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Links 4/18/2025

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Palo Alto Scientists Just Caught a Colossal Squid on Camera (Finally!) KQED

Climate/Environment

Global temperatures are going sharply up while US cities’ financial ability to cope with the ravages of accelerating climate change is going sharply down Moving Day

Is your Ohio homeowners insurance spiking? Blame increasing tornadoes, storms The Columbus Dispatch

Climate risks threaten billions of dollars in Phoenix real estate AZ Big Media

Pandemics

Measles costs are accumulating as funding cuts threaten the outbreak response CNN

China?

US says Chinese firm is helping Houthis target American warships FT

Congress wants to know if Nvidia superchips slipped through Singapore to DeepSeek The Register

Mapping China’s HBM Advances ChinaTalk

BERTRAND: Trump’s tariffs on China are the same as sanctions on Russia and will also fail Bne Intellinews

Beijing VS Washington on rare earths – and why the US is losing, and losing badly Bne Intellinews

Commentary: As US and China dig in on tariffs, this is no longer just a trade war Channel News Asia

European Disunion

Trump, Meloni ‘fully expect’ EU-US trade deal Euractiv

Meloni to Trump: “We also talked about energy. Italy will have to increase liquefied gas imports” Il Fatto Quotidiano (machine translation)

Nearly 10,000 people homeless in Brussels, up 25% since 2022: Report Anadolu Agency

Old Blighty

Liz Truss to launch her own ‘uncensorable’ social media platform The Times

Tata inks £750 million loan to fund biggest UK battery plant Economic Times

India

Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba are wrong. India should not give up on manufacturing The Indian Express

Beyond Comparisons: India’s Strategic Reckoning Amid China’s Military Modernization War on the Rocks

Syraqistan

Ras Isa Port in Yemen set ablaze by continuous US airstrikes Al Mayadeen

***

Saudi and Iranian Ties Strengthen on the Eve of the Next Round of Talks Between Washington and Tehran Larry Johnson

Iran–Armenia joint drills warn off foreign-designed border changes The Cradle

***

Israel secures 6-month delay in Hague Court proceedings I24

Trump Admin Orders Social Media Review on Gaza Ken Klippenstein

Zionism, the Human Parasitoid Scott Ritter Extra

***

‘Soft-spoken’ Sharaa makes Time 100 list as sectarian massacres continue in Syria The Cradle

Africa

Sudan’s World War New Left Review

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine Situation Report: Russia Launches New Southern Assault The War Zone

EU/UK Paris Summit Plans Kiev Victory, Odessa Deployment, Defies US; Russian Advance On All Fronts Alexander Mercouris

France hails ‘positive process’ as Europe, US discuss Ukraine ceasefire France24

***

German anti-Russia propaganda is reaching Nazi-era levels Tarik Cyril Amar

South of the Border

Colombia Offers Asylum to Ecuador’s Opposition Leaders Following Noboa’s Blacklist Leak Orinoco Tribune

Trump 2.0

Trump Team Eyes Politically Connected Startup to Overhaul $700 Billion Government Payments Program ProPublica. A Peter Thiel-backed startup.

The Death of Direct File Can We Still Govern?

Chartbook 376 Trump trolling the Fed chair, whilst legal warfare rages over America’s administrative state. Is America nearing stage 4? Adam Tooze, Chartbook

Trade war fallout: Cancellations of Chinese freight ships begin as bookings plummet CNBC

Immigration

Senator meets with Maryland man being held at El Salvador prison Axios

Gunz

FSU shooting: Two dead; six injured after police say deputy’s son opened fire on campus Tallahassee Democrat

Police State Watch

U.S. citizen released from jail after arrest under Florida’s new anti-immigration law Florida Phoenix

Peter Thiel’s Spy Company Gets Into Bed With ICE as Trump Says He’ll Deport U.S. Citizens Gizmodo

Groves of Academe

The State Department Relied on Columbia University’s Mischaracterization of Protests to Arrest Mohsen Mahdawi Drop Site

AI

This ‘College Protester’ Isn’t Real. It’s an AI-Powered Undercover Bot for Cops Wired

The latest viral ChatGPT trend is doing ‘reverse location search’ from photos TechCrunch

Obama Legacy

The pathetic, slow-motion downfall of Barack Obama Keith Naughton, The Hill

MAHA

FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say CBS News

US consumer safety agency to stop collecting swaths of data after CDC cuts Reuters

RFK Jr. Says People with Autism ‘Will Never Pay Taxes, Hold a Job, Go on a Date,’ Sparking Fierce Backlash People

Our Famously Free Press

Trump administration shutters US office countering foreign disinformation The Guardian

Failing to Rise to the Constitutional Crisis FAIR

Antitrust

Google Found GUILTY of Monopolization Again BIG by Matt Stoller

Lean In: Witness Work and the Will to Monopoly Power Big Tech on Trial. Meta.

Google, Apple, and Snap aren’t happy about Meta’s poorly-redacted slides The Verge

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Perilous Context of Trump’s Policy E-International Relations

The Age of American Unilateralism Foreign Affairs

Trump axes a stricken world order – but there’s opportunity amidst the turmoil Alastair Crooke

Class Warfare

The Patriotism Trap How Things Work

A Place of Wounds The Baffler

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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108 comments

  1. Antifa

    Stop With The Tariffs!
    (melody borrowed from I Shot The Sheriff by Bob Marley, in 1974; as performed by Eric Clapton that year.)

    Trump tried a big bluff—but it doesn’t frighten Chairman Xi!
    Now things will get rough!—Trump’s not living in reality!

    Bonds are down, they track way down, no one wants ’em stacked around
    Wall Street says Trump must admit he
    Is wrecking our economy, he is wrecking our economy
    They say . . .

    Stop with the tariffs!—Ain’t there someone there with common sense?
    Trump brought the bad stuff!—This will eff with the collecting of our rents!

    Who’s the moron who persuaded he? He’s wrecked our cash flows!
    We get in line to beg and plead
    All we got is this big brown nose, yes we all got this big brown nose
    We say . . .

    Call Chairman Xi up!—Tell him all his stuff is duty free!
    He’s calling your bluff!—Make a deal with him at our expense!

    Cease from all your tariff play! Make a deal that’s sound
    Give up your stun gun you just lay it down
    Or else China might let us drown—you got caught—don’t leave us drown!
    We say . . .

    Don’t try to act tough!—Tell the Chairman we’ll go tariff free!
    Don’t risk a rebuff!—We don’t make things over here you see!

    Xi stresses market stability, we want the same as he
    He knows you’re a Muppet trying the hard sell
    What you say could make him shut us out, yes, the Chinese they can shut us out
    We say . . .

    Tell Xi that’s enough!—We are very sorry, Chairman Xi! (Oh no!)
    We need his cheap stuff!—Can we get back to what used to be? (Oh no!)

    Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘Jess 🇨🇦
    @MeetJess
    Apr 15
    They told me parenting would be hard.
    They didn’t say I’d be managing airborne transmission, collapsed institutions, and mass delusion before my morning coffee.
    A 🧵 for the last parents standing:’

    Saw an example of what this parent is up against but here in Oz. Last night I was researching a school in a well to do suburb of Sydney. I came across one section on their site to tell students how long they should stay away from school if they have for example measles, Rubella, whooping cough, etc. And no, Covid never made that list at all FFS-

    https://chatswood-p.schools.nsw.gov.au/content/dam/doe/sws/schools/c/chatswood-p/documents/enrolment/Parent_Information_Booklet_revised_Nov_23.pdf

    Reply ↓
  3. Wukchumni

    Global temperatures are going sharply up while US cities’ financial ability to cope with the ravages of accelerating climate change is going sharply down Moving Day
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I’ve had yet another year to prepare the all cats and no cattle ranch for something wicked this way comes in a conflagration vein, and took out lots of dead wood on trees and 4 mature Blue Oak trees that passed away on me, some disassembly required.

    I got a little inspiration from the LA Infernos that i’m on the right track, as Pacific Palisades was utterly wiped out, live trees were often still very much intact… they’re hard to burn and hopefully my efforts aren’t in vain.

    Book tip: The Burning World, by J.G. Ballard

    Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      I’m under similar marching orders, no small task as we live in in the forest. I’ve been knocking down the standing deadwood and removing any dead limbs I can reach with the pole saw, but I’m worried I’m wasting my time. Too many pines, and I can’t bring myself to cut down a healthy 70 foot tall tree, let alone twenty or so of them.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        Its a fine grind, and I like to burn it as I go-which slows things up on purpose. Maybe i’ve got 300 trees here, so there is no shortage of them in need of trimming.

        I’m working on a Live Oak where half the tree on one side died eons ago with large branches, whereas the rest of the tree is lush and full of life, why’d that happen?

        Reply ↓
        2. juno mas

          “why’d that happen?” Serious question?

          Any number of causes: disease, root damage, cambium layer nutrient transmission (via large branch loss), damage at base of trunk (root collar), reduced soil moisture, etc. Trees are affected by all manner of malady, just like you and me.

          Reply ↓
      2. The Rev Kev

        It’s times like this that a small bunker underground is your friend. Anything to protect you and your own against the radiant heat as a fire passes through. Recall one guy here in Oz survived a bad bushfire by climbing into a kiln of all things. The thick walls saved his life. If you have a bigger bunker, you can even store wine in it or grow maybe mushrooms. When you stop and think about it, it is no different to those storm shelters that they have in Tornado Alley.

        Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          I’ve got a safe space in development. Oxygen supply is a problem to be worked out.
          But what’s the point? We live in southern Vermont. When the fires come here, they will likely be everywhere. If we get burned out, there will be nowhere to go.

          I’ve read that “Van Life” is adventurous, romantic, and fun, especially with three big outdoor cats, lol.

          Reply ↓
          1. Wukchumni

            A Fire/Heat Bunker makes a lot of sense-think 1950’s fallout shelter.

            We’re safe here (crosses fingers) in that its largely an oak savanna which doesn’t burn anything like a pine forest all eager to go up in flames, in fact there has never been a house lost on account of a wildfire here in the past century (now i’ve done it!) and I get it.

            Years ago the fire chief was giving a talk, and he related that Tiny Town had really no winds to speak of, which makes it easier to fight fires.

            The largest wildfire around these parts was 500 acres worth about 8 years ago, going up a slope dotted with oak trees, and after the fire I remember looking at those very much alive oaks with binoculars, where everything else had burned around them.

            I can buy a new house, but I can’t buy 200 year old oak trees.

            Reply ↓
              1. Wukchumni

                A well spent 52 minutes, he really shows how native oaks are resilient to fire in those before and after photos of the Camp Fire in Paradise, along with the importance of prescribed burns, of which i’m going to go do one right now, around 3 wheelbarrows worth that will apogee at around 7 feet high and be cinders in 20 minutes.

                Reply ↓
  4. ChrisFromGA

    Re: AI protestor is not real

    Anyone else noticing that rather than contributing to human freedom, peace, and social advancement, all the AI use cases involve fraud, deception, or malfeasance?

    Remember when Sam Altman said that OpenAI would remain a non-profit for the good of humanity?

    Just another lie.

    Reply ↓
    1. caucus99percenter

      In the past, “artificial” was just another, politer way of saying “imitation,” i.e. “fake.”

      So isn’t it a natural consequence that the whole concept of “AI” would have a counterfeit quality and premise from the get-go?

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Fake protestors, fake images, fake videos, fake chat companions, fake stories. Maybe Putin was right. Maybe we do live in an Empire of Lies.

        Reply ↓
        1. Ann

          Yes, just look at all these links this morning. I’m just glad my faith in humanity isn’t alive to see any of this.

          Reply ↓
        2. t

          Jason Lanier, who knows a thing or two about a thing or two, say this sort of thing fairly often, most recently for Vox.

          The metaphysical assertion is that we are creating intelligence. Well, what is intelligence? Something human. The whole field was founded by Alan Turing’s thought experiment called the Turing test, where if you can fool a human into thinking you’ve made a human, then you might as well have made a human because what other tests could there be? Which is fair enough. On the other hand, what other scientific field — other than maybe supporting stage magicians — is entirely based on being able to fool people? I mean, it’s stupid. Fooling people in itself accomplishes nothing. There’s no productivity, there’s no insight unless you’re studying the cognition of being fooled of course.”

          There are entirely appropriate ans useful ways to employee almost and computing power. Humam tasks such as medical advise and poetry ain’t it.

          Reply ↓
          1. cfraenkel

            Turing was a genius, no doubt, but the term originated before computers existed, for all practical purposes (1949)…. It’s as if we were measuring the Apollo landings against a Leonaro da Vinci statement. Time to give it a rest.

            Reply ↓
      2. ChrisFromGA

        True, there was always the high risk of using it for no good. Plenty of sci-fi writers foresaw this outcome.

        I can think of some positive use cases, like pattern recognition to find cancer in scans, or mapping the best route from point A to point B (seems Google already solved this before using algorithms.)

        The fact that we’re living in a really rotten timeline makes it all the more likely that the “bad” use case will prevail. As in, lack of any regulatory oversight and bad actors like Altman allowed to run their rackets.

        Reply ↓
    2. Camacho

      Anyone else noticing that rather than contributing to human freedom, peace, and social advancement, all the AI use cases involve fraud, deception, or malfeasance?

      Same with artificial b00bs.

      Reply ↓
  5. Martin Oline

    re. Hundreds Dying Slow Deaths Under Rubble in Gaza.
    I am appalled by this story but not surprised. How in any form of twisted logic can we call ourselves civilized?
    I was not going to post this because it is based on a very expressive, beautiful song done over 40 years ago by Shawn Phillips titled Landscape. It had been running through my mind for the last several days while I weed the yard. It had been so long that only snatches remained so I had to refresh my memory. I did not want to post it because it in no way matches the vividness of his song, but is a wretched cry of pain instead. Current events overwhelm me so I offer it with apologies. Perhaps some will see a happy ending. It is called Hellscape.

    Level upon level of dust and stone
    Thousands lie buried yet, each one, each one’s alone
    Blood shed by Zion, hypocracy abides
    Insanity reigns, the truth cannot hide
    Broken, crumbled walls of concrete have seen
    The rigors of war and have never been cleaned
    Bulldoze the hospital, renewal’s the call
    For luxurious resorts in the midst of it all

    Western investors continue to feed
    On the people of Gaza killed off by their greed
    A miniature Trump Tower, gold veneered mass
    Investment opportunity has come to pass
    A white serene temple to mammon they build
    But cries of the children will never be stilled
    “The Emperor’s naked” the little one cries
    While the whole western world is averting their eyes

    A long sweeping view confirms my belief
    No one remembers a past full of grief
    Killing civilians, it’s not the first time
    The West has a record, their peace pantomime
    “A War to End Wars” one million Brits killed
    Chancellor Churchill was thoroughly thrilled
    The Turks showed the world Europe in defeat
    A lesson unlearned by the Western elite

    The Third World is weary of being the goat
    It senses now it has the West by the throat
    Free trade paradigm has come home to roost
    Capital imports the rope for its noose
    The saber has rattled, the fleets are dispersed
    Treasury scraping the dregs of the purse
    The armory’s empty, the factory’s still
    There is no solution or political will

    Ignorant folly is well past its prime
    Enabling Genocide’s still a crime
    Blinded by fancies, the cliff draws so near
    Their head in the clouds, “Here, hold my beer.”
    A nuclear second, no time for regret
    No blindfold is needed, no last cigarette
    That’s the last moment to think anymore
    Earth abides now with cockroaches galore

    Reply ↓
      1. John D

        add the line from S Phillips “Spaceman”:
        “Jesus told me I’m a spaceman
        and I’m believing every word he said”

        Reply ↓
    2. mrsyk

      Bravo!

      If you should go skating
      On the thin ice of modern life
      Dragging behind you the silent reproach
      Of a million tear stained eyes
      Don’t be surprised, when a crack in the ice
      Appears under your feet
      You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
      With your fear flowing out behind you
      As you claw the thin ice

      Roger Waters
      The Thin Ice

      Reply ↓
    4. MicaT

      Thank you for that.
      I’m even more concerned about Gaza. The death and destruction is beyond belief. But my biggest fears are the basically complete non discussing it.
      I was looking the last days at the online NYT front page, no mention of it.
      I have heard nothing from any politicians. I’ve seen nothing on msm.
      And from what I read the large rallies from AOC and Bernie don’t talk about it?

      Reply ↓
        1. t

          There were there an apparently didn’t interfere with the police – certainly not at the time. You’re giving them a lot of agency. It was a capacity crowd.

          It’s not like they hired a biker gang for security and some was stabbed.

          Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    ” ‘Soft-spoken’ Sharaa makes Time 100 list as sectarian massacres continue in Syria”

    He may be seen as a darling in the west but in the actual region, they know exactly who he is and what he is all about. Iraq will host the Arab League’s 34th summit in Baghdad next month and a lot of Iraqis are unhappy that this former Al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) leader is getting an invite-

    ‘But Sharaa publicly having been directly part of AQI and engaged in terrorist activities inside Iraq in recent memory adds a lot to this issue, with many Iraqi MPs warning Prime Minister Sudani that Sharaa’s history makes him very much not welcome.’

    https://news.antiwar.com/2025/04/17/many-iraqis-unhappy-with-islamist-syrian-presidents-invite-to-arab-league-summit-in-baghdad/

    He may be a mild head-chopper but he’s our mild head-chopper now.

    Reply ↓
  7. Ben Panga

    Liz Truss to start her own social media platform => she couldn’t be more like a character from The Thick Of It.

    Israelis have posted a billion times more than anyone else on 4Chan => QAnon always smelled like an op (and a test run). I’m sure it’s unconnected /s

    Reply ↓
  8. The Rev Kev

    “Trade war fallout: Cancellations of Chinese freight ships begin as bookings plummet”

    You’d think that docks, especially on the American west coast, will be getting quieter. Truck drivers are really going to get slammed here too. Then warehouses followed by stores. It’s like one of those cartoons where you see a tiny snow ball start to roll down a hill and as it does so, it gets bigger and bigger until it is huge. But this was not enough for Trump and his Cabinet. They have just come out and announced big fees on any Chinese-built ship that arrives in an American port. How many is that? Kinda all of them. But this way will bring back more ship manufacturing back to the US. But ‘Vessel owners could be eligible for a remission of the fees if they can provide proof of a U.S. shipbuilding order.’

    https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/17/trump-administration-announces-fees-on-chinese-ships-docking-at-us-ports.html

    I think that I am more likely to build a life-size replica of the Statue of Liberty in my paddock before most ships carrying cargo to the US will be US built.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      Worry not, the Car Go Cult has built a tremendous amount of warehouses in the Inland Empire, in order to lure Irina Class boats back.

      Reply ↓
  10. The Rev Kev

    ‘DW News
    @dwnews
    Apr 16
    Kids as young as 10 in Ukraine are getting combat-ready in secret military-style boot camps to prepare them should the war with Russia drag on for years.’

    I wonder if those kids have worked out that because they are registered and have received some training, that down the track they are at the top of the list for people to get drafted? I wonder what they will be thinking the first time they go to war, Will it be like how Erich Maria Remarque described it in his book “All Quiet on the Western Front” talking about his teachers-

    ‘For us lads of eighteen they ought to have been mediators and guides to the world of maturity, the world of work, of duty, of culture, of progress – to the future. We often made fun of them and played jokes on them, but in our hearts we trusted them. The idea of authority, which they represented, was associated in our minds with a greater insight and a more humane wisdom. But the first death we saw shattered this belief. We had to recognize that our generation was more to be trusted than theirs. They surpassed us only in phrases and in cleverness. The first bombardment showed us our mistake, and under it the world as they had taught it to us broke in pieces.

    While they continued to write and talk, we saw the wounded and dying. While they taught that duty to one’s country is the greatest thing, we already knew that death-throes are stronger. But for all that we were no mutineers, no deserters, no cowards – they were very free with all these expressions. WE loved our country as much as they’ we went courageously into every action; but also we distinguished the false from true, we had suddenly learned to see. And we saw that there was nothing of their world left. We were all at once terribly alone’ and alone we must see it through.’

    https://adropofhemlock.wordpress.com/2017/09/09/all-quiet-on-the-western-front-by-erich-maria-remarque-quotations/

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      The threat was real-not imagined I remember thinking when I was 10 and the idea of Nixonjugend such as yours truly digging foxholes in the jungle, a real possibility.

      Reply ↓
    2. Bsn

      It even begins much earlier than the age of 10. Here’s long, in depth article on the indoctrination of Ukrainian youth: From nurseries to Nazis: Ukraine’s terrorist radicalization of children
      One video link within the article (since removed from yoo toob) is described as follows:
      The year is 2015.
      The little Ukrainian girl is wearing a Hello Kitty t-shirt that says “love cat.”
      She looks to be about four or five years old, maybe younger.
      She is holding a knife in her tiny hands.
      From off camera, her father says, “Marinochka, will you cut Russians?”
      He uses a slur for “Russians.”
      “Yes!” She shouts.
      “What will you do to them?” He asks.
      She shrieks: “I WILL CUT RUSSIANS!”
      She repeats this phrase several times and makes little thrusting motions with the knife.
      Then she gives a Nazi salute. “Sieg Heil!” She says, “Sieg Heil!”
      Her father laughs.

      Reply ↓
    3. Carolinian

      Will they be making suicidal attacks against those Sherman Tanks T-90s with their Panzerfaust? WW2 comes more to mind.

      Doubtful however that Zelensky and frau will end up in a pile of ashes outside their Miami condo. The Netanyahus have a Miami condo too not to mention all those exiled Venezuelan oligarchs. Clearly some immigrants are welcomed with open arms.

      Reply ↓
      1. timo maas

        Nah, things are more modern now, and they must have ran out of Panzerfaust 3s by now, since the delivery was a while ago. Zelensky and frau know that kids are good with video game controllers, and would be perfect drone operators without waiting for them to grow up. They have just discovered a new use for prepubescents (in additon to prostitution, and organ donation).

        Reply ↓
        1. The Rev Kev

          You know, that’s not far from the truth. I saw a post where they were actually teaching kids how to direct drones in class in the Ukraine and the kids had funny stickers on their drone head mounts.

          Reply ↓
    5. Darthbobber

      Somebody opined elsewhere, and I find it plausible, that the point is not to prepare the kids for use on the front, but to attract Russian strikes on them. (The Russians will see that they are armed and uniformed, but not that they are 10 or 12 years old.) And when the almost inevitable strike happens they can shriek about the barbaric Russian child killers.

      Reply ↓
  11. jefemt

    “RFK Jr. Says People with Autism ‘Will Never Pay Taxes, Hold a Job, Go on a Date,’ Sparking Fierce Backlash”

    RFK Jr… his candor is refreshing. Note his perspective in the hierarchy of plebes:
    Taxes (chimera of revenue, in fact diminished participation), Labor (ask Elroy!), dating (ostensibly replacement population for priorities one and two).

    Time to Call Out The General— General Strike! Why not May 1? And starve the effing beast.

    Doing Little with Less has a certain elegance, huh? Vexes the Club For Groaf.

    Reply ↓
    1. Yves Smith

      Admittedly a small sample, but the two autistic people I know first hand and one second hand all work.

      But also the old category of Aspergers, which are highly intelligent but have the autistic difficulty of reading/understanding of other people’s emotions and social clues, has been folded into the broad category of autistics. Recall that one of the subprime skeptics in Michael Lewis’ The Big Short was Michael Burry, who came to realize he has what was then called Aspergers.

      Reply ↓
      1. Es s Ce Tera

        With this recent comment of his I’ve come to realize RFK Jr really has absolutely no idea what autism even is, and somewhere along the line an opportunity to educate him was missed. He may be basing his entire experience of autism on a few particular instances of people with higher needs.

        The majority of those with autism are low to no needs. At my work, for example, I know many who self-identify as autistic, very proudly and openly even, and there are many more who I’ve interacted with who I strongly suspect are not yet self-diagnosed. All have found love, can write poems, play baseball, use the toilet, etc.

        Also, it may be that autism has been around for a lot longer than we think. There are very many significant literary, philosophical and historical personnas who, in retrospect, given what we now know, we suspect of being on the spectrum. Immanuel Kant easily comes to mind, famous for his very methodical, precise, clockwork walks around town, very awkward conversations. Wittgenstein is another, known for social struggles and rigid daily routines – and why do you think he wrote Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus? Newton, Tesla, Samuel Beckett, Virginia Woolf, Emily Dickinson, Herman Melville, Hans Christian Anderson, and my favourite, P.G. Wodehouse, have all long been considered prime candidates.

        As for love, there’s a delightful Australian TV show called “Love on the Spectrum” which would be very helpful here, someone should send RFK Jr a link.

        Reply ↓
      2. Darthbobber

        I was diagnosed as mildly autistic years ago, and it never interfered with getting a degree, working, paying taxes, dating or much of anything else (except being comfortable). More of a problem than the autism is that I’m so introverted that if I were any more so I’d be a solipsist.

        One of my friends is about where I am on the spectrum, and he’s a tenured prof and the science librarian at a second tier state university.

        Reply ↓
        1. amfortas the hippie

          the hot shrinklady over yonder hill emphatically denies that i’m “on the spectrum”…when i told her i suspected a bit of ausberger’s.
          she says its just social anxiety.
          i still lean towards the spectrum, in spite of all that.
          because “uncomfortable”…as you say…is where i’m at in any social situation that aint happening out here at the wilderness bar.
          i cannot navigate small talk…or otherwise deal with the normal platitudes that apparently make civilisation function.

          i can talk to a fence post…as it were…but one on one, at a bus stop, etc.
          in those situations, i usually open with some esoteric utterance about something right in front of us…and we go from there.

          and, in spite of this, the likely next county judge wants me to run for county commissioner,lol.

          Reply ↓
          1. Darthbobber

            I sometimes drop hand grenades into casual conversations without realizing what I’ve done until everybody’s looking at me like I have three heads

            Reply ↓
            1. amfortas the hippie

              yeah,lol.
              thats, like, SOP.
              some people get used to it, some do not.
              i keep the former around.

              Reply ↓
      3. MartyH

        We have a grandson who I believe is on the spectrum. He is a child of wealth and will in fact never need to compete for opportunity. IF his disability WAS potentially caused by pharmaceutical industry revenue objectives enabled by unsatisfactory regulatory agency protections his grandmother and I want to know.

        Reply ↓
    2. Wukchumni

      The families I know with autistic children seem to share the same thing in that the mothers had their first children in their early 40’s.

      And those kids/adults are fortunate in that their parents have the means for them to be living at home for the rest of their lives, an empty nest not likely.

      Reply ↓
      1. cfraenkel

        Same here.

        But that line of thinking is verboten among the career first, supermom, all-natural anti-vax set.

        Reply ↓
  12. eg

    Beckley (The Age of American Unilateralism) is an incoherent loon — somehow while China and the rest of “the autocratic enemies” are suffering a calamitous demographic collapse they also simultaneously pose a military threat everywhere all the time! Good grief …

    “The Perilous Context of Trump’s Policy” on the other hand is the best “really big picture” analysis of the current geopolitical scene that I have seen yet, so thank you so much for that.

    Reply ↓
    1. amfortas the hippie

      yeah. the Perilous thing was really good…altho i suspect they give trump and co too much credit(where is the evidence for deep thinking, or strategic thinking?)
      it was a chilling sort of read.
      if true, it would represent a Break in the world akin to the russian, french or american revolutions.

      the authors are coming from World Systems Theory, apparently…which i never had the jack to study…Wallerstein’s books were high dollar on amazon when i was casting around for a new project.
      always suspised that that weird cost was because PTB didnt want the mundanes to learn about such things.
      and here we are.

      Reply ↓
  13. jefemt

    Maryland Senator Van Holland meets with Maryland El- Salvador detainee… that photo raises questions.
    Nice shirt! Nice break-room?
    I guess I need to bone up on the swap for the Chicago Bulls cap for a KC Chiefs bonnet and the deeper symbolism.

    “I like Playing Chess! Boy is Trusk mind-f*@#king US!

    The Trump unidirectional firehose waterboard— here put on this terrycloth hood. It’s a beautiful- the best! terrycloth hood…

    I have seen satellite photos of a mighty large red-stained area at the prison. So much we don’t know and are not hearing/seeing.

    Reply ↓
    1. Darthbobber

      It will be an interesting day when things go a bit further in El Salvador and the never turned in weapons caches in the mountains are back in use. That prison is an obvious target for busting people out and arming them to fight under the flag of whoever did them that little favor

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  14. The Rev Kev

    “Saudi and Iranian Ties Strengthen on the Eve of the Next Round of Talks Between Washington and Tehran”

    In truth, it would have been a pretty smooth meeting. The Saudis agreed not to host any Israeli/US attack on Iran or permit them to overfly their country. And in return, Iran guaranteed that the Saudi oil infrastructure does not become a smoking hole in the ground. I’d call that a win-win deal.

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  15. pjay

    – ‘Trump administration shutters US office countering foreign disinformation’ – The Guardian

    Thank you for posting this laugh-of-the-day piece. On the one hand, we have the likes of James Rubin, “former special envoy and coordinator for the Global Engagement Center,” crying about the end of this propaganda mill and warning that it will leave us vulnerable to information warfare by those dastardly Rooskies. On the other hand, we have Little Marco Rubio crying about Americans who “have been slandered, fired, charged, and even jailed for simply voicing their opinions,” representing an administration who is doing all these things and threatens more. I truly mean it when I invoke the strongest possible curse on all their houses.

    Reply ↓
  16. The Rev Kev

    “FDA making plans to end its routine food safety inspections, sources say”

    I wonder if that will also apply to food stuffs being exported overseas. With some foods – like chicken & beef – America does not have a good reputation for food safety. Knowing that they are ratcheting down food inspections will make exported food even more suspect.

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    2. Jeremy Grimm

      When a bureaucracy has its funding cut, isn’t cutting out one of that agency’s most publicly valued functions one of the first things done? [I am not favoring the budget cuts, only mentioning how I thought bureaucratic budget warfare tends to operate.]

      Reply ↓
    3. MartyH

      Given the recalls, they’re not particularly effective. Either we can multiply the investment in inspections and become even more intrusive in both internal and imported food supply chains or we can admit that failing to punish those who are forced to recall by negligence is a bad strategy. I’m against spending more on what has failed.

      Reply ↓
  17. Mikel

    Trump Admin Orders Social Media Review on Gaza – Ken Klippenstein

    “Secretary of State Marco Rubio today ordered the vetting of all visa applicants who have been to the Gaza strip since 2007, according to a diplomatic cable marked “SENSITIVE” that we obtained. ”

    43 countries listed as being part of a Visa Waiver Program that excludes them from the vetting.
    Noticed Taiwan is listed…independent of China which is not listed.

    And the next door neighbors, Cananda and Mexico are not on the list.

    Reply ↓
  18. Carolinian

    Moon gives NC a shoutout in this post on Topic A.

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/04/survival-or-looting-what-is-trumps-revolution-really-about.html

    The question asked is whether Trump inflicting inflation/uncertainty pain on ordinary Americans is all a big plan or all a big “oops.” Personally I incline toward the latter since the ongoing objection to TDS was that it takes the unserious Trump way too seriously. After all even Hitler knew that he had to maintain the consent of his own governed while trying to conquer Europe. It was once the war started that the repression really kicked in.

    Plus by making him what he isn’t they risked getting what they asked for. It’s our PMC ruling class in general that is putting us in peril. Could be they too are about to get their comeuppance.

    Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        Is that a pistol in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me? I hope you’re not shooting blanks. And yes, this does bode well for the After Midnight Futures Market. Oh my, what Tranch do we have here? I would consider swapping some assets, but I want to keep you all to myself sweet checks.
        The Board Meeting was then adjourned for brunch.

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    2. Socal Rhino

      Reminds me for some reason of a question asked by my Philosophy 101 teacher. Briefly, a man kills his neighbor and puts him in his oven at 350 F. The man does’t hear the timer and the body is charred. The question is, was something done wrong or something wrong done?

      Reply ↓
    3. John Wright

      I remember the HRC 2016 campaign preferring to run against Trump because he would be easier to beat than potential candidate Jeb Bush.

      Grifter vs Grifter with the better grifter winning.

      Must be quite galling to HRC.

      Reply ↓
  19. DJG, Reality Czar

    Meloni Watch.

    Thanks, Conor, for the translated link to Fatto Quotidiano. I have the daily paper editions of FQ to read. I may comment further.

    Other commenters who live in Italy should pipe up, even if all the conflicting info is preliminary.

    Observations:
    –Somehow, Meloni came back to Italy with J.D. Vance in tow. Now, the Vance visit has been planned for some time, and if I recall correctly, Meloni and Matteo Salvini both have their grubby little hands all over this visit, competing to see who can get brownie points.
    –J.D. Vance is likely to be on a tear about Italians buying more — meaning especially the Starlink contract hat is now being slow-walked because of President Mattarella’s misgivings. It would only allow Starlink into the Italian Defense Ministry, eh. As we witness from afar the effects of DOGE, what could possibly cause doubts about handing over the Ministero della Difesa?
    –As Yves Smith has commented, Trump’s superpower is sensing weakness in others. I have a feeling that he and newly-Catholicked Vance somehow think Italy is weak. This is likely to get them into trouble–when pushed, Italians push back. But good ole American anti-Italian prejudice just can’t control itself, now can it?
    –The reaction from the Italian public isn’t going to come this weekend, which is Easter. Not only do some Italians still celebrate the religious holiday, it appears that every Italian must have a chocolate Easter egg. Further, I have discovered the Pasquetta is sacred. No word from Italy till Tuesday, ragazzi.
    –25 April is Liberation Day. 1 May is Day of the Workers. Expect the reaction over the next two weeks. There will be demonstrations both days, and I am trying to figure out where they muster.
    –And I have a feeling that the reaction may be somewhat similar to Pubble. Meet Pubble and their latest:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9wPmZHHHZM
    [In Italian. You can get Italian titles to show, but I’m not sure if the video can be Englished properly.]
    There is some embarrassing footage of Meloni, who indeed is being “zelenskied” by Trump. Paola Ceccantoni and her compagno Giuseppe Fiorenza are Pubble. They started as artists / cartoonists. They consider themselves satirists — although they have been accused of being alt-right. To me, they are anarco-sindicalisti-romani. Two days back, she interviewed Prof. Alessandro Orsini, which now makes them arch-putinists. Meet Checcantonova and Fyorentzov! In any case, when I can’t get a dose of ShoeOnHead, who has been lying low these last several weeks, I watch Pubble to twist my perspective a tad.

    Pass the maritozzi!

    Reply ↓
    1. Maxwell Johnston

      Watching Italian TV news since Trump’s reelection (a half hour dose of RAI News 24 every evening, painful but good for my listening comprehension), it’s been amusing to see the media pumping up Meloni to be some kind of super-valuable EU backdoor to the Trumpians. There is even growing talk of “una very special relationship” between Italy and the USA. We’ll see how long that lasts, as neither Trump nor Italian politicians are noted for their lengthy attention spans.

      Pasquetta = Easter Monday is an untouchable national holiday. This year’s late-ish Easter combined with the upcoming 25 April and 1 May, plus people taking ‘bridges’ between them all, makes this year’s late April almost as much of a dead zone as Italian August.

      Quite a few strikes in Italy so far this year. It has reached the point where one really needs to check the online strike schedule before making travel plans. At least the unions announce their walkouts in advance. For now, anyway.

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  20. JustTheMusks

    https://www.reuters.com/business/aerospace-defense/musks-spacex-is-frontrunner-build-trumps-golden-dome-missile-shield-2025-04-17/
    Exclusive: Musk’s SpaceX is frontrunner to build Trump’s Golden Dome missile shield
    – SpaceX is leading a bid to build Golden Dome with startups Anduril and Palantir, six people said
    – The SpaceX-led group is pitching the Pentagon on a ‘subscription model’ for missile defense, sources said
    – SpaceX proposes a constellation of 400 to more than 1,000 missile defense satellites, sources said

    Reply ↓
    1. MartyH

      The rest of the space industry has proven to be a Clown Show, no? Boeing, a leader, stranded folks at the space station with no plan! Silence! Crickets! And nobody else volunteered!

      Oddly, with no credible competitors showing up, really, this is not news. Or interesting. Bezos managed to send up a near-space celebrity near-space junket. Who else is in the game?

      Reply ↓
  21. TheS

    Re: Patty Morin

    If my mom used my murder to manipulatively push for putting people unrelated to the murder in concentration camps, I would come back and haunt her. The framing that all migrants are murderers is just ignorant garbage. Not to mention that Morin stole the Gofundme money that was supposed to go to her daughter’s children so I know she doesn’t really care about her dead daughter or grandkids:

    https://www.cbsnews.com/amp/baltimore/news/children-of-murdered-maryland-mom-rachel-morin-sue-family-over-fundraising-proceeds/

    Reply ↓
  23. Kouros

    Israel secures 6-month delay in Hague Court proceedings

    Maybe SA didn’t want to show Israel evidence in order to protect potential witnesses…

    Who is safe from the murdering rampage Israelis are engaged in?

    Reply ↓
  26. Mikel

    This family name came up yesterday in a discussion about the trans phenomenon:
    (I think this article was also once a link on NC)
    https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/billionaire-family-pushing-synthetic-sex-identities-ssi-pritzkers/

    Upon looking for that article, I stumbled across this little nugget in The Daily Beast. I haven’t been to that site in years. Maybe some New Yorkers or real estate mavens have more info?

    https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-bitter-personal-feud-with-pritzker-family-is-behind-his-harvard-hate-campaign/
    “Trump has a very personal beef with the college’s most senior member of its board of governors going back to his first real-estate deal.”

    I’ve only had one read through and have yet to research further…but there it is.

    “We the people” are caught in the middle of many possible rivalries.

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  29. amfortas the hippie

    a postcard from the Wilderness Bar, in Amortas’ Hermit Kingdom:

    so Cousin’s rich girlfriend might mean well, but can never come clean on a deal(ie: present the actual money,lol)…
    has cost people we know lotsa jack for her failure to follow though(he knows how to pick ’em)
    so he’s at loose ends, out here with me(2 black sheep, etc)
    so we cooked swordfish and shrimp a week ago…and i (wisely!) save the leftovers in a bag and froze it.
    tonight, i made the gorgonzola alfredo pasta thang with all that.
    shrimp stock i made myself.

    on a fire, with a flaming shot of kraken at the end.(the last of that terrible stuff, at last)

    my youngest and him both said it was a 40 dollar plate( i wouldnt know)
    Black Crowe Night.
    and similar.(exile on main street, and such)

    Youngest smoked almost a whole hogleg of homegrown by hisself aforehand.
    (he usually does those dern pens, and is thus more tolerant than i am)

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  30. The Rev Kev

    And in today’s Clown World segment, Texas has just made a boob of itself-

    ‘A US school district has removed an online civics lesson about Virginia and its state flag due to rules against frontal nudity, Axios has reported.

    The Virginia official flag features the state seal, which depicts the Roman goddess Virtus standing over a defeated tyrant. In line with classical imagery, Virtus is partially draped, with one breast exposed.

    According to Axios report on Friday, the Lamar Consolidated Independent School District (CISD), located outside Houston, Texas, has removed the Virginia lesson from an online platform used by elementary students in grades three to five.

    The group’s co-director, Anne Russey, said the district cited its newly adopted policy banning “visual depictions or illustrations of frontal nudity” in elementary school library materials.’

    https://www.rt.com/news/615966-us-virginia-flag-ban/

    Virginia replies to Texas saying ‘Suh, that will be coffee and pistols for two tomorrow morning!’

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  31. ChrisPacific

    The antidote is actually the colossal squid from the first link, although this specimen isn’t particularly colossal, being a juvenile around 30cm long.

    It’s actually rather beautiful in its natural state (there’s also a video of it somewhere). The other living specimen found (some years ago) was an adult, but it was in the process of dying due to rapid depressurization, and was definitely not looking its best. Maybe one day we’ll get to see footage of a fully grown one in the depths.

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  33. AG

    re: Germany ban on lying

    BERLINER ZEITUNG

    A comment by media lawyer on the alleged plans by the coalition:

    The Federal Government’s “ban on lying”: an attack on freedom of expression and a threat to democracy
    According to their coalition agreement, the CDU/CSU and SPD are planning a “ban on lies.”
    Our guest author is a media lawyer and says: There must not be a Ministry of Truth.

    by Ralf Höcker
    https://archive.is/bkOk8

    Reply ↓

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