Kenya relocates 50 elephants to a larger park Associated Press (furzy)
Scientists discover “negative time” in bizarre quantum experiment where photons exit atoms before entering ZMEScience (Dr.Kevin)
When Did the Roman Empire Fall? Antigone
#COVID-19
COVID-19 detection from exhaled breath Nature (ma)
Climate/Environment
World fails first review of COP renewable energy goal Politico
Trees threaten grasslands and wildlife they support as Minnesota pheasant opener nears Star Tribune (Robin K)
China?
China Moves to Tax the Ultra-Rich for Overseas Investment Gains Bloomberg
China deflation pressure mounts as investors seek more stimulus for economy Financial Times
Koreas
Canada-India Row
India and Canada expel top diplomats over murder accusations BBC
What’s behind Canada’s fresh charge against India? India Today (Kevin W)
Violence continues despite curfew in France’s Martinique: ‘Last night was a horror’ LeMonde
South of the Border
Venezuela: María Corina Machado Hastens Collapse of Far-Right Justice First Party Orinoco Tribune. Robin K: “That’s a damn shame!”
European Disunion
Europe Is Almost Out of Time to Defend Its Place in a Brutal World. Bloomberg
Poland to suspend right to asylum as ‘hybrid war’ escalates on Belarus border Politico
From Politico’s morning EU newsletter:
VDL EMBRACES EXTERNAL DEPORTATION CENTERS: Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU should consider legislating for “return hubs” in third countries to speed up ejections of undocumented immigrants, in a letter to capitals ahead of an EU leaders’ migration gabfest later this week.
Aligning deportation policies: The EU isn’t effective at removing people who arrive illegally, von der Leyen said in the letter, which was released to the media on Monday evening. Only around one in five of the non-EU citizens ordered to leave have done so. Dealing with this requires “a new legal framework to step up our capacity to act,” von der Leyen said, adding that revisiting the EU’s failed 2018 effort to align deportation policies would be an immediate priority for the incoming migration commissioner.
Going mainstream: The proposal for third-country deportation centers, along the lines of Italy’s contentious new initiative to ship migrants off to Albania, could mark a sharp new turn in the EU’s approach to migrants. Just last week, as Playbook reported, Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson downplayed the prospect of deportation camps, adding that no one has formally proposed this. Now, in writing, von der Leyen is pointing to Italy’s Albania initiative as an opportunity to “draw lessons from this experience in practice.”
Old Blighty
The age of energy rationing is looming for Britain Telegraph
Reeves hints at rise in employer national insurance, as critics claim it breaches manifesto Guardian (Kevin W)
Councils in London at financial ‘breaking point’ BBC
UK farmers forced to cut food production to stay viable, warns NFU Financial Times
Israel v. The Resistance
Israel does what it does; it was always planned this way Alastair Crooke (alerts from many readers). Extensive quotes from a Michael Hudson interview with Nima; links to transcripts at NC.
Here’s An Audit Of The Ongoing Genocide In Gaza Madras Courier
Starmer and Lammy today sanctioned Iran 🇮🇷 for the missile attack on Israel 🇮🇱 in response to their pager attack that killed over 40 Lebanese 🇱🇧 and injured 3,500.
Last night Israel 🇮🇱 burned Palestinians 🇵🇸 alive in their tents.
Not a word from Starmer or Lammy. pic.twitter.com/rmSis5Y8pl
— Howard Beckett (@BeckettUnite) October 14, 2024
Germany asked Israel to sign ‘genocide clause’ – media RT (Kevin W)
US Arms Dealers Witness ‘Record Profits’ From Israel’s Year-Long Genocide in Gaza, War on Lebanon Orinoco Tribune (Robin K)
Simply No Red Lines At All Craig Murray (Anthony L)
Smotrich: “We will continue to fix, legalize (illegal outposts) and make de-facto (Israeli) sovereignty (in the West Bank)”
Following a vote in the Israeli government’s Security Cabinet in favor of placing mobile shelters in illegal West Bank outposts (meaning illegal even under… pic.twitter.com/1m4EMDHfVt
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) October 14, 2024
Israel is turning northern Gaza into a killing cage Jeremy Scahill
🧵Starting a 3rd running thread on the case of the Israeli soldiers arrested for raping a Palestinian at the Sde Teiman concentration camp.
Ha’aretz newspaper, today:
“The prosecutor described in graphic detail the abuse the soldiers allegedly engaged in, which resulted caused… https://t.co/Xhf82cIKam pic.twitter.com/81NoPdl04e
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) August 22, 2024
* * * A whole news report on the Binyamina attack and *not* one mention that it was a military base and the 67 injured are all IDF soldiers.
Making it seem as though Hezbollah attacked civilians is transparently an attempt to continue justifying the US-Israeli war in Lebanon. https://t.co/BVwYvTf7qZ
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) October 13, 2024
Israel has just won the war crime of the century prize: The IDF used chemical weapons on UN peacekeepers! https://t.co/R5FzMK6Qa6
— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) October 13, 2024
* * * Israel races to supply anti-missile shield Financial Times. Lead story. The independent media was all over “US to supply [ineffective because no way enough missiles] THAAD air defense story yesterday. This lead story is a bit broader. The THAAD system will require ~100 US soldiers to operate it. How long will it take to get to Israel? The arrival and installation of the THAAD is a rate-determining step. Israel will not attack Iran until it is installed. Remember the point is not just whatever limited protection it offers, but US troops as a tripwire. If it has a radar, I assume it has to be transported by sea, which = time. Any reader thoughts? Will this take (or can it be made to take) so long that it puts the retaliation past the election? The flip side is that Judge Napolitano reported near the top of a fresh interview with Jeffrey Sachs that Channel 14 in Israel reported that the attack will come before the US elections.
Israel Assures U.S. It Will Not Strike Iran’s Oil and Nuclear Facilities, Officials Say Wall Street Journal
Iran slams new US oil sanctions, calls them ‘illegal and unjustified WION
‘No red lines’ in conflict with Israel, Iran foreign minister says Poiltico
Fake Reports Of Missile Transfers To Russia Are Used To Sanction Iran Moon of Alabama
Syraqistan
Tribal clashes in north-west Pakistan kill at least 11 people Guardian
New Not-So-Cold War
SITREP 10/14/24: Russia Tightens Ring on Key Region on Eve of Zelensky “Victory Plan” Unveiling Simplicius
BILD: Scholz disagrees with Zelenskyy’s calls to support Ukraine and seems to have no intention of handing over heavy equipment to the country
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been touring Europe to propose a “victory plan” and seek urgent support in the fight… pic.twitter.com/iVdBINyCDt
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) October 13, 2024
Fat and stupid; Why NATO is good (for us). Marat Khairullin
The Militarisation of Scandinavia & the Great Northern War 2.0 Glenn Diesen (Micael T)
Between Russia and Iran all is well that ends well Indian Punchline. Bhadrakumar is very uneven. Just a week ago, he was claiming that Israel would not attack Iran. I’m not sure I buy a thesis here, that Pezeshkian is still meaningfully driving the bus with respect to Middle East policy (that does not, BTW, mean he can’t be an interlocutor). Pezeshkian was one of the loud voices for holding off on the Iran retaliation based on noises the US was making about possible Iran normalization. Pezeshkian has since had to eat a ton of crow and admit the US lied to him. Some commentators have suggested Pezeshkian is diminished to the degree that he is on the way out. Military decisions are the purview of the Supreme Leader.
Trump
Trump news conference: Insults, wild claims and apocalyptic view of U.S. Los Angeles Times (furzy)
Kamala
What the Polls Really Say About Black Men’s Support for Kamala Harris New Yorker (furzy)
CNN Tells Harris Not to Talk About the Economy Dean Baker. Robin K: “Defending the Biden economy!!!”
2024
Massive Early Voting Turnout Surge Shatters Records Across Wyoming Cowboy State Daily. Big increase in voting level already predicted by an in-state reader.
The 2024 Kansas voter suppression scandal: Government, social media team up to block engagement Kansas Reflector (Robin K)
Helene/Milton Aftermath
Speaker Johnson says FEMA hasn’t spent most of $20 billion in disaster aid Just the News
Federal flood maps underestimated risk in areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene Washington Post (furzy)
Extent of destruction from Hurricane Milton comes to light WSWS
Our No Longer Free Press
The FBI Knocked On My Door Ken Klipperstein (furzy)
Liberals are Losing their Minds over Elon Musk Jonathan Turley
Flyover Watch
Tenth District Energy Activity Declined Further Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City (Robin K)
Rural Missouri groups threaten lawsuit over PFAS in meatpacking sludge Missouri Independent. Robin K: “Missouri’s not the only state with meatpackers.”
Ag Secretary Vilsack deflects on future career plans, regulatory ‘revolving door’ Investigate Midwest. Robin K: “OK, this is last week. This guy needs exposing as often as possible.”
AI
Google strikes a deal with a nuclear startup to power its AI data centers Endgadget (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Man Who Accidentally Sent $527M in Bitcoins to Dump Sues Local Council to Retrieve Them: Report CoinDesk (Kevin W)
You Can’t Make Friends With The Rockstars Ed Zitron (Micael T)
Video: Elon unveils ‘Robovan’ and ‘Cybercab’ CNN (furzy)
Class Warfare
The Global South’s Poor Should Not Be Subsidizing the IMF Center for Economic and Policy Research (Robin K)
Congress Is Underfunding Tribal Colleges by $250 Million Per Year ProPublica (Robin K)
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
The peacemaker 🐈 pic.twitter.com/BvfGhQYhIT
— contents that ll heal your depression 🌻 (@Catshealdeprsn) October 14, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
