Scientists Developed a Questionnaire to Identify if Your Cat Is a Psychopath ScienceAlert (Chuck L)
Dog Arthritis Treatment Under Fire After Reports of Severe, Even Fatal, Side Effects Gizmodo (Kevin W)
Saints for Supper London Review of Books (Anthony L)
How the novel became a laboratory for experimental physics aeon (Dr. Kevin)
Journal that published faulty black plastic study removed from science index ars technica (Dr. Kevin)
Mosh pit nappy, designed to avoid queues at gig loos, sells out Sky News (Dr. Kevin)
Bird Flu Has Hit California Dairies So Hard That They’re Calling It ‘Covid for Cows’ New York Times
” rel=”nofollow”>How America Lost Control of the Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic KFF Health News (Paul R)
Climate/Environment
Your gadgets are actually carbon sinks — for now Grist
Two decades ago, researchers started an experiment that would challenge the prevailing scientific understanding of plant communities.
While modern agriculture treats diversity as inefficient, the Jena Experiment proved the opposite: complexity is the key to resilience. pic.twitter.com/7DSVYJTOAb
— Sam Knowlton (@samdknowlton) December 18, 2024
China?
China’s Overseas Investment Adds to Cash Exodus Weighing on Yuan Bloomberg
China and Sweden board bulker suspected of Baltic cable ‘sabotage’ Tradewinds News
NPR investigation of a Chinese celebrity dissident leads news orgs to retract stories NPR
This is something that most people outside China have never heard of: in China they have this phone number – 12345 – which you can dial wherever you are in the country if you have a query or a complaint that the local government can answer or solve.
They have a legal obligation… https://t.co/JVx7I29MKU
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) December 20, 2024
Honda and Nissan to begin merger talks amid EV competition Nikkei
Koreas
South Korean won hits 15-year low as hawkish Fed, domestic politics weigh Reuters
Africa
Recognizing Somaliland: A geopolitical game-changer for West Asia? The Cradle (Chuck L)
South Sudan’s economic crisis threatens its fragile peace Economist
South of the Border
Chávez, Spirituality and Revolution: A Conversation with Joel Suárez (Part I) Venezuelanalysis (Robin K)
O Canada
Faced with turmoil, a defiant Trudeau hangs on – for now BBC
A perfect storm for the Canadian dollar Think.ing
European Disunion
Germany and France are in crisis – is the next global financial crash brewing? Guardian
Energy challenges for Europe mount as Russian LNG imports rise, Norway weighs export cuts. FirstPost
Trump Threatens Tariffs If EU Doesn’t Buy More US Oil and Gas Bloomberg
Backlash builds as Elon Musk endorses Germany’s far right Politico (Kevin W)
VW cuts 35,000 jobs – factories remain open Tagesschau via machine translation (guurst)
A matter of state: The politics of German anti-anti-Semitism Wolfgang Streeck, SAGE Journals (Kevin W)
France’s Debt Grows Further In Challenge To New PM Barrons
Solar Firm Collapse Reverberates Through Danish Financial System Bloomberg
Old Blighty
UK Suffers Worst November for Car Production Since 1980 Bloomberg
UK borrowing costs climb as ‘stagflation’ fear stalks gilt market Financial Times
Israel v. the Resistance
“There’s no fire brigade here. Families just burn alive in their tents. They burn alive.” https://t.co/9sRab0G52p
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) December 20, 2024
Israel’s Genocide Day 440: New reports of mass killings in Gaza surface Mondoweiss
THE NEW CEASEFIRE EQUATION Seymour Hersh. Robin K: “Saudis rebuild Gaza–so Israel can “mow the grass” following reconstruction whenever it chooses?”
Hezbollah Secretary General Naim Qassem Assesses Developments in Lebanon and Syria Resistance News
Iran key services shut as rial plunges amid energy crisis, regional tension Aljazeera
New Not-So-Cold War
Results of the Year with Vladimir Putin President of Russia
Yuzhmash and Oreshnik Demystified Amerikanets (Dr. Kevin) and a later Mea Maxima Culpa. Hhhm.
Medley Report: Europe’s Descent, Oreshnik, and More Simplicius
Russia pummels Kiev in response to US & UK missile attack on Rostov Mike Hampton
Russia Taps Soviet-Era Stockpiles as Armored-Vehicle Supply Dwindles Wall Street Journal
One thing no one’s talking about is that it’s questionable whether radar can even track plasma sheathed hypersonic objects. They track the initial hypersonic payload in space where there’s no atmosphere. But if it’s still going near Mach 10 in atmosphere the plasma sheath will… https://t.co/SVipQ5vzZt
— SIMPLICIUS Ѱ (@simpatico771) December 20, 2024
Syraqistan
Russian largely halts activities at Syria’s Hmeimim air base Anadolu Agency
U.S. lifts bounty on Syria’s interim leader amid diplomatic outreach Washington Post
Trump 2.0
Cutting Government Is Easy… If You Go After McKinsey Matt Stoller
Ten Years After Normalization With Cuba, Trump Hardliners Take Cuba Back In Time Ryan Grim
Trump appoints vocal critic of pope as envoy to Vatican Anadolu Agency. He really can’t restrain himself.
Biden
Why Bidenism Failed Jacobin (Robin K)
8 Reasons Congress Deserves Raises Babylon Bee
Senate passes bill to boost Social Security benefits for some The Hill
Our No Longer Free Press
/1🚨 VICTORY 🚨
A federal court has denied the Stanford Internet Observatory, Atlantic Council, and Aspen Institute’s attempt to dismiss AFL’s class action lawsuit for conspiring with the U.S. government to conduct targeted surveillance and censor conservative political speech. pic.twitter.com/7g7Yj0T2YQ
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) December 20, 2024
Mr. Market is Moody
Renewed inflation fears stalk central bankers as markets shudder Financial Times
Antitrust
Readers, aren’t these inhalers also used for COPD?
1. Today the Federal Circuit rejected Teva’s bid to list device patents for inhalers in the Orange Book.
Practically this means that drug makers can’t list patents for things like inhaler caps to block generic rivals from the market & keep prices high.
A big win for Americans. https://t.co/sEYPwmVrfs
— Lina Khan (@linakhanFTC) December 20, 2024
Mark Cuban: A Master Disrupter for American Healthcare Eric Topol (Dr. Kevin)
AI
The Next Great Leap in AI Is Behind Schedule and Crazy Expensive Wall Street Journal
Guillotine Watch
It’s a Mistake to Charge Luigi Mangione With Terrorism New York Times
Did the NYPD’s perp walk of Luigi Mangione backfire? Gothamist (Kevin w)
Class Warfare
Antidote du jour. From Kije H, admittedly quite a while ago: “This monk seal visits the beach we live on pretty often. They come ashore to rest.”
And a bonus (Chuck L):
The other swans aren’t gonna believe this pic.twitter.com/vBlDYIzByz
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) December 16, 2024
A second bonus (Chuck L):
4. Meet Sydney, a male umbrella cockatoo socializing with Vet Hospital Staff 😂 pic.twitter.com/Dr4wAzhvY2
— Wholesome Side of 𝕏 (@itsme_urstruly) December 18, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
