California Burning
From smoke to roaring flames: Inside the first hours of the deadly Pacific Palisades fire NBC
How one street in LA went up in flames BBC. Altadena (i.e., not the Palisades).
* * * Climate change plays key contributing role in LA fires Axios. Commentary:
Yeah, dead giveaway that things are broken
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 13, 2025
The pistachio billionaires who guzzle more water than all of fire-ravaged Los Angeles Daily Mail. With shoutout to Yasha Levine!
How Well-Intentioned Policies Fueled L.A.’s Fires The Atlantic. Commentary:
When the fire department shows up thats Socialism. 🙄
When the Insurance Company doesn’t pay, or cancels your policy, that’s Capitalism.
— Brad (@BraddrofliT) January 13, 2025
* * * California fires could be costliest disaster in US history, says governor FT. On fire-rated buildings, a thread:
Beginners Guide to Fire Rated Building Design:
I’m a professional engineer that has designed and built buildings all over the country, and around the world. The first critical fire design was in California🧵 pic.twitter.com/1IYwzktQvI
— Matthew Chang (@matthewachang) January 11, 2025
The California wildfires could be leaving deeper inequality in their wake AP
* * * Amid the fires, LA is warning some residents the tap water isn’t safe. Here’s why NPR
How you can help the incarcerated firefighters battling L.A. wildfires LA Times
FBI searching for operator of privately owned drone that punched hole in Canadian firefighting plane FOX
Climate
Biodiversity, Latitude and Conservation: An Essay on Ecological Patterns 3 Quarks Daily
Syndemics
Mpox Clade I in the U.S. Should Be a Wake-Up Call MedPage Today
Bird Flu Is a National Embarrassment The Atlantic
* * * ‘I was an infectious disease nurse, I’ve never seen a crisis like the quad-emic’ iNews UK. The deck: “[I]t isn’t possible for people to ‘hand wash their way out of the quad-demic.”
ANALYSIS: Why are B.C. kids sick all the time? Health experts explain Surrey Now-Leader. Report from Bonnie Henry territory.
* * * Neurological post-COVID syndrome is associated with substantial impairment of verbal short-term and working memory Nature. N = 90. From the Abstract: After “a detailed neuropsychological test battery,”Deep neuropsychological assessment showed that neurologic [Post-COVID Syndrome (PCS)] patients performed worse in a general screening of cognitive deficits compared to [healthy controls (HC)]. Neurologic PCS patients showed impaired mental flexibility as an executive subfunction, verbal short-term memory, working memory and general reactivity (prolonged reaction time).”
Syraqistan
Hamas to release 33 hostages in breakthrough deal with Israel, report claims Daily Mail
Israel Targets Houthi Ports of Hodeidah and Ras Isa With More Airstrikes Maritime Executive
Oil Tankers Back Up Near Yemeni Port After Israel Hits Tugs gCaptain
Could Trump’s Sharing of a Scathing Video Offer a Glimpse Into His Relationship With Netanyahu? Haaretz
The rules-based international order:
Across the now-decimated Gaza Strip, America’s mark is everywhere. In footage shot by CBS News in May, the ground is littered with US-made ammunition casings – some used to prop up tents, others turned into playthings by children. pic.twitter.com/zvfeA8wEi7
— 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) January 13, 2025
China?
China releases world’s most powerful electronic warfare weapon design software – for free South China Morning Post
China’s exports in December up 10.7%, beating estimates as higher US tariffs loom AP
Why Trump’s tariffs might be just what China’s ailing economy needs South China Morning Post
Cambodia’s China-backed canal on Mekong may threaten ‘fragile ecosystems’ South China Morning Post
India
Maha Kumbh set to begin in Prayagraj with Shahi Snan The Hindu
How India’s Assembly Line Education System Shapes the Perfect H1B Candidate The Wire
Africa
A startup city in Kenya tries to tackle Africa’s problem of urbanizing while poor AP
European Disunion
Sahra Wagenknecht, Germany’s combative ‘left-wing conservative’ Agence France Presse
Belgians brace themselves for a nationwide strike on Monday EuroNews
Brussels hushed up Ursula von der Leyen’s week in hospital with pneumonia Politico
Dear Old Blighty
Elon Musk’s Latest Terrifying Foray Into British Politics New Yorker
The truth about Dominic Cummings and Elon Musk’s ‘sabotage plot’ The Spectator
Who is Ivor Caplin? Former Labour MP who criticised Elon Musk, now embroiled in child sex scandal Times of India. Silver lining:
Ivor Caplin, the former chair of the Israel lobby group the JLM, which is closely linked to the Israeli embassy, has been caught by paedophile hunters attempting to meet a child.
He was chair of the organisation during the campaign to oust Corbyn.pic.twitter.com/d1CYMIN6Iv
— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) January 11, 2025
New Not-So-Cold War
Russian elites are delighted with Donald Trump’s Mar a Lago press conference Gilbert Doctorow, Armageddon Newsletter
Zelenskyy ready to exchange N Korean soldiers for Ukrainians held in Russia Al Jazeera
Massive rally in Bucharest protests court’s decision to annul presidential elections Anadolu Agency
Zelenskyy suggests Transnistrian authorities may be siding with Russia amid energy crisis Ukrainska Pravda
Slovak parliament delegation arrives in Moscow for official visit Anadolu Agency
South of the Border
President Xi’s special envoy attends inauguration of Venezuela’s president CGTN
Venezuela’s president praises meeting with Turkish minister Anadolu Agency
US maintains Venezuelan oil licenses despite ‘illegitimate’ Maduro inauguration S&P Global
* * *
Trump Transition
Trump ally Steve Bannon blasts Elon Musk as ‘truly evil’ in MAGA split Al Jazeera
* * * One poll finds majority of Greenland respondents support joining US The Hill
‘You don’t just go and buy a country’: Greenland plunged into geopolitical storm FT
Antitrust
Monopoly Round-Up: LA Fires Change America, and Mark Zuckerberg Begins Bargaining Matt Stoller, BIG
Digital Watch
Mark Zuckerberg Defends Decision To Fly Confederate Flag At Facebook Headquarters The Onion
Realignment and Legitimacy
Class Warfare
The truth behind your $12 dress: Inside the Chinese factories fuelling Shein’s success BBC
Striking a Balance — Advancing Physician Collective-Bargaining Rights and Patient Protections NEJM
Chartbook 343 : Polycrisis & the critique of capitalocentrism. Adam Tooze, Chartbook
From Gaza to California: the flames that connect us all Mondoweiss
Antidote du jour (Nikhil More):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
