China: Police rescue 1,000 cats, bust illicit trade of feline meat BBC
Explore a bioluminescent world of cellular life via cutting-edge microscopy aeon (Dr. Kevin)
Ancient face carvings exposed as Amazon water level drops to record lows CNN (Kevin W)
Mars Has a Surprise Layer of Molten Rock Inside Nature
Wild New Physics Theory Explains Why Time Travel Is Impossible ScienceAlert (Chuck L). Aaaw, takes the fun out of a lot of science fiction stories.
ime to get serious about the dangers of quantum computing Financial Times (David L)
This new genome map tries to capture all human genetic variation MIT Technology Review (David L)
US student, 14, wins award for developing soap to treat skin cancer Guardian (Kevin W)
A Rose for Gramsci Andy Merrifield
#COVID-19
Better late than never:
When COVID-19 surfaced in 2020, the medical field missed something, and it cost lives.
Airborne viruses can travel much further than originally thought. To curb infection, we should have focused on indoor air systems. @DrLaPook reports, Sunday. https://t.co/mEN4CWeXMW pic.twitter.com/SKmMZ6EBM2
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 26, 2023
When passing face-to-face, risk of COVID infection peaks within 5 seconds: Japan study https://t.co/u25Yerixsu
— Jess (@MeetJess) October 25, 2023
Climate/Environment
How Might California’s New Climate Disclosure Law Impact Federal Rulemaking? Public Citizen
Democrats unveil ‘most comprehensive plan ever’ to address plastics problem Grist (David L)
‘It’s Like Our Country Exploded’: Canada’s Year of Fire New York Times (David L)
China?
China Does It Again: A NAND Memory Market First Tech Insights (guurst)
Nvidia is now an uninvestable semiconductor company as it’s advanced AI chips have so many export restrictions that nobody knows how it is going to generate the earnings to recover all the R&D invested so far!https://t.co/V9TXgeZ561
— Ignis Rex (@Ignis_Rex) October 25, 2023
‘Like it was with Jack Ma’: China puts world’s biggest Apple supplier in its crosshairs Financial Times
Video shows a Chinese fighter jet buzzing B-52 bomber that came as close as 10 feet, US says Business Insider
European Disunion
Denmark Aims a Wrecking Ball at ‘Non-Western’ Neighborhoods New York Times. BC: “‘You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.’”
The region at the heart of Germany’s economic stagnation Financial Times (Kevin W)
Old Blighty
Range Rovers virtually impossible to insure in crime-ridden London Telegraph (BC)
Rishi Sunak faces prospect of fresh by-election after Tory MP suspended Financial Times
Gaza
The true face of Israel. https://t.co/vvwl8eBfHD
— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) October 26, 2023
Founding father of the exterminationist Kahanist wing of Israel’s ruling Likud party, Moshe Feiglin, rose to the post of Deputy Speaker of the parliament, and helped pull the right-wing party towards its current position of enthusiastic support for burning non-Jewish babies alive https://t.co/wWxowkZcxm
— David Sheen (@davidsheen) October 27, 2023
Channel 13 journalist Zvi Yehezkeli admits Israel purposefully and premeditatedly murdered the family of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh: “Generally we know the target. For example, today there was a target: the family of an Al Jazeera reporter. In general, we know.” https://t.co/sOJk8uNMMc
— David Sheen (@davidsheen) October 26, 2023
Want to talk about hostages?
Israel has taken 1,360 political prisoners from the West Bank since 7 October, the vast majority of whom have no connection to Hamas.
3 female political activists taken from the university overnight.— Craig Murray – (@CraigMurrayOrg) October 26, 2023
Televangelists Invoke Holy War to Push for Weapons for Israel, Strikes on Iran Lee Fang (Glenn F)
U.S. military strikes Iranian targets in Syria Washington Post (furzy)
Biden admin has bombed Syria in response, it says, to attacks on US forces.
What Biden or US media won’t explain is why US forces are really in Syria — even though a senior US official has done so very clearly.
According to the Pentagon’s Dana Stroul, the US military is… pic.twitter.com/3DkPUFxuUT
— Aaron Maté (@aaronjmate) October 27, 2023
US will ‘not be spared’ if Israel-Hamas war escalates – Iran RT
Many Israelis are furious at their government’s chaotic recovery efforts after Hamas attack Associated Press (Kevin W)
Surveillance soldiers warned of Hamas activity on Gaza border for months before Oct. 7 Times of Israel (Kevin W)
Col. Douglas Macgregor: How ill-equipped is the US for two wars? YouTube. See clip of Erdogan speech at 2:20. Hoo boy.
This is not the behavior of a confident country:
This is abhorrent. https://t.co/HD3FPA8lCM
— Katie Halper (@kthalps) October 27, 2023
Longtime Merkel adviser faces uproar over Israel-Hamas comments Politico (Kevin W)
Russia, China veto US push for UN action on Israel, Gaza Reuters (Kevin W)
Israel and United States Are Taking a Diplomatic Pounding Larry Johnson. Also covered by Alexander Mercouris
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia says it rehearsed ‘massive’ nuclear strike BBC (David L)
Ukraine offers to store EU gas RT (Kevin W)
The Russians returning home from self-imposed exile Financial Times (Kevin W)
White House: Russia is executing soldiers who refuse to follow orders Reuters (furzy). Looks pretty desperate. Biden also amplified bogus beheading babies story.
Imperial Collapse Watch
Joe Biden’s Armageddon, from Gaza to Ukraine Aaron Mate
Patrick Lawrence: Full-Dress Irrationality Scheerpost
The Peace of Westphalia as a Lesson in Solving Religious Wars Past Present or Future. Matt Ehret (Chuck L)
Boris Johnson gets job with arms industry-funded pro-NATO lobbyists RT (Kevin W). The US grift of ex senior officials getting uneconomically large book advances is so much more discreet.
Georgia’s Voting Maps Are Struck Down New York Times (Kevin W)
2024
Could Mike Johnson, the New House Speaker, Undermine the 2024 Election? New York Times (Kevin W). How about getting a decent bench, rather than freaking out over possible process issues?
Border alert goes up in Canada for fugitive Maine killer Robert Card – as it’s revealed he left behind a cell phone to throw cops ‘off his scent’ after killing 18: Had become obsessed with stock market crashes and Biden before massacre Daily Mail. I know Bowdoin well 🙁
Our No Longer Free Press
Why only 1% of the Snowden Archive will ever be published Computer Weekly
Free speech concerns arise in wake of journal editor Eisen’s firing STAT
Crapification
United passengers predict brawls, threaten boycott as new boarding system takes effect New York Post. Need more overhead bin space for this system to be viable.
Strong GDP growth and consumer spending Menzie Chinn
AI
Harvard professor Lawrence Lessig on why AI and social media are causing a free speech crisis for the internet The Verge
The Computing Pioneer Helping AI See Quanta Magazine (David L)
The Bezzle
Sam Bankman-Fried Says FTX Actions Were Guided by Lawyers Wall Street Journal
GM’s Cruise driverless vehicles banned from California roads Financial Times (David L)
GM Offers Chevy Bolt Owners $1,400 For Dealing With Software-Limited, Fire-Prone Batteries Electrek
JPMorgan Says JPM Coin Now Handles $1 Billion Transactions Daily Bloomberg
Class Warfare
Restaurant now charging customers a fee for ‘bad parenting,’ usually around $50 ABC7 (Kevin W). While I approve of the sentiment, the terminology chosen is cringe-making.
Aid for Israel and Ukraine is not an American jobs program Responsible Statecraft
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a a bonus (guurst). Aaaaw, so cute, but little guy must be hungry:
A little young arctic fox approached a fisherman while he was ice fishing in Labytnangi, Siberia, to steal a fish from the hole.pic.twitter.com/f9Yh6q1qO2
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 25, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
