Dear patient readers,
We trust all of you enjoyed this festive season, or at least got some R&R. We wish you all a happy, healthy, and prosperous 2025!
Astronomers Discover an Ultra-Massive Grand-Design Spiral Galaxy PhysOrg
An archeological revolution transforms our image of human freedoms aeon (Anthony L)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
Oh. https://t.co/kRp5xCPiv7 pic.twitter.com/diJ9C0L6Zh
— Gina 😷 COVID is Airborne 💚 (@Saffiya_Khan1) December 30, 2024
Climate/Environment
Watch Greenland lose 563 cubic miles of ice in under 30 seconds in disturbing new time-lapse video Space (Kevin W)
Race for Arctic resources in a climate change era Asia Times (Kevin W)
How Oil Companies Offload Costly Cleanup Onto the Public ProPublica (Robin K)
Expulsion in the name of climate hysteria : Tanzania’s Maasai must give way Cocotteminute (Micael T). “Climate scamming” seems more apt.
China?
EXCLUSIVE: Former GM Exec Warns Tesla and China’s EV Domination Is Unstoppable Brighter with Herbert, YouTube (Vikas S)
What UK fighter pilots did and didn’t teach China’s PLA Asia Times (Kevin W)
US Treasury says it was hacked by China in ‘major incident’ BBC (Kevin W)
Interestingly, while Americans debate how to make medicines more affordable, China is now debating the exact opposite problem: some worry their drugs are becoming too cheap.
This is because China launched in 2018 a centralized procurement system officially called “group…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 29, 2024
Koreas
South Korean court issues arrest warrant for impeached President Yoon Anadolu Agency
Going Nuclear Is a Bad Option for South Korea Daniel Larison
Why was there a wall near runway at S Korea plane crash airport? BBC (Kevin W)
Japan
Japan’s road to nowhere Julian Macfarlane (Micael T)
European Disunion
Elon Musk Doubles Down on Endorsement of Far-right Alternative for Germany Party Haaretz
From a few days back, but worth a watch (Chuck L):
“You are corrupt to the last fibre of your being.”
MIC DROP: German MEP Christine Anderson calls Ursula von der Leyen “the wrecking ball that mercilessly tears down everything that has made the European peoples strong”, to her face. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/ZPstrrFa5R
— Wide Awake Media (@wideawake_media) December 28, 2024
Old Blighty
How disillusioned Labour supporters can fight back against Starmer and Reeves Steve Keen (Micael T)
Israel v. The Resistance
After brutally expelling patients from northern Gaza’s hospitals to put the medical facilities out of service and implement its mass expulsion plan, the Israeli military is arresting them in their transfers (coordinated with the World Health Organisation) to other hospitals. https://t.co/JmRHuniv5n
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) December 30, 2024
Jimmy Carter’s Palestine legacy Mondoweiss
New Not-So-Cold War
The absurd story of Ukrainian gas transit and Nord Stream Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T)
Who benefits from the end of Ukrainian gas transit Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T). Important. Some key bits not what you might assume.
Genuine “Power Politics” in Ukraine and Eastern Europe Larry Johnson
Biden Administration Announces Nearly $6 Billion in New Ukraine Aid Antiwar (Kevin W)
Ukraine corruption.
THIS YEAR:
13 (thirteen!) Rolls Royce Spectre were bought in Ukraine.Price: $650,000 each.
The first one was delivered to a member of Parliament – Vatsak. Several more were also bought by deputies and officials.
Only 3 of 13 Rolls Royce buyers have… pic.twitter.com/8kc3u6A6Wq
— Diana Panchenko 🇺🇦 (@Panchenko_X) December 29, 2024
CLOSING OUT 2024: FROM RUSSIA TO THE U.S.A. Hal Freeman (Anthony L)
Syraqistan
Chuck L: “Haven’t seen corroboration. Was Julani smoking a controlled substance?”
الجولاني يعترف بإن تحركه العسكري حال دون وقوع حرب اقليمية واسعة جدا ضد اسرائيل تشارك فيها سوريا والعراق وايران مما قد يحرج تركيا ويدفعها للوقوف مع ايران.
الرجل يعترف صراحة بأن مهمته حماية اسرائيل وتأمين توغلها العسكري في سوريا بسلام.
الم اقلكم اني عرفت تصهين الإخوان منذ عام ١٩٩٣ pic.twitter.com/qfEhM5A2dM— محمد البخيتي(Mohammed Al-Bukhaiti) (@M_N_Albukhaiti) December 29, 2024
Syria’s de facto leader says holding elections could take up to four years Aljazeera (Robin K)
BREAKING 🚨🇸🇾 first statement by Syrian resistance against the new AlQaeda regime.
Unlike the new regime they speak of Palestine, Wahhabi Zionism and the Jewish ISIS. I’m so proud they used those terms. True Syrians know that the Levant is one body. Yet they were the ones who… pic.twitter.com/f8Fwlj5bRi
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾 (@Partisangirl) December 30, 2024
The scramble for Syria: Regional powers jostle for influence The Cradle
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Meets With HTS Leaders in Damascus Antiwar (Kevin W)
US helps Syria’s ruling Al Qaeda offshoot while punishing its people Aaron Mate
Imperial Collapse Watch
What a Year 2024 Was. How energy and resource depletion undermined the post WWII order and democracy Honest Sorcerer
Geopolitical plates shifted this year. We’ll see the fallout for years to comeps://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2024-12-30/ty-article/how-to-build-an-empire-slavery-in-ancient-rome/00000194-177e-dc0f-abdc-1f7e5bfc0000″ rel=”nofollow”>How to Build an Empire: Slavery in Ancient Rome Haaretz (Robin K)
Trump 2.0
Bill Ackman expects Trump to privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Reuters (Reuters)
RFK Jr. vs. Oz sets up clash on weight loss drug coverage The Hill. IM Doc has raised concerns over what appears to be irreversible muscle loss (muscle mass loss is a marker of biological aging), including for the heart. However, RFK, Jr., who I suspect has never been meaningfully fat, underestimates how hard it is to get and keep fat off.
Appeals court upholds verdict finding Trump liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll The Hill
Game of Chicken, Budget Version
US to hit debt ceiling as soon as Jan. 14 Associated Press
Immigration
What to know about H-1B visas at the center of Musk-MAGA fight The Hill
The H-1B program is about corruption and fraud, not ideology Jonathan Schachtel (Micael T)
I’m not going to comment on the specific debate that has captured the attention of X right now – I am not an American and I have never crossed the Atlantic – but, as a general point, any line of reasoning that assumes
1) that a country with a population the size and quality of…
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) December 27, 2024
New evidence of widespread wage theft in the H-1B visa program Economic Policy Institute. From 2021, still germane
Trump Weighs In on Immigrant Visa Debate but Offers Little Clarity New York Times. Confirms our speculation in comments, that Trump used H-2B, not H-1B visa holders.
EXCLUSIVE: Fears grow over spread of sadistic super gang Tren de Aragua across America… as expert issues chilling new warning Daily Mail. The fact that this looks like awfully propitious timing given the Trump emphasis on getting illegal entrants who are also criminals does not mean the facts alleged are not true.
Mr. Market is Moody
Global corporate borrowing climbs to record $8tn in 2024 Financial Times. From earlier this week, still germane.
Boeing Falling Apart Airplanes
South Korea To Inspect Boeing Aircraft as It Struggles To Find Cause of Plane Crash Associated Press
Jeju Air faces second Boeing 737-800 incident – media RT (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Insurers Continue to Rely on Doctors Whose Judgments Have Been Criticized by Courts ProPublica (Robin K)
Cocoa bean beats Bitcoin RT (Robin K)
Bronze should not rust either:
The Olympic gold medals awarded in France rusted after just four months. pic.twitter.com/bsKV65jLLZ
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) December 29, 2024
Guillotine Watch
America in Two Headlines Ken Klippenstein (Chuck L)
Jimmy Carter was the one ex-president in the modern era to openly admit (and lament) the truth about what America has become in the post-Citizens United era.
The national press corps probably won’t mention this, but it was really something. He was a real one. RIP. pic.twitter.com/W3QYPT6Fwf
— David Sirota (@davidsirota) December 29, 2024
Class Warfare
Evolution Journal Editors Resign En Masse ars technica
In a First, Surgical Robots Learned Tasks By Watching Videos Washington Post
I’m an emergency physician. The modern telehealth model should have all of us concerned. MSNBC. Headline weirdly buries the lede. Amazon Medical being sued over patient death.
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
An aquarium in Japan changed the diet of its penguins and otters due to rising costs, and the animals started to refuse to eat the cheaper fish pic.twitter.com/dMiTDDPwB7
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) December 29, 2024
A second bonus:
Kitten watching and learning from mama cat.. pic.twitter.com/hBfTgIuknA
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) December 30, 2024
And a second bonus (Chuck L; note neither of us is certain if NC has featured this one before, but it is worthy of a rerun if so):
This 80-year-old retiree noticed that people were abandoning their dogs near his farm, so he took them in and built a train to take them out for rides pic.twitter.com/97cOndMnDE
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) December 29, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
