NASA Scientist Proposes Theory of Alien Civilizations Throughout Milky Way Futurism
Markov Chains: The Strange Math That Predicts (Almost) Anything 3 Quarks Daily
How the Brain Moves From Waking Life to Sleep (and Back Again) Quanta Magazine
Rise in youth mortality fuelled by mental illness, drugs, violence and other preventable causes The Conversation
COVID-19/Pandemics
Pozniak: Are we really ready for next pandemic? Boston Herald
Pandemic fears grow amid alarming rise of variant in China Daily Mail
Climate/Environment
Sea Levels Rising Faster than at Any Time in 4,000 Years, Study Warns SciTech Daily
World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer The Guardian
South of the Border
Is the US about to attack Venezuela? Vox
Mexican and U.S. Officials Don’t Think Trump Admin Will Conduct a Military Intervention in Mexico: Report The Latin Times
Treasury’s $20 Billion Swap with Argentina and the Complementary ESF Credit Facility VeriDelis substack
China?
Heavy trucks in China given a personality
pic.twitter.com/RdbKoH0i3Z— Science girl (@gunsnrosesgirl3) October 7, 2025
China Seizes The Master’s Weapon As It Makes Itself The New Hegemon Ian Welsh blogNexperia China unit asserts its independence as tensions with the Netherlands run high Reuters
China Wins Its Largest Ever Fighter Export Deal: Pushing U.S., Russian and Korean Competition Out of Indonesia Military Watch magazine
The First 48 Hours of a War With China ‘Could Be Ugly’ National Security Journal
India
India cutting Russian oil imports by 50%? After Donald Trump, White House makes big claim; refiners await clarity The Times of India
“India Working On 2 nm Chip”: Ashwini Vaishnaw Shows ‘Wafer’ At NDTV Summit NDTV World
Africa
Gen Z protesters toppled Madagascar’s president. Should other African leaders worry? CNN
European Disunion
Europe and the US Are Drifting Apart and It Isn’t Just Because of Trump Jacobin
Is mandatory military service returning in Europe? Turkiye Today
Twenty countries pressure EU for more deportations to Afghanistan DPA International
Old Blighty
Brexit impact on UK economy will be negative for foreseeable future, Bailey warns The Independent
Israel v. Gaza, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Iran
Israel tortured and sexually humiliated Greta Thunberg.
Some excerpts from her interview with the Swedish paper Aftonblatet:
“They grab me, pull me to the ground, and throw an Israeli flag over me.”
“They dragged me to the opposite side from where the others were sitting, and… pic.twitter.com/vr4P0PuBgY
— Caitlin Johnstone (@caitoz) October 15, 2025
Rebuilding Gaza will take ‘decades,’ cost $70B, experts say ABC NewsEgypt expected to lead global stabilisation force in Gaza, say diplomats The Guardian
Israeli forces stage new incursion near Syria’s Quneitra Shafaq News
UN rapporteur says deadly Israel strikes on vehicles in Lebanon could be war crimes The New Arab
New Not-So-Cold War
Hungary for a Change (No Kings Update) Oliver Boyd Barrett substack
The Wizard of the Kremlin News Forensics substack
Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant repairs begin in Ukraine as ceasefire zones set Al Jazeera
Ukraine’s Zelensky leaves D.C. without Tomahawk missiles he sought UPI
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Google’s Ambitious Privacy Sandbox Project Signals Its End Gizmodo
Quantum threat looming large to privacy Bizz Buzz
Imperial Collapse Watch
Ohio community frustrated over homeless encampment in cemetery News 5 Cleveland
Trump 2.0
Prosecutor Who Rejected Trump’s Pressure to Charge James Is Fired NY Times
When could the shutdown end? Five key dates to watch The Hill
US to repatriate survivors of strike on ‘drug-carrying submarine’, Trump says BBC
Protesters gather nationwide for ‘No Kings’ rallies opposing Trump administration Andolu Agency
Musk Matters
Key facts: Analyst questions Tesla’s valuation; ISS advises against Musk’s pay TradingView
Elon Musk is looking for 100,000 people to send to Mars zamin
SpaceX has big, destructive plans for its big rocket in Florida The Bradenton Times
Democrat Death Watch
Newt Gingrich sees nationwide shift to GOP as voters flee ‘crazy’ Democratic Party Fox News
Democrats Have Let Republicans Become the ‘Peace’ Party Common Dreams
Immigration
Trump’s immigration crackdown weighs heavy on the US labor market AP
Internal documents suggest Salesforce offered AI services to expand Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown Times of India
Judge orders federal immigration agents to use body cameras in Chicago The Spokesman-Review
Our No Longer Free Press
Pentagon Press Exodus Erupts Over New Access Rules Grand Pinnacle Tribune
Mr. Market Is Moody
Fragility of the dollar system: balance sheets to blockchains Kraken blog
Smart Investor: AI Boom or Bubble, Stocks on a Tightrope, and Why the Market Could Get More Concentrated Morningstar
AI
Game over. AGI is not imminent, and LLMs are not the royal road to getting there. Marcus on AI substack
How sexy should AI be? OpenAI is one of many companies hoping to cash in Euronews
Inside San Francisco’s new AI school: is this the future of US education? The Guardian
People are using AI to talk to God BBC
People Who Lost Their Jobs To AI Are Opening Up About Their Experiences, And It’s Genuinely Scary BuzzFeed
The Bezzle
South Koreans freed from Cambodian scam centres return home under arrest Al Jazeera
Myanmar scam cities booming despite crackdown – using Elon Musk’s Starlink AFP
Guillotine Watch
TOP 8 MOST EXPENSIVE WHISKIES IN THE WORLD 🌎 2024
A THREAD ❗️❗️❗️
1. Isabella’s Islay – $6.2 million pic.twitter.com/OuvpXP3dzg
— BLAZE OF LAGOS🔥 (@campusblaze) February 12, 2024
The most expensive bottled water in the world is the Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani, which is priced at $60,000 per 750 ml, and is sourced from either France or Fiji, and contained within a 24-karat solid gold bottle. 💦 #FactManiac pic.twitter.com/d8EXOWnl6K
— Fact Maniac (@factmaniac) January 27, 2019
Antidote du jour (via)
Lioness and cub
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
Elon Musk is looking for 100,000 people to send to Mars zamin
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Take me home Elon!
Let me back up a little, how was I to know that Mars Air would go bankrupt when I was on vacay on this nice little orb you’ve got, effectively stranding me here since.
Needless to say i’ve been living off of mileage points for some time now and have gotten used to earthling ways, and to be honest the food is such much better here than on the red planet.
He is also looking for 100,000 people that want to buy Cybertruck. I wonder which miestone will be reached first. :)
Elon’s Martian Death March.
[1] The cosmic radiation exposure involved in a round-trip to Mars aboard one of Musk’s crappy chemical rockets — he doesn’t have a launcher that can directly reach GEO yet — would expose astronauts to ~660 mSv of radiation, nearly 20 times the annual limit for nuclear workers.
[2] Mars doesn’t have a magnetosphere and is too small to have enough gravity to ever retain an atmosphere so can’t be terraformed — pace Kim Stanley Robinson — so any survivors of the trip would then be exposed on the Martian surface to radiation levels almost as bad at about ~0.67 mSv/day, or over 20 times Earth’s background level. So there’s a chicken-and-egg problem there
[3] What about the shielding challenges? Effective protection would require underground habitats or regolith-based shielding, which besides not yet being proven at scale, means that construction workers — many of them riddled with tumors by that point — would have to be on the Martian surface for however long that construction takes (as the Mars Rovers may be the full scope of what we can do in the way of long-distance robotics currently). Kind of a Catch-22 there.
~ ~
Musk can no more deliver a thousand living humans to Mars than P.T. Barnum. The terrifying thing is that he may not even know this — he dropped out of Stanford’s physics masters program and most of the people who’ve encountered him and I’ve asked think it was because he wasn’t bright enough to hack it
The problem of radiation shielding for space travel is basic and simple, put the habitat inside a ring of water, or water ice. This increases the power needed to move the complex, but that is a simple technical problem. Another, but truly weird solution would be to engineer the crew to tolerate higher levels of radiation exposure. This would imply a multi-generational project.
Mars may not have a magnetosphere now, but if the findings of primitive life on that russet orb in the far past pan out, then such may not be a deal killer. Some sort of upper atmospheric radiation shielding could be worked out. Again, another technical problem.
As for the gravity problem, while a real problem for atmosphere retention, one must look at perhaps a mid-range solution. Lightweight coverings over Martain valleys to retain both atmosphere and heat. Yet again, a technical problem.
The construction problems can be ameliorated by the heavy use of remotely controlled robot machines. Human controllers ensconced in underground control rooms managing the construction activity on the surface.
The real deciding factor to this scheme is political will. Such a program is truly a nation state level enterprise. I’ll wager that Musk is hoping that once he proves out the concept, that some nations will pile on the bandwagon. This premised upon said nation state elites finally realizing that Global Warming is an extinction level threat to the Terran human population.
Anyway, that’s my narrative and I will continue spin it.
Stay safe.
Re: Lightweight coverings for Martian valleys.
But again, that is why the moon is better, cheaper and closer. Lightweight coverings for lunar valleys becomes almost doable.
And if you’re engineering artificial habitats, the “extinction level threat” becomes less about transportation issues (radiation, energy) and more about what environmental issues must be addressed.
True. “Artificial habitats” might have to be established here on Earth as well.
The real question might be, can technological civilization be preserved and maintained anywhere?
What size of a civilization is required to continue “sophisticated” technology? I do remember that after Hurricane Katrina pretty much wiped out much of the central Gulf Coast, we were dependent on help from outside to recover and rebuild. When the entire ecosphere is in crisis, where will that “outside help” come from?
Stay safe.
There would still be a long way to go before it could be anything like self-sufficient. Such an enterprise would rely heavily on advanced technology, modern materials and the like, which means regular supply runs from Earth (I think we can all agree that replicating modern extraction, refineries, manufacturing etc. on Mars is not a near or even medium term goal, assuming the resources even exist there to begin with).
So the basic problem remains that you’re at the far end of the longest and most expensive supply chain in human history, at the mercy of a government and economy that measures success in terms of (financial) return on investment. What happens when some austerity politician starts giving speeches about the Mars boondoggle, and talking about how that money could better be spent?
There’s still how much ocean here on earth left to be explored or visited?
If the Mars project is such a great idea, Musk should be among those 100,000 lining up first on board.
Or perhaps the only one.
One Elon and 99,999 Mini Musks.
Musk could expand the project a bit.
510,810 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWIs) — each worth over $30 million — control $59.8 trillion in combined wealth
Full impulse engines and head for Mars. Or the Sun!
Thanks! I was in the process of drawing up my own list; this will help!
If they miss the sun, there are plenty of other places they can hit… the universe is huuuuuugeeee. No reverse-gear allowed on that rocket though…
What would aliens think about us sending a bunch of crap into their space? Offended? Happy to recieve specimen for their trials? Advanced recycling systems? How would they reuse this waste? Not returning to us, I hope.
So many questions.
~musical interlude~
Set the Controls For the Heart of the Sun, by Pink Floyd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zuEfmmCA5s&list=RD3zuEfmmCA5s
I would pledge what little disposable income I have towards ridding our planet of the top 100,000 wealthiest people in the world. I don’t think I am alone. Sure getting rid of the other almost 411,000 would be wonderful, but the billionaires and near billionaires would be a good start.
If there were a second I might go with 100,000 current and past Presidents, Premieres, MPs, and legislative heads, but it would be a tough call not to go one more rung down the wealth ladder.
But whoever ends up on Musk’s Mars expedition it does need to include Musk, Thiel, Ellison, Bezos etc no matter what.
I’d start with the Genocidaires.
I hear Venus is nice this time of year..
We did Venus as part of a universe package tour in the 70’s, with humidity it feels like 800 degrees~thank goodness for skin rebreathers.
“American Private Military Companies Are Poised to Become Major Players in Africa’s Security Landscape”
Because if there is one thing that the continent of Africa is in desperate need of is mercs. There were whole companies of them running around Africa in the 50s and 60s which really made the people there happy. The difference is that back then was that these were small groups recruited by people like “Mad Mike” Hoare under contract by local governments. These days you have major multinational corporations that have cornered the market of mercs and are only one step away from major governments-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mad_Mike_Hoare#Congo_Crisis_(1961%E2%80%9365)
Same way as Europe, especially Italy and German States did not need the mercs companies that roamed those places for hundreds of years:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hawkwood
Pandemic fears grow amid alarming rise of variant in China Daily Mail
Surprisingly good reporting in the Daily Mail, and sounds alarming. I haven’t yet completely read the scientific paper but this, just before winter, is something to watch closely. I am missing a comparative analysis of this strain to well known human infecting variants in the very same paper and the serologic analysis is incomplete, IMO, and would have required simultaneous analyses with human Influenza antisera even if they claim there is no cross reactivity citing references that supposedly say so. The fact that the virus spreads airborne amongst ferrets is something to note. Yet again, comparative transmission analyses with other flu strains are missing there. The human sample consisted in >600 samples obtained between 2020-2024 with positivity rates not dissected by year of sample but origin (rural/urban) and that makes me suspicious. A few grains of salt on this paper after a very fast read.
I found the article strange because it never mentioned what the symptoms were. Nor did it talk about how this pandemic could be deadly or dangerous.
Also, whatever happened to bird flu? I just noticed that it has disappeared from the headlines completely, after being the most terrible thing going on. Where can I get an update?
Avian flu diary blog has daily info posted.
It’s been featured in the daily links a number of times.
It’s here in Outer Pentagonia. Until mid-September I would refill my feeder 2 or 3 times per week. Today I refilled it for the first time since Oct. 3.
It’s not just my feeder or seed-eaters. the robins and wrens and bluebirds have also disappeared. The birds are all gone from the surronding woods. Apart from one sickly finch, my only customers seem to be juncos heading south.
There was an article linked (Substack) here about 1-2 days ago saying (not verbatim) something like “avian flu is one mutation away from a new pandemic”. This was a good one but the mutations being discussed there were found not in China but somewhere else in SE Asia (Indonesia, Vietnam… I don’t remember). The recommendation was that vaccination against H1N1 could be the best approach from a personal point of view.
NASA Scientist Offers Another Flimsy Opinion on Alien CIvilizations…
This non-theory is indeed a weak Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster.
First, the Fermi Paradox, which Wikipedia, of all places, reports amusingly and anecdotally. On the way to lunch, our hero Enrico: Fermi blurted a question variously recalled as: “Where is everybody?” (Teller), “Don’t you ever wonder where everybody is?” (York), or “But where is everybody?” (Konopinski).[19] According to Teller, “The result of his question was general laughter because of the strange fact that, in spite of Fermi’s question coming out of the blue, everybody around the table seemed to understand at once that he was talking about extraterrestrial life.”[20]
Yep. And Fermi was right.
The reason is fairly simple. The famous Drake Equation. Plug in one low value (and there is a variable for technological development) among the variables, and the number of space-traveling civilizations in our Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy drops to, ooooh, a dozen.
Habitable worlds are too far apart.
And by now, the Lucy Show in reruns has reached everyone else by radio waves, so they know not to show up on Earth.
Of course there is the time factor. Not everybody is developing at the some time and at the same rate. So as an example, suppose that we develop warp drive and can visit stars several hundred light years away. So we may find that one on planet they they are still going through their age of dinosaurs and there is no sapient life. On another, it may be that we missed them in that they developed a major civilization, reached into space but then eventually died out only leaving only stuff for our archaeologists to sort through. We might be able to get enough of their equipment working to see them moving and to here their voices but there would always be the incredibly sad realization – ‘Oh we just missed you’.
Your comment gives me hope for Humanity.
There is a very simple answer. A sufficiently advanced civilization collapses into virtual space. Freed from biological evolution, it no longer needs to deal with mass and distance, and travel becomes moot.
However, even if we assume life forms similar to our type, the current estimate of over 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 habitable planets in the observable universe renders the idea of space exploration ridiculous.
The assumption of similar life forms is a curious one. And whatever the form, maybe “they” just don’t care.
It has much to do with a limited view on what is considered or valued as “intelligence”.
Some societies may collapse into virtual navel gazing, but humanity is a strange beast, and there will likely always be the marginalized, the dissatisfied, the independent thinkers, and the weirdos who are ready and willing to travel to one of those 10 sextillion habitable planets to try something different and see new things. The only moot for me is that 10 sextillion habitable planets sounds like opportunity and what are we waiting for?
And yes, I do get the scale of cosmic distances, which makes the project of exploring the Milky Way an exercise on the order of hundreds of thousands if not a few million years. But unlike some, I see no particular reason for humanity to go extinct. Which is the -only- endgame of staying on this particular object in the universe.
Hear, here
I’m with you and have decided to stay put.
Yes! Why would navel-gazing provide an evolutionary advantage? A recipe for a predator to have a field day, and the species to have gone extinct before it became technological.
“Habitable worlds are too far apart.”
From More Everything Forever by Adam Becker. Much thanks to NC commentariat for recommending this book.
No human has traveled faster than Apollo 10’s Earth reentry speed of 24,816 mph.
The fastest speed of any man made object is the Parker solar probe, 430,000 mph or 0.64 percent of the speed of light. These speeds are made possible not so much by propulsion as by the enormous gravitational force of the sun.
“After millennia of technological advances, humanity’s best method for making things go really fast is to drop them.”
Much was made of Death Valley Scotty setting a blistering new speed record from LA to Chicago in 1905, averaging about 50 mph!
64 years later, we’re doing almost 25,000 mph
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Special
“…we’re doing almost 25,000 mph”
Again, only made possible by Earth’s loving gravitational embrace.
Stil faster than Hypeloop.
re: Guillotine Watch
Funny how that $60k bottle of water kinda looks after the fact of a very quick hack, Marie.
My bubbly water is sourced from Mexico, and a liter of Topo Chico is $2.50
I wonder how much of that 60K is the bottle deposit.
I’m not a real Picasso, but I play one on tv…
Maybe they can put that empty bottle up on eBay for sale.
As a palate cleanser, here’s a taste test of el cheapo $600 bottle of water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5nlD2LfGd0
Soda Springs is about a mile or so walk from the trailhead parking lot in Mineral King Valley, it’s a little off trail and right next to Farewell Creek, and easily identifiable as the area around it is orange-ish brown from high iron content.
You bring a cup to draw from the source, which is about a foot deep, and add it to the lemonade powder in your Nalgene and give it a shake-presto sparkling lemon soda on the house.
One hundred bottles of Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani on the wall, one hundred bottles on the wall, take one down and pass it around, ninety-nine…
On the other hand, if it was one hundred bottles of AI, all the money in the world would be spent by the time you got to ninety-six or so.
Meanwhile in France, a six pack of 1 litre bottles of Perrier goes for around 3.75€. Pellegrino is usually a little cheaper. I priced it in the States and was flabbergasted. Even your local stuff is crazy expensive. Pricing algos was all I could figure.
USA is the land of the expensive, not the free.
The new favorite bolthole for British “wealth creators” and other creatures out of a Monty Python sketch.
Believe me, their presence has been duly noted. Given the current gigantic real-estate investment and permitting scandal currently going on in Milano, the ultra-wealthy Brits are considered part of the problem. There are plenty of articles in the Italian press about this, errrr, debatable tax break.
And there’s this smidgeon (and it doesn’t get more Brit than this): “Natasha Slater, founder of The Robin Club, a private members’ club in Milan that connects wealthy entrepreneurs across cities, told the Daily Mail why Brits are moving to the city.” Enrollment fee: 5,000 euro.
And this bit of geographic / cultural info: “Many Brits moving to Milan head for the upmarket Brera and Concilazione districts – which both Nicola and Antonia describe as ‘the south Kensington villagey part’ – although prices in both areas have begun to creep up.”
Picio da corsa, as we say in the Undisclosed Region, which will remain undisclosed. It’s as if the Brits haven’t already fucked up Tuscanyland!
Pass the bonet.
You prefer to get Israelis?
Anything that gets them away from occupying Palestinian land I deem the better option.
gk:
They’re screwing with the Valsesia and Varallo?
Varallo is a gem. I was there a year ago, a lapsed lapsed lapsed Catholic making a pilgrimage to the monte sacro, which is a remarkable place.
From article caption: “The town of Varallo, in the Valsesia valley in northwestern Italy, where one Israeli couple paid 57,000 for a spacious home on a large plot of land, adding 10,000 euros for renovations. “The surroundings here are a dream that words can’t describe,” they say.”
At a certain point, though, these dreamy intentionalists (of any stripe) are going to run up against reality. Varallo has been a (minor) center of power and major center for the arts for more than 500 years. As self-absorbed as the Israelis are, they may come to find out that they are just a blip. Also, too, there is a limit on the number of dog groomers needed in a mini-metropolis of 7 500 inhabitants.
How close is the nearest synagogue?
They can go to the Monte Sacro, a “copy” of Jerusalem. It’s full of Judeo-Christians, so they may be welcome there.
Or they could use Google. When I used it to find a hotel in Varallo, it suggested Zermatt which may be close as the crow flies, if you could find a crow stupid enough to fly over Mt.Blanc.
An amusing little article courtesy of the Daily Mail. Italy is a tax haven? Really? Who’d a thunk? I ought to inform my local tax accountant, but he might die of laughter at the very idea.
Tax havens, like beauty, are in the eye of the beholder. It’s just a question of where you live and whom you’re trying to hide your money from. Back in the day, flying across the Atlantic on Lufty business class, I would skim the inflight magazine and see ads (auf Deutsch, with a smiling attractive young lady) for Delaware corporations. Privacy! Security! Confidentiality! America! Incredible nonsense, this Yankee propaganda, but lots of people buy into it. And I recall a taxi ride in Geneva in 2012 or so where I was asking the taxi driver (in my atrocious French, but of course he wasn’t a Swissie so his wasn’t exactly flawless either) how things were in lovely Geneve (supposedly the richest city on earth), and of course (like all taxi drivers worldwide) he began ranting about how bad everything was. “But you live in a tax haven, no?” That shut him up briefly.
“Tuscanyland” is largely confined to Chiantishire. Up here in the far north of Tuscany, English voices are few and far between. The locals are proudly monolingual and speak very good Italian. Suits me fine.
Maxwell Johnston:
Touché. The city I like most in Tuscany is Lucca, which is its own strange historic principality and wrinkle in spacetime. On the other hand, I am hearing that Firenze is more overrun with Anglos than ever. On a few trips in the summers to/from Roma, I marvelled at how the train empties at Firenze.
You are right in that the tax break has many restrictions. One must establish residence. The break is on foreign income only (which isn’t much of a break because Italy doesn’t claim extraterritoriality with regard to its tax laws, as the U S of A does). Income that the suffering tax exiles make in Italy gets the usual treatment.
Two articles. The flat tax max is going to 300 000 euro:
https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2025/10/18/flat-tax-aumento-300mila-ricchi-stranieri-notizie/8165090/
The many rules:
https://www.quotidiano.net/economia/flat-tax-ricchi-stranieri-rktbkrqv
There are always many rules in Italy!
I have secondhand experience of this. My very canny, long-term expat Italian boss, who can time a market like no man I have met, put his house in Belgravia up for sale in 2019, sold just before the pandemic (and ended up “trapped” in a lovely ski resort), and moved back to his native Milan on the new flat tax scheme. He has locked in the original fantastic deal of €100k/annum flat tax. This is peanuts, if you have €10m in the bank you are paying 20% tax on the €500k income; at €20m it drops to 10% etc.
Although Italy does not tax its citizens when nonresident (unlike the US), it does tax their total income from foreign and Italian sources when resident. The tax relief here exempts foreign source income, even if repatriated.
My understanding is the ten year eligibility window resets so you just need to spend a tactical couple of years non-resident every eight years (a few long cruisers, rent a place in Dubai or Singapore etc). But if not, there’ll be somewhere else to go….
The quality of life in Milan is fantastic. He rented a lovely apartment with wrap around terrace just off Via Montenapoleone. But finding somewhere to buy was difficult, even in 2020: houses are in limited supply in central Milan and often have irregularities if title / listed building works because of previous owners’ actions. The market is red-hot now, as the various fawniing articles betray. If the Daily Mail has noticed, your good little thing is no longer a secret.
As a cautionary tale, another Italian colleague accept a fiscal pact with the devil, returning to Italy on “a high value repatriate” deal that lowered his tax rate for five years. His employer simply lowered his gross salary to pocket the benefits and when the colleague grew tired of this he discovered he could not take a high paying job in London without repaying the tax savings personally until several more years elapsed….
I don’t know if I would base my life plans on the consistent legal interpretation of the Italian government, let alone the tax office: both Italians were always amazed that in the UK (1) HMRC does not have its own police force :-) and (2) you can apply for a tax refund and actually receive it in weeks rather than decades and in cash rather than as a credit!
Indeed, in general, there is a terrifying amount of administrative discretion in enforcing the multitude of contradictory rules in Italy. Everybody is at all times technically guilty of something. It is the bureaucratic flip-side of that charming leniency and improvisation that makes restaurants, hotels and personal services so hospitable and charming.
People talking to God/AI–
What a friend we have in AI Jesus! All our sins and griefs to bear. Feuerbach, the man who said we had created YHWH in our image rather than the other way around, would feel affirmed.
On a related note, I’m noticing a lot of YouTube talkers addressing the origins of Zionism, and I’ve commented here about Darby-ism and the Scofield Bible. Here’s a YouTube discussion with a fellow who’s written a book (published by Oxford Academic) traces Christian Zionism back even further to the early Reformation and an English Presbyterian (i.e. Calvinist) preacher. The thread continues through the Pilgrims to the New Jerusalem in the Americas and even the new Zion, first in Independence, MO, then in Salt Lake City. The guy may be a little off-putting, but he knows his stuff. I learned a lot.
The Christian Zionists are a big part of why AIPAC has such clout.
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who’s there
Johnny Cash, covering Depeche Mode
Arkies. Okies, et al that made it to Godzone during the Dust Bowl brought their dogma with them, Christian Zionism.
So much in regards to religion is based upon what your parents did, you having no say in the matter.
Utah might be the prettiest state in the union, in particular the southern part.
Mormonism strikes me as a most orderly order-little old towns have ancient orchards still bearing fruit, and everything is neat and in its place-kinda like Germany in terms of how the people are order oriented in Oder and elsewhere.
It’s essentially Scientology of the 19th century, in that the gobbledygook its derived from is often nonsensical, with the difference being that they bred like rabbits early on, ensuring a return on their investment.
Zion or Zions is the name of everything you can imagine in the Beehive State, Zions Muffler, Zions Bank, Zion NP, etc.
Koreans, or at least, Korean protestants, love to put “Zion” on almost everything. I always got oddly amused by this (I always thought this is legacy of US Southern missionaries…although I don’t think I met that many Southern methodists (they were big in Korea, and left some unpleasant side effects, like weird contempt for Catholics) to have a clear stereotype of them compared to, well, baptists.).
At least part of those aren’t so much Zionists as end timers. Most Mormons believe the location of the promised land moved with the lost tribes. Their support of Israel is about the rise of the Anti-Christ bringing about the Second Coming. It is about giving them enough rope to destroy themselves, violence expected. I don’t have enough experience with other Evangelical or Evangelical adjacent religions, but I grew up among the Mormons.
Not off-putting at all – thanks for the link.
The first proto-Zionist he mentions, Francis Kett, was burned alive for heresy. When people believe the real world lies elsewhere, they drive this world mad.
“Rebuilding Gaza will take ‘decades,’ cost $70B, experts say”
On the bright side, Israel has agreed to put their hands in their own pockets and offered to build the foundation for every new building in Gaza.
Zion will want to oversee the demolition/clearing work, to undercount the bodies recovered.
..and to check the pockets, fingers and teeth.
Probably Battle of Adrianople level of ugly. The delusions run high; I guess the US not fighting someone their own size for almost a century meant they forgot what actual total war is like.
Completely ignored in this article is the question of logistics which tells me that this is not a serious article. Like, how do you re-supply all those units that you have scattered around the Pacific like so much confetti. Supply drones? Submarine supply? More to the point, how will the Pentagon replace all those weapons and missiles after the first coupla days if they do not have the refined earths to build them or the years that it will take to actually build them if they did have those refined rare earths.
Rev Kev: Completely ignored in this article is the question of logistics which tells me that this is not a serious article.
It was beyond ‘not serious’ into Qing dynasty-level delusional, with passages saying things like the US will somehow meet such a war’s demands for “magazine depth—surging production of key munitions and operationalizing at-sea reloading—and fully integrating allied firepower.”
Hilarious. Comedy gold.
Marianas Turkey Shoot but in reverse. Historically, the US military has performed awfully in a debut battle against peers and non-peers, more often than not.
In any modern 1st wold hypothetical war, there won’t be a 2nd chance. So goes the first 48 hours, there goes the war.
theonly question becomes will the losing side (the US) graciously accept defeat or escalate to tactical nukes over an island (or NATO ally) that the majority of Americans cannot locate without Google’s help
Remember, Mommy
I’m off to get a Commie
So send me a salami
And try to smile somehow
I’ll look for you when the war is over
An hour and a half from now
The first 48 hours of a war with China could be ugly, but not as much as what comes after.
That was my first thought as well. Even Vizzini in “The Princess Bride” knew one of the great blunders is to get involved in a land war in Asia.
Best case scenario we’d suffer societal collapse due to loss of modern tech. Worst case we’d start a nuclear war and life on earth would be eradicated.
The argument seemed to ignore the fact that Chinas has a vastly greater manufacturing capability. To use the WW2 analogy, it would be as if Japan launched a surprise attack knowing it would be able to manufacture 50,000 war planes per year while the U.S. coukd make a tiny fraction of that number.
I think the field of national security studies must attract a lot of strange Walter Mitty types.
These are all spreadsheet cultists now. If I change a number in a database or spreadsheet, I am changing reality.
It does not matter if I didn’t talk to anyone about changing that number. It doesn’t matter if I don’t understand the conditions which derived that number. Gantt charts be damned. Production time tables are stuff to be ignored. Stress testing supply chains is unnecessary. I did all I needed to do by changing the number in the cell on the spreadsheet. Others will work to make that happen.
AI hallucinations are just an example of a child emulating its parent.
Since WWII, national security studies in the West has always been a highly specialised sub-field of marketing communications populated by fantasists whose work is muchloved by members if the MIC, politicians, the media and assorted members of the grift set. In the rest of the industrialised world, national security studies are highly disciplined and primarily concerned with solving logistical, engineering, strategic and communications and control problems by specialists with practical experience working in conjunction with each other and the all important bean counters whose purpose is to get the biggest bang for every single buck with as little publicity as possible.
i was surprised to learn that the author was a perfesser, and not a newby freshman who got in the door with a shotput scholarship.
i just hope he had the decency to clean up after himself after writing this drivel.
i could almost hear the panting, and that gentle slapping sound.
Ah, he’s game for a good birching is he? Zounds!
Adrianople? I thought Omdurman, and they wouldn’t be the Mahdists. (Guess who would be the religious fanatics today?)
Whatever happens, they got the hypersonics and lots of war (and other) drones and we have not….
I’d just like to point out that with Isabella’s Islay you pay for the bottle, not the content. The bottle is carved from crystal and covered with white cold, diamonds and rubies. I think they may even have diamond inside the bottle. Indeed one for the guillotine watch.
The highest price paid for actual whisky is $2.7 million for the Macallan Fine & Rare 1926. It was distilled in 1926, bottled in 1986 (60 year old whisky) and auctioned in 2023. Only ten remains from the original 12, which Macallan never sold publicly, but reserved for high-end customers. Macallan was the first whisky to be granted the Royal Warrant in the early 19th century, so it’s The Whisky for the English upper classes and the most overpriced one, too.
It is probably far too expensive to ever open and drink. That makes it an asset that give status like a mansion or a yacht as big as a frigate. Waiting for stone pyramids to become a trend among such people.
Eating Egyptian mummies was a thing in the Middle Ages–as medicine or something–presumably those taken from stone pyramids, too, if they could be managed. Just wondering aloud.
An asset? Whiskey so expensive it is undrinkable. How does having something useless confer status? Does you status-o-meter fall if you drip the bottle? Clearly, I am not obscenely wealthy and thus do not, cannot, understand this l;usrt for possession.
Check out Theory of the Leisure Class by Thorstein Veblen for that explanation. The fact that a person can afford to spend lavishly on something useless or expensive to maintain is what gives it status, like a sports car or a trophy wife. It shows that someone has money to burn – hence the status.
Luxury packaging is not a novel idea.
Somewhere down in the cellar I’ve a 70 yo Cognac bottled in a Baccarat crystal decanter. It’s been designated “apocalypse booze” and with some luck I may never crack the seal.
My ‘apocalypse food’ is a can of Underwood deviled ham that I hope never to use the pull back tab on the lid, to be honest.
I appreciate that it has been pre-masticated for easier chewing, and as far as I know, is the only canned foodstuff that is wrapped in paper-just add a festive bow and you’ve got the Xmas gift exchange dilemma down pat.
yeah. underwoods devilled chicken is what does it fer me,lol.
that and grits, boiled twice, once in water, then in milk/cream…w butter and bacon. with a fried egg on top, blindfolded, with a dash of tabasco.
i can hardly find either of them out here.
(Jim Dandy is my fave grits)
…and so we see…its not that hard, after all, to keep the hoi polloi happy and sated,lol.
Underwood deviled ham was my go to sandwich in first and second grade. I haven’t tried it in years, decades actually, but now I’m curious. Going to pick up a tin next time I’m at The Choppa.
aye, i hadnt had the chicken in (edit: more like) 40+ years, when Tam showed up with some.
all that was missing was guvmint cheese,lol.
she didnt see the allure…altho she grew up eating tater chip sandwiches….
(our boys like those, too,lol)
I loved those government cheese blocks. I’d go a week or more after picking up one of those five pound blocks of Wisconsin goodness making toasty cheese slices whenever I felt like it. (I gained weight on that diet.)
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_cheese
Mom used to make “bubble and squeak” for breakfast many days. Last night’s leftovers fried up with an egg and toast. She said it was a habit from the hard times of the war and just after. Those times are coming back for many of us. Just read about the probability of SNAP benefits being suspended on November 1 due to the government shutdown.
See: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/10/15/snap-benefits-government-shutdown/86708230007/
Also, the Big Beautiful Bill adds layers of complexity to the process.
See: https://thehill.com/homenews/5550044-snap-changes-heres-who-could-lose-benefits-in-november/
So, I’ll be seeing you at the Home Depot DIY Guillotine construction workshop!
Stay safe. Stay fed. Hide your preps. Hungry people will do anything to get food.
Back when people played tennis, ‘tennis bracelets’ were popular and a jewelers whet dream as it solved the issue of smaller sized diamonds, what do you do with them?
An earlier way to get rid of smaller goods was the cocktail ring-which is a funny name, as if booze and a bunch of small time diamonds got together.
Getting rid of diamonds on a spendy bottle of booze, perfect.
Origin of the name ‘tennis bracelet’… they were known as straight line diamond bracelets. Chrissy Everett, the tennis pro, wore one when she was playing. During a game, her bracelet broke and fell to the court. The tv camera zoomed in on it and it gained instant popularity with everyone heading to jewelry stores asking for tennis bracelets.
In the mid-’70s I worked at a liquor store on Fillmore and California in SF. We considered it to be the edge between Fillmore Heights and Pacific Depths, delivering to alkies in the projects, as well as the swells in the mansions. Also purveyed various substances to newspaper heirs, etc. One night, when the Stones were playing The Fillmore, we almost sold their managers’ errand-boy the most expensive bottle in the store, a Louis the whatever cognac in, of course, a Baccarat bottle. I remember its’ price as being in the thousands.
He instead bought the 2nd most expensive bottle, a similar cognac in a lesser container. We didn’t get a taste, unfortunately.
Regarding new films of note: One Battle After Another (2025).
This is Paul Thomas Anderson’s new and rather free adaptation of Pynchon’s Vineland.
It’s a pretty fun ride with a Honkywood-competent vibe.
I will go out on a limb to say that if there is any single new film in 2025 that comes close to capturing the current insanity in the U.S., this is it.
Thanks, I’m going to check that out. Vineland is a terrific read.
Been an interesting year for auteur directors making social upheaval films. From Alex Garland’s “Civil War” to Ari Aster’s “Eddington” to PTA’s “On Battle After Another”.
I really like all three directors but have not watched any of these films. Reading NC and keeping up with current events – and just existing in our current society – is enough of that subject for me. Not looking for a cinematic version of it at the movies.
Was talking with a feisty 80+ year old woman while in Amsterdam last week. She asked why I was there and I said I was doing video work for a corporate client. She replied, “That’s stupid. Don’t do stupid work in our country. Go home and do good work to fix your stupid country.”
It got me thinking about not just the work I’m doing but what I have done. What I can do. I’ve tried to make films that unify, bridge divides, and offer positive visions of our humanity. That few have seen them is not the main concern. What concerns me is how media that divides and perpetuates negative visions of humanity saturate our landscape. Chicken or the egg: does negative media create our negative society or vice versa? The old “if it bleeds it leads” mentality?
Went to see Abby Martin’s new film “Earth’s Greatest Enemy” last night. Happy to support her stellar work. But couldn’t help noticing it was an echo chamber audience. I’d be willing to bet not a single mind was changed in that theater.
That’s what I love about Naked Capitalism. Every day we get a cross section of news and opinions to digest and see real in real time as debates go down in the comments. Open minds meeting each other respectfully to engage in ideas and facts. Sure, it can be depressing but such is life. It is also hopeful because it shows growth and change is possible.
That’s what I want to bring more to in my own work and see in the work of others. And why I have no interest in Hollywood tales of division and unrest even if made by the best filmmakers in the business. Give me Iranian filmmaker Mohammad Rasoulof‘s “There is No Evil” (one of the greatest films of the past decade in my opinion) any day over that stuff. Maybe no one will watch it (I don’t know anyone else whose seen that film, and as I said, few have seen my own films) but I’d rather create and support positive visions of humanity and unity then more divisiveness.
But that’s just me. To each their own.
Geo:
Hmmm. You didn’t receive advice. You received a disquisition from John Calvin in a brassiere. To wit:
She asked why I was there and I said I was doing video work for a corporate client. She replied, “That’s stupid. Don’t do stupid work in our country. Go home and do good work to fix your stupid country.”
Why order you around? It may be that, living here in Italy, the mother culture of the West, and along with Greece, the great teacher and preserver of classical and Western culture, I would present a response to you to observe what the Italians do and then make contrasts.
Since I have arrived in Italy, I have still — still — to spend time dismantling U.S. daft racial categories and the tendency toward racial categorization. That’s something you could start in Amsterdam.
Further, outside the U S of A looking in, one sees how badly that U.S. government and the powers-that-be treat the citizens. It is stark from afar. So you can use the distance to reshape your ideas.
And then (hypothetically, here in the Undisclosed Region), you could indulge in bonet and make choices about what your work is.
Hi DJG
I’m really curious about your regular references to your living in ‘Chocolate City’ in the ‘Undisclosed Region’
I’m trying to think of other commentators that so regularly point out where they live to add mysterious ‘context’ but using cryptic terms we don’t have any reference points for. Forgive me if I’ve missed something.
It’s a riddle wrapped up in an enigma.
spoiler
Go see TRON: ARES in IMAX 3D.
Skip the civil war, coronavirus, and libtard movies even if they are technically good.
I love PTA but as soon as his characters start talking about Revolution I’m like PTA NEEDS TO LEARN MORE ABOUT CLASS POLITICS NOT IDENTITY POLITICS.
I hate the anxiety inducing madness of Ari Aster.
I hate all this talk about a Civil War from the great filmmaker of Dredd.
So, once again, I am imploring the NC Commentariat to support Jared Leto and TRON!
It is true that One Battle After Another has identity politics on full display.
However… and this is important… my sense is that this is being treated rather in the same fashion that Pynchon treated the 24fps group in Vineland, i.e., with a heavy dose of irony. To choose just one detail: note how Willa’s Gen Z gender-fluid friends are depicted. Having read a few reviews of OBAA, I am struck that almost none of the reviewers seem to have read Vineland. I don’t want to get into any spoilers, so I’ll leave it at that.
As for TRON… I’m not sure why I should “support” a Disney franchise. Doesn’t the Walt Disney Company already have enough support?
Thanks for the comment!
LOL, I rarely go to a cinema but I was contemplating does just that and Teon at the IMAX was an option. I demurred because it is a remake / attempt at a franchise.
Is it actually any good?
We went to see Austentatious instead, a live improvised parody of Jane Austen based on titles suggested by the audience. Our night was “The Swooning of Miss Emily Chesterfield”.
It was hilarious. Catch them if they come on tour!
Geo: whats yer opinion of Kino Film Collection?(or anyone else’s, for that matter?)
only place i could find the film you recced, and i wandered a bit, and man..they got all manner of stuff i dig.
considering a year’s sub for either that, or Criterion Collection as a gift to myself, come tax return(if IRS, Fedgov, etc are still functional, that is…)
I read Vineland ages ago. Reducing that to a screenplay would be some feat.
“Europe and the US Are Drifting Apart and It Isn’t Just Because of Trump”
If there even is a “Europe” as a unitary actor of sorts (which is debatable), it cannot craft a coherent trade position in the world until it seriously engages with Russia in a mutually acceptable security architecture. Until then it will remain a plaything of the US State Department.
Exactly.
I was very interested in reading what this author, writing in Jacobin, thought about the devastating effects of the Ukraine war on the European economy, not to mention its politics and social policies. Imagine my surprise when I found out that this barely merits a mention. Here is the mention:
“After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, security suddenly became the scarce and costly good — and only the United States could provide it, as Europe’s post–Cold War order had prioritized the “peace dividend” over defense.”
“This tilted the balance of power toward Washington, giving America leverage to demand a higher premium in other areas, including trade.”
That’s it. Perhaps it’s a clue. There is another line about Trump whining about Europe continuing to buy Russian oil. Perhaps that is another hint about the costs to Europe in completely severing economic ties with that rather large and resource-rich country to its East. These ties were mutually beneficial and promised increased opportunities as Russia was reintegrated into the European economy after the Cold War. This was recognized by many European leaders at the time. But those leaders no longer exist.
The number one goal of the Ukraine war was to severe this growing economic relationship between Europe and Russia. It has almost succeeded. How was this accomplished? By whom? Who benefits? Was ending this “dependency” on Russian energy and the resulting increase in “American leverage” worth it? To whom?
There are a whole bunch of related questions that seem crucial to me if you are going to discuss the European economy in the context of geopolitics. This author does not seem to want to deal with them. The unstated assumption seems to be that Russia started the war in 2022, and that reliance on the “peace dividend” might have been a mistake but regardless Europe can no longer afford it. Sounds about right for the “socialism” of Jacobin.
It repeats the tired old idea that the US can “guarantee security,” which is taking a long time to die. Without much of a security capability, the US has very little security leverage, and what it has now is in the process of disappearing. For the moment, the Europeans are prepared to make sacrifices to avoid the consistent nightmare of a US/Russia deal which affects their interests but where they have no voice. But I suspect that’s a lost cause as well. The idea that Russia invaded Ukraine to destroy its economic relationship with Europe is, well, innovative ….
To be clear, if you are referirng to my own view, it is that it was the US/NATO and their European compradors that wanted to sever the economic ties between Europe and Russia, once it became clear that Russia could not be completely dismantled and looted from within. And so they did so, by continuing to back Russia into a corner for 30 years. Russia desired quite the opposite.
You will likely see this as an ethnocentric view with the US as the center of the world that does not give enough “agency” to the many complex European interests involved in this history. Again, my response is: we had people writing about this strategy, predicting the outcomes, getting themselves into positions of power, taking advantage of these many competing and conflicting interests (including those in Eastern Europe and Ukraine itself) and doing what was necessary to get the task done. We had Putin desiring closer ties with Europe, then issuing plea and warning after plea and warning as the West continued to reject these with disdain while moving closer to Russian borders. This is not to deny the existence of Russophobia in Europe, especially in the East. These fears and historical tensions, and the leaders pushing them, proved quite useful in constructing this new Iron Curtain that benefits neither Europe nor Russia.
It repeats the tired old idea that the US can “guarantee security,” which is taking a long time to die.
Thank you.
re: ending Russia – Germany
Another item of evidence is the most recent appearance of former Chancellor Schröder at this totally ignored NordStream 2 investigation Committee by the state parliament of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
announcement of the hearing:
https://www.landtag-mv.de/aktuelles/artikel/untersuchungsausschuss-zur-stiftung-klima-und-umweltschutz-mv-befragt-gerhard-schroeder-und-helge-braun-1
The Committee:
https://www.landtag-mv.de/aktuelles?tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Bsearch%5D%5BfilteredCategory%5D=115&tx_news_pi1%5Bsearch%5D%5Byear%5D=2022&tx_news_pi1%5Bsearch%5D%5Bsubject%5D=&tx_news_pi1%5BcurrentPage%5D=1
It had been set up in June of 2022 to investigate the events surrounding the construction of NS2, because of the alleged environmental impact.
They since tried to somehow not entirely ignore the elephant – that is the destruction of the very subject of their investigation in autumn 2022 – without seriously drawing conclusions.
This farce has been going on for 3 years now.
Schröder had been supposed to give testimony months ago but apparently was ill.
Schröder´s appearance was streamed on October 17th.
I have not yet found the original record of this hearing.
I hope it will be soon released.
MSM have reported but needless to say in an insane, demonising way.
As far as I understand none of the people involved in building NS2 heard on Oct. 17th were sorry for their decision.
MSM of course cried foul and pestilence and pictured Schröder as Putin’s one-man-5th column.
So I have no 100% assurance based on those MSM-reports what was really said (and what not.).
We do know from past hearings that witnesses did mention odd visits by most likely CIA in Northern Germany or those threats by the Trump I administration to stop NS2. Back then Scholz was “dealing” with that (he did nothing of course) under Merkle as her minister of finance.
Considering all this background and all the personnel involved the way how this decoupling from Russia has been taking place defies any serious debate. It´s merely “Daddy”-level of acting.
Everybody involved knows the truth.
Another rather comical one is the ongoing attempt to spread that idiotic tale about ANDROMEDA and using those Ukrainians as patsies. Most embarrassing is the unbelievable fact that it actually is being taken seriously enough even by German alternative media (yes I am talking about NACHDENKSEITEN but also smaller ones.)
Ugh, even Jacobin has to squawk MUH FULL SCALE INVASHUN?
It’s a very handy form of signalling: the writer of this piece did not think for himself….
Simón says invade Bolivar’d of broken dreams…
I don’t know if Simone de Boulevard would approve of the No Exit street plan.
I want those heavy truck eyes for my minivan. They appear to be mimicking what the drivers eyes are doing – this might be a good thing if all cars had it… or not!
Best…H
They remind me of the beautifully painted trucks in Pakistan. However, with all the flashing lights and glitter, it may be difficult to see the basics, such as a turn signal.
Available on Temu
“Is the US about to attack Venezuela?”
Funny thing you know. Trump has been having random boats being blown up because they were all full of drugs and crewed by narcoterrorists. Or so he says. But he just had another boat blown up but this time there was a difference – there were two survivors. The Navy went in and grabbed them instead of machine gunning them in the water. So what did they do with those two narcoterrorist? Send them to Guantanamo Bay for an extended visit? Keep them in the ship’s brig while they undergo intensive question-answer sessions by teams of burly men? No, they sent them home. One to Colombia and one to Ecuador so that the courts there could deal with them. Unfortunately for Trump, neither was from Venezuela. Strange treatment for a pair of narcoterrorists who pose a deadly threat to the US I would say.
I’m sure our bombing of little fishing boats in the Caribbean is striking fear into the hearts of the Chinese government and all other global adversaries. Between the Trump military parade, our DoW Hegseth spouting “FAFO”, and these shows of force, we must look so macho and not at all like a clown car with the wheels falling off.
Blowing small boats to smithereens and killing those on board is a show of force? It is akin to stomping on a bug to show that you can take on Godzilla. It is murderous performative nonsense. If the orders to do so are not illegal, I should like to know in what manner they are legal.
“murderous performative nonsense” is now written above the door i installed, today, to block the wind from the new part of the wilderness bar.
that just about sums it up.
Antidote…
Lions, by Dire Straits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN0QOg3FLxk&list=RDYN0QOg3FLxk
My hair’m is down to a couple of 12 year old boys-and as luck would have it, we’re all the same age in cat years.
They really are little lions, Blackie approximating a mini-Black Panther-1/14th scale that is, who would prefer to be out at night to better blend in, while Einstein (brains of the outfit) the white cat in a grey flannel suit is a stone cold killer who’ll have nothing to do with the wild turkeys, staring up at their snood is enough to give you the willies. How’d they survive when the dinosaurs didn’t?
“Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant repairs begin in Ukraine as ceasefire zones set”
Did Director General Rafael Grossi ever work out who has been shelling this nuke plant? There is equipment that will tell you from where a shell came from and how far away but it seems strange that Grossi never asked for them to be deployed at that plant so he could find out who to blame.
Grossi cant even properly operate mark 1 eyeball, let alone advanced equipment (like the counter-battery radar you are talking about).
If Russia was Israel, Grossi wouldn’t be alive still.
If Russia was Israel, Grossi would be working for Russia.
Nexperia.
I was reading an article yesterday and it said if nexperia will stop selling its chips unless this whole thing is reversed. If it does stop selling car chips it’ll cause most of Europes auto makers to not be able to make cars in just a few weeks. And will also have a big impact on US automakers.
Just another realism about the west has no control over China, it’s not just rare earths.
And the classification on this company started under Biden.
It’s like the Dutch government went into pirate mode and just stole this company from the Chinese but never stopped to game out how the Chinese could retaliate and what it would means for chip supply in the EU. What is wrong with this people? Do they really believe that actions never have any consequences? If so, I have news for them and it is all bad.
When an American comes unobtrusively to you, and informs you in a level and calm tone of voice, that your family can be raped and tortured to death if “we can’t get along”… And has photos and video, in case you doubted his seriousnes…
you simply do what you are told – good for your people or not. What other choice do you really have?
IIRC, walrus-Bolton was even personally publicly called-out for doing that (once his mark had done what he was told, and then faded into semi-obscurity).
I think the Dutch have de-Sinified the TopCo as a service to China and the Chinese response is more kabuki theatre. China will agree to supply chips to the Dutch TopCo that are certified not to be supplied to US clients and everybody will be happy.
In a article published yesterday, and which states the same as you wrote (in Spanish) it says that the EU Commission is evaluating if the decision by the Netherlands government breaks the rules of free competition or if it simply jeopardizes the security of supply. Yet i don’t believe this stance. the Commission has apparently endorsed the decision and there are voices asking for “a more offensive way” toward (against) China. EU policymakers have definitely lost their minds if this is true.
MicaT: the west has no control over China, it’s not just rare earths.
Meanwhile, just China’s control over rare earths is enough to shut down the AI bubble and crash the US’s stock market and economy any time Beijing wishes.
World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer The Guardian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With the exception of the Marmot Cong hanging out in lower altitude haunts than usual in clandestine troop movements along the Ho Chi-Mineral King Cong trail, there was less deer and bears this summer, everybody in the community being in agreement.
ive got birds, galore.
and fikken to have a whole lot more: chickadees, titmice, cardinals, robins and on and on overwinter with me.
hence the cat massacre happens around this time of year(23, so far), before the winter birds arrive in bulk.
i have maybe 12 more cats to feed to buzzards(whom i get to then observe, going about their secret purposes)
That rhythmic gymnastics video was quite something, she was in complete command of the canvas, wow!
Regarding the “No kings” protest. What a load of crap. Obvious democrat party nonsense. Trump thinking he is a king, the least of our troubles. It’s the policies he is using. Typical, distracting nincompoops with some pretend crapola like this! Not worth anyone time!
F the Dem party to hell and back!!!!!
We’ll convince them that Errorstroika is wrong via performance theater, yeah that’s the ticket!
The “If Kamala was president we’d be at brunch” signs didn’t inspire you?
Only makes you wonder if missing one brunch in ten months to protest because your candidate was incompetent and lost constitutes commitment.
(And it really makes me happy that I haven’t been at the almost forty brunches to hear the wailing and complaints when so much of what is wrong would be happening with their preferred ruler anyway just with less bombast and chaos. That is not to say that authoritarian overload we are experiencing is good just merely experiencing less of it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.)
Was it over when the Germans bombed as his loan harbor…?
Hell No!
No it was not a democratic party party. I looked at all the media coverage and response. The NY times comments was illuminating. I was surprised at the push back against the protests. But like most times comments, both sides were pretty lame. What was missing was acknowledgement that the protests were not especially partizan. At the core it was about the administration exceeding its authority. People were not grousing about losing an election. They were pissed about having jack boots in their city. They were upset that domestic policy was being directed from within the white house by the reincarnation of Herman Goring. You seem to have missed the point that half of registered democrats didn’t vote. No real majority elected this government. The culture wars are the distraction you are buying right into. Like the guy down the road who still has his F Biden sign up. He does not care about the constitution or the law as long as he thinks his side is winning. And let’s see what would not pretend protests look like, armed resistance, a real civil war?
Not Goring, Heydrich or maybe Himmler. More similar in function
GAS STATION DOG WITH EMPLOYEE BADGE BECOMES INTERNET STAR (Khao Sod)
A brown stray dog who became an unofficial employee at a local gas station has captured Thailand’s heart after photos of his employee ID card went viral on social media.
Namtan—a name that means both “brown sugar” and references his coat color—has been working at the PTT station on Thanyaburi-Wang Noi Road in Klong Luang district for four years. His official employee card lists his full name as “Namtan Klong 7,” with the nickname “Tan” and his position as “Patrol Unit.”…
What started as an act of kindness has evolved into something special. Station owner Thirapong Lappholtaweying found Namtan wandering the streets years ago and decided to take him in.
“I felt sorry for him,” Thirapong said. “But he turned out to be naturally friendly and liked approaching people, so we made him our patrol unit to help look after customers.”…
For more evidence of the devolution of US politics, and the current administration in particular, into juvenile delinquency, the latest Simplicius post “Zelensky Gets the Fig Amid Trump Admin’s Whacky Day” offers a couple of morsels.
>>>
[in re: potential US-Russia summit] HuffPost asked the White House: Who picked Budapest?
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded minutes later with: “Your mom did.”
White House Communications Director Steven Cheung after a minute added the far more succinct: “Your mom.”
>>>
The adults are in charge!.
Additionally, JD Vance apparently posted an image on Bluesky of Trump wearing a crown (presumably mocking No Kings). I wonder if he recognizes the ambiguity in this.
If I may offer an analogy for the Trump II admin (with apologies for anyone who may have earlier formulated the same): he has obtained the keys to the country and is taking it for a joy ride.
{knock Knock}
Grammar police, open up!
Drudge headline:
‘Heist At The Louvre
Napolen’s Jewels Stolen’
Napoleon is a pretty hard word to butcher, and also doubles as a decadent desert.
To be filed under Guillotine Watch?
I have been somewhat surprised to see the Supremes piss away their legitimacy so casually.
With the exception of Thomas they are presumably Men and Women of above average intelligence…yet their abuse of the Shadow Docket has been so obviously partisan and so lacking in respect for precedent that a large percentage of Federal Judges have lost respect for their opinions.
Efffing Stoopid behaviour, of which I see much more of as time passes.
Public figures take no Covid precautions and I wonder how much Covid induced brain damage contributes to
the increasingly risky and stupid behavior of the “elites”.
For a moment I thought you were talking about the decline of Motown, and then I realised you were talking about the decline of the American Republic which is a lesser matter in the great scheme of things. Republics come and go, but there will never be another Motown. Or a Stax…
I was lately considering that I’ve gotten the timeline for COVID wrong; I thought that perhaps by 2030 there might be enough of a population level heath burden that some kind of awareness might kindle an idea that as a society we should maybe do something.
But I’m beginning to realize that this is a slow moving generational health catastrophe that is going to take place over the course of lifetimes, well beyond my own. Even repeat infection isn’t fatal enough to spur some kind of public awareness and response. What damage is done is often sub-clinical, the immediate symptoms from infection brief in duration, however unpleasant. Other damage is not easily relatable to a recent or past SARS-CoV-2 infection.
I was wondering what kind of effect this might have over a millennia on humanity. Searching the Internet didn’t turn up much. We seem to use death as a proxy for the severity of epidemics; what kind of historical proxy would you use for mass disability? So I haven’t been able to come up with any historical analogues for what happens to a population due to some pathogen that causes a wide variety of impairments, over a time, to a population.
I did come across this, which I agree with (The rise and fall of diseases: reflections on the history of population health in Europe since ca. 1700):
I’m probably thinking about something like this, but for the past 1,000 years, given how slow COVID is unfolding: Burden of 375 diseases and injuries, risk-attributable burden of 88 risk factors, and healthy life expectancy in 204 countries and territories, including 660 subnational locations, 1990–2023: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023
Looks like someone made an attempt: The greatest health problem of the Middle Ages? Estimating the burden of disease in medieval England (paywalled sadly)
And this is my point
Anyway, my contention is that COVID is going to break humanity over lifetimes, and what’s happening is opaque to the overwhelming majority of people, so there is no end date where we’ll begin to see broad awareness and a desperately necessary course correction.
We’re cooked, like with Climate.
This timeline is lit.
Long term lead poisoning among the Roman Empire elites and City of Rome population? That took generations to play out.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_lead_poisoning_theory
That’s exactly the kind of situation I’m considering; but tracking disability over time in ancient populations is non-trivial. This is definitely an area of research I’d need to devote considerable time to, but whatever I find isn’t going to change the outcome. So I’ll leave it to any future historians that we might have.
Speaking of lead, just look at the relationship between leaded gasoline and public health that’s been I think pretty conclusive proven, but it took ages for that to become clear, and this in the modern area where we kind of sort of keep public health records and track more than just deaths.
If we assume that one of the major ‘impacts’ of the coronavirus, and indeed many prior examples of pandemic, is diminished mental ability, could the quality of recorded political discourse act as a proxy indicator of general “intelligence?” Compare recorded political discourse over time and see if there are measurable declines in the intellectual “depth” of the debates as the supposed pandemic develops.
Anyway, there should be other ‘markers’ for cognitive decline apart from formal medical records available. For the Middle Ages, ecclesiastical writings, both public and private perhaps. The Church kept very good records I have read.
Stay safe.
lol. thats likely a good marker.
ive seen it, anecdatally, of course…no formality, here.
driving, and just general idiocy has increased.
ive looked at the uncomprehending face for all my life, as it were,lol…and it IS worse, now.
Surprise, surprise, Israel is already violating the cease fire
Israel strikes Gaza and orders halt to aid after accusing Hamas of violating ceasefire (CNN, paywall) (CNBC, working link)
Not agreement capable.
> China Seizes the Master’s Weapon As It Makes Itself the New Hegemon
A New Hegemon?
China has a “mercantilist” productive structure based on commodity exports. To make themselves “the new hegemon,” it would be necessary to create monetary and financial levers capable of replacing the dollar. As Yves has argued, that’s not going to happen in the foreseeable future.
If that analysis is correct, the challenge from China isn’t one of revolutionary hegemony (replacing one system with another) but of resistance (reform within a system). The aim of the Chinese state is to renegotiate the world order, not to create a new one, but to assure that the qualitative superiority of US imperialism doesn’t prevent China from moving up the value chain.
In the face of that challenge, it is the United States that is posing a hegemonic challenge. Yes, that’s right. The US under Trump is challenging the basis of the very order that had the US as it hegemon since the end of WW2. The goal is clearly to create a new hegemony that will be very different from the previous postwar liberal order, even if formally similar in that the US still occupies the summit of global hierarchy.
I haven’t read Mr Walsh’s blog in some time, so I am not sure if he is intentionally deflecting attention from the hegemonic challenge coming out of the US itself or is simply using a sensationalist title to attract readers. Perhaps I’ve missed something so I’d be grateful for any corrections or response.
Or the examples of China and Russia encourage a shift towards autarky on the basis of a single country, a complementary bi-lateral relationship, or small and manageable regional economic communities coupled with the absolute minimum of international trade to assist those countries who require help in tackling resource theft and to help them build their legitimate economies from scratch. Establishing the greatest possible degree of self-sufficiency/autarky strikes me as an admirable economic, political and socially beneficial goal.
I think this is a good point. It’s been pointed several times here (by Yves herself, I believe) that BRICS countries do/did not seek to overthrow existing int’l institutions, formal and semi formal–UN, IMF, the dollar, SWIFT and so on. If anything, they sought to preserve them in their old forms, now that they are powerful enough to use them to their advantage.l, too. The West and the “rules based order” sought to subvert them, in contrast, by introducing arbitrary and ever changing variability invariably in their favor–basically “Calvinballing” them. Only when the old institutions were thoroughly burned did the BRICS powers seek to develop alternatives, like SWIFT. The question really is, then, whether US would try to continue as the hegemon, at the risk of burning everything down, or accept the status of first among quasi equals while keeping the institutions more or less intact. Regrettably, it’s been the former fir the most part so far…
That link just goes to MSN homepage now. This works:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-15195475/China-pandemic-variant-flu-cattle-swine-public-health.html
Re: People are using AI to talk to God – BBC
About a couple of months back I wrote a note on this subject without knowing that it was already being worked upon by some enterprising young men. This note then I circulated among two of my WhatsApp groups. It went as follows:
Why not invent a Virtual AI God?
It has been reported there could soon be virtual AI contrived girlfriends, automatons human in form, with which one may expect not just to have intelligent conversations but even be companions with.
One wonders, if there can be virtual AI girlfriends why not there also be virtual all-knowing gurus, guides, teachers, etc. All these could well be benign, and helpful guides on occasions of one’s need for information, and in moments of confusions and perplexities. Will need for colleges and universities not be dispensed with then?
Why not even have a virtual God?
Let’s consider case for such a God. We pray to God who is seemingly passive, supposedly listens, but does not respond verbally to our entreaties. We just assume He understands, is sympathetic to our conditions, and will resolve our problems. It is an assumption that may or may not be true.
Just as there are instances, where some people cite gracious divine intervention, there are others where God let his innocent, pious worshippers suffer from tragic events and situations. Why do bad things happen to good people, a nonbeliever asks. Many have concluded that God just does not exist. The number of atheists and agnostics world over is reportedly on the rise.
But the thought of there being no supernatural benefactor can make many a beleaguered person feel lonely, clueless, helpless, and depressed. Idea of God thus satisfies a deep human craving for a protective Father figure. Were God not serving a profound psychological need or being an existential necessity in a world which is not always very kind and congenial, belief in Him may not have survived for long.
Even a sceptic once remarked, ‘There is no God, so let us create one’.
Coming back to an AI conceived virtual God, say for example in case of Hindus, his physical form, qualities, attributes and knowledge could be based on a comprehensive information, data that is, from religious texts like Mahabharat, Bhagvad Gita, Ramayana, and other hollowed treatises like Vedas, Upanishads etc.
This virtual God, in a word, would be a close approximation of the supposedly real God in terms of appearance, wisdom and sagacity as occurring in Hindu religion. He may do no miracles but would be a similar counsellor and guide to the ignorant and perplexed as say Krishna was to Arjun. An emotionally turmoiled person could thus be soothed and made to choose the best course of action to come out of his crisis by this virtual God.
One’s communication with ‘real’ God is one way course, a monologue, of a believer addressing and beseeching Him. But in case of virtual God, it could be a dialogue, say like of what Arjun had with Krishna in Gita. All queries and doubts of the ‘believer’ would be responded to thoroughly, which would strictly be in consonance with spirit of the religious texts.
AI could even conjure up on screen, or holograms, images of Krishna, Shiva, Ganpati or whatever other God one may will, in his most glorious form while this dialogue happens. He would even act and make gestures in a commanding but soothing vein.
I wonder would this virtual God who listens, responds, and guides not be a more helpful entity than a supposedly real but silent God.
This virtual God, even I as a sceptic, would like to have dialogues with. Believers as well might want to do it because renouncing faith is not required for doing so.
I have tried the ‘talk to God’ experiment with AI – Jesus in my case. I asked him to take a look at the modern world and tell me what he thought of Christianity and how it had evolved. It turned out he wasn’t a fan.
I was impressed with the AI’s ability to figure out what I was looking for (from minimal cues) and deliver it. It makes sense if you think about it – they have been trained in the same way as the Facebook algorithm, by allowing people to rate their responses so they can deliver more of what people like. What you get in most cases is a highly sophisticated bias confirmation engine.
If you ever find yourself reading an AI conversation and thinking “Yes! That’s exactly what I’ve always thought!” – that’s probably why the AI chose that particular response for you.
i reckon that that way lies disaster.
much like with the AI girlfriends, who(so i hear) are now free to get “intimate”,lol.
“They” will, of course, include all manner of Dopamine Manipulation in these things.
it’s about control.
not liberation or epiphany.
better to find a tree, and sit underneath it.
when people ask me what church i go to…i say, “well, i pretty much live in “Church”…”
“the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and all around you”
and like Einstein, “i believe in Spinoza’s God…”
A question for the commentariat. Ladies, are there AI boyfriends? I am assuming from my gender locked point of view that women and men desire somewhat different characteristics in companions. How far does this go?
“For happiness, how little sufficeth for happiness!” Thus spake I once and thought myself wise. But it was a blasphemy: that have I now learned. Wise fools speak better. The least thing precisely, the gentlest thing, the lightest thing, a lizard’s rustling, a breath, a whisk, an eye-glance—little maketh up the best happiness. Hush!”
Zarathustra, at noontide.
its there, if you want it.
no “god” is required.
nor any dogma or orthodoxy.
as the kids say, apparently, “touch grass”.
see: Uncle Walt for all that.
>“the Kingdom of Heaven is within you, and all around you”
I agree strongly. I’ve never felt a need for my connection with it to be mediated by a church or man with a special book.
It’s just past dawn here and I’m watching the sun uncover the mountains. Kites (the birds) flying overhead. It’s all right here.
Wars come home
A Squalid Building, a Tip to the Feds, and Then ‘Straight-Up Chaos’ (NY Times paywalled)
An immigration raid, with a Blackhawk! It’s a shame Obama normalized DHS.
Meanwhile, the building is owned by a slum lord
Needless to say, DHS didn’t go out and arrest the capitalist owners, eh?
From the moment the Patriot Act was signed into law, something like these immigration raids was baked in. Was that the intention? Don’t know, but it might as well have been. When the potential exists in the laws, it is a matter of time until someone will take advantage of it. Trump has done so, but even he is building on the foundation of the actions of his predecessors.
I wonder how Band of Brothers, the tv show glorifying the army, was timed to debut just after 9/11. Band of Brothers was worth four army divisions for rallying the U.S. public around the War on Terror.
Ohio community frustrated over homeless encampment in cemetery News 5 Cleveland
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
…there’s a horror film to be made out of this
Knight of the Living Deplorables 2 : The Sword in the Headstone.
ABC News Radio in Australia (government funded public broadcaster) had a soundbyte from an Australian woman who had been aboard the Gaza Blockade Flotilla. The very fact they let her speak on radio was amazing.She said she was naive to think they would not be subject to inhumane conditions, degrading treatment, violence and sexual abuse. The implication was that sexual abuse of the hostages taken from the Flotilla, was widespread. Which I’ve heard from a few reports
A follow-up to the Maccabi Tel Aviv fans being banned from a game in the UK and Starmer calling everyone antisemitic story from a few days back:
Tel Aviv football derby between Hapoel and Maccabi called off after rioting (Guardian)
The Tel Aviv football derby between Hapoel and Maccabi has been called off after rioting and “risks to human life”, Israeli police said.
The match was due to take place on Sunday night at Bloomfield Stadium, a ground the two sides share, as a home fixture for Hapoel.
Footage shared by the police shows projectiles and flares being thrown on to the pitch, as well as unrest outside the stadium.
The Israeli police said it had made nine arrests and brought 16 others in for questioning after the game was cancelled “following disturbances” and its officers had been injured in “serious violence”.
A statement posted on X said: “Disorderly conduct, riots, injured police officers and damage to infrastructure – this is not a soccer game, this is a breach of order and serious violence.
“We have notified the teams and the team’s management and the referees that it has decided not to allow the holding of the game at Bloomfield.
It added: “Dozens of smoke grenades and pyrotechnic devices were thrown, injuring 12 civilians and three police officers. Forces at the scene arrested nine suspects and detained 16 others for questioning.”
Waiting for Starmer to call out the Tel Aviv police for being antisemitic….