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Links 10/2/2024

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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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154 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.

    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.

      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?

        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

          1. Chris Cosmos

            Hugely powerful indeed. This is a fascinating situation because the MSM is getting worse and worse and even worser. However, it meets the needs of certain highly “educated” people to have a coherent narrative so they don’t have to think and see the world as a comic book.

          2. Yves Smith Post author

            Huh? It takes years and a lot of money to build LNG facilities. And the Houthis have shut Eliat and Hezbollah has done a lot of damage to Haifa. So there is also an issue with ports too.

            1. jrkrideau

              I was wondering who was going to take LNG tankers into an active war zone. When we look at what is happening in the Red Sea, I cannot see any shipping company willing to ship into Israel and one might think that the crews might be less than willing to go anywhere near Israel.

          3. XXYY

            Because Israel is so small, energy can be delivered by ship.

            No longer a high reliability mode of transportation in the Middle East!

        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…

          1. Safety First

            Nuland? How are Nuland’s forebears a part of this?

            From her Wikipedia page:

            [Victoria] Nuland was born in 1961 to Sherwin B. Nuland, a surgeon born to Eastern European Jewish immigrants from Bessarabia, then part of the Soviet Union, with the last name Nudelman, and a Christian British native mother, Rhona McKhann, née Goulston.

            Her father’s Wikipedia page:

            [Sherwin] Nuland was born Shepsel Ber Nudelman in The Bronx, New York City, on December 8, 1930, to immigrant parents, Meyer Nudelman (a Moldovan Jewish garment repairman, 1889–1958) and Vitsche Lutsky (a Belarusian Jew, 1893–1941).

            I mean, don’t let facts get in the way of a good whatever that was.

            As well, the much bigger problem post-World War II wasn’t the “richest” Nazis escaping, it was mostly the rank and file and middle management. Like the 8 thousand survivors of the SS Galizia Division (by that point renamed the 1st Ukrainian Division) resettled in the UK and then Canada. Or, just to give you a sense of scale, roughly 1 million collaborators (exact estimates vary) who’d fled from various parts of the Soviet Union, although to be fair, some of them were more opportunists or even semi-patsies than ideologues, e.g. the mother of the famed pianist Svjatoslav Richter, who basically followed her boyfriend into exile.

            Turning back to Ukraine – if there is a collapse of some description, who do you think is going to run to the West? Statistically average Ukrainian pensioners from Bumbledore, Middle-of-nowheere? Or the “Azov” types, who are spending much of this war sitting in rear areas and acting tough in TV interviews, and who’ll be of particular interest to Russian law enforcement in a post-Ukrainian Ukraine? And again, it wouldn’t be the Azov commanders, necessarily, who’d be the most problematic, but the thousands of rank and file neo-nazis that tagged along…

            1. Yves Smith Post author

              You did not go far back enough.

              Gonzalo Lira covered this long-form on his video on Nuland. It is probably why State refused to intercede on his behalf.

              https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzR—YDDIQ

              Nuland’s paternal grandfather had been a successful tailor, IIRC in a Russian borderland area, but not sure if it was in what would now be Ukraine. Fled to the US as a result of pogroms. Did not adjust at all, never learned English, was very embittered and abusive. His son, was not just a surgeon but a professor of medicine at Yale: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherwin_B._Nuland. He was so scarred by his father’s denigration that he was often subject to depression so severe that he could not work and considered getting a lobotomy.

              So yes, the pogroms had a devastating effect of Nuland’s father and she can’t not have notice the cause of his psychological fragility.

              1. Daniil Adamov

                “Nuland’s paternal grandfather had been a successful tailor, IIRC in a Russian borderland area, but not sure if it was in what would now be Ukraine.”

                If it’s the abovementioned Meyer Nudelman, then no: he was born in Kishinev/Chișinău, now the capital of Moldova, then Russian Bessarabia.

                  1. Daniil Adamov

                    Indeed it was. I just wanted to clarify that it was indeed not in Ukraine, but it was a border region, more so than most of Ukraine. Kishinev was one of the most notorious pogrom sites as well.

                1. Daniil Adamov

                  I think there’s some difference between the aggrieved descendants of Jews who fled from pogroms and the aggrieved descendants of Nazi collaborationists who fled from the Nazis’ enemies. Even though those descendants may be united in their grievances and enemies today.

              3. britzklieg

                I do not want to sound like a defender of V.Nuland in any way – I am NOT(!) – but her father’s book “How We Die” was very important to both me and my partner as Glenn was dying from AIDS in 1996.

            2. EY Oakland

              Sherman Nuland, MD wrote a memoir, Lost In America, A Journey With My Father – very much worth reading. Many unforgettable scenes/descriptions of an immigrant’s life, and then – family life – bravely written.

        3. bertl

          At least the Palestinians will be able to exercise their right of return at long last, and have some neat Zionist pads to settle in.

    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

    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

      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.

        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.

            1. ChrisFromGA

              I get that, but what truly independent sources are there?

              35 years ago I might have trusted CNN, or Tom Brokaw.

              Everything has been politicized, corrupted with spin, etc. The financialization of the media means that it can be bought off. Nothing can be trusted, anymore.

              Assange, Greenwald, Snowden – now they’re trustworthy. But they’re still human, and capable of error.

              1. Joker

                35 years ago I might have trusted CNN

                It was lying then as much as it is now, but you couldn’t verify it on the Internetz.

                1. Safety First

                  Second that. I mean, am I the only one who remembers the whole Naira fiasco? Or the fact that BOTH US wars against Iraq were based on a heap of lies perpetrated by every single mainstream media organization, regardless of political affiliations?

                2. TimH

                  This is why the internet is being locked down. Mai Lai led to reporter embedding to control the narrative, but innertoobs changed all that. Comments linked to identity is coming under pretext of saving kids from procreation information, then journalism sites like nc will have to be registered.

            2. Chris Cosmos

              I don’t agree. It is obvious that the US mainstream can only be read (and I know many of the people who comment here will disagree) in the same way as the Soviet press was read back in the day, i.e., indirectly. Whatever “line” the media takes reflects power relations with the oligarchy (or virtual Central Committee). It’s all garbage in terms of genuine information.

              Since I discovered, in the 60s that the media was lying about Vietnam I cultivated alternative sources and, while they had their own prejudices, it was far easier to get a clearer view of reality if I read the alt media than the official media. Back in the day, the official media was not 100% garbage but only maybe only 50% so there were a lot of issues they did cover honestly.

              Today, there are many areas you can get something resembling the truth that I’ve cultivated over decades so I have a good idea of what is likely to be true and what is less likely to be true. I’ve done the work to try and understand the world going down a lot of rabbit holes because I enjoy the effort–and I don’t take it seriously as in, for example, the whole Q-Anon idiocy clearly fit the model of a typically CIA/FBI operation which I’ve seen close up in the anti-Vietnam War movement like COINTELPRO and so on.

              1. Dermot O Connor

                I can relate in an Irish context. We had Section 31 of the Broadcasting Act; it banned Sinn Fein / IRA members from speaking on national TV/media. The result was an echo-chamber in which the Irish State and the BBC could lock out any voice from the Republican movement. In retrospect, we were very heavily indoctrinated, I don’t think brainwashed is an exaggeration. When S31 was finally lifted in the 90s, it was amazing to see to what extent. The only option we’d have had was to buy the SF newspaper An Phoblacht, sold by dodgy coves in pubs, but my dad was never brave enough to do that, he’d drank the Koolaid. As had we all.

              2. JP

                I was taught as a child to read between the lines. I read everything printed as well as between the lines. When everything in print is considered a narrative it is not that difficult to pick up the intention vector.

              3. XXYY

                Beautiful. This is the way.

                Noam Chomsky always said more or less the same thing when asked “who should we trust?” Answer: don’t “trust” anyone. Rather, use your brain to figure out how the world works and use various media and whatever else to help add to that. It’s obviously more work, but certainly has its own rewards.

            3. Kurtismayfield

              There is zero independence in any of the West. I can’t trust anyone, it’s all propaganda.

              1. Daniil Adamov

                THOMAS SPEAKS

                Today I don’t believe anything
                I don’t believe my eyes
                I don’t believe my ears
                If I touch and feel something – perhaps then I’ll believe
                The sense of touch cannot be deceived

                I remember those sullen Germans,
                The sad-faced prisoners of ’45
                They stand – arms at side – at the interrogation.
                I ask and they answer.
                “Do you believe Hitler?” “No, I don’t believe him.”
                “Do you believe Goering?” “No, I don’t believe him.”
                “Do you believe Goebbels?” “Oh, propaganda!”
                “And do you believe me?” A minute of silence.
                “Mister commissar, I don’t believe you.
                It’s all propaganda. The whole world – propaganda.”

                If I had turned into a child
                And once again studied in a primary school
                And someone had told me:
                Volga flows into the Caspian Sea!
                I would, of course, have believed them. But first
                I would have found this Volga they speak of,
                Gone down to the sea, after the current,
                Washed myself in its murky waters
                And then, only then, I would have probably believed them.

                Horses eat oats and hay!
                Lies! In the winter of 33′
                I lived in the perch-thin Ukraine
                At first horses ate thatch
                Then the thin thatched roofs
                Then they were herded to Kharkov, for dumping.
                I myself have seen with my own eyes
                Stern, solemn, almost haughty
                Chestnut, black-brown and dun ones,
                Silently, slowly wandering all over the dump site.
                They walked, and then stood,
                And later fell and lied on the ground for a very long time,
                The horses did not die at once…
                Horses eat oats and hay!
                No! It’s not true! Lies, propaganda.
                It’s all propaganda. The whole world – propaganda.

                (Boris Slutsky. Amateurish literal translation mine. “Volga flows into the Caspian Sea” and “horses eat oats and hay” are archetypical school textbook sentences in the Russian world. Anyway, I wouldn’t automatically trust the Rest either; after all, I live somewhere in that region myself. Some people are much more trustworthy than others; also, some outlets are less likely to lie about some topics, e.g. local newspapers about city matters; but there is no substitute for skepticism.)

                  1. Daniil Adamov

                    Very glad you and the others above liked it! Slutsky is one of my favourite poets. He was also one of the few actual Jewish Political Commissars in the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War, which gave him a rare perspective on a lot of things.

                    1. MarqueJaune

                      I’m gonna see if i can find some translation/edition in portuguese…
                      Not that many russian poets have portuguese editions
                      I should have somewhere a book with some poems from Arseny Tarkovky… that I bought long ago because of this movie…
                      It’s always good to know about another great poet…
                      Once again thank you!

              1. The Rev Kev

                His Clown World talked about how Boris Johnson got so angry with Macron about all those migrant boats coming from France that when he was with Biden in Cornwall, he convinced him to set up AUKUS which meant that Australia would have to cancel their sub order from France thus screwing them over, even if it did destabilize the Indo-Pacific. Not a rumour but apparently from Bojo’s latest book.

                1. Ben Panga

                  Also in Bojos book was the mooted plan for British special forces to invade The Netherlands during COVID. I kid you not.

                2. Anonymous 2

                  The thing with Johnson, though, is that he is a notorious liar. Anything he says/writes is probably untrue.

            2. Louis Fyne

              Door #2 has a wide spectrum…..

              from Megatron-Run who runs with anything (cuz he gets monetized clicks) to “Squatson” (who learned the hard way re. credibility about not embarassing himself with immediately breaking viral hearsay) to

              Simplicious (who is judicious about military stuff but all over the map re. political stuff) to M_E_Observer who is conservative and sometimes shares hearsay but clearly labels it as such.

              Caveat Emptor until one is familiar with the source

              1. t

                When I searched for the debate on YouTube all the results were Daily Wire, the Blaze, Fox News, and so forth.

                Tried adding hasanabi to see if the search adjusted. It did not.

                YouTube seems to doing some new things for “guest users.” All my results are odd the last couple of months.

                It’s always been the case, for me, that most ads are for extreme right wing nonsense like Prager U or pepper supplies. Even though I don’t watch that sort of thing.

                (Nonetheless, I was eventually able to learn that we can end school shootings by improving the locks on doors. Color me reassured.)

                1. Louis Fyne

                  i hate Twitter, Youtube…their algos.

                  Interact with a video that has been labeled “XYZ°, you get adverts, content, and recommendations geared to the XYZ.

                  It’s hard to get that “skunk stink” off…because I think Youtube (especially) has movex beyond cookies and is using IP and device fingerprints (I have no evidence, but that’s what it feels like)

                  you just have to live with it, it is what it is (or get a VPN and use a browser via a virtual machine)

              2. ChrisFromGA

                I’ll put in a plug for Weeb Union on Youtube. He’s always very calm, and methodical, and does a nice job with the front changes summary in the Russo-Ukraine war.

                He sticks to Ukraine though, which is a good sign as he stays within his “circle of competence.” The problem with some other bloggers is that they get outside of theirs.

      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.

        1. ChrisFromGA

          How the heck would Simplicius possibly know of this?

          Does he have a hotline to the Iranian Air Force HQ?

          If not, buyer beware.

        2. Yves Smith Post author

          He has NO sources for that claim.

          As I say on my post just up, he also asserts that the MoD and Ukraine notify each other, which sounds like a complete fabrication, given how proud and gleeful each side is when they take out fighter jets on the ground.

          Plus another reader pointed out many F-35s are not in fly-ready condition, so even if Israel had wanted to get them all in the air, it would not have been possible.

      4. 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.

        1. The Rev Kev

          There may have been a message in hitting that gas rig. One major reason that Israel wants to occupy Gaza is so that they can claim all those off-shore oil-gas fields and cut the Palestinians out altogether. So this may have been a message that if they try to do that down the track, that they can become legitimate targets. Yes, Israel can attack Iran’s oil fields while the west pretends not to know who did it but Israel is a small country with exposed infrastructure which could render a lot of it uninhabitable if destroyed.

      5. Yves Smith Post author

        Not hearsay. Iranian government claim. That does not make it true but it does not make it “poorly sourced” any more than say Israel sayin’ its 100 airplane strikes on Hezbollah about a month ago took out a shitload of rocket launchers when in fact they got zero because zero were in the target area.

    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.

      1. hk

        Someone (I forget who–was it Ritter on Judhe Nap?) explained the other day that, since Turkiye wants to be sn “oil hub for the world,” they don’t want to violate the contracts they signed for almost any reason, citing Russia’s continued fulfillment of its oil and gas contracts with its “enemies” as an example. I think this actually makes good sense.

      2. TimmyB

        One must assume Iran lives in an “oil line” glass house and doesn’t want to throw stones at Israel. At least not yet.

    6. Bosko

      I’m kind of in agreement: a very strange news day. I spent much of yesterday thinking that Israel and its protectors were going to retaliate and we might very well be in WWIII today. I went to the corporate news outlets and saw multiple postings of the same, brief clip on loop of Israel’s “Iron Dome” “repelling” a few Iranian missiles. I saw a very nervous looking Anthony Blinken. I then went on Telegram–the same videos are getting reposted on Twitter by Blumenthal and others–and saw multiple videos of Iranian missiles definitely striking targets, just like in the Lord Bebo clip above. There were also multiple stories about a mass shooting in Israel–I don’t see anything about this at all in the western media. Haaretz is leading with a headline of ONE IDF soldier killed in the Lebanon invasion. Meanwhile, there are reports that Iran struck a major Israeli oil rig, the Mossad headquarters in Tel Aviv, three of the biggest Israeli military airports, and other military targets. Iran is claiming that, among other things, they destroyed TWENTY Israeli F35’s (aren’t those about a billion dollars apiece?). I go to the front page of the Post, and there are multiple stories about the Vance/Walz debate… There seems to be a total disconnect between what the western media is reporting, and what actually happened. I will be really interested to hear what the experts say about the last two days. But I think what we might be seeing is, Israel, the US and its allies are backing down. The media is saying: Nothing to see here.

      I found this interview from BBC Channel 4 to be quite enlightening. It’s 7 minutes, but worth checking out for those who haven’t seen it.

      https://www.channel4.com/news/israel-will-be-hammered-into-submission-if-it-strikes-iran-says-iranian-academic

      3. Yves Smith Post author

        Lead story in Jerusalem Post is 7 IDF soldiers killed in Lebanon on Wed. UN reported no Israel forces in Lebanon on Tues. So this looks like the first day of ground ops and it is not going well.

    7. TroyIA

      Chevron resumes gas production and supplies from Tamar and Leviathan platforms in Israel

      MOSCOW, October 2. /TASS/. – The US company Chevron has resumed production and supplies from the Leviathan and Tamar gas platforms in Israel, which it had temporarily stopped as a precautionary measure due to Iran’s massive missile strike, the company’s press service told TASS.

      “Chevron Mediterranean Limited (CML) can confirm that we have resumed production at both our Tamar and Leviathan facilities and are supplying natural gas to our customers in Israel and the region from both reservoirs. Any questions regarding the current security situation should be addressed to the appropriate Israeli governmental authorities,” the company said.

      Earlier, the Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that Iranian missiles hit gas reservoirs near the city of Ashkelon in southwestern Israel. Chevron (one of the largest players on the Israeli offshore area) told TASS that the company’s people and facilities were safe.

    1. The Rev Kev

      Did you see the tweet by French neocon philosopher Bernard Henri-Levy nearly halfway down? Where does this guy get off?

      1. Michael Fiorillo

        The guy has always been a three-dimensional cartoon/parody of a French Intellectual, going back to earning his stripes early in his career by attacking the Left.

      2. CA

        https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1774383718217761198

        Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

        Bernard-Henri Lévy (BHL), the “philosopher” who never saw a massacre of Muslims he didn’t like. Some savory quotes:

        – “Israel’s response is not disproportionate”
        – “The ‘but’ in ‘we support Israel but…’ is despicable.”
        – “I don’t know of an army that takes as many precautions as the IDF to avoid civilian casualties”
        – “The figure of 32,500 deaths in Gaza is probably false.”
        – “When you are a democracy, you have a duty to support another democracy unreservedly”

        https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GJ_gOk8boAAcyiZ?format=jpg&name=900×900

        6:30 AM · Mar 31, 2024

        1. Cat Burglar

          Entarteurs have pied BHL on at least eight occasions, making him the most pied public figure in France, if not the world.

  3. 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.

    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

      1. LawnDart

        Everyone walks backwards in the video you linked to…

        Yeah, last night while looking at Israeli media sources, I noticed that none were showing any video of missile-strikes– and what was written seemed totally contradicted by the videos in circulation: “most missiles intercepted.”

        This is like saying that the prize-fighter stopped most of his opponent’s punches [with his face].

        Considering we’re in the early years of AI fakes, I can only imagine how messed-up our shared reality will become once the tech becomes more refined and the AI images that are presented to us are indistinguishable from reality.

      3. Yves Smith Post author

        Scott Ritter has explained that Iron Dome is not designed or intended to intercept ballistic missiles, which is what Iran was firing.

    3. Revenant

      Paper Dome was apparently supplemented by the USN firing twelve SM-3s (Standard Missile 3) from a destroyer.

      https://nitter.poast.org/imetatronink/status/1841285332706394371#m

      That’s its full load. At $33m each. The destroyer now has no anti-missile inventory (and will need to reload in a port because at-sea reloading capability was deprecated).

      It gets better. Do you know how many SM-3s the MIC makes each year?

      Twelve.

      (There’s stock of 500 but there are 9 carrier battle groups, at least one destroyer per CBG, so you need at least 108 for a full complement and multiples of that for reloading in a war. It is hard to see that more than a few dozen can be spared for Israel and Iran has thousands of missiles…).

      (The 12 may have been fired by 2 destroyers between them but that makes the situation worse practically because each destroyer is half as effective but two are now in harm’s way, even if the stockpile lasts longer).

      1. scott s.

        Depends if we are talking about SM-3 Block IA/IB or Block IIA which is a bit different (and the 12 missile buy for FY25 — assuming appropriations — is for Block IIA). According to here: csis approx 330 Block IA/IB have been procured.

        The latest Aegis Baseline 9 handles SM-3 and SM-6 so I don’t think you can you can say firing 12 empties out the mag. Also out of 96 cells I don’t know that there is as limitation on load out.

    4. Ogopogo

      You do know the Tamar gas field is at least 70 miles offshore? What is being twittered by a Decepticon (!) might be a processing terminal 13 miles offshore. But that not an explosion nor is it on-fire. That’s non-emergency safety flaring shown through high-contrast video. If operations were suddenly shutdown, any pressure differential of the lighter than air gas in the pipeline needs to find atmosphere equilibrium, toot-sweet.

      A crucial part of missile interception is letting through the missiles flying off-course, whether because of EW jamming, GPS spoofing, poor inertial guidance, or poor vane functioning. When a missile detonated, it leaves a 30 ft crater, of which there are some in Israel, in fields, no closer than 2 km from Mossad HQ. It’s no coincidence that 2 km is within the CEP for these models.

      If Iran cratered even one Israeli runway, they could figure out to post a de-rez’d satellite pic from Russia. I’m waiting…

      1. Yves Smith Post author

        Iran did not post any photos of its acknowledged successful strikes on the runways of Israel air bases last April. They don’t have to prove it to you. They don’t run on trying to persuade or propagandize the West.

      2. Yves Smith Post author

        This is not persuasive. The flaring started immediately after the strike. It was not pre-existing. However, per above, Chevron says things are back to normal.

  4. 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.

    1. PlutoniumKun

      Stay safe – when the Taiwanese are worried, you know its going to be a big one.

      The sheer scale of flooding Taiwan regularly puts up without a fuss with is mind boggling. I couldn’t’ believe my eyes when I first saw what the Taiwanese consider a ‘normal’ road drain in the mountains. And those long, long bridges over flat rocky floodplains in areas like Nantou are astonishing.

  5. 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.

    1. Revenant

      That rainfall article was relatively sober compared to some nonsense. The predictions are that total UK rainfall is becoming more concentrated. This means longer dry spells, especially in summer, heavier downpours and higher peak flows in drains and watercourses. As ever, the real questions are distribution in time and space, not the headline number which will not change much.

      The heavier rainfall actually poses the opposite risk: that our reliance on steady damp conditions cannot continue, raising irrigation requirements and other demand, and that our ability to capture water to meet these requirements is reduced (because peak flows have to bypass collectors more frequently to prevent them being overwhelmed).

      There was an article recently about the RHS having to move certain collections further north because the south is too hot and/or too dry. Apparently Manchester has taken the crown as the wettest RGS garden from our Devon champion, Rosemoor, and – poor Manchester – it us predicted to be the only UK place getting wetter in future!

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/sep/29/the-uk-will-get-hotter-and-drier-for-plants-except-in-manchester

      1. PlutoniumKun

        The south of England is very dependent on groundwater. It takes years to deplete, but when it does, it takes a hell of a lot of rain to recharge them.

        The other issue in the south is that lots of houses are built on clay soils. When these dry out during very dry summer it can cause all sorts of structural issues.

        On recent history, I think the best way of avoiding a drought is to host an Olympics.

        1. The Rev Kev

          ‘When these dry out during very dry summer it can cause all sorts of structural issues.’

          Got that right. Our house is built on clay soil and after a very long dry spell, we found a crack running up the side of the garage. Luckily it was covered by our builder’s insurance but the ground must have been doing a lot of flexing.

        2. Revenant

          Strictly, the central south and south east are on the great chalk aquifers. Parts there are drier than Teheran (not a fair claim because there is plenty of snow on Teheran). However, London has a problem with rising groundwater so it’s really just a distributional issue. Nobody wants their valley flooded for a reservoir in the southeast….

          The southwest has plenty of rainwater but not necessarily enough storage.

          The Midlands steal the rainwater of the Welsh mountains. The Northwest has plenty of rain (Manchester). And Yorkshire presumably makes a special arrangement with God. :-)

          Clay heave is indeed a big problem. And here in the southwest, we are also finding our cob houses (clay mud plus straw and horsehair binding fibres) are starting to crack because the humidity is going outside the range at which cob is comfortable, even in our temperate maritime damp.

          I don’t know about coal mining lowering the country (comment below) but that will be outweighed in the west of Britain by it still rebounding from the ice age while the east is sinking. So, at least I am all right in Devon but Norfolk is rejoining the North Sea….

  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

    1. Socal Rhino

      From what I’ve read, the best advice to all including vaccinated and unvaccinated is to avoid Covid infections. Risk of bad outcomes rises with each reinfection.

    3. Jonathan Holland Becnel

      F me I’ve had it 3Xs

      😔

      The perils of being an essential worker in the French Quarter…

      1. Ander

        4x infected and 3x vaccinated (the most recent shot pursued purely for governmental incentive). Governance (or lack thereof) aside, this family of virus is persistent and tenacious.

    4. XXYY

      In the US at least, the big message we got from the Biden Administration was that if you got the vaccine you were safe from covid and you would not become infected. This was obviously a ridiculous lie, and people who make your rhetorical argument unfortunately believed what the US president and the CDC were saying.

      Along with all the other tragedies of covid, a big one was the complete collapse of credibility in the public health sector, at least in the West. Credibility is something that takes a long time to build up, but can collapse very quickly. Having a Disease Control organization that no one trusts or believes is going to have horrible consequences down the road.

      As we know now, there are many other measures one can take to reduce the chances of being infected with covid. These are definitely not something you will hear about through the mainstream media, but are also something you will hear about once you start reading other outlets. Unfortunately, rather than having the CDC do this for us, we have made it necessary for individual citizens to do their own research on this life or death matter.

  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.

    1. jsn

      Lots and lots of fog at the moment.

      So you launch all your BillionDollarBabies to keep them from missile blasts, and those blast tear up all your runways.

      What then? Just asking…

      1. begob

        Ritter made that point on Napolitano – where do the planes land when their bases have been rendered unusable mid-sortie by Iranian missiles? Incirlik, maybe Akrotiri in Cyprus?

    2. Safety First

      To be completely fair. The Iron Dome was originally designed to intercept, essentially, tactical rockets with a range of 20-50 kilometers or some such. They fly at a very different trajectory and speed vs. a ballistic missile, and so I doubt the Iron Dome has any ABM capability to speak of.

      For ballistic missile defense, the Israelis have the Arrow-2/Arrow-3 system built by/with Boeing, but so far as I can tell, there are only 3-4 batteries deployed across the entire country, so theoretically only a couple of batteries at most defending any particular site. Moreover, Telegram-based rumors suggest that at least one of the targets for Iranian missiles was an Arrow battery, and moreover part two, according to Wikipedia (I know, I know) “Israel planned to procure 50-100 interceptors for each battery”, so even if that’s understating things a bit we’re still looking at under 500 ABM missiles for the entire country, forever. Even if they supplement this with various US hardware – Patriots, ship-based stuff, and so on – if Iran fires 100 ballistic missiles at the country every single night, by the end of, what, a couple of weeks Israel and nearby US forces will have simply run out of ammo? Something along those lines.

      In this regard, it’s much easier to say “oh, we didn’t shoot at them because they weren’t going to hit anything important”, in addition to the propaganda value of admitting no damage from enemy strikes. Which, for now, Israel can get away with, because the Iranians didn’t try to hit anything important, and because this is a single point-in-time type of strike (unless the Israelis choose to escalate again). Now imagine how different that would look if the Iranians send another 200 ballistic missiles, but this time at the port facilities in Haifa and Eilat, and a couple of comparable infrastructure targets (like power plants, maybe?).

    1. flora

      Thanks for the link. So Ralph de la Torre knows how to play poker. I’m pretty sure the Congressmen know how to play poker, too. It’s just possible de la Torre doesn’t know who’s the mark in the game this time. / ;)

  9. 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.

    2. JP

      And just what percentage of the homeless do you think are employable? The major drug amongst the homeless is speed. In my experience junkies are way more employable then burned up tweekers.

      1. XXYY

        Don’t forget, Hitler handed out speed to his entire infantry at the start of World War II. Seem to work pretty well for him.

  10. 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.

  11. 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)

    1. Safety First

      Technically, the Russians still have a contingent of troops deployed into Syria. With specific emphasis on anti-air and anti-ship capabilities, since at this point their biggest priority is protecting their naval base. About six months ago Channel 1 even did some sort of a special on their land-based anti-ship battery drills.

      So in principle, if the Russians decided to go completely coco-bananas-psycho-mad, they could extend their anti-air umbrella over all of Syria and all of Lebanon, which would certainly put a crimp in the style of all those Israeli F-16s and F-15s bombing local orphanages, I mean terrorist recruitment centers. I am not suggesting that they will actually do this, but from a purely theoretical standpoint, they can get directly involved if they really wanted to. Of course, in reality your version with satellites and such is rather more plausible.

    2. Polar Socialist

      They can, of course, with a naval base and an air base about 20 miles from Lebanese border, easily keep Hezbollah armed, you know, to “weaken the United States”. Proxy wars seems to be en vogue this season.

  12. Carolinian

    Moon confirms that the Russians knew about the missile attack in advance but not the Simplicius claim that the US was informed.(although they must have known something because there were reports of an upcoming attack in the news). Moon says there is video of a gas platform burning and that the Mossad headquarters building was leveled.

    Meanwhile Hezbollah says that the Israelis have not entered Lebanon as claimed.

    All make the point that none of this could happen without the US and therefore “Greater Israel” can’t happen without the US either. Meanwhile here in the US it’s probable that, outside some well bribed Christian Zionist sects, a US war for Israel will receive zero support. Indeed the entire ME situation has always floated on a cloud of carefully managed ignorance about what is really happening along with traditional American lack of interest in foreign affairs.

    Biden/Harris and all their lying liars have to go. I only hope that in a few weeks the voters do the right thing.

    1. hamstak

      I have taken to referring to Israel as “US-backed Israel” as of late. It seems fair, given that the rest of the Axis of Resistance is frequently labeled as “Iran-back [member]”. Not to mention the fact that the former is inarguably true.

      1. Lefty Godot

        “US-backed Israel” and “US-backed ISIS” and “US-backed Al Qaeda” are perfectly acceptable alternatives to the perhaps more incendiary but no less apropos collective term Fiends From Hell. Unless a punk rock band has that one trademarked.

        1. witters

          Our Tasmanian punk band (1982-84 primal, but still going on like the Beach Boys), was an attempt: Monsters Of The Id.

  13. i just don't like the gravy

    It’s amusing to think we are also distributing microplastics across the surface of Mars. Oddly a thought that hadn’t occurred to me until seeing the broken bits of those rover wheels.

    After reading more closely they are aluminum! Cute. I still have to figure the harsh Martian winds are slowly eroding whatever plastic is on the rover.

  16. Skip Intro

    Anyone remember ‘Rob Georgia’ and the infamous 2002 black box election that took out Cleland? Diebold’s faith-based voting systems were given illegal last-minute reprogramming from someone named Rob Georgia. 22 years later Georgia is a pioneer again.

    2. Chris Cosmos

      Yes, but I knew by then (after the Florida debacle in 00) that US elections could not be trusted and nothing much has changed depending on who is counting the votes. I think this election is likely to be counted correctly as it looks like “they” are writing off Kamala. “They” can handle Trump or so “they” believe. We’ll see.

  17. The Rev Kev

    “AI agent promotes itself to sysadmin, trashes boot sequence”

    This is amazing. The guy only asked the AI to hook up to his desktop from his laptop. So it finally did so, made a bunch of updates after taking over sysadmin, stuffed it up which basically bricked his desktop. Then he goes on to say this-

    ‘Shlegeris said he uses his AI agent all the time for basic system administration tasks that he doesn’t remember how to do on his own, such as installing certain bits of software and configuring security settings.’

    The BOFH would never tolerate this behaviour.

  18. Mikel

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

    “The site OilPrice.com was impressed by the plan, praising it as a “breakthrough” not so much in energy but
    finance. Typically, nuclear projects involve massive federal loans and subsidies, but despite the $1.6 billion Constellation will need to get the unit cooking again, this project appears to be bankrolled entirely by Microsoft. “Unlike typical regulated utility investments where the public ultimately pays, this transaction involves no public funds or support at all. This is a transaction solely between Constellation’s non-regulated energy subsidiary and Microsoft,” Crude Oil Prices Today wrote.

    But the project will almost certainly need more money in the future. “The $1.6 billion is just the start,” Stanford professor of civil and environmental engineering Mark Jacobson told me. “Microsoft will be asking for government handouts just like most all other aged nuclear reactor owners have asked in multiple states.

    When reached for comment on the likelihood of subsidies being involved, a P.R. representative speaking on behalf Microsoft, Ben Wilsker, reiterated that Constellation Energy is the owner, not Microsoft, but didn’t comment on the subsidies.”

    Privatize the profits, socialize the losses is supposed to be a “breakthrough” in financing?
    They are so tired. Always trying to spin the worse mess as some kind of innovation.
    I read the first part of the excerpt above and the heat started rising in me (I almost became a nuclear reactor), then at least the following paragraphs showed it wasn’t just somebody retyping a Microsoft press release.

  19. ChrisFromGA

    Meme Stock Cowboy

    ♫♫♫♫
    (Sung to the tune of, “Rhinestone cowboy” by Glen Campbell)

    I’ve been talking my book so long
    Singin’ the same fake song
    I know every crack in these dirty sidewalks of Wall Street
    Where hustle’s the name of the game
    And nice guys get washed away like the snow and the rain

    There’s been a load of compromisin’
    On the road to enriching my horizon
    But I’m gonna be where the cop lights aren’t shinin’ on me

    Chorus:

    Like a meme stock cowboy!
    Sellin’ off all my stonks in a greed-scammin’ rodeo
    Like a meme stock cowboy!
    Handing bags of dog-doo to people I don’t even know
    And lawsuits comin’ over the phone

    Well, I really don’t mind the rain
    And my options just hit max pain
    But you’re down when you’re ridin’ the train that’s takin’ the long way
    And I dream up new schemes to pursue
    With a subway token and a no business plan tucked my shoe

    There’s been a load of compromisin’
    On the road to enriching my horizon
    But I’m gonna be where the cop lights aren’t shinin’ on me

    Chorus:

    Like a meme stock cowboy!
    Sellin’ off all my stonks in a greed-scammin’ rodeo
    Like a greased AI fraud!
    Handing bags of dog-doo to people I don’t even know
    And lawsuits comin’ over the phone

    A meme stock cowboy!
    Sellin’ off all my stonks in a greed-scammin’ rodeo
    Like a meme stock cowboy!
    Handing bags of dog-doo to people I don’t even know
    And lawsuits comin’ over the phone

    Melody: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kAU3B9Pi_U

  20. Mikel

    I was just thinking, the USA could put stringent rules on immigration, but that would probably only keep good people out.
    Criminals are always going to think of the USA as a grifters paradise (among other things) and move hell and high water to get here.

    1. Louis Fyne

      there is too much money at stake in having disposable labor, particular in food/agriculture.

      European immigrants worked the 19th century abattoirs, then were replaced by cheaper southern Blacks who moved north, who were then replaced by cheaper Mexicans, who are now replaced by cheaper Central Americans and Africans.

      vicious never ending dog-eat-dog world

  21. The Rev Kev

    ”An Israeli charity organization called “HaHevre HaTovim” (“Good Fellas”) is organizing an event selling electrical products looted from Gaza at cheap prices for poor Israeli families. They are looking for volunteers to work at the event and “help those in need”.”

    For an extra two Shekels, they will scrub off the blood before selling those items.

  22. Mikel

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

    As much as these markets don’t trade on fundamentals a lot of time, Feds are saying it’s only the quarterly financial reports (that are released to the public) he was paying attention to in the emails?
    Ha!

  23. Mikel

    Locals turn to legacy media as hurricane rumors swirl – Axios

    “Legacy media” – we know who came up with that BS term.
    Anyway, it’s more like “locals turn to local media.” Good thing there were some reporters still and it wasn’t just a bunch of “AI” newsrooms.

  24. Zagonostra

    >Washington Sets Trap for Iran, Will Iran Take the Bait? Brian Berletic

    Brian sure knows how dampen my initial glee from watching someone from the region stand up to Israel. His thesis is that Israel is like Ukraine, it is being used by the U.S. to create chaos in the region in order to maintain its control. In his view, it’s not Bibi and Israel that are calling the shots but the U.S. “inner circle” who are intent on maintaining their hegemony over the region in a world that is steadily moving towards multipolarity. He contends that a more forceful response to Israel is exactly what the U.S. wants, this is similar to what Scott Ritter has been saying.

    They may right, but from a moral standpoint, I don’t think that allowing innocent people to be slaughtered, like the orphanage that Israel bombed yesterday, can be allowed to go unpunished. Is it revenge I’m wanting? Vengeance is not mine, hard lesson to accept.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRW8oX1y2Ac&ab_channel=TheNewAtlas

  25. The Rev Kev

    “Ukrainian forces withdraw from Vuhledar in Donetsk Oblast”

    Took me a few seconds to realize that they were talking about Ugldar. The place was turned into a fortress on high grounds and the Russians have been trying to take it since the beginning of the war. It’s a key logistics hub that uses its weapons to attack Russian supply lines in this area. Now most of it has fallen and the Russians are mounting flags on one building after another. A while ago the Ukrainian commander asked to pull out of this city so he was sacked and the orders were to hang on. The Ukrainian forces did not so much as withdraw as ran away to save their lives. There was the Ukraine’s 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade fighting there defying any thought of retreat but don’t know if they are still there. Will have to watch Dima’s video for this.

    1. sarmaT

      A fortress on the hill, but not a key logistics hub. Those have to be at a safe distance from the frontline, like Pokrovsk used to be.

    1. flora

      I’m just tossing this link in as a possible buy for small towns’ emergency response hardware. I was lauding the emergency services communications HAM radio operators have provided. I think Starlink might be just as valuable an emergency service communication system especially in rural areas. (A guy in Maui with a Starlink system was coordingating communication for a lot of the locals affected by the Maui fire. He was doing that on his own initiative.) I read that FEMA and the FCC are sending 40 Starlink stations to the worst affected hurricane areas. / my two cents

      https://www.yahoo.com/tech/standard-starlink-kit-200-price-234038900.html

  27. barncat

    Sing along, folks: To the tune of “Wooly-Bully”, ” Reagan called Begin, bout a thing he saw, it had two big horns, and a comb-over, Netanyahoo! netanyahoo…..”

  28. Mikel

    Starmer looks for post-Brexit ‘reset’ in meeting with EU leaders – Financial Times

    He probably started having those meets before his election.

  29. Yeti

    IT’S COVID INFECTIONS.
    We’ve literally known this for FOUR STRAIGHT YEARS NOW.
    Why is anyone ignorant about this?
    I’m asking the same question, this from Dr. Guy Hatchard of NZ: https://hatchardreport.com/staggering-new-data-from-health-new-zealand-and-others/
    So is it Covid-19 infections or maybe something else, NZ had hardly any Covid-19 until well after everyone one else. My recent FOI request came back from the Ministry of Health of BC unanswered. Here are their reason(S) “ Some information has been withheld pursuant to section(s) 13 (Policy advice or recommendations), 15 (Disclosure harmful to law enforcement), 16 (Disclosure harmful to intergovernmental relations or negotiations), 17 (Disclosure harmful to the financial or economic interests of a public body), 19 (Disclosure harmful to individual or public safety), and 22 (Disclosure harmful to personal privacy) of FOIPPA.” Now I’m asking for a review.

    Here is my original request “ All available data concerning all cause of deaths in British Columbia, specifically including Covid-19 vaccination status. Include days since last vaccination to death if available. Separate by age decile. All emails, between Monika Naus and Dr. Bonnie Henry concerning AEFIs. Emails to Dr. Henry from doctors reporting AEFIs and any response. April 26, 2021 Bonnie Henry talks about data showing vaccination of pregnant women was beneficial. Produce the data that Dr. Henry was referring too. All data indicating that the unvaccinated were over represented in the hospitalization and deaths of BC residents. Including percentage of vaccinated to unvaccinated populations at the time of statement ‘this is a pandemic of the unvaccinated ‘. (Date Range for Record Search: From 1/1/2020 To 11/30/2023)”
    Needless to say my request went completely unanswered.

  31. Jason Boxman

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

    No surprise, and Ebay does not care. They make money regardless, as they do on pirated ebooks. I never did get my money back. Made money:

    – Indian fraudster
    – Ebay
    – Credit card processor

    No surprise my appeal was rejected within minutes. Opened dispute with credit card, but hurricane has complicated communications, so might not be able to attend to that process.

  32. more news

    https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1841412692524814628
    🇺🇸🇷🇺 “Trump will win”, Two prank calls on Pompeo!

    🌍 In the name of an African politician:
    0:50 Russia is getting emboldened to move into other places like South Africa
    1:40 Taiwan is under propaganda pressure by China
    2:49 Russia Ukranian war will go one for year, if Ukraine can’t deeps strike
    3:30 Ukraine can’t join EU and NATO? Russia needs to be pulled back into Europe, away from China
    5:21 Trump is going to win
    6:29 Pompeo has a stake in Ukranian companies and is running a bank now
    6:59 Ukraine can join the EU, NATO is more complicated
    7:47 New York Times is a rag now

    🇺🇦Second call in the name of Poroshenko:
    9:40 Ukraine has trouble with loans and budget
    10:30 I hope you can strike deep into Russia, but there’s no case to win
    11:22 EU help is not enough
    12:26 Javelin supply by Pompeo
    13:36 not an inch to Russia policy, is not physically possible to achieve
    14:48 Pompeo like the new Ukranian church
    17:34 Belarus is a threat

  33. John Beech

    Too late for anybody to see it, or care but what this Boeing strike is really about is the union was screwed out of their pension, and executive pay went up. Nobody has forgotten, and taking away their health insurance is a bad look.

    If I were negotiating, instead of 77% raise, it would be 1/2 the board seats, 100% pay raise over the next 5-years, and return of the pension – or – go ahead and wipe out common stock shareholders and declare bankruptcy because we’re not coming back.

    Why? Because I’m from the south where ill as a rattlesnake means something. I have union customers and when I speak to these guys, my sense is the union membership is fed up with being squeezed and isn’t backing down.

    1. Keith Newman

      @John Beech at 6:36 pm
      “Too late for anybody to see it, or care…”
      I just read your comment John!
      Thx for the insight.

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