The world’s oldest Douglas fir trees have lived over 1,000 years FOX

How the Ancient Sumerians Created the World’s First Writing System Literary Hub

Climate

Plankton may not survive global warming with “devastating effects” Oceanographic

Plagues, Taxes, Storms, and the Jet Stream Nautilus

Water

How much water do Colorado communities actually need? In one, surprisingly little Colorado Sun

Syndemics

Despite warnings from bird flu experts, it’s business as usual in California dairy country LA Times

Canadian probe into teen’s critical H5N1 infection finds no clear source Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Microorganisms: The Growing Phenomenon of ‘Frozen’ Virus Genome Sequences and Their Likely Origin in Research Facility Escapes Avian Flu Diary

Thanksgiving Pre-Game Festivities

Take the turkey, leave the gravy: Thanksgiving food that TSA might confiscate at airport security FOX

Holiday Pro Tip: Rely On ChatGPT AI At Your Thanksgiving Table To Ease Polarizing Arguments And Achieve A Peaceful Celebration Forbes

Why a Family ‘F*rt Walk’ Should Be on Your Agenda This Thanksgiving SELF

China?

Beijing initiative on global supply chain cooperation released at 2nd CISCE CGTN

In careful protest, China Evergrande’s investors press for action Channel News Asia

‘Groundless’: China dismisses report about corruption probe into defence chief Dong Jun South China Morning Post

India

Adani Group says it lost nearly US$55 billion as US charges sparked rout Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect, halting deadly war in Lebanon CBS. Commentary:

Anger and distrust among displaced Israelis at ceasefire deal BBC

Israel May Sign Cease-fire Deal With Lebanon, but Iran Will Guarantee Hezbollah’s Compliance Haaretz

UN Resolution 1701 is at the heart of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire. What is it? AP

Displaced Craig Murray

Surge in New Settler-supporting Parties Ahead of Next World Zionist Congress Elections Haaretz

Supporters of Pakistan’s Imran Khan call off protest, his party says Reuters

Turkish bankers refilling ATMs three times a day as Erdogan resists printing bigger banknotes BNE Intellinews

US reconsiders F-35 sales to Türkiye after seeing KAAN fly: National Defense Minister Anadolu Agency

The New Great Game

The Georgian ombudsman backed parliament’s legitimacy, but 37 colleagues opposed JAM News

European Disunion

Scuffles in Serbian parliament as deadly station collapse sparks anger at the government AP

New Not-So-Cold War

Putin Isn’t Bluffing: Intermediate-Range Hypersonic Missile ‘Warning’ National Interest

Why all the fuss about Russia’s newly demonstrated Oreshnik hypersonic missile? Gilbert Doctorow

Swell of ‘WWIII’ Red Herrings Aims to Drown Out Mounting Russian Success Simplicius, Simplicius the Thinker

Trump can’t deliver a peace deal, says ex-Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba Politico

Russia rejects the possibility of freezing the frontline and insists on Ukraine’s capitulation – ISW Ukrainska Pravda

Responding to America’s Machiavelli Wannabes on Ukraine Landmarks: A Journal of International Dialogue

Russia accelerates advance in Ukraine’s east Reuters

Britain and France Just Surged Ukraine’s Cruise Missile Stockpiles Ready For Major Deep Strikes Into Russia Military Watch

Ukraine war briefing: Kyiv pulls back 100,000 mortar rounds after failures Guardian

Sixty British troops deployed to investigate drones over US airbases The Times. Commentary:

More Nord Stream intrigue! Bud’s Offshore Energy

South of the Border

BRICS Corridor: China Eyes Pacific-Atlantic Rail Project via Bolivia and Brazil Orinoco Tribune

Trump Transition

Trump proves he is serious on tariffs – but it’s not about trade BBC. Commentary:

Tariffs, Low Prices, Wall Street. Pick Two Matt Stoller, BIG

Jay Bhattacharya, prominent physician and economist, nominated by Trump for NIH director FOX

Marty Malarkey Closed Form

Breaking norms, Trump signs transition memorandum with Biden White House Al Jazeera

How Trump Plans to Seize the Power of the Purse From Congress ProPublica

Eight is Enough Doomberg (PI).

Antitrust

Justice Dept., Google make closing arguments in ad-market antitrust case WaPo

Spook Country

We Tracked Every Visitor to Epstein Island WIRED. “Many of the visitors were likely wealthy, as indicated by coordinates pointing to gated communities in Michigan, as well as homes in Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket in Massachusetts.”

Digital Watch

Tether Has Become a Massive Money Laundering Tool for Mexican Drug Traffickers, Feds Say 404 Media

Australia moves step closer to world-first social media ban for under-16s Al Jazeera. See NC for online age verification issues.

The Final Frontier

Why India’s latest Sun mission finding is crucial for the world BBC

Zircon trace element evidence for early hydrothermal activity on Mars Science

Zeitgeist Watch

Hallucinogenic sci-fi movie: Inside the rather bizarre relaunch of Jaguar Car Dealer

Imperial Collapse Watch

The U.S. Navy Can’t Build Ships Foreign Policy

Biden’s ‘Samson Option’ Patrick Lawrence, Consortium News

Class Warfare

Billionaire Megadonors Push State Courts Rightward Exposed by CMD

Thoughts on Oligarchy John R. MacArthur, Harper’s

The USA 2025, Germany 1933 History Unfolding

Antidote du jour (Lucy from manchester, uk):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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This entry was posted in Guest Post, Links on by Lambert Strether.

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.