Links 5/7/2025

Subscribe to Post Comments

113 comments

1. Antifa May 7, 2025 at 7:00 am

   They Laugh
   (melody borrowed from The Tide Is High  by Blondie)

   (Two months now with no food, water, or medicine allowed into Gaza. The bombing continues. Bombs made in America. Bibi now plans to kill every Palestinian who won’t leave.)

   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms
   What is this crazy world? These Jewish soldiers just laugh! (oh no!)

   Bombs have ruined Gaza worse than Stalingrad
   Even the grass we chew tastes more like TNT
   What is this crazy world? These Jewish soldiers just laugh! (oh no!)

   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms, kids and Moms

   Long ago before this Hell began
   Life was not severe, Dad could still earn
   What is this crazy world? These Jewish soldiers just laugh! (oh no!)

   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms, kids and Moms, kids and Moms

   (musical interlude)

   I found string beans inside a punctured can
   Buried for a year—it tastes old and burned
   What is this crazy world? These Jewish soldiers just laugh! (oh no!)

   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms, kids and Moms, kids and Moms

   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms
   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms, on kids and Moms
   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs
   Two Ton bombs dropped on kids and Moms
   We’re terrified when they’re dropping bombs. . .

   Reply ↓
   1. Huey May 7, 2025 at 3:54 pm

      Blondie’s version is more popular but just adding that the original was by The Paragons (youtube audio), similar but different.

      Here’s the Wikipedia entry if interested.

      Reply ↓
      1. Antifa May 7, 2025 at 4:48 pm

         Nice! Thank you.

         Reply ↓
         1. Huey May 7, 2025 at 5:43 pm

            No problem.

            Reply ↓
2. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 7:21 am

   ‘non aesthetic things
   @PicturesFoIder
   internet vs real life’

   Re those two dogs and that moving fence. Looks like Robert Frost was wrong. Good fences don’t make good neighbors.

   Reply ↓
3. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 7:21 am

   Re Alberta independence. I will defer to local knowledge. However I’ve been there several times (mostly to their 2 big cities). I have to wonder if the same “it’ll never happen” phenomenon is in play that effectively killed Quebecois independence.

   At the height of the Quebecois independence drive, a big (by European standards phenomenally big) geographical portion in the north dominated by native Americans said “the moment you secede, we secede and ask for readmittance to Canada”. Ouch.

   We Brits were not exactly nice to Canadian native peoples but we were a bit nicer than certain other groups I could mention. It’s interesting that the French speaking nationalism in Canada shows no sign of becoming powerful again. Thus why I wonder if Alberta’s politicians are just trying to get a better deal vis a vis Federal help to the provinces. They KNOW oil is now a big geopolitical weapon after Canada decided all that oil was no longer going to USA but elsewhere.

   Reply ↓
   1. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 7:49 am

      I suppose that if Alberta and all it’s oil left Canada, then Trump would gladly accept it into the US as it’s 51st State. Then all that oil would become American oil and those 5 million Canadian citizens would become American citizens. But Alberta’s politicians had better play it cool. There is already a people’s embargo on US goods. One could be very quickly done for the province of Alberta as well.

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 8:09 am

         Yep. And if natives in the north stayed in Canada then you have a 51st state surrounded on 3 sides by people who really really hate you. One of my most memorable drunken nights was in an Albertan gay bar who regarded me and my friend as pseudo celebrities because we’d bothered to explore Alberta. (Worst. Hangover. Ever.) Lovely people who give off vibes that they’re feeling ignored and taken for granted.

         My impression when I chatted to Edmonton and Calgary locals in early part of the new century was that they didn’t really want to be part of the USA; they just were utterly annoyed at the “Easterners” in Ontario and Ottawa using them whilst BC got attention for being west coast and so attractive to Asia.

         I’d advise Carney to hit some Albertan restaurants and bars because his victory wasn’t as overwhelming as it should have been….. largely thanks to Alberta.

         Reply ↓
         1. Ann May 7, 2025 at 2:53 pm

            I’m in B.C. We hate Albertans. I hate Albertans. Their blasted Transmountain Pipeline was rammed through my land two years ago and they destroyed my orchard and one of my big gardens and forced a right-of-way that I can’t get out of. Albertans come to BC with their money and buy homes they don’t live in and drive up prices. They come on their snowmobiles and kill themselves in avalanches because they don’t listen to the BC warnings. They won’t buy our wine, or our fruit. They drive like maniacs.

            The rest of Canada hates Albertans. The Premier recently told Mark Carney, “You will never tell us where to build OUR pipelines.” They are wrecking their health care system, there is rampant corruption. They want to be the 51st state because they already are and they want to stick it to the rest of Canada. Unfortunately for them, the tar sands runs on BC natural gas fracked in NE BC and can’t do without it.

            Let them try.

            Lots more information here:

            https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2025/05/06/Smith-Talk-Served-Contradictions-Misinformation-Gaslighting/

            Reply ↓
            1. Ann May 7, 2025 at 3:02 pm

               More corruption:

               https://thetyee.ca/News/2025/05/07/Alberta-Energy-Regulator-Close-Ties-Danielle-Smith/

               Reply ↓
               1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 3:37 pm

                  Thanks I knew nothing of that.

                  Reply ↓
      2. BrianC - PDX May 7, 2025 at 3:45 pm

         Just speculating here…

         Why would/should they be given statehood?

         It would make more sense to bring them in as a territory (tm*). With the “promise” that maybe… someday… they could then aspire to becoming a state…

         Or better yet, just create a big “Reservation” up there and strip all the natural resources out.

         Since the US isn’t agreement capable, this is really a case of – be very careful what you wish for.

         Reply ↓
   2. Danpaco May 7, 2025 at 12:33 pm

      Every election where a liberal government is formed is always followed up by “Alberta independence!!”. Alberta being solidly blue (conservative in Canada) is mighty disappointed that the Tories turn at governing was usurped by a terrible candidate and some 51st state declarations from the man in the White House.

      Reply ↓
   3. cfraenkel May 7, 2025 at 12:38 pm

      That didn’t take long:
      https://www.reddit.com/r/onguardforthee/comments/1kgxt6n/chief_allan_adam_of_the_athabasca_chipewyan_first/

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 1:36 pm

         Wow! Thanks.

         Reply ↓
   4. Sub-Boreal May 7, 2025 at 1:40 pm

      There isn’t a nice way to say this, but Alberta’s Premier, Danielle Smith, is a total loon, and her current pandering to the perennial oil-drugged separatist whiners in her province is an attempt to distract from some serious corruption issues dogging her government. But she’s playing with fire by choosing this particular distraction, as discussed here by commentator David Moscrop.

      From next-door in BC, it’s both fascinating and horrifying to watch the downward spiral of Alberta politics and society. The whole edifice is completely dependent on maintaining the oil bubble which successive RW regimes have pissed away (trying to set a record for metaphor mixing – sorry). Despite higher petroleum production levels than Norway, Alberta has much less in the way of accumulated savings.

      Mine is a minority opinion, but the squandering of petroleum riches by Alberta (and less spectacular missing of resource revenue opportunities in other provinces) shows a built-in constitutional weakness in the Canadian confederation: giving jurisdiction over most natural resources to the provinces. This has made it easy for corporate interests (often foreign) to play one province against another, leading to a regulatory and revenue race-to-the-bottom.

      Alberta’s cyclical petro-booms have acted as a fluctuating magnet for population migrations from other parts of the country. So you tend to get a fairly large chunk of the population only being there because they can’t find jobs in the places where they’d rather live. Not a great recipe for social solidarity!

      I spent 3 years in Edmonton in the late ’70s during an earlier boom cycle, and couldn’t get out fast enough. To be fair, BC has its own pathologies, not least being an economy largely fueled by real estate speculation which has been recently supercharged by uncontrolled immigration. But Alberta stand out as the textbook case of how to squander a resource inheritance while simultaneously nourishing a toxic RW political culture.

      Reply ↓
      1. Kouros May 7, 2025 at 4:23 pm

         My son works for the oil patch but not in the oil patch, protecting the pipes from corosion. While he is young, he is very measured, knowledgable and analytical and does point to same issues.

         As for the problem of jurisdiction, at federal level, Canada can be as bad as the provinces. Just look at how the drug prices are calculated and how much they kowtowed to the Pharma body. https://www.canada.ca/en/patented-medicine-prices-review.html

         Just recently some tweeks were don after much protest.

         Reply ↓
         1. Sub-Boreal May 7, 2025 at 5:25 pm

            I agree that the feds can be just as bad as the provinces. But inter-provincial rivalry to lower standards and divert potential public revenues into corporate treasuries is a whole additional layer of dysfunction.

            In the opposite direction, we do have some good examples – mostly in the social or health services areas – where a conspicuous improvement in one province can eventually be emulated in other provinces or even championed federally when the right balance of political forces exists. The classic example is Medicare which started in Saskatchewan and after about a decade was available in all provinces thanks to peer pressure and national leadership during the Pearson era. The only recent comparable example is $10/day daycare which started in Quebec and is gradually and painfully slowly spreading to other provinces, thanks to both interprovincial emulation and federal assistance.

            Pragmatically, I think that split jurisdictions are one of those “works in practice but not in theory” things which enables diffusion of benign reforms while limiting damage from bad RW regimes. It’s a kind of constitutional harm reduction. Americans have a much more centralized federation, and they’re certainly paying for it now.

            Here’s an example closer to where I live. Although inland waters are provincial, anadromous (i.e. migratory) fish like salmon are under federal jurisdiction. That split probably saved the salmon in the Fraser River during the heroic age of hydroelectric dam construction in BC during the 1960s. If both had been under provincial control, it’s almost certain that there would have been several dams on the mainstem of the Fraser by now.

            Reply ↓
   5. Roland May 7, 2025 at 5:27 pm

      Alberta’s economy is based on tar sands and Big Ag. This situation developed because of the continentalist policies pursued by successive Canadian gov’ts, over the past 40 years. In a North American free trade scenario, Alberta’s destined role is to maximize CO2 output.

      The Trudeau (fils) gov’t spent nine years punishing Alberta for having the only sort of First World economy it could have, under a regime of neoliberal capitalism. And while the federal gov’t punitively taxed and publicly scolded Alberta over fossil fuels, they also compelled Alberta to subsidize the other provinces (in some years, Alberta paid subsidies to ALL of the other provinces). In a federation, this is bound to cause strain.

      Of course, Canadians everywhere continue to be among the world’s highest personal emitters of greenhouse gases. Trudeau larped in green, but lived high off bitumen. The whole thing could serve as a textbook of policy incoherence.

      Successive Canadian gov’ts, federal and provincial, have prevented the formation of a national energy grid, and have also prevented diversification of export markets. Alberta’s petroleum is Canada’s biggest single export, but Canadians have deliberately restricted themselves to a single customer: USA, who thus buys at a substantial discount. We produce lots of CO2, and we can’t even get paid at the world rate. Again: Canadians are to blame for this, not Americans–and among Canadians, Albertans are perhaps the least to blame.

      I live in central British Columbia. My province’s biggest source of public revenue today is a property transfer tax, i.e. BC funds public services largely through real estate speculation. In terms of a bourgeoisie doing stupid things, my province is globally competitive. While BC blocks pipelines from Alberta, we expand our own methane and coal outputs.

      Canadians’ illogic, hypocrisy, immaturity, and short-sightedness are on par with anything to be seen in the USA, UK, or EU. But that’s okay, it was all Putin’s fault, and now it’s Trump’s fault!

      Reply ↓
      1. Sub-Boreal May 7, 2025 at 7:01 pm

         I agree that there is plenty of Canadian fossil fuel stupidity and hypocrisy to go around: Alberta, BC, and the feds are all over-achievers. When BC’s menagerie of subsidies enables LNG production and the necessary upstream fracking, we’re seeing just as heinous a sacrificing of revenues as anything that Alberta has dreamed up. And not to beat on just the AB Conservatives – during the Notley NDP interlude, they didn’t touch petroleum royalty rates.

         I’d quibble with the statement that BC’s “biggest source of public revenue today is a property transfer tax”. Surely not? In recent years, it appears to be in the neighbourhood of $2-3 billion (https://www.radionl.com/2021/11/25/b-c-government-expects-to-collect-record-3-billion-this-year-in-property-transfer-taxes/ https://www.gvrealtors.ca/news-archive/putting-property-transfer-tax-revenue-to-work.html) while total revenues from all sources projected for 2025 are just over $80 billion (https://www.bcbudget.gov.bc.ca/2025/fiscal-plan.htm).

         Reply ↓
4. vao May 7, 2025 at 7:29 am

   Regarding US loses another jet off Yemen, I am thinking that these three accidents (one shot by “friendly fire”, one “skidded off the carrier”, one “encountered a problem with the arresting gear”) may well be due to the lack of experience and training of the pilots in real war conditions.

   Consider: thus far, in every operation involving airplanes launched from aircraft carriers, those USN pilots could take off and land on vessels that were leisurely sailing, aligned with the wind direction, far from any danger. For the past couple of months, they have to make approaches to a carrier sailing at full speed, engaging in evasive manoeuvers to avoid incoming missiles and drones, while AA guns are blazing around them. Without sufficient experience, it is easy to make fatal mistakes in such a hostile environment — which the USN last dealt with during WWII…

   Just a hunch.

   Reply ↓
   1. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 7:38 am

      Fatigue could also play a role. Operation “Prosperity Guardian” (more like “prosperity-fail-ium”) started in February of 2024, IIRC. That’s over 27 months ago. These sailors have been deployed for a long time, with few rotations back home.

      Just another way our punk politicians treat our servicemen and women as disposable heroes. And, oh by the way, where is that derelict Congress to be found?

      Reply ↓
      1. JohnA May 7, 2025 at 7:58 am

         Or maybe they got shot down by the Houtis and these explanations are saving face excuses!

         Reply ↓
         1. vao May 7, 2025 at 8:07 am

            Did Ansarallah officials claim that they shot those F-18 airplanes?

            Reply ↓
            1. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 8:14 am

               I think that they took the position that those planes would not have ended up in the drink without them tooling off the coast of Yemen.

               Reply ↓
            2. JMH May 7, 2025 at 8:52 am

               Many years ago when I was just a whippersnapper, I had the notion that the US government usually told the truth. The others were not so honest. Of course that was during World War II and I was not yet ten years old. Even so, it took and inordinately long time after the wart for me to become thoroughly and finally disabused of my often abused trust. Yes, you may rightly think that I was a naive clodhopper or whatever other colorful metaphor you choose. But the US government has succeeded in educating me. I now am thoroughly and finally convinced that it is folly to trust anything said by anyone speaking on behalf of the US government. And so to the point of the moment. I did not see what happened to any of those jets. I did not see the Truman making evasive maneuvers. I could go on citing specifics, but you get the idea. I have come full circle. They lie. They lie even when truth would be beneficial. They must stick to the “narrative.” (The narrative is an elaborately crafted lie which is the source code for the ancillary lies that follow.)They trust nothing and no one. They assume that this is true of all others. So, they lie. Whether it is three jets or thirty does not matter. That is a mere detail. Rule of thumb: If you heard it from the government, assume it is a lie.

               Reply ↓
               1. JMH May 7, 2025 at 8:57 am

                  Caveat:The Don, DJT, gets a pass as it appears that he believes whatever he says at the moment he says it. Truthiness on the fly.

                  Reply ↓
               2. Skip Intro May 7, 2025 at 9:41 am

                  The standard rule of thumb I am familiar with is almost equivalent: “Never believe anything until the Pentagon officially denies it”.

                  Reply ↓
            3. hk May 7, 2025 at 6:33 pm

               I think they claimed to have shot down one (the first one, if I remember correctly).

               Reply ↓
         2. ISL May 7, 2025 at 9:15 am

            Or they were shot down by friendly fire….

            Reply ↓
            1. Annn May 7, 2025 at 3:07 pm

               Nah. It was Houthi and the Blowfish.

               Reply ↓
      2. ilsm May 7, 2025 at 9:14 am

         USS Truman replaced USS Eisenhower about 6 months ago (?).

         Truman’s op tempo rose on 15 Mar. A lot of the sorties are from Djibouti Int Airport which provides a runway for a US Naval on shore air facility.

         In July 2022 an F-18 was lost off a USN CVN. “Blown over board. These 3 are since Dec 2024, with 2 loses during the Trump bombing campaign.

         Dec 2024 was friendly fire, the lose in Apr 2025 was result of an aircraft on the elevator when the ship took evasive action tossing the aircraft overbroad. The last lose was a class A accident during a landing/recovery. This one needs to be thoroughly investigated.

         Since 2022 a few F-18’s were lost or severe damaged during mishaps related to land based flight operations.

         Good thing the Houthis agreed to stop trying to sink Truman. It is overdue homeporting!

         Reply ↓
         1. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 9:18 am

            If the USS Truman destroyed five fighters, would that make that ship an ace? One of the pilots in the WW2 Flying Tigers group that went to China wrecked five of the fighters in training making him a Japanese ace.

            Reply ↓
            1. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 9:32 am

               One thing I don’t understand about Trump, why didn’t he go after Joe Biden for this rather than trying to turn up the amp to 11? Biden destroyed our military readiness, Biden failed, Dementia Joe sent F-18s to a watery grave to the detriment of the Navy, etc.

               Now Trump co-owns failure.

               It’s almost as if these guys have an agreement to never get too close to the truth. WWF/Kayfabe.

               Reply ↓
               1. Unironic Pangloss May 7, 2025 at 10:05 am

                  because Trump has the typical US Boomer mindset of the US = bestest, ever. (nothing personal Boomers, and the NC crowd are the exception that proves the rule).

                  In Trump’s eye, Yemen and Ukraine were poor leadership that Trump could salvage…..versus the reality of poor leadership AND US structural rot,and the US is not facing hillbillies in sandals anymore.

                  Reply ↓
      3. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 10:19 am

         Even in peace time those deck crews can serve long hours and in between sleep on the decks below. The flight deck itself is a very dangerous place where you have to be on the ball or you can end up in a world of hurt. There was this one guy working on the flight deck who was utterly exhausted. As it was quiet and nothing much was happening on the flight deck, he rested his head against a plane for a few moments but when he opened his eyes, the entire flight deck was full of aircraft moving back & forth and launches getting ready to happen. The shock must have take a year or two off his life.

         Reply ↓
   2. Unironic Pangloss May 7, 2025 at 10:03 am

      i agree. plenty of WW2 Pacific footage supports that hypothesis. even in the safe waters off of Vietnam, lots of non-enemy-induced accidents

      US govt lies about a lot, but Occam’s Razor until better evidence arises. YMMV

      Reply ↓
      1. Michael Greenberg May 7, 2025 at 10:24 am

         Like McCain Jr. launching a missile across the deck of a carrier starting huge fire and killing servicemen?

         Reply ↓
         1. Unironic Pangloss May 7, 2025 at 10:48 am

            McCain was involved but at the receiving end of the rocket….the fuzzy, silent CCTV images of that incident are pretty horrific as your imagination can easily fill in the gaps.

            https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=forrestal+carrier+fire

            Reply ↓
            1. hk May 7, 2025 at 6:36 pm

               I am pretty sure McCain’s A-4 was the plane that was hit by the Zuni rocket (launched due to short circuit from the A-4 behind him in the flight line). in that chain of events.

               Reply ↓
   3. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 10:45 am

      Really, the USA could have done nothing. I remember reading that a lot of shipping traffic had already re-routed. And nothing was changing the siege on the Palestinians. That would have been a worse look for AA.

      But if one looks at it as more about trying to eliminate any additional impediments to the bad idea of attacking Iran…

      Reply ↓
      1. Polar Socialist May 7, 2025 at 11:12 am

         USA could have bombed Israel until Gaza was open for humanitarian aid. That would have opened the Red Sea for traffic, too, and would have probably taken much less time and effort.

         That is, if the purpose was indeed to open the Red Sea for shipping… Nah, I guess it was just a strategic mistake of mis-identifying the root causes by the USA.

         Reply ↓
         1. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 11:13 am

            There is also this to consider: The USA just put the ships there to provide another target instead of Israel.

            Reply ↓
   4. XXYY May 7, 2025 at 3:17 pm

      It’s probably also the case that in any hot war, a lot of damage and deaths occur during ordinary operations in ways that are seemingly self-inflicted. I know a lot of troops are injured or killed in vehicle accidents during wars. Just the fact that wartime activities are going on at a rapid pace is going to lead to accidents.

      I imagine that such accidents go unreported in an environment where an enemy is also destroying and killing our armed forces. That’s not really happening in the Red Sea right now, so these accidents are assuming a higher profile than they usually would.

      Reply ↓
      1. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 6:33 pm

         Yes, my father was in the Navy, stationed on an aircraft carrier during Vietnam.
         He had a few stories about accidents – including planes sliding off into the deep.

         Reply ↓
   5. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit May 7, 2025 at 4:02 pm

      US loses another jet off Yemen – media RT (Kevin W). Arrestment failure? Does that mean the rubber band thingies that are supposed to get the planes to stop on the itty bitty landing area didn’t work and the plane skittered into the drink?

      Very nice summary!!!!!

      Reply ↓
5. GramSci May 7, 2025 at 7:36 am

   Re: NSO Group must pay

   Note that, although the fact goes unmentioned in the article, NSO Group is an Israeli spyware company.

   Reply ↓
6. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 7:43 am

   “A herd of Capybaras on the banks of the Tambopata River, Peru.”

   Wuk, is that you holding the camera?

   Reply ↓
   1. Afro May 7, 2025 at 8:20 am

      “Damn. Listen to this insane story about the Mossad. Israelis are fucked.”
      *****************

      Fits my observation that the Israelis are particularly rude and aggressive. I wonder how long it’s been that way. I also wonder to what extent the society will be internally viable after this war, or if nationalism will be sufficient to maintain internal cohesion.

      Of historical interest, when the Nazis started the Holocaust, they used a lot of bullets. They stopped that because they realized it was causing mental health problems among the German soldiers.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 9:26 am

         I think that it is Israeli society just gone weird. Years ago the Israelis called in a Minister of one of their Arab neighbours to read him the riot act. Making sure that there was a camera filming everything, the Israeli Minister sat on the corner of his desk while the Arab minister had to sit in a low chair. Then for the cameras, the Israeli Minister put his palm up to the top of his head to indicate where it was then lowered his palm to the top of the Arab Minister’s head to show the height discrepancy and to show that he was superior or something. I suppose that that was for the benefit of local audiences but still…

         Reply ↓
         1. Michael Greenberg May 7, 2025 at 10:32 am

            Don’t hand them your credit card and personal details:

            Want to get “verified” on X-Twitter? Or to try and make money in any way on that platform?

            Your data is handled by X’s credit card servicer in Israel.

            Reply ↓
      2. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 10:37 am

         The picture of the young girl while being starved amidst a genocide tells me more than I can almost bear to know. But she, and the genocide cannot be unseen.

         Israel delenda est…

         Reply ↓
      3. bertl May 7, 2025 at 11:52 am

         Events are moving so quickly I can’t see the EU and the Jewish State lasting the full distance of Trump’s term because both are gripped by magical thinking and neither have any obvious achievable strategic goal, and I’m just wondering which one will last a day or two longer than the other. Neither are respected and both are viewed with contempt for their diplomatic incompetence and for their willingness to prolong pointless and genocidal wars paid for by the US which even American’s are beginning to realise are not in the interests of the US nor both of these purely artificial entities, and their continued existence is certainly not in the interest of the civilised world who just want to get on with business and the business of living.

         Reply ↓
      4. bertl May 7, 2025 at 4:06 pm

         And it was left up to a Tory to break the log jam and have the courage to speak out against the Parliamentary consensus to ignore Israel’s crimes against humanity. The genocidal nature of the Starmer government could become the rallying point for rebuilding the Tories and destroying any chance of another Labour government at any time ever plus a day. Alternatively, if the Tories fail to take the lead after this example of great political courage, Nigel Farage might take issue with the moral poverty of a British government, the cause of the Palestinian problem in the first place, allowing the Jews to starve the children of Palestine and the children of the British poor whilst throwing money at the Ukraine so that the Nazis can lob drones at Russian schools and hospitals whilst using the two wars to crawl into the crumbling EU superstate through the backdoor.

         https://x.com/hzomlot/status/1920074526659838178?s=08

         Reply ↓
7. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 7:47 am

   Dual Links, oh brother. I can’t keep up with just one.

   Reply ↓
   1. Stephen V May 7, 2025 at 8:23 am

      But it’s great to see Great Minds don’t link alike.

      Reply ↓
      1. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 6:02 pm

         It increases the challenge.

         Reply ↓
8. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 8:00 am

   “The Sex Lives Of Common Vegetables”

   Yeah, I have seen them in action and they are randy as hell. It’s a real sausage party–

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjCK-pOv05w (1:58 mins) – Absolutely NSFW!

   Reply ↓
   1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 8:48 am

      FWIW Sausage Party movie was by my first cousin Greg who is an acknowledged git. We have no opinion on the movie but I loathe him as a person (and I haven’t heard his siblings etc stand up for him much).

      He got sued by unions for labour transgressions in making that film. My mother disowned virtually all that side of her family for their despicable behaviour. They were (bar one) loathsome.

      Reply ↓
      1. Revenant May 7, 2025 at 11:57 am

         I did not expect THAT!

         Reply ↓
         1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 2:02 pm

            Sometimes I think fate really has it in for me. Greg’s father (mum’s brother) thought Trump was god and Medicare plus Medicaid should be abolished since they’re there only for lazy gits. Then he got a terminal condition and did everything he could to access them. He died alone since mum and I thought he was a c word.

            Then we have the fact dad’s mother’s family were the “OTHER” Roberts family in Grantham England. He made sure (going back to 1600ish) “our” Roberts family were not related to Alderman Roberts (father of someone rather famous). Grantham don’t like the former Ms Roberts…… we’ve no 1st amendment here so I can’t say why but some USians on here know and have said in the past. Life is weird.

            Reply ↓
            1. Revenant May 7, 2025 at 6:21 pm

               You cannot libel the dead in UK law, if you are referring to what I recollect were comments about her greengrocer father having a liking for, er, new potatoes and baby carrots.

               If we’re declaring family black sheep, my father was a member of Oswald Mosley’s dining club and my sister had to dispose of some very embarrassing shirts after his death. He was also an enthusiastic sperm donor at the dawn of fertility clinics and half siblings keep popping out the woodwork thanks to genealogy DNA testing.

               Hope the long covid clinic can help. You might want to show your consultant https://attomarker.com. They have interesting data on long covid response to vaccination (inadequate immune response), to immuno-suppression (excessive immune rresokmse) and cannot yet be helped (about 20% of people). It’s a physician-prescribed-only test at the moment.

               Reply ↓
9. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 8:24 am

   Saw long COVID clinician in person for first time ever this morning. Yes everything you’ve read here about deranged function in various things is true.

   My cardiac function and breathing are irregular (beyond the “within reference range” BS I used to get).

   I’m going to start getting referrals to specialists in the areas that most impact my quality of life. Hallelujah. The “deranged capillaries” thing reported here the other day is something I’d noticed in one hand and told them about. They had not yet got up to speed on that sequela so I hope that helps.

   Reply ↓
   1. judy2shoes May 7, 2025 at 10:01 am

      Sending good thoughts to you, Terry, from across the pond.

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 11:23 am

         Thank you! It’s taken me 5 years but I’m finally getting help.

         Reply ↓
   2. Yves Smith Post authorMay 7, 2025 at 2:36 pm

      So so sorry!!! Hope they have some treatments.

      Reply ↓
      1. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 3:47 pm

         Thanks Yves. There *IS* a three arm trial going on with my local hospital being a centre…. but I was too late for recruitment…. but if they lose patients and have protocols to allow replacements I’m up there.

         Reply ↓
      2. Terry Flynn May 7, 2025 at 4:13 pm

         Thanks Yves….my router being strange so apologies if double comment… I’ll delete one ASAP if I catch it in time.

         3 arm trial being run. I’m too late to be part but am backup patient.

         Reply ↓
   3. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 2:36 pm

      Strength to you.

      Reply ↓
   4. hk May 7, 2025 at 6:37 pm

      Sending good thoughts!

      Reply ↓
10. Carolinian May 7, 2025 at 9:26 am

    Re backing down on Yemen–we already knew from the leaked Signal chat that the Yemen operation was spearheaded by the now removed Waltz. And we now know that Waltz was removed for showing loyalty to Netanyahu over Trump or at least that’s how Trump sees it. Here’s suggesting Trump’s sinking approval ratings may bring some changes in foreign policy as well as domestic. Trump is all about Trump and this latest incident may indicate that the always double dealing Netanyahu is on very thin ice indeed.

    Or at least the above offered as some slightly hopeful speculation.

    And it appears that the foreign film announcement tracks back to a suggested scheme by Trump supporter Jon Voight that was then scrambled by the Don. Detail here.

    https://deadline.com/2025/05/jon-voight-hollywood-plan-read-in-full-trump-tariffs-1236387042/

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 9:37 am

       As a prediction, I would guess that low-budget Indie films may see an opportunity open up and maybe more financing heading their way. But if Hollywood films are forced to film in the US, then expect to see more reliance on green-screens to do shooting with. Filming on location work would just be too expensive.

       Reply ↓
       1. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 5:44 pm

          Or even more mid-budget films. It won’t necessarily be the end of other locations.
          It could also be challenging for over-the-top $30 million per picture salaries.

          Reply ↓
11. t May 7, 2025 at 9:33 am

    “We’re also not going to have our inspectors hanging out for three to four weeks,” Makary said. “So we’re gonna get in and out, and we’re gonna do more inspections with the same resources as a result.”

    I’d like to think this EO about the FDA would mean Novavax was about to be shipped to CVS. Sounds like more underpants gnomes-level planning.

    How they gonna do more inspections with the same resources when they don’t have the same resources? That’s one of a hundred questions for this EO and the lick spittle toadies of the FDA pretending like they’re invested in human health and science.

    Reply ↓
12. Dieter Pietzsch May 7, 2025 at 9:35 am

    Apocalypse in Europe – WW II Second Surrender – in August 9 ?

    … Now, in the days of the final military destruction of the resurgent European fascism, manifesting itself in the solidarity of the Western NATO democrazies with the US-sponsored Ukrainian Nazi terror-charade. Will America grow up?
    Some people think that astrology, if it were to be taken seriously, should have the tool to answer this question. So, does she have it? Mundanomaniac is cautious, he does not know, but he consciously expects observation. He sees himself only as a forerunner of future astrologers, who will then be able to look back on decades/centuries of meticulous observation, critical evaluation and comparison of mundane constellations.

    This year is also approaching the commemoration of the approximately 100,000 human lives that were wiped out in the August of 1945, and the millions of years of torments of the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki airdrops.

    And this year, exactly in this 32nd week of August, a total constellation is forming in the sky again, which makes one think of the 8th/9th of May 1945.

    https://astromundanediary.blogspot.com/2025/05/apocalypse-in-europe-ww-ii-second.html

    Reply ↓
13. FreeMarketApologist May 7, 2025 at 10:01 am

    Re: Democrats target Trump family’s crypto empire:

    Agree that it could be entertaining, but until they actually implement restrictions on all trading and financial investments by all government staff in a position to have knowledge or influence of market events, along with a strong compliance function, it’s just cheap theatre. Also wonder why Gillibrand did such an about face – she was all for legitimizing stable coins last week.

    Reply ↓
    1. Michael Fiorillo May 7, 2025 at 11:48 am

       They seem to be increasingly boxed-in by the contradictions created by their own choices: US dollar-undermining crypto requires stablecoins, which have become large purchasers of US debt, so the undermining is increasingly structural. Commerce Secretary Lutnick’s firm, Cantor Fitzgerald, is said to have made good buck selling Treasury products to Tether.

       As is almost always the case with Libertarians, everything thing they said about Bitcoin/crypto was a lie: it’s not decentralized; it’s not anonymous; it’s not a medium of exchange or store of value.

       I get why the Trumps are gorging on it – that’s to be expected – but that serious money guys are allowing the currency to be hollowed out in such a way is beyond the beyonds.

       Reply ↓
       1. The Infamous Oregon Lawhobbit May 7, 2025 at 4:15 pm

          Libertarians said that? Cites? I’m … skeptical of the “naked claim.”

          Being libertarian me own self, obviously.

          Reply ↓
    2. mahna May 7, 2025 at 4:27 pm

       It’s just cheap theatre, for those that did not invest in the virtual tickets and peanuts.

       Reply ↓
14. Jason Boxman May 7, 2025 at 10:29 am

    A work crew was due out today to cut down a sadly dead tree; Couldn’t make it, two people out sick. In May. And this is remote rural western NC.

    Reply ↓
    1. skylark May 7, 2025 at 6:22 pm

       My daughter’s day habilitation program for people with disabilities was cancelled 2 days this week due to so many staff out sick.

       Reply ↓
15. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 10:38 am

    India launches air strikes on Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir – BBC. Live blog.

    While looking at various stories about the conflict, I also noticed the following:

    https://www.india.com/news/world/india-pakistan-war-is-also-a-china-vs-us-conflict-due-to-weapons-how-two-world-powers-are-pushing-south-asia-towards-a-major-conflict-by-supplying-weapons-operation-sindoor-pahalgam-terror-attack-7805626/

    Story about weapons purchases. I think a lot of it came from a NY Times article.

    https://thediplomat.com/2024/05/the-china-pakistan-economic-corridor-is-under-attack/
    The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Is Under Attack

    Even before the latest conflict, some of that development seemed to be slowing.

    I’m trying not to read too much into the fact that China is now approaching (nothing set yet) the tariff bargaining table as this conflict started. With so much happening, everything can appear to correlate.

    Reply ↓
    1. Polar Socialist May 7, 2025 at 12:41 pm

       Pakistan already replied in kind. They also claim 3:0 air victories for their Chinese/Pakistan JF-17 with Chinese missiles over the Indian Rafales and Mirages with their European missiles.

       NATO concept of air superiority seems to be more and more a fleeting dream these days.

       Reply ↓
       1. Polar Socialist May 7, 2025 at 1:22 pm

          My bad, India also lost one Su-30MKI.

          Reply ↓
       2. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 2:47 pm

          After payloads were delivered?

          Reply ↓
       3. hk May 7, 2025 at 6:40 pm

          The claims about the Rafales really caught my attention. Rafale is about the most latest modern warplane outside Gen 5. If true, this is quite impressive!

          Reply ↓
16. Carolinian May 7, 2025 at 10:40 am

    Re JMW Turner–Mike Leigh covered it all in his excellent film Mr. Turner. Per the film Turner didn’t think much of Ruskin–his early supporter–either. Subsequent art history seems to have taken its own side (not Ruskin).

    Reply ↓
17. Quintian and Lucius May 7, 2025 at 10:48 am

    It’s a Bavarian or Hobbit(ish?) links today; second links ala second breakfast. Extraordinarily exciting although for waistline-watchers perhaps skipping straight to the low calorie antidote for one of the two might be friendlier to one’s figure.

    Reply ↓
18. The Rev Kev May 7, 2025 at 10:50 am

    “Bessent, Greer to Meet China to Start Trade Talks This Week”

    I don’t think that the Chinese have met Bessent yet so perhaps they want to take their measure of the man. Find out if he is capable of negotiating or if it will be like other meetings that the Chinese have had with the US over the years, that it will just be Bessent giving demands with the only US concessions ones which the US itself needs. Like Russia has had to do with the Ukrainian war, China has to show the Global Majority that they are in fact willing to talk and that if the talks break down, then they can go out and say that it was the US presenting impossible demands. And of course Trump might get involved. In the same way that he just blew up the Iranian negotiations by making impossible demands, he might do the same here so it does not really matter what Bessent says or promises.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 11:03 am

       The headline is misleading. It seems that there really is no agenda and they’re merely “meeting to meet.”

       Other than NC, I get most of my econ info from Mish’ Economic Analysis blog. So far, he’s been spot on:

       https://mishtalk.com/economics/allegedly-china-and-trump-want-to-talk-so-why-arent-there-talks/

       Reply ↓
       1. Yves Smith Post authorMay 7, 2025 at 2:38 pm

          So the Chinese are helping Trump talk the market up….until word of their stern words gets out..

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 3:03 pm

             It would be interesting to know if this is an ‘accidental’ meeting, i.e. both parties were going to be in Switzerland, anyways. So, hey, what the heck, let’s sit down and drink a cup of tea together, and hopefully nobody calls Xi Jinpeng a dictator at the presser afterwards, assuming that there is one.

             Reply ↓
             1. Polar Socialist May 7, 2025 at 3:46 pm

                One way to look at this and the contacts with Russia is actually Peking and Moscow helping Washington to re-learn how diplomacy is done. After three decades of unipolar intoxication it may take some effort to learn the basics again.

                Reply ↓
                1. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 3:53 pm

                   Finishing school for spoiled, unruly children, with Master Xi and Putin teaching class!

                   Reply ↓
    2. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 1:21 pm

       China Jones

       (Melody borrowed from “China Grove” by the Doobie Bros.)

       When the sun comes up on a sleepy little town
       Down around Sam’s Club-oh
       And the folks are risin’ for another day
       Round about their homes
       The people of the town are strange
       And they’re short on hope-n-change

       Well, you talkin’ ’bout the China Jones (talkin’ ’bout the China Jones)
       Whoa, oh (whoa, oh), China Jones

       Well, the peaches and the T.P.
       Lord, they’re a caution
       They are the talk of the town
       When gas mowers get to flyin’ right off the shelves
       When the sun goes fallin’ down
       They say that the Orangeman’s insane
       There’s beer at the Perkins again …

       Well, you talkin’ ’bout the China Jones (talkin’ ’bout the China Jones)
       Whoa, oh (whoa, oh), China Jones

       Bridge:

       Every day, there’s a new load canceled
       Empty cranes from the oriental view
       The tariffs lookin’ muddy with the stampeding hordes
       You can even loot Home Depot at night!

       And though they’re a part of a mental state
       People don’t seem to care
       They’ll just keep on lookin’ to the east

       [Guitar solo]

       Well, you talkin’ ’bout the China Jones
       Whoa, oh (whoa, oh), China Jones

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX7iHsAIw9o

       Reply ↓
19. harrybothered May 7, 2025 at 10:54 am

    New link for Why More CEOs Are Heading for the Exit

    Those MSN links won’t let you read the entire article unless you use their app.

    Reply ↓
20. albrt May 7, 2025 at 11:31 am

    On hiring AI instead of college grads, I attended a session on AI at a legal conference last week and many law firms are doing exactly this. In the short run, AI can churn out bullsh*t that needs to be extensively corrected by someone with experience at about the same level as a recent law grad. In the long run, I guess you wait to hire them until they already have experience.

    Those law grads will just have to get their experience the hard way. When a fly-by-night law school in Phoenix shut down a few years ago, their recent grads became even more unemployable and they all had to just hang up shingles and do divorces for $200 or whatever. This type of environment does not improve the overall quality and professionalism of the legal realm.

    One other note – one of the speakers (not an AI expert) spent considerable time engaging with different platforms. The models will tell you quite a bit about themselves if you ask. The behavior he described seemed to confirm Lambert’s theory that the hallucination problem will get worse, not better, as the AI learns recursively from its own bad output. One of the models actually used it as an excuse – its said “my answer wasn’t a lie, it was just a hallucination!”

    Reply ↓
    1. Peter Steckel May 7, 2025 at 12:06 pm

       Having used different AI platforms (and discussed this with other users), I have found AI legal documents to be practically worthless. Cut and pasting the legal reasoning from PACER (Federal Court filings) has been way more “bang for my buck” in terms of streamlining legal work. Some practitioners I know have found it useful for summarizing and bullet pointing deposition testimony, but I have found that people speak so colloquially, often “change direction” of their thought mid sentence, and misinterpret questions so often that one still needs to read testimony and interpret it personally.

       Maybe in a few years, but not right now.

       Reply ↓
    2. ChrisFromGA May 7, 2025 at 12:21 pm

       I’ve read that the two fastest ways to get courtroom experience are:

       1. Criminal law (public defender), and
       2. Family law (nobody wants to do it)

       Seems that we will have an upswing in demand for both as the economy craters.

       Reply ↓
21. Michael Greenberg May 7, 2025 at 11:44 am

    EU to completely abandon Russian gas imports by 2027

    So glad we invested in LNG associated industries!

    With the cooperation of environmentally conscious politicians like Newsom and others “concerned with the environment”, Americans will give up their cheap natural gas fueled appliances like stoves, water heaters and furnaces for the greater good.

    That way the natural gas can be sold to Europe and a hefty profit to investors. With the added loads on the electrical grid, nuclear power should be a good bet too. NOT investment advice.

    Reply ↓
22. Tom Stone May 7, 2025 at 12:05 pm

    Dismantling HICPAC looks a lot more like eugenics than it does stupidity, although the Trump Administration does keep demonstrating that Human stupidity is infinite.

    Reply ↓
    1. Kouros May 7, 2025 at 4:44 pm

       Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain.

       Reply ↓
23. ciroc May 7, 2025 at 1:40 pm

    >Trump Blinked in the Face of Houthi Resistance, But Called it Victory… Pakistan and India Ramp Up for War

    Trump’s hope for a moment of glory and celebration could be overshadowed by events unfolding along the border of India and Pakistan.

    Rather, I believe the CIA may have instigated the Indo-Pak conflict and opened a new front to divert attention from Trump’s blunders in Ukraine and the Middle East.

    Reply ↓
    1. Roland May 7, 2025 at 5:42 pm

       India and Pakistan are both large and important countries, with their own sovereign governments. If they wage war, then they are the people who must explain.

       Reply ↓
    2. nyleta May 7, 2025 at 6:15 pm

       The modern day equivalent of the punitive expedition. The Hindu’s learnt well from the Raj and are using the same tactics. They will seek to normalise this without causing a full war. Chinese weapons looking good so far, wonder if any ” trainers ” came over on the planes to learn Indian procedures and methods.

       Reply ↓
24. Jason Boxman May 7, 2025 at 2:26 pm

    Trade shocks, employment and the coming recession

    The recession will start on the docks of Los Angeles.

    It will be a product of a rational response by producers, wholesalers and retailers to the uncertainty created by policy makers.

    The cost of recent trade policies is a misapplied consumption tax that will bring an end to the economic expansion.

    The cost of those policy decisions is a misapplied consumption tax on households and businesses that will soon cause a premature and unnecessary end to the economic expansion. Rising inflation, declining real incomes and increasing unemployment will follow.

    Talks about the chain of transmission of the damage incoming.

    Reply ↓
    1. JustAnotherVolunteer May 7, 2025 at 3:01 pm

       Nice summary of the cascading effects of container delivery (or lack there of). Much of this is covered by Sal Mercogliano on his “What’s going on with Shipping” channel. He’s been covering ports since the EverGiven and I find his content both informed and nuanced. Clearly a US Merchant Marine guy so slanted but honest about his interests.

       https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT_yBgKSiwb3WP4ACPnF5nA

       Reply ↓
    2. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 3:22 pm

       Thank you!

       Reply ↓
25. Jason Boxman May 7, 2025 at 2:35 pm

    Genetic Study Retraces the Origins of Coronaviruses in Bats

    As China and the United States trade charges of a lab leak, researchers contend in a new paper that the Covid pandemic got its start, like a previous one, in the wildlife trade.

    I don’t have a dog in this fight; SARS2 is bad, where ever it came from. We should be trying to contain and control spread, and mitigate against it.

    In the early 2000s, a coronavirus infecting bats jumped into raccoon dogs and other wild mammals in southwestern China. Some of those animals were sold in markets, where the coronavirus jumped again, into humans. The result was the SARS pandemic, which spread to 33 countries and claimed 774 lives. A few months into it, scientists discovered the coronavirus in mammals known as palm civets sold in a market at the center of the outbreak.

    In a study published on Wednesday, a team of researchers compared the evolutionary story of SARS with that of Covid 17 years later. The researchers analyzed the genomes of the two coronaviruses that caused the pandemics, along with 248 related coronaviruses in bats and other mammals.

    It’s interesting that it was decided early on — by WHO? — that we can’t call it SARS2. So “Covid” it is.

    Reply ↓
26. Henry Moon Pie May 7, 2025 at 4:07 pm

    Related to nothing in particular and everything in general–

    Two very different ideas of progress:

    Peter Thiel: Progress is slowing. It’s the fault of the hippies and “feminization.” We must speed it up. The Thiel Youtube begins at 12:10 and you can get the point if you stick it out until 17:00)

    Daniel Schmacthenberger: What we have experienced and are getting now is only “progress” for a few, and really not even for them. What is our need for this “progress?” What could life be like without this “progress?” Schmatchenberger video begins around 1:39:00. Continue as long as you like.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel May 7, 2025 at 5:37 pm

       Makes me miss David Graeber. He already had a similar debate with Thiel.
       https://thebaffler.com/latest/graeber-thiel/

       I’ll check it out, but my spoiler alert: read thru the BS and “progress” to Thiel is him and his buddies sitting on a throne.
       And related: Why does eugenics have to be debunked every few decades? Getting tiresome…

       Reply ↓
       1. Henry Moon Pie May 7, 2025 at 6:59 pm

          True enough on both counts, but as Schmachtenberger discusses at some length, people who are consumed by this need for progress are very damaged people. Think of Gates and his solar geoengineering and robot bees. The man hates Nature. He must stay awake at night furious that he can’t charge the birds rent who are singing in his trees.

          Watching the Thiel video, even 5 minutes worth, makes it pretty clear how damaged Thiel is. It’s sadly comic, as later in the video, Peterson acts more like a therapist than a fan or interviewer. Blind leading the blind. It’s also clear what fear drives Thiel. It constantly slips out as he talks.

          Schmactenberger has a very different persona, and he runs circles around Thiel’s fumbling argument.

          Reply ↓
27. Alice X May 7, 2025 at 5:59 pm

    >Israeli TV producer calls for ‘Gaza holocaust, gas chambers’ New Arab

    Another moral stain on humanity? Well, they’re just more words on the pile of human corpses already accomplished, and the moral stain that is the State of Israel.

    Reply ↓