Dear patient readers,
I hope you can provide input on some iPhone anomalies.
1. I bought a Faraday bag for my phone since I have long known that switching it to Airplane Mode and then off is still less than perfect protection. However, I just got a text beep while the phone was in the Faraday bag (Airplane Mode off) and properly sealed. I was worried that a Faraday bag would not work as advertised and I managed to buy a Faraday fail.
How do I get a reliable Faraday bag? They are get good reviews so it’s not as if I can verify them that way.
2. I have also had the phone get texts when in Airplane Mode (this was Bolt with what they considered to be an urgent matter). I verified that it was in Airplane Mode yet a second text arrived very shortly thereafter. I read later that this could happen if you have WiFi calling turned on but I never can be bothered so it is always off. So this was a creepy anomaly, sort of like Bolt breaking into my phone.
Newly identified chemical in drinking water is likely in many homes and could be toxic, study finds NBC
The Apotheosis of Lord Nelson Big Serge
Jordan Peterson’s prophecies New Statesman (Anthony L)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Fugaku demonstrates the effectiveness of mask wearing and good ventilation in buildings Bill Mitchell
Climate/Environment
Does Space Need Environmentalists? Nomea (Anthony L)
Five firms in plastic pollution alliance ‘made 1,000 times more plastic than they cleaned up’ Guardian (Paul R)
A call for EPA action on climate risks to hazardous waste facilities The New Lede
Great Lakes’ water temperatures are very warm for November, still 60 degrees on one lake MLive (Carla R)
Economist Makes the Case For Slow Level 1 EV Charging CleanTechnica
China?
This video is a must-watch. I rarely agree with @brhodes but he's 100% correct here.
He says he'll "always be haunted" by a comment that Xi Jinping made to Obama in 2016 when referring to Trump: "If an immature leader throws the world into chaos, the world will know who to… pic.twitter.com/DyKNQw1aPq
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) November 22, 2024
Brazil Finds Chinese Ally in Its Feud with Elon Musk Bloomberg. Vikas S: “The Great Game in space.”
“China is a threat to Europe’s security” Tagesschau via machine translation (guurst)
Suspected China-linked hack on US telecoms worst in nation’s history, senator says Reuters
Baidu’s Supercheap Robotaxis Should Scare the Hell Out of the US The Verge
North Korea Closes the Door on New Negotiations Daniel Larison
South of the Border
Brazil’s former president Jair Bolsonaro charged with plotting coup d’état Guardian
European Disunion
Europe Is Gaslighting Itself About Its Energy Woes Bloomberg
French PM Barnier faces no-confidence threat from far right Le Monde
Bosch plans to cut thousands of jobs in Germany Tagesschau via machine translation (guurst)
Volkswagen workers head towards strikes from December France24
Sweden’s Northvolt files for bankruptcy, in blow to Europe’s EV ambitions EurActiv
Serbian opposition leader arrested during blockade of historic Belgrade bridge Intellinews
Old Blighty
£500m defence cuts as ships, drones and helicopters scrapped BBC
Winter fuel payments cut makes sense, Starmer says BBC (Kevin W)
Israel v. the Axis of Resistance
Unbearable 💔 https://t.co/RviC5NXCeR
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) November 21, 2024
Medical teams in Gaza are fighting an intense battle against bacteria that no longer respond to most antibiotics. It has become nearly impossible for any wound to escape infection, despite doctors’ relentless efforts. The conditions are dire—no proper sterilization, no sufficient… https://t.co/uo81SPvph3
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) November 21, 2024
International and local doctors operating in northern Gaza hospitals have found cube-like structures, which are made of tungsten and built into weapons designed to explode and cause maximum damage to the victims. pic.twitter.com/C4v7tVUk2X
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) November 20, 2024
* * * Stolen By a Map: The Haunting History of Lebanon’s Lost Villages Public Source (guurst)
* * * Col. Larry Wilkerson: Israel’s Total Defeat, Netanyahu’s Arrest Warrant – Russia Goes Hypersonic Dialogue Works. Wilkerson is always worth a listen and he has a VERY key fact here. I had an argument over my earlier recollection that Wilkerson had estimates wounded in action in Lebanon (as in JUST Lebanon) at 4,000. A reader disputed that. Starting at 21:20, using a fresh Haaretz report that the IDF deaths in Lebanon have now reached 800 and using our killed in action v. wounded in action ratio from Afghanistan and Iraq (as in with access to good field hospitals; Israel is sure to have better access to actual hospitals) of 1:11 and 1:12, the wounded in action in Lebanon has to be at least 8,000, which is massive for Israel.
Israel and Silkwood: Like the JFK and RFK Assassinations, Is the Israel Connection Again Being Avoided? Sam Husseini. Opening para:
Ramy Abdu of Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor, reports: “After arrest warrants for war criminals Netanyahu & Gallant, Israeli forces escalated mass killings of civilians in Gaza. At least 9 massacres were documented.”
Washington’s Disgraceful Reaction to the ICC Warrants Daniel Larison
Did pro-Israel cash affect Senate votes on Israel arms sales? Sam Semler. This may seem like a “Is water wet?” issue but still useful to have data.
Syraqistan
Deadliest ever Israeli attacks in Syria kill scores of Iran-linked fighters – monitor Iran International
Clashes between Damascus forces and ISIS in eastern Homs countryside ANHA
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin warns West: You’re pushing us towards a world war The Times
US and European Officials Discussed Giving Ukraine Nuclear Weapons Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Vladimir Putin met with the leadership of the Russian Ministry of Defense and representatives of the defense industry complex. Key points:
The tests of the "Oreshnik" system were reported as successful, and further testing will continue.
A stockpile of such systems is already…
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Russia Puts US Base In Poland On Priority List For “Potential Elimination” NDTV
From Poland’s ‘iron dome’ to boots on the ground: How Europe is preparing for a Third World War Independent
Deputy army chief says UK troops ready to ‘fight tonight’ amid rising tension in Ukraine war Anadolu Agency. As Scott Ritter has pointed out, you could seat the entire UK army in a single football stadium and still have empty places.
* * * South Korea says Russia sent North Korea missiles in exchange for troops Aljazeera. So let me get this straight….Russia was running out of missiles, so it had to get more from North Korea. But now Russia, with roughly a million men in its army and is still having more enlist, needs men instead and has a surplus of missiles?
Russian weapons are a hit seller Marat Khairullin. As we predicted.
Exclusive: Trump’s NATO pick Matt Whitaker’s surprising take on Russia seizing Crimea resurfaces as Putin threatens WWIII Daily Mail (Li)
Imperial Collapse Watch
World’s conflict zones increased by two-thirds in past three years, report reveals Guardian
What is “the West”? Stefan Heeb (Anthony )
Trump 2.0
Trump picks Scott Bessent as Treasury secretary Financial Times
Trump Once Disavowed Project 2025. Now He’s Hiring People Who Worked on It Bloomberg
Angry Young Men for Trump London Review of Books (Anthony L)
* * * From IM Doc via e-mail:
It had to happen sooner or later – the level of freak out in these patients has just been something to behold. It appeared to be getting better.
Then today happened –
XX year old woman was found dead in her deceased mother’s home in New York City. GSW to the throat.
Suicide letter written – She could not live in a country controlled by Trump. And not only that – she did it in NYC because she did not want to exit the Earth in a Red State – and did not want to give a Red State the privilege of being her site of exit.
The coroner employee I talked to had a very heavy accent – but he said this was either #15 or #18 – I could not quite make it out.
Immigration
When you have an open border and an influx of people coming over illegally by the millions, we can’t have companies incentivizing this criminal behavior by offering jobs for cheap labor. It’s not fair to those looking for employment or to our law enforcement, local hospitals and… pic.twitter.com/M4NwW7bPIk
— AG Todd Rokita (@AGToddRokita) November 20, 2024
Trump immigration crackdown: Denaturalization just a drop in the bucket The Hill
Our No Longer Free Press
G20’s Online Speech Clampdown Calls Set To Ignite Free Speech Fears Reclaim the Net (Micael T)
The most entertaining outcome, especially if ironic, is most likely 😂 https://t.co/YX2EznXfoF
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 22, 2024
Why X’s new terms of service are driving some users to leave Elon Musk’s platform CNBC
Mr. Market
Strong dollar set to hit emerging market bonds, warn investors Financial Times
Class Warfare
Enslaved on OnlyFans: Women describe lives of isolation, torment and sexual servitude Reuters (Paul R)
Sex workers need the police to do better, not more openDemocracy
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus. This looks like an annoyed beg:
bro is drinking water using hopes and dreams pic.twitter.com/bK9GZRc76G
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) November 22, 2024
A second bonus:
— Doglover (@puppiesDoglover) November 21, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Simple faraday bag test: 1) put phone in a bag. Try to call it from another phone. If it rings, fail.
2. Wear Bluetooth headphones or buds and Olay music from the phone. Put phone in bag. If music continues, fail.
I have a very old filmsafe lead-lined bag and it works great. Message app on the iPhone doesn’t use SMS unless you only have a cellular connection. So if you enabled Wi-Fi but had it in airplane mode, you can still get a text.
Radiation does not pass a closed conductor envelope (which is what a Faraday bag really is). So no cellular, no Wifi, no light should pass.
Your leadlined bag seems like the real thing. Or an old-fashioned tin can.
One may cheat: a metal mesh will filter out certain frequencies, but not all (eg light still passes), so you never know what gets through.
The message apps can add do also use the Internet over Wi-Fi. Iiuc airplane mode turns off only the cellular network.
The Faraday bag may not be working. I’ll try to think of an easy empirical test for you.
Find an app that you can use to reliably use to make notification sound on your phone, e.g. WhatsApp, Telegram, Signal, FB idk by sending a message from a separate account you logged in to on your computer. Turn in airplane mode. Test the Faraday bag by comparing it with a) the phone in no enclosure (the baseline), and b) the phone in a cocktail shaker or similar (metal cookie tin, fridge).
When I looked into Faraday bags for phones a few years ago I was not very convinced. I ended up not using one. But we keep car keys in a Faraday box at home after some weird stuff happened in our car parked on the street.
Yes, I noted I was aware of that and I did not have WiFi enabled. I never enable Internet over WiFi except when using the phone as a hotspot (basically never since I have a freestanding hotspot that I use when my regular service is down and it works very well).
Surely a bad Faraday bag has to be the partial explanation. Snowden kept his phone in the microwave (no really) so a cheap microwave oven and just make sure you don’t plug it in (kidding?).
I recently was given an iPad and if Location is turned on then it knows where I am even if the radios are turned off. It does this by comparing nearby wifi beacons (the signal they send while unconnected) to a database of known beacon names. Funnily the iPad thinks I live next door where the neighbors have a strong and longstandingly named network. Should the black helicopters show up they will have the wrong house.
Apple corp is at least more upfront about how this works and supposedly if you turn off Location as well as the radios it won’t work. As for texts…???
A Faraday bag greatly attenuates cell signal, it isn’t perfect blocking. Texting doesn’t take much signal compared to a phone call. I would try double bagging the phone.
Exactly, also different bag materials/constructions may be better at blocking different frequencies (wifi vs cellular vs bluetooth). And depending on how the bag closes it may leak signal. An ungrounded Faraday cage merely attenuates the signal, it does not block it. So material thickness matters.
You can buy conductive fabric and thread that’s better than the materials used in most of these, or if you really want to be sure, have someone build a small box using welded copper sheets and connect it to an independent ground rod. Just make sure there are no gaps. Box closure should have tight contact between unpainted/unsealed surfaces.
That tests the cell network and the Bluetooth but we also need to test the WiFi.
Yes but stores here won’t let me test them and the one that failed was an Internet order on a model that had gotten good reviews. So I am looking for a recommendation.
I did research a couple of years ago when I was looking for something for my car key (I know, better to have a plain key!)…the information I found was that fabric-based bags may work initially but usually eventually fail (whether because the metal fibers bend and eventually break or seaming issues from use) and that I would be better off with some kind of rigid box (and indeed some of these are manufactured for purpose). But I never ended up buying anything myself and I don’t remember whether I was convinced that the box’s closure would be impenetrable.
Decades-old memories of E&M instruction suggests to me that for time-varying electromagnetic fields, the shielding cannot be perfect, and the shielding effect can be expected to be worse for higher-frequency radiation.
I have no experience of this for shielding phones, but if you can find bags with accurately measured attenuation ratings, this would permit comparisons among bags.
It might be that nesting two or more highly-rated (by “rated”, I mean “measured signal attenuation”, not “user feedback”) bags, oriented such that the closures of the bags point in opposite directions, would increase the EM quietness in the interior of the innermost bag.
This isn’t a recommendation of “make/model”, but it may provide a procedure for comparing options.
Cookie tins work fine. Buy butter cookies for Xmas in metal tin, get free Faraday cage.
Re the Doglover video. As has been often said – we don’t deserve our dogs.
Re: iPhone, my understanding is that despite what the iOS UI indicates, Airplane mode is not immediate but may take 20-30 seconds to go into effect. So, you could switch to Airplane mode, the iPhone shows you that icon, and then 15 seconds later you receive a message, because in fact it wasn’t yet shut down when the message came in.
Next, Airplane mode does not disable WiFi, and that network operates at different frequencies. Is the Faraday bag designed for the cellular network, as well as the three different bands (2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz) that iPhone WiFi could use?
If you have WiFi enabled and your iPhone is set to automatically connect to a network, you can receive text messages — even in Airplane mode. I assume(?) you’re using iMessage, in which case messages in a blue bubble mean they are usual iMessages which can come via WiFi. If the messages are in a green bubble, that means they are sent via MMS/SMS.
I have never tried using a Faraday bag, but if I were to do so, I would get an app like Opensignal and empirically test signal strength with the phone inside the bag.
Also, for use with a Faraday bag, even if it works, I would still make sure to turn off everything (cell+WiFi+Bluetooth) and ensure all networks are really off, because otherwise the iPhone will step up to the highest transmission power to try and “get through” the artificial interference presented by the Faraday bag (something similar happens inside a car), and this will cause the phone to heat up and also run down the battery.
Thanks but this was not in 15 seconds. I barely use my phone and it is nearly always turned off. I was disconcerted to hear the text noise and double checked that it Airplane Mode was ALREADY ON when I received the text, as in pulled it out of my purse to see WTF was going on. Then a few minutes later with my not having changed the settings on the phone, a second text from Bolt came in.
OK, how about WiFi? I believe it is not a matter of the WiFi Calling setting under Phone settings, but the general top-level Wi-Fi setting, which must be completely off.
Yes, I never have that on. I don’t even know where the second setting you are talking about lives.
On an iPhone, it’s Settings>WiFi. It is right below Airplane Mode, which is the very first setting and so impossible to miss.
If I were crafty, and I couldn’t connect to a device I’d already corrupted, I’d have it periodically ‘deliver’ messages, encouraging you to reveal it while you check. Would have the added effect of defeating your faith in the Faraday solution as well, though that is worth measuring (a simple process, per the above…). I’m sure others have conducted more scientific tests somewhere on the internets for your model bag.
If it has a processor, and you don’t have a team of people actively running security, assume it is compromised.
That’s a nice theory but the Bolt texts were genuine. They thought I had a safety problem based on making a complaint, so we had some back and forth.
Intercept. Delay. Crafty. Alternately there could have been some delay caused by the phone software itself… just a bug that caused the alert to engage long after the message was already received. iOS eg. has a feature that silences specific types of notifications, and aggregates and delivers them all at once at a scheduled time, typically daily.
Yves, where were you when it happened? And were other people nearby? Wondering if a high powered cellular transmitter was nearby, or alternatively if some signal was leaking and other nearby cellphones were acting as carrier. Also, is the inside of the bag lined with plastic or some material that keeps the phone from being in contact with the metal of the faraday cage? I’m wondering about wear and tear too. This is a very interesting topic, actually, would be informative if we could learn what’s going on here.
oh god
how does jordan petersen get called “serious”?
He is a quack. He has a “truth”……yeah right. He is looking for a paycheck.
Once he goes into the complete fiction of Moses, and other stories from religions who have literally made up stories for thousands of years; he ceases to be anything anyone can call informed.
there was no moses
there is no reality to the divinity of jesus
These are just stories people made up, and have been making up for a long time.The only real story of religion, is that people have been making it up, and people have been believing it forever. Too bad AS a group they don’t have one story, but tens of stories, all conflicting with each other…
so your god “of the universe” is here in this valley, and their “god of the universe”, is from this side of the mountains….
I mean really
Calling him a quack is a disservice to quacks. His idea is that talking in long, convoluted sentences using obscure verbiage makes one look smart and that if he spews 15 tons of bullshit a minute nobody will call him on it. He also has severe mental illness that is probably made worse by his media exposure.
He is one of the what I like to call Gish Gallop righties, him, Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Dave Rubin, Stephen Crowder, etc. It’s the Rush Limbaugh school of debating, talk fast, be loud and opinion trumps facts.
Your list of names suggests a political bias but I see this kind of addiction to media attention from all types. I’d rather not name names because I think we can all identify these people even if we are sympathetic to what they might say.
With the way media is working these days it’s common that these people have to fill a relentless schedule of videos, tweets, etc. So there’s a structural incentive towards bs.
Being mostly incoherent, Peterson, of course, fails to raise to the level of intellectual lightweight. I find it endlessly funny that people find his styling (clothing, hair, striking poses and of course everything about his voice) sufficient to turn his nonsense into deep meaning for his audience. Does Rogan still have him on regularly?
Re: Jordan Peterson
About two years ago my Youtube recommendations were jam-packed with his videos and I had never even heard of him. I am still baffled as to how my internet, Youtube history or personal life (other than being a SWM) triggered the algorithm to feed those videos. My cynical view is that is Exhibit A for big tech driving culture war issues.
I think you do a disservice to humanity, by denying virtue in storytelling. History is Chinese Telephone writ large. I won’t defend Peterson, or the Bible specifically, but I don’t consider my intellect so superior as to negate the lessons such tellings may impart. That they are employed by the wicked is a concern, but is not the matter.
I agree. I’m an overly educated recovering evangelical Christian so I have little time for any litteral interpretation of the Bible. However, I appreciate much of what Jordan has to say because I view his approach as one of being overwhelmed by the needs of humanity. How do you address the psychological suffering of humanity on a large scale? That he goes the route of Bible stories is, for me, secondary to the fact that I think he’s desperately trying to help people. I might judge his efforts as imperfect but I still see substantive value. For instance, Peterson’s observation that mental health is less about what’s inside the brain and more about the environment we place ourselves in has great value .
So , you think someone spouting Fiction as fact, while promoting a political “silo-ization”, based on fairytales of both spiritual nature and current events, while wanting to be thought of as “conservative”…. is somehow helping?
As what, A foil to an actual thoughtful person?
I don’t think I am discounting the telling of stories in any way.
Like I said before, the history is the stories, and that people believed them, and wrote other stories.
The reality is that ALL these stories were made up, woven of bits and pieces of actual memory, and wholly made up” inspiration”. The editors over the millennia, have included human frailties, traits, expectations, etc.
The fact that people are storytellers, never really excuses anyone in the 21st century to tell, or in any way promote these stories as “facts” upon which to base one’s opinions.
What does intelligence have to do with it? Even my muddled intellect can tell BS… is just that; BS.
Does that mean blame Obama for getting Trump elected? I couldn’t understand who he meant with any certainty.
I agree on that. Many Chaos agents afoot around the round world.
Xi could be cryptic, implying that there are more immature, chaotic leaders in the US. From action over the past 8 years, it is hard to disagree. See for example, the Ukie missile and mine ongoing episodes, induced theoretically, from that 82-year old claiming to still be President. Who is pulling the strings on those DC kids?
Some of those DC kids have come up with some really bright ideas. Such as-
‘Several officials even suggested that Mr. Biden could return nuclear weapons to Ukraine that were taken from it after the fall of the Soviet Union.’
https://news.antiwar.com/2024/11/22/report-us-and-european-officials-discussed-giving-ukraine-nuclear-weapons/
Because nothing guarantees peace more that Nazis with Nukes.
I took it as just another way of saying “thanks, Obama.”
“North Korea Closes the Door on New Negotiations”
I can understand the North Koreans doing this. In any negotiation with the US it always come down to one demand – get rid of your nukes. But North Korea saw what happened to countries that do that and I recall John Bolton boasting that this was the plan. However things have changed a lot since Trump left office four years ago. They are no longer isolated and are now making deals with the Russians which will help with their relations with China. The days of North Korea experiencing famines and mass starvation because of western sanctions and UN mandates are coming to an end. Their military is getting an upgrade which will secure them from attack and with their vast mineral wealth & now markets opening up for them, this country may start to experience a mediocum of prosperity. I’m not saying that they are on the path to BRICS membership but it could happen in the years to come. So in any negotiaions with the US, what could the US possibly offer them? And in return for what exactly? You will know that things have really changed between the US and NK when the US declares that the North Korean war is now officially ended and is a done deal. Then real negotiations can start.
Everybody already knows that the US and its Western puppets are not agreement capable. Even if the US offered them substantive concessions for some reason, it can retract it next week just because.
I find myself wondering if the fates of RoK and DPRK will reverse again (by some indicators, DPRK had the more advanced economy until about 1980) in the coming decades. DPRK will be doing booming trade with Russia and China, while RoK may find itself geographically and politically isolated in East Asia. It’s functionally Taiwan except with worse weather and having a DMZ as a border instead of the Taiwan Strait.
There was actually a deal in place back in the 90s and it seemed to be a good one. But then the US reneged on their end of the deal and when Bush came in he branded North Korea as part of the Axis of Evil and that was that-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agreed_Framework
“China is a threat to Europe’s security”
“China has already posed a threat to the European security architecture through its trade and financial flows with Russia. In 2023, bilateral trade between the two countries reached a record high of $240 billion, an increase of more than 26 percent compared to 2022.
“This shows that China’s exports to Russia are replacing goods from Europe and other sanctioned partners. China was an economic lifeline for Moscow. This already made China a security threat to us.”
The EU and the US place economic sanctions on Russia in order to damage it’s economy. Russia looks for alternative sources for the goods it needs. It means that, not just China, but all those countries acting as suppliers to the sanctioned economy are threats to Europe’s security, presumably because the EU economies are in crisis because they they were foolish enough to choose to prevent the natural flow of goods and services berween Russia, which is now thriving, and the members of the EU, most of which are not. Life, as the man said, is like a shit sandwich, the more bread you’ve got , the least shit you eat. Russia eats bread. The EU eats shit.
But then freedom is just another word for the right to make stupid choices and al the boo-hoo-hooing in the world will not change that fact.
But Russia respects the EU’s right to make that choice and it unlikely that this choice can now be easily unmade.
Europe has become a backwater where the blind have been able to lead the bland for far longer than is healthy, and the bland are becoming noticeably less so, and have become deeply aware of the intellectual, financial and productive capacities of the the individual economies and the EU’s antics only make the problem worse for the citizens of the member states.
Situation in Serbia is much more interesting than the linked article implies. The main point of contention s not the bridge in Belgrade or the prior lithium mine issues. A few weeks ago the glass and metal awning on the train station in Serbia’s second largest city of Novi Sad collapsed, killing 15 people so far (few more are in critical condition).
This was a brand new awning that was installed earlier in the year during the major reconstruction of the station’s main building and, despite it being a government project, all work was done without any construction permits, reviews or oversight. The cause of failure was the insane behavior of the construction company which basically removed all structural support for the awning to save money, literally attaching the multi-ton structure to the building facade with some bolts.
This produced a massive backlash, protests and strikes. Serbian president is in a panic mode and throwing his closest associates under the bus. Two long time cabinet members have been arrested in addition do a couple of dozen lower level federal and city officials. More arrests are expected.
The crux of the crisis is that the presidential elections are in March, and current president is at his term limit. That means that he will have to run one of his cronies for the position, which may be trouble. As the pressure in the country has been building for a couple of years, the presidential election may blow the whole country up and cause a violent overthrow of the current regime. Peaceful transition is not an option at this point.
So US and EU may find themselves with an interesting dilemma next year. They are both strong supporters of the current regime despite its pro-Russian leanings, mostly because when push comes to shove Serbian government reliably acquiesces to whatever their demands are. New government may not be as accommodating, especially on key issues for EU (lithium) or US (Kosovo).
“Deputy army chief says UK troops ready to ‘fight tonight’ amid rising tension in Ukraine war”
If the UK went to war in the Ukraine, they would not be able to generate much of a force. Maybe two infantry brigades and a tank brigade from what I hear. And there is zero evidence that the Russians would ever invade eastern Europe or even the Baltic states. They don’t need or want them and their focus remains on threats on their own borders. But I have heard that there are some British officers who are really gung-ho for a fight with the Russians and when you look back at the course of this war, the British are often present or are planning attacks such as the ones on the Kersh bridge or sub drone attacks on the Russians. And it was admitted that you had the British SAS running around the Ukraine as well. The British establishment are rabidly anti-Russian and this appears to be happening with many officers in the British military as well. So maybe it is just as well that there is not a huge British military or else the temptation would be to use them in the Ukraine.
UK troops are ready to fight tonight, the whole night. In the morning they would be done.
Put the kettle on?
The British want to be the loudest in the Poodle Barking Show.
The Poodle Barking Show, not to be confused with the Chihuahua Barking Show, where Baltic breeds traditionally dominate the podium.
Thank you, Rev.
The British army is struggling to field a brigade and has not given NATO HQ an idea of when and defined what constitutes a brigade. To be fair, most NATO members are in that mess. The army can only field one armoured regiment, 40 or 50 odd vehicles.
The air force and navy are little better, unable to field more than one air squadron and not even a carrier group.
When the carrier QE2 went around the world a couple of years ago, it was little reported that the aircraft and pilots were from the US and most, but not all, escort ships from NATO allies. When the British escorts broke down in the tropical waters they are not designed for, fisheries protection vessels were sent in replacement.
There was a reason why Boris Johnson suggested sending all the RAF’s strike aircraft to Ukraine. There’s nothing they can do for the UK.
Twice in 2022, at NATO committees, the UK was asked to stand down, i.e. stop posturing, and rebuild, but it was too embarrassing to do so.
>South Korea says Russia sent North Korea missiles in exchange for troops Aljazeera. So let me get this straight….Russia was running out of missiles, so it had to get more from North Korea. But now Russia, with roughly a million men in its army and is still having more enlist, needs men instead and has a surplus of missiles?
I know this is from Aljazeera but as to the legacy MSM in the US, it baffles me( though I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer), how they will sit there and cry about how they are not trusted all while claiming to be guardians of the TRUTH, while really being nothing more than stenographers for the DOD/MIC/think tanks, and not realize that the internet now gives up options to receive news from ALL around the world and from different points of view and perspectives. Plus the ability to easily look back at their reporting. No reflecting on their BS?
Remember these blasts from the past?
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/05/11/russia-sanctions-effect-military/
https://www.businessinsider.com/us-says-russia-using-chips-from-dishwashers-in-tanks-sanctions-2022-5
Actually just two weeks ago
https://theweek.com/briefing/1013495/why-the-russian-army-just-isnt-very-good
How about this story from a day or so ago-
‘Russia needs a peace deal soon as it is running out of soldiers’
https://theconversation.com/russia-needs-a-peace-deal-soon-as-it-is-running-out-of-soldiers-244305
Exactly. From the article Mr. Rev Kev,
>For Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump’s win couldn’t come soon enough. Putin may reportedly accept a deal where Moscow gains significant territory in Ukraine (about the size of the US state of Virginia) and Ukraine remains neutral and forgets about any plans to join Nato or the EU.
I’m surprised the author didn’t mention that along with Trump, having Putin lackey Tulsi Gabbard in charge of DNI being a plus fro Putin as well.
I wonder how these Russian hating warmongers explain away the photos of the massive increases in size of military cemeteries in Ukraine over the last couple of years.
I believe Simplicious had it but could be wrong.
Interestingly, google increase in Ukraine military cemeteries and the hits come back with the increase in Russian military cemeteries.
Well, the professor who wrote that nice piece did use “academic rigour” to select only information available in western MSM to build her argument. It is a quality example of The Narrative that allows the support for the war to continue.
Of course, she’s is right in saying that peace is in Russia’s interest. Maybe, as an academic, she some day will do research to find out if the war itself was in Russia’s interest, and what was done to avoid it and by whom…
What I liked best about that headline was the barter. What’s the rate on DPRK soldiers to RF missiles?
After witnessing a year of Biden backed genocide in Gaza and Biden backed liquidation of the entire Ukrainian male population, I have zero compassion to spare for TDS fools.
It could be normalcy bias but I just don’t pay attention to the sabre-rattling anymore. Global capital is not going to risk the real estate market and push the buttons.
So RU has a new IRBM. Who cares.
I’m pretty sure Capital learned its lesson after WW2: keep conflicts local and cash flow global.
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/attorney-general-todd-rokita-investigating-suspected-human-labor-trafficking-at-indiana-companies-tyson-foods-logansport/531-cf0834d0-6b0f-46e4-a5a1-caab680da1bb
“What we suspect is that businesses, in conjunction with nonprofit entities, are incentivizing, acting like magnets for these illegal aliens as they come over the border to place them in low paying work or otherwise engage in labor trafficking,” said Rokita. (What nonsense….)
Our fine AG in Indiana is already starting….and using an obscure law to do it too
Even sending document requests to catholic non-profits
Rokita is a rare beacon of hope, and should be joined by so many other State AGs. How soon will the latter join in?
What are readers seeing in their states?
LONDON
A senior official in the British army said Thursday that his troops are ready to fight if asked amid rising tensions in Russia’s war against Ukraine.
“If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight,” deputy chief of the UK Defense Staff Rob Magowan said at a defense committee session in the House of Commons.
The British establishment either believes, and is just too stupid to realise how unrealistic this assessment is, or it is lying for lying’s sake. Talk to people shopping, or listen to pub gossip, or just WharsApp a few friends, and it is obvious that ordinary folk have less rosy view of reality and will not take kindly to being forced to put British boots on the ground in a war against Russia, particularlywhen Russia has a deep technological edge and can strike any city, town, military establishment or administrative or political centre at will. We already have too many unfilled potholes in our streets and roads. And the spilling of British blood is not a price worth paying to get a few thousand more.
That is reminiscent of the French general staff asserting, just before the 1870 war against Prussia broke out, that they were so ready that not a single button was lacking from the gaiters of their soldiers.
Meanwhile, as a linked article above discusses, “The UK will save £500m by scrapping old military equipment early, the defence secretary has announced, despite a warning that the UK faces increasing global threats.”
Besides, what the UK Defence Staff stated:
“If the British Army was asked to fight tonight, it would fight tonight”
means exactly what it states: the British army would fight tonight, but nothing is said about continuing the fight tomorrow morning…
About a year or so ago I heard that they only had enough ammo for about five days of fighting. And since then I bet that even more of those stocks have been shipped to the Ukraine. This is what you get when you have champagne ambitions on a beer budget.
Inflation there, too. Now budgeting cask ales.
Thank you, Rev. That’s correct. I love your characterisation. It’s on the money.
The idea that you can just leave your car overnight at public charging stations without a queue where each person takes three hours just makes absolutely no sense to me logistically, at least for anyone living in anything like a city.
A prior rough example is those rent-a-bikes in Paris, where demand and supply were mismatched. Bikes returned in tourist destinations, out of desperation, to be parked just near their little racks. What kept those from being, uh, requisitioned?
The car charging stations might meet some modeled average demand. What happens when you really need that charged car to get to a job, the hospital or wherever, and the stations are full or out of order? Or when some politician hogs stations for some event, as happened in the US. A new type of event risk.
What a relief that Mayo Pete has all that charging station budget available. /s
re:
Newly identified chemical in drinking water is likely in many homes and could be toxic, study find- NBC
“The newly identified substance, named “chloronitramide anion,” is produced when water is treated with chloramine, a chemical formed by mixing chlorine and ammonia. Chloramine is often used to kill viruses and bacteria in municipal water treatment systems.
(my emphasis)
Mixing chlorine and ammonia is in normal circumstances very dangerous.
“In case you didn’t learn while growing up, mixing bleach and ammonia can kill you. When combined, these two common cleaning agents produce a chemical reaction that releases toxic fumes capable of anything from a sore throat to unconsciousness and death.
….
“Mixing chlorine bleach with ammonia creates a chemical reaction that can be deadly. Sodium hypochlorite is the active ingredient in chlorine bleach. When it mixes with ammonia, chloramine gas is released into the air.
” chloramine gas can be toxic and lead to death by chemical pneumonitis. Chemical pneumonitis is inflammation that occurs when a person inhales material that is toxic to the lungs.”
https://www.verywellhealth.com/mixing-bleach-and-ammonia-1298711
Maybe the tap watered is safe when treated with this new compound. Maybe not. Glad it’s being investigated.
One of the persons asked about how long it would take to determine the level and kind of toxicity of that substance and then to regulate it stated that “It’s a lot — probably a decade of research once a funding source is found”.
Don’t hold your breath.
Thanks. I might get a water filter. / ;)
“French PM Barnier faces no-confidence threat from far right”
Going by memory here, wasn’t his party the one that scored the least in the last election in France. But then Macron turned around and made him Prime Minister anyway? If so, then he was always going to be in a weak position. And now he has to ask for a meeting with Marine Le Pen to save him. So, how did that anti-Marine Le Pen coalition of all the parties work out for them then?
Nothing new here, and it isn’t the Right who are putting down the no-confidence vote, it’s the “Left.”
Macron did what any President has to do, which is ask the person who is most likely to be able to form a government to do so. No other group would go into coalition with the “Left”, mainly because of Mélenchon, and no other group would go into coalition with Le Pen’s party the RN. So the only option was a respected figure at the end of his political career, who would be able to command a sizeable number of votes, and who would be tacitly supported by the RN. Barnier turned out to be the man, and his government will survive so long as the RN does not vote against it.
The “Left” have been talking about a vote of no confidence for some time. If they combined forces with the RN they could bring the government down (not that that would solve anything) but they refuse to talk to the RN, and act as if they don’t exist.
It would have been a tactically sensible move for Macron to asked let Lucie Castets to form a government on behalf of the “Left” which she would inevitably have failed to do, but he didn’t do that. Now the future of the government depends on the RN as it was always going to do. It’s the fault of the voters for voting the wrong way.
In re: the article about it being best to use Level I in charging your electric vehicle, the author left out the biggest advantage: Level I is gentler on the battery.
That is based on my six years experience driving a Nissan Leaf and then the Ariya and also it seemed to be the consensus on the Leaf blog site a couple years ago. Use Level I charging as much as possible and keep the battery between 30% and 80% charged and the battery will last longer.
Also, Level II is much cheaper to install if you don’t buy one of those thousand dollar kits advertised on Amazon. All you need is a weather-proof electrical box and receptacle from a good hardware store which cost about $50.
Musk buying MSNBC? Not going to happen. Sure, it would be fun watching all those heads explode at MSNBC but the numbers are not with Musk. I was reading an RT article about this and here are the guts of the article-
‘While it is unclear how much MSNBC’s assets are worth, the current market capitalization of the entire Comcast Corporation is $166 billion. Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, has a net worth estimated at around $314 billion. In October 2022, he purchased Twitter, now known as X, for $44 billion.’
With an ageing out audience, I doubt that MSNBC is worth $166 billion but regardless. However Musk had better be careful here. When he made noises about buying Twitter people were going nuts so then he started to back off. At that point he was threatened with lawsuits unless he actually bought Twitter which he did. But MSNBC? He would have to clean house like he did with Twitter and so may not need the hassle and distraction of having to do this as he has other businesses to tend to-
https://www.rt.com/news/608103-musk-msnbc-purchase/
MSNBC is being spun off from Comcast – along with multiple other cable channels. The Comcast Corporation itself is a huge media and cable and entertainment corporation. The entire thing is a market cap of 166 billion. These cable channels all together are a very small part of this entire corporation.
The cable channels being spun off – MSNBC CNBC GOLF SCIFI, etc – have been quoted as being worth a few billion at best – less than 10 billion for them all. I have read articles that since their ratings collapse since the election, their market value is cratering literally by the day. I think the spinoffs are certainly within his ability to purchase. I am not sure if they are being sold off one by one or the whole package – but the entire package is most certainly not 166 Billion –
That cratering of market value. Didn’t that also happen after Trump lost the 2020 election because the media lost their biggest money maker? Trump himself? With him being President again, you would reckon that their market value would increase because of all the news that he would generate.
But I live in hope that one day Rachel Maddow will find that Elon Musk is now her new boss.
The cable news shows did huge business after Trump 2016 largely because of Russia Russia Russia, pee tapes, and politicians like Adam Schiff coming on Rachel Maddow and stating – “I have evidence of treasonous behavior, but it is a total secret, I cannot reveal it” – then leading the audience on for years and never actually revealing anything but ultimately being revealed as a total fraud.
I think that these networks are probably even more aware than the public that their reputations are now destroyed and there will be no such luck this time with this kind of salacious tripe. Literally, the only people I know in my entire world who believe them now are what I would call the less than 20% who are cult members – and you just cannot run a network with that very limited audience.
I think the other big problem are off air clips like this from yesterday from their major on-air talent –
https://x.com/JeffnClownWorld/status/1860188318509727835
This is scary. It is leading to severe mental issues in the 20% or so who are still watching this stuff. It is a public menace. And yet nothing is being done to stop them from spewing this kind of stuff online. I am personally and professionally very concerned about this – I am seeing the results in the mental health of my patients. This cannot be good for the bottom line of these companies either. I also find it amazing that these people like Joy Reid are acting out like this – the paranoia of having family turn them in etc – when they were on air nightly spewing hate against the unvaxxed and applauding when the UNVAXXED WERE ACTUALLY BEING TURNED IN AND HAVING THEIR LIVES AND BUSINESSES DESTROYED. As is so often been the case in my life, bullies do not handle things well when the tables are turned.
This is not a formula for a successful media company. I will begin to take MSNBC’s humanity toward their fellow man AND their viewers seriously when people like Joy Reid are fired. But until then – they are going to crater in value. There is no other way.
> This is scary. It is leading to severe mental issues in the 20% or so who are still watching this stuff. It is a public menace. And yet nothing is being done to stop them from spewing this kind of stuff online.
Like what? And who’s job is it to police what Joy Reid is allowed to say online?
I know it’s scary and dangerous but I’m also into freedom of speech. So the best way to reduce the influence of Reid’s speech is to promote better narratives that crowd her’s out. I’m not the right person to suggest what that alternative message should be because I suspect people who inhabit the MSM political narrative would be disoriented by my view of how things work.
It seems a delusional yet fun bit of mental gymnastics. Musk needs to pay attention I’d presume to IDK, but Tesla, Starlink, SpaceX and the recent acquisition of X I wish to believe. And all those efficiency initiatives of course (\sarc) !
I’m guesstimating that these aforementioned channels are broadly a package deal….I did see the news drop this week on CNBC on the morning schedule.
If he bought the entire Comcast Corporation he would be getting more than just MSNBC. Besides all of NBCUniversal, the additional items would include one of the largest internet provider companies in America in Xfinity. IOW, RT is utterly misreading the situation.
MSNBC is easily one of the weakest and least performing aspects of the company, even if they throw in another cable channel in CNBC, it isn’t going to get into the 10 billion category. I haven’t been able to find the numbers but this is closer to Tom Hicks and Bill Abbott buying the cable channels Great American Country and Ride from Discovery+. (MSNBC might still be worth a little more than GAC but it has been hemorrhaging viewers for years. And since Hallmark is now regularly beating both MSNBC and CNN on weeknights with reruns during one of the biggest news cycles I couldn’t resist the comparison.)
Economist Makes the Case For Slow Level 1 EV Charging
Perhaps this is mentioned in the podcast itself, but it seems like it should be more prominent that a significant advantage of Level 1 charging is that vehicle batteries will last considerably longer if maintained with a gentler charging profile. (NC readers may have experienced already that super-fast charging degrades phone battery capacity over time relative to slower speeds.)
This advantage is not just theoretical in my household, we have charged our 2015 Nissan Leaf on 120 for its whole life and our 2017 Chevy Volt since buying it in 2021. Every time I chat with owners of similar models they’re amazed when I report that we’ve experienced almost no loss of range. I have yet to talk to anyone with a Level Two charger at home who hasn’t lost noticeable mileage capacity over years of use. And charging overnight makes speed largely irrelevant, so installing a Level Two is just an expensive way to prematurely age an EV’s batteries.
I blush to confess that despite knowing this perfectly well I succumbed to super-fast charging on my most recent Samsung Galaxy and triggered a feedback loop where now the battery doesn’t last a whole day under normal use and I “need” to pump juice into it quickly. Ah well!
Trump disavowed Project 2025, but is now hiring people who worked on it?
You mean Trump lied? Surely not.
Re IM Doc via e-mail. This is very sad this. There must be thousands or even maybe tens of thousands of such cases across the country over the past few weeks with even more to come. I suppose all those social media channels did not help by whipping up people into a frenzy over an election of all things. I don’t think that anybody will want to draw attention to any increase in suicide rates though, certainly not either party as it does not make them look good.
I’m a little confused as to how IM Doc is getting presumably non-public information (number of suicides in NYC due clearly to the election outcome) from a morgue employee–was the female suicide victim IM Doc describes a patient of his? I had thought IM Doc practiced in more bucolic settings than NYC.
Very good Big Serge on Nelson. We the once sailing ship obsessed know only some of this history.
And if I may plug a movie while at it, check out That Hamilton Woman next time it is on TCM. Olivier plays Nelson and his wife Vivien Leigh is Lady Emma.