Links 1/22/2025

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1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 7:16 am

   ‘Kelly
   @broadwaybabyto
   Immediately after withdrawing from the WHO, Trump stops CDC, FDA & NIH from giving public health updates.’

   A strange move that – unless he wants his people in place there to vet any updates going out first that might disagree with the future narratives. But a stray thought popped up in my mind. Trump wants to take an axe to the Federal government, right? So I wondered if Trump was thinking about privatizing the CDC, the FDA and the NIH in his second term. I’m sure that the health care corporations would like to buy them up and run them the way that they should be.
   1. ATR January 22, 2025 at 8:05 am

      Don’t they already recieve more than 50 percent of their budgets from private companies? Seems like that would be more honest
      1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 9:20 am

         On the other hand, those government labs spend billions to develop new drugs which are then handed over to Big Pharma corporations who work out the dosage and then slap their patent on it. Can you imagine if it was the US government slapping their own patents on those new drugs and funneling back the profits for new research?
         1. jefemt January 22, 2025 at 9:23 am

            I can!
   2. converger January 22, 2025 at 10:39 am

      This is the US government shutting down public access to public information. Expect anything unfiltered that’s related to energy, climate, environment, health, to go dark soon, along with any potentially embarrassing open-ended data services like FRED. Privatization comes later, once DOGE is up and running.

      If you have any favorite public data sets, download them now. We’re going to need them.
      1. IM Doc January 22, 2025 at 11:34 am

         As a physician, I have been used to looking at these datasets for decades. Reports, MMWR, etc. At no time in our history until the Biden Admin was there suppression of data. The Biden Administration literally seemed to live to do that. Even during the dark days of the AIDS epidemic, there was no restriction in the free flow of information. Please note, it took months to compile – so there was quite a delay and that is understandable and that is not what I am talking about.

         The free flow of information continued through COVID during the Trump years. And then once the vaccines came out and there started to be “issues, the adults that were put back in charge with Biden – suddenly caused all kinds of data flows to come to an end.

         The US govt did shut down public access to health information – this was started under Biden – and I have never seen anything like it in my life. As to downloading public data sets, hope you are looking for something anodyne and non-problematic. All of the other stuff is long gone – and when you do download something – it is not really anything that you can use to make any kind of judgements.

         As I have stated from the being – release every scrap of raw data down to the finest details – just like we have done for a long time. No one is listening.
         1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 12:05 pm

            My wife and I were discussing decreasing access to data (again) this morning. Pretty glum about the current state of affairs. Trying to find some glimmer of hope, I would hope RFK jr understands the value of having data in the public domain. My worry is that, in addition to being damning to Pfizer in that specific case, generally speaking, public health data has monetary value.

            There’s a fog of war element to these opening days of the 47th.
      2. Rick January 22, 2025 at 1:35 pm

         The state data on SARS infections went dark in the west coast states in May of 2023. The governors of WA, OR, and CA marched in lockstep during the early pandemic.

         I don’t know if it’s my inexperience with the system, but I have not been able to find overall mortality data for the US 2015-2019 plus 2020 on from the CDC site. I’d like to make my own excess analysis.

         On the other hand, this certainly doesn’t help the situation any, either. Like with other issues, Trump is doing the same thing as the Democrats, only louder.

         This kind of situation is what makes me believe the binary political parties are no solution for the problems we face.
2. Mark Gisleson January 22, 2025 at 7:21 am

   Looks like the Chinese are doing AI right. How much longer before BRICS nations figure out that copyright law keeps people from using personal computers like Star Trek replicators?

   It’s past time to legally and Constitutionally clarify the legality of making digital copies. Western capitalism has failed in every respect, giving BRICS an easy way to blow up Hollywood™©®’s absurdly punitive civil damages laws. Never forget that Congress passed a law allowing music downloaders to be sued for up to $20,000US per song or about a quarter of a million dollars per record album. The vast majority of new music is created, edited and released on equipment that costs well under $20,000. How does this make sense?
   1. voislav January 22, 2025 at 9:38 am

      Copyright is governed on the country-by-country basis. Length in majority of countries is 50 years and in many of them civil damages are negligible to a point where there is zero enforcement. Insane penalties and over-the-top enforcement are mostly restricted to US, Canada and Europe, mostly due to trade treaties signed with US. Insane copyright protection was one of the pillars of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) and was one of the reasons it failed.
      1. Bugs January 22, 2025 at 10:06 am

         Sorry but that’s not correct. Copyright is governed under the Berne and Rome Conventions and the WIPO copyright treaty. Member countries transpose the treaties into their law, but agree to respect minimum protection. Most all countries are members. The term is usually either 50 or 70 years plus the life of the author. I started my legal career in IP and I’d recommend that you read a little more about it if you’re interested. It’s a fascinating subject and there are lots and lots of arguments about length, fair use, right to private copies, moral rights, neighboring rights (my old specialty, dear to my heart) and other somewhat arcane stuff. Imho, artists, composers and authors deserve some legal monopoly over their works for a limited period of time. Software got jammed into copyright by idiots. I’m done.
         1. Mark Gisleson January 22, 2025 at 10:36 am

            Software got jammed into copyright by idiots.

            When I read this I stood up and applauded, tears running down my cheeks.
            1. Bugs January 22, 2025 at 11:25 am

               Thanks. It’s my passionate belief as well. Can you believe that Microsoft Windows 3.0, released in 1990, will only be in the public domain in 2085?

               (95 years after published date for works for hire)
         2. AG January 23, 2025 at 3:40 am

            Being a legal non-expert: This issue is of paramount importance nobody addresses adequately in public.

            As I see it, copyright only is an inadequate remedy in a capitalist system. Besides personal vanity for most artists and inventors IP regulation is (was) a means to make a living. If state services were free, apartments free, basic income guaranteed and all the other idealist concepts were to be realized (not in our lifetime) copyright would need not be.

            “Dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants” for me always meant that the giants themselves were consisting of dwarfs. Meaning we all are dwarfs. Which would sum up the creation and expansion of human knowledge and creative output over millennia.
   2. Carolinian January 22, 2025 at 10:05 am

      “Piracy the obvious choice” is the thing Cory Doctorow used to talk about before deciding to be social activist. If we want to go to war over our IP with what kind of aircraft carrier will we defend it? A trade war with China may mean they will once again revert to copying, er, pirating all our movies and software. And in the process they are developing the skills to not need our IP. It’s likely that when it comes to both China and Russia Trump doesn’t really realize what he is dealing with. US soft power is evaporating leaving only the hopefully empty military threats. DJT needs to stick to picking on Greenland.

      Or maybe he does realize all this and is just posturing. And it’s not like his predecessor seemed to realize either. Interesting times.
      1. cfraenkel January 22, 2025 at 12:45 pm

         He still does. I think it’s been previously linked here, but that was the gist of his recent rant re Trump’s tarrif threat.

         https://pluralistic.net/2025/01/15/beauty-eh/#its-the-only-war-the-yankees-lost-except-for-vietnam-and-also-the-alamo-and-the-bay-of-ham

         Makes sense, it’s the kind of asymmetric warfare that would quickly sharpen C-suite attention south of the border, much more than retaliatory tariffs, which only increase profits along with consumer prices. To bad our oligarchy is in bed with their oligarchy and it’ll never happen.
         1. jrkrideau January 22, 2025 at 5:30 pm

            I definitely like it.
      2. CA January 22, 2025 at 2:58 pm

         “Piracy, the obvious choice”

         These are a very important series of comments: important for development countries but critically important for the developing. Important for understand equity in all countries.

         When I was in Hanoi, Vietnam a couple of years ago there were motorcycles everywhere and I thought the Japanese were dominant even with expensive cycles. Finally, I noticed that I was not seeing so many Hondas but “Honkas.”
         1. Trogg January 23, 2025 at 9:43 am

            Honkas—love it
   3. Li January 22, 2025 at 11:01 am

      There is not a lot of data on this topic, but outside the u.s. and europe most university students rely on piracy to acquire textbooks. Ironically, this means that they have access to a much broader selection of books than their 1st world counterparts.
      1. Late Introvert January 22, 2025 at 2:30 pm

         My US college student does that too, please.

         I told her it ain’t what you steal, but who you steal it from
      2. Paleobotanist January 22, 2025 at 7:56 pm

         My Canadian university students get their textbooks from “Uncle Vlad”. Soft power at its most powerful…
      3. AG January 23, 2025 at 3:55 am

         Just look at Elsevier which is a rip-off of epic proportions.
         On the other hand in German university libraries where non-staff can have easy access too De Gruyter e.g. offers most studies as open access.
3. Zagonostra January 22, 2025 at 7:35 am

   >Trump announces an up to $500 billion AI infrastructure investment involving OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank Business Insider

   OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman, Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison, and SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son attended the White House announcement.

   Would that be the same “Sam Altman” that Suchir Balaji, who was a whistleblower that mysteriously committed one of the most improbable suicides I’ve ever heard about, worked for? Larry Ellison, would that be the pro-Israel zionist who donated $17M to IDF recently? My Twitter feed is lite up with people who were very dubious of the rushed mRNA technology used for CV19 chiming in on what a Trump sell-out this is. David Icke is actually starting to make sense to some, these oligarchs are reptiles, reptilian at the very least. Going from transgender to transhuman?

   500 Billion dollars, that would go a long way to help some desperate people drowning under pile of hospital bill debts, local clinics, etc… that would go a long way to ease the servitude of millions of young people struggling to make monthly payments on student loans.

   It’s also very interesting that this is being sold as a personalized openAI solution for fighting cancer. No wonder all those tech billionaries who loathed Trump, where sitting all together during inauguration smiling.

   Also, didn’t Russia just announce that they found a mRNA vaccine for cancer and would be making it available for free? Sounds very similar. Stargate, StarLink, twinkle, twinkle little star, I’m not going where you are…

   https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-health/russia-vaccine-cancer-9744034/
   1. Michaelmas January 22, 2025 at 11:41 am

      Zaganostra: … didn’t Russia just announce that they found a mRNA vaccine for cancer

      [1] There is not and cannot be one single mRNA vaccine for the many, many different types of tumors that develop in all the different cell-types throughout the human body, as far as I know. The whole point of such vaccines is the targeting specificity they’d provide. And yes, each vaccine would be personalized — that’s the point of them.

      [2] Nor is there anything new about mRNA vaccines for cancer, or anyway the concept. Moderna was originally founded in 2010-2014 specifically to develop such vaccines, and got repurposed when COVID-19 appeared.
   2. Tvc15 January 22, 2025 at 11:49 am

      <Would that be the same “Sam Altman” that Suchir Balaji, who was a whistleblower that mysteriously committed one of the most improbable suicides I’ve ever heard about, worked for?

      “Derrick Broze speaks to Poornima Rao, the mother of Suchir Balaji, the OpenAI whistleblower who was found dead on November 26, 2024. Suchir went public with his concerns about OpenAI and AI in general in October and was set to be a key witness in the New York Times lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI. “ ~20 minutes. https://www.youtube.com/live/Jv90pgFZuso?si=hTsEdAzCA__Oj4pn

      Summary – the family did a second independent autopsy and the results support his Mom’s claim he was “happy” and not suicidal. I’m shocked. /s. Good thing trump will make sure the tech oligarchs get $500B asap. also /s.
   3. duckies January 22, 2025 at 4:57 pm

      500 Billion dollars, that would go a long way to make someone a first trillionaire. No wonder it brings smiles to faces of billionaries.
4. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 7:44 am

   “Zelensky demands at least 200,000 ‘peacekeepers’ on Ukrainian soil – Reuters”

   ‘From all the Europeans? 200,000, it’s a minimum. It’s a minimum, otherwise it’s nothing’

   He’s talking about NATO troops of course but 200,000? Wouldn’t that be like all the available troops that NATO has? Check out this page on the number of active military personnel in NATO countries in 2024-

   https://www.statista.com/statistics/584286/number-of-military-personnel-in-nato-countries/

   The 5th largest contingent is the UK at 184,860 but that is like the entire UK military as in all of them. How many can the British Army send to the Ukraine then? I would guesstimate about 10,000 people – maybe. You start going through the numbers for each country on that basis and it does not add up to 200,000 people. The only way that it does is by having troops come from that country to the north of the Gulf of America which is what Zelensky is really talking about. But there would be a side “benefit” to having so many peacekeepers in the Ukraine. This Ukrainian guy was saying that they had lost so many men that the country is going to be a demographic disaster. Unless of course you had say 200,000 lonely men on duty in that country that could hook up with all those widows and single women and then problem solved. It made a bizarre sort of sense but more likely those women would use those soldiers as a ticket out of the country to one that is much safer.
   1. JohnA January 22, 2025 at 8:33 am

      The Danish F 16 instructor allegedly killed in Ukraine by a Russian missile strike, had supposedly been ‘entertained’ by a Ukrainian woman who subsequently gave his whereabouts away to the Russians. Of course, the story has been denied by Danish authorities, but I did see a tweet in Danish by a guy claiming to know the instructor and that he was dead. Who knows in the Fogh (sic) of war.
      So maybe these widows and single women could also use them as a ticket to safety in Russia.
      1. Aurelien January 22, 2025 at 8:46 am

         I’m contractually obliged to report that I have just posted an essay on the idea of a “peacekeeping” force in Ukraine, and related issues.
         1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 8:49 am

            Since any European peacekeepers are by definition NATO soldiers, you think that they would go with the idea of Chinese peacekeepers?
            1. Ignacio January 22, 2025 at 10:05 am

               To your numbers, Rev, In believe that to deploy 200.000 “peacekeepers” in Ukraine, all in all, 600.000 troops should have to be mobilised accounting for the required rotations. “Entertainers” would be needed a lot, not only in Ukraine, but in nearby reserve places. Romania, Poland?
               1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 5:28 pm

                  Oh my, you are quite correct. Through rotations you would need your figure of 600,000 troops to be on tap. Can’t be done.
            2. Aurelien January 22, 2025 at 10:21 am

               I don’t think they would be interested and, as I’ve made clear, the Chinese don’t have the capability for force projection at that distance, let alone to Holland others/
   2. Acacia January 22, 2025 at 8:54 am

      Given that Ukraine cannot win, and that NATO cannot deliver enough people to be killed, it does seem like the real source of manpower would have to be “that country to the north of the Gulf of America” except that Zelensky must also know it’s never gonna happen. So this begins to look more like a desperate attempt to simply keep the gravy train war going.

      The Ukraine side of this conflict is beginning to remind me of that old Star Trek episode A Taste of Armageddon, in which two planets are fighting a centuries-long war entirely using computers, except that to keep score for the computers, their citizens were obliged to report to “disintegration chambers” in which they would be killed. The Enterprise crew gets caught in the crossfire, so to speak, are captured and being pushed to die in said disintegration chambers, basically in order to keep the “normalized” computer war going and thereby avoid a “real” war.

      Some eerie parallels here, as the larger narrative is that NATO+US should perform some “duty” to die in the Ukraine (instead of Ukrainian soldiers, to avoid demographic disaster you know), in order to somehow prevail and prevent a larger more “real” war with Russia. It’s just bonkers.
      1. Wukchumni January 22, 2025 at 8:58 am

         I am Nomad

         …speaking for all Americans
      2. jsn January 22, 2025 at 10:28 am

         So that’s where you deport all those illegals too?

         I expect that my slow the flow at the border…
      3. Carolinian January 22, 2025 at 10:29 am

         Bonkers, yes. Trump may seem ridiculous with his Gulf of America but it’s a harmless bonkers so far. That other bonkers is proving horribly deadly.
         1. Expat2uruguay January 22, 2025 at 12:07 pm

            Why is Gulf of America bonkers? To the north of it is North America, to the south of it is South America and it’s also surrounded by Central America and Latin America. Gulf of America seems pretty harmless while not being an actual overreach.

            Of course when I first heard the idea I was outraged… But then after sleep I saw the sense of it, and the harmlessness. Throw the US a bone, I say
            1. Carolinian January 22, 2025 at 12:31 pm

               As a map person I’m not particularly in favor of presidents renaming stuff. But of course the Dems have been doing it too.

               There has been some commentary that all the legally dubious outside the box moves by the Dems are going to come back at them from their supposed opponents. Our entire ruling class may have way too much time on their hands.
            2. OnceWere January 22, 2025 at 12:34 pm

               I don’t know about that. Acquiesce quietly to the Gulf of America in order to avoid a stupid and pointless fight and I fear that the next thing you know they’ll be demanding that the Pacific and the Atlantic be renamed as the Oceans of America East & West.
            3. Lee January 22, 2025 at 12:50 pm

               How about Gulf of the Americas or if we really want to rub it in we could call it, in honor of our declaration of hemispheric hegemonism, the Gulf of Monroe
               1. bertl January 22, 2025 at 7:50 pm

                  Or just Marilyn…
            4. juno mas January 22, 2025 at 2:18 pm

               The Gulf of Mexico was named by Spanish explorers in the 16th Century. They claimed much of the adjacent coastline for Spain. In fact, Spain claimed much of what became Mexico and (Alta California); until the Mexican revolution in 1821. Much of the northern portions of Mexico were invaded by the US Army in 1846 and made Territory’s of the US;later became the states of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, California (Baja excepted).

               So, since most of the Gulf coastline is adjacent to Mexico and Cuba, the name is appropriate.
            5. duckies January 22, 2025 at 5:00 pm

               Throw the US a hand granade, I say
            6. Late Introvert January 22, 2025 at 9:57 pm

               I’ve proposed that just the Dead Zone be renamed Gulf of America.
         2. NYMutza January 22, 2025 at 10:05 pm

            I don’t believe that Trump has any authority to rename the Gulf of Mexico. Those are international waters. He may as well try renaming the Barents Sea. What he is trying to do is far from harmless. It is imperial overreach at its very worst. Cartographers should tell Trump to take a hike – down the Orient Express on Denali.
   3. ilsm January 22, 2025 at 9:38 am

      Put them in Poland!

      BTW Zelinskyy is as legitimate a “leader” as any of the puppets US put in Saigon. during that long ago quagmire
   4. Camelotkidd January 22, 2025 at 9:54 am

      “Zelensky demands at least 200,000 ‘peacekeepers’ on Ukrainian soil – Reuters”
      And I want a pony
      1. JMH January 22, 2025 at 10:16 am

         Since this talk of 200,000 peace keepers is a steaming heap of horse manure, dig in. There has to be a pony in there.
         1. Wukchumni January 22, 2025 at 10:34 am

            Early 1945 talk of folly: Imaginary Divisions

            Early 2025 talk of folly: Imaginary Divisions

            Once again the 4th turning shows up~
   5. bertl January 22, 2025 at 6:02 pm

      I believe most, if not all, African states have taken a neutral position on the Russo-Borderlands war so presumably the ideal peacekeeping force will consist of 200,000 troops from sub-Saharan Africa.
      1. Giovanni Barca January 23, 2025 at 1:48 am

         They’ll just love the winters.
   6. AG January 23, 2025 at 4:12 am

      Is there any official list or source with the real number of troops. Just as you describe it for GB?
      Out of those 184,860 90% would be dead immediately in case of real war. It’s the well-known NATO paper tiger. But people ask me where do you take your numbers from. Of course, how do you prove that NATO troops are not fit for combat if there is no war. How do you prove the negative? That’s a hard sell in any debate.
      And that will take off now all over EU.

      p.s. Of course you can reference the US studies like in Parameter Magazine but that is American and very specific.

      And you can now prove that NATO tanks are firecrackers but that too needed over a year of negative news slipping through. Additionally to the pre-existing scattered reports about Leopards failing in Syria and Kurdistan which were buried very very deep.
5. Zagonostra January 22, 2025 at 7:52 am

   >Guillotine Watch

   It’s going to be very interesting to see if a Nation/regime that attempted to purge billionaire oligarchs from having control over public/foreign policy (Russia/Putin) will trump a Nation/regime that hands over public/foreign policy to them (Trump/Elon, et al).
   1. jsn January 22, 2025 at 10:55 am

      Yes, the China gambit of AI as a public utility is interesting in this regard.

      To the extent States outside the Oligarchy normalize the IT of the last 40 years as public utilities, capturing the benefits of the tech for the public, many things start looking like Chinese solar & EVs where they have a clear “unfair” advantage from not drowning their productive class in rents.

      To actually be competitive, Trump should be thinking about the propensity of Chinese billionaires to fall off cliffs and that sort of thing. Instead, he appears to be becoming the “Grifter in Chief”.
      1. Michaelmas January 22, 2025 at 11:50 am

         jsn: To the extent States outside the Oligarchy normalize the IT of the last 40 years as public utilities, capturing the benefits of the tech for the public, many things start looking like Chinese solar & EVs where they have a clear “unfair” advantage

         Exactly so. You point out what will likely be one of the — maybe the — dominant geopolitical trends of the next few decades. At least if we’re fortunate.
6. Vicky Cookies January 22, 2025 at 8:10 am

   So, the CIA will be using AI trained on massive amounts of propaganda to predict the behavior of world leaders. That should go well: “PutinBot, what are your plans for the next few years?” “Well, I plan to eat a bunch of babies, then re-take Alaska. Then, I’ll either die of cancer or poison Ameirica’s water supply to sap and impunity all of their precious bodily fluids; I don’t know which.”
   1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 8:34 am

      You think that the CIA built themselves a TrumpBot to try to predict his actions if he was re-elected as President? Good luck with that one. But this article did finish on a bizarre note. So the CIA is going to bring in Silicon Valley to help drive their culture. Really? Sure they have been joined at the hip since the early days but is the CIA ready for that level of ruthlessness and urge for world dominance?
      1. cfraenkel January 22, 2025 at 1:03 pm

         The first thing that comes to mind re what SV has that the CIA doesn’t is massive, obscene payoffs for the winners of the greasy pole competition, so maybe they have a point? Not a good one, but in this timeline it almost makes a perverted sense.
   2. Randall Flagg January 22, 2025 at 8:36 am

      Don’t forget that he (Putin), is going to corner the market of washing machines so they have a guaranteed supply of chips for missiles.
   3. midtownwageslave January 22, 2025 at 8:52 am

      “PutinBot, can you tell me how effective American sanctions are against Russia?”

      “PutinBot, can you tell me in step-wise detail how Americans can win in the Ukraine?”

      “PutinBot, can you tell me where i can find 200,000 able-bodied men to die in Ukraine?”
      1. Late Introvert January 22, 2025 at 2:36 pm

         Ding Ding! You win the internet today.
7. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 8:20 am

   “India Set to Take Back 18,000 Citizens From US to Placate Trump”

   India is not worried by this development at all. As soon as those 18,000 Indians are back home, the Indian government will have them apply for H-1B visas and before you know it, they will be back again but legally this time. And they know that Vivek will always have their back.
8. GramSci January 22, 2025 at 8:22 am

   Re: WHO to lose 1/5 of its budget.

   Good. No more US influence.
   1. GramSci January 22, 2025 at 8:25 am

      I know. Queen Ursula probably still has a contract with Pfizer.
      1. flora January 22, 2025 at 8:33 am

         Eh, the B & M Gates Foundation can probably pick up the slack. / ;)
         1. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 9:51 am

            I suspect that the B&M Gates Foundation is already busy “picking up” the pace of the Jackpot.
            WHO soon to be World Helots Organization?
      2. AG January 22, 2025 at 9:52 am

         court rejected the complaint against her re: Pfizer sms
   2. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 8:37 am

      I understand that as the US has already paid their dues, that they will still be in the WHO for this year.
      1. flora January 22, 2025 at 8:44 am

         Meryl Nass has followed all the issues around the WHO, the treaty, etc. very closely. Here’s her rundown on the issues as they stand.

         MSM is full of errors about the WHO withdrawal, so I will correct them.

         https://merylnass.substack.com/p/msm-is-full-of-errors-about-the-who

         (The MSM is full of errors? Can it be? / ;)
         1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 9:34 am

            Thanks. I did not follow the MPox outbreaks carefully at the time. Is Nass’s point #8 correct?
            The WHO should not be managing international outbreaks, after its well-publicized delays and failures with the 2 largest Ebola epidemics in Africa, and what I would call its ridiculous performance over monkeypox, twice declaring it a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. What we need to get rid of is politicized healthcare, and the WHO represents all that is wrong with centralized medical decision making.
         2. Anonymous 2 January 22, 2025 at 10:22 am

            I am not sure that there are not mistakes in the Nass piece. There is no mention I have found in the WHO Constitution of countries having a right to leave the organisation. IIRC when Warsaw Pact countries sent in their resignations in the 1950s they were not accepted.

            There may have been resolutions in the US Congress that the US should give a year’s notice if it wished to leave the WHO, but as there is no mention I can see of this in the text of WHO’s Constitution, I suspect the WHO will take the view that US legislation has no jurisdiction over their decisions.

            Happy to be corrected! It is always dangerous to ‘correct’ other people on the Internet. Are there any international lawyers in the building?
            1. flora January 22, 2025 at 12:16 pm

               1948. US Code:

               §290c. Withdrawal from Organization on one-year notice

               In adopting this subchapter the Congress does so with the understanding that, in the absence of any provision in the World Health Organization Constitution for withdrawal from the Organization, the United States reserves its right to withdraw from the Organization on a one-year notice: Provided, however, That the financial obligations of the United States to the Organization shall be met in full for the Organization’s current fiscal year.

               (June 14, 1948, ch. 469, §4, 62 Stat. 442 .)

               https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?req=(title:22%20section:290c%20edition:prelim)

               WHO recognizes the US 2025 withdrawal:

               WHO comments on United States’ announcement of intent to withdraw

               https://www.who.int/news/item/21-01-2025-who-comments-on-united-states–announcement-of-intent-to-withdraw

               Adding, the withdrawal is not a claim over the WHO’s future decisions. It is only divorcing from the WHO’s claims over any future US medical decisions, imo
               1. flora January 22, 2025 at 2:10 pm

                  adding: The US Congress passed the signatory treaty only on condition of this exception. It still holds. The Warsaw Pact countries may not have made similar conditions to their signing the treaty in 1948.
            2. Aurelien January 22, 2025 at 2:08 pm

               IANAIL, but Art 56 of the Vienna Convention on Treaties basically says that if a Treaty has no withdrawal provision, states can only withdraw if either the provision should have been included but wasn’t, or if the right to withdraw is somehow implicit in the text (which I don’t think it is. I suspect that in practice, and because the WHO is a subsidiary organ of the UN, it never crossed the minds of the drafters that someone might want to withdraw.
               1. flora January 22, 2025 at 2:15 pm

                  Well, you may be right about the Vienna Convention. However, USians being a somewhat stubborn and shrewd lot, imo, ( certainly in 1948 after another ‘great war’), have in Constitutional law the US condition for treaty acceptance, which must be approved by Congress with any provisos the Congress may impose. That is the law of the US.

                  In the US and the WHO case, US law at time of signing prevails.

                  And I thank you for your question and research. It’s an important point.
         3. t January 22, 2025 at 10:23 am

            Is that the Meryl Nance of the Children’s Health Defense, the anti-vaccination group?
            1. flora January 22, 2025 at 12:17 pm

               Shooting the messenger? ;)
            2. marku52 January 22, 2025 at 3:13 pm

               Ad Hom much?
   3. jrkrideau January 22, 2025 at 5:39 pm

      I had not considered that. :)
9. AG January 22, 2025 at 8:31 am

   Thierrey Breton formerly EU now Bank of America

   Revolving Wall Street door threatens EU sovereignty
   By Thomas Fazi
   https://unherd.com/newsroom/revolving-wall-street-door-threatens-eu-sovereignty/
   1. Ignacio January 22, 2025 at 10:25 am

      Add in there Merz (CDU/CSU) Blackrock to Germany PM… guess which company will buy all those deserted industrial estates.
      1. AG January 22, 2025 at 11:30 pm

         “Germany PM”
         the asshole is not there yet…
         p.s. but the Blackrock prediction would become true even without Merz
10. Shan January 22, 2025 at 8:32 am

    Trump and CDC. This article provides a bit more context

    “Two others suggested the move is aimed at helping the newly installed Trump health officials understand the vast flow of information coming out of the health agencies. The pause, according to one official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal agency conversations, “seemed more about letting them catch their breath and know what is going on with regard to” communications.

    If the communications pause lasts more than a week or two, it could become concerning, that official said, noting that under the Biden administration, White House and HHS officials extensively reviewed material related to the coronavirus before it was released.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/trump-officials-pause-health-agencies-communications-citing-review/ar-AA1xCis1
11. Richard Link January 22, 2025 at 8:33 am

    Platforming Moon of Alabama’s ignorant anti-DEI and anti-trans views? Gross.
    1. flora January 22, 2025 at 8:38 am

       DEI seems like a jobs program for college grad aspiring PMC managers who need more things to manage. The US seems to have a surfeit of aspiring PMC wannabes. / ;)
       1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 8:54 am

          Wait. Are you saying that the Professional Managerial Class is not really the problem but the surfeit number of kids of the Professional Managerial Class trying to hustle themselves some new, made-up bs jobs? :)
          1. flora January 22, 2025 at 9:05 am

             Why, whatever gives you that idea? / ;)
          2. albrt January 22, 2025 at 9:13 am

             It’s not the kids, it’s been going on for decades. Hiding behind the overtly racist and sexist reasoning of most anti-wokers, you can see glimmerings that some are starting to understand this is the real issue. The problem is not important jobs being filled by non-meritocratic means; the problem is the jobs themselves are BS sinecures that add costs with no benefits, and a secondary problem is that right-wingers are disqualified by ideology from getting most such sinecures so they have no incentive to go along.
             1. flora January 22, 2025 at 10:47 am

                The scramble for jobs is just that tight. The economy and opportunities are just that bad. But instead of working against monopoly and Wall St powers, working for increased minimum wages, working against offshoring and open borders(increasing competition for entry level jobs,working for universal healthcare and the like, the Woke like the Moral Majority before it makes no economic class claims; it only fights for a bigger piece of an ever shrinking middle class slice of the pie. It is no threat at all to the ever increasing wealth and power of the richest and of Wall St. In that sense it is a distraction from the real economic problems most face. In fact, it gained its biggest jump in public awareness, via the MSM, after O bailed out the TBTF banks and the Occupy Wall St movement. It was as if a memo went out saying “Must change subject from bad bank financial behavior to bad middle class social behavior.” It’s a distraction from the big fight, imo.

                Seems like it worked, too. / my 2 cents
                1. flora January 22, 2025 at 10:55 am

                   Divide and conquer is an old idea. To quote Gilded Age robber baron Jay Gould:

                   I Can Hire Half the Working Class To Fight the Other Half
                2. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 12:52 pm

                   You have just made an excellent argument for a Vanguard of the Deplorables. Someone has to pick up that pointy ended stick (power) lying in the street and face it in the right direction.
          3. Lefty Godot January 22, 2025 at 3:21 pm

             Peter Turchin would like to say some words about that. Elite oversupply, etc.
          4. NYMutza January 22, 2025 at 9:57 pm

             You mean like “Chief People Officer”?
       2. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 9:05 am

          DEI should be umbrellaed within Creative Writing departments where future baristas congregate.
          1. Googoogajoob January 22, 2025 at 9:23 am

             On the opposite end of DEI is the enduring belief in meritocratic hiring practices which in it’s own right is nonsence as well.

             As one of those evil PMC types, Ive found that the DEI messaging can be counterproductive in how it tends to be framed but all the teeth grinding about it comes off as nothing but coping from people who expected the world to be handed to them.
             1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 9:42 am

                Thanks. Good point about opposite ends of the stick. I’d say messaging can be counterproductive in how it tends to be framed can be applied to both ends. Nonsensical applications is our default setting.
             2. flora January 22, 2025 at 10:30 am

                Not disagreeing with you point. Only pointing out the origin of merit hiring was a big push by good government reformers – the so-called goo-goos . It was their efforts to cleanup graft, influence peddling, and the patronage hiring systems in local, state, and federal employment; it was their effort to hire people competent and qualified for the job without regard to a job seeker’s party affiliation or family or business connections.

                Some states, including my own, were still using the patronage system for big state govt entities into the 1950s.
                1. flora January 22, 2025 at 11:21 am

                   And of course later, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, (EEOC) included in the 1964 Civil Rights Act was created, expanding the scope of merit hiring.

                   “The Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits discrimination in a broad array of private conduct including public accommodations, governmental services and education. One section of the Act, referred to as Title VII, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, color, religion and national origin. Title VII applies to private employers, labor unions and employment agencies. The Act prohibits discrimination in recruitment, hiring, wages, assignment, promotions, benefits, discipline, discharge, layoffs and almost every aspect of employment.”
             3. juno mas January 22, 2025 at 2:34 pm

                The issue I have with DEI is that it is missing the letter “C” (Competence.) All the diversity, equity, and inclusion available does not making for a functioning organization, if they don’t have relevant capability. (And I mean ‘capability’ not ‘credential’.)
       3. ChrisFromGA January 22, 2025 at 9:06 am

          I can’t recall the author – there was a blogosphere post a while back that made an argument that the biggest issue facing the West was overproduction of elites.
          1. albrt January 22, 2025 at 9:15 am

             Peter Turchin is considered the current shepherd of that longstanding idea. His most recent book was reviewed a number of places including here.
    2. Wukchumni January 22, 2025 at 9:13 am

       The Donkey Show banked on a tiny percent of the population being trans being so important that it became all encompassing, or in essence they couldn’t read the room, and then came the broom.
       1. Emma January 22, 2025 at 9:22 am

          It could have be any other wedge issue. Abortion worked for 50 years and #metoo had its time in the sun. If the population ever comes to some sort of agreement in how to deal with transpeople in public, they’ll just put in something else. Maybe polygamists or people who always wear people will be next in line.

          What’s important is keeping the masses divided and having each other.
          1. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 9:55 am

             “… people who always wear people will…”
             We’re well into ‘Eyes Wide Shut’ territory here.
             No matter how cynical you are, you are always behind the curve.
             1. Emma January 22, 2025 at 11:05 am

                Major autocorrect snafus by meeee! Could be the next wedge issue – should people practicing terrible grammar online be shunt off in padded cells with very poor cell signal? Should pedantic individuals be a hunted class for HTS snuff videos? Should we all get AI brain implants? Will future wars be fight between people wearing people and people wearing cats? Will the people wearing skunks win?
                1. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 1:00 pm

                   Fear not. There will not be a supply issue concerning “canon fooder” for as long as the population exceeds the dreams of glory of alpha type personalities.
                   Pompous prolix pedants are a credit a dyad.
                   My best guess is that “Online Grammer and Correct Content” will be a part of the curriculum in the FEMA Re-education Centres.
                   1. marku52 January 22, 2025 at 3:16 pm

                      I rather like “canon fodder.”
    3. Christopher Smith January 22, 2025 at 9:31 am

       DEI is pro segregation. All those racial affinity groups make me sick. Go ask my dad about the affinity bathrooms, affinity water fountains, and affinity schools from his youth in the south. Same thing, different era. More Moon of Alabama please, and less wokie wokism.
       1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 9:53 am

          As Emma pointed out above, identity politics is pro-segregation. The natural result its weaponization is an overweight backlash. This cycle kills any chance of society gaining a beneficial outcome.
          1. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 10:05 am

             Using the theory that laws are tools of social engineering, we must ask ourselves, what purposes are the “woke” class of laws intended to promote?
             Per the above, positing conspiracies for social trends is overly reductionist. Since most social “movements” are the results of one form of a congruence of interests or another, we can somewhat simplify the problem by investigating the milieus from which the impetuses that “power” the ‘movements’ arise.
             As always, ‘who benefits’ is the primary question.
             1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 10:17 am

                …which would be the consultant class within the booming industry of “elections”. Thanks.
    4. VTDigger January 22, 2025 at 9:44 am

       Just another way of catering to the 1%. Big profit center.
    5. schmoe January 22, 2025 at 9:53 am

       To me, the whole point of the links is to present viewpoints as diverse as the Kyiv Independent to the Valdai book club. If someone wants a safe news feed that just confirms their viewpoints, get a Facebook account.

       Sorry if that sounded snotty, but your comment was out of line. And that is from someone totally agnostic on DEI matters.
    6. ilsm January 22, 2025 at 10:19 am

       It will be a long 4 years!
       1. Bsn January 22, 2025 at 7:57 pm

          And it didn’t happen soon enough :-)
    7. Bugs January 22, 2025 at 12:18 pm

       I disagree with it too but Bernard at MoA is good on a lot of foreign policy and military stuff and that’s where he’s coming from. My personal view is D and I are important. We can work on that as eyes open thinking human beings, without getting it hammered into our brains by a staff of 200 headed up by some PhD in gender studies who got a sinecure. E is a cruel joke meant to fog our brains so we ignore getting screwed over by the 1% and its running dogs. None of those letters deserve a senior manager assignment, less a whole department. While we’re at it, let’s get rid of the real baddies – HR!
       1. AG January 22, 2025 at 1:51 pm

          Hedges had this interview with Christian Parenti on woke in general as a problem for academia (as he sees it.)
          It’s not entirely DEI – but was a bit related I think

          Sept. 25th 2024
          How Wokeness Kills Class Politics and Empowers Empire (w/ Christian Parenti) | The Chris Hedges Report

          https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/how-wokeness-kills-class-politics

          The problem with DEI: it´s too complex a scientific matter to give it a general all/nothing treatment.

          It already starts with the complex biological realities, realities which are scientific facts vs. social realities and the creation of laws and regulations which have to simplify.
    8. Yves Smith Post authorJanuary 22, 2025 at 12:38 pm

       Yes, I put that up to provoke people just like you, trans advocates who have no problem with running roughshod over women’s rights. As a woman, I am not on board with people with penises in women’s bathrooms. Nor am I on board with people with XY chromosomes competing in women’s sports. People with XY chromosomes, even if they take hormone-suppressive drugs early, have higher levels of muscle mass, sturdier bones, and less joint laxity than XX people, giving them an unfair advantage in sports.

       Women fought too hard over generations for safe spaces and their own sports to have a tiny minority of trans trample over them.
       1. boomheist January 22, 2025 at 1:16 pm

          Hear, hear, Yves. Absolutely.
          1. Irrational January 24, 2025 at 12:17 pm

             Ditto
       2. Joe Well January 22, 2025 at 1:48 pm

          >>I am not on board with people with penises in women’s bathrooms.

          Not just trans women, but women with a “mannish” appearance are going to be facing a rough time…
          1. Bsm]n January 22, 2025 at 8:00 pm

             No, manish doesn’t cut it. That doesn’t matter. There are many “dykes” who are still women, though they make great Tom Boys. Can’t tell a book by looking at the cover.
       3. marku52 January 22, 2025 at 3:21 pm

          I read a list of track and field records. By age 15, boys outperformed *adult* women in all categories.

          No trans men in women’s sports.
    9. Lee January 22, 2025 at 12:42 pm

       Let us not pretend that there are no genetically determined biological differences between the sexes, particular as regards relative physical strength coupled with a greater propensity for physical aggression, such that there are no venues such as women’s sports, prisons, and safe houses, where the exclusion of biological males is not warranted. I have an idea. Let’s have an all female plebiscite to decide such questions, including trans women if you like, and let the women decide.
       1. boomheiat January 22, 2025 at 1:24 pm

          Take rowing for example. An elite male rower will be 6-6 tall, 210 pounds, and will pull a time of 5.45 on an ergometer for a 2000 meter distance. An elite woman will be 6-1 or 6-2, 170 pounds, and will pull a time of 6.30 on an ergometer, nearly a minute slower. Men are bigger, stronger, and faster, period.
          1. Yves Smith Post authorJanuary 22, 2025 at 1:38 pm

             On average!

             In classes as big as men and women, the difference within a class are greater than the differences between the classes. So there will be individual cases otherwise

             But yes, that average difference is why women are indoctrinated to be submissive and manipulative, since on average, if a woman physically confronts a man, she will get the shit beaten out of her.
             1. juno mas January 22, 2025 at 2:49 pm

                That happens to ‘skinny guys’, as well, in America. Talented comedians are ‘short’ because they have a lifetime of experience avoiding this ‘danger’. YMMV ;)
                1. Late Introvert January 22, 2025 at 3:14 pm

                   Height-challenged male here, who was very mouthy as a youth. The sport of wrestling was a safe way to take out all my anger, as they classed us by weight!
                   1. juno mas January 22, 2025 at 7:35 pm

                      Didn’t say short guys are quiet. Comedians are quite fascile with language and use it to defang big guys. There are no weight classification on ‘the street’. :)
             2. KD January 22, 2025 at 3:13 pm

                on average, if a woman physically confronts a man, she will get the shit beaten out of her. . .

                Unless her name is Dakota Ditcheva.
12. CA January 22, 2025 at 8:51 am

    https://news.cgtn.com/news/2025-01-22/Per-capita-income-in-rural-Xizang-nears-national-level-in-2024-1An2VDnVMmA/p.html

    January 22, 2025

    Per capita income in rural Xizang nears national level in 2024

    The per capita disposable income of rural residents in southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region saw the fastest growth in the country in 2024, nearing the national average, a remarkable accomplishment considering the region’s challenging plateau conditions.

    During the year, the per capita disposable income of rural residents in the region was 21,578 yuan (about $3,010), reaching 93.3 percent of the national average level, Li Jianshu, deputy head of the Xizang survey team at the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference held during the annual session of the regional people’s congress concluding on Wednesday.

    The figure marked an 8.3-percent increase from the previous year, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate, Li said.

    He further noted that the per capita disposable income of urban residents reached 55,444 yuan, up 6.8 percent, 2.2 percentage points higher than the national average growth rate.

    The per capita disposable income of all residents in the region surged by 8.2 percent to 31,358 yuan. This growth rate, the highest among the country’s provincial-level areas, exceeded the national average by 2.9 percentage points.

    Mountain-locked Xizang was once the only provincial-level contiguous poverty-stricken region in China, burdened by its high altitude, harsh environment, poor transportation and limited resources. By the end of 2019, however, the region achieved a historic feat by eradicating absolute poverty, lifting 628,000 people out of poverty.

    Thanks to the development of infrastructure, the booming tourism market, and the accelerated growth of various industries in the region, the income structure of residents in Xizang has greatly improved, leading to enhanced living standards for its people.
    1. Zagonostra January 22, 2025 at 10:40 am

       By the end of 2019, however, the region achieved a historic feat by eradicating absolute poverty, lifting 628,000 people out of poverty.

       Thanks to the development of infrastructure…

       Amazing. But if you listen to John Stewart, there is a trade-off between “developing Infrastructure” and modernizing public transportation such as NY subways, and that trade-off is our “freedom.”
       1. vao January 22, 2025 at 11:55 am

          the region achieved a historic feat by eradicating absolute poverty, lifting 628,000 people out of poverty…

          …but at what cost?
          1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 12:32 pm

             Thanks. I particularly enjoyed the header China helping the world is suspicious. “Orwellian” may be tired terminology, but from my perspective……
       2. Jabura Basadai January 22, 2025 at 4:27 pm

          level of irrelevancy Stewart has sunk to makes road-kill more important – he’s acting punch-drunk now – first Apple beat him up, then called on the carpet for his Wuhan moment on Colbert –
          now he’s a palooka taking dives –
          “I could have been a contender”
          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z66hw6q-zY&t=27s
13. Wukchumni January 22, 2025 at 8:51 am

    Just when you thought the numismatrix couldn’t get any more silly, the race to out meme one another in matters of cryptocurrency raised it up another notch.

    Let’s talk ramifications of the eventual reckoning sure to come?

    We didn’t hear a peep about crypto out of Genocide Joe, but Trump hit the ground running, and he’s an outlier in that it’s a young persons’ Mug’s Game-not something Gen X or Boomers are all that interested in.

    When they get burned (3rd degree at a minimum, possibly 4th degree lesions) young adult males are gonna be hopping mad, and how do they react?
    1. Acacia January 22, 2025 at 9:11 am

       and how do they react?

       Something tells me it could involve firearms.

       The AR-15 type has been a popular choice (e.g., Thomas Crooks, Kyle Rittenhouse, et alia), and the vegan activist woman who shot up the YouTube HQ in California (she had been deplatformed) used a 9 mm Smith & Wesson semi-automatic pistol, but post-Luigi a 3D-printed “ghost gun” is probably the go-to.
    2. Michael Fiorillo January 22, 2025 at 11:03 am

       How do they react?

       The likely reaction is verbal and actual violence against the weak, also likely preceded by some kind of Immigrant Shock Horror-type news panic or its equivalent…

       People are transfixed by their dis-infotainment of choice, and too cowardly to go after the actual sources of their suffering, even if they know what it is. Breaking out of that neoliberal fugue state, which requires the quiet and honest introspection that this society is threatened by/incapable of (regardless of political affiliation), seems increasingly remote.
       1. ambrit January 22, 2025 at 1:15 pm

          As I opined above, the present situation is crying out for a ‘Vanguard of the Deplorables.’
    3. ChrisFromGA January 22, 2025 at 1:18 pm

       In a less socially retarded society, these silly things like meme coins would not be banned but would be properly classified as gambling. Because there is no utility to $TRUMP or $DOGE we would see them treated like sports betting.

       Most states now allow sports betting, hence the cottage industry of web sites like Fan Duel, and the NFL embracing gambling on games and not just in Vegas.
14. Henry Moon Pie January 22, 2025 at 8:53 am

    The past few days have me so excited. Sam Altman, Trump and AI are going to cure cancer…right after the Trump admin retakes the Panama Canal and goes to Mars. My question: will it all get done in the first 100 days?

    Golden Age in ‘Murca! Does that mean we all better buy gold because it’s all going to sh-t? The customers are usually none too happy when a salesman way oversells the product.

    Trump appears to be an accelerationist’s dream.
    1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 10:04 am

       Trump appears to be an accelerationist’s dream.
       “Throw another tire on the fire….”, (some Cohen Bros movie, I think is where I got that)
       Here’s hoping “acceleration” is not ’25’s word of the year.
    2. Airgap January 22, 2025 at 11:57 am

       Buy gold?

       Too late, CostCo is already sold out!
15. ciroc January 22, 2025 at 8:54 am

    >The Black Book of Communism Is a Shoddy Work of History

    The British Conservative politician Daniel Hannan had a similar message as he prepared for “the most monstrous of centenaries.” According to Hannan, communism was far worse than slavery or Nazism: “The Atlantic slave trade killed perhaps 10 million people, the Nazis 17 million — but the Communists killed 100 million.” The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, which runs a museum in Washington, carries the following message on its website: “Communism Killed Over 100 Million: We’re telling their stories.”

    If we judge by the number of victims, the worst ideology must be capitalism.
    1. Neutrino January 22, 2025 at 9:41 am

       That is a lot of statistics.
       Fauci asking when his contributions to world health will get a mention?
    2. Carolinian January 22, 2025 at 11:15 am

       The industrial era has been far more about capitalism than communism so surely a Black Book of Capitalism is in order. In fact the Russian Revolution was in many ways a result of WW1 and WW2 in turn a result of that. And in any case pretending our social life is all about political/economic theories is dubious since wars and victims have been a feature long preceding the ideologies.
       1. JBird4049 January 22, 2025 at 1:16 pm

          It is interesting how all the many horrors of capitalism going back to the British and Dutch East India Companies, the Atlantic slave trade, the King Leopold’s Belgian Congo, several large famines in the British Empire, plus much else in the more than four centuries of its existence. Heck, many of the coups done by the United States were and are done for the benefit and often direct requests of corporations.

          Proponents of capitalism want to look only at the benefits, which often are very large, of capitalism without looking at the extremely high costs of it, which is dishonest.
       2. communistmole January 23, 2025 at 3:15 am

          “surely a Black Book of Capitalism is in order”

          It exists:

          https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwarzbuch_Kapitalismus

          although Kurz would have preferred to call it ‘The Mills of Satan’ (Die Mühlen des Teufels), in reference to Blake, but the publisher wanted the title for sales reasons.

          You can download it by searching:

          Robert Kurz Schwarzbuch Kapitalismus – exit-online.org
    3. Hickory January 22, 2025 at 1:53 pm

       Communism and capitalism are different flavors of extractive profit economies. The root problem is that in all those societies, a few people ruled over everyone else, imposing law and choosing how to enforce. Same problem in America, Soviet Union, Great Britain, China. No wonder they all have histories of huge amounts of death and exploitation – they’re different flavors of the same underlying problem, where a few people rule over everyone else. All of them forbid people from taking responsibility for their culture and standing up to abuse, because that’s supposedly the police’s job, and they’re not allowed to do their job – honest police, known as whistleblowers, don’t last long in any unhealthy culture.

       There are actual human societies with a gift economy – that is, economies that reward sharing rather than profiting, and the highest leaders are the ones that share and give the most, rather than elevating the richest or the servants of the rich, as happens in America, China, Russia, etc. If you want an alternative to the tired debates between communism, capitalism, and socialism, I suggest looking at these gift economies. A book called One Disease One Cure goes into all this with many beautiful stories, exploring how people can live in respectful ways, and all the usual trouble that happens when a few people rule over everyone else.
    4. duckies January 22, 2025 at 5:13 pm

       Not only that it is way far ahead, but is still counting.

       P.S. The Nazis killed 17 million, out of which 27 millions of Soviets.
16. AG January 22, 2025 at 9:06 am

    art history/ painting

    “On T. J. Clark’s Bruegel”
    by Daniel Zamora
    https://newleftreview.org/sidecar/posts/world-upside-down
    1. Bugs January 22, 2025 at 12:33 pm

       Thanks – excellent commentary and review. I’ve been going up to Belgium and Holland for a week each summer trying to see as many of these places that are around and the paintings when they happen to have stayed there! It’s sort of sad that there are no Bosch paintings in Den Bosch…
17. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 9:11 am

    ‘Why you should have a cat
    @ShouldHaveCat
    Teacher teaching his student’

    Yeah, not a good idea this. You don’t want to accidentally hit your cat and get in a fight with it. That never ends well-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMHkQDzt8VM (2:12 mins)
18. Emma January 22, 2025 at 9:11 am

    Will Stargate Project be $20 billion for running Deepseek algorithm and $480 billion for “miscellaneous”?
    1. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 9:39 am

       That could be a job for the new DOGE – to investigate the people in the Stargate Project. Yeah, right. But the name of that project could be apt. You fire up that Stargate, threw billions into that event horizon, and then you shut it down with no trace of those billions left behind-

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8j9Fl34RAU (1:00 mins)
    2. wendigo January 22, 2025 at 10:47 am

       According to Musk, neither.

       https://www.politico.eu/article/us-elon-musk-troll-donald-trump-500b-ai-plan/
    3. heh January 22, 2025 at 5:59 pm

       Suggestion for miscellaneous:
       – buy Uber, and rename it to Uber Alles
19. Es s Ce Tera January 22, 2025 at 9:29 am

    I’m reading in Canadian news that Trump’s executive order reversing DEI targeted and reversed Lyndon Johnson’s executive order 11246 ending discrimination on the basis of race in federal government.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Order_11246
    1. t January 22, 2025 at 10:32 am

       Sounds about right. But possibly a happy accident. Like when a cat goes to knock one thing off the counter, but also knocks over another thing that’s even more fun!

       Haven’t heard anything, yet, from Canadians, about Trump pardoning Proud Boys who are terrorist in Canada, and some other countries.
    2. Es s Ce Tera January 22, 2025 at 11:09 am

       An obvious question is what are the odds Trump will also go after the Civil Rights Act? It seems like a logical next step.

       These days many seem to equate DEI with anti-white discrimination (which it is decidedly not but facts and truth are irrelevant).

       And with this move rescinding EO 11246 as part of anti-DEI, Trump is equating the civil rights movement with DEI and with anti-white discrimination, which his administration wants to reverse in all shapes and forms, real or imagined.
20. ilsm January 22, 2025 at 9:46 am

    PLAAF has a sixth generation fighter type aircraft!

    They will probably build a few dozen and test around them.

    While the Lockheed is building more aircraft for the dividend flow. Every new F-35, and all those tooling about out in the world, needs a new engine which is not in anyone’s plan!
21. The Rev Kev January 22, 2025 at 9:56 am

    “There’s reason to be worried about the plethora of pardons from Trump and Biden”

    Politico would never mention it but there is a qualitative difference between Biden’s pardons and Trumps. With Biden he was pardoning his own (crime) family because of all the corruption that they are involved in, political operatives like Milley, the Jan. 6 committee and Fauci to buy their silence and in fact more pardons than any President in history by a long shot. Trump pardoning those protestors was not in the same class. The full might and weight of the US was used like a bludgeon to go after anybody there that day. People who walked quietly through an escort of police, looked at the interiors, took a few selfies, and then left were facing charges that would lead to years in prison. It was gross and needed correcting. Maybe not all of them should have been released but it was the fastest way to do it. Would you believe on the news they claimed that a police officer died that day? Some people died that day and one was murdered but none of them were police.
    1. ilsm January 22, 2025 at 10:25 am

       US’ left wing pundits continue to proclaim the Jan 6th political prisoners as attackers.

       They may have frightened the democrats over the vote fraud, but they deserved a hearing denied them.

       The issue is that democrats ran Maoist show trials.

       Pardons merely reverse their crimes against US citizens rights.

       The continued drivel on the news is boring
       1. marym January 22, 2025 at 10:47 am

          There had already been over 60 state and federal lawsuits, hearings and investigations by state government and election officials, manual full and partial recounts, and audits, the process and results of which were open to the public. The Capitol rioters may have been there to protest the fact that their preferred candidate wouldn’t be president despite having lost the election, but the “hearing” on this had already occurred.

          I will also point out that long after the Capitol riot the “hearing” continued with additional investigations including one initiated by the Trump administration, public scrutiny, lawsuits, and at least one full manual recount organized and funded by Republican supporters.
          1. ilsm January 22, 2025 at 11:38 am

             That is why Schiff and Cheney need pardons.
    2. jsn January 22, 2025 at 11:14 am

       Ford lost to Carter for using the Pardon power as a get out of jail free card for Nixon.

       Having re-purposed DoJ for Lawfare, the Ds are now using Pardons as get out of jail free cards at scale.

       I agree, what Trump did he did for people not tied directly to his own corruption, while Biden is in full get out of jail free mode. Not to suggest Trumps memecoin and innumerable other activities aren’t corrupt, but he’s been playing the legalized crime game his whole life and as such has other buffers for his surrogates.
    3. divadab January 22, 2025 at 3:47 pm

       Whenever I read an article that uses the term “debunked” I immediately assume that there is some truth in what they claim is “debunked”. The Raw Story article a case in point – they claim Jim Jordan is still pursuing “debunked” Jan 6 theories – so I figure Jordan is on the right track.
22. pjay January 22, 2025 at 9:57 am

    – ‘Stefanik paints a grim picture of a UN she wants to reform’ – Politico

    Stefanik is about as miserable a candidate for our “top diplomat” as one could find, but she follows a long line of these. No surprise here. But what has struck me about her confirmation is the bipartisan support for her confirmation. As this Political article points out:

    “The moderate Republican turned ardent Trump backer is generally expected to be easily confirmed and without much serious opposition from Senate Democrats who see her as less polemical than other nominees and broadly agree with her on the need to support Israel.”

    In addition to fighting the Chinese take-over of the UN, Stefanik has pledged to dig out it’s “antisemitic rot.” She also agreed with Smotrich and Ben Givr that Israel has “a biblical right to the entire West Bank.” I’m glad Trump could find a “less polemical” candidate for UN Ambassador.

    No need for Senate Democrats to slow-walk her confirmation. She’s ready to go!
    1. jrkrideau January 22, 2025 at 6:04 pm

       Are you sure she does not think she is being appointed Secretary General?
    2. bob January 22, 2025 at 7:45 pm

       Worse than Bolton? More or less effective? We’ve been sending our worst for decades now.

       We can all look forward to Rhianna pulling her security detail in 2035.

       She has some major Upper Class pull, along with the Harvard pedigree and I’ve heard people speculate that this is going to be her foreign policy training, setting her up for a run for POTUS.

       Her TV stylist has been upping her game over the past year too. I wonder if Trump ordered that, it would be in character.

       She could have been defeated early. She’s a perfect empty vessel, now battle tested and ready for action
23. timbers January 22, 2025 at 10:10 am

    “Acceleration, Decapitation, Mobilization” **** At some point (except mobilization) this will make sense. Maybe soon, if the Donbass fronts reach the point of collapse of Ukraine forces on a bigger scale. Trump’s recent comments these past few days show he is just as out of touch and misinformed as his predissors regarding the war in Ukraine – saying Russia has lost “a million men” (and Ukraine much less) its economy is hurting and declining and the war is not going well for Russia and Putin needs to stop the war for domestic and other reasons and needs to get Western sanctions relief. Putin and Russian establishment have repeatedly said Zelensky is not the legitimate President of Ukraine. So what is he? The West will never allow Russia to “win the peace” until all current EU leaders are regime changed. So IMO, as Ukraine collapses, they will work with what remains of Ukraine to turn it into a type of terrorist launching pad to inflict whatever damage on Russia that they are able. At some point, Russia will need to fix her mistake of normalizing direct attacks by the West upon her. The time for Russia to accelerate (and maybe decapitate) may be approaching. But then what do I know?
    1. jrkrideau January 22, 2025 at 6:20 pm

       The West will never allow Russia to “win the peace” until all current EU leaders are regime changed.

       Biden is gone, Trudeau is gone in a few weeks, Sholz is gone in a few weeks, Starmer is not looking all that good, Orban and Fico would be happy to be out of it as, I think, will Meloni. Macron is looking crippled. I think major support is melting fast.

       I am not so sure about NATO resolve.
24. Mikel January 22, 2025 at 10:16 am

    “Following Trump’s lead, Lorenzo Sewell, a Detroit pastor who spoke during the president’s inauguration, announced the launch of his own memecoin later that day.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1jKMjOjg1M&ab_channel=M1/
    Richard Pryor Show 1977 – Rev James L White , Who Reminds us of Daddy Rich; God & Federal Green!
    1. Zagonostra January 22, 2025 at 10:47 am

       Pryor was great…Rev Sewell was such an embarrassment to MLK tradition. I can only imagine what some Baptist or other Southern Christian American/black people felt by imagining a NY Italian with his shirt open to his belly button and gold chains around his hairy chest coming out and representing Italian culture.
       1. Mikel January 22, 2025 at 10:53 am

          The song in the clip says it all.
    2. John Wright January 22, 2025 at 1:06 pm

       In one of Richard Pryor’s movies he is an onlooker to a financial huckster promoting some scheme.

       The Pryor character raises his voice and says that “this looks like a pyramid scheme” .

       The promoter responds with, “no, no, it’s a trapezoidal scheme”.

       We need more comedians and the media taking on the financial and political schemers of USA society.

       But I fear it’s “not gonna happen”
       1. Mikel January 22, 2025 at 3:22 pm

          “Which Way Is Up” and “Blue Collar” – notable Pryor films about the working class vs “the system”.
       2. duckies January 22, 2025 at 5:19 pm

          LOL, I remember that scene. He even shows on the board.
25. amfortas the hippie January 22, 2025 at 10:25 am

    its after 9am here, still 19 degrees, with a vigorous southwest wind and windchill around 4 or 5.
    but itll get up to 55 today, they say….
    so’s i can turn on the water, again.
    let all the birds out for the first time since friday…stupified, blinking in the sun.
    sheeps reckon they should continue getting fed twice a day.
    i ended up going forth and cutting more wood at the woodshed, and down there at one of the dead trees along the fenceline in the front pasture.
    just to keep things running smoothly.
    still waiting for a part for the woodstove in my room…and man have i missed it.
    bored out of my mind…sore from laying around under covers in far too many layers of clothes, watching tv.
    greenhouse toms and peppers made it just fine…because i’m a bad mofo.
    and have slept for 2 or 3 hours at a time throughout.
    now, with the sun well up, greenhouse is the place to be…about 65, right now…didnt let it get below 40.
    plants are rather thirsty, tho.
    and i smell like a goat…really look forward to a superhot bath this evening, after critters are done….espsom salts, dishsoap and prolly some rosemary tossed in…the big tankless set to 125…then the little booster tankless in greenhouse helping it along…end result is a bath of around 114 by the time i get in it….eureka!, and all.
    likely make a beer run, since the kegstand is unlikely to thaw in time,lol.

    and laundry manana afternoon, when it heats up again…and i suppose dishes at some point.
    it’ll be almost 70 degrees by sunday, they say.
    one of my superpowers…i endure things…and i endured this.
    doesnt mean i hafta like it.
    nebraska can keep their frelling winter weather.
    1. Zagonostra January 22, 2025 at 10:51 am

       Around 6 below zero this morning in Central PA. I’m glad I have a wood stove to help furnace. I’m sure people around here without wood stove will be getting a heck of a heating bill….family in SE Florida freezing in the 57 degree temp, cold for down there.
    2. Screwball January 22, 2025 at 10:56 am

       Speaking of the cold, and sorry to change the subject, but this is nuts.

       I live in a small NW Ohio town. It was below zero last night, and in the single digits for the last few days. There is a young adult girl who lives with her mother in an apartment complex. According to the neighbor she has severe anxiety and claustrophobic characteristics, so she doesn’t go inside.

       There is a picture of her laying on the front porch of her house with blankets over top of her. She was out there all night. A neighbor called the police and they said they couldn’t do anything. She also contacted a county commissioner. He hasn’t been able to do anything either.

       How can this happen? How can they allow this girl to lay out there and freeze to death. I don’t know if they even know if she’s alive? She is an adult so you can’t use child abuse angle (I guess, she does live with her mom). I honestly don’t know how this hasn’t went viral. Unbelievable.
       1. .human January 22, 2025 at 11:16 am

          As an out-of-cert EMT in a 911 community (in a former life) we were able to request that patients be taken into custody if they were a danger to themselves or others. Usually drunks or homeless transients during cold weather.

          We would be called by the authorities to help make the determination.
          It’s a tough call. Sometimes, but seldom, appreciated.
          1. Screwball January 22, 2025 at 11:32 am

             Thank you for this. I thought something like this is possible. Tough call – no doubt – but it needs to be done.

             If I were a city council member, police, whoever, I would call for an emergency meeting and demand something be done – by someone. If you are out in these freezing temperatures you are in danger – period. It shouldn’t be difficult.

             Thanks for your input.
             1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 11:54 am

                I’ll put that task with Amforta’s cat responsibility as things I would not be good at.
                Swinging back on course, I figure there are a lot of plumbing issues in parts of the country that don’t normally get well below freezing temps. Here in the southern Greens of Vermont, today’s high is 12 and todays low is minus 12, which I woke up to. I got out of bed twice last night to stoke the wood stove. We did get eight inches of very high quality snow Sunday.
                1. amfortas the hippie January 22, 2025 at 12:21 pm

                   yeah. we aint set up for this sort of thing.
                   y’all got pipes buried deep, steep roofs, etc.
                   and, using mom as a proxy, i guarantee that i’m likely the only one around here who preemptively shuts off my water and drains the system(built it that way)…because theres few things i dislike more than being a plumber in the mud when its in the 40’s and 50’s, with wind(we’re always windy out here).
                   its also why i do woodstoves…i can burn pallets if i have to…or take the chainsaw to the side of the highway, for that matter.
                   this year and last, ive had a giant pile of what used to be mom’s enormous 100+ year old pecan trees to work on…too big for me to cut up by myself, but eldest likes that sort of work.
                   also have the biggest parts of one of neighbor’s standing dead oaks…4 more along his part of the road i can get whenever i need to.
                   so i got wood…but since im usually on my own, im playing catchup with the cutting and splitting.
                   even so, i dont hafta rely on $ for propane or electricity….save like right now, when one of the woodstoves is missing a part.
                   “normally” we only get a few days like this per year…but its been weird since the 2 week ice age in feb 2021.
                   ive only shut off my water twice, so far…but thats a lot compared to a “normal” winter.
                   during feb 21, whole county lost power for a week…but we managed to keep this big old drafty thing above 40,lol.
                   and used hurricane lamps, etc for light.

                   i’m built for the heat.
                   both me, myself, as well as my structures.
                   give me 105 in the shade any old day.
                   i could never live where some of yall do,lol.

                   and when i’m out at dawn on mornings like this, in the wind, checking on things(another service i get no credit for, i might add)…i think about you folks in vermont, maine and ontario…let alone people i know in edmonton…

                   up to almost 40, wind dyin down…so ima do my town run in a minute…and go cut some wood…then hopefully, the lowest faucet, which happens to be in deep shade on north side of house(had a heater on it for 2 hours) will thaw enough to close, so i can assess that situation,lol.
                   barnyard is easier to turn back on for the same reason its the first i shut off…every faucet is in the open.
                   amazingly, sheep still have water…deicers worked well…and they apparently arent that thirsty when its this cold.

                   sigh.
                   1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 12:50 pm

                      I got a blow dryer duct taped to a hockey stick. That and a couple of clamps for hands free pipe defrosting, heh heh. Not all pipes are deep in the ground.
                      Five dollar propane here. Getting the truck up the drive is the hard part.
                      You got a portable mill? Is pecan wood good for finishing work? Plus, you have oak.
                      About the cold. I’d wager you’d enjoy it without the wind. I sat out last night once the thermometer cracked zero. Somehow the cold intensifies the silence. Downside was my beverage froze up pretty quick.
                      1. amfortas the hippie January 22, 2025 at 3:03 pm

                         if i have a good fire in the hole at the bar…where im somewhat sheltered from all but east or west wind…i can take it down to about 40…and thats with sufficient beer and/or whiskey, and 3 layrs plus 2 heavy bathrobes, plus furry hat.
                         i read in SciAm some time ago that shivering is how one acclimates to the onset of cold season…trust the science, and all,lol…so ever since, in november, with the first real cold front, you’ll find me remaining nekkid out there…for as long as i can stand it…then layering up by the roaring inferno(old pallets are great for that) and making my way inside…where i will always have woodstoves, etc already doing their thing.
                         again…i do not like the cold.
                         november through february is my very least favorite part of the year.
                         but that sciam method seems to work a bit, as i find i am a bit more cold tolerant than usual.

                         as for today…and dreams of a superhot bath…well, god laughs at our plans.
                         forgot to open one(1) faucet on my side of the system…the one that goes to the shed where W/D lives…and i dont feel like another trip to town.(pipedope mustve gotten cold, bc its all watery and useless…and i was sure i had another ball valve to patch that, but i dont)
                         i want my 2 hours in the warm greenhouse with beer and a hogleg and art pepper and sunshine, ere i go forth and put up critters.
                         still smell like a frelling goat,lol…but i got lotsa cornstarch, some real frankincense, and a nose full of snot anyways….ha!…something cedar fever is good for, at last!
    3. AndrewJ January 22, 2025 at 12:59 pm

       I always enjoy your checkins. Enjoy your bath!
26. JMH January 22, 2025 at 10:46 am

    DEI or no DEI. DEI is segregation. Identity politics is a doorway to unequal outcomes. “Trans” is a tiny population exploded into a world shattering problem. Is any of this true? To what extent is it false? Now there is an executive order mandating two genders. There are two genders in the majority, but then there are those in between. If you treat them as “flyover country”, you can populate it with wonders and with monsters and never be the wiser. I used to drive from the east coast to western Montana each summer. I did so because I wanted to see what was there. I wanted to see who was there. No surprise that coastal and bi-coastal sophisticates were thin on the ground. And no surprise that the inhabitants of “flyover country” were much like those I had left behind. As Yves says, “Quelle surprise.” Whatever else DEI is or was, it became a bludgeon in the hands of people with a political agenda. I choose not to characterize that agenda except to say the bottom line is or was, “You will do it our way … or else. Or else you will suffer in a manner of our choosing.” Seemed a totalitarian’s way of thinking to me. Are there, were there those with motives of the greatest and most disinterested purity? I am sure there are and were, but they were either never in charge or lost control to the other crowd who found a vehicle for their fantasies of control. Is there a “moral to the story?” Not sure, but if there is I nominate always look at the places in between.
    1. mrsyk January 22, 2025 at 11:43 am

       If you treat them as “flyover country”, you can populate it with wonders and with monsters and never be the wiser.
       That’s a choice sentence and worth a think.
27. noonespecial January 22, 2025 at 11:07 am

    Trump 2.0

    An addition to this section of links. (Insert voice of Larry Cable Guy’s “git-r-done!”)

    So D-man’s placement speech wailed on about all sorts of inefficiencies and lack of gov’t’s abilities to confront crises at the homeland.

    To Angelino readers of NC, maybe one can pass along this bit of news to the new prez while he tours Calif and surveys the scene. Let him know if means to “git-r-done!”, well hands on deck sir. Since the new prez is keen on making schools great again, let not a moment pass when he can take some wind out of Newsom’s sails and announce a yuuge fed-led investment. or else, it’s just another brick let loose off the wall that is US infrastructure.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/la-schools-wrecked-fires-plead-162513682.html

    “[S]chool officials say they need more than anything else is cash to pay for new places to learn…They are turning to crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe to quickly raise money…
    Of the more than 15,400 structures wrecked by the Palisades and Eaton fires so far, at least 18 schools — including charter or private schools — have sustained significant damage or been destroyed, according to data from the California Department of Education and certain schools. While property insurance and government aid will help cover the cost to rebuild, that will take time that mid-year students can’t afford.”
28. hemeantwell January 22, 2025 at 11:40 am

    Re DeepSeek, here’s how it wraps up a response to “Tell me about Naked Capitalism.” Congrats to all on proper surfing of this eddy of the AI wave:

    Conclusion
    Naked Capitalism is a valuable resource for anyone interested in critical perspectives on finance, economics, and politics. Its commitment to independent journalism and its willingness to question mainstream narratives make it a standout in the world of financial blogging. If you’re looking for an alternative to traditional financial news outlets, Naked Capitalism is well worth exploring.
    1. Jeremy Grimm January 22, 2025 at 11:59 am

       “Chinese AI software DeepSeek was built at a fraction of the cost of American companies like Meta & OpenAI, but performs better. From the user perspective, DeepSeek is 96% cheaper than ChatGPT and other popular LLM.”
       Considering the Magnificent Seven Stocks and their prominence in the stock market indices and the gains in index funds, I wonder whether the news about the Chinese AI software DeepSeek might cause some disturbance of the AI frenzy pumping up the Magnificent Seven. While part of their value is the result of their control over key avenues of commerce, I suspect there might be some ‘fat’ in their present stock valuations.
    2. Vandemonian January 22, 2025 at 3:38 pm

       I asked DeepSeek to recommend some good independent news sources about the war in Ukraine. This is what came up with:

       1. The Kyiv Independent
       2. Meduza
       3. The New Voice of Ukraine
       4. Bellingcat
       5. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
       6. The Insider
       7. Ukrainska Pravda
       8. OpenDemocracy
       9. The Associated Press (AP) and Reuters
       10. Local Independent Media in Ukraine (like Hromadske and Zaborona)

       That says a lot about their source of training data.
       1. duckies January 22, 2025 at 5:21 pm

          You should ask recommendations for bad sources.
29. cupie doll January 22, 2025 at 11:41 am

    Scholz at Davos: Europe Must Arm for War with Russia

    Will Scholz share his bomb shelter with all of us? It’s only fair.
    1. Michaelmas January 22, 2025 at 12:08 pm

       cupie doll: Will Scholz share his bomb shelter with all of us?

       You wouldn’t want Scholz to share his shelter because you wouldn’t want to be in it with him when an Oreshnik comes calling once he and the EU declare their war on Russia
    2. vao January 22, 2025 at 12:21 pm

       Perhaps he does not want to be reminded of the WWII joke that the abbreviation LSR, for Luftschutzraum (air raid shelter) was subverted by the German population to mean “Lernt schnell Russisch”, i.e. “learn Russian, quick”.
30. Jason Boxman January 22, 2025 at 11:50 am

    From the Tweet:

    It also potentially enables plenty of AI applications that were just completely unaffordable before. Say for instance that you want to build a service that helps people summarize books (random example). In AI parlance the average book is roughly 120,000 tokens (since a “token” is about 3/4 of a word and the average book is roughly 90,000 words). At OpenAI’s prices, processing a single book would cost almost $2 since they change $15 per 1 million token. Deepseek’s API however would cost only $0.07, which means your service can process about 30 books for $2 vs just 1 book with OpenAI: suddenly your book summarizing service is economically viable.

    Great, so now we can cheaply produce inaccurate summaries. Finding a way to make LLM queries potentially profitable is going to unleash an even larger debacle upon the world.

    It might be a decade before the extent of this debacle becomes clear, depending on how subtle the errors in LLM output are. But others have rightly pointed out that this erodes critical thinking skills, so we’re going to have an entire generation that knows nothing, and has so much damage from COVID, isn’t functional anyway.

    And this will be the labor basis for our ongoing civilization.

    Fun times, no?

    Multiple Pandemics and lack of critical reasoning skills might just ultimately solve the Climate crisis, simply through increasing depopulation and inability to build and maintain damaging toys.
    1. JustTheFacts January 22, 2025 at 12:53 pm

       Yes, but if you read the commenters above, they neither believe in paying authors for their work or in the concept of competence, so frankly we’ve already entered a new dark age where believing is more important than learning. We just haven’t realized it yet.
       1. hunkerdown January 23, 2025 at 1:11 am

          You’re conflating labor with capital by using the term “work” in an ambiguous way. Maybe we need to start physically punishing PMC when they try to use rhetoric to manipulate others’ emotions using public media. Wdyt? Would that effectively remove petit-bourgeois self-righteousness from the public sphere?
          1. JustTheFacts January 23, 2025 at 1:21 am

             It takes a lot of work to write a book, as you’d know if you ever wrote one. If you are lucky, you can sell the book (i.e. its copyright) to pay for that work so as to be able to eat. That’s what copyright was invented for because book printers would simply steal the content. They had the capital (the book presses) and the author got nothing. Somehow today people believe they are entitled to read that book, or train an AI with it, and the author should get nothing. That’s a good way to end authorship, and ensure the only future reading material will be press releases.
             1. Skippy January 23, 2025 at 1:56 am

                You forget the era post WWII where Gov funded science and it was shared widely/freely to expand discovery manifold. Gov held the IP, as it were, only gifted away and be abused by private interest for self interest via social status incentives.

                Social psychology informs more here than dialectal rationalizations. Not to mention per your thrust that most that is written these days is more a matter of post marketing and not individual artist driven motives.

                All made more complex by how Silicon Valley sorts lead the agenda to gate keep all and everything by being the both platform for readers and library they could pay to read.

                I mean just look at the Reese Witherspoon Book Club Model Lmmao …. look it up mate …
             2. no one January 23, 2025 at 7:13 am

                Elon Musk will reinvent copyright, and fix everything.
             3. hunkerdown January 23, 2025 at 10:53 am

                Well, considering how much of the history of intellectual production you erased from history just so you could perform your little virtue signal and conserve your tiresome little institution games, maybe you are incompetent to discuss the matter of copyright. You’ve all proven yourselves manifestly unqualified to run a larp for 2500 years and you think your childish sniveling rises to the level of a FACT? Lmfao, even.

                I feel no shame whatsoever trampling all over your epistemic “private property” considering that you’re a liar by omission.
    2. Matthew G. Saroff January 22, 2025 at 1:35 pm

       Also, as AI generated output proliferates, it will increasingly generate content from its own output.
       AI coprophagy (eating one’s own excrement) is not a recipe for quality output.
       1. Skippy January 23, 2025 at 3:50 am

          Concur.
31. Tom Stone January 22, 2025 at 12:03 pm

    I thought I would write a few lines about a sensible gun law that was passed by the California Legislature when I was still living in Oakland more than 20 years ago.
    That law required the California DOJ to compare the names and Id’s of convicted felons and wife beaters with the names of ID’s of people who had registered firearms before the became prohibited persons. Where there was a match ( As in the case of Sherrif Ross Mirkarimi) the DOJ would generate a letter to that criminal requiring that they provide proof that either their conviction was being appealed or that they had disposed of their firearms legally, withing 30 days.
    If said proof was not provided in a timely manner a felony arrest warrant was issued and sent to the appropriate law enforcement agency for service.
    The first objection came from a Southern California Sheriff ( IIRC Riverside County) who complained to the press that if he enforced the law he wouldn’t have any patrol deputies left ( He said the quiet part out loud) the PIO of that office confirmed that @35% of their deputies had pled guilty to spousal abuse. A few other reporters queried other LAw enforcement agencies and the ones that were dumb enough to answer came up with figures as low as 20%.
    Needless to say not many reporters pursued the matter…their editors and owners were not enthused.

    The other reason cops didn’t like the Law was that someone might get hurt, someone who mattered…like a
    cop.
    So the Cops pursued matters that were much more important, like Civil Asset Forfeiture which yields $4,000,000,000 in profits per annum and which is armed robbery under color of Law.
32. Carolinian January 22, 2025 at 12:24 pm

    Meanwhile in Gaza.

    https://scheerpost.com/2025/01/22/day-1-gaza-ceasefire/
33. Matthew G. Saroff January 22, 2025 at 1:33 pm

    OK, could someone explain the phrase, “Open source software that gates basic auth behind a paywall?”
    I know what open source is, and I know what a paywall is, but I am unclear on the whole, “Gates Basic Auth,” thing.
    I think that they are saying that the vendor is claiming that it is open source, but requires payment to access the program, which would not make it open source, and it might potentially make it fraud.

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