Listen To The Voice Of Nature Madras Courier
Chinks In The Armor Investor Amnesia
Restructuring Bankruptcy Law The Regulatory Review
Column: An exhaustive debunking of the dumbest myths about Social Security Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times
Climate
The Doom Loop Phenomenal World. The deck: “Insurance markets and climate risk.”
Cop28 president says there is ‘no science’ behind demands for phase-out of fossil fuels Guardian. Clarifying!
Exclusive: Top development banks at COP28 vow to up climate game, quiet on fossil fuels Reuters
Open secret at climate talks: The top temperature goal is mostly gone Politico
The country’s electric car hotspots, mapped Axios
GM and Toyota are shaping up to be the biggest losers in the EV transition Tech Crunch
Creating a single AI-generated image needs as much power as charging your smartphone The Register
#COVID19
How will history books recount COVID? Adam Kucharski, Understanding the Unseen
Anthropogenic Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 from Humans to Lions, Singapore, 2021 Morbidity and Mortality Report, CDC
China
What we know about Evergrande’s financial future Channel News Asia
The Mekong Region Is a Test of China’s Global Development and Security Model Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
China’s bamboo could replace high-emitting plastics, but tech bottlenecks are stunting growth South China Morning Post. If we must have Asian monoculture, why on earth palm oil?
China’s Chang’e 5 moon samples, beyond NASA’s reach for years, are finally available to US scientists Space.com
The Koreas
South Korea Is Building a Gigantic Art Storage Facility in Its Latest Bid to Be Asia’s Art Hub ArtNet
Myanmar
After the Coup London Review of Books. Well worth a read.
India
Election results: What does BJP’s hegemony in the Hindi belt mean for Indian politics? The Scroll. Handy map:
European Disunion
Brussels braces for a politically explosive December EuroNews
Dear Old Blighty
Starmer heaps praise on Thatcher as he woos Conservative voters The Telegraph. Hat tip: The spooks, the press, Parliamentary Labour, and the Israeli embassy for defenestrating that dangerous lunatic, Jeremy Corbyn. And while we’re at the Torygraph–
Couple’s garden ornament turns out to be unexploded bomb The Telegraph
New Not-So-Cold War
Seymour Hersh, Anatol Lieven and the desperate DC gambit to end hostilities in Ukraine while claiming ‘victory’ Gilbert Doctorow. Excellent.
NATO should be prepared for ‘bad news’ from Ukraine: Stoltenberg Anadolu Agency
US funding for Ukraine set to run out by end of the year, White House warns FT
Watchdog: Western arms companies failed to ramp up production capacity in 2022 due to Ukraine war AP
‘Army Is Not Slavery!’ Ukrainian Soldiers’ Wives Want Them Home, Others To Get Mobilized Radio Free Europe (!).
Syraqistan
Hip-hop war anthem reaches number one in Israel Times of Israel. “Charbu Darbu” by Ness Ve Stilla (Google translate). “[W]we swear there won’t be forgiveness, sons of Amalek,’ Stilla raps, comparing Hamas to the Biblical enemy of the Israelites who must be obliterated.” On the Amaleks, see, e.g. 1 Samuel 15:3, as the prophet Samuel directs Saul, King of Israel: “Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” The moral of the story is also clear: God (for some definition of God) was upset with Saul, according to Samuel, because Saul didn’t follow His exact directions and “totally destroy” everything; Saul didn’t kill all the really fat sheep, and didn’t kill the King of the Amaleks either. I’m guessing if you’re a goat sacrificer, the mention of “Amalek” is an easily understood reference, but readers with local knowledge please correct.
Netanyahu’s Goal for Gaza: “Thin” Population “to a Minimum” The Intercept. There’s a phrase for this, I know it’ll come to me. “Closure”? “Ultimate answer”? “That’s the ticket”?
As Israel Plans Gaza Ethnic Cleansing, US Says No Tikun Olam
Israel wants ‘security envelope’, no Hamas on border after war, official says Reuters. “Envelope” also, I think, in “Charbu Darbu” lyrics. Perhaps a reader can translate.
Israeli troops get urban combat training as Gaza ground offensive pushes south France24. They’re only training now?
Military briefing: How Israel is attacking Hamas’s vast tunnel network FT. A sideshow. See above.
These Bunker Buster Bombs Are Ideal For Destroying Hamas Tunnels – America Just Sent Israel 100 Military Watch
What ‘tunnels’ and ‘hostages’ mean in Gaza Al Jazeera
Commercial ships hit by missiles in Houthi attack in Red Sea, US warship downs 3 drones AP
Enough of this Houthi Nonsense Stephen Bryen, Weapons and Security. I think the Boolean operator is wrong. Should be “not”, not “and.” Fixed it for ya.
Questioning Israel’s party line: A Jewish activist explains her awakening TRT World
South of the Border
Venezuela: Referendum Delivers Overwhelming Backing for Essequibo Claim Venezuelanalysis. On Essequibo, see NC here and here.
Biden Administration
Progressives heap pressure on Democrats as border talks screech to halt The Hill
The Supremes
Justices to review novel bankruptcy maneuver in public harms litigation SCOTUSblog
B-a-a-a-d Banks
How to deal with Europe’s zombie banks FT
The Bezzle
Jeff Bezos-Backed Real Estate Company Is Launching A New Fund To Acquire More Single-Family Homes Across The U.S. Yahoo Finance. “Arrived currently operates a fractional real estate investing platform that has attracted nearly half a million retail investors since its launch in 2021. The platform allows these investors to purchase shares of single-family rental properties with as little as $100.” Seems legit.
Digital Watch
The Robots Will Insider Trade Bloomberg. That’s not a bug. It’s a feature.
No: I Do Not Grasp the Five Dimensions of the Societal Impacts of Forthcoming GPT-LLM-ML Technologies Brad DeLong’s Grasping Reality. That’s because bullshit kinda slips through your fingers….
Europe’s AI Crackdown Doomed by Silicon Valley’s Lobbying Power Scott Dylan
Ego, Fear and Money: How the A.I. Fuse Was Lit NYT
Supply Chain
The new commodity superpowers FT
OPEC+ may have played its final card with voluntary crude cuts Hellenic Shipping News
Gunz
Tallying the Best Stats on US Gun Violence Is Trauma of Its Own Bloomberg. Yet more essential data coming from volunteers.
Xmas Pre-Game Festivities
How to flock a real Christmas tree with spray snow Orlando Sentinel
The Conservatory
Guardian Shane MacGowan obituary criticised by the Pogues for being ‘full of errors’ The Canary. Some Xmas cheer:
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Zeitgeist Watch
‘Rizz’ Charms Oxford Wordsmiths To Win Word Of 2023 Agence France Presse
Class Warfare
Welcome to a golden age for workers The Economist
For a better Kansas license plate design, we need a history lesson and maybe a bit of tape Kansas Reflector
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
