Joking in the jungle: Apes have humor and they love teasing each other ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
Apes Got the Giggles Millions of Years Ago ScienceBlog (Dr. Kevin)
Watch: Airboat glides across ice to save trapped man BBC. Darwin Award fail, at Little Bay de Noc, as in Escanaba, Michigan, one of my old stomping grounds. Above the fold!
Our human ancestors often ate each other, and for surprising reasons New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)
Pesticide linked to reproductive issues found in Cheerios, Quaker Oats and other oat-based foods CBS (Kevin W)
You’ve heard about incels but you should know about femcels: the secret world of involuntary celibate women ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
Aeschylus’ Prometheus Unbound: Rebuilding a Lost Masterpiece Antigone (Anthony L)
#COVID-19
Long COVID Seems to Be a Brain Injury, Scientists Discover ScienceAlert (Paul R)
COVID patients are 4.3 times more likely to develop chronic fatigue, CDC report finds ABC (Paul R)
Colorado Teen Has Had Long Covid for 4 Years, Celebrated Prom in Hospital: ‘The Virus Just Began to Take Over’ Yahoo (ma)
Climate/Environment
15% of Americans are in climate change denial. Are you living in a denial hotspot? Check this map ZMEScience (Dr. Kevin)
After scrapping nuclear reactors, Germany to spend billions on new gas power plants Politico. UserFriendly: “Green party my ass.”
China?
Yet another US lawmakers group heading for Taiwan Asia Times (Kevin W). No Houthi help for you!
China Urges US to Lift ‘Illegal’ Sanctions, Ease Travel Concerns Bloomberg
Old Blighty
Europe and the US are drifting further apart – and Britain will be left to flounder Guardian (Kevin W)
The commercial motivations behind SANDF deployment to the DRC . PART 1
The M23 rebels supported by Rwanda have been capturing the cobalt rich Rubaya Mines in North Kivu. The orginal mining licence to the area was granted to Edouard Mwangachuchu, a Tutsi man from Rwanda,aligned… pic.twitter.com/z2e0KzPWjP
— Hughes (@MainlandAfrica) February 16, 2024
Gaza
‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 133: Israel cuts electricity to critical Nasser Hospital patients, forces staff to evacuate Mondoweiss
Nasrallah Responds To Israeli Attack On Civilians In Lebanon Moon of Alabama (Chuck L)
Jordanians form human chain to block trucks into Israel in solidarity with Gaza New Arab (Vikas S)
Israeli settlements stand in the way of peace. Biden can defund them all Guardian (Dr. Kevin). *Sigh*. You’d have to Nakba the settlers in the West Bank. Na ga happen as long as there is a state of Israel and even then a very tall order.
* * *
Israel itself was founded on what Jewish Labour MP Gerald Kaufman called ‘Jewish terrorism’. In the same way, the US and UK are currently arming & financing YPG/SDF in Syria which carries out horrific bomb attacks against civilians killing hundreds. pic.twitter.com/wfblzPgiXW
— Falcon Eye (@sahingoz_keskin) February 16, 2024
Hey Mayim, let me tell you about how I understood what was going on as a child. No one explained it to me. No one read stories to me.
1. I was tear-gassed at school when I was 6 years old(the whole school).2. My first classmate was killed when I was 8.3. My neighbor was… https://t.co/pPPQvzxAFU
— Abdalhadi Alijla عبد الهادي العجلة (@alijla2021) February 16, 2024
Energy firms face legal threat over Israeli licences to drill for gas off Gaza Middle East Eye (Kevin W)
* * *
I have a soft spot for these guys. Among other things, they’ve protested in NYC carrying Palestinian flags:
We have a request from you.
We want you to support Torah Jews by following the 𝕏 account called @TorahJews and liking the posts. So everyone will know the truth.
We do not recognize Zionists as Jews.
Zionists do not represent the Jewish people.
“Israel’s arrest and… pic.twitter.com/MT4I5lm4bM
— Torah Judaism (@TorahJudaism) February 16, 2024
New Not-So-Cold War
AVDEEVKA FALLS, UKRAINE RETREATS UNDER THE EYE OF SAURON Larry Johnson
West Sends Ukraine 3D Printers to Make Spare Parts, But Won’t Solve Critical Logistics Problems Brian Berletic
Vladimir Putin Speaks about Tucker Carlson’s Interview, Biden, and Trump – English Subtitles YouTube (zach)
Scott Ritter and the Russian ‘Path of Redemption’ Scott Ritter
Russia is using Starlink in occupied areas, Ukraine says Reuters (furzy)
Putin’s points in his interview with Carlson confirmed by Western scholars InfoBRICS
Navalny
Jailed Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny dead, says prison service BBC. Awfully careless to let him die now.
Death of Aleksei Navalny: the Brits did it! Gilbert Doctorow (guurst). Glad he said it.
Biden blames Putin for Navalny’s death, urges House to pass Ukraine funding The Hill. Lead story at BBC, in extra big type.
Just 3 weeks ago, a US citizen who was imprisoned by Ukraine for criticizing Zelensky died in prison at 55: few of our über-patriots cared.
They don’t care when Israel guns down US citizens in the West Bank or Gaza.
Or when the US Govt destroys Assange for exposing its crimes. https://t.co/qoRfkytohY
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) February 16, 2024
Wait for the postmortem & toxicology reports: Navalny had serious underlying medical conditions – https://t.co/8LzvwFqSD7 If he was on a combination with benzodiazepines, if mRNA vaccinated in Germany for Covid, there was difficult to detect sudden-death risk. pic.twitter.com/AQe5c9DTkB
— Dances_with_Bears (@bears_with) February 16, 2024
“Navalny,” documentary nominated for March 12 Oscar, is crude disinformation Lucy Komisar. From 2023. By e-mail, she comments
Putin had no reason to want him dead. He was irrelevant to Russian politics, was a “leader” anointed only by the West, and even the US media had ditched him in favor of the WSJ reporter. On who wins who loses, Putin doesn’t win as it’s a propaganda morsel for the West.
Beyond that, prisons east and west are not great on health care. This could have happened and probably has in Mississippi or Alabama.
Alexei Navalny is dead.
He will be lauded in the West as the symbol of democracy lost in Russia.
The reality was Navalny was a creation of the CIA, a poison pill designed bring down Putin.
Navalny destroyed democracy in Russia.
Good riddance.
— Scott Ritter (@RealScottRitter) February 16, 2024
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Leak of Russian ‘Threat’ Part of a Bid to Kill US Surveillance Reform, Sources Say Wired (Paul R). God, the officialdom is shameless. Arguably multiple motivations: Planetary Scare: Russian Doomsday Space Weapon Steals Headlines of Avdeevka Collapse Simplicius the Thinker
SHOCKING – OUTRAGEOUS: In case you missed this today, President Biden’s National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan, argued that it’s not in the American people’s national security interest to require a warrant for surveillance. He’s rejecting a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act… pic.twitter.com/Q9WaH6Fpv6
— Simon Ateba (@simonateba) February 14, 2024
The White House arguing, from the podium, that it no longer believes the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution “serves the interests of the United States.”
Super. https://t.co/GMMWjf70gH
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) February 14, 2024
Senator: Data broker tracked visits to Planned Parenthood The Register (Paul R)
Your AI Girlfriend Is a Data-Harvesting Horror Show Gizmodo (Paul R)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Cracks in the NATO Narratives and NATO Unity Chas Freeman, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen Rumble (Chuck L)
Trump
Judge orders Trump and companies to pay nearly $355 million in civil fraud trial CNN
Fani Willis hearing concludes in Trump Georgia case as defense ‘star witness’ fails to undercut romance timeline Washington Post (furzy)
Jesse Watters: Where Did Fani Willis get this cash? Fox (Li)
Biden
Biden’s Support For Israel Is Fracturing The Reproductive Rights Movement HuffPost (ma)
Immigration
Democrats eye new immigration strategy after Suozzi win The Hill. One robin does not make a spring.
Our No Longer Free Press
Countdown To Day X: US Suggests Assange Has No First Amendment Rights Kevin Gosztola (furzy)
Soros could take control of hundreds of US radio stations – media RT. Robin K: “Soros buys ore megaphones.”
The Norwegian Non-Fiction Writers and Translators Association (NFFO) announced that they cancelled their participation as a co-organiser for a public debate about the conflict in the Middle East because I am one of the speakers. I wear this as a badge of honour. One of Norway’s… https://t.co/mYYsliwLDA
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) February 14, 2024
Crime Blotter
Florida Cop Empties His Gun, Runs For Cover After Acorn Falls On Car Jalopnik. Paul R:
Florida deputy Jesse Hernandez screamed “shots fired,” and frantically fired his gun after an acorn fell onto the roof of his squad car, making him jump.
This is insane. Apparently there was a handcuffed suspect in the back seat of the car, and Hernandez thought the suspect was shooting at him. So he shot up the car.
Spotify Modifies Terms for Audiobook Rightsholders, Changes May Put Authors in Legal Peril With Narrators StoryFair Audiobooks. Paul R: “I don’t use Spotify but some people in Lemmy think this matters.”
Recession has struck some of the world’s top economies. The US keeps defying expectations Associated Press (Kevin W). Pride goeth before a fall.
AI
OpenAI Unveils Sora, an A.I. That Generates Eye-Popping Videos New York Times (furzy). Lambert: “Subliminally –AI Sora = eyesore…”
Air Canada ordered to pay customer who was misled by airline’s chatbot Guardian (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
It’s Apple’s Vision Pro, The Rest of Us Just Live Here Matt Stoller
Neumann! Puck. UserFriendly: “Paywwallled (on 14 daddy trail that will not renew) But HILARIOUS!”
Class Warfare
Trust me, important:
I watch my alma mater, Georgetown Uni., ’cause its a factory of the elite — i.e., a hypercompetitive, careerist, neolib environment overexposed to political trends.
But what happens when progressive demands hit THAT WHICH MUST NOT BE TOUCHED?
A short 🧵https://t.co/i7p8noeHRH
— Smug Doomposting Publishing House (@Smug_editing) February 15, 2024
Barbara Lee calls for $50/hour federal minimum wage National Desk (Paul R)
Antidote du jour. CV: “A Kodiak bear.”
And a bonus (Alice X):
this is my new favorite video pic.twitter.com/fYS7RtAG8B
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) February 14, 2024
A second bonus:
He’s mine 😺 pic.twitter.com/3H5tKAa6B2
— Why you should have a cat (@ShouldHaveCat) February 16, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
