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Links 12/24/2024

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A 20-year-old blind cat is rescued from an icy Massachusetts pond after some quick thinking Associated Press (Robin K)

Flat Earthers Went to Antarctica to Look at The Sun. Here’s What Happened ScienceAlert (Chuck L)

Violent superflares explode from sun-like stars every 100 years Space (Chuck L)

How the FDA allows secret ingredients into our food supply Los Angeles Times (Robin K)

The world’s oldest drinkable champagne BBC (Robin K)

Early cocaine use in Europe The Past (Chuck L)

Flu surges in Louisiana as health department barred from promoting flu shots ars technica (Paul R)

Climate/Environment

Some Countries Need Less Population Ian Welsh

Floods: An Impending Partisan Disaster The Lever

China?

U.S. Takes Aim at China’s Production of Essential Chips New York Times (Kevin W)

Many Americans have come to rely on Chinese-made drones. Now lawmakers want to ban them Associated Press

As China expands its cyber espionage and sabotage operations, how will the Trump administration respond? The Conversation (Kevin W)

Japan

Japan’s Bond Market Is Set to Absorb Biggest Supply in a Decade. Bloomberg

South of the Border

Mexico’s Dirty War, 50 Years Later CounterPunch (Robin K)

What’s Behind the New U.S. Military Base in Galapagos teleSUR (Robin K)

European Disunion

High Electricity Taxes Are Crippling European Industry OilPrice (Kevin W)

Germany: Magdeburg attack could shape upcoming elections DW

All eyes on PM Bayrou as France awaits fourth government in a year France24

Poland introduces mandatory firearms training for schoolchildren amid Russia threat EuroNews (Kevin W)

Old Blighty

UK economy stagnates as GDP figures revised down Guardian

Ministers have been accused of acting like “loan sharks” after a record £16 million was raised in fees from those paying child maintenance The Times

Why higher bills are not enough to defuse the debt bombs in Britain’s water sector Telegraph

Israel v. The Resistance

A Massive Database of Evidence, Compiled by a Historian, Documents Israel’s War Crimes in Gaza Haaretz (Dr. Kevin)

The Illegal War in Yemen Hasn’t Ended Daniel Larison

“We Just Do What the Israelis Want Us to Do” CounterPunch (Robin K)

New Not-So-Cold War

Russia threatening Europe with waves of migrants, Meloni warns Telegraph

Washington Insider: US Congressional Hearings on Corruption in Ukraine Are Coming Kyiv Post

Syraqistan

Israel’s growing aggression aims to undermine Syrian revolution, suppress people’s hopes: Turkish President Erdogan Anadolu Agency. So Erdogan throws down a gauntlet. On the one hand, Erdogan is typically all hat, no cattle. But on the other, the Kurds are a big big issue for him….

The Big Happening Big Serge

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Walmart Is Using Body Cams to Force Employees to Snitch on Shoplifters Vice. Help me. Yes, the excuse is to spy on shoppers and it will have the effect. But the real point is to prevent employee shoplifting.

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Case for Dismantling the Rules-Based International Order Glenn Diesen (Micael T)

Nine countries to become BRICS partners in 2025 – Kremlin RT (Kevin W)

The far-right is moving closer to the old dream of a ‘nationalist international’ El Pais

Another Democracy Fail Julian Macfarlane

Trump 2.0

Trump to revert US to only two genders RT (Kevin W)

The Joy is Gone: A Liberal Hate-Fest for the Holidays Jonathan Turley

Read the full Matt Gaetz Ethics Committee report The Hill

Biden

Biden’s death row commutations draws chorus of mixed reactions The Hill

As clock ticks down, Biden abandons student loan relief proposals he lauded USA Today

Former President Bill Clinton is in the hospital after developing a fever, spokesperson says CNN (Kevin W)

Man charged with murder after woman set on fire on F train in Brooklyn Gothamist

Sports Desk

When 2025 arrives, so will the end of the amateur athlete in college sports Associated Press (Robin K). My maternal grandfather went to college on a football scholarship….which he lost when he boxed professionally during the summer.

Mr. Market is Moody

Bond Traders Turn to 2025 Amid Most Agonizing Easing in Decades Bloomberg

AI

Million GPU clusters, gigawatts of power – the scale of AI defies logic The Register

This May Be The Last Christmas You Do Your Own Gift Shopping The Conversation (Chuck L)

US Fed floats major changes to bank stress tests in light of legal rulings Reuters (Kevin W)

The Bezzle

US government sues Walmart, Branch Messenger over delivery driver ‘junk fees’ Reuters (Kevin W)

Guillotine Watch

Six Questions for Brooke Harrington on the Utopian Dream of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel to Create a Broligarchy Where Billionaires Rule Like Pharaohs Ken Silverstein (Micael T)

UnitedHealthcare’s Decades-Long Fight to Block Reform Jacobin (Robin K)

Class Warfare

How Elites Betrayed Working People Batya Ungar Sargon, YouTube (Li)

Who Was Frances Perkins? Meet the Trailblazing Workers’ Rights Advocate Whose Homestead Just Became a National Monument Smithsonian Magazine (Chuck L)

Antidote du jour. Tracie H:

A more recent picture of one of the new gray kittens—. This is Buttons; so named for his big round eyes. (Sadly, the lighting was bad due to heavy clouds on the other side of the windows, so I had to use flash which lit the bag more than Buttons face.)
Take care–Happy Holidays!!!

And a bonus:

A second bonus. Chuck L adds:

One summer morning when I was about 8 years old I noticed an owl sitting atop the curtain rod above the windows overlooking the lake. My mother freaked out and had my dad chasing around the room trying to catch it in his fishing net. My sister opened the front door and the owl eventually flew out. It appeared to have entered the house shortly before dawn when my brother returned from his summer job on the night shift at the canning factory. He recalled noticing a fluttering sound and she opened the door.

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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78 comments

  2. AG

    via Doctorow

    “Robert Fico and the $500 million bribe from Zelensky

    https://gilbertdoctorow.com/2024/12/24/robert-fico-and-the-500-million-bribe-from-zelensky/

    In the past week, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico has been in a public exchange of insults with the Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Their dispute centered on Ukraine’s decision not to renew its gas transit agreement with Russia that expires in one week’s time, leaving Slovakia, Hungary and Austria without this vitally important gas supply. In the midst of this fracas, Fico let it be known that Zelensky had offered him a bribe of 500 million dollars to change his position on Ukraine’s application to join NATO and give it his backing.

    Information about the bribe has reached to mainstream. But, so far, I do not see any consideration of whom else Zelensky has been attempting to bribe to ensure support …and with greater success.”

    p.s. we might be seeing or hearing things, scandals that is, in 2025 we might not have imagined in 2024 are possible… with the sole reason to double down on Ukraine.

    Reply ↓
    1. .Tom

      Makes me wonder how much of the frozen Russian foreign currency reserve Zelensky has been authorized to distribute and how much he already did.

      Reply ↓
  4. The Rev Kev

    “What’s Behind the New U.S. Military Base in Galapagos”

    I’d say that it is the same reason that Trump has been talking about the Panama canal and Greenland – trade routes. The US wants to establish effective control of as many world trade routes as possible which down the track may lead them to boarding and even seizing ships of ships of nations that they do not like. Maybe they will establish “security zones” around these bases so that any ships require their permission to traverse. The Galapagos helps control any ships that go through this region.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      Apropos juxtaposition to the Glenn Diesen link on the case for dismantling international rules-based odor.
      Might makes right. Take it. Property rights for me, not for thee. Possession is 9/10ths…
      Sort of like Musk appropriating lower-earth orbit for star link, and not paying each of us a royalty for his use of our share.
      No Lives Matter. Well, a few lives matter waaaay more than most lives.

      Ho Ho Ho and Merrrrrrry Christmas! That’s The Spirit and the Reason for the Season!!

      https://youtu.be/jhjJ7lNffaM 3 minutes Nature’s Way RIP Randy
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhjJ7lNffaM

      Reply ↓
    2. ChrisFromGA

      Back in my school days ( a long time ago, when punk rock was a new thing) I remember learning about the imperialist policies of James Monroe, jingoism, and the yellow press. I guess it is true – there is nothing new under the sun.

      Sounds like preparation for divvying up the globe into “spheres of influence.” China and Russia better be preparing to stick together.

      Reply ↓
        1. ChrisFromGA

          That’s their fantasy land idea. They were likely very high on their own supply when they drafted it. Russia and China have other ideas.

          Reply ↓
        2. Cristobal

          Typical pentágono bullshit. They are under the misapprehensión that they are running the show. Nothing about the oligarchs that are calling the shots. There is money to be made, and the generals are, as smedley butler said, nothing more than high (sic) class musclemen.

          Reply ↓
      3. Wukchumni

        If you had a retail coin store in LA, you’d hope your yellow page advert would attract 70 year* olds, preferably those exhibiting ‘purse droop’… ‘oh my what did you bring in today?’

        (rubs hands together in a feverish motion resulting in 2nd degree burns before she’s even let in through the mantrap, er buzzer door)

        Inevitably there would be a 1923 Monroe Doctrine centennial commemorative half $ in the haul, as they were issued in LA for some obscure reasoning, and a good many got spent for face value during the Great Depression, so they were always in the same grade of extremely fine to almost uncirculated, and not worth too much.

        I always thought the reverse with a couple of fair maidens contorted just so representing North & South America… was quite artful~

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monroe_Doctrine_Centennial_half_dollar#/media/File:Monroe_Doctrine_Centennial_half_dollar_reverse.jpg

        * today’s 70 year old has some Bicentennial Quarters, a few 1957 Silver Certificate $ notes and nearly a roll of wheat back Cents they’re looking to sell.

        Reply ↓
        1. ChrisFromGA

          Sorry, can’t resist commenting on the psycho-sexual nature of that coin engraving … maybe it’s just me but the South Merican maiden on the bottom looks to me like she’s resisting the entreaties of the Gringa-maiden on top.

          Subliminal message:

          Leave me alone, you brutish Yankee!

          Reply ↓
    3. juno mas

      The Galapagos’ are 600 nm west of Ecuador’s coastline. Pretty isolated; for getting supplies to a military base. I guess any military personnel could ride out on the tourist ships. The island group is a world historic site and marine habitat reserve. No room for a naval/air port.

      Reply ↓
  5. Wukchumni

    With a little cheap high tech and some legal tenderness
    We’ll walk upon the water
    We’ll rise above the mess
    With a little money and some harmony of purpose on display
    We’ll make the world go round the cape
    We’ll take ’em by drone there-done that

    ‘Cause I’ve got a ban for you
    Oh, ’cause I wanna run you out

    Yesterday in the Red Sea, I saw you standing there
    Your guard was down, your watch wasn’t wary
    No harm had touched your lair
    I said “Get up, and let me see you smolder
    We’ll take it out together
    Wok the load a while, ’cause”

    I’ve got a ban for you (I’ve got a ban for you)
    I wanna run you out
    (Won’t you let me run you out, Bibi?)

    Bomb my land
    You want to bomb my land
    Bomb my land
    I’ll take you to a place where you can’t be
    Bomb my land
    Anything you wanna do because
    I wanna retaliate against you the best that
    The best that I can

    See, The war with the Saudis was the wasting time
    ‘Til I thought about your genocide problems, I thought about your crimes
    Then I stood up, and then I screamed aloud
    I don’t wanna be part of your problems
    Don’t wanna be part of your crowd, no

    I’ve got a ban for you (I’ve got a ban for you)
    I wanna run you out
    (Won’t you let me run you out, Bibi?)

    Hold My Hand, by Hootie and the Blowfish

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APz2f_COwV8

    Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    ‘Zlatti71
    @Zlatti_71
    “What fool would give us free gas?”
    Zelensky also offered Fico 500 million euros from Russian assets in exchange for Slovakia’s vote for Ukraine’s membership in NATO.’

    The interesting bit is where Zelensky comes out and says that he can give Fico half billion from Russian assets just like that. Alex Christoforou suggests that this might imply that the seized $300 billion in Russians assets has already been raided and may be running down. That they are not still frozen but are being used by the EU as they have control over the bulk of those assets. So that money goes to the Ukraine where it is washed and a large part returned to the EU – apart from commissions that is.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      Another circle back to Diesen’s linked end of international rules based odor, might making right?
      Or, Go Down, swinging?
      I’m thinking that the amber light indicating a great time to keep powder dry is flashing.
      Whether it is the incoming administration Chaos(tm), United Health programmatic death panels or class-based Assassins, Israeli Atrocities and Expansion ™, Ukraine’s claws on vertical polished marble slabs, or first-world post-modern nation-state citizens on economic fumes, or pandemics and diseases.

      It’s nigh on Biblical! The Tribulations! Dentistry futures, from the gnashing of teeth. Hoo boy

      Surf’s up on the Left Coast, and the ground is literally shifting all over the world.

      Reply ↓
  7. Wukchumni

    Violent superflares explode from sun-like stars every 100 years Space
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Comeuppance CME sometime, and is that a flare or are you just happy to see me?

    90% of the world’s population would be dead in 6 months if a big enough one hit us, and worst of all… Bitcoin fortunes would be wiped out~

    There isn’t much you could do to thwart its effects, maybe apply now for tribal membership in one of the Amazon outlets in Brazil, where we occasionally get to see the results of a game camera showing off the natives in not much more than a loincloth, showcasing their decidedly low tech lifestyles in the jungle.

    Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      I’m picturing the post digital BC market, where passwords scribbled on the back of utility bill envelopes and displayed in crisp gallery frames are the new art fad.

      Reply ↓
      1. AG

        …I used to be a big Honda fan…as a kid. They then stopped build cool cars.
        The only cool Honda you will find today is in the Netflix series SENNA.

        p.s. I have a 25 year old Daihatsu. So I like my Japs. Were great cars…

        Reply ↓
        1. ilpalazzo

          They stopped offering Accord Coupe V6 with a manual transmission only a couple of years ago and that was supposedly a great car according to one racer/motor journo (he bought two).

          Reply ↓
  12. chuk jones

    “Biden’s death row commutations draws chorus of mixed reactions” AI generated? A chorus of mixed reactions? A chorus sings together, so maybe they’re just off key. /sarc

    Reply ↓
  13. ChrisFromGA

    It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Kill-mas

    (Sung to the tune of the traditional Bing Crosby version)

    It’s beginning to look a lot like kill-mas
    Everywhere you go
    Take a look at the Middle East
    The slaughter will never cease
    And peace talks only go on just for show!

    It’s beginning to look a lot like kill-mas
    Empty weapons stores
    But the ugliest sights to see
    Are the repercussions that will be
    On your own front door

    A pair of cease-fires to tank and some dead-hostage stank
    Is the wish of the Sultan and Ben
    Land-grabbing talk and a jingoist walk
    Is the hope in pit viper dens!
    And Vlad and Xi can hardly wait for Don to threaten them, again

    It’s beginning to look a lot like kill-mas
    Everywhere you go
    There’s a refugee-filled hotel;
    A mob in the park, as well
    Your local pol will weaponize them for dough!

    It’s beginning to look a lot like killmas
    Soon the big one will start
    And the thing that will kick it off is the blackness that will be
    In our rulers hearts

    Its beginning to look a lot like killmas
    Empty weapons stores
    But the ugliest sight to see
    Are the repercussions that will be
    On your own front door

    Reply ↓
  14. The Rev Kev

    “The Joy is Gone: A Liberal Hate-Fest for the Holidays”

    I’m going to say that it is the Democrats that have reached out to their extensive network of supporters, in the media, Hollywood, social influences and others to push this. Through their own incompetence they lost the election so now seek to disrupt the Trump Regime. And why are they doing this? Political expediency – that will make Trump look bad and them good. Of course a large part of the population are listening to them and are cutting off ties with family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues. Will it mess up their lives? Of course it will but it is after all for the greater good. I feel sorry for those people when Christmas time rocks around as they already missed Thanksgiving.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      Living L.A. vida in the Big Smoke, Xmas was so overdone and came with heavy dogma overtones in the songs we all heard too much of while procrastinating on a weird potlatch @ a mall near you. I would have thought I was Scrooge’s doppelgänger.

      But nobody cares too much in Tiny Town-lotsa people live here to experience really dark skies, we do have a DIY Xmas parade that’s fun, and maybe 1 out of 15 houses has lights or a bit more for the holidays, but that’s it, on the down low.

      Reply ↓
    2. NotThePilot

      I won’t disagree much except I don’t think much of the US population is actually paying attention to the anti-Trump media campaign. If that’s what swayed them, Harris should have swept the election. I think the media types & very online people are just trying to maintain their own bubble. Ironically this also applies to all the very online conservatives that think they’re driving Trump’s agenda.

      A lot of the frustration with family members over Trump is real & organic though, and more a generational conflict. I know a few people (in red states & who don’t particularly care about mainstream media) with young kids who had to put down ultimatums with a parent of their own. Essentially, the grandparents were actively injecting Trumpism into everything whenever they visited, to the point of actively undermining their parenting.

      Thankfully, in the cases I know, everyone eventually accepted proper boundaries & chilled out. Even now though, I know a couple younger people that were ok with Trump the first time around, and they are not happy at all with anyone in this election. They frame it almost entirely in terms of age, class, and betrayal by society though.

      On the plus side, it is Christmas so in spite of everything, maybe we’ll start the new year with a little more goodwill than we had in Nov. My family only does Xmas culturally, not religiously, but it is nice as long as nobody stresses over it too much

      Reply ↓
    3. neutrino23

      Trump doesn’t need any help looking bad. Everyday he comes out with some new horror to entertain the rubes while the billionaires plan to pick their pockets. My Catholic/Nazi relatives are all good with this. The rest of us are making preparations for the coming hard times. The basic idea is to pay down some of the debts, keep a good amount of cash on hand and try to be liquid and be ready to help those who get hit harder than me.

      We’ll see how hard they’ll gloat when President Musk starts reining in Social Security and Medicare.

      Reply ↓
      1. Dr. John Carpenter

        “Everyday he comes out with some new horror to entertain the rubes while the billionaires plan to pick their pockets.” As opposed to the last four years of peace and prosperity for the 99%? The coming hard times are already here my friend.

        Reply ↓
        2. griffen

          It’s like out of a Dickens novel….the best of times ever and ever under the Bidenomics and we all celebrated the increasing prices which one day, at long last in 2024 they got around to talking more detail….about what they might do about that… I’m not convinced as yet the Trump 47 edition has the correct plan in mind, boosting economic growth and also combatting an inflation trend that will be harder than it looks to tamp back down to any targeted range of 2.5% or below that…

          You’re not poorer you’re actually richer and fatter than ever! \sarc

          Reply ↓
  15. NotThePilot

    Hi everyone, and Merry Christmas (unless you’re flying American Airlines… in which case you have my condolences). The glitch may have already been fixed but I didn’t see a strong confirmation of that:

    Yahoo News: FAA halts all American Airlines flights…

    To today’s links, for those following up on Syria, Big Serge’s piece is a really good one. His analysis of the core strategic logic of Syria as a country is A+.

    I really only disagree with his “scoring” in the one section. I think it’s much more of a muddle but if there is a winner, it’s probably Turkey; the freedom of action and leverage they now have on the refugee issue alone is huge. On the Israelis, he’s absolutely right about all the tactical violence they’ve succeeded in, but he of all people should know that doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere strategically. He weirdly doesn’t give Hamas or its allies one point on the same count either. I think he’s also really overestimating Turkish-Iranian rivalry, or how long or deeply the Iranians were committed to Syria.

    On another interesting note, it’s from a biased party, but the Tehran Times reported a little more in depth on Al-Julani / Al-Sharaa’s meeting with Walid Jumblatt (leader of the main Lebanese Druze party):

    Tehran Times: Implications of Lebanese-Syrian ties…

    Assuming the quotes are true, in-context, and he’s being mostly sincere, it really adds to a working theory:
    * Some sort of grand bargain has been made behind the curtains and is still mostly in effect
    * Al-Julani is taking a bit of a spray-and-pray approach to try keeping everyone happy (which maybe also explains the suit and tie, with its totemic power over Atlanticists)

    Also, they discussed the Shebaa Farms, which setting aside Israel, is still disputed between Lebanon and Syria. Getting it back from Israel is also a regular talking point of Hezbollah. Except for what may have been a Biden moment on Jumblatt’s part, it looks like things went positively.

    Reply ↓
  16. CA

    https://theconversation.com/as-china-expands-its-cyber-espionage-and-sabotage-operations-how-will-the-trump-administration-respond-244738

    December 19, 2024

    As China expands its cyber espionage and sabotage operations, how will the Trump administration respond?
    By William A. Stoltz and Michael Rogers

    [ Immediately, we find university based experts explaining that China is expanding its cyber espionage, “spying,” and sabotage operations and the only question is how President Trump will respond to protect people about the world who would rather not be “spied on and sabotaged” like Lebanese cell phone users.

    One point four billion Chinese, controlling my new washing-drying machines, with Chinese intent. ]

    Reply ↓
    1. Lefty Godot

      China must be made to understand that only “we” can do cyber espionage and sabotage and election interference. Because only “we” are the exceptional, shining-city-on-a-hill, indispensable nation. It’s puzzling how all those other countries keep missing the point on that score. /s

      Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      Turns out ACME is a lousy place to shop for policy.
      I’ve heard used copies of Destroyer are recession proof and can only increase in value, lol.

      Reply ↓
  18. NotTimothyGeithner

    Re: the end of amateur sports

    The Tulane QB has reportedly received a deal of four million each for two years from Duke.

    UVA is receiving all kinds of wacky gifts, but the rumor I’ve heard is season ticket holders declined by 10,000 from non-alums over twenty years from Lynchburg and the Roanoke Valley and was never replaced. The research said it wasn’t from football alternatives but other alternatives in the area and general dissatisfaction with money I college sports.

    Mostly I just think these are interesting anecdotes. My hunch is the market will only support the large programs away from an NFL market (the SEC), but I feel a collapse will emerge after a flurry of deals that don’t make sense especially since donations are required.

    Reply ↓
    1. John Wright

      I remember someone asserting that amateur sports were a British creation to help the upper crust to do well in athletics.

      The scion of a wealthy family did not need to worry about food, shelter or a job and had free time to do amateur sports.

      A more talented coal miner would not have the same opportunity as they would lack free time and possibly be injured on the job.

      I’ve followed track and field since high school and remember Jesse Owens exploits,

      It seems under reported that Owens was banned from competing after his 1936 Olympics triumphs.

      From https://www.theguardian.com/observer/osm/story/0,,362001,00.html

      “Brundage’s response was swift and brutal. He instructed the AAU secretary Daniel Ferris to announce that: ‘Jesse Owens is permanently suspended from all amateur athletic competition. The suspension became automatic as soon as Owens refused to fulfill his competitive obligations.'”

      And sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos were banned after their “Black Power Salute” in the Mexico 1968 Olympics, not because they did an illegal act, but because officials could.

      College athletes should be compensated for their labor as part of the fund raising operation at schools.

      And playing sports can be permanently life damaging.

      A co-worker related how a relative played professional NFL football for five years.

      Then the player “lost a step” and was cut. As I was told, he “lost his house, wife and car” in that order and would not even look at football on TV any more as he felt abused by the sport..

      People are comfortable with paid professionals in all areas of their lives.

      I don’t understand why some seem to glorify “amateur athletes” as an important concept

      Reply ↓
  19. lyman alpha blob

    RE: The “broligarchy” link

    I detected a whiff of Trump and Putin Derangement Syndrome (it’s not just the Donald who sucks up to oligarchs, it’s a bipartisan effort) in that otherwise decent article, so I have to wonder if the following excerpt is really true –

    “…even today, 20 percent of Russians have no indoor plumbing, but there wasn’t a time when the majority of the population was substantially better off.”

    Can any of the Russian commentariat speak to that? I find it very hard to believe that that many Russians are using outhouses in the 21st century.

    Reply ↓
    1. Zephyrum

      I’m spending the holidays with my Russian in-laws and asked them about this once again. Everyone “knows” that there is a primitive “Deep Russia” of 19th-century villages, but nobody has actually seen it. My wife does not believe that anyone lacks flush toilets in Russia–unless they want to live far from civilization, which some do.

      There is a long tradition of “summer villages”, usually in the outskirts of larger cities and towns. Especially during the Soviet era people spent their summer weekends staying out at their “dacha” growing fruits and vegetables and fixing up their houses with scavenged materials. Some of these became quite beautiful and elaborate, while others are just shacks. Traditionally these structures have an outhouse and no heat, though you can see a few intrepid souls living in a village over the winter judging by the smoke of their wood stoves. I’ve helped my Russian in-laws harvest potatoes from their place, along with wild mushrooms in the adjacent forest. Sadly the younger generation is not as committed to this avocation as their parents and many of the old buildings are decaying, though a few with money have built year-round vacation homes with all the luxuries including flush toilets.

      To answer the question, quite a few Russians have no indoor plumbing at their second home, and I suspect a lot more Russians have a second home than Americans though I don’t know any actual numbers.

      Reply ↓
  20. Ben Panga

    Re:”Six Questions for Brooke Harrington on the Utopian Dream of Elon Musk and Peter Thiel to Create a Broligarchy Where Billionaires Rule Like Pharaohs”

    A 7th, tinfoily, question: if you believe Vance is fully a servant of Thiel (which I do), what happens if the incoming aged President dies, or is assassinated by a Chinese drone?

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      The whole thing was tinfoily. Of course no billionaires on the Dem side–nosiree.

      Although I do recall Illinois’s governor proclaiming himself a billionaire at the Dem convention to wild applause. As FDR said about Somoza: “he may be a sonofabitch but he’s our sonafabitch.”

      Guess I’m responding to the interviewee more than Ken Silverstein who is normally a good guy.

      Reply ↓
  21. timbers

    High Electricity Taxes Are Crippling European Industry OilPrice (Kevin W) **** As the article notes, disproportionate taxes are an “administrative issue” that can be corrected. It’s comforting to know that crippling European energy costs are such an easy fix. Maybe that’s all England needs to do to fix its negative GDP figures in the link just below this one?

    Reply ↓
  22. Wukchumni

    Early cocaine use in Europe The Past
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Many friends have hiked the Inca Trail en route to Machu Picchu, and all either chewed Coca leaves or had tea made from it, and they agreed it really helped @ altitude, and i’ve wondered what effect it would have closer to sea level, and judging from its use in Europe way back in the day in the same fashion, there must have been something…

    Reply ↓
  23. The Rev Kev

    Merry Christmas, everyone. It is now about an hour past Christmas Eve here in Oz so getting ready for Christmas Day tomorrow. I hope that you all have great break then and same for the crew of the NC. Cheers.

    Reply ↓
    3. Lena

      I just listened to Nine Lessons and Carols from King’s College broadcast live over the radio as I do every Christmas Eve. It seemed quite solemn this year. Very little joy to be heard though there was a lot of coughing between lessons and carols.

      Merry Christmas to all. Wear a good mask and carry on.

      Reply ↓
  25. antidlc

    https://www.nbcnewyork.com/entertainment/in-the-wings/gypsy-cancels-monday-performance-on-broadway-over-multiple-illnesses/6084325/
    ‘Gypsy’ cancels Monday performance on Broadway over multiple illnesses

    https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Audra-McDonald-Calls-For-Grace-From-Audiences-Amid-Sickness-Racing-Through-Broadway-20241223
    Audra McDonald Calls For Grace From Audiences Amid Sickness ‘Racing Through Broadway’

    “Hi friends! You know that nasty cold that’s going around right now? Maybe some of you have it? Sore throat, cough, etc? No fun right? Well that little bugger is racing through the Broadway community right now too including here at Gypsy and including yours truly,” she revealed.

    Reply ↓
      1. Pat

        My bet is is it is multiple respiratory illnesses. From scuttle butt I have overheard, and a report from a neighbor, RSV has also been prevalent in Manhattan over the last few weeks.
        But yeah, I do believe that at least the stars of musicals probably know exactly what they have – there would have had to be a doctor’s visit in order to get any of the usual treatments for the throat. Calling it a nasty cold is definitely an obsfucation.

        Reply ↓
  26. KD

    Flat Earthers Went to Antarctica to Look at The Sun. Here’s What Happened

    Wow, the Flat Earthers are more data driven than the Economists. Isn’t just 24 hour Antarctic sun just a black swan event? Just assume the Earth is flat for purposes of a better model.

    Reply ↓
    1. NotThePilot

      I don’t know any personally, but I’ve talked with people that were friends of friends of flat-earthers.

      And there seems to be a common pattern of them actually doing the first steps of experimental science hilariously well. The one a friend told me about involved a full surveying setup with laser levels, complete with accurate calculations of what they should see if the earth was round.

      Then they do the experiment… and the results show the earth is curved. Then for some reason we cannot understand, they don’t say, “Huh, cool, the earth probably is round & I don’t just have to take it on faith.” They come up with all sorts of crazy excuses to consider the experiment flawed & try again.

      Reply ↓
      3. dave

        Lots of studies out there suggesting that when people are presented with good data that refutes their beliefs, it tends to strengthen their original beliefs.

        Reply ↓
  27. CA

    https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-12-24/China-in-2024-Putting-people-at-the-center-1zzty2mzUKQ/p.html

    December 24, 2024

    Canadian and Western sanctions and their ‘democratic’ mess
    By Radhika Desai

    China’s recently-announced sanctions against two Canadian organizations, the “Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project” and “Canada-Tibet Committee,” are countermeasures. Unlike the West, China does not impose illegal unilateral sanctions. It only counters Western measures, usually undertaken aggressively in the name of human rights and democracy. Canada had marked International Human Rights Day on December 10 by imposing sanctions on eight Chinese officials for alleged involvement in human rights violations in China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and Xizang Autonomous Region without any factual basis.

    Most people realize such sanctions have little to do with promoting democracy or human rights anywhere. However, do they know that they are also symptoms of the decline of democracy and human rights in the West? Certainly, recent Canadian sanctions demonstrate this.

    Why did Canada impose these sanctions when, only a few months ago, it had sent its Foreign Minister, Melanie Joly, to China to lift Sino-Canadian relations from the depths to which they had sunk after Canada arrested the then Huawei CFO, Meng Wanzhou, in December 2018 at the behest of the U.S.?

    Two intertwined reasons suggest themselves and both point to the grave political dysfunction of Canadian and Western democracies. Long devoted to neoliberal policies favoring tiny wealthy elites and casting the vast majority into economic misery, they have been losing legitimacy. By the mid-2010s, winning elections was becoming near impossible. That was when political upstart, Donald Trump, blazed a new and dangerous trail: to get votes, he had to acknowledge popular misery. But instead of blaming the true culprit, neoliberal policies, he blamed China.

    The first reason for Canada’s newest sanctions is Trump’s recent election. In arresting Meng, Canada had bent over backwards to appease Trump who, in his first term, had already torn up the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) among the U.S., Canada and Mexico to renegotiate it on terms he favored. Trump was the deity to be propitiated and Canada made its relations with China the offering.

    Of course, unable to counter this political logic, Biden not only doubled down on trade and technology sanctions against China but combined them with sanctimonious verbiage on human rights and democracy. The voters were not fooled and voted him and his party out of the White House and both houses of Congress. Shocked, if not surprised, already in multiple crises, Trudeau’s government thinks its anti-China sanctions will please President-elect Trump and somehow make him relent on his multiple threats – on tariffs, immigration, defence spending and much else besides – to Canada…

    Reply ↓
  28. Tom Stone

    It’s going to be an interesting year in 2025.
    Too many things are on the edge and it’s likely that more than one of them will go over the edge.
    “Covid is Over” is past its sell by date, too many people have had repeat infections for it to be ignored for many more Months, Real Estate in NorCal is about to take a dump, the Wars are too obviously being lost, Genocide is no longer deniable and that’s just the beginning.
    Lots of people are catching “Really Bad Colds” that just hang on and the Restaurants are full, parties in full swing and almost no masking.
    I know several people with young kids who can’t figure out why they keep getting sick, much more often than in the past.
    It can’t possibly be Covid…because Markets.

    Reply ↓
    1. Jason Boxman

      It is shocking. I have several coworkers with coughs for the past 2-3 months that won’t go away. Had a few educational courses I’ve been taking, canceled due to illness. Both professors have a cough, one for the entire 3 months of the course.

      2025 really is gonna be the year of FAFO.

      Reply ↓
  29. Jason Boxman

    From How the FDA allows companies to add secret ingredients to our food

    As before, FDA reviewers had concerns. They said the new filing didn’t back the company’s claims that the product would be absorbed into the bloodstream at low levels and that it wouldn’t cross the blood-brain barrier. The reviewers were particularly concerned with the compound’s potential to harm pregnant women and children, as well as its effect on the pituitary gland.

    Pharma Foods withdrew its notice so it could “conduct further studies,” and the FDA ceased its second evaluation of the product.

    This is an easy one; Force feed the CEO whatever it is they want in the product.

    If they CEO won’t consume it, we know it isn’t safe.

    I bet that’ll eliminate a lot of patently unsafe food additives, neh?

    Or hilarity will ensue. Either is fine with me.

    Reply ↓
    1. JBird4049

      >>>When the agency does learn about a new compound, it evaluates the company’s safety report to see whether it agrees. If FDA scientists see problems and request additional information, the company doesn’t have to provide it. It can simply withdraw its GRAS notice and use the ingredient anyway.

      The highlight is mine.

      Why do we have a FDA if we can’t even find out what is in our food? Without hyperbole, I would compare this to the pre-1906 Pure Food and Drug Act when lead, sawdust, chalk, and other similar things were used in food. It is not a wonder that my health has improved since I mostly stopped buying prepackaged food.

      Reply ↓
  30. Ana

    The Hill losing sleep over liberals’ “hate fest” towards Trump officials is about on par with Democrats’ worrying about Biden officials being prosecuted by Trump in terms of things that are utterly ridiculous and whiny to be concerned about, especially when liberals are *actually* taking their rage out on the very groups they once pretended to be “defending” and promising to let Republicans run rampant as some kind of petty revenge against the working class.

    It’s absurd the things Americans are concerned about. Really, really desperate to leave this utterly horrible country. Democrats and Republicans deserve each other. It’s a shame the vast majority of those who truly suffer the consequences of their b.s. are innocent in all this and certainly never given write ups in The Hill.

    Reply ↓

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