Saturday Morning Post Hanukkah Links

by | Dec 16, 2023 | Daily Links | 169 comments

Despite her Italian Catholic background, Tomb Raider looked at the buckets of applesauce she made recently and thought, “I can use this on latkes.” So for the last night of Hanukkah, she made a PILE of them for me. And for reasons obvious, we were particularly hungry, so we ate a few too many. OK, more than a few too many, and now I’m paying for it. So these links are being written from the smallest room in the house. Max Reger would be proud.

Some days are packed with great birthdays and today is one of them. Just a sampler would include a guy whose wife scared the horses; the inspiration for Schroeder; a woman whom BBC depended on; a guy who had an effect on all of us; an anthropological fraud; the guy who was the reason I became a scientist; a guy who wrote an inordinate amount of crazy-but-influential novels; the guy who made my favorite instrument a legit choice in jazz; a guy who, in a field rife with grift, managed to outgrift everyone; an artist who delivered what Warhol only pretended to; an old friend of SP’s who set the standard for beards; a woman who took a creaky bureaucracy and turned it into an effective means of oppression; a pretty excellent comedian with a sense of humor that matched many of us; a bear of an accidental running back; and a baseball player best known as a fuckface.

And speaking of which, let’s see what those other fuckfaces are up to.

 

Fortunately, Tomb Raider’s latkes were excellent.

 

“Instead of therapy, I’ll dribble out 3000 words of self-indulgent idiocy.”

 

Watching that game was like seeing a multiple car pileup on a set of train tracks with the Acela screaming into the wreck. It was creepily entertaining.

 

Antisemitism, straight up.

 

I’m sure this is convincing everyone of the rightness of their cause.

 

It really was no miracle, what happened was just this…

 

I mean, where do you even start with this???

 

The Old Man thinks there’s only one thing better than a great jazz flutist. And that’s two great jazz flutists.

About The Author

Old Man With Candy

Old Man With Candy

Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me. Wait, wrong book, I'll find something else.

169 Comments

  1. Sean

    “It appears to be unprotected sex.”

    I’m so glad they included that observation.

    • SDF-7

      Congress issued a statement condemning the staffer, observing “Only the American people collectively are supposed to take it up the ass when we’re in session!”

      • Grumbletarian

        Bravo!

    • R C Dean

      Like that’s what’s wrong with this? Gay anal amateur porn sex in the Senate, meh. But no rubbers? The horror!

    • R C Dean

      And what exactly is the logic behind blurring his face because he “hasn’t been identified”? Were they afraid it was an underage intern getting railed?

      • Tres Cool

        paging Mark Foley…..

    • R C Dean

      Alright, one more:

      Who filmed it?

      • slumbrew

        The top, I assume.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        So, one of the… players was a DI?

      • R C Dean

        On further review, I believe this is correct.

    • creech

      At least they didn’t do something really disgusting like putting feet on the Speaker’s desk.

    • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

      It was an insur-erection!

      He should do hard time for this.

      • Lackadaisical

        PMITA prison?

      • R C Dean

        I thought the idea was to punish, not entertain.

  2. SDF-7

    “Instead of therapy, I’ll dribble out 3000 words of self-indulgent idiocy.”

    The amount of petty narcissism because the internet prevents people being told “Nobody cares about your shit, dummy.” these days continues to astound me.

    Morning, latke-loving lads and lasses!

    • slumbrew

      a woman whom BBC depended on

      I was expecting Vanessa del Rio

      • slumbrew

        Whoops, misthreead.

      • SDF-7

        I’ll just ascribe it to the BBC’s petty narcissism or something. 😉

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        I thought, due to it being the BBC it would be Jeff Stryker.

      • Beau Knott

        That’s BWC silly

    • Lackadaisical

      Does anyone dislike potato pancakes?

      Oil+potato is a match made in heaven.

    • rhywun

      That link doesn’t work for me. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

      • DrOtto

        The gist is turbulence is because of climate change.

  3. SDF-7

    Attendee Oliver Solares, a 25-year-old graduate student, said he understood why protests such as this one that impeded traffic flow were angering drivers across L.A. But he said the problem was insignificant compared with the horrors people were experiencing in the Gaza Strip.

    “That anger is marginal to what’s happening to people across the world,” he said. “They’re being bombed, killed. Being mad at traffic for two hours is marginal. It comes from a place of privilege.”

    Then maybe they shouldn’t support a government who swears to keep trying to kill their much better armed neighbor who supplies most of the food, water and power?

    Just a thought, asshole idiot.

    And I will neither be surprised nor much blame folks when someone starts dragging these idiots off the road and giving them a wood shampoo or the like.

    • juris imprudent

      Or, if you are really so concerned – go to where this is happening and do something THERE. I don’t care – about you, or about over there. Think you can make me care by fucking with me?

    • Lackadaisical

      ‘bad things are happening, so lets make the world worse’ impeccable logic.

      • rhywun

        Shitting all over their nest is what the left does; they can’t help themselves.

    • Brawndo

      “Then maybe they shouldn’t support a government who swears to keep trying to kill their much better armed neighbor who supplies most of the food, water and power?”

      Do American civilians (even ones who voted for Bush, Obama, etc) deserve to be killed because they supported a murderous regime? Or does that street only cut one way? Collective punishment via democracy is terrorist logic, it’s one of bin Laden’s justifications for targeting civilians on 9/11.

      • R C Dean

        Collective “punishment” only occurs when civilians are deliberately targeted without regard to military value.

    • Homple

      “Attendee”.

  4. Grumbletarian

    I mean, where do you even start with this???

    …Foreplay?

    • juris imprudent

      Is black versus white jock strap like the hanky code? Or is Hunter holding out on us?

  5. Grumbletarian

    Turbulence is getting worse.

    Rebuttal: People are getting soft.

    • R C Dean

      Is it? What’s the data behind that claim?

    • slumbrew

      I consider the sex toys in the drawer of my office at home that someone – God, who? – will have to dispose of after my death, and am fleetingly distracted by the observation that fear of embarrassment is more powerful than fear of death.

      So embarrassing that you write about them in a newspaper column.

      • Fourscore

        Saving them for a friend?

        Embarrassing is leaving half a 6 pack in the refrig on that last day

      • R C Dean

        I mean, who doesn’t keep sex toys in their office?

      • Fourscore

        “They are not toys, they are therapeutic appliances”

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        “It’s a massager!”

      • CPRM

        Wait a damn second, I think that’s from the Fight Club novel.

  6. Ted S.

    Just a sampler would include a guy whose wife scared the horses;

    Happy birthday Tsar Peter III!

    • Lackadaisical

      My mind went to the same place. RIP Catherine.

  7. R C Dean

    “It really was no miracle, what happened was just this…”

    Is it weird that they mention the fiancée multiple times but never give his name? Hell, they even told us the cat’s names.

  8. Ted S.

    the guy who made my favorite instrument a legit choice in jazz

    A quick Youtube search didn’t yield any instances of the theorbo being used in jazz. However, I did get this.

    And in the sidebar to that was this.

  9. Lackadaisical

    “Antisemitism, straight up.”

    I thought this happened a while ago. Good.

    • Ted S.

      What I found odd is how all the moral scold types who were whining about the need to give LeVar Burton a try as guest host were also dissing Mayim as only there because XX and the like. I’m guessing it’s some sort of thoughtcrime she committed?

    • Fourscore

      How many of the protesters could find Israel/Gaza on a map? LA has a lot more serious problems than worrying about something half a world away.

    • Lackadaisical

      … And now it looks like I’m cheering antisemitism.

      I mean that I like Ken Jennings better.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Work on your timing.

      • rhywun

        I haven’t watched the show in a couple decades – it got too “hip” for me, I guess; all dopey and cringey.

        But it’s sad that the game show circuit is so dead they have to resort to gimmick and celebrity hosts. Trebek might have been the last professional in that biz.

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        Sounds as if she was awkward.

      • whiz

        That was my feeling, I prefer Ken Jennings as well.

    • Brawndo

      I didn’t realize she was a Jeopardy champion. That part’s cool at least.

      • CPRM

        I think it was a ‘celebrity‘ tournament.

      • Gender Traitor

        Years ago, I caught an episode of Celebrity Rock & Roll Jeopardy on VH1 (back when they did music.) Contestants were Graham Nash, Joe Walsh, and (IIRC) one of the guys from Sugar Ray, who won handily. Joe didn’t do so pretty good – claimed his button didn’t work.

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        Joe didn’t do so pretty good – claimed his button didn’t work.

        Nobody wanted to hear about the pompitous of love.

  10. Plinker762

    There was never any turbulence before we destroyed the climate!

    These wimps should fly in and out of Juneau in marginal wind conditions or do some flying in a light aircraft.

  11. PieInTheSky

    I bought a steak for inner and it seemed smaller behind the counter it measured out at 18.5 ounces which seems too much for one.

    What is the official glibertarian view on an 18.5 ounce steak, can it be eaten by a singe person in a single meal?

    • creech

      Nice appetizer?

    • Fourscore

      Invite a friend

    • R C Dean

      Depends on the amount of bone, fat, etc. 18 oz of lean meat is two meals, assuming you have sides to go with it.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Well, a steak is a 3d object, so it already has three sides, no? Or, are you talking about the time it takes to eat it? But that only adds one extra dimension, so…

      • Lackadaisical

        ‘ so it already has three sides, no?’

        I think the minimum number of sides for a 3-d object is 4, assuming you discount perfect spheres and the like.

        Anyway, 18oz is getting on the high side for a meal, but it can be done.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        Gah, I blame it on only two cups of coffee so far.

      • PieInTheSky

        sides – for me that is a bunch of lettuce with some lemon juice

    • Sean

      Beast for a filet. Proper size for a strip. Weak for a boneless ribeye. Trash for a porterhouse.

      • PieInTheSky

        it is a rybeye

      • Brawndo

        A properly trimmed boneless ribeye that’s 18.5 ounces is usually at least an inch and a quarter thick. Maybe not beast, but I wouldn’t say weak

    • DrOtto

      I got down the better part of a 72oz steak, full baked potato, dinner roll, shrimp cocktail and salad at The Big Texan Steakhouse in Amarillo. I would think 18oz would be no problem, especially you leave out the salad and shrimp cocktail.

      • UnCivilServant

        I opted not to take the challenge when I was there. My stomach is smaller than it used to be.

        When I was younger and fatter, I might have managed it.

      • DrOtto

        I failed the challenge, but just barely. I actually was stretching my stomach by drinking gallons of water in the couple of days leading to it. Unfortunately, I’m just too slow an eater. My jaw is what was sore the next day.

      • UnCivilServant

        If you can’t savor the flavor, it’s a waste of good beef.

    • Urthona

      I could eat an 18 oz ribeye in one sitting no problem. A lesser steak… maybe?

    • Mojeaux, font of all evil

      Yeah, so, for a few years now, my limit is about 4 oz of food at a shot, so I’d get a good 4 meals and a snack out of that. No sides or appetizers, either. Also depends on time of day. I don’t get ravenous until late evening. No, I am not a vampire.

    • Homple

      Hors d’oeuvre.

  12. PieInTheSky

    Polenta: from the original recipe to the enriched and gourmet versions with Stefano Masanti

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5RuIoozmBs

    today in eyetalians make Mămăligă

  13. Tres Cool

    whaddup doh’
    whats goody yo

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      🍻 iz whut

  14. PieInTheSky

    smallest room in the house – the pantry?

    • Old Man With Candy

      Thought of you as we polished off a pretty excellent Pinot Noir to go with the latkes.

      • PieInTheSky

        you cannot pair red wine with potatoes

      • juris imprudent

        Give ’em room everyone, the gloves have been thrown down!

      • Old Man With Candy

        And yet we did. Take that, Dracula!

      • SDF-7

        American diplomacy with regards to Europe in a nutshell. 😉

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        And Pie becomes Vlad the Inhaler…

      • PieInTheSky

        you people

      • Toxteth O'Grady

        No Rioja or sangria with my patatas bravas? Estoy triste.

  15. juris imprudent

    The Chargers will never be unfucked as long as a Spanos owns the team.

    • slumbrew

      There are some team for everything has changed over the years, except for the ownership. At some point you realize it’s the ownership that’s the problem.

      Looking at you, New York Jets

      • juris imprudent

        There are quite a few teams that come to mind as afflicted with bad ownership.

      • The Gunslinger

        Also, the Ford family and the Detroit Lions. The Lions were ready to print Superbowl tickets after 1 month of the season. After a UAW strike and EV sales catering the Lions are scuffling badly. Coincidence?

  16. PieInTheSky

    a guy who had an effect on all of us; – how do you know these obscure scientists

    • slumbrew

      He’s a subscriber to the Journal of Obscure Scientists

  17. R.J.

    I was going to ask who was laying bets on the political affiliation of the amateur porn star but the staffer was identified as part of Ben Cardin’s comm group. So Democrat. It really could have gone either way and made good odds.

    • R C Dean

      It takes two to, err, tango. Have they IDed both participants?

      Have they publicized the names? If not, why not?

      • R.J.

        Someone clearly knows who it is based in the tweet.

      • R C Dean

        Well, the one whose face is visible, yeah, everybody (but us) knows.

        The guy behind, err, the camera? A little, well, harder to ID. But I’m sure both their names are known inside the, you know, beltway. No reason for us proles to know who our betters are that get into these shenanigans, apparently.

      • juris imprudent

        Didn’t they identify as gay? No bi-partisanship. If it was, it’s the citizenry that ends up taking it up the ass.

      • Homple

        Perhaps there was a reacharound across the aisle.

  18. Sean

    I played https://squaredle.com/xp 12/16:
    *21/21 words (+5 bonus words)
    ⏱️ In the top 18% by speed

    I played https://squaredle.com 12/16:
    *33/33 words (+6 bonus words)
    📖 In the top 14% by bonus words
    🔥 Solve streak: 83

  19. Sean

    Following up on yesterday’s Doctor Who companion comments. I can’t believe there wasn’t any love for Wendy Padbury. 😒

    • UnCivilServant

      My first reaction was “Who?” because I didn’t recognize the actress’ name.

      As for the Character, I haven’t seen enough episides whe was in. Having so many missing didn’t help.

      • Sean

        I haven’t looked for #3, but Tubi has classic Who episodes up.

    • The Last American Hero

      That’s because Clara is best.

      • UnCivilServant

        You’re out of your mind. At her best, she’s an irritant.

    • Gender Traitor

      Since I believe yesterday’s comments were about worst companions, I’ll just say that in the modern era I found both Martha and Bill pretty meh – though I’m sure that’s just because I’m racist.

      • UnCivilServant

        To be honest, Martha is so forgettable, I forgot she existed.

        I’m pretty sure I stopped watching before Bill came along as it doesn’t even summon a mental image.

      • Gender Traitor

        Late Capaldi companion, post-Clara. Black AND Lesbian, so I’m apparently homophobic, too.

      • UnCivilServant

        Yeah, I left before that. Couldn’t stand Clara.

    • CPRM

      I liked that one that said ‘its bigger on the inside!?’

    • Mojeaux, font of all evil

      Although @NotAdahn took me to task (rightfully) for knowing this, Donna’s still the best.

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Festivus?

  20. KK, Plump & Unfiltered

    Tonight is the night! Ugly Xmas gear night!

    I’m thinking I may be the only one at this point, though.

    • R.J.

      I am three hours outside Galveston right now. I do not have a sweater. But I am ugly. I will make an attempt to join if I can get hotel wifi going.

  21. The Late P Brooks

    Here to help

    Also on Friday, the governor stressed the importance of moving 6,297 displaced residents currently in hotels into longer-term housing. Green says vacation rentals are key to that solution and warned he will issue a moratorium on vacation rentals if he doesn’t see participation.

    There are more than 12,000 short-term rentals on Maui, and the state is looking to convert 3,000. FEMA, the state and other entities will pay for those short-term rentals for a two-year period at what Green says is a competitive rate — but much lower than what hotels are costing.

    “If we don’t get people stepping up, I’m going to drop the hammer,” the governor said, adding he’ll take that action as early as mid-January.

    Green added, “It’s just not OK that we don’t have housing for our local people.”

    To encourage vacation rental owners to offer up their properties, Maui County is proposing a tax break for participants — and a tax hike for other vacation rental properties.

    Just a little nudge, here and there, to help people do the right thing.

    • R C Dean

      “a competitive rate — but much lower than what hotels are costing.”

      I’ll ask – competitive with who?

      I’m thinking a Dutch auction would be the way to set the rate.

      • Homple

        Lots of cut flowers are sold that way, why not lodging?

  22. The Late P Brooks

    I started watching a show called Krypton. Background story about You-know-who’s home planet.I’m about five episodes in and I still haven’t bailed. Naturally, there is a lot of convoluted plotting and intrigue.

    • Brawndo

      Voldemort?

      • CPRM

        I liked that one. Until watched it I did not know about his fling with Madonna. The things you learn.

    • CPRM

      It was kinda sorta ok, they did a good job with Lobo though.

  23. Toxteth O'Grady

    Cute bairns.

  24. The Late P Brooks

    Today, on “One man’s garbage”

    The next time you’re browsing your local thrift store, keep your eyes peeled for unique glassware. A rare vase purchased at a Goodwill in Richmond, Va. just sold at auction for $107,100.

    The vase was discovered by Jessica Vincent during one of her weekly trips to the antique and thrift shops in her area. As she was browsing her local Goodwill, the rare vase caught her eye. When she discovered the signature on the bottom of the glassware, she brought it home to do more research, according to Wright Auction House, which was responsible for the sale. Discovering the vase’s worth through an Italian glass group on Facebook, Vincent connected with the auction house.

    Coined “Pennellate,” the vase was created by Carlo Scarpa, a well-known Italian architect, and is believed to date back to about 1947. The name is a nod to the technique used on the vase. Pennellate, meaning brushstroke, was achieved by adding colored opaque glass to the vase as it was being blown, and dragging the material around the the piece until the level of desired transparency was achieved.

    It is one of the rarest pieces the auction house has offered in more than a decade. This is largely due to that fact that only one other vase with this exact color combination is known to exist, according to ArtNet News. The Carlo Scarpa vase was only expected to sell for $30,000 to $50,000, but went for more than double that estimate.

    I hope whoever bought it uses it for watering their house plants.

    • PieInTheSky

      yeah no too much

  25. The Late P Brooks

    Sources familiar with

    A binder containing highly classified information related to Russian election interference went missing at the end of Donald Trump’s presidency, raising alarms among intelligence officials that some of the most closely guarded national security secrets from the US and its allies could be exposed, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

    Its disappearance, which has not been previously reported, was so concerning that intelligence officials briefed Senate Intelligence Committee leaders last year about the missing materials and the government’s efforts to retrieve them, the sources said.

    In the two-plus years since Trump left office, the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found.

    The binder contained raw intelligence the US and its NATO allies collected on Russians and Russian agents, including sources and methods that informed the US government’s assessment that Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to help Trump win the 2016 election, sources tell CNN.

    The intelligence was so sensitive that lawmakers and congressional aides with top secret security clearances were able to review the material only at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, where their work scrutinizing it was itself kept in a locked safe.

    The walls are closing in!

    *convulsive laughter*

    • R C Dean

      Well, it would be a solid list of sources and methods that were proven unreliable, so you can see why they want to hide it.

    • rhywun

      the missing intelligence does not appear to have been found

      OFFS 🙄

  26. The Late P Brooks

    Have they looked under the sink in Hillary’s downstairs bathroom?

  27. The Late P Brooks

    The binder was last seen at the White House during Trump’s final days in office.

    Book him, Danno.

  28. The Late P Brooks

    Just minutes before Joe Biden was inaugurated, Meadows rushed to the Justice Department to hand-deliver a redacted copy for a last review. Years later, the Justice Department has yet to release all of the documents, despite Trump’s declassification order. Additional copies with varying levels of redactions ended up at the National Archives.

    But an unredacted version of the binder containing the classified raw intelligence went missing amid the chaotic final hours of the Trump White House. The circumstances surrounding its disappearance remain shrouded in mystery.

    It’s in the basement of the Smithsonian, on a shelf next to JFK’s brain and John Dillinger’s penis.

    • Ted S.

      Guarded by a leopard?

    • creech

      Have they thought to check the crate with the Ark of the Covenant?

      • whiz

        They’re afraid to open it.

  29. The Late P Brooks

    This account of the classified binder’s journey to the White House, how its trail went cold once Trump left office, and the lingering questions it raises is based on interviews with more than a dozen sources familiar with the matter, all of whom requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.

    Aspersion and innuendo are a political journalist’s best friend.

    • juris imprudent

      Anonymity – no one has the balls to stand up behind this?

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Laches, mofo!

  30. juris imprudent

    Maybe we can rename the White House the Presidential Penitentiary?

    The evidence so far suggests the race might shift only slightly, by a few points. That could be important in another close election, but it’s not the kind of Trump collapse that Democrats may hope for — or Biden may need if his numbers don’t improve.

  31. The Late P Brooks

    Anonymity – no one has the balls to stand up behind this?

    No one but Cassidy Hutchinson. Her truth shines like a beacon of moral clarity.

  32. The Late P Brooks

    Capitalist greedflation is destroying America

    As housing in the US has become increasingly unaffordable over the past few years, the number of people experiencing homelessness surged to its highest level on record this year, according to an annual survey taken in January.

    The number of unhoused people in the United States jumped by 12% early this year from the year before, an increase of about 70,650 people, according to an annual report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development released on Friday.

    Simon Legree is still out there, turning widows and orphans out of their homes into the cold and snowy streets.

    • PieInTheSky

      homelessness … unhoused

      ah changing language is essential these days

      • whiz

        The Point in Time survey has a very precise definition of homelessness or unhoused (the exact language doesn’t matter).* The official rules are: (i) Homeless persons who are living in a place not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for humans must be counted as unsheltered homeless persons, and (ii) Persons living in emergency shelters and transitional housing projects must be counted as sheltered homeless persons. Cars and tents don’t count as proper shelter. Also people who are couch-surfing with friends don’t count as either.

        * I know because I have participated in Point in Time counts for the last few years as part of my involvement with Home Allies. Also, there is a Point in Time count in July as well, so I wonder why they don’t mention that — maybe it’s worse in the winter.

      • whiz

        Also, after seeing how disorganized the count is here, I wonder about the accuracy.

      • Zwak says the real is not governable, but self-governing.

        The point was never accuracy in the counts, the point is to engage peoples feelings.

      • Mojeaux, font of all evil

        The medical coding books have codes for homeless, unsheltered and sheltered.

  33. The Late P Brooks

    “Homelessness is solvable and should not exist in the United States,” said HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge in a statement. “We’ve made positive strides, but there is still more work to be done. This data underscores the urgent need for support for proven solutions and strategies that help people quickly exit homelessness and that prevent homelessness in the first place.”

    Homelessness increased nationwide across all household types, the report found, but had an outsized impact on communities of color. While Black people make up about 13% of the US population, they comprise 37% of people experiencing homelessness and 50% of the people who are experiencing homelessness as a member of a family with children.

    Firing everybody at HUD and defunding every goddam “homeless advocacy” nonprofit would be a good place to start.

  34. LCDR_Fish

    Say what you will about the “woke” military. Honestly, I haven’t seen as much on my visits to the fleet the last few years – although my visits are obviously abbreviated and very limited in scope. There are definitely consequences to us stepping back from what we have traditionally seen as our hegemonic roles in respect to the global commons – which benefit US security (economic, defense, etc) in addition to everyone else. I think these events are showing that the Navy is well positioned and our equipment is functioning better than I might otherwise have expected – but that overall leadership is not willing to make the serious decisions.

    https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/supply-chains-red-sea-blocked/?utm_source=recirc-desktop&utm_medium=homepage&utm_campaign=right-rail&utm_content=corner&utm_term=fourth

    Events in the Red Sea are reinforcing the case for “re-shoring” or “near-shoring” (where possible).

    The Financial Times (my emphasis added):

    Global shipping companies have halted journeys through the Red Sea because of the threat of attacks by Yemeni rebels, in moves that could disrupt vital trade through the Suez Canal.

    AP Møller-Mærsk, which operates the world’s second-largest container shipping fleet, said on Friday it had instructed all vessels due to pass through the Bab-el-Mandeb strait to “pause their journey until further notice”.

    The strategically important strait, which connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, runs past Yemen and there have been more than 10 attacks on ships in the area by the country’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war. . . .

    The attacks risk disrupting the global supply chains that pass through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, the waterway that accounts for 30 per cent of all container ship traffic and is a vital conduit for crude oil shipments. . . .

    Shipowners have already called this month for protection for maritime routes in the region and the Pentagon has said a US warship also came under attack off the Yemeni coast.

    The fading of the Pax Americana has consequences.

    Marco Forgione, director-general at the Institute of Export & International Trade, a professional body providing support to business, said the developments “could not come at a more difficult time for global supply chains”.

    He noted that there were already severe shipping delays through the Panama Canal because of drought.

    “This impacts every link in the supply chain, from producer right down to end user, and will only increase the chances of critical products not making their destinations in time for Christmas,” said Forgione of the companies’ decisions. “All eyes now will be on other shipping firms to see if they follow suit.”

    Tom Sharpe, writing in the Daily Telegraph:

    Initially, attacks in the region were aimed at “ships connected to Israel”, no matter how tenuous. This then became “ships heading to Israel”, and then, predictably, seemingly random. . . .

    Some shipping companies are already routing their ships the long way around, via the Cape of Good Hope, and insurance premiums are increasing. The Egyptians, whose economy depends on the Suez Canal and therefore this strait remaining open, are raising fees for passing through the canal next year. They know what’s coming.

    It will be worth watching insurance rates. Should they rise too high, they will force ships to take the long route.

    The Red Sea is a microcosm of the world’s oceans today. The global trade system is trembling at its very foundations, with increasingly assertive regional powers seeking to limit freedom of navigation, and flex their muscles on the international stage.

    To see this, we need only look a little further away, to the opening of the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. Somewhere around a fifth of the world’s total oil consumption flows through this stretch of water; no-one should be in any doubt as to its importance for the world economy.

    Right now, things there are quiet. But only a few months ago, Iranian behaviour there was becoming so provocative, with its naval forces attempting to seize merchant vessels, that the US military considered deploying armed sailors and marines on transiting vessels.

    Now, despite the Iran-sponsored chaos in the Red Sea, the Strait itself is quiet. The looming presence of the nuclear powered aircraft carrier USS Dwight D Eisenhower and her accompanying strike group may have something to do with this, but it is also worth remembering that Iran has spent billions of dollars to ensure that it could close the Strait if it needed to.

    The Strait of Hormuz, like the Bosporus between the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara, has no competing route. If this oil and gas is to travel by sea, it must travel through this gap. For now, the flow of hydrocarbons remains relatively unhindered but, given everything else that is going on, and who is behind much of it, I would be surprised if this remains the case.

    In the Bosporus, however, things are brighter. Putin’s Black Sea fleet has taken a brutal beating at the hands of Ukrainian forces and the humanitarian corridor hugging the coasts of NATO members Bulgaria and Romania is back in use.

    The question is whether the West could match this performance in the Strait of Malacca. Some 40pc of all world trade passes through this 500 mile long stretch between Sumatra and Malaysia. While the Sunda, Lombok and Makassar straits offer alternatives, it is extremely likely that war with China over Taiwan would see the Malacca Strait become a major theatre…

    While the degree to which China, Russia and Iran are actively colluding is open to debate, it is clear that there is a sustained effort to disrupt the flow of trade worldwide. Delays, disorder, risk and increased costs are among the first steps for challenging the current world order.

    • LCDR_Fish

      https://apnews.com/article/royal-navy-shot-down-drone-red-sea-38940c6d0f653f7a6a53920c47b19097

      LONDON (AP) — A U.S. warship shot down 14 suspected attack drones over the Red Sea on Saturday, and a Royal Navy destroyer downed another drone that was targeting commercial ships, the British and American militaries said.

      Houthi rebels in Yemen have launched a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, one of the world’s busiest shipping routes, and have launched drones and missiles targeting Israel, as the Israel-Hamas war threatens to spread.

      U.S. Central Command said that the destroyer USS Carney “successfully engaged 14 unmanned aerial systems” launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

      The drones “were shot down with no damage to ships in the area or reported injuries,” Central Command tweeted.

      U.K. Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that HMS Diamond fired a Sea Viper missile and destroyed a drone that was “targeting merchant shipping.” The overnight action is the first time the Royal Navy has shot down an aerial target in anger since the 1991 Gulf War.

      Shapps said attacks on commercial ships in the global trade artery by Yemen’s Houthi rebels “represent a direct threat to international commerce and maritime security.”

      “The U.K. remains committed to repelling these attacks to protect the free flow of global trade,” he said in a statement.

      HMS Diamond was sent to the region two weeks ago as a deterrent, joining vessels from the U.S., France and other countries.

      Global shipping has become a target during the war between Israel and Hamas, which like the Houthis is backed by Iran.

      Houthi rebels said they fired a barrage of drones on Saturday toward the port city of Eilat in southern Israel. The announcement came hours after Egypt’s state-run media reported that Egyptian air defense had shot down a “flying object” off the Egyptian resort town of Dahab on the Red Sea.

      Israeli-linked vessels also have been targeted, but the threat to trade has grown as container ships and oil tankers flagged to countries like Norway and Liberia have been attacked or drawn missile fire while traversing the waterway between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula.

      Earlier this month, three commercial ships in the Red Sea were struck by ballistic missiles fired from Houthi-controlled Yemen. A U.S. warship shot down three drones during the assault, the U.S. military said.

      French container shipping line CMA CGM Group said Saturday it had ordered all its vessels scheduled to pass through the Red Sea to “pause their journey in safe waters with immediate effect until further notice.”

      On Friday Maersk, the world’s biggest shipping company, also told all its vessels planning to pass through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea to stop their journeys after a missile attack on a Liberian-flagged cargo ship. German-based shipper Hapag-Lloyd said it was pausing all its container ship traffic through the Red Sea until Monday

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      Saw that. Good for him.

  35. The Late P Brooks

    This rise is the result of a combination of factors, according to HUD.

    Rent has climbed significantly over the past few years. By November of this year, the national median asking rent in the US was beginning to come down some, but it is still 22% higher than it was in November 2019 before the pandemic housing boom, according to Redfin. And the median asking rent for all apartments was just 4% below the $2,054 record high hit in August 2022.

    In addition, the HUD report found, in 2022 the winding down of pandemic protections and programs focused on preventing evictions may also have contributed to more people finding themselves homeless in the first month of 2023.

    “We must address the main driver of homelessness and housing instability — the gap between low incomes and rent costs,” said Peggy Bailey, vice president for Housing and Income Security at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in a statement.

    “We have learned a lot from approaches that have targeted specific populations and helped them exit homelessness,” she said. “Now we need to take those lessons and broaden them to ensure that anyone who needs help, gets it, period.”

    Maybe they should just confiscate all the homes and redistribute them based on need political expedience.

  36. Mojeaux, font of all evil

    Instead of therapy, I’ll dribble out 3000 words of self-indulgent idiocy.

    I feel seen. ❤️

    • Toxteth O'Grady

      What if a therapist assigned the 3000 words?

      • whiz

        Show-off 🙂