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‘A gentle calm’: France’s streets once again echo to sound of working horses Guardian (resilc). Very handsome horse. But my father grew up in Long Island during the Depression. He’d sometimes visit NYC and hated it. A big reason was the still-extensive use of horses with delivery wagons and the resulting stench.
World’s oldest recorded tortoise prepares for 190th birthday party Guardian (Kevin W)
Dolphins Shrug Off Hot Sauce–Spiked Nets Hakai (resilc)
Historic photos celebrate 100 years of Superior National Forest plan Quetico Superior Wilderness News (Chuck L)
I’m sorry, I simply cannot be cynical about a technology that can accomplish this. pic.twitter.com/yjlY72eZ0m
— Thomas H. Ptacek (@tqbf) December 2, 2022
I made ChatGPT take a full SAT test. Here’s how it did: pic.twitter.com/734sPFU3HY
— david (@davidtsong) December 2, 2022
Farts say more about your health than you think — now, scientists are listening Inverse (Dr. Kevin)
US sees surge in children under five hospitalized for respiratory viruses Guardian (resilc)
Germany: RSV infection wave overloads children’s hospitals DW (resilc)
How heaven became a place among the stars aeon (Anthony L)
A Path to Freedom Commonweal. Anthony L: “It is sad when art needs a “defence”, and so all defences are sadder.”
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
The scary thing about SARS Cov 2 is that it can kill in the immediate term AND the longer term
If it’s true that it can make people more susceptible to other infections like the RSV preprint suggests, we will have a devolving disaster on on our hands. https://t.co/kNl1oEGjHA
— Anthony J Leonardi, PhD, MS (@fitterhappierAJ) December 1, 2022
Asia
Chartbook #177 Beijing’s tragic COVID dilemma Adam Tooze (resilc)
China fights lockdown protests by targeting smartphones DW (resilc)
Climate/Environment
Forced Labor, Child Miners, Payment in Drugs—Clean Energy Supply Chain Has Issues Mother Jones (resilc)
The dirty road to clean energy: how China’s electric vehicle boom is ravaging the environment Rest of World
The quest for low carbon steel Asia Times
Old Blighty
The reality of Brexit is biting hard. Poor people are suffering most – and now everyone can see it Guardian
Indonesia set to penalise sex outside marriage in overhaul of criminal code Reuters. Resilc: “Mass arrests in Bali for expats then?”
🇻🇪🚫🛢️Venezuela’s largest oil refinery has suspended operationshttps://t.co/LzN85U9yOS
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) December 3, 2022
New Not-So-Cold War
Telephone conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Kremlin. Ouch.
Russia demands annexations recognised before talks BBC. I read this as Russian top officials tired of wasting time on lectures and bizarre peace feelers (see Scholz above, the Kremlin readout does not dignify Scholz pressing Putin to withdraw troops).
Newsbits On Ukraine – Swamp Trenches, Short Training, Out Of Ammo Moon of Alabama (Chuck L)
* * * EU reaches deal to impose $60 cap on Russian oil exports Financial Times
Russia: price cap is ‘dangerous’ and will not curb demand for our oil Reuters
Switzerland may ban EVs to avoid blackouts – Der Spiegel RT (Kevin W)
OPEC and Russia to Meet as Global Forces Weigh on Oil Market New York Times
Power Prices Scream Higher In Europe As Wind Power Slumps OilPrice (resilc)
Germans Turn to Heat Pumps to Replace Gas Furnaces New York Times. Resilc: “They are made from and run on stardust, just like Teslazzzzzzz.”
* * * Zelensky Looks To Ban Christian Denomination With Ties to Moscow Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Syraqistan
Fascism: Israeli Style CounterPunch
A quick close-up analysis dismantles the #Israeli narrative of a #Palestinian attacking & attempting to steal an Israeli soldier’s weapon:
Ammar Mufleh, 22, was fully unarmed & trying to make a run for his life from a soldier’s chokehold before he was executed in cold blood!🧵 pic.twitter.com/MDy456apzF
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) December 2, 2022
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
‘NO’: Grad Students Analyze, Hack, and Remove Under-Desk Surveillance Devices Designed to Track Them Vice (furzy)
CIA’s Venture Capital Wing In-Q-Tel Partners With Trust Lab Startup Intercept
Imperial Collapse Watch
NATO Exists To Solve The Problems Created By NATO’s Existence Caitlin Johnstone
After 11th anniversary of #Gaddafi‘s death during #NATO‘s assault on #Libya – all in the name of freedom, democracy & human rights – we’d do well to remember what happened next: terror, death, lawlessness, rape, poverty, starvation. Libya riven by conflict. That’s NATO’s legacy. pic.twitter.com/7CUgdSvcmJ
— Clare Daly (@ClareDalyMEP) November 30, 2022
Our No Longer Free Press
Important:
1. Thread: THE TWITTER FILES
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022
The Rorschach test of media reactions:
Twitter suppressed stories based on requests from both Dems and GOP in 2020, but it favored liberals: Report Fox
‘This will be awesome’: Musk leaks Twitter’s Hunter Biden files Politico. Subhead: “The tech billionaire’s latest move will likely ingratiate him further with conservatives — and plunge the social media platform deeper into political controversy.”
Released Twitter emails show how employees debated how to handle 2020 New York Post Hunter Biden story CNN
Taibbi confirms that Twitter exec Vijaya Gadde played a key role in suppressing the Oct. 2020 Hunter Biden laptop story. Gadde was later appointed by the Biden admin to an advisory role shaping the Department of Homeland Security’s “disinfo” policy. https://t.co/zVgMuTSnwv
— Lee Fang (@lhfang) December 3, 2022
Lambert on the story:
Taibbi’s reporting — mostly internal email from Twitter — shows that the Biden campaign leveraged Democrat assets in the Twitter moderation team to suppress a news story from The New York Post that would have hurt their candidate in the closing days of the campaign.
If that’s not rigging an election, then what is it?
And an NC regular:
The suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story is well known by now (except among the Hillary Diehards, who, I’ll admit, make up about 20 percent of the “adult” population, or so).
The internal problems with censorship at Twitter also are well known. In a sense, Taibbi isn’t surprising anyone.
Yet the comments are atrocious. They are an argument against Twitter and its supposed free flow of information. The comments are a lot of half-baked opinions by people with too many unexamined opinions. This is dialogue?
Mainstream Media Slain in Canada Matt Taibbi (Chuck L)
Hate Speech’s Rise on Twitter Under Elon Musk Is Unprecedented, Researchers Find New York Times
Police State Watch
Police killed at least 1,054 people through November 27, 2022. Police are killing people at higher rates in 2022 than *any year on record* in the United States. https://t.co/0VQVssyYOK
— Samuel Sinyangwe (@samswey) November 30, 2022
Texas school staffers accused of locking up boy until he ate his own feces New York Post (resilc)
Florida sheriff announces old-time punishments like disfigurement are back for school kids Boing Boing (resilc)
Inflation/Supply Chain
People are turning to fish heads, protein shakes, and unsold food apps to save money on groceries Business Insider
Payback And Back Pay Heisenberg Report (resilc)
Summers Says Fed Will Need to Boost Rates More Than Markets Expect Bloomberg
SpaceX Wins FCC Approval to Launch 7,500 Starlink Satellites BNN Bloomberg
The Bezzle
Tesla finally delivers first electric Semi to Pepsi after years of delay ars technica (resilc)
Why they clapped for Sam Bankman-Fried The Reformed Broker
The “Kubrick Stare” is one of Stanley Kubrick’s most recognizable directorial techniques, a method of shot composition where a character stares at the camera with a forward tilt, to convey to the audience that the character in question is at the peak of their derangement. pic.twitter.com/nFFFGUtoDg
— Franco Battaglia (@francobatta11) December 1, 2022
Class Warfare
New York Times could go dark next Thursday after 1,000 journalists pledged to walk out for 24 hours if their pay bump demands aren’t met Daily Mail (BC)
Trader Joe’s workers upset about new work schedule policy: ‘a veiled threat’ Guardian (resilc)
Betrayal Steve Waldman. On the rail cramdown.
Full List of Senators Who Voted Against Giving Rail Workers Paid Sick Leave New Republic
82-year-old woman arrested for unpaid trash bills in Alabama WLTX (resilc)
Antidote du jour (John M):
