A lot of axolotls: the amphibian-themed banknote Mexicans don’t want to spend Guardian
The Patent Office Is About To Make Bad Patents Untouchable Electronic Frontier Foundation (Kevin W). This is a call to action. If you have any interest in patents, please read this artice and submit a comment opposting the proposed US Patent Office rule change.
Massive hidden structures deep inside Earth may explain how life began ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
THE ATLAS OF ECONOMIC COMPLEXITY Harvard Growth Lab (resilc)
Climate/Environment
Breaking News!
Code UFB!!!CERES data just dropped for August, 2025, and the 36-month running average for Earth albedo just hit yet another new record low, now at 28.701%.
The Climate 8-ball says: "you're going to need a bigger y-axis." pic.twitter.com/9C190BWJ30
— Prof. Eliot Jacobson (@EliotJacobson) November 18, 2025
It’s pretty rare on its own that we get a sudden stratospheric warming event in the Northern Hemisphere this early into the cold season.
It’s even rarer still that the Southern Hemisphere is also experiencing a (final) stratospheric warming event simultaneously!
Wow pic.twitter.com/BP5GI8adhb
— Eric Webb (@webberweather) November 19, 2025
Less water from glaciers during future megadroughts in the Southern Andes Nature
Climate Change Is Stressing Italy’s Cows, and Coming for Your Burrata New York Times
Record-breaking November heat blankets the South, shattering records ABC
China?
China Weighs New Property Stimulus Package as Crisis Lingers Bloomberg
U.S. rare earth ambitions center on Malaysia. But China’s already there. Washington Post (resilc)
Japan-China Row
China says trade cooperation with Japan ‘severely damaged’ by Taiwan comments Reuters
Deutsche Bank Warns of Japan Capital Flight in Echo of UK Crisis Bloomberg
Koreas
Won’s real purchasing power falls to lowest since financial crisis Joongang Daily
India
Anger grows as Delhi’s residents take to streets over toxic air: ‘People have woken up’ Independent
Lives lost to extreme weather events in India increased nearly 50% in 4 years Down to Earth
Pakistan
Africa
Scramble for Sudan’s resources fuels brutal civil war France24
Plea for aid as Kenya suffers latest climate-driven drought The Tablet
Chad: Authorities failing to address deadly clashes between herders and farmers amid climate crisis Amnesty
South of the Border
Putting Venezuela Into Perspective… A Massive Challenge Compared to Iraq, While Russian Offensive Picks Up Steam Larry Johnson
On Venezuela, Trump Should Take the Money and Run American Conservative (resilc)
Warning signs appear on Mexican beach declaring area restricted by U.S. as Mexico rejects Trump offer to strike cartels CBS (Kevin W)
European Disunion
Germany’s problems are worse than you think Financial Times
Old Blighty
UK government borrows more than expected in setback before budget Guardian
Labour plot to slash electricity prices for AI companies The National (Paul R)
Israel v. The Resistance
🔴 MUST WATCH 😳
Drone footage of southern Gaza captured by AP.👇🏼
How can the world continue to sugar coat what this actually is? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/ObIIFDX4bm
— Marcus d’Osint (@WarFrontIntel) November 21, 2025
Gaza: As Cold and Rain Assault Homeless, Israel Blocks Entry of Tents Juan Cole (resilc)
West Bank: After nine months of Israeli military operations, refugee camps are ‘uninhabitable’ Le Monde
Fundraisers warn of ‘catastrophic’ drop in donations to Gaza since ceasefire Guardian
Mike Huckabee Held Meeting With Jonathan Pollard, Who Spied on the US for Israel Antiwar (resilc)
Israel’s ‘Inquisition’ Begins; The Last Cries of Liberal Israel? Conflicts Forum (Chuck L)
New Not-So-Cold War
28 Points Zero Sense Julian Macfarlane
Russia Unstoppable Set To Reject US Plan; Kupyansk Falls; Putin Sticks To Terms; Kiev Regime Change Alexander Mercoursis, YouTube. It turns out there are multiple versions of this scheme circulating, with some important differences among them. But most important, Mercouris presents evidence that Dimitriv did not negotiate, much the less agree, this draft but might have provided some input. Alternatively (which Mercouris did not contemplate) Dimitriev was more than minimally involved, he was way out over his skis and official Russia is officially disavowing his participation. John Helmer has often said that Dimitriev is known as an aggressive self-promoter so this is not impossible.
Putin on the 28 Points Karl Sanchez
US vice president defends Ukraine-Russia peace framework, says critics ‘living in a fantasy land‘ Anadolu Agency
Brief Frontline Report – November 21st, 2025 Marat Khairullin and Mikhail Popov
McConnell, Wicker pan Trump plan for Ukraine as rewarding Putin The Hill
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Border Patrol is monitoring US drivers and detaining those with ‘suspicious’ travel patterns Associated Press (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
China’s chip war is only just beginning Telegraph
Five Eyes Become Three Blind Mice Washington Monthly (resilc)
Documents reveal Gerald Ford’s effort to block report on CIA assassination plots Guardian
Trump 2.0
7 signs Trump is losing his groove Politico. resilc: “Dead or impeached by mid 27 and removed.”
DOJ reverses, says grand jury approved Comey charges The Hill. I can’t even….
The Comey Case Is a Comedy of Errors New York Times
Coast Guard reclassifies swastikas and nooses as hate symbols after backlash CNN
GOP Clown Car
Is This Finally and Blessedly the End of the Larry Summers Era? Dean Baker, The New Republic (resilc). Whoever wrote the headline did Baker a disservice. Summers has quite the rap sheet.
Summers Will Not Finish Semester of Teaching as Harvard Investigates Epstein Ties Harvard Crimson (resilc)
Jeffrey Epstein Claimed to Have Meddled in Israel’s Elections Jacobin (Paul R)
Mamdani
I’ll stick up for you’: key moments from the cordial Trump-Mamdani meeting Guardian (Kevin W)
Trump SWOONS Over Zohran in Surreal Oval Office Presser Breaking News
Our No Longer Free Press
The Algorithm Accountability Act’s Threat to Free Speech Reclaim the Net
Economy
>G20 countries’ medium-term growth to be weakest since 2009 crisis, IMF says Reuters
All the signs that America may be teetering on the brink of recession Telegraph
Mr. Market is Moody
The Warning Signal That Preceded Every Crash Since 1929 Just Flashed Again Investing
AI bubble fears return as Wall Street falls back from short-lived rally Guardian
Today's move in Nvidia is truly historic.
Between 4:00 AM ET yesterday and 2:00 PM ET today, Nvidia, $NVDA, both ADDED and LOST $450 billion in market cap.
That's a $900 billion swing in less than 36 hours. pic.twitter.com/BUbpi9bjzj
— The Kobeissi Letter (@KobeissiLetter) November 20, 2025
AI
The Way Billionaires Are Using AI May Cause Concern They Have Actual Brain Damage Futurism
OpenAI’s Business Model Is A Money Laundry indi.ca (resilc)
Every company listed below has suspicious revenue recognition. The actual chart with ALL the give-and-take deals would be unreadable. The future will regard this a picture of fraud, not a flywheel. True end demand is ridiculously small. Almost all customers are funded by their… pic.twitter.com/0XyGQ8FjuE
— Cassandra Unchained (@michaeljburry) November 19, 2025
Are the Benefits of AI Worth the Risk of ‘White-Collar Bloodbath’? The Daily Economy (resilc)
Learning with AI falls short compared to old-fashioned web search The Conversation
The Bezzle
Private credit markets and stablecoins need close monitoring, G20 watchdog tells leaders Reuters
Americans’ Nest Eggs Built a Private Equity Loan Revolution Bloomberg (resilc)
Class Warfare
Raising taxes on the ultrarich Economic Policy Institute
Rising Home Insurance Premiums Are Eating Into Home Values in Disaster-Prone Areas New York Times
Corporation Pumping Soothing Gas Into New York Subway Station Futurism
Antidote du jour (via):
A special bonus from resilc who has a farm in Vermont:
A bonus:
Cats and Christmas
pic.twitter.com/Al4RBGTaRs— Science girl (@sciencegirl) November 21, 2025
Another bonus:
Bruno is a savage 😂 pic.twitter.com/V1uAdDofT7
— Gain of Fauci (@DschlopesIsBack) November 21, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Bruno has obviously been following the IDF training programme.
Soooo, that would make “Princess” a Palestinian?
“Putin on the 28 Points”
There is no way that Putin is going to treat those 28 points as the final plan but will consider them a basis of negotiations though Trump may have other ideas. And as the negotiations continue, the Russian military are setting up new realities on the ground by taking the Ukraine fortress belt. In one “version” of that 28 point plan, the unoccupied part of the Donbass would be not only turned into a DMZ but that Russia would lease that territory from the Ukrainians. A few weeks more and it will be a moot point as the Russian military will take it all back – and more.
Funny thing is that Trump is demanding that Zelensky accept that plan by Thanksgiving as if it was the final version. And to put pressure on him, he has threatened to cut of weapons and intel from the Ukraine. If I was Zelensky I would call Trump’s bluff and refuse to sign it. That way if the Ukraine starts to collapse, the Neocons, the Ukrainians and the Europeans will put all the blame on Trump for losing the Ukraine which is the last thing he wants.