The Bear Necessities of Larceny: Californians Arrested for Fraudulently Staging Bear Rampage Jonathan Turley
Immaculately Preserved Saber-Tooth Cat Cub Found in Siberian Permafrost Gizmodo
Three days with the true believers who won’t let Bigfoot die FT
Climate
Oil sector lobbyists the forth largest delegation at COP29 climate summit BBE Intellinews
Dispatches From the COP29 Climate Talks in Baku Exposed by CMD
* * * To Protect Vast Expanses of Ocean Beyond All National Boundaries, 60 Nations Must Ratify the Treaty of the High Seas Inside Climate News
Syndemics
California DPH Reports First Known U.S. Case of Emerging Mpox Strain Avian Flu Diary
Emily Oster and raw milk Closed Form
Nursing aides plagued by PTSD after ‘nightmare’ COVID conditions, with little help NPR
China?
Readout of President Joe Biden’s Meeting with President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China The White House
At APEC 2024, Chinese leader Xi tells Biden he’s ‘ready to work’ with Trump Al Jazeers
Attempt to block economic cooperation is nothing but ‘backpedaling’: China’s Xi Anadolu Agency
Globalization without America? CGTN
* * * New Details on China’s Powerful Hypersonic Glide Vehicle with Drone and Bomb Submunitions Military Watch
How Beijing flipped the South China Sea game with a single island South China Morning Post
* * *
What’s behind some Southeast Asia countries’ push to join BRICS and will Trump’s win be a catalyst? Channel News Asia
Far From Home: Through choppy seas and porous land borders, migrant workers risk it all to enter Malaysia. Why? Channel News Asia
India
A day in the life of a New Delhi roadside barber Al Jazeera
Why it is so difficult to walk in Indian cities BBC
If All the World Were Paper: A History of Writing in Hindi Asian Review of Books
How Big Toilet Paper dupes us all Vox
Syraqistan
Israel grants gas exploration license in areas considered to be within Palestine’s maritime boundary Anadolu Agency. Handy map:
Israel gives exploration licenses for natural gas in locations that are considered to be within Palestine's maritime boundary in preparation for 'occupying' these areas
Concerns raised over potential violation of international law and humanitarian consequences… pic.twitter.com/lAhQKoiPCZ
— Anadolu English (@anadoluagency) February 15, 2024
* * * What have Trump administration nominees said about Israel and its wars? Al Jazeera
Trump’s ‘pro-Israel’ Appointees Are the Worst of Our Enemies Haaretz
* * * US envoy Hochstein expected in Israel after Lebanon visit for cease-fire efforts Anadolu Agency
Lebanon considers cease-fire plan while Israel launches new strikes The Hill
Hezbollah rebuilds resistance as national unity prevails, for now Middle East Eye
* * * Reports claim Houthis make Red Sea vessel attacks a $2B business Freight Waves
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine may reconsider nuclear weapons if NATO membership is denied, says military expert Euromaidan Press
Russia pounds Ukraine’s power grid in ‘massive’ air strike Reuters
* * * Is Ukraine becoming a kleptocracy? Unherd
Corruption looms over Ukraine’s massive reconstruction effort France24
* * * Zelenksyy hopes Ukraine war will end in 2025 through diplomacy not fighting Euronews
Elon Musk mocks Zelenskyy’s insistence that Ukraine cannot be forced to “sit and listen” Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy switches rhetorical tack from victory to resistance BNE Intellinews
* * * Russia’s War Economy Is Hitting Its Limits Foreign Policy
Trump Transition
Trump names fracking executive Chris Wright energy secretary BBC
* * * Jay Bhattacharya, an NIH critic, emerges as a top candidate to lead the agency WaPo
Elon Musk backs Howard Lutnick as agent for ‘change’ at US Treasury FT
* * * Undocumented migrants hope Trump mass deportations only ‘for criminals’ BBC
Biden Administration
U.S Department of Commerce finalizes $6.6 billion CHIPS Act funding for TSMC Fab 21 Arizona site Tom’s Hardware
2024 Post Mortem
A Graveyard of Bad Election Narratives Symbolic Capital(ism)
Liberals speak a different language FT
The boys in our liberal school are different now that Trump has won Guardian
Digital Watch
The Great Migration to Bluesky Gives Me Hope for the Future of the Internet 404 Media
Bluesky and enshittification Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Zeitgeist Watch
The Overwhelming Noise Makoism
We have a dangerous blur: Philip K. Dick’s cult essay about false realities is as relevant as ever. Literary Hub
The Final Frontier
Where did the universe’s magnetic fields come from? Space.com
Imperial Collapse Watch
How America Lost the Arctic The National Interest
Guillotine Watch
Versailles’s Legendary Salon de Diane Is Getting a Lavish Restoration Artnet
Class Warfare
“Everyone loses”: Report Finds that Minnesota Workers Lose Billions of Dollars Annually Due to Payroll Fraud Workday Magazine
The Seeds of Social Revolution: Extreme Wealth Inequality Charles Hugh Smith
Social Theory for the Mid-21st Century: Part II. From -73000 to 2055: Malthusian Poverty to Modern Economic Growth Brad DeLong, Grasping Reality
“Here I Gather All the Friends” Public Domain Review. The deck: “Machiavelli and the Emergence of the Private Study.”
Antidote du jour (Rhododendrites):
Bonus antidote, via alert reader WE:
WE writes: “Here’s a shot from a friend who took in a hurricane refugee and her dogs. The trio, normally very rambunctious, turned into model guests during their stay. Sensible, given the likely emergencies to come.”
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Elon Musk mocks Zelenskyy’s insistence that Ukraine cannot be forced to “sit and listen””
Putin always measures his thoughts and speeches when making a public announcement and which befits his position and dignity as head of state. But it seems that when the Russians want to make a hard, sarcastic comment, then out comes Dmitry Medvedev with his biting attacks. Wouldn’t it be something if this happened with Trump and Musk and with Musk playing the part of Russia’s Dmitry Medvedev like here.
Kinda like this?
https://x.com/panoparker/status/1318157559266762752?lang=en
And this?
https://www.linnean.org/news/2019/07/01/1st-july-2019-why-there-was-no-darwins-bulldog
They’ve probably pegged the HMS Prince of Wales for mothballing.
But won’t somebody please think of those unemployed admirals?
The whole point of the UK squandering so many resources on those two carriers was so that they could be seen as “useful” to Washington. It had nothing to do with defending the UK. That article did not say so but if the UK carriers are so vulnerable to modern weaponry, then the same must be true of those US carriers as well.
I don’t know how vulnerable US Navy aircraft carriers are to modern “threats”, but each one is surrounded by Aegis air and missile defenses.
The USS Abraham Lincoln, nuclear power aircraft carrier, spent most of its USCENTCOM deployment east of the Sea of Oman, “safe” distance from the Red Sea, and well outside the Persian Gulf.
UK would need US Navy defensive support for its aircraft carriers.
If it were reliable?
Carriers are vulnerable to subs and in recent times US carriers have been “sunk” by submarines from Sweden, France, Australia and the UK – at least. Of course Washington cracks down on reports of these incidents whenever they can because it is not supposed to happen. Here is just one example-
https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/4500000000-nuclear-navy-aircraft-carrier-sunk-100000000-diesel-sub-209727
And it was not that many years ago when a Chinese submarine surfaced in the middle of a US carrier task force.
British carriers are all the more vulnerable because their propulsion systems keep breaking down — requiring those huge ships to be towed back to port. They have reportedly spent more time in the dockyards for repairs than sailing.
A high probability to be left dead in the water in the middle of a battle not because of enemy action but because of faulty design and construction, may also have led to the on-going reassessment of naval priorities.
The basic idea is the carriers can extend force protectionwhile staying out of the fight. The basic problem is “cheap” missiles have ranges longer than the force projection of the carriers.
In short, it doesn’t matter how effective the carrier missile defense because there won’t be enough against the adversaries we’ve helped create. A damaged runway on a carrier can’t simply be repaired.
It’s not cool, but switching to drones might increase the practical nature of the carriers instead of planes depending on the ability to communicate with the drones.
“HMS Prince of Wales”
I thought she was sunk by the Japanese.
Now I’m getting confused who might be using euphemisms ;)
There have been many HMS Prince of Wales.
Japanese air action sank the Battleship HMS Prince of Wales 10 Dec 1941.
Earlier in WW II Prince of Wales had engaged Bismarck in a battle which saw both damaged and Prince of Wales withdrew from action.
Re-read an amazing book from 1945 on vacay, titled ‘100 Best True Stories of World War Two’, and some of the tales are beyond belief, such as the CBS reporter Cecil Brown in Singapore, who is drinking snappy cocktails in the Raffles bar with other reporters, when an English commander asks if he’d like to accompany the HMS Prince of Wales & HMS Repulse which are headed out ASAP, and he’s on the latter as it sinks and barely escapes with his life and oh what a story.
https://medium.com/@tenormail26/cecil-brown-sinking-of-the-prince-of-wales-and-repulse-1b3fbe31a4bc
better link for charles hugh smith:
https://oftwominds.com/blog.html
“Three days with the true believers who won’t let Bigfoot die” FT
I had no idea Bigfoot was in such critical condition. I hope he gets better.
Bigfoot’s pronouns are “they, them”, according to my private conversation with one Charlie Saskwatch, trans-dimensional being. Incidentally, trans-dimensionality is why no bigfoot bodies have ever been found.
Are you saying the whole lot of them is in danger a dying off without a trace….. except for their lasting memories?
Its a grievous loss.
Next you’ll be telling me that UFO’s are trans-dimensional.
Are you saying that befriending Bigfoot might get me off this stupid timeline? I’m hoping there’s a tutorial video out there.
“Why it is so difficult to walk in Indian cities”
When I visit Mumbai, I try to stay within walking distance of my business, and I look forward to half-planned walks that can stretch out several hours on my days off. These would be far less enjoyable if I had to use the kind of sterile footpaths apparently favored by BBC writers, who even think of hawkers as “obstacles” instead of as community.
Yes indeed. Indian cities are fantastic places to walk if you just mind your surroundings. Bring a camera or your phone because there’s always going to be something interesting to see. And your appetite because there will be chaat and chai walas and who knows what else! Jai Hind.
‘Anadolu English
@anadoluagency
Israel gives exploration licenses for natural gas in locations that are considered to be within Palestine’s maritime boundary in preparation for ‘occupying’ these areas
Concerns raised over potential violation of international law and humanitarian consequences http://v.aa.com.tr/3138367‘
Israel was always going to try to do this. It was a side benefit of the ongoing genocide in Gaza that they would be able to steal those gas fields and auction them off to create a revenue stream to pay for their present military operations. But at the rate that the bill for this war is clocking up, it will take decades to pay back using these gas fields. Assuming that they were never, ever attacked by groups with modern weaponry that is.
The Israelis had been eyeing those offshore fields for a long time; now the opportunity has come to lay their hands on that precious resource.
And by the way: assuming Israel conquers Gaza and empties it of its inhabitants, building a gas terminal, pipelines connecting them to the Israeli network, and a dock for the ships servicing the offshore platforms, will be the only infrastructure that will ever be built after the genocide is over.
Gaza is a gigantic heap of ruins full of unexploded ordnance; roads have been excavated away; three quarters of agricultural land are gone; the infrastructure required to sustain a (modern) life has been systematically bombarded or blown up.
Underground water, which was already heavily polluted, is now probably totally unusable — rotting corpses, burnt out synthetic materials, nasty chemicals from explosives, and the seawater used by Israeli forces to flood tunnels will leach into it for years.
That devastation will not be transformed into a flourishing region with seaside marinas, spacious villas with a magnificent view on the Mediterranean, and prosperous agricultural operations. There will be no new settlements in Gaza. There is no money, no resources, no will for that. Who would pay for that anyway? Definitely not Israel. Not Europe (with its economy fast degrading), nor the USA (too many demands on the budget for foreign causes already). Not Russia (rebuilding the Donbass). Not China (devoting its attention to BRI). Even Saudi Arabia, under massively more favourable conditions, is not managing to have its NEOM project get really off the ground. Those prospective settlers who are buying plots at those (illegal) auctions in the USA or elsewhere are just being swindled.
Gaza will be reduced to the staging area of a single-sector colonial extractive operation with no regards to sustaining life for a local population. I can even imagine that once the offshore fields are depleted, Israel just fences and abandons the whole place.
re: “We have a dangerous blur: Philip K. Dick’s cult essay about false realities is as relevant as ever.”
Since Dick´s conclusions are beyond dispute, which almost everyone will agree with (i.e. non-NC readers too), then it should be obvious that Western talking points and perception of the wars going on are all not under foreign manipulation but manipulation by our own elites and governments (otherwise it would suggest our governments and media have lost total control which is no serious argument). Which eventually needs to lead to some serious questioning about what is said and done right now in the West. Questioning done not by NC readers but the RoW – Rest of the West.
Re: BlueSky
The name is perfectly awesome – as in a Bush II/Obama era law – Patriot Act or HIPPA or Affordable Care Act OR possibly even a CIA psyop.
I had several of my friends decide they were going to migrate there a few months ago – medical friends basically. What was found was that the far left censorship, shaming, scolding, etc was even worse there than it used to be at pre-Elon Musk Twitter. Thankfully, no one had built up a following there and had all their hours of work ruined, like the Doctorow piece suggests. It was an interesting experiment for us, but a total failure.
It was censorship and moral scolding and virtue signaling times 10. We were trying to have medical discussions – only to have our threads hijacked with the loony censors. I personally was turned into the Blue Sky thought police for a comment in a thread about cholesterol levels having little to do with things the medical establishment purports like eggs. There is no obvious crowd checking of facts like there is on Twitter – only the MSNBC/PMC narratives and whatever they are that day.
Since censorship and moral scolding are the bane of social media and our nation’s mental health, I am not a big fan of BlueSky. Again, it reminded me of the absolute nightmare that Twitter had become during the COVID pandemic and the rollouts of the vaccines.
It also fills me with dread as a Democrat that all the liberals and left are now migrating there – to inhabit their own wonderful echo chamber. What could possibly go wrong?
Whatever the members of my group think about Elon Musk – and there are some serious well-deserved negative vibes in a lot of people, we are all back on Twitter now – where we belong – where free and open dialog can occur – and minimal moral scolding and censoring around every corner.
It’s reassuring to know the utopian projects from team blue are going about as well as those libertarian fantasy-land attempts at building new cities with no rules or laws in poor, Central American countries.
IM Doc, your comment made me think of this recent clip from Bill Maher’s show
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtCK-dMb-F8
Blue Sky? I was reminded of the lyrics for Blue Skies-
https://www.streetdirectory.com/lyricadvisor/song/ppceaj/blue_skies/
I made the mistake of clicking on that link from theguardian about how “the boys in our liberal school act differently now”.
Yikes, that paper seems to be drowning in a world of its own melancholy and existential dread. The grip on reality is tenuous, at best. Have they had a look at any of the stats from exit polling? Even young women moved toward trump as compared to the 2020 results. The same was true across every demographic cross section of American society except rich, white, educated people. They all moved toward trump to varying degrees.
This isn’t a ‘male’ problem. We’re not going to learn anything if we keep assuming and insisting it is. But, maybe we aren’t trying to learn?!?!?
Most of the Guardian is self satisfied/wallowing trash these days. At least readers of the Sun were once self aware enough to call it “the comic”.
One of the last “proper” editorials the Guardian penned was this last piece recently. He still doesn’t “get it” completely but he’s closer than the vast majority of his colleagues.
I count 2 writers left who I respect.
‘Here’s a shot from a friend who took in a hurricane refugee and her dogs. The trio, normally very rambunctious, turned into model guests during their stay.’
Somehow just looking at that photo makes me feel relaxed. It must be the eyes. Respect to WE’s friend for stepping up to the plate in a time of need.
The LitHub article about Philip K. Dick’s essay does not link to it directly, but one can get a copy for free from philipdick.com.
Re: Trump’s ‘pro-Israel’ Appointees Are the Worst of Our Enemies
At a conference he key-noted, I heard Gideon Levy flesh out his recent essay, but nearly a decade in advance of it. Throughout, I wondered why we couldn’t have more journalists, and politicians, with Levy’s salt.
Here’s a video of his speech, approximately 21 minutes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGO3eBxQX7Q
Here’s a transcript.
https://www.israellobbyus.org/transcripts/4.2Gideon_Levy2.htm
The man can turn a phrase, and pitch it like a knuckleball.
How America Lost the Arctic
We melted it.
The authoress Dr. Elizabeth Buchanan – a senior fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute – seemed to have missed a very important data point. It was only back in 2018 that the US re-established the U.S. 2nd Fleet who would oversee not only the North Atlantic but also the Arctic as well up to the North Pole. And more recently they had military exercises in the Arctic like Operation Nanook where such Arctic exercises had not been done in decades. Doesn’t sound like they are ready to give up the Arctic. That articles also says that over 50 percent of the Arctic coastline is Russian territory. The fun and games begin when the US 2nd Fleet tries to stage Freedom of Navigation exercises along the Russian coastline.
That last part sounds like a mismatch. Have we remembered how to build a competent icebreaker?
“Reports claim Houthis make Red Sea vessel attacks a $2B business”
Hey, those drones and missiles aren’t going to pay for themselves you know. They’re not a charity.
The raw milk article jogged my memory. I’ll try to keep this short.
There’s another process raw milk is put through before it becomes commercial milk. This process is not public knowledge today but it was a big deal in the 1950s. I just googled homogenization and was told it is a process of forcing milk under high pressure through tiny holes. Why? To break up fat molecules to suspend the cream in the milk to save the consumer the little bit of energy it took to turn their milk bottle upside down for half a minute.
I found out the real reason when I was a reporter for an agricultural magazine 40 years ago and researching a story about milk. When farmers began using machines to milk cows big time in the 1950s the machines caused infections in their udders. The cow immune systems produced white cells (somatic) to fight the infections. Too much infection kills the cow.
Dead white cells piled up in the bottom of consumer milk bottles forming piles of pus on the bottoms of the bottles. Back then I spoke with a university scientist who told me the dairy industry introduced homogenization to suspend that pus into the milk so people couldn’t see it.
Today cows are still infected — all of them in commercial dairies — and their milk is tested for somatic cells and if the count is above a certain level, the milk is rejected.
Might there be a connection between these dead white cells and viri such as avian flu floating together in commercial milk? Might pasteurization and homogenization be working against each other in some adverse way?
Here is a good project for some enterprising young reporter.
Israeli bombing right next to Beirut’s International Airport :
https://x.com/sahouraxo/status/1857115550213636601
I guess what I’m really looking forward to with Trump version 2.0 is the return of Space Force and those sappy uniforms they wear, which we really didn’t hear or see much of during Genocide Joe’s term in office-which could have been dangerous, what if somebody attacked us in space, ether and/or?