1,329 tiny snails released on remote island BBC
The 7 Coolest Mathematical Discoveries of 2024 Scientific American
America’s Problematic Policies (video) Ambassador Chas Freeman, Dialogue Works, YouTube
Russia’s DECISIVE Offensive Has Been Launched! ESCALATING Confrontation (video) Scott Ritter, Gilysarts Artesanatos, YouTube
US Admits ATACMS Failure, Blames Ukraine, Stockpile Depleted; Russia Storms Kurakhovo Plant (video) Alexander Mercouris, YouTube
Climate
Did a wet climate give rise to China’s first empires over 2,000 years ago? South China Morning Post
The Japanese ‘micro-forest’ method is transforming cities EuroNews
Syndemics
CDC: Revised Interim Recommendations for Prevention, Monitoring, and Public Health Investigations of HPAI H5 Avian Flu Diary
Norovirus cases surge in US Anadolu Agency
As David Tennant’s Macbeth gets cancelled, more questions are raised around Covid protections The Canary
Hospitals in South Wales introduce mask-wearing rules amid fears of rising flu cases Sky News
Africa
In Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, China is proving it is master of the sea South China Morning Post
The New Great Game
Kavelashvili sworn in as Georgia’s president as predecessor vows to fight on France24
Syraqistan
Israel detains director of key north Gaza hospital as WHO condemns raids Al Jazeera. Commentary:
Last photograph of Dr Hussam Abu Safiyeh as he walked towards the Israeli tank . pic.twitter.com/n34y7ReAc9
— Ghassan Abu Sitta (@GhassanAbuSitt1) December 28, 2024
(Safiyeh was arrested, not killed, at least not yet.)
* * * The BBC’s Civil War Over Gaza Dropsite News
Enabling genocide? Al Jazeera
Armed for survival: How Oct 7 Hamas massacre transformed gun culture in Israel FOX
* * * Afghan Taliban hit ‘several points’ in Pakistan in retaliation for attacks Al Jazeera
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukrainian military faces manpower shortage amid increasing desertions France24
* * * Ukraine Slows Firing of Missiles Into Russia as Trump Prepares to Take Office NYT
The Perils Of Escalation With Russia Are Still Very Real The National Interest
Russia warns the United States against possible nuclear testing under Trump Reuters
* * * Zelenskyy accuses Slovakia of opening ‘second energy front’ against Ukraine Al Jazeera
Russia ‘limits to zero’ gas supplies to Moldova starting Wednesday Anadolu Agency
* * * Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s interview with Russian and international news media, Moscow, December 26, 2024 (transcript) The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
Global Elections
2024 Was a Year of Angry Elections Foreign Policy
South of the Border
Bolivia’s former leader Evo Morales seeks a political comeback from his stronghold in the tropics AP
Trump Transition
Elon melts down:
The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.
Take a big step back and FUCK YOURSELF in the face. I will go to war on this issue the likes of which you cannot…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 28, 2024
Commentary:
More on H1-B:
I’ve addressed this 18 y ago in The Black Swan: America’s edge is in risk taking, not education. Any idiot can have education; you need to learn to fail.
The American system has been based on trial and error. Which is why foreigners succeed here not at home. pic.twitter.com/d8ZVQQ7FEG— Nassim Nicholas Taleb (@nntaleb) December 29, 2024
Tesla Emerges Among Top Employers Of H-1B Visa Holders Forbes
* * * Trump sides with Musk in H-1B fight Axios
Trump supports immigration visas backed by Musk: ‘I have many H-1B visas on my properties’ NY Post
Trump’s green card proposal for college grads sparks controversy Anadolu Agency
* * * Tech and outsourcing companies continue to exploit the H-1B visa program at a time of mass layoffs Economic Polich Institute. From 2023, still germane.
India intensifies lobbying against H-1B curbs, in touch with US govt ‘at every level’ India Today
* * *
2024 Post Mortem
Joe Biden’s lonely battle to sell his vision of American democracy WaPo
Feds finally release photos showing then-VP Biden meeting son Hunter’s China biz partners — days before he leaves office New York Post
Boeing
‘It’s still in shambles’: Can Boeing come back from crisis? BBC
179 passengers ‘presumed’ dead in South Korea plane crash Anadolu Agency
Plane catches fire while skidding down runway during rough landing in Canada Daily Mail
Healthcare
Officials investigating link between Ozempic and eye-rotting disease that makes people blind Daily Mail
Housing
US homelessness up 18% as affordable housing remains out of reach for many people AP
Technology
Why not here?
A company in eastern China’s Jiangsu designed wearable airbag jackets to protect the elderly from tumbles.
The protective system can react within 0.18 seconds with a chip that monitors changes in posture in real time and senses a potential impact. pic.twitter.com/99ceuWgeEx
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) June 3, 2024
Class Warfare
Resisting retirement? Why some people want to keep working EuroNews
The Unbearable Slowness of Being: Why do we live at 10 bits/s? (PDF) (preprint) arXiv.org. “This article is about the neural conundrum behind the slowness of human behavior. The information throughput of a human being is about 10 bits/s. In comparison, our sensory systems gather data at ∼ 109 bits/s. The stark contrast between these numbers remains unexplained and touches on fundamental aspects of brain function: What neural substrate sets this speed limit on the pace of our existence?”
Day One 3 Quarks
Antidote du Jour (Arturo de Frias Marques):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
