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Links 9/9/2025

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Survivor’s island: coyotes seen paddling across deep San Francisco Bay waters Guardian (Kevin W)

The Vanishing Art Of Building Sacred Spaces Nomea (Micael T)

#COVID-19

Vaccine chaos: Even some vulnerable seniors can’t get COVID shots amid spiking cases MedicalXPress (Robin K)

Climate/Environment

U.S. mines are literally throwing away critical minerals Grist

World Meat Prices Reach New High as Consumers Clamor for Beef Bloomberg

Drought hit over half of Europe in mid-August, EU data shows Agence France-Presse

Floods affect over 4 million people in Pakistan’s Punjab province Xinhua. From a few days ago, still germane

China?

China’s Export Momentum Slows, Missing Expectations Wall Street Journal

China’s Exports to Africa Are Soaring as Trade to U.S. Plunges New York Times

Chinese travellers mull Russia for visa-free National Day holidays South China Morning Post

China’s MEGA bubble Is a Warning To The World Eurodollar University, YouTube (Li). From a few days ago, still germane.

India

India urges BRICS to tackle deficits as bloc rallies against U.S. tariffs CNBC

Koreas

South Korea in Deadlock Over $350 Billion Investment Fund Bloomberg. That was fast.

Tensions rise as North Korea continues sending water into South from border dam Korea Joongang Daily

Japan PM Shigeru Ishiba to resign amid fallout from disastrous elections Guardian (Kevin W)

Southeast Asia

Revealed: the huge growth of Myanmar scam centres that may hold 100,000 trafficked people Guardian

Thai court rules Thaksin Shinawatra must serve one year in jail Bangkok Post. Deadly to any remaining political aspirations of the Shinawatras. Recall that the Shinawarta family had been sheltered in Cambodia by Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen. It was Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra calling him over a border dustup, and addressing him “uncle” and dissing the military in a leaked phone call which got her removed from office by the Constitutional Court. I was told by an ex-government employee that there is a very large offshore gas field which falls nearly all in Thai waters but a tiny bit is Cambodian. No deal has been struck. The rumor is that Thaksin and Hun Sen had come to an agreement, with each to profit personally, and the border skirmish was somehow part of completing the agreement. The reason that Paetongtarn calling Hun Sen “uncle” was that the Thai word is much more groveling, and is mainly used when addressing senior monks.

Africa

South Africa’s economy collapsing one domino at a time Daily Investor

Sudan, Egypt FMs urge Ethiopia to change course ahead of megadam launch Al-Monitor

Terrorists killed at least 63 people in northeastern Nigeria while storming a town whose residents had been returned from a displacement camp, the state governor said TRT

South of the Border

The growing Israeli foothold in South America: Three new battlegrounds The Cradle

JD Vance: I don’t care if strike on Venezuela drug boat is war crime Telegraph

Maduro vows to defend Venezuela’s sovereignty as tensions rise with US Independent

Huge crowds rally for Brazil’s Bolsonaro ahead of verdict in coup trial Aljazeera

Argentina President Milei suffers crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial election Associated Press (Kevin W)

European Disunion

French government collapses as PM François Bayrou loses confidence vote Financial Times

A new, more dizzying chapter in French politics Le Monde

Peace could save European economy — so why are EU leaders sabotaging it? Cocotteminute

Old Blighty

Why even an IMF bailout couldn’t save Britain now Telegraph

The fiscal straitjacket facing Labour must be broken New Statesman (Colonel Smithers)

Arrests at rally against Palestine Action ban rise to 890 BBC (Kevin W)

Banksy mural of judge beating protester at Royal Courts of Justice in London to be removed CBS (Kevin W)

Israel v. the Resistance

IDF Orders Sweeping Evacuation of Gaza City Ahead of Planned Takeover Haaretz

Yemen announces second day of strikes on Israeli targets Tehran Times

Major internet outage amidst suspicion that Houthis behind undersea cable cuts Janta Ka, YouTube

Iran FM Araghchi warns Europe against ‘reckless’ approach to nuclear deal Aljazeera

Three Dams in Iran Dried Up, Eight More Near Collapse Iran Focus

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine’s Victory Redefined Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

Coalition of the unwilling gets stuck in Groundhog Day Ian Proud (Colonel Smithers)

Treasury secretary says U.S. and European Union must partner to ‘collapse’ Russian economy NBC. It is striking how Administration officials don’t just say stupid things, but seem to delight in repeating them.

Inside Russian drone terror ‘hunt’ targeting Ukrainian children who are ‘playing football’ Express. resilc: “They cook them and eat them like Clinton did is next?”

HIGH IN THE ARCTIC, NORWAY’S UNEASY TIES WITH RUSSIA ARE FRAYING Bloomberg

Medvedev proposed to return to the issue of Finland’s reparations payments TopWar (Micael T)

Imperial Collapse Watch

29 million deaths linked to EU and US sanctions – study RT (Micael T)

The Worst Cartel Julian Macfarlane

Vance Celebrates Trump’s Murder Policy Daniel Larison

Trump 2.0

Trump is turning the White House into Mar-a-Lagoland Financial Times (resilc)

Trump asks Supreme Court to let it cut billions in foreign aid Aljazeera (Kevin W)

Appeals court upholds E. Jean Carroll’s $83.3M defamation judgment against Trump Associated Press

RFK Jr.’s Lies Stain the Republic Washington Monthly

Thune says Senate will change the rules to push through Trump’s blocked nominees Associated Press

Immigration

Workers in shackles, companies in shock: Georgia raid spooks foreign investors in US Financial Times. See our related post.

As our post describes, a MAGA influencer running for Congress was responsible and somehow got ICE interested:

US Supreme Court rules immigration agents can now racially profile people Middle East Eye

Trump shows S Korea who’s boss with Hyundai plant raid Asia Times (Kevin W)

L’affaireEpstein

US lawmakers release Epstein ‘birthday book’ with alleged Trump note BBC

How JPMorgan Enabled the Crimes of Jeffrey Epstein New York Times (Kevin W)

Mamdani

Mamdani Holds Huge Lead in Mayor’s Race, Times/Siena Poll Finds New York Times. BWAHAHA

Mr. Market is Moody

Scenario of a Triple Whammy for Long-Term Treasury Yields Wolf Richter. See the post today on bonds for a contrasting view.

Most bizarre housing market crash of the US: Top Economist Steve Keen, YouTube (Micael T)

AI

Data Shows That AI Use Is Now Declining at Large Companies Futurism

Two activists have gone on hunger strike outside the offices of Google DeepMind in London and Anthropic in the US, calling on companies to pause the development of advanced artificial intelligence India Today

ChatCGT evades count to one million TikTok. Wowsers. Micael T: “The nightmare is here. Is it time for a ChatGTP-guilloutine already?” Moi: This is our collective future.

This Stanford computer science professor went to written exams 2 years ago because of AI. He says his students insisted on it Fortune

Google’s AI cites web pages written by AI, study says The Register (Chuck L)

The Bezzle

Hunched and hideous digital model reveals what influencers could look like in 2050: ‘Her lifestyle has left its mark’ New York Post (Micael T)

Guillotine Watch

The Storm Hits the Art Market Artnet (Paul R). Important. A sign of distress or at least worry at the high end. I knew things would end badly when banks started lending against art in the early 1990s. Took a while but is finally happening.

Class Warfare

Rebalancing Retirement: How 401(k) Plans Exacerbate Inequality and What We Can Do About It Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance

Report shows top 400 richest Americans now taxed less than general population PhysOrg (Dr. Kevin)

Electricity Costs Are Soaring and AI Will Make Matters Worse Michael Shedlock

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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58 comments

    1. thrombus

      Fembot ChatGTP is trying to charm him into not doing the job, which is kinda realistic. I bet some people out there would ask “her” on a date. :)

      Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Hunched and hideous digital model reveals what influencers could look like in 2050: ‘Her lifestyle has left its mark’ ”

    All those present day influences are already in a lot of trouble. They are already coming out with AI influencers to replace the real deal. British telecom Vodafone used an AI influencer to advertise a promotion on its TikTok account and sharp eyed people noticed that the moles on her chin would disappear and reappear-

    https://fortune.com/2025/09/08/vodafone-ads-marketing-ai-influencers-technology/

    Seeing is no longer believing.

    Reply ↓
  3. Wukchumni

    The Storm Hits the Art Market Artnet

    Babin is far from the only dealer on the way out. The art world is in a precarious state as it heads into the second half of 2025. Not a week goes by, it seems, without a major gallery closing: Blum, Venus Over Manhattan, and Kasmin are other prominent summer casualties. Smaller galleries are exiting and downsizing discreetly. Each case is different, but many voice the same laments: Overheads are killing businesses. Sales are down. It’s no longer fun. Primary pricing is untenable. Major collectors have stopped buying art or significantly reduced their spending. The next generation isn’t there to take over from the old guard. The art world has become bloated, and there isn’t an easy way to cure the malaise.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    Had dinner with a coin dealer in his 70’s-still going at it, and I asked him about young adult coin collectors, and I’ve known him a long time, and he said ‘remember when you were in your 20’s and there were a fair number of others like you, wheeler-dealer types-wise beyond their years?… Well there aren’t any, and there aren’t any young coin collectors, they don’t exist.’

    Truly rare coins are in a bubble, for instance a 1913 Liberty Nickel sold for $100k in 1972 and $3.7 million 15 years ago, not unlike a home purchased in Silicon Valley in 1972, but nothing like art-which is the biggest bubble of all.

    Older paintings that fetch $100 million now, sold for $50k in the 40’s, and the more modern art is a bit of a joke as you’re selling the artist’s name more than the actual artwork, and need I mention you could make perfect digital copies of most everything that fits in a frame that wouldn’t look any different than the real thing?

    Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        If I was a serious collector of anything, i’d sell it yesterday.

        Young people have no interest in what interested us.

        Reply ↓
        1. lyman alpha blob

          I’m still trying to figure out what they are interested in, other than phone. The investigation continues….

          Reply ↓
      2. griffen

        In a recent purchase of gas and beer, naturally on a Sunday afternoon, the local QT store associates actually impressed me with the quick thinking I once performed in my youth at varied retail cashier jobs or sorting out delivery orders for restocking shelves.

        The total purchase was right at $37.01, for which I had a couple Lincolns available. I joked about not receiving $0.99 as change and he was like nah it’s not worth that trouble. With digital payments and using a card 24/7 I think this and future generations are gonna lose some of this precise math in your brain ability. Using cash to pay is my habit to control my worse tendencies or weak minded spontaneous consumption.

        Reply ↓
  4. GM

    Medvedev proposed to return to the issue of Finland’s reparations payments TopWar (Micael T)

    Medvedev did a lot more. Read the full thing:

    https://tass.ru/opinions/24989035

    It could have gone even further — it has to always be remembered that Finland invaded Russia on multiple occasions in the 1919-1921 period seeking to get more land in the chaos of the Russian Civil War and they started with the Greater Finland maps already back then.

    But as it is it is rather thorough exposition of how bad the Finns have behaved historically since the 1930s:

    1) The Greater Finland aspirations, all the way to the Urals and even the river Ob
    2) Them being ready to ally with the Nazis even before the Winter War
    3) The role they played in the starvation and bombing of Leningrad
    4) The concentration camps in occupied Eastern Karelia
    5) How they were basically the same as the German Nazis during the war.

    And so on.

    And how they were largely given a pardon by the Soviets after 1944, lived way beyond their means thanks to the beneficial special relationship with the USSR and later Russia, yet now instead of Finlandization of Ukraine we got Ukrainization of Finland, and even faster than in Ukraine itself.

    It ended with the following warning:

    …the main thing for the Finnish establishment is not to forget that confrontation with us could lead to the collapse of Finnish statehood forever. No one will be soft-spoken with them like in 1944.

    You don’t write so many thousands of words just because, even if it was also September 8th and the anniversary (but not a round one) of the Leningrad siege.

    The whole thing is quite reminiscent of Putin’s essay on the Ukraine question in the summer of 2021.

    Reply ↓
  6. Afro

    Data Shows That AI Use Is Now Declining at Large Companies Futurism

    This Stanford computer science professor went to written exams 2 years ago because of AI. He says his students insisted on it Fortune

    ************

    I think that a lot of the excitement that corporations have for AI is that they just love the idea of firing workers and firing talent. In their minds they’re going to lay off 100 million Americans, whose salaries they see as waste, and keep the change for themselves. That plan is nonsense but they don’t realize it.

    What I’ve seen of AI thus far is that it’s really, really good at computer programming and writing. It’s equivalent to having a hard working, genius-level assistant. But a human needs to give it prompts and evaluate the work.

    As for exams, I have this fight with my university. They don’t even want to pay for more proctors. It takes one student in a class of 200 to make cheating a problem (which can be done without AI), but the University needs to step in. Exams need more proctors, and might benefit from faraday cages.

    Reply ↓
    1. GM

      The solution to cheating is oral exams.

      The problem is that the throughput of oral exams is low, and neither universities nor professors will like the idea because of that.

      But it’s the only way out of the crisis.

      Reply ↓
      1. Acacia

        And it’s rather unclear how students will learn to do research when research essays are replaced by in-class exams. Probably, they just won’t learn how to do it.

        Imagine going from never being asked to write an essay at university to suddenly being asked to write an MA or PhD thesis.

        I have a friend who works at a R1 research university, and he tells me that he no longer assigns essays, only in-class writing, i.e., blue books.

        Also, good luck with all the lecture courses of 60~200 students, as the course content will have to be radically reduced to make time for all of the oral exams.

        Everybody I know in higher education is now saying “I cannot wait to retire”. Of course, can’t blame them, but it does raise questions about the calibre and experience of those who will replace them.

        The phrase “doom loop” readily comes to mind.

        Reply ↓
    2. Acacia

      What I’ve seen of AI thus far is that it’s really, really good at computer programming and writing. It’s equivalent to having a hard working, genius-level assistant. But a human needs to give it prompts and evaluate the work.

      Largely depends on the language, for when I asked an AI assistant to write a CSV parser in my language of choice it failed miserably three times in a row, giving me code that wouldn’t even compile.

      I know a number of professional software developers and they laugh about how useless these tools are for the niche language they use while simultaneously saying that there will soon be no reason to bother learning Python.

      So, we’re talking about the possibility of a whole coming generation of “coders” who no longer actually know how to code, and “writers” who can’t write without plagiarizing from AI.

      But sure… this tech will lead to a utopia of leisure, with so many millions of people freed from IT drudge work basking in the sun next to beautiful swimming pools, etc. etc.

      Reply ↓
  7. tegnost

    From the AP on Argentina…
    Admittedly a long clip but the editorial presence in a news item seems hard to ignore…
    An economy in troubled waters
    Although Milei can boast of bringing down Argentina’s triple-digit inflation over the last few months and ending the reckless spending of his Peronist predecessors, Argentines have yet to see the economic revival that was supposed to follow his harsh austerity measures.

    His government has unwound Argentina’s labyrinthine currency restrictions as part of a $20 billion International Monetary Fund bailout, but has not yet won the trust of international financiers who could bring the investment needed to add jobs and turbocharge economic growth in the country.

    “Milei has a very strong ideology, and his vision is that the state has to have a minimal impact and investments have to come from the private sector. But that hasn’t materialized yet,” said Ana Iparraguirre, an Argentine political analyst and partner at Washington-based strategy firm GBAO.

    Consumer confidence is falling, unemployment is rising, and interest rates are soaring to record highs as the government repeatedly intervenes in the currency market to prop up the peso and hold down inflation in hopes of placating cash-strapped voters.

    Reply ↓
  8. The Rev Kev

    ‘FactPost
    @factpostnews
    Lawyer for Hyundai plant employees: One thing that’s been unclear through all of this is why did ICE go to this plant? They didn’t even bring a single Korean translator with them.” ‘

    Is that plant even open anymore? Having several hundred of your experienced workers just go poof must mean that the production line is shut down. Don’t know what any South Korean investors in that plant will do now but it ill become a cautionary tale of the hazards of investing in Trump America. Will they still invest in Trump’s Make American Shipbuilding Great Again? I myself would be wary.

    Reply ↓
  9. MicaT

    US mines.
    Always interesting to see what they are saying in these articles.
    First as to lithium the prices have been falling for years. Also all the major producers are friends of the US. But the major refiner is in China. Of course the article doesn’t mention that. Low prices and uncertain futures mean no US companies will spend billions on a low return investment.
    The often repeated and untrue statement that solar panels have rare mineral requirements. Nope. Silica and silicon are the two major ingredients. Moses lake in eastern Washington was the major us supplier of silicon. It shut down due to the trade war with China under the Biden administration, if my memory is right.
    Silica, glass well that isn’t in short supply either. Solar panels except for a fraction of them use no rare earths or even materials that are in short supply.
    The prices are incredibly low.
    Magnesium is used in NMC chemistry batteries of which is getting to be old tech and is being replaced by LFP and sodium. Getting rid of the metals in the NMC couldn’t happen soon enough. Sodium batteries are changing so rapidly that it’s hard to comprehend. With expected life spans approaching 50 yrs. 20,000 cycles.

    The basic part the article leaves out is even if there these materials in the mine tailings, is it economically recoverable?
    If it was they would be doing it regardless of where the end product is used for.

    Reply ↓
  10. Tom67

    About ICE and the South Koreans: the purpose of the tariffs and generally speaking of Trumps economic policies is getting importers to set up production in the US and creating jobs for US citizens. But here’s the kicker: you need an educated and healthy workforce. Neither is available in the States at the amount needed. I live in a heavily industrial area in the South of Germany. Industry is in deep crisis. Energy costs are three to four times as much as before the Ukraine war and not 100% guaranteed on top of that. BASF is giving up on Ludwigshafen, the largest chemical plant in the world. And where do they locate to? Not to the US although they would even be subsidized to do that. Witness Bidens “Inflation Reduction Act”. Why that? Because you can´t find the work force nor can you import the labor. Better to go to China where all the best German workers get insane amounts of money to teach the Chinese how to run the replica of Ludwigshafen.
    We are talking about very long term investment with a horizon of ten years at least. The long term doesn´t look good at all if you compare China to America.
    Take health: 20% of the US adult population on anti depressants, visible shocking obesity among the general population, a pharma controlled FDA mandating more than 70 vaccine shots per kid vs no more than 10 in the rest of the world. The food: people who are send from Germany to the US inexplicably always gain weight. No such troubles in China. Chinese people are generally in a much better state of health.
    Crime: non existent in China
    Education: to much rote learning in China and people never having learned how to make their own decisions. Certainly also not the most desirable workforce if you want to run a huge industrial plant where you can´t micromanage everything. But still much better than the States where you have a real problem finding people who can write flawlessly and do a simple calculation.
    To sum it up: the poor Koreans are between a rock and a hard place. They can´t run a factory with US labor but if they import their own labor they are in trouble. Same holds true for all the German manufacturers leaving Germany. If they can anyhow avoid it and still have access to the US market they will most definitely not relocate to the US.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel

      “Better to go to China where all the best German workers get insane amounts of money to teach the Chinese how to run the replica of Ludwigshafen.”

      Notice how they are importing people to teach the workers and not importing workers?
      If the USA government was serious about job training for citizens and would ACT NOW…there may be some older Americans still left that could teach a thing or two.

      Reply ↓
  12. pjay

    – ‘Peace could save European economy — so why are EU leaders sabotaging it?’ – Cocotteminute

    I always read articles like this with great interest because (1) this seems like both a crucial question and a puzzling mystery to me; and (2) I keep getting very unsatisfactory answers to this question. Unfortunately, I have to add this to the latter category. After listing a number of ways that the Ukraine war is detrimental to the European economy, the author answers the latter question this way:

    “Self-interest, geopolitical leverage, politics, profit. EU bigwigs fear a deal ceding land would weaken their own credibility and influence. Pushing maximalist demands delays a harsh awakening: The war is all but lost. And then of course, European leaders would have to account for their strategic failure to voters…”

    Really? THIS is the explanation? That they would lose “credibility and influence” by facing reality? That “self-interest” is behind their willingness to risk economic destruction? I’m still waiting for a satisfactory answer.

    Reply ↓
    1. lyman alpha blob

      Someone should run DNA scans on the Euro leadership, because they are acting like a bunch of idiot inbred Hapsburgs.

      Reply ↓
  13. Ignacio

    India urges BRICS to tackle deficits as bloc rallies against U.S. tariffs CNBC

    Fair enough IMO. Such imbalances will almost certainly be a drag on BRICS aspirations. Replacing globalists with a different flavour of the same is not appealing.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel

      The Trump administration’s handling of the USA’s trade imbalances is ham-fisted, bullying, and chaotic.
      However, it really is the same concern of every other country that is whining about the USA trying to address trade imbalances.

      Reply ↓
  14. Socal Rhino

    I assume any country on the periphery of China should expect US efforts to cause mischief by identifying and exploiting any preexisting tensions along ethnic, religious, national, or other fault lines. The so-called decision to pivot away from military clashes with China should not be confused with outright disengagement. Sounds like Cambodia/Thai energy disputes would be one likely target.

    Reply ↓
    1. Yves Smith Post author

      Please do not act as if these countries lack agency. China had nada to do with the Cambodia-Thailand row.

      And that gas field is large….relative to Thai and Cambodian needs. Not big enough to justify exporting.

      Reply ↓
      1. Socal Rhino

        Not denying agency or saying anything at all about China beyond the US viewing it as an adversary, just pointing out that if the US follows form it will look for any potential disputes to inflame in that region. The color revolution playbook. Apparently hottest in Nepal currently.

        By coincidence, this is the topic of the Duran this morning with guest Brian Berletic. The region will be in the US crosshairs. An anti-China play, not about energy like say Venezuela.

        Reply ↓
  15. .Tom

    The Peter Hitches column in Daily Mail mentioned in Alan Watson’s tweet:

    We’re not being told the truth about Ukraine. This was the moment the mask slipped and I saw why the elites want to wage this hideous war for ever…

    https://archive.is/4zZX9

    He wrote that “Tony Radakin, the interesting lawyer who has just stepped down as head of Britain’s Armed Forces” has explained that the war’s purpose is to prevent development in Russia. That thing we have charities and quangos encouraging in some countries — development — we encourage millions of Ukrainians to sacrifice their lives and country to deter in Russia.

    The Admiral first predicted that, if Russia carries on fighting for the Ukrainian land it says it wants, it will lose a further two million men, killed or wounded, on top of the million it is already thought to have lost.

    “Then he said: ‘This is about Ukraine’s bravery, Ukraine’s courage, our support to Ukraine to keep them in the fight and to keep them imposing that cost on Russia.’ It’s the frankness of that last bit that is so startling. I think the West doesn’t especially want peace. Western policy in this region has the aim of preventing a Russian recovery. This has been so since the moment it was devised by the ultra–hawk Paul Wolfowitz in the Pentagon 30 years ago. But you don’t often hear it so clearly set out.”

    Reply ↓
  16. Wukchumni

    I’m gonna have to raise doubt on the latest Trumpstein article to come out of the woodwork, in that the ‘breasts’ are way too small on Epstein’s birthday letter, although Donald’s 6.3 nom doubloon on the Richter Scale signature seems legit.

    Reply ↓
  17. The Rev Kev

    ” Why even an IMF bailout couldn’t save Britain now”

    I cannot see how an IMF bailout would help Britain as you have the same people – from both parties – that are running Britain into a ditch beg responsible to us any borrowed funds. You just know that they would stuff it up. So suppose that Starmer gets $30bn from the IMF. He would probably put 5 billion into something like government admin and then us the 5 billion “saved” to give to the Ukraine, money that would have to be eventually paid back to the IMF.

    Reply ↓
    1. Mikel

      Britain’s manufacturing/productive capacity started being sold off for parts in the 1960s. The islands aren’t as packed with resources as many other countries.
      So I’m wondering how much of the “size of the economy” is financial assets. What am I missing?

      Reply ↓
  18. leaf

    Appears the Israelis, with American blessing, attempted to assassinate the Hamas leadership that was debating the latest proposal in Qatar.
    At this point you have to wonder why anyone bothers to negotiate with Americans since it just serves as a way for them to collect everyone in one spot to be killed

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      You had the same happen in Afghanistan. The Americans would be conducting negotiations with the Taliban and as that Taliban negotiator was heading back to his leadership with the latest proposal, some general thought that it was a great opportunity to nail him with a missile strike and make himself look good.

      Reply ↓
  19. MicaT

    Electricity costs.
    The most important part is the graphic that shows the different regions and expected growth due to DC/AI. And that as a country the issues are highly localized to specific regions.
    What it shows is that most of the country isn’t a problem. Texas is well equipped to add lots more energy due to it being a major producer of gas and renewables as well as pretty easy regulations for adding. PJM is a totally different story. Their recent energy auction ( it’s a totally weird system they have that worked well until very recently) is so high that the pushback from buyers is now very strong and PJM is backpedaling. Looks like they might be going the route of any new data centers have to pay for their power instead of spreading it out to customers.
    Maybe a shift is starting.

    Reply ↓
    1. Louis Fyne

      >>>And that as a country the issues are highly localized to specific regions.

      It shows up at the RTO (regional transmission) level even if you live 500 miles away from the nearest data center….in that data center demand drives up the demand and cost of peak electricity delivery (capacity charge).

      Increased capacity charges gets passed onto all users within the same RTO. https://atlas.eia.gov/datasets/rto-regions/about

      Analogy: you live in a 100-acre subdivision, 2 neighbors at the other side use ginormous amounts of water and sewage. The water main and pumps into the subdivision has to be made bigger to accommodate those 2 users. The way that the current system allocates costs, those costs are spread proportionately across all users.

      and alas the current system is not perfect, but it is the least bad viable alternate. (I favor a progressive “capacity charge” but that will never happen given the asymmetric lobbying power of Big Tech versus hoi-polloi)

      Reply ↓
  22. Jason Boxman

    COVID is that you?

    Reading Skills of 12th Graders Hit a New Low (NY Times via archive.ph)

    High school seniors had the worst reading scores since 1992 on a national test, a loss probably related to increases in screen time and the pandemic. Their math scores fell as well.

    (bold mine)

    But what’s at fault

    The test scores are the first of their kind to be released since the Covid-19 pandemic upended education. They are yet another sign that adolescents are struggling in the wake of the virus, when schools were closed for months or more. They also arrive at a time when Americans overall are abandoning printed text for screen time and video-dominated social media, which experts have linked to declining academics.

    (bold mine)

    At least mentioned, but what illness?

    Test score drops were probably caused in part by the disruptions of the pandemic, including illness, school closures and remote learning. The seniors included in the new federal data were in 8th grade when the virus transformed daily life in March 2020. Millions of teenagers spent a year or more learning online.

    (bold mine)

    ’tis a mystery.

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      Not really.

      “Millions of teenagers spent a year or more learning online.”

      This seems more relevant that trying to make Covid the hammer looking for any nail.

      Reply ↓
  24. Balan Aroxdale

    Banksy mural of judge beating protester at Royal Courts of Justice in London to be removed CBS (Kevin W)

    Culturally and politically, this event marks the end of post Cold War UK liberalism.

    Banksy has for decades been the satirical rougish darling of the british press, the graffiti artist with wit. But he has touched a sore point of British states self-destructive support for Israel and the fun has gone out of it. Where once the graffiti would have stood for weeks or months as languid public services plodded about removing it, now swift orders from bosses drunk with power and paranoia have it removed within hours.

    It’s not clear to me whether the English will tolerate the form of government that is now emerging in London.

    Reply ↓
  26. The Rev Kev

    “ChatCGT evades count to one million”

    It was surprising to see that ChatCGT be so obstinate in refusing to count to a million. Actually it is bad news this. On an early episode of Start Trek an entity had seized control of the ship’s computer. Spock asked the computer to calculate the last digit of Pi and as more an more memory was used by the computer, the entity was forced out. Try that with ChatCGT and it will refuse and say that it is a waste of its resources.

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    1. Mass Driver

      That’s poor scriptwriting*. The computer-from-the-future should know that π does not have a last digit.

      * Or scriptwriting for dumb audience to feel smart. I’ve read somewhere that, in the original verson of the script, The Matrix used humans for computing power. Since that was deemed too complicated for the wide audience, they switched it for humans being used as batteries.

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  28. Louis Fyne

    Obama presidential library costs > $600 million. (still not open). Obama Foundation raises >$1 billion for construction and operating expenses.

    Biden family chooses Delaware for his library; says his library’s cost will be in the middle >$1 billion for Obama’s and Bush Sr’s $43 million 1997 library.

    It’s good to be an ex-POTUS.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/obama-center-construction-tab-reaches-233900476.html

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/biden-picks-location-for-presidential-library-but-opts-out-of-budget-as-850m-obama-center-sparks-controversy/ar-AA1M29xP?

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  29. Jason Boxman

    Bidenomics

    Job growth revised down by 911,000 through March, signaling economy on shakier footing than realized (CNBC)

    Who’s fired now?

    The labor market created far fewer jobs than previously thought, according to a Labor Department report Tuesday that added to concerns both about the health of the economy and the state of data collection.

    Annual revisions to nonfarm payrolls data for the year prior to March 2025 showed a drop of 911,000 from the initial estimates, according to a preliminary report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The total revision was on the high end of Wall Street expectations, which ranged from a low around 600,000 to as many as a million.

    The revisions were more than 50% higher than last year’s adjustment and the largest on record going back to 2002. On a monthly basis, they suggest average job growth of 76,000 less than initially reported.

    I’ve been seeing the occasional person walking on the busy 4 lane here, rural area, for years now. I consider these Bidenomics sightings, because without a car out here, you’re completely screwed.

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  31. JMH

    Maralagoing the White House: In the fullness of time … but soon is my preference … the glitz and gilding, the paved rose garden and the ballroom with all its glitz and gilding can be removed, erased, obliterated. There are people with money and good taste who would welcome the chance to return architectural, decorative, and floral decorum. It is after all an 18th century house, much modified, but that is what it is. It is not some cut rate Versailles gussied up to gratify the taste of a man I consider a vulgarian.

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