Yves here. I know it is silly to even notice, but my favorite cat Blake would have been 20 today.
Indonesia’s food chain turns toxic as plastic waste exports flood in Guardian
How Google Interferes With Its Search Algorithms and Changes Your Results Wall Street Journal. A blockbuster. Remember how Google downranked the WSJ in search? See summary if you can’t get past the paywall: Google search results have more human help than you think, report finds ars technica
China?
#BREAKING: Dozens of what appear to be PLA soldiers in ordinary clothing come out from the Kowloon Tong Osborn Barracks and clean barricades set up on Renfrew Road near the Hong Kong Baptist University @hkbaptistu. They are chucking bricks back to the pavements. #HongKongProtests pic.twitter.com/u7MoyzNxaI
— Ezra Cheung (@ezracheungtoto) November 16, 2019
The deployment of the Chinese army to clear roadblocks in Kowloon Tong came unexpectedly to most journalists – with the Saturday afternoon operation having been led by pro-Beijing activists and civilians, and police presence at a minimum.
Photo: HKFP. #hongkong pic.twitter.com/iK9eNIIe6A
— Hong Kong Free Press (@HongKongFP) November 16, 2019
China’s Internet Is Flowering. And It Might Be Our Future. The New York Times. Resilc:
They have masses of people to throw at any and all things to commercialize them. Was chatting with friend at AMWMB/Ghana this morning. Chinese cleaning our clocks in West Africa in trade, soft power. Same in Latin America. We already lost the 3rd World War.
Brexit
And there are still four weeks to go … Chris Grey. We haven’t made much of the end of 2020 cliff edge because the UK can ask for (supposedly only) one one or two year extension as of July 2020. Note that if the UK were to need an additional extension or realize it needed one after July, I would still think it would be granted but with a price attached. Another assumption (paging David and Clive) would be that once a deal was approved, any later riders would not be subject to Article 50 provisions (unanimous approval for an extension) but a mere qualified majority.
The Fragile Boris Johnson Craig Murray (Chuck L)
Iain Dale: Worryingly for the Conservative Party, it’s unclear how Tory Remainers will vote Conservative Home
Brexit: the wheels of the bus Richard North
Boris Johnson meets the people:
Glastonbury: Visit cancelled because of protesters
Follows:
Stainforth: ‘I don’t want to meet you.’
Leeds: ‘Leave my town’
Doncaster: ‘You’ve a cheek. People have died because of austerity’
Rotherham: ‘Get back to London’
-Not going well
— Paul Johnson (@paul__johnson) November 14, 2019
Bolivia Coup
Bolivian Coup Targeting Indigenous People Institute for Public Accuracy
New Cold War
Meet Ukraine: America’s Newest “Strategic Ally” Counterpunch (resilc)
Syraqistan
Iraq: Is This What ‘Winning’ Looks Like? American Conservative (resilc)
THE WORST-CASE SCENARIO IN LEBANON: CIVIL WAR Elijah Magnier (guurst)
Patrick Cockburn · Thriving on Chaos: After al-Baghdadi London Review of Books (resilc)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
Most Americans think they’re being constantly tracked—and that there’s nothing they can do
How Chilean Protesters Took Down a Drone With Standard Laser Pointers NextGov (resilc)
Trump Transition
Interview on Trump Foreign Policy with Robert Kagan Der Spiegl. Resilc: “Kagan is like a mutant virus or cockroach. He lives on forever.”
Trump Lies Don’t Bother Some People. Scientists Want to Know Why Los Angeles Times (Dr. Kevin)
Trump Intervenes in War Crimes Cases Against Three U.S. Military Members Wall Street Journal
Impeachment
Yovanovitch impeachment testimony gives burst of momentum to Democrats The Hill
Trump Just Released a Rough Transcript of His First Ukraine Call Where He Talked About Beauty Pageants Vice (resilc)
New witness claims first-hand account of Trump’s push for Ukraine probes The Hill
The Media Is Hopelessly Addicted to Donald Trump New Republic
From Dan K, live tweetstorm of address. Or you can view it in Threadreader
Attorney General Barr to give the 15th Annual Olson Lecture #FedSoc2019 pic.twitter.com/1hAlfeBMCE
— Josh Blackman (@JoshMBlackman) November 15, 2019
Health Care
Trump Administration Releases Transparency Rule in Hospital Pricing Wall Street Journal
Court rules Kentucky discriminated when it prohibited ‘IM GOD’ vanity plate WDRB (resilc)
2020
Hillary Clinton Says She Is Being Urged To Run By Many, Many, Many Voices In Her Head Babylon Bee (BC)
Private Equity’s Chicken Little Dance Adam Levitin, Credit Slips. On the bogus math in the attacks on Warren’s plan.
Elizabeth Warren Retreats From Medicare for All New Republic (resilc)
Elizabeth Warren’s Tax Plan Would Bring Rates Over 100% for Some Wall Street Journal. Taxing unrealized capital gains????
Democratic Savior? Deval Patrick Repped Predatory Loans, Big Oil Daily Beast
Inside The Buttigieg Moment FiveThirtyEight (resilc)
Don’t wait to see which way the wind is blowing – make the weather! https://t.co/ZpBrGKVK6W
— Naomi Klein (@NaomiAKlein) November 15, 2019
How Can Democrats Get the Black Turnout They Need In 2020? New York Magazine (resilc). Notice change from original headline.
L’affaire Epstein. Hhm, on a momentary low boil, maybe due to Prince Andrew’s fake confessional on BBC?
AP sources: Epstein jail guards had been offered plea deal Associated Press (Chuck L)
Syria’s Assad Says Jeffrey Epstein Did Not Kill Himself Newsweek. BC: “Oh boy! The meme has really caught on.”
U.S. restaurants remove dining rooms to speed off-site food frenzy Reuters. EM:
Hey, why risk going out and having to possibly interact minimally with actual people, when you can just melt into your coding or gaming chair and be impatient with the various harried gig economy ‘independent contractors’ who bring you the food while you both enrich the TechBro scammers whose contribution consisted of pasting together a software app and conning the technorati into making them out to be the Next Big Disrupto-Thing?
737 Max
American Airlines flight attendants have literally begged not to work on the Boeing 737 Max when it returns, union boss says Business Insider (Dan K). This is a big deal. The union is going to war with Boeing.
The Holy-Cow Moment for Subprime Auto Loans; Serious Delinquencies Blow Out Wolf Street (EM)
State AGs prepare to widen probe of Google to include search, Android businesses: report MarketWatch
Another Airbnb Party House Ends In Violence; Parents suing Airbnb KGTV
The Economist Who Wants to Ditch Math Marker (UserFriendly)
The odds don’t favor KKR if it does a leveraged buyout of Walgreens MarketWatch (UserFriendly) Headline buries the lede, which is that PE does not outperform is properly measured.
Class Warfare
I Found Work on an Amazon Website. I Made 97 Cents an Hour. New York Times (Dan K)
The great American tax haven: why the super-rich love South Dakota Guardian (Craig S)
Ph.D. student poll finds mental health, bullying and career uncertainty are top concerns Inside Higher Ed. Resilc: “My advice is to go to Eastern Carolina Univ and get a BS in industrial technology and become an electrical contractor. Good for life.”
The Intersectional Left’s Political Endgame Andrew Sullivan, New York Magazine (resilc). Hoo boy.
Antidote du jour (CV):
And a bonus from guurst:
BAT #349
The Bismarck masked flying fox (Pteropus capistratus). Males of this species can lactate – a very rare trait in mammals.(Photo: Dr. Allen Allison) pic.twitter.com/byMovAF0vr
— EveryBat (@EveryBat) July 14, 2019
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.