Tracker program finds python mating balls, Florida team says Miami Herald (furzy). Perversion in Florida! Who’d have thunk it?
Who’s going to win the next financial plumbing test? The US, of course FT
American Manufacturers Seek Perfection as Quality Issues Mount WSJ
Climate/Environment
Wall Street is letting Orwellian doublethink kill climate action FT
CO2 rise is accelerating Arctic News
Global cholera outbreaks deeply linked to climate change: WHO official Anadolu Agency
Peter Pan Accounting Rachel Donald (Micael T).
Eat food, not too much, mostly plants? Not exactly:
Protecting Dark Sky Country Nomea (Micael T).
Water
India stares at summer water crisis as reservoir levels slide Channel News Asia
#COVID19
Hold Your Horses, Health Workers With COVID Still Must Isolate MedPage. But HICPAC will fix that!
China?
“Business-friendly”:
EVERYONE interested in the economic relationship between the U.S. and China should watch this, as it is sure to challenge many beliefs you may have.
This is William C. Kirby, easily one of the most knowledgeable Western experts on the topic. He is Professor of China Studies at… pic.twitter.com/OH8Y2wU2G4
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 18, 2024
China discovers oilfield with over 100M tons of reserve in Bohai Sea Anadolu Agency
Starship rival: Chinese scientists build prototype engine for nuclear-powered spaceship to Mars South China Morning Post (Chuck L).
Myanmar
No bids as house of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi auctioned Channel News Asia. The junta put it on the market, so not a vote of confidence in them. –lambert
India
Rohingyas have no fundamental right to reside and settle in India, Centre tells Supreme Court WION
Ladakh: Sonam Wangchuk Promises March to Border to Highlight Land Takeover by China, Industries The Wire
Gaza
Jared Kushner says Gaza’s ‘waterfront property could be very valuable‘ Guardian (Kevin W). And he’s not the only one:
Recently, in a Montreal synagogue, real estate agents held an event to market properties in occupied Palestine.
A journalist from independent Quebec media outlet @PivotQc infiltrated the event and secretly recorded the real estate agents.
The agents flagrantly misrepresented…
— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) March 16, 2024
What Biden Would Do if He Were Serious About Ending the War in Gaza Mother Jones. Robert Ford, a former US ambassador to Algeria and Syria who is now a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute “has called the airdrops the greatest humiliation of the United States by Israel he has ever seen. He is struck by the fact that the US is acting as if it is ‘trying to get supplies into besieged people surrounded by an enemy of the United States.’”
Trudeau government to stop sending arms to Israel once details are worked out, Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says Toronto Star
The War in Gaza Exposes a Disintegrated Israeli Army Haaretz
The Israeli settlers shrugging off sanctions to menace the West Bank FT
Censorship is a crucial complement of genocide Al Jazeera
European Disunion
Defence CEO calls for European version of Israel’s Iron Dome FT
And what will Turkiye make of this? From Politico’s European morning newsletter:
EASING UKRAINE INTO THE EU
SCOOP — VDL FLOATS GRADUAL ACCESS FOR EU CANDIDATE COUNTRIES: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will today present proposals that would change how the EU admits new members. Rather than the current all-or-nothing approach, Brussels wants to gradually ease Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkans into the EU….
The idea: This would allow countries in the EU waiting room to reap some membership benefits, rather than waiting for years or decades while they undertake the necessary reforms…..
No cherry-picking: In a line reminiscent of the Brexit days, the Commission warns that single market rights and obligations “cannot be à la carte” — but that the Union’s leaders will need to discuss which degrees or steps of access should come with what obligations.
Scrapping vetoes — with safeguards: Most EU leaders have already warned that a Union with 30+ members will be even harder to govern. Brussels proposes moving away from the unanimity requirement (which bogs down decisions on foreign and tax policy) to avoid future deadlocks.
Back in the EU, site of the 21st century’s biggest political disaster Ramin Mazaheri
Down by 5.7% in the EU compared with January 2023 International Affairs (Micael T).
Cars v cows: German automakers call to split EU-Mercosur deal to bypass French ‘non’ Euractiv
Dear Old Blighty
17% hike in insolvencies as ‘debt storm breaks’ Accountancy Daily (Michael T).
The serious search for humour in early English history Times Literary Supplement (Anthony L).
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Warns West Will Be Ukraine’s ‘Downfall’ 10 Years After Taking Crimea Newsweek
SITREP 3/19/24: French Military Openly Floats 20,000 Troop Deployment Simpilcius the Thinker (Anthony L).
France denies sending 2,000 troops to Ukraine Anadolu Agency
‘Ukraine Is Fighting for Its Life’ Kyiv Post
Ukraine’s Drone Strikes on Russian Oil Refineries Mark New Phase in War Bloomberg
Ukraine races to build weapons at home WaPo. A fine example of my heuristic that when the verb “race” appears in the headline, the cause of the race is carefully erased from the article. Oh, and this: “Ukraine also surrendered its nuclear arsenal in exchange for guarantees, including from Russia, that the country’s territorial sovereignty would be respected.” Thank heavens. Just imagine, after Maidan, Nazis with nukes. –lambert
How the ‘Putin at Noon’ trick helped Russia’s sham election EU Observer. Anthony L: “Without comment.”
Putin’s dream, Russian unity, conflict with NATO: Key takeaways from victory speech RT (Anthony L)
With unsold grain piled high, a Polish farmer faces an uncertain future as war in Ukraine grinds on AP
South of the Border
Brazil’s Bolsonaro is indicted for 1st time over alleged falsification of his vaccination status AP
Honduras Ratchets Up Battle With Crypto-Libertarian Investors, Rejects World Bank Court HuffPo
Haiti
Why Everything Changed in Haiti: The Gangs United NYT
Clintons led Haiti’s post-earthquake rebuild: Supporters call them lifesavers; critics allege dirty deals FOX
2024
An ‘odor of mendacity’: Fani Willis decision is far from over in Trump election fraud case USA Today
GOP Clown Car
ALEC Pushes Anti-Union Playbook Exposed by CMD
Trump-backed Bernie Moreno wins Ohio GOP Senate primary The Hill
The Supremes
Inside The Ritzy Retreats Hosting Right-Wing Judges HuffPo
Immigration
Texas’ new immigration law is blocked again Texas Monthly
Antitrust
In Lake Wobegon, All Antitrust Enforcers Are Above Average Matt Stoller, BIG
Our Famously Free Press
A company linked to a large “pink slime” network is being hired by big publishers like Gannett Nieman Labs
Health Care
It’s dirty work aeon
The Bezzle
The Anything Goes Market Demand Curve Steve Keen (UserFriendly).
Supply Chain
Reversion to the mean?
Coming back to this, the genius of Asia was to take the factories we sponsored there, to free ourselves of doing any thinking or work, and use them to restore Asia at the centre of the world. Where it had been for much of human history. /1 pic.twitter.com/w9cffwF76i
— Henry Madison (@RageSheen) March 19, 2024
Blinken says US stands by ‘ironclad’ commitments to defend Philippines Channel News Asia. Please, Tony, no. Stick to losing the wars you’re already losing. –lambert
Imperial Collapse Watch
“Pacific Partnership” with its new colonies: The USA is given the power to deny other states access to three previously sovereign nations in the Pacific. Eastern Angle (Michael T).
Class Warfare
Why the world cannot afford the rich Nature
Political Instincts? New Left Review. Important.
Frans de Waal (RIP) and the Origins of War John Horgan
The Coddling of the American Undergraduate Hedgehog Review
What happened to the mythic author? Simpliccius the Thinker
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
