Readers, the fundraiser for Lambert’s very nearly gold retirement watch + all Lambert’s Water Cooler work done in 2024 is still ongoing. The goal is 400 donors; so far, we have 132 232 324, or 33% 58% 81% of goal. Any amount helps! If you can give a little, give a little. If you can give a lot, give a lot! Thank you all so much, and it looks we should finish up at some point today. Thank you all so much. It means a lot. –lambert
Beaver releases into wild to be allowed in England for first time in centuries Guardian. See NC on beavers here, here, here, and here.
US regulator flags concerns with State Street and Apollo private credit ETF FT
Investors have more choice — but are the new offers any good? FT
The commitment to collaborate Aeon
Climate
Scientists have a new explanation for the last two years of record heat WaPo
Revealing how fungi build planet-altering ‘road’ networks Nature
Syndemics
On measles outbreak, the Trump administration’s messaging strikes some as off-key STAT
Interim Estimates of 2024–2025 COVID-19 Vaccine Effectiveness Among Adults Aged ≥18 Years — VISION and IVY Networks, September 2024–January 2025 Morbidity and Mortality Report, CDC. From the Abstract: “Vaccine effectiveness (VE) of 2024–2025 COVID-19 vaccine was 33% against COVID-19–associated emergency department (ED) or urgent care (UC) visits among adults aged ≥18 years and 45%–46% against hospitalizations among immunocompetent adults aged ≥65 years, compared with not receiving a 2024–2025 vaccine dose. VE against hospitalizations in immunocompromised adults aged ≥65 years was 40%.”
China?
China leads global effort with int’l standard for elderly-care robots CGTN
Your best friend has abandoned you: inside China’s latest EU charm offensive South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
IDF carried out Hannibal Directive, new ‘Sword of Damocles’ operation on October 7 Jerusalem Post
Israeli army’s 7 Oct probe further confirms implementation of Hannibal Directive The Cradle
Israel army probe reveals ‘complete failure’ in preventing October 7 attack Al Jazeera
* * * Netanyahu only ever saw the hostages as his path back to genocide Middle East Eye
* * * Israel’s refusal to withdraw from this narrow strip of desert could threaten the Gaza ceasefire AP
Israel’s Peace With Egypt Is Starting to Crack Foreign Policy
Make Israel Biblical Again: How Trump’s GOP Is Accelerating Israel’s West Bank land grab Haaretz
Dear Old Blighty
Payday from hell as several UK banks report major outages The Register
New Not-So-Cold War
* * * Roiled By Desertions And Scandal, Can Ukraine’s French-Trained 155th Brigade Redeem Itself? Radio Free Europe
* * * Zelensky’s Absurd Minerals Deal, Putin: EU Sabotaging Peace; Starmer’s 2nd Attempt To Trap US In War (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Mercouris expresses his incredulity at the “peculiar” text of the “most extraordinary” mineral deal.
Mapping Ukraine’s rare earth and critical minerals Al Jazeera
* * * Can Trump Force Ukraine to Accept a Peace Deal? Foreign Policy
Ukraine’s worst nightmare becomes real Ben Aris, Radio Moskva
Europe couldn’t replace the US in Ukraine, even if it wanted to The Telegraph
How Big Is Russia’s Appetite for Upheaval? Foreign Affairs
Africa
Nigerians are building affordable alternatives to AWS and Google Cloud Rest of World
Trump Administration
Why investors should be worrying about Trump and impoundment Gillian Tett, FT. Important.
DOGE is now dramatically raising the potential for a government shutdown Politico
Senate Republicans say House budget won’t fly with them Politico
Republicans Gamble on a Regressive Economic Agenda NYT
* * * Hyped release of ‘Epstein Files’ sparks anger and disappointment on right NBC. Epstein (1):
Guys, you probably shouldnt just copy and paste the talking points. The lack of self respect is off the charts. Their ideology is monetization. pic.twitter.com/1Nl9qikttU
— Jordan Schachtel (@JordanSchachtel) February 27, 2025
Epstein (2):
The GOP House Judiciary Committee account, which is controlled by Chairman Jim Jordan, posted a Rickroll instead of Epstein files and now supporters are annoyed and angry. pic.twitter.com/8h51VNqDrv
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) February 27, 2025
* * * Hundreds of weather forecasters fired in latest wave of DOGE cuts AP
The Firefighting Fire Sale Lever News
Judge orders rescission of OPM memos directing agencies to fire probationary employees The Hill
Judge finds mass firings of federal probationary workers were likely unlawful AP
* * * FAA targeting Verizon contract in favor of Musk’s Starlink, sources say WaPo. Commentary:
🚨 Employees of Musk’s SpaceX now have email addresses at the FAA, which regulates it. FAA is eyeing Starlink for a major contract previously awarded to Verizon that Musk has criticized. Multiple senior FAA officials have refused to sign paperwork authorizing the switch
— Faiz Siddiqui (@faizsays) February 27, 2025
* * * Was 40-year-old Trump recruited by the KGB? Alexander Motyl, The Hill
Digital Watch
Google’s New Private Tax Lever News
Supply Chain
The US Has Never Imported So Much Food Bloomberg. Handy chart:
American food monopolies are killing our ability to feed ourselves. We are now a massive net food importer. pic.twitter.com/ctzT6ksKAt
— Matt Stoller (@matthewstoller) February 27, 2025
The Final Frontier
Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez headed to space on Blue Origin mission TechCrunch
He Dropped Out to Become a Poet. Now He’s Won a Fields Medal. Quanta
Beware the man whose handwriting sways like a reed in the wind London Review of Books
Antidote du jour (Bernard DUPONT):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Just curious, not a criticism, but is there a reason for all the lions in the Antidote du Jour? It’s been a long series! Thanks!
It’s all in honour of Ursula von der Lion of course.
Going out on a limb here, more cat than dog peeps in the Commentariat?
For those who came in late, I think the Rev might be referring to Rose Ladson .
You mean Ursula von der Lyin’? I hear she’s a real bear to be around.
Lambert the sheepish lion?
The Lion Sleeps Tonight, by the Tokens
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQlByoPdG6c
One more guess… “The Mask of Anarchy” by P.B. Shelley
‘Rise like Lions after slumber
In unvanquishable number,
Shake your chains to earth like dew
Which in sleep had fallen on you—
Ye are many—they are few.’
An exhortation to NC readers!
Preparing the readers?
March comes in like a lion… foreshadowing of a newsy month.
It’s a concerted propaganda effort financed by the British We Hate Tigers Society, in order to make lions look like the kings of cats.
It’s “The Lion in Winter”.
Lambert is a cultured sort of fellow. He will be missed.
>Israel army probe reveals ‘complete failure’ in preventing October 7 attack Al Jazeera
The Israeli army has acknowledged its “complete failure” to prevent the October 7 attack by Hamas, admitting that it had, for years, underestimated the Palestinian group’s capabilities.
Whether it was a “failure” depends on what the intent/motive was/is…more than 1 story has been floated that Israel “stood down” and let the attack proceed. Whether true or not, I can’t know for sure, but even Col. Douglas MacGregor and other Judge Napolitano guest have made allusions to Oct 7th being used as a pretext for launching a “greater Israel” offensive.
Another complete failure is any coverage of this by western mainstream media.
Still waiting for coverage in my country.
An article I read said that this report was only 19 pages long which beggars belief. And that senior personnel had no responsibility for this total failure. And that it was really, really hard for the IDF to distinguish between Hamas soldiers and Israelis in their attacks. So this report is just a whitewash printed out on the back of a table napkin.
To me it sounds like a classic case of “forgiveness” vs. permission.
Or a classic case of “the ends justify the means.”
See links on the Hannibal Directive invocation.
“Exclusive | Your best friend has abandoned you: inside China’s latest EU charm offensive”
It’s never going to work you know. The people of the EU would be thinking that this is a great idea and would be a road to prosperity that would be stable and not the chaos of a Trump Presidency. But the leaders of the EU such as Ursula will be saying that maybe if they doubled down on sanctions on China, threaten them over human rights or whatever and get countries like India to sanction them as well, that maybe the US will look kindly on their efforts and bring them back into the club with all forgiven. Then it will be just like old times – and let the money flow again.
Yeah. It’s more like “your sugar daddy has dumped you.”
>How Big Is Russia’s Appetite for Upheaval? Foreign Affairs
….Russia will almost certainly step up its disinformation campaigns and acts of sabotage (such as cyberattacks and vandalism of infrastructure) in Europe, sensing in the United States’ apparent desire to retreat from the continent an opportunity to further erode NATO cohesion.
You can count on FA to invert the truth in almost all its articles. Appetite for upheaval? That is the AngloAmerican playbook. Does anyone need to be reminded of Operation Gladio?
I actually find it either amusing or nauseating – depending on my mood – how those very people are calling for hate-speech and anti-disinfo legislation who are most invested into spreading hate and lies.
You seriously cannot read these outlets without screaming.
Norman Finkelstein put it well in his almost 4-hour interview recently – he is ANGRY every single day to a point where it becomes physical. I know how he feels.
p.s. And since Finkelstein is a humorous person he illustrates this with an anecdote about Noam Chomsky: Chomsky was having issues with his teeth clenching all the time. The doctors were looking for the reason until Chomsky´s late wife found the cause – he was reading the NYT every morning.
Inversion and projection are two big arrows in the media quiver. FA isn’t alone in their approach.
What happened to the olden days when deciphering articles was easier.
Example: start at the bottom of an NYT article and find the lede or ledette around paragraph 8 or 9.
re: NYT
yes!
exactly
p.s. In Germany they´re gullible towards US papers of record like little children. And when you ´re trying to tell people it´s all smoke, mirrors and lies they don´t understand it. And this is true even for journalists of alternative media. In fact I get the impression younger ones are less mature and more prone to falling for that fakery. Point in case: Nordstream Ukraine Aurora bullshit story.
edit: argh…. “case in point”
sorry
This passage is perplexing:
The base at Tartus has been there since the 1970s. I thought that was fairly common knowledge among anyone who knows anything about Syria. Made me stop reading the rest of it.
I for one am stunned at the complacency of Wall Street in the face of what’s happening. With virtually every risk to the downside, with the Fed for now effectively sidelined, with the explosion of private credit, acting as though there is minimal risk in the system and the party can continue is, to me, nuts.
I can only assume that they have learned the lesson that they will get bailed out again, and that these crisis are actually NPV positive events and that power and money will be transferred to them (again). Will MAGA let that happen?
Complacent? They are drumming their fingers, waiting!?
On another front, the possible DOGE checks.. within three or four weeks that money- if it happens, will inure right back into the pockets of the Circle of Sycophants(tm) Trumpeters.
Trump is a S L I C C
What with trillions speculated in crypto, maybe a black hole-like “investment” vehicle just isn’t that big of a concern? I’m only being half sarcastic.
Complacency in the markets, “What, Me Worry?”
Speculating that the big boys and insiders are selling everything that isn’t nailed down and setting their shorts up.
And yes, it seems like the mantra is: Bailouts are Us for TPTB running the government so
Gooooooood Mooooooooorning Fiatnam!
We were on a stint stateside in Malaise-a, the civilians we came across too dazed looking at their screens to actually do anything except caterwaul occasionally to others of their ilk online, where was the energy of early 1970’s protests, one wondered?
You don’t need a fired weatherman to know which way the wind blows…
“On measles outbreak, the Trump administration’s messaging strikes some as off-key”
‘In his brief answer, Kennedy seemed to downplay the outbreak, saying it was “not unusual,” and apparently misstated how many people have died. (It’s one, according to Texas officials, not two, as Kennedy said.) He also did not take the opportunity to emphasize the importance of vaccination in protecting individuals and corralling the outbreak.’
After eliminating measles back in 2000, it looks like this disease is going to come roaring back with a vengeance in the US thanks to Kennedy being wonky on such a simple vaccination as a solution. Read up on what he did for Samoa which helped lead to the deaths of over 80 people from measles not long ago and then him turning around and saying that it had nothing to do with him-
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/rfk-jr-samoa-measles-vaccine-crisis-rcna187787
If you have kids or grand-kids, then for the love of Mike get them their measles vaccinations. Over the next four years it is going to be bad but going by past performance, Kennedy will walk away and say that it was not him at fault.
I disagree with this: “it looks like this disease is going to come roaring back with a vengeance in the US thanks to Kennedy being wonky on such a simple vaccination as a solution.” As IM Doc pointed out about 4-5 days ago, most of the immigrants (millions mind you) who have “come roaring back with a vengeance” in the last few years, were not screened for measles. So, no surprise that measles is having an outbreak in a border state, and Tennessee too. Also, Kennedy has been on the job about a week now, so how does that relate to him?
Except this outbreak started in the Mennonite community, not among immigrants. The criticism of Kennedy is not blame for the outbreak but for the failure to take the lead calling for vaccination. Indefensible IMO and vindicates his critics.
Sure, but the underlying driver of Rev’s comment seems unassailable, that is encouraging vaccine skepticism opens the door for a measles comeback.
I absolutely agree with the “for the love of Mike” part.
Weather and climate office hour 02/27/2025: Update on mass firings at NOAA/NWS
https://www.youtube.com/live/W2Vv2p3CWXI (a little over an hour)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel Swain is a weather wunderkind, and is always the guy everybody goes to in matters such as the LA Infernos et al, as he was there days before the calamity came calling, practically shouting HOUSTON, we have a problem!
In the video, he doesn’t really talk all that much about weather, but those whose jobs were axed yesterday by DOGE.
Thanks. I used to work at NOAA, way back in the day.
re: Payday from hell as several UK banks report major outages The Register
“The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the UK’s finance regulator, published a post-CrowdStrike report in October, saying it noticed an upward trend of third-party related outages hitting UK banks since the beginning of 2023.”
As Yves says, if your business depends on a platform then you don’t have a business. It would appear this is being put to the test.
Well this can all be fixed by going to digital IDs and all digital currency. // do I need to add a snark tag? / ;)
“Amid Profound Forensic Challenges, Israel May Never Fully Determine How Hostages Were Killed in Captivity”
Pro tip, fellas. If some of those bodies look like they have been squashed flat, then it is unlikely a bunch of Hamas guys picked up a concrete slab and dropped it on them. Much more likely the IDF dropped the building that they were being kept captive. They may make noises about bringing the hostages home but Netanyahu and the ultra-orthodox see them as a distraction and that it would be better if they were all just dead. That is why the families of the hostages and the ultra-Orthodox have fights with each other from time to time. The Hannibal Directive is still in operation and has been all this time.
The Firefighting Fire Sale Lever News
~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s insane firing firefighters just as The Big Heat® is ramping up, we’re idiots!
You wonder if Elon’s young whiz kidz have figured out the Firefighting Industrial Complex yet, and aimed for the head and not the tail instead.
I keep burning away the efforts of the day in my prune up agreement with the forest for the trees. You couldn’t help but notice how many live trees there were in the aftermath of the fire in Pacific Palisades.
That’s what i’m aiming for in my branch office underneath on the all cats and no cattle ranch.
Finding out fire categorization could be explanatory, to the extent practicable. Say, divide into likely arson and non-arson based on some methodology and whatever fact base there may be. Just a few years ago there were many apparent arson fires on the map, curiously tapering off abruptly at the international borders. For every firebug caught on video, how many escaped?
I found it interesting that the LA Times never mentioned the idea that the well spaced out LA Infernos could well have been unintentional warming or cooking fires among the homeless that simply got out of control in the face of fierce Santa Ana winds, but I kind of get it in that if you blame them, there isn’t any money in it in terms of recovery, good luck with that!
An arsonist with a couple dozen road flares and a tank full of gas could easily light up the Sierra Nevada, there’s no barrier to stop them from their appointed rounds.
Eliminating arsonists does not eliminate the fact that it hasn’t rained in half a year, and the landscape is a literal tinderbox. Dry lightning, electric utility sparking, cigarette butt out the window, etc and whoosh. Hope it’s not windy.
Arson may be a problem, but it’s not the problem, which of course is climate change.
The biggest change here associated with climate change has been the idea of wildfires in the Sierra Nevada not going to bed at night as they always used to do in getting some sleep before resuming in the morning.
Nighttime aircraft drops aren’t really an option now, there’s a few nighttime Chinook helos, but that’s about it.
I think that Elon has been rich too long which means that there is always someone who is willing to make what he wants appear no matter what. And the whiz kidz have been living in a tech paradise most of their lives. Riding a keyboard and having better tech employment in the last few years has meant that you do not have to think ahead. There is always an ‘app’ for it. And even better someone desperate and not as smart as them on an e-bike ready to deliver it.
(And for the record, I think we can also consider this a Silicon Valley mutation of the Harvard/Chicago School of Business mismanagement delusion virus. It probably began before them, but they were super spreaders of never prepare for the obvious possibilities. )
‘Matt Stoller
@matthewstoller
American food monopolies are killing our ability to feed ourselves. We are now a massive net food importer.’
How does that one work out? Is it because of industrial farming methods? Apparently the amount of farming has been decreasing for a very long time-
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=58268
https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2024/09/loss-of-us-farmland-in-the-21st-century-the-national-perspective-from-the-census-of-agriculture.html
Anybody knows what is really going on here? For a country the size of the US, you would think that there would be no problem in feeding itself.
Isn’t a significant portion of food crops grown in the USA serving to produce “bio-fuels” instead of sugar, vegetable oil, maize flour, and the like for human consumption?
Well, since the entire state of Iowa is basically a giant corn-fueled ethanol plant, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised.
Possibly a greater amount of animal feed is being farmed these days in the US in lieu of that for human consumption.
Also, I believe its cheaper to import many foods than grow them here. The food bank I worked at had massive amounts of canned goods shipped from China on the shelves.
Then there’s the enormous destruction of food processing plants in the US in the past few years.
Just look at the list: (ignore the politics. just look at the list)
https://mainstreetdigest.com/2024/06/must-see-map-shows-all-food-processing-plants-that-have-burned-down-blown-up-or-been-destroyed-under-biden/
Also, now there’s bird flu which has led the culling/killing of over 150 million US chickens. The result? We’re importing eggs from Turkey. (What, there’s no bird flu in Turkey?)
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/24/business/egg-prices-turkey-vaccine/index.html
Come on, Flora! The place is named Turkey! It’s obviously a haven for birds. :-)
Along with everything else mentioned, I don’t think you can leave the real estate industry out of this. There has been a lot of money made by ‘developing’ farm land. So we have a lot of factors helping to bring about yet another disastrous and unsustainable situation.
From the Daily Yonder:
Analysis: If You Care About Record Egg Prices, You Should Care About Corporate Consolidation
https://dailyyonder.com/analysis-if-you-care-about-record-egg-prices-you-should-care-about-corporate-consolidation/2025/02/20/
Keir Starmer’s tactic of sucking up to Trump paid off handsomely… after an unlikely Labour stand-in for Donald helped rehearse the President’s alpha male handshake Daily Mail
This might be the first Daily Mail article I’ve ever read. A load of mush, pics, and zero information. Endless paragraphs of fluff with no info on what was agreed, except maybe trade deal something something with…Chagos islands?
Dima at Military Summary claims that Trump agreed relieve Britain from protecting Zelensky and restore the CIA protection that was recently cut off. I was looking for confirmation. Didn’t see it this Daily Mail, but I skimmed faster and faster past the pics and fluff so may have missed it.
In addition to verbally threatening (Russia?) with US troops in Ukraine to protect US deals, Trump is now reporting protecting Zelensky again and still supplying Ukraine with weapons. A bad trend.
John Helmer has many details, with Nima, published today
https://www.youtube.com/live/RCGtyGgi7Ig
Welcome to KILL, your defenestration station!
50,000 watts of Chainsaw rock!
Makita rock
I remember when D.O.G.E. was young
Me and Elon had so much fun
Busting skulls, like Sly Stallone
Did some email firings; a TRO of my own
But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doin’ a thing called the Makita rock
While the other kids were rocking with work stops
We were hoppin’ and boppin’ to the Makita rock, well!
[Bridge/Chorus]
Chainsaw rockin’! The sound is shocking when your workforce can’t stay still
I never knew me a better time, and I guess I never will
Aw, lawdy mama, on Friday nights, when Elon stole your legal rights
The chainsaw rockin’ was out of sight!
[Musical chainsaw noises]
Bzzzzz!, brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr! brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr, la-la-la-la-la!
Well, the years went by, and the D.O.G.E. just died
Orangeman went and left us for some Donkey guy
Long nights cryin’ with a record of greed
Dreamin’ of a bevy of new life-changing schemes
But they’ll never score the kills we got
Ending careers to the Makita rock
Breaking things, and moving fast
We really thought the chainsaw rock would last
Chainsaw rockin’! The sound is shocking when your workforce can’t stay still
I never knew me a better time, and I guess I never will
Aw, lawdy mama! on Friday nights, when Elon won those legal fights
The chainsaw rockin’ was out of sight!
Bzzzzz!, brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr! brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr-brrr, la-la-la-la-la!
I remember when D.O.G.E. was young
Me and Elon had so much fun
Busting skulls, like Sly Stallone
Did some email firings; a TRO of my own
But the biggest kick I ever got
Was doin’ a thing called the Makita rock
While the other kids were rocking with work stops
We were hoppin’ and boppin’ to the Makita rock, well!
[Repeat bridge, Chorus]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75r0nQu-hMs
A superb re-rendering!
Nice one, although one-handing a 20 inch Stihl while wearing white suede four inch platform clogs is risky.
Could Margorie Taylor-Greene handle a Makita in heels? Knee-high stripper boots, maybe.
I once saw her juggling a number of absurdities at once, she’s got mad skills in that regard, keeping those red herrings up.
She’s my femme fatale … if only I lived about 20 miles to the northwest.
It’s not that I’m not fond of Vince Fong, My Kevin’s replacement, just looked up his congressional record and the only thing he got through as 1 of 40 co-sponsors was this important bit of legislation now the law of the land:
I liked Marjorie better when she was a thorn in Johnson’s pride. She does provide comedic material, though.
I got re-districted into Barry Loudmouth-milk-the-taxpayers zone of danger.
With DOGE pushing to sell property and the coming cuts to the VA, even that might be erased soon.
Looking at the size of that chainsaw Musk was handling I had “bar” envy.
I read that it was made in China.
Yes, customized into a very effective stage prop.
I think is was a Stihl. They used to be made in Germany and Italy.
The chainsaw is a 59.6 cc/2.6 kW TMC model MT-598 and was customized by Argentinian Tute Di Tella., FireAndSaw
Edit, Some good photos on this blog, worth a look.
Well done.
“Me and Elon had so much fun” The “me” is Big Balls?
Now that DOGE has gutted OSHA, Elon can swing his chainsaw without benefit of PPE: hard hat, safety glasses, or full face shield, leather gloves, lace-up, steel-toed boot with sturdy soles and heels (I have a pair of ‘lady loggers’), ear protectors, and, really really important if you want to continue fathering children, overalls made of a fabric that will instantly gum up the chain if it ‘kicks back’ and …. um …. latches onto your upper thigh area.
A professional logger friend just barely nicked his knee with a chainsaw and he was out of action for 6 months and in mucho pain.
“Katy Perry, Gayle King, and Lauren Sánchez headed to space on Blue Origin mission”
Yeah, that could be a lot of fun. I can see it now. Lauren Sánchez is floating through the cabin when she spots a lever that says ‘Do Not Touch.’ Curious about what it is for and taking a grip, an actual astronaut shouts at her to stop what she is doing. She turns to them and shouts back ‘Nobody can tell me what to do anymore. I’m Jeff Bezos’ fiancée and I have the dix pix to prove it!’ whereupon she throws the lever – and planet Earth gets several more satellites.
This is sub-orbital flight, and does not stand comparison with what Valentina Tereshkova did, or even Laika.
Kosmoneyacht?
Typical of our world’s off-the-rails craziness, calling this a ‘mission’. It’s a joyride to amuse some celebrities. While the planet goes up in a dumpster fire.
> The commitment to collaborate Aeon
A relevant article:
Five rules for the evolution of cooperation
Saira Khan:
> This is known as the ‘free-rider’ problem.
Khan is focusing on human co-operation, but free-riders are a systemic problem. The technical solution is called Spite (costly behavior that harms others). Here’s an example paper:
Spite is contagious in dynamic networks
Also, some of the chimp assertions are contradicted by observations, as seen in The New Chimpanzee (1995). (Alas, all I can find is an incomplete version, but it has the cases in point.)
Thanks. The Aeon article seemed thin – I was trying to generously attribute that to space constraints instead of shallow thinking.
re: CBS 60 Minutes on German hate-speech
To come back to that topic:
A comment by known German retired judge Thomas Fischer (German Federal Court of Justice) – who usually was not the dumbest of people – here does what most laywers do – affirm the status quo of law enforcement and thus suppression of free speech.
He regards CBS´s item as lowlevel and ridiculous piece. I agree that it´s not good. But he misses the major points. And as a polemic commentator himself should be much more familiar with the practice of CBS and most other US AND German news shows which are all but serious.
And much worse: What standards CBS might not live up to in journalism he apparently misses on legal issues in Europe – like, er, the incarceration of protesters against genocide? In Germany, in GB, in France???
The suppression of peace protest???
Nothing from Mr. Fischer there.
And besides: I find it appalling that in Germany it has become normal that people are just being dragged out of their homes for words how hateful they may be. Some of my friends have no problem with that. They seem to not understand the epistemic implications and dangers of this practice.
“How naive was the German judiciary’s appearance in US documentary?”
https://www.lto.de/recht/meinung/m/cbs-us-doku-deutsche-justiz-staatsanwaltschaft-hass-im-netz-aktionstag-durchsuchungen-thomas-fischer
For a machine-translation please c&p in google-translate
https://translate.google.com/?sl=auto&tl=en&op=websites
https://www.durangoherald.com/articles/rep-jeff-hurds-staffer-left-event-site-after-seeing-crowd-at-dolores-public-library/
Rep. Jeff Hurd’s staffer left event site after seeing crowd at Dolores Public Library
Montezuma County sheriff offered to escort regional director in and out of location
“Nigerians are building affordable alternatives to AWS and Google Cloud”
How long till Musk and his buddies get Trump to sanction Nigeria until they go back to using beautiful American servers and paying for them in wonderful American dollars?
Or they treat it like the Nordstream Pipeline.
>FBI withheld ‘thousands’ of Epstein docs – US attorney general – RT
In a letter to Bondi on Wednesday, Ogles announced his intent to introduce the Preventing Epstein Documentation Obliteration Act, or PEDO Act, following “reports that certain FBI agents are allegedly attempting to destroy critical records.”
FBI should be dismantled, total lack of accountability.
https://www.rt.com/news/613418-fbi-withheld-epstein-files/
Love that history of the universe bit.
So we have found some fraud, apparently.
There are more details here:
Federal judge invalidates OPM’s directives to terminate federal probationary workers
Zelensky’s Absurd Minerals Deal, Putin: EU Sabotaging Peace; Starmer’s 2nd Attempt To Trap US In War (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Mercouris expresses his incredulity at the “peculiar” text of the “most extraordinary” mineral deal.
Yes, he said it could only be called “a document”.
An interesting part of the video for me was where he was hoping Trump was aware of the devious and gangster nature (my paraphrasing) of Z and wouldn’t be fooled. All I could do was remember that Trump dealt in casinos and NY real estate. While Trump can be distracted and miss details, I don’t think he doesn’t recognize a gangster when he sees one.
BTW: From 2023
https://www.thecity.nyc/2023/06/05/mob-making-comeback-in-construction/
Am I the only one who thinks Trump was recruited by anyone who ever made any kind of an offer?
The Kissinger files are full of weirdos who threated him, and then turned out to have some kind of snitch protection from being recruited by various departments and agencies and were maintained as assets on a “just because/just in case” basis even when they failed to provide any value.
Trump seems like he’d tell anyone he could be hella useful to see what was in it for him.
Money is a world within itself
With a language we all understand
With an equal opportunity
For all to sing, dance and hold out their hands
But just because a Richie Rich has a groove
Don’t make it in the groove
But you can tell right away at letter E
When the DOGE people start to move
They can feel it all over
But they can feel its all over for some people
They can feel it all over
They can feel its all over for some people, no, yeah
Money knows that it is and always will
Be one of the things that life just won’t quit
But here are some of the high tech pioneers
That time will not allow us to forget now
You can feel it all over
You can feel its all over for some people
You can feel it all over
You can feel its all over for some people
You can feel it all over
You can feel its all over for some people
You can feel it all over
I can feel it all, all, all-all-all over now people
Can’t you feel it all over?
Come on, let’s feel its all over for some people
You can feel it all over
Everybody all over for some people, go
Sir Duke, by Stevie Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sIjSNTS7Fs
Re: DOGE is now dramatically raising the potential for a government shutdown (Politico)
“Senior Republicans are seriously exploring how to include cuts made by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency in an upcoming government funding bill — a move that would skyrocket tensions with Democrats and drastically raise the potential for a government shutdown”
I would posit that a shutdown would suit the Dogebags/NRx cretins just fine, and that this is part of the plan. They win either way.
Beware the man whose handwriting sways like a reed in the wind London Review of Books
This is a beautiful essay. I sent it to two friends who have Parkinson’s disease. Out of seven siblings, two had forms of the disease. I had no idea that Cy Twombly had it. For me, this is a must read and I’m going to book mark it. Thanks, Lambert. You are a good teacher.
$4.01k update:
I’ve been on the silent side, not wanting to alienate those not in the Bitcoin fold with ribald tales of monetary conquest, buoyed by Trump being elected and we enthusiasts celebrated breaking the $100k barrier con much gusto, and it held there for a while, but that was then and this is now, and the Seinfeldian money about nothing dipped into the high $70’s, heavens to murgatroyd! being the typical reaction in the numismatrix.
Re vaccine effectiveness, I have update re my participation in REACT study. I noted recently how annoyed I wasn’t in first wave since my test was intercepted in the mail.
I’d forgotten that I’d answered a bunch of stuff mid 2022. Just had invite and done latest round. Lots of questions about when you think or know you had COVID, vaccination history, along with oodles of questions about known and suspected sequelae (thanks Lambert!).
A lot of enquiries about autoimmune conditions and neurological/psychological impairment. The cardiac section was clearly major but I was naturally directed away due to pre-existing heart condition so I can’t shed light on that. Also whole section about long COVID. It felt like someone was actually asking me about the stuff that mattered (except they administered EQ-5D-5L which in free text I duly criticised…… I’ve worked on the thing and it’s NOT good). News you can use?
PS I am very alert to questions that have been badly asked (and don’t conceal what the investigator is really interested in) and there was one example that stuck out like a sore thumb: “Have you been vaccinated against shingles?”
Totally weird and should have been disguised in a question about multiple conditions….. so I know they have a hypothesis concerning shingles. Curious. Why not nest it in the section about flu/covid vaccinations? Someone messed up there in terms of survey design.
Evo Morales resigns from MAS and launches new candidacy for FPV – Página 12
News you can use from ZDNet:
A new Android feature is scanning your photos for ‘sensitive content’ – how to stop it
Google didn’t tell Android users much about Android System SafetyCore before it hit their phones, and people are unhappy. Fortunately, you’re not stuck with it.
https://www.zdnet.com/article/a-new-android-feature-is-scanning-your-photos-for-sensitive-content-how-to-stop-it
“Was 40 year old Trump recruited by the KGB?”
Russiagate is SOOOOO back, baby!!! This time, we’ve got Facebook posts!!! They openly admit no docs or other evidence, just desperately hoping that 3 liars are more credible than 1 liar.
I’ll never get tired of how hilariously dumb this stuff is. They just can’t stop cranking it out!!!