First cougar cubs verified in Michigan in more than a century Upper Michgan Source (RPW)
Decades after peregrines came back from the brink, a new threat emerges Guardian (Kevin W) 🙁
Laurence des Cars, saving the Louvre whatever the cost Le Monde
COVID-19/Pandemics
Five Years of COVID-19: How the Pandemic Changed Our Lives Valdai Club (Micael T)
Measles Cases Reach 294 in Texas and New Mexico: Here’s What to Know MedPage
2 house cats caught bird flu in NYC, health officials say Gothamist. Indoor cats getting bird flu? Yikes.
China?
Taiwan calls China ‘foreign hostile force’ and vows tough measures BBC I don’t yet see anything on Global Times about the Taiwan remarks. Does the Chinese government see that as so predictable as to be beneath notice?
China lodges solemn representations with Canada; ‘suppressing China not a panacea for resolving G7’s internal disagreements’ Global Times. But this seemed noteworthy.
China unveils processor a million times faster than US rival – developers RT (Kevin W)
No chance Trump can catch China’s shipbuilding juggernaut Asia Times (Kevin W)
Russian goods seizures cause havoc on China-Europe rail link: ‘big impact’ South China Morning Post
The Antipodes
Australia moves to arm troops with anti-ship missiles as China threat looms Reuters
Australia on alert over Trump attacks on cheaper medicines The Age. Kevin W: “Trump wants Aussies to pay the same prices for medicines that Americans do.”
South of the Border
White House ‘drawing up plans’ for increasing troops in Panama amid Trump’s push to ‘reclaim’ canal: report Independent
Maldives to Declare Bankruptcy? Sri Lanka Guardian
European Disunion
Munich 2025: A Moment of Truth for Europe? Global Affairs. Micael T: “A moment of truth is possible only if you are capable to recognise a truth painted in purple, dancing naked on a harpsichord and singing ‘the moment of truth is here’.”
The stockpiling temptation. Trade disruptions, climate change, conflicts, are bringing renewed interest in Europe to be ready for emergencies EurActiv
Cracks appear in European credit markets Global Capital
Trump hints at sending U.S. soldiers to take over Greenland: ‘I think it’ll happen’ Daily Mail
Finnish court hands Voislav Torden life sentence for war crimes yle. Micael T: “But Ukrainian neo-Nazis must receive weapons and money to steal at the expense of Finnish citizens? It almost seems as if there are good neo-Nazis and bad neo-Nazis.”
A bottle and a half of wine a week could cost you your driver’s license Aftonbladet via machine translation: Micael T: “a person’s consumption can be flagged to the Swedish Transport Agency by a doctor taking a regular blood test where the PEth value is measured. If it exceeds 0.3, it indicates overconsumption, then the doctor must send the test results to the Swedish Transport Agency, which can revoke the driver’s license.”
Old Blighty
Why has NHS England been abolished and what does it mean for patients? Guardian (Kevin W)
Economy finds reverse gear in January with surprise contraction Sky
Farm business confidence has reached historically low levels, passing record lows set last year, the NFU annual survey has revealed The Grocer
“How dare you call my daughter a terrorist…”
The mother of Zoe Rogers, one of the Filton18 political prisoners from Palestine Action, delivers a powerful message to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. pic.twitter.com/CZAmMMnD2D
— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) March 11, 2025
UN judge convicted in slavery trial (VIDEO) RT (Micael T)
Israel v. The Resistance
Hamas says it will only free US-Israeli, 4 slain hostages if ceasefire implemented Times of Israel
Following Israel’s decision to cut power to to the Strip’s desalination plants, Gazans, who in any event have been suffering from a shortage of water, now find themselves – at the height of Ramadan – without almost no sources of drinking waterhttps://t.co/kDjVBdXKPz
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) March 14, 2025
New bombshell UN report accuses Israel of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinians Mondoweiss
History’s Most Evil People Turn Genocide Into Rape Orgy BettBeat
The rockets used in airstrikes on the eastern sector of south Lebanon specifically, used to keep the targeted site burning for hours, which was found to be due to the materials inside the rocket.
This is just a small peace burning, and it creates a mini airstrike scene pic.twitter.com/mYz5sbQ6p9— Pheebs (@galpalpheebs) March 13, 2025
New Not-So-Cold War
G7 warns Russia of expanded sanctions unless it backs ceasefire Financial Times
UK to host virtual meeting of ‘coalition of the willing’ on Ukraine Anadolu Agency. Do they also have the memory of goldfish in the UK? Do they not remember that the original coalition of the willing was in pursuit of a fabricated cause?
Russia, Ukraine launch heavy drone strikes as troops advance on Kursk Aljazeera
Echoes Of The May 2 2014 Odessa Massacre Moon of Alabama. This might be a portent of Banderite control of Ukraine starting to crack.
Winter 2025: Azov is Coming Moss Robeson, Bandera Lobby Blog (Micael T)
No Mercy for Mercs: What Legal Nightmare Awaits Them in Russia? Sputnik
Destruction of Ukraine dam caused ‘toxic timebomb’ of heavy metals, study finds Guardian (Kevin W)
Moscow Unfiltered (3) Tarik Cyril Amar. A detailed take on the 2 hour Lavrov interview with Larry Johnson, Judge Napolitano, and one other blogger.
Sheila Fitzpatrick · Not Corrupt Enough: Whose Cold War? London Review of Books (Anthony L)
Moscow-City 2025. Walking tour of the Business District 4K HDR YouTube. resilc: “Not AI fake. the view of the swirl building is from the same location we saw it in 2018. evnr more development. usa usa needs sanctions AGAINST us i guess for similar progress.
Syraqistan
Time is running out for Syria’s president. He must share power if he is to hold his country together Economist
Days of Massacres Ravage Syrian Coastal Areas Drop Site
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Everything You Say To Your Echo Will Be Sent To Amazon Starting On March 28 ars technica
Imperial Collapse Watch
Amb. Chas Freeman & Col. Larry Wilkerson: Where Does Trump Stand on Ukraine? Dialogue Works, YouTube. The talk goes well beyond Ukraine and towards the end, has some important observations about the Middle East
THE US HAS NO PERMANENT FRIENDS, ONLY PERMANENT INTERESTS Proletaren via machine translation. Micael T: “Finally they start to get it on the real left”.
Last week,thanks to @nukestrat,we revealed that the new #USTacticalNuclearWeapons B61-12 have been shipped to Europe,#Italy included. NO press coverage.Why?It would undermine the propaganda telling #Europe is defenceless and absolutely need #ReArmEuropehttps://t.co/6a65odAbMf
— Stefania Maurizi (@SMaurizi) March 13, 2025
Haig points out:
The B61-12 is just replacing the older B61s already in Europe (about 100 across six NATO bases). It has some accuracy tweaks, and age-susceptible parts have been replaced. The deliverability of aircraft-delivered nuclear gravity bombs in the context of robust Russian air defenses is questionable, but the presence of these bombs has been a symbolic security blanket for Europe.
NEWS | UN Expert on Human Rights in Haiti, William O’Neill, after his fourth visit since April 2023, urged neighboring countries, particularly the United States, to stop illegal arms trafficking into Haiti. “There isn’t a single gun or bullet manufactured in Haiti. If you halt… https://t.co/ykFK1DEf4U
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 13, 2025
Trump 2.0
How Trump’s trade war could quickly spiral out of control CNN
U.S. nurses oppose confirmation of Dr. Mehmet Oz to lead Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services National Nurses United
Producer Prices may show first inflationary effects of tariff wars Bondad Blog
The WASPs Are Gone Yascha Mounk
US expels South African ambassador after remarks on Trump Aljazeera. Not the actions of a confident power.
DOGE
Inside Elon Musk’s ‘Digital Coup’ Wired
You Might Not Make Enough Money To Get Musk’s Potential DOGE Dividend Check: Here’s the Salary Cutoff (Kevin W) GoBankingRates
Democrat Death Wish
‘Uniting anger’: Democrats fume over Schumer’s handling of funding fight Politico. I very much appreciate readers rallying and trying to stop a continuing resolution that contained heinous amendments that would gut efforts to oppose the Trump/DOGE wrecking ball plans. Apparently Democrats like Chuck Schumer think Americans will reward them in the midterms for helping the destruction along. As reader Richard Kline wrote in “Protest works. Just look at the proof”:
The nut of the matter is this: you lose, you lose, you lose, you lose, they give up. As someone who has protested, and studied the process, it’s plain that one spends most of one’s time begin defeated. That’s painful, humiliating, and intimidating. One can’t expect typically, as in a battle, to get a clean shot at a clear win. What you do with protest is just what Hari discusses, you change the context, and that change moves the goalposts on your opponent, grounds out the current in their machine. The nonviolent resistance in Hungary in the 1860s (yes, that’s in the 19th century) is an excellent example. Communist rule in Russia and its dependencies didn’t fail because protestors ‘won’ but because most simply withdrew their cooperation to the point it suffocated.
Some may point out, however, that this process takes time, and the viciousness of the Trump program will result in rapid and/or serious damage to the livelihoods of many. In other words, he is accelerating the neoliberal imperative “Go die!”.
GOP Clown Car
Rep. Mace sued by 1 of the men she accused of being a sexual predator South Carolina Daily Gazette
Immigration
Judge denies temporary relief in lawsuits challenging Guantánamo migrant detentions The Hill
Mr. Market Has a Sad
Wall Street Battered Again by Trump Chaos as New Winners Emerge Bloomberg
Consumers and Businesses Send Distress Signal as Economic Fear Sets In Wall Street Journal
AI
EXCLUSIVE: Banned Yale Scholar Speaks Out After AI-Generated Accusations of Terror Ties Drop Site
China Announces Generative AI Labeling To Cull Disinformation Bloomberg
Leaked Apple Meeting Shows How Dire the Siri Situation Really Is The Verge
About Sam Altman and “creative writing” Anindita Biswas, LinkedIn (Micael T)
👇👇👇 https://t.co/44Zf7QUYel
— Paul Triolo (@pstAsiatech) March 14, 2025
The Bezzle
Music Exec Accidentally Explains How Useless Record Labels Are YouTube (Micael T)
Class Warfare
Gen Z Americans Don’t Have Enough Saved To Cover a Single Month of Spending Fortune
It’s Not Nature. It’s Not Nurture. It’s a Möbius Strip. New York Times. Anthony L: “Sociogenomics.”
Antidote du jour (via):
A bonus (guurst):
Чет не спится😉 pic.twitter.com/uSGP52tmBx
— Maksud (@MaksudPash15485) March 13, 2025
A second bonus (Chuck L):
16. Dog’s unwell, and cat hasn’t left his side since..pic.twitter.com/VlOod017ty
— Wolf of X (@tradingMaxiSL) March 12, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
