Dear Patient Readers,
Thank you for your cooperation during yesterday’s Cloudflare outage. Sadly, that threw my rhythm off as well, so there were no original posts by me today.
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UC Berkeley scientists celebrate breakthrough in deciphering whale communications SFGate
There’s no free fucking play – and the kids’ party ends in chaos Afton Bladet (machine translated) (Micael T)
Asymmetry: Some notes on vulnerabilities Samuel Kimbriel
Super Recognizer samples visual information with great computational value for facial recognition. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Biological Sciences. I have very poor cognitive abilities.
Everyday microplastics may be promoting heart disease Science Direct (Anthony L)
#New Coronavirus Infection/Pandemic
Sometimes I look at one of these charts and it makes me pause.
Alzheimer’s disease.
Late onset.
Don’t lie to yourself about this. pic.twitter.com/lXAJ8jbswf
— Turn (@1goodtern) November 17, 2025
Why are avian influenza infections increasing at an early stage? AgWeb
Climate/Environment
US rejection of climate science is a call to action for the rest of the world Eugene Linden, Los Angeles Times
Methane pollution still rising, but UN report expects reductions in the near future
‘We’re forgotten here’: As New York City builds sea walls, this Queens community feels left behind NYSFocus
‘I couldn’t talk. I couldn’t breathe.’ This is climate change Guardian
The North Pole as we knew it is disappearing before our eyes…unusually warm, up to around 20°C! 😱
Do you see how cold anomalies (according to climate deniers) offset warm anomalies?
No, because it rarely happens…
via @WeatherProf pic.twitter.com/GIEGhwTjYa
— Melaine Le Roy (@subfossilguy) November 16, 2025
Heavy rains have battered Al Jazeera in Southeast Asia, killing dozens of people in landslides. Usually our rainy season ends in October. It’s cloudy, very cool and raining every other day, but that should end…especially since high season should have started. Not beach weather!
Wheat could require dramatically more water in future heatwaves, scientists warn
Achieving a post-growth future requires system change, not new green deals, Bill Mitchell said. As I said earlier, it was great to be able to work with you.
daytime queue
China bans imports of Japanese seafood as diplomatic tensions escalate Reuters
Conflict between China and Japan escalates foreign policy
Twitter embedding is currently not working. This included the following videos:
China and Japan are playing a vicious game of chicken over Taiwan The Economist
Japan’s position on Taiwan is no longer ambiguous Asia Times (Kevin W)
Africa
Nestlé accused of adding sugar to cereals sold in African countries, ‘putting infant health at risk for profit’ Guardian (resilc)
Kenya faces a deepening hunger crisis
south of the border
President Trump authorizes CIA to prepare covert operation plans in Venezuela: Anadolu Agency report
Sheriff David Hathaway: Judge Napolitano breaks silence on government-sanctioned murder case, YouTube. It’s much more beneficial than I expected.
discord in europe
Mearsheimer: Europe’s Dark Future American Conservative (Michael Hudson)
French wine producers protest as crisis worsens drinks industry
Islamists flee Sweden – leaving millions with unpaid taxes Machine translated. Michael T.: “A side effect of privatized schools being funded by tax dollars with zero legislative regulation or enforcement. Neoliberalism! Hehehe!!!”
old blighty
UK Labor to allow authorities to take jewelery from asylum seekers as part of new immigration crackdown Common Dream
Ewan Blair Telegraph said the NHS faces a “loop of doom” without AI. Colonel Smithers: “Where there’s a valley, there’s a Blair.” From Ignacio of the Covid Brain Trust:
Oh my god!
We are surrounded by snake oil salesmen!
The “productivity doom loop” is terrifying! That’s exactly what I think will happen if AI tools take over NHS HC operations.
I find all of this almost unbelievable.
‘Very shocking’: Nigel Farage faces new allegations of racism and antisemitism at school Guardian (Colonel Smithers)
israel vs resistance
Ok, it’s officially confirmed. Due to limited Hebrew translation in X, not all genocide calls will be displayed. I’m surprised they let Grok admit this. https://t.co/O9oPjbq2xA pic.twitter.com/XyKCN9CFIh
— Ali Ahmadi (@AliR_Ahmadi) November 17, 2025
⭕️Iron coffin torture in Israel
Palestinian Prisoner Media documented the testimony of a Palestinian man released from inside an Israeli prison. There, he said he was forced to sleep for 10 to 12 nights in what was known as a “coffin,” a narrow iron cage. pic.twitter.com/KorTwDUgqX
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) November 18, 2025
Poland reuses former Nazi factory site to drop TNT at Gaza drop site (Robin K)
Iranian nuclear experts held a second secret meeting with the Russian weapons institute Financial Times. lead story. There is no archive version yet.
Rain causes flooding in western Iran after months of severe drought Iran International
Snowfall in Iran plummets by 98.6% as water crisis worsens Intellinews
A new war that’s not so cold war
Amid AFU shock collapse at Seversk Simplicius, Polish “sabotage” false flag fuels further threats against Russia
Scoop: US secretly drafting new plan to end Ukraine war Axios. If this is correct, it’s another flip-flop. It effectively rejects Alaska’s position (accepting Russia’s “no ceasefire”) and insists that this position will be reinstated and that Ukraine will follow suit. Given that President Trump is completely untrustworthy even by U.S. standards, it is difficult to see how Russia could do much more than go along with this. And Ukraine’s front lines are now cracking at many points. If President Putin were to make peace, he would be on the verge of a domestic uprising. And even if Ukraine eventually establishes its sovereignty, European countries are not prepared to agree on how untenable that position is. But then again, the war will be over by the time the US, Ukraine and the fanatical EU factions led by Ursula von der Leyen, Mark Rutte, Kaja Karas and Friedrich Merz have any chance of reaching any agreement.
Ukraine Day is Over Larry Johnson
big brother is watching over you
Google is collecting tons of data from downgraded Nest thermostats The Verge
imperial collapse watch
Aurelian lives backwards
A cranky new book about progress gets right The Atlantic (Anthony L)
Trump 2.0
President Trump is ‘blurring’ the line between military and politics, former officers warn Guardian (resilc)
President Trump appoints Saudi Arabia as major non-NATO ally of US Anadolu Agency
President Trump says Saudi leader knew nothing about killing of journalist, rejects CIA assessment Wall Street Journal
Appeals court considers $1 million fine for Trump in case against Hillary Clinton Politico
The billionaire Trump chose to head NASA has ties to the Chinese government oligarchy
immigration
Exclusive: How the Trump administration created a health crisis for ICE detainees Popular News
Contractor pays random people $300 to physically track immigrants for ICE 404 media
Lafaire Epstein. Sorry about the YouTube embeds not being playable locally, but Musk went to the White House and suddenly a lot of his tweets, especially those with engaging videos, no longer embed. So, believe me. The following two YouTubes are very noteworthy.
Senate agrees to pass bill to force release of Epstein file, filed during Trump presidency
Epstein’s brother: Republicans are scraping Kim Iversen’s name file, YouTube (fk)
From Ryder’s (thank you Chuck L.) tweet regarding the following exchange: “This is absolutely historic. Unbelievable. Listen to this president. I honestly think this press conference is the end for him.”
Another incident: ‘Quiet pig’: President Trump slams female reporter who asks questions about Epstein New Republic
Epstein bill passed, government officials circulate plan to block transparency Ken Klippenstein (fk)
Jeffrey Epstein pursues Swiss Rothschild bank for funding Israel’s cyberweapons empire DropSite
republican clown car
Federal court blocks Texas Republican’s redrawn congressional map NBC (Kevin W)
Mr. Market is doing something sad.
Have the S&P 500 and Nasdaq stock market peaked?Michael Shedlock. Technical view.
How the shutdown destroyed America’s food chain — and what happens next
A.I.
The entire financial world fears Nvidia’s profits Futurism
Please click. This tweet is a must-read:
🦔CoreWeave is spending $310 million in interest expense, compared to operating income of just $51.9 million, and is borrowing money to pay interest on previous loans. The AI data center company went public in March at $40 per share, peaked at $187 in June, and is currently trading around $75… pic.twitter.com/jRRvhkmJrJ
— Hedgie (@HedgieMarkets) November 17, 2025
Due to the spread of AI demand, the memory chip market will undergo a drastic change in the Nikkei Stock Average. Our readers tell us that RAM prices are skyrocketing.
US AI giant rises strong and fast in India Asia Times (Kevin W)
basil
Bitcoin crash in 2025 will lag bonds, gold, etc. Bloomberg
How a surge in energy demand pushed Bitcoin below $90,000 in oil prices (resilc)
Tech Billionaire Discovers New Way to Extract Wealth | Fort John Russell YouTube (resilc)
class war
Elon Musk is on track to earn more than all of America’s elementary school teachers combined The Washington Post (resilc)
Antidote (via):
Click here for yesterday’s link and Antidote du Jour.
