NT insect collection opens doors to citizen scientists to share knowledge, deepen ties around biosecurity ABC Australia (Kevin W)
To better understand the world, follow the paths of mathematics aeon (Chuck L)
Chuck L: “Potentially game-changing information conveyed in an annoyingly inefficient way.”
Japanese scientists have created a hydrogel that reverts cancer cells back to cancer stem cells in 24 hours
pic.twitter.com/tfw77dYFGv— Interesting STEM (@InterestingSTEM) February 16, 2025
#COVID-19/Pandemics
We are clearly in the midst of an anomalously severe flu season.
Although H5N1 has not been detected in high numbers among humans, there’s a good chance that it’s quietly playing a significant role without even infecting humans directly.
How, exactly? Let’s lay it all out: 🧵 pic.twitter.com/abKiycb3VY
— Friesein (@Friesein) February 17, 2025
Opinion: Long COVID is solvable, but we need more clinical trials Los Angeles Times
Climate/Environment
🚨🌊🌡📈
And there it is, Global Sea Surface Temperatures reach levels not seen in at least 120,000 years before 2023 again!! https://t.co/SOdTHPuETI pic.twitter.com/Cb1CfyfCHi— Leon Simons (looking up) (@LeonSimons8) February 17, 2025
Widespread ecological damage from oil spills in Niger Delta revealed in international study Irish Times
China?
New tech could greatly extend life of lithium-ion batteries China Daily (Chuck L)
Koreas
Seoul blasts North Korea’s ‘inhumane’ demolition of family reunion centre France24
India
MODI TAKES HIS BEST SHOT – HOW INDIAN STRATEGY PUTS TRUMP IN FRONT OF PUTIN John Helmer
India is way too eager to embrace Trump’s America RT (Micael T)
Africa
Farmer-herder tensions ignite across Africa GIS Report
Young, old, refugees and returnees: thousands fleeing violence cross border into South Sudan Guardian
South of the Border
Argentina president faces impeachment calls over crypto crash BBC
Mexico Threatens To Sue Google Over Gulf Renaming Associated Press
European Disunion
Europe’s perfect storm: Trade wars, energy shortages, and political chaos FXStreet
German voters demand change as Europe’s biggest economy stalls Reuters (Kevin W)
Huge increase in fuel prices expected from 2027 Tasseschau via machine translation. Micael T: “Another political EU decision to impoverish people until you own nothing.”
Germany’s Shocking War on Online Speech: Armed Police Raids for Online “Insults,” “Hate Speech,” and “Misinformation” Reclaim the Net (Micael T)
Von Der Leyen’s Scandals: From ‘Pfizergate’ to Favoritism and Vanishing Texts Sputnik. Micael T: They missed UvdL biblical beating of Bundeswehr’s rifles into broomsticks”
The EU’s propaganda machine Thomas Fazi
Ambulances sound the alarm: “Forced to steal blankets from hospitals” Aftonbladet via machine translation. Micael T: “Perversions of privatization. If you can’t steal enough money from the public coffers, you start to steal things too.”
Old Blighty
Rachel Reeves has three options to dodge an economic crisis and all are unthinkable Guardian
The true extent of the energy crisis across Scottish communities Herald Scotland
Israel v. The Resistance
Trump’s Pro-War ‘Understanding’ with Netanyahu Daniel Larison
Israel says its army to stay in ‘buffer zone’ in Lebanon Anadolu Agency. This is what normal people call an occupation.
Hezbollah chief says Israel must fully withdraw from Lebanon by February 18 Reuters
Facilitating their Potential Demise: the Dangerous Game US Jewry is Playing with America’s White Supremacists Alon Mizrahi
New: The ‘I thought they were Arabs’ Defense Mark Wauck (Micael T). Wowsers.
A long-standing trope from Graham. No idea if his barking should be taken more seriously now:
Sen. Lindsey Graham says Trump must decide soon on Iran’s nuclear program—either diplomacy or military action. He strongly favors the latter, urging the U.S. to help Israel strike Iran’s nuclear sites. The White House hasn’t commented. pic.twitter.com/kTBcVhKU4k
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) February 18, 2025
New Not-So-Cold War
Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Kyiv ‘will not recognise’ US-Russia talks that exclude Ukraine Financial Times
U.S. Questions For European Governments – Another Wake-up Call Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)
EUROPE GETS AN ANATOMY LESSON Patrick Armstrong (guurst)
Visa, Mastercard may soon try to return to Russia — lawmaker TASS. IMHO this is being made into more than it is. This is a view by someone not party to the negotiations of something the Americans might want. But this is also a Trojan horse to get the US to reopen dollar payments. The history of sanctions is they tend not to be rolled back, and here I would expect that even if Trump were to break the pattern, that the process would not be quick. Moreover, this is one place the Europeans could throw a spanner by demanding that sterling, Euro, and other EU-non-Euro currencies be excluded. The UK and EU are in such a snit that the last thing they want to do is facilitate their tourists visiting Russia. This would impose coding time and costs on the networks. I have no idea how much of a dent that would make in the economic attractiveness of going back to the Russia market, particularly given that most experts think that most Russians are happy with the Mir card and thus Visa and Mastercard would have much much lower transaction volumes than before the sanctions were imposed. Regardless, it seems odd that the Russians would be flagging this as a priority from the US side.
US imposing ‘colonial’ resource deal on Ukraine – media RT
INTERVIEW: Certain EU countries nourishing ideas of annexing Ukrainian lands — Medvedchuk TASS (Chuck L)
The mad king of Kyiv: Why Zelensky can’t afford to end the war The Hill
Europe and Ukraine talks “No peace comes from such dictates” Taggeschau via machine translation (Micael T)
Angry farmers push Poland away from Ukraine Politico
Such EU humanity in the spirit of totally hateful Western totalitarian values!
🇷🇺🇵🇱 Russian tourists flying from Egypt to Kaliningrad are stranded in Poland without food and water.
Flight UJ681 of AlMasria Airlines made an emergency landing in Poznan. The Poles refuse to let… pic.twitter.com/aLMiy9wYRY
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) February 16, 2025
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Chase Will Soon Block Zelle Payments To Sellers on Social Media Bleepingcomputer. A spanner for the planned Twitter payment scheme?
Nearly 10 Years After Data and Goliath, Bruce Schneier Says: Privacy’s Still Screwed The Register
Imperial Collapse Watch
What is Trump’s Strategy Towards Russia and China? Larry Johnson
War and the Global Economy: Rising Debt, Policy Failures, and the Fear of Conflict in 2025 Avenue Mail
Britain: Operation Gladio’s Secret ‘Headquarters’ Kit Klarenberg (Micael T)
The Russian opposition is also hit hard by the closure of USAID Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T)
Trump 2.0
Trump’s Economic Recovery – A Dead End? Michael Hudson, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen, YouTube. A must watch
Trump’s ‘big stick diplomacy’ won’t go far in today’s world system South China Morning Post
Tulsi Gabbard Has Nothing to Say Ken Klippenstein
Democrats quietly prepare for a Trump constitutional crisis Axios. Paul R: “Good luck with that, Dems. Looking forward to the sternly worded letters.”
DOGE
Drug inspectors, AI experts, maternal health workers: Trump’s health agency cuts are far-reaching STAT
How the federal funding and hiring freezes are leaving communities vulnerable to wildfire Grist
Humanitarian effort in Syria decimated by US aid cuts Le Monde
Protesters target Tesla showrooms over Elon Musk’s cost-cutting Financial Times. From GM via e-mail:
There was a protest at the Tesla showroom nearby Stanford yesterday.
By a lot of people who Elon Musk was a hero of for many years.
Musk signals DOGE could look into gold at Fort Knox The Hill (Kevin W)
AI
The Generative AI Con Ed Zitron
The Bezzle
Emboldened crypto industry seeks to cement political influence and mainstream acceptance Associated Press (Kevin W)
Class Warfare
The ‘White Collar’ Recession is Pummeling Office Workers Fortune
Assume a Debt Crisis Stephanie Kelton
Antidote du jour (Tracie H):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Two Kings….The AIR and LAND!
(ai) pic.twitter.com/N5MPlvYQbr
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) February 17, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
🌟Debussy “Clair de Lune” on Piano for 80 Year Old Elephant
An elephant flaps will flap their ears when they’re happy. She loves this.🌸🌸🌸 pic.twitter.com/pOOJ7pZANr— 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗖𝗹𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗠𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗰 🎼💝 (@Hoang_HQ) February 14, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
