Worm reproduces by injecting sperm into its own head ABC Australia. Anthony L: “Old, but gives a whole new meaning to “‘dickhead’”
World’s largest crocodile in captivity dies BBC (Robin K)
Meta’s Plan For Nuclear-Powered AI Data Centre Thwarted By Rare Bees Financial Times
Israeli, Tajik Archaeologists Prove Early Human Presence in Central Asia Haaretz (Robin K)
Nietzsche’s Debt to Zoroastrianism: How a Cultural Collision Contributed to Also Sprach Zarathustra Journal of the History of Ideas Blog (Anthony L)
Spa Owner Accused of Performing Thousands of Fake Botox Injections Gizmodo (Dr. Kevin)
Climate/Environment
New Study Suggests Oceans Absorb More CO2 Than Previously Thought ScienceTech Daily
Ethiopia bans imports of gas-powered private vehicles, but the switch to electric is a bumpy ride Associated Press
World’s largest transformer maker warns of supply crunch Financial Times
L.A. County Sues Pepsi and Coca-Cola Over Their Role in the Plastic Pollution Crisis Los Angeles Times
Heavy rains in Barcelona disrupt rail service as troops search for more flood victims in Valencia 9 News (Kevin W)
China?
China and Europe’s EV fight just stepped up a notch Business Insider
Swiss university’s not-so-neutral policy to restrict applications from Chinese students South China Morning Post (Anthony L)
Africa
Botswana’s stunning election upset puts elites on notice Responsible Statecraft
South of the Border
Mexico Decided to Take Out the Heads of Drug Cartels. It Proved to Be a Dangerous Strategy
Haaretz (Robin K)Ecuador lives through a week of blackouts, protests and long holiday Prensa Latina
Cuba Could Face A Complete Collapse Of Its Power Grid as Financial Crisis Continues to Spiral Latin Times
European Disunion
BALKAN BLOG: What went wrong for the EU in Georgia’s and Moldova’s elections? BNE
Old Blighty
Britain’s car finance fiasco risks crashing the economy Telegraph
Thousands of blue-clad protesters join London march for clean water Guardian
Israel v. The Resistance
Entire northern Gaza population ‘at imminent risk’ of death, UNICEF head says Washington Post
LIVE: Israel bombs Syria, attacks Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital again Aljazeera
Fake document scandal reveals Israeli efforts to undermine ceasefire talks Mondoweiss
“The thought that we could end the bloodshed without doing justice to the (Palestinians) is not only malicious, but a dangerous illusion. The “peace process” is trying to do precisely that… That is why I’m against it.”
In late 1994 a young Israeli anarchist named Yossi Wolfson… pic.twitter.com/CT0bbO3f4X
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) November 4, 2024
Entire Palestinian families, no survivors, are being wiped out in northern Gaza and erased from the civil registry. The “Generals Plan” of depopulation through extermination. https://t.co/ObIQH1hA3r
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) November 5, 2024
* * * Israel issues 7,000 draft notices for ultra-Orthodox Jews Anadolu Agency
* * * From a few days ago, still germane:
Al Akhbar:
○ Washington and the US Embassy in Lebanon did not allow Iraqi Airways to land at Beirut airport and establish an air bridge to provide aid for the displaced, insisting that the aid must pass through Jordan for inspection first.
○ Washington also threatened to… pic.twitter.com/CNWHcvCNV5
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) November 2, 2024
The Ditch is going to court The Ditch (John B). The cause of action: “FedEx continues to bring munitions to Israel through Irish sovereign airspace illegally.”
B-52s in Qatar — What is the Pentagon Thinking? Larry Johnson
* * * Turkey moves to close Palestine loophole to end trade with Israel Middle East Eye. But we still have the elephant in the room of oil transit.
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine faces toughest winter yet as energy shortages loom Politico
Will NATO’s robot weapons fend off Russia? Baltic leaders hope so The Times
People’s Liberation Army [of China] brass in Russia a day after Chinese Premier Li Qiang met Vladimir Putin at Kremlin South China Morning Post
NATO intends to fight ‘defensive battles’ thousands of miles from its territory — Lavrov TASS
Hat tip Alex Christoforu. But no confirmation via an internet search:
Rules based order at its finest. Sanctions don’t apply to the US:
US Treasury Department is now authorising financial transactions with multiple Russian banks.
This is to permit the purchase of renewables, oil, petroleum products, natural gas, coal, timber and Uranium.
— The Sirius Report (@thesiriusreport) November 4, 2024
Syraqistan
The story we’re publishing today is one you really have to read to believe. It’s about the U.S. role in fomenting authoritarianism in Pakistan, but more broadly about the way institutions like the New York Times treat the scourge of antisemitism only as a weapon to wield against…
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) November 3, 2024
Imperial Collapse Watch
“Anwar: I rejected US call not to be friendly with Russia”.
“I replied, ‘That’s your issue; don’t instruct us. We are an independent, sovereign country; we make decisions for our people and our nation’,” he said to Anthony Blinken. https://t.co/NnBT2ofEQZ
— Warwick Powell | 鲍韶山 (@baoshaoshan) November 5, 2024
Trump
GOP primed to back Trump if he contests election The Hill
The potential coup coordination planning group here is called State Democracy Defenders Action. State AGs should keep a close eye on this group over the next 2 months, as they are doing what Bidenworld State AGs went after Trumpworld for allegedly doing in 2020 but 100x worse. https://t.co/ErXW05Bl8g pic.twitter.com/hQbLYZMLy8
— Mike Benz (@MikeBenzCyber) November 3, 2024
⛔️No RFK Jr—The CDC lists water fluoridation as one of 10 great public health achievements of 20th century, recommended by nearly all public health, medical organizations, including Am Dental Association, Am Academy of Pediatrics, U.S. Public Health Service, and the WHO. pic.twitter.com/kI02FPuUVS
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) November 4, 2024
2024
Where it will rain on Election Day Politico
Florida polls will open at 7am tomorrow.
Luckily for everybody – we are gonna get to watch the GOP surge in realtime AND if there is any Democrat “surge.”
Will be the first test as to whether this belief that GOP used up its ammo before Election Day is true.
FL isn’t…
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) November 4, 2024
America’s reckoning: will gender decide the US election? Financial Times
Top Democratic strategist Jim Messina calling early voting numbers “scary” on MSNBC “is the biggest indication we’ve seen that the early vote is a problem for” Kamala Harris, says @MarkHalperin. Messina’s comments are “brutal honesty. Look at every major urban center in the swing… pic.twitter.com/iXEa027m17
— 2WAY (@2waytvapp) November 4, 2024
But Trump is flagging in the close: Mark Halperin Declares ‘Tired’ Trump Lost Momentum, Calls Rally In Pennsylvania ‘One of the Worst Events I’ve Ever Seen Him Hold’ Mediate
Washington Braces for Potential Unrest With New Fences Encircling White House and Harris Residence Sputnik (Kevin W)
The Americans Prepping for a Second Civil War New Yorker (Kevin W)
Pennsylvania election officials weigh in on challenges to 4,300 mail ballot applications Associated Press (furzy)
Trump or Harris? Whoever wins will face a shift in power in the global economy Guardian
With Oil Prices Weak, OPEC+ Postpones Increases Again New York Times
Mr. Market Should Be More Nervous
From Britain to France to the US, we may be headed for a new financial crisis Telegraph
Office CMBS Delinquency Rate Spikes to 9.4%, Highest Since Worst Months after the Financial Crisis Wolf Richter
AI
AI will kill writing – scientist RT (Robin K)
The Bezzle
Intel might be too big to fail — Washington policymakers are already discussing potential solutions if the chipmaker cannot recover Tom’s Hardware
As I understand it, production of the cheaper Vision Pro has been delayed beyond 2027 for a while now. This means Apple’s only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with an upgraded M5 processor.
I think what really drove Apple to delay the cheaper…
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo) November 3, 2024
Class Warfare
Insurers on high alert for strikes, riots and civil commotion risks InsuranceERM
Boeing Machinists approve new contract, ending strike Seattle Times
Unemployed Gen Zers are having to turn down work because they can’t afford the commute and uniform, report shows Fortune (Kevin W)
Antidote du jour (Mike K):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
I’ll save you, my friend..🐘🥺😊❤️ pic.twitter.com/6PYleEovD0
— 𝕐o̴g̴ (@Yoda4ever) November 3, 2024
A second bonus (katiebird):
Cow artpic.twitter.com/ZdEMrkEzUa
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) October 19, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
