Lessons From Lucy Sapiens
Aztec Death Whistle Was Designed to Haunt the Mind, Brain Scans Confirm ZME Science
Private equity: vampire capital Michael Roberts’ Blog
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 arrives with a “full digital twin” of Earth Ars Technica
Climate/Environment
NYC issues first drought warning in over 20 years after record rainless streak NBC News
Water
NYU scientists create crystals to extract water from air without using energy Interesting Engineering
The Great Mediterranean Drain: How 70% of Its Water Vanished in a Geological Crisis SciTech Daily
When Rome’s fountains run dry The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists
Pandemics
A California child tested positive for bird flu. Here’s why this case is different Cal Matters
California agriculture faces significant losses as avian flu outbreak spreads. ‘It’s a mess’ Fresno Bee
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COVID-19 winter surge expected to hit marginalized communities hardest, experts warn Copper Courier
China?
Taiwan, U.S. sign NT$10.7 billion deal for Air Force, Navy equipment Focus Taiwan
U.S. report suggests NATO Plus arms status for Taiwan TVBS Taiwan
Denial Without Disaster—Keeping a U.S.-China Conflict over Taiwan Under the Nuclear Threshold RAND
Old Blighty
British PM Starmer is taking a short break from supporting a genocide in Palestine, escalating a proxy war in Ukraine and arresting British people for mean tweets, to lecture China on human rights pic.twitter.com/yJnqEzHfPX
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) November 19, 2024
DWP admits winter fuel payment cuts will plunge tens of thousands of pensioners into poverty Big Issue
The Lucky Country
McBride Speaks From Prison at Australia’s Top Press Award Event Consortium News
European Disunion
The German army takes steps toward economic militarization Harici
Experts question Euro countries’ scare tactics hyping Russia threat Responsible Statecraft
New Taurus missile proposal for Ukraine will be set for Bundestag vote Euromaidan Press
Von der Leyen eyes major reshuffle to boost control over EU budget Politico
Syraqistan
WATCH: Israel is using facial recognition technology to organize how it conducts mass arrests and forcible displacement in Gaza. Some Palestinians say the technology is also being used to carry out field executions. pic.twitter.com/HDeQgElJez
— Mondoweiss (@Mondoweiss) November 19, 2024
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Netanyahu Offers $5 Million Reward to Any Palestinians Who Free Israeli Hostages Asharq Al-Awsat
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Turkish strikes in Syria cut water to one million people BBC
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Yemeni Ansurullah Strikes Turkish Bulk Carrier Supplying Cargo to Israel Military Watch
Carrier USS Abraham Lincoln Leaves Middle East, Vinson Carrier Strike Group Deploys USNI News
The Houthis Are In ‘Panic Mode’: The F-35C Has Gone Into Battle The National Interest
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Israel Finds Large Troves of Russian Arms in Hezbollah’s Hands WSJ
Russia boosts presence near Israeli-occupied Golan Heights to help Syria ‘prevent escalations’ The Cradle
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine fires 8 ATACMS missiles at warehouse in Bryansk Oblast, Russia shoots down only 2 Ukrainska Pravda
Kiev fires ATACMS missiles at Russia’s Bryansk Region – MOD RT. MOD says five of six shot down.
US embassy in Kyiv shutters after ‘significant’ air attack threat Euronews
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Our Sixty Days of Nuclear Chicken Have Begun Matt Taibbi, Racket News
Note On US Launch of Long-Range Missiles into Russia The Journal of Belligerent Pontification
What happens now, after the Ukraine’s ATACMS strike on an arms storage site in Bryansk oblast, Russian Federation? Gilbert Doctorow
Putin Signs Russia’s New Nuclear Doctrine As the US Crosses the Red Line Larry Johnson, Sonar21
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Ukraine Needs More Missiles to Take Full Advantage of New Biden Policy Foundation for Defense of Democracies
A Trump peace deal needs European boots on the ground to secure Ukraine, Estonia says Politico
Biden approves anti-personnel mines for Ukraine, US official says Channel News Asia
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Russia arrests German citizen on sabotage charges — reports Deutsche Welle
Germany says ‘sabotage’ presumed in damaged Baltic Sea telecom cables Al Jazeera
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Poll: over 50% of Ukrainians support an end to the war ASAP Responsible Statecraft
The Caucasus
EU to send mission to Georgia to investigate electoral fraud OC Media
Georgian opposition reclaims protest site Bne Intellinews
Leader of Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia resigns after protest deal AFP
South of the Border
Venezuela Condemns Erik Prince’s Involvement in Attacks on PDVSA Oil Facilities Orinoco Tribune
Spook Country
CIA Democrats and Other Party Hawks Win Races in 2024 Election Covert Action Magazine
Biden Administration
Biden’s AI Spying Rules Are A Last Gift of Power To Trump Forever Wars
Biden got Trump out of a Ukraine jam Asia Times
BIDEN MUSES THAT HE COULD BE SENT TO SPACE TO RESCUE STRANDED ASTRONAUTS Futurism
Astronauts found to process some tasks slower in space, but no signs of permanent cognitive decline Phys.org
Trump Transition
How the stock market could be last guardrails to corral Trump’s wildest whims The Independent
Trump and Allies Plot Cuts to Medicaid, Food Stamps to Fund Tax Cuts for Wealthy Truthout
Trump Taps Dr. Oz to Run CMS MedPage Today
Trump plans to nominate billionaire buddy Howard Lutnick as Commerce secretary Minnesota Reformer
Trump picks former WWE executive Linda McMahon for education secretary The Guardian
Wall Street isn’t panicking with ‘known entity’ Jay Clayton as new top cop Yahoo! Finance
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The Promise of Trump’s Realist China Grand Strategy American Conservative
Hyperglobalisation, Big Government & Three Systemic Challenges System Change
2024 Aftermath
Is Trump 2 the End of ‘Neoliberal Order Breakdown Syndrome’? The Northern Star
Hate and harassment towards women spreads after Trump’s election Copper Courier
Democrats en déshabillé
DNC union blasts Dems for laying off workers without severance on one-day’s notice: ‘Betrayal of party values’ New York Post
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Data privacy experts predict some wins under Trump 2.0 The Record
Imperial Collapse Watch
Privatizing the VA: The Unseen Costs to Veterans and Taxpayers Alike HEALTH CARE un-covered
Ukraine, Middle East wars depleting US air defence stocks — US admiral TRT World
AMERICA’S LAST CHANCE WITH THE GLOBAL SOUTH Foreign Affairs
This is SO telling and absolutely hilarious.
As everyone knows, China funded and built a new $3.5 billion megaport in Peru which was inaugurated 3 days ago.
Blinken, in an obvious attempt to show that the US wouldn’t be outdone, announced the next day that “the United States… https://t.co/PY5Tb2dkEr
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 18, 2024
Our Famously Free Press
NY Times killed investigation of Israeli hooligans, internal email reveals The Electronic Intifada
Supply Chain
The U.S. Chinese immigrants running Temu shipping centers from their homes Rest of World
Class Warfare
No raise for California’s minimum wage workers. Voters reject Prop. 32 Cal Matters
Revisiting Religion in the Struggle for Workplace Justice The Saint Louis University Law Journal
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Netanyahu Offers $5 Million Reward to Any Palestinians Who Free Israeli Hostages”
This is what you do when you don’t give a rat’s but want to look like you are doing something for all those people protesting about the hostages. And I would reckon that any Palestinian who helps free any hostages would more likely get a bullet than a reward.
Where is Antony Blinken?
Remember back in June when cease-fire talks were “inside the 10-yard line?”
That Lucy plays a mean defense!
(Oh, wait, I meant Bibi … I must be getting early onset Alzheimers.)
Sports Desk:
Stung by Josh Allen’s epic 4th and 2 thunder run for a game-clinching TD, the Kansas City Chiefs have hired Benjamin Netanyahu as a defensive consultant.
Netanyahu’s resume includes successfully defending Antony Blinken from scoring a hostage release deal for over 5 months.
Hoo-ooh
Oh-oh
Mm-mm
Antony works in the diplomacy store
Savin’ his cease fires for someday
Bibi left a note on the door
He said, “Sonny, sell out your country”
Ah, but workin’ too hard can give you
A heart attack (ack, ack, ack, ack, ack)
You oughta know by now (you oughta know by now)
Who needs per diems when you don’t do anything
Is that what you get for your money?
And it seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Bollocks, if that’s movin’ up
Then he’s movin’ out
Mmm, he’s movin’ out, mmm-hmm
Ooh-ooh, uh-huh, mmm
the IDF is walkin’ the beat
At night they become Golem tenders
They work at Mister Netanyahu’s
Down on the Gaza strip
Gonna blow up a medical center
And they’re tradin’ in a Merkava for a new line of attack (ac, ac, ac, ac, ac)
You oughta know by now (you oughta know by now)
And if they can’t drive them back
At least they can polish their genocide handiwork
And it seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Bollocks, if that’s movin’ up
Then he’s movin’ out
Mmm, he’s movin’ out (oh, oh)
Ooh-ooh, oh-oh, uh-huh, mmm
You should never argue with a crazy mind (mi-, mi-, mi-, mi-, mi-)
You oughta know by now (you oughta know by now)
You can play Uncle Sam with the Zionists over time
Is that all you get for your money
And if that’s what you have in mind
Yeah, if that’s what you’re all about
Good luck movin’ up
‘Cause He’s moving out
Mmm, He’s movin’ out, mmm-hmm
Ooh-ooh, uh-huh, mmm
He’s movin’ out
Movin’ Out (Anthony’s Song), by Billy Joel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJtL8vWNZ4o
Ha, nice effort there. I think Antony will be movin’ out of the State Dept, if he hasn’t already.
Who in the world would believe such an offer? Ridiculous.
I see Starmer’s vast and inspiring rhetorical skills were on display at the G20, leaving Xi cowering from his boots upwards. All in defence of human rights within Chinese territory. What a guy!!! Starmer really knows all about that from A to B. Just ask Julian Assange.
It was just the other day that Xi tore strips off Biden and his two-faced behaviour. To have someone like Keir Starmer try to dress him down was just downright insulting and it is only a matter of time until Xi will remind him what a great record that the UK has under Starmer’s leadership in the matter of human rights.
From The Grayzone:
Leaks expose secret British military cell plotting to ‘keep Ukraine fighting’
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/11/16/uk-plot-keep-ukraine-fighting/
Opening para:
Leaked files show top UK military figures conspired to carry out the Kerch bridge bombing, covertly train “Gladio”-style stay-behind forces in Ukraine, and groom the British public for a drop in living standards caused by the proxy war against Russia.
(my emphasis)
Lol, the newest placard from the DNC, “I Starve With Ukraine”.
As Julian Assange said, these endless wars are not designed to be won, they are designed to go on as long as possible to suck as much money as possible out of most of the country and funnel that wealth upward. War is a profit center.
Need to catch up and stay up to speed…more equipment and supplies to stock and / or restock means a quarterly earnings beat for the Raytheon corps of the MIC complex…\sarc
I did like the ending paragraph from the Belligerent Pontification article. The closing thoughts with point 2 really seems to illustrate well what is, or it really seems to be, occurring in DC…”…cloistered.. functionaries making these decisions…”. And to add, well that Biden is most certainly almost gone, in a very real figurative sense.
Julian, utube, ~2+ minutes.
“The goal is to have an endless war, not a successful war.” | Julian Assange’s Interview 8.10.2011
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDx2O-mzP64
“Venezuela Condemns Erik Prince’s Involvement in Attacks on PDVSA Oil Facilities”
I wonder if this is all part of Biden’s plan to leave Trump with a basket of crabs to deal with when he becomes President in two months time. Cause trouble all around the world and then retire into comfort. And this is Biden’s lame duck presidency. So SecState Blinken has just ramped up tensions by saying that the US recognizes Edmundo González Urrutia as Venezuelan ‘president-elect’. This is that old guy who is the puppet for María Corina Machado and who did a runner to Spain as soon as the election was called-
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/19/venezuelan-president-elect-edmundo-gonzalez-urrutia
I guess that Venezuelan ‘president-elect’ Juan Greedo, errr, Guaidó was unavailable for comment.
Incorrect, Mr. Kev. It is I, midtownwageslave, who is the one true president-elect of Venezuela.
Back when that idiot Juan Greedo came on the scene and the Collective West was saying that he was the actual president of Venezuela, I changed my handle to Prime Minister Rev Kev for a comment and said that by the same logic I had made myself the Prime Minister for Oz but the State Department didn’t give me any money so it didn’t work. Cheap b*******.
Heading for a recount, PA race for US Senate. Or rather the recount is already begun, apologies if this was previously covered.
https://www.wgal.com/article/pennsylvania-us-senate-race-casey-vs-mccormick-recount/62948477
https://www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/news/recount-allegheny-county-bob-casey-dave-mccormick-breakdown/
“Yemeni Ansurullah Strikes Turkish Bulk Carrier Supplying Cargo to Israel”
Well that can’t be right. It was only about a week ago that Erdogan was saying that Turkiye was cutting off all ties with Israel (though that did not include the oil transit fees that his family is pocketing)-
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241114-erdogan-turkiye-severed-all-ties-with-israel/
So maybe this was Ansurullah telling Erdogan that they can see what he is doing.
There was discussion of Matt Stoller’s article “On the Democratic Party’s Cult of Powerlessness” but I only read it today and it’s so good it deserves another link anyway. There’s a lot in there that ties together very nicely but I just wanted to share one thought. Starmer’s government (that came to power because the right wing divided its votes) is the purest expression of this powerlessness. Starmer and the party have made clear for some years that when they take over they can’t fix anything. They will do what the Tories did but will less obvious incompetence, corruption, and embarrassment. They all but confessed to powerlessness in their election manifesto. They are being all Law & Order but that’s not, as Stoller puts it, really doing anything.
This seems like a good time to re=post a story from last week.
Seymour Hersh, public excerpt:
THE ACCUSATIONS THAT COULD BRING BIBI DOWN
It’s a story out of the tabloids of the 1920s
https://seymourhersh.substack.com/p/the-accusations-that-could-bring
Prop 32 – Minimum wage
I voted no for the simple reason that I’ve seen it all before in the California initiative process, where there are hidden nuggets in the proposition that are not revealed until the law is in force.
As noted in the article, the increase was already made irrelevant by an existing wage law that is cola-tied and of much larger wages already won by union bargaining. I was afraid that this law would remove the cola indexing as I had seen and heard no assurances from the Yes campaign that it would remain. So it got a No from me.
NY Times killed investigation of Israeli hooligans, internal email reveals , color me unsurprised.
In this article there’s an embedded video by Bender, a teenage Dutch journalist, who gives me some hope for the future. It’s well worth a watch.
Those foldable wingtips (not to mention the stronger tailhook) will surely make Houthis shake in their sandals.
Alex
I did a thing has an Aztec death whistle. If you need ideas for having fun around the house.
For whatever reason, my flighty dog was unmoved by the sound files in the article and disturbed by the teakettle.
“The Houthis Are In ‘Panic Mode’: The F-35C Has Gone Into Battle”
But what happens if the Russians give them an upgrade so that they can shoot F-35s down? I have lost track of how many multi-million dollar Reaper drones that they have shot down already.
Im not sure if that bold eagle just landed on the Bear’s patch of land, or is about to GTFO.
I imagine that even that bad-ass eagle is well aware that bears don’t care, so I’m going with GTFO.