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.
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.
5.9, 6.0, 6.66, 5.7, 5.8
Israeli crowd applauds soldiers accused of raping Palestinian prisoner Middle East Eye
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
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.
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