Mars Rover Finds Signs of Seasonal Floods ars technica
Extreme glacial cooling likely led to hominin depopulation of Europe in the Early Pleistocene Science
Bird flu researchers turn to Finland’s mink farms, tracking a virus with pandemic potential STAT (Dr. Kevin)
Liberalism against capitalism aeon
#COVID-19
Please see our post on the FDA’s optical footwork on Ivermectin.
I know a pediatrician who finally caught COVID after 3.5 yrs who is being told she needs to return to work even though she is still testing positive (at 7 days) and feels awful. One of her main jobs is to check over newborns. This is scary and not OK. Lawsuits need to start. https://t.co/nkoumYn7Nt
— Kimberly Prather, Ph.D. (@kprather88) August 11, 2023
And this with much less testing than a year ago:
Global Covid cases up 80% as new subvariant rises
The number of new Covid-19 cases reported worldwide rose by 80% in the last month, the World Health Organization said on Friday, days after designating a new “variant of interest”
Let’s do nothing .. https://t.co/OR12xW8riv
— Jess (@MeetJess) August 12, 2023
Climate/Environment
Maui locals post footage of the absolute carnage caused by wildfires – with desperate families swept out to sea as they fled the flames… 55 are confirmed dead and 1,000 missing Daily Mail
Hawaii wildfire death toll hits 67 as probe launched into blaze response Aljazeera
Plants find it harder to absorb carbon dioxide amid global warming New Scientist (Dr. Kevin). Uh oh.
Experts fear US carbon capture plan is ‘fig leaf’ to protect fossil fuel industry Guardian (Kevin W)
Are humans a cancer on the planet? A physician argues that civilization is truly carcinogenic Salon (Dr. Kevin). I recall E.O. Wilson saying how unfortunate it was that humans are meat-eating primates.
Liquid-Metal Battery Will Be on the Grid Next Year IEEE Spectrum (Dr. Kevin)
China?
China ‘may be signalling unhappiness over closer Philippine ties with US’ South China Morning Post
Biden Warns China’s Economy a ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ Bloomberg (furzy)
Niger
New #Niger situation map just dropped #NigerCoup
(excellent work as always @julesdhl) pic.twitter.com/23lGTz6PuX
— Casus Belli (@casusbellii) August 11, 2023
For those confused about the #ECOWAS Standby Force, a few basic points:
1) It’s the ECOWAS part of the larger African Standby Force (ASF) structure, which comprises 5 regional forces (North, Eastern, Western/ECOWAS, Central, and Southern). pic.twitter.com/k7w1Hzvpfi— Paul D Williams (@PDWilliamsGWU) August 10, 2023
West African countries suspend key military meeting on Niger coup Nine News (Kevin W)
France needs Niger’s uranium
The US has a drone base in Niger
There’s a pipeline planned to go through Niger from Nigeria
Europe needs that pipeline now that the US blew up Nordstream
There’s plenty of interests in Niger, none have to do with democracy
— Black in the Empire (@blackintheempir) August 10, 2023
Old Blighty
Britain has become a financial centre with a country attached. Brexit didn’t work. Levelling up fell on its face. Either a new approach is needed or the country needs to try to target non-income metrics to raise tangible living standards. Industrial policy or family policy! https://t.co/2aGLMXk96B
— Philip Pilkington (@philippilk) August 11, 2023
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine SitRep: The End Of The Counteroffensive Moon of Alabama
Poland to send 10,000 troops to border with Belarus (Anadolu Agency)
Zelensky Fires Heads Of Military Enlistment In All Ukrainian Regions Agence France-Presse. Scott Ritter has given a long-form description of how Ukraine recruitment is corrupt bounty-hunting, particularly pressing clearly incapable men into service, such as amputees and the cognitively deficient, and everyone involved should be prosecuted (Ritter used more colorful terms).
But the Times make it sound like the real issue was not dragooning men who were sure to be useless in a military capacity and die immediately, but the taking of bribes in return for getting out of service (which was probably more lucrative than meeting body count targets). One has to assume the number of fit young Ukrainian men in European capitals has become an embarrassment. See Zelensky Cracks Down on Corruption in Military Recruitment New York Times (Kevin W). Oh, and this intervention conveniently comes after this horse has clearly left the barn and is in the next county. Any man with enough dough has presumably already bought his way out of service and left Ukraine.
Russia Oil Breaches Price Cap as Export Revenue Hits 2023 High Bloomberg
Why would the Wagner mercenaries be leaving Belarus just weeks after arriving? DW News, YouTube (furzy). The Institute for the Study of War clearly has an axe to grind regarding Russia. These Wagner “mercenaries” had their arms taken from them before they went to Belarus and were supposed to do training.
BlackRock, JP Morgan set up ‘reconstruction bank’ for Ukraine Human Events (furzy). This is eyewash. Investors weren’t willing to buy assets and invest in the much more stable and less devastated Greece in 2015. There may be a few fools but even assuming a post-war Ukraine, the $ won’t add up to much.
Syraqistan
Wow, the attacks on the Intercept for its story on the US pressure to remove Imran Khan just keep coming:
This is really funny but among all the obvious wrong things, The Intercept doesn’t have an office anymore after the pandemic…
Other than that, great stuff https://t.co/Aeuqh37lYj
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) August 11, 2023
Pakistan Risks Losing Much More Than Affordable Gas If It Abandons Its Iranian Pipeline Plans Andrew Korybko
US says no framework agreed yet for Israel-Saudi deal Middle East Online
Iran nuclear deal opponents conspired to oust US special envoy Robert Malley Middle East Eye
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Homeland Security Report Details How Teen Hackers Exploited Security Weaknesses In Some of the World’s Biggest Companies CNN
Pornhub Sues Texas Over Age Verification Law Vice
Illinois Just Made It Possible To Sue People For Doxxing Attacks ars technica
Imperial Collapse Watch
BRICs wouldn’t be silly enough to develop a gold-backed currency would they? Steve Keen (Micael T)
Scott Ritter: GAME OVER ZELENSKY! | MOATS with George Galloway YouTube (furzy). Opening remarks about China, Iran and Niger are informative.
The West’s Two Leading Production Fighters Both Face Worsening New Supply Chain Issues: F-35 and Rafale Manufacturers Struggling Military Watch
1/6
Lambert had this yesterday in Water Cooler but this is a must-watch. Reposting since a longer video fits weekend schedules better than weekday.
Ep. 15 Former Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund reveals what really happened on January 6th. Our Fox News interview with him never aired, so we invited him back. pic.twitter.com/opDlu4QGlp
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 10, 2023
Trump
Judge forges middle path in battle over Trump sharing evidence in Jan. 6 case The Hill
Ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen considers run for Congress Semafor (furzy)
Biden
Garland Appoints Weiss as Special Counsel in Hunter Biden Inquiry New York Times (Kevin W)
Hunter Biden plea deal talks collapse as special counsel appointed Financial Times. Key statement: “‘The DoJ “now believes that the case will not resolve short of a trial’, the court filing said.”
Woke Watch
Group Accuses Kellogg of ‘Sexualizing’ Products Newser (Dr. Kevin)
Our No Longer Free Press
The swipe at other YouTubers cheapens Ritter’s statement. He’s in a different category due to already having lots of enemies thanks to opposing the Iraq War, and secondarily due to having more stature than other YouTubers as a result, so more of a threat.
When it rains, it pours. The same day that YouTube deplatformed “The Scott Ritter Show”, they deplatformed “Ask The Inspector.” This is a targeted effort by YouTube to remove/minimize my voice, and those of my guests and the people who took the time to ask probing questions about…
— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) August 11, 2023
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp Sees Profits Plummet by Colossal 75 Percent New Republic
AI
Supermarket AI Meal Planner App Suggests Recipe That Would Create Chlorine Gas Guardian. If you doubted Skynet is being incubated…
Authors fear they have little defence against AI impersonators New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)
Sites scramble to block ChatGPT web crawler after instructions emerge ars technica (furzy)
Google and Universal Music negotiate deal over AI ‘deepfakes’ Financial Times
War on Cash
Backlash grows over banks’ push to turn Australia into a cashless society as branches close and more restrictions are placed on how you can access your cash Daily Mail (furzy). Note banks in Australia already charge a ton in fees. It was impossible to have a checking account and pay less than $25 a month. This in 2002-4. I doubt it has gotten better. So citizens correctly resent this move as profiteering. Article mentions high bank profits
Is David Solomon Too Big a Jerk to Run Goldman Sachs? New York Magazine (furzy). Lordie. The last time a Goldman CEO was ousted was Jon Corzine due to bond trading losses (the area Corzine had been running) during the Asian, then LTCM crisis.
Mortgage Rates Jump to Holy-Moly 7.09%, FHA Rates to Highest in 20 Years, Pulling Rug Out from Under Home Sales in August Wolf Richter
FTX
Judge sends FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried to jail, says crypto mogul tampered with witnesses Associated Press (Kevin W). As I recall, the trial does not start until October and SBF would remain in jail at least until it was over. He is no doubt pinning his hopes on an appeal but his stunt of planting a derogatory story in the New York Times about Caroline Ellison will be hard to ignore. And the judge was pretty forgiving about his past offenses. Must be a very slow news day. This is the lead story at the pink paper.
The Bezzle
When I said pple lost interest in bitcoin, it was based on this: BTC Volume is slowly disappearing, down >85% from the peak.
As volume drops, manipulations become easier but, at some point, manipulators will need to exit.
This is how Open Ponzis implode. pic.twitter.com/K8fJDeaftw
— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) August 11, 2023
WeWork’s Own Office-Leasing Apocalypse Curbed (Kevin W)
Italy stands ready to host as Musk talks up Zuckerberg rumble Reuters (furzy)
Guillotine Watch
Jeff Bezos buys $68M mansion on Florida’s ‘Billionaire Bunker’ island New York Post. Only 3BR?
‘Disgusted’: K2 climbers under fire after shocking footage of 50 people walking past a dying man to summit ignites debate Sky News (Kevin W) and Climber Accused of Stepping Over Dying Man on Way to Record Newser (Dr. Kevin)
Antidote du jour (Chet G):
And a bonus:
A cute little pig balancing on a ball.. pic.twitter.com/LrpukjYME4
— smol animals (@smolanimalx) August 12, 2023
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
