Stonehenge’s enigmatic center stone was pulled 800 kilometers from Scotland Nature
40 years of the summer solstice at Stonehenge: From Anarchy to Regional Repression to ‘Open Access Regime’ Eurasia Review
Rolling Stones (excerpts) Supplement to the Chronicle. Deck: “Was Stonehenge a good social project?”
The IRA and the challenge of remaking the American economy FT
The world will lose $4.7 trillion in income over the next decade due to tax havens. How did we get here? Business Standard. Comment:
Many people, including many people in the financial sector, think that Trump’s corporate tax reform has eliminated the incentive for “offshore” profits.
At least in pharmacy, the data is clear: it didn’t.
2/2
– Brad Setser (@Brad_Setser) August 15, 2024
The weather
‘We have to have better answers now’: climate scientists baffled by unexpected pace of warming The Guardian
Physicists Identify Quantum Origin of Greenhouse Effect Quanta. Floor: “Carbon dioxide’s powerful heat-trapping effect has been traced to a change in its quantum structure. The findings may explain climate change better than any computer model.”
Scottish islands could solve BBC ‘snowball’ mystery
****** Possibility of higher target temperature due to institutional constraints Environment. From Discussion: “A strong insight from this work, however, is that focusing on cost-effectiveness without considering institutional and regional differences leads to significant biases in measurement conditions.”
Featured: Growing demand for data center to offset green energy boom The Business Post
****** The world is laughing at Britain’s heatwaves – they really shouldn’t be independent
Don’t underestimate the cost of the green transition Gillian Tett, FT
America Has a Hot Steel Problem Atlantic
Syndemics
An outbreak of mpox caused by Monkeypox virus clade I in the Democratic Republic of the Congo European Center for Disease Prevention and Control
2 Mpox Cases in Oneida County, 1 Case in Otsego County WKTV
****** Will bird flu be the next pandemic? Vaccines are prepared, in case of USA Today
****** Strokes, heart attacks, sudden death: Does America understand the long-term risks of catching COVID? Good luck
Association between chronic SARS-CoV-2 symptoms and occupational outcomes PLOS One. From the Abstract: “Despite the end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and efforts to “get back to normal”, policymakers must consider the clinical and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of employment and absenteeism, in particular. as data showing the many health and welfare impacts of Long COVID continue to emerge. “
Water
All the water of the Earth in one place! The USGS. As of 2019, still.
China?
China commercial bank chairman killed, stabbed in office, subordinate arrested: South China Morning Post reports
China currency slump weighs as e-commerce giant Alibaba misses Channel News Asia ratings
China’s adoption of trains and EVs needs holiday fuel The Business Times
China’s Huawei reportedly to release new AI chip to challenge Nvidia amid US sanctions CNBC
in Myanmar
China supports Myanmar junta’s plan for new elections: Foreign Minister Channel News Asia
Syracistan
Land allocation approved for first new West Bank settlement to be built starting in 2017 Times of Israel. Comment:
The Israelis destroyed one of the last Christian Palestinian strongholds in the West Bank and the place I chose to live when I researched Palestinian Christians in From the Holy Mountain. It is a place with an incredibly ancient history, Christian origins,… pic.twitter.com/tS3XR9A64G
– William Dalrymple (@DalrympleWill) August 15, 2024
The US says West Bank attacks by ‘violent settlers’ are ‘unacceptable and must be stopped’ after one person was killed in Anadolu Agency.
We serve at Israel’s Sde Teiman Base. Here’s What Haaretz Did To Gazans Arrested There
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra cancels pianist’s performance after tribute to slain journalists in Gaza Guardian
Dad Jokes 3 Quarks Every Day
Hello Old Blighty
In the Void New Left Review
The New Cold War
Symposium: What does Ukraine’s accession to Russia mean? Responsible Statecraft
Ukraine called Putin’s nuclear telegraph. The stake: “Shy Western leaders must seize the rare opportunity offered by a courageous Ukrainian champion.”
What is the real purpose of the Russian invasion of Ukraine? The viewer
Ukraine gambled on penetrating deep into Russian territory. A bold move changed the battlefield of AP
Putin Succeeds in His Hold Anastasia Edel, NYT
****** Ukraine’s Kursk Offensive is a turning point in the Foreign Policy of the War. Stake: “The biggest impact is the destruction of Vladimir Putin’s victory narrative.”
Ukraine’s Entry into Russia Flips the Script for Putin NYT
****** Bitter Lees For Overreach The New Kremlin Stooge
Russian car loans, thriving food halls BNE Intellinews
South of the Border
CNN’s Deceptive Analysis of Vote Fraud in Venezuela’s Presidential Election (pjay).
2024
Journalists Defend Not to Interview Kamala Harris (video) Glenn Greenwald, YouTube
Democrats Need To Stop Abandoning Palestinian Voters If They Want To Win A Nation. Comment:
Biden, Harris celebrate agreement to lower drug prices in joint public appearance France24
Not being trusted
Monopoly Money Ed Zitron, Where’s Your Ed?
One strange monopoly strategy that gave us Walmart and Amazon and killed Main Street Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic
Matt Yglesias Is Wrong About Lina Khan’s Revolving Door Project
Campaign Address in Portland, Oregon on Public Utilities and Hydro-Electric Power Development Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Project of the President of the United States:
[FDR:] When I became Governor, I discovered that the Public Service Commission of the State of New York had adopted the unfair and unreasonable view that its only function was to act as an arbitrator or a tribunal of sorts between the public on one side and the court on the other. subsidiary companies on the other. After that I laid down a policy which caused panic and confusion among the Insulls and other officials of that ilk.I declared that the Public Service Commission is not just a legal body that acts only as an arbitrator between a complaining consumer or a complaining investor on the one hand, and the larger public utility system on the other. I declared that, as an agent of the Legislature, the Public Service Commission has the authority, and indeed the delegated authority and duty to act as a public agent itself.
Spook Land
The National Endowment for Democracy: What It Is and What It Does Ministry of Public Affairs of the People’s Republic of China
A digital clock
Google’s AI-powered search gives sites a stark choice: Share Data or Die Bloomberg
Civil rights advocates oppose bill that creates framework to help NIST’s AI standards work within AI Policy
Supply Chain
Tank markets shrug off growing tensions in Middle East S&P Global
The Olympics
Public health leader, who is also a top athlete, investigates the handling of COVID at the Croakey Olympics
Imperial Collapse Watch
“We Need to Take Back Our Republic and End Our Broken Empire” (video) Lawrence Wilkerson, Schiller Institute, YouTube
Class War
Palmer Luckey, American Vulcan Tablet Magazine
The Rich Bring Big Money and Luxury Lodging to Maine’s Lakes WSJ
The Webb Telescope Further Deepens the Great Controversy in Cosmology Quanta
Antidote du jour (RicciSpeziari):
See yesterday’s links and the Antidote du Jour here.
