Giant prehistoric kangaroos preferred to ‘chill at home’ and didn’t like to go out much, scientists say The Guardian
New analysis casts doubt on ‘biosignatures’ found on planet K2-18b NPR
Climate/Environment
India is a global warming ‘hole,’ and scientists aren’t sure why Science
A Review of Massively Scalable Enhanced Rock Weathering Austin Vernon
Water
The sun might be spitting out particles that create water on the moon Space.com
Pandemics
Covid Worsened Shortages of Doctors and Nurses. Five Years On, Rural Hospitals Still Struggle. Iowa Public Radio
Studies detail high rates of long COVID among healthcare, dental workers CIDRAP
N95 Masks Will Save Your Life. Wear Them. The Sentinel-Intelligence
Japan
Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China The Japan Times
China?
Double-edged swords in the US-China Cold War High Capacity.
April Politburo Study Session on AI is bad news for Nvidia Sinocism
Global BYD Phenomenal World
Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China FT
European Disunion
Beijing to Brussels: Trade diversion concerns unnecessary Pekingnology
EU executive says it could target apps using China’s DeepSeek AI Euractiv
As China eases up on EU lawmakers, Brussels stays the course on Xinjiang sanctions South China Morning Post
Von der Leyen and Trump agree to arrange bilateral meeting after Rome encounter Ukrainska Pravda
Patrick Lawrence: Germany in Crisis Part 3: A Culture of Submission Scheerpost
India-Pakistan
Despite SC Ruling, J&K Authorities Demolish Homes of Pahalgam Suspects, Others, Without Notice The Wire
Pak takes ’emergency’ steps to secure drug supplies after India trade halt Business Standard
The Dastardly Attack in Kashmir Points to a Deliberate Campaign of Proxy Warfare Waged Against India Madras Courier
‘Jihad was created by the West’ – Pakistani defense minister RT
Syraqistan
Many Injured and Killed in Huge Explosion in Iran’s Bandar Abbas Port Maritime Executive
Iran probes massive explosion at strategic port, focus on Chinese rocket fuel shipments Ynet
There is still no evidence yet as to whether the explosion in Bandar Abbas, Iran, that has left at least 500 people injured, was an accident, or whether it was an act of sabotage, and if the latter, by whom.
But it is happening in a context in which many of us had predicted… pic.twitter.com/94HLw37KAO
— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) April 26, 2025
Theory that today’s awful explosion in Bandar Abbas was caused by missile propellant shipped from China doesn’t square with the fact that it occurred at a busy commercial port.
Sensitive weapons components would almost certainly be moved via a closed port under military control.
— Gregory Brew (@gbrew24) April 26, 2025
3rd round of Iran-US nuclear talks ends, with Tehran describing negotiations ‘more serious’ Anadolu Agency
***
Israel Is Using Suicide Drones to Target Displaced Palestinian Families Sheltering in Tents Drop Site
The Genocide in Palestine is Powered by Zionism, Not “AI” The Anti-Empire Project
“the only thing that gives me some joy is that while all the zios were celebrating and laughing at me im over here thinking yall hit a Jew w. a damn israhelli passport!!! great job”
A NY woman shares on Instagram in a post that she is Jewish and has an Israeli passport and was… https://t.co/scYrqVaWdz pic.twitter.com/LzqbpVJQoo
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) April 26, 2025
Africa
Making sense of Scott Bessent’s critique of the IMF and World Bank Grieve Chelwa
New Not-So-Cold War
Zelensky UK/EU Leaders Chase Trump In Rome; Starmer Coalition Disintegrates; US Russia Moscow Talks Alexander Mercouris (video)
Trump floats tougher Russia sanctions, meets Zelenskyy for first time since Oval Office blowup CNBC
Yes, More Cowbell, Please. Andrei Martyanov
Read between the lines News Forensics
Documents expose differences over U.S. peace drive for Ukraine Reuters
***
Russia confirms North Korean troops are in Ukraine and claims Kursk region is retaken NBC News
‘Ukrainian agent’ involved in Russian general’s assassination detained – FSB RT
CIA official’s son killed while fighting in Ukraine, spy agency says NBC News
Finland invests in future rail link to Norwegian Sea The Barents Observer. For the transportation of NATO equipment.
Berlin to ban Russian flags on Victory Day Al Mayadeen
Chokepoints
Trump Says US Ships Need Free Travel Through Panama, Suez Canals gCaptain
L’affaire Epstein
Virginia Giuffre, one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent abuse survivors, dies by suicide NBC News
Jeffrey Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre previously said “in no way, shape or form am I suicidal…”
“Too many evil people want to see me quieted.”
Today, her death was ruled a suicide. pic.twitter.com/Q69ZDOwNQa
— Remarks (@remarks) April 26, 2025
After Virginia Giuffre’s reported “suicide”, other Epstein survivors are stepping forward, making it clear to the world that they are not suicidal.
Juliette Bryant, who says she was kidnapped by Jeffrey Epstein over two decades ago, claims she met Epstein in Africa while he was… pic.twitter.com/lIMC4mgJyJ
— Shadow of Ezra (@ShadowofEzra) April 26, 2025
Trump 2.0
Republicans propose shutting down US audit regulator PCAOB Cryptopolitan
“Liberation Day”
REPORT: Walmart and Other U.S. Retailers Reportedly Notify Chinese Suppliers to Resume Shipments But Tariffs Cost Will be on U.S. Firms.
Several Chinese exporters said that major U.S. retailers, including Walmart, have informed some Chinese suppliers to resume shipments after…
— Ray Wang (@rwang07) April 26, 2025
DOGE
THE CRISIS AT SOCIAL SECURITY ILLUSTRATES ELON MUSK AND DOGE’S PLAN: EXPLODE THE NUMBER AND SEVERITY OF IMPROPER PAYMENTS. Notes on the Crises
DOGE Worker’s Code Supports NLRB Whistleblower Krebs on Security
MAHA
USDA withdraws proposal to reduce Salmonella in poultry CIDRAP
Police State Watch
DOJ Memo Shows Trump Admin Ordered ICE to Conduct Warrantless Home Invasions Common Dreams
Trump administration lawyers admit they seized Mahmoud Khalil without a warrant WSWS
Judge says 2-year-old US citizen appears to have been deported with ‘no meaningful process’ Politico
TEXAS POLICE ARE SLOWLY JOINING WHAT COULD BE A ‘GIANT ICE ARMY’ Texas Observer
***
“Deranged” Milwaukee judge’s arrest a warning to others, Bondi says Axios
Judge Hannah Dugan’s Arrest Is ‘Not Unprecedented’ Newsweek
Wisconsin Judge Monica Isham Threatens Not to Hold Court Over Hannah Dugan Arrest Wisconsin Right Now
ICE’S FAKE WARRANT: WHY JUDGE HANNAH DUGAN’S ARREST IS A POLITICAL STUNT FOR TRUMP’S AUTOCRATIC AGENDA Milwaukee Independent
Read the charges against Judge Dugan, arrested by FBI in ICE case Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
What to know about Eduardo Flores-Ruiz, the man who appeared in judge Hannah Dugan’s Milwaukee courtroom Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Healthcare?
Would You Rather Get Care in the U.S. or Abroad? MedPage Today
The Friendly Skies
A flight carrying hundreds had to divert after someone’s tablet got stuck in a business class seat Insider
Our Famously Free Press
Trump DOJ goon threatens Wikipedia The Verge
Trump’s aggressive actions against free speech speak a lot louder than his words defending it Kansas Reflector
Imperial Collapse Watch
How to Lose a Tech War ChinaTalk
Class Warfare
Largest federal employee union, a leading Trump opponent, to lay off more than half of staff AP
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Japan to resist Trump efforts to form trade bloc against China”
One reason might be that the US is thousands of kilometers away but for Japan, China is right next door and as we know, proximity has a quality all of it’s own. That is why proximity alarms are a thing. Another reason would be that China is Japan’s largest trading partner, and Japan is China’s second largest trading partner. Here you are talking about a third of a trillion dollars in trade. If japan dumped that relationship for Trump, would the US be able to make up the difference?
I live in Japan, and my take is that if Japan is not careful, one day everyone here will have to greet one another using 你好 instead of こんにちは. Ok, maybe I am exaggerating a bit because China simply isn’t interested in taking over Japan. There’s close to 1 million Chinese people living in Japan, making it the single largest group of foreign residents in this country, and the number will continue to increase going forward IMHO. Japanese leaders aren’t exactly the sharpest people around but even they realize that they will have to live with this giant behemoth at their doorstep. And let’s not forget Russia who is a close ally of China, the two of them could make life REALLY difficult for Japan once America retreats from this region.
How would Russia and China make life MORE difficult for Japan than it’s current hosting 50,000 US occupation troops, it’s subordination as a forward operating base (ie, being a target) against China, unspoken statiioning of US nuclear weapons and US pressures for building offensive military forces? Being an ally is dangerous, being a friend is fatal. Japan is not sovereign.
Russia would make life as bad as it is in the Kuril Islands.
Why would Russia make life bad in Russia? The Kuril Islands are, after all, Russian. Japan signed off on that after WW2. The Japanese may whinge about it but if they got them back, they would only hand them over to the US to build bases on and Japanese would not even be allowed to live there.
I was being sarcastic. Why would Russia make life bad anywhere in Japan? People are projecting USA onto others, in order to show that USA is great.
Whoops! Guess I missed the sarc tag. :)
I know it’s been awhile, but there was once that thing that started in 1904.
The two countries have been using more diplomacy to resolve disputes, but it is still something that requires work.
I suspect your knowledge of Japan-China relationships is more recent that mine, but Japanese government officials I used to speak to were very clear about the vulnerability of their country, dependent on maritime trade and without much in the way of natural resources to pressure from their larger neighbours. The US link, although problematic, and unpopular in many quarters, did at least provide an element of counterweight. So far as I know, there are no US nuclear weapons as such in Japan, but it certainly used to be the case that USN ships visiting were known to carry nuclear depth bombs, and the two sides ignored the fact. But as I say your experience may be more recent than mine.
It is, of course, possible to design your country’s security policy around the belief that your large and powerful neighbours are really nice, kind people who would never dream of using their massive economic and military superiority to nudge you into making concessions or doing things that you didn’t want to, and it would always remain so. But history suggests that’s a risky thing to do.
The US has always been most helpful assuring freedom on navigation. If we don’t do it, who else will?
Yeah, no.
If China were to even think of invading Japan, say hello to WWIII. And when the US leaves the region it will be because it no exits as a viable nation. And when that happens, the world changes in more ways than just what will happen to Japan.
This seems like fearmongering along with ad-hominin attacks against Japan via its current political leadership.
I’m FROM Japan.
China have been Japan’s largest Trade Partner for decades – until Taipei decided to make a racket over their claims to the unresolved+backburnered Senkaku/Daidou Islands Issue when Tokyo and Beijing agreed to accept each other’s currencies to settle trades (which would have made Taipei and Hong Kong Middlemen obsolete).
Japan-China Trade during the Fukuda Admin were on pace to Quintuple the JPN-USA Trade by the early 2020s, making Murica less relevant as the BodyPolitic were set to edit the Constitution written up by MacArthur’s Team.
Fear and Chaos ensued. Taipei+Hong_Kong did something on a smaller scale with a Demonstration Scare in HK that helped Tsai Ing-Wen’s less than 9% approved DPP win an scaremongering election.
Game has been played long enough to outlast the JPN Independents who had the spine to move away from being Vassals to Murica; but hope still exists…
That being said, I do concur with reciprocating tariffs save for those essential domestic industries (chosen by the State) which are not subject to foreign acquiescence – e.g., Rice for Japan.
I do expect major markets to onshore key industries; and Trump is making an rather flamboyant effort at doing so. E.G., there’s no reason Murican Mkt iPhones couldn’t be made in the US – as many are subsidized by multi-year phone svc contracts. Honda, Toyota, and Nissan have their plant footprints in the USA which can expand.
“Double-edged swords in the US-China Cold War”
‘These mutual fears may have become too deeply entrenched to roll back. But the US should recognize how its actions may in fact bolster the CCP’s legitimacy and validate Xi’s focus on security and national strengthening. And China should recognize how its growing assertiveness is directly fueling a bipartisan backlash in the US.’
This is really starting to sound like the classic Thucydides Trap to me-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thucydides_Trap
The only difference is that instead of a military war – so far – it is a full scale World Economic War. Too many in DC cannot stand the thought of America losing it global hegemony while China is not going to be pushed back into their box and endure a second century of humiliation. There is a way forward and that is if both sides back down and start negotiating face to face. But for that to work you would have to dump the whole idea of a zero-sum game and go for a win-win solution which is possible. But to be honest I don’t think that Trump’s mind works that way as he always wants to be seen as the “winner” – always. In addition, any agreements would have to be set in stone so that neither side could wiggle out of it later or renege on any agreements.
Sadly, the US is not capable of negotiating or abiding by such an agreement, even if a significant portion of its ruling/political class desired it, which it doesn’t.
file under Oh, Canada: The 2021 book Wilful Blindness.
https://www.amazon.ca/Wilful-Blindness-network-tycoons-infiltrated/dp/0888903014
>Major Retailers have Chinese suppliers resume shipments [including Walmart, home improvement retailer Home Depot, and Target]
With the consumers to bear the cost of the tariffs.
Oh brother, just wait…
Now I’m extra glad I bought a few weeks ago not one but two made in China “unisex sun hats” (otherwise known as saffari hats by pre-woke’ers of 13 different sexual identity LGBT13+ or whatever). $9 at Amazon.
Today they are priced at $12.
“Oh brother, just wait…”
Stephanie Kelton has her latest Substack posting stating that we will not be waiting too long to see the tariff results up close and personal:
https://stephaniekelton.substack.com/p/the-ship-is-hitting-the-fan
“Trump Says US Ships Need Free Travel Through Panama, Suez Canals”
I’d pretty much ignore that comment by Trump. Time is running out for him to get a deal in the Ukraine so by saying something stupid like this, it buys him another day as people go ballistic over that comment. He could equally had said something stupid like that ‘China needs to bring their space station down as America owns space, we paid for it, our beautiful spacecraft fly through it and we are not going to let other nations claim-jump us in space.’
He also claimed that the US deserved free passage at Suez because we had something to do with building it. We are living in the movie Dumb and Dumber.
Of course Trump’s general theory is that the world owe’s the US a living because we are “protecting” them. As some have pointed out this is protection in the Mafia sense.
And it’s not just Trump of course. Biden also said he was “running the world.” Maybe there’s something in the water at the White House that fosters megalomania.
Rev Kev: “Trump Says US Ships Need Free Travel Through Panama, Suez Canals”
What US ships? This just in from the FT:
LNG companies say they cannot comply with Trump rules on Chinese ships
‘The liquefied natural gas industry has warned the Trump administration it cannot comply with new rules aimed at forcing them to use US transport vessels by imposing levies on Chinese-built ships docking at US ports.
‘It warns the rules published by US trade representative Jamieson Greer on April 17 could damage a $34bn a year export industry that is central to the president’s “energy dominance” agenda ….
‘There are currently no US-built vessels capable of shipping LNG and no surplus capacity at US shipyards to build LNG carriers by the deadline of 2029 … API warns the rules would compromise US producers’ ability to dominate the global LNG industry and cement America’s position as the global energy superpower ….’
Archived: https://archive.ph/QOrJZ
FT original: https://www.ft.com/content/bc632c27-b598-402d-b3bf-b0b87eda528e
Hilarious. The one-liners write themselves: ‘The empire that couldn’t shoot straight’; ‘is the US empire the stupidest empire in history?’, etc.
>We are living in the movie Dumb and Dumber.
I would argue we are living in the equivalent of the last scene in the movie, Thelma and Louise. Previous administrations, Congress and their corporate masters put our nation on this path, Trump just slammed it into gear and hit the gas…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66CP-pq7Cx0&pp=ygUYdGhlbG1hIGFuZCBsb3Vpc2UgZW5kaW5n
@ Rev Kev @ 7:50:
In the U.S. the war is, as it always is, among the Bosses of the Senate. The Waltons, Bezos, et al who rely on cheap Chinese products vs. the MIC who have a “defense factory”™ in (nearly) every U.S. state and city-state vs. the DOGE vs. the FIRE sector.
For the moment these are tenuously united against the latest axis of evil, but the handwriting is on the wall: for years they could simply print themselves more dollars, but as the rest of the world de-dollarizes, they are beginning to realize they’re running out of paper. Trump vacillates among these factions because, like most U.S. presidents, he’s weak — even though the culture likes to apotheosize itself in the person of its president.
Add to this Amurika’s fractious and feckless European allies, and Xi finds himself with no agreement-capable counterparty. Win-win will not be agreed until Congress comes to the table.
I thought it was the banks that “own this place.” Hard to keep track of the bribery, er, campaign contributions.
As for the retailers and America’s addiction to consumption, it’s something we are taught from an early age with even religious holidays (Christmas) being enlisted in the cause. Perhaps now that all the factories have moved overseas the need for consumers has diminished and TPTB have decided to shift gears although to what isn’t clear. Eating bugs perhaps.
At any rate I don’t think that’s what Trump has been promising the MAGA and they may not take it well.
“Berlin to ban Russian flags on Victory Day”
So I take it that the 80th recreation of the raising of the flag over the Reichstag has been cancelled then?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raising_a_Flag_over_the_Reichstag
That’s like Japan banning American flags and the like on VJ day. As Marshal Zhukov once said ‘We liberated Europe from fascism, but they will never forgive us for it.’ It took nearly 80 years for his cryptic quote to make sense.
Banning Russian flags is definitely a sign of turgid resolve and tumescent strength, not at all indicative of insecurity and impotence. It will definitely not transform Russian flags from mixed up French flags to symbols of defiance. Maybe they are desperate to get real photos of AfD rallies with Russian flags.
Patrick Lawrence speculates on why Germans are so submissive to America and its culture and FP demands. Blame it on Broderick Crawford?
https://scheerpost.com/2025/04/26/patrick-lawrence-germany-in-crisis-part-3-a-culture-of-submission/
This makes me think that hoisting panels with that quote from Zhukov all over the place will make the German authorities apoplectic.
After all, these would fully comply with the prohibition of displaying Russian, Soviet, and Byelorussian flags, uniforms, as well as St George ribbons. Just one sentence and the name of its author.
They can ban the flags and ribbons but the physical reminders are everywhere.
From what i saw and remember, most every building in Berlin over 80 years old is pockmarked with bullet or shrapnel strikes. Everywhere and so subtle up to the point of sudden conspicuousness. The Neues on Museum Island for example.
Poultry and salmonella:
The elite fly private jets so they don’t give a flying %^* (pun intended) about safety on passenger jetlines, see Boeing 737 MAX, but what kind of poultry does the elite eat? Do they think they are immune to salmonella because they are rich or is there a different poultry mainline to them?
I guess that they are going to have to up the amount of chlorine that they use to wash those chickens in. Not going to make a great selling point in the UK where the US is demanding that they buy their chlorine-washed chicken, even though that is illegal in the UK. Who there would even buy it? Oh well, maybe the US could export stuff to other nations – like pork to Indonesia and beef to India.
Presumably, they can afford “ABC” (artisanal / bespoke / custom-made) everything — in this case artisanally raised chickens.
Don’t forget organic, fair trade with a massage thrown in.
Another Epstein circle “suicide”. A pack of grown men terrorize the streets of NYC beating anyone that challenges their “victim” narrative. Discerning a kangaroo from a dog is no longer allowed.
If I didn’t know any better I’d suggest that the image you reference is necessarily going to mess with our eyeballs and our mind. For a second I had to confirm it was not April Fool’s day.
Re that image of Trump and Zelensky at the Vatican. Out of range was both Macron and Starmer managing everything. A coupla days ago Zelensky demanded a summit at the Vatican with Trump, Macron & Starmer and it looks like he got it. But a funny thing, A lot of people were sour that the Pope’s funeral was used for grubby politicking and at the Vatican itself. So on the TV news tonight they mentioned that fact but then said that they were not doing politics but were doing peace talks which was different and the late Pope would have approved. I swear to god that’s true.
Forgot to mention something that Alex Christforou brought up. Trump has been bellowing that if there is no deal by next week, then he is walking away from the Ukraine. He’s gone. Thing is, what if he is bluffing and he has no intention of the US leaving the Ukraine? What that means is that after the end of the month people would know that he is bluffing and then it would be Macron, Starmer and Zelensky that would be able to make demands on Trump as they know he will never leave the Ukraine. That he would now own it. And no, I don’t think that he has any intention of leaving at all.
Leaving the spurious “peace agenda” is not leaving Ukraine.
US has not stopped nor reduced intel support, judging from the USN P-8’s, NATO E-3’s etc which forget to turn off their transponders in loco Kiev.
Not a lawyer as I often like to preface, so I defer on what law applies or overrules based on actual or pending locations for arresting the man central to the Milwaukee county judge being charged. But to be honest, what the heck was this judge thinking at that moment. See daylight and feel free to exit the building ? Oh and it is a rich understanding to read Democratic responses about rules and the law. Seems as though, based on reading the few anecdotes and also catching up on Sunday news shows the presiding Judge became something other than the arbiter for the court and laws, unless I am possibly mistaken
I’d appreciate knowing what federal or state law reads about the ICE agents wishing to arrest the man on an outstanding warrant, so I’ll continue some reading…to be certain the optics all look unusual but this does not seem unprecedented.
There is a state Dem party guidance regarding cooperation with ICE, which lead to this, and was always going to. I was at a rally outside local FBI HQ yesterday, and there was no nuance, just a bunch of blue team tribalism, as per usual. The tribalism and associated lack of reason combined with the antagonism between federal and state authority is a cause for concern.
I happened upon a Dump Trump rally with about 100 people (boomers) in small-town Oregon yesterday. I stopped to see who/what was behind it (suspicious of dems as I am). It was a local chapter of Indivisible, newly formed after Nov. 5. Still suspicious, I asked if they were ok with Biden’s genocide policy. Of the two people I spoke to, one said she was against all war and the other said he had a Free Gaza sign in his yard. I see this as the possible emergence of a third party.
Speaking of the Dems… I got a text informing me that the local chapter was at risk of losing its office if donations were not forthcoming. I’m hoping my response will induce them to remove me from their spam list.
This is a much larger movement than I realized. There are over 60 groups in Oregon alone. And they are starting to run their own candidates.
https://indivisible.org/
“How to Lose a Tech War”
“International students make up about 42 percent of STEM PhD graduates in the United States, and rather than “stealing seats,” they are subsidizing Americans’ education by paying full tuition. Their presence generates revenue that sustains academic programs, lowers the trade deficit and funds financial aid that supports increased domestic enrollment.“
This isn’t really true. International STEM Ph.D. students are usually funded with research assistantships paid out of grant money.
Yes, and for the first year the stipend/assistantship comes out of institutional resources, while graduate students take classes and rotate through various labs before they disperse to different laboratories with extramural resources. As an aside, when I began my first independent academic position, the integrated biomedical sciences PhD program (six distinct basic biomedical science departments) at that institution admitted 40-45 students a year. Last I heard that was down to about 20 as resources dwindled long before the current berserkers descended on academic science. Now? Many programs have paused admissions. The 55% cut in the NSF budget is the equivalent of the aftermath of the asteroid that left the Chicxulub crater. The shade of Vannevar Bush is restless.
As for stealing seats (large generalization here that is only partially true in the nature of such things) American students seem to be allergic to the 12-hour days, including Saturdays that are required by the calling to be a scientist, first as a student, then as a postdoc, and later in the exceedingly rare academic position in a research university or independent research institution. Also speaking out of turn, again, when I began so long ago, students who took the industry route tended to be those who always took the path of least resistance. Back in the day, before the consolidation of Big Pharma, they made more money in secure jobs with the cost of being at the beck and call of shifting corporate priorities. It was a fair trade for industry and academic science. But this was also the golden age of American science, beginning in the mid-1950s. By the mid-1990s the imperatives of the Bayh-Dole Act pf 1980 had poisoned American academic biomedical science, which accounted then and now for the vast majority of advances.
International undergraduates mostly pay full freight, and that is where the money comes from.
I have a Ph.D. myself from an R2 university. My basic experience was working long hours for unreliable funding, little support, and dealing with emotionally immature professors for the privilege of doing incremental research.
Working for a government lab afterward was way better — more support, better work/life balance, and better-quality, more meaningful work.
KLG: The shade of Vannevar Bush is restless.
The shade of Vannevar Bush is rotating in his grave at several revolutions per second.
“Would You Rather Get Care in the U.S. or Abroad?”
Ooh, that’s a toughie that. Healthcare in the US or healthcare abroad. Hmmm. I might have to think that one out. You know what? I wouldn’t wish even Netanyahu having to deal with American healthcare after a medical emergency and having no insurance.
wait! theres healthcare in the us?
next youll tell me theres dentistry and such….
only chance i have for getting an ankle replacement or amputation(!!) is to have an unfortunate chainsaw accident when one of the ortho guys is manning the nearest(sic) er(50+ miles, one way).
similarly with my teeth…i hafta go get into a fight and get em all knocked out(what i thought i was paying for 3 years ago) so i can finally get old fashioned dentures.
and yet i still se democrats(not in texas,lol) singing the praises of obamacare….
i don’t know what they’re talking about…the us has health insurance, not health care…
I think you meant “access” to health insurance.
The answer is totally dependent on your class and grandfathered insurance. If you are wealthy, have gold plated insurance, or qualify for a platinum level private insurance through your employer, the US has great healthcare. If you are one of the approximately other 88% of Americans not so much. Years of underfunding for the VA and Medicaid coupled with a focus on monetary success as a physician has meant that even government services that were mostly decent to good have become more miss than hit.
The bigger question for the majority of Americans is where abroad? While it would largely be better there are some places which could be even worse.
And for the record I do know that our wonderful IM Doc is not the only medical professional still fighting the good fight despite being constantly undermined by our system. They are just a minority that get smaller all the time.
“Jihad was created by the West’ – Pakistani defense minister” – RT
At this particular time, it’s hard to imagine the USA interested in destabilizing India.
“Apple aims to source all US iPhones from India in pivot away from China” – FT.
However, there are plenty of people in the USA and elsewhere that don’t want the slightest change to the current global economic order. Battles among elite factions.
Can someone explain or answer – How is it that President Trump can direct his minions to violate the Constitution without any of this creating a situtation in which Trump is not held liable to at least the de-minimus misdemeanor while holding high office ie; High Misdemeanor?…. it just absurd to me.
Where is the defence to the democracy – or even the attempt.
Where are the charges or claims under – The Federal Tort Claims Act, 28 U.S.C. § 1346(b)
So, I guess, it is just the Dems strategery to let these actions go on in order to take back the house and senate and down ticket as well – let the weeds grow so as to see them clearly and pull em out. – The one glairing un-said about this—- in my eyes, is that, while the stategery is bound to work (if not too late) the cynic in me be plucking my neourons into concluding the following
The Dems have knowingly, premeditated and calculated these vexations deliberatley so that they DO NOT have to course correct or legislate about a myriad of problems — genocide, MIC, environmental, international and an economic system set up to produce the largest wealth inequality in history and create an empire (of, for and by the haves, and to the detriment of the republic and the have nots), the poor state of health, infrustructure, corrupting influence of huge money, etal ad infinitum……….they (dems and repubs) do not have to course correct or legislate on the accumilation of the very course and legislation that both parties have created. Both parties at the helm have steering the national ship upon the hard ground with the tide moving out.
I think it is time for both, or just one, of the duopoly parties to start putting forward plans to dislodge from the shoals without ripping the hull open – it does not matter which party but, that the first mover will have advantage –
so long as they put the interests of the republic above the narrow moneyed interests and toxic, fear mongering and divisive pointing at all things other as the basis of all problems…..We keep repeating the same monkey struggles.
I think a bit of introspection is needed and I am understating it. A bit of assesment and a bit of structural engineering needed – It certainly will be difficult and painfull but one should take the ego out and put some humility in. It’s past time, it’s future time and its now.
We could also wait for the tide to go out and then some hundred or two hundred of years – float free when next tide rolls in – although, by then, the ship shall have been abandoned by the monkeys and peace restored by mother nature.
Good morning. On your opening query, who has the muscle to enforce? Being careful about what I wish for here, because our realities concerning the services we require and the authority we must navigate could get worse.
About team blue, IMO it’s about money and clinging to power. Both require “fighting for” but not winning. We get messaging, not solutions.
By all appearances, the western model of governance appears to be crumbling under the weight of it’s profiteering, ceding relevance bit by bit to the emerging Uber-wealthy elite power-brokers. The Libyan strategy is their center lane.
We only move forward…
And this system has produced such poor specimens of humanity as the Uber-wealthy. Thiel passes as a guru, but his mind is a jumble even when he talks about Girard, his guiding light. Gates seems driven by some perverse hatred of Nature. I can’t keep Andreeson and Uncle Fester straight. The leering Bezos is the best argument I’ve seen for lizard people. Once normal old Buffett dies,what a cast of weirdos (where have I heard that word?). They make Henry Ford, a real anti-Semite and murderous union buster, look downright regular.
Rarely have so few so lacking in morality and decency held so much power.
Check out the new head of the World Economic Forum (former head of Nestle, famous for insisting access to water is not a human right): they couldn’t be bothered get a dude who didn’t look so much like a Bond villain, the casting department would reject him.
Power of the purse.
The Dems in Congress can jam up the works even without a majority. Have you already forgotten the Dems own goal via Schumer and his cave on the budget?
The Federal courts can pursue financial penalties that carry civil, not criminal, penalties and thus cannot be pardoned away by Trump. The fines work in such a way that even Musk’s wealth would be drained for non-compliance.
Multiple articles on this site have discussed such methods. But this would take real effort to pursue. And we know that the Dems are essentially a performative opposition with no real interest in change.
“Both parties at the helm have steering the national ship upon the hard ground with the tide moving out.”
I really like this metaphor. So true.
For years, one of the main areas of coverage over at Wolfstreet has been interest rates and the flow of US Treasuries.
Yesterday, he posted some of his latest findings.
https://wolfstreet.com/2025/04/26/10-year-treasury-yield-re-dips-below-the-effr-yield-curve-sags-deeply-in-the-middle-dollar-bounces-back-into-3-year-range/
Thanks for this, one of the most valuable things I’ve read ever, particularly the link to The Spread between 10-Year Treasury Yield & Mortgage Rates Is Historically Wide and Widened Further: Some Thoughts on that page.
I hadn’t realized outside of QE, mortgage rates had basically never ever been as low as they were during QE. There’s no way to square that circle, and housing prices gotta come down somehow eventually. Unless we somehow magically get back to 5% and lower rates.
I’ve probably not paid enough attention to bond markets and interest rates as I might have. Equities are more exciting.
And this
“Exclusive-Documents expose differences over U.S. peace drive for Ukraine”
I heard a bit about what is in this deal. Short form? Russia loses. The Ukraine loses. The EU loses. The US wins. It sounds like this plan was put together by Kellogg, Rubio, Starmer and Macron who all agreed on the minimum set of conditions that they will accept for peace and then demand that Russia accept it. Zelensky can be ignored as the only thing that he will accept is his 10-point peace plan which calls for Russia’s capitulation. Would you believe that in that plan Russia has to agree to turn over that $300 billion in frozen assets to Zelensky? And be OK with it? And that NATO will be stationed in the Ukraine? Putin is playing it smart and saying that he is ready to negotiate because he knows that Zelensky will always blow up any deal except his. This all reminds me of the time after the Battle of the Bulge in WW2 when Japan demanded that the Allies accept a peace deal with Germany and hand back all the land that they have seized, free all prisoners and pay compensation to the Third Reich for all the damage done. Everybody remembers that, right?
The European proposal is ridiculous as usual–the dumbest political class in the world next to Ukraine. But to be fair, the US proposal seems quite reasonable if you assume the war is a stalemate.
The “collective West” doesn’t give two [bleeps] about Ukrainian losses–they are all Russians anyway. Given that, I think it’s reasonable from the US perspective to see the military war as a stalemate… for all practical purposes.
The only unequivocal loss for the West was the economic war. Yes it exposed weakness, perhaps fatal weakness. But in the short term the US is even making some economic hay from European stupidity on that front too!
Even if it’s a stalemate it still makes no sense. In such a situation, everyone loses/wins to a roughly equal level. That deal does not represent such an outcome.
Still lots of moving parts. Russia has all of those oligarchs, that came by their gains during the post-Soviet looting, itching to get back to their business.
Russia has named the parts of Ukraine it’s prepared to handle. Anything more is like an anvil around their necks. Even once the bigger conflict stops, ideologies aren’t simply erased overnight.
Notice the NBC headline says North Korean troops are in Ukraine while the article itself just says on the front lines of the Ukraine war in Kursk (Russia). Funny how those little slips happen.
Given the dearth of North Korean POWs held by Ukraine, I have to wonder how many soldiers really are there, and how much they are having any military impact versus just learning how a land war like this works in the age of drones. The whole episode is very curious.
I read it knowing that it would be lies. And it was. There are no DPRK troops in Ukraine and there never were.
I think I mentioned this a few months ago but IMO any troop deployment is more of a favor to NK than vice versa.
Maybe a better way to put it is that these operations are a way for the partner–NK, Iran–to show its loyalty and “invest” in the relevant defense agreement and get something in return: training, weapons sales and development, etc.
Russia has clearly worked with Iran and NK to test and purchase* weapons. NK–with the stronger military pact–has gone further than Iran by sending some combat troops.
Any partner with any sense would jump at the opportunity to train troops in the new warfare. IRGC? China thinks it knows better than everyone else and remains aloof. I think it’s a mistake but I can imagine the argument in favor of staying neutral.
* or license(?), see Shaheds/Gerans.
Can’t find my link but the Russians themselves said they started out as trainees and eventually joined the front line as capable and fearless soldiers. It was claimed that some would suicide rather than be captured.
An example: this English-speaking foreign troop fighting on the Russian side.
War correspondent Alexander Kots in Komsomolskaya Pravda seems to be original source for this.
According to Tass, the comments came from the Chief of Russia’s General Staff Gerasimov
re: Germany energy crisis
behind paywall for now
WALL STREET JOURNAL
When the Wind Didn’t Blow in Germany
A years-long renewables push leaves the economy hostage to the weather.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/germany-energy-renewables-wind-solar-friedrich-merz-264091b7?mod=hp_opin_pos_3#cxrecs_s
via BERLINER ZEITUNG quoting WSJ
“(…)
Wall Street Journal dissects Germany’s energy debacle: “No role model” for the USA
A renowned American daily newspaper takes a critical look at Germany’s energy transition. The Americans conclude: A textbook example of failed energy policy.
The American Wall Street Journal sharply criticizes Germany’s energy policy: “Despite hundreds of billions of euros invested in wind and solar energy, the share of green electricity plummeted dramatically in the first quarter of 2024 – from 56 to 47 percent.” The renowned New York- based newspaper even warns its own readers about the German energy transition: “The US should learn from this,” states an opinion piece by the editorial board.
Although Germany has installed an additional 872 wind turbines since April 2024, wind power production fell by 16 percent. The reason: a persistent “dark lull” – windless, dark winter months during which neither wind nor solar energy was reliably produced. Even the hours of sunshine in March could not offset the decline. The WSJ cites recent figures from the German Association of the Energy and Water Industries (BDEW) in its analysis.
Why doesn’t Germany rely on nuclear energy?
The New York daily newspaper writes very clearly: “This means that renewable energies alone cannot supply a highly developed industrial economy with energy.” Berlin’s political system is also gradually realizing this, according to the WSJ. While the future governing coalition under Friedrich Merz is planning 20 gigawatts of gas-fired power plants as a backup, the expansion of green energy is to continue at the same time.
“Good luck with that!” the article sarcastically states. “Because excessive dependence on fluctuating renewable energies tends to make the operation of gas-fired power plants as backup uneconomical. Further subsidies can be expected in the future.” The WSJ criticizes Germany’s continued abandonment of nuclear energy, thus opting for an expensive dual strategy of gas and renewables.
The editorial ends with a devastating verdict: “Germany is further along the path to renewable energy than many other major economies. However, its energy debacle is enough to make it clear to everyone else that it is no role model.”
(…)”
p.s. Even harsh domestic critics of German policies pointed out a return to nuclear would be crazy due to costs. NPP directors themselves stressed the immense difficulties to build back what has been turned off/dismantled.
Natural gas appears to be the logical solution for now were it not for the political insanity and incompetence on that issue. I do not know if WSJ criticized a chancellor Merkel when it would have been appropriate who is the one to be blamed in the first place and not even keep some back-up nuclear power.
I’d like to consult Mr. Chernobyl, Mr. Fukushima and Mr. Zaporizhzhia first. Each of them may have something to say about the risks that brought them down and whether these risks have increased or decreased.
And I’d also like to consult Mr. Jevons How about this deal? Before we build any new power plants of any kind, let’s demonstrate in the rich North that we can bend that power consumption curve down. (A real good depression would help.) And when we start building them again, let’s close down two of similar size.
Otherwise, we just keep that old growth curve for power consumption heading up to infinity, and some jackass will find some “use” for it like generating Bitcoins or powering AI.
Let’s quit competing to consume and try cooperating to conserve for a while.
Let’s quit competing to consume and try cooperating to conserve for a while.
Another thoughtful insight, Thanks HMP. It needs to be on a sign for the May 3 Protests.
Pray your health has turned better, and someone has turned over a garden for you.
hear hear!
and thanks for mentioning Jevons.
the concept of Enough is lost on us.
fire monkeys, f&&king in the mud, as always…but made worse by these stupid and unthinking ideologies…that we mistake for certain knowledge.
the converse to that: so many people do nt have enough(i am usually one of them,lol)
but those people arent in charge.
The article on rural health care not recovering from Covid highlights the problem of finding rural ER doctors, but conveniently fails to cast even a glance at big finance’s ownership and consolidation of US health care in the name of “efficiency” and “profit,” rather than as a public good. It also fails to mention how the major enshittification of US health care and the conversion of the practice of medicine to being a cog in a machine is making health care an undesirable occupation.
What elephant? (my SWAG is KFF gets support from the corporations it conveniently overlooks)
Also — naturally — doesn’t mention the loss of health care workers due to repeat SARS2 infections causing disability. Instead, mentions the catch-all “mental health”.
all the HCW i knew during that time, it was both.
ptsd, plus long covid.
it was a traumatic, unending event.
and took its toll on their sense of being and worth.
The bicarbonate weathering of olivine is interesting, except it has one fundamental flaw: the chemical formula for olivine is not MgSiO4. It is (Mg,Fe)SiO4. It’s a solid solution of fosterite and fayalite, with end members (100% of either the Fe or Mg flavor) being rare to the point that I’ve never seen either one outside of mineralogy lab. [Even there, it was probably a Fo5 or Fo95 composition because universities are cheap re. lab supplies.]
Iron doesn’t weather the same way as magnesium. Get the iron wet to remove the bicarbonate from the Mg part of the reaction and it will rust, forming oxyhydroxides, increasing the volume of the pile, and changing the expected electrical conditions of the pile. I’m too far removed from my grad school geochem courses (both temporally and distance from my old textbooks in basement storage) to recall precisely what the effect would be, but it is a significant oversight by the authors. Their plan will not work as they think it will. I applaud their effort but they need to revise and resubmit to account for the iron, which will likely be 20-80% of the metal in the olivine.
A Lengthy Legal Battle in North Carolina Could Show How to Flip an Election (NY Times via archive.ph)
Meanwhile, the Democrat specialization is getting the Greens kicked off general election ballots.