What were we all doing here? My 600-mile trip to hear an organ play a D natural Spectator (Anthony L)
New species revealed after 25 years of study on ‘inside out’ fossil — and named after discoverer’s mum ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
The Limits of Rights Baffler. (Anthony L). A delicious trashing: “Roth’s book is, plainly, very bad….”
#COVID-19/Pandemics
This 26 year old man developed long covid last year after his “5th or 6th” confirmed infection. He had recovered from COVID uneventfully the first 4 or 5 times. He’s now unable to work or even read. If COVID continues to spread unchecked, then we should assume that eventually… pic.twitter.com/kfJxs6bZsk
— Salvatore Mattera (@SalvMattera) March 29, 2025
The CDC Buried a Measles Forecast That Stressed the Need for Vaccinations ProPublica (Kevin W)
Climate/Environment
The Huge Jury Verdict Against Greenpeace Is Really An Attack on the Entire Climate Movement. It Will Backfire Steve Donzinger (Chuck L)
After $1B invested over 15 years, the Gates-backed Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) promised agricultural prosperity.
Instead, AGRA delivered ecological damage, farmer debt, and increased hunger, leaving target countries worse off than before the program began
pic.twitter.com/0DpQP2PJPp
— Sam Knowlton (@samdknowlton) March 28, 2025
Malnutrition Not Due to Cash Poverty Alone Jomo
China?
Trump’s tariffs won’t save Musk from China’s BYD Asia Times
Japan unveils first plan to evacuate 100,000 civilians from islands near Taiwan in event of conflict Guardian
Myanmar
Myanmar earthquake death toll jumps to 1,000 with over 2,300 injured Anadolu Agency. Thanks for the expressions of concern, but Thailand was not meaningfully affected. The Bangkok building under construction that fell down looks to have been due to, erm, substandard practices. I have yet to see reports of structural damage to other buildings, which you’d expect to see otherwise. Recall that Bangkok is on clay and also slowly sinking. Some readers have contacts in cities and towns much closer to Myanmar and they report no meaningful impact because those municipalities are built on granite or other solid rock. That does not prove there were no damaged buildings closer to Myanmar but does suggest the harm was pretty limited.
Myanmar rebels disrupt China rare earth trade, sparking regional scramble Reuters. Wonder if the earthquake changes this equation, as in no humanitarian assistance if the rebels don’t reverse course.
The Antipodes
Federal MP Andrew Gee blames staff impersonating a voter for ‘dirty tactics’ Facebook gaffe ABC Australia (Anthony L)
Africa
South Sudan opposition says vice president’s arrest ends peace deal Aljazeera
US Wants to Create a Fake State for New Military Base Active Measures
O Canada
Canada PM Mark Carney says old relationship with US ‘is over’ BBC
Is this real? I can’t believe it.
These are forward flight bookings from Canada to the US.
This might be the single craziest thing I’ve ever seen. pic.twitter.com/wDrU7tqReX
— Noor Al
(@NoorAlTrades) March 26, 2025
European Disunion
Europe Needs a Complete Strategic Reboot Foreign Policy (Colonel Smithers)
Europe races to secure critical minerals as global supply tensions mount Independent
‘If VW disappears, people won’t stay in the town anymore’ – fears over Trump’s car tariffs Sky
Sweden Is Rearming For War With Russia Forbes
Israel v. The Resistance
I don’t believe we’ve ever seen anything that matches Israel’s barbarism.
Dr Mark Perlmutter:
“My colleague, a surgeon, had his fingers crushed by Israeli forces, was threatened with the gang rape of his wife, and was subjected to rectal probes soaked in pig’s blood”
Via… pic.twitter.com/RmMk4IwO4V
— Abier (@abierkhatib) March 26, 2025
BREAKING: Execution of 16 Ambulance Crew Members by Israeli Forces in Rafah southern Gaza
Horrific Massacre : Following coordination with the International Red Cross, Civil Defense teams entered the Tel Al-Sultan area in Rafah, south of Gaza.
It was confirmed that Israeli… https://t.co/ABaYvp0PtC pic.twitter.com/GCdm0RWuId— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) March 27, 2025
That’s the court mainstream media calls “Israel’s bastion of democracy” pic.twitter.com/zjoLYDevJn
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) March 27, 2025
Anti-Hamas Gaza demonstrations reflect desperation as Israel strangles and bombards the Strip Mondoweiss
Israeli airstrikes hit Beirut suburbs after unclaimed rocket attacks Arab News
US moves more stealth bombers to Indian Ocean base in striking distance of Iran, Yemen Times of Israel
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine: Fighting to the Conclusion Big Serge
SITREP 3/28/25: Putin Vows to ‘Finish Off’ Ukraine? Simpilcius
Underground: Ten NATO officers were liquidated in a restaurant in Dnepropetrovsk Vzglyad via machine translation. Micael T: “Maybe this will get the message through to the war lusting EU-tards? The Western officers and soldiers are very much touchable.”
Even if the war ended tomorrow, Ukraine could end up broke by 2026 Ian Proud, Responsible Statecraft. Only arguably accurate, since Ukraine is broke now and paying its bills thanks only to foreign handouts.
Of course, before getting to this, which = Ukraine being literally strip mined, and not rebuilt ex what is narrowly useful for that: Trump’s Rewritten ‘Deal’ With Ukraine Is Imposed Indentured Servitude Moon of Alabama. BTW, indentured servitude is not the right comparison. Indentured servitude was time limited. This is slavery.
The open dispute between the EU and the US over Ukrainian natural resources begins Anti-Spiegel via machine translation. Micael T: “You will need wheelbarrows of popcorn for this show-down.” Moi: Perhaps not. The Trump Administration has gone quiet. No evidence of even try to arm-twist or alternatively, vent at the Europeans, no new meetings with Russia set. Will the US go into Emily Litella “Never mind” mode and use the Ukraine refusal to sign the draconian “minerals” deal as the pretext to walk away.
The Arctic: Territory of Dialogue international forum President of Russia. Important
Main statements by the French President Emmanuel Macron following the Ukraine summit in Paris
”We have agreed that a Franco-British team could be delegated to prepare the format of the future Ukrainian army,” declared Emmanuel Macron
— 𝐀𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐊𝐎𝐌𝐒𝐀 |
(@tweet4Anna_NAFO) March 27, 2025
India Turns Away Russian Oil Tanker As Sanctions Evolve OilPrice
Syraqistan
Syrians left in the dark as the interim government struggles to restore electricity Independent
Disintegration of Syria Would Only Benefit Israel – Iranian Foreign Minister Defend Democracy
Imperial Collapse Watch
Political Pressure — Why The Intelligence Community Fails to Accurately Assess Combat Losses and Military Capability Larry Johnson
On point.
Work by Aïda Amer. pic.twitter.com/LUxNptSO5u
— B.M. (@ireallyhateyou) March 29, 2025
Trump 2.0
Two law firms targeted by Trump sue over executive orders that sought to punish them Associated Press
Judges block Trump orders targeting two law firms as Skadden cuts deal Reuters. The white shoe firms fold.
Judge orders Trump administration to keep Signal records amid Yemen attack chat controversy CNN (Kevin W)
Convicted of bilking investors, Nikola founder and Trump donor gets a presidential pardon Associated Press
* * * Usha Vance’s Greenland Trip Somehow Gets More Embarrassing for Trump New Republic (Kevin W)
According to Danish TV2, representatives from the USA have been going door-to-door in Nuuk over the past few days to find Greenlanders who wanted to be visited by Usha Vance. After they failed to find anyone, the visit was cancelled. https://t.co/ZVZTKaymkO
— Jan Petter (@lepettre) March 26, 2025
Tourists are cancelling trips to the US – here’s how this could affect its economy The Conversation (Kevin W). A colleague even rerouted a flight back to this hemisphere after a long holiday, expensively, to avoid going through LAX.
DOGE
DOGE Plans to Rebuild SSA Code Base in Months, Risking Benefits and System Collapse Wired. Lambert points out it this long merely to write the test protocol. This looks intended to destroy Social Security.
FWIW, I called Monday (2 days earlier), pretty much first thing in the SSA day, was told the hold would be 20 mins. I did not do the callback (I have found airlines call back at best 50% of the time when you accept that option, so I use the speakerphone and stay on hold). It was 40 minutes. The press has said that staff cuts were starting after the end of the month. I asked the rep point blank and she said they had been told nothing of the kind. Admittedly the SSA is closing some rural offices as of then. So the result below may be the result of call volume due to all the scary news, and not yet staff cuts.
We’ve heard concerning things about the Social Security Administration lately, so I decided to check for myself.
SSA says Wednesday is the best day to call, so I called then.
Their system told me there would be a two-hour wait time, told me to call back, and then just hung up. pic.twitter.com/oKUDQg3xKM
— Rep. Don Beyer (@RepDonBeyer) March 28, 2025
Preliminary Injunction Granted in Case Against Illegal CFPB Shutdown Public Citizen
The Department of Government Inefficiency Musk Watch
DOGE Will Likely Fail to Reform the Deep State Finn Andressen (Micael T). Assumes this was an aim, against any evidence I have yet to see.
Immigration
DOJ asks Supreme Court to intervene in deportation flights case The Hill. Presumptuous. Odds greatly favor the Supremes telling the DOJ to go through the normal process like everyone else.
Trump takes aim at foreign-born college students, with 300 visas revoked NBC
Venezuelans deported to mega-prison ‘trapped in black hole’ BBC
What the New JFK Documents Reveal Thomas Neuburger
Our No Longer Free Press
Meta Complies with Foreign Demand for Journalist’s Info Reclaim the Net
UK Tries to Silence American Online Platforms Reclaim the Net
Banned Books Analysis of Censorship on Amazon.com CitizenLab (Paul R)
Bloomberg’s Pathetic Swipe at Substack Matt Taibbi
Global ad spending expectations sink on trade war uncertainty: WARC Marketing Dive. This will hit publisher revenues and thus staffing.
Mr. Market is Moody
The Synthetic Lender of Last Resort Matt Levine, Bloomberg (Micael T)
Then again I’m starting to come around to the idea that the secret sauce for propping up the US financial house of cards is to “fiscalize” every asset class by declaring it “TBTF” https://t.co/MC38MYj1KD
— chinahand (@chinahand) March 27, 2025
How Trump’s reckless policies could trigger a financial crisis South China Morning Post
Donald Trump’s tariffs throw car industry into turmoil Financial Times
Antitrust
How the American Medical Association Screws Doctors Matt Stoller
The Bezzle
Elon Musk says he sold X to his AI company CNN (Kevin W)
Meghan Markle’s Netflix show angered critics. This columnist says she knows why NPR. Tom D: “NPR says it’s racist, sexist and classist not to genuflect before one’s betters.” Moi: Markle’s spin is not working any more. She needs to take lessons from Zelensky as to how to keep an act well beyond its sell-by date going.
Antidote du jour:
And a bonus:
These incredible ibex defy gravity climbing a near-vertical dam in search of nutritious salt.. pic.twitter.com/PWtoPXNE8b
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) March 28, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
19. This woman built an apartment for cats in winterpic.twitter.com/5QK0UlP71s
— Wolf of X (@tradingMaxiSL) March 12, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
