The Wetness of Magic David Westabrook (Micael T)
The Dingo’s Fate Nomea (Anthony L)
The stagnation of physics aeon (Micael T)
A streaming brain-to-voice neuroprosthesis to restore naturalistic communication Nature. Micael T: “Jesus familyblogging Christ!!! Soon we will be forced to wear these so that we cannot even think in private without being heard and recorded.”
A Secret Baby and a Nazi Hospital: The Untold Mystery Upending an Artist’s Legacy Wall Street Journal (Anthony L)
#COVID-19/Pandemics
5 years after COVID shuttered houses of worship, many continue online services Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Just let the bird flu run its course, these crazy cats say Art Cullen (Robin K)
Climate/Environment
Arctic warming accelerates to seven times the global average, catastrophic damage “locked in” IntelliNews
Bigger than Texas: the true size of Australia’s devastating floods Guardian
EXTRAORDINARY HOT NIGHTS IN MIDDLE EAST & CENTRAL ASIA
Hundreds of stations between Iraq,Saudi Arabia,Kuwait,Iran,Turkmenistan,Kazakhstan etc with Minimums up to 5/6C above the records for early April!
Minimums >26C at Basra,>27C on Saudi highlands,tropical nights in Kazakhstan pic.twitter.com/5V7v85FRMx
— Extreme Temperatures Around The World (@extremetemps) April 4, 2025
China?
China’s KD-21 missile puts US carriers and bases at range Asia Times (guurst)
Trump tariff list names Taiwan as ‘country’ Euractiv
CHINA |
RUSSIA |
NATO: China will intervene militarily on the side of Russia anytime and anywhere if NATO officially enters the war against the Russian Federation.
We believe that everyone will understand this principle.
Chinese Minister of Defense.from Telegram pic.twitter.com/yAQnTyNWJf
— Peacemaker (@peacemaket71) April 3, 2025
Fitch downgrades China’s sovereign debt over spending and tariffs Financial Times
Some Troubled Science Reporting at South China Morning Post Pekingology
India
India’s Subprime Bubble Grew 2,100%. Now a Bust Looms. Bloomberg
Who is Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, man arrested for entering restricted North Sentinel Island? Hindustan Times (Micael T)
Africa
Zimbabwe’s Plan to Drop the Dollar Is Faltering on ZiG Crunch Bloomberg
Sahel juntas drive new era in mineral extraction DW
South of the Border
The Fourth Transformation:The political economy of Claudia Sheinbaum’s popularity David Adler, Vanessa Romero Rocha, Michael Galant (Robin K)
European Disunion
Overextended: The European Disunion at a Crossroads Wolfgang Streeck, American Affairs (Anthony L)
Exclusive: Germany funds Eutelsat internet in Ukraine as Musk tensions rise Reuters (Micael T)
Macron calls on Europe to suspend investment in US after Trump tariff shock France24
Old Blighty
Russell Brand charged with rape and sexual assault BBC
Israel v. The Resistance
Dr. Fadel Naim, Director of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza, issues an emergency appeal:
The healthcare system is in total collapse due to relentless Israeli attacks, and the situation is now completely out of control.
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 4, 2025
LIVE: Israeli attacks kill, injure 100 children each day in Gaza – UN Aljazeera
Israel’s war on aid workers Stephen Semler
Breaking | Israeli occupation warplanes have targeted the desalination plant on Salah al-Din Street in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, eastern Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/BWYqbCiG9H
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 3, 2025
U.S. Strikes in Yemen Burning Through Munitions With Limited Success New York Times
Mohammad Marandi, Larry Wilkerson & Chas Freeman on Middle East Erupts: Iran Challenges Ultimatum Dialogue Works, YouTube
New Not-So-Cold War
The Enemy Within Scott Ritter
Russia formally declared “national security threat to Britain” International Affairs (Micael T)
Germany deploys troops to Russia’s doorstep for first time since the Nazis RT (Micael T)
General Cavoli’s Schizophrenia on Ukraine Larry Johnson
Do not call Putin until he agrees to truce, Trump’s inner circle warns Telegraph
THE NEWS THAT WAS FIT TO PRINT YESTERDAY DOESN’T FIT TODAY Patrick Armstrong (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Singapore PM Lawrence Wong: the Old Order has crumbled. The US who championed free trade and globalization is now abandoning it.
I quote: {“We cannot expect that the rules which protected small states will still hold,” said Mr Wong. “I am sharing this with you so that we can all… pic.twitter.com/au2miIcYMO
— Ignis Rex (@Ignis_Rex) April 5, 2025
What if Trump’s behavior isn’t just personal madness? Rebelion via machine translation (Micael T)
Abbott Baby Formula Factory Is Using Unsanitary Practices, Workers Say ProPublica (Robin K)
The Good Society Department Nomea (Micael T)
Trump 2.0
Trump Burger Is Opening Texas Locations in Houston, Kemah, and Cypress Eater Houston. resilc: “New meaning to “eat shit and die” slur………”
* * * Trump’s Tariffs Are More Spectacle Than Strategy Waleed Shahid (Jeff W)
World trade war escalates as China strikes all US imports with 34 percent tariff Politico (Kevin W)
China hit brakes on TikTok deal after Trump announced wide-ranging tariffs, AP source says Associated Press (Kevin W)
Economic bullying benefits no one – this is a historical conclusion Global Times Editorial
Liberation and Its Discontents Council for Foreign Relations. When the CFR is comparatively sane, you know it’s bad.
* * * Thinking about it, ironically maybe the biggest victims of the Trump tariffs may end up being American companies.
Take Apple for instance. These guys have spent decades building incredibly complex global supply chains that span dozens of countries.
They can’t just flip a switch… pic.twitter.com/zEbYvIrySt
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) April 3, 2025
‘Tariffs are a ‘black swan event’ and ‘a debacle of epic proportions’ for the global auto industry, a leading analyst has warned This is Money
As Trump’s tariffs take effect Stellantis announces thousands of layoffs in Canada, Mexico and US WSWS. Micael T: “So it begins… any monkey can fire people to ‘do something’ about the stock-price. There are a lot of monkeys out there so a lot of people will be fired.
* * * The Folly of Trump’s Trade War Finn Andreen
Trump tariffs latest: ‘There will be blood’: Biggest bank in US warns of global recession risk Sky
Trump’s tariff onslaught headed for self-defeating recession Asia Times (Kevin W)
* * * Judge orders US government to return man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador by end of Monday CNN. Trump response that he was now in El Salvador, therefore nothing they could do, was disgraceful. A few bribes would get this solved pronto.
The Pursuit of Chaos John Robb (Micael T). Hhhm.
The compromise that might make risking a third Trump term worth it Washington Post. Be careful what you wish for.
US Supreme Court lets Trump cut teacher training grants in DEI-related case Reuters
Democrat Death Wish
Democrats’ deference to Biden was a disaster. They still haven’t learned their lesson Norman Solomon, Guardian. resilc: “The one certainty for ANYTHING in USA USA is the DNC never learns. they only adapt their donation marketing planzzzzz.”
Our No Longer Free Press
A Response to a Member of Congress Matt Taibbi (DLG). A defamation suit v. a member of Congress! Pass the popcorn.
The World Majority’s Social Media versus Data Colonialism Global Times (Micael T)
Groves of Academe
MUST READ: A Letter to Columbia – By Mahmoud Khalil
“Faced with a movement for divestment they couldn’t crush, your trustees opted to set fire to the institution they’re entrusted with.”
“The student movement will continue to carry the mantle of a free Palestine. History will… pic.twitter.com/pT9fZJ5eTg
— AIPAC Tracker (@TrackAIPAC) April 5, 2025
Detained student in US claims university laid groundwork for his ‘abduction’ Anadolu Agency
Mr. Market Has a Nervous Breakdown
10-year Treasury yield falls to lowest level since October after Trump unveils sweeping tariffs CNBC (Kevin W)
Hedge funds hit with steepest margin calls since 2020 Covid crisis Financial Times. Sudden drops in the price of gold would be a tell of severity. In the 2007-2008 crisis, when gold was vastly less popular than now, you’d see sudden drops in the price of gold. That was pretty clearly a hedgie dumping gold as his least distressed asset to cover a margin call.
Ready the cannon, guys.
pic.twitter.com/FTEocuo3uq
— Yuliana Dlugaj
(@DlugajJuly) April 3, 2025
AI
AI Beat the Turing Test by Being a Better Human Psychology Today (Dr. Kevin)
Microsoft unveils AI assistant with ‘memory’ Financial Times (Kevin W)
AI will never be able to write like me Ken Chung (Micael T)
Antitrust
A complaint filed this week in an Illinois federal court alleges that construction equipment rental firms – widely used for residential construction – have engaged for 15 years in a widespread cartel to limit capacity and drive up construction costs.
This is a huge scandal.
pic.twitter.com/DVW64kLc0c
— Lee Hepner (@LeeHepner) April 4, 2025
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus (Chuck L):
Heropic.twitter.com/0TTEZr3GBN
— The Best (@Thebestfigen) April 3, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
