Imagine stepping into the silent darkness of a cave, only to be confronted by the powerful forms of bison, rendered in clay by hands that lived and breathed 14,000 years ago.
Deep within the Le Tuc d’Audoubert cave in Ariège, France, lies a breathtaking testament to the… pic.twitter.com/Ss6aMPcxnc
— ArchaeoHistories (@histories_arch) May 10, 2025
He has built the world’s smallest Dala horse – can only be seen under a microscope. TV4 via machine translation Background to the Dala Horses. Micael T: “Fun and impressive but I also see the next art scam after NTFs: Nano-art”
Asians made humanity’s longest prehistoric migration and shaped the genetic landscape in the Americas ScienceDaily (Kevin W)
Dark matter formed when fast particles slowed down and got heavy, new theory says Dartmouth College
Gateway Books Point Magazine. Anthony L: “Still traumatised from Cat’s Cradle”
All Yesterday’s Parties Literary Review (Anthony L)
The Hobo Handbook The Paris Review (Anthony L)
FDA Clears First Blood Test for Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Medpage Today
#COVID-19/Pandemic
On cloud nine after a Covid safer dance party 🪩 💃 🕺 Clean air, no symptoms, testing, masks, & carefree fun with supportive friends. Life is good 🥹 #evermaskers pic.twitter.com/32iFEsn48H
— CaliforniaCodes (@CaliforniaCodes) May 16, 2025
Texas’ measles outbreak is starting to slow. The U.S. case count climbs slightly to 1,024 cases Associated Press
Quick takes: H5N1 in dairy cows and poultry, polio in 5 nations CIDRAP
Climate/Environment
W.A.S.T.E. Not The Baffler (Anthony L)
Large Cloud Feedback Confirms High Climate Sensitivity James Hansen and Pushker Kharecha
How Climate Change Is Impacting People’s Ability to Have Healthy Pregnancies Time
Plastic may be warming the planet more than we thought Washington Post
Eurasia Has a Major Methane Problem EurasiaNet
Summer-like slug of heat pushes across much of North America Yale Climate Connections
China?
Trump to Keep 30% China Tariffs Through Late 2025, Analysts Say Bloomberg. *Sigh* Bessant said 30% was the baseline for China.
China Launches First of 2,800 Satellites For AI Space Computing Constellation Space News
India-Pakistan Row
Kashmir: the new rallying point for global Islamism Spiked
India
If China can rise, why can’t India? Asia Times (Kevin W)
Indian security forces have killed 31 Maoist rebels in what the country’s home minister called the “biggest operation against Naxalism” Aljazeera
Africa
Ugandan troops breached South Sudan arms embargo, Amnesty International new report says France24
South of the Border
Stricken Leviathans New Left Review (Anthony L)
Extortion Gangs Overrun Colombia’s Biggest Oil-Producing Region Bloomberg
European Disunion
Trade war, high debt, market volatility among top risks for euro zone, ECB says Reuters
they blamed in on Russians – but… pic.twitter.com/wke4KG3cRI
— — GEROMAN — time will tell – 👀 — (@GeromanAT) May 14, 2025
Old Blighty
How Starmer careened from honourable left to racist right Middle East Eye (Anthony L)
Israel v. the Resistance
Listen carefully about what’s happening in northern Gaza. The situation is extremely difficult. The bombing is everywhere. People are evaporating. Wake up, world! pic.twitter.com/CiaHKdZsiX
— Khaled Yousry (@KhaledYousry22) May 16, 2025
What a beautiful human being. What a righteous spirit. I’m all admiration and awe https://t.co/miKTfXgRqX
— Alon Mizrahi (@alon_mizrahi) May 16, 2025
Either the Trump admin scammed Hamas into releasing the most valuable captive for free, or Netanyahu is defying the White House to show he’s got the final say on Gaza
Either way, this is so destructive for prisoner swap/ceasefire negotiations; as Hamas will never trust mediators… https://t.co/l0uANm4qqw
— Muhammad Shehada (@muhammadshehad2) May 16, 2025
White House Working on Plan to Send 1 Million Palestinians to Libya Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
Israeli airstrikes kill at least 80 as Trump talks of turning Gaza into ‘freedom zone’ Guardian
* * *
Israeli army fire hits UN south Lebanon base for first time since ceasefire Aljazeera
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Dimitri Lascaris: The Reason Israel Will Cease To Exist In “My Lifetime” Jarmal Thomas, YouTube
NEWS: Israel attempting to impose a full naval blockade on Yemen’s Ansarallah (Houthis), Israeli outlets citing military officials reported after latest attacks.
➤ A senior Israeli military official told Israeli outlet Maariv after the latest attacks: “We attacked targets in… pic.twitter.com/uJFGbkqz77
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) May 16, 2025
IDF pounds Houthi ports in Yemen, threatens to kill leader, after missile, drone attacks Times of Israel
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Trump says Iran has received US nuclear proposal Anadolu Agency
New Not-So-Cold War
In case you missed it:
Another tidbit from inside the delegation to our correspondent:
Big laugh from Moscow team in Istanbul when a Ukrainian claimed Russia was planning to invade Poland in 2030.
Medinsky smirked.
“Let’s not turn these talks into a fantasy novel.” pic.twitter.com/vqFXNJdQR0
— Margarita Simonyan (@M_Simonyan) May 16, 2025
Another side of Russian politics 😂:
Someone posted this warning on the door of the negotiating room with the Ukrainians in Istanbul:
“Entry is prohibited… We are holding a meeting with clowns.” pic.twitter.com/EBw8ecq3lv
— Sprinter Observer (@SprinterObserve) May 16, 2025
“Puzzled” is one of my favorite words for taking issue with stupidity:
Ukraine confirms that Russia made unacceptable demands in Istanbul Ukrainska Pravada
Ukraine and Russia agree prisoner-of-war exchange after first direct talks in years BBC
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Ukraine – Negotiation Failure Plus Other Items Moon of Alabama (Kevin W). IMHO, this is the correct frame. The fact that the two sides sat down and confirmed that there is no overlap in bargaining positions should not be depicted as negotiating.
Russia Stands Firm in Istanbul as EU-Cabal Runs Out of Options Simplicius. Alexander Mercouris, in his talk on Friday, argued with evidence (staff changes in Moscow and the composition of the Istanbul negotiating team) that the military has insisted on a strong voice in any negotiations
The Odessa Moment Scott Ritter
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Mark Sleboda: How Long Can Ukraine Survive? The Clock Is Ticking Dialogue Works. Sleboda points out, as we did at the get-go, points out Russia can win the war and lose the peace….as it just did in Syria.
Russia Promises to Double Down if Ukraine Does Not Take the Offer on the Table Larry Johnson
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Financing the Russian War Economy Stockholm Institute of Transition Economics (Micael T). With help from the Kyiv School of Economics
How Ukrainian secret services found traitors in Hungary Vzyglad via machine translation. Micael T: “I look forward to the Polish-Ukrainian bunfight.”
Russian-Malaysian talks President of Russia
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
YouTube and Netflix Deploy AI and Behavioral Tracking to Intensify Targeted Advertising Reclaim the Net
Imperial Collapse Watch
With Moody’s downgrade, US loses treasured Aaa credit rating Reuters (Kevin W). As is usual, the downgrade happened only after Mr. Market made the downgrade via the sustained increase in 10 and 30 year yields.
America’s Weaponization of Space Continues Whilst NASA Sees Budget Cuts Antiwar.com (Kevin W)
DC military-air traffic control hotline hasn’t worked for over 3 years Military Times (Kevin W)
No rules, no rulers: The unraveling of the old world order and the role of Russia RT (Chuck L)
Trump 2.0
Trump Tax Cuts Rejected by House Panel as GOP Hardliners Dig In Bloomberg
Schumer slams Trump-led deals to sell AI chips to Saudi Arabia, UAE The Hill (Kevin W)
Flatter or confront? How world leaders are dealing with Trump Financial Times
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Erm, Twitterati point out that the infamous number is also the number of days since 9/11. But the fast removal is a guilty look:
Former FBI Director James Comey’s now-deleted “86 47” social media post is political speech protected by the First Amendment. It neither constitutes a true threat nor merits federal investigation.
There is SCOTUS precedent to prove it. pic.twitter.com/wU1VSDufF3
— FIRE (@TheFIREorg) May 16, 2025
Versus
James Comey just issued a call to action to murder the President of the United States.
As a former FBI Director and someone who spent most of his career prosecuting mobsters and gangsters, he knew exactly what he was doing and must be held accountable under the full force of the… pic.twitter.com/zvbu5Vf0zg
— DNI Tulsi Gabbard (@DNIGabbard) May 16, 2025
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“We Study Fascism…We’re Leaving the U.S.”: The NY Times Runs Video of Yale Professors Fleeing to Canada Jonathan Turley. ZOMG, Timothy Synder is so rabidly anti-Russia as to regularly resort to fabulism. Good riddance. He’ll find a happy home with Banderite lovers like Chrystia Freeland.
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Shadow SEC: The PCAOB Should Be Carefully Reviewed, Not Hastily Abolished The CLS Blue Sky Blog. Adrien F:
Dismantling public service and cultivating lawlessness at the top is now a well publicized staple of this administration. Abolishing the SEC would be their wet dream but a tad bit too obvious even for them..so let’s start with abolishing the nearest one: the PCAOB.
Here is the response from my favorite Columbia law professor extraordinaire Jack Coffee and others.
Tariffs
Trump’s trade beef more with Global South than China Asia Times (Kevin W). Erm, this is a stretch. There’s a big difference in typical value added and product sophistication (even before considering the transshipment question). The US, like all colonialists, is perfectly happy to import commodities and minimally processed products from poor countries.
Pharmacists Stockpile Most Common Drugs on Chance of Targeted Trump Tariffs KFF Health News
Immigration
Supreme Court blocks Trump from restarting Alien Enemies Act deportations CNN
Student who earned Ph.D. while DHS tried to deport her over minor traffic violation is granted injunction NBC (Kevin W)
DHS mulls reality show for immigrants seeking US citizenship The Hill. Oh, so they will have to win gladiatorial battles to prove fitness?
Democrat Death Wish
Exclusive: Prosecutor’s audio shows Biden’s memory lapses Axios
Groves of Academe
Financial Reckoning Hits Universities: Pay Cuts, Layoffs and No Coffee Wall Street Journal
Mr. Market Is Moody
A credit crunch is coming soon Seeking Alpha
US Spring Homebuying Season Has Its Weakest Start in Five Years Bloomberg
AI
Student Demands Tuition Refund After Catching Professor Using ChatGPT Fortune
FBI: US Officials Targeted In Voice Deepfake Attacks Since April Bleeping Computer. Vovan and Lexus show this is overkill.
Families of victims appalled as Boeing seems likely to avoid prosecution over 737 Max crashes Guardian
The Bezzle
Feds ask Musk’s car company how its driverless taxis will avoid causing accidents in Texas rollout Associated Press (Kevin W)
Class Warfare
The housing market has never been this unaffordable in U.S. history.
With inflation-adjusted home prices setting a record over the last three years.
We’re now in the biggest housing bubble of all-time, and the only period that came close was 2006, before the big crash.
Many… pic.twitter.com/7NqdnYijKJ
— Nick Gerli (@nickgerli1) May 15, 2025
Antidote du jour (via):
And a bonus:
WE WENT TO THE VET (I TOLD HIM WE WERE GOING TO A PARK) pic.twitter.com/OOEpNn9XH2
— contents that ll heal your depression 🌻 (@catshealdeprsn) May 13, 2025
A second bonus:
These birds saw a person feed an injured bird, so they all started pretending to be injured as well. pic.twitter.com/JEXxUuBY0u
— The Figen (@TheFigen_) May 15, 2025
And a third:
The cleanest window of the building.. 😂 pic.twitter.com/jRHdOd2cKq
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) May 15, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
