Remembering Kevin Drum Washington Monthly. :-(
Do cats have ‘friends,’ or do they always vie for territory? Animal experts weigh in The Conversation. My mother’s second cat, Michael, grew up with a neighbor’s dog. They often slept together. As a result, Michael was so chill with dogs that he would be given the run of the small town dog pound as a boarder when my parents went on holiday, much to the consternation of the dogs. It didn’t hurt that he was then over 20 lbs. (eventually 27).
Humans have a long way to go in understanding a dog’s emotions ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
‘A Fire in His Soul’ Review: Van Gogh’s Paris Transformation Wall Street Journal (Anthony L)
Climate/Environment
Cargo ship captain arrested after oil tanker collision in North Sea as experts warn coming hours are ‘critical’ Independent (Kevin W)
Amazon rainforest cut down to build highway for COP climate summit BBC. Paul R: “Not the Onion.”
For the first time ever, recorded atmospheric CO₂ has exceeded 430ppm! 😱
The last time CO₂ consistently reached today’s human-driven levels was ∼14 Million years ago, with shorter periods of similar levels around 3-5 Million years ago.
Source Thomas Ronge pic.twitter.com/cvNedvGYR9
— Melaine Le Roy (@subfossilguy) March 10, 2025
I'm dumbfounded every time I see this methane graph
We don't know what the last time was that methane concentrations were this high (1943 ppb @noaa)
Maybe 55 million years ago during the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM)? https://t.co/rJJznLxkbR pic.twitter.com/TaIWPZC5Oj
— Leon Simons (looking up) (@LeonSimons8) March 9, 2025
Only 17% of global cities had safe air in 2024, air quality report finds Independent. The big reason I am in the sex capital of Asia, rather than Bangkok, is the air quality.
Earth orbit is filling up with junk. Greenhouse gases are making the problem worse Grist
Scientists break down plastic using a simple, inexpensive catalyst and air Northwestern University
#COVID-19/Pandemic
Since the start of COVID, the number of people reporting a disability soared. Yet the majority of the world acts like COVID is over, and Long COVID doesn't exist. pic.twitter.com/XOQ61r6xSP
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) March 10, 2025
China?
US-China Tariff Talks Stuck at Lower Levels, Stoking Frustration Bloomberg
China totally dominates renewable energy manufacturing pic.twitter.com/SRywsjSGoZ
— Carl Zha (@CarlZha) March 11, 2025
Not enough power to share: The political feud behind Rodrigo Duterte’s downfall BBC
Marcos Jr's plan was this:
Issue an ICC arrest warrant while Duterte and Sara are in Hong Kong, and spread the news that Duterte will be arrested if he returns to the Philippines.
Marcos Jr. believed that Duterte would be scared when he heard such news, and would seek political… pic.twitter.com/b2SYC0JHbM
— DaiWW (@BeijingDai) March 12, 2025
Africa
Internet Shutdowns At Record High In Africa As Access ‘Weaponized’ Guardian
O Canada
I believe this is a world first: An intra-day tariff chart. https://t.co/tEZV7ipT40 pic.twitter.com/CgopazQU9z
— Justin Wolfers (@JustinWolfers) March 12, 2025
European Disunion
Trump’s Trade War Expands as Metal Tariffs Spur EU Retaliation Bloomberg
Lagarde says ‘impossible’ for ECB to always meet inflation target Financial Times
A Swan-song For Europe Aurelien
Europe faces a MAGA ‘vibe-shift’ as Trump moves to his primordial objective – The Global Reset Alastair Crooke
Pro-independence Demokraatit Party wins significant election in Greenland Anadolu Agency
Europe can stand on its own two feet against Russia & Open letter to Pål Jonson: Tear up the DCA agreement Tidningensyre via machine translation. Micael T: “The Swedish Green-leaning people are just as Trump/Putin Derangement Syndrome ridden as Baerbock and her ilk. War against the dictator-imperialist against Putin and tear up defence agreement because of Trump not because of sovereignty issues with a surrender agreement.”
A historic scandal – the questions about Northvolt that must be answered Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T: “Ex-Tesla people continued their scam at Northvolt. ‘Over a hundred billion lost, thousands of lives in ruins and managers who escaped with millions in their pockets. Northvolt’s bankruptcy is not due to bad luck but to greed and incompetence.'”
Israel v. The Resistance
Yemen’s Houthis vow to resume attacks on Israeli ships after Gaza aid deadline expires Anadolu Agency
We Need to Teach Ourselves Disciplined Hate, and Never Forget it Alon Mizrahi
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine agrees to 30-day ceasefire as US prepares to lift military aid restrictions Guardian (Kevin W). We have a post coming soon.
US and Ukraine Hatch ‘Ceasefire’ Travesty Simplicius
Hyping Drone Attacks in Moscow Larry Johnson. Surprised he did not point out that the fact of these attacks, right before the US-Ukraine meeting in Riyadh, is a clear message that Ukraine continues to oppose a peaceful settlement.
Russia’s coexistence with West to depend on its readiness to recognize mistakes — Lavrov TASS
Syraqistan
Russia’s Khmeimim Airbase Turns Into Refugee Camp as Turkish-Backed Jihadists Massacre Shiites Military Watch
Pakistan militants attack train and take passengers hostage BBC
Imperial Collapse Watch
China to hold meeting with Russia and Iran on Iranian nuclear issue Al Arabiya. Showing irrelevance of US.
How Likely Is Trump To Play The Iranian & Russian Cards Against India In Their Trade Talks? Andrew Korybko (Micael T)
Trump 2.0
Trump imposes new Canada tariffs, demands it join U.S. Axios
Trump raises Canadian steel, aluminum tariffs to 50% in retaliation for Ontario energy duties CNBC
Trump makes flurry of posts as global markets fall amid fears of US recession Guardian. Wowsers.
Trump approval rating drops 50 days in, new poll from Emerson College shows. See stats USA Today
DOGE
Elon Musk Finally Admits Social Security Is on the Chopping Block New Republic (Kevin W). Write and call your Congresscritters and get everyone you know to do so to raise holy hell. Call the local offices, not the DC ones.
Security researchers aren’t buying Musk’s spin on the cyberattack that took down X Yahoo! Tech (Kevin W). So the US is supposed to trust a guy who can’t even manage his own social media site well with massive amounts of important government data, even before getting to bad intent and self-dealing?
DOGE Likely Can’t Evade Freedom of Information Law, Court Rules Intercept
Elon Musk’s self-destruction Edward Luce, Financial Times. One can only hope.
Musk’s Empire Is Looking Even More Shaky Ian Welsh
Tesla and Elon Musk Had a Very Bad Day, More Bad Days Coming Michael Shedlock
Trump says he’s buying a Tesla to show support for Elon Musk Business Insider
USAID employees told to burn or shred classified documents NBC (Kevin W)
IKEA beds? Dressers? Inside the ‘exceedingly odd’ DOGE office setup Politico. resilc: “and pocketing the hotel part of the per diem too I bet.”
NASA Eliminates Chief Scientist and Other Jobs At Its Headquarters New York Times
Our No Longer Free Press
When anti-war protesters are called national security threats Responsible Statecraft
FBI Redactions on Seth Rich Index Leave No Answers ConsortiumNews
Mr. Market Has a Sad
Deepening Yield Curve Inversion at 6 months to 2 year Maturities since Inauguration Day Menzie Chinn
Dodge Chargers Now Have Pop-Up Ads at Every Stoplight… Just What Nobody Asked For FuelArc News (Paul R)
Class Warfare
“PATCO on steroids”: Trump’s TSA union busting sparks calls for a general strike Salon
Antidote du jour. A Miami scene from Bob H:
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Bird ate too many fermented apples and got drunk
— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) March 11, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
Ever wondered why your clothes hangers keep disappearing? pic.twitter.com/ZlPd5HlPF6
— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) March 11, 2025
Yet one more (Chuck L):
When you lied on your resume but still got the job.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/lSnWJuTlt3
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) March 10, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“FBI Redactions on Seth Rich Index Leave No Answers”
More than 300 pages of redactions? Seriously? This is like the release of the Epstein files a few days ago which turned out to be nothing new but a rehash of old stuff. Just goes to show you that Trump being in office has made no difference at all. Yeah, he has promised to release the JFK files but don’t be surprised to see that most of those 60 year-old pages have been redacted as well.
Now that the MAGA Republican “Revolution” has been shown to have been a huge head fake, the mood “on the street” in my part of the country is starting to get very ugly. I’m hearing increased mentions in public places of the need for a “real” revolution.
Go long guillotines, go short PMC life expectancies.
I was thinking that you could have the readers of NC come up with a coupla pages of suggestions for US reform that would be pragmatic, vitally needed and maybe even easily done. Instead Trump and Musk are like out of control wrecking balls with no real idea of what they are doing – or their consequences – and would never listen to such suggestions but are using a combination of bluster and bullying that will sink their positions well before the midterms come into view.
The question is, which will “break” first, the Pseudo-MAGA/Republican ‘movement,’ or the country?
Right now, my money is on the nation fracturing first. The Pseuds are ideological “True Believers” in the Ultra Libertarian Eugenicist Dispensation. They will bull their way “forward” for as long as they can. The deciding factor will be the political strength of their opposition. I do not expect any useful actions by the American Democrat Party. Increasingly, that group is beginning to look more and more like the old Holy Roman Empire; no longer completely American, Democratic, nor a cohesive Party.
When this all blows up, I expect something dramatic and dangerous.
Unless Trump starts delivering on concrete, material benefits to his base I can see whole segments of Republican support falling away. And ‘sticking it to the libs’ gives you nothing except a momentary thrill. And you can’t use a momentary thrill to pay for your groceries as rising inflation cuts your purchasing power away.
Libertarians are the new “libs”.
Oh, you mean renaming the Gulf of Mexico didn’t thrill shoppers at the grocery store? Bullying Canadians with crap about becoming the 51st state and Trump buying an electric Tesla after issuing an executive order against electric cars isn’t going to tame the out rage about Musk attacking SocialSecurity, May not fly with the maga crowd? I also think something’s gotta give here and perhaps it’s time for Musk to start sleeping under his desk at the Tesla factory again.
Yes, I think we will have some dramatic events that do not involve electoral politics, and I am hoping they will not cause mass bloodshed. Huey Long’s crazy but populist reign was done away with by an assassin, and some say JFK met a similar fate from shadowy forces. Of course WWI was touched off by an assassination, so there’s that.
I’m going to disagree with the “no real idea” portion of your statement. They did have a plan, go after the low hanging fruit, show power, start bringing the bigger and more powerful segments with the most real opposition to heel after. It was a campaign for power, control and privatization.
But the unintended consequences, that is true and has been the kicker. Sort of like how all the Russia assumptions proved to be wrong with Ukraine, the assumption of fraud in the government and that people didn’t want to spend money on insert social program here has been falling apart. And this is one I give Social media. Like the H1B1 visa dust up, it has been very usefully destroying DOGE’s. half assed assertions of fraud in things people or their relatives need and depend on.
I also think the less in your face moves to kill dissent aren’t playing so well either.
I too am detecting timid comments amongst working class peasants in Republican Tennessee that things aren’t heading in the direction they had hoped for. And now that Trump has fully embraced Bidens project Ukraine (that might change again before I finish typing this) that’s another blow though admittedly the worker bees don’t bring that topic up as much as ones that affect them closer to home.
Starting to look like T is the GOP’s Obama/Biden in terms of hope and change.
Being in the “older cohort,” I am hearing whispers of discontent from Social Security recipients.
Whenever I bring up Lambert’s “Neo-liberal Rules,” I have to explain them the first time. When I append my Rule 2B, “Go kill” instead of “Go die,” I generally get first a laugh, and often now a quiet pause as the concept sinks in.
The Confraternity of Saint Luigi is headed for a period of strong growth.
America has world levels of armed citizens and private drones. Put the two together….
From the Simplicius above re the new “ceasefire” proposal
“It appears to have been made for no better reason than scoring much-needed political points for Trump, who now wallows in a post-euphoric doldrums phase of his floundering second term, when virtually every one of his campaign promises has faltered or flopped. No Epstein, JFK, or 9/11 lists, no Mexican wall, no Fort Knox audit or UFO disclosure, no mass deportations, with ICE raids rumored to have halted, no promised US troop withdrawals from Syria, Europe, or elsewhere. Every other boastful attempt to capture Greenland, Canada, Panama, and everything in between has likewise fallen flat on its face, with countries no longer fearing nor taking the US seriously.”
In other words Trump 2.0 is fast turning into Trump 1.0 as every other day he seems to change his mind just as he did the last time.
Of course Trump’s stated desires for nuclear disarmament or detente with Russia may still be sincere and many of us hope they are. But Trump seems to lack the mental equipment to formulate a path forward and his bully boy side as seen in Gaza makes him a very dubious Gandhi indeed. All we can do is hope that something good comes out of all of this since intellectually and morally his Dem opposition are no better and the reason the country is now taking a chance on Trump.
I am so sorry for the death of Kevin Drum. His blog was one of the very first blogs I followed regularly (I have no memory of how I found it.)
Bone cancer. What a terrible disease.
I started reading him when he was CalPundit. He had been in this battle for a very long time…A big loss. He made a difference.
Wolf in with the sheep….okay looks like a happy camper dog but I do digress. Pairs well with my stated contention on US leaders and well, many political or national leaders.
“You should fully trust us, we’re the politicians in charge.” Said at every administration transfer since the dawn of time.
Fun antidotes today, the expression on that lab’s face is hilarious. The crows appear to be assembling some sort of brutalist birdhouse, or is that IKEA?
>The crows appear to be assembling some sort of brutalist birdhouse, or is that IKEA?
Or a real life flow chart of President Trump’s thought process?
The Democrat’s well laid plan to return to power?.
The path to peace between Ukraine and Russia? Or the Middle East?
>We Need to Teach Ourselves Disciplined Hate, and Never Forget it- Alon Mizrahi
Both genocides are genocides of preference and convenience for cold political calculation and the spread of Western domination. These are not spontaneous outbursts of uncontrollable popular rage; these cold-clooded, calculated genocides, planned strategically and performed mechanically…
…the individuals who planned and enabled this must pay the price for their actions. They must stand trial and have all their crimes detailed and exposed in full.
I’ve unboxed a treasure trove of audio cassettes I had stored in my basement, and to my astonishment most are still playable. I bought a Akai analog cassette player on ebay since my old one died many years ago. These cassettes have radio recordings, mainly from public radio shows. One recording from Michael Stock “Folk & Acoustic Music” who has been broadcasting on WLRN, South Florida Public Radio for over 30 ears, had this following lyric, “Forgiveness is the Perfect Revenge” which I had to jot down.
This article title made me think about “disciplined hate.” The “never forget” part I understand. But can there be such a thing as disciplined hate that doesn’t taint the one hating? Revenge or Justice? “Vengeance is mine, so it the Lord,” but justice on this earth is in man’s hands.
The culture that breeds such monstrosity can only and will only be hated and detested by the rest of humanity and we need to teach ourselves and our children to hate Western culture; it is a culture of fake and cold-blooded murder. There is absolutely nothing else to it.
Harsh concluding paragraph. Is “Western culture” in toto to be discarded? Has not Western culture contributed somethings to civilization worth preserving?
He might do better to turn his anger against Netanyahu’s govt.
Climate Reanalyzer is lagging several days, but on March 6 the Daily Surface Air Temperature hit an all-time daily high, 0.06’C above the previous record set in 2023.
La Nina, , , , you know the next four paragraphs.
I’m pretty much freaking out on the climate change thing. Seems like we’ve stepped off the ledge.
At 9.8 m/s2 it won’t take long.
My situation is similar to everybody else’s, here I am on the very orb doing about 67,000 mph on the Sun NASCAR circuit, and I often wonder why we don’t occasionally step off the ledge more often than we do-as per the gravity of the situation.
>Trump/Thomas Massie
I had not seen this Tweet/X on Trump calling for Massie to be primaried, thanks for posting. If you follow TM like I do on Twitter/X you can see he has some avid followers/supporters. Like Dr. Simon Goddek, many conservatives, and people who do nott identify as either “left” or “right” like myself, will abandon Trump on this one. Trump’s first couple of months are unravelling. Some, like Col. Douglas MacGregor (on yesterday’s Tucker interview) still cut Trump a lot of slack, that going to be very hard to do with this move going forward.
You wonder if he is doing this as a favour to AIPAC as Massie is the only Republican that does not have a AIPAC ‘minder’ attached to him. I guess that he would like to replace Thomas Massie with someone like a Marjorie Taylor Greene or a Nikki Haley – both Trump loyalists – which I wonder if the people of Kentucky would really want.
Due Dissidence guys refer to T as Miriam Adleson’s persian lap cat. ;)
Apparently, Masse is thinking of running for the Senate when Mitch retires. A lot of very rich and influential people do not want Masse in the Senate. / ;)
I have come to think of Trump as a carnival barker – and Musk as a snake oil salesman. All part of the one circus complete with its own clowns.
‘I have seen the elephant’
19th century phrase: gaining experience of the world at a significant cost.
This has that Obama-Rangel dustup vibe to it. Rangel worked his district, so Obama’s efforts were clunky and not direct as Obama was fine with respectable grift.
Does Massie work his district? If he doesn’t, Trump might win this at least in the short term fundraising before the economy unwinds, but Massie isn’t Jeb! from what I’ve seen. The campaign message for Massie writes itself.
“Trump threatens, then reverses, new Canadian tariffs”
It takes a Trump to take one of the most stable, secure relationships that the US has with another country that threatens it in no way – only to throw it in a dumpster and then set it on fire. Canadian – US relations have not been this bad since 1812 and I doubt that Canadians will ever forget. I can see no way forward where they will accept becoming American citizens as when you get down to it, what do they have to gain in doing so? So will Trump try to wreck Canada financially so that it will seek relief in a union with the US as happened with the Scots being forced into a union with England due to a destroyed economy? I would not be surprised to see Canadians doing a general boycott of US goods to make their feelings know in the one place that Trump can feel it – in the hip pocket nerve.
Then again, Canada could accept the US as it’s 11th province. :)
Canadians have already started doing a boycott of US goods.
The Reddit group “Made in Canada” is very active…you can find the Canadian replacements of almost all the US products we used to buy, many times they cost more but we are still buying it
Grocery stores are displaying the “made in Canada” sign on the shelves to make it easier to find.
You wonder what would happen if this idea spread to other countries under attack by Trump – which is basically all of them. Here in Oz Trump slapped a tariff on our steel and aluminium but a White House spokeswoman added some useful advice-
‘And if they want to be exempted, they should consider moving steel manufacturing here.’
She is saying that Oz should just deindustrialize itself and accept huge unemployment for what exactly? To make Trump look good? I can see how well that is working for Germany and want no part of it. For Trump, loyalty goes in only one direction-
https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/australians-react-to-donald-trump-imposing-tariffs-on-aluminium-and-steel/news-story/9934387b7073188f680b5a31b8098c89
So would Trump bring out anti-boycott laws against people boycotting US products like he has on behalf of Israel?
Meanwhile, Fox is running stories telling their viewers that Alberta aims to be part of the USA. Apparently some nut job who is about to lose his law license has a movement (this movement is himself, posting and talking to the media.)
Looking beyond Canada, the whole world is looking at the US with their rose-colored glasses off. “It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal.” – Henry Kissinger
Proxy wars, sanctions for half the world, wars based on lies, support for genocide, support for rebels to overthrow democratically elected governments, false flags, sabotage, selling junk as weapon systems, etc, etc, etc. And now an incomprehensible bully for president with a lame congress. We are living in interesting times.
I think that if you look objectively at the situation one has to look to Hudson, Wolff, Marx, Lenin, Mao, Gunder Frank, Samir Amin, Sweezy, Baran, Magdoff, Hobsbawm, just to name a few and at some point in the analysis and deal with the basic “classes”. So Canada is easily the most compromised or rather possesses the most intricate intertwining of national and comprador elite structures – other than colonial or neo-colonial countries. For example: the Auto pact negotiated in the 1960s shuttered pure Canadian car manufacturing to what is now a completely integrated North American car manufacturing: Mexico (low wage), Canada (slightly higher but 30% lower than US wages) and the US at the top with highest wages and with a larger part of manufacturing and final assembly than the other two. Each country has production based the wage rate. The intertwining of Canadian, US and Mexico capital is very hard if not impossible to recast on the basis of three different countries or social formations (marxist terminology). It was revealed much later in the 70s or 80s that during the Auto pact negotiations Simon Reisman (Dept minister – bureaucrat in charge of the Canadian delegation) was fed up with the US negotiators constantly pushing for changes to the agreed terms of the auto pact — he walked into the office of the main US negotiator in Washington and in those days he was smoking cigars. He walked into the US negotiator ’s Washington office and said this is what I think of your latest proposed changes: and extinguished the stoggy on the top of the very big and beautiful hard wood desk. The answer given, the US backed down. This will not happen by any Canadian now. What is not understood by Canadian and US manufacturers is the whole free trade, tariffs, etc. business from Trump. To be blunt: both sides (big and middle sized US and Canadian industrial capital) seek nothing more than free trade, FDI in both countries, free flow of capital and crumbs for the little producers. Trump has kicked a sleeping dog and that dog are those in Canada who are not of those economic, political and social classes. The manufacturers in Canada – either Canadian or US capital invested in Canada will do almost anything to stop this: ie. sacrifice farmers, dairy, fishers, credentialized middle classes, gig workers, unionized workers, and social programs, etc. to stop Trump and quell the furor in Canada before it gets out of hand: buy Canadian, elbows, etc.. I am awaiting what the sell-out on the Canadian side will be and how the governments (all levels) will rationalize the selling out if Trump persists and gets a defeat for Canada. I don’t think the sleeping dog in the US is fully awakened yet, or even if once awake, does it just go right back to sleep ? But in Canada what Trump (and his economic class) has opened is a Pandora’s box. The Auto pact in the 1960s was a sell out in Canada, the FTA and NAFTA were sell outs and the MUSCA was sell out as well of Canadian interests. In all cases Canadian workers – ie. not the capitalist economic, social, economic and political sub-classes (in Poulantzian terms) the hegemonic bloc – were not rejuvanated, refreshed but were set up for another round of capital accumulation (in full marxist sense).
>Climate Change
Sabine on a new Jim Hansen piece, the worst case scenario? Maybe not, the worst case scenario seems to regularly shift…to, well, even worse.
I wasn’t worried about climate change. Now I am.
“Hot models” and clouds. I consider clouds the one ring to rule them all in the realm of runaway global climate catastrophe. A good time to remember that Mother Nature has been “worst case” on everything climate change to date in our current predicament.
This video is a year old, but more relevant than ever, thanks.
Yes, there have been no winners in the best perceived locations to avoid the wrath of nature, its the getting used to the new normal that will have to be learned, 16,000 homes turned into cinders in LA in January wasn’t remotely on my radar.
The Big Heat® is 7x the other direction from the Little Ice Age in terms of Celsius, gonna be a hot second.
I’m giving this here orb 20 years to shape up or i’m so gone.
Drove home from Brian Head Utah yesterday and what can be a dreary drive through the desert was often accentuated by interesting cloud formations overhead, the kind you almost want to stop the car and take a photo-but a mental snapshot @ 75 mph will have to suffice.
Re Europe can stand on its own two feet against Russia & Open letter to Pål Jonson:
“Russia is a country with just over 140 million inhabitants, which after the fall of the Soviet Union has not managed to develop into a modern industrial nation, but relies on exporting its raw materials.”
Aka Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country.
Now where have I heard that before? John McCain lives on!!!
Utterly idiotic article, even to the cliche that the Russian army is poorly motivated with no chance of defeating plucky Ukrainians willing to sacrifice everything for their country, (obviously pretending to resist being press-ganged into service). And naturally Putin is a dictator. Of course he is. Why would any voter support a man who had made their lives far more materially better following the shock doctrine of the Yeltsin years. Tis a mystery, as Lambert would say.
I hate these Chickenhawk “call to arms.”
who is willing to fight/bleed/die in an anon. Belarus field during the first days of WW3? A random Russian or a random Western European?
Round up all the keyboard warriors, kit them out and send them to the Dnpir.
If we truly lived in an age of biting Hollywood satire, this would be the plot of the 2025 “Dr. Strangelove” Netflix reboot
Humans have a long way to go in understanding a dog’s emotions ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Ah, I wish humans only made this mistake when trying to understand dogs…
Democrats prepare to “assume the position” (the supine one) on the “clean CR” to fund the government through September.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5189724-senate-democrats-government-funding-shutdown/
Last night I posted that buried in the 99 pager is a provision to extend loan guarantees to Israel for another year. What else is buried in there? And why aren’t the DOGE cuts codified? Not a single mention of USAID. I guess they get a money bomb that will just sit in a safe, somewhere, waiting for Rubio to de-mothball it.
Sex and city air quality: more sex for the people! But not in cars, obviously.
Maybe we can solve other problems that way too? Could EU & Russia & US & China & Middle East have free sex somehow and untie unnecessary knots? Could decreipt infrastructure build up more muscles through hard and fast humping? What would interest for STEM look like with a little bit of bumsi-bumsi thrown into the integral calculus? Could we shut down the OpenAI scam with sex?
> Scientists break down plastic using a simple, inexpensive catalyst and air Northwestern University
This is really good news. Really. There are always problems scaling up, but given how fast we’re finding out how bad microplastics are, this looks doable with investment. Genuine plastics recycling.
If we catalyze cellophane this well, we can reduce overall plastic use. Best thing for everyone.
Presented without endorsement:
The ULTIMATE Guide to Limiting Microplastic Exposure | Dr. Rhonda Patrick
“Scientists break down plastic using a simple, inexpensive catalyst and air”
It sounds good but will it scale up to an industrialized version? Every years or so there is always a story about some new process which will break down plastics but you never see it going anywhere. At least they have stopped with stories of breakthroughs with fusion energy which will make electricity so cheap, that it will in fact be too cheap to meter. Unless something like that has not only been developed but is being manufactured on an industrial scale, I no longer listen to them.
What is done to remove plastic materials so we don‘t need to break them down again?
Everything is like Silicon Valleyor the Clinton Global Initiative: making money off the symptoms and ills of society and thus prolonging the suffering but never cure it.
I went to a talk by Stanley Pons at the cold fusion peak, in a room full of scientists with access to a cyclotron. When his evidence was ‘gosh the hood melted and what else could it be’ the response was not overwhelming.
The underlying paper shows an accident which is often the hallmark of a breakthrough: ambient humidity is near ideal for the reaction. It’s also exothermic (self-sustaining temperatures), and once the catalyst is in-hand can be done at small scale. The issue are, how much mechanical separation needs to be done, and the catalyst bottleneck. But they claim the catalyst is easily regenerated.
The big deal is, if picking up trash in the bay is a low-cost feedstock for local production, there’s advantage to grabbing it at the point of generation. That could undercut demand for oil production, thus price for oil, thus keep the carbon in the ground. Not to mention fewer cancers around the Yellow River and Houston.
US-Kievan meeting in Jeddah, KSA: ridiculous!
Russia stand is clear from Dec 2021, June 2024 and the past few weeks.
The quid pro quo for 30 day cease fire are “awesome”.
Why stop “prepping the battlespace” just before the dry ground season?
US and Ukraine Hatch ‘Ceasefire’ Travesty Simplicius.
Move over, Annalenna 360. There’s a new title holder to take your crown – Trump 720. Up next: Experts predict surge in neck injuries and popcorn shortages in the Kremlin.
Say, do you remember reading how after the Battle of the Bulge back in early ’45, the Germans and the Japanese negotiated an offer between them to the Allies for a 30 day pause in fighting the war? But that Germany would still be able to receive weapons and money and move their troops around? Because I sure don’t.
When I posted Elvis was hiding out in Fort Knox and was preparing to pop out the day audit starts to begin a comeback tour starting in Las Vegas, I was mistaken. Actually it is Adolf. On the the first day of the audit, he plans to pop out of Fort Knox and demand The Allies surrender to Germany.
…remember Elvis in a gold Lamé suit?
Well it was the genuine article and it had been the King smuggling all that glitters out of Fort Knox, he got it one bar at a time, similar to his music.
US’ debacles in Korea and Vietnam negotiated for years without the benefit of cease fires!
re. methane…
well gee, it’s almost as if relying on LNG and fracking was an idiotic move. (but the catch 22 with solar and wind is that you need a stopgap)
Peak solar output is at solar noon (ie 12 to 1p) Peak US electricity consumption is 7 to 8AM and 4 to 6pm in winter; 3p to 6p in summer.
And even at 3am (graveyard shift), US electricity needs only are 25% to 33% less than what is used at noon.
Fission is the least bad option. Don’t care if I get flamed, lol.
That vertical line in the graph made my eyes water.
Thanks to Aurelian for his latest, the essay discusses and connects some things I hadn’t thought about, though I’ve noted.
If there’s one little bone to pick it may be with the rhetorical question at the end, “Why anyone should want to defend the Europe we have.” Here, I think, part of the answer lies with the existence of tiny statelets he discussed earlier in the essay. They, or at least those that are ex-Soviet have a vested interest to wag the European dog. Other part of the answer lies with historical animus and revanchism in other, larger states, again in the East. In a way, that anodine EU culture created after WW2 has been a perfect blank canvas upon which they could project their historical grievances and paint them as European security concerns in terms of
European “values” that must be defended against a hostile, alien other who hates them and is bent on destroying them.
Combine that with greed, incompetence and all else that ails Brussels and most national capitols, and you have you have a partial answer to the rhetorical question. Yes, I realize that Aurelian means to point that likely there isn’t a widely popular desire amongst the national populations to be fighting and dying for this version of Europe, but that has never stopped wars from being fought, has it?
Not really a bone to pick, rather a reminder of the other aspect driving the unification of Europe by elites described in his post by Aurelien.
“But of course the sub-text is very useful: we should not put too much power in the hands of the voters, because they might vote for the wrong people again, and these people might once more plunge the Continent into a disastrous war.”
Of course, the other wrong people the voters elected pre-WWII (among other places in France, in Spain, in Sweden) were those Popular Front politicians — who then proceeded to implement such outrageous, ungodly policies as paid vacations, working time limits, unemployment insurance, trade union representation, nationalization and forced mergers of private firms, and so on.
Truly, for European elites voters could never be trusted; this explains why the “democratic deficit” has been never been seriously addressed, and why now, after ignoring the results of referenda (France, Ireland Netherlands…), eliminating the possibility of referenda since they do not deliver “reliable” outcomes (Netherlands), making sure that “unreliable” voters could not vote (see Moldavia), they have just now made sure that “unreliable” candidates cannot be elected (see Romania).
The horror, the horror!
You and Aurelian are correct, of course. The Euro misleadership isn’t even trying to hide that the rush to rearm Europe (which is virtually assured of becoming an expensive boondoggle) is to come at the cost of the “welfare state”, removing troublesome regulations and protections, and the environment.
And lots and lots of profits and commissions from arms sales and procurement. My gf, who is plugged in by virtue of being in a PMC power-adjacent profession has been telling me certain things about the on-the-side merchant of death commissions of a former BG Defense minister who is on TV every day these days, his balding hair on fire while waving the Putin scarecrow and beating the war and rearmament drums. All in the name of defending our values and freedoms, of course 😉
After all, never let a good crisis go to waste, right?
What object would be satisfied by occupying EU?
Besides Russian Federation is enjoying fighting them at the end of long lines of communication. Why reverse the logistics problems?
Digging through twitter yesterday I came across a snippet of a rather interesting interview with JD Vance from 2021. Haven’t been able to find the rest of it, but it is an interesting peek into the ideological underpinnings (if any?) behind the crew in charge ATM. Apologies if it has been posted before: https://xcancel.com/highbrow_nobrow/status/1898396201147326714
And for some chuckles, have some 2016-era (little) Marco Rubio, on Donald “3rd world strongman” Trump: Rubio in ’16: Trump is like a 3rd world strongman It’s fascinating to me how few principles most politicians seem to have, many (most?) will sling mud one day and sing praises the next, with us left trying to divine what their real goals ultimately are.
Trumps’ Trade Fantasies
(Sung to the tune of, “Flesh for Fantasy” by Billy Idol)
There’s a change in pace of fantasy and taste
Do you like chin music? Do you like to watch Ford dance?
Oh yeah
Hanging out with Elon for a body blow at night
Ain’t it strange what they do to feel all right? Oh yeah …
So, when will Putin call?
He’s experienced
(Trump’s not)
Chorus:
Disgrace to disgrace, this dude’s just whack
You’ll see and feel, his tariff attack
Sing it! Trump!
Trump’s trade fantasies
We want … Trump! Trump’s trade fantasies
Nucular clock strikes midnight, oh, are you feeling all right?
Oh, yeah
Turn out the lights, babe, the party is over tonight
Invading our neighbors, door to door
Don’t ask questions, time for it all
Oh, yeah
Disgrace to disgrace, this dude’s just whack
You’ll see and feel, his waffle attack
Sing it! Trump!
Trump’s trade fantasies
We cry … Trump! Trump’s trade fantasies
[break]
All the senseless slaughter
Mothers, daughters, too
It’s an old, old story … cries the new world, too
Trump!
Trump!
Trump’s peace fantasies …
We want … Trump! MAGA fantasies
You cry – Trump! MAGA fantasies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw1oM7LBbxE
Big idol of Idol, good job!
…been to the new Waffle House on 1600 Pennsylvania Ave?
As like all WH locations, this one always stays open during emergencies, Mother Earth caused and/or vis a vis human blunders.
White House -> Waffle House
I like what you did there. After Hakeem “the Dream” Jeffries locates a spine and gets up off the mat, I suggest passing it along to him.
I found it weird how Trump turned 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue into a car sales yard for the day. He also said said he would label violence against the company’s showrooms as domestic terrorism and that boycotting Teslas is illegal-
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/11/trump-tesla-boycott-musk
There have been some links here I think, but anyone who follows the news have read headlines about Tesla charging stations and dealerships getting vandalized. I have read people rooting and encouraging this type of stuff. A guy I know has found another way to cause trouble for Tesla (not that I condone any of this).
He lives in the Detroit area and works for a bank. He finds the Tesla dealerships in town and calls using a fake name and schedules a Tesla test drive. He then doesn’t show up, so the dealer calls him to find out where he is. He then uses this opportunity to mess with them. “Where are you?” “Wave your hand so I can find you” Anything he can do to waste their time and create any kind of chaos he can. Then, when they finally start to figure out they my be on the wrong end of a joke, he asked them to name five things they accomplished last week. This, he says, is when they usually hang up on him.
Many think this is a really neat thing and more should do it. Ironic, he’s doing this from his work. I wonder if his bank knows he is spending his time doing this. Also, maybe this is why banks have such awful customer service? And, lastly, this is kind of like yelling at the person running the checkout for high food prices. It’ ain’t their fault.
These kinds of things are only going to get worse as we move forward, and warming weather won’t help. It’s going to be a long hot summer IMO.
Stay safe all.
Hyping Drone Attacks in Moscow — Larry Johnson
I agree with Johnson. The media coverage of these drone attacks has been wildly overblown, making them sound like a re-run of 1940’s London blitz. According to RU media (Kommersant), only one drone actually made it through to Moscow proper. About 90 of them made it into Moscow Oblast (the region surrounding Moscow city like a giant doughnut), and this region (area 45k sq km) is bigger than Belgium (30k sq km). And these drones don’t carry much explosive, certainly nothing like a howitzer shell or a missile or bomb. These attacks are annoying and I feel sorry for the unfortunate victims, but come on people…..get a grip on reality.
These stunts only serve to demonstrate that UKR is not interested in peace, and to reinforce RU determination to end this conflict on its own terms.
Well isn’t this special. The US/NATO/EU war against Russia is to continue … until the last Ukrainian? Until US/NATO/ EU gets what it wants? forever? What a happy prospect. What could possibly go wrong?
Musk is The Don’s Roy Cohn whisperer giving voice to all the worst greediest most destructive desires. (The Don: No longer shall I call him DJT or Trump, he is The Don because he acts like a character from The Godfather only not nearly as smart)
Is the United States of America actually supporting genocide in Gaza, genocide in the West Bank, and genocide in Syria? Yes, Sparky, this is the United States of America 2.0 … or is it? Must get back to the history books. Forgot to add the genocide of Ukraine by proxy.
Thomas Massie does not have an AIPAC minder? I am shocked, shocked, and also delighted that there is one member of Congress who has a pair.
Snark is the only path open in response to an utterly depressing edition of Links, but the crow with the hangers and the Labrador up to his neck in sheep were uplifting end notes.
Trump makes flurry of posts as global markets fall amid fears of US recession – Guardian
That’s seen as pathetic, but people putting their retirements on the line in a system that responds knee-jerk to rumor and innuendo (like being in high school) isn’t seen as the bigger issue.
Security researchers aren’t buying Musk’s spin on the cyberattack that took down X Yahoo! Tech (Kevin W). So the US is supposed to trust a guy who can’t even manage his own social media site well with massive amounts of important government data, even before getting to bad intent and self-dealing?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Loves my historical parallels and this one is coming into soft focus, with a foreigner in Paris-a Scotsman named John Law peddling a new frontier about this time in France 300 years ago. It ends horribly when shares of Tesla, er the Mississippi Company plunge, despite the Regent pledging to buy a double-wide in Biloxi.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Law_(economist)
He should have gone with tulips instead.
One of my favorite books, and a great take on John Law:
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/24518/24518-h/24518-h.htm
The best things in life are free.
Pretty much the primer for things bubble related, I cut my eye teeth on it~
The bubbles in it were all regional ones, not a worldwide version of the teenager flavorite of yours truly blowing a bubble within a bubble within a bubble with 4 wads of Bazooka Joe.
Musk is just another guy saying “I am with the gumint, come to help you”.
Hold on to your valuables!
The Van Gogh book review from the WSJ was an excellent read. The author understands something about VVG that I’ve never been able to put into words – his unique personal talent and ability to transmit his “fire” through those paintings and that hard, expressive line.
I shot up the tariff
But I didn’t shoot down no economy, oh no, oh
I shot up the tariff
But I didn’t shoot down no economy, ooh, ooh, ooh
Yeah! All around in DOGE town
They’re tryin’ to shut jobs down, yeah
They say they want to bring me in guilty
For the killing of the economy
For the life of a democracy but I say
Oh, now, now, oh
I raised the tariffs
(But I swear it was in self-defence) oh no, oh, oh, ooh
Yeah, I say, I shot the Dow Jones oh, Lord (and they say it is a capital offence)
Yeah, yeah! Hear that
Sheriff Elon always veted me
For what, I don’t know
Every time I plant an idea of axing Federal employees
He said kill it before it grow
He said kill them before they grow, and so-and-so
Read it in the news!
oh, Lord!
But I swear it was in self-defence
Who was Elon’s deputy? (Ooh, ooh, ooh)
I say, I shot down the economy
But I swear it was in self-defence, yeah! (Ooh)
Reflexes had got the better of me
And what is to be must be
Every day the bucket a-go a-well
One day the bottom a-go drop out
One day the bottom a-go drop out
I say
I, I, I, I raised the tariffs
Lord, I didn’t shoot down the economy, no
I, I (raised the tariffs)
But I didn’t shoot down no economy yeah
So, yeah
I Shot the Sheriff, by Bob Marley and the Wailers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oe2hdbft5-U
https://time.com/7213409/elon-musk-us-government-trump/
Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington