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Links 12/3/2025

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Husbands: 17 Things They Are Good For Babylon Bee

Man charged with theft over claims he swallowed $19k Fabergé egg BBC

Is the Sunward Anti-Tail of 3I/ATLAS Composed of a Swarm of Objects? Avi Loeb (Chuck L)

Common pesticides and plastic chemicals stifle healthy gut bacteria The New Lede

#COVID-19/Pandemics

America’s Vaccine Policy Whiplash—Finding the Way Forward JAMA (Robin K)

Tattoo ink induces inflammation in the draining lymph node and alters the immune response to vaccination PNAS (Paul R)

Long COVID Trial Explores Anti-Inflammatory Treatment JAMA (Robin K)

Climate/Environment

Zillow deletes climate risk data from listings after complaints it harms sales Guardian

56 million years ago, the Earth suddenly heated up – and many plants stopped working properly The Conversation

Coral reefs have fuelled severe global warming in Earth’s past New Scientist

One million people evacuated in Indonesia as death toll from floods surpasses 600 Guardian

Africa’s booming rice cultivation is fueling regional warming Nature

Water

Euphrates-Tigris water dispute: New chapter in Türkiye-Iraq relations Daily Sabah

Kurdistan’s hydropower stations at Dokan and Darbandikhan failed to restart this week as declining water levels prevented electricity generation Safaq

China?

Japan’s Sanae Takaichi reaffirms Taiwan is a part of China South China Morning Post

The China rare earths problem isn’t as bad as we think. It’s much worse: a look at gallium Kevin Walmsley

India

Russian Lower House Ratifies Military Agreement With India teleSUR

China’s pricing power is undercutting India’s export dreams Economic Times

South of the Border

U.S. requested resumption of migrant flights to Venezuela after Trump’s airspace closure assertion, Maduro’s government says CBS

Make America Gringo Again Julian Macfarlane

European Disunion

Welcome to the jungle: Raids, arrests, and a crisis of EU credibility Euractiv

Old Blighty

Jury trials scrapped for crimes with sentences of less than three years BBC. More creeping towards authoritarianism.

Jonathan Cook: High Court Trickery on Palestine Action Consortium News

British government fails in bid to jail Palestine supporter on terrorism charges Council Estate Media. In case you missed it…

London grid crunch delays new housing amid datacenter boom The Register

Summer drought costs UK arable farmers over £800m – new analysis ECIU

Israel v. The Resistance

Hillary Clinton Says Young Americans Are Pro-Palestine Because They Watch ‘Totally Made Up’ Videos of Gaza Horrors Mediate (Paul R). Is she trying restore relevance by outdoing her “deplorables” remark?

Amnesty calls for war crimes probe on RSF attack on Sudan refugee camp Aljazeera

Netanyahu to Send Envoy to Lebanon for Talks on Bilateral Ties Under U.S. Pressure Haaretz

Netanyahu pushes for Israel-controlled ‘buffer zone’ in Syria between Golan Heights, Damascus PressTV

Hezbollah and Saudi Arabia’s uneasy détente The Cradle

New Not-So-Cold War

Putin Again Signals Defiance While Invoking War with Europe Simplicius

War in Ukraine: Trump’s envoy makes no progress with Putin Le Monde versus Ukraine: US, Russia say ‘some progress’ made in truce talks DW

Kushner’s Moscow mission wasn’t just corrupt. It was unconstitutional. Popular Information

France Working Towards Direct Military Intervention in Ukrainian Hostilities – Russian Intel Warns Military Watch

Zelensky out by Christmas? Events in Ukraine. IMHO, this has become much more likely by virtue of the fantasy of Europeans stealing Russian assets to keep propping up Ukraine now being dead. All that EU boosterism greatly extended Zelensky’s sell-by date. Article has lots of useful detail, such as the fact that the neo-Nazis are more powerful than in 2022.

But it appears Ursula et al are trying to pretend they can steamroll Euroclear. Good luck with that: Belgium says EU plan on frozen Russian assets fails to address its concerns Anadolu Agency

Unprecedented NATO threats against Russia. Are they possible without US agreement? Defend Democracy

A Lithuanian Drone Provocation Almost Derailed Witkoff’s & Kushner’s Trip To Moscow Andrew Korybko

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn 404 Media

Trump 2.0

Trump invites America’s wealthiest to fund his presidency Axios. Not news per se but good to have some tallies.

Hope on the Horizon: Farmers Anticipate ‘Bridge Payment’ Announcement AgWeb

Authority Crisis

Vance Defends the Murder Spree Again Daniel Larison

Hegseth Says He Wasn’t in the Room When Adm. Bradley Ordered Second Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Antiwar.com (Kevin W)

GOP Clown Car

GOP frets ‘dangerous’ result in Tennessee Politico

Immigration

U.S. halts all immigration cases — including citizenship ceremonies — for nationals of 19 countries, internal guidance says CBS

Trump calls Ilhan Omar ‘garbage’ and says Somalis should ‘go back to where they came from’ NBC. Includes a re-report of a New York Times story on raids planned for Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Apologies for missing this yesterday. Despite New York Times validation, the story as of then had not gotten out of the right wind mediaverse:

Minnesota government workers blame Walz for ‘massive fraud’ amid allegations against Somali community Fox

AI

OpenAI’s “Code Red” Gary Marcus

OpenAI’s Sam Altman declares ‘code red’ after rivals make advances Financial Times

The Bezzle

Bank of England warns of AI bubble risk BBC (Colonel Smithers)

UK pension funds dump US equities on fears of AI bubble Financial Times

Bitcoin Hits Two-Week High But Crypto Sentiment Remains Fragile Bloomberg

Harvard’s Big Wager on Bitcoin Came Right Before the Bust Wall Street Journal. No archived version yet.

The 26-Minute, 51% Wipeout That Deepened the Trumps’ Crypto Woes Bloomberg

Class Warfare

Starbucks Agrees to Pay Workers $38 Million to Settle Scheduling Law Probe THE CITY

2,000 Iowa Nurses to Unionize – GOP Wins by Only 8% in Trump +22 District – 2,500 Starbucks Workers Continue Strike Mike Elk

Waymo’s Self-Driving Cars Are Suddenly Behaving Like New York Cabbies Wall Street Journal. No archived version yet.

Nominate Sam Altman as a living saint Change.org (Micael T)

Antidote du jour (via):

A bonus:

A second bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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108 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    “Husbands: 17 Things They Are Good For”

    For some reason they have missed the most important thing that women need husbands and partners for – opening up tight lids on jars. That and reaching for stuff on the top shelf. I suspect that this is the only reason why my wife keeps me around for.

    Haven’t watched it yet but here is a related video-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Se7xJjmIfo (5:42 mins)

    Reply ↓
    2. eg

      I just opened a couple of jars yesterday and placed a few items on a tallish shelf.

      Today put up the Christmas tree.

      Guess she’ll keep me around for a little while longer …

      Reply ↓
  2. Bugs

    “Man charged with theft over claims he swallowed $19k Fabergé egg”

    Links to a substack post about JD Vance cheering on the murder spree… buzzkill, that one.

    Reply ↓
      1. Martin Oline

        Caption from an old Frank & Ernest cartoon:
        I love blaming my mistakes at work on the computer. I’m thinking of getting a personal computer.

        Reply ↓
      3. Acacia

        Idk if you are using MacOS, but there are some quirks when you try to copy text that is a hyperlink. You select it, you press Cmd-C, but it doesn’t actually copy it such that you can paste it. I get burned by this all the time. :/

        There may be a better way, but I copy and paste it into a text file, then copy from plain text, and that works. Clunky, I know.

        Reply ↓
  3. Wukchumni

    Where the buffalo roam dept:

    A dozen years ago a gent here bought 3 buffaloes and for about 6 months i’d drive past the fenced ranch occasionally, excited to see them-truly majestic Americans of the 4 legged variety.

    Then they went away and I didn’t think much in regards to that, and fast forward a year later i’m on a hike with the Sequoia NP botanist, and I mention about the disappearance of the buffalo and he related that 3 mountain lions had descended upon them, killing one and gouging the eyes out of the other. The owner sold off the remaining untouched buffalo.

    We have around 300 horses and a like number of cattle here, and none of them ever are the target for mountain lions, why attack buffaloes?

    There’s no way a mountain lion here has ever had contact with a buffalo, and yet both were the prime apex predators in North America with a different way of going about it, buffaloes rolled over you by strength of numbers, while mountain lions were largely solitary killers.

    Did the mountain lions feel that if they got rid of the ‘advance guard’ that no more would come?

    Reply ↓
    1. JP

      We have had various buffalo roaming the Springville area just over the ridge from you for the last 40 years. Never had any lion attacks. But they will go over any chainlink to eat a goat. Some years ago the game warden depredated a mountain lion and stored it a neighbor’s walk in freezer.. The eyes were open and it was a bit disconcerting standing next to that powerful predator.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        We had a neighborhood mountain lion that had killed almost a dozen goats that was depredated by a neighbor who is 6 foot 4, and he posed for a picture with the outstretched pussy who was just a few inches shorter in stature.

        Reply ↓
        1. Revenant

          I ended up watching (big) cat videos last night of a Russian couple and their (slightly stunted) house puma Messi, whom they raised when a Russian zoo was going to put him down for ricketts and malnourishment. I think the original link came from a commenter here.

          https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cKwKysk5rEw

          And many more!

          Reply ↓
    2. Lee

      Adult wild bison size and willingness to fight would typically make them too formidable for a cougar, so this sounds like a fluke event. Three cougars acting together, which since they are not typically cooperative hunters would probably be a mama and two mostly grown cubs, might be up to it. Also, captive raised bison might well be naive to predators. See for instance Prey naiveté. A contemporary instance of this was when wolves were first reintroduced to Yellowstone, elk would stand their ground when a pack charged them. Evidently the elk thought the oncoming canids were a bunch of silly coyotes from whom they had little to fear. Oops.

      Reply ↓
        1. Lee

          Remarkable footage. An excellent example for why I’ve always kept a strong lens and at least a hundred yards between myself and grizzlies, and never went backpacking in Yellowstone. As one of the commenters on that video you linked noted “Remember, folks, a bear is one of the few animals that don’t kill you right away they just start chewing.” Herzog’s film Grizzly Man provides another harrowing example, the prey being a human.

          Reply ↓
  4. .Tom

    Kellogg out. Rubio benched for both the Moscow meeting and the NATO FM meeting. Driscoll in Kiev to explain the military futures. Bessent declares the economic war with Russia lost. Kushner sent to keep an eye on Witkoff in the Putin parley. It almost looks like the MAGA faction is pushing back on the neocons.

    Reply ↓
    1. Yves Smith Post author

      Except Putin said last week, VERY VERY clearly, that the negotiaitons have to go though the Russian Foreign Minsitry and the normal process of lower level working teams feeding into larger deal points. He said there is no other way. So if there is any more negotiation theater, it will have to go through Rubio and State to match off v. Lavrov. From the Kremlin translation of his Q&A:

      Vladimir Putin: Obviously, the negotiator from the Russian side is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. When we really sit down at the negotiating table and start discussing each of the proposed items in substance and in detail, the Foreign Ministry – on our part, from the Presidential Executive Office – Vladimir Medinsky, Aide to the President who has been engaged in that from the outset. I also included my Aide, Yury Ushakov, to deal with current issues, to organise all this work, he is in touch with his American counterparts. But he cannot deal with all of this alone – the Foreign Ministry must step in and to some extent, the Presidential Executive Office. This is a big, very extensive set of issues that need to be discussed, formalised, and properly spelled out.

      That is the way it should be done, I think. It’s not that I think so, but it is never done any other way.

      http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/78571

      And Witkoff is leaving at year end….the same time Kellogg departs: https://news.novyny.live/en/vitkoff-to-step-down-as-trumps-special-representative-media-284294.html

      Reply ↓
      1. Aurelien

        I read Putin’s remarks as being about procedure, not people or institutions. He’s not trying to dictate the composition of the US team, which is anyway something you don’t do. What he’s effectively saying is that you can’t rush serious agreements, and there needs to be a lot of preliminary work led by the Foreign Ministries although, as Putin adds, with involvement from the staff of the President. He’s warning that if Trump thinks he can fly in, sign a piece of paper and go home, he’s mistaken. This is very much of a piece with traditional Russian thinking, which likes everything sorted out logically and in detail.
        That said, Putin must be aware that he’s also creating problems for Washington. He must know that the State Department doesn’t always (depending a bit on personalities) have the same clout that Foreign Ministries elsewhere have, and that very often it is just the spokesthing for Washington as a whole. The more the Russians insist on detail and on the creation of working groups etc. the slower the process will go, which is what I assume they want

        Reply ↓
        1. Yves Smith Post author

          I never said Putin could force the composition of the US team, merely that protocol would mean that Lavrov would deal with Rubio. Regardless, Witkoff will be out of as of year end. And I find it hard to believe that State would not demand lots of seats at the table to negotiate with Russia, on the cheery assumption that Trump decides he needs to Do Something just for appearances, since Russia is digging in its heels on process.

          And Russia has been more insistent on process than you let on (I trust you do know). Russia proposed 3 teams for Ukraine, for instance. At one point, Russia did sorta give into the US by proposing to upgrade its teams in terms of seniority, but never in terms of deliberatness of process.

          I don’t recall how many teams there were for the earlier US-Russia discussions, but one team for the US that never got past even giving Russia back its diplomatic property or getting them bank accounts. Since the US can’t even seem to do that, this all looks unserious.

          Reply ↓
          2. Polar Socialist

            Given Putin’s comment (“Obviously, the negotiator from the Russian side is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”) and that Mr. Lavrov was at the same time awarding a Brazilian diplomat the Russian Order of Friendship, it was pretty obvious that Russians saw this merely as a social call rather than any type of a negotiation.

            Reply ↓
    2. ilsm

      Trump is all for Minsk 3.0!

      All this special envoy laundry list shuttling is rather poor theater.

      Russia is perfectly able to play the game.

      How many high level meetings with Putin to decide the number of seats at the table.

      Obviously, Witkoff can’t choose.

      Trump proved he does not want Russia to achieve SMO goals on 21 Jan 2025. He keeps the war going.

      Reply ↓
  5. Michaelmas

    Re: ‘Nominate Sam Altman For a Living Saint.’

    This made — if not my day — five minutes out of my morning.’

    Reply ↓
  6. The Rev Kev

    “Half of the US Now Requires You to Upload Your ID or Scan Your Face to Watch Porn”

    Would that include your “O-Face” by any chance? Asking for a friend.

    Reply ↓
  7. Trees&Trunks

    Euractive and the corruption in the EU: while I do believe thay Mogherini and Sannino are corrupt too, I bet that they cover up for von der Leyen, Borrell and others above and around them.
    The EU institutions are filled, with very few excptions, with the most vile persons you can find. Top crappy to make a political career in their home countries so they go to an extremely well-paid and tax-free gig in Brussels where they spread their venom.

    Reply ↓
  8. Edmondo

    I haven’t seen anything exit the back of a truck trailer that fast since the last ICE raid in Chicago.
    What have we become?

    Reply ↓
  9. The Rev Kev

    “War in Ukraine: Trump’s envoy makes no progress with Putin”

    Not really surprising. In Washington there is a tendency to negotiate with themselves and present the finished document to another country as if they would be happy with its contents. But Trump cannot be serious here as he brought in the European vassals as if what they thought actually mattered to him. Same with the Ukraine which the US actually owns. But no matter what ideas there are in plan, the Russians keep on advancing and I see that they are now surrounding Siversk. It has been said that Trump’s plan is just a dressed up freeze-in-place to be followed by a Minsk 3 and I think that this is true. I note that Trump has a hard time dealing with a country that stands up to him and tells him no. And of course Trump is frightened at having his own Afghanistan as the Ukraine starts to collapse so how he will react is anybody’s guess. And Russia is still determined to carry out the aims of their SMO and are not going to give them up just to make Trump happy.

    Reply ↓
    1. ilsm

      Trump wants Minsk 3.

      Rubio’s Euro 19 is not as subtle as Witkoff 28.

      Russia endured Minsk same reason as the U.S.

      Time is not needed in Moscow. Why Putin said “bring it”.

      Reply ↓
  10. Wukchumni

    The fog of war joys around a heart that’s black and blue
    Tattooed Sec Def boy
    Trump on his knees getting to you
    ‘Cause he needed
    To find out what the thing was for
    Been reading
    But man the time came to ignore

    Pete’s sake went vis a vis the liar
    ‘Cause he thought
    Like we’d like it
    Little tease
    But he didn’t mean it
    But somebody’s gotta take the fall, doll
    Admiral, you gotta pay
    Yeah

    A good time was guaranteed for one and all
    The tattooed one did target practice on boats so small
    While waiting for their number to get called out
    I, I, I, I found out what the wait was about

    It was a good time, yeah, you got pretty good
    At changing stories upstairs bro
    You shot your mouth off and showed me what that hole was for

    Now I see you
    All impressed and half undressed
    You got called out over the scars and lumps and bumps
    Tattooed Sec Def boy
    Have got you where on Fox you used to say
    Well ha ha too bad, but you know what some day
    “Stop snivellin’, you’re gonna make some innocents dead man”

    Oh, but the prestige and the glory
    Another disgusting human story
    You are that

    Tattooed Love Boys, by the Pretenders

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9_7xdsq-sE

    Reply ↓
    1. Wukchumni

      p.s.

      When Godwins, logic loses dept:

      The placard in front of Pete yesterday was spelled:

      ‘SSECRETARY OF WAR’

      Mistakes such as that really can’t happen, which mole on the inside was trying to get a message out?

      Reply ↓
  11. Henry Moon Pie

    Special election in TN–

    More close but no cigars. What if Bernie & Co. had had the guts to either form a new party or run as a Green in ’16? By now, there could have been a viable Left/Populist party for which America’s beleaguered and angry citizenry could vote out all the bums. Now the only option is to throw out one set of bums for the other.

    Short term thinking (“But SCOTUS!!!”) back in ’16 left us with no electoral recourse but a bunch of CIA Dems.

    Reply ↓
      1. Hank Linderman

        The corruption of both parties will (hopefully) be an issue in the 2026 mid terms. I’d love to see an NC story / discussion detailing the corruption of both parties with proposed solutions.

        Best…H

        Reply ↓
        1. Chris N

          I know at least on the proposed solutions side, there was this article that I found, though I can’t remember whether it was linked here in a links thread, by a user comment in another story, or elsewhere off NC.

          Les Leopold – The Rust Belt Survey

          The summary was basically that there’s a floor of 55% support for an independent workers party and platform in the four historical rust-belt swing states: Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The platform is fairly progressive, focusing on no subsidies for companies who engage in layoffs, a federal jobs guarantee, minimum wage increases, and price and cost controls on food and drugs.

          In the meantime, I know the WFP is starting a primary challenge against Fetterman for his senate seat in 2026.

          My instincts would say: Reach out to any independent movements and network with them and help them find eachother. Keep anyone away who uses anything with corporate or typical establishment sponsors like No Kings on their resume. Attend those types of establishment events if your friends or family do to show you support them, but then engage with them to emphasize that going independent is more likely to get the broad popular support for good policy and good leadership that’s desperately needed right now.

          Reply ↓
        2. Rod

          Some truth, imo, From Eartling’s linked article:
          “What’s wrong with spoiling something people don’t like?”

          One criticism Brandon and Loyd acknowledge they hear often is the idea of “spoilers” — nonwinning candidates whose presence on the ballot affects which candidate wins.

          “It’s a partisan, archaic line,” Loyd said. “What’s wrong with spoiling something people don’t like?”

          He said the people criticizing independents getting into races as spoilers have an entrenched interest in the current system.

          Reply ↓
    2. Hank Linderman

      A 13 point swing in a year is pretty amazing – bear in mind the gerrymandering of Nashville into a pinwheel.

      Aftyn is the former Indivisible State Coordinator for Kentucky & Tennessee, she is smart, principled, hard working. She keeps her seat in the State House.

      IMO, the job is to reform both of these parties, and the only one you might be able to help change is your own. They are both seriously messed up – or should I say family blogged up?

      Best…H

      Reply ↓
      1. Bugs

        Trump stole the GOP out from under its Establishment wing and brought the Tea Party and Evangelicals along. Can’t someone do the same to the donkey party?

        Reply ↓
        1. Hank Linderman

          IMO, the only way you get rid of an entrenched oligarchy (in this case red & blue) is with a broad based grassroots coalition. MAGA was somewhat like that, not broad based enough of course, and co-opted by Trump himself.

          With Dems, a big obstacle is the division between the money folks (Clinton, Obama, Schumer, Pelosi) and the Bernie / AOC / Mamdani wing.

          So, the corruption will continue…

          Best…H

          Reply ↓
    4. Lee

      Just guessing here, but I imagine that Sanders’ continued affiliation with the Democrats has to do with providing material benefits that accrue to his own state’s electoral constituency. If he doesn’t play along, certain federal monies might not be forthcoming.

      The ability of private capital and the so-called public servants who serve it to sabotage leftist reforms and candidates, often by withholding investment and funding, thus adversely affecting the general population, and turning public sentiment against such reformers is formidable.

      Reply ↓
    1. flora

      re: Harvard’s Big Wager on Bitcoin Came Right Before the Bust – Wall Street Journal.

      Tulip Bulbs R’ Us? (Is Larry Summers still managing Harvard’s endowment fund? / ;)

      ‘It was a South Seas breeze
      that blew through the trees
      as I threw my money down….’ / ;)

      Reply ↓
  14. Mark Gisleson

    Lost in the shuffle (and voluminous search results) is the name of the Minnesota NGO that was formed to teach refugees how to create their own NGOs. I’m sure they’re keeping a very low profile these days.

    Minnesota is saturated with NGOs all struggling to find a niche to do good, paying out executive level salaries while trying to do so. The Somalis didn’t have to invent this grift, they just adjusted to the status quo and then took the taxpayer abuse to the next level.

    Reply ↓
    1. Rod

      Tripped into this black hole some days ago.
      Heartbreaking to me as I identify Minnesota and Wisconsin with historic progressive values turned into action and State Legislation. Minnesota honest, hardworking, nice and all that, also.
      Ripe to be taken for those with a mind, or culturally groomed, for that, I guess.
      Nauseated—then inflamed—by how many State watchdogs were barking for years without a notice or response from empowered Authorities.
      Like this Attorney General (former leader of US Congress’s Progressive Caucus)

      What happened to Keith Ellison?
      Ellison won the 2018 Minnesota Attorney General election, defeating Republican nominee Doug Wardlow and becoming the first African American elected to partisan statewide office in Minnesota and the first Muslim in the U.S. to win statewide office. He was reelected in 2022 with 50.4% of the vote.
      I can’t help but think this is going to be a real cultural and political mine field for investigators.

      Reply ↓
  15. The Rev Kev

    “British government fails in bid to jail Palestine supporter on terrorism charges”

    ‘The prosecution argued in court that it is an offence under the Terrorism Act to say Palestinians have a right to resistance under international law.’

    Should have asked the prosecution then if it was an offence for the Jews to fight the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1943.

    Reply ↓
    1. mrsyk

      Should have, one judge did ask this. From Craig Murray’s The Terrifying Case of Natalie Strecker, linked here in comments yesterday,

      The prosecution explicitly stated, and the judge notably intervened to make sure that everybody understood, that it is the offence of supporting terrorism to state that the Palestinians have the right to armed resistance in international law.

      Judge John Saunders interrupted the prosecution to ask whether they were saying that he would be guilty of support for terrorism if, in a lecture, he told an international law class that Palestinians have the right to armed resistance in international law.

      After some kerfuffle when faced with such an awkward question, the prosecution replied that yes, it could be the offence to tell law students that.

      Reply ↓
  16. Wukchumni

    OpenAI’s Sam Altman declares ‘code red’ after rivals make advances Financial Times
    ~~~~~~~~~

    I am Sam
    Sam I am

    That Sam-I-am!
    That Sam-I-am!
    I do not like competition, Sam-I-am!

    Do you like
    Rivals pushing AI spam?
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am.
    I do not like
    Any other AI plans.

    Would you like them
    here or there?

    I would not like them
    here or there.
    I would not like them anywhere.

    I do not like
    Rivals pushing AI spam.
    I do not like them, Sam-I-am.

    Would you like them in your house?
    Would you like using them with a mouse?

    I do not like them
    in your house.
    I do not like them
    Using a mouse.
    I do not like them
    here or there.
    I do not like them
    anywhere.
    I do not like
    Rivals pushing AI spam.
    I do not like them,
    Sam-I-am.

    Reply ↓
  17. TomDority

    “Vance Defends the Murder Spree Again Daniel Larison”
    “Hegseth Says He Wasn’t in the Room When Adm. Bradley Ordered Second Strike on Alleged Drug Boat Antiwar.com (Kevin W)”
    Why all the confrontation of the Adm. and Hegseth … asking Hegseth about these extrajuditial killings and double taps when sitting next to the Commander and Chief…. What orders did Trump give to Hegseth? or, was Trump derilect in his duties? Was Trump incompetent? or, did he issue the war crime/illegal orders?
    If he did not issue orders then he is demonstrably unfit for office. In any case…. he is directly responsible for what has occured… I think legally responsible for what amounts to murder (I think that is one thing he has bragged about…getting away with murder….showing a premeditation IMO)
    And if he denies giving the order and shovels the BS downhill . … well, that is an act of cowardice.

    I am just not clear on why reporters have not asked the Commander in Chief… directly about this. It is after all where the buck stops

    Of course this is my opinion and is protected by law as I am a private citizen exercising my constitutional rights….. if anyone could please provide further edification regarding the implications of the Patriot Act in regards to my civil rights and constitutional protections…thanks

    Article II, Section 2, Clause 1:

    The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      I believe Trump was asked and said he would never order boat survivors to be shot. Then his spokeswoman said he had the power to do it anyway.

      Someone should rifle through the trash can in the Oval and see if that “The Buck Stops Here” sign is in it.

      Reply ↓
    2. TomDority

      Maybe the game plan was as follows (just mere speculation on my part)
      BEFORE THE CRIMES
      Trump;.. hey Hegi… why don’t you make a big broo-ha in the south and use the ‘protecting american lives gimmick’ to pink mist these….these
      Hegseth; Drug dealers?
      Trump; yea.. thats it…atta boy heggi… go for it… that ought to give me some room to cash in some big coin and to get away with killing some people in broad daylight …Hegi boy, a twofer, you really are a smart guy
      Hegseth: there is the tiny issue of legality and criminality…you know…my butt is on the line here and yours could be as well
      Trump: What you talking about
      Hegseth: What I have told you before :Article II, Section 2, Clause 1:
      Trump:Oh please, my cousel has told me all about it… I got your back Hegi boy… I trust you
      Hegseth: Thanks man, you the best boss ever
      Trump: well you know, I’ve always wanted to off people and, that pardon thing worked out so well and I might want to try it on myself – another twofer – Hegi boy, thats the kinda service I like
      Hegseth: How about using it on me?
      Trump: what are you on about…don’t you trust me? come on Hegi don’t wimp out now.

      AFTER THE CRIMES
      Hegseth: It’s looking like I might be needing your help with that pardon thing
      Trump: This idea of yours was great but, you will need to take the fall or drop it on someone else’s head before I can do anything
      Hegseth: But why don’t you take responsibility for giving the order to mist these fishermen..er drug mules.
      Trump: I don’t recall actually giving you the order and, even if I did…
      Hegseth: But you said it was a great idea and
      Trump: Hegi my boy, don’t start peeing your pants, man up… my cousel has told me all about it and, my counsel also said
      Hegseth: What do you mean…your counsil told you about what… you said you got my back
      Trump: Hegi boy, man up your going to have to clean up that pee……About Article II, Section 2, Clause 1: the part that says that if I go down for this by being impeached…. well then…. I can’t pardon you.
      What a ponce… I thought you were a smart guy
      Hegseth: Your right sir, I did pledge my allegence to you, sorry and, just to show you how sorry I am… at the presser today I’ll answer all the questions those reporters have so you can take your nap time.

      Reply ↓
  18. Mikel

    StarBoySAR 🇭🇰 🇨🇳 🥭
    @StarboySAR
    🇨🇳 China’s New Arms Control White Paper Drops—Western Media’s Radio Silence Says It All…

    “Wonder why? Maybe because it doesn’t fit their “China But At What Cost” script… or maybe because it calls out stuff they’d rather sweep under the rug…”

    I’m going to venture that the silence is due to not giving a rat’s ass.

    They can chalk it up to pragmatic politics.
    Or some other excuse. Excuses are in abundance around the globe these days.

    Reply ↓
  19. The Rev Kev

    ‘Meghan McCain
    @MeghanMcCain
    This is an absolutely horrifying and enraging story. Thank you for your hard work uncovering this unfathomable corruption. You deserve a Pulitzer.
    Also Tim Walz should step down over this. The Somali social service scandal is one of the greatest frauds in American history.’

    This seems to be a developing story and here is one tweet talking about Walz-

    https://xcancel.com/bennyjohnson/status/1995689564271165453#m

    Reply ↓
    1. gf

      Are we sure this is really any different than any other right wing rage campaign?????

      ?????

      Jesus F**king Christ I am so sick of people falling for their Bull.

      Reply ↓
    2. t

      Is that all there is? I read a dozen things and they were either giving unsorted numbers, or saying an account claiming to be a group of hundreds of gov employees says.

      Nothing about charges.

      Really missing unfettered access to Lexis-Nexis.

      Reply ↓
      1. t

        Just for the record – can entirely blame AI and Google. People were tried and sentenced in the spring. The news is people claiming retribution for speaking out and money to terrorism doesn’t seem to have been in the story original.

        Reply ↓
  20. Michaelmas

    Oh boy. This just in —

    Brussels floats ‘emergency’ powers to raise €210bn from Russian assets
    Contentious proposal to fund Ukraine would mark watershed moment for EU

    ‘Brussels has proposed a legally contentious workaround to raise up to €210bn for Ukraine backed by immobilised Russian state assets, including emergency powers that in effect strip Hungary and other dissenting countries of their veto. The proposal, which would mark a watershed moment for the EU by enabling sanctions to be imposed without unanimity, is a last-ditch attempt to ensure Kyiv’s economic survival …’

    ‘The Belgian government has already signalled it opposes the commission’s plan to sideline member states that oppose the loan….’.
    https://www.ft.com/content/3c23910f-795c-4151-a47c-db4f0137fb40

    No archived link yet.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Gee, that’s like me getting a loan from a bank while using my neighbour’s house as collateral. But Brussels must be getting desperate with a stunt like this though for a long time they have wanted to go for majority voting and not unanimous voting. It’s nothing less than a power grab by Brussels that will leave Belgium holding the bag when the war is over..

      Reply ↓
      1. Michaelmas

        Rev Kev: ‘for a long time they have wanted to go for majority voting and not unanimous voting’

        You know, in VdL and the EU’s little minds, that means it could be a twofer — two wins for the price of one.

        Which means they mightn’t give up on this and could escalate it into a serious faceoff with Belgium, like they have now with Orban’s Hungary.

        The difference being, though, that Belgium is geographically at the center of North Europe and — if not one of the biggies like Germany or France — a core European state. So that wouldn’t be smart. But then neither is trashing Euroclear’s standing or cutting off Russian gas, nor any of a dozen other deeply stupid things they’ve already done since signing on with DC to use Ukraine as a US/NATO proxy to carry out regime change in Russia.

        Reply ↓
  21. Bugs

    Thought that this link from La Belgique Libre was interesting. Long interview with PM Bart De Wever – he comments at length on the scheme to steal the frozen Russian Central Bank funds and send them to the Ukraine https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/politique-belge/2025/12/02/bart-de-wever-dans-la-crise-politique-autour-du-budget-le-roi-ma-aide-5KDD7VZ5YBFRPBDS3GMGGTOOME/

    It’s in French but you can run it through translate for a good sense of the tone:

    Le dossier des avoirs russes “gelés” vous prend énormément de temps et d’énergie. Est-ce juste ?

    La pression, dans ce dossier, est incroyable. J’ai une équipe qui travaille jour et nuit sur ce sujet. Ce serait une belle histoire : prendre l’argent du méchant, Poutine, pour le donner au gentil, l’Ukraine. Mais voler des avoirs immobilisés d’un autre pays, ses fonds souverains, cela n’a jamais été fait. Il s’agit de l’argent de la Banque centrale russe. Même durant la Seconde Guerre mondiale, on n’a pas confisqué l’argent de l’Allemagne. Pendant une guerre, on immobilise les avoirs souverains. Et, à la fin de la guerre, l’État perdant doit abandonner tout ou partie de ces avoirs pour dédommager les vainqueurs. Mais qui croit vraiment que la Russie va perdre en Ukraine ? C’est une fable, une illusion totale. Ce n’est même pas souhaitable qu’elle perde et que l’instabilité s’installe dans un pays qui a des armes nucléaires. Et qui croit que Poutine va accepter la confiscation des avoirs russes calmement ? Moscou nous a fait savoir qu’en cas de saisie, la Belgique et moi, personnellement, allions le sentir passer “pour l’éternité”. Cela me semble une période assez longue… La Russie pourrait aussi confisquer certains avoirs occidentaux : Euroclear a 16 milliards en Russie. Toutes les usines belges en Russie pourraient aussi être prises. Et si Biélorussie et la Chine confisquaient également les avoirs occidentaux ? A-t-on réfléchi à tout cela ? Non, on ne l’a pas fait. J’ai interrogé mes collègues européens afin de savoir s’ils étaient prêts à mutualiser les risques encourus par la Belgique. Seule l’Allemagne a dit qu’elle était prête à le faire… Sans cette mutualisation, je ferai tout pour bloquer ce dossier. Tout. Après cet épisode, si j’ai un job international après le “16”, ce sera pour faire la vaisselle…

    Reply ↓
    2. Bugs

      Here’s a link to the full text https://archive.ph/QpvlO

      Still in French. Most of the interview is purely Belgian topics but might be of interest to someone who follows that stuff. The coalition up there is a model of weirdness but they seem to be working together, until someone falls out…

      Reply ↓
    3. vao

      You can access the full article via archive.ph, but this is not necessary: the extract given by Bugs constitutes the entirety of the discussion on the Russian-assets-grab question. The rest deals with forgettable exchanges about internal Belgian politics and the Weltanschauung of Mr De Wever.

      Reply ↓
  22. Lee

    “Long COVID Trial Explores Anti-Inflammatory Treatment JAMA (Robin K)” From the Link:

    Key Points:

    Question What is the effectiveness of 26-week oral colchicine therapy in improving functional outcomes among individuals with persistent symptoms after acute COVID-19 infection?

    Findings In this randomized clinical trial including 346 adults, there was no statistically significant difference in functional capacity, respiratory function, mental states, constitutional symptoms, or inflammatory markers at 52 weeks among those treated with colchicine or placebo.

    Meaning This trial provides evidence against colchicine monotherapy as a broadly effective treatment for long COVID.

    However, another medication, low dose Naltrexone, which I take as do other patients of the Stanford Chronic Fatigue Clinic, is a more promising option.

    New Study Supports Using Naltrexone to Treat Long Covid

    Low-dose Naltrexone Improves post-COVID-19 condition Symptoms

    Reply ↓
  23. Lark

    In re fraud in Minnesota: In my opinion, the real issue isn’t anything to do with Somali Minnesotans, it’s to do with Jacob Frey, the mayor of Minneapolis. There have been two big fraud scandals (Feeding Our Future and an embezzlement) and both of them were perpetrated by people close to Frey – a close aide for FoF and a (white) buddy for the other one. Frey sails on, with no one calling him out on why people around him are so titanically corrupt or examining his other dealings more closely. (I would be VERY interested to know his exact relationship to big real estate developers, for instance, and I’d be equally interested to know more about his tight relationship with the cops).

    Frey is a terrible mayor who was presented with three huge challenges – the death of George Floyd, the pandemic and our homelessness crisis – and has tap-danced, lied, and given raises to the police about all of them.

    People are very, very eager to say that this is a Somali thing. I have lived in Minneapolis for decades, in a neighborhood with many Somali people. I have worked with many Somali people, lived in an apartment building with Somali tenants, etc. Anyone who thinks that Somali Minnesotans are substantially different from any other Minnesotan is nuts. Different groups in Minnesota have trivially different habits, religions, foods, etc – some of us eat lefse, some of us dance around the Christmas tree (Danish family!), some of us go to Quaker meetings or are very high church, some of us go to the mosque, some of us make sambusas, etc.

    I have lived here literally since many of the first Somali immigrants arrived, and what has happened is what always happens – the longer people live here, the more Minnesotan they get while maintaining roughly the same kinds of cultural/food/religious specificities that every other group maintains. People just love to break out the “but this time it’s different” which is just what they would have said when the Norwegians arrived, and when Hmong people arrived, etc etc…and it’s not different.

    The issue is the Minnesota Democratic party protecting itself – if this weren’t a Make America Racist Again moment, people would call this out as what it is, powerful people and their allies doing more grifting, and because this is a blue state, powerful grifters are going to be Democrats a lot of the time.

    Reply ↓
    1. Eclair

      Isn’t Somalia one of the countries that the US is bombing regularly? Not that regular bombing raids excuses grift. But, at least, the US Somalians aren’t killing people.

      Reply ↓
      1. Acacia

        Yep. As of June, Aljazeera reported:

        AFRICOM, which oversees US military operations on the continent, has carried out at least 43 air strikes in Somalia in 2025, according to think tank New America, which tracks strikes using AFRICOM data.

        Reply ↓
  24. Carolinian

    Re Kushner key point

    Prior to Trump’s victory in 2024, Kushner pledged to have no foreign policy or other role in a second Trump administration. He used this promise to wave away concerns about Affinity Partners being used as a vehicle for foreign influence.

    Lock him up as was done with his dad. Apple, tree, not very far.

    Reply ↓
  25. Tom Stone

    I have been thinking about the best way to deal with a Ford class aircraft carrier.
    Destroying one by flying a drone into the hangar deck would not be a good idea, too many deaths and it would invite an insanely violent reaction.
    My recommendation would be using a subsurface high speed drone to hit the screws and bend the propeller shafts.
    An explosive warhead is not needed, perhaps something that would release a bunch of cables to tangle the prop…something weighing 2,000 Lbs travelling at 30 Mph plus would do it and programming it to hit the screws would be trivial.
    It would take some time and effort to tow that puppy to a shipyard for repair and the political repercussions would be interesting, to say the least.

    Reply ↓
    2. cfraenkel

      What’s being unsaid about this episode is all the uniforms will see this (rightly) as throwing the military under the bus for following orders. It’s going to have a *much* bigger effect than 6 retired congresscritters putting out a video.

      Reply ↓
  27. Jeremy Grimm

    RE: “While Washington debates, Moscow just opened a demographic valve …” Shanaka Anslem Perera
    I think this may be one of the more important links today. The u.s. worked for years to keep Russia and China apart. The large scale person-to-person ties that could result from Putin’s order could build innumerable bridges beyond those resulting from the cooperation already occurring at national levels.

    Reply ↓
    1. LawnDart

      I would agree, the implications are breathtaking– it’s not simply an alliance between two superpowers, but an integration of these.

      We of the West totally blew it– the “peace dividend”– in the 1990s unipower moments due to the ignorance, greed, and short-sightedness of our “leadership.”

      The western-aligned nations face only decline for the forseeable future. Those who can get out ought to seriously consider the path to Russian citizenship while it’s still on offer.

      Reply ↓
        1. ChrisPacific

          I’m not sure where you’re both getting the path to citizenship or free land from this. From reading the details, it looks like it’s limited to 30 days and certain classes of visitors, and it’s also only in effect for a year and subject to review after that.

          It’s still big (visa-free travel for tourists for <30 days would qualify all on its own) but not the transformational change that you're suggesting.

          Reply ↓
    2. Acacia

      And one angle only touched on briefly by that tweet is the effect on Washington vassals like Japan.

      Separately, Japanese PM Takaichi’s recent comments prompted a significant response as many Chinese cancelled their plans to visit Japan. 1,900 flights from China to Japan have been cancelled, just in December, and hotel bookings by Chinese visitors to Japan have plunged by half.

      Will they return, or will they instead visit Russia in the future?

      Reply ↓
    3. John k

      Not just an alliance of convenience or necessity but integration of the world’s most resource endowed country with the world’s mfr, plus sharp people of both countries joining forces… major growth spurt seems likely. I can imagine millions of hard-working Chinese moving to Russia, which would have been unthinkable a decade ago.
      Plus, while China would be affected, a bursting ai bubble, if it happens, would imo affect the west much more than the west. Recessions aren’t good for growth. Or gop, in this case.

      Reply ↓
  28. Jason Boxman

    From OpenAI’s Sam Altman declares ‘code red’ after rivals make advances

    With more than 800mn weekly users, OpenAI still has a hugely dominant market share in overall chatbot usage but people are now spending more time chatting with Gemini than ChatGPT, according to data from web analytics company Similarweb.

    As I believe Stoller pointed out, this is market power in action; Google is on the cusp of rolling up AI Search based on its existing dominance of traditional search and all the data it can hoover up from other Google properties; we know Google gets valuable data to optimize Search out of Chrome users, for example. And I believe YouTube is huge as others have mentioned, tons of video from which to extract text, on every topic imaginable. And unlike web data going underground, into private forums, Discords, and so on, people are probably gonna keep uploading rich, current videos on things that are relevant today. So Google has this steady stream of fresh information to consume.

    And Google is highly profitable already from its existing monopolies in Ad Tech and Search. And they can force LLMs onto people in existing Google “products”, as we’ve seen with Gmail. Some might resist, many will accept it and thus feed Google even more data to train on.

    OpenAI just has whatever people dump into ChatGPT, and whatever they’re stolen from the Internet.

    Reply ↓
      1. cfraenkel

        Of course not. Plenty of people (ie corps) will be lining up to pay to have *you* chat with some AI though. Whether you want to or not.

        Reply ↓
  30. Ricardo1

    Father swan breaking ice and making a path for his family
    — Science girl (@sciencegirl) December 2, 2025

    It seems like Russians are dominating across the whole icebreaking spectrum.

    Reply ↓
  31. Wukchumni

    56 million years ago, the Earth suddenly heated up – and many plants stopped working properly The Conversation
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    In 20 years time about 80 of the 400 various oak trees on the all cats and no cattle ranch that were never watered by the hand of man, have perished on my watch.

    These were all a few hundred years old and have been through lotsa droughts and wet spells before, the only real difference is higher average temps from heating up.

    They died with their roots on…

    Reply ↓
  32. Wukchumni

    Is the Sunward Anti-Tail of 3I/ATLAS Composed of a Swarm of Objects? Avi Loeb
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I guess the highlight of them showing up would be DT Barnum making small talk that goes a little like this…

    ‘I understand you came specifically to pay homage to me…the greatest of all humans, a lot of people say.’

    Reply ↓
  34. Wukchumni

    The downside of this administration is heavy inflation, potential loss of hegemony, near complete loss of prestige among peers and a few other things of note.

    The upside is that he might just kill golfing.

    Call it a draw…

    Reply ↓
  35. Jason Boxman

    Oopsie?

    Microsoft stock sinks on report AI product sales are missing growth goals (CNBC)

    Microsoft pushed back on a report Wednesday that the company lowered growth targets for artificial intelligence software sales after many of its salespeople missed those goals in the last fiscal year.

    The company’s stock sank more than 2% on The Information report.

    A Microsoft spokesperson said the company has not lowered sales quotas or targets for its salespeople.

    I bet not.

    Reply ↓
  37. AG

    re: COVID and vaccine safety

    German blog MULTIPOLAR

    use google-translate

    Toxicologist: Pharmaceutical companies avoided safety studies on coronavirus vaccines

    Former Pfizer chief toxicologist Helmut Sterz: Rules of vaccine development for Corona suspended / High number of side effects is a “catastrophe” / Pharmaceutical companies exploited societal “panic” to introduce mRNA preparations

    December 3, 2025
    https://multipolar-magazin.de/meldungen/0349

    Reply ↓
  38. thousand points of green

    About ” Africa’s booming rice cultivation is fueling regional warming ” . . . if the methane problem is being generated by land being covered by water during the flooded paddy phase of growing rice in Africa, it may possibly be avoided by the flooding-not-needed method known as System of Rice Intensification.

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

    https://sri.ciifad.cornell.edu/

    If the African rice-growing regions have enough people to be able to grow rice by hand or by small-machine-assisted hand, then they may be able to use the SRI system to grow rice without needing any methanogenic flooded rice paddies anywhere in the process.

    Reply ↓
  39. icancho

    Lovely antidote antelope today. It is a scimitar-horned oryx, not, as claimed in the caption provided in the source, a Grevy’s zebra! Who does critter IDs for Getty Images??

    Reply ↓

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