A river is pushing up Mount Everest’s peak ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
The Last Hominin Standing Nautlius (Anthony L)
Stem cells reverse woman’s diabetes — a world first Nature (furzy)
Main character syndrome aeon (Micael T)
#COVID-19
Effect of COVID-19 global lockdown on our Moon Oxford Academic (Paul R)
Climate/Environment
Extreme Weather Around the World Risks Boosting Food Bill. Bloomberg Agriculture Spot Index on track for 7% monthly gain Bloomberg
US climate change targets threatened by tech energy surge from AI Financial Times. Gee, ya think?
Ocean waves grow way beyond known limits, new research finds University of Manchester (Anthony L)
Switzerland and Italy Redraw Border Due To Melting Glaciers BBC
Central Asia in Search of Water Cooperation Global Affairs (Micael T)
Office Property Slump Makes Climate Upgrade Costs Even Riskier Financial Times
Bloody hell, it almost doesn't look real 😬 https://t.co/H8Bdu1GE2L
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) September 28, 2024
China?
Taiwan on alert over ‘multiple waves’ of missile firing in inland China Reuters
China’s lithography gains a glass half full, not half empty Asia Times (Kevin W)
A sewage system pressure test in Nanning, China, went so horribly wrong that a pipe exploded next to a busy highway, sending an almighty shart 10m into the atmosphere with such force that it flipped a mechanical digger and rained clumps of poop over motorists and pedestrians pic.twitter.com/NgdtgRVVQI
— RT (@RT_com) September 28, 2024
Africa
Sudan’s forgotten civil war risks exploding into a geopolitical crisis Reuters
European Disunion
The effects of the Greens’ policies lie somewhere between Covid and the Allied bombings Anti-Spiegel via machine transaltion (Micael T)
How Schleswig-Holstein sold their reliable diesel ferry for a song, spent 3.3 million Euro for a new emissions-free solar ferry that doesn’t work, & increased carbon emissions on top of it all Eugyppius. Micael T: “Lately, the Germans havet shown an irrational side that is both highly amusing and deeply worrying. I wonder if they have always been like this.”
Germany to abandon hopes of economic growth Telegraph
Thousands protest in Portugal over surging house prices and rents Retures
Old Blighty
Kemi Badenoch says UK minimum wage is harming businesses Financial Times (Kevin )
Half of Welsh adults likely to ration energy use this Winter amid Rising Costs Nation.crymu
Gaza
IDF announces launch of limited ground raids of Hezbollah sites across Lebanon border Times of Israel. Larry Johnson depicted the idea of a limited invasion as a limited pregnancy.
US, Israel agree on ‘necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure’ along Lebanese border Anadolu Agency
I do not want conflict, no one in their right minds wants conflict, war or bloodshed. The entire world understands and knows exactly what Netanyahu and Israel are doing. They want escalation. They keep pushing, keep pushing and provoking.
Each attack, each assassination, each…
— Noctis Draven (@DravenNoctis) September 28, 2024
Israeli ground attack ‘about saving face, winning political points’ Aljazeera
The US gifted the Israelis the 83 1-ton bombs to drop on Beirut, and US aircraft directed their delivery. Who is in charge of the US? https://t.co/6nGgPjEa2k
— Alex (Sasha) Krainer (@NakedHedgie) September 28, 2024
Netanyahu says killing Nasrallah is key to restoring power balance and recovering hostages NBC. What does Nasrallah have to do with Hamas hostages?
Austria Freedom Party wins. WSJ, Biden hides Ukraine $61B strategy. Switzerland angers Ukraine Alex Christoforu, YouTube. At 21:30, Christoforu shows an image of the original headline of a Jerusalem Post story depicting Lloyd Austin as furious with the lack of notice about the assassination of Nasrallah. Later versions of the same story lowered Austin’s temperature level.
🇱🇧 The burial shroud of “His Eminence, the Mujahid Commander, the Secretary General, Ayatollah Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah” pic.twitter.com/XqSXSjEdev
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) September 29, 2024
New Not-So-Cold War
Bipartisan report urges rethink of America’s Russia strategy The Hill (Kevin W). Lovely.
Russia Threatens Legal Action Against NATO Countries Over Nord Stream Explosion Dagens.com
Nagorno-Karabakh Bears the Scars of Azeri Control Jacobin (Robin K)
Imperial Collapse Watch
We get so bogged down in the daily stream of atrocities committed by Israel that it's easy to lose sight of the big picture.
At the end of the day the reason why it matters so much, besides it being an affront to our most basic humanity, is because whatever we collectively let…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) September 30, 2024
Did Sabotage Stall the Navy’s Newest Nuclear Aircraft Carrier? gCaptain
Sports betting will do to America what it’s done to Australia. Jacobin (Robin K)
“It’s not election interference when we do it!” The EU and US are getting desperate to subdue Georgia Tarik Cyril Amar (Micael T)
Biden
Hezbollah Reaches Out To U.S. For Advice On How To Govern With A Dead Leader Babylon Bee (Chuck L)
Trump
How Trump distorts immigration and crime data in new attacks on Harris Washington Post (furzy)
See Lara Trump role:
"In the face of Hurricane Helene's devastation, Goya stands united with the resilient communities of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolinas, embodying the spirit of compassion and support. Together, we nourish hope and rebuild lives, reminding everyone that even in the darkest… pic.twitter.com/ooB6aaVJDu
— Goya Foods (@GoyaFoods) September 30, 2024
Letitia James May be Winning the Lawfare but Losing the War Jonathan Turley
Kamala
Harris Ignores Antiwar Voters at Her Peril Daniel Larison
We are light on Helene due to how comprehensive Lambert’s post yesterday was. However, some notable sightings:
This is devastating. We do NOT have 360 substations worth of transformers and other electrical equipment sitting in stockpiles waiting to be deployed. It could take a very long time to restore power to everyone. Are we facing a Hurricane Maria-type impact on grid infrastructure? https://t.co/k0Wli7XlEf
— Jesse D. Jenkins (@JesseJenkins) September 30, 2024
Abortion
Georgia’s 6-Week Abortion Ban Is Struck Down New York Times (Kevin W)
Georgia Judge Strikes Down State’s Abortion Ban in Stunning Ruling New Republic (furzy)
Our No Longer Free Press
One really crazy moment for me 7 years ago researching all this was discovering troves of DARPA grants dedicated to helping the Pentagon’s civil-military affairs branch neutralize the Blob-critical components of the Occupy Wall Street movement https://t.co/lxKVD5oQbM pic.twitter.com/k2eooDk7wR
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) September 27, 2024
Facebook throttles local League of Women Voters with an election coming up. Kansans, stay vigilant. Kansas Reflector (Robin K)
Reporters Without Borders’ Attack on Sputnik and RT Highlights NGO’s Status as ‘Media Wing of NATO’ Sputnik (Kevin W). FWIW, I don’t recall ever encountering them, much the less linking to them.
AI
AI Data Center Boom Spurs Race to Find Power Wall Street Journal
Cruise Fined $1.5 Million For Failing To Report Robotaxi Crash Involving Pedestrian The Verge
The Bezzle
Google Wins Lawsuit Against Scammers Who ‘Weaponized’ DMCA Takedowns Torrentfreak
Class Warfare
Dockworkers go on a strike that could reignite inflation and cause shortages in the holiday season Associated Press
The Big Shift From Salaries To Bonus-Based Pay Wall Street Journal
Hooters Joins US Chains Hit by Hard-Up Diners, Rising Food Costs Bloomberg
Antidote du jour. mgl” “This is a pukeko (aka purple swamphen, australasian swamphen) & chick. They’re ubiquitous here in NZ.”
And a bonus (a replacement for one Chuck L provided that Twitter removed):
— out of context dogs (@contextdogs) October 1, 2024
And a second bonus (Chuck L):
These grandkids planned to surprise their grandma at the airport dressing as t-rex but she heard about it and planned her own surprise. pic.twitter.com/moVLVzbjuZ
— NO CONTEXT HUMANS (@HumansNoContext) September 30, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Facebook throttles local League of Women Voters with an election coming up. Kansans, stay vigilant.”
Facebook is such a scummy outfit as is Zuck himself. The League of Women Voters? Seriously? You know what would be see good to happen. If Trump said at a rally that he will do a third debate with Kamala but only if the League of Women Voters do the moderating this time around. Are the Democrats going to the attack this idea and this organization – which would mean about half the voting population? Might be fun to find out.
Well, at least the LWV used to include all of the candidates appearing on the ballot, not just the two country club candidates. Those were some much healthier debates.
I remember going to the library back in the 80s to get the LWV Voter Guide, which would include info on all the candidates for each position, even Wiccan or Constitutionalist.
Good idea, but might Trump win more votes if promised to jail Zuck? Honest question. Broken laws can always be found…just look at Assange.
Re: Hezbollah Reaches Out To U.S. For Advice On How To Govern With A Dead Leader- Babylon Bee:
The difference between Babylon Bee and The Onion, is that The Onion never makes ludicrous insinuations.
Want to hear something also ludicrous? So there was a protest in Melbourne over the Israelis slaughtering so many civilians the other day and some raised the yellow Hezbollah flag. Now the leaders of both main political parties have their panties in a serious twist and want to enact all sorts of penalties and new laws about this. Dissent will not be tolerated by either party who compete in the who-can-suck-up-to-Israel-the-most Olympics-
https://theconversation.com/hezbollah-flag-carriers-investigated-by-police-as-government-appoints-envoy-to-combat-islamophobia-240114
They might take a cue on how to handle this from RizeUP Australia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meF97E3U2fQ
Babylon Bee like all right wing “humor” usually ends up unintentionally parodying itself. They lack restraint.
I think it was in the Atlantic interview when they made a joke about Democrats praising Soleimani.
In reality, not only did no Democrats (except perhaps Tulsi) seek to even investigate his assassination, but there was a memorial service for him led by the pastor of the Evangelical Church in Aleppo. Apparently, the Babylon Bee was more than willing to mock the man who helped protect thousands of Christians (to say nothing of Muslims and others) from the tender mercies of Daesh.
To Xquacy: You are misinformed. You do not know the difference between Hezbollah and your Hamas.
The Bee wins
The port workers are now on strike.
In yet another classic Biden Administration PR bad look, we had the sitting Secretary of Commerce tell CNBC just yesterday that “she has not been paying attention to that”.
The Secretary of COMMERCE!!! Is not all the merchandise being shipped in actually COMMERCE?
Good luck with that.
I have the memories of all of my family union elders lining up to canvas, support and vote for Dems. Those days are long gone. The massive political realignment is really happening. And almost all of those old Dems are now Trump voters in my family. As now all of the PMC and the spy and military people are all Dems, leaving the GOP in droves. The thing is that those longshoreman actually do meaningful work unlike 90% of the PMC and all the layers of our govt.
I am not sure how this will all play out. But we do live in interesting times.
Unfortunately this “massive political realignment” feels more like a slaughter pen where there are two loading chutes or slide gates going to the same destination. A real realignment probably could only come about if a viable 3’d party threatened status quo, one that forced the existing parties to respond to people’s every day needs and end the forever wars.
The Dems walked away from blue-collar and union workers. B smashed the railroad strike. Why would they pay attention now? “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania, we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia,” – Chuck Schumer.
I bet that’s what they see here – union workers – not the commerce. Commerce just happens, because markets. right? / ;)
Any word from our Sec. Transportation Pete Buttigieg? Besides him subbing as JDVance for Tim Walz’s VP debate prep work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIIuR-HjFho
This am on the local news in NC: ‘The port strike is going to delay help in western NC.’ is one way it is being played. They never made the tenuous connection, just stated as fact. Capital, not labor, owns that TV station.
This is true for my union family members too. They used to be rock solid Democrats going back generations. Now they do not recognize the current Democratic Party, it has changed so drastically. It no longer represents them. It represents corporate power. As does the Republican Party unfortunately.
I recently saw a late 1800’s US census form with my great-great grandfather’s household on it. He was born in SE Ohio in 1840. He served in the Union Army during the Civil War. After the Civil War, the census listed his occupation as “Teamster” meaning he drove a wagon pulled by horses or oxen. Other male family members were listed as “Ironworker”, “Ditch Digger” and “Meat Cutter”. I am proud to come from this line of working people.
> I am not sure how this will all play out. But we do live in interesting times.
“Depressions are how we harvest the wealth accumulated by the lower classes.”
[nakedcapitalism.com/2020/02/to-tackle-inequality-we-need-to-start-talking-about-where-wealth-comes-from.html#comment-3297050]
Forced ARTificial Scarcity.
Federal Funds Effective Rate. The last year looks like a West Virginia mountaintop.
Which makes this the perfect time for a strike. Daggett has that cold. My concern is the players betting on a more rapid collapse.
The Sect’y of Commerce is now mainly tasked with sanctions promulgation and enforcement against the Official USA Enemies™ Russia, Iran, Cuba and the DPRK; scolding China for being good at making stuff, and subsidizing Tesla and Intel.
Big job as it is so no wonder consumption-paralyzing strikes in the run up to Xmas are off her slate. She referred the matter to Mayo Pete btw.
Real piece of work, Ms. Raimondo.
I totally understand the people abandoning the Dems. What I don’t understand is why anyone would think of Trump and/or the Republicans as any kind of viable alternative. Here in Canada, as a lifelong supporter of the NDP (as close as we have to a left party, but not really, for the last couple of decades anyhow), I’ve always had a choice against our Uni party. I do understand that I am mostly just throwing away my vote, as the NPD rarely comes to power (once provincially in my lifetime, never federally) but at least I am voting for something. I don’t think I would vote at all if I couldn’t vote for the NDP, choosing the lesser of two evils doesn’t sit well with me.
It may be a case of not so much the people abandoning the Dems as the Dems abandoning the people. Democrats want to vote for classic Democrat candidates but these days the Dem candidates sound like they are to the far right of Reagan’s Republicans of the 80s. Same here in Oz where I no longer recognize the Labour party from when I was younger. I expect the same too in the UK for those who supported the Labour party over there as well.
‘I never left my party – my party left me.’
Don’t underestimate the importance of churches in many areas. The only community groups are churches in much of the US.
Why the GOP? It’s not any different than why do people like Don Corleone.
Then of course, there have been attempts to change the party. At some point, people grow tired. Wiping out Team Blue seems like a more viable alternative. The Democrats see a Blue Whote House and a Red Congress as great because they can gripe about the GOP, not be responsible, and still have policies that make the rich richer. Until Blue districts are in danger, they won’t do anything.
Crymu? Nobody here been to Wales?
Farm dogs antidote Twitter link requires login.
Road signs are in both Welsh and English in Wales. A few years ago, a local authority sent an email to their Welsh translator asking for the Welsh wording for a road sign. An automated out of office response came back and the local authority simply used that for the bilingual sign. This was in south Wales which is mainly English speaking hence the inability to spot the automated response.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7702913.stm
Look you, boyo. It’s hard enough to spell Welsh than to just translate it. And pity the poor buggers that live in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch-
https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/small-town-with-big-name
Not to be outdone, Thailand has a town called Krungthepmahanakornamornratanakosinmahintarayutthayamahadilokphopnopparatrajathaniburiromudomrajaniwesmahasatharnamornphimarnavatarnsathitsakkattiyavisanukamprasit.
The link I sent in of that farm dog video has since been taken down.
Short comment by Tariq Ali on Lebanon containing this bit of info:
“That Nasrallah was an extremely shrewd tactician and strategist is acknowledged by both his supporters and his enemies. Speaking with Noam Chomsky once in Santa Fe, he confessed that the two most intelligent political leaders he had ever met were Hugo Chavez and Hassan Nasrallah but he couldn’t say it in public. Both are now dead, so I can say it for him. I never met Nasrallah myself, but Chomsky was struck by how knowledgeable he was on Israel, the US and their panders in the Arab world.
(…)
Will Hezbollah go in for revenge killings? Very possible, but they will choose their own time and place. Netanyahu remains hugely popular in his own country, and killing him would not be appreciated by too many Israelis. But the mask is off.”
“Consequences of Nasrallah”
https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/consequences-of-nasrallah
A related anecdote: per Finkelstein, Nasrallah inturn benefitted from having met Chomsky. Apparently Chomsky make him see the US-Israel connection for what it is, after which he never again made an error in confusing the true master from the pupeteer. See here and here.
Not sure how this is distinct from old fashioned rudeness.
“Main character syndrome”
Alex (Sasha) Krainer
@NakedHedgie
The US gifted the Israelis the 83 1-ton bombs to drop on Beirut, and US aircraft directed their delivery. Who is in charge of the US?
Isn’t that the 64Trillion dollar question? If you can’t answer it, then we are watching nothing more than a spectacle when following the 2024 election. Maybe it’s, as Chris Hedges likes to say, nothing but a burlesque show. If the public pixilated digitized theater is all that’s available what can one do? Local politics/action won’t stop Israel in its genocide, and whoever is behind directing the delivery of these bombs is beyond an isolated individual like myself to do anything about it…I despair for the evil being done.
“Zelensky ready to fire spy chief – media”
But will the CIA let him? Budanov is “their guy” after all and may want him kept in place, possibly to replace Zelensky himself down the track. Zelensky would be better slipping word to the Russians his location. After all the terrorist attacks that Budanov has committed against Russian civilians, they probably have their own dedicated set of Kinzhal missiles just for him with his name all written over the sides.
And these two:
1) Always excited to find something new by him, AbuKHALIL:
“The author looks back on the slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, on the times he interviewed him and the impact on the region of his killing.”
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/09/30/asad-abukhalil-the-middle-east-after-nasrallah/
2) And some irony and wit by Patrick Lawence:
“Nasrallah Is Dead But Bibi Hasn’t Won”
https://consortiumnews.com/2024/09/30/patrick-lawrence-nasrallah-is-dead-but-bibi-hasnt-won/
Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday is today.
https://apnews.com/article/jimmy-carter-100th-birthday-1e540c277dea07bd84242d290b4ebcdc
Far from perfect, but the best president of my lifetime.
Such a pity he listened to Brzeziński and his advice about meddling in Afghanistan.
Unless your lifespan goes back to at least Kennedy that’s not a high bar to clear.
The US government quietly approved Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon, despite publicly urging the Jewish state and militant group Hezbollah to seek a ceasefire
It is no wonder that the Serpent is described as having a forked tongue and reminds one of someone who speaks out of “both sides” of his mouth.
https://www.rt.com/news/605021-us-approved-lebanon-campaign/
Not yet read, it´s very long, I just saw it:
It´s German originally, on CJ Hopkins who was found guilty by the Berlin court yesterday after the DA had gone into revision after the last court had claimed the author innocent.
The very long report is by “Aya Velazquez” who became widely known after her digging into the Covid RKI-Files:
German:
“Scandalous verdict: US author CJ Hopkins found guilty”
https://www.velazquez.press/p/skandalurteil-der-us-amerikanische
google-translate:
https://www-velazquez-press.translate.goog/p/skandalurteil-der-us-amerikanische?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp&_x_tr_hist=true
“How Schleswig-Holstein sold their reliable diesel ferry for a song, spent 3.3 million Euro for a new emissions-free solar ferry that doesn’t work, & increased carbon emissions on top of it all”
Not so hard to find stories of green idiocy and virtue signaling – like when Germany shut down all their nuke plants at the beginning of a severe energy shortage. But near the beginning of this post was something that made me sit up. Remember that election in Thüringen the other day when the “wrong” party were winners. Well this just happened-
‘In not-so-good news (but as I predicted), the state constitutional court in Thüringen ruled in favour of the CDU last Friday. The other parties were able to change the procedural rules in the Thuringian parliament and exclude the AfD not only from the office of president, but also from the entire executive committee of the Landtag. The “democratic” parties have also altered procedural rules to reduce AfD representation on parliamentary committees, effectively preventing the strongest party in the Landtag from exercising their blocking minority there.’
Saving ‘our’ democracy.
Meanwhile, Dems sue to block the hand counting of votes in Georgia (the hand counting to verify that the number of votes cast by machine matches the physical votes, not to verify the actual candidate tallies).
While there may be good reasons for this (that elude simple little me), this seems like something that could blow back badly in the future. Why does everybody hate hand counting?
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/30/us/politics/georgia-election-board-hand-counting-ballots-lawsuit.html?unlocked_article_code=1.O04.wKDe.jphsGwUiVn1L&smid=url-share (unlocked article)
Looks like the Anti-Spiegel link was missing its initial bits:
This link works for me.
Just a little bit of HUMINT from my corner of the world, but the other day, I visited one of the established bakeries in my small city. We usually get chocolate whoopie pies when we go, but they only had a yellow sponge version this time. When I asked if they had sold out for the day, they said they had discontinued the chocolate version indefinitely; the cost of cocoa is too high now for the recipe to pencil out.
C’est la vie, in the 21st century :/
That RT tweet is a metaphor for something… (Do watch it to the end.)