Rescued Lab Test Dog Experiences the Joy of Going to the Beach for the First Time After Adoption Laughing Squid (resilc)

The North Sea Chessboard: Germany against Britain Big Serge

#COVID/Pandemics

Whooping cough cases are soaring as vaccine rates decline ProPublica

Climate/Environment

Global CO2 emissions in 2024 increased 0.9% on the previous year totalling 36.3 Gt CO2. Nature

Trump seeks to end climate research at premier U.S. climate agency Science

Weather whiplash: From 2 record highs to 2 record snowfalls Alaska News Source

China?

US plan to delist Chinese stocks may make Hong Kong great again as IPO hub, bankers say South China Morning Post

Xi to visit Southeast Asia amid China’s grievous export crisis Asia Times (Kevin W). Perhaps readers will tell me things have changed. But in the 2003 documentary, The Fog of War, Robert McNamara described how, many years after the US lost the war in Vietnam, he sought a meeting with leaders of North Vietnam during the conflict, which was set over a dinner. McNamara reported that, not surprisingly, it was tense and awkward. Finally someone from the North Vietnamese side asked, “Why did you go to war with us?” McNamara explained, “Because we wanted to stop the expansion of China in Southeast Asia.” McNamara said the North Vietnamese nearly leaped across the table: “How could you go to war with us knowing so little about our country? We spent nearly 1000 years expelling the Chinese.”

However, as Lambert explained long form in The Mekong River, Water Wars, and Information Wars:

..the Mekong is increasingly dammed, both within China, or further downstead in Cambodia and Laos, countries aligned with China….

The resulting power relation — that China can turn off the taps — is well expressed in the following two cartoons from the region:

And more subtly:

Thailand is only marginally in the Mekong river system and Malaysia not at all. They also happen to have higher GDPs per capita than Laos and Cambodia, so they would be better targets for Chinese consumer goods.

So as much as the US is doing damage to countries in the region, it’s not as if they all will run into China’s arms, as some commentators seem to think. Like India, most countries with decent sovereignity in the region try to maintain decent relations both with the US and China. They now face a very messy and costly recalibration.

Trade war to increase flood of cheap Chinese goods Bangkok Post

India

India’s language war: Why is Hindi sparking a north-south divide? Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

European Disunion

Trump tariffs: What just happened ― and what’s Europe’s gameplan? Politico

‘Blue Homeland’ architect warns: NATO has failed, and the EU wants Turkiye on its knees The Cradle

Old Blighty

It’s time to clear out neoliberalism – the UK’s dark underbelly that dooms us to failure Now-Then (Colonel Smithers)

Nationalisation may be ‘likely option’, business secretary says as emergency British Steel debate opens BBC

Why is British Steel in trouble and who owns it? BBC (Kevin W)

Israel v. The Resistance

With Bakeries and Kitchens All But Shut Down, Desperate Hunger Engulfs Gaza Drop Site (Robin K)

U.S. and Iran see Saturday’s nuclear talks as test of whether other side wants a deal Axios

On the Path to War with Iran – Alastair Crooke, Alexander Mercouris & Glenn Diesen YouTube. Important. A lot of important detail from Crooke, starting from the top. For instance, any deal has to be done by sometime in June to preserve the option of exercising the JCPOA snapback procedure. I had assumed in my post yesterday on the negotiations that the runway was more like four months. I don’t see how a negotiation this complex can be completed in such a short time, given its complexity, unless Iran prostrates itself, which it won’t.

New Not-So-Cold War

The Russian Paradox: So Much Education, So Little Human Capital The American Enterprise. resilc:

“Russia presents the curious counterexample of a country where high levels of education coexist with strikingly poor health profiles.” IMO…….USA USA presents the curious counterexample of a country where low levels of education coexist with strikingly poor health profiles……….

Ukraine allies promise €21bn in military support for Kyiv Guardian (Kevin W)

EU foreign policy chief Kallas: “China is the key enabler of Russia’s war”
– After earning the contempt of the US and the hatred of Russia, the EU is now further alienating China. pic.twitter.com/YTAwNovDwh

— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) April 9, 2025

I hate to say it, but I don’t think it takes much manipulation. On my mere one day in Tallinn over a decade ago, the guide made a point of telling me how much Estonians hate Russians:

While Witkoff meets with Putin in St. Petersburg, Estonia has seized a tanker en route to Russia. Yesterday, they banned the canonical Orthodox Church, and two days ago, they approved a law allowing the “Estonian Navy” to sink Russian ships.

Estonia’s suicidal behavior cannot be… https://t.co/SAhVIsMLOt

— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) April 11, 2025

THE THREE STEPS — WHICH WAY IS FORWARD, WHICH WAY IS BACKWARD IN RUSSIA’S WAR FIGHTING, PEACE NEGOTIATING STRATEGY John Helmer

Scoop: Trump envoy Witkoff travels to Russia to meet Putin Axios. Witkoff apparently goes to make threats.

Meeting with US President’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff President of Russia

Ukraine war briefing: Ukraine could be partitioned like Berlin after second world war, says US envoy Guardian. Kellogg was seen as marginalized but also very pro-Ukraine. So this may be meant as a wake-up call to Ukraine.

Are the Russians too stupid for propaganda? Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T)

Imperial Collapse Watch

Just Another American President Seymour Hersh. Robin K: “Reflections on Vietnam, LBJ, Westmoreland, et al.”

Trump 2.0

Trump at the Crossroads American Conservative. resilc: “The definition is in. psychopath.”

There Are Only Two Ways To Handle Trump’s Threats Ian Welsh (Micael T)

EPA Plans to End Greenhouse Gas Reporting for Most Polluters ProPublica (Robin K)

Trump administration advances effort to pull Maine’s federal K-12 funding over trans athletes Politico (Kevin W)

Costco, Iowa attorney general hold talks on its DEI hiring policies Des Moines Register (Robin K)

Trump announces $600 million in new deals with five law firms The Hill

Tariffs

Donald Trump Is Raising Your Taxes, and Republicans Won’t Stop Him Washington Monthly

Trump’s Trade War Is Strengthening China’s Soft Power Wired (resilc)

US consumers warned of higher prices from tariffs within weeks Financial Times. Followed by shortages within months. For instance, many toilet bowls come from China. This will make Covid look like a party.

Majority of Americans are financially stressed from tariff turmoil: CNBC survey CNBC. resilc: “Only the bond market can save us.”

China’s formidable logistics sector challenges Trump tariff enforcers Nikkei

Fund managers quietly fear Trump doesn’t have a tariff plan and that he ‘might be insane’ Independent (resilc)

The Week in Musk: “Truly a moron” Musk Watch

What Could Progressive Tariffs Actually Look Like? Intercept. resilc:

“With the idea being that factories don’t get built just because the price of goods becomes more expensive. Factories get built because the government uses all the tools at its disposal to build the roads, get the permits, subsidize the research and development. To do all of the things that are necessary that go into companies being willing to make multi-year, multi-decade investments.”

congre$$ does not work and we have a dictator
who would invest here?

DOGE

NOAA Scientists Double as Janitors After Service Contracts Expire ProPublica (Robin K)

Immigration

Immigration Judge Rules Khalil Can Be Deported, but Legal Hurdles Remain New York Times (Robin K). ZOMG.

Our No Longer Free Press

Free Speech and the Apocalypse Scott Ritter (Chuck L)

Mr. Market Has a Nervous Breakdown

Gold soars past $3,200 as trade war deepens, dollar loses ground Reuters

Trump’s trade war risks global financial crisis, Bank of England warns Telegraph

Credit Bubble Bulletin : April 2025 Credit Bubble Bulletin. resilc: “When America sneezes, the world catches a cold. What’s the prognosis when the U.S. has a malignant tumor?”

Warning lights flash for US consumer strength as credit defaults rise Financial Times

Energy demand erodes in face of global economic slowdown as trade war intensifies Independent

Oil Nations Scramble to Avert Economic Crisis After Prices Crash OilPrice

Pro Tip: Don’t Send Your AI Avatar to Testify for You in Court Gizmodo (Dr. Kevin)

AI isn’t ready to replace human coders for debugging, researchers say ars technica (Kevin W)

Class Warfare