For Smart, Social Crows, Pennsylvania is a Warm Winter Oasis Allegheny Front
DNA Reveals German Family Has Lived in Same Village for 3,000 Years Greek Reporter
What We Call Progress Boston Review
Climate/Environment
Wall Street’s gas addiction fuels the AI boom, derails climate progress Private Equity Stakeholder Project
Can an Imperiled Frog Stop Oil Drilling Near Denver Suburbs? Residents Hope So. Capital & Main
Global Rush for Copper Hits the Amazon Inside Climate News
Dozens feared dead as section of copper mine collapses in DR Congo Anadolu Agency
Plastic Planet Phenomenal World
Pandemics
Washington State DOH: H5N5 Avian influenza confirmed in Grays Harbor County resident Avian Flu Diary
Dear doctors M (Is) Living With Long Covid
The Koreas
Top US admiral says South Korea’s new submarine should keep China in check Straits Times
Anduril is building MASC autonomous warships with HD Hyundai Naval News
Japan
Takaichi’s ambitions continue to unfold Observing Japan
The CCP’s Kryptonite Matt Turpin. Belligerence cheerleading from a Hoover Institution fellow and senior advisor at Palantir.
Japan sends envoy to China to calm escalating spat, media reports Channel News Asia
China?
China’s people are on a grueling treadmill Asia Times
India
Seven Reasons Why RSS Lobbying in Washington DC is Alarming The Wire
How Pakistan’s Spending Blitz Helped Win Over Trump and Flip U.S. Policy New York Times
Syraqistan
Shadowy Firm Run by Israeli-Estonian Has Gotten Hundreds of Palestinians Out of Gaza Haaretz
Scoop: Israel wants Trump to condition F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia on Israel normalization Axios
Iran turns to cloud seeding as historic drought deepens Firstpost
In world first, Israel begins pumping desalinated water into depleted Sea of Galilee Times of Israel
Euphrates River Becomes the Last Battle Line in Syria’s Civil War Drop Site
O Canada
95-Year-Old Human Rights Scholar Richard Falk Interrogated for Hours by Canada Countercurrents
European Disunion
Trump trade negotiator hits out at EU delays in cutting tariffs and rules FT
Very useful that all this is clearer now. Don’t believe in a Christian god, oppose American wars, anarchist, Marxist, anti-capitalist? Then you’re a terrorist and the US will come after you. And Europe will roll over, of course https://t.co/q037T3wVGD pic.twitter.com/wH2kjfy8OG
— Nate Bear (@NateB_Panic) November 16, 2025
German auction house cancels sale of Holocaust artefacts after outcry The Guardian
German ambassador says Polish opposition “helping Putin” with WWII reparations claims Notes from Poland
New Not-So-Cold War
The outcome of the UN vote on Russia’s resolution to “combat the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and other forms of racism and intolerance.”
Basically the West against the rest of the world.
Two key US allies broke ranks: Israel backed the motion and Turkey abstained. pic.twitter.com/fCylrQz1Vb
— Brian McDonald (@27khv) November 16, 2025
Ukraine’s best defence against Putin’s energy war is more attacks on Russia’s oil refining sector Chatham House. Let me know how that works out.
Greece To Supply Ukraine With US Natural Gas For Winter Bloomberg. Let me know how that works out.
Serbia’s US-Sanctioned Oil Firm NIS Gets Three Months To Find Buyer Reuters
Novorossiysk Resumes Oil Loadings After Ukrainian Attack Devdiscourse
SITREP 11/16/25: Overblown Energy Strikes on Russia Again Mask UA Frontline Collapse Simplicius
Bottleneck on the border, truckers baffled by major snarl-up on Kazakhstan-Russia frontier Intellinews
Africa
US Launches a Series of Airstrikes in Somalia, Civilians Reported Killed Antiwar
Why Solarpunk is already happening in Africa Climate Drift
South of the Border
U.S. military announces latest strike on an alleged drug boat in the eastern Pacific NBC News
The CIA’s Cartel The After-Action Report
What is really happening in Venezuela? US attacks and economic situation explained Geopolitical Economy Report
Venezuela Reports Localized Sabotage of Power Grid; Satellite Communications Disrupted Orinoco Tribune
Trump signals possible talks with Maduro as US ramps up Caribbean military campaign Anadolu Agency
BREAKING Mexican protest exposed:
Left is the “One piece” flag from Nepal & right, the same flag from these Mexican Gen Z “protests”.
90 million pesos have been spent in 2 months, with accounts linked to the Atlas Network, a CIA cut out linked to regime change ops in LATAM… pic.twitter.com/op1NtmeKHA
— Fiorella Isabel (@FiorellaIsabelM) November 16, 2025
L’affaire Epstein
Trump, in reversal, calls on House GOP to vote to release Epstein files The Hill
The Clayton appointment is so unreal.
Geoffrey Berman was pressured to step down by the first Trump admin roughly a year after prosecuting Epstein in 2019 (as I recall it was around the time when Berman was targeting Steve Bannon). Bill Barr tried to have Clayton replace him in… https://t.co/GuOZlDB8rI
— Whitney Webb (@_whitneywebb) November 16, 2025
The Blast Radius of Jeff Epstein BIG by Matt Stoller. With a focus on Larry Summers and his fabulous career.
Epstein Gave NY Times Journalist Tips About Trump. Why Did They Never Get Reported? The Intercept
⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇱JUST IN: U.S Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene:
“I think the right question to ask is, was Jeffrey Epstein working for Israel?”pic.twitter.com/i9s5mVV60Y
— Suppressed News. (@SuppressedNws1) November 16, 2025
Trump 2.0
THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN U.S. HISTORY ENDS WITHOUT AMELIORATING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS Notes on the Crises
Even though Congress approved the funding for NIH here’s what’s going on now: All NIH Oct & November grant application submission deadlines to be rescheduled….no new dates yet. All study sections & council meetings to be rescheduled at some point too. See below. Where is the $… https://t.co/oyGgCs5mRS
— Pearl Freier (@PearlF) November 16, 2025
GOP Funhouse
Republicans clash over surprise phone records provision that could enrich senators The Hill
Young MAGA Is Souring on Israel American Conservative
Once He Was ‘Just Asking Questions.’ Now Tucker Carlson Is the Question New York Times
Are 30-40% of conservative Gen Z staffers really Groypers? UnHerd
Democrats en déshabillé
The Democrats’ health care rhetoric is a sham Bleeding Heartland
Former First Lady Michelle Obama:
“Don’t even look at me about running, because you all are lying. You’re not ready for a woman. So don’t waste my time. We got a lot of growing up to do” pic.twitter.com/zr8xLRki4S
— HOT SPOT (@HotSpotHotSpot) November 16, 2025
Immigration
‘Tread Carefully’: What a $112 Million Verdict Could Mean for Local Police Working With ICE NOTUS
Imperial Collapse Watch
Robert Skidelsky: After Globalisation – Return of Fascism & War Glenn Diesen (Video)
Republicans’ Latest Gambit to Deny Rural Veterans Health Care Barn Raiser
Mamdani
What Mamdani Can Learn from Past and Present Public Grocery Projects Food and Power
AI
Goofing on Meta’s AI Crawler Information Camouflage
Ex-Disney star makes the ‘most evil’ app ever. It barely even works San Francisco Standard
Most states don’t disclose which companies get data center incentives, report finds Kansas Reflector
The songs remain the same Internal Exile
Groves of Academe
The Harvard Endowment’s Biggest Public Investment is Now Bitcoin Gizmodo
Antitrust
Ballroom Blitz: Union Pacific donates to White House ballroom while proposing massive merger Flatwater Free Press
Economy
America’s corporate meltdown: 655 big firms bankrupt as 2025 crisis surges to 15-year high Economic Times
Screening Room
Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive The Ankler
The Friendly Skies
RyanAir Refuses Refund for Man Who Missed Flight After Knife Attack AV Geekery
Trump administration axes Biden-era rule to provide passenger compensation for delayed flights The Points Guy
Guillotine Watch
Americans Want Billionaires Out Of Politics—And Think They’re A Threat To Democracy, Poll Shows Forbes
Class Warfare
Whatever happened to U.B.I.? Read Max
Selling a Defective Dream New York Review
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
99 comments
Comments are closed.
“Scoop: Israel wants Trump to condition F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia on Israel normalization”
Now that is chutzpah. They are demanding the Saudis sign up to the Abraham Accords first. In fact, Israel is telling Trump that they have a veto on American regional arms sale and have the right to attach any conditions that they want to an an American sale of weaponry. I got an idea. How about this for the next headline-
‘Scoop: Saudi Arabia wants Trump to condition F-35 purchase to Israel allowing a Palestinian State.’
lmao. the littoral waters off of Korea are the worst places for a nuclear sub.
lmao. total waste of money, when, for the same price, a nation can buy >3x more convretional subs that would accomplish the same littoral mission. (quantity is its own qualty)
but hey, Natsec Establishment Koreans, for some reason, really love the ego boost of having the same toys as France and UK.
The Empire thanks you for your service.
And the conventional subs would carry the same anti-ship weapons.
And if they have AIP they could stay submerged for weeks at a time.
There was a vidoeclip some time ago arguing that the US should start building electric subs…
Kouros
The US doesn’t have enough extension cord. They would have to buy cabtire from China.
Selling F-35 to the kingdom is a gift to Lockheed and their associate vendors! The kingdom does not have the STEM human resources to do anything with F-35 except maybe train half the pilots to fly the aircraft.
The rest of the kingdom’s use of the flying cost center is done by US contractors, like the past 40 odd years with Saudi F-15 and Saudi AWACS!
The kingdom should probably spend some real money on air and missile defenses…..
Flying F-35 is troublesome, getting it anywhere near engaging the Shi’a crescent requires refueling and huge US support.
F-35 iike the US navy carriers is useless against Yemen!
German auction house cancels sale of Holocaust artefacts after outcry The Guardian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There were coins, tokens and currency issued for a number of holocaust camps and whatnot.
Łódź Ghetto Marks came in coins & currency. There wasn’t much of a market for these when I was in the biz, more of a curiosity.
I probably bought and sold many dozens of these over the years, and I see they still aren’t in much demand.
https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/poland-10-mark-km-tn3-1943-cuid-1092608-duid-1571471.
It was weird with coins versus other artifacts, as if they got a pass.
When i’d go to Germany often for coin shows in the 1980’s the law was that anything with a swastika had to be covered up, and you’d see things like Nazi medals with a little dab of white tape over the offending symbol, but nobody seemed to care in regards to 3rd Reich coins from 1933 to 1945, almost all of which had a swastika on them.
“Trump, in reversal, calls on House GOP to vote to release Epstein files”
Interestingly I heard a comment on the radio this AM on the way into work that said that even if this becomes a go, it might be possible for the DOJ to say they can’t release the files at this time because of the active investigation recently authorized by Trump against people/entities like Clinton and JP Morgan. I’m not sure how accurate that logic is, but it would make sense as to why the investigation was started (in part) and why Trump did his about face.
I think you’re on to something.
FOX uses an old picture of Bill Clinton when they talk about L’affaire Epstein. Perhaps from his time in the WH?
I suspect any “Epstein files” we see will be limited to Democrats and rich people know mostly for their support of Dems. But anything is possible, I suppose.
Still not sure how a Democratic hoax implicates Dems. The idea, I guess, it that Dems are accusing Trump to distract from their crimes but the hoax accusations aren’t really phrased that way. Even by twitter bots.
the only thing left for TOFU* is to go scorched earth on adversaries, real or imagined. Truly a cornered rat.
* Trump Often (family-blogs) UP
FUMTU: Frumpt Up More Than Usual
‘Suppressed News.
@SuppressedNws1
20h
⚡️🇺🇸🇮🇱JUST IN: U.S Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene:
“I think the right question to ask is, was Jeffrey Epstein working for Israel?” ‘
Can you imagine what would have happened if anybody had asked such a question only last year? That person would have been cancelled, the social media dogs would have been set on her and there would have been a major effort to denounce her as antisemitic. She would have been flogged over this from pillar to post. But now? People are asking questions and once asked, will demand an answer. Then again, a year ago I would never have imagined Marjorie Taylor Greene to be one of those asking such questions
I found it humorous that it was Dana Bash interviewing Marjorie Taylor Greene in this clip. I might be projecting, but watch her face as MTG answers her question. I didn’t see the whole clip; did Bash ask her if she supported Hamas rape squads?
I remember vividly how Ilhan Omar’s “All about the Benjamins” comment was pounced on by all sides of the political and media ecosystem. She could probably use it as a campaign slogan now.
In related news:
“I wanted to come back here to Israel and let you know that I served you as the mayor…” – Eric Adams
https://x.com/tparsi/status/1990460282250924413?s=46
And yet Israel First supporters do not see a problem with that.
Epstein affair very strange to us in the UK.Poor old Andy,(rightly) stripped and vilified worldwide yet,one assumes,a battalion of Yanks hiding safely behind him.BTW were there no other names mentioned in the recent memories?
Thank you.
There are over 300 British nationals and residents listed in various documents, not a master list, as having been guests, hosts etc. of Epstein. They include two former PMs and three former editors, not just Andrew and Mandelson.
With regard to Mandelson, try the gentlemen outfitter models.
At first I thought you meant the Fast Show (“Suits you, Sir!”) but then I realised you meant Another Brand Entirely, right, Colonel, my best intrigue explainer & finest in this column’s house?
Is Petey getting a pass from the British press for his closeness with Epstein?
In other news, top US admirals could not keep Yemen in check, and moved onto fighting fishing boats.
I doubt if the US will be consulted. For the last generation, South Korea has been obsessed with the construction of a a “Blue” (water) Navy, capable of deployment anywhere in the world, as they think befits a country of their status. ROKN ships frequently visit Australia, and the two navies exercise together, under the rubric of protecting sea lanes. The Koreans intend to be a major, if not the major, naval power in the region. N Korea is not relevant to this argument.
And they didn’t have aircraft assigned to their aircraft carrier for years (ok, it’s only a helicopter carrier. Not sure if they have assigned helicopters now…)
And yet the North Korean navy has nearly 3x the number of vessels that South Korea has.
South Korea is probably thinking: “if US sells tomahawk land attack missiles (TLAM) to Japan…..”.
Japan re-arming is as “inviting” as Germany re-arming!
Neither will be in any position to take on a big power in their neighborhood.
Solar punk
It’s a well done article in most areas. They do get the business models and how all that is working correct.
As solar has gotten cheaper more and more companies have been made to install, repair, sell and the finance part to
It’s exciting to see the proliferation of this happen without much western support of ngos and governments. It’s truly indigenous now.
It’s been 100% China that has created this by their producing all of the products.
Right now solar in China is 10 cents ( has been for going on 3 yrs) a watt, and probably we won’t see that get any lower, and it doesn’t need to
Batteries have made the biggest difference, first going to lithium and with the prices dropping drastically in the last years. Old lead just didn’t last and that is why most systems failed.
Sodium should drop that even more in the next year or so.
Inverters have also dramatically improved in quality, features, efficiency and lower price. Almost everything in the us offgrid market is from China. And gridtied is becoming more and more Chinese.
Here in Spain grid-tied solar is +95% Chinese. Probably more of the same with utility-scale and off-grid PV though I am not there to see the numbers. Decouple from China = kill PV.
There is an interesting overview here on EU manufacturing policy in an article last year in Brueghel. The issue of ‘sourcing’ is more complicated than it first looks, as there are a number of internationally traded elements that go into the final panels. And of course, a solar panel isn’t much use without a lot of other electrical apparatus.
Ultimately, it makes no sense to do anything but import Chinese panels and cells now because they are ridiculously cheap. If anything, governments would be smart to overbuy to stockpile them until the grid capacity catches up. It is EU policy to aim for 40% domestic for 2030, but this is unlikely to be achievable – it would make more sense to invest in a major leap in tech, such as perovskite panels for the generation.
Brian McDonald’s tweet about the UN vote on Russia’s resolution to “combat the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and other forms of racism and intolerance” could hardly be more clear. Just yesterday in Links we were talking about how “western values” and “liberal democracy” are euphemisms for something.
Ghosts in the Balcony: A Cross-Country Trip to 58 Theaters Fighting to Survive The Ankler
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A plethora of movie theaters built in the 1920’s and then the Great Depression, done killed Vaudeville.
Streaming was doing in going to the movies, and then Covid played like the Great Depression and killed movie theaters, some of which don’t know it yet, at least 58 of them.
I’m wistful about it, as both my flying days and going to the movies seemed to curtail after 9/11. With the former I just lost interest in particular after the shoe debacle, I know it sounds trite but I just didn’t want to bother anymore and besides road trips are more fun, you get to observe the country and people up close-not from 30,000 feet. I have 6 domestic flights under my belt since the turn of the century.
I went to the movies probably once a week from when I was a teenager until CGI shows up big time about the same time as 9/11 as it turned out, combined with living in a small town where the octoplex in Visalia 40 miles away has the size screen you can now buy @ Wal*Mart for a grandido in tv form, no thanks.
The big thing that movies lost was before the dawn of the internet, it was a rare shared experience that was a sure-fire conversation starter if you and the other person both saw it together separately.
I’m a movie person but I never go to the local theaters. I wait and get them from the library.
Of course I used to go to them constantly but not a fan of some of the public who go with them or the inconsistent projection standards. I’m fine with watching a movie by myself and don’t regard it as a social experience.
Yes an audience (or laugh track for us Boomers) can help with comedies but for dramas an audience adds little. Popcorn we can make at home.
I loved seeing them in theaters pre-Covid. At home not the same.
YS: Agreed. In fact, I suspect that the only way to understand the impact of film is experiencing it on the big screen. Some films are unforgettable on the big screen: Children of Paradise by Carné with the remarkable Arletty. Open City by Rossellini — Magnani will destroy the viewer. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (arguably the greatest film ever made in the U S of A). The Leopard by Visconti, with that famous final scene of the reception and the dance of Prince Fabrizio and Angelica. The Night of the Hunter — for maximal spookiness.
On TV, films become TV, with its many limitations. In a moviehouse, we give in to the sway and pull of the film. John Waters knew that Divine on the big screen was a monumental figure, way beyond kitsch.
Speaking from the middle brow seats here, I would add Dances with Wolves to the list. I saw that one at a proper theater and that is very much how it needs to be seen.
I still remember being a kid in the late 70’s when “Star Wars” came out … now that was must-see stuff. We talked about it school for the next 3 years … and drawing contests to see who could render the best version of a Tie-fighter became a thing.
There was no Internet, no VHS yet, and cable TV was barely a thing (we wouldn’t get it until the 80’s in my house.)
The ability for a movie to have massive cultural impact was lost a long time ago, similar to how musical groups lost their impact (save the nostalgia tours) sometime in the 90’s. Technology killed the video star.
‘The ability for a movie to have massive cultural impact was lost a long time ago’
That’s true and it is not. Ask people around the world if they know who Han Solo or Like Skywalker or Darth Vader is and they will know. They were characters from very impactful movies at the time and attained instant recognition. Fast forward to this era and the sort of Star Wars films-slash-slop that have been coming out are not only forgettable but this is especially true of the characters in them. The modern films are not to be compared with those earlier productions as the newer ones were being used as platforms for social messaging. Hollywood has forgotten how to make entertaining films that are also culturally impactful.
For me the last movie that really captivated me was “The Matrix” which came out around the year 2000. It seems that one had some long-lasting impact, as some of the characters and themes are still around in the zeitgeist. And Keanu Reeves has become something of a legend.
I suppose being subjective, everyone has a different opinion on this. Technology has provided an “easy button” that allows Hollywood to crank out schlock, but it is at least still theoretically possible to make a great film.
Captivating movies are definitely fewer and far between, but there was always a lot of schlock filling the dance cards of dating moviegoers. No longer a budget date for someone making minimum wage part time though. I think the Netflix/HBO producers are taking up the slack with miniseries, and their own schlock (IMHO Disney being mostly regurgitated schlock)
The Matrix, yes. But The Departed, No Country for Old Men, and many more affect my opinion of Hollywood being able to produce top shelf.
I’ve been on a Christopher Nolan binge recently and have loved a lot of his movies.
Inception, when it came out was an amazing experience that I think is just as up there as Matrix and many others.
There were definitely movies I loved outside of Nolan’s, since Inception as well but right now their names escape me.
The best film of 2023 was “The Boy and The Heron,” and I haven’t seen a better film since. It’s just as captivating as any of the touchstones of the past few decades–all the more shocking that it was written/directed over seven years by a man who was 82 by the time he finished!
It’s a truly remarkable work, both visually and narratively. I recommend seeing it in theaters, as some venues show it during the annual “Ghibli Fest.”
The Matrix is one of the best action movies ever made (alongside Terminator 2, Aliens, and others I can’t think of at the moment). It is expected for it to have a long-lasting impact, and to be ruined by sequels. :)
I’ve seen a couple of recent Chinese movies on the big screen that I just loved:
A Long Day’s Journey into Night, and
A Touch of Sin.
Highly recommended. They look great in a theater.
I also go to the movies in India when I’m there. The cinema experience itself is a total blast, no matter what language the movie is in.
‘Brian McDonald
@27khv
The outcome of the UN vote on Russia’s resolution to “combat the glorification of Nazism, neo-Nazism, and other forms of racism and intolerance.”
Basically the West against the rest of the world.’
For those interested, a reply showed the voting board for this vote-
https://xcancel.com/27khv/status/1990146868718760379#m
The Russians have been putting this anti-Nazi resolution for the past twenty years. Things have changed though. That results board is more or less the same for every year but it was not always so. Going by memory here but before the 2014 coup in the Ukraine, I seem to remember that there were only two countries that would vote against this anti-Nazi resolution – the US and Israel.
>>>>China’s people are on a grueling treadmill Asia
my head hurts from keeping track of which media outlet is where on the 4-D ideology Necker Cube…
The people at the Asia Times now needs to show up at an Amazon warehouse or Disney World backlot.
If the US had China’s “problems”, the POTUS in office would be hailed as a hero
China’s people are on a grueling treadmill- Asia Times
Every instance of China’s could be substituted with USA’s… (I do believe China is trying to steer clear of the traps our finance captured system has wrought.)
and for the very same reasons…in my view….
favored markets for Financial Capitalism and disfavored Industrial capitalism with the labor/citizens/majority. Always the same elites whinning about how they find it so dificult to run monopolies and grab cash in buybacks and payoffs to political office graspers … it is no wonder why those most benefiting of the USA neoliberalism came to be at the apex they stole/conned and bribed for themselves…you know the largest investment firms, financial services and asset puffers who benefit most with the skewed favoritism in the tax and finacial laws given that………………………..
“National Economic Council. The NEC was established in 1993 by executive” (Bill Clinton) “order” “Those who have served in the role have ranged from former CEOs of the nation’s largest investment firms to financial-services industry managers to seasoned congressional staffers who have managed the economic policy issues for top financial and tax-writing committees.” Project 2025 PRESIDENTIAL TRANSITION PROJECT
© 2023 by The Heritage Foundation 214 Massachusetts Ave., NE Washington, DC 20002 (202) 546-4400 | heritage.org All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. ISBN: 978-0-89195-174-2
At some point, it started just becoming a catalog of Western assertions about why China is going to fail (hidden as public discontent). When it argued that the falling property values are sabotaging the key to growth in real estate bubbles, I shifted to skimming. When it got to oversupply, I stopped skimming – really, teens are worried about oversupply? Even though the needs of the Global South are massive and unfulfilled. Meanwhile, youth unemployment is always a problem at the falling phase of the business cycle in every cycle. That doesn’t make it easier for young people to realize the best solution is staying in school a few more years when they want a car and an apartment.
Yes, there is nothing at all uniquely Chinese about these “Chinese” problems. (even the real ones, which are only a sunset of the article’s laundry list).
Except that apparently it’s OK to decry them if they occur in China, whereas when we see them here they need to be ignored, apologized for, or framed as positive goods.
It’s funny how they managed to avoid giving any useful information. I could not even find the displacement of the vessel in the article, let alone other technical info (speed, range, etc.), not to mention the info about the actual payload of the “modules”. All the “modular” talk did remind me of LCS, so there’s that.
Michelle Obama interview, with sniveling.
This morning in my FCBook feed, the esteemed Lady Bunny (who is a radical politically) had posted the interview with Michelle Obama. Lady Bunny’s comment was lefty and insightful.
My response is that Michelle Obama is unqualified, and one of the many problems with the Democrats / liberals is that they want a celebrity, not a candidate. Michelle Obama has never run for or held public office. Heck, why not ask Erykah Badu? I’m one hundred percent supportive of Baduizm!
First, a small detail: Hillary Clinton won the popular vote. So it can be done. But Hillary Clinton’s campaign was a shambles and decided to blame it all on Russia. Whoops. They hadn’t noticed the Electoral College (Electoralskaya Kollegya in Russian) that the Russkies had cleverly placed in Hillary’s path.
Then there was Kamala Harris and the Omnishamble$$$ Campaign.
See Conor Gallagher’s just-posted article on CIA / intelligence service Dems. You cannot win the electorate with a bunch of clowns with inflated résumés. Inflated résumés may fool marketing departments, but then everything fools marketing departments. Try appealing to voters.
There are rumors that Michelle’s academic experience at Princeton (I believe) not terribly stellar. What indeed does she bring to the table? Might as well elect Oprah or Meryl Streep.
Streep played Thatcher so she has political experience.
I caught a couple of clips of her last week talking about how difficult it was with all the makeup and prep stuff he had to do while being FLOTUS. Poor baby! I’m from the camp that think her and her husband are way past their sell by date. And take Hillary along with you.
LMAO, i love Michelle’s brilliant framing—-you plebs are not ready for me (versus I’m sick of all this political stuff and just want to spend my de facto, infinite book money traveling the world and living a drama-free life)
Like the claims that Buttigieg cannot get elected because he’s gay (Kamala recently stated that was the reason he wasn’t chosen as her VP candidate).
Not because he’s a vapid McKinsey droid devoid of ideas and convictions.
Have heard many in my circles say Kamala lost because she’s a woman – echoing Michelle here. Not because they are centrist grifters who only appeal to the rich Upper Eastside *familyblogs* who are freaking out about Mamdani and anyone who appeals to the issues most people face in their daily lives.
Bernie’s slogan was, “Not me, us”
Establishment Dems refrain is: “It’s not me, it’s you.”
Dang those Russkies like Yakov Madisov and Yuri Vashinsky….
The Harvard Endowment’s Biggest Public Investment is Now Bitcoin Gizmodo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When things come a cropper, it’ll be the I.V. League
What Mamdani can learn about public grocery stores.
What I have learned is that U.S. politicians lack imagination. Or, when it comes to the social state, one learns not to have an imagination.
Here in Italy, there are pharmacies owned by city hall. Le farmacie comunali. There are 46 of them in the Chocolate City:
https://www.farmacie-comunali.com/index.php?pagina=ricercapercitta&provincia=torino
For many, maybe most USanians, a city-owned pharmacy with lower prices and better availability may be even more important than a grocery store.
Rite-Aid stores went out of biz this summer, I picked through the carcass of the one in Woodlake @ 50% off and blew $35, and then it was shuttered along with every other Rite-Aid in the country.
For whatever reason in these not so united states, drug stores are placed at a weird angle compared to any other retail stores, and I drive past a few of these white elephant buildings also in Visalia, wonder what becomes of them?
Drug stores are like jewelry stores at (old-style_ malls—-always at the crossroads cuz that’s where the money/traffic was.
easy delivery is a game-changer (thanks to working out the infrastructure hurdles that Kozmo-dot-com never figured out and didn’t have the money for).
all those drug stores are going to be Chick-fil-A or Raising Cane locations or car washes—if your area can support that kind of spending—otherwise it’s going to be like a derelict mini-mall.
to be utilitarian (without political optics), it’ll probably be just cheaper to subsidize the Amazon Prime and Walmart + subscriptions rather than building out stores when we are on the cusp of a plurality of people routinely getting their groceries delivered.
But subsidizing Amazon and Walmart looks bad and will take away jobs from legacy brick-mortar outlets
It’s TrumpRx for us.
Trumplacebo?
Raises an important question: Is it more efficient for a society to force its citizens to come to commercial centers where goods are delivered by efficient diesel trucks, or to have home deliveries from distant warehouses beyond the exurbs?
In most of the world, it’s been worked out that having small stores in the neighborhood, within walking distance, is most efficient with diesel truck delivery to these stores. As a by-product, it actually supports community, but that is a negative in the US, where atomization is a clear neo-liberal goal to prevent protests from those it destroys.
“95-Year-Old Human Rights Scholar Richard Falk Interrogated for Hours by Canada”
I don’t think that the Canadians authorities here really thought this through. I mean, the guy is 95 years old and cannot be in the best of health. What if in all those hours of interrogation, that the old boy had keeled over with a heart attack? Can you imagine the headlines? How bad it would made the Canadians authorities look in front of the whole world? Did they think that people would just shrug the whole thing off? They should have really thought the whole thing through.
Yaroslav Hunka could also have had heart attack out of too much excitement, in front of cameras. Can you imagine the headlines? How bad it would made the Canadian authorities look in front of the whole world? Did they think that people would just shrug the whole thing off? Probably.
The commotion would be over in about a week. Rapidly fading wavelets after throwing a pebble into a lake.
After all, Falk is not a media celebrity, or an influencer with X million followers, or a famous politician, or a legendary rock star. He persists in the noble but dreary activity of defending the unpopular victims of a genocide against overwhelming censorship and hostility from TPTB. Besides, he is really old.
Had he died during interrogation, the authorities would have concocted an official declaration deploring the event, assuring that the safety of the people they deal with and the respect of their legal and constitutional rights are their utmost priority, promising that an official inquiry will be made to uncover any wrongdoing, affirming that they are committed to take all necessary provisions so that such an unhappy accident never reoccurs, and reminding that anyway Mr Falk never raised any warnings or made any observation about his having medical conditions that may require special caution.
Some time later, the official commission would quietly publish the results of its inquiry, concluding that all procedures were followed and that there is nothing to find fault with the agents who interrogated Mr Falk. Just a tragic event; nobody is guilty. So sad. So sorry.
Now, if Falk died after falling from the fourth floor of the building where he was interrogated and people rushing to help noticed that he no longer wore a belt and that his shoelaces had been taken away, then, perhaps.
Remember Charlie Kirk, who was young, an influencer, media darling in some segments of the population, was assassinated, and then elevated to some kind of Christian martyr in a pompous ceremony afterwards? Granted that he was a provincial, parochial celebrity and not somebody with a genuine international career and connections like Falk. This was two months ago — who talks about Kirk nowadays?
The Canadian Supreme court recently allowed the horrible killing of 500 or so ostriches, so I doubt this type of thing would bother them too much.
Canada’s new motto should be “We’re like the US but less pushy and no Orange Man!”
That is a really bad example, and kind invalidates your point. We should just do whatever RFK or Dr Oz say? I’m on the side of being grateful that our government still prioritizes human health over misinformed social media opinion. That herd was infected. All poultry infected with H1N1 gets culled. This was a farm. Those birds were destined for pet food, regardless of what they now claim.
As a shortcut for all you not up on BC politics:
Globe & Mail: The ostrich saga was for the birds
Wiki: 2025 Canadian ostrich culling controversy
But we’re getting TrumpRx.
Heh heh heh.
“Trump signals possible talks with Maduro as US ramps up Caribbean military campaign”
Well that is the thing with Trump. This might be his way of trying to negotiate a deal to get himself out of the potential mess that a fight with Venezuela would be. But when you think back over the past few months, this could be Trump trying to set up negotiations – only to try to use a decapitation strike on Maduro and the government leadership. He has form for this such as with helping the Israeli strike on the negotiation team in Qatar or his own strike on Iran as a deal was in the making. In such situations, the guy is a snake and is never to be trusted.
I hope/imagine Maduro is well aware of your point. I do wonder if he’s aware of these “possible talks” via direct contact or by reading the headlines.
Talk with Maduro. Just to say later that he had tried everything but Maduro (RIP) was not reasonable.
– ‘Once He Was ‘Just Asking Questions.’ Now Tucker Carlson Is the Question’ – New York Times
This is how the NY Times is going to frame the Tucker Carlson problem. First, he’s clearly antisemitic, or at least “antisemitic-adjacent,” aiming to push what were once dangerous “far right” ideas into the Republican mainstream. And similar to earlier right-wing extremists like the Birchers, he is a “conspiracy” monger; just look at how he’s been talking about 9/11, the Kennedy assassination, and such. Yesterday’s Links had an article from The Conversation pushing this line as well, noting his willingness to interview a “chemtrail” conspiracy theorist. Tucker is now QAnon! Finally, the Times points out that Carlson’s recent behavior threatens to permanently shatter the Conservative movement in its internecine destructiveness. The tone of this argument in this NY Times article is especially funny, since we all know how much the Times cares about the health and unity of the Conservative movement.
It is true that one of the most common means of undermining Establishment critics is to smear them by association with nuts, crooks, and other undesirables. Carlson opens himself up to this tactic by giving Fuentes a platform. But his response is a free speech defense, that the Right needs to hear the other side of the Israel debate that has been historically repressed. I expect the mainstream media to follow the Times’ lead and join with the Ben Shapiros on the Right to paint Carlson as a neo-Nazi – or at least “neo-Nazi adjacent.” This will be quite a test of the Establishment’s ability to manage the Israel problem.
Tucker is #1 on AIPAC’s to-do list. AIPAC’s finally awoken to the demographic wall that pro-Zion support faces in the USA. AIPAC can’t change it, but they think that taking out Tucker will make a difference
Fuentes is THE other side of the Israel debate? A binary either/or between Zionist Nazism and unreconstructed Nazi Nazism?
The crypto con
The Crypto Industry’s $28 Billion in ‘Dirty Money’ (NY Times via archive.ph)
Didn’t Summers front for the Violence Initiative Project early in his career?
“Once He Was ‘Just Asking Questions.’ Now Tucker Carlson Is the Question.”
The whole thing is just a hit piece on Tucker Carlson and the writer takes particular umbrage that Carlson is not loyal to Israel. Then again, this was a New York Times article.
The constant drumbeat of “antisemitism” brings this quote to mind:
“Society consists of a mass of weak individuals trying to protect themselves, out of fear, from every possible imaginary evil, and, of course, by their very fear, bringing the evil into being.”
– DH Lawrence, Apocalypse
When I typed in ‘holocaust’ earlier in the thread, my computer tried to capitalize on the situation but I insisted on a lower case letter, was I being anti-semitic or anti-semantic?
the person who programmed that probably literally does not know the etymology of holocaust and its usage.
It’s only since 1970ish that “Holocaust” over shadowed holocaust.
Further evidence that the protests in Mexico, described as gen-Z, are being co-opted. From Mercury News, Clashes erupt in Mexico City anti-crime protests, injuring 120.
“For many hours, this mobilization proceeded and developed peacefully, until a group of hooded individuals began to commit acts of violence,” Pablo Vazquez, Mexico City’s security chief, told reporters.
And, notably, this concerning recently assassinated Carlos Manzo,
The assassinated mayor’s widow, however, distanced her husband’s movement from the demonstration on Saturday.
Manzo had a hard stance against organized crime.
China’s people are on a grueling treadmill Asia Times
J’ai ri irrésistiblement jusqu’au hoquet.
Yesterday we had a presidential election here in Chile.
– Jeannette Jara, the communist party candidate representing most of the left, secured 26.8% of the vote.
– José Antonio Kast, one of the three candidates representing the right, captured about 24.0% of the vote.
– No candidate achieved a majority, so the race will go to a run-off on December 14.
– Right-leaning parties together gathered a significant share of the vote, strengthening their influence in the upcoming legislative period.
Kast is posed to win the run-off, mostly because Jara is perceived to be the continuation of the current government which has not been able to deliver solutions regarding crime and employment.
> THE LONGEST GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN IN U.S. HISTORY ENDS WITHOUT AMELIORATING OUR CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS Notes on the Crises
Ending the shutdown avoided one unlikely but devastating outcome, but a bunch of precedents got tested. Failure to swear in an elected official can be applied en masse. The economic disruptions can only be partially calculated. Uncertainty has increased. Nothing disconfirms the trajectory that Tankus notes:
> I may yet have to revise my conclusion regarding how “legalistic” the Trump administration is regarding spending “without” appropriations… At a deeper level, it’s unclear how much even the best electoral nights can do to create a legislature capable of constraining executive power.
If it holds true then it doesn’t matter if the 2026 election doesn’t occur or get ratified. The consolidation of power in the Executive is overwhelming, moreso when we don’t know who is actually making the decisions. The ‘minibus’ tactic relegates debate to the superfluous, which makes election to Congress inefficient for someone actually looking to cause change.
From inside US borders it looks like Dewey Decimal ‘909 Regression (Civilization)’. So thanks for the African Solarpunk article. And gratitudes for the NC commentariat, globally domiciled and greatly engaged.
Forgive me, please edit ‘2026’ to ‘2028’.
The “gruelling treadmill” piece in Asia Times, even taken at face value, just sounds like Chinese workers being introduced to the same treadmill that western workers have been running on for decades.
Except that we get to have collapsing infrastructure as part of the scenery while running on ours.
Didn’t countries go over there in the first place to skip out on some regulations and have access to cheaper labor?
I wouldn’t call it an introduction happening just now. More like a promise not met by some that expected more.
That’s the way of the world.
Yes. Treadmill with Chinese characteristics is still treadmill.
Been about a century and three quarters since William Morris coined the phrase “toiling to live so that we may live to toil”. (In his excellent “useful work vs useless toil”, as I recall. All possible variants of actually existing capitalism take us to this point. Only the details vary.
–Greece To Supply Ukraine With US Natural Gas For Winter
What can one expect from a failed-state protectorate other than being the empty vassal that currently is?
This government has been stripping vital defence equipment from the Greek islands the last few years, without notice, and sent it over to Ukraine, to “defend our common values” and whatnot.
Let alone, having Azov fighters making speeches in the Greek Parliament via live video stream in 2022/2023.
And amidst all this, Greece has still a high inflation/soaring prices that eats away the monthly income + one of the most expensive gas and electricity prices in Europe. And I won’t delve into the housing crisis and Airbnb bubble thing.
Now we want to help Ukraine again to survive the winter while Greeks are going to be struggling to keep warm for another year.
Apparently the bottom for this country is not here yet.
Mitsotakis, along with his delusional MPC peers governing Europe, are so trapped in their own propaganda that cannot realize the hole they’ve been digging for so long now.
re: Covid origin
Since Walter Kirn right now on ATW puts it as if it is a proven fact that it “did not escape from a batcave” but from one of “our own labs” – did I miss any new evidence?
p.s. Kirn is funny though on Epstein; in more daring times Epstein would have been one of the three ghosts in the Christmas Carol
No, in fact there was a paper in Nature that took issue with the lab leak theory IIRC a year or 18 months ago that should have shifted views a bit but didn’t because priors are so well set. The lab leak theory is NOT proven. No one has delivered a smoking gun or even solid ties to the initial outbreaks in the wet market, or adequately explained apparently earlier cases in Italy.
Thanks!
The big problem here is: As far as Germany is concerned, many of those who form the bulk of the resistance against imperial madness, Ukraine and dismantling freedom of speech regard the lab leak as a fact.
The topic has become less talked about this year but only because the various sides have settled on their very own views on it. No communication or exchange of thoughts and arguments…🙄
RE: SolaPunk
This article explains in full my recent comment to the esteemed NC commenteer Thuto in SA. China is not overproducing PV panels. It is preparing for the onslaught from rural Africa. China can afford to sell PV panels just above cost and then make a profit on systems control hardware (Inverters, etc.).
I’ve been involved with the solar PV scene since the 1970’s when PV was only implemented by NASA. The convergence of the Internet, Chinese products, and modular components brought PV per watt costs to $5/watt in 2020. I designed and installed in 1990 the PV systems shown here:
http://www.land2plan.com/?page_id=289
Rural Africa and Asia will change the clean energy paradigm.
errata: $5/watt in the year 2000.
Oh brother, can you spare me a crime? NYT:
Sam Husseini discusses the resolution with Craig Mokhiber and his most dire view.
That Internal Exile article on AI songs had my head spinning. It felt a little superfluous but also kind of like the author doesn’t actually like music. Nothing is wrong with that first of all, and different people experience music differently too, so what may be deep to someone may just not be interesting to someone else. My issue is that he seemed to base his positive views of “AI” music based on his negative experience of human music.
From what I could make out, he totally ignored the point that AI music can run actual and aspiring musicians out of the business. Is there really a point to being able to listen to music generated with literally no effort, enriching labels and/or randos at a keyboard while actually musically talented persons get ignored?
The industry is cut-throat already but I can’t see how this development is a net positive, especially considering the fact that it’s literally built off of robbing the IPs of actual musicians so that it can also steal their future business.
Whether or not “AI” music is just as bad as the generic crap that most studios pump out, what is the benefit of it? If you want to listen to slop just listen to human slop and if you hate slop then continue as you were and don’t listen to it. If you really like a particular niche type of music there is absolutely more than just 1 band with 1 album in the last 100 years who has made it.
You could just as easily search for that rather than working on the personally curated AI playlist like the author described wanting. How is this even a debate?
The actor with the AI company with avatars for your dead relatives was life imitating art or the episode “Be Right Back” of Black Mirror. And the first sentence of the article called out the episode.
The main character is initially enamored with the android of her dead husband but eventually realizes it’s just a creepy service. Maybe the public will eventually realize this as well with our AI reality today.