Frihet och välstånd

 

Hade Trump bara gjort den här typen av dumheter, hade det hela nästan varit roligt...

Trump vägrade lämna firandet

Tik tok, tik tok

 

Let´s be honest, sooner or later, Argentina will (re)take the Falkland Islands...

Vidskepelse

 

Det här var det dummaste jag hört...

Argentinas president skippar VM-finalen

Las Malvinas Argentinas

 

I told you the UK can´t fight a shooting war. Is this why they voluntarily handed over Chagos to Mauritius? Hardly a military great power, LOL. Until the King in Orange stopped them. But maybe Port Louis is paying attention to *that* guys recent contretemps in a certain waterway further to the northwest?

If Argentina wants to retake the Falkland Islands, pardon, Las Islas Malvinas, this is the time. Just an empirical observation. 

THEY HUNT US FOR FOOD

 

If they even exist, that is. Which they most certainly do not. Some tall tales from China, Chile and Argentina. 

The pandemic next time?

 

Should we be worried about the hanta virus? A bit spooky that not even isolated island such as Saint Helena and Tristan da Cunha are entirely safe. The Canary Islands don´t count. 

I assume it´s contained now? 

Las Malvinas Argentinas?

 

Credit: Nigel Voaden

The Trump administration is contemplating withdrawing US diplomatic support for the continued existence of British overseas territories. Recently, Argentina´s pro-Trump president Milei apparently reiterated the position that the Falkland Islands belong to Argentina. Could Trump trigger a new Falklands War between the Latin American nation and Britain? I suppose that would be...ironic. Especially if the US would support Argentina.

Of course, a safer bet is that this is another "isolationist"/Western Hemispherist move (or rather trial balloon). The more nationalist subsection of the Argentine population might get a bit disappointed when Las Islas Malvinas will become The Trump Islands and the Don takes 100% of the proceeds from the oil, the albatross eggs, or whatever is the territory´s main natural resource.

Of course, an even safer bet is that Trump will make another TACO next week. So I assume the rump British Empire doesn´t have to worry too much about the US Marines being dispatched to take Bermuda or the Cayman Islands anytime soon...     

So isolationism works?

 

Does this mean that "isolationism" works, after all?

Indigenous lineage persisted for 8,500 years 

Ancient humans in southern Africa were isolated for 100,000 years

Ancient humans stayed around rock shelter for 9,000 years

Terror on stilts

 

Tales of surviving terror birds. Interesting, but probably not true. I mean, there are tall tales about *very* large snakes and even dragons from 19th century Småland in Sweden. Evidence? None. And nobody has seen them since. Drinking habits have changed, too. Hint hint. So why should I believe these tales are any different? Also, natural explanations are available in some of the "terror bird" cases: the California condor in one case, the marabou stork in another (and a Redditor hoax in a third). 

Verdict: Probably not true. But hey, let´s be careful out there. 

Esoterisk marxism

 

Kan ju inte undgå att länka till denna. Ja, det är den högerradikala/högerextrema "tankesmedjan" Motpol som recenserar "I Want To Believe", alltså den där boken om Juan Posadas och hans bisarra rörelse. Tonvikten ligger såklart vid UFO-aspekten...

Posadismer

No?! I mean...wow!

 

Credit: Catasa

I actually commented this non-event before (ironically, of course) so I might as well continue. Apparently, the International Trotskyist Opposition (ITO) has finally joined the International Socialist League (ISL). Whether the League for a Fifth International (L5I) will follow suit is still unclear at this point. 

Nor is it clear what this *really* means. Is the ITO carrying out entryism in the ranks of the post-Morenista ISL, like they previously did in the Mandelite USFI, or has the ISL consumed them? Or, which is most likely, is the ISL a federative network looking for new additions to its broad tent left-of-USFI Trotskyism? I suppose we´ll fínd out circa 2028 or so when the next split happens!

The International Trotskyist Opposition joins the International Socialist League

Revolutionary United Front

Three anti-popes?

 

This is fake, but it´s quite funny. Three popes eating pizza! At the conclave, perhaps? I assume it´s supposed to be John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Francis. Haven´t analyzed what´s on the pizza.  

Rigged

 

Steve Bannon has something to say about the new pope. Apparently, Bannon served in the US navy with the future pope´s brother! His other comments are more interesting...

Not sure who Sean Spicer is. 

Enemy of the people?

 

Just for fun, here is the Revolutionary Communist International´s take on the recent papal conclave.

Pope Francis: Friend of the poor?

The imperial overreach of ants

 

I can´t get the Argentine ants out of my mind, I mean, *have* they taken over...the world or something?! And right under our very noses, they did! Rather than try to find a scientific paper on the topic, I lazily asked the All-Knowing LLM about it. And it was actually somewhat reassuring. It seems Linepithema may be suffering from imperial overreach... 

Is it true that most Argentine ants in the whole world belong to the same super-colony, or is this an over-simplification?

Yes, it’s basically true—but with important caveats.

🐜 The Claim:

Most Argentine ants (Linepithema humile) outside their native range belong to a single, vast "supercolony" in terms of genetic relatedness and behavioral cooperation—sometimes described as the largest cooperative unit in the animal kingdom.

✅ What's True:

1. Global Spread from a Single Origin:

   • Argentine ants are native to South America (mainly around northern Argentina, Uruguay, and southern Brazil).

   • When introduced abroad (via human trade in the 19th century), they underwent a genetic bottleneck—reducing their genetic diversity.

   • Invasive populations in North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, etc., are genetically similar and often do not fight each other, even across vast distances.

2. Lack of Intra-Colony Aggression:

   • In their native range, different nests often fight fiercely.

   • In invaded regions, ants from distant nests (e.g., San Diego and San Francisco) accept each other as nestmates.

   • This has led scientists to refer to these populations as a “supercolony.”

3. The "Main" Supercolony:

   • One especially well-studied group—called the "Californian supercolony"—is genetically indistinguishable from populations in Europe and Japan.

   • These ants do not recognize each other as foreign and cooperate across continents (in lab tests), suggesting a shared ancestry and compatible chemical cues.

---

❗But Here's the Nuance:

1. Not All Argentine Ants Belong to One Supercolony:

   • Other distinct supercolonies exist, even within the same geographic area (e.g., in Europe and California).

   • These do fight each other—so the idea of one global ant empire is an oversimplification.

   • Even within a country, there can be multiple rival supercolonies with clear boundaries.

2. "Supercolony" is a Behavioral Category:

   • It's not a taxonomic or ecological term, but a way to describe highly cooperative, genetically similar nests.

   • Cooperation doesn’t mean coordination like bees—these are massive, decentralized networks of nests and foragers that tolerate each other.

3. Evolutionary Fragility:

   • Because of low genetic diversity, invasive Argentine ants are vulnerable to disease or environmental change.

   • Their success is tied to human-disturbed environments; they may not remain dominant in the long term.

---

🧬 Summary

• ✅ True: Many Argentine ants outside their native range are genetically similar and form cooperative supercolonies, with no aggression across huge distances.

• ⚠️ Oversimplified: There is not just one single supercolony globally—there are several, and they can compete.

• 🧠 Cool fact: Ants from the California and European supercolonies recognize each other as friendly despite being 8,000+ km apart.

Would you like a diagram or map showing where the major Argentine ant supercolonies are located? 

It´s on

 

Let the conspiracies begin!  

Alter Ego

 

So I just saw a French science documentary, "Alter Ego", on Swedish TV about cloning. Artificial human cloning of non-human animals, to be exact. Remember Dolly the cloned sheep? For whatever reason, the European Union bans this kind of cloning, so the industry thrives in the rest of the world. In the docu, they interview Americans and Argentinians who clone horses (including race horses), Chinese who clone pet dogs, and a hyper-modern lab in the United Arab Emirates financed by the Emir of Dubai which clone dromedaries (camel races are popular in some nations). In the United States, there are supposedly cloned deer with exactly the qualities a wild-game hunter wants!

There are also discussions to clone mammoths and other extinct animals, such as the dodo. Maybe this is a bit too much hype? One scientist actually believes that cloning birds is extremely difficult to impossible. Another opines that "cloned mammoths" would really be genetically enhanced elephants which can live in cold weather! However, the cloned foal of a Przewalski´s horse (this species or sub-species is extinct in the wild) is real, so here is a possible avenue to save endangered species. It seems cloning can even enhance the genetic diversity of a species. The two-humped Bactrian camel (which is almost extinct in the wild) is mentioned as the object of another possible rescue mission. 

The documentary doesn´t discuss human cloning and no Raëlians are interviewed. The production is clearly pro-cloning and I do wonder after watching it why the EU has banned cloning. How does this help us? How does it help the animals? Is it just some weird superstition? On our "enlightened" continent! In reality, the applications are almost endless. Imagine killing off all wolves, but keeping their DNA around for future re-creation just in case. 

Hmmm...    

Revolutionary United Front

 

HA HA HA. So Workers Power and the ITO (the "moderate" faction of the former ITC) are going to regroup with...the Morenoites?! Or at least one of the 57 Morenoite fragments, the one still calling itself MST in Argentina. 

Their prospective regroupment platform agrees on three points: China/Russia are imperialist, Ukraine should be defended...for now, smash Israel outright (no surprise there). These agreements, we are gravely told, are "substantial". 

Yeah, whatever. This new-new Fourth (or is it Fifth?) International will split again within a year, trust me. OK, make that two years. I mean, come on, I´m old enough to remember a time when these three currents would never-ever have united. But who knows, maybe things are changing. Or maybe the Morenoite "ISL" simply wants to consume the two other tendencies, which must be smaller, and use them as political cannon fodder for taking back Las Islas Malvinas...

For a regroupment of revolutionaries

El Loco

 

Sweden has decided to give 8 billion Swedish kronor to a global fund to fight climate change. 

Meanwhile, Argentina has decided to withdraw from COP29 or whatever that UN conference in Baku is called. The Argentine president is apparently a climate change denialist or something.

Weird. I mean, Argentina is a Third World country. Don´t they want all those Swedish aid money? :P 

Titanic in outer space

 

There must be some kind of law against this...

OceanGate founder wants to go to Venus