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Links 10/25/2025

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A radical reimagining of physics puts information at its centre aeon (Chuck L)

“Not Too Sweet” or Too Sweet to Fail? Taste (Randy K)

Women Are Getting on Testosterone and They Say It’s Absolutely Awesome Futurism. Sigh. My endocrinologist >20 years ago said women should be routinely tested for their testosterone level and weren’t. 1/3 of women (as in adults in their prime) have low testosterone. He was convinced that depression among women was significantly due to low testosterone and that many women taking anti-depressants should be taking testosterone instead.

Climate/Environment

Melting glaciers and thermal expansion are driving the ‘acceleration’ of sea level rise to record levels Euronews

Star-studded Malibu is DYING with just four permits granted to rebuild fire-ravaged enclave and property prices tumbling by up to 60% DailyMail
l

China?

China reportedly caught reverse-engineering ASML’s DUV lithography Asia Times (Kevin W)

China’s new home prices fell at the fastest pace in 11 months Reuters

Overseas renminbi lending surges as China steps up campaign to de-dollarise Financial Times

America’s farmers and first responders and love Chinese drones. And that’s about to be a big problem. Kevin Walmsley

Koreas

South Korea grapples with growing number of idle young adults Nikkei

Africa

South of the Border

Supercarrier USS Ford Being Pulled From Europe And Ordered To Caribbean War Zone

Inside Marco Rubio’s Push for Regime Change in Venezuela Drop Site

Amid tension between Venezuela and the US, Lula criticizes “foreign interventions in Latin America” Defend Democracy

O Canada

Canadian Snowbirds Left Speechless After U.S. Customs And Border Protection Cites “Standard Procedures” Over New $60 Charge The Travel

European Disunion

Russian Roulette in Brussels Overton via machine translation (Micael T)

ChatControl resistance: How a grassroots campaign scuppered the EU’s plan to suffocate online privacy Diem25 (Robin K)

Old Blighty

Local election wipeout would see off Starmer, MPs say after Caerphilly rout Guardian

Limited Crisis Prep Could Trigger Bailouts: Bank of England FinNews Network

Car production slumps to a 73-year low after JLR cyber-attack Guardian

Israel v. The Resistance

US officials arrive for ‘Bibi-sitting’ as Washington tightens ceasefire oversight of Israel Ynet (resilc)

US exploring ways to deploy international forces to Gaza, possibly under UN mandate: Secretary of state Anadolu Agency

Vance says Knesset votes on annexing West Bank are an ‘insult’ as Netanyahu halts progress Guardian

Israeli strikes kill four in new Lebanon ceasefire breach Aljazeera

One target at a time: The logic that helped Israeli liberals commit genocide +972

New Not-So-Cold War

Western Analysts Continue to Push Delusions About Russia Larry Johnson

EU Commission Plan Of ‘Russian Assets’ Loan To Ukraine Ends In Defeat Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)

IIRC, Mark Milley did urge seeking a peace deal in November 2022 and was ferociously slapped down:

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

How Amazon Turned Your Neighborhood Into a Police Database Reclaim the Net

Imperial Collapse Watch

Silicon Valley’s War Profiteers Jacobin (resilc)

Massive Cuts Incoming At NASA As America Just Gives Up Ian Welsh (Micael T)

Trump 2.0

Trump Is Actually Failing Fast—and the Rabid MAGA Bigwigs Know It New Republic (resilc)

On Ukraine and Venezuela, Trump needs to dump the sycophants Responsible Statecraft

‘No Kings’ Protesters Reject Political Violence, Survey Shows Scientific American. resilc: “Wait until an ICE four dead in Ohio moment………”

“Dangerously stupid”: Musk reignites feud with Trump administration Oligarch Watch

How do you solve a problem like Discovery? The Register (Chuck L)

Will Trump End Worldwide Democracy Shams?  CounterPunch

MAHA

Shutdown

US Senate fails to pass bill to pay federal essential workers and troops through shutdown Guardian

Pentagon to use $130 million donation from anonymous Trump ‘friend’ to pay military members CNN

SNAP Benefits: Trump Admin Rejects Use of Emergency Funding Amid Shutdown Newsweek

SNAP emerges as flash point in shutdown fight The Hill

The Abdication of Congress New York Times (resilc)

>Data Driven Out In the Public Interest

Democrat Death Wish

The Partisans Are Wrong: Moving to the Center Is the Way to Win New York Times (resilc). Editorial.

Campaign 2026: As Maine Goes Washington Monthly

Mamdani

Mamdani calls out NYC election foes for ‘racist, baseless’ attacks Gothamist

Jeffries endorses Mamdani in New York City mayor’s race The Hill

Health Care

Private Medicare, Medicaid Plans Exaggerate In-Network Mental Health Options MedPage

Obamacare premiums to rise 30% on average in 2026 Seeking Alpha (resilc)

Our No Longer Free Press

Newspapers closing, news deserts growing for beleaguered news industry Associated Press (Robin K)

Economy

Competition for Natural Gas Sends U.S. Prices Skyward OilPrice (resilc)

We Are About To Have Another Year Of Not-Great U.S. Auto Sales Jalopnik (resilc)

Mr. Market is Moody

Another US lender tumbles as credit jitters accelerate City AM

AI

A Short Seller’s AI Exercise Paints a Dire Picture of Private Equity Institutional Investor (resilc)

Offshoring automation: Filipino tech workers power global AI jobs Rest of World (resilc)

The Bezzle

We’ve Confused the Receipt With the Result Corbin Trent and America’s Undoing

The Enshitification Of Everything As Seen In Common Automotive Tools YouTube (resilc)

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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246 comments

  1. mega mike

    USDA Announces No SNAP Benefits for November Due to Government Shutdown
    The U.S. Department of Agriculture has confirmed that SNAP benefits will not be distributed for the month of November, as the government shutdown continues into its 23rd day.

    Reply ↓
    1. tegnost

      if food stamps are 100 billion a year then this one month will knock give or take 8 billion out of kroger, wally world and albertsons pocket. Also the persistent low value of crude signals to this layperson that demand is weak. And both sides seem to think the pain will be blamed on the other guy.

      Reply ↓
      1. GF

        When Trump’s billionaire buddies come through with a monthly stipend to fund SNAP, like they did for paying the military (illegal), then all will be fine. It is tax deductible right?

        Reply ↓
              1. griffen

                Imitation as flattery. Growing up on the east coast, those snack cake offerings often came in a handy 12 pack and value priced. Not perfect food ( well duh ) but a good solution for the sweaty male high school kids whose tastes were more fast food BK than Ruth Chris steakhouse…I would surmise that southeastern teenagers in the late 70s to early 90s would agree that “Lil Debbie has a snack for you.”

                In those halcyon days one could also collect returnable glass bottles for a nickel a piece give or take…George Bailey’s friend was proven correct as the plastic packaging was coming fast for the iconic glass bottling of a Coca Cola.

                Reply ↓
      2. Old Jake

        And Albertsons and QFC will lay some people off, creating even more poor people. Oh, right – they’re already poor.

        Reply ↓
    3. amfortas

      late to this party.
      just in time for thanksgiving.
      so its beans and rice all around!

      and, i would expect a marked rise in petty theft and shoplifting, and after the middle of the month, a marked rise in armed robbery and other violent crimes.
      this is stupidly easy to predict.
      why not just feed the poor gunpowder?
      (a reference to pit bull fighting–cant get the precursors from china anymores…)
      this predictable rise in crime will then be yelled about and pointed to to justify even more jackbootery.
      and eventually it will be,”welp, we cant afford to feed you or anything, because we’re spending all that money on jackbootery so as to keep you quiet…”
      why is the word “Brioche” wafting through my mind?

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        We have a good bank here, and everything is housed in a C-Train which got robbed of every last morsel of food 10 days before Thanksgiving a decade ago, and a urgent plea for replacement food was put out, so much so that they ended up with nearly 3x as much tucker as was stolen, and they didn’t take kindly to my idea of having an every other year theft just before Thanksgiving.

        One thing i’ve noticed with recipients of nourishment here, is their cars are in remarkably better condition than their finances~

        Sometime the Grocery Outlet will have deals on things I buy and donate to the food bank all the same day. Last week it was Bush’s Grillin’ Beans Steakhouse Recipe for 99¢ a can 4×12 can flats, with a Jan 2026 use-by date. I’d prefer to spend $48 rather than give the food bank the money.

        Reply ↓
        1. ambrit

          The locals still look ashamed to be shopping at the Salvage Grocery Outlet here. Calvinist Theology is still a strong force to be reckoned with in America. The SGO is a locally owned and run enterprise. I, having been broke too many times in my life have managed to suppress any outward signs of shame when I go there or other “budget” outlets. We don’t patronize the food banks simply because we can still afford a downscale retail standard of living. Believe me when I say that the ranks of the homeless and hungry are growing here in the North American Deep South. The few vegetables we grow in the back yard help, especially for the stronger flavours we encounter in the items grown there.
          As a sign of the times; I recently bought a pump action .410 shotgun for Phyllis to keep in the bedroom. The 12 gauge has too strong of a kick for her to handle well. America is legitimately getting scary. It is not a trick of the imagination. “Official” crime statistics may be trending downward in many places, but as you will soon discover, not all crime, or the response is reported.
          Stay safe.

          Reply ↓
  2. The Rev Kev

    “Canadian Snowbirds Left Speechless After U.S. Customs And Border Protection Cites “Standard Procedures” Over New $60 Charge”

    This one I do not understand. Relations between Canada and the US remain tense and a majority of Canadians have voted with their wallets by not visiting the US anymore but other places like Europe or other parts of Canada. Rather than trying to cool things off, somebody in the Trump bureaucracy has decided to ramp up things with the Canadians that are still visiting the US – the snowbirds. So they are imposing lengthy new procedures like searching their vehicles like they were hiding drugs, photographing them, fingerprinting them and to top it off charging them $60 for the privilege in a sort of shakedown. Sounds like to me some sort of petty revenge or something. Some of Trump’s government are still offended personally by the fact that Canadians do not want to become Americans so perhaps this explains these new procedures.

    Reply ↓
    2. Santo de la Sera

      Margaret Trudeau must have rejected Trump at Studio 54 back in the day. That’s the only possible explanation.

      Reply ↓
    3. ambrit

      Mark my words. This will become “standard practice” for domestic police forces inside America very soon. As it is, “asset forfeiture” is a basic domestic police shakedown method in America now.
      The corruption is being normalized.

      Reply ↓
    4. Es s Ce Tera

      One of the things about this kind of report, and about government policy in general, is we can’t easily establish or document a discriminatory pattern, bias, prejudice or hatred toward a given group, nor is it ever easy to prove such things since intent and internal communications are often hidden, but from this policy we can discern an effect or outcome, namely that Canadians will now be actively *considered* to be aliens or foreigners, in belief and practice, even though technically they have always been. A conceptual shift has taken place, Canadian snowbirds were historically an exception, considered near-American or pseudo-American, often having family on both sides of the border, and now they are not, and with this fee and these over-the-top inspections, it is as good as announcing they are not wanted.

      Which tells us a kind of Wahnsee conference took place at high levels, with this sort of shifting of the CBP apparatus as an observable result.

      Reply ↓
      1. Skip Intro

        That is grim. It seems to contradict the stated plan to make Canada the 51st state, which makes your conjecture ring true; there is a globalist faction that wants Canada integrated, and a nativist faction that is planning ‘a final solution to the Canadian problem’. The factions may live within Trump himself.

        Reply ↓
      2. jrkrideau

        I wonder how many of those snowbirds who own property in the USA are calling real estate agents right now?

        Brazil has some really nice beach fronts.

        Reply ↓
        2. jsn

          It’s a long drive.

          All those Ontario plates Darien gap could, I suppose, boost the local economy.

          Should help traffic in the NY Through Way & 95, they’ll need to go west to get to Mexico.

          Reply ↓
    5. alrhundi

      It’s becoming more apparent to me that the only rational to make sense is with the lens of accelerating decline and destruction of existing federal US institutions

      Reply ↓
  3. ChrisFromGA

    Ballroom Blitz

    Sung to the tune of, “Ball Room Blitz”, by the band Sweet

    Melody

    Are you ready, Fred?
    Ginger? (Yeah)
    Jared? (Okay)
    Alright, fellas, well, let’s go!

    Well, it’s been getting so hard
    Living with the Trump economy, ah-ha
    My dreams are getting so strange
    I’d like to tell you everything I see

    Oh, I see the Gipper is back
    And as a matter of fact, he says tariffs are no fun
    And TACO looks cornered, with his lies, you’ll deplore ’em
    Cause he thinks he’s the rational one

    Oh, yeah, it was like lightning
    Everybody was frightening
    And his brain turned to pudding
    And they all started feuding
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

    Now the Gipper is back, for the tariff attack
    But Trump’s brain has gone on the fritz
    And the East Wing’s been quartered, so boy, I better warn ya
    Trump is goin’ on a ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz

    Oh-oh, I’m reaching out for something
    Telling lies is all I ever do
    Oh, I softly call bulldozers
    When they appear, there’s nothing left of you, ah-ha
    And the plan to attack is ready to crack
    As he razes the East Wing from on high
    And the rare erfs are cornered, everyone’s a mourner
    Xi could kill you with a wink of his eye

    Oh yeah, it was electric
    So frantically hectic
    And the band started leaving
    ‘Cause they all stopped breathing (yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah)

    Now the Gipper is back, for the tariff attack
    But Trump’s brain has gone on the fritz
    And the East Wing’s been quartered, so boy, I better warn ya
    Trump is goin’ on a ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz

    [Interlude]

    Oh, yeah, it was like lightning
    Everybody was frightening
    And his brain turned to pudding
    And they all started feuding
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

    Now the Gipper is back, for the tariff attack
    But Trump’s brain has gone on the fritz
    And the East Wing’s been quartered, so boy, I better warn ya
    Trump is goin’ on a ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz
    Ballroom blitz

    It’s, it’s, a ballroom blitz
    It’s, It’s, a ballroom blitz

    Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA

        Funny thing – I always thought they were singing “bar room” blitz until i googled the YouTube video for the link.

        So I learned something about 70s glam rock and didn’t even need to change the title of the song.

        Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        I wonder if they took an archaeological look at the eastern wing when it was cleared out but immediately realized that Trump would never “waste” any effort on that but would just bulldoze everything away. I saw a clip where Trump was giving a press conference and he talked about the sounds of demolition in the background and how wonderful it was. But that was not the full clip as it had been cut. The original had him say something along the lines that it was the sound of money.

        Reply ↓
    4. Señor Ding Dong

      Excellent! I’ve seen some people online are starting to call it the Epstein Ballroom. Hope the name gains some traction.

      Reply ↓
        1. You're soaking in it!

          “. . . if I told you some of their names, and I’m not gonna tell you their names, but if I told you, you might not sleep so well at night. . .”

          Reply ↓
      5. Ben Panga

        My suggestion “The Another Failed Attempt to Quiet The Screaming Inner Voice Calling Me ‘Inadequate’ Ballroom”.

        Reply ↓
        1. Wukchumni

          Heard they’re doing a rush job on it, to be finished by Thanksgiving and have found a corporate sponsor, so it’ll be henceforth named the Butterball®oom

          Reply ↓
  4. Steve H.

    > U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Larry Ellison’s wife is a Chinese intelligence operative who infiltrated Silicon Valley to obtain strategic tech information.

    Larry Arnault’s account has been suspended. Surely a coincidence.

    Reply ↓
    2. mrsyk

      Yes, there’s mucho, mucho pushback on this claim already, like doth too mucho, methinks?

      So is it Mata Hari or just another trophy wife. Lol, imagine the ignominy of having to claim the latter to defend against the former.

      Pass that popcorn over here.

      Reply ↓
    3. alrhundi

      I also can’t find any information on that outside of his account. Which can say either it’s true and there’s a huge lockdown on info or it’s an unsubstantiated claim.

      Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      As always with Trump’s claims, there’s that unmistakeable whiff of storytelling in the air. Who can tell where the narrative parts ways with the facts?

      Reply ↓
      2. lyman alpha blob

        It better be storytelling. Because he is claiming they coordinated the attacks with him personally, and he was not an elected US official in Sep 2024 when the pager attacks occurred .

        If it isn’t just more bluster, then we have a rather yuge problem here.

        Reply ↓
        2. Mikel

          I think this is the original article where the claim was made. Here’s how Time mag explains it:
          https://time.com/7327675/trump-israel-gaza-deal-interview/

          “…During the 2024 campaign, Trump was in touch with Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister visited him at Mar-a-Lago that July. It was an open secret that Netanyahu was rooting for Trump’s return to the White House as President Joe Biden pressured him to halt the onslaught on Gaza. But Netanyahu’s relationship with Trump was fraught as well. Trump left office furious at the Israeli leader—first for ­withdrawing from a planned 2020 joint strike on Soleimani (a claim Israel has denied), and later for becoming one of the first world leaders to congratulate Biden on his election ­victory in 2020. Netanyahu was eager for a rapprochement.

          When TIME brought up Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah and regime change in Syria, the President interrupted. “All of those attacks were done under my auspices, you know, with Israel doing the attacks—with the pagers and all that stuff.” He was referring to Israel’s covert operation in September 2024 that targeted Hezbollah officials by detonating thousands of pagers, killing dozens and inflicting a psychological scar on the terrorist group for succumbing to such a sophisticated security breach. Biden was still in the White House, and Trump was a candidate. “They let me know everything,” he says. “And sometimes I’d say no—and they’d be respectful of that.” (A Biden representative declined to comment. A Trump spokesperson later said the President misspoke and was referring to Israel’s recent strike on Doha.)…”

          Reply ↓
          1. amfortas

            the pager attack wasnt launched in a fortnight.
            it likely took years to build them, insert them into the specific supply line, etc.
            coulda easily been started under trump 1.0.
            or even Obama.
            i have not looked into the details of the reporting on this, of course, and am just spouting off my thoughts like a wounded manatee.

            Reply ↓
  6. DJG, Reality Czar

    Pete Buttigieg doing daily press conferences. (In Norwegian.) Hillary Clinton endlessly on the TV box.

    Earlier this year, the wonderful novelist and essayist Daniela Ranieri published a book on the enduring problem of Matteo Renzi, who is, in many respects, the Hillary Clinton of Italian politics, wrong about everything, always wrong-way about tactics, but ubiquitous on the boob toob.

    I attended the presentation of the book to the public at the Salone del Libro, here in the Chocolate City (it happens also to be the biggest book fair in Italy). Ranieri and Marco Travaglio analyzed how Renzi is a great favorite of the media workers, no matter how much his policies fail. He’s always available for an interview, and he tells them more or less what they want to hear.

    This put me in mind of the many media creations in the U S of A. (The most recent of which is likely to be Bari Weiss, who, if anything fits the bill of the expression “media whore.”)

    So let’s have Pete Buttigieg be the official spokesmodel of the toothless opposition. He can be assisted by Elissa Slotkin, lady-splaining how to bring peace to the Levant. Nancy Pelosi can give stock tips. They can do the daily press briefing on The View.

    After brunch, a veto-proof majority!

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Pete Buttigieg doing a daily Dem press briefing on Capitol Hill? Is that wise? When he was Transportation Secretary he would go MIA for months at a time, often during a crisis involving transport. What happens if when he is due to give a press briefing, nobody can find him? What are they going to do? Show an empty lectern? I can only guess that the Dems want to show his ‘What, me worry?’ face on a daily basis so that he can be pushed as a major Democrat Presidential nominee in 2028.

      Reply ↓
      1. Pat

        Nah. I made jokes back in the early 2000s that Clinton’s Senate votes were the equivalent of wetting one’s fingers and sticking them up in the air to see which way political popularity winds were blowing. It was all performative and meaningless. Her entire time in the Senate was a big ad campaign for her 2008 run for the nomination. This is an even less substantial bit of smoke and mirrors. Buttigieg wouldn’t have to worry about offending his boss or actually have to be doing anything beyond running his mouth in this type of position. Big donors would know any opposition to Trump administration policies they secretly or not so secretly approve of would be forgotten before any mainstream Democrat was sworn in, most particularly Mayo Pete. He could easily handle this.

        IOW, it would be a highly visible two year campaign event done only for press and cameras. It would be daily “briefings” full of noise and fury and little else where everyone involved gets to go home to their family and sleep in their own beds. My guess is that except for a few stunts, there wouldn’t even be that many stacked audience public appearances. All with the intention of Pete being the Democratic nominee for President in 2028. And nothing else.

        Reply ↓
      2. Afro

        A lot of the Democratic base loves Pete Buttigieg, that doesn’t include Black people with whom he has 0% support (an amazing achievement in a way).

        I don’t know why they love him but I have dark reasons. I think it’s because he appeals to their sense of how the world should be. His intelligence is purely verbal — he’s good at quips, intonation, debates, that sort of thing. He’s never actually built anything but he dresses well. He triangulates a lot, which appeals to people who don’t want to be in the “extremes”. Basically he’s kind of like Obama, except he’s a gay white Harvard grad rather than a Black Columbia grad, which they might even prefer.

        Personally I see no reason to like Buttigieg. For me most of the above is actually damning rather than inspiring.

        Reply ↓
        1. Wukchumni

          Pete’s a ‘Pseudolectual’ who comes off as competent if you didn’t know any better-which compliments his admirers.

          Reply ↓
          1. jsn

            The Party is the base.

            They account, when you deduct Republicans, for something like 25-35% of GDP.

            They’re the only people who would ever vote for themselves. But savagery of the messaging machine prevents any alternative. Interesting watching Mamdani in this regard.

            Reply ↓
        3. Stillfeelinthebern

          I would encourage you to listen to some of his recent interviews.

          https://fordschool.umich.edu/video/2025/pete-buttigieg-kara-swisher-state-us-democracy.

          I find Pete B to be reasoned and empathetic to what everyday people face in this country and he can speak about that better than most prominent Democrats. He is also willing to go on Fox and Conservation’s leaning podcasts and debate.

          As to his term at transportation. I’d called what he did for people who travel by air significant for we the people. Obviously so because the current administration has reversed all of it.

          I didn’t favor Pete in 2020. Found him too corporate, establishment, but he has shifted. He is better than the current leaders Schumer and Jeffries.

          Reply ↓
          2. pjay

            However “articulate” or seemingly empathetic Buttigieg might sound today, he was completely a creation of the Democrat Establishment, selected for his many qualities (Ivy League, Oxford/Rhodes Scholar, Naval Intelligence, photogenic, gay, “articulate” and “empathetic,” etc.) to be one of a number of potential Democrat possibilities in 2020, all of whom faded in the “authenticity” department among the Democratic electorate, thereby requiring the Obama Intervention and backing of Old War Horse Biden. The hope, of course, was that one of these photogenic Unknowns representing Democrat World would be the Next Obama – perhaps the next female Obama (Kamala) or Gay Obama (Pete) or maybe just the next Black Man Obama (Booker). But it didn’t work, so instead we got Old White Guy Obama in a desperate attempt to scrape up what was left of the old working class Dems and save the Party from the Dangerous Socialist.

            I’m not sure what “shifted” means in Pete’s case, since I was never sure what he stood for before.

            Reply ↓
            1. Norton

              Whenever Mayo Pete is on screen I see Alfred E. Newman. Can’t unsee that.
              He strikes me as all image and no substance, like that pathetic insert-expensive-program-name here with no results.
              What a waste, so perfect in Washington.

              Reply ↓
          4. FlyoverBoy

            He has shifted to this statement on how to approach Israel’s role in the present situatioin: “You put your arm around your friend and talk about what you’re going to do together.”

            Seems to me we’ve been doing that already for quite a while now.

            Reply ↓
    2. Ignacio

      Yeah, Renzi starred, of course, in the World in Progress event in Barcelona (Escalibada City?, he, he) last week joining Borrell and other globalists saying exactly what the organizers (Grupo PRISA) were wanting to hear. A Love Story.

      Reply ↓
    3. eg

      It takes a special sort of brunch-addled brain to imagine a scenario where MOAR Buttigieg is the solution to, well, anything really.

      Reply ↓
    4. Henry Moon Pie

      Let’s use some of Paddy Chayefsky’s razzmatazz to provide a little glitz for a rather dull cast:

      Slotkin will be Mata Hari, of course.

      Pelosi’s skill at stock prognostication qualifies her as Sybil the Soothsayer.

      Reliably duplicitous Buttigieg works well as head of Chayefsky’s ironically named “It’s the Emmes (“truth” in Yiddish) Truth Department.

      But we still need a Mad Prophet of the Airwaves. Biden may be a bit too far gone. Fetterman perhaps?

      Reply ↓
      1. earthling

        Let’s not limit this to one personality. Have a nightly Daily Show, with a rotating cast. Lead off on Mondays with Newsom, delivering a monologue written by his twitter team, excoriating the Trump events of the day. Tuesday have the Heartland Report from the Minnesota governor. Wednesday we are on to hot times in Chicago with Pritzker. The other two days can be guest shots from anyone qualified and presentable; various labor leaders or whatever.

        Reply ↓
          1. tegnost

            Newsom, Walz, and Pritzker.
            How inspiring.
            And weekend with Bernie is silly.
            He’s already out there every weekend, being ignored.

            Reply ↓
    5. pjay

      I was curious about the background of Cheri Jacobus. The name was vaguely familiar, but I assumed she was a pearl-clutching Ivy League educated life-long Democratic PMC Anti-Trumper. Turns out she was a long-time Republican pundit who was scared off by Trump. No Ivy League degree (BS in journalism from West Virginia), but still apparently a pearl-clutching PMC Anti-Trumper.

      Not that Trump isn’t causing many of us to clutch a few pearls these days. But Pete Buttigieg? Maybe she’s actually a Republican agent provocateur under deep cover.

      Reply ↓
    6. hk

      I think having daily press conferences IS a good idea. Whether Mayor Pete should be doing it, and indeed, what the message should be, however is the real question. Dems should use confetences like those to articulate real policy, and more important, bind themselves to them. But they don’t want to fo them: they are just against Trump. So the excesses by ICE are bad, but what will you do about illegal immigration–which they are afraid even to call “illegal” for example. What will you do about Gaza? We’ll just call the stuff Zyklon X instead of B. No wonder people don’t like these bozos–they are just Trumps with nicer mannerisms of speech. (And some of them think they can do better if they just adopt crass speech…IDK if Pete is worse than those goons.)

      Reply ↓
      1. JMH

        What evidence is there that the democrats are capable of discussing real policy? What evidence is there that Mayor Pete has changed? Ask yourself why the democratic establishment has found it all but impossible to even consider Mamdami. Why the smear campaign against Platner, Katy Porter? As I see it, their sins were to not toe the party line, which upsets the corporate and banking lords. The democrat party is the walking dead with the backbone of a chocolate eclair.

        Reply ↓
    7. Geo

      2026’s new MSNBC daytime lineup:

      “Brunch with Buttigieg”
      “Inside Trading” hosted by Pelosi
      “Zzzzzz… Wha?” hosted by Slotkin

      Reply ↓
  7. Ben Panga

    Re: U.S. intelligence has confirmed that Larry Ellison’s wife is a Chinese intelligence operative who infiltrated Silicon Valley to obtain strategic tech information.

    The tweet no longer exists and the account has been suspended.

    Can find nothing else on it, beyond reposts of screenshots of that one tweet.

    Reply ↓
          1. Ben Panga

            I’m suspicious (sometimes tinfoily) by nature especially with rich tech dudes, but this doesn’t get my Spidey Senses tingling.

            The tweet “U.S. intelligence has confirmed…” without any hint of a source. The wording would normally fit with a situation when a public statement has been made. Doesn’t fit with a “anonymous sources say” story.

            Seems to me like a juicy fake story that someone posted without checking, or just made up.

            If it has legs, I’d assume the Klippensteins of this world will dig and get at least some hint of confirmation.

            Anyone know who Larry Arnault is?

            Edit: he’s a crypto hype boy https://coinmo.io/Account/arnaultwhale

            Reply ↓
          2. Ben Panga

            Here’s a reddit thread from 10 months ago describing him as a scammer:

            https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoScams/comments/1hpndwa/larry_arnault_scammer

            And a crypto site article describing him as a “serial rugger”:

            Degen Spy noted that STONKSGUY is the new future rug brought to the community by Sam Belfort known as the Morpheus Whale and Larry Arnault known as the Arnault Whale and their serial rugger crew.

            The on-chain watcher noted that the same cabal is behind other rugs including MAYA, DNUT, FINE, and over 100 other tokens.

            https://crypto.ro/en/news/stokns-rising-community-warned-about-fake-token-on-solana

            (Follow on to a comment in moderation)

            Reply ↓
  8. Wukchumni

    Newspapers closing, news deserts growing for beleaguered news industry Associated Press Newspapers closing, news deserts growing for beleaguered news industry Associated Press
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    In one way, newspaper reporters resembled actors and actresses in Hollywood, in that the same 151 people did all the heavy lifting in their respective industries, and good luck breaking into either business-it wasn’t uncommon for a fishwrap scribe to have decades @ the QWERTY, and they really ought to have named it Nepowood. as the chances of breaking and entering the entertainment industry were about nil unless you had parental guidance.

    To watch newspapers flail about like so many fish out of water is hard to take, the LA Times lost $48 million last year.

    That’s $4 million a month, month in and month out.

    The one thing left over from the glory days of newspapers is their office building, its of so much more substance than the product they put out.

    The local Big Smoke has the Visalia Times-Delta, a venerable old paper started in 1859, and their building is way too much for an enterprise that relies on AP reporting and tends to leave older stories up for weeks if not months (‘Legendary actress Diane Keaton dies at 79, reports say’ is up for grabs today online in their headline stories) and dutifully reports local high school sports scores as their main objective in letting us know what’s what.

    Essentially the newspaper could be run out of a basement, although there aren’t many here in Cali, so an attic would have to suffice.

    Reply ↓
  9. The Rev Kev

    ““Dangerously stupid”: Musk reignites feud with Trump administration”

    Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is also acting administrator of NASA at the moment and is really butting heads with Elon Musk and it is not only the call to reopen contracts that has riled Musk. NASA’s budget is decreasing and apparently Sean Duffy thinks that it is a great idea if NASA is folded into the Department of Transportation. After all, everybody knows that spaceships & the ISS are exactly like planes, trains and automobiles, right? It was only a few months ago that Duffy called for free trade in aerospace so I guess having an independent government organization dedicated to space would just be in the way.

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

    Reply ↓
  10. DJG, Reality Czar

    Mahira Rivers, “Not Too Sweet” or Too Sweet to Fail?

    After the extended discussion of Gooners yesterday in the comments section to Links, I will not mention Pounded by Produce. On to more important issues: And sugar is important.

    The article is worth a read for the detailed discussion of how sugar has been creeping into recipes in East Asian cookery. The mention that sugar has been used as a spice in cookery there put me in mind of some medieval Italian recipes for ravioli and other stuffed pasta that also used sugar as a spice. Yes, sugar on stuffed pasta — certainly, no longer done.

    Having lived so long in the U S of A, I was aware of problems with sugar in the U S diet. It also concentrates the mind that there are diabetics in the family. So I learned to avoid the major troublesome foods in the U.S. of A.: the endless juices, the jelly, ketchup, soft drinks, marshmallows, and breakfast cereals. That photo of hi-protein Cheerios today — wowsers, who falls for that?

    The sameness of sweet as a taste becomes a problem at the table. The extensive use of sugar where it doesn’t belong becomes a health problem. One notable eruption of sugar where it doesn’t belong is in U.S. bread recipes that use a tablespoon of sugar to goose the yeast into activity. Superfluous.

    I have also been thinking about the taste profile of Italian food. The book / essay by Massimo Montanari about “amaro” and how bitter is the taste that defines Italian cookery is fascinating. From coffee to the huge family of chicory and friends, to broccoli and all of its relatives, to bitter oranges and bergamots, to the use of rosemary and rue, Italians do enjoy bitter.

    Rivers talks about the (declining) taste of sour in many Asian cuisines. And in Italy, the sweet-sour tang of tomato is common indeed and unlikely to go away.

    Is the issue Westernization? Is U.S. cookery truly that sweet and that influential? Or is sugar just one more cheap source of calories in an industrialized chain of production?

    PS: As Giuseppe Barbera explains in Agrumi, a history of citrus, in the nineteenth century, the Sicilians made fortunes exporting lemons (not sugar) to the U S of A. But the Sicilians have a special relation to lemons. Mary Taylor Simeti thinks that Sicilians have a genetic inheritance that lets them eat lemons by the slice, something that I can do. But is it genetic?
    PSS: Amaro by Montanari:
    https://www.laterza.it/scheda-libro/?isbn=9788858149348

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      I’ve cut way back, and its amazing how sweet a Pink Lady apple is when you’ve gone Sugar Anonymous for awhile.

      Reply ↓
    2. CanCyn

      My name is CanCyn and I am addicted to sugar. I blame my Brit descended parents. No dinner was complete without a sweet dessert. We also always got a sweet with our lunch for school. I have removed sugar from my diet more than once in my life but I always fall off that wagon. I understand the health aspects of unnecessarily added sugar to foods that don’t need it and I avoid them. I have never been a soda or juice drinker. Water, coffee, wine, beer or tea are all that I drink these days. But chocolate and baked goods? Oh my! My sugar consumption definitely escalates with stress, every time I fall off the wagon it is due to some crisis, generally personal. These days it is the state of the world and our poly crisis situation that has me unable to pass by a brownie or whatever other temptation.

      Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        Hi Can Cyn. Welcome to the group. I’m ambrit and I’m also a sugar addict. I share your background somewhat and well remember Christmas packages from Grandad in London which were filled with sugary goodness. Mom had to hide much of it from me to prevent me from falling into adrenal exhaustion by Boxing Day. I would say that my “fall off the wagon” triggers are mainly related to depression ‘issues.’ Some days, just reading the News will encourage me to binge on commercial formulations of hot chocolate with marshmallows. I don’t so much feel your pain as taste it. And it reminds me of Maltesers. Stay safe. Read the ingredients on the side of every package.

        Reply ↓
        1. CanCyn

          Hi Ambrit! I admit to sometimes wondering if I’d be welcome at an AA meeting. Sugar addiction perhaps doesn’t have the same life destroying effects of alcohol but it is very damaging to our health and clearly has similar causes. I have a friend who says alcohol is pretty much fermented sugar so of course the two addictions are related.

          Reply ↓
          1. ambrit

            We used to call it Sugar Anonymous, but the initials, SA, had rather negative associations in our European chapters. Now it’s just the Glucose Intolerant League.
            Hope you manage to stay bitter this holiday season!

            Reply ↓
    3. Carla

      @DJG — I think you mean “PPS: Amaro…” It stands for post-post script.

      Since I’ve seen the incorrect “PSS” quite a few times, I thought I would comment on it.

      Reply ↓
    4. amfortas

      DJG, i’m reminded of the scene in the 1st or second Godfather films, where the Capo is teaching Michael how to “cook for a buncha guys”…and he adds sugar…to tomato sauce.
      from my subsequent research, being a chef and all, this was an american italian thing, and they justified it as a counter to the bitterness…which is a real thing in cookery, balancing competing flavors…i do it all the time.(i just dont use sugar,lol)…the “dance in yer mouth” of different tastes effecting various different taste buds(and olfactory receptors) is what good cookery is all about)
      i’m certain that Big Sugar played a part in all of it, with their bernays sauce.
      but it was still a thing, especially in the east coast diaspora.
      (all this is from memory, btw,lol)

      Reply ↓
      1. Carla

        I just don’t think a teaspoon of white sugar ever really poisoned a family or hurt anything. My mother taught me to put a pinch of sugar in deviled eggs, and everybody raves. That said, in many recipes calling for a sweet/sour combination, I use maple syrup. So sue me.

        Reply ↓
    5. neutrino23

      It’s funny that it seems like I have to pay extra for things that are sugar free. I get Michael’s of Brooklyn tomato sauce with good ingredients, but it is quite a bit more than the average sugared sauce.

      I will accept a little agave syrup in my Margarita.

      Reply ↓
      1. jsn

        Yeah, I have a 12 year old guest coming for Halloween next Friday, so (pre-diabetic) I entered the candy isle at the supermarket this morning.

        Turns out to be the “bread” isle too: not a single loaf there in had NO sugar in the ingredients.

        I never go there, there is a bakery nearby that makes simple, fresh bread. IIRC, in France if it has sugar in it you can’t call it bread: it’s a pastry.

        Reply ↓
  11. Wukchumni

    I put a spell on you
    ‘Cause you’re mine
    Bi-a-do-ya, di-a-do-ya, dia-do-a, dia-do-a
    You better stop the things you do
    And I ain’t done lyin’, no I ain’t done lyin’

    I can’t stand it
    Your runnin’ around
    You should know better fourth estate
    I can’t stand it
    Since you put me down

    I put a spell on you
    Because you’re mine

    Do ya love me
    Do ya love me
    Do ya love me
    Oh my
    And always care if you don’t want me
    I said I’m yours right now

    I put a spell on you
    Because, bi-a-doot, di-a-doot, di-a-doo
    You’re mine

    I Put a Spell on You, by Screaming Jay Hawkins

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82cdnAUvsw8&list=RD82cdnAUvsw8

    Reply ↓
  12. AG

    re: “No Kings” protest critique

    SCHEERPOST

    recommended and repeating criticism made here already by readers

    by the remarkable Margaret Kimberley, suggesting smaller and local is better

    ‘No Kings’ & the Lure of Spectacle
    https://scheerpost.com/2025/10/24/no-kings-the-lure-of-spectacle/

    ultimate conclusion

    “(…)
    No Kings was a classic astroturf operation, giving the appearance of emerging from the grassroots when it was a top-down effort , endorsed by the likes of Hillary Clinton
    (…)
    Good attendance numbers can hide political weakness and the debates about the value of No Kings were proof.
    (…)
    there were communities in Chicago recording ICE agents, attempting to stop their kidnappings, and in the process risking arrest themselves.

    Wouldn’t it be more useful for their work to be replicated across the country, and for others to learn what to do when Trump sends federal law enforcement to their cities?

    In Tucson, Arizona, communities organized to force their city council to defeat a proposed Amazon data center and are still fighting after their local elected officials continue to collude with the corporate giant despite their opposition.

    Those are just two examples of effective organizing taking place and they should be shared with people whose energies would be of better use than claiming victory because they marched with thousands of others.
    (…)
    Bigger is not always better. All politics are local and those strategies must be mastered before the next No Kings spectacle. Surely there will be one and hopefully there will be far fewer people in attendance.
    (…)”

    Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        I appreciated that No Kings was all about the possibility after Trump’s term was over on January 20th 2029, that he would then proclaim himself royalty.

        The whole enterprise was of dubious deeds done by the Donkey Show-no substance nor demands. See me-dig me.

        Reply ↓
      3. ambrit

        A friend who took marketing in college once broke us all up one evening at the local watering hole by stating: “When we talk about focus groups in class, we always start chanting, “Focus pocus, focus pocus.””

        Reply ↓
    2. earthling

      I am stunned that the most successful protest effort in 50 years gets trashed so much here. If it’s sleazy astroturfing to just get people to focus and coordinate on one day nationally, good, it was needed. All the people I saw involved were very sincere and got out of their comfort zone to at least do something, make some noise about this horrible situation we are in, trying to save their republic. There were the usual lifelong activists, who frankly usually achieve very little in their local protests, and a lot of just regular voters trying to act like a real citizen for once. The numbers were so big the media could not ignore it, and that was a very large part of the point.

      These attempts to denigrate it are dark and disturbing. They don’t inspire ‘more useful ways to protest’, they inspire discouragement and cynicism, the last thing we need.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Given the choice, I would rather attend a medicare for all protest in America than one that says stop Trump becoming King.

        Reply ↓
        1. doug

          Fine, but there has not been a ‘medicare for all protest’ that I am aware of. There has not been a choice. Something about the tools you have rather than the tools you wish you had. Sometimes one has to make do. Like earthling above, I am surprised at the pushback and denigration.
          I once had a boss tell me ‘ it is easy to be negative., what do you suggest instead?’.

          Reply ↓
          1. The Rev Kev

            How about concentrating on the essentials. How about the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Plenty of fights to be had there, especially with someone like Trump. How about protests with exact, specific demands that end up giving direct material benefits to Americans instead of a nebulous one like No Kings which means nothing.

            Hint. If the Democrats fiercely object to any of these demands, you know that you are on the right track

            Reply ↓
        1. Dr. John Carpenter

          Exactly. Earthling, you’ve shared your concern here before yet you describe a purely performative event with no demands, no action items and no lasting impact. What was even being protested? The whole thing leaves me asking so, what? And no one has answered that question. People came out dressed up and got to feel like they were doing something but so, what?

          I think this alleged protest gets exactly the treatment it deserves here.

          Reply ↓
        2. FlyoverBoy

          I believe No Kings did accomplish something. Sometimes you have to start with a baby step, which this was. Opponents of this regime now got a day of powerful positive reinforcement that they are neither alone nor crazy, at a moment when the other side has gripped the media with the narrative that they are violent and unstoppable. That is helpful.

          Reply ↓
          1. AG

            Agree. The presence of the protest as a media event is indeed of significance.
            Problem is what usually follows these things, nothing.
            Protest especially today has developed into a very complex issue and needs to operate on different levers at the same time.
            Which so far it does not.
            The problem is not which sort of protest the public speaks about but which it does not. And those which are being dismantled in the shadow of this. Mainly because media are blinded and delusional.
            Just like in the US, in Germany journalism and reporting used to be a path for working-class or non-elite members of society. No more. This as we have discussed many times is one of the formative shifts we are struggling with now.
            To reverse is extremely difficult.

            Reply ↓
      3. AG

        Kimberely does not denigrate the protesters at all and acknowledges their worries.
        Which is why I chose to post her piece.

        However there is a dubious quality to any event-based society when out of the blue (…) millions of people are 1) gathering in such a well-orchestrated/organized way 2) MSM are cheering about it unanimously.

        I can of course be wrong – but I would also suspect that 7M did show up and the support of MSM are tied in some ways in the preparation of such a protest. After all organizers know people in the media and many media workers are very decent people. And so they eventually find common ground in this event. But 7M people in itself does not mean anything of substance.

        The Soccer World Championship is huge too and it achieves nothing politically even though it’s associated with all sorts of idealistic conceptions.

        Why not 7M people protesting against WWIII e.g.?

        Besides Kimberely starts her piece with a structural critique of the One Million Man March and Farrakhan.
        So this is not a hit piece directed against No Kings as such trying to smear it.

        Last point: This is also significant re: the media double standard towards all sort of constructive protest in all of West.

        Reply ↓
        1. hk

          You know, I saw a bunch of those in SK (gathrring a bunch of people to do something is ridiculously eady in SK, due to its highly networked dociety: not always politics, as faddish social events draw well, sometimes with fatal consequences like with thst Halloween gathering some years ago…which were/are mostly meaningless but impressed clueless foreigners. It’s sad that’s another polutical import from there into US.

          Reply ↓
      4. ambrit

        The “more useful ways to protest” that are allowed right now are all devoid of substance.
        Look at the results of the protests. Nothing useful to the society at large. These ‘protests’ are performative theatre at best. As Wukchumni says above; “See me, dig me.”
        As I have stated before, any protest movement wanting to be effective on the larger stage needs a dedicated para-military wing to make credible threats against the status quo. Where is the ‘No Kings’ militia? At least the MAGAs have or had the Proud Boys. Even Antifa and the Early Floyds did something concrete with the “die ins” that paralyzed traffic on several occasions. Then those groups were co-opted by the Centrists and ceased to have relevance.
        If you want to see examples of real demonstrations, look up film of the Paris riots of 1968. Now those were demonstrations. What we are seeing today in America is a giant Be-In.
        I see that SNAP benefits will not be distributed November 1. I earnestly await the massive street demonstration in solidarity of the hungry poor that the Democrat Party organizes that Saturday, November First.
        “Remember, remember, the First of November?” I won’t be holding my breath for that.
        Stay safe and be thankful for the food on your table.

        Reply ↓
        1. Cat Burglar

          Good points — it is always worth measuring things like No Kings against the maximum case, like the 1968 Movement brought France to the brink of revolution. A movement has to be able to exercise power to at least disrupt, possibly to stop the system from functioning, and ultimately to manage an alternative system of satisfying needs, to have what our better call, “credibility.”

          Your reference to the Human Be-In in San Francisco in 1967 is perhaps off the mark. You’re right to question the value of a virtue-signalling performance that exercises no power, but using that term is not perhaps applicable. Arguably, the Human Be-In was a successful organizing event. The proximal goal was to bring together the anti-war and anti-imperialist left (centered in the Eastbay) with the San Francisco cultural left (later called the counterculture) to form a movement for new society. In the presence of someone like Gary Snyder, the former IWW, among the organizers. suggests that there were people with some very definite political objectives — the later political passivity of stoned counter culture types was not present at the beginning. While it was a tactical success, the media coverage made it nationally important. It had it’s problems, as you can see in the many youtube videos.

          Reply ↓
      5. RookieEMT

        Best as I can describe it, like all things political theatre, the obsession with Trump ignores why America is collapsing so quickly.

        The Democrats have championed many of Trump’s various crimes, even if more subtle about it. They have established a playing field where fascists have a huge advantage all the while attacking socialists.

        So, no. I don’t care for ‘No Kings’. Its a Democrat hug fest.

        Reply ↓
      6. mrsyk

        I feel your frustration. Getting people out on the street matters, but where’s the message, and where’s the teeth? No unions, no unified positions outside “Trump bad”. Marchers at these protests are not in agreement on many issues like Gaza or Ukraine. This turns these protests into political rallies, and there is a well deserved distaste for team blue around here.

        Reply ↓
      7. Cat Buglar

        What you say, and what the the critics say, are both right. People did get out, see and talk to each other, and demonstrate what they wanted. It was also a considered attempt by one party to corral people for their own benefit in the next election without making any policy commitments.

        What I ask of events like this is, “Does it advance us toward policies that will make our lives better?” And I find it did, because showing up, seeing each other, and creating an event is an important but small exercise of power, despite the suspect funding source and hokey focus-grouped title. When you get people together to do something, the unexpected can happen, and we should have more of it.

        Reply ↓
      8. amfortas

        Earthling, while i agree in principal(in my construction, gettig one board up is better than getting none)…were there effort to educate?
        anything radical at all?
        general strike, or work to rule explained?
        or just “show up and yell and chant then go home”?
        “opposition media” get footage of yelling people…dems get to say “we’re fighting for…
        when theres talk of caltrops, wake me.

        Reply ↓
      10. albrt

        I try not to discourage the No Kings people I meet, because we might need them if somebody ever comes up with a good idea about what to do next.

        But I see no sign that anybody currently organizing or attending those protests has a good idea any more than Chuck Schumer does.

        Reply ↓
  13. The Rev Kev

    “US exploring ways to deploy international forces to Gaza, possibly under UN mandate: Secretary of state”

    This must be driving the State department to distraction. They would prefer to use the countries that have signed up for the Abraham Accords – the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, and Morocco – but the numbers are not there. There are other countries that might get involved but not without a UN mandate.Trump hates the UN and this might mean that he would not be able to fully control that force which he would hate even more. Of course any country that sent forces in would know how dangerous it would be. Not so much attacks from Hamas as attacks by the Israelis who have a long history of doing stuff like that. Trump would prefer to have total control of that force but certainly he would not send US troops in as too risky politically. But even if such a force was assembled, Trump would demand that they take all the weapons off Hamas and very few countries would agree to put their troops in such a position. It would be doing Israel’s dirty work for them and since the Israelis have not been able to do so in the past two years, any such force would find that task impossible.

    Reply ↓
    1. hk

      For several of the countries that would like to send troops, this will be an opportunity to show Usrael (or even US) up for their domestic reasons, and these are serious military powers–Pakistan, Turkiye, Indonesia, etc. That doesn’t mean they would actually want to fight (esp not Turkiye and probably not Pakistan either) but thdir presence, especially if they come with real gear–which I expect they will– on top of UN mandate, will pose problems to Israel like they never faced since USS Liberty, and, I suspect they aren’t dealing with LBJ this time.

      Reply ↓
      1. JMH

        I have a hard time taking the cease fire seriously. Israel always starts shooting again after a breather and clearly the “baby sitting” is necessary if that is to avoided. My question is will there be a permanent “High Level” American on the scene or will they come and go in relays. Alternatively, the money spigot could be turned off to get attention followed by a sentence or two of instructions, a pause for a word of assent, and then if satisfactory, open the spigot just a little. And so on and so forth.

        Reply ↓
        1. TimH

          The baby sitters will either have to intervene when IDF kill labelled reporters or be part of the problem. The only way to avoid that dilemma is to not provide the baby sitters.

          Reply ↓
          1. Late Introvert

            Agreeing with all of the above comments; it does seem Trump owns Gaza now in a way he probably never planned for, not that it seems to matter to him these days.

            Reply ↓
  14. AG

    re: gender changes Germany

    imo this is somewhat related to the issue Margaret Kimberley raises about No Kings in my above post – proportionalism.

    Since gender change has become official a year ago in all of Germany 11,000 such cases have been registered.

    Considering the fuss made by opponents and propagandists alike especially draining energies from serious problems this overblown attention is more than noteworthy in a bad way.

    BERLINER ZEITUNG with a brief report:

    More than 10,000 gender changes since the beginning of the year: Berlin leads the nation

    Over 11,000 people have changed their gender registration since the introduction of the Self-Determination Act. A particularly large number did so in Berlin.
    https://archive.is/tYbn0

    “(…)
    A particularly high number of changes were recorded in Berlin – around 2,400 people had their registrations adjusted there. In Hamburg, the number was around 900, and in Munich and Cologne, nearly 700 each.
    (…)
    The Ministry of Family Affairs expects approximately 4,000 applications annually in the future.
    (…)”

    Reply ↓
    1. jrkrideau

      So far that means ~0.013%, that is 1/13th of one percent of Germans registered gender changes. Clearly Germany in doomed.

      Reply ↓
      1. Jeff W

        “Mountain Dew Mouth”
        Decades ago I was reading some mainstream news article about some nutrition topic (diets, maybe?) and some nutritionist was saying how soda would be better viewed as “liquid candy.”

        I had never been a big soda fan—both my brother and I, growing up, had no desire to drink the stuff—but that phrase turned me off to soda entirely, especially soda with sugar/high fructose corn syrup in it.

        Reply ↓
  16. Afro

    Re: West Bank,
    Re: “We’re now seeing ironclad proof that Israel is a proxy of the United States. The genocidal Israeli regime does precisely what Washington tells it to do, and does so for one simple reason: without US support, the genocidal regime would cease to exist.”

    Either that, or perhaps this is simply another case of an orchestrated fight between Trump and Bibi. They were also “fighting” a lot prior to the last attack on Iran.

    Reply ↓
  17. Ignacio

    Armchair Warlord- X backward-facing analysis.

    Problem is, as with these kind of analyses, assuming rationality in decision making. I am saying this with the advantage of having read last week Forever Again by Aurelien. If such an analysis included a situational political, sociological and psycho-logic study of the moment in Ukraine, it might probably result that October 2022 was possibly the most impervious moment for any kind of rational thinking as the one AW suggests. Whether Ukraine will reach, some day, a point when realities make rational thinking prevail is something yet to be discovered. Or not.

    Reply ↓
    1. Munchausen

      The decision to fight Russians till the last Ukrainian could be considered rational for a sick mind playing geopolitical chess. What’s less rational, is pretending that the Ukraine is an entity making that decision. Not even EU countries make their own decisions, let alone the Kievan Vaudeville.

      Reply ↓
      1. Ignacio

        I disagree with you. The Ukrainians have agency, even if they are under enormous pressure. May be contaminated with cocaine, extreme nationalism, hatred or other emotions but within their limits they can make their own decisions.

        Reply ↓
        1. hk

          Ukrainian who, though? Zelenski and his gang are hardly “Ukrainian.” They have no sentiment invested in their alleged country or countrymen.

          Reply ↓
        2. Munchausen

          “Within their limits” is doing lots of heavy lifting here. One might say that even pigs in a slaughterhouse can make their own decisions, but within their limits.

          Reply ↓
  18. AG

    re: Germany – Russia

    NACHDENKSEITEN

    recommended

    A new interview by German RU-correspondent Ulrich Heyden

    use google-translate

    Everyday life in the Russian provinces – a German woman with family ties to the Volga reports

    Tamara Helck is from Düsseldorf. She is German, but she is one of those people who has family ties to Russia. Her father is Russian, her mother Ukrainian. In the following interview, she talks about her parents’ integration into West Germany after 1945 and her trip to the Russian provinces in August of this year. In Udmurtia on the Volga River, 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow, she visited relatives in the village of Babino, which has a population of 900, and friends in Orenburg in southern Russia. Tamara Helck’s report fills in the gaps in knowledge, as the German mainstream media rarely reports on everyday life in the Russian provinces.

    by Ulrich Heyden (Moscow).
    https://www.nachdenkseiten.de/?p=141053

    Reply ↓
  19. The Rev Kev

    “Women Are Getting on Testosterone and They Say It’s Absolutely Awesome”

    I really don’t know about this one. Sure, there would be a lot of women who could benefit from it as proscribed by a doctor. I would say go for it. On the other hand, I can see it being easily abused. It may be that for too many women, that testosterone might become the new Botox. As that article ends-

    ‘Testosterone is like a religion,’ one urologist told the NYT. ‘People have strong feelings when it comes to testosterone.’

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie

      Ah, testosterone. I remember it well. I’m coming up on 2 years of prostate cancer treatment that nixes testosterone without physical castration. When the treatment began, the medical oncologist explained that in Europe, they use the knife rather than the injection, and that that was “barbaric.” At the time, I thought it was just Big Pharma talk, but after two years, I’m looking forward to coming off the treatment, which is usually given for only 2 years because the side effects become so bad. Beside the hot flashes, which are tolerable, I’m getting more and more muscle pulls and aches. Then there’s the osteoporosis that can’t be seen or felt until there’s some disaster.

      Reply ↓
  20. eg

    “The Partisans are Wrong: Moving to the Center is the Way to Win”

    In which the galaxy brains at the Gray Lady reveal their true project, which is that nothing must be allowed to change, ever. What good is “winning” when it’s never followed by any “governing” on behalf of the people? A great deal of good for those that wish things to remain the same forever.

    It’s the deadest of dead ends.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Wait a minute. Weren’t people like Biden and Kamala centrists? As are people like Starmer, Macron, Merz, etc.? I can think of no worse way to describe a politician than to say that they are a centrist. You are right here. It’s the deadest of dead ends.

      Reply ↓
      1. Ben Panga

        It’s the centrist version of “real socialism has never been tried”?

        We need to go further in our centrism! Greater refusal to do anything that would help the bottom 90%! More brunch!!!

        The toast is not milquey enough!

        Be extreme in our moderation!

        Eliminate all hint of actual values!

        Reply ↓
    2. pjay

      You just don’t understand. Perhaps when Pete Buttigieg starts holding those daily press conferences the clouds will part and the Wisdom of this sage advice will become clear to you – and to all of us. How I pine for that day!

      Reply ↓
    3. LawnDart

      I was sent that editorial several days ago: my response–

      Well, while the New York Times has seen a drastic decline in readership, it certainly hasn’t lost its touch. My main takeaway from this editorial was how the writers feel that candidates from either of the “two” parties can improve their messaging in order to appear more appealing to “moderates.”

      Like the New York Times, both the “Republican” and “Democratic” parties are seeing major declines in party membership as many of those who still participate in the electoral process reject affiliation with either of these, choosing to identify as “independents” instead.

      An ever-growing number of dogs are refusing to eat the dog food, a fact that the Times editorial board omits, and better messaging ain’t gonna fix that.

      The Democratic party we once knew died in the 1990s. The Obama administration affirmed this from the moment they took the reins and onward, moving us further along the road to unchecked corporatism and authoritarian rule. As I mentioned, it should be telling that the current administration exercises its power without a need to enact new laws or to change existing ones, although this will surely come.

      In light and by virtue of the overwhelming evidence that surrounds us, it should be obvious that citizen-subjects who support either wing are suffering from willful ignorance, dreamy nostalgia, delusions, or crass tribalism– perhaps combinations of these– though many are most likely simple authoritarian-follower personality types, well-described in texts relating to psychology. That in 2024, 47-million Americans cast ballots for a candidate who openly supported genocide and who was endorsed by the New York Times underappreciates the magnitude of the problems we face as we contend with a ruling-class whose only use for us is any value that they can extract from our lives– and beyond.

      We often wondered what Germans were thinking during the rise of fascism back in the 1930s, but we need not wonder any longer since we are living it today.

      Fortunately, there are still more of us then there are oligarchs, and less people are reading the Times, so maybe there’s hope…Well, while the New York Times has seen a drastic decline in readership, it certainly hasn’t lost its touch. My main takeaway from this editorial was how the writers feel that candidates from either of the “two” parties can improve their messaging in order to appear more appealing to “moderates.”

      Like the New York Times, both the “Republican” and “Democratic” parties are seeing major declines in party membership as many of those who still participate in the electoral process reject affiliation with either of these, choosing to identify as “independents” instead.

      An ever-growing number of dogs are refusing to eat the dog food, a fact that the Times editorial board omits, and better messaging ain’t gonna fix that.

      The Democratic party we once knew died in the 1990s. The Obama administration affirmed this from the moment they took the reins and onward, moving us further along the road to unchecked corporatism and authoritarian rule. As I mentioned, it should be telling that the current administration exercises its power without a need to enact new laws or to change existing ones, although this will surely come.

      In light and by virtue of the overwhelming evidence that surrounds us, it should be obvious that citizen-subjects who support either wing are suffering from willful ignorance, dreamy nostalgia, delusions, or crass tribalism– perhaps combinations of these– though many are most likely simple authoritarian-follower personality types, well-described in texts relating to psychology. That in 2024, 47-million Americans cast ballots for a candidate who openly supported genocide and who was endorsed by the New York Times underappreciates the magnitude of the problems we face as we contend with a ruling-class whose only use for us is any value that they can extract from our lives– and beyond.

      We often wondered what Germans were thinking during the rise of fascism back in the 1930s, but we need not wonder any longer since we are living it today.

      Fortunately, there are still more of us then there are oligarchs, and less people are reading the Times, so maybe there’s hope…

      Reply ↓
        2. Late Introvert

          Good letter LawnDart, I pictured the intern binning it with a smirk before anyone else could see it though. Or worse the AI bot flagged it for wrong-think.

          Reply ↓
  21. upstater

    Supply chain fragility, Ford edition.

    Ford has a single source, Novelis in Oswego NY, for aluminum sheet for its F series pickups and SUV. In September the rolling mill had a roof fire that required 20 fire companies to extinguish (must’ve had a lot of combustibles up there!). Novelis produces 40% of all US aluminum sheet with imported ingots. As a result, Ford has cut production to one shift and has issued profit warnings of a $1.5-2B hit. The plant will be out of commission until early 2026… Oswego gets 200+ inches of snow, which starts next month; must be a race to get it enclosed! The mill equipment also needs replacement.

    Novelis is racing to fix Oswego factory fire damage that’s costing Ford more than $1B syracuse.com

    Single sourcing and lean manufacturing works until it doesn’t.

    Reply ↓
    2. Glen

      Aluminum dust is highly “energetic”, and if not properly handled, bad things can happen:

      Aluminum dust explosion in dust collector – case study
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrZAMop-5Mc

      We had a similar explosion at a factory, but I’ve read studies where after the aluminum fines ignited, all that was left of the building was the foundation.

      So if there were finishing operations that generated fine enough particles at that plant, it’s highly likely that aluminum dust was involved.

      Reply ↓
  22. restive

    So Larry Ellison’s wife has been a Chinese agent all along. Talk about making sacrifices for your country. I don’t envy that poor woman having to do a job that gross. Which I guess means that the new owner of CBS is the son of a Chinese spy. I know I shouldn’t laugh, but I’m only human. Noteworthy too how both of the links for that post “mysteriously” don’t work.

    Reply ↓
    1. Ben Panga

      See my comments above: the deleted account for the unsourced claim is that of a serial crypto scammer. There’s no other source.

      Reply ↓
  23. The Rev Kev

    ‘Jerry’s Take on China
    @JerrysTakeChina
    Oct 23
    This could see the end of the Olympic movement
    Malaysia and several other countries including: Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Pakistan and Qatar all deny Israel passports entry
    That’s a big chunk of humanity, that might go the same way’

    Sounds like the International Olympic Committee decided to make Indonesia an object lesson with their super maximalist punishment. They should know their place. Thing is, the Global majority can see the bs in banning the Russian teams over the past decade while the IOC wants to clear the path for Israel to take part in the LA Olympics in 2028. That should be entertaining. I can see Trump deciding which teams and which athletes he will allow into the country to compete there based on their attitude to Israel – or if they are a threat to American athletes winning. Don’t forget that this will be an election year so he will want the US to be the greatest winner in the history of the Olympics. Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be ironic if the OIC decided to risk the entire Olympic Games and the Olympic movement, all for the sake of Israel’s genocide. And for what the modern Olympics has become, would that be so bad?

    Reply ↓
  24. Steve H.

    > Pentagon to use $130 million donation from anonymous Trump ‘friend’ to pay military members CNN

    Odd how a word can make a difference. I saw a variant on this headline that substituted ‘to use’ with ‘accepts’, and it altered my orientation such that this question popped:

    Did we just privatize the Pentagon?

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      I think that this violates Federal Statute. No public entity can accept payment directly from a private source. It creates too much of an incentive for corruption.
      The jokes will just write themselves.

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA

        Yes, 8 U.S. Code § 209 prohibits federal employees from receiving salary supplements or compensation from non-government sources for performing their official duties.

        I can already see the legal brief from Trump’s lawyers claiming that the military aren’t “federal employees” and the intent of the law, as determined by reading Congress’ minds from 1823 was only to bar donations to the civil service.

        That is, if anyone has standing to sue. Likely any member of Congress does, but will they? Massie? We know the Donkeys lack the cojones. Noone wants to play the Grinch.

        Reply ↓
        1. ambrit

          Maybe some “patriotic” oligarch will cobble together the money to underwrite the cost of air fare for Army soldiers overseas to come home. The other option is for small and medium sized Army units to become Warlord Bands. Live off of the land, American style.

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisFromGA

            I can see the 181st BlackRock division suddenly getting new marching orders: secure those Lithium mines in the Donbass, before Vlad grabs ’em! General Fink demands that you hold that rare erf deposit and do not count your losses! Die for BlackRock!

            Reply ↓
        2. scott s.

          8USC209 was repealed in 1952. But I guess you reference 18USC209 which was passed in Oct 1962 [76Stat1119] as P.L. 87-849.

          In that act, sec 202: “…The terms ‘officer or employee’ and ‘special Government employee’ as used in sections 203, 205, 207 through 209, and 218, shall not include enlisted members of the Armed Forces.”

          So it applies only to regular officers and reserve/National Guard officers on federal active duty more than 130 days.

          Reply ↓
        3. chuck roast

          John Yoo has been sharpening his chops teaching ‘law’ at Stanford last I heard. Take that boy out of the ivory tower, have him fire up a blunt and give him a pen and paper. He’s a star. He doesn’t need any law texts for reference. He just makes it up as he goes along. I think they call it legalese.

          Reply ↓
      2. scott s.

        DoD has “non-appropriated fund” activities for morale, welfare, and rec that are funded by profits from the exchange system (exchanges also are NAF). There are also independent “relief” organizations that I think work like 501(C)3 non-profits. (These days at the exchanges the CC terminals are set to beg for donations to these.)

        Reply ↓
    2. Jason Boxman

      How is that even possible; like do you roll up to a Federal Reserve bank and say, “Hi, I’d like to deposit $130 million dollars in the federal government’s account. Thank you.”

      Reply ↓
  25. tegnost

    I love the way The Editorial Board” (hey, isn’t that the same group sitting around a giant table dour faced as they scoffed at bernie? Yes. It is.) never mentions various pacs spending ridiculous dollars to beat non centrist candidates, no mention of the dccc vetting candidates for “centrist” views, how joe manchin didn’t vote for their supposed agenda but rather assisted right wing dems to prevent any (I hesitate to call it) leftward movement.And no mention of the “centrist” sinema blocking the staircase until that carried interest thing got shelved, and how well that worked out for her personal fortunes. These people are irredeemable.
    And as Rob Urie pointed out yesterday, ai is being trained prejudicially on this tripe.

    Reply ↓
  26. The Rev Kev

    “Inside Marco Rubio’s Push for Regime Change in Venezuela”

    ‘Hegseth promised a forever war against drugs. “Our generation spent the better part of two decades hunting Al Qaeda, hunting ISIS. As the president said, this is the ISIS, this is the Al Qaeda of the Western Hemisphere… our message to these foreign terrorist organizations is that we will treat you like we treated Al Qaeda… We will kill you.”’

    Either that or let you take over a large country and support you like we did in Syria.

    Reply ↓
  28. The Rev Kev

    ‘Dr Rahmeh Aladwan
    @doctor_rahmeh
    Today, the medical tribunal (@the_mpts) surrendered to political pressure.
    They chose to trample on their own ruling from the 25th of September and allow the @gmcuk to resubmit the same evidence—effectively perverting our British legal system on behalf of the ‘israeli’ jewish lobby and their funded MP Streeting.’

    Anybody who watched the trial of Jullian Assange descend into a Kafkaesque circus would not be surprised by this development. British justice just let an ex-soldier go accused of killing people during the Bloody Sunday murders because the recorded transcripts taken at the time were – wait for it – too old to be relevant. British Justice – which it isn’t.

    Reply ↓
    1. bert

      We’re watching all the UK’s institutions corrupted by this phoney warmed over anti-semitism nonsense eminating from the land thieves who seem to think that God is their own personal realator who’s given them the right to genocide anyone who gets in their way, even the descendents of the original Jews some of whom converted to Christianity while the rest lived in peace alongside Arabs and converted Muslims before they themselve converted to the dominant faith of the Middle East, North Africa and Iberia, and now the world.

      And we, as free born Briton’s have to put up with being governed by people who seem to be doing a helluva sight more to the benefit of the compulsive genocidaires in Palestine, the Ukrainians and the fluffheadsof the EU who seem bent on creating a European war we can guarantee the UK will not end up on the winning side, rather than, say, feeding the 25% of children living with hunger as their constant companion, creating and implementing an industrial and commercial plan that will clear our rivers and coastal waters of shit, dangerous chemicals and other waste, cutting travel costs and building jobs which serve the interests of our country and our people rather than the interests of the corrupt élites in foreign countries and the corrupt and selfserving élites which rule us and strike daily at our liberties. Christ, we might as well all pack up and go and live in our cars or on the streets of San Francisco or some other God forsaken Third World country.

      Doctor Rahmeh Aladwan carries hersekf with more decency with compassion for the weak and dispossessed than the tribunals which have decided her case must be heard again so she can be found guilty of human decency to appease a subversive and vociferous minority group which seems to have every politician and every public official in their pockets.

      Reply ↓
  29. Alan

    “The Enshitification Of Everything As Seen In Common Automotive Tools”

    I agree in general with the enshitification of everything, but as an almost 70 something who has worked on his own vehicles since circa 1970 I have to call BS on Uncle Tony.

    First, you can get a battery charger that will charge a dead battery. I bought one about 3 years ago and it will also charge lithium batteries. About 40 bucks.

    Second, the 1970’s timing light he uses for comparison was probably a top of the line consumer model. I had one at the time not much different from the cheap Amazon model. Autozone sells a timing light with probably better features for 53 bucks.
    https://www.autozone.com/test-scan-and-specialty-tools/timing-light/p/innova-inductive-timing-light/108151_0_0
    The only thing worse is the lack of cardboard box to store it in.

    I think the lesson from that video is don’t buy the cheapest thing you can find on Amazon. Better yet, don’t buy anything from Amazon.

    Reply ↓
    1. scott s.

      I bought a pricey Craftsman “Diehard” smart charger from Sears years ago that has this problem. Replaced a basic “10 Amp” charger that just had an analog ammeter and you had to watch it to ensure you didn’t overcharge and boil off electrolyte. Wish I still had the old one.

      But sure, if you buy some Chinese tool off of Amazon or at China Freight you know you aren’t getting Snap-On, Mac, or that 60s-vintage Sun diagnostic machine.

      I’ve bought my share of HF tools, and when you don’t want/need to spend a fortune they get the job done.

      Sears went broke, so I guess the fact that they supplied excellent manuals and also readily available parts didn’t save them.

      Reply ↓
      1. chuck roast

        Maybe the Chinese are still figuring it out. Recall that upon the rise of Japanese industry they exported crappola tools, and they wised-up pretty quickly. Lotsa Japanese tools and motors are the state of the art these days.

        Reply ↓
  30. AG

    re: CIA´s Substack SpyTalk

    How Secret Agents Work to Hijack U.S. Foreign Policy
    “Devils’ Advocates,” a new book by New York Times reporter Kenneth Vogel, reveals how foreign potentates recruit connected Americans to promote their interests

    by Michael Isikoff
    preview

    Oct 25, 2025
    https://www.spytalk.co/p/how-secret-agents-hijack-us-foreign

    Did Isikoff take a truth-serum before typing?

    “(…)
    Consider the case of Hunter Biden. The travails of the former president’s son have been well documented—his years-long descent into crack addiction and random sexual liaisons. But as Vogel points out, it was not long after then-Vice President Joe Biden was assigned to oversee U.S. policy to Ukraine that his troubled son Hunter was recruited on the shores of Italy’s Lake Como by Mykola Zlochevsky, a Ukrainian oligarch accused of corruption, to serve on the board of his energy company, Burisma Holdings, paying him a princely sum of $1 million a year. The arrangement disturbed State Department officials in Kyiv, one of whom, George P. Kent pleaded with the vice president’s staff to get Hunter to step down to avoid the “conflict of interest.” His request went nowhere—and the elder Biden continued to do what he could to boost his son’s foreign business dealings.
    (…)”

    And in order to appear non-partisan Mr. Isikoff brings in the Chinese so that Burisma actually doesn’t looks bad at all:

    “(…)
    But Hunter’s foreign adventures went well beyond Burisma and proved even more financially rewarding. At the same time, he was promoting the interests of the shady Ukrainian energy firm he was recruited by CEFC China Energy— a Chinese conglomerate with close ties to the Chinese government and a key player in Chinese president Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road initiative.
    (…)”.

    p.s.
    Of course Kent would merit an essay of his own (Ukraine 2015-2018). E.g. I also wonder what Craig Murray would have to say about him considering Kent was assigned to Uzbekistan.

    “(…)
    On October 15, 2019, Kent gave a deposition in the House impeachment inquiry of President Trump. He appeared again before the House Intelligence Committee in a public hearing alongside Ambassador Bill Taylor, the U.S. chargé d’affaires ad interim to Ukraine.
    (…)”
    see:
    https://wikispooks.com/wiki/George_Kent
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_P._Kent#Education

    Reply ↓
    1. albrt

      Promise?

      I would change my registration from Green to vote for Harris in the Democrat primary if I could be assured it would destroy the Democrats. But I don’t see enough difference between her and the other Democrats to have confidence in that prediction.

      Reply ↓
  32. XXYY

    Car production slumps to a 73-year low after JLR cyber-attack Guardian

    I remain amazed that virtually every computer and computer network in the industrial United States is blandly hooked up to the Internet, leaving it wide open to every kind of hack and cyber attack.

    There’s certainly no law or technical requirement that this has to be the case. I work at a government contractor facility and the network we do everything on is air gapped, meaning there are simply no data connections between the network inside the building and the internet outside. This is a simple and easy rule to follow, that ensures no one will be vacuuming data out of our computer system, or planting malicious malware inside it.

    Seems like this should be the norm for most computer systems in an industrial setting, or where physical or financial safety depends on the network being intact and working properly.

    Remember, every cyber attack is self-inflicted.

    Reply ↓
    1. Glen

      As a factory floor automation engineer, I cannot tell you how many times we fought and lost the battle with corporate IT to keep factory networks isolated and protected from the normal corporate networks either with air gaps or very strong firewalls at the nodes where factory networks joined corporate networks. We eventually got IT on board with this, but only after viruses got inside the factory and shut down production. (The last time it was a contractor updating HMI software from his flash drive that brought a virus past the firewall.)

      Also you have to understand that most automation controllers have at best rudimentary protection against malware or viruses. I’ve literally seen automation systems go non-responsive during critical processes because the virus scanner kicked off and slowed the CPU to a crawl. Plus, in older factory it’s not unusual to have some very dated OSes running on the controllers. It can be very expensive to update automation to the latest and greatest equipment because it may require upgrading all the sensors, motor drives, and servo motors too.

      Plus this all gets more complicated when wireless is getting mixed into the automation network, and the mechanics all require factory workstations on the factory floor to get work assignments and report progress. Mix that in with upper upper management (it sure seems like an engineer that gets an MBA and moves to management has their IQ drop by at least 20 points) having a poor grasp on the technology used in their factories and being loathed to do capital equipment upgrades, and this kind of negligence happens.

      Reply ↓
      1. Late Introvert

        NC has the best comments on the internet, and this is a prime example. Thank you Glen.

        A semi-related comment about clueless managers. The city council here voted to not support any business involved with Isreal/Gaza, only they continue to use MS Office/Outlook for everything. Sigh. I could make a fuss but I’ll wait until I retire thank you very much (I work for the city and use Outlook every day).

        Reply ↓
        1. Wukchumni

          I’m not worried about you, it’ll give her peace of mind to know you’re not after her wealth, and hopefully seal the deal.

          When’s the wedding date or are you going to elope?

          Reply ↓
    2. Norton

      She isn’t done with politics.
      Someone needs to take her by the hand, sit her down, and explain in simple terms that Politics Is Done With Her.
      Then do Greasy Gavin Newsom next.

      Reply ↓
    3. chuck roast

      She’s gettin’ the love on her book tour. She’s probably having difficulty getting her newly swelled head through the bookstore doors.

      Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      Apparently military payroll costs are $6.4 billion every fortnight, so think of the $130 million in a ‘take a Penny-leave a Penny’ tray for your thoughts.

      And why are Illionaires always ‘reclusive’?

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisFromGA

        My guess is they don’t want any messy relationships that might lead to somebody getting their meat hooks into all that filthy lucre.

        Reply ↓
    2. Ben Panga

      Reclusive billionaire heir Timothy Mellon gave $125 million to help elect Trump, even more than Elon Musk donated (Fortune from Nov ’24,)

      In the 2024 election cycle, Mellon, 82, donated $125 million to the super PAC Make America Great Again, Inc. that supported Trump, according to Federal Election Commission documents.

      And including, donations to help Republican congressional candidates and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Mellon donated a total of $165 million, according to the campaign finance tracker Open Secrets.

      In 2021, Mellon donated $53 million to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s fund to build a wall on the state’s border with Mexico, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune. Mellon’s donation amounted to 98% of the money the fund ended up raising. The donation was likely tax deductible because it was made to a state government to be used for public works.

      Years ago, Mellon was fascinated by the disappearance of aviator Amelia Earhardt, even donating $1 million to explorer Ric Gillespie who was trying to find her missing plane. In exchange for the donation, Gillespie let Mellon join the expedition. Mellon’s posts on an online forum about Earhardt, moderated by Gillespie, eventually turned into political screeds against the IRS, the intelligence agencies, and climate change. Gillespie had to limit his ability to post on the site.

      “His views were somewhere to the right of Attila the Hun,” Gillespie told the New York Times.

      Mellon later sued Gillespie, alleging the latter already knew where Earhardt’s plane was located when he received the $1 million donation.

      In his self-published 2015 autobiography, Mellon expounded on his political views. In one passage, Mellon takes a particularly strong issue with government programs, which he believed made their beneficiaries dependent on welfare rather than work to get by.

      “For delivering their votes in the Federal Elections, they are awarded with yet more and more freebies: food stamps, cell phones, WIC payments, Obamacare, and on, and on, and on,” Mellon wrote. “The largess is funded by the hardworking folks, fewer and fewer in number, who are too honest or too proud to allow themselves to sink into this morass.”

      Throughout the book he referred to Black people with racist stereotypes that they have a poor work ethic and are aggressive. “Black people, in spite of heroic efforts by the ‘Establishment’ to right the wrongs of the past, became even more belligerent and unwilling to pitch in to improve their own situations,” Mellon said in his book.

      A 1978 book on the family’s history titled The Mellon Family: A Fortune in History by Burton Hersh hints at Mellon’s isolation. “My view of families is that they’re an anachronism. The family unit is not a functioning entity anymore. It no longer serves an economic need. I suppose it’s interesting as a social phenomenon,” Mellon told Hersh.

      “I think what it comes down to is he wants to be left alone, and he wants no one to tax him,” one member of the Mellon family told Vanity Fair. “It’s that libertarian viewpoint that’s become radicalized. There are a lot of really rich people out there who just don’t need to think about what’s best for America anymore.”

      He sounds nice /sarc

      Reply ↓
      1. Pat

        He sounds like a poster child for high inheritance taxes…much of which would go to mental health services he needs so desperately.

        Reply ↓
      1. raspberry jam

        I’m not sure exactly what it is other than it’s been around for years and has a pretty good track record. You can skim back through the archive and see the reveals where they publish the ‘answer’ to the blinds after the news is public. For example the week or two leading up to the Nicole Kidman divorce announcement they were teasing it. If you search around online about the site you’ll see some posts elsewhere (reddit etc) asking what it is and how they know what they’re posting. It feels like an anomaly in this era and I have wondered if this site is being mirrored from elsewhere on social media because I have yet to see the comments – seems like the sort of thing that would have a lot of them?

        Reply ↓
  36. amfortas

    pain day, so ive been pretty much sleepin and watchin the new king arthur thing on prime.
    crawled out into the sunshine(big rain last nite, second front approaches)…and find this:
    https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1982050033022410901

    has link to simplicius’ take on this down thread a bit.
    Rand goes dovish on china.
    i have yet to see simplicius…let alone the rand report, proper.
    but seems like a big deal.
    or maybe china slipped lsd into the watercooler at wherever randcorp meets…

    Reply ↓
    1. Glen

      Thanks for the link.

      I think Rands just going realist which is [family blogging] about time. Now Rand needs to tell the Sec of State that even going after Venezuela is going to be worse than Iraq or Afghanistan. Gotta admire American elites ability to live in the past and ignore how much they’ve [family blogged] their empire into the ground.

      Reply ↓
    2. Mikel

      Not too much out of the ordinary for RAND.
      Here’s an example of a paper (2023), not particularly about China, that outlines what they think of as strategy:

      https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RBA1862-1.html/

      “…When two states are rivals or have significant differences, they can choose either a hardline or a less-hardline approach toward each conflict of interest. A state adopts a hardline approach when it tries to achieve its goals by outmaneuvering or coercing a rival and does not seek a resolution that accounts for the rival’s interests. In contrast, a state adopts a less-hardline approach when it seeks to advance its own interests by proactively addressing what it perceives to be the rival’s interests or concerns. We focus on less-hardline approaches in peacetime rather than concessions made in a crisis to avoid war or during an ongoing war to end the fighting.

      The defining feature of a less-hardline approach is a state’s willingness to address the other side’s concerns as a means of achieving its own goals. However, less-hardline approaches can vary in breadth and depth, from small compromises on peripheral issues to larger concessions on more fundamental conflicts of interest. In addition, a state can shift toward a more conciliatory policy in one area even as it sustains hardline policies in others. Moreover, a less-hardline approach can still involve a tough stance during negotiations…”

      Reply ↓
    1. Late Introvert

      I had an IRA that got moved into stocks from bonds against my will, and last week I did a rollover on it back to bonds at a different firm. Got my ill-gotten gains from this market and got out. Telling everyone else I know to do the same.

      Reply ↓
  38. juno mas

    RE: Sea Level Rise

    Once again. If your city’s sewage treatment plant is near the ocean, then you are affected. No matter your elevation above the sea.

    Reply ↓
    1. TimH

      Yup. And if you live on hill protected from the floodwaters, you are still pooched because you are stuck there. Unless you are Wuk with his helicopter collection :)

      Reply ↓
  39. XXYY

    Massive Cuts Incoming At NASA As America Just Gives Up Ian Welsh

    There may be some things worth putting into Earth orbit, but solar panels are not one of them. Remember, it costs $1,000 or more a pound to boost something from the surface of the Earth into orbit around it. This means there has to be a really good reason to do something in space rather than on Earth.

    Solar panels are now ridiculously cheap, and a photovoltaic collection facility can be set up on the Earth for virtually nothing. It’s now the cheapest way of generating energy, costing far less than any competing technology.

    If we need more solar arrays, let’s just put them on Earth in some of the many places that are currently unoccupied. Far cheaper, far easier to maintain, and far less space debris raining down on our heads in future years.

    Reply ↓
    1. Henry Moon Pie

      “currently unoccupied”

      I agree with your point about panels in space, but the only spaces on Earth that are truly “unoccupied” are not a lot more accessible than space. Deserts, the most popular spot for PVs, are anything but unoccupied.

      Reply ↓
  40. Trogg

    The “radical reimagining of physics” suggests “that, if information is as fundamental as mass or energy, it could not only account for the similar ways so many systems appear to behave…” It sounds like reification, or the researcher looking at their own eye in the microscope—a recapitulation of idealism? Information is not a physical property. It’s a product of our senses. I’ll stick with my guns on this despite quantum mechanics and whatever seeming empirical incongruities arise.

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    1. lyman alpha blob

      That one reminded me of Robert Sapolsky’s argument that we don’t actually have free will. His argument was mostly semantic – playing with words and subtly changing the generally agreed upon meanings to “prove” his point.

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  41. AG

    re: Russian subs using Western tech!!!! scandal!!!

    WASHINGTON POST´s latest psy-ops.

    And look at the participants in this “investigation”. Again one of those ridiculously bloated arrangements the size of which reveals the incompetence of these huge editorial teams:

    “About this story

    The “Russian Secrets” research is based on company data obtained by the International Consortium for Investigative Journalists (ICIJ). Further documents come from the Norddeutscher Rundfunk (NDR) and the Dutch EV magazine Pointer. Journalists from Le Monde (France), L’Espresso (Italy), ICIJ (Washington, D.C.), Kyodo (Japan), NRK (Norway), Pointer (Netherlands), SVT (Sweden), The Times (Great Britain), WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (German) as well as The Washington Post were involved in the research. The research was led by NDR.”

    Russia acquired Western technology to protect its nuclear submarine fleet

    Russia secretly used front companies to buy Western technology and erect a surveillance net in the Arctic where its submarines operate, an investigation shows.
    Updated October 23, 2025
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/10/23/russia-nuclear-subs-western-technology-surevillance/

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  44. skippy

    This is going bonkers on X – Italian Senator @CarloCalenda left Jeffrey Sachs literally speechless and shocked by calling him a liar and a propagandist.

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  45. Ben Panga

    Trump in Asia.

    From the NYT live blog:

    Trump is heading to the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center for a ceremony where leaders will sign a peace deal between Cambodia and Thailand. The president has taken credit for helping bring the border conflict to an end.

    As Yves has pointed out repeatedly this is a ludicrous claim.

    I’m assuming that pragmatic and non-confrontational SE Asian diplomats are canny enough not to call it out though. “Face” and personal insecurities are well understood in this part of the world.

    “Let him say that if it keeps us off the naughty list and betters our trade relations”

    In fairness, there has been some credit given to Trump from the Cambodian side /. From July: https://abcnews.go.com/International/cambodian-official-praises-trumps-role-bringing-peace-ceasefire/story?id=124128353

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  46. hazelbee

    on this link: “A radical reimagining of physics puts information at its centre aeon (Chuck L)” I have only had time to scan it, I’ll read it properly another day. it sparks a book recommendation from me.

    if you are interested in physics, information theory, economics… and that will tick a lot of boxes for anyone reading NC.

    then I recommend the Cesar Hidalgo book: “Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies”

    It is a mix of physics, philosophy, information and complexity , time and economics. very thought provoking. one of the highlight reads for me in the last 5 years. the ideas are similar

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  47. Steve H.

    First 28 pages of Hidalgo.

    No need to go deep on the Aeon article. Leaving aside the denominator (!), they seem to equate function with existence, if it exists its functional. Which begs questions on peacock feathers and tertiary protein structure.

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