Links 2/8/2026

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1. TimH February 8, 2026 at 7:12 am

   If I was China, I would make sure that the US became delicately aware that China had low yield nukes – which is what the article discusses – because they are a deterrent.
   1. Aurelien February 8, 2026 at 1:33 pm

      I suspect there’s some signalling going on here. The Chinese wanted to know how sophisticated US detection methods are, and this is the US reply. We know.
2. Ben Panga February 8, 2026 at 7:21 am

   NSA detected foreign intelligence phone call about a person close to Trump (Guardian)

   Whistle-Blower Report Involved Intelligence About a Trump Contact (NYT via archive.ph)

   I read both stories and I can’t fully understand the significance
   1. Bugs February 8, 2026 at 10:11 am

      The whistleblower’s lawyer says that Tulsi is stonewalling by not sending the doc to Congress; imho the insinuation is that someone close to Trump is an agent of a foreign government.

      My spidey sense says Dem maneuver to plant a seed for impeachment if they get both houses back. That’s why the Ukraine stuff from impeachment part 1 is in the NYT article as background.

      Of course the government allegedly involved won’t turn out to be the one that we all know really has agents all over the joint but the dastardly Russians.
      1. Historicality February 8, 2026 at 11:07 am

         As Tulsi gets closer to revealing all that Mark Warner and his SSCI and Gang of 8 pals did, the so-called whistleblower attempts will be more rapid, shrill and even less plausible. They may as well say that someone’s Aunt Sally told someone else’s cousin about what they overheard in the grocery store.
         1. Bugs February 8, 2026 at 11:55 am

            Bingo.
            1. ambrit February 8, 2026 at 5:11 pm

               And in not just any old grocery store, but the GUM in downtown Moscow to boot!
      2. Mikel February 8, 2026 at 12:18 pm

         The House might want to spend a couple of months having classes on how the government can and did function before decades of wrecking crews.
3. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 7:44 am

   “China Secretly Testing Nuclear Weapons And Covering Its Tracks, U.S. Alleges (Updated) ”

   This sounds like the beginning of a long campaign by the US to ‘shape the battlefield’ in a future US-China negotiation on its growing nuclear arsenal by a stream of accusations. When those negotiations happen, I expect Trump to send Witkoff and Kushner, armed with a fresh supply of cocktail napkins, to negotiate China reducing their nuclear arsenal and allowing US inspections. But since China will also demand that the US reduce its nuclear arsenal and allow Chinese inspectors into the US, nothing will come of these talks.
   1. Tom Stone February 8, 2026 at 9:38 am

      I think of him as “Twitkof” because he is so spectacularly unfit for his position.
4. Wukchumni February 8, 2026 at 8:10 am

   Requiem For a Heavy Wait…

   Grave goods are often an indicator of how important that person was in 248 BC when interred. The more bling the more status.

   I’d hesitate to think of what they’d make out of a pair of Saint Laurent stiletto roller skates with arched skeletal feet in them, in 4298.
   1. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 9:02 am

      They would do what all good archaeologist do when they come across something weird like this – they would classify it as ‘ritualistic’ and be done with it.
      1. Michael Fiorillo February 8, 2026 at 9:39 am

         And why not? It’s not hard to explain it as a manifestation of Mammon’s grace, provided in exchange for faithful service…
         1. converger February 8, 2026 at 12:09 pm

            No. More like foot binding. Archeologists have discovered tens of thousands of well-preserved, heel-lifted, bizarrely proportioned plastic female fetish figures scattered around the globe, often either dressed in a variety of ritual clothing, or bizarrely tortured in some kind of lost Satanic ritual.

            These “bæřbįê” figures have become marker indicators for a kind of K-Pg boundary layer of human culture.
   2. Lefty Godot February 8, 2026 at 10:32 am

      “Here’s another one of those graves for mentally defectives. They really cared for those unfortunates!”
5. Louis Fyne February 8, 2026 at 8:18 am

   under the radar….Trump expanding beef imports into the US, which isn’t the “win” that the White House things it is.

   Are these people retarded, or openly helping Big Ag at the expense of ordinary peeps, you decide. Probably both.

   a thread explaining it…

   https://x.com/musharbash_b/status/2020310891254706515
   1. MicaT February 8, 2026 at 10:00 am

      That all may be true, and the Dems never did anything about the USDA which has been so responsible due to excessive regulations on smaller regional slaughter houses that it forced them out of business and could be argued were actively involved in the destruction of the smaller houses. It’s been incredibly destructive to the smaller ranchers all over the country. In California, it forced many ranchers out of business due to the expensive of long distance shipping and lack of competition due to monopoly control.
   2. tegnost February 8, 2026 at 10:39 am

      From argh and tina of course…those hedgies have to eat after all. Bessent was a soybean Farmer, now he has switched to Rancher. salt of the Earth and all. Retarded is far too kind a description for malevolence at scale.
6. DJG, Reality Czar February 8, 2026 at 8:21 am

   The NYT Too Little Too late, again. The highest court in the land has gone rogue. By Corbin Trent.

   As Richard Kline noted in his analysis in that stalwart essay stored here at Naked Capitalism, Progressively Losing (search the site’s archive): “Liberals are great believers in ‘the law,’ and happy enough to live and let live until they are in a pinch or have to give up something for the greater good—at which point they scream for a cop or start in on how ‘we’ can’t afford X. Liberalism isn’t primarily a moral position but a practical attachment to personal liberty and property. If one abandons that allowance for others, one is soon threatened as well since power unchecked makes few fine distinctions, so it’s a ‘hang together and don’t rock the boat’ perspective rather than one of commitment.”

   This reasoning is why Trent’s article is good to read as a trail of horrors but not good to read as a policy prescription.

   In short, the U.S. Supreme Court exists to protect property (note the use of that word in quote directly above). The Court protected slavery. The Court gave the US of A the Plessy v Ferguson decision. The Court dismantled the First New Deal.

   So getting rid of Clarence “Big Bribes” Thomas and Sammy “Resentments of Opus Dei” Alito won’t amount to much. The Court has to be recomposed — rethought, started over from scratch.

   Living as I do in the Undisclosed Region, where we are in a constant ferment (luckily, one can easily get some delicious grissini), I will propose Italy’s organization to you: “The Constitutional Court is composed of 15 judges for the term of service of nine years: 5 appointed by the President of Italy, 5 elected by the Parliament of Italy and 5 elected by the ordinary and administrative supreme courts.” [From Wikipedia] Note the term limits. Judges serve a nine-year term, which cannot be renewed. Every three years, they elect a new president of the Court, who can be reelected. [Constitution, article 135]

   Pass the vitello tonato, the bonet, and let justice be done even if the heavens should fall.
   1. Tom Stone February 8, 2026 at 9:42 am

      “Big Bribes”?
      Harlan Crow bought Thomas with a used book and a Winnebago.
      We have Genocide Joe Biden to thank for keeping the supremes affordable.
   2. Alice X February 8, 2026 at 12:20 pm

      NC 01/29/26

      ICE Not Only Looks and Acts Like a Paramilitary Force – It Is One, and That Makes It Harder to Curb

      In which the 09/11/11 Richard Kline piece is referenced:

      Richard Kline: Progressively Losing
   3. Vicky Cookies February 8, 2026 at 12:42 pm

      Not just the Supreme Court, that final anti-democratic check on the tyranny of the majority, but the country itself was founded primarily to protect property. During the constitutional convention in 1787, Pierce Butler of South Carolina argued forcefully against black people being counted as 3/5ths of a person. According to James Madison’s notes, he said: “an equal representation ought to be allowed for them in a government which was instituted principally for the protection of property, and was itself to be supported by property.”

      Even supposedly progressive Supreme Court decisions can be looked at through this lens. For instance, Obergefell v. Hodges, which struck down state bans on gay marriage, had a curious element: an amicus brief written on behalf of (basically) the entire business community. It proved difficult to entice new hires to join a firm when the state they’d be working in wouldn’t protect those prospective employees’ property. Marriage, after all, guarantees certain rights in property.

      I’m currently reading a book called A People’s History of the Supreme Court by Peter Irons, which I’d recommend to interested parties.
      1. LifelongLib February 8, 2026 at 1:05 pm

         It was persons who were not free or indentured, i.e. slaves, who were counted as 3/5 of a person for allocating seats in the House of Representatives. Slave states wanted them counted as full persons because it would increase those states’ power in the House. States that favored abolishing slavery didn’t want slaves counted at all, since slaves themselves couldn’t vote. 3/5 was a compromise but many people don’t know the reasoning behind it.
      2. Sam Culotte February 8, 2026 at 2:47 pm

         >”…the country itself was founded primarily to protect property.”

         Of course. That’s why Gore Vidal called the two political parties in the US—a distinction without a difference—the Property Parties.

         Poor Gore, gone now thirteen years, so right yet so neglected. A prophet without honor. He also wrote constantly about the shredding of the Bill of Rights, and this was 30-40 years ago. Today the Bill of Rights is in tatters. Nobody listened and so here we are. I can only attribute this to the fact that most people stopped reading anything about fifty years ago.
         1. Mikel February 8, 2026 at 4:18 pm

            I’ll never forget going to the library to check out some of his historical novels that a high school history teacher was discussing and stumbling upon “Myra Breckinridge”.
7. vao February 8, 2026 at 8:48 am

   Regarding “How China could rule the humanoid robot industry before it even starts”, I remember a presentation by a leading German specialist in robotics a bit more than 30 years ago.

   He went through an exposition of the state of the art and the current evolution in the field, and reviewed the approaches, as well as research prototypes and commercial products from Europe (with a focus on Germany) and the USA on the one side, and Japan on the other.

   Europe and especially the USA were very keen on general-purpose 6+-degrees of freedom articulated robotic arms with complex appendages that attempted to recreate the versatility and dexterity of human hands, and also on multi-legged robots. In contrast, the Japanese focused on specialized robots such as welders in automobile manufacturing plants. He showed us photos of refrigerator-sized roomba-lookalikes used in civil engineering to polish and clean floor slabs automatically in construction sites, and of various other narrow-purpose robots.

   His contention was that progress would be achieved by following the Japanese way: this would result in actually usable products instead of complex, fragile and expensive prototypes unsuited for heavy-duty applications. General-purpose, human/animal-like robots hand were facing sheer, long-term technical difficulties (e.g. the problem of having a robotic hand equivalent to a human one remains unsolved).

   Nowadays there are plenty of 6+-degrees of freedom articulated robotic arms used in manufacturing, but they still rely on specialized appendages for a limited range of activities. Boston Dynamics publishes plenty of videos of robotic quadrupeds sauntering around, and those rumba-dancing and kata-demonstrating Chinese humanoid robots are of course impressive — but what concrete requirements do they actually fulfil? To me, they seem useful as R&D platforms to push technology to its limits and learn what works and what not, but how would those complex (and I suspect maintenance-heavy) pieces of machinery be productively used in real life?

   Yes, military applications have been advanced as the use-case for those robots. But while everybody is trying to figure out how to mobilize them for the next war, the Russians have already put in use unassuming, stocky little wheeled or tracked robots to transport supplies and wounded on the battlefield — and increasingly to advance on enemy positions and then spray them with machine-gun fire — all the while contending with mines and drones.

   Nowadays, the Japanese (FANUC, Yaskawa) lead the field with some German/Germanic area companies (ABB, KUKA). Is the enthusiasm or hype about these AI-controlled humanoid robots leading developments in the USA and China astray?
   1. ilsm February 8, 2026 at 10:11 am

      Good rundown, thanks.

      US Army has for several years prototype of a remotely operated machine gun, iI do not recall the motivator. I imagine they have done more R&D.

      US robotic companies have prototyped tracked and wheeled robot conveyors.

      I am out of the business and so do not know where US Army is going on field robotics. Wheels and tracks are good; there may be a small set of terrain needing robotic mules with legs.

      Not sure what use cases are being solved.

      Thanks.
      1. TomDority February 8, 2026 at 1:23 pm

         I remember a contest from DARPA or Xprise years ago for driverless (self contained non-external data and controls) cargo trucks to navigate a random off/on road course. That seemed to be the start of this driverless car/taxi/vertical take off flight vehicle and the distribution mechanisim to leverage military developement/research into civillian use or commercialization. I believe the push for this was the realization that advancements in MIC were having less and less commercialization benefits for the real economy. For example GPS used to be export limited for national security and, then accuracy was limited when more diffused into the international community… the same thing regarding mapping tech for cruise missles, even the internet was a developement of the MIC/Darpa research.
         A lot of tech and the real economy is being legislatively (or whatever structure) steered by the private interests of a tiny minority whose goal is to control the (any) nations economy and therefore any nations form of government to become subserviant to the “aristocracy of our moneyed corporations”
         It’s been a human affliction since before the first woolly mammoth was taken down and certainly before any baby harp seal was clubed to death..but I digress

         “We had to struggle with the old enemies of peace–business and financial monopoly, speculation, reckless banking, class antagonism, sectionalism, war profiteering.
         They had begun to consider the Government of the United States as a mere appendage to their own affairs. We know now that Government by organized money is just as dangerous as Government by organized mob.
         Never before in all our history have these forces been so united against one candidate as they stand today. They are unanimous in their hate for me–and I welcome their hatred.”
         Election eve speech at Madison Square Garden (October 31, 1936)
         Franklin Delano Roosevelt
   2. rob February 8, 2026 at 10:36 am

      I doesn’t seem like you can put the USA and china together in ANY basket.
      After watching the videos of chinese manufacturing plants on kevin Walmsey’s Inside china business, using these task specific robots alongside human workers making vast volumes of things more efficiently than all the pie in the sky marketing claims of Western tech wannabe’s…. It doesn’t seem like the west is even in the running. Sure the guy who won the race and the last one across the finish line both ran the same course, but they do not share the same spotlight.
      As far as war, or competition, or the future…. the US is so far behind, while at the same time so handicapped by the elite driven policies that are really just protectionism for their friends/families/cronies…. that the US has already lost. They just haven’t noticed yet.
      Like a judo maneuver, when the person who is about to be thrown on the ground, is actually over the center of gravity of the one doing the throwing… they are still thinking they can pull out of this… but really they can’t. I see the chinese as executing what they need to, while I see the west thinking they are still in control… because they aren’t really prepared to lose. But lose they will.
      1. converger February 8, 2026 at 12:27 pm

         Similar to AI. Open source, niche AI targeting specific use cases and problem domains is phenomenal. LLMs, not so much – unless your goal is monopoly domination of the Next Big Thing.

         If I were China or Europe or Japan, I’d be giving away open source AI and get a decade or so ahead on selling genuinely useful things that you can do with it, while US tech barons burn trillions of dollars on AGI in space and acrobatic robots.
   3. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 11:36 am

      vao: His contention was that progress would be achieved by following the Japanese way: this would result in actually usable products instead of complex, fragile and expensive prototypes unsuited for heavy-duty ….General-purpose, human/animal-like robots hand were facing sheer, long-term technical difficulties (e.g. the problem of having a robotic hand equivalent to a human one remains unsolved)…Is the enthusiasm or hype about these AI-controlled humanoid robots leading developments in the USA and China astray?.

      [1] This is binary, either/or thinking. It excludes a priori some possibilities from the start. So it might be too simplistic and thus mistaken to some extent, mightn’t it?

      [2] And it turns out, two facts particularly have mitigated against things being that simple.

      Firstly, humanoid robots make practical sense — they fit better than articulated robotic arms, etc. — in certain human-built, human-shaped spaces like warehouses, homes, and shops.

      Secondly, humans build robots and, as that video of those kids in China playing with that humanoid robot show, humans like and want humanoid robots. So they’re going to build humanoid robots (also, catlike and doglike robots) alongside the strictly functional robots.

      [3] Then, too, what Rob says: the future is largely being built in China now. Indeed, I’m living in central London now, and even here the applications of technology in everyday life, within the context of the centuries-old architecture and parks, is generally more advanced than I find when I return anywhere in the U.S. now.
      1. vao February 8, 2026 at 12:28 pm

         To [1]: I described the position of a leading expert more than 30 years ago. After all that time, those who followed a path similar to his advice — i.e. Japan and Germany — are the world leaders in industrial robotics, while the USA, which went the way of the complex, powerful, general-purpose robots, has been outrun. History seems to show this approach was not mistaken. And therefore, in my opinion, it will probably be valid in the future too.

         By the way: there is a lot of hype about Chinese humanoids, but China is developing and producing many other things — flying robots/drones being the better known domain. Personally, I expect China to make more interesting advances and applications with them than with humanoid robots.

         To [2]: the whole point I have a difficulty with is this one: what would humanoid robots be doing in a home, shop, etc? I have yet to see a convincing scenario. Cleaning my flat? That would be wonderful; is there one that can dust everything (also the top of cupboards and door frames — and skirting boards too), clean the bathroom, the parquet floor, the windows, re-arranging things and putting them back in order wherever necessary (and only there), without breaking anything? No, of course not.

         As for non-functional robots — you mean like Aibo? How popular are those robots outside the Far East actually? An important point to consider is that those humanoid robots are vastly more powerful (in terms of the force/torque/inertia they can apply), hence dangerous, than the kawai robopets like Aibo. So once again: what would those humanoid robots be doing in homes?

         To [3]: I do not disagree. I just observe that China has been making a lot of progress with humanoid robots, is devoting a lot of publicity touting them, and that the reaction in the USA has been more or less: “Panic! We are being left behind by the Chinese! Look at how far they are! We are missing the train of robotics! We MUST secure a leadership in humanoid robots, otherwise we are doomed!” I think this is incorrect and choosing the wrong path.
         1. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 1:46 pm

            Not incidentally, I used to believe the same story of functionally-shaped robots being the sensible developmental path and humanoid robots being essentially toys. In the last couple of years, I’ve changed my mind for the reasons I’ve said.

            Not least because the most obvious use case for humanoid robots is warehouses and yes, in fact, at least a couple of companies have developed and are right now selling such robots for use in places like Amazon warehouses. Granted, with specialized mechanisms for gripping and moving the kinds of containers there, rather than with simulations of human hands. But I’ve seen such machines and they work in that context.

            vao: Cleaning my flat? … is there one that can dust everything (also the top of cupboards and door frames — and skirting boards too), clean the bathroom, the parquet floor, the windows, re-arranging things and putting them back in order wherever necessary (and only there), without breaking anything? No, of course not.

            That’s 2026 talking. If — if! — people want humanoid robots in their homes, companies will build them and in twenty years or less the technology will be there, at the present rate. I now suspect that some people will want them. Think of the world of old people that’s coming, forex.

            vao: the reaction in the USA has been…“Panic! We are being left behind by the Chinese! Look at how far they are! We are missing the train of robotics! We MUST secure a leadership in humanoid robots, otherwise we are doomed!” I think this is incorrect and choosing the wrong path.

            As the US is unlikely to secure a leadership in anything at this point, unless it’s falling life expectancy, it’s irrelevant what path it chooses. The market for humanoid robots will be defined by the Chinese and if they want them, then that’s what will happen.
            1. Darthbobber February 8, 2026 at 4:22 pm

               But eventually the market for all of this will depend on energy availability
               1. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 7:03 pm

                  Darthbobber: …eventually the market for all of this will depend on energy availability

                  Yes.

                  But ‘eventually’ is far further in the future than most 20th century types — you?– imagine if one can do cheap solar and reliable nuclear, including full nuclear fuel recycling — which the US can’t — because the practical barrier to energy use which then comes before energy availability will be the capability, or non-capability, to radiate all the waste heat from the species’s energy use out of Earth’s atmosphere into space.

                  I mean, there’s a 20,000 years supply of nuclear fuel on Earth right now if we closed the fuel cycle. That’s without getting into solar, let alone putting batteries of solar panels into space, then beaming the power down to Earth in microwave form.

                  Utopian? Unrealizable? Humanity could do it with technologies it has today if it had to, though it would be a massive project and build-out. The biggest barrier to doing it all is global trust, and the biggest barrier to global trust right now is the continued psychopathic behavior of the USA.
                  1. Darthbobber February 8, 2026 at 8:01 pm

                     And even if this were all gospel truth, we’d hit the wall first.
            2. vao February 9, 2026 at 3:25 am

               Warehouses constitute an environment where you need truly powerful robots. What I suspect will happen though, is that humanoid robots will constitute a transitory phase. After all, they already use special grippers, not “hands” — as you mention — and I believe that new warehouses will, in the near future, be designed to accommodate the most efficient kinds of robots first and foremost, and not be optimized for human beings (they may work in them, but in exceptional circumstances).

               In that context, warehouse robots will not need at all to be humanoid to fit in human-centered infrastructure — and will not be. Existing Amazon and Alibaba warehouses will continue to use humanoid-like robots only as long as they have not been modernized and retrofitted for the new warehouse-specialized robots.

               Think about robotic vehicles: self-driving cars in current cities do not really work. They are prone to mysterious (and sometimes hilarious) failures, require remote controllers to take over, cannot deal with a number of scenarios… What has been proposed for a few years now is to configure and optimize the environment so that self-driving vehicles can work in it and get rid of every human-centered function — and that also means excluding human-driven vehicles from roads where self-driving cars operate.

               This kind of optimization is already happening in the specific context of harbours, where large ones already have entire areas where automatic (wheeled) transporters move containers back and forth without the presence of any human being. Those vehicles do not necessarily look like normal lorries — why should they?

               I contend a similar evolution will take place with warehouses and other industrial usages of robots.

               As for mass-market adoption: 30 years ago, animal-looking robots (6-legged insectoids and 4-legged dog-like) were the ones being hyped. The result: by far the most used domestic robots are roomba-like vacuum cleaners and grass mowers. Legged robots are comparatively a niche product with Aibo-like electronic pets. The need to fit in human-centered living spaces is a good argument of yours to deploy humanoid robots, but on the other hand it is so damn difficult to develop general-purpose, safe humanoid robots that I am sceptical about them. Time will tell.

               I agree with you that China is defining what humanoid robots are and will be, but I am less harsh than you about the USA. There is still quite some know-how about robotics there, and the USA might still lead in some industrial robotic application — but it will be a niche one, and not about humanoid robots. You exclude that possibility, I do not entirely write the USA off yet. Again, time will tell.
   4. NotThePilot February 8, 2026 at 4:49 pm

      His contention was that progress would be achieved by following the Japanese way: this would result in actually usable products instead of complex, fragile and expensive prototypes unsuited for heavy-duty applications

      I’m not a robotics person, but I’ve usually heard the same, though I don’t think that ever precluded general-purpose, humanoid robots as a goal. I think the long-term vision was just incrementalist (which is how many modern industries develop organically).

      Simpler mechanisms are already economical & can sustain continuous improvements. Then as the constituent mechanisms & controls developed, almost like Empedoclean evolution, functions would be integrated until you reached the tipping-point of a usable, generalist robot with arms & legs.

      And on the value of a humanoid robot, I think it would primarily come down to the economics of being a general tool, whatever other appeal they have. In theory, more adaptable tooling at a comparable price makes both firms and the economy more flexible, plus it arguably lowers barriers of entry & pushes society in a more “small is beautiful” direction.

      Generalizing equipment is inherently harder though, plus it requires some genuine inspiration and the right social factors. Scaling & specializing a system further OTOH is much more achievable with rote engineering.
   5. Henry Moon Pie February 8, 2026 at 6:03 pm

      “(e.g. the problem of having a robotic hand equivalent to a human one remains unsolved).”

      The human hand is quite remarkable. This article in Science tracks the evolutionary history of our hands compared to the chimp and ends up calling our phalanges “primitive” because they appear earlier in the evolutionary record. I don’t think “primitive” is quite the right descriptor considering what human hands are capable of.

      I’ve always liked Thomas Berry’s ideas about the role of humans in the cosmos:

      “By bringing forth the planet Earth, its living forms, and its human intelligence, the universe has found, so far as we know, its most elaborate expression and manifestation of its deepest mystery. Here, in its human mode, the universe reflects on and celebrates itself in a unique mode of conscious self-awareness.” (Thomas Berry, “The Viable Human,” in The Great Work, 56).

      For me, it’s a possible answer to the question of why the cosmos/Gaia has let us roam this planet so long given our proclivity to use our gifts to degrade and even destroy local biospheres. From the artists who created the drawings of Lascaux to Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel to Van Cliburn playing Chopin for Khrushchev to Bird Parker and Dizzy Gillespie playing be-bop on sax and trumpet, humans have demonstrated an ability to use their hands to fulfill the role Berry saw for them, but with us now causing the Sixth Mass Extinction while calling AI slop “art,” I suspect Gaia’s patience is wearing thin.
8. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 8:59 am

   ‘HustleBitch
   @HustleBitch_
   🚨 AMERICAN WOMAN TESTS CHINA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM – NO APPOINTMENT. NO INSURANCE. $12 TOTAL. OUT IN 19 MINUTES.’

   I would recommend reading the comments as they are all over the place and some of them are very triggered by what this woman shows-

   https://xcancel.com/HustleBitch_/status/2019298457693937715
   1. .human February 8, 2026 at 9:47 am

      My daughter was in a Southeast Asian hospital some years ago after using her epi-pen (shellfish allergy).

      She wasn’t allowed to leave until they found her a replacement. Total cost for overnight stay and new pen, about $12.
   2. tegnost February 8, 2026 at 10:00 am

      I’m calling a lot of those bots…along with being number crunchers incapable of understanding bots don’t need medical care
      1. hunkerdown February 8, 2026 at 1:57 pm

         That could be. I see a lot of accounts participating in an anti-China sneer campaign in Reddit and YouTube comments. Most of them seem to have UK ties, generic user names, and a singular obsession.
   3. Jeremy Grimm February 8, 2026 at 10:03 am

      The range in the comments is stunning. The comments were so brief it was difficult to tell which comments came from trolls. If the comments are even somewhat typical of u.s. public opinion, the u.s. has a serious problem with the polarization of public opinions. The coming election should prove ‘interesting’.
      1. raspberry jam February 8, 2026 at 11:06 am

         If the comments are even somewhat typical of u.s. public opinion, the u.s. has a serious problem with the polarization of public opinions.

         I take it you are not American!! Understatement of the year contender
         1. Jeremy Grimm February 8, 2026 at 6:15 pm

            I am American. I seldom read items on ‘X’ other than those cited by NakedCapitalism and read the accompanying comments rarely. I tend to discount many of those comments I do occasionally read outside of those on NakedCapitalism as the products of bots or trolls.
   4. Afro February 8, 2026 at 10:27 am

      I’m seeing a whole lot of cope in the replies, claims this woman wasn’t actually sick, that she must have gotten bad care, etc.

      My own (cope) is that younger and future American generations may be better.
      1. vao February 8, 2026 at 11:52 am

         I gather that she was there just to renew a prescription. After all, she spent 5 minutes with the physician — not enough for an examination, except if it is a very straightforward diagnosis.
         1. gk February 8, 2026 at 1:24 pm

            Here in Italy, I request a prescription renewal by email. I pick up the drugs in the pharmacy who have all the information online. No payment involved. China seems to be very backward….
         2. Yves Smith February 9, 2026 at 1:41 am

            Here in Thailand, there is no fee or wait at all for most Rx drugs. You ask a pharmacist and they hand them out. This includes antibiotics, heart meds, hormones. The big exceptions are actual or potentially psychotropic drugs (opioids, Valium), and Misoprostol (an abortion-inducer but also used routinely before certain lady-part imaging and procedures, to relax the cervix and make it easier to insert equipment).
   5. EnigmaWrappedInBacon February 8, 2026 at 10:41 am

      Thank you for mentioning the comments. I skipped them after seeing the video. There will always be people who will look at a video like this through a strong ideological lens. For them everything in China is the CCP and to approve of anything in China is tantamount to endorsing communism. But most people, including most Americans, are practically minded. They will notice the technology, that some of the posted signs were translated into English, and most of all the cost and efficiency. These kind of videos, including those that show Chinese electric vehicles, can have a real impact over time. For many it will lead them to ask why don’t we have something like that here.
      1. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 11:52 am

         For them everything in China is the CCP and to approve of anything in China is tantamount to endorsing communism.

         [1] In 2026, when the CCP took over China, average male life expectancy was 29 years. In 2026, general life expectancy in China has equaled the US at around 79 years, and is likely to quickly pull ahead (while US is likely to fall).

         [2] China and the CCP has pulled some 800 million human beings out of poverty and housed them with electricity, running water, and etc. in the last 30 years. That’s a civilizational project far bigger than the building of the pyramids, or the Apollo moonshots, and — because it was a fully designed, intended project — bigger than the Industrial Revolution, arguably.

         I think the those two real-world facts speak conclusively to any questions about the overall ‘superiority’ of the US Way of Life as compared to what the CCP has had to offer the Chinese.
         1. curlydan February 8, 2026 at 12:41 pm

            The 79 year life expectancy is even more impressive given the higher percentage of male smokers in China. It doesn’t take long in China to realize the smokers are all over the place and often next to me in restaurants.
         2. paleobotanist February 8, 2026 at 1:08 pm

            bad typo first line “in 2026, when the ccp took over china” think you want 1949?
            1. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 1:51 pm

               Yeah, thanks!

               My bad brain, sorry.
   6. ISL February 8, 2026 at 11:47 am

      It’s as if the Chinese miss the point that health care is the most excellent of opportunities for wealth extraction (take our offer or die) and that positive health outcomes are incidental – in fact, negative health outcomes, if properly managed, can lead to more wealth extraction. {/snark}

      Having some experience with the Chinese (and much with the American healthcare) system, I can attest to its truth.

      And that is before you factor in that traditional Chinese medicine works better than Western medicine on many chronic and other health issues (in my case high blood pressure – 15 years and only more drugs and side-effects. Two weeks in China and now 1/2 of one pill not 3 daily).
   7. ciroc February 8, 2026 at 11:56 am

      To be fair, China’s wealthy prefer to travel to the United States for advanced medical treatment. If you’re wealthy enough, the American healthcare system isn’t so bad.
      1. Mikel February 8, 2026 at 2:47 pm

         Could some of those visits be due to privacy concerns?
      2. Yves Smith February 9, 2026 at 1:43 am

         Rich people from the Middle East also prefer the US. although Thailand is also a medical tourism destination, particularly for routine surgeries like stents.
      3. hk February 9, 2026 at 2:46 am

         South Korea is a medical tourism destination, including for Korean Americans, but wealthy South Koreans still come to US, at least for certain diseases and conditions, as far as I know.
   8. Don February 8, 2026 at 5:29 pm

      Re: “AMERICAN WOMAN TESTS CHINA’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM – NO APPOINTMENT. NO INSURANCE. $12 TOTAL. OUT IN 19 MINUTES.”

      Very similar experience involving spouse in medium-sized town Mexico in December, but the issues were a sore back, a gastro-intestinal ailment, plus, as it turned out, a related muscular problem. It was a bit more expensive, ±Mx$400 (±Cdn$30), took a little longer, (about half an hour), required two prescriptions, and relied on generous interventions by diverse and sundry strangers (directions in the form of a car to follow from just-closed clinic to still open clinic, help with Spanish, empathy in general…) — and, we are Permanent Residents of Mexico, which may or may not have made some difference.

      In the context of the familiar, not perfect, but overall, pretty damned good Canadian system, it was very impressive; compared to the USA, well, there is really no comparison.
9. Wukchumni February 8, 2026 at 9:19 am

   I saw a wherewithal wolf with an underage menu in his hand
   Walking on the beach in the rain
   He was looking for the place called Little St James
   Gonna get a big dish, in a forbidden vein

   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo
   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo

   You hear him howlin’ around your kitchen door
   You better not let him in
   Little lady got eaten late last night
   Wherewithal wolves of Epstein again

   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo
   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo, huh

   He’s the heavy-handed gent who ran amok by chance
   Lately he’s been overheard in Zorro Ranch
   You better stay away from him, he’ll hang himself in his cell, Jim
   Huh, I’d like to meet his jailer

   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo
   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Ah-hoo

   Well, I saw Donald Quixote walkin’ with Jeffrey
   Doin’ the wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   I saw Sancho Panza walkin’ with Jeffrey, uh
   Doin’ the wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   I saw a wherewithal wolf drinkin’ a piña colada mocktail at Trader Vic’s
   And his hair was perfect

   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein
   Huh, draw blood
   Ah-hoo, wherewithal wolves of Epstein

   Werewolves of London, by Warren Zevon

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6M89iDabwM&list=RDc6M89iDabwM
   1. Dave February 8, 2026 at 12:07 pm

      I usually skip these little send ups. But this one got me! Made my morning
10. farmboy February 8, 2026 at 9:24 am

    China Science
    @ChinaScience
    China has launched its first open-source, vertical large language model (LLM) dedicated to the general agricultural sector, marking a significant breakthrough in foundational AI model research and its applications for agriculture in the country.
    The model, Sinong, which is named after the ancient Chinese officials overseeing agriculture and finance, integrates content from nearly 9,000 books, over 240,000 academic papers, approximately 20,000 policy documents and standards, and extensive web-based knowledge.
    Sinong is now fully open-sourced on platforms like ModelScope and GitHub.
    5:00 PM · Jan 21, 2026
    ·
    429.5K
    Views
11. Hepativore February 8, 2026 at 9:28 am

    Of course the Democrats won’t do anything to stop ICE, as most of them either agree with their methods or don’t care and would like to just sit back and fundraise off of the discontent.

    The fact that the Democrats voted overwhelmingly to keep funding the organization in bipartisan agreement says it all.

    I cannot think of a more useless political organization than the modern-day DNC.
    1. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 9:52 am

       The British Labour and Conservative parties?
       1. JonnyJames February 8, 2026 at 11:05 am

          Yes, I can’t tell the diff anyway. So-called Republicans/Democrats/Labour/Conservative
          Pigs feeding from the same trough all look the same to me.
    2. Henry Moon Pie February 8, 2026 at 4:32 pm

       I think as long as Trump follows orders from Bibi and Miryam that Chuckie will go along with what Trump is doing otherwise. Hakeem is probably no better. The question is whether they’re merely collaborators or silent partners.
    3. jobs February 8, 2026 at 5:01 pm

       The DNC is very useful; it keeps a real working-class left from gaining traction.
12. TomDority February 8, 2026 at 9:31 am

    If AI does to white-collar work what globalization did to blue-collar, we need to confront that directly. Not with abstractions about ‘the jobs of tomorrow,’ but with a credible plan for broad participation in the gains.

    Extreme Inequality Presages The Revolt Against It – Noema
    “This is the test: Whether capitalism can evolve to turn more people into owners of growth — instead of spectators watching it happen.”

    “Extreme Begets Extreme
    The lesson from history is that the more extreme and long-lasting the corrosive concentration of wealth in any society, the more extreme the reactive remedy. In that situation, the well-warranted quest for fairness can become counterproductive if it not only constrains the rich but also shrinks the pie, rather than enlarges it so that wealth can be shared more broadly.”

    So, now, after years of slathering loopholes and tax breaks and all the other illusions of actual real investment in the tangible economy. All the breaks that allowed the cost of living to skyrocket by inflating the basic nessecities of living through speculative non-productive “investments” designed to privatize all and produce no-real value or wealth……They worry now that the “well-warranted quest for fairness can become counterproductive if it not only constrains the rich but also shrinks the pie” and after all this time they compare that to what has already happened to the non-rich..In the rich-folks eyes the non-rich are the non-producers…the lazy, the non-wealth producers instead of the rich being the slackers and leaches….so, of course they offer something that they will game, deflate and inflate so as to steal every bit into their greedy hands… a new three card monty…. a new gamble…as lone as you are a qualified voter as defined by their rules no doubt.. so: ,
    every adult American — on the condition that they actively vote in elections — would receive a synthetic security, essentially an account indexed across the stock market, that must be vested for at least 20 years to allow the compounded returns to grow. – and of course this synthetic security will be used by the rich to inflate assets at a higher compounded rate than the compounded returns will grow. By twenty years the rich will have scalped 2 times the money that the non-rich will recieve with the synthetic security and this return will be chewed into negative territory by the increased cost of living.
    That sound like the plan by the rich and for the rich to me.
    1. tegnost February 8, 2026 at 10:31 am

       I didn’t expect an abundance pitch but that’s where we are I guess
    2. jsn February 8, 2026 at 11:19 am

       I like that Soviet voting requirements, with no comment on the Uniparty.

       Please legitimize my SCADs!
       (State Crimes Against Democracy)
       1. Rod February 8, 2026 at 2:25 pm

          SCADs
          Since named, I think about this daily.
          God bless and keep Lambert wherever he is.
    3. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 12:21 pm

       Sounds like a version of Milton Friedman’s Negative Income Tax.

       https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/negative-income-tax-explained

       aka People’s Capitalism, as one old-time science fiction writer, Mack Reynolds, called it in some stories he wrote about possible future socioeconomic regimes (and future elites making things good for future elites).

       Also, some aspects of Richard Nixon’s Family Assistance Plan.

       https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/98/10/04/specials/moynihan-income.html
       1. Henry Moon Pie February 8, 2026 at 4:29 pm

          And don’t forget where FAP came from: Daniel Patrick Moynihan. Moynihan preached that the only thing the federal government could do competently was write checks.
13. farmboy February 8, 2026 at 9:40 am

    Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them.
    Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information.
    Here’s a list of sites you may have never heard of!
    http://refseek.com – Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.
    http://worldcat.org – a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.
    https://link.springer.com – access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.
    http://bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.
    http://repec.org – volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.
    http://science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.
    http://base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free
    https://ecosia.org
    Ecosia is a not-for-profit tech company that plants and protects trees. By dedicating 100% of its profits to the planet, Ecosia has planted over 214,229,374 million trees since its founding in December 2009
    http://Yandex.com
    Yandex is a technology company that builds intelligent products and services powered by machine learning. Our goal is to help consumers and businesses better navigate the online and offline world. Since 1997, we have delivered world-class, locally relevant search and information services.
    http://Gutenberg.org
    Project Gutenberg is a library of over 75,000 free eBooks
    http://Duckduckgo.com
    “Protection. Privacy. Peace of mind. Get our browser on all your devices.
    Search and browse with the DuckDuckGo browser for more protection. Unlike Chrome and other browsers, we don’t track you.”
    http://Presearch.io
    Presearch is a community-powered, decentralized search engine that provides better results while protecting your privacy and rewarding you when you search.
    http://Ebscohost.com
    Reliable information for all kinds of research
    http://Startpage.com
    Startpage is a global privacy technology company built around the principle of always putting privacy first. Our suite of easy-to-use privacy products helps anyone around the world to protect their personal data online.
    from Christopher Seymore
    
    1. Jeremy Grimm February 8, 2026 at 10:12 am

       Thank you for providing the list of links in your comment above. I grabbed them and saved them for future use.
    2. vao February 8, 2026 at 11:01 am

       Many thanks! I knew several of those sites but the others were totally new to me.
    3. Judith February 8, 2026 at 11:05 am

       My daughter suggested two additions that she uses:

       annas-archive.li books
       wellesu.com academic articles
    4. Bugs February 8, 2026 at 11:33 am

       Thanks. I actually bookmarked this comment to come back to it.

       I’d add https://www.wolframalpha.com/ a database filled with useful data from many fields of technical knowledge and able to do complex calculations from the search bar.
    5. Mikel February 8, 2026 at 12:53 pm

       Another thanks.
14. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 9:51 am

    “Entitled: UK Monarchy, national security at risk amid Andrew’s ties to sex trafficking & shady deals”

    This article appears in France 24 but the Epstein black hole is starting to drag in in figures from the French Establishment as well. Jack Lang, a veteran French politician who has served as culture and education minister and is now the president of the Arab World Institute, is under investigation for money laundering and who was connected with Epstein-

    https://www.rt.com/news/632164-head-french-institute-resigns-epstein/

    This is starting to sound like a European network of fraud & financial crime with Epstein at the heart of it all. You have figures from the UK, France, Germany and Norway that have been implicated with Epstein and the list keeps on getting longer.
    1. raspberry jam February 8, 2026 at 11:09 am

       This article appears in France 24 but the Epstein black hole is starting to drag in in figures from the French Establishment as well

       crazy days and nights has been posting for weeks (at least) that Sarkozy was sending underage girls to Epstein through the French modeling agency that has already been linked to Epstein
    2. Ben Panga February 8, 2026 at 11:44 am

       This is starting to sound like a European network of fraud & financial crime with Epstein at the heart of it all

       Dig deeper and you’ll find it’s global. JE had masses of business in the middle east, and US as well as Asia, South America.

       Don’t forget that we are seeing only those files Trump’s DOJ wants us to. Given their desire to overturn the political order in Europe, it’s no surprise that the headline-grabbing bits serve that aim.

       All that said, per Whitney Webb, Epstein’s first obvious spook adjacent links come in a trip to the UK in iirc 1971, where he befriended Jimmy Goldsmith and a bunch of spook types as well as the British Rothschilds through a Mayfair social club.
    3. skippy February 8, 2026 at 3:21 pm

       Long ago I posted a link/comment on a BBC reporter that infiltrated the Milan Modeling scene as a photographer. Unearthed everything … how young hopeful models from overseas were lured to Milan, set up in houses [6[+/-] per house with a mid 30s male handler, introduced to cocaine as a way to keep thin, forced to stock/staff private VIP levels of night clubs for elite clients, eventually being popped by house mgr or club clients … lest they get shipped home as a failure …

       Furthermore the reporter videoed himself picking up cocaine at the front desk of many high end agencies. In fact most of his experiences were video taped with audio. At the end of it all came the international teen model of the year comp after a year of regional comp winners all came to Milan. This was held at the water front with a proper yacht stationed right in front of the venue. The reporter was informed by one of the top executives running the show that afterwards the winner of the comp and a few runners up would be treated to a celebration that night on the yacht. In that conversation, it came up, that the girls would be bedded … no force needed as wink wink they knew if they wanted a chance a real modeling job they would have to punch the ticket. He knew this from experience as a one night at one of the clubs a house Mgr sent a girl home with him, commented on how tense she was. Once at his hotel room he told her nothing was going to happen and let her sleep there so it looked like she did her part.

       In the end he left and produced his doco, it was aired, then the BBC was taken to court, he got fired and the doco was removed. Nothing about this is new and Epstein is just one cog in a much larger and older trade in humans for others needs. lmmao Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish popularized this sort of thingy ….
       1. Acacia February 8, 2026 at 7:13 pm

          Name of the reporter? Title of the documentary?

          The Internet has a long memory, but correct search terms are needed.
          1. skippy February 9, 2026 at 12:33 am

             https://www.theguardian.com/media/2001/jun/12/broadcasting.bbc3

             This should get things rolling …
             1. Acacia February 9, 2026 at 8:06 am

                Thanks, skippy. Interesting (not surprising) that the Guardian article avoids specific details.

                Anyway, a little digging and this is it: “MacIntyre Undercover S01E03 – Fashion Industry”

                And if you hurry, you can grab the video here, along with links to a whole bunch of related articles:

                https://www.reddit.com/r/Epstein/comments/1oy662k/macintyre_undercover_fashion_1999/
                1. skippy February 9, 2026 at 3:29 pm

                   As some say in Costa Rica – Zarpe – speaking of Costa Rica …. back in the 80s/90s it was a huge sex trade tourist hot spot for Americans, mostly south west sorts. During that time I met a US ex pat on the lame that family once owned a very famous NYC bath [wink wink] house. Some very notable names frequented it over its history. The big time criminal figures were the most curious as they would not be expected by most.

                   I just find it curious how so called elites, throughout history, have a penchant for engaging in dehumanizing behavior against others – without agency – as a identifier. Then have the cheek to moralize to the unwashed about how they live.
    4. ArvidMartensen February 8, 2026 at 4:42 pm

       So, Jeffrey Epstein. Child of Jewish parents. His mother was a school assistant and homemaker, his father was a gardener and groundsman. He attended public schools. He sounds like he was a really bright and nerdy kid, and very smart in maths.
       His streaming into the world of the elites began at NYU, where he attended advanced maths classes at the extremely prestigious Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. This Institute was started by a German Jew who left Germany in the 1930s.
       And here, Jeffrey, a smart young Jew with no family connections, was taken under someone’s wing. This someone eased him somehow into a teaching job at a school full of children of the rich and powerful, even though he had no quals. And so Jeffrey’s career took off.

       For somebody with no family connections, he did very well for himself. This usually happens when you have at least one very rich and well connected mentor or sponsor.

       Somebody who really had all those connections and power would never had ended up in jail. Look at his circle of associates and what they were doing. None of them will ever see a jail cell.

       As they say, he knew where the bodies were buried for most of the elites. He was bribing and entrapping but the best pushers never touch the stuff. And he didnt heed that advice. Given his growing reputation, it seems that he became more trouble than he was worth.

       Jeffrey was born in 1953. That made him 66 at the time of his death.

       He probably realised near the end, because he was desperate to get out of that jail, that his mentors were just about to give him access to his retirement plan.
       1. Acacia February 8, 2026 at 7:17 pm

          access to his retirement plan

          “Tel Aviv… and all the Fortnite V-Bucks you want” ?
15. tegnost February 8, 2026 at 10:02 am

    Noema…
    A good description of the state of affairs but a too complicated prescription to alleviate it…

    The aim is not so much to redistribute the accumulated wealth of billionaires as to widely distribute the wealth created through productivity gains of the AI economy in the first place, which, after all, are generated by exploiting the information of the general populace.
    1. Henry Moon Pie February 8, 2026 at 3:46 pm

       Amen. Rube Goldberg would have been impressed, but it would be just the kind of thing to appeal to Democrats–as long as it posed no real threat to the donors.

       I did check out the article’s mention of the “Daoist principle of “the reverse movement of history,” and that led me to another Noema article from a couple of years ago titled, “A Daoist Take On The World Gone Sideways” That was quite good. The article focuses on the Tao te Ching #40, but could have also mentioned #77:

       The Way of Heaven
       is like a bow bent to shoot:
       its top end brought down,
       its lower end raised up.
       It brings the high down,
       lifts the low,
       takes from those who have,
       gives to those who have not.

       Tao te Ching #77 (Le Guin rendition)

       While I find the very clever direct action being practiced by the courageous citizens of Minneapolis to be the most encouraging thing I’ve seen since Occupy, we see how very fragile we are in the face of this brutal madness that infects our ever more powerful elites. I’m coming to the view that we will need allies more powerful than humans.

       I would love to see what some of our most esteemed Commentariat members who favor cyclical understandings of history might have to say about the “World Gone Sideways” piece.
       1. amfortas February 8, 2026 at 6:13 pm

          what i wrote on twitx last night, in me cups, just ere i signed off:
          these fucker’s greatest asset is our envy, and our assent.
          we all think we want to be them.
          but even elon aint happy.
          ergo, redefine “success”, and do that, instead.
          and then they wither away.
          they need us.
          stop feeding them and theyll die.
          i have some insight, here: mom is a covert narcissist…and i m her scapegoat.
          there have been many other scapegoats, but here, at the end, its me. and me studying this pathology up close, i reckon has given me a bit of scaleable data.
          i recommend not only a general strike(which will get their attention!), but also a general turning of the back…a shunning.
          like they aint there.
          like they dont exist.
          make them anathema.(and stop, as much asur able, using heir networks.)
          let us, instead, build our own networks…especially those tht rely on human contact, rather than a platform controlled by baby eating psychopaths.
          maybe something to think on,lol
          headache rack behind cab of my ancient truck sez: free palestine, Thought Criminal, gaza is a method.
          i refuse to be a “Good German” when its m turn/
          come and get me, copper.
          and im in very rural middle of texas,lol.
          sack up, people.

          point is, we must divorce ourselves as much as possible from what “THEY” have built to enclose us(and i use Enclose for a reason,lol)”convenience” is a lure, dont swallow it…i saw a poor woman the other day waving her fone in front of the card device to pay for her lotto tickets…and , after she had gone, asked Tam’s Prima who runs the store what that was all about…was it common, etc.
          (its not, out here…yet)
          but think of the wet beaks in between that woman’s purchase of fool’s gold, and the actual money.
          all invisible. and often inscrutable.
          i am cash only for this reason.
          i cannot afford hidden fees and random extractions that i was notified about(sic) in that unreadably small text “agreement”.

          stop, as much as you are able, playing THEIR Game.
          hard divorce from their systems is likely impossible for the vast majority of my countrimen…but at least a partial gumming up the works(a sabot(shoe) tossed into the gears) is more than warranted…if not required.

          fuck those bastids. we dont owe them our allegiance, nor our love or obedience…nor our hard earned money.
          they gave all that up when they broke the contract.
          withdraw your consent, and be ungovernable.
          1. NotThePilot February 8, 2026 at 10:29 pm

             I’ve been thinking very similar things recently, and the friction doesn’t even always need to be something loud. Obviously, if the people are there & the time is right, organize. But I’ve also come to realize it’s a quite revolutionary thing these days just to show some courage.

             I’ve said it before, but it seems like all of the propaganda of the old system today, whichever side it comes from, is pure FUD. It doesn’t claim any coherent positive vision beyond third-rate, crappy sci-fi (in liberal & conservative flavors of course).

             It can’t really negate, or even threaten effectively either. Our system has already spent most of its firepower and true-believers pounding on Gaza or the Donbass, both of which still survive despite the odds.

             Or as an American classic once put it: “No, Donny, these men are nihilists. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” All that’s left is just shouting TINA repeatedly and self-referentially reporting lies that don’t even make sense unless you blindly accept the previous lies. And many people may still fall for it, but that won’t stop the process.

             And I think anyone angry or upset about the world today but disoriented should look at a simple truth. You’re having a negative reaction because you must value something, believe in something beyond meaningless stimulus. Search for that and seek knowledge on the way.
       2. NotThePilot February 8, 2026 at 11:09 pm

          It was interesting and I definitely don’t disagree with the emphasis on counter-motions. It’s almost Hegelian, but without the belief in an inner progress through synthesis.

          The real difference I could see from most cyclical theories I’m aware of is that this one seems anti-positivist. I don’t know if by rejecting historical laws, the author includes any patterns whatsoever, or just precise, deterministic rules.

          Even as I’ve come around to the cyclical view, I’ll admit it’s still very impressionistic & possibly just pareidolia. And while I think it could be made more rigorous (I guess Turchin is in the forefront on that) I don’t know how much. The dates & times themselves aren’t really the fuzzy thing, but the referents & how events are interpreted.

          Ultimately, even if one can’t be sure it’s real, I think for anyone who’s unsure about where they fit (and/or ambitious) in the world of their own time, it’s a very useful exercise. For me, it’s clarified a lot about why, in spite of everything society may have told me, some doors in my life seem hopelessly jammed shut while others open almost magically.
16. tegnost February 8, 2026 at 10:13 am

    Common Dreams

    Over the next two weeks, Democrats will have an opportunity to demand concessions from their GOP counterparts and President Trump as they wrangle over future appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security.

    spoiler alert…they won’t.
17. Jason Boxman February 8, 2026 at 11:08 am

    Not paywalled

    MAGA’s Split Over Israel Extends to a Ship Attacked 58 Years Ago (NY Times)

    The Israeli military killed 34 people on the U.S.S. Liberty in 1967. Whether it was an accident, as many historians believe, has become a litmus test within President Trump’s movement.
    1. Bugs February 8, 2026 at 11:38 am

       The “many historians” are doing a lot of work in that phrase. For Israel.
    2. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 6:07 pm

       There was at least one Israeli pilot that was court-martialed afterwards because he refused to attack that ship as it was obviously American – and every Israeli officer & official knew it. But LBJ covered it up for them as he did not want to “embarrass” an important ally and a bunch of dead and wounded swabbies was a small price to pay.
    3. gk February 9, 2026 at 3:04 pm

       What do the remaining few historians now think was the reason for the attack? I long believed it was to keep the destruction of the Egyptian Air Force a secret for a few days, but the dates don’t work out
18. Screwball February 8, 2026 at 11:14 am

    Don’t remember seeing this covered here, if so I apologize for missing it. This is a strange story and as usual, the more you dig, the more bizarre it gets.

    February 7, 2026 — Nancy Guthrie investigation – CNN
    1. witters February 9, 2026 at 4:41 am

       One might begin to suspect that Nancy was offed by (at least) one of them, and now we have the covering story. But who, as yet – perpetrator(s) aside – knows?
19. Ghost in the Machine February 8, 2026 at 11:27 am

    As Crash Deepens, Investors Say Bitcoin Is Headed for Zero Dollars Futurism

    When it goes to zero, we can calculate the total sum of energy used during its existence. It will be depressing. Energy not used for preparing for the climate emergency descending on us. What a stupid species we are. Maybe that’s a bit harsh. We are ruled by the worst of us.
    1. Ben Panga February 8, 2026 at 11:46 am

       If we hadn’t wasted all that electricity on making pretend money, we could be using it now on making pretend intelligence.
       1. Mikel February 8, 2026 at 12:10 pm

          I was wondering about this same issue possibly palying a part.
       2. Lovell February 8, 2026 at 12:12 pm

          From the links a couple of days ago, I’ve learned that the average cost to mine a single bitcoin is $90K.

          If its trading value is at $60K, its actual value sits in negative territory.
          1. flora February 8, 2026 at 12:44 pm

             From Forex Brokers:

             The Real Cost of Bitcoin Mining in 2026

             https://www.compareforexbrokers.com/us/bitcoin-mining/
             1. Lovell February 8, 2026 at 4:07 pm

                Thanks flora. And it’s even north of 90K.

                They’re mining something that has zero intrinsic value.

                Total insanity.
                1. Lefty Godot February 8, 2026 at 8:04 pm

                   I think we dispensed with “intrinsic value” when Clinton gifted us with his “innovation economy” of high tech and deregulation of finance. Although, to be fair, he was just following the deregulation program of Carter, Reagan, and Bush, and amping it up to the next level, with a lot of fancy verbiage tacked on.
             2. neutrino23 February 8, 2026 at 5:08 pm

                Thanks. This is really incredible. How is it possible that we as a society are spending so much for something with no inherent value?
             3. amfortas February 8, 2026 at 6:41 pm

                thanks, Flora,lol…from the get-go, ive never understood how any of all that could be understood to have anyting like “value” to any sane person.
                too much like Brondo in Idiocracy.
                (but then again, so is much of whats produced(sic) by moneymen, these days)
             4. Glen February 8, 2026 at 7:00 pm

                Cryptocurrency Mining Energy Consumption 2026: Is It Sustainable?
                https://coinlaw.io/cryptocurrency-mining-energy-consumption-statistics/

                Bitcoin’s annual energy consumption in 2025 is estimated at 173 TWh.
                Renewable energy usage in Bitcoin mining rose to 52.4% in 2025 (including wind, hydro, and nuclear).
                The global carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining reached 39 million metric tons CO₂ in 2025.
                The U.S. share of global electricity consumption by crypto mining is estimated at 0.6% to 2.3% of national electricity use.
                The global mining hardware market was valued at $23.7 billion in 2024.
                The global crypto mining market was valued at $2.2 billion in 2024, with projected growth to $3.3 billion by 2030.

                An annual energy consumption of 173 Twh? This is insanity.
          2. Samuel Conner February 8, 2026 at 7:07 pm

             If it becomes unprofitable to “mine”, it seems to me that there is no longer an incentive to will authenticate new additions to the blockchain, which would mean that it may not be possible, or at least not safe, to transact exchanges of bitcoin, which would make it useless.

             This problem was surely foreseeable a long time ago.
          3. bwilli123 February 8, 2026 at 9:09 pm

             It has been decided.
             Bitcoin has to die because all that energy is needed elsewhere.
    2. JonnyJames February 8, 2026 at 11:55 am

       Rule of the worst, I agree. The fancy word for that is “kakistocracy”. Since the republic (res publica) has been largely privatized, (res privatae), the term applies to the ruling oligarchy, not just the formal government.

       Short sighted, greedy monkeys.
       The hubris, arrogance and plain stupidity of many humans in high places never seems to go away. When relatively small groups of homo sapiens are given disproportionate power, they tend to abuse it.
20. Kilgore Trout February 8, 2026 at 11:49 am

    Re: Josh Shapiro. Still waiting for more than a few “progressive” and “liberal” Jews in the US to acknowledge the ongoing genocide in Israel, and the lies of the NYTimes in its reports on October 7th and ever since. But that’s clearly a bridge too far. A century of Zionist propaganda about “a land without a people for a people without a land” will do that. The Hill article on Shapiro is supposed to paint him as principled, for standing up for his beliefs. But his beliefs enable him to ignore the Gaza genocide, and frame legitimate protest as anti-Semitic. The report shows Harris was concerned enough about blowback from Gaza to keep Shapiro off the ticket, but not concerned enough to make a clean break with her patrons. She could have run a campaign breaking completely with Genocide Joe: de-funding Israeli weapons and ending the Ukraine war, universal payer, a jobs guarantee etc. Just by virtue of being tapped by Biden, she was given an end-around the DNC guardrails. But no vision, no guts, no glory. She didn’t get any of her jobs by being other than an aparatchnik. No one risks speaking truth to power. Shapiro may be a little more than the empty suit Newsom is, but that’s a very low bar.
21. Tom Stone February 8, 2026 at 11:57 am

    Good grief, Donald Trump is not a Racist, he just acts like one.
    If you saw him during one of his frequent “Cuddle Puddles” with Laura Loomer and Kristi Noem you would realize he is a lovable teddy bear of a man.
22. Michaelmas February 8, 2026 at 12:06 pm

    
    Trump Is Reverse Engineering The Great Recession
    Residential mortgage-backed securities are back. Subprime mortgages are up. Welcome to 2008 2.0.

    Archived – https://archive.ph/tn17x
    Original – https://www.levernews.com/trump-is-reverse-engineering-the-great-recession/

    ‘Amid aggressive bank lobbying and President Donald Trump’s deregulatory efforts, one of the core financial products that led to millions of foreclosures during the Great Recession is being quietly readied for a comeback — even as economic and climate conditions make its return all the more destabilizing ….’
    1. Tom Stone February 8, 2026 at 9:02 pm

       There is nothing inherently wrong or dangerous about RMBS, Tanta at Calculated Risk did a deep dive into what they are and how they work.
       If the Mortgage Pools consist of all 30 year fixed rate loans with a credit score of 700-720 it has a predictable return.
       Pools should consist entirely of similar loans, mixing and matching loan types, playing games with underwriting and loan types (NINJA loans for one example), “valuing” different tranches unrealistcally ( to put it mildly) are the problem.
       Corruption, in a word.
       Not RMBS as such.
23. JonnyJames February 8, 2026 at 12:09 pm

    Re: Iran currency attacks

    Does anyone have any info on the Iran Rial?

    It has not recovered since the currency attacks. I would think that China could have intervened to counter the shorting of Rial, and even made a tidy sum in the process, but that is only speculation.

    https://www.xe.com/en-us/currencycharts/?from=USD&to=IRR
    1. NotThePilot February 8, 2026 at 5:44 pm

       The rial is one of those things I don’t want to claim too much knowledge about because forex markets are some deep voodoo.

       AFAICT though it’s one more topic where Western reporting just reverts to unthinking propaganda (but for whom?) Because of sanctions, IDK if you can even trust “official” rates, in Iran or the West; trading will be thin & overwhelmingly speculation. Iran does trade with other economies though so there will be some kind of meaningful arbitrage somewhere.

       Stepping back though, IIUC reporting that the exchange rate alone provoked the last protests is sort of misleading. The Pezeshkian admin made a policy choice to expose more trade to the market rate (and in a very laissez-faire way that didn’t preempt a run on the currency). That’s why the protests also started specifically among electronics merchants selling imported discretionary goods.

       For the overall economy, I don’t think the government really cares if $1 = 1 or 1 million rials, just that it doesn’t depreciate too rapidly or fluctuate violently. For the hardliners in particular, the “resistance economy” entails both import substitution and anti-consumerism, trends that are actually strengthened by a weaker rial.
24. jrkrideau February 8, 2026 at 12:51 pm

    The fall of the generals: China’s military purge

    How many US officers of Flag Rank has Trump purged so far?
    1. ambrit February 8, 2026 at 5:41 pm

       I have read that Trump could “purge” three out of four flag rank officers and the US military would run even better than it does now.
       The ‘Iron Law of Institutions’ works for militaries the same as for everything else in this fallen world of ours (for some definition of us.)
       Stay safe.
    2. The Rev Kev February 8, 2026 at 5:59 pm

       Only those that oppose Trump and even then they just quietly resign.
       1. Procopius February 10, 2026 at 6:45 pm

          Retire, not resign. If they resigned they would give up their juicy pensions. Of course, if they retire before completing 40 years of service they get less than 100% of their active duty pay, so I guess that’s kind of a sacrifice.
25. johnnyme February 8, 2026 at 12:51 pm

    If anyone is curious about how the decentralized rapid response teams of citizens here in Minneapolis perform their civic duties, this detailed guide is essential reading:

    Best Practices Guide for Neighborhood or Area Patrol / Monitors: 612
26. XXYY February 8, 2026 at 2:01 pm

    Two New Nasal Sprays Could Stop the Next Bird Flu Pandemic Right in Your Nose ZME Science

    “This particular version of bird flu has been around for some time, but the unique and totally unexpected event where it jumped across species into dairy cows in the United States was a clear sign that we should prepare for the event that a pandemic may occur,” said Jacco Boon, PhD, a professor at WashU Medicine.

    Hard to believe this dude has a PhD and is a professor. It’s extremely common and totally expected for flu viruses to jump between species. In fact, that’s the most common route of origin for most pandemics. This is obviously the grave concern for bird flu, which has about a 50% fatality rate and now seems to have a foothold in commercial livestock.

    This unfortunate quote aside, a nasal vaccine for aerosol viruses has been the holy grail for many decades and is certainly something widely sought during the covid pandemic once we managed to convince the medical establishment that covid was airborne. The announcement being made in the first part of this article is certainly fantastic news if it pans out.

    Nasal vaccines also have the great advantage that they are sterilizing, that is, they prevent the virus from getting a foothold in your system at all, rather than just reducing the severity of the symptoms of an infection. Covid vaccines today haven’t done much to reduce the incidence of the virus in the population, since you can still become infected and then amplify and transmit the virus to others even though you have received a vaccine. Nasal vaccines will be a welcome change that will hopefully allow us to purge the human species of the covid virus all together.
    1. MaryLand February 8, 2026 at 2:35 pm

       Of course we have to wait to see if these will actually become available when needed.
       1. ambrit February 8, 2026 at 6:10 pm

          Or, even more revealing, available to who?
          Stay safe. Mask up in public. [This public safety alert brought to you by the Carnival Co-operative COVID Containment Collaborative. The CCCCC thanks you for your interest in the safety of the public.]
27. Rod February 8, 2026 at 2:53 pm

    Hard to believe that This is the second effective nasal vaccine (first one was for Covid of course) developed at Washington University that is not produced here, or available to citizens of the USA.
    On second thought…
    1. amfortas February 8, 2026 at 7:08 pm

       yeah,lol…that part is always left out.
       i still cant get the novovax for covid.
       and the rundownof all the medical advances from overseas…none of that will be available to me…because i dont have “access” to healthcare, in “the richest country in the history of the world”.
       i have a suicide option, that i sequestered from Tam’s hospice days, for when and if things get bad for me, down the road.(hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and all…with clear eyes and honesty)
       i refuse to contribute to GDP in that manner.
28. heresy101 February 8, 2026 at 3:07 pm

    The solution to providing income to all is for the returns from AI go to the workers. The easiest way to do this is to mandate 25 Hours of Work for 40 Hours of Pay. Everyone benefits because the 5 hour day will open up many jobs and no one loses pay. Also, the all pay rates must have the current median income as a minimum.
    1. ambrit February 8, 2026 at 6:13 pm

       Just to piss off the “Value Creators”(sic) make that the average income.
       Stay averagely safe.
    2. ArvidMartensen February 8, 2026 at 6:53 pm

       I’ve worked out how to get rich and I want to share it so everyone can learn what to do and benefit.

       If all the adults on the planet give me just a dollar in 2006. Only a dollar.
       And then I use these dollars to buy assets that their sellers have discounted by 50% just for me, say gold and real estate.
       Then by the end of this year I may be the world’s second trillionaire.
       1. ambrit February 8, 2026 at 10:37 pm

          I’d need to see a formal prospectus AM.
          Tangentially, the time travel mechanism would be much more profitable than just this one strategy.
          Stay safe, be safe in the future, export safety to the past.
29. flora February 8, 2026 at 6:27 pm

    Whitney Webb on utube, ~11+ minutes.

    “You Have No Idea What Palantir Has Planned” | Whitney Webb

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY1kS0Htk6I

    She names quite a rogues gallery of people.
    1. amfortas February 8, 2026 at 7:11 pm

       ive followed her work for years, but she has really been vindicated, of late.
       a real Cassandra in a coalmine, yelling “Doom!…Doom!”
    2. Ben Panga February 9, 2026 at 3:37 am

       Just FYI, that’s not Whitney’s channel, it’s ripping off her stuff, editing it with snazzy AI and releasing it. In her own words “I have a big AI slop problem”. At least this one is, as far as I can tell, using her actual words, not making stuff up.

       The 2hr47min original interview it’s ripped from is here:
       Whitney Webb: EPSTEIN, Intelligence & the Global Network of Power | Peter McCormack Show

       Thiel/Palantir section starts at 38:35 and is 33 mins long.

       (I’m wondering if it’s a deliberate choice to style as Velma in Scooby Doo?)
       1. flora February 9, 2026 at 8:32 am

          Thanks.
       2. AG February 9, 2026 at 6:29 pm

          thanks here too!
30. AG February 8, 2026 at 6:56 pm

    re: Digital Services Act EU free speech

    for German-speakers

    BSW-MEP Fabio de Masi published an assessment and paper with Helge Buttkereit and Liza Ulitzka
    pdf 23 pages

    The Digital Services Act, tech corporations and the freedom of expression
    By Helge Buttkereit with contributions from Liza Ulitzka
    Edited by Fabio De Masi

    https://www.fabio-de-masi.de/de/article/4731.der-digital-services-act-die-digitalkonzerne-und-die-meinungsfreiheit.html
31. NotThePilot February 8, 2026 at 7:30 pm

    Looking For Advanced Aliens? Search For Exoplanets With Large Coal Deposits

    This was an interesting one, especially the point towards the end about how truly rare our exact circumstances on Earth may be.

    I also suspect the scientist that published the paper is almost definitely reading John Michael Greer. This article really resembles his grand history of Earth essay, specifically the part where the crow civilization reaches the moon, finds the moon lander, & then turn into ultra-conservationists from the epiphany.
32. AG February 8, 2026 at 9:02 pm

    re: Epstein Chomsky

    via Aaron Maté

    Valéria Chomsky has reached out to the public with a statement:

    Noam Chomsky’s wife responds to Epstein controversy

    “Noam’s overly trusting nature, in this specific case, led to severe poor judgment on both our parts… we express our unrestricted solidarity with the victims.”
    https://www.aaronmate.net/p/noam-chomskys-wife-responds-to-epstein

    p.s. my comment:

    I am probably the minority sadly as so many think this is a betrayal and many other things,
    but I disagree.

    In Germany due to the Corona crisis the term “Kontaktschuld” was adopted from the Cold War era-“guilt by association” where it had been directed against Communists and “fellow travellers”.

    During the pandemic anybody who would speak to ostracized individuals who were critical of the way the government handled the pandemic was regarded as guilty too and suggested to be subject to ostracism as much.

    Earlier same concept had already been practiced re: AfD. However with much less public profile and less resonance.

    Chomsky spoke to such anchors as William Buckley (see below), debated all kinds of crazy and less crazy people, engaged into lengthy public arguments via letter with people who often hated his views and also met war criminals, as he himself pointed out, or supported repeatedly the right to voice fascist views as he did most famously in his defense of Robert Faurisson´s book about the Holocaust being a lie.

    Always in the tradition of Enlightement and that famous (whether or nor genuine) quote from Voltaire:
    “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it”.

    In all these discussions Chomsky strictly differentiated between speech/deed and opinion/fact and assumption/evidence.

    And his assessments were based on a very realistic and rationalistic verdict and weighing of consequences where saving the largest number of lives was the highest principle.

    So he had for instance a very different and differential view of militant resistance than some might think, or as e.g. Norman Finkelstein often did.

    When it came to the Warsaw Uprising Chomsky argued that one needs to also take into consideration that the Uprising might have been wrong. Simply because the consequences in lives lost, people killed, outweighed by far any morale or emotional surplus (“heroism”). Thousands he said might have survived had the futile resistance not taken place. Which doesn´t mean that he claims to have known better had he been in the situation himself.

    Finkelstein on the other hand might have argued (in the case of Warsaw I do not know) “better die on your feet than survive on your knees.” It´s up to every person to judge for her or himself.

    And the fact that there is a picture that shows Chomsky with Steve Bannon in a friendly atmosphere doesn´t say aynthing beyond the obvious.

    If people now demand that he should have rejected to talk to Bannon it´s odd that many among those critics harshly criticize the culture of „canceling“.

    On the other hand Chomsky – again considering the actual consequences instead of mere superficial statements – in an interview called Trump during the first term “Hitler” because Trump´s anti-environment stance would lead to policies that would eventually cause such a climate crisis fallout that it would cost millions of lives which otherwise would not be lost.

    Same reason why he supported Sanders and after Obama failed to “deliver” became a critic of latter.
    As far as he argued support of Sanders for a potential POTUS might help the weakest in a society to a degree unthinkable under someone not Sanders.

    I think he did support Obama 2008 for the same reason – having in mind 8 years of Bush Jr rule.

    But in all of this he always reminded of the major caveat that eventually it was all a uniparty. Which meant that no Dem-victory would make unnecessary popular resistance and organizing.

    On the same basis of evidence-based argumentation he suggested to talk to the Russians in 2022 first and look what would happen instead of claiming the Russians wouldn´t listen anyway or that the Russians were dishonest and go to war no matter what.

    Maybe again listen to the 60 min. TV conversation between Buckley and Chomsky:

    Firing Line with William F. Buckley Jr.: Vietnam and the Intellectuals
    Recorded on April 3, 1969
    52 min.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DvmLMUfGss
    1. gk February 9, 2026 at 1:00 pm

       Finkelstein on the other hand might have argued

       Here is what Finkelstein wrote.
       1. AG February 10, 2026 at 9:11 am

          thanks.

          I think Chris Hedges shared an apartment with Mrs. Edelman many decades ago in Latin America (?). So he often speaks knowingly.

          I don´t know about Finkelstein´s exact positions.

          I remember he demanded to fight when addressing the case of Palestine on Lebanese TV. That´s where he spoke about “rather dying on one´s feet”. Of course he was commenting as “pundit” not argueing as scientist.

          On the other hand the peace protests in Gaza which ended in bloodshed after IDF simply shot into the crowd was initiated by Finkelstein too.

          So obviously it´s a complex matter.

          Chomsky once stated that the Western public was irritated when Gandhi had suggested Jews should have resisted more in WWII.

          Deviating from the “non-violence” brand (into which Gandhi had been transformed in the West.)

          p.s. I should add that when Chomsky mentioned the Warsaw “argument” he quoted from actual historians and participants discussing the matter at a conference. It was not him giving a speech on this. And there apparently there were very contradicting views. Edelman of course being suppressed in the West is the best evidence for how our elites like us to view matters.
33. AG February 8, 2026 at 9:13 pm

    re: Epstein Chomsky

    Noam Chomsky, Jeffrey Epstein and the Politics of Betrayal

    by Chris Hedges

    Feb 09, 2026
    https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/noam-chomsky-jeffrey-epstein-and
34. Ben Panga February 8, 2026 at 9:26 pm

    Noam Chomsky’s wife apologizes for their ‘grave mistake’ in Epstein ties (guardian)

    “We were careless in not thoroughly researching his background. This was a grave mistake, and for that lapse in judgment, I apologize on behalf of both of us. Noam shared with me, before his stroke, that he felt the same way,” she said (Chomsky suffered a massive stroke in 2023). “It was deeply disturbing for both of us to realize we had engaged with someone who presented as a helpful friend but led a hidden life of criminal, inhumane, and perverted acts.”….

    Valeria Chomsky said that the couple attended dinners at Epstein’s townhouse in New York City, stayed at his apartments there and in Paris, had dinner at his ranch in New Mexico, and attended multiple academic gatherings with him. She said they “never went to his island or knew about anything that happened there”….

    By presenting himself this way, Epstein gained Noam’s attention, and they began corresponding. Unknowingly, we opened a door to a Trojan horse,” she said. “Epstein began to encircle Noam, sending gifts and creating opportunities for interesting discussions in areas Noam has been working on extensively. We regret that we did not perceive this as a strategy to ensnare us and to try to undermine the causes Noam stands for.”
    1. flora February 8, 2026 at 10:16 pm

       Careless people.

       “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy- they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”
       ― F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great Gatsby
35. flora February 8, 2026 at 9:28 pm

    Well, well. The Washington Post CEO and editor Will Lewis who just laid off one third of the WaPo’s newsroom staff has himself abruptly resigned.
    From NPR:

    ‘Washington Post’ CEO departs after going AWOL during massive job cuts

    https://www.npr.org/2026/02/07/nx-s1-5705413/washington-post-ceo-resigns-will-lewis
    1. AG February 8, 2026 at 9:59 pm

       Am I being unjust and wrong in not having much pity for the WaPo (except those fired who won´t find another job)?
       When did they actually live up to their stupid new credo?
       I tend to believe the Pentagon Papers action is blown up by them. After all they were not the first and not the only ones. Also afaik the material was out there long before they agreed to participate.
       Wonder what ATW will say…
       1. flora February 8, 2026 at 10:30 pm

          There’s a certain amount of schadenfreude seeing the WaPo’s current situation after remembering how many small, independent, online news/opinion/investigation sites they smeared as RU bots or RU propa sites after the 2016 election, with no evidence whatever, including this site. They tried to destroy the finances of these sites by warning advertisers away.

          Hard to feel sorry for the WaPo’s business in chaos now. / my 2 cents
          1. AG February 9, 2026 at 12:12 am

             Thanks.
             Didn´t know that.
             So I was actually underestimating their malign character.
             In Germany naturally MSM are full of love to the Post and how evil Mr. B. is and how awful everything turns.
       2. gk February 9, 2026 at 3:01 pm

          Actually it was Mike Gravel who inserted them into the records of the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds, thus publishing them.
          1. AG February 9, 2026 at 6:12 pm

             right!
             and thank you!

             Gravel on live TV on that day in the House

             – “hearing of the Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds on June 29, 1971.

             Video:

             he says something like:
             see TC: 6:50

             “(…)Things have changed with the media, the fourth estate … (unclear)…it´s probably since the activities of the NYT and WaPo and a few others that it´s developed a certain arrogance (…)”

             26 min.
             https://archive.org/details/GravelPapers1971

             And Wiki:

             “(…)
             On June 29, 1971, U.S. Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska entered 4,100 pages of the Papers into the record of his Subcommittee on Public Buildings and Grounds – pages which he had received from Ellsberg via Ben Bagdikian on June 26.
             (…)”
36. flora February 8, 2026 at 9:39 pm

    From The Hill:

    Washington Post publisher Lewis steps down days after sweeping layoffs

    https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5728245-washington-post-ceo-steps-down/
37. Ruby Furigana February 9, 2026 at 12:47 am

    I’m reminded of Nassim Taleb’s Bitcoin Black Paper which contains Comment 1:

    Why BTC is worth exactly 0
    Gold and other precious metals are largely maintenance
    free, do not degrade over an historical horizon, and
    do not require maintenance to refresh their physical
    properties over time.
    Cryptocurrencies require a sustained amount of inter-
    est in them.
    1. Maxwell Johnston February 9, 2026 at 2:46 am

       This is excellent — thanks for posting. Taleb’s warning about the perils of BTC is ominous, much like Wynne Godley’s 1992 warning about the perils of a Eurozone:

       https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v14/n19/wynne-godley/maastricht-and-all-that

Comments are closed.