Feline tricks for National Cat Day CNN (furzy mouse)
World’s biggest seabird tracking database shows their incredible journeys BirdLife (guurst)
Four UK bird species ‘face extinction’ BBC :-(
International Space Station may need unexpected tidying CNN (furzy mouse)
Drug Panic Time! Annual Halloween Fearmongering About Drugs in Treats Alternet. When I was a kid, it was razorblades in apples….
How Big Ag Stampeded Over Science and Reason to Keep Sustainability Out of Our Dietary Guidelines Pacific Standard (Chuck L)
The Narrative Frays for Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes New York Times (Scott)
US jets intercept Russian warplanes off Korean peninsula BBC
China?
It is already too late to scrap China’s one-child policy Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, Telegraph
Credit Sleuths in China Uncover Bad Debt Dwarfing Official 1.5% Bloomberg (Scott). Quelle surprise!
Refugee Crisis
The endless humanitarian disaster in the Mediterranean sea grave failed evolution
The fight of Merkel’s life Politico
Germany’s Gathering Clouds of Discontent New York Times
Die ganz vergiftete Koalition n-tv
CIF Readers Demand Better Reporting on Corbyn OffGuardian (Chris G)
The Fall of Filat: Moldova’s Crisis Deepens Carnegie Moscow Center. Richard Smith: “Moldova latest: government collapses, UK shell companies implicated.”
THE SELLING OF TRUST — HOW RUSSIA’S LONGEST AND LARGEST BANK FRAUD HAS BEEN COVERED UP AS IT PASSED FROM ONE OWNER TO ANOTHER, STARTING WITH MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY AND ENDING WITH RUBEN AGANBEGYAN, ALEXANDER MAMUT, ET AL. John Helmer. Mark Ames: “Brilliant deep dive.”
Syraqistan
The Caliph at the gates of Vienna Pepe Escobar. Margarita: “Pessimistic assessment – not the usual bubbly Pepe. Russia must win (or its entry on the world stage will be over before it started), but Daesh cannot afford to lose (or it’s over once and for all) … does not look good.”
Hillary Clinton’s Failed Libya ‘Doctrine’ Consortium News (Judy B)
Iran returns to ‘Vienna Talks’ – as peacemaker Asia Times. Margarita: “Thus, in every sense, we are at a defining moment as the top diplomats of the US, Russia, Britain, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar and the UAE meet in Vienna – informally today (Oct 29) evening and formally tomorrow.”
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
OK Google: Where Do You Store Recordings Of My Commands? NPR (David L). More confirmation re the wisdom of sticking to stupid phones….
EU Parliament votes to protect Edward Snowden CNN (furzy mouse)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Putin’s Question and the Ambassador’s Answer Counterpunch (Eric A)
Protesters clash with police over planned US airbase in Japan euronews
2016
Donald Trump and Ben Carson Underwhelm Iowa Republicans in Debate New York Times
Ted Cruz Sends A Postcard To The Wealthy Few ThinkProgress (furzy mouse)
Ted Cruz Is Looking Surprisingly Good Huffington Post
Ben Carson had extensive relationship to Mannatech CNN (furzy mouse)
After dismal debate, Bush seeks ways to steady campaign Associated Press
Bush Has Lost, But His Campaign Continues American Conservative (resilc)
GOP Debate: It Literally Does Not Matter What the Question Is Charles Pierce, Esquire (resilc)
Campaign 2016 as a Demobilizing Spectacle TomDispatch
Senate Passes Budget Bill, Averting Risk of Default Wall Street Journal
Harry Reid Says He Liked That John Boehner Told Him To Go F**k Himself Huffington Post
One Chart That Explains The Stupidity Of Congress’ SPR Plan Oil Price
Police State Watch
Gunz
Inside Waco, Texas, biker shootout: Guns, blood and fear CNN (furzy mouse)
Comments on the blockbuster Valeant conference call John Hempton. Richard Smith: “Hempton amazing deep dive into US pharma bentness. One of his more exhausting reads but worth it.”
Deutsche Bank to shed 35,000 jobs, exit 10 countries CNBC
Resurrecting Glass-Steagall Simon Johnson, Project Syndicate
Mutual Funds Flail at Valuing Startups Wall Street Journal
Class Warfare
How Gentrifiers Gentrify Public Books (Judy B)
How the Koch brothers and the super-rich are buying their way out of criticism Robert Reich, Christian Science Monitor (guurst)
The decline in prime age labor participation: the smoking gun (Part 1of 2) Angry Bear
The Oligarch Recovery – U.S. Military Veterans are Selling Their Pensions in Order to Pay the Bills Michael Krieger (1 SK)
Antidote du jour. Chris L: “My cute animal friend Duino, hanging around by a Tornado. He’s a Peruvian Naked Dog.”
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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The `synergies’ of the Kraft – Heinz merger hit the fan for western NY, just in time for the holidays.
The number might not sound like a lot, but for these small towns, it’ll be devastating.
Kraft Heinz plans factory closures that could eliminate 950 jobs
Because free money isn’t free.
Thank you for your Service Maestro Warren Buffett and John Kerry. May you never return to this earth
Re: Clinton’s role in destabilizing Libya:
The residents of all Western “developed” nations would love to have the benefits of citizenship under Ghadaffi:
Free education up to and including PhD
Free electricity, water
Gas at less than $.10/gal
Interest free home loans for newlyweds
Free health care, including catastrophic
The highest standard of living in Africa was destroyed to enable the theft of:
The largest underground pure water aquifer on the continent (the next “critical” resource)
Libyan gold reserves (western vaults are virtually empty)
Libyan oil reserves (self explanatory)
and to prevent the establishment of a gold backed dinar for African countries, a serious no-no for the global banking cartel.
Not surprisingly, no outcry from the UN (or any other person or organization)
Gaddafi’s “Green Book” was well-known in lefty circles in the 1980s when the first wave of destabilization of his regime “took place” (you can assign the agency).
Q. He was no saint but what’s worse?
A. Endless chaos and murder are worse.
Did not know that. They were better at democracy than we are, so they had to go. Ghaddafi was going to receive a coveted global humanitarian award before Obomba took him out, leading to destabilization of the whole region. If there were an outcry, it’d be buried before we heard about it here in the US.
Ghaddafi was going to receive a coveted global humanitarian award
I don’t think that is an accurate statement, so a UN link to that coveted prize please?
I think this is the nonsense you are referring to:
http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2011/04/01/swiss-tv-endorses-un-watch-report-on-jean-ziegler-qaddafi-prize/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Gaddafi_International_Prize_for_Human_Rights
Nope, neither of those, but I’ll try to find it. He has so many spellings for his name it’s hard to be located, but someone here did post it one time. Maybe they’ll post up the info again.
Several of the NATO countries, including Denmark, Germany, Spain and Italy, as well as Australia, PRAISED Colonel Muammar Qaddafi for his excellent work in human rights and were set to give a United Nations award to him and Libya in March.
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056373143
Occam’s Razor, I think the Chanel-suited Kissinger wannabes (Rice, Powers et al) actually thought “humanitarian bombing” was a reasonable concept, so almost overnight Gaddafi went from dining with Tony Blair, providing ample anti-terror assistance, and allowing his people the highest standard of living on the whole continent by far to This Week’s New Worst Guy In The World.
Never mistake total and utter incompetence and hubris for strategic brilliance and acumen.
I had the very satisfying experience of running into Ms. Rice, travelling with a single companion, at the Chiang Mai airport. I made it abundantly clear precisely what I thought of her N.A.E.B.D.B.A (New American Empire Based on Drone Bomb Assassination).
Ted,
That is not a primary source, as in a UN document identifying the “coveted humanitarian prize”, it’s a CT posting board to wade through.
The guy was your basic ruthless dictator, to be clear though Libya’s problem not ours. Taking him out was wrong but that fact doesn’t re-issue his history as being a benign humanitarian.
So post a link to a document with a UN seal identifying the coveted humanitarian prize, don’t offer some CT thread deflection.
Taking him out was wrong (for non Libyans to actively support)
Optimander : That is very hard to find since it was buried by those behind the propaganda for the attack – meaning media and everyone in high places, including countries. But even I remember reading about it before we attacked and thought we were doing the wrong thing, and we were. His country was doing fine apparently without our intervention. Did they give the Libya citizens a vote before we invaded? Is that what the Libyans wanted? How would we citizens know? Anyway, not going to get into it anymore. Andyb’s post says it all.
Democracy, hardly. Socialism, definitely.
Hillary’s moved on since her pithy crack that ‘We came, we saw, he died.’ Now the troubadours sing about her exploits:
Adapted from Clyde, written by J.J. Cale, performed by Waylon Jennings.
I’d settle for just free health care.
Education – let corporations pay for their own employee-training. One seeks enlightenment and secrets to a happy, healthy life elsewhere under the present system
Many claims, would like to see a source links, Thanks!
So was the uprising imaginary? (a possibility)
Like Syria, most of the ‘rebels’ just so happened to be from foreign countries, with outside financing.
Though, I want to add there was indeed resentment for various things among much of the populace. IMO, the reason Gaddhafi collapsed and Assad did not is because Gaddhafi managed to lose the support of the majority of the countries population while Assad continues to have the support of at least a large minority of the population even after all these years of war.
Gaddafi’s age was key. Everyone in Libya was making post-Gaddafi plans. One of his sons was working to establishing a new constitution for a post Gaddafi world.
Although Libya is tribal, there was no sacred tribe. Gaddafi was not in a tribe or very cut off. No one had a vested interest in Gaddafi except the Tuareg and Bedouins in the South, and in the grand scheme, they are meaningless.
Of course, the neoconservative cabal did push Libya along. No one wanted to be hit by NATO. Gaddafi would be gone in the next five years. If Assad died, there was a non-personality based government and organization to run the appearance of an election with a selected replacement if not hold one outright. This didn’t exist in Libya. Organization was still conducted through tribal organization. Losing the central government would leave the tribe intact. Losing the Assad linked government would be a disaster.
The perfect promotional line for Tarantino’s next film: “The movie the police don’t want you to see!” Hopefully it’s a film about unaccountable, out of control, racist police and the politicians who let them get away with murder and even encourage it.
I don’t know if he does documentaries….
Eh, sounds like you could make an action movie about out of control racist police pretty easily, but the mainstream media would try to railroad it as being politically incorrect.
And with your Happy Meal, would you like to supersize that animal abuse?
Ex-McDonald’s suppliers plead guilty to cruelty
In some states, undercover ag-filming is now a felony (although in Idaho it was struck down by a Federal judge).
Thank you. By now, it should be no secret that anyone who buys food sourced from factory farms is enabling animal abuse. Meat, eggs, dairy. Good on Mercy for Animals and The Humane Society et al. They have exposed so many major ‘suppliers’ of animal abuse on a massive scale: Tyson, Purdue, etc. All horrid operations to be shunned. Any politician who supports ‘ag-gag’ policy is simply evil.
+1
Less specialization, more leisure time to play, shop and prepare meals, working with one’s hands in the community garden to grow food – we can support these to combat factory farming.
Where I live, we have a good source of sustainably raised and finished beef, with several smaller ones, and several sources of free-range chicken and eggs. There’s also a big backyard chicken movement; folks sell their surplus eggs. Pork, not so much, but my supermarket carries bacon made with pork raised without hormones or antibiotics, uncured (no nitrites). It also buys fish directly from a fisherman’s coop that is certified wild-caught, with dolphin-safe methods.
Sounds great, right? Well, the prices are out of reach of large numbers of people. How many families can afford $20/lb fish, $6/lb hamburger, and eggs at 75 cents each? You might think that’s great, as it would force reduced consumption, but it ends up a class issue. The more-affluent could continue to eat as much grass-fed beef and wild-caught salmon as they like, leaving the abused chickens for the unwashed masses who either don’t know how the poor animals are treated or can’t care when they’re struggling just to keep food on the table. It reminds me of feudal Europe, where the nobility feasted on platters of duck and whole pig, while the peasants were lucky to have enough gruel and turnips.
Personally, I make do by waiting for the sustainable stuff either to go on sale or into the past-pull-date bin for half price, although the latter is getting harder and harder to find, with so many people in hard economic conditions.
Animal products are not necessary for a healthy and affordable diet.
Perhaps, so long as the 1500+ mile supply chains hold up.
I was going to add, “The vegans will be wriggling with delight,” but I knew someone would do it for me.
P.S. “Let them eat Oreos.”
Actually there is a reason they tell vegans to take multivitamins.
Personal story re: China Debt
A few weeks ago my parents in law in the PRC learned that they were the victims of fraud and had been caught up in the legal fallout from a 30 mil RMB whodunnit debt fiasco. Time and worry aside they should be able to beat this and get their own, much more meager, bank account un-seized, but their case is instructive:
Officials at two Chinese banks with international presences mind you conspired with some local businessmen (FIL’s old partners) to forge signatures and paperwork in order to borrow 10 and 20 million rmb (firm was only worth about 5 mil). Bank officials got their payouts but the money just… vanished. Official story is it was invested in Inner Mongolian RE but those fraudsters should be ashamed if they didn’t just disappear it, for later use.
Insult to injury none of my FIL old loans to friends and family could be called back in time of need. No one has any money, not for you, not for themselves.
Can’t believe this was one of a kind. No controls and empty pockets. That free money isn’t coming back.
Financial scams and fraud are rampant in China. A lot of people, especially the elderly, are not sophisticated enough to ask the right questions. My ex’s parents in Hunan were in their 70s and lost most of their life savings afew years ago… luckily for them one of their other children has become a millionaire but many others are totally screwed.
The Antidote du Jour photograph is beautifully composed, yet strangely menacing. Like the opening shot of a disturbingly violent sequence in a Quentin Tarantino film.
Before reading about it I thought the dog looks less alive than the tornado. The tornado has its own mat. Brilliant simplicity in the photogs composure. Only classic black and white could make it better imo.
I don’t know. This one struck me as being a strictly amateur attempt. Well–it was probably meant for facebook, and no one would be judging it too harshly in that venue in any case.
My German Shepherd could not share a space with a vacuum cleaner and maintain that level of equanimity.
Speaking of Mr. Tarantino, the police backlash against him, for calling on them to reduce their killings of unarmed citizens, is quite revealing. Those of us who resist demobilization risk provoking outrage and fury, from the criminal oligarchs running this country, and the violent goons who enforce their rule.
As Tom Engelhardt aptly says, (in the link above):
” In sum, a citizen’s duty, whether in time of war or elections, is now, at best, to watch the show, or at worst, to see nothing at all.
This reality has been highlighted by the whistleblowers of this generation, including Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, and John Kiriakou. Whenever they have revealed something of what our government is doing beyond our sight, they have been prosecuted with a fierceness unique in our history and for a simple enough reason. Those who watch us believe themselves exempt from being watched by us. That’s their definition of “democracy.” When “spies” appear in their midst, even if those whistleblowers are “spies” for us, they are horrified at a visceral level and promptly haul out the World War I-era Espionage Act. They now expect a demobilized response to whatever they do and when anything else is forthcoming, they strike back in outrage.”
All over this nation, in police buildings, you will find posters worshipping Bill Gates, the former high sheriff of Los Angeles. They still celebrate what the LAPD did to Rodney King. Bill Gates was purported to be the cleanest cop in LA (once), and that he stopped police crime.
He even purchased Jack Webb and they made “Dragnet” to show the public how the police viewed themselves. They needed the smarm of a tv show to create public opinion. They made a lot of money making up nice images while covering up crimes against the people of their city and county.
law and order by television and diversion
…it’s Daryl Gates. He died in 2010.
I believe his name was Brad Gates..
Who will guard the guards?
If money is power, you have to limit what a government can spend.
One of the comments to the guardian piece is spot on: people can get away with calling anything “hard left” or “radical socialist” (N.B. I consider neither of those to be necessarily a bad thing), simply because there’s nothing like a hardcore leftist stream in mainstream politics anymore. Most of the pundits going on about radicals and extremes wouldn’t know the dictatorship of the proletariat, if it punched them in the face. In the absence of powerful leftist movements, you can trot out the socialist bogeyman whenever you want, and the kids, in the spirit of Halloween, will feign the presumed shock and horror.
American Election Roundup (1950)
This appears to be a British newsreel about the 1950 elections in the US. Possibly the last time any English-language news media, in any English-speaking country, was even remotely accurate in using a term like “extreme leftist.” It says, “Extreme leftist Vito Marcantonio is knocked out of Congress, losing to an unprecedented 3-party coalition.”
Marcantonio was a member of the American Labor Party, and was defeated in 1950 by a candidate supported by the Democratic, Republican, and Liberal parties, mainly because of his refusal to vote for American participation in the Korean War.
I respectfully disagree. I think all the false proclamations of Socialists have lessened the fear the public might have to Socialists. FFS they have been calling Neoliberals like Obama Socialists that the “slur” doesn’t have the same meaning while concurrently there is a growing anger at excess of the Corporate Class.
Bush Has Lost, But His Campaign Continues American Conservative (resilc)
I really don’t like the Bush dynasty. And nothing would please me more than Bush being banished from here on out.
But like Jason Vorhees, he may keep coming back.
I am a political junkie, but I have to keep reminding myself, there has not been one election yet. The people paying attention may be a contrary indicator, etc.
And in general, starting the political process with a very rural state makes for a an especially contrived process, particularly for republicans (remember president Herman Cain or Michele Bachmann)
So Bush remains the most Mittens-like (i.e., Romney) of the contenders – if he lasts, he does have the advantage of appearing the least demented…(again, I think Bush’s potential for real harm is greater than Trump. No matter how stupid you think “W” was, he had enough political acumen to get an affirmative vote for the Iraq invasion )
What is really interesting to me is if the internet has such a following, such an impact, that it can counteract the conventional wisdom and the establishment advertising on network TV – that is, is big money the most important factor in the nominating process? Sure, we never had president Connally or Rockefeller, but if everybody is getting every dollar they can get their grubby little mitts on, it must be of some utility.
Or have we reached a watershed moment where those who actually vote are more persuaded by social media and not traditional media (internet)??? – and therefore advertising dollars have only an increasingly marginal, and perhaps even deleterious impact, upon actual voters???
The legend of Vorhees carried on, and so must the Bush line. 3rd generation George P was running for, something I forget, in Texas last year.
US jets intercept Russian warplanes off Korean peninsula
alternative rejected titles
US jets intercept Russian turboprops
US warplanes intercept Russian warplanes
US jets escort Russian vintage aircraft display
or how about:
Four F-18 Hornets escort two TU-142 Bear reconnaissance aircraft in proximity of USS RReagan
The last possibility is the least fun, and makes the article redundant :o(
Mr Earnest said there were “vigorous disagreements” between the two countries, but that the chill in ties did not reflect the events of the Cold War
…reflect the events of the cold war… huh? WTF does that mean?
WRT “decline in the prime working age labor participation rate” I don’t doubt his child care cost theory but, at least here in part 1 he fails to mention the biggest reason low participation rate… lack of good jobs!
Decent paying jobs with a few bennies and people could pay the rising cost of child care, the rising cost of just about everything for that matter.
Also, he seems to focus on earners in the lowest quintile. I suppose this captures many (former or would-be) part-time secondary earners who quit or choose not to work to raise their kids. But I don’t know any low-income 2-earner families where one of the earners can afford to quit. Childcare is a burden for these families but the “solutions” involve substandard care, having older siblings watch younger ones, latch key or, best case, using relatives for child care.
The tone of the article is “people are leaving the workforce because child care is so expensive” but the only people I know doing this have one earner making enough coin to make it feasible. Not lowest quintile for sure.
Or have we reached a watershed moment where those who actually vote are more persuaded by social media and not traditional media (internet)???
If one has to ask, then I think the answer is clearly no. Additionally so many of us in the blogos or I would guess even more so in social media who pay attention in much greater detail are still led by MSM, even when battling it. I mean your comment and questions are just where MSM-Oligarch-Party owners would want us to remain, imo. Playing armchair football, always giving them legitimacy even when the game is not on, while the owners rake it in.
We can’t/won’t talk delegitimacy, peace, policy, environment, war crimes, general strike, democracy, rule of law, in any sincere way as long as we are talking about reps or d’s.
File under Black Injustice Tipping Point–NBA star recounts when the police broke his leg, ending his season two weeks before the playoffs. He’s suing for $50M. I hope he and former tennis star James Blake make the NYC govt and NYPD really uncomfortable:
http://www.gq.com/story/thabo-sefolosha-nypd-assault
When famous or rich people become victims and take action, the little people will hopefully benefit from the trickle down effect.
It’s not ideal, but one can’t be too choosy.
I think actually would have filed this under “Imperial Collapse Watch”. Snowden is a real touchy subject among the Empire’s Washington elites, and this is a real slap in the face.
Yes this is one giant non-binding unenforceable virtual slap in the face with an invisible hand.
Europe: the culture that has made empty gestures into an art form.
If I adjust my stylish tinfoil headgear just right, I start to wonder if this is a trap intended to coax Snowden out to a place where he can be nabbed.
Seems unlikely that EU would squander whatever credibility they may have in such a way, so it’s probably just the tinfoil talking.
I saw Evo Morales last month and he was wearing the exact same headgear.
Echos the discussion at a dinner party with a member of the Lords three years ago.
Former pharma head arrested in Boston on kickback allegations
The former president of an Irish drug company was arrested in Boston this morning on charges of conspiring to pay kickbacks to physicians, as his company settled allegations of fraud for $125 million.
The U.S. Justice Department said in a release that 57-year-old W. Carl Reichel, the former president of Dublin-based Warner Chilcott, has been indicted on one count of conspiracy to pay kickbacks.
According to the Justice Department, between 2009 and 2012, Reichel designed a sales and marketing strategy to give physicians payments and free dinners in return for prescriptions of Warner Chilcott drugs. Unlimited expense accounts were provided to wine and dine physicians.
Physicians that prescribed a high volume of Warner Chilcott drugs were also paid as “speakers” for the company. But the only obligation for these physicians was to enjoy an expensive dinner.
In addition to the two indictments, three former managers at Warner Chilcott pleaded guilty to commit health care fraud.
Reichel’s company has pleaded guilty to health care fraud and will pay $125 million for allegedly illegally promoting a number of its drugs.
http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/bioflash/2015/10/former-pharma-head-arrested-in-boston-on-kickback.html?
What happened to those physicians?
How many were there?
One count, eh? Not much of a scheme, or not much of a prosecution… Maybe he agreed to testify against the Corporate Person in exchange for a “deal…”
(On a meta note: suddenly the site retains my sign-in information, even between articles. Helpful; thank you.)
“It is already too late to scrap China’s one-child policy”
The big problem with China’s policy, which, as he notes, hasn’t gone away, is that it’s overly intrusive and authoritarian. But then, it’s China.
But otherwise, I guess I’m one of those bad Malthusians, because this policy, and the workforce problems it causes, is exactly what ALL of us have to do. (Easy for me to say: I only have one, and my wife only has two.) It isn’t sufficient – consumption rates and efficiency are just as important – but it is required. In fact, it’s inevitable; we’ve greatly overshot the world’s carrying capacity, so the population is going to fall, probably precipitously. The remaining question is how.
In order to begin living within our means, at least in any comfort at all, we’re going to have to go through exactly the demographic transition now facing Japan (voluntarily), China (dictated), and a few other countries: an aging population and shrinking economy. If we can’t figure out how to live with that, we’re cooked. OR if we can’t figure out how to overcome the religious motives driving much of population growth. So I have no sympathy at all with E-P’s qualms about it.
I heard something sinister on the radio the other day. Don’t know who it was, but he said, pretty casually, that the world is getting more religious because only religious people are having children. (there are places where that isn’t true, including the US, but worldwide, I’m afraid he’s right.) Ultimately, that’s one of our biggest threats.
I don’t think the new site behavior is anything we did, though I’m glad you’re happy. The internet moves in mysterious ways.
I assume it’s the system “upgrade” Yves was complaining about a while back. Caused hassles at the time, but did improve performance from our end.
Otherwise, the possibilities are just too sinister.
I am surprised that they are not going with the ‘more robot children’ option to address workforce shortage.
They are, of course. Tghe real problem i is the lack of consumers – which, of course, is the real benefit.
” the biggest reason for the decline in the prime working age labor participation rate was the increase in the number of second-earner spouses who decided to stay at home and raise their children, occasioned by the particularly significant decline in wages among lower quintile jobs, together with the soaring costs of outside day care. – See more at: http://angrybearblog.com/2015/10/the-decline-in-prime-age-labor-participation-the-smoking-gun-part-1of-2.html?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-decline-in-prime-age-labor-participation-the-smoking-gun-part-1of-2#sthash.7CGmTsLH.dpuf
IOW, primarily women being pushed out of the work force. Obama really IS reversing the Women’s Movement, as I suggested before.
“He’s suing for $50M. I hope he and former tennis star James Blake make the NYC govt and NYPD really uncomfortable:”
Maddening, infuriating story. How we’re going to get the police back under control escapes me. I actually think there will be serious bloodshed.
Suing is better than nothing, but NYC pays out huge settlements over and over, with zero effect on the police themselves. If those judgements came directly out of every cop’s salary, it might help, but under current law, only the taxpayers are hurt.
In general, I support unions, but not for the police. They just have too much power, and the unions serve mostly to shield misbehavior.
On Libya, the “Libyan doctrine”. One thing often left out with Assad and Qadaffi both is that before being nominated as “next Hitlers” and attacked, they had both signed on to IMF reform programs, and had been getting pats on the back from the finance “community” for all their forward-lookingness.
One bit of this history for Libya here, from the IMF (much more available if anyone cares to wade through it)
https://www.imf.org/external/np/sec/pn/2006/pn0638.htm
One thing both countries have in common is that the “reforms” they were instituting as part of this involved the elimination or reduction of assorted subsidies to broad segments of the population that were key to their previous methods of legitimation.
Re. “Four UK bird species ‘face extinction’ BBC :-(”
Hopefully the great tits are not endangered. The Beeb used to have a hilariously deadpan ‘wildfacts’ page on said species (Parus Major), which seems to have been taken down some years ago. It finished with a classic line to the effect of (as best I can recall)
Great tits are not considered threatened. It is estimated that there are 500,000 pairs in Great Britain.
(Cue subdiscussion of the theoretical coconut-carrying capacities of various UK-visiting bird species.)