HERODOTUS ON CHRISTMAS IN 20TH-CENTURY BRITAIN Antigone
Dog in UK collected more than 1,000 littered bottles for recycling Washington Post (furzy)
Giant python reunited with owner after months roaming Austin BBC
A 400lb, silverback gorilla under anesthesia, undergoing a medical procedure. Miami, Florida. 2019 pic.twitter.com/1VGDgT6RWJ
— Laocoon of Troy (@LaocoonofTroy) December 22, 2022
Deep Learning Alone Isn’t Getting Us To Human-Like AI Nomea (David L)
Unexpected but nice pic.twitter.com/oELm2Maeid
— Lord Bebo (@MyLordBebo) December 23, 2022
Inside the billion-dollar meeting for the mega-rich who want to live forever MIT Technology Review
‘Classifying Aging as a Disease Could Speed FDA Drug Approvals’ The Hill
Meddling Parents Hire Dating Coaches for Their Grown Children Wall Street Journal (J-LS). I have always preferred getting a root canal to going on a date. Well, except a root canal has permanent physical effects and most dates don’t.
Rear window New Criterion (Anthony L). On Edward Hopper.
Bach’s accidental masterpiece New Statesman (J-LS)
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
ma flags a new data site:
Update on my website. US states are complete. Graphs now include new variants and higher resolution, but different views will require clicking different tabs at the bottom as well as using the directional arrows to scroll through tabs. Intl next.https://t.co/HepDCemu4g
— Michael Olesen 💉😷🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@maolesen) November 19, 2022
SARS-CoV-2 structural proteins trigger periodontal fibrosis News-Medical.net (ma)
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BQ and XBB subvariants show exceptional immune evasion properties News-Medical.net (guurst)
Asia
China estimates 250mn people have caught Covid in 20 days Financial Times
China sees Trojan horse in refused US vaccine offer Asia Times (Kevin W)
‘Revive habit of using masks,’ advices ex-Health min Harsh Vardhan on COVID-19 situation Republic World (J-LS)
RTPCR Test Mandatory For Foreign Arrivals From China, 4 Other Nations: Union Health Min Republic World (J-LS)
Climate/Environment
Facts and figures about toxic chemicals in agriculture 2022 Pesticide Atlas (guurst)
EPA Tightens Rules on Pollution From Vans, Buses and Trucks New York Times
Zimbabwe Has Banned the Export of Raw Lithium Quartz
China?
Manila hardens South China Sea defences Bangkok Post (furzy)
China sees Trojan horse in refused US vaccine offer Asia Times (Kevin W)
Japan eyes global military power status Asia Times (Kevin W)
India
Important decisions in meeting of the Cabinet today:
-Food grains to be made available free of cost to more than 800 million beneficiaries till Dec 2023 under National Food Security Act. Will ensure India’s food security.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 23, 2022
South Africa marks holidays despite nationwide power cuts FirstPost (J-LS)
New Not So Cold War
Will Ukraine ever have enough Fire Power? Col Doug Macgregor Judge Napolitano, YouTube
Has NATO’s Strategy To Bleed Russia Backfired? Larry Johnson
Of Note. Andrei Martyanov (guurst). On Russia increasing the size of its armed forces
Bakhmut Meatgrinder & Copium Mark Sleboda (Stevelancs). Good overview.
Kiev is mulling peace plan, WSJ reports RT
Artemovsk / Bakhmut. US soldiers ‘resign’ from the military and go and fight as merc’s. It allows NATO to deny its fighting on the ground. Footage like this show NATO is very much involved. pic.twitter.com/GUXx3kB0K1
— Nikolai (@Nikolai11449196) December 22, 2022
* * *
The Claim That The Ukraine War Advances US Interests Discredits The Claim That It’s “Unprovoked” Caitlin Johnstone (Kevin W)
* * *
Putin, Isolated and Distrustful, Leans on Handful of Hard-Line Advisers Wall Street Journal. Neocons gotta neocon.
Sixty years on from the Cuban missile crisis, the US has learned its lessons – but Putin has not Guardian (Kevin W)
Russia’s militarization of the Arctic shows no sign of slowing down CNN (furzy)
* * *
EU price cap on gas could push suppliers to other markets – Novak Interfax (guurst)
* * *
WHAT I’VE SEEN OF UKRAINE’S WAR CRIMES AGAINST CIVILIANS IN THE DONBASS OVER THE PAST FEW MONTHS – EVA BARLETT South Front (guurst)
Syraqistan
The US Captagon Act: Tightening Syria’s siege under new pretext The Cradle (guurst)
Israel: How Netanyahu handed Ben-Gvir the gun to start an annexation war Jonathan Cook, Middle East Eye (guurst)
🧵1/13 On 16 November, UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs asked EU Coordinator on combating #Antisemitism @kschnurbein whether @EU_Commission has assessed the implications for fundamental rights of the IHRA definition of antisemitism 👇🏼https://t.co/Axwn6ulRyC
— Law for Palestine | القانون من أجل فلسطين (@Law4Palestine) December 22, 2022
A day after of the Taliban BANNED female university education, women & girls have come out on the streets of Kabul protesting against the decree.
They chant —“Either for everyone or for no one. One for all, all for one”
Amplify their voices.pic.twitter.com/mWbf5Mtcr2
— Shabnam Nasimi (@NasimiShabnam) December 22, 2022
Big Brother Is Watching You Watch
Cover Your Tracks Electronic Frontier Foundation (David L)
As Long as We’re on the Subject of CAPTCHAs Bruce Schneier (David L)
Meta agrees to pay $725 million to settle lawsuit over Cambridge Analytica data leak CNN (Kevin W)
1/6
The Facts Underpinning Jan. 6 Committee Criminal Referrals FactCheck.org (furzy). I have trouble with the claim that Trump had a plan, as opposed to some impulses.
Trump
Judge slams Trump suit aimed at blocking N.Y. attorney general probe Politico (furzy)
Biden
SEVEN THESES ON AMERICAN POLITICS New Left Economics. Robin K: “Biden economics.”
Ffs pic.twitter.com/5KPovEEYKS
— Clown World ™ 🤡 (@ClownWorld_) December 22, 2022
DOJ takes on ’True the Vote’ Vigilantes — finally! Greg Palast, YouTube
Judge strips Alex Jones of bankruptcy protections after he tried to dodge $1.5B Sandy Hook judgment Salon (furzy)
Our No Longer Free Press
1 big thing — Exclusive: Bloomberg eyes WSJ, WaPo Axios (furzy)
No Free PACER as US Lawmakers Exclude Proposal from Spending Bill Reuters
The Bezzle
Bankman-Fried associate admits to misuse of FTX customer funds Financial Times. Could be inferred from revised SEC filing. Nevertheless:
Ellison, the former head of FTX’s trading affiliate Alameda Research who pleaded guilty to seven criminal charges on Monday, told a New York judge that from 2019 to 2022 the firm had access to “an unlimited line of credit on FTX.com” and that she “knew that it was wrong”, according to a transcript of the plea hearing made available on Friday.
“I understood that FTX executives had implemented special settings on Alameda’s FTX.com account to maintain negative balances in various fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies,” Ellison said at the hearing, just days before Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas to the US.
She added that she “understood that if Alameda’s FTX accounts had significant negative balances in any particular currency, it meant that Alameda was borrowing funds that FTX’s customers had deposited”….
Ellison’s testimony on Monday afternoon was kept secret for days. Federal prosecutors had argued that revealing her plea might make it more difficult to convince Bankman-Fried, who has been charged with eight criminal counts, to allow himself to be brought back from the Bahamas to New York and be arraigned.
Bankman-Fried Judge Recused Because Husband’s Firm Advised FTX Bloomberg. Being a stickler, I had taken issue with earlier reports from a website that will go unnamed that argued the judge needed to recuse herself because Davis Polk, her husband’s firm, had represented BlockFi on a loan to FTX. Earth to base, in that case, BlockFi had interests adverse to FTX and so no conflict of interest. Apparently there was also a direct Davis Polk representation of FTX or an FTX entity too (note the conflict between the FTX and BlockFi representation was likely waived by whichever party hired Davis Polk later; it often happens at big firms. Consultants get vastly more confidential information than law firms do. In my day, McKinsey represented Citibank, Chase, Merrill, and the then Manufacturers Hanover. Different partners on each account and they did not share associates. And those partners hated each other).
How Big Tech fought antitrust reform — and won The Hill
Bank Error in Our Favor Matt Stoller (Chuck L)
FTC orders Mastercard to not block use of competing debit payment networks The Hill (Kevin W)
Elon Musk’s Finances Complicated by Declining Wealth, Twitter Pressures Wall Street Journal
Class Warfare
University of California workers approve contract agreement, ending longest higher education strike in U.S. Politico
Antidote du jour. The elk regulars lounging in Teton Time’s yard.
And a bonus (Robin K):
Peach the Newshound sniffs beneath sun dogs — it’s 17 below at Storm Lake. @SLTimes pic.twitter.com/wapfeN0fdr
— Art Cullen (@cullen_art) December 22, 2022
And a second bonus (guurst):
Kangaroos in the snowpic.twitter.com/djJRLABQC5
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) December 23, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
