridiculous…”Pain Scale”, withe the little smiley faces.
        i tell them my baseline/normal level is around 5…i havent been pain free in 37(?) years.

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        1. lyman alpha blob

          And of course the ‘pain scale’ was designed by Purdue Pharma. There was an article recently at NC noting this that I can’t find right now, but here are a couple of others that touch on it –

          https://www.motherjones.com/criminal-justice/2019/08/unsealed-documents-show-how-purdue-pharma-created-a-pain-movement/

          https://kffhealthnews.org/news/article/pain-scale-zero-to-10-no-better-alternative/

          Nearly 20 years ago, before the opioid epidemic became widespread news, my better half was instructed to go to the emergency room by her physician for a fairly minor ailment. They did the pain scale thing on her and she said her pain was minor and maybe a 2. Of course the nurse immediately shoves a prescription for Oxy at her – I can’t remember if it was -contin or -codone. Whichever it was, I remarked that I’d heard that that pain medication was highly addictive and asked if it was really necessary considering the low level of pain. She told me I must be thinking of the other one and the one she was recommending was totally harmless.

          Not wanting to cause a scene, we went home with the prescription and then I looked it up myself and confirmed that both -contin and -codone were addictive, contrary to what the supposed medical professional had told us. At that point we got rid of the pills immediately.

          At the time I’d thought this pain scale was a routine thing instigated by actual doctors. When I found out recently it was all part of Purdue’s Pharma’s effort to get the nation hooked, I was really not amused and am now even more reluctant to trust medical professionals.

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      4. Roxan

        I encountered the silliest ‘pain scale’, ever, during my first post-op visit to an oncologist–a xerox of a thermometer on which that I was supposed to color in my level of anxiety. Pain resulting from gyn procedures is ignored and even ridiculed by doctors. A friend who had 3 kids by natural birth methods said her uterine biopsy was worse. Same with IUD insertion.

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    5. eg

      My mother has a remarkably high pain tolerance. I regret as her son that I did NOT inherit it — I am unhelpfully sensitive in this regard.

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  6. Zagonostra

    >Amazon, Tesla, Meta Considered Harmful To Democracy The Register

    …it’s heard some referred to Meta as “a foreign state, populated by people without sovereignty, ruled by a leader with absolute power.”

    This made me think of a lecture I heard by Lewis Lapham who died earlier this year (his wiki page is pathetic). In a C-Span lecture on the “The New American Ruling Class” back in 1996, Lapham was prophetic in describing America becoming a people “without sovereignty.” I think close to 30 years later, what he warned about, has come to pass, this train has arrived at its terminal destination.

    https://youtu.be/oXBvgnGQYOI?si=GLSukivqhUlws0gC

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  7. The Rev Kev

    “SITREP 9/24/24: PR Tour Sours as Ukraine’s Lackluster ‘Victory Plan’ Met with Doubts’

    About a third of the way down that long page is a remarkable story. ‘By the way, while sending troops to the region, the aging US fleet highlighted a major problem when its only Navy oiler in the region was knocked out of commission.’ It ran aground and it’s the only one that they have in the Middle East while trying to use a commercial tanker has it’s own problems. A tweet then mentions that the US Navy is decommissioning 17 more of this ships as they don’t have the sailors to man them. This news will not be well received in Tel Aviv but I am sure that Beijing is paying close attention as the US Navy want to go to war with them in what was it, about 2027?

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    1. Pat

      And yet we have the warmongering dementia patient who remarkably still resides in the White House threatening not one, but two major powers in a supposedly diplomatic setting. The people running things know the actual state of the US military. That this was allowed to happen only proves that delusion is the standard state in our current government not limited to the puppet leader and the Approved replacements.

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      1. Angela

        Good news first.

        You, and I were one man’s signature away from dying over the weekend.

        Had Biden signed the missile cooperation agreement with Keir Starmer in the White House on Friday, Putin would have immediately declared war on the United States and launched the nukes. Scott Ritter.

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfxxrVIpuW8

        Back channel communications stopped that.

        No wonder Biden looked mad and shaken.

        Bad news, Kamala Harris may soon be in control of the Ukraine war policy.

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      2. Mikel

        “And yet we have the warmongering dementia patient who remarkably still resides in the White House…”

        And most global leaders who sit in a conference listening to him and not saying a word about the situation.

        Reply ↓
          1. Mikel

            Let me be more specific: not saying a word in protest.
            Or even looking like “WTF”?

            Global dementia or global supplicants…FFS let it end.

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      3. Not Qualified to Comment

        The PtB in Washington, and regrettably many in the wider US, grew up on a diet of Hollywood films and TV in which your average GI is endowed at birth with True Grit, an unquenchable desire to win, tactical genius, inspired ingenuity and yet true humility that will always triumph regardless of the actual facts on the battlefield. After all, aren’t they all born with “Remember the Alamo” etched onto their hearts?

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    2. bwilli123

      The US Navy shouldn’t worry. Australia will be only too happy to supply sailors to man US ships once we’ve acclimated the Oz population to our submariners crewing US nuclear subs (part of our being upskilled under AUKUS)
      Former Department of Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezullo calls this “pooling sovereignty.”

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    3. ChrisFromGA

      The latest rumor on TG is that Mike Johnson suddenly has a scheduling conflict and can’t meet with Zelensky.

      So the victory plan tour isn’t going well. There are lots of empty seats in the arena, like that famous “Jazz Odyssey” phase that Spinal Tap went through.

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      1. Duke of Prunes

        And here my tin foily head had me considering this as an “inside job” to stop our insane state department from making promises we can’t keep.

        Sorry Bibi, we’ve got to stay put, no gas to fuel the battle group.

        Then again, if it were an inside job, they’d probably do a better job of making it appear like an actual grounding (if the tweet is to be believed).

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    6. ilsm

      No oilers in the Middle East! The bigger report is where is the CVN in the eastern Mediterranean?

      There is no aircraft carriers permanent in the western Indian Sea. The US CVN Lincoln is hiding from the Houthi up in the Gulf of Oman, where it can maybe hear about attacks on Hormuz on CNN.

      The oiler issue is jet fuel, fuel for most ships can be arranged almost any port.

      Lincoln is positioned for image, its jets are not a big deal.

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    1. Mikel

      Even if they don’t win, if they make a strong enough showing….go long popcorn.
      All hell could break loose on top of the butt hurt from team red about team blue win or vice versa.

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  9. Blue Duck

    “Scientists explore origins of horseback riding through human skeletons”

    We subjugated the horse, and then the horse helped us subjugate ourselves. I have this disturbing image of ourselves, five thousand years ago, in our early days of agriculture, and what it was like to hear those thundering hooves for the first time, and to see armed men riding these monsters, rounding us up to become the first slaves in the post agricultural revolution world.

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    1. The Rev Kev

      Probably find that those slaves were then put right back to work growing their crops as the horses weren’t going to do it. Meet the new boss – the same as the old. Although horses originated in North America and spread into the Asian mainland, they were extinct by the time the Vikings came a knocking. As the newly introduced horse spread across the North American plains, it must have totally changed the lives of those Indian tribes giving them a range that before they could only dream of-

      https://new.nsf.gov/science-matters/horses-part-indigenous-cultures-longer-western

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      1. LifelongLib

        I’ve seen it suggested (don’t know how plausibly) that Native Americans might have encountered the original North American horses and retained some memory of them, so that when horses were reintroduced they were not entirely unknown.

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        1. Jabura Basaidai

          reading “One Vast Winter Count” The Native American West before Lewis and Clark – and just finished a part about the introduction of horses through the Spaniards and it wouldn’t suggest that at all – it also dispels the popular myth of Indians swinging easily onto their horses bareback and riding off – not going to happen – dealing with horses is not innate but is knowledge that has to be acquired over a long period time and mentoring – anyone that has been around horses regularly will agree – the horse folks i know certainly would – they are strong and powerful animals with personalities – i know of one acquaintance familiar with horses and yet was killed by one – their bites can be vicious –

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  10. ChrisFromGA

    Re: Japan says it received no advance notice of China’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch Anadolu

    And why would anyone in the Japanese government expect otherwise? Japan has cast its lot with the Empire of Lies. It’s a subservient vassal state. That’s “who they are.” Or maybe, who they’ve chosen to become.

    Why would China, knowing full well that any information would be shared with a third country that has vowed to hurt them, and calls its Premier a dictator, give such a place a “heads up?”

    Japan would be wise to nurture some diplomacy with China, but I suspect that if they did so, they’d get a nasty ‘snap’ of the leash from the choke collar around their neck.

    Reply ↓
    1. SocalJimObjects

      There’s now close to 1 million people of Chinese descent living in Japan and they make up the biggest number of foreign residents in the country. Maybe the Japanese government thinks that hosting people like Jack Ma would give them extra points in the eyes of the Chinese government, but they should have known that he is still on the later’s s*** list.

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      1. PlutoniumKun

        The new Chinese influx to Japan is really interesting – I must admit I knew little about it until I got talking to my neighbour here, a Shangainese brought up in Tokyo, now a post grad student in Dublin. I found it interesting that she doesn’t have the hang ups or ‘issues’ that are so common with non ethnic or mixed Japanese who grew up in Japan, but then again, most Shanghai people I know don’t really consider themselves as true Chinese. She tells me her parents are very settled and comfortable in Tokyo, but she prefers Europe. There is a good overview in this article – it confirms a lot of things I’ve heard from people like my neighbour – there has been a slow movement over the past 2-3 decades of highly educated and often wealthy Chinese to Tokyo – they see it as a very comfortable place where they can essentially take on two identities (and potentially passports), an alternative to the usual ones of Singapore or Malaysia or other places with a big Chinese diaspora. There is a very distinct difference between these Chinese and the older generation in Tokyo, they don’t seem to mix. On my last visit to Tokyo I was really surprised at just how much mandarin I heard out and about in shops and restaurants, especially more upmarket places, and most were fairly obviously not tourists.

        The impression I get is that its a process that has occurred more or less without any active encouragement or discouragement from both governments. It suits Japan to have a steady influx of highly educated people who don’t obviously look like immigrants, and no doubt it suits Beijing in other ways. Both countries have been very slow to put in place reciprocal visa arrangements, although it seems to be Beijing that is more keen on this than Tokyo. I think both countries prefer the links (which economically are far deeper than most people realise) are kept as informal as possible, it suits them both, for similar reasons. Having a significant business/academic diaspora spread between both countries facilitates this. Of course, there are regular blips, like that murder of the Japanese boy in China last week. Japan of course, as any Godzilla fan will know, has particular sensitivities about not being consulted on weapons tests in open Pacific waters.

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    1. 123

      Maybe if William’s last name had been trump, he’d still be alive. The hacks on the supreme court can’t do enough for that guy; they’re as thick as thieves.

      Reply ↓
  12. Louis Fyne

    >>>Isrаеli аttacks and gives full support to Lebanon and Palestine
    >>>“We will stand with our Arab brothers”

    I watched a MSM montage of the UN speeches: clips from Biden, Abdullah (Jordan), Lula (Brazil), UN secretary,…but no soundbite from the Chinese FM.

    intentional? accidental? just plain laziness?

    When reality eventually hits (Palestine de facto independence and Israeli defeat), a whole swath of blindsided people are going to be asking “where were the signs?”

    Reply ↓
  14. The Rev Kev

    “Archaeologists discover southern army fought at ‘Europe’s oldest battle”

    I wish that that article had spoken more on the purposes of those different arrowheads rather than just their origin. Were any armour-piercing? Were they designed to be hard to withdraw from a wound? Does the presence of bows and arrows suggest the use of shields? They had horses there in that fight. Those 2,000-4,000 warriors were armed with wooden clubs, stone axes, bows, bronze knives and swords so all those melee weapons suggests heavy close contact. Did they use tactics? How were the bows and arrows used? It must have been a helluva fight-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tollense_valley_battlefield

    Reply ↓
    1. PlutoniumKun

      Its a fascinating site, but very little is known about Bronze Age warfare as there are virtually no sources outside of archaeology (although some argue that the Iliad has echoes of specifically Bronze Age military methods).

      My guess is that warfare then wasn’t all that much different from the later pre-Medieval period. While we like to label the Bronze and Iron Ages as different, in reality iron made very little difference in day to day life for most people, and the evidence suggests that societies were as advanced and complex then as later ones. I think the only real technological innovation that would have changed things was the use of more advanced iron ploughs, which meant that a lot more heavier soils could be brought into use and so increased population densities, but even this only really had an impact in northern Europe from Roman times onwards.

      The Tollense site is fascinating, although from what I know of it, its considered more likely that this was a sort of last stand battle by a losing tribe or other group (many of the skeletons seem to be of non-fighting age men and women), not a pitched battle between warriors, but maybe these studies change that.

      There is a huge issue though of survivor bias in archaeology – because bronze lasts so much longer than other materials apart from flint, including iron, we have far more material evidence of swords and spears from the period, but this could be very misleading. Many of the key weapons from the period may well simply not have survived – this is one reason why archaeologists up to a few decades ago thought the neolithic was much more peaceful than the iron age. But we now know differently – its just that the weapons used rarely survived. Similarly, statistical studies of finds can sometimes be very misleading as regional variations might just be down to a form of survivor bias with materials, or for that matter, they can be misinterpreted as cultural differences while it may just have been a matter of a change in local materials availability or just plain fashion.

      Incidentally, the YTer Scolaria gladitoria (I may have misspelt that), has a very interesting recent video up about Bronze Age Swords and how they were used. He thinks they were designed for use with and against large shields. But there was a lot of variation, even among the typical ‘short sword’ of the period. Similarly, there was a huge variation in spear heads designs.

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      2. Des Hanrahan

        I read an article about this event a few months ago which hypothesised that this was a trading caravan which had been ambushed whilst crossing the ford rather than a pitched battle . Many of the remains were of people from a considerable distance away . Most of the site hasn’t been excavated yet so there is still a lot more to learn .

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      3. GrimUpNorth

        I used to do battle re-enactment, mainly 14th Century England. IMHO most weapons were dual purpose or quickly adapted tools from agriculture or hunting. Barbs on arrows cause more blood loss in animals, meaning they won’t be able to run very far when hit. Some think the barbs stopped the enemy from re-using arrows, because they are difficult to remove.

        We would scavenge arrows fired by the enemy to reuse them (we think this really happened) and when the public weren’t watching I used to catch the (deliberately not aerodynamic) arrows in the air.

        I doubt many wore full armour, It is so heavy you are out of energy very quickly. Everyone at our re-enactments required a helmet in battle for health and safety reasons. I don’t think that really happened. When we fought the Scots we had to reverse our weapons (billhooks) to prevent injuring them, while they enjoyed bashing us over the head with wooden sticks.

        The transition to muskets is really interesting, basically the historians have no idea of the timing (even what century), plus they were pretty useless compared to archers, except against armour, and even then a longbow can penetrate armour.

        Reply ↓
    2. Captain Obvious

      Were they designed to be hard to withdraw from a wound?

      That’s what backward pointing hooks on the sides are for.

      Were any armour-piercing?

      Narrower ones, maybe, if they are hard enough and used with a (long)bow that would give them enough velocity.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Thanks for that info. This keeps on leading to more questions. Did they have armour? Leather maybe? Padded linen? A metal breastplate? This is the really early days of warfare so you wonder what they had to work with and how they put it to use.

        Reply ↓
        1. Captain Obvious

          Hard leather is a no-brainer. Also, a wooden shield. Both are biodegradable, just like bows, so not much to find nowdays. A metal breastplate is more advanced stuff, and also something that should survive (at least in parts).

          Reply ↓
        2. PlutoniumKun

          I don’t think there is a lot of information on this. Leather armour is mainly an invention of modern film makers, who somehow or another always think ancient warriors outfitted themselves like Hells Angels bikers. So far as I’m aware, the only known Bronze Age armour known in detail are cuirasses (plate armour) from the later Bronze age in the Aegean area. There seems little evidence of the widespread use of helmets or anything like chain link (although they certainly knew how to make chain-link-like bronze ornaments and some bronze helmets – with Hagar the Horrible-like horns – do seem to have been made in Scandinavia). Ancient Irish stories often refer to the use of cow horn plates for protection, although these are iron age in origin. Interestingly, there seems to have been a very deep belief in many old societies that wearing armour was a bit unmanly.

          Most shields known from the period are either small round bronze ones, and some evidence of larger wooden or maybe leather bound shields. But as I mentioned above, the indirect evidence would suggest that the weapons were designed for use by warriors with large shields, which would make sense on a battlefield where the most common weapon would be arrows and maybe slingshots, rocks, etc. Bronze is likely to have always been mostly in the possession of the wealthiest people, not the regular squaddie.

          But then again, the Bronze Age was a very long period, and very varied. So much isn’t known.

          Reply ↓
      2. Not Qualified to Comment

        Archers, or their commanders, had a problem even then. Barbed arrows did far more damage to flesh than narrow bullet-like bodkins but were less effective than bodkins against armour so a choice of which to use had to be made. At the Battle of Agincourt (1415) it was the effect of the barbed arrows on the horses rather than the armoured men on their backs that won the battle for Henry.

        Reply ↓
  15. Wukchumni

    When I get older losing my fear
    Many years from now
    Will you still be using me as a bulwark
    Nuclear greetings, leaving landmarks stark

    If I’d been out of sorts for a long time
    Would you lock the door
    Will you still need me, will you still feed me
    When I’m seventy-nine

    You’ll be older too
    And if you say the word
    I could slay with you

    I could be handy, mending a feud
    When your other armaments have gone
    You can nuke a city of the other side
    Pandora goes for a ride
    Doing the radiation, digging the graves
    Who could ask for more

    Will you still need me, will you still feed me
    When I’m seventy-nine

    Every summer we can nuke an adversary
    That we incite, if it’s not too dear
    We shall scrimp and save the world
    Other countries on their knees
    Iran, North Korea and oh no, not Belize!

    Send me a postcard, drop me a line
    Stating point of view
    Indicate precisely what you mean to say
    Yours sincerely, wasting away

    Give me your answer, fill in a form
    Evermore your mine
    Will you still need me, will you still feed me
    When I’m seventy-nine

    When I’m Sixty-Four, by the Beatles

    Reply ↓
  16. pjay

    – ‘Trump Hack Continued Into Last Week’ – Semafor

    This article by Ben Smith pretends to be a serious discussion about the conflicted ethics of publishing “hacked” information on political candidates. But the real message is “Iran is attacking us and interfering in our elections, just like Russia did in 2016!”

    The Trump campaign and the MAGA folks will fall for this, of course. They already have. The liberal “resistance” will accept it and say “we told you so; this is what you get for cheering those Russian hackers in 2016.” They already have. And all the sheep will meekly submit to their herding into the appropriate pens, as always. The real questions will never be asked, let alone examined, by “journalists” like Ben Smith. Gawd.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mark Gisleson

      Whether on the right or left what I’ve noticed is that there seems to be 100% overlap between the anti-Iran and pro-Zionist folks. The latter is the larger group and I have, frankly, never met anyone who was anti-Iran and pro-Palestine. Over the years I’ve noticed that Iranian friends and clients alike tended to respond to questions about the Middle East with guarded language, much like nonobservant Jews often do.

      But I’ve spent most of my life in three states with extremely low Middle Eastern Demographics (IA-MN-WI) so I’d love to hear what others think those folks think. Srsly, in politics this is called doing research. I don’t care what Wikipedia says nearly as much as I care about what you think Wikipedia says. The truth is great in off-years but this close to the election I want hearsay and rumors!

      Reply ↓
  17. Zagonostra

    >Israeli Pager Terrorist Explosion

    Below was prefaced as high octane speculation. But its veracity is not the point. I was thinking that if it were true, would it make any difference to most people, to myself. Would you give up your smart phones? Would you begin to disengage from the digital pixilated reality you live in?

    Lithium is a crucial chemical element in the standard fuel for a hydrogen bomb (in the form of lithium deuteride), and we all have see and heard of the reports of electrical vehicles’ lithium batteries suddenly catching fire and exploding and destroying the vehicle. No need to plant “tiny amounts of explosive”. Rather, the lithium battery in such devices is the tiny amount of explosive. So the same method is used: broadcast a signal that can create a transient in such devices and explode the lithium.

    https://gizadeathstar.com/2024/09/what-do-exploding-phones-pagers-and-california-fires-have-in-common/

    Reply ↓
    1. cfraenkel

      I feel stupider after making the mistake of reading that article.
      Take one thing from column A and another from B, mash them together and presto there’s your proof.
      Lithium is used in H-bombs, so therefore the pagers’ batteries exploded without anyone tampering.
      Electrical wires carry AC so obviously the signal could be modulated to spark the California wildfires from consumer junction boxes.
      What a quack. It’s not obvious from the guy’s bio if he’s serious or just a lulz joke, but it’s not worth another second to check any further.

      Taking the time to comment in the hope that I can spare anyone else from sacrificing brain cells. (unless you’re looking for today’s dose of humor)

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        I’m on the mend after the orange juice concentrate can on one end of the string connected to the other that I was listening in on, somehow exploded despite being inert.

        I blame Anita Bryant

        Reply ↓
      2. Herbert

        Almost as dumb as the yokels claiming that the California wildfires were triggered by “directed energy weapons.” Put up a secret CIA funded billion dollar satellite to start fires vs a .99 cent lighter from 7-11. That makes sense.

        Reply ↓
      3. Zagonostra

        The point was to posit a hypothetical. If you knew that your phone could potentially be remotely detonated would you continue to use it, implicitly trusting that you would not be singled out for termination?

        Reply ↓
    2. Mark Gisleson

      Not afraid of lithium as I have plenty permanently stored in my body fat from an Rx back in the early ’80s.

      I think I’m in my third year without a phone now. It’s been wonderful but I do better understand now why so few people do it. Your phone number is your national ID number (plus the last four of your Social). You can’t have a credit card without a ph# and without a credit card you’re obviously homeless, a crank (me) or in need of institutionalization. Because normal people have to be able to travel, shop online, and take junk calls 24/7.

      Otoh, not having a phone gives me the peace of mind I need to spend more time online. lose/lose

      Reply ↓
    4. MicaT

      Lithium batteries actually burn and are not an explosive.
      To get a lithium battery to the point of creating gas takes heat. Usually the mechanism is when they are charging or just after they are charged. ( not bringing up mechanical damage for the pager ) The gas is combustible, and takes a mechanism to ignite. And all of this takes time, many seconds to minutes. Enough to put the pager down as you feel the heat or smoke.
      In short lithium is not going to cause that damage that appears to caused by an actual explosive.

      Reply ↓
  18. antidlc

    RE: Dr. Marty Makary on the US health system

    Great speech, but I would add that our current system makes patients worse. Having to deal with insurance companies and provider billing departments takes a toll on one’s mental health. Patients should concentrate on getting well. Instead, they have to spend hours on the phone, increasing their stress.

    Not to mention the mental health of providers and their staff that have to deal with insurance companies.

    The current system makes things worse.

    Reply ↓
    1. PlutoniumKun

      I think the reference to microbiota changes are quite astute. Standard toxicology tends to focus on direct toxicity effects, while many new chemicals in our environment may have much more subtle endocrinal or microbiome impacts which are evading standardised tests. It would not surprise me if the main impact of residual agricultural chemicals in our food supply is via the microbiome.

      Reply ↓
    3. flora

      Thanks for your comment. Thanks to NC for the Dr. Marty Makary link. The US spends the most on and has the worst outcomes in healthcare of all the advanced countries. Something is amiss. / my 2 cents.

      Reply ↓
    5. Verifyfirst

      Makary is apparently famous for being a “herd immunity” cheerleader for Covid–if you scroll down a comment or two on the Twitter link, a Jonathan Howard, MD brings receipts.

      Reply ↓
      1. Duke of Prunes

        So a person with history of bad ideas can’t have a good one? What’s with the ad hominems? Is there something he says that you disagree with?

        Reply ↓
      2. Jeremy Grimm

        Maybe Makary is not such a good candidate for heading the CDC. I still like what he said about the u.s. ‘health’ ‘care’ system.

        Reply ↓
  19. The Rev Kev

    “Plan to refreeze Arctic sea ice shows promise in first tests”

    This is so stupid. It is literally shoveling back the tide with a fork. Even if they could do this by the millions of tons, it would still have no effect on the warming of the globe. How do they get funding for this?

    Reply ↓
    1. Joker

      In order to move enough water to make a difference, they will use big diesel powered pumps, and buy lots of carbon offset credits to make the whole project certified green. :)

      Reply ↓
      1. Neutrino

        Every initiative needs a catchy name to sell the idea to the public.
        Here is one.
        Canute, or CANUTE, for Canadian fUTility Exercise? /s

        Reply ↓
    2. Henry Moon Pie

      It’s a manifestation of denial, Rev. They will try anything before doing the things that would actually help like drastically cutting non-essential consumption, switching from for-profit to regenerative agriculture and ending the wars and shrinking the military. The danger is that some of these Hail Marys have the potential to screw up Earth’s systems even more than what’s been done so far.

      Reply ↓
    3. Jeremy Grimm

      If seven maids with seven freezers piled high with ice cube trays worked for half a year, do you suppose they could stack ice cubes high enough to remake the melting Arctic ice?

      [I am sure some song master could do much better rewording the original:
      “If seven maids with seven mops. Swept it for half a year,. Do you suppose,’ the Walrus said,. That they could get it clear?”]

      Reply ↓
    4. Kouros

      At least in the Ministry for the Future they were freezing water on the Antarctic ice shields, pumping (or just channeling it due to the pressure of the ice) it from the bottom and freezing it on the surface…

      Reply ↓
  20. farmboy

    From Bloomberg yesterday, ‘In what amounts to a massive adrenaline shot for an economy on the cusp of a deflationary spiral,
    the governor of the People’s Bank of China and other top financial officials unveiled a series of easing measures that market
    watchers had wanted for weeks….They include interest rate cuts, more cash for banks, bigger incentives to buy homes and plans
    to consider a stock stabilization fund.
    Markets on the mainland and in Hong Kong soared, with the CSI 300 Index — a benchmark of onshore Chinese stocks — posting
    its biggest gain since July 2020. US equity futures advanced and European stocks climbed on the back of sectors with heavy
    exposure to China, including manufacturers of automobiles and luxury goods.’

    Reply ↓
  21. Joker

    EU state declares war on beavers RT (Kevin W)

    After poking the bear didn’t go as planned, EU state decides to pick on someone their own size.

    Reply ↓
  22. griffen

    Escape from the ultra processed foods, pretty instructive I will or must suppose. I am not inclined to do so, mostly from abject laziness but also the questionable practices commonly found in many American cities. Pretty interesting about the dandelions, I always thought that was a fun thing to do ( to blow on the flowery seed tops ) as a kid much like catching fireflies or “lightning bugs”…

    I can’t say for sure there was foraging, but over the weekend on a brief morning hike there was a small bounty of mushrooms on the wet forest grounds…western NC in DuPont forest.

    Reply ↓
    1. cfraenkel

      It’s been a good year for chanterelles here in Vancouver. Of course you need to be able to spend the three or four hours to get high enough on the mountain to find any that other greedy scavengers haven’t snapped up before you : )

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        Came across quite a few morels in the aftermath of the KNP Fire here, but note to self: be quick about it in the future-as the rest of Mother Nature’s clients in the underground movement are rather relentless in claiming the high ground, hoarding sunshine.

        I went back to the scene of the clime where we’d scored quite a few morels, and the brush and whatnot was 4-5 feet tall now and full of clinger ons, seed pods and other little bits and pieces of foliage-some with hooks & ladders that adhered to you, not my idea of fun.

        I much more appreciated the lunar landscape of 2022 where the KNP in 2021 didn’t miss a thing.

        Reply ↓
    2. playon

      When we lived in central WA we often foraged for mushrooms (boletes, corals, morels etc) and berries. Now that we live on coast I miss that as it’s a longer drive to the mountains and there are a lot more people.

      Reply ↓
    3. Bsn

      Whoa Nelly! Hold your horses. I’m sure you wouldn’t, but one should have a masters in mycology before eating any mushrooms. Two people I can name are dead from eating what they thought were “OK” mushrooms. I’d stick with dandelions.

      Reply ↓
      2. zach

        I found some lions mane in Linville Gorge during a camping excursion, i ate them, they were delicious.

        Almost 18 years ago but if i keel over tomorrow it was probably from a mis-id.

        (I also wouldn’t recommend eating wild mushrooms without knowledgeable person on hand, yourself or someone else, unless they’re the type that stain blue lolz…)

        Reply ↓
  23. The Rev Kev

    ‘Mohammad Alsaafin
    @malsaafin
    Footage from the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza today. The victims are people standing in the street. A street vendor. People walking. Israel doesn’t even bother with the pretense that there is a military target here anymore.’

    Some see a street scene full of broken, bleeding bodies and ask why? The Israelis see the same and ask why not?

    Reply ↓
  24. Neutrino

    About those, uh, pet snack memes.
    Another Lawfare Lawfail attempt to sway, cajole or otherwise influence anyone, Bueller, anyone?

    Reply ↓
  25. Mikel

    US must get out of Ukraine – Trump RT

    “What happens if the Russians win? That’s what they do – they fight wars. As someone told me the other day, they beat Hitler; they beat Napoleon. That’s what they do. They fight. And it’s not pleasant,” Trump said.

    I’m not troubled by Trump claiming he will get the USA out of Ukraine. I’m a bit troubled that he has been President before and just found out “the other day” that Russia beat Hitler and Napoleon. (And the early days of the Russian Revolution included a victory of sorts over the White Russians – constructed like a bit like a ragtag NATO of its day).
    I know, I know…he likes his conversational stump speech style and it could all be just that.

    Reply ↓
    1. vao

      The Russians also crushed the Swedes in the early 18th century — in those days, Sweden was a great European power that made itself unremittingly troublesome for the Poles, Danes, Germans, Russians, Holy-Roman-Imperials, Dutch, and I believe the French and English to a certain extent. The Russians went on kicking Swedish butts till the early 19th century.

      Earlier, the Russians also had to deal with the Poles, and earlier still with the Teutonic knights.

      The also kept wrestling with the Ottomans through the centuries till WWI.

      What was Montgomery’s rule of war nr. 1? Never march on Moscow?

      Reply ↓
    2. kareninca

      The fact that someone told him X the other day doesn’t mean that he didn’t know X already. I presume his point is that the person said something that is well known, or should be well known. “As my mom told me the other day, there are a lot of other fish in the sea.”

      Reply ↓
    3. Not Qualified to Comment

      Well, it’s mildly refreshing to hear an American admit that it was the Russians who beat Hitler, rather than the 101st Airborn.

      Reply ↓
  26. t

    Good friend who is a PT says its baffling how many clients struggle to get out of their cars, have obvious trouble with doors and stairs, and then play the good soldier with their therapy and push themselves and claim nothing hurts, while the other set
    seems limber and mobile and pain-free until they get in the pool and suddenly everything hurts and they can’t do anything.

    And I know people who can work through a migraine but say, if I stub my toe, I’m taking my pills and going to bed for the day!

    Reply ↓
  27. more news

    https://www.politico.eu/article/uk-vladimir-putin-david-lammy-diplomacy-slave-mafia-state/
    UK tells Putin: You’re a slave-owning mafia boss
    British foreign secretary invokes legacy of slavery as he attacks “imperialism” of Russian leader.

    “But I say to the Russian representative, on his phone as I speak, that I stand here also as a Black man whose ancestors were taken in chains from Africa, at the barrel of a gun to be enslaved, whose ancestors rose up and fought in a great rebellion of the enslaved.

    “Imperialism: I know it when I see it. And I will call it out for what it is,” Lammy said.

    – – – – –

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abram_Petrovich_Gannibal
    Abram Petrovich[a] Gannibal, also Hannibal or Ganibal, or Abram Hannibal or Abram Petrov (Russian: Абра́м Петро́вич Ганниба́л; c. 1696 – 14 May 1781[1]), was a Russian Chief Military Engineer, General-in-Chief, and nobleman of African origin. Kidnapped and enslaved as a child by Ottomans, Gannibal was smuggled to Russia and presented as a gift to Peter the Great, where he was freed, adopted and raised in the Emperor’s court household as his godson.[2]
    Gannibal eventually rose to become a prominent member of the imperial court in the reign of Peter’s daughter Elizabeth. He had 11 children, most of whom became members of the Russian nobility. One of his great-grandsons was the author and poet Alexander Pushkin.[3]

    Reply ↓
    1. JohnA

      Lammy is proving a serious contender to take over the mantle of stupidest foreign minister in the world from Annalena Baerbock. There is barely a cigarette paper sized gap between them.

      Reply ↓
    3. Aurelien

      I think he meant to say “whose ancestors sold each other into slavery through the well-developed slave trading networks in Africa, and exported some both to the American continent and to the Gulf and Ottoman Empire.” I suppose he’s too young to have gone to school when history was still taught.

      Reply ↓
    4. bertl

      Ever since Lammy’s mam said, “No, David, this is your arse and that is your elbow”, he’s believed he understood all the complexities of the world and qualifed as a Big Brain.

      Reply ↓
  28. DJG, Reality Czar

    A reminder of how flimsy the so-called two-party is. Also, still another reason for not voting for Democrats. Further, this is the sixth or seventh party system in the U S of A, which means that the current duo isn’t permanent, at all.

    As a former resident of Chicago, I saw this kind of crap all the time. The North Side was a hotbed of signature challenges.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_PFJF6Khqs

    Wrecked ballot access. Suppression of dissent. What could possibly go wrong?

    Reply ↓
  29. Wukchumni

    The sole Navy fuel ship that’s serving the San Diego-based USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group in the Middle East suffered damage while operating off the coast of Oman on Monday, according to Military.com, CNN and other news outlets.

    The Navy has confirmed that the 677-foot USNS Big Horn has been damaged but did not provide details, nor did it say how quickly it can send a replacement oiler to the region. Officials also declined to discuss media reports saying that the oiler’s rudder was damaged and that the ship will be towed to Dubai.

    The Abraham Lincoln is the flagship of a group of vessels that includes the San Diego-based destroyers USS Spruance, USS O’Kane and USS Stockdale. The carrier’s air wing includes two helicopter squadrons from San Diego.

    The USS Theodore Roosevelt strike group, also based in San Diego, was recently serving in the same area. It is now en route back to California, the Navy said.

    https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2024/09/24/sole-navy-fuel-ship-serving-san-diego-led-strike-group-in-middle-east-suffers-damage/
    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Houthi or not Houthi, that is the question?

    Kinda hard to be a strike group sans go juice…

    Reply ↓
    1. Jeremy Grimm

      Perhaps it is time for the u.s. Navy to issue long oars to the fleet to carry shipboard in case ship diesel runs dry.

      Reply ↓
  30. King

    CSIS – The Russia-Ukraine War and a Study in Analytic Failure youtube 62 minutes with Kimberly Kagen, Eliot Cohen, Phillips O’Brien, Gian Gentile

    I just had to find out what analytic failures would be presented. Such a thesis was not explicit to me but it seemed to be:
    1) Didn’t expect Russian invasion, because the force size was too small
    2) Why didn’t the Russians take Kiev in three days?

    I think they’re trying to push the blame to other countries, especially the USA, for not helping more. Fun part is they didn’t disable comments on the video like they usually do.

    Reply ↓
    1. Glen

      I tried to watch this several times, but you end up wonder what world these people live in. They come across as completely divorced from reality about what their own country is still capable of doing much less any real analysis of what Russia is capable of doing. More people living large in their past where it’s still the 1990’s, and the USSR has just collapsed.

      One has a better understanding of how American FP has been so massively [family blogged] up if this is a sample of the experts.

      Reply ↓
    2. ilsm

      They believed their own propaganda, while projecting their imagery on Russia.

      Remember, no plan survives the first shot, and those Trotskyite refugees you know represent zero influence anywhere.

      Reply ↓
  32. Wukchumni

    Concern grows as bird flu outbreaks continue to rise among California dairy herds

    The number of dairy herds infected with H5N1 Bird Flu doubled over the weekend. The count is now 34. (LA Times)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Contained Area Flu Operation

    Reply ↓
  33. Mikel

    “Joe Biden has just delivered a warmongering rant at the United Nations.

    He demanded war against Russia, war against Iran, and threatened China all in one 25-minute speech.

    Biden’s legacy is a world in flames, with his successor only expanding these global wars.” pic.twitter.com/KYAPBccLRS

    And the UN members sat there with a straight face for their Weekend at Biden’s replay.
    Everybody continues to pretend.

    Reply ↓
    2. Jeremy Grimm

      That the link to “Acute COVID-19 severity markers predict post-COVID new-onset psychiatric disorders” arrived in today’s links with the link to Biden’s insane speech to the United Nations makes me cringe.

      Thinking in a different direction, I wonder how the spread of Corona through u.s. prisons and psychiatric hospitals combined with this putative impact of long Corona might play out in the future. And considering the rest of the population, I wonder how home life and existing personal relationships might be altered in the future.

      Reply ↓
      1. Mikel

        Personal relationships have already been altered by Covid – the disease itself and people reaction to pandemic conditions.
        Including, from mental functions deteriorating in some people due to the virus to friends and families at odds over masks and shots.

        Reply ↓
  34. Roger Blakely

    RE: California governor signs law banning all plastic shopping bags at grocery stores CNN

    The ban starts in 2026.

    I’ve been hoarding grocery store bags in my closet. People called me a common hoarder. It’s not true. I am a businessman. I saw this ban coming. When people want grocery store bags, they’re going to have to come to me.

    Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        We banned plastic bags in Oz and a look out the window shows that we are still here. All that happened was that we went to how we did things before plastic bags got used in all shopping.

        Reply ↓
    1. aletheia33

      curious, i looked up the roster of speakers at that round table hosted by senator ron johnson.
      a fair number of them seemed to me to be people who are marketing their “expertise” in alternative health-y living to the general public.
      many of them, to their credit, also look like they may have bona fide backgrounds in the sciences involved (some NC commenters will be able to tell better than me how truly relevant those backgrounds are),
      and some are also involved in public action to change USA health and healthcare practices for the better.

      i’m a longtime follower of alternative health approaches and i basically agreed with everything dr. makary said in the linked excerpt from his speech.
      but i admit the amount of marketing platforming mentioned in the bios i noticed was a bit unsettling.
      they seem ready to ride a new wave, should we be lucky enough to have one.
      i cannot afford any of what they are offering.

      the entire 4-hour roundtable, along with the list of participants, is available via a press release dated 9/25/24 on the senator’s official website.

      Reply ↓
  38. Jeremy Grimm

    RE: “100 Unsettling Pictures Of Liminal Spaces That Might Give You The Heebie Jeebies”
    I especially enjoyed looking through these 100 photos of ‘liminal’ spaces. Sets of them could be collected together and ordered to illustrate and stimulate the creation of bizarre fantasy stories. The images served stimulating food for my imagination.

    Reply ↓
  39. lyman alpha blob

    So what is going on in Cyprus?

    DJG, Reality Czar posted a very interesting video a few days ago from a reporter who witnessed fighters taking off from UK airbases on Cyprus and flying toward Israel. In the Danny Haiphong video in today’s links, Lowkey (at about the 10:55 mark) also notes that an Israeli warplane made an emergency landing on Cyprus after an attack against Lebanon and questions whether that plane landed at the UK airbase in Akrotiri.

    Just ran across this article where the president of Cyprus said he wants to resume reunification talks – https://www.yahoo.com/news/cyprus-leader-says-ready-resume-154417991.html

    In that article, the Reuters author claims –

    “Earlier this year the island became a bridge for delivering badly-needed humanitarian aid to Israel-beseiged Gaza in an initiative backed by the United Arab Emirates, the U.S. and Israel. It has also offered to assist in an evacuation of civilians from the region if tensions escalate further.”

    – with no mention of any military use of Cypriot bases.

    George W Bush visited Greece in the early 90s when I was there and the big question on the Greeks’ minds at the time was what would the US do to help with the Turkish occupation of Cyprus. 30+ years later, the answer clearly is “not one damn thing”.

    So is Cyprus a Western aircraft carrier or just being a good global citizen in this current conflict? I know which one I’m more inclined to believe.

    Reply ↓
    1. Aurelien

      Cyprus is really the only secure airhead and port facility from which aid could be got to the area and, more importantly, to which refugees could be evacuated. The US and UK have both sent forces to the region in case they need to evacuate their nationals and if the French haven’t yet they soon will. Cyprus is pretty much the only option as a staging post, and indeed was used for that purpose in the evacuations of 2006.

      Reply ↓
        1. Aurelien

          Well, you could just leave them (and nationals of many other countries of course) to die, I suppose, as no doubt the non ex-colonial nations of the world would.

          Reply ↓
  40. bertl

    “Former MI5 Agent Annie Machon says Israeli intelligence service Mossad bombed their own embassy in London in 1994

    “They then stitched up two prominent Palestinian activists to take the blame

    “Samar Alami and Jawad Botmeh received 20 year sentences for a crime they didn’t commit”

    I’m pretty cynical about British ‘institutions’, but I never realised that even MI5, for all it’s failings, would allow the criminal conviction of two men leading to 20 years imprisonment to proceed without them making their detemination known to the court, even if only in private. This is not how the British ideal of liberty is best served, and it only increases public contempt for the security services. It’s obvious now part of the terms and conditions oof t eh security services to see that politically convenient fitups, executed by the Jewish entity in Palestine, are made to stick. Wish Annie Machon had spoken out then, but I guess she is a brave woman for doing it now.

    I take it on board along with the withholding of the Miller January 6 transcript.

    Who will secure us from the security services?

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