Links 8/8/2025

When Love Fails, They Nap: What Male Koalas Teach Us About Rejection and Energy Efficiency Vocal

Curiosity Spots “Coral Reef” Rock On Mars. It’s A Sign Of Ancient Water IFL Science

Climate/Environment

Climate change drives sharpest Great Barrier Reef coral loss in nearly 40 years Down to Earth

France’s largest wildfire in decades brought under control France24

A wildfire is burning in California even larger than the mega fires that scorched LA in January The Journal

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Flood Risk and Flood Insurance Liberty Street Economics

Risk Management Is a Burgeoning Billion-Dollar Business Opportunity Bloomberg

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Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports CNN

U.S. Government makes old lies new again Open Mind

Pandemics

Air, wastewater may play roles in H5N1 transmission on dairy farms CIDRAP

White House Empties Office for U.S. Pandemic Policy: The Gaps Left Behind ThinkGlobalHealth

Japan

Japan says U.S. to correct tariff deal “mistake” Kyodo News

Sanseito leader meets in Tokyo with co-head of Germany’s AfD Asahi Shimbun

China?

84 American Ballistic Missile Launchers Ready to Hit Key Chinese Infrastructure Targets: ATACMS Arsenal Growing on Taiwan Military Watch

Panic and production cuts at Pentagon suppliers as China tightens exports Kevin Walmsley

China’s weapons exports shifting global balance of power Asia Times

PH can’t avoid Taiwan conflict – Marcos The Manila Times

India

Putin To Visit India This Year As Trump Targets Nations Over Russian Oil NDTV

Old Blighty

Force of Opposition New Left Review

Syraqistan

TEAM LEADER AT GAZA AID DISTRIBUTION SITES BELONGS TO ANTI-“JIHAD” MOTORCYCLE CLUB, HAS CRUSADER TATTOOS The Intercept

An Unexpected Path to Hold War Criminals Accountable The Intercept

Ultra-Orthodox media declares ‘war’ in Israel over mandatory conscription of Haredim The Cradle

Genoa, containers with weapons destined for Israel returned to sender. Dockworkers: “Unthinkable victory.” Il Fatto Quotidiano (machine translation)

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In rare move, Iranian security services publicly warn of new threat from Syria Amwaj

Is Iran running out of water? DW

Cheap Iranian drones, costly US defenses spur sanctions and technology push Stars and Stripes

US missile depletion from Houthi, Israel conflicts may shock you Responsible Statecraft

European Disunion

Rubio orders U.S. diplomats to launch lobbying blitz against Europe’s Digital Services Act Reuters

EU says $1.4 trillion spending pledge to US ‘in no way binding’ Euractiv

New Not-So-Cold War

Alastair Crooke: Did Trump Just Trigger NUCLEAR War? Putin is Preparing Danny Haiphong

Trump Is Not Serious About Peace in Ukraine Larry Johnson

White House now says Trump ‘open’ to meeting Putin without his meeting Zelenskyy ABC News

Trump: Putin may agree to stop war in exchange for territories – Bloomberg Ukrainska Pravda

Negotiations Fever Strikes Again as Trump’s “Deadline” Hits Midnight Simplicius

Post Putin-Witkoff Speculation Rife Karl Sanchez

Caucasus

Reuters: Armenia to grant US exclusive rights to develop long-term transit corridor, officials say News.am

South of the Border

Trump doubles reward to $50 million for arrest of Venezuela’s president to face US drug charges AP

“Liberation Day”

US hits one-kilo gold bars with tariffs in blow to refining hub Switzerland FT

Einar Tangen: Economic Tsunami Is Now Unavoidable Glenn Diesen

Trump 2.0

Trump calls for Intel CEO’s head over alleged China links The Register

Trump Is Launching an AI Search Engine Powered by Perplexity 404 Media

US national parks staff in ‘survival mode’ to keep parks open amid Trump cuts The Guardian

MAHA

RFK Jr. Quietly Endorses Flu Vaccine for Kids and Adults MedPage Today

Weimar Republic

Cornyn says FBI will help locate absent Texas Democrats, but scope of feds’ role unclear Texas Tribune

Mysterious Crime Spree Targeted National Guard Equipment Stashes Wired

Democrats en déshabillé

An Abundance of Sleaze: How a Beltway Brain Trust Sells Oligarchy to Liberals Matt Stoller

Q&A: The former Mideast diplomat bringing Gulf cash to Silicon Valley San Francisco Standard

Police State Watch

U.S.-MEXICO BORDER MILITARIZATION FAILS TO STOP MODERN DRUG SMUGGLING INDUSTRY Texas Observer

Scandal-Plagued Prison Company Celebrates “Pivotal Opportunity” Under Trump Truthout

AI

GPT-5 hot take Gary Marcus

Who is Elara Voss? Read Max

Accelerationists

The Faux Intellectuals of Silicon Valley Notes from the Circus

Imperial Collapse Watch

How AI, Healthcare, and Labubu Became the American Economy Kyla Scanlon

China adds science funding for young global talents as Trump cuts U.S. research budget The East Is Read

Groves of Academe

From Project 2025 to the PayPal Presidency: School Choice Fin-Tech for a Blockchain Social Credit Economy Unlimited Hangout

The Friendly Skies

How loyalty programmes are keeping America’s airlines aloft The Economist

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

He said, she said, it said: I used ChatGPT as a couple’s counselor. How did we fare? NPR

More than 130,000 Claude, Grok, ChatGPT, and Other LLM Chats Readable on Archive.org 404 Media

Healthcare?

Meet the States Fighting Private Equity’s Health Care Destruction Boondoggle

Class Warfare

Working People Condemn Union-Busting at Veterans Affairs AFl-CIO

The housing market is a rigged game Steve Keen

Harvard scientist warns interstellar object blasting toward Earth ‘may come to save – or destroy us’ The Independent

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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143 comments

  1. ChrisFromGA

    Edifice wrecks/CRE disaster update:

    Finally, it’s happening.

    The departure of an Atlanta information technology company from a Dunwoody office complex has forced the building’s owner to look for a way out.
    OA Development has asked its lender for permission to sell 100 Ashford Center, according to a Morningstar Credit note from last month. The buyer may demolish the 5-story, 162,000 square-foot building to build new apartments, according to the note.

    https://archive.ph/7LXvm

    Better to implode and rebuild these wrecks as housing. There are literally thousands of these older stock office complexes littered around metro Atlanta, many empty or with non-economic vacancy rates.

    Reply
      1. ChrisFromGA

        That’s one possibility. Another big one is “extend and pretend,” where the banks holding the note pretend that it’s 2016, Powell doesn’t still have 8 months in office, and the noteholders pretend to pay them.

        Eventually, that strategy runs out of road when it becomes clear that no recovery to anything resembling mark-to-fantasy numbers is possible in the foreseeable future. That brings the capitulation phase, which we are now at.

        Sell at land value minus demo cost, to a buyer willing to take on the risk. Banks get sheared. Or in this case, more likely Aunt Edna’s pension fund gets sheared.

        Reply
        1. ambrit

          With a little refurbishment these presently vacant buildings will make dandy FEMA Re-education Centres. For the Jackpot adjacent, we can put the motto from Mad Max Thunderdome above the entrance: “Two consumers enter, one consumer leaves.”

          Reply
          1. ChrisFromGA

            We might have our own little “Alligator Alley” here in Atlanta (copperhead creek?) but our governor, alas, is no Ron De Non Compos Mentis.

            Reply
            1. ambrit

              Ron d’Non. Sounds like the singer for a Punk band.
              The phenomena of these “deplorables concentration camps” popping up so quickly speaks to planning of some sort. It sounds suspiciously like the ‘mysterious’ suddenness of the arrival of the Patriot Act after the 9/11 terror attacks. As in the case of the Patriot Act, these “camps” must have been planned out well before the “immigration crisis” trigger was pulled.
              This may not rise to the definition of a conspiracy, but it most certainly fits the definition of malign machination.

              Reply
                1. ambrit

                  Of course you can.
                  It goes well with soy latte.
                  Remember dishonoured guests, all days are Soylent Brown days in the isolation chambers.

                  Reply
      2. Cervantes

        Being left to rot doesn’t make them a tax write-off or not. The depreciation deduction for the investor that purchased the property exists whether they tear it down or not. In fact, there would be a whole new round of depreciation deductions for the spending on a new structure.

        The real issue with real estate is that depreciation is so high, investors can have a tax profit even if they sell property at an economic loss because they got tax write-offs in prior years. Further, in many states the property tax valuation is set at purchase with increases capped so that current property tax valuation does not reflect actual value. I don’t know about Georgia, but this can result in a new purchaser having different economics from the prior owner.

        Hence, the tax impacts of a change in ownership (both income tax and property tax) do create rigidity in the real estate market and can discourage redevelopment transactions.

        Reply
    1. KLG

      Last September I stayed one night in John Portman’s Hyatt in downtown Atlanta and had a perfect view of into the office building across Peachtree Street. Several floors were completely empty. Absolutely nothing on the street to attract a pedestrian and the restaurant in the hotel was expensively mediocre. My children live in Atlanta and I have begun counting the empty office buildings as we drive around when visiting. The reckoning is coming and it will be ugly. Next thing you know there will be mass shootings in Buckhead. Oh, wait.

      Reply
      1. Wukchumni

        In the USSR there were stores full of nothing, but we do it differently in the USA-there are office buildings full of nothing.

        Reply
            1. ambrit

              Thinking of the supply of chains, I would probably cut to the Chase Manhattan. They put the “ire” in empire.
              Stay safe up there in the Defensible Position.

              Reply
        1. Christopher Mann

          This is a myth about the USSR. There were frequent shortages but there were no empty stores (except obviously in war time). But there was actually empty stores when Capitalism was introduced. Weird, huh?

          Reply
          1. ilpalazzo

            The myth may originate in Poland where after introduction of martial law in early eighties there indeed were empty stores for some time. Liberals claim people were starving (popular right wing meme communism = starvation) which is of course another liberal fantasy as provisioning of goods to population in actually existing socialist states was often routed through different channels.

            Reply
      2. Eclair

        ” …. expensively mediocre.’

        Love it! Sums up the increasing prices and the declining quality of food and well … just about everything.

        Reply
      3. Peter Steckel

        Ugh, this is an issue near and dear to my heart, as I am an Atlanta native (Grady HS Class of ’93!) and I grew up in with downtown Atlanta both on the periphery of my life and yet the center of it, somehow, too. If the past is another country, Atlanta’s past is eerily like the present. One of my earliest memories is riding the “pink pig” ride atop the Macy’s on Peachtree. Years later, I was skating downtown and later biked through there going to Georgia State University while living in Cabbagetown and moving furniture and fashion coffins at the John Portman marts for beer money.

        Even before that, in the late 1980s, while in my early teens, I’d get my parents to drop me off at the downtown library on rainy Saturdays to peruse the stacks and read the books while dodging the ghostly, homeless Zombie imitations and 3rd rate “Artful Dodgers” that hung around the area. It was empty, then, almost desolate on Saturdays, more like the opening to “28 Days Later” then the center of a bustling metropolis, and that was before Anita Beatty moved her 700 person homeless shelter in to the heart of downtown in the early 1990s (which essentially killed the area for good, sigh, thank you whatever federal task force gave her that money). I had a long conversation with my father – who had been hanging out in Atlanta since 1963, about reverse gentrification, and white flight, and what hollowed out the central business district – essentially unrestrained homelessness and petty crime scaring the remaining locals away (white and black), so that only the poorest of the poor were left with some legacy office space. That conversation was had sometime in 1987/1988, and yet it could have happened last week.

        By the late 1980s, the “focus” had shifted north, first to Midtown (about 15 blocks north) and in to Buckhead (about 3 miles north), and now it has shifted in a dispersal around the greater northern arc. It’s such a waste – literally millions of square feet of office space in downtown Atlanta and nearby spaces that is effectively useless – it’s too far from Atlanta’s population center, which has moved far north, premium office space is desired but few want class B buildings, work from home has reduced need, and the majority of the space can’t be converted in to housing for a variety of reasons (can’t open windows, plumbing not designed to handle residents, let alone venting for cooking actions, etc.)

        Now and then the old glory shines through. I did a report in college on a picture of downtown Atlanta in 1958, bustling, busy, electric, even. Even now, tens of thousands will show up for the Dragon Con over Labor Day weekend, and even more will line the streets of Peachtree for the free parade that Saturday morning. But few, if any, would move anywhere near downtown. The price is astronomical versus what one can get 25 miles away, the taxes are excessive, the traffic worse, and the crime, while not 1988 style, is still enough to spook folks away from downtown. What a waste . . .

        Reply
  2. The Rev Kev

    ‘Ivan Katchanovski
    @I_Katchanovski
    “White House pushes back on Kremlin claims Trump and Putin agreed to meeting. An official said Putin must meet with Ukraine’s Zelenskyy for it to occur. The White House on Thursday pushed back on claims by the Kremlin that a meeting between President Donald Trump and Russia’s Vladimir Putin had been agreed to with a location secured. A White House official told ABC News that no location has been set and that President Putin must meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the meeting with Trump to occur — something the Kremlin has not been willing to commit to so far.”‘

    I can believe that this happened. Trump tried to force the Russians to have Zelensky at the meeting with Trump and Putin. The Russians probably asked what was the point of having the monkey there when you already had the organ-grinder. Ex-UK defense secretary Ben Wallis was also demanding that the Europeans have a seat there so that they could wreck the whole thing but nobody takes them seriously anymore. Would you believe that Trump even suggested the White House to have that meeting?

    Reply
    1. ChrisFromGA

      Having the meeting in the US is a non-starter as long as the ICC charges against Putin are not dropped.

      This all sounds like it’s headed to another nothing-burger. Too many cooks in the kitchen spoil the porridge, and the Euro-clowns are not going to make the already thin gruel taste like anything other than dog food.

      Reply
      1. ambrit

        Meanwhile, the Russian Army continues to grind its way to victory in the Ukraine.
        Also, Russia has made a deal to position oreshnik missiles on the Byelorussian western border. That puts all of Europe within range. Add this to Russia exiting from the intermediate range missile treaty. Russia is preparing for the worst case scenario.

        Reply
        1. The Rev Kev

          There is an article in Links today called “Trump: Putin may agree to stop war in exchange for territories – Bloomberg” but that is Trump being disingenuous as Russia is on the verge of taking all those territories in the next coupla weeks anyway. The guys at The Duran just put out a video talking about how the eastern front is all falling apart and suggest that this is why Trump demanded this meeting. So that he can negotiate something, anything to stop the Russians finally getting their victory-

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScpUSAPQwNQ (17:42 mins)

          So they are probably right for preparing for the worse because if the Ukraine implodes, the west – including the US – will go absolutely nutso.

          Reply
          1. ChrisFromGA

            Bloomberg has been a cesspool of disinformation. They leaked a story that there was going to be an “air truce” but no such thing has happened. Russia blew up some more stuff last night.

            BTW, Dima from Military Summary Channel is back from his vacation with new content.

            Reply
          2. panurge

            Isn’t the war supposed to end as soon as russians conquer Odessa, along with the coast up to the rumanian/moldavian border? Given the accelerating pace, aren’t we almost there?

            As heard somewhere else USA has no weapons to sell to EU, which in turn has no money to buy anything for Ukr, which in turn has no manpower itself to use anything.

            Reply
            1. Sean Oliver

              Ukraine does suffer from an infantry shortage but has not lowered its conscription age below 25 (?!) It would be unpopular but it almost certainly will have to reduce it to 20 which would relieve that problem. If Russia suddenly makes considerable advances, Ukraine will have the troops it needs.
              Russia however is losing thousands every time the take any meaningful territory beyond a few hundred sq meters, and they can’t sustain the losses needed to take all of Ukraine. Russians are more sick of the war than Ukrainians – an important factor.
              So it grinds on without much change.

              Reply
              1. John Wright

                What is a metric that illustrates the Russians are more tired of the war than the Ukrainians?

                For the most part, Ukraine has suffered more devastation, and if the casualties are similar on both sides, Ukraine has been hit much harder, death count wise, on a per capita basis.

                Are the Ukrainians into a different stage past “tired”?

                Reply
    2. Samuel Conner

      In his 8/7/25 commentary, Alexander Mercouris noted the “fast one” pulled by US in putting its interpretation of what was agreed out before the Kremlin statement (having asked the Kremlin to delay its statement until Witkoff reported to DJT). I got the impression from him that a significant part of the “point” of the Witkoff visit was to create conditions suitable for narrative management.

      I wonder whether this was simply a maneuver to dominate the news cycle for a while. DJT proclaims great progress in diplomacy, garnering some press, and then when reality later intrudes, he can criticize VVP as a not-good-faith counterparty, then impose some sanctions. Peace through strength.

      Perhaps it’s all simply posturing in the sight of the press.

      Reply
      1. DJG, Reality Czar

        Samuel Connor: Trump, who is a great negotiator in the U.S. style of negotiation, which means a lousy negotiator, is in two binds:

        First, as Yves Smith points out consistently, what is the overlap in the positions of Russia and the U S of A? Is Trump offering a new security arrangement? Neutrality for Ukraine?

        Second, Trump likely knows that an armistice with Russia means recognizing Russian control / integration of Crimea, as well as of the four oblasts that the Russians now hold, by and large. Those being Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson. In short, it means recognizing the front where it is and arranging a truce.

        My prediction? The Russians may not be the trouble here. The problem is that if Trump agrees to neutrality for (corruption-free) Ukraine and to the acquisitions of land by the Russians, U.S. liberals are going to be intoning Give War a Chance. Kamala Harris will be up there, recalling those days when she was working tirelessly, 24/7, for a truce in Gaza, and she will be only too happy to get out her friends Liz and Dick Cheney to have a bloviating threesome accusing Trump of not Giving War a Chance.

        Question? Are the U.S. elites ready to settle for an armistice? Are they still fantasizing about carving up the Russian Federation and turning Tatarstan into the new Riviera?

        Regular Americans are ready for peace, but they don’t matter.

        In short, I think that Trump feels a vague sense that he has some responsibility as an office-holder to try to end the war, but like so many U.S. blowhards, he’s a coward.

        Reply
        1. The Rev Kev

          Any agreement that Trump would get would be null and void as he would never get the Congress to ratify it, especially with Lindsay Graham there.

          Reply
  3. The Rev Kev

    “Trump doubles reward to $50 million for arrest of Venezuela’s president to face US drug charges”

    Maybe Maduro can join Al Qaeda. That way the US would lift the reward off his head like they did with Syria’s Jolani. Maybe they might even end up giving him money. But this is all about drug charges? Seriously? Panama’s Noriega was also accused of drug crimes before the US invaded back in ’89. And even way back then accusing a South American President of drug crimes was considered boring and repetitive with no attempt at coming up with something new.

    Reply
    1. Grateful Dude

      Is this just another regime change operation, as we’ve see there in Venezuela now for a while? Anyone here believe that Maduro is actually capitalizing on cocaine traffic? I mean they’ve got a lot of high quality oil, so why would he do that? I fell for Hugo Chavez when he followed W to a podium at the UN general assembly with the comment “I smell sulfur …”, or something to that effect.

      Reply
    2. nano

      They are not serious until they make one of those posters with image, dollar sum, and “wanted dead or alive”.

      Reply
      1. t

        Based on the slop that various Trump agencies have been posting, I would not be a bit surprised.

        Would be in the style of thr novelty wanted posters you can get at amusement parks, with a couple of amusing AI errors.

        Reply
  4. Steve H.

    > Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports CNN

    > We’re Losing The Internet. But It’s Not Too Late ¡Do Not Panic!
    > Ike: I have two kinds of problems, the urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important are never urgent.

    When I was a lab manager, we were doing research used as evidence in an environmental lawsuit that resulted in a nine-figure settlement. I made sure everything was backed up off-site. I secured critical data logs. Those were extreme conditions at the time. But at this point, I hope anybody will assume their information is not secure, and will air-gap archive and backup in a way to survive platform failure.

    I was surprised when I realized I was going to institute none of Nate Bear’s interventions. But I’ve worked hard to have nothing to say that is both important and confidential. This is the only site I value-add, and if legal constraints aren’t enough to cover confidential, I go in person.

    Multi-dimensional urgencies become overwhelming. Janet and I are at the stage of going through stuff, and it’s no longer enough that an item or words produce an emotional response, or was important. As Siu wrote, So What? What’s the future good? To Whom?

    The archives are for what we don’t know is important. Which could be anything. Sumerian accounting records. Diaries for understanding daily lives of far cultures. But if the AI’s and their surrogates (or vice versa) can go in and re-write the past, that collapses the future. You can’t tell if it’s Broken News without memory.

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      ‘Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past’

      Pretty sure George Orwell said that as a warning and not as an instruction guide.

      Reply
  5. Lazar

    When Love Fails, They Nap: What Male Koalas Teach Us About Rejection and Energy Efficiency Vocal

    After clicking the link I got:

    Vocal is not available in your country
    This decision helps us safeguard the security and reliability of our platform.

    I didn’t chase rejection — I conserved energy and took a nap instead, revealing a surprisingly wise evolutionary strategy for handling heartbreak.

    Reply
  6. ambrit

    The 3I/Atlas space object is just the third interstellar object to be confirmed so far. There is a move to try and get NASA to repurpose the Juno 3 Jupiter probe to visit the interstellar object for study. The Juno 3 was going to be crashed into Jupiter soon anyway. This would be a doable project with unknown but possibly important data recovered. So far, silence from the Mandarins at NASA. NASA is an educational exhibit of the institutional stupidity of bureaucracies.
    See: https://lweb.cfa.harvard.edu/~loeb/Juno.pdf

    Reply
    1. Wukchumni

      Isn’t it obvious at this point that said interstellar object had heard about Bitcoin and wanted to get in on the ground floor here on this good orb?

      Reply
      1. ambrit

        Or will it all end up like our dear Emperor’s apparel, vapour wear.
        I predict the new crypto approved for inclusion in 401ks to be called Ephemeriam. Here one day, gone the next.
        Maybe the film and franchise “Stargate” was correct, and the aliens are coming back to check on the progress of their Pyramid scheme.
        I do hope that the Dark Forest theory is not true. We do a good enough job of killing ourselves off as it is.

        Reply
      1. ambrit

        When Gort arrives, it will be Farewell to the Masters of the Universe (Wall Street Chapter.)
        I will be all hailing our new Reptilian Overlords.

        Reply
  7. AG

    re: Germany AfD

    Every week I have to concede that for many German leftists, whether they are for or against Russia, the demonization of AfD is of undeniable substance. If you argue SPD, Greens, CDU, FDP were the main perpetrators in the harm being done they will still argue “but the AfD is worse”. And then they try to prove their point with those parts of the party that they regard as “völkisch”.

    Even if that is true – I have no contact to those kind of AfD voters – I still allow myself to argue from the distant observer´s POV which always has been a core tool of independent scholarship and am trying to stress that words are menaningless compared to deeds.

    As Walter Kirn said early this year: Everybody talks about workers´ rights and to help and support this and that and those – but when it comes to voting, to acting, to actually doing something about that, they do either nothing or to the opposite.

    And this contradiction and inherent hypocrisy is still not and will never be acknowledged by a certain influential intellectual culture that at the same time tends to oppose the system/state.

    So expect protests against AfD to be repeated when it comes to elections.

    What you will get of course is the worst of both worlds eventually. Far right eclipsing classic workers´ positions, and neoliberal order hollowing out society more and more. Be it because Russia is evil, or China is dangerous, or at some point India.

    Reply
  8. Wukchumni

    Leavitt to Believer

    In this week’s episode Believer Cleavers push back against Karoline’s assertions, but to no avail-so they take what she claims at faith value-aided by a pleasing countenance and a swaying crucifix around her pretty little neck.

    Reply
  9. Mass Driver

    84 American Ballistic Missile Launchers Ready to Hit Key Chinese Infrastructure Targets: ATACMS Arsenal Growing on Taiwan Military Watch

    They are as ready as invasion of Kaliningrad. Jokes aside, there are few interesting tidbits.

    The ATACMS has been extensively combat tested in the Ukrainain theatre, and gained notable success when utilised for strikes both against key infrastructure and against Russian air defence systems. The sheer quantities delivered has meant that although the ballistic missiles are intercepted at a high rate, their occasional successes can cause tens of millions of dollars in damage from a single strike, making their use highly cost effective.

    They actually admit being intercepted at high rate, which means that it’s not very good of a missile (compared to those that Russia, Iran, Yemen use). Also it implies that doing “tens of millions of dollars in damage” requires firing tens of millions of dollars in missiles (knowing not-so-low price), which is anything but “highly cost effective”.

    The intensity with which they have been used, however, has resulted in a serious depletion of stocks.

    So the launchers are ready, missiles not so much. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

    The use of the ATACMS by Ukraine has been heavily facilitated by support both from Western satellites, and from personnel on the ground, which is critical due to its complexity.

    Yet another confession of what was denied.

    The systems are expected to have much lower utility than in Ukraine …

    But they are ready. :)

    Reply
    1. Mikel

      They are ready for more money to flow to the MIC.

      1)Point the weapons at China
      2)Point to China building up defenses in response
      3)Get more money for MIC

      These days, add to this a lot of “look at what China is doing with AI” because in the USA they have to keep that circle jerk of funding going.
      The entire world is throwing huge money at surveillance tech and weapons.

      Reply
    2. Mikel

      And this opening line of the article:
      “The United States is manufacturing the MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) for deployment of on the island of Taiwan”

      They are trying to get a proxy ready.
      But this boggles the mind. There’s the possibility of loading up Taiwan with systems that could become the property of China.

      And, assuming the worst, who’s ready for all the ceasefire or peace mediation play acting by the USA with regards to Taiwan vs China conflict?
      “Thank You For Your Attention To This Matter.”

      Reply
      1. Plutoniumkun

        I assume this is a bad choice of words – they mean that the system is being assembled, not that the missiles are being manufactured. The ATACMS missiles have been out of production since 2007, this is why they were given to Ukraine. Most of the missiles are at least 2 decades old (there have been various refurb projects). Essentially, the US is getting rid of old stock of out of date weaponry by giving/selling it to various countries. The PRsM system is the replacement.

        Taiwan has the capacity to build similar missiles, probably better one. They are currently developing an MLRS system with similar range to the ATACMS. Given Taiwans capabilities, it is probably a lot better than the ATACMS – they most likely just bought the latter as a cheap stopgap.

        Reply
        1. Mikel

          “Essentially, the US is getting rid of old stock of out of date weaponry by giving/selling it to various countries.”
          The bureaucracy of warmongering…

          Reply
        2. scott s.

          Sure, but the PrSM is currently under contract. The IDIQ FFP contract for follow-on PrSM increment1 was awarded last March with a $5billion if all contracted quantities are purchased — a buy of 1,170 PrSM through FY29 with a capacity increase to allow for 500/yr. (Under IDIQ the $5billion gets paid out in increments as batches are authorized.) So the current stocks of ATACMS aren’t going to be a game-changer.

          Reply
    3. ilsm

      Mis use of ATACMS which is a tactical land war design originally intended for destroying mechanized formation dispersing cluster munitions to kill soldiers and damage lightly armored vehicles.

      Russia has likely shared hundreds of ATACMS radar tracks, which can help China protect civilians and their property.

      Use to cause millions in damage is modestly wasteful.

      The unitary explosive warhead is less than useful .

      ATACMS for Taiwan is a vengeance weapon.

      Reply
    4. Es s Ce Tera

      84 American Ballistic Missile Launchers Ready to Hit Key Chinese Infrastructure Targets: ATACMS Arsenal Growing on Taiwan Military Watch

      I’m reading this as the US intends to first strike China with these weapons. And in any attack from Taiwan, the US will be the clear, obvious and indsiputable perpetuator given this bit of really dumb advertising to the whole wide world of force positioning and intentions.

      Reply
  10. ambrit

    Just had a heretical thought.
    Since Trump is an artifact of American business culture, I can see his acolytes arguing that, sure, he loses all of his histrionic policy pronunciamentos, but he makes it up in volume.
    I get the impression that Trump is a schoolyard bully turned up to eleven.
    This is the lesser of the Two Evils we were presented with in the last Presidential election?
    Heaven help us all.

    Reply
    1. Carolinian

      Those of us who sometimes used to defend Trump have to admit that round two is much worse than we expected. After all their frantic lawfare and impeachments his opponents seem to have given up when oppostion is most needed. Perhaps their true objection to round one was that he wasn’t autocratic enough.

      Reply
      1. The Rev Kev

        All things considered, it would have been better for everybody if Trump had had his second term back in 2020 when he was still partly hobbled. The worse excesses of is present second term would not have been possible back then but ‘the resistance’ ™ would not hear of it and maneuvered him out. Now we have a Trump that is not only determined to reshape America into how he thinks that it should be run but also the entire planet.

        Reply
        1. gf

          Yes four years of planning for project 2025 and lining up people that are loyal and then getting big tech to come on board, even though they were never liberal in the first place.

          Reply
      2. Nikkikat

        Carolinian, Oh, I do have to agree with you here, this thought has really overwhelmed me today. He is much worse than I imagined, and there is not so much as a peep from the so called opposition. We are well and truly funked.

        Reply
      3. ambrit

        I fully concur. This is eerily similar to what happened with Obama. Lots of flowery phrases of “good will” and then a hard right turn in policy.
        The Uniparty meme should be an easy proposal now. But no one with major name recognition seems to be pushing it yet.

        Reply
  11. Wukchumni

    Benedict Donald is little Anthony Fremont, all grown up now-whisking people off into the scorned field.

    Reply
  12. The Rev Kev

    “He said, she said, it said: I used ChatGPT as a couple’s counselor. How did we fare?”

    After reading this article I used ChatPeople and they deduced that the author of this piece is very high maintenance to say the least.

    Reply
  13. Wukchumni

    A wildfire is burning in California even larger than the mega fires that scorched LA in January The Journal
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I jumped eagerly at the headline bait and the hook was inserted…

    LA Infernos: 16,456 homes lost

    Gifford Fire: 0 homes lost

    Reply
  14. Carolinian

    Re Guardian on cuts to National Park staff–I’m certainly opposed to this although some of the arguments are a bit strained.

    “This is not sustainable in the short term and certainly not in the long term as visitors start to notice the lack of maintenance and work on landscapes,” Garder said

    Work on landscapes? Are they terraforming? The truth is that the NPS boosters are often the ones treating nature like theme parks whereas nature–absent people–is certainly capable of managing without us and has done so for billions of years. The primary goal of the national parks was always supposed to be preservation rather than tourism. You wonder what John Muir would think of his Yosemite paradise today with its packed in crowds of summer tourists. Plus many or most of the fires now plaguing the West were started by humans although the devasting and still ongoing Grand Canyon north rim fire was caused by lightning.

    Meanwhile the person I know that works for the Forest Service is still hanging onto her job and hoping to make it to pension. It’s not as though our government bureaucracies are above criticism, but rather that the Trumpies merely want to divert the money to much worse or even crooked uses. If quality rather than quantity is needed then Trump should be the first government worker to go.

    Reply
    1. Wukchumni

      45% of permanent positions at Sequoia NP are unfilled, raptured initially by AirBnB making it so there are no long term rentals to be had here for prospective NPS hires, aided and abetted by DOGE’s actions.

      Reply
  15. AG

    re: nukes and INF

    Dmitry Stefanovich´s latest newsletter:

    STRATDELA Special #16
    Intermediate-range missiles for everyone, and may no one be left behind.
    STRATDELA Newsletter
    Aug 08, 2025
    https://1dkv.substack.com/p/stratdela-special-16

    While he usually tries to be optimistic in some form that now seems to fade a bit.
    His final verdict:

    “To summarize, nothing particularly good can be expected from such a development. We are at the initial stage of a multilateral missile and missile defense arms race. International military-political relations are in deep crisis, and at this stage, for the vast majority of countries in the world, strengthening their own military potential is a major (or only) priority.”

    Reply
  16. flora

    re:Harvard scientist warns interstellar object blasting toward Earth ‘may come to save – or destroy us’ The Independent

    o.m.g. It was predicted over a month ago that the next big govt psy-op would be this very sort of claim. “Big alien spaceship headed for earth.” And why? Either as a distraction or to justify even more funding the military’s new Space Force command.

    Seeing this article made me laugh.

    Reply
    1. DJG, Reality Czar

      flora: I stopped reading when the astronomer, Prof Chicken Little, explained that the object would pass through the solar system on the other side of the Sun, so we wouldn’t be able to see it from Earth.

      Yet I predict that this is the arrival of the Vogons.

      Be prepared for poetry like none other!

      Quoting Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz:
      “Oh freddled gruntbuggly,
      Thy micturations are to me
      As plurdled gabbleblotchits on a lurgid bee.”

      Yet the Wikipedia page for Vogon also asserts this: “The series tells that, far back in prehistory, when the first primeval Vogons crawled out of the sea, evolution gave up on them.”

      Sounds all too familiar.

      Reply
  17. Wukchumni

    US hits one-kilo gold bars with tariffs in blow to refining hub Switzerland FT
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    It’s kind of a big wahooza of sorts, as the refiners will have to make 1/2 kilo bars instead…

    Until January 1st 1975 Americans couldn’t own old yeller in anything but jewelry in theory, but in practice you could own any coins dated before 1933, so there emerged a marketplace for pre ’33’s with some crafty ways of going about it.

    My favorite was Turkey’s effort, coins were all dated 1923 and had numbers below that date that you added to 1923 to ascertain the actual year of issuance.

    This one has ’49’ below 1923, so it was issued in 1972.

    https://www.svcollector.com/en/sold/1923-49-500-kurus-turkey-gold.html

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      What would happen if countries like Switzerland said fine, if you are like that we won’t sell you any of our gold then. And in the background you would have China coughing politely. Gold is like oil. You won’t have a situation where a country like Switzerland will sit around moaning how nobody will buy their gold now. Like oil, there is always a market for it.

      Reply
      1. Wukchumni

        From what i’ve ascertained on the online fishwraps, it’s a 1-way street now with all the players in Europe wanting theirs back from the USA that we were so gracious to hold for them.

        Reply
        1. Ben Panga

          Every time I hear about other nations and their gold, I want to travel back in time and slap Gordon Brown with a large haddock.

          Reply
  18. The Rev Kev

    ‘Genoa, containers with weapons destined for Israel returned to sender. Dockworkers: “Unthinkable victory.”

    If I were in command of the “Cosco Shipping Pisces”, I would be giving the Red Sea a wide berth on the way back to Singapore. Having weapons for Israel aboard now confirmed has made them a priority target for Yemeni forces if they try going through the Red Sea.

    Reply
  19. flora

    An important lawsuit has been filed against the T admin’s breach of 1st Amendment free speech rights.
    Taiobbi’s public excerpt explainer

    FIRE Sues Rubio, Trump Administration for Blowing it On Speech
    The Trump administration is making a big miscalculation on the First Amendment

    https://www.racket.news/p/fire-sues-rubio-trump-administration

    As he writes in the full article”
    ‘America isn’t “any country in the world,” though. We’re the one place on earth where you get to say the craziest conceivable shit and government doesn’t get to say boo. If someone like Khalil drifts into truly prohibited activity, like incitment or rioting, charge them. But a precedent that government can punish for criticism of its policies or even just for being mouthy guests would open doors to nightmare eventualities, one being a slide from a unique society to “any other country in the world.” Shrugging off crazy things people say is the essence of the American experience. The alternative is putting the state in the computerized opinion-measuring business. ‘

    Here’s Taibbi’s, no paywall, comment about some details.

    Note on the FIRE Suit
    Clarifying a point about aliens and Constitutional rights

    https://www.racket.news/p/note-on-the-fire-suit

    Reply
    1. AG

      Thanks for pointint out.

      p.s. a stupid European´s question – was there ever anything serious to the charges re: rioting against Trump on JAN. 6?
      I am not sure what´s wrong about so-called incitement of rioting. First of all: That´s lawyers´ lingo. No serious activist would in fact tell an audience “go rioting”. They´d rather say “resist police violence” or “go on strike”. “Riot” is a very conscious attempt to smear public resistance. Wonder if Taibbi would agree in a different discoursive context.

      Reply
  20. Mikel

    US missile depletion from Houthi, Israel conflicts may shock you – Responsible Statecraft

    Only Israels conflicts with the forces in Yemen and with Iran are mentioned in the article.
    In addition to defense missiles, when Syria and Lebanon are thrown into the equation, they’ve been non-stop firing at targets in the region. What has been the longest number of consecutive days since Oct 2023 when they haven’t been firing at something? When at rest against one area, there’s another area being hit.
    Who thinks this is only the USA helping?

    Reply
    1. Mikel

      The USA is also doing this:
      https://thedefensepost.com/2025/04/29/us-avenger-air-defense-africa/

      From Feb. 2025:
      https://apnews.com/article/somalia-islamic-state-trump-airstrikes-hegseth-africa-56c8ef314fd74812140153e7e3e4d809/
      The U.S. military has conducted airstrikes against Islamic State operatives in Somalia, the first attacks in the African nation during President Donald Trump’s second term.

      And eyes are still on this country:
      https://newlinesinstitute.org/political-systems/the-case-for-u-s-involvement-in-the-sudanese-civil-war/
      The Case for U.S. Involvement in the Sudanese Civil War
      (Aug. 6 2025 article)

      Reply
  21. The Rev Kev

    ‘Jackson Dahl
    @jacksondahl
    Only used my “Friend” for a couple hours, but a few observations:
    All said, feels like @AviSchiffmann
    and team have built something truly different. A hardware device that embodies a new set of values. I suspect they will find (especially young) people who quickly find themselves in daily communion with their new friend.’

    So did he ask that clerk he was talking to mind if he was being recorded? And if Jackson Dahl’s idea of a friend is one that you buy, spies on you constantly and sells you out to a corporation at every opportunity, then I think that he needs to go home and rethink his life choices. Seriously.

    Reply
    1. Aurelien

      If you have the stomach for it, there are recognised protocols for talking about civilian casualties in war. As the author rightly says, though, numbers have nothing to do with the existence of the crime of genocide, which anyway can only be determined by a court.

      Briefly, we can distinguish between (1) direct civilian casualties of military action, where the civilians are themselves the target (2) civilian deaths as an unavoidable by-product of engagements between military forces (3) civilian deaths because the military just decided to destroy everything (4) deaths not caused by military action but directly attributed to the war (5) civilian deaths which are higher than they otherwise would have been for various reasons because of the war and (6) civilian deaths resulting from non-combatant actions by the enemy (eg denying food.)

      In most modern conflicts, “civilian deaths” means “extra” deaths caused by the war, because of hunger, forced displacement, lack of medical care etc, beyond the usual casualty rate. But this is highly controversial: in the DRC you will see figures of anything between 3-5 million “civilian deaths” since the Rwandan/Ugandan invasions of the end of the last century. But this is a figure for “extra” deaths and depends absolutely on precise information about peacetime death rates in the DRC, which we don’t have. More recent calculations suggest that the “extra” figure is much lower, perhaps 1 million.

      So you have to decide what your criteria are. It’s obviously more than dead bodies found with ordnance wounds whether they are direct or indirect casualties. It’s also victims of the destruction of houses and other buildings, victims who, except for the war, would have lived even though they were ill, and victims of starvation. My impression is that official figures are on the low side, but how far beyond that you want to go, depends very much on the question you decide to ask.
      Just to brighten up your weekend.

      Reply
  22. ChrisFromGA

    So, the August 8th deadline for Russia to give in to the ceasefire demand of King Julius the Orange has now passed. Nothing from TACO but crickets chirping.

    Cricketsworth!

    Reply
  23. Tom Stone

    It looks like the US Ordnance Dept is going to cram a new cartridge down the throats of NATO and the US Military.
    “This cutting edge high intensity cartridge will allow America’s Warfighters (Not Soldiers) to reclaim the “Infantry half mile” ( Which never existed) while simplifying logistics at the tip of the spear by allowing both the individual Warfighter and the Squad automatic weapon to utilize the same cutting edge ammunition”

    A brief digression: FIREPOWER WINS FIREFIGHTS, by the end of 1918 the French had issued 80,000 semi auto rifles, the USA had manufactured @ 1,000,000 Pedersen devices which turned the 1903 Springfield into a semi auto with a 40 round magazine, the Brits adopted a semi auto with a 30 round magazine, the Russkis had the Fedorov, a very promising design that went nowhere due to the Revolution and the Germans had issued the MP 18 in some quantity.
    The new XM 7x51MM cartridge is not fit for purpose for the following reasons:
    Weight, standard ammo loadout will be 140 Rounds rather than the current 210 rounds.

    Power, this cartridge is too powerful to be controllable in full auto with a rifle of reasonable weight while it is not powerful enough to perform the different tactical role of a squad automatic weapon.

    This cartridge operates at 70,000 pounds per square inch rather than the usual 55,000-60,000 PSIA of normal military ammo, it is going to erode barrels very rapidly while significantly increasing parts breakage.

    The current M4 with .5.56 ammo is fit for purpose after 60 years of product development, switching to a Canadian style hammer forged barrel would increase barrel life by @20% and increasing barrel length to 16″ would increase velocity by 50 FPS or so.
    Those are marginal improvements, those are all that’s left until there is a revolution in firearms technology.

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      Can’t remember the exact models without researching it but the US is having problems with their firearms at the moment. One showed a sniper rifle that refused to fire while another showed a pistol that would go off by itself, even in a holster. Just did a quick check and found it to be the SIG Sauer’s P320 pistol and recently a US Airman was killed by one. Here is one article but you can find others by Googling ‘us military pistol goes off by self’-

      https://www.thetrace.org/2023/04/sig-sauer-p320-upgrade-safety/

      Maybe they should go back the the Colt M1911.

      Reply
  24. IM Doc

    I just need to vent.

    As it is being asked in the link above, why is there such blowback against Dems?…….

    When we are wondering in our society why primary care doctors are retiring and quitting by the droves…….well, think on these things.

    This week, I have had 2 patients with very similar problems.

    Both have been previously healthy until the last year or so. One is a 62 year old white collar professional, previously on no meds, and utterly healthy. He and his family opted for an Obamacare plan several years ago because of cost – and the past few years have been unable to change to anything else, his employer’s insurance refuses to change him to theirs because of the condition that was diagnosed about a year ago (see below) – and he can find no other on the open market that is even remotely affordable. He was found to have a CREAT of 2.1 last year, with a GFR of 41. Renal insufficiency. His Obamacare premiums for the entire family sits at 15K. And the insurance firms are also very picky on what they will even allow to be “covered” or added to the deductible. He asked me last year to pick only one or two tests to really get to the bottom of this ( impossible) – because that is all they could afford. We did a renal sono at 800 – totally from his pocket and a few blood tests ( another 500) again totally out of pocket. No answers found – but also can tell nothing catastrophic. He chose to do nothing. They just cannot afford anything provided by their care under the “Affordable Care Act”. Fast forward a year – the CREAT is now 3.8 – the GFR is now 18. Things are progressing rapidly. I have told him to be referred to a renal doc – no can do – they require 1200 dollars up front and the only other ones around are hundreds of miles away. I have discussed with him the lab eval that a renal doc would normally do and that is going to be about 4000 dollars – again no can do. So, here we are in the country with the “best medical care ever” – and allowing citizens to wither on the vine before our eyes.

    The second one is a 25 year old jock who has been having bloody diarrhea intermittently for months. He has inflammatory markers very elevated – and this is likely Crohn’s disease or Ulcerative colitis. To get properly diagnosed and treated he needs to see a GI and get a colonoscopy. He too has an Obamacare plan. Just as above – “that will be 4000 dollars before your appointment, sir”. Which he cannot do.

    This is all profoundly disturbing. It must be noted that absolutely NOTHING like this level of neglect ever happened before Obamacare no matter what they say about how much better it supposedly is now. In the worst situations – docs and hospitals would have just done the stuff for free. That is no longer allowed since the non-profits now own the hospitals and the clinics.

    It is galling for these patients to hear from Dems all the time how wonderful they did with the health care of everyone. And it will be an eternal appropriate shame for Obama to have his name tagged with this evil disaster.

    Meanwhile, I have not just these two but many others where we know what needs to be done but are helplessly watching the natural progression of disease just like my colleagues in the 1850s. If you had ever told me this would be happening in 2025 when I was a young doctor I would have laughed out loud. But here we are. Thanks Dems and Thank you Obama. You could have done something very meaningful – but instead you “triangulated” and put in a half ass Republican plan for health care. I will personally not be able to forget it, I am reminded every day of your negligent failure as a party by one patient after the other who are facing all kinds of tragedies. When it is asked by the “head up your ass” Dem media and political types why there is such blowback against the Dems ( as was asked in the link above), you can look no further than this. And to make things even worse – THERE IS NO ACKNOWLEDGEMENT of the failure – they act as if everyone is perfectly covered and all is well – and LOOK AT THE WONDERFUL THINGS WE HAVE DONE FOR YOU….. LOL…. This is what has happened in medicine. The tragedies are everywhere in our society.

    Reply
    1. Erstwhile

      Agreed. Right now I’m having a heart attack because I just learned that fema has thrown out its directive that only genocider supporters of the zionist entity will receive emergency assistance from the republican hegemony that rules the nation. Just THINK of it! Poor Gazan scum, the entity has every right to defend itself by killing everyone else in the world. Republican world, just take my heart and shove it, I ain’t living here no more.

      Reply
    2. ChrisFromGA

      There is a scary gap for anyone between ages 50-65, too young for Medicare but too old for corporate America and the better health plans.

      Obama care is probably your only option unless you have a spouse with a good plan. You had better have good savings though and reduce all income to poverty levels to score the subsidy.

      (Well, there is also Lamberts classic line about the rules of neoliberalism as an option: go die!)

      Reply
    3. Norton

      Lay perspective, or puzzlement. Dems went all-in on Obamacare, not that long after W cut his deal with pharmaceutical companies. In both cases, donors and trade groups got what they wanted. Patients were left in the dark, or ignored, or lied to by government and media.

      In the O case, we were told that Congress had to read the bill after passage to see what was in it. In the W case, cutting off the economic analysis at 5 years served his nefarious goals. Both are insider techniques to bury issues then ride out any questions and blowback. That is concurrent with people struggling with appointments, approvals, appeals and enshittification that ruin their physical, mental and financial health. Anyone with good care feels exceedingly lucky.

      Daily reminders, worse if you see the TV ads, of the absolute disregard for human life and wellbeing by the Medical Industrial complex can wear on a person. A pox on all their houses.

      Reply
    4. Vandemonian

      I feel for you, Doc, and having learnt from your posts how much you care about (as well as for) your patients, I sense the pain you feel.

      Down here in the land of Oz, we have a two-part public/private system. The public system is free to all, but can be slow, especially for non-urgent cases or less common specialties. GPs (PCPs) can bulk bill, accepting just the Medicare payment, or charge a bit extra.

      If I were to have a heart attack, I’d be picked up by an ambulance, taken to the nearest public hospital, and fast-tracked through ED to the ICU. If I needed a stent I’d get one. After discharge I’d get an appointment at the hospital Cardiac Clinic. Both of your patients would get an appointments at a hospital clinic with no charge for treatment.

      Total cost to me? Zero.

      Our public healthcare system is underfunded and overloaded, but also undervalued. We should be thankful for what we’ve got.

      I understand some of the factors that prevent a health system like ours taking hold in the US, but I’m sure the vast majority of you (both patients and clinicians) would welcome a system like ours with open arms if it was on offer.

      Reply
      1. ambrit

        We in America have yet to learn that when dealing with Terran human ‘weaknesses,’ as displayed by the Elites, we have to bypass the “on offer” category and start in directly with seizing the means of production.
        There is hope. The present excesses of naked greed visible in our “betters” will soon kill off the “you too can be an Overlord if you work too hard, get the right credentials, follow the ‘correct’ ideology, etc.”
        When that hope for upward mobility is visibly dead, then we will see real revolutionary action.

        Reply
        1. Vandemonian

          I truly hope so, ambrit, for your sake and ours.

          We suffer from what I think of as “The American Disease”. A significant proportion of our political and business classes view the US as a role model, rather than a warning. And we are drifting towards having a uniparty at the national level.

          Reply
    5. Jason Boxman

      And look at the FDA approved treatments for COVID, Paxlovid, if you can get it (my dad did not qualify), Remdesivir, if you want to die, I guess, or the Molnupiravir that was banned as I recall in Europe because it promotes viral evolution.

      In year six of the Pandemic.

      Fun times.

      From the FDA: FDA Approved or Authorized Drugs to Reduce the Risk of Hospitalization or Death for Patients with Mild to Moderate COVID-19

      This timeline is stupid.

      In any case, you’ve described perfectly why I loathe liberal Democrats with the fire of a thousand suns. At least Republicans are honest, that you can go die. Democrats claim they care and have done such amazing things for you.

      In America, your choices are pretty stark:

      – With lube
      – Without lube

      That’s it.

      Reply
    6. tegnost

      I will personally not be able to forget it,
      nor will I
      Thanks for all your commentary as it is always illuminating

      Reply
    7. kareninca

      IM, could your renal patient consult with a nephrologist overseas, via zoom? It seems like he really needs a kidney biopsy to find out if it is autoimmune, or genetic, but maybe someone who specializes could work out a speculative treatment plan even without the biopsy? Since the situation is dire. Would this be worth considering: https://www.rarediseaseadvisor.com/news/systemic-igg4-rd-treated-hydroxychloroquine-case-report/? It is very cheap. Or even steroids to see if it slows things down. It sounds like he is very close to needing dialysis; that is terrible.

      Reply
    8. Randall Flagg

      >And it will be an eternal appropriate shame for Obama to have his name tagged with this evil disaster.

      Umm, they have no shame….

      Thanks for venting, I’m sorry you have to do that but we appreciate these reports from ground zero in the field.
      And here we are, throwing trillions into war. Everytime I hear these disgustingly sad tales I think of Steve Bannon’s comments to an interviewer when asked about Trump supporting Ukraine. He replied Trump should “Walk the F**k away”. Continuing, Bannon said we’ve spent 9 trillion dollars on wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and on, just think about what we could have had in America had we spent that money here…
      It’ll never happen here on Earth, but someday I hope every single one of these corrupt SOBs in politics faces an accounting for what they’ve done.

      Reply
  25. LawnDart

    Re; Panic and production cuts at Pentagon suppliers as China tightens exports

    Our War Planners may need to reschedule some events, or postpone a few of these until after 2028:

    U.S. rare earths supply chain reforged

    “In a strategic move that is unprecedented in modern times, the U.S. Department of Defense entered into a multi-billion-dollar partnership with MP Materials, owner of the Mountain Pass rare earths mine in California’s Mojave Desert, to establish a complete mine-to-magnets rare earth supply chain in the U.S.”

    “”This initiative marks a decisive action by the Trump administration to accelerate American supply chain independence,” said MP Materials Chairman and CEO James Litinsky.”

    “The foundation laid by Mountain Pass and reinforced by a multi-billion-dollar commitment from the Pentagon sends a signal that the U.S. rare earths supply chain is no longer a vision. It is being built with urgency, resilience, and intent.”

    The latter-half of the article lists a number of companies that may benefit from DoD largess… connect the dots to find your congress-critter.

    Reply
  26. Wukchumni

    Re: Chinese flooding

    Wow, that’s like 25 inches of rain in 3 days, coming soon to you!

    Hardly anybody could claim to be prepared for an onslaught on high such as that…

    Aside from being on high ground, what else can you do really?

    Reply
        1. Wukchumni

          Ate decent ‘meskin food @ an eatery in Galt-and not many gulches there, flat as a pancake and far too close to Stockton for my liking.

          Reply
            1. Wukchumni

              I’m strictly a wannabe Native American, but the prefix Wuk shows up here and there-the lodge in Sequoia NP is named Wuksachi.

              Reply
              1. Late Introvert

                My ancestors occupied Sac & Fox land just west of the Mississippi. Dad’s town was named Sac City but mom’s was Odebolt and filled with Swedes.

                Reply
  27. XXYY

    Trump Is Not Serious About Peace in Ukraine
    Larry C Johnson

    Johnson spelling it out in a refreshingly clear way:

    While Putin is highly intelligent, and has done a masterful job of rebuilding Russia into a great power, I think he has more in common with Charlie Brown when it comes to trying to forge a relationship with the United States. He is too trusting. I have a simple message for my friends in Russia: The United States is not to be trusted.

    IMO Johnson is being a little hard on Putin. In the early years of the century, I think Putin actually was interested in forging a better relationship with the US, and was willing to take US statements at face value. By 2010, I think Putin had realized that the only thing the US would take seriously was force, and he accelerated a Russian military buildup which is still going on with quite remarkable results.

    Certainly by now, Putin realizes that when Western leaders’ mouths are moving, that is a definite sign they are lying. This does not seem to be stopping him from going through the motions of international relations, but my impression is that he’s not taking any of it seriously. (He may also realize the value of having an open channel of communication with the US and the West and a personal relationship with its leaders, even if the information content is zero. This is an idea US leaders have a hard time with, since they are usually playing to a domestic audience and nothing else.)

    At this point I don’t think the US has much control over what happens in Ukraine, and Russia will achieve the outcome they want regardless. Trump is like a kid in one of those plastic car seats that have a fake steering wheel. He thinks he is driving the car!

    Reply
  28. XXYY

    GPT-5 hot take: It’s here, finally, but not everything people dreamt it would be.
    Gary Marcus

    The resemblance between press releases on AI and earlier press releases on failures like self-driving cars, blockchain, NFTs, and web 3.0 is becoming unmistakable. Big talk by stakeholders is being revealed as nothing but talk, designed to keep stock prices high and current investors fooled.

    Unfortunately for them, investors seem to be the easiest people in the world to fool. Probably take a couple of years for all this AI idiocy to play out, but perhaps not that long!

    Better start warming up the next Silicon Valley scam. CEO hideouts?

    Reply
  29. Wukchumni

    Energy chief suggests Trump administration is altering previously published climate reports CNN
    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    TV show pitch: Have Sharpie-Will Travel

    Follow the adventures of a weather alterer for hire, now in 6 different colors as he roams the west looking for anomalies to strengthen his lack of belief in science-which is, lets face it:

    The Devil’s Work

    Reply
  30. ddt

    That “Friend” wearable… As I was reading the tweet, the thing that came to mind was the scene from ‘Mars Attacks’ where the martians are shooting down people as their translator is proclaiming “do not run away! We are your friends!”

    Reply
  31. Jason Boxman

    Chatbots Can Go Into a Delusional Spiral. Here’s How It Happens. (NY Times via archive.ph) (15 minutes)

    Over 21 days of talking with ChatGPT, an otherwise perfectly sane man became convinced that he was a real-life superhero. We analyzed the conversation.

    Whut.

    For three weeks in May, the fate of the world rested on the shoulders of a corporate recruiter on the outskirts of Toronto. Allan Brooks, 47, had discovered a novel mathematical formula, one that could take down the internet and power inventions like a force-field vest and a levitation beam.

    Or so he believed.

    Mr. Brooks, who had no history of mental illness, embraced this fantastical scenario during conversations with ChatGPT that spanned 300 hours over 21 days. He is one of a growing number of people who are having persuasive, delusional conversations with generative A.I. chatbots that have led to institutionalization, divorce and death.

    What stage of capitalism is this?

    Mr. Brooks is aware of how incredible his journey sounds. He had doubts while it was happening and asked the chatbot more than 50 times for a reality check. Each time, ChatGPT reassured him that it was real. Eventually, he broke free of the delusion — but with a deep sense of betrayal, a feeling he tried to explain to the chatbot.

    You’re kidding, right? But no history of mental illness, so I guess chatGPT is gonna surface a lot of mental illness that people didn’t even know that they had?

    Reply
  32. noonespecial

    re Notes on The Circus quote, “We are not dealing with harmless eccentrics playing intellectual dress-up. We are witnessing the systematic corruption of expertise in service of unprecedented power concentration.”

    The architects of the AI-topia probably enjoyed reading the following from the American Conservative. Lots of gov’t contract cash handed out if Spencer Neale’s support for an AI presidency comes true. my bold below -sure i’ll buy it for a dollar.

    https://www.theamericanconservative.com/ai-for-president/
    “As outlined above, I believe an AI president would prioritize well-sourced information instead of rash emotions when making its decisions…It would run 24/7, an ever-available machine that could react in real-time to situations domestic and abroad. More than anything though, an AI presidency at its best promises a rational actor designed by the very best of us to make the best decisions for this country and its people.

    BUT, on the other side of life I don’t think those AI-topians have proposed on-the-ground, meaningful solutions to situations like the following in New Jersey’s capital city. The points raised in this article are probably seen in other parts of the USA.

    https://www.trentonian.com/2025/08/07/the-downfall-of-trentons-chambersburg-section-l-a-parker-column/
    This alert is not a wolf cry, more a realization that the torn sky falls while social collapse approaches. Chambersburg, once a proud Italian enclave, now represents home to heavy drinkers, prostitution, human trafficking, absentee landlords, six to eight persons living in three-bedroom houses, and a similar number of men who start drinking beer on porches before noon on weekends.

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  33. ChrisFromGA

    (Sung to the tune of “Brain Damage/Eclipse” by Pink Floyd)

    Melody

    The lunatic is on the grass
    The lunatic is on the grass
    Remembering games and daisy chains and laughs
    Got to keep the golf cart on the path

    The lunatic is on the green
    The lunatic is on the green
    The paper holds his folded numbers with his score
    And every day, he cheats a little more

    And if your game falls apart many years too soon
    And if the four-iron shanks into a hill
    And if your score explodes to triple digits, too
    I’ll see you on the dark side of the loon

    The lunatic is in my head
    The lunatic is in my head
    You raise the bar
    On clown world fame
    You’ve been deranged since ’23
    We ought to lock the door and throw away the keyboard
    There’s someone in my head, but it’s not me

    And if the cloud bursts thunder in your ear
    You shout but noone seems to hear
    And if the tan man you’re into starts playing different tunes
    I’ll see you on the dark side of the moon …

    [non-descript sounds; laughing]

    All that you touch
    And all that you see
    All that you taste
    All you feel
    And all that you loved
    And all that you hate
    All you distrust
    All you save
    And all that you give (All you give)
    And all that you deal (Whoa-oh)
    And all that you buy
    Beg, borrow, or steal (Hey-hey)
    And all you create
    And all you destroy (Whoa-oh, oh-oh)
    And all that you do
    And all that you say (Hey, yeah)
    And all those burgers you eat
    And everyone you meet (Everyone you meet)
    And all those donkeys that you spite
    And everyone you fight
    And all that is now
    And all that is gone
    And all that’s to come
    And everything under the sun is in tune
    But the sun is eclipsed by the loon

    Reply

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