Finding hope: Panji and the Javan green magpie BBC (Allen K)
Planet Puppet n+1
How English Swear Words Evolved Over Thousands of Years Laughing Squid
World’s oldest bond celebrates 400 years with a €300 payout DutchNews (Kevin W)
School smartphone ban results in better sleep and improved mood University of York (Paul R)
Climate/Environment
Seven quiet breakthroughs for climate and nature in 2024 you might have missed BBC
China?
China’s Key Bond Yield Hits Fresh Record Low as Data Disappoints Bloomberg
After all the hostility Trump (and before that Biden) has demonstrated to China, I can’t think China sees this as more a Trumpian bluster so as not to burn all brides, or a headfake:
This 👇 potentially changes everything, it looks like Trump envisions a U.S.-China G2.
He says that “China and the United States can together solve all the problems in the world”.pic.twitter.com/9flqAGb9IU
From the point of view of a citizen of the Earth, I’m all for an improved…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 17, 2024
FORMER CIA CHIEF MIKE POMPEO had just seen his boss, US President Donald Trump, hit Hong Kong hard by signing an order cancelling its special trading status.
But Pompeo’s associate in the city, a publisher named Jimmy Lai, was making confusing statements, so he decided someone… pic.twitter.com/vRIq4TOFk3
— Nury Vittachi (@NuryVittachi) December 16, 2024
The Global South Is on the Brink of a Disastrous Debt Crisis. Reform Is Urgent TruthOut. We’ve featured many warnings by Jomo on this very topic.
Koreas
Washington’s Bad Bet on Yoon Daniel Larison
South Korea – Impeached Coup President ‘Aligned With Washington’s Values’ Moon of Alabama (Kevin W)
South Korea’s central bank vows to stabilise markets amid political turmoil. South China Morning Post
O Canada
Canada’s finance minister resigns as Trudeau deals with declining popularity Associated Press (Robin R). ZOMG, I thought Chrystia Freeland was the sort who would never give up power. Does she had a trick up her sleeve, or more likely, some important non-elected post she expects to assume? Or does she hope to replace him if he loses a vote of confidence? But at this juncture, she looks to be another victim of Alex Christoforou’s Elensky Curse.
Canada finance minister quits after clash with Trudeau over Trump tariffs, spending Reuters (Kevin W)
President-elect Trump goes after Chrystia Freeland, the now former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada and former Minister of Finance. pic.twitter.com/cZuylI6aB0
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 17, 2024
In the annals of Canadian political history, few politicians have exhibited as much hypocrisy as Chrystia Freeland.
Freeland has showered love and affection on Israel’s genocidal regime while constantly berating Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
Moreover, Freeland’s signature…
— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) December 17, 2024
European Disunion
EU presses for new powers to combat threat of Chinese import surge Financial Times
German election: Scholz loses confidence vote DW
Germany should pull out of NATO, says leader of far-right AfD The Times
Germany is unravelling just when Europe needs it most Fortune
François Bayrou’s tough task: Forming a big-tent government Le Monde
The assessment that Greece has been an ‘astonishing success’ beggars belief Bill Mitchell. I have to confess that I missed this horror. Glad to see Mitchell and Varoufakis, among others, shellack it.
Old Blighty
UK government approves $4.6-billion takeover of Royal Mail by a Czech billionaire Associated Press (Kevin W). Holy shit. No protests?!?!
How did Yang Tengbo become close confidant of Prince Andrew? Guardian (Kevin W)
Israel v. The Resistance
Intent: The Road to genocide Law4Palestine
Culture would have us believe there’s room for debate. I have something to say about that Alon Mizrahi. Podcast with transcript.
Zionist cutouts and intermediaries David Miller (Dr. Kevin)
🚨 Ongoing Israeli Assaults on Healthcare in North Gaza
➤ Director of Kamal Adwan Hospital, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya: “Israeli drones kill anyone who moves inside. If the world does not intervene in hours to save us, the hospital will turn into ruins.” An aggressive attack is… pic.twitter.com/8DkyuqyK8b
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) December 15, 2024
Netanyahu’s Office: The government unanimously approved Netanyahu’s plan to encourage settlement in Syria.
Netanyahu: “Strengthening the Golan means strengthening Israel, & this is crucial during this period. We will continue to hold onto it, develop it, & settle it.” pic.twitter.com/H3EhOzP9AO
— Ramy Abdu| رامي عبده (@RamAbdu) December 15, 2024
Iran’s Assad Calculus: Actual Costs of Support vs Benefits to Iran Perspectives (guurst). Today’s must read. Debunks common claims about role of Syria in The Resistance.
US Sanctions Disrupt Iranian Crude Flows to China, Vortexa Says Bloomberg
New Not-So-Cold War
SITREP 12/16/24: Negotiations Talk Curdles as Ukraine Loses More Territory Simplicius
European ‘peacekeepers’ in Ukraine? A horrible idea. Responsible Statecraft
Expanded meeting of the Defence Ministry Board Kremlin
🇷🇺🇺🇦‼️🚨 Mass desertion in the 155th Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces!
-> The brigade was trained in France.
Ukranian Yuriy Butusov explained the mass desertion in the 155th Brigade:
“I will tell you about the situation in the 155th Brigade. They packed several thousand… pic.twitter.com/zTdFk2fRMu
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 14, 2024
Ukraine assassinates Russian chemical weapons chief in Moscow bombing Politico (Micael T)
Zakharova: General Kirillov exposed the crimes of the Anglo-Saxons for many years Vzglyad via machine translation (Micael T)
Can Trump Avoid HUMILIATING DEFEAT in Ukraine? | Alex Christoforou Interview Larry Johnson, Countercurrents
About Power Projection. Andrei Martyanov. Martyanov very much disagrees with one of Christoforou’s lines of thought above.
Andrei Martyanov and Power Julian Macfarlane. Martyanov is on a roll. And we got a nice shout out.
Syraqistan
US affirms Türkiye’s right to go after PKK but dodges questions on YPG Anadolu Agency
Assad says he didn’t intend to leave Syria, statement claims BBC
Foreign powers jockey for control in Syria, risking new conflict Washington Post. Gee, ya think?
Imperial Collapse Watch
Trump 2.0
Judge rules Trump does not have presidential immunity protections in hush money conviction CNN. This was a motion to dismiss and so went before the same judge. Appeal to follow.
Trump girds for battle with Democrats, Supreme Court over birthright citizenship The Hill
Yellen Cautions Trump Against Meddling With Financial Regulations Pymnts
Trump says Zelensky not invited to inauguration RT (Kevin W)
Meet the Project 2025 People Who Are Filling Up Trump’s Administration Zeteo. I would prefer a table or roster to a video. As Lambert explained longer-form, Project 2025 is rife with internal contradictions, so it’s not a coherent policy program as much as a very long list of hobbyhorses. And this list in the intro to this piece, the only one in a post considered to be Cabinet-rank is Russ Vought at OMB, and that “cabinet rank” posts are not as powerful as Cabinet members (an analogy is the head of the Council Economic Advisers v. the Secretary of the Treasury). So while this behavior bears watching, this evidence is not yet dispositive.
Biden
Joe Biden’s pardons are a moral surrender Unherd (Anthony L)
Connolly bests Ocasio-Cortez in key vote to lead Democrats on Oversight panel The Hill. All of that kissing up to Pelosi for naught.
Do Americans approve or disapprove of Congress? FiveThirtyEight (Robin K)
Our No Longer Free Press
🔥Documents show Biden’s State Department deliberately left Gonzalo Lira to die in a Ukrainian prison..‼️
Gonzalo Lira, whose videos some of us watched, became a political prisoner who was tortured to death with the support of the US government’s Deep State. This was simply… pic.twitter.com/moIr2M8tMI
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) December 16, 2024
‘Libel warfare’: ABC’s payout to Donald Trump sends a chill across US media Financial Times. Help me. Defamation and freedom of speech are two different categories. And the US is way more permissive about what constitutes defamation than many other countries.
Woke Watch
The Dustbin of Literary History The Reading Experience (Anthony L)
AI
The Bezzle
Never Forgive Them Ed Zitron. Lambert featured yesterday in Water Cooler, but important not to miss.
Guillotine Watch
Luigi Mangione’s Best Defense Strategy Might Be to Avoid Arguing Over Guilt Wall Street Journal
New Crisis Hotline for CEOs? Ken Klippenstein (Chuck L). Bwahaha!
Class Warfare
Generation Pocket Money. Inheritocracy: It’s Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad Literary Review (Anthony L)
The “Injury-Productivity Trade-off”: How Amazon’s Obsession with Speed Creates Uniquely Dangerous Warehouses Senate.gov. Important. If you are pressed for time, read the Table of Contents. On top of refusing to remedy harmful workplace conditions, Amazon discourages injured workers from getting more medical care than first aid even when they clearly need it, and makes it exceedingly difficult for them to obtain required accommodations when recovering.
Fintech firm opts for AI over hiring LinkedIn (Robin K)
Antidote du jour (Alena S):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Dog sense parent’s approach – alerts tiny human to get on with homework.. pic.twitter.com/FxLUigPjo7
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) December 14, 2024
A second bonus (Peter D):
Sometimes a different sibling may be born. 😂 pic.twitter.com/hLU7uOP5it
— Figen (@TheFigen_) December 13, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
