Links 10/2/2024

This Is What 12 Years On Mars Has Done To Curiosity’s Wheels Jalopnik (furzy)

I Sing the Electric Body: On Syntax Hedgehog Review (Anthony L)

Marburg virus outbreak in Rwanda draws concern over possibility of spread STAT (Dr. Kevin)

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

Bidirectional Charging May Be Required On EVs Soon Due To New California Law Eletrek

Post-fire forest regeneration prevented by vicious cycle of rising temperatures, wildfires Euractiv

Mosquito-borne virus spreads at ‘unprecedented’ levels in L.A. Climate change may make things worse Los Angeles Times

Autumn heat wave could break season-level records in California USA Today

How the UK is going to get even wetter – due to climate change iNews

Homes evacuated as flooding hits region BBC

Firefly species may blink out as US seeks to list it as endangered for first time. Guardian. Different place but in Alabama, I noticed how very few fireflies there were.

Clearly It Is Ocean. Richard Powers’s novel of techno-capitalism with an ocean view Baffler (Anthony L)

China?

China’s Housing Glut Collides With Its Shrinking Population Wall Street Journal

Philippines drops a Typhon missile gauntlet on China Asia Times (Kevin W)

Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan France24

Old Blighty

Starmer looks for post-Brexit ‘reset’ in meeting with EU leaders Financial Times (Kevin W). BWAAHAHA. Note I could not get archive.ph or archive.is to archive this article. If anyone succeeds, I can substitute the link.

‘This much evidence, still no charges’ James Butler on the Grenfell inquiry London Review of Books (Anthony L)

Gaza

Did Israeli jets use Saudi airspace to refuel before bombing Yemen? The New Arab (Kevin W)

Iran v. Israel

Operation True Promise 2: Iran Strikes Again as Missile Barrage Overwhelms Israeli Defenses Simplicius

US helped Israel shoot down Iran missiles – Pentagon BBC (Kevin W). ZOMG, this would be funny if not pathetic. By all accounts, Iran fired between 200 and 400 missiles. From the story: “The US fired about a dozen interceptors at Tuesday’s barrage of Iranian ballistic missiles fired at Israel, the Pentagon says.”

Iran Attacked Israel Only After U.S. Rejected Its Moderate Stance Moon of Alabama

Sen. Graham Calls for US To Strike Iranian Oil Sites in Response to Attack on Israel Antiwar.com (Kevin W)

Israel Invasion of Lebanon

Hezbollah unleashes 100 rockets into Israel as IDF calls up extra troops for invasion and orders more Lebanese villages to evacuate hours after Iranian missile barrage – as world holds its breath amid growing WW3 fears Daily Mail. Lead story.

Israel Has Destroyed Half of Hezbollah’s Arsenal, U.S. and Israeli Officials Say New York Times (furzy). To be taken with a fistful of salt. Israel also claimed that it had taken out many many Hezbollah rocket launchers when it sent 100 planes into Southern Lebanon and made many airstrikes. It emerged that there were no launchers there.

Versus (after writing the above): Hezbollah’s tunnels and flexible command weather Israel’s deadly blows Reuters (furzy)

After Nasrallah: ‘Command and Control’ in rapid recovery The Cradle

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukrainian forces withdraw from Vuhledar, military announces Kyiv Independent

Ukrainian FM, Polish president discuss defense aid for Kiev, bilateral ties Interfax

Ukraine’s Minister of Defense’s Attempted Staff Clear Out Headed Off – Why? Kyiv Post

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Crooks Made Millions By Breaking Into Execs’ Office365 Inboxes, Feds Say ars technica

Imperial Collapse Watch

Locals turn to legacy media as hurricane rumors swirl Axios (Kevin W). Article explains this is due to lack of info from government sources

Biden

Biden upset with Harris – NBC News RT. At the margin, this could give Kamala some trouble, given Biden’s poor impulse control 

Kamala

Comer Subpoenas DHS After Whistleblower Reveals Information on Governor Walz’s Ties to the CCP House Oversight Committee

2024

US vice-presidential candidates don’t mention war in Ukraine during debate Ukrainska Pravada

Democrats file lawsuit over new Georgia rule requiring hand counting of ballots Atlanta Nes First (furzy)

Judge signals he may rule that Georgia counties must certify election USA Today

Helene

Supplies arrive by plane and by mule in North Carolina as Helene’s death toll tops 130 Associated Press

Kamala’s Katrina moment? Fed response to hurricane, port strike unsettles Dems before VP debate Just the News

How Hurricane Helene could have widespread consequences for homeowners Washington Post

Abortion

Trump says he would veto national abortion ban The Hill

Our No Longer Free Press

Reflections on the New Encampment Culture Persuasion (Anthony L)

On the Unjust and Ridiculous Conviction of C.J. Hopkins Eugyppius (Micael T)

Federal Court Rules Against University of New Mexico in Free Speech Case Jonathan Turley

‘I’m Free Because I Pled Guilty to Journalism’ Antiwar.com (Kevin W)

AI

AI agent promotes itself to sysadmin, trashes boot sequence The Register

The Grim Truth Behind Microsoft’s Plan for Three Mile Island and A.I. New Republic (furzy)

The Bezzle

eBay Wins Dismissal of US Lawsuit Over Alleged Sale of Harmful Products Reuters

Class Warfare

What this Boeing strike is really all about CNN. Mark T: “Some upfront reporting from CNN.”

Microsoft Exec Tells Staff There Won’t Be an Amazon-style Return-to-Office Mandate Unless Productivity Drops Yahoo

CEO of “health care terrorists” sues senators after contempt of Congress charges ars technica (Kevin W)

Antidote du jour (Tracie H):

And a bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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28 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    ‘Megatron
    @Megatron_ron
    BREAKING:
    🇮🇷🇮🇱Israeli gas rigs in the Mediterranean Sea were destroyed
    80% of the israeli gas is comming from them’

    Game over, man. Game over. People were wondering how Iran could get itself out of the position that they were in. By striking those oil rigs, Iran has told the Israelis that this was a down payment and if they try to go after them, then the rest of the Israeli infrastructure, especially the energy one, gets turned to ash. So what would Israel be like if it was de-energized like the Russians are doing to the Ukraine? First guess is that Israel’s credit rating gets set at junk status.

    Reply
    1. Polar Socialist

      I think that if the pumps of the National Water Carrier stop, a lot of Israel will turn back to desert rather quickly. It’s a small, fragile country with extremely concentrated infrastructure. So if and when the deterrence created by the “most moral army in the world” fails, Israel has no standing power to speak of.

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        In that scenario, a lot of people would have to self-evacuate out of Israel then to safer climes. JFK would get very, very busy for a start. Israel then is a glass house. Who knew?

        Reply
        1. MicaT

          Because Israel is so small, energy can be delivered by ship. They don’t need any domestic production.
          Water is a much bigger deal.

          But we are now witnessing the start of the war. Biden/harris issued a statement of support for a response to the Iran attack anfter Iran clearly said we stop if you stop. And there is open discussion and support for regime change in Iran, by force.
          Ukraine might have had their weapons deliveries totally stopped and it all going to Israel.

          I expect lots more destruction on all sides, how stupidity sad. And I can’t believe it’s possible to say but if Israel is getting really pounded, they will launch a nuclear attack against Iran.
          And I expect this is the end for a Harris win.

          And finally, I was at a get together last night and all I heard was anti Trump/vance, pro harris/walz. Not a mention of war or Israel or the slightest disagreement with anything harris/walz.
          MSM is hugely powerful

          Reply
        2. JTMcPhee

          As Ukraine, so Israel: if things get unpleasant at home, then like the German ruling elite and thuggery in 1945, some of the world’s most problematic people will pack up their purloined wealth and happily move to more copacetic climes. Like the forebears of Nuland and Freeland, and that Hunka guy and his chums, and all the paper-clipped folks who set us on the current path toward destruction for fun and profit.

          “Freedom for me, holy sacred immolation for thee… be brave, my precious Volkssturm and Werwolf battalions: you die nobly, covering my a$$ as I carry on the Reich into distant battlegrounds! You will be remembered forever!” https://www.historyextra.com/period/second-world-war/hitler-youth-children-history-soldiers-fight-jojo-rabbit-film-ww2/

          At least as an entry in Wikipedia…

          Reply
    2. Belle

      Tango down.
      The US and some European nations may try and pull a Ukraine to try and keep Israel afloat. If so, we will likely see the budgets further tilt towards war and away from social programs- and as we have seen in Ukraine, it won’t be enough to stop things.
      Were I Syria, I would be getting a force together, informing the UN peacekeepers of the World Court’s vote, and saying, “Now, we are going to return to our territory, and then we are going to help ensure Lebanese territorial integrity. Will you let us through? We promise we won’t do to you what Israel did to your colleagues in 1967.”
      Finally, I wish Mike Flugennock (one of the few editorial cartoonists left who are genuinely establishment) would do a version of this cartoon with Iranian and Houthi missiles.
      https://sinkers.org/stage/?p=3708

      Reply
    3. Louis Fyne

      in my opinion, Megatron-ron means well but I would not cite him (and many other well meaning acccounts) for breaking news and **battle damage assessments**.

      Same with the very poorly sourced hearsay of 20 IDf F-35s destroyed.

      just saying

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        Partly true. But you know that Israel will never report any damage as in at all. They will claim that all of the missiles were intercepted and only fragments reached the ground which Joe Biden more or less said in a statement. A few hours ago I watched the TV news here to see what they had to say. I might as well have listened to Israel news as they said that there were some strikes in the south and the west of Israel. How non-specific can you get? If the main stream media actually did their jobs that they are paid to do we wouldn’t have to read sources like Megatron-ron. Same goes for news out of the Ukraine.

        Reply
        1. ChrisFromGA

          So we’re left with a choice between:

          1) Known liars, proven fraudsters, like Axios and various propaganda mouthpieces, plus other “official” sources that lied or amplified Blinken and Sullivan’s lies all summer about a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel being “imminent”

          or

          2) Sketchy Telegram stuff, X feeds, and war analysts like Simplicius, and Bernard over at MoA, and the famous Youtubers like Weeb Union, Dima, and Defense Politics Asia.

          I’ll go with door number 2, Bob.

          Reply
          1. PlutoniumKun

            There is a third option.

            Don’t believe anything that isn’t independently verified.

            Reply
      2. Carolinian

        Simplicius says the F 35 base was hit hard but that the Iranians pre informed the US and therefore Israel of the attack and likely all the airplanes were in the air to avoid damage. According to him the Iranians also said in advance they would only hit military targets.

        Whatever happened the key point seems to be that the missiles made it through and therefore the Iranians could destroy the airplanes and much else with a surprise attack.

        Reply
      3. PlutoniumKun

        Yes, its almost certainly untrue. It would be impossible for Israel to hide a strike on its gas rigs. Nearly all the damage assessments so far are just wild guesses and wishful thinking on both sides, it will take time for the facts to get through, if ever.

        Natural gas is of rapidly growing importance to Israel, but its not yet fundamental to its power supplies – the country is still dependent on coal and fuel oil for much its electricity and for industry and almost certainly has a lot of semi-mothballed reserve coal/oil capacity to fall back on to keep its grid up. It has significant LNG importing facilities so it would have a back up in the event of the offshore supply being interrupted. I can’t find any information on storage capacity, but I’d surprised if they didn’t have several months worth, possibly in older exhausted fields.

        In any event, striking the rigs would be very unwise for Iran – it would give Israel a pretext to attack Iran’s gas and other power networks, and these are highly vulnerable due to the length of pipelines and the relatively small number of very large centralised gas and electric facilities in the country. Also, most of its reserves are along the Iraqi border or along the Gulf, so are potentially well within striking distance for Israel, and Israel has already (probably) demonstrated its ability to use proxies to destroy pipelines. Iran is far more highly dependent on gas for its own power and for export revenue than Israel is. So far, Iran seems to have focused its attacks only on high profile military targets.

        Reply
    4. John k

      Big if true. I’m amazed the oil line across turkey that feeds israel hasn’t been taken out, and/or the Haifa oil refinery. Those f35’s burn a lot of fuel, and tankers might be nervous approaching israel ports these days.

      Reply
  2. Zagonostra

    Various Twitter posts indicate Israel has ordered a ban on pictures of Iranian missile impact to be shared/distributed for security reasons, e.g., providing intelligence assessment of strike to Iran. It would be great if Russia provided satellite pictures. Thus far, I’ve only seen the multiple but limited clips on social media such as the ones here, on NC.

    It was Orwellian to hear Netanyahu claim in a speech that the Iron Dome was successful in intercepting all the incoming Iranian missiles. Seems like more images of Ukraine are available than within Israel.

    Reply
    1. Louis Fyne

      yes. Maxar isn’t going to make them frèe either, lol.

      very curious what (if anything) happened to Mossad HQ and Navatim Air Base.

      Nevatim got clearly hit by 18+ missiles maybe one successful IDF interception

      Reply
  3. SocalJimObjects

    Thousands evacuated as Super Typhoon Krathon approaches Taiwan. School closures and work stoppages weren’t confined to East and South Taiwan, https://focustaiwan.tw/society/202410010024. I live up north, and today felt like waiting for Godot, we had been promised a day full of heavy rain and thunderstorms, and yet it’s been dry the whole day despite cloudy conditions, I even managed to complete my daily jog earlier this morning!! Tomorrow is supposed to be super wet (it’s finally here guys!!!) and yet the authorities have not called for a second day of closure of schools and offices in the north as of 7:49 pm local time.

    Reply
  4. The Rev Kev

    “How the UK is going to get even wetter – due to climate change’

    That could be quite concerning that. England used to be covered with marshlands, bogs and the like which included the river that we call the Thames. It took centuries to drain all that land but if there is going to be a wetter climate, it may need more resources to keep it drain lest it return to its previous state-

    https://www.wwt.org.uk/news-and-stories/blog/lost-species-how-the-uk-was-once-a-much-wetter-land/

    On the bright side, beavers should do well.

    Reply
  5. Katniss Everdeen

    RE: The “it’s the COVID stupid” response to the tweet below

    Steven Phillips, MD
    @StevePhillipsMD
    Nobody can convince me that heart attacks & strokes before age 50 are normal. I’ve been around for a long time. This is not normal.

    Most of my doctor colleagues agree in private that something is very, very wrong, but they won’t comment publicly.

    It’s as if an unprecedented, forced, mass “vaccination” experiment with an untested, experimental “vaccine” was just the figment of someone’s fevered imagination…

    Reply
  6. Louis Fyne

    “I’ve had it 5 times in 2 years and I’m fine” is like saying “I’ve smoked a pack a day for 2 years and I’m fine!”

    (rhetorical) What about peeps (like me) who were vaxxed but still caught Covid? i caught it twice, 12 months and 17 months after vax

    Reply
  7. Donald

    The pro Israel types on Twitter claim that the Israeli defense system is programmed to let rockets through if they are not going to strike a city. I have no idea if that is true.

    Another claim, which I think is somewhat plausible, is that the F- 35’s were in the air when the missiles struck. And some of the pro Israel types said there were no secondary explosions when the missiles hit.

    Fog of war. In this case, deliberate fog. What interests me is whether people will be able to use satellite photos to determine where the missiles landed or if that will be censored.

    In Ukraine, I remember a recent story in the NYT outlining the supposed Russian losses, but then saying we had no knowledge of the Ukranian losses. Which is, of course, utterly absurd.

    Reply
  8. The Rev Kev

    “China’s Housing Glut Collides With Its Shrinking Population”

    I got an idea. So China has a housing glut, right? And the US has alone some 650,000 people living on the streets. Can you see where I am going with this? Volunteers could be flown to China after a Chinese-led health check for things like TB where they could be housed in their own areas. They could be given jobs to earn money – an actual living wage – to not only pay their taxes but to buy themselves goods which will boost the local economy. The Chinese could even put up a sign outside this area. No, not ‘Arbeit macht frei’ but more along the lines of ‘Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.’ It’ll be great.

    Reply
  9. Milton

    Looking for news on the port strike. A search brings up articles from the typical corporate news agencies and also the very conservative outlets. There are no hits from any left of center sites.

    Reply
  10. The Rev Kev

    ‘DD Geopolitics
    @DD_Geopolitics
    🇷🇺 The Russian Federation has told Israel that it must immediately withdraw its troops from Lebanon.’

    Netanyahu: ‘Hah! So how many divisions does Russia have in the Middle east.’

    Aide: ‘None, Mr. Prime Minister. But they can supply Iran with real-time targeting data as well as post-attack images for battle damage assessment and target correction.’

    (crickets)

    Reply

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