In pictures: Northern lights dazzle during solar storm CNN
What happens to dead whales? How their humongous carcasses create a whole new ecosystem that will last for decades Discover Wildlife
TD Bank to pay $3bn in US case over money laundering lapses FT
Climate
Family who sheltered in Disney World during Hurricane Milton reveal what it was really like Daily Mail
Hurricane Milton carves scar across Florida. At least 11 dead, 3 million without power Miami Herald
A visual guide to the damage caused by Hurricane Milton Guardian
Florida’s home insurer of last resort is in serious trouble. Will Milton put it over the edge? CNN
* * * FEMA official details federal response strategy after 2 major hurricanes (transcript) PBS
Federal Flood Maps Are No Match for Florida’s Double Hurricane Bloomberg
* * * Declines in Plant Resilience Threaten Carbon Storage in the Arctic (press release) Ohio State University
Disappearing Winter Lake Ice Has Broad Socioeconomic and Environmental Impact (press release) Southern Methodist University
Is it true that Earth’s magnetic field occasionally reverses its polarity? USGS
* * * The shady origins of the climate haven myth Vox
Hot days and methamphetamine are now a deadlier mix Orlando Sentinel
Financial interactions with ecosystem tipping points UCL (PDF) Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose
Syndemics
China?
China’s real intent behind its stimulus inflection FT
Chinese Stock Market Sets New Record for Single-Day Net Stock Purchase via Margin Financing YiCai Global
Blinken condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves Channel News Asia
CCUS: a viable business model in Asia-Pacific? S&P Global. Carbon capture.
India
Ratan Tata’s vision should still be India’s Channel News Asia
Syraqistan
Biden and Netanyahu closer to consensus on Israel’s plans to attack Iran Axios
‘We have to attack Iran,’ says Israeli economy minister France24
The West is sleepwalking into nuclear disaster The Telegraph. The deck: “Our leaders must let Israel eliminate the menace of Iranian atomic weapons for the longer term”
Iran Could Build a Nuclear Weapon Sooner Than You Think Foreign Policy
Soviet-Supplied MiG-29s Guard Iran’s Capital: Could They Repel an Israeli Air Attack? Military Watch
* * * U.S. special ops flights to Israel from UK’s Cyprus base surge under Starmer Declassified UK
* * * The unravelling of the Gaza ceasefire talks FT
U.S. Sees Opening to Sideline Hezbollah Politically in Lebanon WSJ
Israel’s Paradox of Defeat Foreign Affairs. The deck: “How the Country’s Military Success Is Producing Political Failure:”
* * * ‘Unacceptable’: World reacts as Israel fires at UN peacekeepers in Lebanon Al Jazeera
Atrocity Inc: How Israel sells its destruction of Gaza Max Blumenthal, MR Online
American journalist disclosed secrets during Iran attack, police says Ynet. Commentary:
Jeremy Loffredo's last report before the IOF kidnapped him. https://t.co/zRfvsIKi7O
— Ⓐ ☭ Resistance Axis supporter 🔻 #LandBack (@nodealfornature) October 11, 2024
Africa
Martinique authorities ban protests following deadly riots over rising prices France24
New Not-So-Cold War
Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov issues ominous warning as he returns to Moscow Daily Mail
NATO to begin large-scale nuclear exercises on Monday Ukrainska Pravda
The West, including Israel, should help Ukraine fight Russia in Syria The Hill
* * * Meeting of Western Leaders on Ukraine Is Postponed, a Setback for Kyiv NYT
What will it take for Ukraine to ‘win’? The Hill
* * * SITREP 10/10/24: From Bad to Worse for Ukraine Amid New Surge of Russian Advances SImplicius, Simplicius the Thinker
The Russian ‘Steamroller’ in Donbas Gilbert Doctorow
How Ukraine Defeated a Major Russian Assault: Tactical Analysis of the Battle of Kupiansk Kyiv Post
Ukraine could hold territories Kursk Oblast in Russia for many more months BNE Intellinews
* * * Ukraine’s Minister for Recovery reveals the impact of Russian attacks on ports, vessels and grain storage facilities over past few months Ukrainska Pravda
Victims of Communism memorial faces call to remove over 330 names linked to Nazis, fascists Ottawa Citizen
South of the Border
The Dangerous Radical on Our Southern Border The American Conservative
Biden Administration
The Double-Edged Sword of Semiconductor Export Controls CSIS
2024
Bracing for a More Insular America: Japan’s Take on the US Election Nippon.comd
MMT
Venezuela, the Weimar Republic and Zimbabwe prove MMT is true Funding the Future
Digital Watch
Elon Musk unveils Cybercab at Tesla robotaxi event BBC. Commmentary:
As Tesla unveiled its future robotaxi today, a reminder that robotaxis have been a reality in China for more than a year already with millions of rides completed 👇
So Telsa and by extension the U.S. are far behind in this regard, all the more because Musk said people will have… https://t.co/Fvag4yBY0U
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) October 11, 2024
Realignment and Legitimacy
Group puts up fence, claims ownership over 1,400 acres of Colorado forest, sparking outrage Colorado Sun
Class Warface
Strike referendum at Amazon Poland Worker’s Initiative
Balancing the Books: Five Novels that Explore the Complexities of the Stock Market Literary Hub
France and the Tyrant of the Sea Big Serge Thought
Antidote du Jour (Wikimedia);
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
PALESTINE’S AGONY
(melody borrowed from Dear Mr Fantasy by Steve Winwood and Traffic)
Jewish brutality’s so opportune
Soldiers and settlers dance clapping
Always seeking for some more living room
Before long where you are’s on their mapping
They come with guns cut your village in half
Chain link now defines their new frontiers
A Brooklyn want ad brings settlers stark raving mad
These theocrats think they are pioneers
(musical interlude)
Palestine’s agony, sorrow, and gloom
Gaza has nothing left but shabby
Mountains of concrete are family tombs
They are gone. They died hard. Bombs came smashing.
(guitar solo)
There’ll be no amnesty for Jewish goons
Raping our menfolk and then laughing
Sewage and garbage and cadaver fumes—
Here we stand, every scar makes us savvy
We live on food that comes once in a while
But no one saves our children from raw fear
How can a people be killed without trial?
These twelve months past have cost us many years
These twelve months past have cost us many years
In so many ways: Lost friends, estranged family, loss of any residual faith in American “democracy,” respect for religious organizations (specifically Catholic Church), respect for the Jewish faith/tradition, Muslim world (Jordan, Egypt, SA, Turkey and all the supine countries in the region), the EU (nothing but vassals of the Hegemon) disgust with musicians once idolized in youth (though some remain, Rodger Waters, Eric Clapton, Van Morrison), Academia, Unions, environmental and other advocacy groups, etc…but the death, pain and suffering of the innocents slaughtered and on going genocide, has cost me any glimmer of hope that progress (ratio of evil to Good) is in the offering for humanity.
Sing it.
“What happens to dead whales? How their humongous carcasses create a whole new ecosystem that will last for decades”
If you ever have to get rid of a whale carcass yourself, for god’s sake don’t try to blow it up. You’ll end up blubbering-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CLumsir34 (3:24 mins)
BBC did what i think is (if memory serves) almost an entire episode complete with under water film footage of a decomposing whale resting at sea bottom and the ecosystem it creates. Part of Planet Earth series.
As someone who actually lives there, I can tell you I was wrong about Milton. Everyone was. It took a hard right at the last minute and caused Tampa Bay to shrink (negative surge) by 5 feet. Winds were only about 60mph near Tampa. Very minor damage, no big trees down. Power has already been restored in our neighborhood.
However, it remains to be seen what the insurance monsters will do. I would bet that will be the final nail for a lot of people that sends them packing if rates double again next year
So you say you were wrong about Milton because the person threatening to shoot you in the head missed and killed someone else instead?
What exactly were you wrong about Milton?
Someone I know was “wrong” in the sense that, because of the wobbles, their home location had top wind speeds around 40 (despite tornadoes in the vacinity) which gave them less personal stuff to worry about while being on call or on the job having to assist the legit stranded, the same as they provide aid to idiots who refused to go.
Martinique is not in Africa!
RE: Ukraine’s Minister for Recovery reveals the impact of Russian attacks on ports, vessels and grain storage facilities over past few months Ukrainska Pravda
Contrast with this:
Russian Iskander Missile Strike Destroys Shipboard Western Weapons Arriving in Ukraine – Reports
The insurers for that ship will definitely not be happy and may make them frown at the idea of insuring another ship carrying weapons into a war zone. Who could have ever predicted that?
The European Union is fighting back with harsh language.
P.S. I clicked on the wrong reply.
The EU could always write them a harsh letter.
This is a very tight election. The Dems are losing ground in so many groups – Jews, Muslims, Hispanics, men under 40, even blacks. Margins are apparently really becoming noticeable.
And so now – they seem to be doing their very best to alienate Catholics, Greek Orthodox & quite a few Protestants. –
https://x.com/CatholicVote/status/1844461842535678202
Man, was this ever discussed by the clergy in our meeting last night. This did not go over well. And I can tell from the audience, mostly traditional Dem voters, that they were none too pleased.
When I saw this being played at the meeting last night, I was just gobsmacked – in a way I have never been before. Just not believing they could be so insanely stupid.
Again, it is all about the margins. The Dems seem to be intent upon cutting their margins in big groups in their previous bloc. Many Catholics and Orthodox are going to laugh this off. However, what if 10%, even 5%, even 3%, do not find this funny at all – and change their votes? I definitely got that vibe in the room last night – and it was way more than 10%. How many Catholic voters are in PA WI and MI? How many Catholic Latinos are in AZ and NV?
The incompetence and arrogance is just breathtaking.
Besides being totally creepy ( porn vibes ) – it appears the Dem governor of Michigan with her camo Harris Walz cap on is doing the Eucharist on a young woman in a nightgown – replacing the body of Christ with a Dorito? And to top it all off – as my wife noticed last night – they are doing this in front of iconic CCP Chairman Mao propaganda posters?
I am of the mind that they have literally lost their minds. I am told that this is some kind of meme craze, but as of yet have been unable to find anything to confirm that other than people stating that is so. However, even if this is the case, can they not realize they have just offended large numbers in a huge voting bloc that used to be theirs? What about all the Latino swing state voters that are going to see this and be scratching their heads? It was painfully obvious to me at the church meeting last night – this very likely may sway votes.
If you have the stomach to wade into the cesspool that is r*ddit in the politics forum section, Jill Stein hosted an AMA there a day or two ago and the DNC shills went out to attack her in a truly vicious manner…
The more I learn about American politics, the less I see the US as a serious country
then again, in Canada here, it feels even less serious if that is possible
I have a theory that the outcome will come down to the voters feelings, i.e. the zeitgeist.
To the extent that voters feel relaxed, happy, un-serious, and careless, Harris is going to have the advantage.
To the extent that voters feel anxious, stressed, angry, or fearful, Trump is going to have the advantage.
There is evidence in both directions. For Harris:
+ A stock market blasting to new highs, in a “what, me worry?” fashion;
+ Despite the very real risk of an actual nuclear war breaking out both from Ukraine and Iran, nobody seems to be digging . This looks like a classic example of simply ignoring a fat tail risk.
+ Deliberately dissing religious groups, as you point out. This could be a “dog whistle” to elites on both coasts. During serious times, people turn to religion – they don’t diss it.
For Trump:
+ The failed Gaza peace deal
+ Ukraine looking like another failed project similar to Vietnam, Afghanistan.
+ Storms due to climate change act as a reminder of how paying lip service to human induced global warming has failed (thanks, Obama!) and virtue signaling doesn’t accomplish anything but feel-goodism
Is this a serious timeline?
The more exposed people are to Harris the less likely they will be to vote for her, it’s my opinion on this. I think she will loose quite badly.
Raised a Catholic, attending Catholic school for 12 years, I switched from listening to Bishop Barron to Chuck Baldwin’s homilies. The latter goes straight to the duplicity and evil of both Christian and Jewish Zionist while the former, eschews and skirts around the ongoing genocide in Gaza. I have also been listening to Dr. E. Michael Jones and reading his books, though I strongly disagree with this Catholic Intellectual on many grounds, if you go to his wiki bio you’ll see that he is smeared as a anti-Semite, but on Gaza he is spot on.
The caption on the Instagram account indicated that the idea was to make a political statement in support of the CHIPS Act, the 2022 law funding the domestic production of semiconductors.
“If he won’t, Gretchen Whitmer will,” said Ms. Plank on Instagram. “Chips aren’t just delicious, the CHIPS Act is a game-changer for U.S. tech and manufacturing, boosting domestic production of semiconductors to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers! Donald Trump would put that at risk.”
For me you’ve got to be deliberately looking for offense, in order to interpret this as some kind of intentional slight against Catholicism. Especially given that there is a pre-existing Tiktok meme that has nothing to do with religion.
And that opening show at the Paris Olympics also had nothing to do with religion either I guess. Sorry but everybody can see it and recognize it for exactly what it was. How stupid is she for putting something like this less than four weeks before a Presidential election? Why would she do that? What is she going to do next? Set up a blazing cross in her front yard?
Even weirder is that this was to promote the CHIPS Act, based on this screenshot – surely, there were at least 150 better ways to promote the Act?
Chips
This is a gap between neoliberal obsessives of The West Wing. They understand it, so in their minds normal people will get it too.
As a practical matter, these are the Republicans of yesteryear with a few mostly cosmetic changes.
The GOP is so out of touch its hard to notice, but these aren’t really that different from Republican stunts to appeal to young voters without addressing issues.
If this was 1993, it would be a radio ad with Whitmer “rapping,” “the c to the h to the I to the p is what the kids are saying, gee. I’m the no da master G:. Then they would gripe about the kids and regret not shutting down indie labels.
In Futurama, Nixon’s head is back, and you can see him politicking on occasion trying to act normal to fit in. Once I understood what I was watching on this clip, I can only see Nixons head.
This Catholic says thank you.
I watched it yesterday because it was trending on Twitter. The comments were not kind by any stretch of the imagination. But it fits for PMC dems. The ones I know bash religion constantly, especially the evangelicals on the GOP side. They seem to hate everyone but themselves.
As far as Whitmer goes, she is a democratic tool dictator wannabe. Trump called her that women from Michigan so she wore a shirt that said “that women from Michigan” next time she had a chance to be on TV. Many in the state were not at all happy with her draconian lock-downs during COVID. She was vetted for the VP slot if I remember right, which tells you all you really need to know about her. A pure snake IMO, and I live next door in Ohio.
My PMC Michigan friends think she is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Of course they would.
If the democrats were not tripping to war over Ukraine SSR borders and Zion w/o any respect for human life much less nuclear exchange, I would still have difficulty with CRS and woke!
Refusing truth with camp imagery is not a good policy.
I will vote for no democrat for any office.
The Might Wurlitzer is starting to play wrong notes on Lebanon. Here is a liveblog from the BBC International Editor (i.e. somebody who would set the editorial line, not merely follow it).
It’s linked below but on an annoying infinite scroll so I’ve pasted the text in too.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cn0ew4egegpt
What is Israel’s strategy, and what are they trying to achieve?
published at 10:00 British Summer Time
10:00 BST
Jeremy Bowen
International editor
Image of a damaged street in Beirut. A woman on the right carries bread as several people behind her look on. At the rear of thew shot, two men are on mopeds.
Image source,EPA
I was in Beirut throughout the 2006 war and do not remember Israel targeting the centre of the city.
They levelled areas of the southern suburbs, but in the centre we felt quite safe. So this is different.
The question we need to ask is: What is their strategy and what are they trying to achieve?
Israel says it is trying to return its citizens to their homes on the northern border with Lebanon, but the scale of what they doing suggests more than that.
Israel’s tactical successes against Hezbollah have encouraged some to think that there is a chance to reshape the region by severely damaging or destroying all Israel’s enemies.
This is an enhanced military operation – one that is likely to lead to a longer war and possibly even an occupation of southern Lebanon – and it is not clear how this is in the interests of Israeli civilians trying to get back to their homes.
The Israelis will argue very strongly that they are trying to defend themselves, but what their escalation has done is inflame the whole region.
“‘We have to attack Iran,’ says Israeli economy minister”
There seems to be a vibe in Israel that they will finally be able to use this war to defeat Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, etc. and finally establish Greater Israel. The Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich was talking about these thoughts too-
https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27227
The past two Iranian attacks on Israel demonstrated that the Iranians can hit whatever they want in Israel but these government ministers are ignoring this lesson and can only say that Israel has to destroy Iran and that Iran does not get to have a say in the matter. Their egos are writing checks that even US armaments will not be able to cash for them.
Not to start a flame war, but, as Israel occupies additional territory what means do they have to defend their position absent continuous, irrevocable, unquestioning, Western support?
One wonders if the Israelis have succeeded in smuggling some of their nuclear bombs right into Tehran and Bushehr and other nodes. They did it with pagers and radios. It was an option the US considered, to stage false flags like a Tom Clancy novel. Certainly cheaper than missile delivery and much more certain to hit the target. Consistent with Yahoo’s latest threat, that his attack will be “lethal and surprising.”
It’s not like there aren’t pro-Israel factions and quislings in Iran and IRGC, no security is secure against all Trojan horse attacks.
Increasingly looks like the war of all against all.
And Leviathan is a Hebrew demon.
Bonus antidote: Aurora + photo-bombing dog
https://social.coop/@stroughtonsmith@mastodon.social/113285406863685601
Bonus story. So Zelensky went to visit Starmer at Number 10 to probably get more weapons and more money from the Uk. But when the door was opened for Starmer and Zelensky to go in, Larry the Cat shot outside not being willing to get the infamous Zelensky curse-
https://www.rt.com/news/605516-zelensky-visit-uk-cat/
Its recently been remarked that Larry is the only sentient being in no10.
That is such a beautiful photograph, diptherio! Thank you for sharing it. Dogs are definitely my superheroes!
Blinken condemns China’s ‘increasingly dangerous’ sea moves Channel News Asia ****** “Secretary of State Antony Blinken condemned Beijing’s “increasingly dangerous” actions in the South China Sea as he met leaders of the ASEAN bloc in Laos on Friday” ****** If the location the article writes about is where a group of Phillipinos set up camp in an area China claims for the purpose of antagonizing China (wonder who’s funding them?, no mention of this is made in the article because I guess this is China just being the bully she has always been. Why can’t China just get along with The West and do responsible perfectly acceptable, normal things like drone bomb her neighbors nuclear power plants? It’s not like we will ever know where the drones came from, so no one will ever know China did it. And Loas? Antony Blinken is really slumming it. The smell of desperate reeks from his after shave colonge.
Blinken condemning you is a sign from God, that you are doing something right.
Kamala is Hillary, minus the warmth and charm.
The dogs aren’t eating the dog food.
Thank you for the laugh.
If we can recall 2020, Biden largely won a surge of involvement from minority voters. Black Lives Matter was a major movement in 2020 (it disappeared after Biden won the election), and there was so much talk about registering Black voters, and we had a lot of dialogue about how the real problem with COVID was that it harmed African Americans more than Whites. Biden was going to be LBJ and unleash a new great society.
But then the past four years happened.
The Democratic party leadership of course has no idea why anybody would be unhappy.
I think that what also got him over the line was young voters as well. After the past four years, it will be interesting to see if they come out and vote for him again.
Yes, especially when all Obama ever does in front of Black audiences is scold and lecture them.
The man is an insufferable fraud, and should go back to wind surfing with Richard Branson, where he is obviously more at home.
File under class warfare. From Scheerpost, Chris Hedges and George Monbiot.
The Secret History of Neoliberalism (w/ George Monbiot) | The Chris Hedges Report
https://scheerpost.com/2024/10/09/the-secret-history-of-neoliberalism-w-george-monbiot-the-chris-hedges-report/
“Democracy is a problem for them.” The next time I hear the MSM write or say, or a politician write or say the US Constitution is a problem, I’ll know they are neoliberals to their core.
As for chaos making the rich richer, does that explain FEMA’s disaster response?
And yet Monbiot is happy to keep shilling for the neoliberal, pretend to be left of centre Guardian, and was very happy to support the war on Iraq and similar NATO ventures, and not least, the pile-on against Corbyn which Monbiot played a big role. Hypocrite moi??? Absolutely, and every other Guardian stenographer now bemoaning what Starmer is doing.
I hope many of you were able to see the aurora last night. It was unreal and directly overhead in North central MT, with the red and pink colors clearly visible to the eye.
We were socked in with clouds here in Hanover so I missed it but my mother on the southern shore of Lake Ontario got a good shot from the driveway. I couldn’t believe how strong it was.
I spoke to one of my sisters who lives outside of Kansas City, MO last night. She was sitting on their deck out back watching the light show. She said it was intense and spectacular. We saw a little bit of aurora action this far south in the more rural parts of Mississippi.
Waiting for another Carrington Event.
If we had another Carrington Event, you wouldn’t be able to tell anybody about it on NC as we would be all busy learning how to make wax candles. :)
Thank you, Lambert, particularly for the Big Serge link.
Readers interested in this sort of thing may be interested in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Grand_Port. An ancestor and his brother, both from Saint-Malo, fought there. Since then, my family have served largely under the Union Flag.
The descendants of Robert Surcouf’s sister, also Malouin, still live in Mauritius.
Never interfere with an enemy while he’s in the process of destroying himself.
Also, the headline is an admission against interest that the territory is impossible for Ukraine to hold long term. In other words, it was a blunder.
I’m watching Dima’s latest video and its falling apart quickly for the Kursk adventure. The territory under Ukrainian “control” keeps shrinking. The geography of that area is bad for holding ground. Lots of open fields, and now the leaves are falling off the trees.
Looks more like maybe weeks, to me, before it gets cleared.
China’s real intent behind its stimulus inflection – FT
Chinese Stock Market Sets New Record for Single-Day Net Stock Purchase via Margin Financing – YiCai Global
The West criticizing a stock market pump? Imagine…
What’s upsetting to the global financial status quo is that China’s government is in control and is trying to keep their financial sector from being an out of control vampire squid.
Time will tell if it works or if adopting any type of financial machinations from the West eventually leads to them down the same rentier roads.
“Group puts up fence, claims ownership over 1,400 acres of Colorado forest, sparking outrage”
Trying to claim the commons of a National Forest all for themselves and putting up a barb wire fence to show everybody that it is theirs? Yeah, nah! These sort of mobs you come down on like a ton of bricks. Let me illustrate how this could play out-
-The State accepts the Free Land Holder Committee claims.
-The Free Land Holders sell the timber in that forest to a logging company to clear out and pocket the profits. One that may have funded them in the first place.
-The Free Land Holders then lease that 1,400 acres to a chemical waste corporation to store their toxic wastes. It’s their land remember.
-Having extracted all value from it, they then move onto their next claim.
If they get their way, then I am on the next flight to America to set up a toll booth on the Appalachian National scenic trail.
A less hagiographic view of Tata
https://x.com/eshaLegal/status/1844732167949091068
The Dangerous Radical on Our Southern Border – The American Conservative
“…Sheinbaum’s potent oratory laid out a sweeping, visionary account of Mexican history. From the revolutionaries to the activists of 1968 to Pancho Villa, Sheinbaum deified a litany of progressive national heroes and symbols. Omitted, naturally, were the symbols and legacies of men who represented what Sheinbaum might call a less-progressed Mexico. King Felipe VI wasn’t invited, after all…”
Despite the “potent oratory”, I thought Sheinbaum still had some neoliberal bonafides, but apparently not enough.
On its own, the comment reminding people the Mexico has a faded monarchy is a bit revealing of some subconscious wishful thinking.
https://www.twz.com/air/france-confirms-upgraded-mirage-2000s-heading-to-ukraine-in-early-2025
France Confirms Upgraded Mirage 2000s Heading To Ukraine In Early 2025
Donated Dassault Mirage 2000s fighters will be joining the Ukrainian Air Force’s F-16s in the new year.
Germany’s Green Transition Is Faltering
By Sean Sweeney
A decade ago, Germany’s renewable energy transition was seen as a model for the rest of the world. Today much of the working class has turned against all things green. What happened?
https://jacobin.com/2024/10/germany-green-energy-transition-labor