Bumblebee population increases 116 times over in ‘remarkable’ Scotland rewilding project The Scotsman

World Beekeeping Awards axe honey prize due to fraud BBC

All Life on Earth Today Descended From a Single Cell. Meet LUCA. Quanta

Digestive contents and food webs record the advent of dinosaur supremacy Nature

The Dogs of Chernobyl Are Experiencing Rapid Evolution, Study Suggests Popular Mechanics

Climate

What to know about the plastic pollution crisis as treaty talks conclude in South Korea AP

Water

After the Klamath River dams came down, salmon came back High Country News

Syndemics

Persistence of spike protein at the skull-meninges-brain axis may contribute to the neurological sequelae of COVID-19 Cell. From the Highlights: “SARS-CoV-2 spike protein persists in the skull-meninges-brain axis in COVID-19 patients. Spike protein is sufficient to induce brain pathological and behavioral changes in mice.”

A Personal Pre-Pandemic Plan Avian Flu Diary

China?

Chinese county grapples with how to lure and reward workers for difficult, low-level jobs South China Morning Post

China permits full foreign ownership of hospitals in key cities CGTN

Kelly Grieco on Indo-Pacific Reactions to Trump’s Reelection The Diplomat

Philippines politics is often mad. It just got crazier Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

Syrian rebels’ advance breaks war’s fragile stalemate FT. Commentary:

And:

Syria: Deadly strikes hit Aleppo as rebels seize airport, push towards Hama Middle East Eye

Syrian army withdraws troops from Aleppo to prepare counteroffensive Politico

Israel’s Cease-fire With Lebanon and the Breakdown of the ‘Unity of Fronts’ Won’t End Gaza War Haaretz

Lebanon’s Unbalanced Ceasefire Teeters on the Brink Craig Murray

Iran brings thousands of centrifuges online, defying International Atomic Energy Agency resolution S&P Global

The New Great Game

Georgia’s president will not step down until ‘illegitimate’ election rerun Al Jazeera

US suspends strategic partnership with Georgia Ukrainska Pravda

European Disunion

Notre-Dame: How Europe’s great cathedrals owe much to Muslim craftsmen Middle East Eye

Czech city wants to hire Ukrainians to police due to “problems in diaspora” Ukrainska Pravda

New Not-So-Cold War

Zelensky suggests NATO membership could halt ‘hot phase’ of war The Hill

Zelenskyy agrees to record podcast with American interviewer Lex Fridman Ukrainska Pravda

Zelenskyy’s diplomatic play for Trump Politico

Russian Intel. Elaborates on Western Plans to ‘Freeze’ the Ukrainian Frontlines with NATO Troop Deployments: Preparing For a Second War Military Watch

Russia, Targeting Ukraine’s Grid, Moves to Cut Off Its Nuclear Plants NYT

NATO warships surround Chinese ship suspected of sabotaging undersea internet cables — ship allegedly dragged anchor 100 miles Tom’s Hardware

Desertion threatens to starve Ukraine’s forces at a crucial time in its war with Russia AP

How Biden Made a Mess of Ukraine The Atlantic

Nord Stream: hide-and-seek deep under the Baltic sea Le Monde Diplomatique. No paywall.

Moving Toward Defense as a Service War on the Rocks

Trump Transition

Trump and Republicans in Congress eye an ambitious 100-day agenda, starting with tax cuts AP

The best-case scenario for Trump’s second term Noah Smith, Noahpinion

What is net worth of Trump’s Cabinet? The staggering wealth of his nominees revealed Daily Mail

Trump picks hardline ‘deep state’ critic Kash Patel as new FBI head FT. Commentary:

Pete Hegseth’s Mother Accused Her Son of Mistreating Women for Years NYT. “The Times obtained a copy of the email from another person with ties to the Hegseth family.”

Tulsi smears are an American tradition. They shouldn’t be. Responsible Statecraft

Trump nominates Florida sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the DEA FOX

Trump threatens 100% tariff on BRICS nations in case of dollar replacement Anadolu Agency

Homelessness

The Invisible Man Esquire

Antitrust

Monopsony Power and Poverty: The Consequences of Walmart Supercenter Openings Institute of Labor Economics

Digital Watch

Record-breaking diamond storage can save data for millions of years New Scientist

The Final Frontier

What would happen day by day if aliens made contact with earth, according to ex-NASA expert Daily Mail

Zeitgeist Watch

MPs who backed assisted dying bill say concerns remain BBC

Words matter: ‘enduring intolerable suffering’ and the provider-side peril of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada Journal of Medical Ethics. Commentary:

AI-Powered ‘Death Clock’ Promises a More Exact Prediction of the Day You’ll Die Bloomberg

How Humor Takes the Edge off Hard Times Scientific American

Are we living in a simulation? Scientist claims we all chose at BIRTH to become characters in an advanced AI world Daily Mail

Imperial Collapse Watch

Dilemmas Dissident Voice

Thanksgiving Post-Game Festivities

Is turkey the main reason you’re tired after a Thanksgiving meal? Colorado Sun

The collards mystery Yasha Levine, The Weaponized Immigrant

I spent 30 years as a therapist to killers – and no one is born evil BBC

America’s Most Common Dreams—and Why You’re Having Them Newsweek

Antidote du jour (Dr.Haus):

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.