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Links 9/6/2025

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The misuse of Seuss Unherd

Uranium Shortage Jeopardizes Nuclear Renaissance OilPrice

Why do young people use substances? CAN via machine translation (Micael T)

#COVID-19/Pandemics

Mpox still continental health emergency: Africa CDC Anadolu Agency

Climate/Environment

The real crisis isn’t climate change, ecologist Sandra Diaz says Aljazeera

The ocean carbon sink is ailing: 10% drop in CO₂ absorption seen during record 2023 marine heat wave PhysOrg

Carbon capture set to be less useful in tackling climate change, scientists warn Financial Times

These clear windows can secretly produce solar power ScienceDaily (Chuck L). Very cool. But can they be made cheaply enough?

China?

All 76 weapons at China 2025 military parade explained. 47 are brand new Binkov’s Battleground, YouTube

Kim, Xi hail bond as North Korea says it will protect China’s interests Aljazeera

Koreas

How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart New York Times (Micael T)

India

India disavows ‘Tianjin spirit’, turns to EU Indian Punchline (Chuck L). Today’s must read. Counters the post SCO=BRICS anti-globalist cheerleading, at least as far as India and China are concerned. Conor had a raft of links at the time of the SCO, many from Indian sources and non-US China experts. Nearly all highlighted a long list of thorny issues India and China would need to work through for there to be marked improvement in their relationship.

Punjab floods threaten to devastate India’s rice harvest Independent

Has India ‘weaponised water’ to deliberately flood Pakistan? Aljazeera

Fitch Says Severe Unrest May Weigh on Indonesia’s Credit Profile Bloomberg

Africa

Deadly land dispute in northern Ghana displaces nearly 50,000 people France24

UN report warns of possible war crimes, crimes against humanity in DR Congo Anadolu Agency

South of the Border

European Disunion

France faces sovereign rating test amid political chaos Reuters

Europe Faces $1 Trillion Rearmament Bill as U.S. Weighs Troop Cuts. OilPrice

Norwegians to pick new parliament in tightly fought election clouded by geopolitical angst Reuters

And if you are not willing (to war), I will use force Nachdenkseiten via machine translation (Micael T)

Public broadcaster refuses to provide information on the expansion of the fact-checking network Multipolar via machine translation (Micael T)

Another NATO state preparing to conscript women RT (Kevin W)

It smells too little of beer, cigarettes and sweat Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T: “Class analysis of the recently published Swedish Canon. Here is the canon.

Old Blighty

Britain is in the eye of the financial storm Investors are losing confidence Unherd

The Israeli president’s invitation to the UK shows Starmer is an accomplice to genocide Council Estate Media

Israel v. The Resistance

US sanctions Palestinian rights groups who asked top court for Israel war crimes investigation CNN

Will Cancer Prove to be Another Weapon in Israel’s War in Gaza? Joshua Frank, TomDispatch

Revealed: The ships carrying fuel and arms to Israel Middle East Eye

Israel can’t stop Alon Mizrahi. He is a bit verbose, but there is a transcript and his big point is makes sense.

Israel threatens to unleash biblical plagues on Yemen’s Houthis Aljazeera

New Not-So-Cold War

Chancellor seeks to conceal Germany’s missile supplies to Kiev — Russia intel agency TASS (guurst)

Germany’s Merz demands ‘economic exhaustion’ of Russia RT (Micael T). And I want a pony.

Western troops in Ukraine would be ‘legitimate targets’, Putin says Guardian (Kevin W). Another example of Russia having to endlessly repeat the same point for it to have a chance of the West accepting it.

“‘Staged actions’ in Ukraine.” The Floutist

Putin in Primorye & Vladivostok Karl Sanchez

Sweden accuses Russia of GPS jamming over Baltic Sea BBC

Imperial Collapse Watch

Important. Do click through:

Xi-Modi-Putin economic axis hardens as Trump tariffs backfire Asia Times (Kevin W)

Siberia? The LNG Revolution? Julian Macfarlane

The myth of central bank independence Thomas Fazi. The part that Fazi omits is that at least in the US, Congress has long been happy to allow the Fed to engage in mission creeps so they could avoid blame for bad economic outcomes.

Trump 2.0

More Winning: Trump Bombs Ship Smuggling 30,000 Kilos Of Pumpkin Spice Babylon Bee. When you’ve lost The Bee…

GOP senators signal to Trump that Kennedy is on thin ice The Hill. Wake me when this gets to be more than a wet noodle lashing. But…..

RFK Jr Is Suddenly in Real Trouble Futurism

Tariffs

John Deere, a U.S. Icon, Is Undermined by Tariffs and Struggling Farmers New York Times (Chuck L)

Immigration

Judge blocks Trump administration’s ending of legal protections for 1.1M Venezuelans and Haitians Associated Press (Kevin W)

L’affaire Epstein

DOJ responds to official’s Epstein comments in hidden-camera video The Hill

Mamdani

Trump’s deadline to thin NYC mayoral race field in bid to stop Zohran Mamdani New York Post

Adams Considers Dropping Out of Race After Secret Meeting in Florida New York Times

Eric Adams eyed by Trump for Saudi Arabia ambassadorship Politico

Economy

Supply Chain Risks from Geopolitical Conflict. Procurement Magazine

Antitrust

EU Slaps Google with $3.5 Billion Antitrust Fine: A Breakthrough Ruling DevDiscourse

The tech antitrust renaissance may already be over The Verge

AI

Salesforce just announced it cut 4,000 customer support jobs… and Marc Benioff is saying it’s because of AI. Joe Sirianni (Micael T)

The Bezzle

Writing Workshops Are Fucking Useless The Republic of Letters (Micael T)

Guillotine Watch

Tesla proposes Elon Musk pay package that could make him the world’s first trillionaire CNN (Kevin W)

Musk invokes “rape of Europe” in anti-immigrant rant Musk Watch

Class Warfare

Age of Invention: The Century-Long Depression Anton Howes. Important even though a historical example.

Under Trump, the Federal Trade Commission is abandoning its ban on noncompetes NPR (Kevin W)

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus (Chuck L). Clearly a smart and sensitive primate:

A second bonus (Chuck L):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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176 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    “Sweden accuses Russia of GPS jamming over Baltic Sea ”

    I don’t suppose it would help if Russia offered to send Sweden paper maps, would it?

    Reply ↓
    1. JohnA

      And yet the increasingly pathetic propaganda outfit formerly called the BBC, relies heavily on the already debunked days ago claim that VDL’s plane was subjected to GPS jamming en route to Bulgaria.
      It is however, worth noting, that the BBC verification department, that is intended to weed out s-called disinformation from Russia and similar ‘bad’ actors, is headed by a woman who lied on the CV she submitted about her journalist experience in relation to Russia, when applying for the job. And did not resign when the truth came out.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        The fact that she was not forced to resign might indicate that this was exactly the person that the BBC wanted to be in charge of their verification department and her way in eased. In other words, she was especially selected by the BBC for that job.

        Reply ↓
    2. Munchausen

      Sweden accuses Russia of GPS jamming over Baltic Sea BBC
      The STA report comes days after a plane carrying Ursula von der Leyen was hit by interference.

      They failed at geographical coordination. Ursula misread the memo, Balkan instead of Baltic. I expect Annalena Baerbock to report Russian GPS jamming of her plane in Bahmas.

      Reply ↓
  2. Wukchumni

    Goooooooood Moooooooorning Fiatnam!

    The word had come down from on high, and it was now official that the platoon was part and parcel of the Department of War, no more pussyfooting around-always being on the defense.

    We relished the move, going on the offensive finally after being stymied in our efforts after World War 2 on account of nomenclature, obviously.

    Reply ↓
    2. Carolinian

      Now that we have a Dept of War we’re going to start obliteratin’ right and left. Look out Venezuelan speed boats.

      Reply ↓
    4. Henry Moon Pie

      So with the renaming, do you think they can squeeze the whole kit and kaboodle, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, back into the old War Department building, now known as the EOB? Then I’m all in favor. So let’s go back to the days then men were men and war was hell (in a fun kind of way), and do more with less. Let DOGE loose on ’em and squeeze until the sponge soaking up our resources and befouling our planet while being the “biggest purveyor of violence in the world,” is dry as toast.

      Reply ↓
  3. icancho

    Antidote #1: the source says this shows two hedgehogs eating peanuts.
    I say this is AI silliness. Those are cashews, not peanuts, while hedgehogs are essentially general carnivores, everything from insects, snails, frogs, snakes, bird eggs and carrion, though they do occasionally eat soft vegetable matter— fruit etc. And to my eye, those are quite obviously AI confections, not real.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      I think that you are right. There is something off about the ‘surfaces’ of those hedgehogs too as if they were wooden.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        How about an AI version of a hedgehog such as John Paulson, perched above a splayed out black book, with crumpets below his feet?

        Reply ↓
        1. bertl

          I’m confused. Are the crumpets so well buttered so that when one treads on them it is possible to recreate the (in)famous scene in “Last Tango in Paris”?

          Reply ↓
    3. Louis Fyne

      100% AI. the more you see AI images, the more obvious the “uncanny valley” / “Stepford Wives” vibe.

      ***but*** we are on the cusp of all AI images being indistinguishable. AI images are obvious only cuz the programs used are the el-cheapo/fast versions of generative AI.

      Reply ↓
      2. Louis Fyne

        it’s akin to people who get plastic surgery/botox. Once you see it, you can’t unsee it, beyond the most subtle, incremental of botox injectons.

        Reply ↓
      3. JMH

        So a picture is no longer worth 1,000 words. Splendid. As Kaja Kallas said people do not read these days so I guess that means the end of communications, of public relations, of advertising, of faith in the veracity of public officials … check that, the veracity of public officials has long been unworthy of faith or belief. Guess we are on the way to burning down everything. I am stiocking up on older books and wildflower seeds.

        Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          Burn it down/dumb it down/discredit my lyin’ eyes. The groundwork for defending oneself from compromising audio-visual evidence is being laid.

          Reply ↓
      1. Mass Driver

        The Commentariat can click the via link, and read the tags below image. Those of us with very basic 3D render experience don’t need to.

        P.S. For a second I saw a comment from Yves here, but now it’s gone. Gremlins.

        Reply ↓
  4. The Rev Kev

    “Norwegians to pick new parliament in tightly fought election clouded by geopolitical angst”

    ‘Labour has also been boosted by Stoere’s decision to bring back former NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg as finance minister in February – a move dubbed “Stoltenback” in Norwegian media. Stoltenberg, a friend and ally of Stoere, is arguably Norway’s most popular politician and a three-term prime minister.’

    This might be a rare case of where you can blame the voters for what sort of politicians that they get.

    Reply ↓
  5. MicaT

    Solar windows.
    Sure you can do it.
    The issue has and will continue to be how do you get the electricity out to the grid in a cost effective way as well as make low cost solar windows.

    This idea has been worked on for decades. I’m all for continuing the research, because if they can do it, lots of windows in the world.

    Reply ↓
    2. Louis Fyne

      the big problem is that peak electricity consumption (at least in the west) is from 3p to 6p in the summertime (AC + people coming home while biz are open); and dinnertime and 6a -8am in the winter (cold).

      solar peak production = around solar noon

      this demand asymmetry won’t be solved without extremely cheap storage + fission (or fusion if/when it shows up)

      Reply ↓
      1. Socal Rhino

        My rooftop solar system stores energy and sends to grid during peak demand hours. A lot of similar systems were installed recently to take advantage of federal tax rebates and in advance of new, less favorable policies for net metering. Battery storage is key.

        It has been plausibly claimed that the proliferation of these systems has prevented brownouts in California the past few seasons.

        Reply ↓
    3. matt

      I skimmed the paper cited in the article. Production costs don’t seem mind bogglingly terrible. I was worried at first because it seemed to involve nanometer level precision (expensive!) to get the proper reflective angles between layers, but they just used spin coatings at different angles, which I don’t think is horrifically expensive. They did ultrasonically clean the windows before adding the coating and used a curing laser, and those might get expensive. Also managing contaminants, etc.
      The windows aren’t conducting themselves, they’re just a glorified waveguide that directs the light to a photovoltaic (PV) cell embedded at the edges of the window rather than a diode in itself. At the end of the paper it mentions potentially upping the efficiency by including better PV cells, which are more expensive in themselves.
      Also it’s a polymer, so it will likely decompose when exposed to all that light and slowly turn yellow and less effective. (This is mentioned in the paper as well.) I’d love to see a followup study as to the rate of yellowing and other responses to damage over time.
      I study chemical engineering and materials science in school so scaling up this process is exactly what my brain is training to do right now. I jumped to thinking about the potential weak points of the window (namely the connections, like how is the film attached to the window, how are the solar cells attached to the window, mechanical strength and wear, weather damage, dust damage, cleaning materials damage, etc). But this is the sort of problem you could think about for months, and while this has been a fun thought experiment, I probably won’t think further about it unless I’m being paid lol. Might make a good project for a class though!

      Reply ↓
  6. MicaT

    I just don’t know where oil price gets their “data”.
    Russia has massive uranium enrichment and production capacity to meet growing world demand.
    China, quickly on its way to the number 1 nuclear power is rapidly developing its own mines and refineries to meet its internal needs and possibly export. Like everything else they don’t want to be dependent on foreign suppliers. They will come on line in a very short period of time.

    As to the US, yeah well another own goal of outsourcing required materials.
    The US could be self sufficient in uranium and those mines will take 10-20 yrs to come on line if ever. So will be relying on foreign suppliers and refiners.

    But a lack of supply, no.

    Reply ↓
  7. Wukchumni

    Swords into Dow Shares dept:

    I’m still thinking about that military parade in July, and how sloppy the marching was, and if an army shows you who they are-believe them.

    Who knows what the trigger will be to get the ball rolling in this Phony Economic War and plunge us into the nether regions somewhere near an abyss-but you get the feeling the MIC will be very much on the rocks, as much of what they produce is last century’s armaments at exorbitant cost versus any newer armaments produced elsewhere.

    It was worthy of being given about a trillion a year-this perpetual notion machine, what do we replace it with?

    Reply ↓
  8. The Rev Kev

    ‘Collingwood 🇬🇧
    @admcollingwood
    Looks like Eldridge Colby, the arch Realist who literally wrote the book on containing China, and whom I believe wrote this, has made his assessment of US capabilities and the geostrategic balance of power, and decided that the US cannot realistically hold the line in the Western Pacific to contain China. Instead, it must focus on controlling the Western Hemisphere in a neo-Monroe Doctrine. (Caveat: I have not read the report.)’

    This might tie in with that map Trump showed a few months ago showing Fortress America where Canada will be taken over as well Greenland to secure the eastern flank. It will be one huge integrated block that will then seek to dominate South America and threaten other countries. That Golden Dome project would be part of this thinking as well.

    Reply ↓
    3. curlydan

      Maybe DoD (oops, DoW) has been playing a lot of the boardgame Risk. Find a somewhat isolated spot, load all your armies into that country, and expand radially–much better chance of winning.

      Reply ↓
  9. none

    Trump’s deadline to thin NYC mayoral race field in bid to stop Zohran Mamdani New York Post

    MAGA = Make Andrew Governor Again? Or something like that.

    Reply ↓
    1. pjay

      The absurdities of politics today are truly beyond what I would have thought possible even a few years ago. Trump working hard for Cuomo as Mayor?! The NY Democrat machine working hard to *appear* like they do not want the same thing – even though they worked hard to *get rid* of both Trump and Cuomo not that long ago! Adams as Saudi ambassador?! I just read that Cuomo was meeting with Al Sharpton as well (I wonder what he’s offering?)! Nothing like the threat of a “commie” Mayor to unite all these wonderful politicos!

      If only Tom Wolfe was still alive to capture all this. Then again, satire is dying because the “real world” has become a ridiculous WWE clown show.

      Reply ↓
  10. Wukchumni

    The misuse of Seuss Unherd

    One notable example can be found in the works of William Steig, a near-contemporary of Seuss. One of Steig’s classics, Amos and Boris, tells the tale of a mouse on a sea journey: “One night, in a phosphorescent sea, he [Amos] marveled at the sight of some whales spouting luminous water. Lying on the deck of his boat gazing at the immense, starry sky, the tiny mouse Amos, a little speck of a living thing in the vast living universe, felt thoroughly akin to it all. Overwhelmed by the beauty and mystery of everything, he rolled over and over and right off the deck of his boat and into the sea.”
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I’ve given out around a dozen copies of Steig’s CDB! to impressionable offspring of family and friends.

    The claim is brevity is the soul of wit, and it doesn’t get much more compact than in CDB!.

    Reply ↓
  12. The Rev Kev

    ‘Thomas Keith
    @iwasnevrhere_
    While Gaza’s fighters hold the line under siege, Mahmoud Abbas’s Presidential Office has been funding and arming one of the most notorious Israeli-backed militias in the Strip, the Yasser Abu Shabab gang, also known as the “Popular Forces.” ‘

    Hmm. As part of Trump’s Gaza Riviera plan, there would be no Palestinian State. There would, however, be a ‘Palestinian polity’ for whatever Palestinians remained in Gaza – which would go on to join Trump’s Abraham Accords-

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/01/leaked-gaza-riviera-plan-dismissed-as-insane-attempt-to-cover-ethnic-cleansing

    After all the genocide, mass murders, mass burnings, the killing of children, etc. I thought that they would be hard pressed to find up people to make up this ‘Palestinian Polity.’ What’s the bet that those “leaders” will actually be those Israeli-backed ISIS wannabees.

    Reply ↓
  13. griffen

    Musk pay package, well it’s a long term goal so if investors in TSLA are indeed getting so much richer from all those supposed future wins in robotics and in AI, autonomous driving too then who cares ? Whether he is beloved or despised, I submit that in the end Elon Musk will be among the class of immortal ( robber barons, ok ) capitalists…. Rockefeller and Carnegie were incredibly wealthy of course but they also made others insanely wealthy. Rockefeller had partners like the Flagler family who were instrumental in first developing Florida as a vacation destination.

    I don’t care one way or another to be honest. Does seem like a board that is beholden to this singular talent which also just doesn’t seem like a company with legitimate ideas of a succession plan. Bill Gates left Microsoft what, like some 20 years ago and arguably there were periods of more hype than real substance but they seem to be rolling along with their current CEO. Apple cratered the first time after Steve Jobs left but they have carried on that legacy seemingly well after he died and Tim Cook succeeded him.

    I do think Musk is the exact type of CEO narcissist who would create, if inclined , something like the fictional reality of Brave New World. And in another 30 years he might enough filthy riches to do that.

    Reply ↓
    1. urdsama

      Pray tell, what “talent” does Musk have besides being a liar and grifter?

      Tesla, and Musk, survive on cult branding. Even SpaceX is showing how incompetent he really is. Unless Musk can pivot his wealth away from Tesla, he will be just “another” billionaire.

      His lasting mark on history will be how gullible people are and continue to be. It’s truly a shame no one stepped into the void left by Carl Sagan.

      Reply ↓
      1. griffen

        Well to be fair without the US govt checkbook in 2008 and subsequent following the GFC, auto manufacturers GM and Chrysler would have folded like a cheap suit. It’s always a benefit to someone important or his company if tax credits and subsidies boost the consumer choice to buy their product, and I believe, with some certainty, that Musk did not found Tesla. I don’t own the vehicle or the stock.

        I disagree on SpaceX, space travel of any type is always prone to a fail rate or trial and error. As in some of those early efforts by the US government and NASA were on occasion, rather disastrous for the early astronaut. But I’m not a space travel nerd myself.

        I can remember a time not long ago, when companies like an eBay or PayPal were mere pipe dreams of a future that didn’t really exist in 2000, and Amazon was still mostly sticking to books and Blockbuster was on every corner. Times certainly changed in 25 years.

        Reply ↓
        1. urdsama

          The fact that Musk didn’t found Tesla helps prove my point. And speaking of government subsidies, neither Tesla or SpaceX would still exist without them. For several years the only reason Tesla made a profit was due to selling their EV credits to other car companies.

          With regards to SpaceX, yes space travel can be tricky. But they have yet to really get to the “space travel” part. They have missed all of their Artemis milestones at the cost of around $3B, and had to ask for another $1B. All because Musk thinks he knows best and wants to increase complexity so he can land a huge rocket on the moon. For example, a recent thunderf00t YT video showed how badly the heat tiles of Starship had been designed.

          Fair enough, but what dreams of the future has Musk ever delivered on? None. No landings on the Moon or Mars, no FSD, no auto taxis, no Roadster, no Hyperloop…

          Reply ↓
        2. rob

          the glaring difference between now and the days of my youth 40/50 years ago; is that the money spent by the american taxpayers on NASA, the space race, and the myriad scientific fields that were developed with our public funds, were ostensibly the intellectual property of everyone.
          The quaint notion that scientific experimentation, rigorous attention to detail, disciplined competency produced results for the future of mankind. Sure, maybe it was marketing, even then… but they got men on the moon. they invented the technologies that created the computers, the hardware, the software, the internet. the bread and butter of silicon valley today. They created the infrastructure that used to actually work.
          now we have neoliberalism. we have billionaires who don’t make sense, but still get billions in gov]t contracts. they and their companies are allowed to break the law, pollute the environment , and not fulfil their role.
          We have astronauts stuck in space., we don’t have the ability to make hypersonic rockets. we can’t compete with china in a fair playing field , so we have propaganda and lawfare and tariffs and the threat of war. we pretend… these oligarchs are actually doing something useful.
          Our scientific wunderkind have abandoned public health, but accidentally given us COVID-2. Our politicians are buffoons… now we have fascists and religious fundamentalists… and no money for everyone else.
          And elon and tesla and spacex and the rest of his grift is a prime example of the rot on so many levels. Even starlink is an example of a private company allowed to pollute the commons of the atmosphere, like the days of old robber barrons given the stretches of land to build the railroad. Not just anyone was given the right to do what had already been done there, but those that did got the monopoly. just like musk.

          Reply ↓
        1. griffen

          In further research I learned that John Rockefeller still beats all of the competition, hands down no contest when the fortune is adjusted for inflation. Not sure about the rigors of the study involved, maybe some enterprising GA on low college pay was tasked with the study whilst his econ professor played golf. This was produced in late 2023 when the inflation rate was still simmering and warm, but no longer at a peak rate.

          The second man listed was none other than Cornelius Vanderbilt. In that era they eventually earned their title of a robber baron from the ground up. One of the Vanderbilt heirs spent a good fortune building the Biltmore estate, about an hour plus drive away to the north and west of me.

          Reply ↓
  14. Wukchumni

    I gotta say, watching these glaciers retreat must be similar to the French military in 1940, so sudden!

    Not much threat of Sierra Nevada glaciers busting loose on say Big Pine-perched below the Palisades glacier, because its such a nothingburger of a landberg in the scheme of things, and its the largest one in the range of light.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      p.s.

      They used to do guided walks to both Franz Josef and Fox glaciers in NZ, and we did both of them-behemoths about 8 miles long, and you had to walk around 1 1/2 miles just to get to the lower approach to the glacier and then you put crampons on and up you went away with your young turk Kiwi guide, great fun, and otherworldly as you are surrounded by dense rainforest on either side of the glaciers.

      As you drive up to the parking lot, there will be signs that say ‘Fox Glacier’s maximum point here in 1832’ and so on that are miles from where the glaciers were around the turn of the century when I last visited.

      You can only do helicopter aided hikes on both glaciers now, as they have receded so much that approach on foot isn’t possible.

      I last visited Fox Glacier in 2006, look at the difference from 2008 to 2014!

      https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Changes-in-surface-debris-cover-black-regions-on-the-Fox-Glacier-between-2008-and-2014_fig2_304364565

      Reply ↓
    2. Carolinian

      Back in my crazy youth I cycled to that Chamonix glacier as part of a France cycle tour. Guess now all I would see is dirt. Clearly I was planning ahead.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        As the Great Blue Heron flies, i’m about 25 miles away from…

        Lilliput Glacier is the smallest named glacier in the Sierra Nevada of California. The glacier has an area of .05 km2 (0.019 sq mi), which is approximately 12.2 acres. In terms of area this is about the size of 48 typical suburb (1/4 acre or approx. 100′ × 100′) lots that single family homes are built on. This glacier lies on the shaded north-facing vertical cliff of Mount Stewart and is the southernmost named glacier in the United States.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilliput_Glacier

        Reply ↓
  15. Mass Driver

    Hedgehogs are wondering about the peanuts being blurry, while at the same distance from the virtual camera as their razor-sharp snouts.

    Reply ↓
  16. Neutrino

    Senators, those practitioners of the ancient arts.
    Grandstanding – gotta get those soundbites and quips, preferable with the look of anger and concern.
    Gaslighting – keep the mask on while sputtering, studiously avoiding policy substance.
    Grifting – donors pay when puppets perform, minders keep tabs.

    Combine the Senate hearings with the Fed mission creep and see the kayfabe.

    Those Solons pathetic non-servants are embarrassments. When will greater engagement and honest communication with constituents happen? Oh, yeah. nvm

    Reply ↓
  17. The Rev Kev

    ‘Armchair Warlord
    @ArmchairW
    This is actually a point I’ve been meaning to make for a while.
    Reform of the US Army: The Infantry Brain Drain
    The US Army’s “line” infantry units are in practice fourth-rate formations that have been systematically stripped of talented personnel.⬇️’

    He’s got a point. Back in WW2 when they were forming the first commando companies, one officer objected to his best people being taken. He said that out of every six soldiers, one wants to go forward and attack, one wants to pull back and retreat – and the other four would follow the majority. And those commando companies were taking away the go-getters. So this must be happening in the US military where I note that US Special Operations Command alone has about 70,000 people.

    Reply ↓
    1. moog

      Ukrainians took it up to the next level. They don’t even bother training regular infantry any more. Street-bus-trench in less than a week.

      Reply ↓
    2. scott s.

      So, there’s 3 ranger battalions. I live next door to 4 line infantry battalions. Even if we assume the rangers get the “best” I don’t see there are enough slots there to really turn the rest of the infantry into “fourth rate” forces. And I see plenty of folks around here with ranger tabs. I get the idea that “tabbers” aren’t “real” rangers, but it’s still a heck of a challenge. The local teams finished 20 and 23 this year in “Best Ranger Competition” and took the over-all in 2014.

      Reply ↓
      1. david

        I did eatch an interesting video by an ex infantry soldier talking about issues with thr infantry. It basically boilrd down to their bodies being beasred from 18, that they are ruined by the time the are in mid to late 20s and either quit or are medically discharged. So there is a real problem keeping experienced people. It goes into more detail explaining why this is, but it was pretty convincing.

        Reply ↓
  18. lyman alpha blob

    I wonder if the woman in the second bonus is named Juno? That video makes lends a little more credence to the ancient story of Juno’s sacred geese warning the Romans about an impending attack from the Gauls. The Romans had built a temple to Juno Moneta and some claimed “Moneta” meant “warner” because of the story of the geese. This temple was also where coinage was produced, eventually giving us our current word “money”.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_Juno_Moneta

    Reply ↓
    1. raspberry jam

      I loved the antidote! I have friends with an off-grid smallholding in rural Arkansas and they have a flock of geese that act as perimeter guards around the inner garden and coops. The geese are very territorial and protective and they have been raised with the dogs so they share responsibilities. The geese take their job seriously – nothing like a bunch of 20lb+ angry birds hissing and trying to bite you to make you change your direction of travel

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        The US use to use geese to guard some of their bases back in the Vietnam war. There was no way that any Viet Cong sapper could get past them.

        Reply ↓
          1. Daniil Adamov

            First I’ve heard that about the Roman army as opposed to Rome itself during that early memorable and possibly legendary incident with the Gauls…

            But it is apparently plausible, as the Chinese have been doing this more recently, as police in Xinjiang (probably some other regions too but it’s most often mentioned) and border guards enforcing the zero COVID policy.

            According to the latter article, Americans have been using geese to guard their installations in Germany too.

            Reply ↓
  19. AG

    re: Scott Horton interview about, er, everything…

    Another English-language long format interview from German NACHDENKSEITEN.
    This time with Scott Horton.

    (German transcript included)

    Interview with Scott Horton on the US’s dirty wars – from Iraq and Afghanistan to Syria and Libya to Somalia and Yemen
    146 min.
    https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=138504

    Reply ↓
  20. The Rev Kev

    “And if you are not willing (to war), I will use force”

    The real fun and games start when Merz re-introduces conscription back in Germany. How many young people want to get shanghaied into the Bundeswehr where they might be sent to the Ukraine one day. I have heard that some people in Germany are wondering if Merz has a grudge against the Russians because of that WW2 thingy. Anyway, then you will have real riots and protests. I wonder if Merz will make police except from conscripted service in the Bundeswehr to keep them on side. Can’t wait until you have vans driving up and down the streets of Germany snatching young men off the streets to serve in the Bundeswehr.

    Reply ↓
    1. AG

      Ha! That text by Renate Dillmann I wanted to post here yesterday.

      Anyway. I don´t believe they really mean any of their truly BS-level threats for a millisecond.
      Somebody somewhere in the basement of German DoD does know the true horrifying numbers of NATO tanks destroyed, RU missiles never shot down, AFU killed, scale of Kursk disaster. etc.

      It´s a bit like Oreshnik – by now Pentagon is busy covering up what happened in Nov.
      And the level of silence over it is correlating with its significance. I mean it´s not normal that there is SO little about this uttered in the US. Total.Silence.

      Just like the 1.7M AFU casualty leak from Aug. 20th – not a single word in Western legacy media.
      If silence reveals the truth it does here.

      btw Bavarian PM Markus Söder – still a hot candidate for a future chancellory IMO (had he been chosen 2021 he would have won the election. But I am sure he thanks God now he did not run.) – has voiced opposition against “peace troops” in Ukraine. That says everything.

      Merz has to say it because that´s expected and its necessary to feed the media who are closely toeing the line.
      But then his fiercest inner-party rival will by design say the truth.

      Bavarian State Broadcasting:

      “Söder Rejects NATO Troops in Ukraine

      Munich: CSU leader Söder rejects the stationing of NATO troops in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire. This is hardly conceivable, Söder said in the “Rheinische Post” newspaper. Russia would under no circumstances accept the stationing, as it would be a precursor to Ukraine’s accession to NATO. According to Söder, the Bundeswehr is also not prepared to do this; it is stretched to its limits, both financially and in terms of personnel. Instead, the CSU leader floated the idea of ​​sending able-bodied Ukrainians back home to ensure security in their country. On Thursday, the so-called Coalition of the Willing met in Paris to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine. Afterward, French President Macron announced that 26 countries had committed to sending troops as security for a ceasefire. He did not address the possible contributions of individual countries.”

      p.s. FSB´s psychological profile of Merz is nonsense and meaningless. Merz has no beliefs whatsoever
      Think of Scholz who was a Marxist in his youth and visited Moscow more than once. He started this whole shit show. This is all Hollywood-style-villain-“Don´t take it personally”.

      And it´s common wisdom that many Germans held a grudge against the Russians after 1945. Frankly that´s a normal reaction. In what war did the loosing side ever hail the opponent in all honesty???

      Reply ↓
    3. thrombus

      Germans love order and follow orders. They will report to military concentration camps by themselves. Migrants, not so much, but polizei can’t snatch those.

      Reply ↓
  21. pjay

    – ‘How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart’ – New York Times

    This story about the “Seal Team 6” mission (“the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden”!) has been getting a lot of national media exposure. Perhaps I’ve missed it, but has anybody asked the obvious question: was this part of an effort by Bolton and/or other neocon/neolib elements to sabotage Trump’s much-publicized meeting with Kim Jong Un? Bolton had already been suspected for behind-the-scenes sabotage efforts. The Times, of course, says Trump signed off on the mission; Trump claims he knew nothing about it. As usual, The Times gives us all this “insider” detail without addressing some key questions, including what to me is the most blindingly obvious one.

    Reply ↓
    1. Es s Ce Tera

      The key question for me is why does the US want to leak or fabricate this story at this particular moment?

      Shaping the narrative before someone else does? Perception management? Pre-empting political fallout? Signaling to another government? Shifting blame? Distraction from some other issue? All of the above? Some combination of the above?

      Reply ↓
      1. pjay

        Yes, that is a key question as well. It certainly seemed to come out of nowhere. However, another question I had was whether the recent document raid on Bolton’s home was at all related to this story. Perhaps at some point the intent of both will be revealed to us peons.

        Reply ↓
      2. Bugs

        I think the answer lies in the aborted rescue of the hostages held in the American Embassy in Teheran. It did in Carter. Some senior genius in the agency thinks this could help gather elements against the current occupant. So silly. Nothing can tarnish poop.

        On to the MMA Octagon on the South Lawn! Rose Ceremony in the Rose Garden. The losing bachelors will go home and get YouTube subs.

        Reply ↓
  22. tegnost

    Massachusetts wants insurers to pay for vaccines makes a good virtue signalling headline, but…

    https://www.massbio.org/industry-reports/industry-snapshot/
    From the press release…
    Findings:

    Massachusetts saw a decline of 1,101 research and development jobs (or 1.7%) in 2024, the first drop in the history of the Industry Snapshot.
    In the first half of 2025, Massachusetts-based companies announced a total of $2.75 billion in VC funding, constituting 22.5% of national VC dollars.
    Of the state’s VC funding, 54% was invested in companies located outside of Cambridge in cities such as Boston, Newton, Framingham, and Waltham.
    In M&A activity, $7.6 billion was spent acquiring 14 Massachusetts companies in the first half of 2025 – a marked decline from 17 deals for $28.9 billion during the same period last year.
    An additional 1.1 million square feet of lab and GMP space came online since our last Snapshot, bringing the total inventory to 63.2 million square feet. The vacancy rate stands at 27.8%.
    Massachusetts’ drug development pipeline comprises 15.7% of the nation’s pipeline, up from 15.2% in last year’s report.
    And for more……
    https://www.epmscientific.com/en-us/industry-insights/career-advice/boston-is-the-largest-biotech-hub-in-the-world
    I remain unconvinced that the leadership in massachusetts has benevolent views towards the hoi polloi…

    Reply ↓
      1. Lefty Godot

        Who cares how many “miracle cures” are discovered if 99% of the population cannot afford them?

        Let’s see, if my math skills are still any good, then 100% – 99% = the people who care.
        The indispensable, exceptional, important people. The rest of us are supposed to go die.

        Reply ↓
    2. Kurtismayfield

      That 27.8% vacancy rate! Developers have been building lab space for decades here, probably subsidized a bit by the state government’s life science incentives. That looks like a glut to me.

      Reply ↓
  23. The Rev Kev

    “Age of Invention: The Century-Long Depression”

    This is very much worth a read but grab a coffee first. I heard many years ago how people in England were born, married and died within sight of their church steeple. This article makes clear that it was not by choice but I won’t give out any spoilers.

    By the way, Moon of Alabama is back up again. He says-

    ‘Outage
    Welcome back.
    Over the last 48 hours Typepad, the host and provider of the system MoonofAlabama.org is running on, has had an outage.
    I am not yet aware of why this has happened. I intend to put up a new post later today.’

    Reply ↓
  24. JMH

    It is disheartening to look at what the US government is doing. I was going to make a list of our off shore adventures in West Asia, Ukraine, Venezuela, and the far Pacific,but those are well covered here and elsewhere and we alknow that genocide is not only a crime, it is also deeply immoral and anti-human. Encouraging the continuation of a lost war at the price of very many of the lives of others feels criminal and is deeply immoral and anti-human. Ginning up a crisis based on fantasy to steal oil is dishonorable, bullying, and to give it more credit than it deserves, poor form. There is so much more but that will do.

    But the open moves to stack the deck, to gerrymander, with the avowed intention of ensuring an election victory in 2026 is a maneuver worthy of a Queens real estate operator. Not exactly illegal but on the fringe. A violation of a standard observed for over 200 years, but hey, yer complainin’ because you didn’t think of it first. Some things are just not done. Some things go beyond the bounds. There are rules unwritten or not and this is going too far. I never expected a Trump administration to have a decent respect for the opinions of anyone, supporters as well as opponents, as this regime is all about itself. In like manner DJT is all about his ego and how much he can bank. The grift is one thing. Tearing apart the foundations of the House of Representatives is quite another. I suppose its is a grand idea if you demand a rubber stamp or failing that a disrupted and dysfunctional gang of political entrepreneurs out for the main chance and easily swayed or bought to keep out of the way. But, it is nothing more than partisan election interference in its lowest form.

    Reply ↓
  25. Lefty Godot

    “Writing workshops are useless”–but isn’t the main point of writing workshops that all important networking that we’re all supposed to do to climb the ladder (or, at least, not fall off the bottom rung) in our careers? And, secondarily, to communicate the correct attitudes and opinions to have (or maybe “culture” in a general sense) for those aspiring to advance in their field? Maybe as an alternative to attending “the best schools” (which have always emphasized those two activities) for PMC members who can’t/couldn’t do that.

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      A not so surprising number of movies are about struggling young writers suggesting that the committee form of instruction is preparing them for their true fate as screenwriters. This also allows the filmmakers to cast attractive young thespians even as the plots have the whiff another time and place. Is The Great American Novel still a goal and if so who would read it other than other writers?

      Back in the 20th all those aspiring writers learned by working for magazines–a very much fading format now. Is it time for would be Fitzgeralds and Hemingways to learn to code?

      Reply ↓
      1. Lefty Godot

        It’s funny you say that because a complaint I see fairly often on book-related Reddits is that novels are now being written so as to be easily adapted to movies or TV, and that too much dialog sounds like “Joss Whedon dialog” (apparently he is a TV show producer). I guess that means snarky adolescent banter. And books are being marketed as “rom-coms” now, which I think is a term originating in series TV. Certainly there are other readers who seem to like this and correspondingly hate having to read “old” books (I think this might mean books from before cell phones were a thing). Between this and the polls that find way fewer people reading for pleasure, it seems we’re slowly edging toward a post-literate future. In the West.

        Reply ↓
      2. Wukchumni

        Hemingway quoted in When Money Dies on a foray to Germany in 1922 from France, hyperinflation was awful at this point, but not completely debilitating as it would be a year later…

        There were no Marks to be had in Strasbourg, the mounting exchange had cleaned the bankers out days ago, so we changed some French money at the railway station @ Kehl. For 10 Francs I received 670 Marks.

        10 Francs amounted to about 90 Cents in Canadian money. The 90 Cents lasted Mrs. Hemingway and me for a heavy day of spending, and at the end of the day we still had 120 Marks left!

        Our first purchase was from a fruit stand, we picked out 5 very good looking apples and gave the old woman a 50 Mark note. She gave us 38 Marks back in change. A very nice looking, white bearded old gentleman saw us buy the apples and raised his hat.

        ‘Pardon me sir’, he said rather timidly in German ‘how much were the apples?’

        I counted the change and told him 12 Marks.

        He smiled and shook his head ‘I can’t pay it, it is too much.’

        He went up the street looking very much as white bearded old gentlemen of the old regime walk in all countries, but he looked very longingly at the apples. I wish i’d offered him some. 12 Marks on that day amounted to a little under 2 Cents. The old man, whose life savings were probably, as most of the non profiteer classes are, invested in pre-war and war bonds, could not afford a 12 Mark expenditure. He is the type of people whose income do not increase with the falling purchasing value of the Mark.

        Reply ↓
  26. Lieaibolmmai

    “The tech antitrust renaissance may already be over” Wait, what about boycotts? Why do we need government to break down these companies? It is easy not to use social media, google, airbnb, etc. Teach everyone how to use host file ad blockers (or make a simple app that does the same, one click and be done!) and use a VPN that has ad blocking capabilities.

    It is crazy when I watch people use the internet without ad blockers, it almost gives me seizures.

    The hardest one would be amazon because they literally crushed brick and mortar so many have few option to avoid it completely. Also, phone choice is a huge issue, pretty much a duopoly that is really a monopoly.

    Reply ↓
  28. The Rev Kev

    ‘Thomas Keith
    @iwasnevrhere_
    Rubio’s statement is pure escalation signaling, framing the U.S. Navy’s strike on a Venezuelan vessel not as an isolated interdiction but as a doctrine shift. He’s effectively telegraphing that this administration will treat any suspected “narco-terrorist” boat, Tren de Aragua, Cartel de los Soles, or otherwise, as a legitimate military target, with destruction rather than seizure becoming the baseline response.’

    Trump is already threatening to shoot down any Venezuelan planes that get too close to his warships. I can see this being ramped up. How long until US Navy ships intercept and hijack commercial ships coming out of Venezuela? Yes, this would actually be piracy but the US Navy has already hijacked a coupla Iranian cargo ships to be sold off for profit so how long till Trump does something like that with Venezuela? Cue the Pirates Of The Caribbean Theme Song. He might have to do something soon as he can’t keep those Navy ships out there forever. Those crews need R & R and the ships themselves will need regular maintenance.

    Reply ↓
    1. ilsm

      I do not see any LCS (little crappy ships) in the mix in the South Caribbean!

      Maybe the Russians send an attack sub……

      See how many P-8’s the navy can keep orbiting around Caracas.

      There are at least a few Smedley Butlers on those Amphibs.

      Reply ↓
    2. rob

      Considering there is no evidence the cartel of the sun even exists.. Considering that even the gang tren de aragua, was/is a prison gang that doesn’t operate in the international arena. And considering everything else about the alleged attack on a tiny little boat full of people(which would have been full of bundles instead of people were they actually smuggling drugs), heading away from the us, with no means to actually get to the US, since they could only had a small amount of gas.
      All of the massive conflicts with reality, Might mean that there really wasn’t an attack/ Maybe the trump team read an old copy of the 1960’s exposed national security council plans for “operation Northwoods”.
      Leave it up the the doofus’ on the trump team to copycat the DOD’s plan to overthrow castro.
      Pretend something… destroy something… maybe.. or just pretend… and …. that is their story and they are sticking to it.
      I don’t know which is worse… the actual murder of innocent people.. as a pretext for killing more people and stealing their resources, or just straight up lying about everything, as a pretext to possibly kill innocent people, to steal their resources and overthrow their democratically elected government….
      Anyway you cut it…. it means that americans are complete idiots for allowing this buffoonery, in their name.

      Reply ↓
    3. scott s.

      <"How long until US Navy ships intercept and hijack commercial ships coming out of Venezuela? Yes, this would actually be piracy"

      Well, no, it would not actually be piracy:

      "Article 101
      Definition of piracy
      Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

      (a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
      (i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship or aircraft;
      (ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
      (b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
      (c) any act of inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in subparagraph (a) or (b).

      Article 103
      Definition of a pirate ship or aircraft
      A ship or aircraft is considered a pirate ship or aircraft if it is intended by the persons in dominant control to be used for the purpose of committing one of the acts referred to in article 101. The same applies if the ship or aircraft has been used to commit any such act, so long as it remains under the control of the persons guilty of that act.

      Article 108
      Illicit traffic in narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances
      1. All States shall cooperate in the suppression of illicit traffic in narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances engaged in by ships on the high seas contrary to international conventions.”

      Reply ↓
    4. TiPi

      The murder of Venezuelan civilians 1200km from the US, ignoring international law, was intended as a show of personal impunity, and reaction to the Chinese shindig. Ego driven.

      “I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?”

      “Publicly showing that you can legitimately murder others, and that the lives of the many are worth less than one elite individual, can help a ruler demonstrate their power to a big crowd of allies (and rivals)”

      (Luke Kemp on authoritarian leadership in ‘Goliath’s Curse’)

      Reply ↓
  29. Wukchumni

    Portland-cesspool of crime and villainy that it is apparently, has been given notice they’ll be occupied and are in the cross hairs.

    Reply ↓
    2. ambrit

      “These aren’t the Civil Rights we are looking for. You can go about your business. Move on.”
      Sounds a lot like the old DoJ Mind Trick.

      Reply ↓
  30. urdsama

    I find ecologist Sandra Diaz’s position on climate change an odd one, since one needs to address climate change in order to protect biodiversity. To be clear, I do not disagree with her stance on the importance of biodiversity, but I feel that trying to make it the “real” crisis is a mistake.

    We currently live in an age where most world governments cannot even coordinate strategies on one issue, let alone two. Yes, linking climate change and biodiversity is important and would be the only way forward on a rational Earth. However, if the world’s nations can’t address climate change, biodiversity is likely to be a moot point.

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie

      Having heard a number of people make Diaz’s point, I think they’re critiquing climate change “solutions” that don’t take biodiversity into account. Electrification of everything is an example. The mining necessary to electrify would worsen the biodiversity situation without really solving the climate problem. I think that’s the idea behind Rockstrom’s 9 Planetary Boundaries, and we’re breaching six of them.

      Overall, I think the effect of the argument is to counter over-focus on carbon and tech solutions like carbon capture.

      Reply ↓
      1. urdsama

        Fair point.

        Since I see all of these “schemes” as just another way of keeping energy use the same without actually addressing climate change, to say nothing of making serious inroads on rolling back the damage, I think I missed the connection. Appreciate the clarification.

        Reply ↓
  31. tegnost

    Dang.
    While reading the hill link I spied a couple of opeds not worth linking but pretty wowza nonetheless.
    One on reinvigorating (my term not seen in the oped) trust in the press by using ai that does throw in a few bones admitting that ai is a bull$h!t generator but n the end says that it could scrape broadcast news (!) and could fact check against/with that data. I can’t even…
    And an oped filed under labor seemingly pitching a worker friendly and very sensible platform so that if you have ten gig jobs you can still accrue benefits!…..
    written by…
    Kristin Sharp is the CEO of Flex, the voice of the app-based industry, and a long-time advocate of entrepreneurship and workforce innovation.
    What do you want to bet that is her only job and she doesn’t gig weekends to pay for essentials?

    Reply ↓
  32. vikas

    Re: New Pentagon strategy document: I note this phrase in the commentary: “The new strategy, a version of which landed on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desk last week, places DOMESTIC and regional missions above countering Beijing and Moscow,

    Reply ↓
    1. ilsm

      Two dimensions to any issue: important and urgent.

      Given the neighborhoods a third issue to consider: the other guys (Russia, China, DPRK, Iran) can shoot back!

      The Venezuelans might have a Che Gueverra

      Reply ↓
  33. Wukchumni

    Nope springs eternal for Long Suffering Bills Fans, my 34th season of futility in such endeavors.

    We have a good team, but they are the equivalent of the Houston Oilers of the 70’s, who could never get past Pittsburgh in the playoffs, KC being our nemesis in that regard.

    On 14 October 2024, having never supported a team before, or, to be honest, especially liked sports at all, I became a Buffalo Bills fan. I’d been going out with my Buffalonian boyfriend for more than a year, which I think in his parents’ eyes meant my introduction to the team that animates their entire hometown was overdue. They drove down to New York City, kitted me out in a Bills baseball cap, hoodie and blanket (and plastic Bills bag to hold it all in) – and took me to a game.

    I thought I’d seen enough Super Bowls to know I didn’t care about football, but wrapped in that staticky blanket, one of the few spots of Buffalo blue in a snake-green sea of Jets supporters at MetLife Stadium, I realized what I’d been missing: a team. Or more specifically: this team.

    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/sep/06/buffalo-bills-fandom-community-underdog

    Reply ↓
    1. griffen

      Hope and a passionate fan base, able to strive and compete on the same level with teams who possess seemingly better, and deeper resource levels. At the minimum it is one thing that the NFL has gotten generally correct, league parity where each team gets the equivalent amount of Monopoly money in the salary cap era to deploy as they deem fit. Josh is on the TV a lot lately for whatever that sleep aid is called.

      Just look at Dem Cowboys… seemingly close but more likely to secure a 3rd place this season in the NFC East. But Jerrah Jones has a different mind on winning at the bank versus on the field. If the late Al Davis has a mirror image in today’s landscape, it is Mr. Jones.

      Reply ↓
  34. urdsama

    I love the CNN article on Musk. Talk about burying the lede!

    The whole “Musk could be the first trillionaire” narrative…yeah and I could win the lottery. Oh, how far both journalism and education standards have fallen in the US. For Musk to be worth $1T, Tesla has to go from $1T to $8T in value. Do people not know how much a trillion is?!

    Reply ↓
  35. matt

    re: Why do young people use substances?
    I turned 21 six months ago and spent the summer becoming the plug for a lot of my underage friends. (By underage I mean 19-20 year olds.) I’ve been to just about every dispensary in my area and I can’t even have weed. (Tried it, but it makes my tourette’s syndrome really bad so I stay away.) It’s certainly been an adventure. I’ve heard illegal weed can be cheaper, but I truly do not care enough to find a dealer.
    I don’t think it’s ever peer pressure, but everyone knows someone who swears by weed/mushrooms and is like “this is a wonderful drug that helps me with things.” And if it works for one person, it might work for you too. Most of my friends who like weed like it because it helps manage their anxiety. Also, it’s kinda like dying your hair a weird color or getting bangs. You’re experimenting with trying something new and identity and such. More and more I’m realizing life is a cycle of going “wow this seems interesting I should try it” and then it’s really not all that.
    I only really drink alcohol. The oldest person I know is 99 and can still drive, and she credits this to having never touched a drink in her life. And I know alcohol is poison and all, but I am still exploring it now that I am legal. (Wahoo!) Now that the semester has started I have finally started going to college bars, and you really need to be drunk to not be miserable. Sober all I can see is the filthy wet floor and think about how gross it is. Drunk I end up with girls’ phone numbers. And I don’t get terrible hangovers, the issue is actually my legs hurting from working an 8 hour shift then dancing at the bars after.
    I’m still figuring this out though. Trying all the cocktails and deciding what I am even into. Again, so much of being young is not knowing things and wanting to collect experimental data to be like “oh that’s what that’s like.” (Don’t worry tho guys, after bad experiences with weed I have realized I should stay away from mind altering substances.)
    ALSO adderall is the big drug on campus. One of my friends is trying to get an ADHD diagnosis right now so she can get an adderall prescription. But adderall is a study drug.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      You are in your DUI prone years, and an arrest will stick with you like glue, branded on your record.

      Blotto is bad enough, blanked out blotto in an auto, no bueno.

      Reply ↓
    2. alrhundi

      Legal weed is better than illegal. Illegal has a high chance to be grown with synthetic plant growth regulators that can be carcinogenic when smoked. I’ve also seen concentrates cut with things like pine resin which is just terrible.

      Definitely be careful with Adderall from unknown sources, aka not your friends prescription, because often the black market pills can be cut with things. Worst case something like fentanyl is in there.

      I would highly suggest have a narcan kit in your house if people around you are experimenting. Even if you never use it, it takes up hardly any space and could be a life saver for anyone.

      Reply ↓
      1. amfortas

        all good advice(i’d suggest having aepipen on hand, as well, in case someone doesnt know theres peanuts in the fruit salad jello shots).
        the big one that i drilled into our boys, was always having a DD.
        take turns, and be resolute when its your turn.
        and if all else fails, and as DD you fall into the trashcan punch for some reason…stay there…or call yer dad(lol…boys have both called me on a few occasions).
        and, as stated, avoid pills unless yer dern sure of their source.
        that goes for coke and molly, too…you just never know.
        (when i was in college and long after, i knew the head chemistry lab assistant, working towards a phd, and making all manner of illicit substances in the college chemlab after hours…that is “knowing your source”.
        oh, and likker first, then beer,lol.
        and dont do those idiotic funnel things and keg stands…thats just a recipe for alcohol poisoning.
        burnt toast with butter, B-Complex(cant OD on B vitamins.), and greasy hashbrowns and grits(also loaded w B vit) are yer buddy in the am when the light hurts yer head. dont bite the dog.
        good luck, and wear a damned rubber.

        Reply ↓
        1. alrhundi

          Also good advice! I’d add that you can order test kids for substances like MDMA and LSD to ensure they are as advertised and not an (dangerous) analog or containing fentanyl. Although there still is a risk of hotspots of fentanyl if it’s a pill and you don’t test that hotspot. I’d say buying it in crystal form instead of ground and pressed is safest for that reason, if someone is convinced they want to experiment. Erowid is a good source for dosing and safety profiles. They are well studied chemicals!!

          Reply ↓
        2. Acacia

          Re: “coke… you just never know”

          Once upon a time browsing at a yard sale, I saw a young guy excitedly inquiring about a pile of spent fluorescent tubes lying in the grass. Just as I was thinking “who would want those…?” I overheard his two friends: “A: whut… we’re taking those tubes … ? B: his brother sells coke… A: oh, ok.”

          Reply ↓
    3. Jason Boxman

      Eventually you’ll discover that drinking mostly sucks. Or you’ll eventually get COVID induced alcohol intolerance and you’ll just have to stop. I’d avoid that outcome, for what it’s worth.

      Stay safe out there!

      Reply ↓
  36. Michael Hudson

    The 76 weapons on display in China the other day should provide one of the lyricists here to set them to music from The Music Man’s “76 trombones led the big parade.”
    I couldn’t resist saying that. I can hear it now.

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      Seventy-six weapons led the big parade
      With hundreds of variants close at hand
      They were followed by rows and rows of the finest hyper goes
      The cream of ev’ry famous Rus-Sino band

      Seventy-six weapons caught the morning sun
      With hundreds of variants right behind
      There were more than a thousand guided needs
      Springing up like weeds
      There were laser systems of ev’ry shape and kind

      There were legions of hypersonic platoons
      Thundering, thundering all along the way
      Double plus good and big bab-booms!
      Each weapon having it’s big, fat say!

      There were fifty anti-ballistic missiles in each battery
      Thundering, thundering louder than before
      FK 3000’s of a quite large size
      Anti-drone assets that’d improvise
      An unmanned submarine trolling the ocean floor

      Reply ↓
  37. juno mas

    RE: Solar windows

    Interesting concept. My question: what happens to the long-wave energy (heat) that is passed into the interior of the windowed space? Too much window will create too much heat (and create expensive cooling issues).

    PV panels on the roof may be the better option.

    Reply ↓
    1. matt

      Yeah I thought about that too. I assumed the heat generated wouldn’t be too much worse than normal windows, and that the rate of the energy flowing to the photovoltaic cells would make it a nonissue, but I think there might be issues with the increased heat making the polymers degrade faster, thus reducing the energy efficiency and transparency of the windows.
      Like it’s a really cool idea, but I desperately crave a followup study as to how the windows degrade over time. It could end up being that the places that get the most light are the places where the windows degrade the fastest, causing tradeoffs.

      Reply ↓
  38. Jason Boxman

    So on that latest nasal spray study about Azelastine. This was making the rounds. And I can’t interpret study design. But Dr. Hoerger thinks:

    What happens when they use a more realistic assumption? This is buried in the Supplemental Materials.

    The figure shows whether the findings remain statistically significant (green boxes) or not (yellow boxes) when accounting for varying levels of infections in the participants who dropped out of the study.

    I’ve made three red circles to walk you though how the sensitivity analyses work.

    First one, bottom left. If 2 people who dropped out of the Az nasal spray got infected and 0 who dropped out of the placebo group got infected, the finding becomes non-significant

    Next one, middle circle. If 5 dropouts in each group subsequently got infected, the finding is no longer significant.

    Final one. If 11 dropouts from the Az nasal spray group and 12 from the placebo group subsequently got infected, the finding is no longer significant.

    Basically, the finding rests on faulty assumptions about what happens when participants drop out.

    I can’t interpret whether this is valid or not, either. It’s great when we’re doing individual public health, and we all need to be experts in study design.

    Reply ↓
  39. AG

    re: US strategy shift away from China?

    Moon of Alabama

    When The Pentagon Shifts Its Priorities Will U.S. Strategy Follow?

    Is this a sign of a shift in the global U.S. strategy?

    Politico reports:

    Pentagon plan prioritizes homeland over China threat
    This marks a major departure from the first Trump administration, which emphasized deterring Beijing.

    Pentagon officials are proposing the department prioritize protecting the homeland and Western Hemisphere, a striking reversal from the military’s yearslong mandate to focus on the threat from China.

    A draft of the newest National Defense Strategy, which landed on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s desk last week, places domestic and regional missions above countering adversaries such as Beijing and Moscow, according to three people briefed on early versions of the report.

    The move would mark a major shift from recent Democrat and Republican administrations, including President Donald Trump’s first term in office, when he referred to Beijing as America’s greatest rival. And it would likely inflame China hawks in both parties who view the country’s leadership as a danger to U.S. security.

    “This is going to be a major shift for the U.S. and its allies on multiple continents,” said one of the people briefed on the draft document. “The old, trusted U.S. promises are being questioned.”

    The National Defense Strategy (NDS) is written by the office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy which currently is held by arch-Realist Elbridge Colby.

    The draft of the new NDS seems to be a contradiction of his previous believes:

    https://www.moonofalabama.org/2025/09/when-the-pentagon-shifts-its-priorities-will-us-strategy-follow.html#more

    Reply ↓
  40. Jason Boxman

    I’m not even sure what she’s getting at

    Men + Women + Apps = Bad Romance (NY Times via archive.ph)

    But I never read MoDo so maybe it’s always this muddled.

    When I wrote “Are Men Necessary?” two decades ago, the book’s title was meant to be mischievous.

    Sure, men and women seemed in a muddle at the dawn of the millennium. As women climbed up, poking their heads into spaces long dominated by men, the shift in power affected romance.

    There was an assumption that courtship rituals, where women “trapped,” “landed” and “bagged” a man, waiting to be chased and expecting to have their restaurant tab picked up, would fade as equality grew.

    No more games, like the ones recommended by “The Rules,” the 1995 bible that told women to play hard to get. (“Always end phone calls first.” “Let him take the lead.” Don’t stare at men or talk too much.)

    When I wrote my book, women were in a tangle of independence and dependence. But I figured we’d get through it and the battle of the sexes would simmer down.

    Boy, was I wrong…

    Reply ↓
    1. Ben Panga

      > When I wrote “Are Men Necessary?” two decades ago…

      Why do many men hate liberals? Partly because of this kind of crap.

      I am a 50-year old man, firmly progressive socially, try not to further the patriarchy etc. For as long as I can remember I have been seeing titles like this in articles and books and I strongly dislike it.

      There’s a related phenomenon on UK TV in which male characters, especially “Dads” are depicted as stupid, slow, emotionally stunted, useless ‘herbivores’ etc.

      It is toxic. It alienates men. It made me dislike many specific liberals and has left me an alien in some of my old London social circles.

      I am very tired of being blamed for my sex/gender and being expected to be ashamed of it. I am tired and if I’m honest hurt by how often I am “not necessary” or wrong in someway because I am male.

      Thought experiment: replace “men” in the title of “are men necessary?” and see if it still sounds cute and funny.

      Reply ↓
  41. XXYY

    Uranium Shortage Jeopardizes Nuclear Renaissance. OilPrice

    I’m at a complete loss to understand the “renaissance” of nuclear power plants at this point in human history. Everything extent at this moment strongly suggests not only that we should put nuclear power in the rear view mirror, but that we can do it without breaking a sweat.

    Renewable power sources have become so cheap in the last decade that it doesn’t even make sense to construct oil and gas powered plants. Furthermore, the bugaboo of “baseline power” is rapidly fading as battery and other storage technologies become practical. It’s quite easy to see how an entire grid could be powered with nothing but renewables if someone wanted to do it.

    Nuclear power has always been an especially horrible technology, as we have seen since it was invented. Proponents somehow dreamed up one reason after another to keep the existing plants operating but there was certainly never a strong case to build new ones and they’re definitely isn’t such a case now. OilPrice brings up the fact that existing uranium mines are inadequate to supply what’s needed, and indeed most of the known good quality uranium deposits were tapped out several decades ago. It was common to hear people in the industry talk about how we had passed “peak uranium” way back when I was in college.

    No need to reiterate how every step in the nuclear fuel supply chain, from mine to processing plant, to power plant, to waste dump is a 100,000 year source of deadly contamination; we have heard these stories forever and will probably keep hearing them if this strange and terrible industry keeps forging ahead.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      All very reasonable points and especially the actual constraints on the supply of uranium, though I assume it’s all about the Benjamins as centralized power generation means a few energy companies can profit handsomely, whereas the same is not true with a distributed network of renewables.

      Also: data centers.

      Reply ↓
    2. fjallstrom

      It’s been many years since I read Hughes Networks of Power about the rise of electricity production in the US and Germany circa 1910-1930ies. But something that has lingered with me is the description of the human power networks needed to support the growth of the technological networks.

      Renewables has from that perspective the disadvantage of not being centralised (and not having as much potential as weapons). Perhaps it’s as simple as nuclear being a last attempt at centralised control over electricity.

      Reply ↓
  42. AG

    3x Ray McGovern

    1) Six Decades of Russia-China Analysis
    September 3, 2025

    Events in China mark a tectonic shift in world balance of power. A flashback to when I was Adjunct Professor of Russian at UVA: “Adjunct” is from the Latin adiugere – “to connect”. Here I “connect dots” from my 6 decades analyzing Russia-China relations.
    53 min.
    https://raymcgovern.com/2025/09/03/six-decades-of-russia-china-analysis/

    2) Using Power to Keep US Wealth Disparity
    September 3, 2025

    George Kennan, 1948: US has 50% of world wealth but only 6.3% population. To keep this disparity, speak not of unreal objectives like human rights, raising living standards. We must deal in straight power concepts.” As today in China shows, that’s “over”.
    54 min.
    https://raymcgovern.com/2025/09/03/using-power-to-keep-us-wealth-disparity/

    3) McGovern posting a text by Gilbert Doctorow and the dire case of Russian “expertise” in the US, including comments on Richard Pipes and Mikhail Karpovich.

    Kremlinology Today
    September 4, 2025
    https://raymcgovern.com/2025/09/04/kremlinology-today/

    Reply ↓
  43. amfortas

    rented a dumping trailer yesterday(fee was unloading $15 worth of dude’s trash at the dump)…obtained about a ton of the mulch the city/county makes from yard waste…crept out here(not enough truck,lol) and dumped it in my staging area.
    so today, obtained 2 tones of cow and horse manure from my neighbor…dumped that next to the city mulch…for mixing whenever i can get the tractor to the shop(!).
    also cleaned up the bar and environs…because i might be cooking for folks manana.
    in between all that, i have perused the links, etc…still ruminating on the Michael Hudson thing…but find that the continuing clown rodeo just doesnt interest me that much any more,lol.
    so i cast around, and find this:
    https://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/08/american-spirit/

    one of my favorite “conservative” sites…and its long, but well worth it if you need a break from the vapid vacuousness venting from the vat of vipers.

    Reply ↓
    1. griffen

      A den of vociferous vipers might be an improvement! I started into that essay you’ve linked and will return to it later this weekend. I will add that Whitman seems much more of an example of humanity and kindness than the creatures currently or in past decades lurking in halls of power and influence in the location of DC.

      A city for our country royalty built on an actual swamp. The metaphors may go on without end. And people want to complain, rightly I concede, about President Trump and “decency” or “rules” all while basically ignoring such aspects of the worse people in power for decades. I mean didn’t our 44th President have an amazing lifestyle once out of the White House? But ok yeah, Trump is mean.

      Reply ↓
  44. XXYY

    Revealed: The ships carrying fuel and arms to Israel. Middle East Eye.

    Good story about how dock workers unions are starting to feel their oats.

    These unions have tremendous power to influence world events if and when they choose to use it. I personally worked with the West Coast Longshoreman’s Union in the US back in the 1980s during the boycott of coffee beans from El Salvador. Not only were their actions effective, but also very newsworthy: we had a Salvadoran ship try to unload beans at every West Coast port in the US, ultimately returning to El Salvador in defeat still carrying its cargo. There were giant headlines in Salvadorean papers to the effect that the country could no longer export coffee, creating great panic among the elites there.

    If these unions weigh in in a similar fashion against the Israeli genocide, I have no doubt they will have a disproportionate effect relative to the number of workers involved.

    Reply ↓
  45. Mikel

    “Conor had a raft of links at the time of the SCO, many from Indian sources and non-US China experts. Nearly all highlighted a long list of thorny issues India and China would need to work through for there to be marked improvement in their relationship.”

    Yes. It was refreshing to read realpolitik (in the better sense of the term) analysis vs cheerleading.

    Reply ↓
      1. fjallstrom

        I saw Col. Wilkerson retract that, I think I saw the retraction on Nima’s show Dialogue Works on youtube. Might have been Judge Napolitano’s show. Anyway it appears it wasn’t the case.

        Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA

      (mis?) quoting our hostess:

      “if your business depends on someone else’s platform, you don’t have a business”

      Reply ↓
    2. Acacia

      They’re giving all their customers less than a month to make a copy of all content on Typepad servers, and to migrate everything to another site/platform.

      Yet another reason to avoid these intermediary service providers.

      Reply ↓
  49. amfortas

    and just FYI: a breeze through the cottonwood tree right over yonder, sounds just like a creek.
    i first noticed it when it was around 10′ tall…thought a faucet had busted, somehow.
    its about 40′, now, and has poke up through the wire roof of the Library Chicken Run, such that i had to cut away the wire preemptively, to give it headspace.

    Reply ↓
  51. raspberry jam

    re: Israel can’t stop Alon Mizrahi

    I get his point and agree there is something to it but generally speaking I try to avoid overly psychological rationales for the genocide. There must be a ‘day after’ to what is happening currently in Israel if Israel is to continue existing and you can’t have a Nuremburg-style war crimes trial and reconciliation phase against something nebulous like a society undergoing a sustained narcissistic injury and outlash (which is generally what he is arguing). You can, however, put Netanyahu, Ben Gvir, Smotrich, Katz, Bennett and the others on trial for war crimes. You can classify the Kahanist parties and their organizations (like the JDL in the US) as terrorist again as they were before 2022 and bar them from politics and activism. This assumes, however, there is a core political element with power to do these things in Israel in the current environment, and there is not.

    Another thing is there is historical precedent going back to the foundation of Israel where there is a split in the society between the “don’t retaliate to violence from the original landowners now that we are here” vs “pre-emptive violence against the original landowners is the only way to make them accept this is ours now”. And in that earlier phase the second faction, represented by the Irgun/Haganah/Stern Gang “won” right up until they almost triggered a civil war after the state and IDF were founded. Ben Gvir’s mother, in fact, claims to have been in the Irgun. It is questionable whether the societal pillars remain in Israel to rein them back from annihilation and collapse into a theocratic backwater where only the most extreme settler-oriented religious factions reside. Military coup and civil war following more sustained attacks from Iran might be the only way.

    Reply ↓
  52. nyleta

    Reports just in from Microsoft that multiple undersea cables have been cut in the Red Sea effecting Azure. Expect much more of this as hybrid warfare blows back. When you have nothing left to lose ?

    Physical cash.

    Reply ↓
    1. ChrisFromGA

      Remember that Ansar Allah promised to build a navy, including deep-sea divers? I wrote a parody about it I think, back in early 2024.

      Eat blowback!

      Reply ↓
  53. ambrit

    Just a short Zeitgeist Report, Internet Division.
    It seems that the “campaign” to enshrine “Prosperity Theology” is ramping up. Is this a sign of “hard times” ahead? Someone is starting to pre-foam the runway.
    I just ran across a half hour video proposing that the character of George Bailey from “It’s A Wonderful Life” is really an object lesson in achieving one’s “Abundance.”
    I kid you not. (If you can stomach mental abuse for a while.)
    See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUDlzp4_zvU&ab_channel=TrueLove

    Reply ↓
  54. Ben Panga

    Israeli arms manufacturer closes UK facility targeted by Palestine Action (Guardian)

    Before it was proscribed, Palestine Action ran a campaign targeting the company’s UK sites and connected firms, which escalated significantly after Israel’s assault on Gaza in response to the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas. Elbit System UK’s latest accounts show that it made an operating loss of £4.7m last year, compared with a profit of £3.8m in 2023.

    Last year, Elbit Sytems UK sold its West Midlands-based subsidiary Elite KL (now Calatherm). After Elite KL’s operating profit fell by 75% in 2022, it said that it was primarily a result of increased security costs, its Tamworth site having been targeted by Palestine Action. The new owners said they would not have any association with Elbit and cancel its defence contracts.

    In 2022, Eblit sold Ferranti P&C, part of its Oldham-based business, after 18 months of protests by Palestine Action as well as Oldham Peace

    BP: As a UK citizen, I will refrain from giving an opinion on PA lest I am added to Herr Starmer’s “Bad Citizen List” along with all the pensioners and disabled people they are arresting. It does seem to be effective.

    More than 425 arrested as protesters defy ban on Palestine Action in London (Guardian)

    Reply ↓
  55. Wukchumni

    I would have never thought Benedict Donald would go after snacks, but what else to make of ‘Chipocalypse Now’ other than to hide the tortillas, Lays and BBQ chips.

    Reply ↓
  56. skippy

    WOW X has just turned into a septic tank of feral hard right Bernays sauce … so much for balance/free speech thingy …

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      It’s possible that X has swizzled your account settings to admit moar sewage into your timeline. Happened to me.

      Check “Interests” in your settings and deselect everything you don’t want to hear about. It’s a bit of a PITA but seems necessary, as X algos decide what your interests are and gratuitously add things. Lambert used to talk about curating his X experience and I gather this is part of it.

      Reply ↓
      1. skippy

        I get that Acacia and thanks, albeit the Elon&Trump ethnic blame game is as bad as it gets. Sometimes its good to put on the mental condom and see it/feel it for what it really is.

        I mean its like being here in Oz, working on a well known Philosophy of Science Prof Emeritus old Queenslander home and having chats. Worked at some big name Universities in the U.S., knows Wendy Brown, Quinn Slobodian [thought Hayek’s Bastards was a top read], and a well know author as well. Icing on the cake, as it were, was working at heights out the front and hearing a bloke walk past on the phone. Clearly heard him say “yeah I am really worried about America”. For what its worth this is a well heeled neighborhood in the Australian way.

        In addition my 39 yr old GF from Sydney writer/artist working for a private University day job, father is a retired EO of the Science Dept of a Sydney University sort. Its just nuts Acacia. From Israel to China/Russia and peoples heads getting put on backwards. Everything is someone else’s fault and not the dominate neoliberal orthodox economics emanating out of the U.S./U.K. Heck point out on X that is the reason immigration has been increased regardless of political party, point out Elons rape/murder immigrant shtick fails to acknowledge that Alaska is the rape capital of the U.S. and has nothing to do with immigrants ….

        Best bit is when Elon’s minions on X send me notifications about having a chat with him or follow me. It really is creepy on so many levels …

        Reply ↓
  57. Jason Boxman

    Everyone Is Cheating Their Way Through College (NY Mag)

    Apologies if this was posted back in May; I don’t recognize having read this before, but I might have missed it when it dropped.

    It isn’t as if cheating is new. But now, as one student put it, “the ceiling has been blown off.” Who could resist a tool that makes every assignment easier with seemingly no consequences? After spending the better part of the past two years grading AI-generated papers, Troy Jollimore, a poet, philosopher, and Cal State Chico ethics professor, has concerns. “Massive numbers of students are going to emerge from university with degrees, and into the workforce, who are essentially illiterate,” he said. “Both in the literal sense and in the sense of being historically illiterate and having no knowledge of their own culture, much less anyone else’s.” That future may arrive sooner than expected when you consider what a short window college really is. Already, roughly half of all undergrads have never experienced college without easy access to generative AI. “We’re talking about an entire generation of learning perhaps significantly undermined here,” said Green, the Santa Clara tech ethicist. “It’s short-circuiting the learning process, and it’s happening fast.”

    Absolutely mind bending. Seems like an entire generation of college and high school graduates are going to be morons; we won’t even know if repeat COVID infections are effecting cognition, these kids won’t have any.

    This timeline is stupid; literally.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      Indeed. I just spoke with a friend who teaches political science as a large, well-known state university. When I asked for his take on the current upset over “A.I.”, he readily agreed it really has no place in the classroom, but that he and his colleagues have been in conflict over this with admins and Deans who think it’s somehow a good idea. I asked if it has impacted how he teaches, to which he replied that he no longer assigns research papers or essays. Just in-class exams now. He concluded on the same note I’ve heard from other friends in academia: he can’t wait to retire.

      Reply ↓
  58. griffen

    I clicked on the above tweet touting the negatives of the economy, and while two things can be true at the same time* I kinda disagree with some key points.

    Surging inflation, um well it’s not really surging but it seems at a steady state or range bound , ala 2.5% to 3.5% in my views and recent experiences. Prices of a tall can of beer at events in Atlanta were outrageous two weekends ago, so I was stuck at one beer but that pricing seems an outlier. Cases of beer are higher but not quite the dramatic changes going from 2021 to 2023.

    Recession and the lack of payroll numbers really seem at odds with the above. I’m sorry but that doesn’t seem to be so, highways were quite busily travelled gauging weekend traffic on I 85. May have been a shift to a lower gear in the US economy since this time in 2023 and 2024, and I’ll grant the tariff nonsense isn’t a boost or net positive given the winding road approach.

    Two things at once example, the general economy remained stronger than anticipated in 2023 to 2024, but in a deeper dive the smaller businesses may have struggled as interest costs rose dramatically. That said owning some outright Mega Cap IT was a real boon in that time, especially shares of Nvidia.

    Reply ↓

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