Woodpeckers Use Tennis Player ‘Grunting’ Trick To Drill Trees StudyFinds
Social identification with a team boosts fans’ social well-being EurekAlert
Can Visiting an Art Gallery Lower Your Stress Levels and Improve Your Health? Smithsonian Magazine
Climate/Environment
Northern Lights dazzle all the way to the Gulf Coast as major solar storm impacts Earth Balanced Weather
CO2 to hit record in 2025, key temperature limit could be reached in 4 years: Study Straits Times
The sinister alchemy that puts lead into Zambian children’s veins The Continent
Pandemics
PUPIL ATTENDANCE & ILLNESS
The government & media seem to believe that the significant rise in pupil absence compared to pre-pandemic is primarily driven by truancy.
They don’t seem to believe there is a GENUINE increase in illness.
So let’s take a closer look at the data… 🔎 pic.twitter.com/xvHkQZR05G
— Cat in the Hat 🐈⬛ 🎩 🇬🇧 (@_CatintheHat) November 12, 2025
Japan
Deepening chill with China over Taiwan Observing Japan
Stagflation Creates Policy Dilemmas, Conflict Between Takaichi and BOJ Japan Economy Watch
Japan and Europe come together in support of Taiwan Intellinews
China?
Europe’s carmakers face ‘devastating’ chip crisis as Nexperia supply crunch continues FT
What’s the $13 bn bitcoin hack that China blames US for? Firstpost
China buys more Brazil soybeans as US purchases stall Farmer’s Advance
🇨🇳🇺🇸China Hatches Plan to Keep U.S. Military From Getting Its Rare-Earth Magnets
China is reportedly planning to ease the flow of rare earths and other restricted materials to the U.S. by implementing a “validated end-user” (VEU) system that excludes companies with ties to the… pic.twitter.com/Q5ozBfJIuT— CN Wire (@Sino_Market) November 11, 2025
India
Putin to visit India on Dec 5 as ties deepen, says Russia-India forum host Business Standard
Syraqistan
Rescue Teams Dig Up Over 50 Bodies Buried in Shallow Graves in Courtyard of Gaza City Clinic Drop Site
Israeli crowd applauds soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoner Middle East Eye
US to build internment-style camps for Palestinians in Israeli-controlled Gaza The Cradle
Navy Considers Base for 10,000 Near Gaza Without US Troops Bloomberg
Trump Formally Asks Israel’s President to ‘Fully Pardon’ Netanyahu in Corruption Case Haaretz
Israel is building a ‘land grab wall’ deep inside southern Lebanon as air strikes continue The New Arab
“The terrorist(s) in the White House.” Patrick Lawrence, The Floutist
European Disunion
Europe’s fiscal–geopolitical vicious circle German Institute for International and Security Affairs
IMF calls for radical reform of the European welfare state WSWS
Far right cheers as von der Leyen’s party abandons centrist coalition over green rules Politico
Leader of far-right AfD suggests Poland as great a threat to Germany as Russia Notes from Poland
New Not-So-Cold War
The scandal that could bring down Volodymyr Zelensky The Spectator
As I said, NABU, which went against Zelensky’s cronies, is US proxy in Ukraine: “NABU detectives met with a new FBI agent in connection with the Mindich case, sources say. Yesterday, detectives at the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine met with the new FBI officer, who… pic.twitter.com/vKjqH1nu6d
— Ivan Katchanovski (@I_Katchanovski) November 12, 2025
How Far Will Ukraine’s Corruption Scandal Go? Andrew Korybko
Germany to funnel more cash into Ukraine’s corruption-plagued energy sector RT
Norway reportedly considers sovereign fund collateral for EU’s €140bn Ukraine loan Intellinews
Germany inches close to agreement on contentious military service but questions remain Euronews
Gas gangrene returns to Ukraine in echoes of First World War trench warfare The Telegraph
Russia Officially Introduces New Branch of the Armed Forces: Unmanned Systems Forces Simplicius
TED POSTOL: Burevestnik Missile & Poseidon Torpedo, What We Know Daniel Davis / Deep Dive (Video)
Africa
Sudan relief operations are on the brink of collapse, UN agency warns AP
The Caucasus
Speculation of sabotage, projectile grows as Turkey investigates military plane crash Turkish Minute
South of the Border
Exclusive: UK suspends some intelligence sharing with US over boat strike concerns in major break CNN. When you’ve lost the UK (if report is true).
Russia denies Venezuela sought military aid and rejects U.S. ‘war on drugs’ justification Brasil de Fato
Migration from Venezuela Anti-Empire Project
Argentina’s US$870-million boost of IMF holdings points to US aid Buenos Aires Times
L’affaire Epstein
Epstein email says Trump ‘knew about the girls,’ but White House says release is a Democratic smear AP
More House Republicans Consider Defying Trump In Upcoming Epstein Files Vote NOTUS
Epstein Geopolitics Un-Diplomatic
Trump 2.0
ICE, National Guard Deployments Just the Beginning Ken Klippenstein
These Wall Street titans are expected at Trump’s White House dinner tonight CBS News. Last night.
Five Questions for IRS CEO Frank Bisignano Can We Still Govern?
Breaking: DOJ Signals CFPB Funding May Lapse in Early 2026 After Justice Department Legal Opinion Concludes Fed Losses Block Transfers Consumer Financial Services Law Monitor
***
Trump organization requested record number of foreign workers in 2025 The Hill
Trump doubles down on plan for 600,000 Chinese student visas despite MAGA backlash Fox News
“Liberation Day”
US Treasury chief says ‘substantial’ tariff relief coming to coffee, banana prices Anadolu Agency
CHART OF THE DAY: While most of the critical minerals talk in the US is about rare earths, something far more important is happening:
US aluminum all-in costs have surged to a record as traders/smelters demand huge physical premia on top of LME prices due to Trump’s tariffs. pic.twitter.com/kxoE9BNVcs
— Javier Blas (@JavierBlas) November 12, 2025
Shutdown Deal
Shutdown Deal Kills Food Safety Rules The Lever
MAHA
Vance, RFK Jr. to mingle with health execs, influencers at DC MAHA summit The Hill. Closed to public and the press.
Democrats en déshabillé
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s former chief of staff arrested in FBI public corruption probe The Sacramento Bee. Federal authorities reportedly approached her seeking help with probe into Newsom.
Progressive Wilson on the brink of victory in nail-biter Seattle mayoral race Salon
Police State Watch
Fullerton police stop man pointing gun at female driver, only to learn he is ICE agent Los Angeles Times
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Dark Crusade of “Little” Wars The Realist Review
A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE Protean Magazine
Should a war hero be deported? The complex dilemma around one convicted vet. Christian Science Monitor
‘Nuremberg’: Can You Diagnose Evil? MedPage Today
AI
Exclusive: Here’s How Much OpenAI Spends On Inference and Its Revenue Share With Microsoft Edward Zitron
The Ecological Cost of AI Is Much Higher Than You Think Truthdig
Natural gas will “dominate” electricity supply for U.S. data centers, according to the World Energy Outlook 2025. pic.twitter.com/mSTNFvHO6x
— Richard Meyer (@RichardMeyerDC) November 12, 2025
Data Centers in Nvidia’s Hometown Stand Empty Awaiting Power Bloomberg
Economy
Car loan delinquencies are surging. Here’s what to do if you’re falling behind. Yahoo! Finance
Mr. Market Soaring Blind
White House says October jobs and inflation data may never be released because of the shutdown CNBC
Dow scores first close above 48,000, buoyed by expected end of government shutdown CNBC
Class Warfare
Stocks Aren’t Salvation Hamilton Nolan
Notice how they tell you to hate SNAP recipients, but never the people who have built SNAP subsidies into their low-wage business model? That’s because the owners of the businesses also pay professional propagandists to tell you who to hate. pic.twitter.com/1VRewxixDc
— Russell Dobular (@russelldobular) November 12, 2025
Rise in premature deaths prevents Americans from reaching age of Medicare eligibility, study finds McKnights
Meditation upon a Cannoli Hickman’s Hinterlands
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Epstein email says Trump ‘knew about the girls’ as White House calls its release a Democratic smear”
The problem for Trump is that after promising his base that he will release the Epstein files, that Pam Bondi was reviewing them on her desk, then only to turn around and say that they don’t exist and it’s all a Democrat hoax has soured him with a huge portion of his base. It means that the Epstein files have become the dead albatross hung around his neck which he can never remove. And it will continue to haunt him over the next three years and will keep on popping up. Man, he couldn’t even release the JFK files as promised and they have a long white beard on them hanging down to here.
I’m thinking Trump’s lame duck arc began yesterday.
Apparently, he spent much of the day on the phone desperately trying to lobby Lauren Boebert and Nancy Mace to take their names off the discharge petition. And failed miserably. The petition got the 218th vote when Grijalva was finally sworn in.
In the past, Trump would have promised them a cabinet position, or maybe a plum speaking spot at the next MAGA rally. And they would have rolled. But not this time.
He’s done.
Was it over when Deutsche Bank bombed as a loan harbor?
Hell no!… It ain’t over now, ’cause when the goin’ gets tough, the tough get goin’. Who’s with me? Let’s go!
I’d go but unfortunately all my get up and go has got up and left.
You wonder what’s his Kryptonite, his superpower being able to ward off any and all humiliations of the worst kind* that would render an ordinary mere mortal speechless and full of remorse.
* pedophiles are the lowest of the low in the Big House, you’d do better to be in for some other form of larceny.
LOL, I probably underestimate Taco at my own peril.
Maybe Nancy, Marjorie, and Lauren can hold an intervention to save Trump from himself. His polls have cratered, and he has sold out the base on everything from immigration to foreign policy.
If Europe can send Macron and Starmer over to keep him from going weak on Ukraine, why can’t these three femme fatales talk Donald down off a ledge?
Didn’t Nancy just retire finally? If so, her epitaph should read ‘She arrived in Washington DC a thousandaire and by the time she left, she was a hundred-millionaire.’
I was referring to Nancy Mace, not Pelosi, but I have to admit that the thought of Nancy Pelosi walking into the oval office and staging an intervention on the Donald is amusing. And if anyone could beat him into submission, it might be her.
Ah, my apologies then. Her last name sounds hopeful in dealing with Trump though.
Nancy Mace was a major player in the Congressional part of the UFO hoax. The Congressional part was run by Matt Gaetz, (brother-in-law of Anduril founder Luckey Palmer) and mysteriously wrapped up and disappeared the moment Trump won the election.
You’re referring to the UFOs in New Jersey?
No. I mean Mace featured heavily the Congressional hearings on UAPs. The first was in July ’23 and really accelerated the “UFO curiousity/hype” that had been building inorganically since 2017.
The last bit that got press was Nov ’24 just after the election.
Palantir’s pet journalist Shellenberger was a witness at the last one and pulled a bait and switch on another witness which shut down a lot of conspiracy stuff. This was the end of the UFO hypecycle.
Seperately, The Jersey Drones were the highest profile on a series of mystery drone stories dating back again to 2017, mostly featuring airbases and military facilities (and more recently European airports lol). I believe these have mostly been a deliberate display of how unprepared the bases (or civilian areas in the Jersey case) are to deal with hostile drones.
My guess is that both strands (Congressional interest/alleged UFO whistleblowers) are unconnected strands of the same overall operation whose purpose is to get America ready for (and spending for) the dronewar era.
Nancy, the inside trader, is on the public record for the necessity of saving the republicans
Pelosi was rich going in. She was a big Democratic donor in San Francisco and that’s basically how she got her House seat when it came open.
Yes, she got her political start as a fundraiser for the Burton political machine in the Bay Area, and her husband is quite wealthy… but a centi-millionaire?
Initial stock holdings in 1987: $785K
Net worth now: $133.7M
Pelosi Net Worth $133.7M After 16,930% Return Since 1987
https://dailynewscycle.com/pelosi-net-worth-133-7m-after-16930-return-since-1987/
Certainly not poor going into Congress, but if wages for average America had gone up as much as her wealth from trading, we would all be making about a million a year.,
It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
Things fall apart when you’re around
When you’re here, we’re nowhere
I can’t pretend that I’m not down
I show it, I know it
We’ve been fooled – more than once, more than twice
I’m gonna move to a new phase where the people are nice
I hope I never, I hope I never have to sigh again
I hope I never, I hope I never have to cry again
I still want to beam and smile
Happiness is back in style yeah
I hope I never, I hope I never have to see you again
Again, oh oh oh oh…
It should be possible I know
To see you without stress
But I can see I’ll have to go
I’m changing my e-mail address
My urge to cry I have failed to conceal
Life – it’s no fun when you’re haunted by the things that you feel
I hope I never, I hope I never have to sigh again
I hope I never, I hope I never have to cry again
I’m for living while you can
I’m an optimistic man
I hope I never, I hope I never have to see you again
Again, oh oh oh oh…
I hope I never
I hope I never
I hope I never, never, never…
I hope I never, I hope I never have to see you again
I Hope I Never, by Split Enz
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am5FMX-jb3w&list=RDam5FMX-jb3w
“I’m thinking Trump’s lame duck arc began yesterday.”
This is delusional. Is the duck in the room with us now?
How many times did people say this during his first term?
https://youtu.be/ZcmJwmvnMkY?si=y8sUzQcmF1p-ZdG4
No one has shown any interest or ability to stop him. Nothing has changed. They killed JE during his first term and he’s continuing to cover it up during his second.
Maybe. They’re not in office, but being connected with Epstein hasn’t hurt the Clintons. Or any number of other people.
I’m still trying to figure out how they think they are going to release whatever documents they might have without causing problems for both parties. The documents that have been trickling out aren’t saying much that’s new – we’ve known who was on Epstein’s flight logs and seen all the photos for years now.
Good question.
I wonder if they are counting on the media spin. My PMC friends think Trump was running the girls for Epstein out of Mar-a-lago, and the entire thing is about sex trafficking. They don’t even entertain the blackmail angle. It’s all about Trump the pedo.
The other side is the opposite. Trump threw Epstein out of Mar-a-lago because Epstein was poaching his help and is not guilty of anything.
So we have the normal 2/3 problem. 1/3 thinks one thing, the other 1/3 thinks the opposite, and the other 1/3 doesn’t know what to think, other than the other 2/3 are nuts for believing anything any of these pukes have to say.
Another option is that all the foofaraw about who is on THE LIST is a distraction from the important angle being reported by Dropsite as pjay notes below – namely that Epstein was in contact with any number of world leaders on behalf of the Israelis, and they have lots of details from Ehud Barak’s emails. You’d think this would be a huge story, but it’s crickets pretty much across the corporate media.
Exactly!
The other side is the opposite. Trump threw Epstein out of Mar-a-lago because Epstein was poaching his help and is not guilty of anything.
Not guilty? He knows Epstein is pimping underage girls and spends decades palling around with him as his bestie anyways? Epstein’s clients suffered from what, disordered desire and moral weakness in the face of temptation. Weakness may not be a justification, but it is at least an excuse, and a human foible that may be understandable. If Trump is not a client, then his friendship with Epstein marks him as a calloused sociopathic monster, just like his bestie.
It is a Republican myth that this is a both sides thing.
Look at de conversion stories on the web.
Liberals and normal conservatives have normal stories.
Fundamentalist have very bad abuse cases including sexual. Those are largely on the conservative side.
Then how did Bubba get on those flight logs? And why did Epstein have that lovely portrait of Clinton in a ravishing blue dress in his mansion?!? Maybe the conservative AI went back in time to retroactively plant that evidence just to own the libs?
C’mon man, if you’re going to make these claims, come with backup, not just biased opinion.
Powerful people likely do have problems on both sides.
But at the grass roots level no.
Like i said check out de conversion stories.
Republicans and their social media propogandists are largely projecting.
Not to downplay the abuse of the girls, that’s very important as well, and I have a daughter so trust me, I understand…
Think of all the big names. Books have been written trying to document all that has went down, and those involved. You would think at some point the news (cough, cough) might give it a little ink/airtime. Na, maybe not.
“How do you know they’ll print it?”
We are at the bread and circuses part of the collapse.
OT
Good point.
Reminds me a bit of the French ominous list of those high level politicians involved in the big Thomson (now Thales) frigate deal with Taiwan in 1991 later aka “Clearstream Affair” or a part of the affairs Clearstream was involved in.
Taiwan had agreed to buy French ships way overpriced. When some decent Taiwanese officers opposed the deal they suddenly died in odd ways. Turns out that hundreds of millions were paid in bribes to people on both sides.
Talking of “white beards” – the deal was 1991 but investigations were taking place as late as 2010. And still the truth is not officially confirmed. And probably will never be.
The one among those who invested most in finding out about Clearstream is French investigative reporter Denis Robert whose life was almost destroyed over this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denis_Robert
Rumours about this secret list came up before each new French election, in German they used the term the “Sword of Damocles” dangling above the people on the list. I assume “Albatros” however would be a good English equivalent.
The list has not come up to this day.
On the other hand a fantastic story.
But I guess there are good reasons why not a single movie was made about that harsh part of the affair (the Thomson deal, the dead, and Taiwanese and French secret intelligence.)
There was one mediocre motion picture about Denis Robert in 2014. But that focused mainly on his personal story and the other aspects of the Clearstream Affair which would threaten French elites less.
This German piece from 2006 was my entry into the subject.
The Clearstream Affair
Reality surpasses the intrigues of the movies: A French-style Watergate?
by Bernard Schmid
May 9, 2006
https://www.telepolis.de/article/Die-Clearstream-Affaere-3406155.html
Also the German Wiki article
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clearstream-Aff%C3%A4re
Everyone in Epstein’s circle of the wealthy and powerful knew about the girls, pretty much the same can be said about Jimmy Savile.
These are the privileged and one of their traditional privileges is the right screw little boys and teenage girls.
I hung around on the fringes of those sorts of pedopeople for a few years when I worked in the French Quarter. Sub-teen girls are also abused, often in very savage ways by this cohort of demons. Many, many times, these children are sold to the paedophiles by their own relatives. Just find a dirt poor place with an abundance of children and start dragging that hundred-dollar bill around.
As one aggrieved Christian once put it to me; “There is a place in H— for those people. Our job is to send them there as quickly as possible to protect other innocents.”
Having had and raised children of my own, I can endorse that attitude.
I suggest not to bother refuting what Trump says.
I suggest applying protection onto the surface of all discussion of DJT’s outrageous proposals and initiatives much like Scotchgard or like mosquito repellant.
Whenever I speak of one of DJT’s emissions, I preface with “The Jeffrey Epstein Memorial” as in “The Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Ballroom” or “The Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Guard Deployment” or “The Jeffrey Epstein Memorial Epstein File Suppression”.
Rolls off my tongue.
Folks, can we have a meme?
You are preaching to the Jeffery Epstein Memorial Choir here.
5.9, 6.0, 6.66, 5.7, 5.8
Israeli crowd applauds soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoner Middle East Eye
Feel-good team sport fans. Good one, Wuk!
Thanks for the kudos gras~
I must give some credit to Esquire magazine’s annual Dubious Achievement Awards, which shaped my sense of humor or what passes for it, not that MAD magazine didn’t loom large.
https://classic.esquire.com/article/1962/1/1/first-annual-dubious-achievement-awards
As seen in PC game as a avatar/player name – tongue firmly in cheek ***White Supreme Pizza*** …
I enjoy the absurd juxtaposition/s. First you have the purity of White, next the Superiority over all others by dint of – Its Own Authority – and lastly a poor imitation of Italian culinary delight when done by a mob of old bickering ladies with life times of skill and knowledge.
A. never use flour from the U.S. or its ilk B. a good sauce takes 24hr, simmering tomatoes, adding a few classic herbs, cooling down and then in the fridge overnight for the flavors to incorporate C. same with the dough, 00 flour, dash of olive oil/small cup of Italian white wine, kneed by hand until right constancy [important because you want the air bubbles in it], cover with a wet tea towel and not plastic and then refrigerated overnight to rise D. When dealing with dough the next day its important too – again – portion it and hand stretch it so the air bubbles remain, reason hand stretching/tossing is done. E. Regardless of toppings, which should not over done and all shine through for taste, it should be cooked on stone and preferably heated by wood.
On another note most would not like to know about how much industrial grade starch is in their food and its just a cheap filler ….
Israel has a right to applaud its soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoner(s.)
What made it really bizarre was that they debated the right of IDF soldiers to rape Palestinian prisoners in their Knesset not that long ago. Can you imagine the same debate in the US Congress? The British Parliament? The French Parliament? The Australian and Canadian Parliaments? Hell, I don’t think that the Parliament of Zimbabwe would go there.
Israel is a “special” country.
I was eleven years old in the spring of 1963, in the sixth grade at an elementary school in western Pennsylvania, when I read in My Weekly Reader that Israel was celebrating its fifteenth birthday, and we should be happy with that. I don’t know why I’ve never forgotten that, but it must have to do with what I think of the zionist entity today. It was probably one of the first times in my life that I began to question what I was being told. Why should I be happy about Israel’s birthday?
As I got older I nonetheless swallowed what I was told, or fed, about the jewish state. That it was a tiny friend of the usa and was surrounded by murderous, savage, muslim Arabs who woke up every morning hellbent on destroying the plucky, noble, and innocent
Jewish democracy. But certain things came to my mind and I paid closer attention to the facts of the matter. I won’t go into details, but over time the illusions and propaganda concerning the zionist entity fell from my eyes, and I began to think for myself. Thinking for yourself is a dangerous political act to do in this country, the land of the free, and the home of the brave. But that eleven year old boy has grown up to be much older, and as an old man, an unimportant old man, he’s come to think that the zionist entity has no right to exist. What credible person can believe that an entity, carved out by western nations, that is continually murdering neighboring men and women, children and infants, can ever have a right to exist in Palestine from this day forward? The murderers cannot live among their victims. They must leave, or be made to leave, the Middle East.
Thank you erstwhile
No state has a ‘right to exist’.
From the perspective of international law.
But, then, there are many ways to neutralise any supposed ‘right’.
Which we have witnessed the Entity do, requiring no further explanation.
If you wonder why the EU misleaders go all-in on destroying the EU, Epstein is one reason.
” former Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Thorbjørn Jagland jokes that he will move to Epstein’s infamous island if Donald Trump wins the election.
“Yes, terrible times. If Trump wins in the US, I will settle on your island. But before that, I will be in New York in September. Many things to talk about,” writes what is supposed to be Jagland in the email exchange on June 28, 2016.”
Paedophiliocracy.
https://www-vg-no.translate.goog/nyheter/i/lw85j3/jagland-i-epstein-e-post-hvis-trump-vinner-valget-slaar-jeg-meg-ned-paa-oeya-di?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=de&_x_tr_pto=wapp
Woodpeckers Use Tennis Player ‘Grunting’ Trick To Drill Trees StudyFinds
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few years back they were replacing a power pole made out of Douglas Fir that had been there since 1977, and the guys doing the work related that there were precious few spots on the caber where woodpeckers hadn’t drilled in and left acorns.
First National Bank of Woodpecker
In other news, water is wet. There is no tennis player ‘gunting’ trick. Exhaling on contraction is sports 101. I first heard about it in karate lessons when I was a kid. You forcefully breath out when punching (even if you only punch air), and sometimes you even let the sound out (called kiai).
Craig Spencer, the pro-vaccine doc at the conference of Children’s Health Defense.
I’m reminded of the Second Amendment: He writes>
The whole room saw Peter Hildebrand tear up as a picture of his 8-year-old daughter, Daisy, filled the large screens — she was unvaccinated and died in April after contracting measles in the Texas outbreak.
Ahhh, the Second Amendment, the tragic amendment. Ahhh, the problem with vaccines is that for the proven vaccines, like measles, polio, smallpox, the risk is small. Why shouldn’t I call Hildrebrand’s judgment into question?
Yes, there were problems with the COVID vaccines. (I just returned from making my appointment at the farmacia to get my booster in ten days, and in Italy, as in most of the EU, only Pfizer’s not-completely-effective vaccine is allowed. And I won’t even mention Ursula’s missing SMSes with Bourla.)
I am reminded, though, that many who didn’t want to get vaccinated also didn’t want to wear masks. Masks are icky. Masks don’t work — except that we read articles here at Naked Capitalism about how masking had wiped out one strain of the flu in 2021.
And measles is airborne (ahhhh, recall that dustup with COVID?). And measles may be even more contagious than COVID.
As with the ever-tragic Second Amendment, I am seeing some drift between the problem that people claim to be solving and the results of their efforts and beliefs.
Nevertheless, I highly recommend Dr. Spencer’s article.
One thing that’s funny about the mask thing — nobody remembers this — is that in the first few weeks of the pandemic it was right wingers wearing masks, and leftists saying not to wear masks (and not to close the border), because it would be racist against Asians. People are so damn partisan.
But they really screwed up the mask discussion. They told people to wear double masks, that an N95 can never be used more than once, and I remember a media article about a clown who ran a marathon wearing or something wearing a mask. All to make it as inconvenient as possible.
yes, and it was Nancy Pelosi among others telling everyone to go visit Chinatown for Lunar New Year…..while I’m in my bunker compound armchair yelling at Trump to ground-stop all inbound international flights like it’s 9/12, lmao.
The double mask thing was ridiculous but to be fair with the N95s, at least with their use-case in hospitals prior to Covid, the protocols for infection control were to discard once you leave the quarrantined area. Not to say that they shouldn’t have revisited that sooner (my hospital ran out in a few weeks and there was mass confusion with people ending up double-masking on surgicals because patients had to be seen). What made no sense was staff sharing N95s during the shortage which I didn’t find out until I unknowingly put one on.
I had a stash of N-95’s that I used when weed whacking, and I remember in the early daze of Covid in 2020, mailed half of them to my mother in prison of sorts, confined to her room at the assisted living place, along with every other resident for 14 months.
The perfect is the enemy of the good. Telling people to spend $5 on a new mask every time they take one off to scratch their face was never viable.
And of course visit eateries near any hospital to this day and see many patrons wearing scrubs. So much for germ/infection control.
I agree it’s an issue if protocols aren’t being followed but I’ve also come to understand that scrubs are basically the work uniform for hospital-based docs in the US.
I don’t think having staff decontaminate, bag their scrubs and don normal clothes after every shift is viable to be honest and it can be pretty tough to head home from work, shower and change just to go back out for a quick bite. To be sure, hospitals are breeding grounds for weird bugs and super bugs but I’m not sure what the solution would be or the cost-benefit analysis of doing something like mandatory decontamination showers and having lockers for every doctor to change before they leave, would be. That’s before taking into account that anybody walking through the hospital (HR staff, janitors, visiting relatives, cops) can pickup something and carry it out, even without touching anything.
In terms of scrubs for quarrantined patients though, those are an entirely different set of clothes. You have to strip to your underwear, put those scrubs on, then put on the gown or whatever other equipment before going in. Then there’s a whole corridor filled with sanitizer outside to re-strip and discard your ‘quarrantine’ scrubs so you can put your regular ones back on. At least that’s how my hospital in (basically) Timbuktu worked. That said, it’s pretty unlikely that docs in scrubs are coming straight out of quarrantine so they wouldn’t be much more likely to infect anyone than any regular person who visited the hospital.
Indeed. Fauci came out early telling people masks weren’t necessary – https://www.cato.org/commentary/faucis-mistake-masks-was-driven-bad-economics-not-uncertain-science#
Only linking to Cato because it quotes Fauci from early 2020 at the beginning – I can’t speak to anything else it says since I didn’t read the whole thing.
My husband’s doctor told him the other day that starting January 1st people on Medicare in the US will no longer be able to get a Covid shot for free. RFKs doing.
From the physician that went to the anti-vaccine gathering::
” a movement unapologetically focused on reshaping the public health landscape through legislation.”
Damn right!
Well, this is why corporations and billionaires pour billions into politics. If the real left (the one who talks about class and wealth resdistribution, that is) would be focused on legislation, things could have been different.
The best data to date on the C-130 crash.
IE similar to other crashes due to blade separation actually breaking the aircraft.
Here is the video by an expert
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=r3cfBlD9yiE&pp=ygUTYmxhbmNvbGlyaW8gY2hhbm5lbA%3D%3D
Yes, that seems by far the most likely explanation, although its still not clear to me why the rear part of the aircraft sheered off too – I can’t recall ever reading of a fan/prop accident where the fuselage failed in two separate places.
Given that prop failures are known issue on C-130’s, it does perhaps indicate poor maintenance by the Turkish Air Force.
The article spells it out. But in short, when the front shears off because the blade basically cuts it off, it causes such extreme aerodynamic out of balance loading because its not longer a plane, that the rear breaks off.
Those old 4 bladed props are known to have issues and did require a lot of maintenance.
1999 changed to 6 bladed props, 2010ish went to 8 blades.
It is the 4 bladed ones that have the issue.
What about nine blades?
Turboprops have always scared the crap out of me since the first time I sat in a window seat right inline with the prop. It was like having my head locked in a guillotine looking up.
I’m confused — what exactly can Japan do to protect Taiwan?
thoughts and prayers, while Big Daddy does all the heavy lifting and dying.
Japan = UK, lapdog that can provide a modicum of “international solidarity” fir the coalition of the willing
EU Seppuku.
Interesting graph on energy production for AI. It seems to state what they hope vs what the trends from the last yew years show.
If I’m reading it correctly, some 50-60 twh more in 10 yrs from nuclear.
That equates to roughly 8 x one gw reactors. Given the amount of time it takes to get one online that seems extremely optimistic.
The solar part seems unrealistic low given the last 4 years of fast growth with last year alone some twenty five percent growth.
And for NG it would mean huge growth of course.
It’s interesting to read these almost opposite articles about the death of AI and the massive growth of AI
I sure don’t know who’s correct.
Yes, all those figures seem to be based on extrapolations of AI use that are, to put it mildly, somewhat unlikely to occur, even though it no doubt profits many people to let everyone think it will be an infinite growth machine.
There is also a problem that the figures seem to bind up all sorts of different types of data centre uses – from storage to blockchain calculations to AI and other things beside. Each has different energy usage profiles. Trying to turn raw calculations of energy usage into actual projections of electricity hardware needs is very difficult unless you have a lot more granular data. Not just the maximum or average power demand- much depends on the type of supply contract those companies have with energy providers (for example, whether outages are built into the contract during extreme demand peaks).
In the data clusters that I’m aware of, most of the investment is not actually going into electricity supply capacity, but in electricity supply infrastructure, in order to build in resilience. There is something of a myth that the most expensive part of an electrical system is the power stations. For the most part its not – its all the ancillary infrastructure. A key problem with AI is that for whatever reason, its been concentrated in certain geographical areas, causing highly localised grid pressure.
Incidentally, the graph shown in that tweet is not actually specific to data centres. Its not possible to identify specific mixes for power uses, thats not how the grid works. That graph is overall US energy use projections. The IEA 2025 report actually says (p.366):
In the CPS, electricity generation to supply data centres more than triples from around
200 terawatt-hours (TWh) today to 640 TWh by 2035 (Figure 8.7). Natural gas-fired
generation increases the most of any source to meet new data centre demand, rising
260 TWh to 2035, much of it before 2030. This increase reflects continued growth for
natural gas and is largely achieved by operating existing, grid-connected gas-fired power
plants more often. Some developers also plan to co-locate large-scale data centres with
new, dedicated natural gas-fired power generators, although constraints in the gas
turbine supply chain may delay some of these projects until after 2030.
“Russia Officially Introduces New Branch of the Armed Forces: Unmanned Systems Forces”
What should be happening is for western militarys to reconfigure their organizations and make a place for their own Unmanned Systems Forces. Seeing how much the Russian military change over the past few years, they have very much adopted the ethos of being a learning organization. The US military boasts of being a learning organization but the Russians are actually doing it. At this point, they outclass any other military on the planet through their experience in the Ukraine.
lmao, never will happen in the west until after losing a war. The US Army v. Navy bureaucraticfights were bad enough, then the Army Air Corp showed up.
Then it became a game of the Army and Navy beating up on the Marines.
A Drone Corp? All the services will join forces to keep their gravy train
Exclusive: US Army to buy 1 million drones, in major acquisition ramp-up (Reuters just last week)
Palantir’s dream may come true
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UiiqiaUBAL8
Yes, people are vastly underestimating the west’s ability to arm up say over a period of 4-5 years. Drones and cheaper missiles are doable even for a corrupt and grossly mismanaged alliance.
Also the west is still the master of proxies and propaganda.
Today’s antidote: I twot I saw a wabbit!!
Wacky wabbit is fwom anothew cawtoon.
Guess Who
White House says October jobs and inflation data may never be released because of the shutdown CNBC
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘the DOGE ate my homework…’
Who knew the last refuge for a scoundrel was 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?
For some reason I still remember it like yesterday when Goldman Sachs, during the 2008-09 financial crisis, just removed December from their Q4 financials.
It was as if a black hole swallowed up the entire month, conveniently making their financials look much better.
No controlling legal authority ever punished them for that. I wonder if they teach that trick in accounting school!
“Norway reportedly considers sovereign fund collateral for EU’s €140bn Ukraine loan”
Not going to happen-
‘Norway will not tap its massive sovereign wealth fund to act as a financial backstop for a proposed EU loan to Ukraine, Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg has said.
Speaking to the broadcaster NRK on Wednesday, Stoltenberg dismissed suggestions that Oslo could leverage part of its €1.8 trillion ($2 trillion) fund to resolve the deadlock over Brussels’ proposed “reparation loan” for Kiev. The idea had been floated in Norwegian media and backed by some local politicians.
“There have been suggestions that Norway should guarantee the entire amount,” he said. “That is not the case. Whether we can contribute will depend on what the EU proposes.” ‘
https://www.rt.com/news/627740-norway-reparation-loan-guarantee/
When you’ve lost Jens Stoltenberg….
Pundits are coming with increasingly idiotic ideas. Yet, Blame game erupts in Europe as Ukraine strategy falters. Reckoning time is coming.
– ‘Epstein Geopolitics’ – Un-Diplomatic
This is very good. In my opinion it is one of the best descriptions of Epstein’s actual role as a facilitator among various interests in the global capitalist system. It also nicely captures the way power is actually exercised in this system these days: not so much by governments like “the USA” doing this or institutions like “the CIA” doing that, but through networks of privatized cutouts and proxies who are rewarded for making the connections and doing the dirty work for various “elites” within these institutions.
The author also rightly notes the importance of the current work of Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussein on Epstein, which is being ignored by the mainstream media. It would be nice if the media’s current interest in the “gotcha” moments where Trump is mentioned leads to deeper investigation into the real issues involved. I bet it doesn’t. They’ll be swept under the rug while attention is drawn to the partisan fight over whether Trump or Clinton is mentioned more often in “the Files.”
This is very good. Yes. Most news coverage these days is about the honey pot extortion, ignoring the relentless pursuit of power and profits by, even the very existence of, those whose interests were served by the afore mentioned. The confirmation of Obama as a predatory colonist/color revolutionary is a fresh angle within this discussion.
Not seeing much about Trump so far. That could be because he wasn’t that involved. Or maybe someone at the DOJ commanded Chat GDP, “Fulfill this FOIA request. Make the focus Obama.”
This is the most damning part of the story, not that the pedophilia/child sex abuse isn’t important.
If the average man in the street understood that Epstein was part of a ring to blackmail US politicians, spanning decades and shaping US foreign policy in the interest of Zionists, support for Israel would plummet. Right at a moment when it is already precarious after the genocide in Gaza.
I presume that this is the real reason Trump is so stubbornly resisting the release of the Epstein files, not any personal risk of him being outed as a sexual predator, along with some of his cronies.
Which is why you will never hear this on the evening news.
pjay: Thanks for pointing me toward the article in Un-Diplomatic. Yep, Epstein was running the sex-abuse ring as a side gig, in a sense. His main job was to get U.S. elites under control and further Israeli interests. Many liberals will not be happy to discover these events.
Also, I think that the fantasy of throwing out Trump as a pedophile is part of a very bad habit in the US of A of making political changes through sex scandals. Recently, we were all reminded of how dirty such tactics are when Saint Kristin Gillibrand of New York, Feminist Avenger of Al Franken, turns out to be deeply prejudiced and a war monger.
I note, from the article: “Epstein—as a broker between Israeli intelligence and foreign oligarchs and kleptocrats—was also a creature whose existence owed to the structure of American hegemony, aka the neoliberal economic order, aka the era of neoliberal globalization.”
This description may be the best way of interpreting Epstein’s mysterious rise, his alliance with the Maxwells (likely spies, Daddy and Ghislaine), the remarkable accumulation of wealth, and the strange list of very important clients (Lex Wexner) — and even the painting of Bill Clinton in the famous blue dress found in Epstein’s pied-à-terre in Manhattan.
Northern Lights dazzle all the way to the Gulf Coast as major solar storm impacts Earth Balanced Weather
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bad news: I conked out last night after putting in a big day of herding dead wood into a burn pile and then torching it, missing the Aurora.
Good news: It wasn’t another Carrington Event.
The images from all over are quite something, why go to Alaska when the northern lights come to you.
This probably doesn’t work so hot when your team’s 30 million dollar a year QB throws a red zone interception at the end of a close game and they lose. Agony is cubed if also you lose a big bet.
Coffeezilla’s 30 minute video on betting companies is excellent and he front loads his info so you get almost everything in the first 5 minutes. It seems he might have taken journalism classes.
When you’ve put in 34 years as a Long Suffering Bills Fan, my well-being is tuned to expect the worst and i’m seldom worse for wear, especially with a Jekyll & Hyde team that beats the Chiefs one week and gets plastered by the Dolphins the next.
Did you hear that the Bills are moving to the Philippines?
That way they can rename the team as the “Manila Folders”
ba-doom-doom!
Be glad you’re not a Dallas Mavericks fan ;)
I still have flashbacks when I hear the name Ernest Byner and ‘The Fumble’. Oof.
“Fullerton police stop man pointing gun at female driver, only to learn he is ICE agent”
I can see so much wrong with this guy. He gets paranoid causing him to point his gun at a women. You do don’t pull out a gun and point it at a person unless you are intent on using it. No attempt a deescalation but I doubt that he was ever trained in that. He was in plan clothes so he is lucky that the real cops did not shoot him. Some of these ICE agents really are cowboys and it is going to end in tears.
Tears of joy, or tears of sadness? Or both?
POSSIBLY having to use it. Otherwise, “yup” on the rest of the post. ;-)
Regarding SNAP, I was talking to my friend the other day about the lines outside food banks. We were dumbstruck. Poverty is a big issue where we are but neither of us have ever seen so many people lining up for assistance with food here, it was really sad.
Was thinking of going to our bank to make another deposit of dry and canned food, but selfishly waited a day so the solar storm would pass without incident, another lode goes today.
Hmmm…. Hit a deposit of canned gold, have you?
I have noticed that list is full of junk food.
“Express Employment Professionals” caught my eye. I guess it’s where underpaid staff help find you an under-paying job.
Where’s Colonel Bucket’s Chicken Blasphemy?
McDonalds employees on the SNAP list, as if I needed yet another reason to boycott the tarnished arches.
Food banks here too have been very busy. In addition to SNAP, the county has a large Navy presence with active duty and civilians. I’m not sure what kind of pay is going on – more billionaires paying them?
But companies like WalMart were infamous back in the day for literally providing training to new employees on how to apply for food assistance. The American billionaire way I guess, force American companies to move manufacturing off shore, and use Federal funding to feed your employees, all while increasing the wealth of one of the richest families in the world.
Thanks much for the link on the new Nuremberg film Conor, had not even heard about it before.
re: Angola
2x JACOBIN
1) How the US Intervened to Sabotage Angola’s Independence
By Elizabeth Schmidt
Fifty years ago today, Angola gained its independence after centuries of Portuguese domination. But US officials like Henry Kissinger were already working hard to orchestrate a devastating proxy war that snuffed out the hopes of national liberation.
https://jacobin.com/2025/11/angola-civil-war-independence-kissinger
2) Cuba’s Role in Angola Changed the Course of African History
By Antoni Kapcia
When Angola gained independence in 1975, the Cuban military came to the new government’s defense. The mission had global reverberations, from hastening the fall of South African apartheid to reshaping Cubans’ own identity and worldview.
https://jacobin.com/2025/11/cuba-angola-anti-imperialism-solidarity
I read through the Medpage link quickly, before it requested that I register with an email address. I noticed a reference to relevance to America and Germany today, but none to Israel or Gaza.
None in the comments either.
To clarify, this is in reference to the article on new Nuremberg film.
Yes. I couldn’t help but notice this obvious omission either. It is quite clear that for Arthur Caplan, the “Evil Ignored” today is the right-wing “racist” type practiced by Trumpians. It was “racism,” he tells us, that led the Nazi’s to believe in their cause so fervently and allowed them to perpetuate the horrors of the Holocaust. That the same type of dehumanizing racism allows the Israeli government (and a large number of its citizens) to justify and even celebrate genocide seems an irony lost on Caplan here. A second irony is the full support of this genocide by the Orange Fuhrer himself.
Another omission, of course, are the types of crimes against humanity perpetuated by JSOC forces in Afghanistan under the leadership of Stanley McCrystal and Barack Obama that are described in ‘A History of Violence’ above. Does that count as “evil ignored” for Caplan, carried out as it were by a Black “progressive” Democrat? As that excellent review makes clear (along with another excellent post today: ‘The Dark Crusade of “Little Wars”‘), these ignored evils have certainly enabled many others in our own imperial efforts and contributed to the overall rot of the US today. Will those responsible ever face their own “Nuremberg”?
I tried to resist commenting on that article, but it is so egregious.
Those who would cast out undesirable people are evil.
Evil people are undesirable. They must be cast out.
The author is blind to the contradiction. He writes, “ordinary, mentally sound people can and do perpetrate unspeakable evil” but does not understand what that means. The lesson of Nazism is not that evil is “out there.” This leads to the belief that among the apparently decent people around us are an occult minority who harbour secret hatreds. The task is to uncover them and denounce them. This way of thinking is all too terrifyingly familiar.
While it is true that some people are genuinely malign and must be treated accordingly, that is not the special and disturbing lesson of the Nazis (and the Bolsheviks and the Red Guard and so on). No, the lesson of the Good German is that the shadow is in here. It is not even entirely evil: it is essential part of all of us.
Why the horror? “The answer is racism,” he says, as though racism is a demon that acts in the world. His explanation verges on superstition. Racism is not so special. It is not the greatest evil. That grants it too much respect. Humans are actors, not Racism. It is but one of many possible justifications we choose to cloak our envy, resentment, hatred, self-righteousness and the like.
The first step in guarding against evil is empathy – not righteous empathy for the victim, but discomfiting empathy for the perpetrator. When I see the shadow in him, I can seek the shadow in me. It is always there; if I have not found it, I have not looked hard enough. Only then can I reach out to others with humility. Hatred, even hatred of hate, only breeds more of the same.
If you think half the population are a deplorables, what makes you imagine that denouncing them will help? That has been tried, tried, and tried again. For all the righteous satisfaction it brings it only makes things worse. I am afraid the prescription of this ethicist is not the cure, it is the disease.
I agree entirely, especially with regards “racism.” I found all the self-righteous indignation about it disturbing because, in the end, it is just too obvious that we are all racist in some way, just as we are all greedy, cowardly, etc, in some way. The thing to do should be to minimize the negative impact of everyone being at least a little racist, not denounce it as evil and pretending that they are not racist.
re: Pre-mature death before medicare eligible… could not get link to work, nor find web site.
Other recent articles which popped in search appeared…. Executive Summary:
No Lives Matter. Go Die.
I guess ‘they ‘ won’t tax the fewer folks for the AI bailouts— just hit, “PRINT” , as is often the case.
It’s OK, so long as I get my $2K Trump bucks before the 2026 election. Will there be a 2026 election?
Gooooooooood Moooooooorning Fiatnam!
The platoon had been requested to do burial duty-not that you’d know it from the brave talk emanating from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
In other financial news of note, the lowly Lincoln is no more, c’est la V soon too?
….and I don’t want to hear about your Nickel defense
Larry Johnston Sonar 21 site today features a link to the Duran’s interview with guest Robert Barnes from yesterday, saying he gave “A brilliant analysis of the causes behind the collapse of Trump’s presidency.” Some here might enjoy an analysis of the collapse. I saw much of this program yesterday and will go back today and watch what I missed. The entire show is just over two hours. This is a link to the Duran program from yesterday.
Agreed. Even Mercouris has stopped indulging the Giant Tangerine.
What a shocker … Trump lied about the Oct. 30th trade “deal” with China. It turns out that Trump’s statement that they were going to buy more soybeans was another typical bluster, fake-it-to-make-it tactic, similar to his lies about India reducing Russian oil purchases:
https://www.farmersadvance.com/story/news/2025/11/12/china-buys-more-brazil-soybeans-as-us-purchases-stall/87230564007/
China is really playing Trump, what a clown. He finally found an opponent he can’t just threaten and browbeat into submission. China has nearly all of the cards in this.
I wish we had a press that used common sense. Not only does China have all the cards, but Trump’s lies were easily detected by any individual with a basic understanding of economics.
At the time he announced the deal, it was Oct. 30, and the soybean harvest was already in. As the article points out, the Chinese had already bought plenty of soybeans from Argentina and Brazil. Soybeans are perishable – you can’t just store them indefinitely, there are pests, spoilage, etc.
So even if China wanted to buy more, there were real-world constraints. What were they supposed to do, load up every grain elevator in sight? Burn the existing soybeans they’d already paid for?
Why does it always have to be an obscure corner of the Internet where we find out the truth – why isn’t CNN running with this?
If they’re lucky, soybean farmers will get a 1-harvest bailout from Benedick Donald and then they’re on their own, with a good many probably opting to learn how to code instead, for a living.
New nom doubloon for teetotalitarian leader: TOFU
Trump Often (family-blogs) UP
Iowa’s farmers: chumps for Trump
>Vance, RFK Jr. to mingle with health execs, influencers at DC MAHA summit
The event will kick off with remarks by Tony Lyons, a key Kennedy supporter and head of MAHA Action, followed by Finn Kennedy, one of Kennedy’s sons who is listed as a board member of MAHA Holdings.
In other articles (seemingly taken from an official event schedule 28 year-old Finn is described as an “investor in 8vc” which got my attention as 8vc is (Palantir co-founder and knee-deep in the takeover of America) Joe Lonsdale’s firm. They appear often in connection with defence, AI, health.
Dug a little and cannot find much. Finn is the coauthor of this delightful sounding 8VC think-piece: AI Doctors Won’t Work For Free
He also appears as a contact on this Cicero Institute thing (another Lonsdale thing, designed to connect health ppl with entrepreneurs)
—-
Like Don Jr, RFK’s lad appears to be riding the Thielverse gravy train. The idiot parents get the headlines, but the sons are intimately connected with the real project of transforming America.
—
Who the heck is Finn Kennedy? Searching for him reveal very very little. This Yahoo article about Kennedy’s kids has
Born November 08, 1997, William Finbar “Finn” Kennedy is definitely one of the most private Kennedy family members. Not much is known about him since he wiped all of his social media accounts, but per Broad Biography, he graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s in history and in 2020, was hired as an analyst at Bailey Capital.
—-
And what the heck is MAHA Holdings? Nothing comes up on a search but I assume it’s related to the RFK grift of MAHA Worldwide? See also (NY Post )
—-
The Tylenol gives you autism stuff grabs the headlines but something deeper is happening here. Vance is also at the MAHA thing. Smells deeply of Thielverse SV VC poop to me.
Expect more AI enshittification of health to come.
re: “Can Visiting an Art Gallery Lower Your Stress Levels and Improve Your Health?”
While I do not deny the health benefits of the arts, my stress levels (and I assume lots of other people) would go down considerably if we had a functioning health care system. Dealing with insurance companies is enormously stressful.
Latest stress point: Healthcare.gov lists doctors as not in network, but the insurance website says they are in network for 2026.
(antidlc screams into the wiilderness)
Meditation upon a Cannoli
Many thanks. You saved the best for last.
What, no Chicken Riggies?
Jokes aside, as a big fan of the bleak beauty of Mohawk Valley cities and towns (downtown Gloversville, yeah!) I enjoyed this piece a great deal, though I think a good editor could improve upon it.
The rise in early deaths among us all on the bottom third has enraged me for years. Barely half of ‘us’ will even collect SS. And that black americans, still get an even bigger kick in the face. Those generations dying early from 2009 crash…to present, were the people that finally got into skilled union jobs, in the 60’s, finally got some fair housing loans to maybe pass value onto kids….and then most die before they are even 67.
I think the “physician who went to the anti-vaccine movement’s biggest gathering” wrote an interesting and unprejudiced article.
Perhaps the issue in the US has much to do with authority and control. In contrast, according to UK solicitors Bannerjones, “All child vaccinations in the UK are voluntary and therefore parental consent must be given prior to the vaccination.” https://www.bannerjones.co.uk/resources/child-vaccinations-and-what-happens-when-the-parents-disagree
In the US children get 28 vaccine doses by age two and about 54 by age 18. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “A baby receives a Hepatitis B (HepB) [vaccine] within 24 hours of birth. This is the first dose in a three-dose series and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) antibody within one week of birth.”
Moreover, a child receives 6 vaccine doses at 2-months, 5 doses at 4-months, 8 doses at 6-months which includes Covid and Flu vaccines, 3 doses at 12-months one of which is a combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) all in one dose, and on and on until age 16.
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11288-childhood-immunization-schedule
I’m certainly not anti-vax but It would be remarkable if parents did not have serious questions and objections.
MAGA on the March
‘Things are pretty crappy.’ 1 in 4 US households are living paycheck to paycheck (CNN, paywall ugh)
and inflation anyone?
look out below
Trumpernomics appears to be, crypt grifts for the first family and out of control inflation for everyone else!
I’ve been watching the PBS Frontline show “Born Poor”. It follows three kids over about 15 years. The idea of living paycheck to paycheck is a big theme.
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/documentary/born-poor/
In the mid-70’s I had my own apartment, food, gas for my 1958 Oldsmobile, enough $ to get blitzed most nights. Where I worked we got ‘raises’ when occasionally the minimum wage lifted our boats. My heart goes out to the poors.
Thank you for the link on the Seattle mayoral race. Krystal Ball was just interviewing Wilson today which is where I first heard the news. Apparently corporate media hasn’t seen this as a big story – imagine that. Came back here and see it’s already in today’s links – thanks for continuing to highlight the important things here.
They’ve called the race for Wilson and here’s Ball’s interview with her – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_A41kM4dmg
When I lived in Seattle, I watched as the establishment candidate engaged in the usual hippy punching to defeat the upstart Charlie Chong years ago. I later watched from the East Coast as socialist city councilor Kshama Sawant had her attempts to make Amazon pay a fair shares of taxes crushed. Very encouraging to see what might be an actual lefty gaining some traction in Seattle.
re: ideology meets new Norwegian motion picture about former prime minister Erna Solberg
TrustNordisk Boards Norwegian Political Satire ‘No Comment,’ From Oscar-Nominated Petter Næss, Ahead of Tallinn Competition (EXCLUSIVE)
The elevated comedy about power, spin-doctors and cover-ups is the only Nordic film in Tallinn’s main competition
https://variety.com/2025/film/global/trustnordisk-tallinn-no-comment-petter-naess-1236580727/
“In the pic, Prime Minister Alma Solvik (played by “State of Happiness’” Laila Goody) becomes the perfect scapegoat in a high-stakes political circus when it is revealed that her husband Sondre (Anders Baasmo from “La Palma,” “The King’s Choice”) has been caught red-handed in an insider trading scandal. Advised by her sharp spin doctor Karianne Moen (Pia Tjelta of “Don’t Call Me Mama,” “Blind Spot’ acclaim), Alma sets up a bold strategy to save her reputation.
“I’m looking forward to screening this thought-provoking film to our Estonian audience as we’ve had a comparable political scandal at home,” Tiina Lokk, the Black Nights Film Festival CEO told Variety, referring to the controversy surrounding esteemed former Estonian PM Kaja Kallas over her husband’s alleged business ties with Russia back in 2023.”
Attack on Venezuela is on?
Hegseth on Twitter:
President Trump ordered action — and the Department of War is delivering.
Today, I’m announcing Operation SOUTHERN SPEAR.
Led by Joint Task Force Southern Spear and
@SOUTHCOM
, this mission defends our Homeland, removes narco-terrorists from our Hemisphere, and secures our Homeland from the drugs that are killing our people. The Western Hemisphere is America’s neighborhood – and we will protect it.
—+
Bizarrely Operation Southern Spear was already announced in January:
Operation Southern Spear: Latest Development in Operationalizing Robotic and Autonomous Systems
My guess: Venezuela is about to be a proof-of-concept / show-of-force / testing-ground for US drone war capabilities.
The US Navy is soon to find out the true capabilities of Russian anti-ship missile technology.
If the DoW really wanted to remove the big time narcos from “our” hemisphere, they should start with the Langley Virginia mob.
Taco quest continues
Trump Administration Prepares Tariff Exemptions in Bid to Lower Food Prices (NY Times via archive.ph)
The Trump administration is truly populated by complete morons.
Ok, despite the title, in well more than half, JM & Nap deal with Israel and its lobby. Depth of perception, with must be seen clips.
Judge Nap
Prof. John Mearsheimer : Putin’s Calculus: Why Russia Might Welcome a Long War