Scientists Simulated a Quantum Apocalypse. Then the Universe Disappeared. Popular Mechanics
Climate
DOGE plans for NOAA, FEMA could have big climate impacts Axios
Should people be told? Arctic News
Syndemics
Revenge of the Covid Conspiracy Theorists Wired
Facing egg shortage, Americans bring chickens home to roost Straits Times
China?
China’s rust-belt regions at risk of being left behind as coastal economies surge South China Morning Post. Commentary:
This is interesting: China is the major country that’s least afraid of the various risks in the world, and in fact the only country where no risk scares a majority of people.
To the Chinese, the country’s top risk is the United States but only 42% believe it is actually a risk,… pic.twitter.com/VRoQE9s8Zq
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 13, 2025
China hedges its energy bets as Russia pipeline plan remains on hold South China Morning Post
India
Why India fails to protect its domestic workers despite decades of abuse BBC
Syraqistan
Ex-AIPAC Staffer: ‘I Woke Up to What Israel Was’ Zeteo
Egyptian source: Some of the issues threatening Gaza cease-fire have been resolved Haaretz
Rebuilding Gaza: What it would take to win this uphill battle Al Jazerra
Inside the Israeli movement to recolonize Gaza +972 Magazine. Commentary:
“I came home from school and half of our house was gone. There was a settler inside it. A settler from Long Island.”
Writer @m7mdkurd, whose new book “Perfect Victims” is out today, tells his story of growing up in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/UCtdR8SDid
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) February 11, 2025
European Disunion
New Not-So-Cold War
Double-Decker Special: Hysteria Ignites as Trump Throws Ukraine on the Third Rail Simplicius the Thinker
Return to pre-2014 Ukraine borders ‘unrealistic’, says US defence secretary FT. Commentary:
This is a capitulation to a Russian sphere of influence in the worst tradition of what I cover in book “The Folly of Realism” a “Russia First” policy. All the bloodshed from the Orange revolution 2004, Georgia war 2008, and Ukraine War 2014-2025 just to have the U.S. appease…
— Alexander S. Vindman 🇺🇸 (@AVindman) February 12, 2025
Putin uncommitted to any compromises in talks to end war – ISW Ukrainska Pravda. On negotiations, if any:
What’s fascinating is that the US and Russia will be negotiating without Ukraine, and without a ceasefire.
Which means Russia will control the negotiations by controlling the battlefield.
I think this is deliberate on the part of Trump.
It will compel Ukraine to beg for peace.…
— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) February 12, 2025
Trump refuses to call Ukraine an equal participant in peace talks Ukrainska Pravda
Russia experts decode Trump-Putin dynamics The Stanford Daily
Zelenskyy: Europe cannot guarantee Ukraine’s security without America Guardian
The Global South, Not Europe, Should Play Peacekeeper in Ukraine Foreign Policy
Trump Administration
Stephanie Kelton on the Disastrous Republican Economic Agenda Hamilton Nolan, How Things Work. The deck: “We don’t have two years. You won’t be able to pick up the pieces.”
Day Thirteen of the Trump-Musk Treasury Payments Crisis of 2025: Bombshell Court Filings Confirm Wired & Notes on the Crises Reporting & Raise Alarms About BFS-Based Impoundment Nathan Tankus, Notes on the Crises
* * * Tulsi Gabbard confirmed as US director of national intelligence Al Jazeera
Trump Suspends Funding to the National Endowment for Democracy Antiwar.com
Almost $500 million in food is at risk of spoilage after USAID pause, report says CBS
* * * White House says it’s the judges — not Trump — causing a ‘constitutional crisis’ AP
Trump hasn’t created a ‘constitutional crisis’ — he’s teaching Dems a lesson NY Post
What Marbury v. Madison means for the Supreme Court — and America AP
* * * Trump’s Envoy Lets Loose on the Panama Canal and ‘Imminent’ Change in Cuba Politco
How Trump’s Tariff Policy Will Shape the World (interview) Adam Tooze, Foreign Policy
* * * DOGE to examine NASA payments SpaceNews. No conflicts there!
“Armored Tesla” forecast to win $400 million State Department contract after Trump’s election, government document shows Dropsite News
Anduril Takes Over $22 Billion Contract to Build Technomancers for U.S. Army Core Memory. From Microsoft.
* * * CFPB Lays Off Dozens of Employees as Headquarters Remains Closed PYMENTS.COM/ Commentary:
More:
bet this hits so hard if you can’t do division https://t.co/6CLjYfAvdt
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) February 11, 2025
$711,586,678/334,900,000 = $2.1247736. Creating divisiveness!
SEC’s Peirce Says ‘Many’ Memecoins Likely Fall Outside Regulator’s Jurisdiction CoinDesk
Musk steals a billion dollars from low-income Americans and sends it to Intuit Pluralistic
Digital Watch
JD Vance warns against ‘excessive regulation’ of AI at Paris summit France24. Commentary
If you weren’t convinced that the US’s vision for AI is that of a geopolitical tool that it fully intends to weaponize, watch Vance’s speech in Paris’s AI Summit: pic.twitter.com/LZs6k4TrAM
He even literally says it: AI is a “weapon that’s dangerous in the wrong hands, but is an…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) February 12, 2025
Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US Wired
* * * AI summaries turn real news into nonsense, BBC finds The Register
Larry Ellison wants to put all America’s data, including DNA, in one big Oracle system for AI to study The Register
AI Misalignment: Google Gemini Flash Tried to Charge a User $500 (video) AI News & Strategy Daily, YouTube
* * *
Police State Watch
New York state prison placed on lockdown after inmates take over, injure three corrections officers FOX
Hackers leak cop manuals for departments nationwide after breaching major provider Daily Dot
Healthcare
Somatic mutation as an explanation for epigenetic aging Nature
Democrats en déshabillé
Anti-Monopoly Is the Path Forward Democracy
MMT
The Rise of the Modern Monetary System: An Integration of the Credit and State Money Approaches L. Randall Wray, Levy Institute
Imperial Collapse Watch
Human Rights on the Edge The Ideas Letter
Far more top-cited US scientists have papers retracted than peers in China: paper South China Morning Post
Class Warfare
The impending AI-driven jobless economy: Who will pay taxes? FOX
GigSlave Goes Public With $84 Billion Valuation (video) Onion News Network, YouTube
Antidote du jour (Bernard DUPONT):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
