Happy 2025!!! Hope yours is off to a good start.
Why Do We All Watch a Ball Drop to Celebrate the New Year? Vice
People Are Sharing Subtly Weird Parts Of Life In America, And Even As Someone From The US, I’m Thinking Twice About Some Of These BuzzFeed (Kevin W)
Ants Perform Better As a Group Than Humans When Trying to Solve the ‘Piano Mover’s Puzzle’ Laughing Squid
A practical, biomimetic, one-pot synthesis of firefly luciferin Nature (Micael T)
Missing dog returns home, rings doorbell BoingBoing
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Nearly 1M chickens test positive for bird flu at Darke County egg producer Dayton Daily News
Climate/Environment
Science and realism’: Governments plan for doomsday climate scenarios USA Today
World endures ‘decade of deadly heat’ as 2024 caps hottest years on record Guardian
After a few days of La Niña induced relief, we’re back above pre-2023 daily record global Sea Surface Temperatures… https://t.co/yck98QPmgJ pic.twitter.com/Hyw0wpurHY
— Leon Simons (is fine) (@LeonSimons8) December 30, 2024
China?
Will China’s Massive Dam Project Spark A Water War With India? India Today
Chuck L courteously sent the link for the article discussed below: A New Type of Political Party System That Has Grown Out of Chinese Soil Qiushi:
Many people dismiss China as a one-party state but the reality is actually much more nuanced than this.
As I’ve often argued you cannot possibly understand something – let alone criticize it – if you don’t also understand it from the standpoint of those who defend it. Meaning,…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 31, 2024
Rupiah Intervention Shows EM’s Strong-Dollar Headache Bloomberg
Koreas
South Korea poised to crash and burn in 2025 Asia Times (Kevin W)
Africa
From Sudan to the Sahel, War Spreads in Africa in 2024 Foreign Policy
European Disunion
Ukraine to end transit of Russian gas to EU BBC (Kevin W). In case you missed it.
Russia’s Gazprom stops gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine as transit deal expires TASS (guurst)
EU prepares to launch energy war The Duran, YouTube
Gas trading days in Europe end at 08:00 Moscow time. By the time you read this post, the gas flow may have already stopped.
During trading hours, gas prices in Europe rose to $536 per 1,000 cubic meters ahead of the expected halt in Russian gas transit through Ukraine, 👇 pic.twitter.com/VqEYEtHcnq
— Djole 🇷🇸 (@onlydjole) January 1, 2025
New French finance minister eyes 2025 deficit slightly above 5% Reuters
Old Blighty
Starmer asks UK regulators for ideas to boost growth BBC. Kill me now.
Keir Starmer vows to rebuild Britain as Labour did after second world war Guardian (Kevin W)
Retailers face collapse as costs rocket and High St distress levels soar 25% after Budget This is Money
Climate change will devastate value of homes, warns Bank of England Telegraph
Israel v. The Resistance
Winter rains worsen horrors faced by displaced Palestinians in Gaza Aljazeera
Rain, hunger, displacement under the threat of annihilation. Their homes pulverised. Israel blocking all basic survival supplies. https://t.co/tli7v9aqxq
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) January 1, 2025
In Gaza’s crowded tent camps, women wrestle with a life stripped of privacy Independent
* * * Hamas, Israel have reached an impasse in hostage negotiations, Arab mediators tell WSJ Jerusalem Post. Oddly not prominent at the Journal’s site.
Half of Iran’s industrial capacity halted by energy crisis Iran International
Iraq still negotiating with mediator to ensure Turkmen gas delivery Iraqi News
Syraqistan
Syria official’s comments on women spark uproar New Arab
Iran objects to Afghanistan’s construction of Pashdan Dam on Harirud Tehran Times
New Not-So-Cold War
America Needs a Maximum Pressure Strategy in Ukraine Foreign Affairs. And I would like a pony.
Finland Finds Anchor Drag Marks Left by Tanker That Broke Cables Bloomberg
Sweden’s opposition wants NATO article invoked after cable break Euronews
The Greatness of the Russian Army: Real results of 2024 Marat Khairullin. Unabashedly partisan. I trust readers can discount for that.
Do click through for details:
🇺🇸💥🇺🇦💥🇷🇺‼️Elon Musk is the main culprit for the defeat of Ukrainian forces in the Kursk region, Ukrainians claim‼️
Former colonel of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), Oleg Starikov, in an interview with political analyst Mihail Karasev, analyzed in detail the reasons 👇 pic.twitter.com/gdiLG5PvrB
— Djole 🇷🇸 (@onlydjole) December 31, 2024
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Gift Card Fraud Bruce Schneier
Imperial Collapse Watch
Middle Powers Revisited: “Good Citizens” of the World Majority Russia in Global Affairs (Micael T). From a couple of months ago. Still germane.
Who’d want to survive a nuclear war? Spectator
GOP Clown Car
Chip Roy on Johnson: ‘I don’t believe he has the votes’ The Hill
At least 10 killed, dozens injured as truck crashes into New Orleans crowd Aljazeera
Chief Justice Roberts condemns elected officials for intimidating judges The Hill (Kevin W)
Breaking: The lawsuit v Pfizer by TX Attorney General, Ken Paxton is dismissed Sasha Latypova
Immigration
Li from Dec 31: “Bannon and Batya are live ranting right now”:
Bannon: The program, from top to bottom, is a scam and a con. The workers here under this program should be deported, just like the 15 million we’ll start deporting on the afternoon of January 20th. Deport them now, and hire American citizens with the same skill set. pic.twitter.com/0Gw6iMYveJ
— Bannon’s WarRoom (@Bannons_WarRoom) December 30, 2024
Steve Bannon bashes Elon Musk and makes bold new demand as MAGA row over migrant visas escalates Daily Mail
Tech Giants Secure Work Visas For Tens Of Thousands Of Foreigners While Kicking Existing Employees To The Curb Daily Caller
Our No Longer Free Press
Russia Slams EU for Blocking State Media on Telegram, Vows Retaliation News Central
U.S. Natural Gas Futures Soar Ahead of Historic Cold Front OilPrice (Kevin W)
The Depletion Paradox Natural Resource Market Insights. We reported many years ago, based on expert views then, that shale gas production would peak in the mid-later 2020s, and decline gradually for a few years, then suddenly. It looks like the peak arrived early.
Office CMBS Delinquency Rate Spikes to a Record 11%, Blowing by the Financial Crisis Peak Wolf Richter (Li)
Class Warfare
when did the Washington Post hire Marie Antoinette as a columnist pic.twitter.com/FlyVZIDzJs
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) December 31, 2024
US credit card defaults jump to highest level since 2010 Financial Times
Antidote du jour. Tracie H: “Female Mallard duck. She doesn’t want to get her eyes wet if she doesn’t have to.”
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Someone brought an RC car to the dog park.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/SDprEFPFty
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) December 31, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
