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Links 9/3/19

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Sulphur-crested cockatoos raiding wheelie bins are (annoying) examples of animal behavioural adaptation ABC Australia

Governance changes came about after some lively debates Pensions & Investment. CalPERS. “Lively debate” sounds a lot like the diplomat’s “full and frank exchange of views.”

Dorian Hammering Grand Bahama Island: Prolonged Storm Surge Threat Ahead for Southeast U.S. Weather Underground. Moving at one mile per hour.

Latest Boeing 737 MAX delays imperil return of jet by Christmas Seattle Times

Uber and Lyft face an existential threat in California — and they’re losing The Verge (DL).

“I’m a Terrible Person”: Behind the Epic Meltdown That Ended Travis Kalanick Vanity Fair

Brexit

Brexit seems like an overly dynamic situation just now; here are some live blogs, all with different angles:

Boris Johnson news – live: No-deal Brexit rebels ‘have enough people’ to block PM’s plan, as Downing St forced to deny ‘sham’ negotiation claims Independent

Brexit: Hammond says Johnson wrong to claim progress in EU talks – live news Guardian

Live Showdown at Westminster RTE

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Boris Johnson’s election gambit agreed over curry at Chequers FT

Brussels baffled by Boris Johnson’s Brexit progress claims Guardian

Britain Can’t Afford the Queen’s Weakness Anymore Foreign Policy

China?

New research shows vast majority of Hong Kong protesters support more radical tactics The Conversation. “You taught us non-violence doesn’t work.”

A provocative thesis. Thread:

“The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.”

Hong Kong’s chief executive denies offering to quit FT

Has China forgotten how order was restored to Hong Kong after the 2003 Article 23 national security protests? SCMP

Hong Kong Protestors Using Mesh Messaging App China Can’t Block: Usage Up 3685% Forbes

Hong Kong Protester Forum Says Some DDoS Attacks Came From China Bloomberg

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A light amid the gloom of the US-China trade war Lowy Interpreter

The US’s Trade War Fallacy Asia Sentinel

China’s industrial heartland fears price of green policy FT

India

The Great Trick Which Left Kashmir With Nothing to Lose The Wire

This Is What It’s Like Living Through Kashmir’s Communications Blackout Buzzfeed

Kashmir: The misinformation spreading online Euronews

Myths of Kashmir Project Syndicate

In India’s Slums, ‘Painkillers Are Part Of The Daily Routine’ KHN

Syraqistan

Revealed: How a secret Dutch mole aided the U.S.-Israeli Stuxnet cyberattack on Iran Yahoo News

Health Care

Screening for Social Determinants of Health JAMA

Medicare-for-All Won’t Fix the Broken Hospital System The American Conservative. The Deck: “Instead of further driving prices through the roof, let’s unleash entrepreneurs to take on the health care cartel.” Wonder how long it will take for Democrats to mainstream this (as Delaney, sadly, failed to do).

New Cold War

Russia’s Turn to the East and the New Geopolitical World Valdai Discussion Club

Why I Talked to RT Moscow Times

Trump Transition

Why Has Trump’s Exceptional Corruption Gone Unchecked? NYT (Re Silc).

2020

Why black voters are backing two old white guys Politico. Guess the press has finally thrown in the towel on the Clintonite “Bernie only appeals to wypipo” talking point. About time.

Democrats Launch New ‘Listen Up, Hayseeds’ Campaign To Connect With Rural Voters The Onion

Tearing Down the Myth of the Rural White Voter The Atlantic

Swing-seat Democrats oppose impeachment, handing Pelosi leverage The Hill

The neoliberal attack on Bernie Sanders’ Green New Deal is a clear and present danger Alternet (Re Silc).

What You Need To Know About Fake Video, Audio And The 2020 Election NPR (DL).

A Successful Artificial Memory Has Been Created Scientific American

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

U.S. Unleashes Military to Fight Fake News, Disinformation Bloomberg

Ring Says It Doesn’t Use Facial Recognition, But It Has “A Head Of Face Recognition Research” Buzzfeed

Harry Potter books removed from Catholic school ‘on exorcists’ advice’ Guardian

Class Warfare

Opinion: What does Labor Day mean in a gig economy? Los Angeles Times

Immanuel Wallerstein, anti-capitalist intellectual, dies at 88 Monthly Review

Open Letters: An Open Letter to People Who Say “Summer’s Not Over Yet!” McSweeney’s Internet Tendency

Antidote du Jour (SS), “When I had water in my pond”:

Bonus Antidote:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.