Prevalence of processed foods in major US grocery stores Nature
On Meds? You May Be Able to Eat Grapefruit Again Someday. New York Times
Why Skyscrapers Became Glass Boxes Construction Physics
California Burning
Eaton Fire is at 33% containment as death toll grows to 16 people LAist
Palisades Fire death toll grows as containment inches up to 14% LAist
Four lawsuits filed against Southern California Edison over Eaton fire LA Times
How the Los Angeles Fires Became So Devastating City Journal
As LA wildfires burn, a corruption probe left the Senate’s insurance committee chair vacant Cal Matters
Climate/Environment
Supreme Court allows Hawaii climate change lawsuits against energy companies to move forward CBS News
Pandemics
“Covidians” & Cults: Jay Bhattacharya’s Immature Fantasies Pandemic Accountability Project
India
CEOs want us to work weekends without overtime. Don’t we ask the same of our cooks, cleaners? The Print
India’s billionaire promoters’ club surpasses 200 members in 2024 Business Standard
China?
China Discusses Sale of TikTok US to Musk as One Possible Option Bloomberg
TikTok says report of possible sale to Musk ‘pure fiction’ BBC
Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, hits No. 1 on the App Store as TikTok faces US shutdown TechCrunch
Why China’s Ice Silk Road has Trump up in Arctic arms Asia Times
Old Blighty
Ministers mull allowing private firms to make profit from NHS data in AI push The Guardian
Grooming gangs inquiry ‘told not to investigate senior officers’ The Times
Starmer under pressure as second Labour MP breaks ranks to call for grooming gangs inquiry The Independent
Does this explain why Keir Starmer is all-in on the Ukraine proxy war?!#LabourPaedophileCrisis https://t.co/tLndrH1yxb pic.twitter.com/k4PHUvY9xY
— Kit Klarenberg 🔻🔻🔻🔻🔻 (@KitKlarenberg) January 13, 2025
Syraqistan
Jake Sullivan: Gaza hostage deal ‘finally’ at the point of coming together The Jerusalem Post
Trump’s Mideast Envoy Forced Netanyahu to Accept a Gaza Plan He Repeatedly Rejected Haaretz
Smotrich calls Gaza deal ‘catastrophe’, angers captives’ families Al Mayadeen
Extremist Israeli settler leaders invited as ‘special guests’ to Trump inauguration The Cradle
Italy urged to arrest Israeli general for crimes against humanity Anadolu Agency
Biden includes Israel in graphics processor export restrictions Globes. “Israel is one of a group of countries that will have to obtain US government approval to import the advanced processors that are at the basis of AI and supercomputers.”
Due to a lack of tents, Palestinians in Gaza resort to digging holes for shelter The New Arab
***
Sanctions – Trump’s Only Old/New Iran Policies Moon of Alabama
European Disunion
Poland charges four soldiers and fires general after anti-tank mines end up at IKEA warehouse Notes from Poland
Polish government defends plans to allow internet content to be blocked without court approval Notes from Poland
StravaLeaks: Dates of French nuclear submarine patrols revealed by careless crew members Le Monde
Emmanuel Macron is unwise to pick a fight with America Philip Pilkington, Unherd
New Not-So-Cold War
Trump Admin: Ukraine Should Lower Draft Age From 26 to 18 If They Want Our Full Support Real Clear Politics
The Potential for an Anti-Western Ukrainian Turn to the East Gordon Hahn, Russian & Eurasian Politics
***
Moscow Claims Ukraine Attempted an Attack on TurkStream Gas Pipeline in Russia Oil Price
Vital Pokrovsk coking coal mine halts operation, Reuters reports Kyiv Independent
UK to fund Ukraine’s production of air defense systems, long-range weapons Espreso
Sweden to send warships to NATO Baltic Sea patrols after ‘sabotage’ incidents Anadolu Agency
***
US Sanctions on Russia Ripple Through Tanker Market Bloomberg
Firstpost (India) Spotlight program: US Sanctions On Russia’s Oil Hit India Gilbert Doctorow
Russia’s economic dilemmas give Trump important leverage in negotiations on Ukraine. But will he use it? Chatham House
Russia’s Budget Oil Revenue Spiked by Almost a Third in 2024 Bloomberg
Remember: Russia Must Cannibalize for Chips? Think Again karlof1’s Geopolitical Gymnasium
Russia’s Geoeconomic Shift from Greater Europe to Greater Eurasia Glenn Diesen, Glenn’s Substack
The Dismal Science
There’s Much to Say About Economics of War, But Most Economists Won’t Address It Truthout
Spook Country
FBI, DHS warn of possible copycat efforts following New Orleans attack The Hill
US finds no ‘Havana syndrome’ link to foreign powers, but 2 spy agencies say it’s possible AP
Imperial Collapse Watch
US tightens its grip on AI chip flows across the globe Business Times. Commentary:
See the insane cognitive dissonance at play here: simultaneously saying “we want the world to run on American technology” 👇 and making it much harder for the vast majority of the world’s country to get American technology.
Makes just about zero sense.https://t.co/wr7B1cp99b
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) January 13, 2025
Biden Administration
Crime of the Century: CBS’ 60 Minutes Exposes the Biden Administration’s Complicity in Gaza Genocide, Interviews the Whistleblowers Informed Comment
Biden says US is ‘stronger’ on world stage in farewell speech France24. Commentary:
Biden is bragging about how much $ he gave weapons companies: “We’ve significantly strengthened the [military] industrial base, investing $1.3 trillion…that’s more than America did in any four year period during the Cold War.”
He promised us social welfare. We got this instead https://t.co/31AK8midjU
— Stephen Semler (@stephensemler) January 13, 2025
Having a guy who is 15 months into arming & funding an active genocide brag about his human rights legacy is just about the most Orwellian and contemptible act of political theater I’ve seen in my life.
— Omar Baddar عمر بدّار (@OmarBaddar) January 13, 2025
Biden Meant Well Foreign Policy
Trump Transition
Garland hands over special counsel report on Trump and 2020 election subversion to Congress CNN
Government Fears Liberal Jan. 6 Style Attack as Trump Inauguration Nears Ken Klippenstein
Are the very rich taking over American politics? Brookings. A little late to the party.
Trump’s Texas Tycoons Texas Observer
California Democrats approve $50M budget to help Newsom ‘Trump-proof’ the state The Hill
Healthcare?
Prospect Medical Holdings files for bankruptcy after owners took hundreds of millions in payouts CBS News. Private equity strikes again.
The CDC, Palantir and the AI-Healthcare Revolution Unlimited Hangout
AI
Why ‘Cost Avoidance’ Became an AI Buzzword for Holding Down Headcount Wall Street Journal
CEO of AI Music Company Says People Don’t Like Making Music 404 Media
Increased AI use linked to eroding critical thinking skills Phys.org
Police State Watch
Groves of Academe
Guillotine Watch
‘Pollutocrat Day’: the world’s richest have already burned their annual carbon limit for 2025; the poorest 50% will take 3 years Brasil de Fato
Class Warfare
The China Shock Revisited: Job Reallocation and Industry Switching in U.S. Labor Markets National Bureau of Economic Research
Phone books Internal exile
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
