Watch Cockatoos Dip Their Food in Water to Make It Soggy Smithsonian
New Paper Argues That the Universe Began with Two Big Bangs JSTOR Daily
NASA Study Finds Life-Sparking Energy Source and Molecule at Enceladus NASA. One of Saturn’s moons.
Climate
How the world agreed to move away from fossil fuels at COP28 Reuters
From forest gaps to landscapes: new insights into ecosystem functions (press release) University of Würzburg
Water
Opinion: Colorado River operations must adapt to a variable climate, and it starts with every basin state taking responsibility Colorado Sun
White House orders studies of Snake River dam removal to restore salmon populations The Hill
#COVID19
What companies can do against Long Covid (abstract-only; paywalled, like, everywhere) Britta Domke, Harvard Business Manager. Original. “There’s money in prevention.” Translated from German (images only, sorry):
The dangers of repeated COVID-19 infections Halifax Examiner. Good.
“No one I know has Long Covid” John Snow Project
The Global Economy Is A Pandemic Factory Nate Bear, ¡Do Not Panic!
China?
China’s Country Garden prevents worsening of debt crisis with payment Business Standard
China’s former railway head sentenced to 15 years in prison for corruption South China Morning Post
Xi Jinping urges ‘to the letter’ compliance as China’s economic recovery remains top concern South China Morning Post
‘Digital afterlife’: Chinese mourners turn to AI to resurrect the dead France24
COVID-19 surge in Southeast Asia: Experts stress personal responsibility, dismiss need for pandemic-era curbs Channel News Asia. In Southeast Asia, personal responsibility includes masking. What a concept. No mention whatever of ventilation, however.
Myanmar
Temporary ceasefire agreed between junta, armed groups in north Myanmar: China Channel News Asia. Framed by China as a “conflict in northern Myanmar,” and NUG is not at the table.
Meta in Myanmar (full series) Erin Kissane
Syraqistan
Graphic Videos and Incitement: How the IDF Is Misleading Israelis on Telegram Yaniv Kubovich, Haaretz. Courageous reporter. And editor.
Israeli control of Gaza would not ‘make sense’, says US security adviser FT
Kirby: White House knows two-state solution to Israel-Hamas war ‘elusive,’ not giving up The Hill
In shift, a top Hamas official floats Israel recognition Al Monitor. Haven’t seen this elsewhere….
Biden points to Gaza hostages when asked about Israeli tunnel flooding reports Reuters
How are Houthi attacks on ships in the Red Sea affecting global trade? AP
Su-35 vs. JF-17 Block III: Iran and Pakistan’s New Fighters Are Total Opposites – Which is Better? and How Useful Are Israel’s F-35s For Gaza and Lebanon Operations? Surge in Parts From U.S. Facilitates Intensified Strikes Military Watch. “The F-35 still suffers from over 800 combat bugs and is considered unsuitable for even medium intensity combat, with the nature of operations against non-state militia groups representing combat at a very low intensity.” Combined, a useful round-up on aircraft in Syraqistan.
CNN Goes To Gaza Caitlin’s Newsletter
Conjuring Trick New Left Review
Not. however, hegemonic:
Happy anniversary:
Today marks 15 years since Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi threw his shoes at US President George W. Bush at a news conference in Baghdad to express his rage towards America’s illegal invasion of Iraq. pic.twitter.com/JouDSYeY4e
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) December 14, 2023
European Disunion
Hungary vetoes $54B EU funding for Ukraine Anadolu Agency
Europe’s true beliefs on Ukraine are put to the test Politico. The deck: “Hungary and Ukraine fatigue risk undermining ‘as long as it takes’ vow.”
New Not-So-Cold War
Accepting Defeat In Ukraine Moon of Alabama
Biden says US will support Ukraine ‘as long as we can’ amid GOP standoff, a change from ‘as long as it takes’ Business Insider
Ukraine needs help now, “not after the eggnog” – White House Ukrainska Pravda. “….to be a friend is fatal.”
Pentagon prepares to make ‘tough choices’ between US readiness and Ukraine support as funding package lingers FOX
How the US keeps funding Ukraine’s military — even as it says it’s out of money AP
Key takeaways from Putin’s 1st major news conference since war on Ukraine began Axios
Putin’s Q&A and Some Revealing Article Roundups on AFU’s Deterioration Simplicius the Thinker(s)
Vladimir Putin’s “Direct Line” Q&A session today Gilbert Doctorow
Ukraine gets EU membership boost, but no new European aid, after setback in US ABC
Ukrainian trial demonstrates 2014 Maidan massacre was false flag The Grayzone
South of the Border
Venezuela and Guyana to Maintain Direct Dialogue Amid Essequibo Dispute Venezuelanalysis. Commentary:
Following lengthy, but fruitful talks between Guyana and Venezuela, I share with the world The Joint Declaration Of Argyle For Dialogue And Peace Between Guyana and Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/z11EX2tGBU
— Mia Amor Mottley (@miaamormottley) December 15, 2023
The Afterlife of a Coup The Baffler
Grievance and Reform Phenomenal World
Biden Administration
House passes annual defense bill with extension of controversial surveillance tool FOX. Snowden:
Congress has voted to pass the NDAA—in which they deceitfully concealed an extension of the warrantless spying program (“Section 702”) universally opposed by the public.
Last year the FBI exploited 702 to spy on Americans (protestors, donors—even Congress) more than 200k times.
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) December 14, 2023
AUKUS Partnership Given Go Ahead By Congress Naval News
5 NDAA topics causing a stir as defense bill heads toward final vote The Hill
The FAA is developing an air traffic tool built for the space age. It may need help FedScoop
Our Famously Free Press
When the New York Times lost its way 1843
NY Times publisher fires back at ex-editor who says paper ‘lost its way’: That’s a ‘false narrative’ FOX
Digital Watch
ChatGPT may have become ‘seasonally depressed’ as creators race to fix AI after users moan over bizarre change The US Sun. Anthropomorphism and the seasonality agenda item. Impressive.
Take It to the Spank Bank The Baffler
AI isn’t and won’t soon be evil or even smart, but it’s also irreversibly pervasive TechCrunch. Key AI use case: Making sure callers to customer service lines never, ever “reach a real human.” Generalizing: 100% crapification of the customer experience.
US highlights AI as risk to financial system for first time Al Jazeera. Don’t worry. Silicon Valley will sell us protection.
The Bezzle
Politics and the Future Andreesen Horowitz. “If a candidate supports an optimistic technology-enabled future, we are for them. If they want to choke off important technologies, we are against them.” What’s “important”? Shorter: We did not misallocate capital to broken tech (robot cars, Web3, crypto). We merely need to optimize the political economy so our tech doesn’t break (or is not seen to).
Science fiction writers imagine a future in which AI doesn’t abuse copyright, or their generosity The Register. Science fiction stuff!
Fraudsters steal more than $25 million in “AI-powered” crypto ponzi Web3 is Going Just Great
Spook Country
Portrait of a Troubled Loner-Leaker Spy Talk. Jack Teixeira.
Realignment and Legitimacy
Constitution in the Crosshairs: The Far Right’s Plan for a New Confederacy The Progressive
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Self-Doubting Superpower Fareed Zakaria, Foreign Affairs. The deck: “America Shouldn’t Give Up on the World It Made.” Sunk cost fallacy.
Class Warfare
Jet Defects Stoke Debate Over Who Should Inspect Mechanics’ Work WSJ. “Exacerbating the issue is a shortage of workers to build planes in an industry that lost legions of its most qualified mechanics amid the pandemic shutdown and the grounding of 737 MAX jets after a pair of fatal crashes.” I wonder if there could be…. some other Covid-related factor besides (America’s totally pissant) shutdowns?
Why Do We Dream? Maybe to Ensure We Can Literally ‘See’ the World upon Awakening Scientific American
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
