‘Flying’ deer stuns social media in jaw-dropping video Flipboard (David L)
Marlon Bundo, Pence family rabbit and unlikely gay rights figure, dies Washington Post
Million-Year-Old DNA Yields Mammoth Surprises Discover (Chuck L)
‘World’s largest’ cast-iron skillet travels down Tennessee highway UPI. Resilc: “Who sez USA USA can’t make stuff?”
Prehistoric Volcanoes Heated Earth in a Global Chain Reaction Scientific American. Anthony L: “Then, when the volcanoes died down, the temperatures kept rising.”
‘It’s mind-boggling’: the hidden cost of our obsession with fish oil pills Guardian. Iceland is also a big supplier. Fish oil companies were on sale for the corporate equivalent of bupkis during its financial crisis.
The Reunion Dublin Review of Books. Anthony L: “For Leonard Cohen fans.”
#COVID-19
Science/Medicine
Israeli trial, world’s first, finds 4th dose ‘not good enough’ against Omicron Times of Israel. Reported by Lambert yesterday, but important not to miss.
Breakthrough infections with SARS-CoV-2 omicron despite mRNA vaccine booster dose Lancet (Kevin W)
Covid: WHO warns pandemic not over amid Europe case records BBC
Media briefing on COVID-19 World Health Organization (via Facebook??)
?NEW—1 in 10 people with #COVID19 still could be infectious beyond 10 days, and some could remain so for as long as 2 months, a new study suggests, and pose risk of onward transmission. Plus, “we wouldn't be able to predict who they are” says author.https://t.co/Xw0KhIJEvc
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) January 17, 2022
Largest study of IVM in COVID passed rigorous peer-review & was published this week. Found IVM use led to a massive reduction in infections, hospitalizations, & death. Crickets from across the worlds major media. The global war on repurposed drugs marches on https://t.co/rWgbY2Ufqb
— Pierre Kory, MD MPA (@PierreKory) January 18, 2022
Mild Covid infection degrades memory for up to nine months – research Independent
How widespread is Covid in animals and what are the risks to humans? Financial Times
Asia
Covid: Beijing city urges end to overseas deliveries over Omicron BBC
US
The Postal Service is now taking orders for free COVID-19 test kits NPR (martha r)
White House to make 400 million N95 masks available for free The Hill. And here I went and stockpiled….
LA County tallies most daily COVID deaths since April 2021 KCRA. IM Doc sputters by e-mail:
Paging Dr. Monica Ghandi….Yes, that Dr. Gandhi. The ID TV expert promising all for weeks that California was bulletproof for hospitalizations and deaths from COVID. The vaccine rate was just too high and there was no way it was going to happen.
Fun fact – I was witness to another expert being asked a question today – “Are these deaths from omicron or delta?” “Is anyone testing these strains?”
His answer – “Why would you need to do that? It is obvious from the data that Omicron is not lethal.”
These are world experts. You just cannot make this stuff up.
Scientist GM added:
Monica Gandhi has been one of the most reliable predictors of what is going to happen throughout the pandemic. Nearly 100% success rate, you just have to assume the opposite of what she says.
Another IM Doc sighting:
I listened to Fauci, Stephane Bancel (Moderna), Annalies Wilder-Smith, and Richard Hatchett discuss the future of covid at Klaus Schwab's WEF yesterday. Here are my notes. ?1/https://t.co/NvyMBrlzfy
— Laura (@_Iaura_) January 18, 2022
His comment:
I am really trying to picture American medical figures like William Osler, Palmer Howard, Harvey Cushing, or William Halsted daring to show up and entertain a group like the World Economic Forum.
I am simply unable to do so.
I just simply cannot imagine any of these heroes thinking an appearance in this kind of group would be appropriate in any way. They would have avoided it like the plague.
But that has not stopped Fauci. And in doing so, is giving us all kinds of indications of his true motives and accordingly the motives of the NIH and the FDA. WHAT ON EARTH DOES THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM OFFER THAT WOULD BE TAKING UP A MINUTE OF THE HEAD OF OUR COVID RESPONSE’S TIME?
Furthermore, the section in this tweet about Fauci’s take on the non-believers and even more importantly Moderna’s plans for boosters and further vaccine schedules is quite illuminating.
These people have learned nothing from the past two years. Nothing. They are doubling down at full speed. The hubris is overwhelming.
Nearly 1 million US children were infected with COVID-19 last week WSWS. Subhead: “Alabama infectious disease director: ‘The rate of cases is like a rocket ship.'” The CDC has 1,127 pediatric deaths. One of my close friends has it. She has regular back pain, so she is on so many pain meds and muscle relaxants that she can’t tell if she is having muscle pain. But she’s been incapacitated with a three day and still running migraine level headache, with sore eyes and sensitivity to light.
Climate
Indonesia names new capital Nusantara, replacing sinking Jakarta Guardian. Resilc” “I used to go there to support world bank/usaid transmigration projects in the 80s. We called it the province of Weyerhaeuser because of a plywood factory in the area.”
China?
Textbook dilemma traps US, China in a war spiral Asia Times (Kevin W)
Old Blighty
?“If you've got one shred of compassion for all those families who sacrificed so much, who lost so much, you’ll go”? pic.twitter.com/AOl2D4f0Bc
— Led By Donkeys (@ByDonkeys) January 18, 2022
Westminster mood increasingly toxic as Tories mull next steps Guardian (Kevin W)
New Cold War
Biden Should Declare NATO Membership Closed Antiwar (resilc)
Biden’s Opportunity for Peace in Eurasia National Interest (Chuck L)
Blinken Will Meet With Russia as U.S. Pushes for More Diplomacy New York Times
Footage confirms that Britain today ferried a vast number of guided missiles to Ukraine – 5 cargo plane loads worth of NLAW ATGM’s pic.twitter.com/wYucteQJR7
— Murad Gazdiev (@MuradGazdiev) January 18, 2022
How to think about war in Ukraine Timothy Snyder (Kevin C). Be warned: Major war with Russia-monger.
Bill Clinton’s Role in the Crisis Over Ukraine CounterPunch. Resilc: “Just about every shitstorm we face starts with Clinton.”
Instructive: The Once-Classified Tale of Juanita Moody: The Woman Who Helped Avert a Nuclear War Smithsonian (Chuck L)
Syraqistan
From Aerial Strikes to Starvation, Afghanistan’s People Bear the Brunt of the West’s Failed Taliban Tactics CounterPunch (resilc)
US senses opportunity in fraying Taliban-Pakistan ties Asia Times
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
UK government planning emotive ‘stunts’ in anti-encryption ad campaign 9to5mac (Kevin W)
Imperial Collapse Watch
They Missed Lessons…Andrei Martyanov (Chuck L). Important.
One step backward: US to assist French in failing African counter-terror ops Responsible Statecraft (resilc)
TSMC raises the bar with record capital spending Asia Times. Subhead: “Meanwhile Intel’s CEO begs US Congress to fund the CHIPS Act to lift America’s flagging chip makers”
1/6
US Capitol riot committee issues subpoena to Rudy Giuliani BBC (furzy)
Trump
New York AG says Trump’s company misled banks, tax officials Associated Press. Resilc: “You’d need a gulag the size of Kansas to put all the real estate developers in.”
Second state attorney general refers fake Trump electoral certificate to federal prosecutors Alternet (furzy)
GOP Clown Car
Will Trump Lose His Throne to Ron DeSantis? New Republic (resilc)
Democrats en déshabillé
Sanders Says He Is Open to Supporting Primary Challenges to Sinema, Manchin Wall Street Journal
MLK
Meet the Black Men Who Changed Lincoln’s Mind About Equal Rights Smithsonian (Chuck L)
Our Famously Free Press
Well, today, NYT had different reporter write basically same story and send it to entire NYT email list. Who was his main data source? **The same CIA/Palantir/Police analyst.** Again, the NYT calls that guy a "crime analyst" without reporting any of his conflicts of interest.
— Alec Karakatsanis (@equalityAlec) January 18, 2022
Bitter Fruit: Marshall McLuhan and the Rise of Fake News Quillette. Chuck L: “There’s more blame for the corrupted MSM to go around than just to McLuhan.”
FedEx Asks FAA to Let It Install Anti-Missile Lasers on Planes Gizmodo (furzy). I can’t even….
Godzilla v. Mothra, 5G Edition
5G goes live in the US and sparks international chaos: British Airways and Cathay Pacific become latest carriers scrambling to change transatlantic flights over safety fears around airports as AT&T and Verizon activate their networks at 90% Daily Mail (Brian C). Note Japan’s JAL and ANA have also cancelled flights. And:
Delta Air Lines released a statement that the company ‘is planning for the possibility of weather-related cancellations caused by the deployment of new 5G service in the vicinity of dozens of U.S. airports starting as early as Wednesday.’
What’s up with 5G and airplanes?! YouTube (dcblogger). A must watch for understanding the technical issues. Makes clear that the FCC has abjectly misrepresented what France has done and that France actually tested…with a much safer and lower power 5G implementation than in the US, and that there really is some risk.
Emirates, Air India, and others cancel flights due to AT&T and Verizon’s 5G rollout The Verge. Kevin W: “America now being declared a no-fly zone.”
CalPERS board president announces resignation after cancer diagnosis Sacramento Bee
First-ever felony charges filed against driver in fatal Autopilot-involved crash RT (Kevin W)
Guillotine Watch
The curse of the Girlboss: Elizabeth Homes could’ve been the next Gwyneth Paltrow Unherd (Anthony L). Funny but a low-level female con artist has come across my radar, practicing medicine w/o needed licenses. If I have the energy, I would like go after her because it would be a social good as well as potentially instructive. Any reader tips appreciated.
Is historic Rome villa the world’s most valuable property? BBC
Class Warfare
The “highly skilled” are the enemies of your existence White Hot Harlots (Anthony L). Late to get to this but a fine rant.
What it’s like to make $100k+ walking dogs The Hustle (resilc)
Now You Can Rent a Robot Worker—for Less Than Paying a Human Wired (Dr. Kevin)
THE WELL OF THE CONGRESS: The Wealthiest 10% of Zip Codes Provide 67% of ‘Maxed Out’ Contributions to Congressional Candidates, and the Richest 1% of Zip Codes Account for 25% Public Citizen. Explains why elected officials are so attuned to the pet needs of the so-called Professional-Managerial Class (PMC), which if you were to draw a Venn diagram, overlaps heavily with the top 10%.
Distrust in political, media and business leaders sweeps the globe Axios
Antidote du jour. Parker D: “Our friend chillin’by the pool with a native in Santa Cruz, Galapagos, Ecuador 2019”:
And a bonus (John Siman). Momcat looks like an Aby:
Mother cat takes down stuck toy so kitten can play with it again pic.twitter.com/395lGNrCRr
— ًً (@politicalplayer) January 17, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
243 comments
Comments are closed.
Re New Cold War
The problem is, the Anglo countries are now the ones with the sclerotic, failing economic systems. The shoe is firmly on the other foot. So long, UK and USA. It was a laugh.
I personally do not think that the sole reason for the West winning the Cold War was about economics. Yes, the Soviets being a closed system hurt them, as did multiple crippling wars and a bureaucratization of the remaining workers. But the main thing to take away from the opening of the Soviet archives is that you learn that the US always projected that a Soviet was around every corner, and in fact it was the reverse. The USSR was very, very careful to intervene in an affair if it meant the US would suck them in; that’s why the US made pains to instigate an assault on the Russian border to force the Afghan War because it was not an action they would take spontaneously. It also isn’t a coincidence that the only major war they engaged in was on their own border. When it came down to the third world, though, the USSR did not get heavily involved in supporting or aiding countries hurt by US coups, while the US was intimately involved in every single non-US aligned country’s politics, to the point of picking out their cabinet. So while the USSR did aid directly countries like Vietnam that were MLM countries and were directly aligned with them, the US was busy collecting trophies from countries that had nothing to do with the conflict, thereby consolidating their hold on most of the world’s markets and crushing their homefront Left. China will benefit from the no-closed-system part, but my initial instinct is that they have the same trepidation about intervention in non-aligned countries’ affairs for the same fear of retaliation, and the results could be much the same.
I started reading the Helmer piece this morning, then went make a cup of coffee, and when I came back and clicked on the link I got an Error 521 web server down message. Interesting.
Same thing here, VPN through Russia connects fine
russia today is practically a closed country, we made it that way for them, and they are excelling.
in my youth i studied the soviets, a couple things i learned was that they were on the gold standard, that surely crippled anyone who was ever on it, and they lacked mandates like having insurance. i read at the time it was estimated that the soviet system was about 60% insured.
my have changed later on, but those two things alone would invite disaster.
today russia is not on the gold standard, and are better insured.
‘Fun fact – I was witness to another expert being asked a question today – “Are these deaths from omicron or delta?” “Is anyone testing these strains?”
His answer – “Why would you need to do that? It is obvious from the data that Omicron is not lethal.”’
Sometimes the idiocy is so blatant, that it defies real explanation. Was it because that this is what they really believed? Or was it a case of that this is what they wanted to believe? Or was it a case that it would not have been good for their career to really seek an answer to that question? But this is not how science actually works and it is just as well that experts like this did not work on the Webb telescope.
What continues to amaze me is that not one of these “experts” who have so completely botched the COVID response with horrible implications for all our lives has lost their jobs. You would think at some point whoever is in charge – and I’m not even sure who that is – would think we need to try something different – this is not something we can ‘learn to live with’.
I was watching the local TV news on Monday and they did a Covid piece that got me screaming back at my TV screen.
They tag it as: The cycle of removing and re-imposing COVID-19 restrictions has no place in a post-vaccination world — That’s according to a UCSF doctor who says the “abundance of caution approach has caused a lot of harm.”
The main authority, talking head, was:
Dr. Jeanne Noble is an associate professor of emergency medicine at UCSF. Emergency department preparation for COVID-19: accelerated care units.
Apparently she is also pals and a co-author with Gandhi.
My summary: We’ve got the vaccines and also some aquired immunity, so it’s all good. Let ‘er rip!
Here’s a link to the 2-minute video.
https://news.yahoo.com/doctors-weigh-future-living-covid-071925730.html
UCSF have churned out some of the most astonishing wrongster talking heads, also including The Prasad
And it wouldn’t really matter, except that they are all seemingly given an outsize soapbox from which to bloviate. I doubt that’s coincidental.
since the 1990’s anyone who questions these morons as the white hot harlots call them, are sidelined. so if you want a career, you toe the official line.
if you are side lined, someone that will toe the line is already lined up as your replacement.
its why nafta billy clinton onwards, would let no one see the free trade agreements he churned out, unless you said i will not tell a soul.
In the SF Bay Area UCSF runs the most annoying self-serving commercials. When my TV is on I mute it as fast as I can when these horrid commercials begin. The local TV stations treat Monica Ghandi as some kind of goddess.
Her last name makes her a Goddess, No?
UCSF has many great doctors who’ve written books and investigated issues the worthless media won’t talk about. I wouldn’t tar UCSF with the same brush that tars the people in the video.
LA County tallies most daily COVID deaths since April 2021 KCRA.
So disingenuous and outright false. The most recent 7day death average is 23. A year ago, the 7day avg was over 10X that. Also, there were higher daily counts and 7day averages in August 2021–so the claim that the current count exceeded all daily counts up to April is just fake.
Anyway who argues the vaccination rate is too high. So L.A. county it’s 76% with at least 1 dose, or alternatively 85% for 12 and up with at least one dose. Let’s see what is the total then unvaxxed in a city of 10 million, around 2.4 million people. And only 1/3 of people in L.A. county have a booster which we know is also necessary.
5G doesn’t spread covid, international travel by air does.
not the way i would have went, but there you have it.
In Scotland the vaccines are a total desaster. Here the latest Scottish statistics; https://publichealthscotland.scot/media/11089/22-01-12-covid19-winter_publication_report.pdf
And here how the Scotland Herald (Scotalnds biggest serious nontabloid) summed it up : “DOUBLE-JABBED Scots are now more likely to be admitted to hospital with Covid than the unvaccinated amid an increase in elderly people falling ill due to waning immunity.” theraldscotland.com/news/19843315.covid-scotland-case-rates-lowest-unvaccinated-double-jabbed-elderly-drive-rise-hospital-admissions/
Yesterday Scotland announced that they are opening up, because Omicron is so “mild”. Honi soit qui mal y pense
American of Scottish descent here. From what I recall my mother saying about her one visit to Scotland, the sun seldom shines there. Which leads to my next question:
Is the Scottish NHS urging people to take Vitamin D supplements?
If you look at the report, on page 26, vax rates for over 60 are 100% except for vax 2, age group 70-74 where you have 99.7%. Soviet election mathematics! So much for hearty, independent Scots.
Re ACW and Black soldiers. There was the (in)famous Fort Wagner and 54th Massachusetts, but one less known engagement, which was maybe more important, was more than a month earlier at the battle of Milliken Bend, which persuaded many officers in North army that black soldiers would fight as well as white (and, in this battle, fought better – confederate officer reported that while the white troops were routed, the black ones fought on with “considerable obstinacy”).
Before the American Revolution, Vermont was unorganized territory claimed by New Hampshire and New York. It was an independent republic between 1777 and 1791. During that time before the USA was formed, many people in trouble with the law in New England escaped to Vermont to avoid prosecution. Among them were runaway Black slaves who escaped their masters in other areas of New England. Blacks were not persecuted in Vermont and there were a few hundred Black Vermonters when the ACW broke out. Some of them joined the Vermont Brigade and were mixed in with the white soldiers. The evidence for this was an old picture of a formation of Vermont soldiers that was published around the time when the movie “Glory” came out. The picture showed several soldiers who were obviously black mixed in with the white soldiers. So while great effort was made to incorporate Black soldiers into the union army, the Blacks were segregated. Meanwhile, completely under the radar, Vermont was fielding an integrated army. I’ve been looking all morning for that picture but haven’t found it yet. Thus, the point I’m making here is unsubstantiated and probably deserves deletion but if that happens I’m still looking for the picture and if I find it I’ll try again.
Have some faith in yer’ memory.
That’s cool, I didn’t know that, thanks!
RE: 5G goes live in the US and sparks international chaos: British Airways and Cathay Pacific become latest carriers scrambling to change transatlantic flights over safety fears around airports as AT&T and Verizon activate their networks at 90%
Nothing says American ingenuity than planes engineered by the accounting department at Boeing Corporate headquarters that can’t anticipate a 5G rollout that was announced over 5 years ago.
Much as I like thrashing Boeing, I’d not be putting this on their door.
Boeing uses specific parts, in this case radar altimeters etc. Which it doesn’t manufacture, and changing them (as in using different model) is pretty damn hard for new planes, never mind retrofitting into old ones.
There are existing radar alitmeters etc. with known parameters, including which part of spectrum they use. Then there’s 5G equipment, which again has some standards. Now, 5G has been rolled out outside of the US, with not much hassle. Hence it is _technically_ possible to operate 5G with airlines being ok with it.
So it doesn’t need the planes to be changed. Now, there’s a question how does US implemntation of 5G differs from the world’s one, so that it’s causing issues in the US. Or is just US’s FAA more stringent than the rest of the world aviation regulators? (used to be, used to be..).
You need to see the YouTube video in the Godzilla v. Mothra section above.. Saying the US 5G is the same as foreign 5G is not true. The video goes through how France was the only country to actually do tests (!!!) and its 5G implementation even pretesting was safer than in the US (has technical details and charts).
I’m not saying the US 5G is the same – in fact, I know it’s not, since it uses different spectra. My point was that it’s pretty damn hard to place any fault at Boeing’s doors for this..
Agreed there.
Why should Boeing and the airlines change? They were here first. It was up to the telecoms to make sure their tech was safe and like big pharma they figured they would just bully their way through.
Can someone explain to me why I need 5G service?
It’s NEW and IMPROVED! Stream TWO MOVIES at one TIME! And it’s so CONVENIENT!
Let us give thanks to the Invisible Hand whose marvelous and mysterious ways always provide us with exactly what we need.
And it is the prequel to the Internet of Things so that all of your toasters, toilets, and other possessions will be SMART! Except that they will not be your possessions because VISIONARY TECH COMPANIES will own the software and make it redundant quickly so that you can buy an EVEN MORE NEW AND IMPROVED product!!
You don’t. But the subscriber data rate can be really high, so 5G modems can compete with cable/fibre/satellite… but basestations have a relatively short range, so it may not give you service out in the sticks.
I work on broadband and wireless policy issues. 5G service is mostly run using 4G antennas. In fact, your phone needs to communicate with a 4G antenna first to tell the system you want access to a 5G antenna before that antenna activates. 4G already offers internet browsing, email, calls, texting, video streaming, location services and practically anything any consumer requires. The 4G infrastructure will be with us for many, many years to come. Does it sound to you like you need 5G? Or do the companies simply need you to buy a 5G phone?
According to the ceo of verizon on cnbc this morning, you can’t buy fake clothing and fake real estate for your fake persona in the “metaverse” without it.
So your refrigerator and doorbell can talk to your masters.
I keep losing my clothes hangers. Will 5G help me find them?
Because they need to gather data and spy on you more effectively?
It’s like Musk’s Starlink satellites – so that people can update their profile quicker on social media. Meanwhile, about 20% of astronomical photographs taken of the nigh sky now feature a streak across them courtesy of the current number of Starlink satellites in service. Musk says ‘You’re welcome.’
It’s relatively cheap to get something into orbit now, less than 50k for a small satellite. One wonders whether you could not get into the orbit a lots of this cheap things and start using them to shoot down Starlink by “accidental” collisions.
I read today that he just got his 2,000th Starlink into orbit but rumour has it that he wants to put so many into orbit that they will effectively crowd out any future opposition.
That makes it much easier to shoot down “by accident”. I’d not be surprised if Russia and China started doing it, Chinese especially seem to be irritated by his behaviour.
The cell companies are saying that you can download (not stream) movies faster; I don’t know anyone who downloads movies anymore. Kids don’t even download music; they just stream it thru Apple Music or other.
I think they’re push the 5G junk because they can show more ads and make xxtra money from them in addition to snooping and scooping up your data faster.
5G is an alternative to fiber. We can install towers every 1000LF in a city and connect wirelessly to customers. Or we can rerun additional millions of miles of fiber to support this stupid “internet of things.” One on the surface is obviously easier then the other.
I suspect the FedEx Asks FAA to Let It Install Anti-Missile Lasers on Planes story reflects the threat of 5G to airplanes and the desire of FedEx executives to ensure the safety of their planes. You know, “the mail must go through”, even if they leave a lot of smoking 5G cell towers in the wake.
To the uninformed, that could have been by the Onion or the Babylon Bee. Nothing will deter us from delivering, er losing, your packages once those packages are on the ground, not even a heat seeking missile!
We have updated our tracking site, to identify packages being shipped overnight by plane. An image or GIF of the fictional Dr Evil will be attached to those planes equipped with the aforementioned technology. \sarc
I hope Amazon gets anti-missile hardware too. Can you imagine the dog-fights these two could get into? The winner gets to pick clean the postal service for anything left of value.
I’d prefer an anti-amazon missile.
FedEx flies in the Middle East (among other locations) and probably wants to avoid the excitement DHL went through when one of their airplanes had to do an emergency landing after being hit by a MANPAD.
Buttigieg’s brilliance working for you!
DoT lowers min. age requirement for truckers from 21 to 18.
(within 300 miles of home trucking, yes….on-the-road? No way. The industry regulation is lax as-is, truckers are given impossible deadlines as-is, too much temptation to drive without sleep)
This is going to get a family killed and ruin the life of a otherwise decent, hardworking, 18 y.o.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10416127/Feds-allow-TEENAGERS-drive-big-rigs-state-state-apprenticeship-test-program.html
Yes, but 99.999% of families will survive, and the economy must feed.
Hey. Let’s not pick on Mayo Pete. He turned being a chauffeur in Iraq into becoming Secretary of Transportation. And a SoT with a trillion-dollar slush fund.
Quitting the presidential race is the best thing that ever happened to him.
To be fair, he* was a driver in Kabul-adjacent
* ‘in action’ figure Pete! collect em’ all.
I want to see him as a Uber driver. Great credentials he has for that job. Kamala can take turns with him.
Buttigieg Jugend won’t be able to drive a big rig and attend to a smartphone at the same time, but that won’t stop them from trying.
My 17 year old nephew shows no signs of wanting to get his driver’s license, he failed the written test about a year ago there’s no inclination to do anything, mom will drive him on his appointed rounds. I don’t think he’s ever actually driven a car*
He isn’t the only young near adult not really interested in freedom as we knew it, their smartphones filling in for 4 wheels fulfilling our need to essentially socialize, by going to the mall, a concert, sporting event, or what have you.
* I’m 14, and for some reason I have the house to myself and more importantly access to the 1972 manual transmission Chevy Vega, which I have no idea how to use, but figure i’ll learn as I go, and it takes me 10 minutes to figure out how to put it in reverse, and off to the races I went, a definite step up from Autopia in Disneyland!
I drove and stalled and drove and stalled for about 10 miles in first gear, not cognizant of other gears-somehow making it home and back on the driveway as if nothing had occurred. The poor thing.
That’s OK. Once the 18 year olds have maxxed out their credit cards, entered into a mortgage, and started a family, they’ll be replaced by autonomous self-driving trucks.
I suppose shortly after Vietnam, the US stopped drafting to send teenagers and young men overseas to die in the military campaigns. I presume in our modern era, once reaching that magical age of 18 that the selective service registration requirement is still applicable.
If those running such a driving while learning program treat them as apprenticeships, then this is not nearly as horrid an idea. Shorter distances would cover the range between south Charlotte to Atlanta, approximately. I presume that modern rigs today are equipped to the nines with surveillance tech, and that does not include the speed governor and improved braking capabilities.
By the bye, when the weather hits and is nasty there is little help in being a seasoned driver. Just search for Fort Worth crash winter storm February 2021.
Tesla Autopilot installed on all big rigs will solve the sleep deprivation problem.
– The “highly skilled” are the enemies of your existence White Hot Harlots (Anthony L).
Delicious quote:
“They are morons. It’s incredibly difficult–borderline impossible–to become a Highly Skilled American unless you yourself are a moron or you are at least willing to pretend to be a moron and never question the authority of the morons around you.”
While it may not be an epic rant, thankfully it is a short and succinct piece to read, it manages to hit a wide array of targets. There was a similar rant a few weeks back, likening how accountants would be a total fail at a McDonald’s, a Starbucks, or a Dunkin. My joke then, and again today, is that the customer orders can’t be uploaded in Excel or a flat csv file.
As an aside, now I can’t help wonder, after all those years having left Egypt, did Moses catch a lot of flack? Like, where is this wise leader taking us – to our promised land, or to just die here in the desert! Granted, not having GPS in the BC-era would be an issue.
Yeah, and the McDonalds worker would be a total fail if he had to do accounting. That doesn’t mean that either the McDonalds worker or the accountant is unnecessary or a moron. The fact that we dismiss one or the other as unnecessary or a moron is the problem.
I was thinking about this as I read about the dog walker too. Now that guy is skilled. We just got a dog and one month in, a calm uneventful walk is rare. I can’t imagine juggling two dogs, never mind 6. I can‘t think of a manager or expert with whom I ever who could do what the dog walker does, or work in any restaurant, cafe or fast food job on the front line.
No shade on the dog walker but as long as they’re all normal, dogs love a pack. You have a little bit of an edge sometimes with a group. Also, walk fast! The average person walks too slow for the average dog.
Saw a pussycat on a leash when I least expected it, the cat walker clued me in and related you had to start them as young kittens that way…
p.s.
I’ve attempted to administer Covid tests to our hair’m here, but as if I can swirl a long Q tip in their tiny nostrils to la catza nostra
Hiking in the mountains this summer we crossed paths with a group of young people who had a cat on a leash and it seemed quite content. In her younger days my wife took her leash-trained cat on a road trip to Mexico.
I would try the Q-tip in the cat’s mouth.
That would be like giving a cat a pill that-
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC372253/
Walkin’ my cat named dog.
Aren’t all our dogs above average here in the exceptional center?
I like how the article cites the experience of re-wiring a house. As in, it’s something that these morons couldn’t possibly do.
I agree. I’ve been part of teams that did house re-wiring, and let me tell you, it’s not easy.
I had to listen to what the team lead said with both of my ears and all of my brain. Every instruction she gave had to be followed to the letter.
OTOH, when I wired my first outlet, I was so proud of my work, I took a picture of it.
It’s the new aristocracy.. filled with class markers, hobbies, and speech. They don’t do anything but want to pass down their class advantage to their children.
I have found that the more expensive the car (as a token forhigher income), the worse the driver.
And I’d give that old “Red,” Malvina Reynolds, some credit for seeing this class forming back in 1962:
And the people in the houses all go to the university,
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same.
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers
And business executives,
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry.
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school.
And the children go to summer camp,
And then to the university.
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same.
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family.
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same.
Malvina Reynolds, “Little Boxes” (1962) (audio)
I really like it.
Thank you for the link.
When I was a kid my family doctor lived next door, didn’t golf or drink martinis, and told me that capitalists and commissars were the same thing — slave masters.
Always fun to generalize about people you haven’t actually met…
I didn’t know you were from Daly City, CA. A Daly City neighborhood is ( here comes wiki) Westlake, notable for its distinct architecture and for being among the earliest examples of a planned, large-tract suburb. It was the inspiration for Malvina Reynolds’ 1962 song “Little Boxes.”
“If you’ve got one shred of compassion for all those families who sacrificed so much, who lost so much, you’ll go”
That is a pretty devastating video that. To be honest though, I was hoping that they would also include the story of how Boris and his mates were also having a late night booze-up the night before Prince Phillip was buried. Stuff like that you could not possibly make up as nobody would believe that they would have the gall to do something so crass.
Ha, Starmer asked exactly that during PMQ in the House of Commons today. The speaker butted in and said they were not allowed to discuss anything to do with the royal family! Johnson then tried to force Starmer to withdraw the question.
What a mindboggling ‘democracy’, headed by a family that is above even being mentioned in parliament – except of course when toadying up and saying how wonderful hard working, brilliant, blah blah blah they are and fully deserving of a new £200 million yacht, hundreds of millions to renovate palaces etc., etc. Democracy in action.
World’s largest skillet. Contrary to wide held belief and informed opinion, US can still manufacture a few household items! I’m referring specifically to the museum that will house this gargantuan skillet. I suppose if bowling gets a big museum, well why not!
I’m a little surprised the “Big Skillet” is not headed to Dallas / Ft Worth, to be owned each year by the winner of the annual college football game betwixt TCU and SMU. Checks source – they actually do exchange an iron skillet!
Here is some of the cookware made in USA:
All-Clad and American Kitchen (stainless steel) Lodge (cast iron)
WHO IS REGAL WARE?
We produce premium quality cookware that is sold in over 60 countries across the globe, made right here in West Bend, WI, USA!
Yes! I’d forgotten that name. According to their website now they include 4 companies – cookware (incl. Amer. Kitchen) and saladware (made in US) and some coffee/tea gadgetry (not US)
Thanks, this is great info to have. Just for fun and grins, I checked some random food items that are coincidentally lunch today.
Single package of ramen, made in USA. Based in Irvine, CA. Maruchan brand.
Banana, grown in Ecuador. Chiquita
Bread, made by Arnold. Bimbo Bakeries (doesn’t source where made, baked)
nordic ware, got a awesome fry pan.
If you keep scrolling down the IVM tweet, there seem to be reservations from other commenters, like “The study contained multiple methodological flaws that call the reliability of its conclusions into question.” Just sayin’
If the objections amount to it being not an RCT (I have not looked at the details), that is spurious. Lots of medical and real world advances were tested using non-RCT approaches. The fetishization of RCTs is becoming a big negative for medical practice. This is a huge pet peeve of both IM Doc and KLG.
Parachute use to prevent death and major trauma related to gravitational challenge: systematic review of randomised controlled trials | The BMJ
https://www.bmj.com/content/327/7429/1459.full
Yes this study being referenced has quite the problems.
Everyone must understand the profound dilemma those of us trying to help patients are in. Especially now that vaccine failure to alleviate illness is obvious for all to see and we are deluged with all kinds of sickness with no treatment alternatives for our patients.
There are definite positive signals in multiple studies that are much better done. There are multiple positive signals in bench research and virology studies. And there is myself who has quite the experience using this med and not in a tele doc way. My own patients in front of me. I have a thirty year bullshit detector in my brain at all times. COVID seems to go much better in those who take it. And I am not alone by a long shot in that observation.
And yet, here we are two years into this and our govt has failed to do any kind of meaningful investigation. Instead, without any evidence why, by complete fiat, have deemed this drug worthless and harmful and gone about in every way to torpedo it. This has NEVER been done, not one time in my thirty years of medicine.
It makes no sense. And those of us sick and tired of big pharma behavior, have this sick feeling that more is going on than meets the eye.
It is things like this that make it very understandable why there is so much disinformation and conspiracy theories. The people at the top have ZERO understanding of basic human behavior.
Aiee, it’s distressing that the IVM fans keep flogging not great evidence and present it as solid.
There are lots of reasons why studies would have less than impressive results, the biggest being that a lot did (presumably due to lack of funding) the equivalent of drunk under the streetlight: testing a population they could readily get at, which is people hospitalized with Covid. That’s well into disease progress and the subset of the worst cases. Monclonal antibodies fail when administered then too.
With earlier administration, you have dosing (many of the studies appear to have a basic fail of not adjusting for bodyweight) and administering on the late side due to the time needed to be pretty sure someone has Covid (lag times for processing PCR tests)
Serious question: What IS an appropriate dose or protocol for taking the drug either prophylactically or early in the course of the illness?
I’m a pretty decent web searcher and don’t confine myself to Google and its offspring. A few weeks ago I made a serious, time-consuming effort to find an answer to this question and was utterly stymied. It took real effort just to determine what the usual one-time dose based on body weight was for river blindness, let alone COVID. Some studies also seemed to imply that such a dose had no effect on COVID, and what was required instead was a megadose—which then, absent any specific guidance, gets you into the hazardous territory that drew all the “horse paste” cheap shots.
I’d like to be equipped and prepared just as any rational person would in a virus tsunami. But if this level of search leaves people like me with no reliable way to proceed or even a reliable place to look for directions, then this drug has been effectively shelved even if hospitals and pharmacists en masse weren’t blackballing it.
Yves, IM Doc, GM and all of you at NC, thank you again for all you do to provide actual information.
I doubt they will give medical advise.
Maybe try the FLCCC website and look at their protocols?
The FLCCC website lists the treatment protocols they use.
from IMDOC above: “There are definite positive signals in multiple studies that are much better done. There are multiple positive signals in bench research and virology studies. And there is myself who has quite the experience using this med and not in a tele doc way. My own patients in front of me. I have a thirty year bullshit detector in my brain at all times. COVID seems to go much better in those who take it. And I am not alone by a long shot in that observation.”
Link to FLCCC recommendations here. This is not hard to find using a real search engine such as SwissCows or DDG.
I think that link to FLCCC died. They seem to have changed their links a few time. This should be the right one for their recommendations. It will not automatically download a pdf, but it will give a page with different languages to choose for the pdf.
Thanks very much, all of you.
IVM “fans”
“flogging?
really?
We “fans” looking for ways to mitigate covid (knowing full well that “vaccination” alone was never going to work) can only respond to the information that is published, unlike the unpublished “trial” results which now we know Pfizer lied about.
PFans?
PFlogging?
PFauci?
When the “not great evidence” continuously shows it to be useful by seriously credentialed doctors around the world administering it to their patients (see IM Doc and thousands of other professionals) while derided by Big Pharma (and others who should know better) pushing a vaccine that doesn’t work anywhere near as well (if at all) as their seriously compromised trials suggest, who you gonna believe?
Thank you.
My dad used to wag, “The P is silent, as in swimming”.
Took me 45 years to finally admit I didn’t gtet it, and ask him to splain it.
Dad jokes!
This site’s overarching mission is to promote critical thinking. The fact that it offends your attachment to a pet treatment is YOUR issue, not mine. And I say that as someone who managed to get my GP to prescribe ivermectin before it became off limits.
If you are pushing a methodological flawed study as proving something, you are indeed flogging. This sort of thing confirms my previous bias never to link to Kory. He loses credibility with overhyping a crappy study.
This is no different than the 9/11 truthers taking some potentially very serious evidence and a lot of garbage, putting it in big pile, and doing the rhetorical equivalent of “There’s a lot of shit here. There must be a pony!”
And look how well that rhetorical/evidentiary approach worked for them.
What are your thoughts on the TOGETHER study? It was apparently a high-quality RCT that gave a thumbs up to fluvoxamine but found IVM ineffective. Fluvoxamine is now approved in Canada under an EUA. Seems to counter the claim that Big Pharma seeks to quash cheap and available drugs.
Yes, fluvoxamine here in Ontario is like maybe 50 cents for a 100mg tablet. So maybe $30-50 for a course of treatment if you have no insurance (not at work can’t calculate it precisely). That’s not nothing if you’re broke but it isn’t making any of the big players any money.
Nevermind that I’ve been unable to find generic ivermectin to order on my wholesale sites (and its unclear to me if it was ever even on the Canadian retail market. Hospitals have other supply chains). My only option being brand name Stromectol which is much more expensive, and backordered..
Watching with interest. (My current position being that I’m skeptical of IVM but I’m also rooting for it)
Missed the edit period. The arms-length Science Table advisory group has this fun little explainer on fluvoxamine. I’ve appreciated most of the info they’ve put out but theyve done some things which are clearly not politically independent.
https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/sciencebrief/fluvoxamine-what-prescribers-and-pharmacists-need-to-know/
Not sure if this will be useful to anybody but it can’t be worse than some other links..
Thanks for this, good to know to stop sertraline if taking fluvoxamine.
Would be nice if we could get it here. An Ontario MD in Mr HotFlash’s circle reports that he got an email from the Cdn Medical Association last summer (July, I think) warning him that if any Cdn physician prescribed IVM s/he would receive a severe reprimand. It gives one furiously to think. Are they primarily trying to kill us, or are we just collateral damage?
The doctors here in Oz were also told to back off administering IVM for Coronavirus as well, or else. Cannot prove it of course but I would suspect that this would have been part of the contract we signed to get the big name vaccines.
Here in Ontario the easy way to get ivermectin on Rx is to get Rosivir cream [1% ivermectin w/w]. Or in USA! USA! get an Rx for Soolantra [same stuff]. You can put this on toast with jam and eat it if you like, although I very much doubt it will help you [can’t safely get a high enough blood level to affect Covid].
What Rosivir IS good for is to put it deeply in your nose twice a day, 2/3 the length of a Q-tip. Can get very high local levels that way, far beyond the MIC for Covid, and knock out any Covid that might be lurking or reproducing in that area [Covid starts usually in the nasopharynx]. My wife and I have been doing that for ~18 months, no problems. We also spray a bit of 0.5% povidone iodine solution [eg Betadine oral spray] in our mouths twice a day to knock back any Covid that might be about.
Cheap, safe, probably effective.
I think saying TOGETHER found IVM ineffective is a little simplistic. As I recall, the results showed IVM patients performed better than the control group but not by a statistically significant margin at the 95% probability level.
IIRC advocates of IVM criticised the TOGETHER trial’s methodology because it used what they considered the wrong dose and maybe also the timing was too late?
Apparently we can talk about IVM now? From research I’ve done there are 73 RCT’s that show IVM works well against COVID. “Over 7,000 people have been treated with the Fareed-Tyson early treatment protocol. If the treatment is started immediately after the first symptoms, nobody was hospitalized or died. The protocol was first available in March 2020. They tried to interest the NIH and mainstream media in the protocol, but the NIH ignored all their requests. Details in their book which will be available January 24, 2022.” – Steve Kirsch Incriminating Evidence
Doc, it’s not about sense, it’s about Dollars.
$30,000,000,000.00 plus in first year profits for Pfizer.
That buys a lot of “Friends”.
mrna tech is the self driving car of the pharma industry…doesn’t work and we don’t need it, but it makes tons of money and we’re getting it whether we like it or not.
At least they didn’t roll out self-driving cars on every street in the country at the same time on an “emergency” basis without adequate testing, and then insist they work perfectly despite massive evidence to the contrary, while threatening to throw anyone who wasn’t buying the hype into social or even actual jail.
Misinformation/lies about a family of viruses that are highly contagious and fatal are unethical, immoral, and criminal. I have been frustrated since late 2019 trying to find reliable information. It’s insane.
These two sites are constantly updated and focus on Ivermectin (the ivmeta) studies and all other therapies (the 19early).
It’s handy to bookmark these.
https://c19early.com/
And …. https://ivmmeta.com/
I just love how Remdesivir is so “touted” after 1 (yes one) study that showed it’s effectiveness at ~ 30%. It was withdrawn a few years ago in a study of it relative to Denge fever because people were dying. Fauci was involved.
In case the tweets didn’t include this, here is a link to an article describing some weaknesses in the Brazilian trial:
https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/ivermectin-study-itajai-contains-methodological-weaknesses-questionable-conclusions/
There have been at least two Ivermectin proselytizers in recent memory that have died of Covid. Maybe the drug has some benefit, but the “miracle cure” framing is just not believable. Of course the framing is required if you want to make the argument that there is a treatment protocol in the current environment that will give unvaccinated adults similar mortality outcomes as the vaccinated.
And some clinicians who were/are supportive of Ivermectin research are moving on to other repurposed drugs for outpatient treatment, presumably seeing similar or better outcomes than they saw on Ivermectin alone.
My understanding of IVM is that it lessened the negative effects, was not a cure.
And that it is not a preventative or prophyllactic, like xylitol or oregano or iodine nasal concoctions, that purportedly foil acquisition.
IVM was supposedly like the mRNA shots are doing: lessening need for hospitalizations, so keeping more room available for seriously ill patients suffering from any issue, not solely covid.
?
Except one of the top complaints you see from anti-vaxx families on Facebook when one of their own goes to the hospital is “The hospital staff are not prescribing Ivermectin”, if the claim was that it merely reduced hospitalization risk you would not see that.
Well, you’re incorrect. Please glance at this compendium of Ivm studies. It doesn’t take much work to see, that after 75 studies, and counting, Ivermectin is pretty effective.
Look here: https://ivmmeta.com/
PS, Japan uses Ivm. How are their numbers compared to the USA which goes out of its way to downplay and limit Ivermectin?
You could also say the numbers are better in any country with higher vaccination rates than the US or that took public health measures like masking seriously early on. Israel for instance. This is not proof.
by better i take it you mean worse. Israel leads the world in cases.
I’m talking about mortality. The death rate differences between Israel and US is larger than the difference (.43 per 100k) between Japan and Israel (.08 per 100k).
Prove it, using more than a 5 month old press release from the ‘Tokyo Medical Association’, and supply data as to its prevalence.
Moreover, Japan has been uncontroversially advocating ‘The Three C’s’ since 2020.
So statements like:
as though comparing the epidemiology of the USA and Japan is dispositive of anything re: Ivermectin, are just unserious crap.
It is worth pointing out that since about September, commenters have been occasionally popping up here claiming that C19 cases in both Uttar Pradesh and Japan were near zero, and attributing this to Ivermectin with the scantiest evidence imaginable. Cases in both regions are now spiking (though the surges may ultimately prove to be smaller than in, say, the anglosphere, for any number of possible reasons)
Ultimately, I find it hard to go past GM’s summary statement the other day (while being fully open to the idea that IVM can have a tendency to improved C19 outcomes relative to nothing/placebo, and agreeing that demonising it is foolish)
and note that, intellectually, it seems to me that vaccine monomaniacals (“this isn’t 2020!!”) and ivermectin monomaniacals (“Uttar Pradesh!!”) seem to me to be two peas in a fairly useless pod.
You’re assuming people requesting ivr in the hospital were taking it at home before they got so sick they needed to go to hospital. However, ivr is becoming extremely difficult to source from docs willing to write scrips and pharmacies willing to fill ivr scrips for C19 in the US. So, I think your assumption is reaching.
The one fatality I linked was a doctor who was prescribing Ivermectin to his patients. Hard to believe he had that issue.
Before the demonization campaign of Ivermectin began, I remember early researchers like Dr. Andrew Hill claiming it could be used in conjunction with the vaccines. The ‘miracle cure’ framing was trolling and didn’t help the cause.
The Guardian article on the planned new capital of Indonesian capital no where explicitly mentions it will be on the island of Borneo, though it does say the present capital Jakarta is on Java. Journalistic oversight?
Why is that relevant? Indonesia is made up of very many islands – Java being by far the most densely populated so far as I know.
I am betting most Western readers aren’t really interested in Indonesia. Heck some tourists don’t even know that Bali is in Indonesia :)
Inquiring minds however will wonder … why Borneo? Why not Sumatra or Sulawesi. Those are big islands too. Placing the new capital in Sumatra will allow Indonesia to steal some business from Singapore/Malaysia. A capital in Eastern Indonesia will encourage local transmigration to the eastern archipelago, something that’s sorely needed.
I wonder if there’s some input from the Chinese in this matter. Chinese companies have been pouring money into all sorts of projects in Borneo, and earlier this year both countries signed an agreement worth 1.38 Billion dollars that will bring more than 150 Chinese companies to Western Borneo.
Should have said, “early last year”. Forgot it’s already 2022
> Bitter Fruit: Marshall McLuhan and the Rise of Fake News
Well, that’s certainly a different take than John Robb, who takes this McLuhan quote as a starting point:
> World War 3 is a guerrilla information war with no division between military and civilian participation.
Would you like to know more? Try
https://www.patreon.com/posts/july-gg-report-20442728
Or ->
“Today’s press (er, CIA) agent regards the newspaper as a ventriloquist does his dummy.”
Squirrel!
“Biden’s Opportunity for Peace in Eurasia”
Lots of grand proposals in his article but I think that Russia would settle for an obvious solution. No US nuclear missiles to be established in Europe and yes, that would include the 150 nuclear weapons that the US ‘shares’ with other countries. Having Washington tell people that those missile systems are there to defend Europe from missiles from Iran and North Korea is just too stupid for anybody to believe. In a sane world, Mutually Assured Destruction is a pragmatic choice as nobody is stupid enough to try for a first strike.
I am guessing here, but I think that when Russia sees that the US is going to drop $1 trillion or two on upgrading their nuclear weapons, the constant stationing and maneuvers of military troops on Russia’s borders and the never ending practice of pushing ships and planes at their borders as well, that they may be thinking to themselves that it is only a matter of time before the American political system barfs up a President as crazy as a Mike Pompeo who might decide that maybe a first strike just might work (Won’t know until we try!). And when you see the Clown Cars of Presidential candidates every four years, who am I to disagree?
Not completely off topic, but started into the piece about Trump vs. Desantis from TNR. Four paragraphs…just the four and you get the initial Hitler reference(!) Shocking, I know.
This piece from TNR just ties neatly with your last few sentences, particularly the Clown Car reference. Interesting, they posit that DeSantis may be able to position himself a bit farther on the crazy spectrum of things than Trump. I defer to Florida residents to weigh in, given that a few have frequent thoughts from the Sunshine state. And yes – continuing one finds a second Hitler reference.
I hold forth that clowns deserve better. What would the Simpsons be without Krusty!?!
You may be thinking of tactical nuclear weapons (mostly air-launched) which have remained in Europe for use in some hypothetical ground conflict in the future. There was a plan to station ABM systems in Europe to provide mid-course defence against possible Iranian attack against the US, but this was abandoned a decade ago. There are some capabilities (eg SM3 missiles deployed on US Navy ships) that could theoretically defend Europe against attacks by Iran and North Korea. Missiles stationed in Europe cannot, for technical reasons, defend against attacks from Russia, as the Russians (who have the world’s only fully deployed ABM system) obviously know.
The US has missile launcher systems in Europe that are used for launching conventional missiles. The problem for the Russians is that it would take very little to swap in nuclear-tipped missiles into those launch systems which would turn it into a completely different animal. Same with those Arleigh Burke-class destroyers that the US sends into the Black Sea as you cannot tell if they are conventional missiles being launched from them or not – until they hit. In August 2019, Washington withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces so the Russians can guess why. I call this the ‘Dirty Harry Quandary’. So with more and more of these systems in place which can be flipped from conventional to nuclear, the US can tell Russia, ‘Do you feel lucky, punk?’
The Responsible State craft article stops short of going into the underlying social conflicts that the French intervention tries to bomb away. In the most recent New Left Review Rahmane Idrissa covers that ground very well:
https://newleftreview.org/issues/ii132/articles/rahmane-idrissa-the-sahel-a-cognitive-mapping
I read that article when it came out, and I thought it was a good example of someone who’s clearly an expert drowning in his own detail and complexities and unable to see what the issue is. Anyone with even a passing interest in the region was well aware of the conflicts there, especially in the North, which was pretty much ungoverned territory. They were also aware that the regimes in the area deliberately kept their armies small and weak, because they were afraid of them. This state of affairs sort of lasted until the arrival of the Islamic State, which brought a dedication, organisation and unity, which was not that impressive in itself, but which was sufficient to blow away the hopeless Malian Army. There was nothing then preventing them taking Bamako, which would have led to blood-letting on a scale that even professional anti-neocolonialists might have found unappealing. The French were placed under enormous pressure by the governments of the region, and also by representatives of the hundreds of thousands of people of Malian descent living in France. The original intervention achieved its purpose, but the absence of any effective African security forces on the ground meant that the IS would simply come back again later. So the strategy has been to build up local forces capable of defeating them, but this has not happened, mostly because local leaders would rather shelter behind the French, than turn their armies into potentially powerful actors once the French go. There have been too many coups in that region already. The French have pretty much had it by now, and they are scaling the operations right down, but they are also aware that if anything terrible happens after they leave, the same people who are accusing them of neo-imperialism now, will be accusing them of standing aside and not preventing a bloodbath.
Both of these articles are trying to shoehorn a highly complex and messy situation into a straightforward post-colonial narrative (although Idrissa at least seems to recognise it’s a bit more than that). It’s understandable that politicians and intellectuals of the region, confronted by the corrupt, violent shambles of their own state-building efforts, should feel resentful and humiliated that they had to twist the arm of a former imperial power to come and save them. But that’s how it is. And in any event, this is not a struggle between the IS and Malian government: the latter is irrelevant. The IS isn’t interested in regional autonomy, power-sharing, economic grievances etc: it’s trying to establish a Province of the Islamic State in the region, and anyone getting in the way will be annihilated.
In the meantime, decapitation is probably the best strategy. We know from Syria/Iraq that IS morale is often flaky, and depends very much on charismatic leaders to recruit and rally the troops. Getting rid of such leaders has had an impact else where, in organisations like this that rely on recruiting lots of foreign volunteers.
The reason articles like this are so confused is that the situation itself is unprecedented, and can’t really be forced into the standard neocolonialist framework. But when all you have is an anti-neo-colonialist hammer, everything perforce has to be seen as a neo-colonialist nail.
The French intervention in Mali happened before Islamic State began seizing territory. Nor is there any incentive for a client-state to develop an efficient and strong military beyond fears of a coup. There isn’t any economic incentive to expend the necessary resources on an efficient military if a foreign power will guarantee your survival and will intervene to protect it. Which is to say nothing of the fact that there aren’t any incentives to fight as it might weaken the case for your overlord’s intervention if you’re fighting like your survival depends on it. (Eg. Afghanistan)
That said, I viewed the French intervention in Mali as a good thing. We’re living at the end state of Western imperialism in Africa and the states which were created were deliberately made weak. Compared to the states which existed prior to European colonialism anyhow. They need time to develop their own institutions and dispose of their predatory ruling classes. If that means a foreign intervention to destroy the most barbaric threats which threaten their existence I can justify it on an anti-imperialist basis. By disengaging politically while we’re engaged militarily. It’s the only way these client-states will develop the self-reliance they’ll need in the future. Otherwise, they’ll be conquered by a warlord and I don’t think it matters whether they’re Islamist or not.
That logic only applies to countries and regions where the scars of Western imperialism run deep. It isn’t a case for war over an issue like Ukraine or Taiwan. Ukraine is a wannabe client-state that has refused to develop their own independence. Nor have they used their resources to improve the conditions of it’s post-Soviet population. The current status of Taiwan, whatever people view that as, is the result of an unresolved civil war.
Re: free N95’s — Wouldn’t it make sense for masks from the U.S. strategic reserve to go to health care workers? I just had to spend several hours in an E.R. and its associated hospital over a 2-day period. None of the doctors or nurses or other employees were wearing N95’s. I mean, none. A lot of doctors have trouble even keeping a surgical mask over their noses. A young housekeeping employee wearing a surgical mask that covered his nose part of the time spent 90 minutes cleaning half of a semi-private room, hacking and coughing constantly, while the occupant of the other half of the room and his family member (me) — both high risk because of our ages — had no recourse but to stay there throughout.
I passed by as National Guard brought in to swell the depleted ranks of hospital workers lounged in a public waiting area that featured vending machines. Although the Guard were not eating or drinking, they were wearing their masks under their chins.
That was the argument from March of 2020. It’s been almost two years. Biden has been president for a year and even had a plan that didn’t require congress announced prior to coming into office, but he didn’t want to. We are discussing masks, not B-22’s.
They told us long ago in the pandemic that n95s were not necessary.
During the whole double and triple masking debacle, n95s were not discussed in any detail.
The aerosoloziatin debate has been over to those with brains for some time.
Why n95s and why now?
They need to appear to be doing something. This time they may have accidentally in their blundering stumbled upon something that may help.
And yes you are entirely correct about the hospital situation, not an n95 to be seen. The guard troops in our hospital are not wearing even the rudimentary equipment correctly and out of all of them only one is vaccinated. They are there to cover for the employees who left because of the humiliation measures placed on the unvaxxed.
Good Times. This whole thing is becoming an overwhelming joke.
It’s my understanding that masks don’t work against viruses. Even N95’s. Is this because virus particle too small to be filtered out? I imagine if virus is attached to water molecules those could be filtered out.
Wherever did you hear that?
Masks do work against viruses, especially the current virus. The problem has been the kind of masks that work best have not been made available. Also, the public hasn’t been told why they should care.
Particle size is one factor, but so is the mass of the particle and other factors. Like whether or not it is positively or negatively charged relative to the mask material. In most cases im aware of, the viral particles stick to medical and respirator grade masks based on electrostatic interactions. And the really small particles that could get through aren’t the ones you necessary care about because they’re too small to stick or even go that far. Think about the difference between throwing a softball versus throwing a ping pong ball.
NC has posted a lot of articles and research about this over the last two years. In none of them have I seen any evidence where you could conclude masks don’t work.
Airborne virus transmission occurs through tiny aerosolized particles of water and virus. These are trapped by physical layers in the mask, and finally by the electrostatic charge in the spun melt layer. I think your understanding is incorrect, N95s do help a lot.
IIIRC, you also informed us, in a former comment here, that the guards troops brought in to work in nursing home type facilities , which have many patients who need specialized care, such as being transported safely from beds, frequent specialized turning to prevent bed sores, other neccesary medical training had no clue as to how to do this properly. Outrageous. Besides the harm that can be done, there is also the fact that not all the elderly are senile or cognitively impaired. A patient may be embarrassed and angry that a trooper is “caring” for them. Then the troopers themselves. Wonder how they feel that they are ordered to care for people, with no idea how to do it safely or properly? Still recall colleagues at work, who had melt downs when their guard’s spouses were sent to Iraq, during the war. Uh, they were supposed to play soldier on weekends. Help out with natural disasters at home.
Bless you. Thank you.
We recently got to care for an aged (made it to 96!) friend in her last few weeks. The hospice nurses, who were incredible, showed us how to “turn” the person every hour or so to increase comfort. In 5 minutes the system can be learned. Two people is best, but one person can do it if you use leverage and are mildly strong – depending on the size/weight of the patient. Why the &T%#H@! can’t these “troops” be trained? Thank them for their service? Yes, if any of them have a heart below their strong chin, they should feel embarrassed they can’t help properly. Do your homework! Thank you newcatty, Carla and IM Doc.
I think this has far more to do with a belief masking doesn’t matter than a lack of masks.
Its only in more recent years I’ve appreciated the depths of Leonard Cohens lyrics. Among my very earliest memories are of lying in bed as a small child listening to my brother in the next room play his small collection of Cohen records on a scratchy record player while he studied. My next door neighbours son composed very odd Jazz tunes for a modern art dance centre, so the combination of both simultaneously coming through the thin walls of our house was…. well, interesting, and it certainly accounted I think for my very weird taste in music growing up.
I was fascinated by the art works and lyrics of his albums – I remember reading the lyric sheets from Songs of Love and Hate and finding them disturbing and strange. I was far too young (maybe 6 or 7 years old) to have any understanding of them. I just knew that they made me want to be an adult, just so I could have some sort of understanding. Nearly half a century later, I still have no clue, but I love listening to them.
I followed Leonard Cohen’s career pretty much from the start, and I still go back to the early records (especially Songs of Love and Hate) for the unearthly combinations of gnomic lyrics and haunting melodies. It always feels like watching a master craftsman at work: as though Schubert had written his own lyrics.
The key, I think, is that when Cohen was writing, he could still count on the existence of an educated public that would understand and appreciate the references to Judaeo–Christian culture (beyond simple religion) and to history and myth. I’m not sure we have that now, and I noticed that Cohen’s later lyrics tended to lose some of the sheer density and complexity of the early ones, almost as if he wasn’t sure any more that he’d be understood. Sometimes, though, the lyrics have quite banal references: both Marianne and Suzanne on the first album were real people, and Suzanne did live near the church of Our Lady of the Harbour in Montréal. Likewise, the “you” in Chelsea Hotel is generally accepted to be Janis Joplin.
The secret to understanding the lyrics, I’ve always thought, is that the logic that holds them together is not that of narrative or of real life but that of poetry itself, with its rhymes, its verbal echoes, its metaphors and its contrasts. “What on earth does that mean?” my father asked after I had sung a Leonard Cohen song to him. It doesn’t “mean” anything, of course, it just is, a small jewel-like verbal and musical construct.
So I was very pleased to hear that this book was out and I put it on my list to buy. I’m not sure now. This isn’t the first sceptical review of the book I’ve seen, and if it’s just about the (undisputed) Jewish mystical background to his lyrics, well I’m not sure it’s really worth the effort. Sylvie Simmons has written a very good Life of Cohen: when are we going to get an equally good book on the Works?
Yes, the combo of the lyrics & the music – An example that I love of 3 lines from The Night Comes On.
Now the crickets are singing
The vesper bells ringing
The cat’s curled asleep in his chair
Not that much in itself but with the music it really hits the spot for me. Light As a Breeze is apparently influenced by the Troubadour tradition, although it appears to me to be more about unrequited lust – I could go on & on & on, but I won’t.
” Gentle your soul “.
I am a little older than you. I had an older brother who had Songs of Love and Hate when I was 16. The impact on me, playing this album over and over and over again, has remained with me since. I am replaying Joan of Arc right now. At that age, I didn’t have much conception of ‘love’ and just a juvenile understanding of ‘hate’. But, 50 years later this is still my favourite album among his many future productions.
What I would like to emphasize is that his references to religion should not be a surprise who has ever heard his works. But, the reference to religion, religious “myths’, is not the work he is producing. The reference is for a new work. He was a poet. In our time. Where religion and myth have deep, ghostly, resonances with our affective lives – outside of our economic lives – re-contextualized in contemporary culture. The ‘stories’ resonate, still. If ambivalently. But they are for our ‘ambiguous’ time. (I understand that our culture is no longer literate in the ‘myths’ – including me. I decided to get an education after my so-called education to be able to understand background of our culture.)
I don’t feel – maybe wrongly – that Cohen let go of the ambiguity of religious / cultural tradition in its irrelevance to our present world. He was as critic and a sinner. Quoting his ‘Joan of Arc’, “I long for love and light, but must it come so cruel and oh so bright.” This, to my adolescent self and my self a half-century older, I miss him.
Between the problems of shared virus-laden air, EM interference with altimeters and now shippers calculating ROI on active anti-missile measures … me thinks I may not ever board an aircraft again.
I’m thinking the same thing.
Is it time for Arizona Slim to organize an NC-ers’ bicycle tour of Tucson?
Sign me up! Oh, I can’t cross the border. But I have a buddy in NM, I’ll find out if he’s game.
Okay, here goes. The NC-ers’ bicycle tour is ON!
And not to worry, people, this tour won’t take place on our mean streets.
Ride On!
Cool. Don’t ride anymore. Always was a casual rider. Lots of time when in college. We watched bicycle tours when we lived in towns in southern AZ. Fun. It might be nice to encourage spectators and cheerleaders in the plans.
So, looks like plans are underway for a rolling meetup. Please indulge me while I do some route research.
I’ve signed up for RAGBRAI this year, so I need to do some training.
Remember Biden’s announcement that student loan debt for the permanently disabled who are receiving SS disability would be automatically forgiven? Well, it didn’t happen and it’s not going to happen according to the PTB. Nada. Another empty promise from the thin cold lips of our Empathiser-in-Chief.
There was a sight increase in SS disability payments in January 2022 but it was followed by decreases in Food Stamps and rental assistance, resulting in a net loss of income for the disabled under Biden, especially with the rise in inflation. They really want the disabled to die and to die poor.
I have a friend whose student debt was forgiven under one of the previous administrations (Bush? Obama?) The catch was, the forgiven amount was treated as income and she owed a boatload of taxes as a result — impossible to pay on SSI. Family members passed the hat, otherwise she’d have continued to accumulate debt, this time to the IRS.
“Makes clear that the FCC has abjectly what France has done…”
Is there a verb missing there (after “abjectly”)?
aargh will fix.
Re Bill Clinton–one recalls how his people would go on about being “wonks.” When Aaron Sorkin did his TV version he made the president an ex college professor. Perhaps the definition of West Wing Brain would be thinking you have all the answers while being substantially clueless. And then as an alternative we have people like the Bushes or Trump–rich kids who, in the memorable words of Ann Richards, were “born on third base and thought they hit a triple.”
It was polio that made FDR a great president despite the silver spoon. How to find another like him?
I see lots and lots and lots of references to the West Wing, but Sorkin also conjured up trash like the short-lived “The Newsroom” on HBO:
https://twitter.com/devtesla/status/1132101053929984000?s=20
Clearly Sorkin has form.
The Social Network, The American President. He fancies himself some kind of great social commentator but it’s the H’wood version.
Where are Ann Richards and Molly Ivans when we need them!
“In Texas, we do not hold high expectations for the [governor’s] office; it’s mostly been occupied by crooks, dorks and the comatose.”
Molly Ivins would have had SO much fun with the Trump administration. Biden’s too.
Can imagine Molly, Ann and George Carlins, sitting around, looking at the country and both saddened and outraged at the empire’s downfall. Molly might crack that, Well, we left before the final finale of the country’s story. Yep, “All the world’s a stage”. We were court jesters. Does Ann know any angels to ask for help?
lesley stall of 60 minutes would constantly gush over nafta billy clinton, and his awesome understandings of all things in the universe.
“Footage confirms that Britain today ferried a vast number of guided missiles to Ukraine – 5 cargo plane loads worth of NLAW ATGM’s”
I suppose that the purpose of them is to protect the two navy bases that the British are building for the Ukrainians on the Black Sea. Maybe those newly arrived Canadian special forces can teach them how to use them properly. I use to read about the war hysteria in countries like the UK back in 1939 and wondered what it was like for the average person trying to cope. But the past few weeks, I am getting a pretty good idea going by the constant hysteria in the media about how Russia is about to invade the Ukraine. And it is every night on TV. Not only is the US threatening severe consequences if Russia invades the Ukraine but Germany is now getting in on the act and doing the same. You see constant videos of Russian tanks, Russian soldiers doing soldier stuff with the understanding that they are sitting right on the border instead of one or two hundred klicks away. I really don’t see why the concerted propaganda campaign. Unless it is a way for the US to ignore Russian security demands and putting the blame on them. Or maybe a way to launch more provocations against Russia and making it look like it is their fault. In any case, to protect the Donbass Republics from a third Ukrainian invasion, Russia would probably just use their stand-off weapons to unravel the Ukrainian forces and let the Donbass forces deal with the rest. Frankly, this whole constant propaganda campaign is really starting to get boring because the whole thing is so stupid.
The MSM coverage of the Ukraine “crisis” is indeed becoming unreadable; glancing at CNN/BBC et al, one would think that Russian armored units are already probing the suburbs of Kiev. Meanwhile, I see scant mention of Poroshenko’s recent return to Kiev (and today’s court appearance) to face charges of treason. So either Poroshenko is a crook (wait, wait, he addressed the USA congress in 2014 and was heralded as a westernizing democrat, I thought he wore a White Hat…..) or his replacement Zelensky (who is now being similarly lauded by the west) is a crook. Or am I missing something? Are there any journalists left out there with attention spans longer than lab retrievers? WHOA, OVER THERE, SQUIRREL, SQUIRREL!
I’ve read that when Britain declared war on Germany in 1939, people in Britain screamed and cursed and crowds in Germany stood silent. The only people who were enthusiastic about going to war were those who hadn’t been through the previous one.
You are quite correct, LifelongLib. Last night I meant to type in 1914 and not 1939. What you said about the reaction to the war news in 1939 is quite accurate. The older ones knew what that news meant.
The Importance of James Burnham from Tablet Magazine
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/burnham-michael-lind
…”The left-liberal John Kenneth Galbraith acknowledged that Burnham’s theory of the managerial elite had influenced his own discussion of “the technostructure” in The New Industrial State (1967), just as it anticipated Barbara and John Ehrenreich’s later definition of the “professional-managerial class.”
…”Burnham became a professor of philosophy at New York University after being educated at Princeton and Oxford. In the 1930s he was a major figure in the circle around Trotsky, the exiled Soviet revolutionary. After renouncing Marxism, in 1941 he published The Managerial Revolution: What Is Happening in the World, which became a trans-Atlantic bestseller. In the midst of World War II, Albert Speer discussed a British article about the book’s thesis with Adolf Hitler; George Orwell drew on Burnham’s ideas in building the imaginary world of his novel 1984.”
…” In his essay “Second Thoughts on James Burnham” (1946), Orwell summarizes the thesis of The Managerial Revolution:
Capitalism is disappearing, but Socialism is not replacing it. What is now arising is a new kind of planned, centralized society which will be neither capitalist nor, in any accepted sense of the word, democratic. The rulers of this new society will be the people who effectively control the means of production: that is, business executives, technicians, bureaucrats and soldiers, lumped together by Burnham under the name of ‘managers’. These people will eliminate the old capitalist class, crush the working class, and so organize society that all power and economic privilege remain in their own hands.”
Fauci at Davos. Because markets,…. “
Emperor PalpatineSchwab will see you now.” /grrrThe last tweet in that thread:
(Emphasis mine.)
The mass genetic experimentation appears to be just getting started. Thank god for EUAs.
The tweet linked to this cnbc article.
“The mass genetic experimentation appears to be just getting started.”
**********
This purpose of the vaccinations has been lost in chasing other issues. This is an opporiunity for the geneticists to study the effects of gene therapy by examining results in captive databases like US Military, HMOs, national healthcare systems. etc. These folks must be working overtime. All this is, of course, free data with Big Pharma actually being paid to run their own experiments.
Here is one such study making this point:
“A scientific and medical team led by Newcastle University, UK, has demonstrated that the gene, HLA-DRB1*04:01, is found three times as often in people who are asymptomatic. This suggests that people with this gene have some level of protection from severe Covid.”
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210604135415.htm
It is too bad that even many of the Covid critics don’t see the big picture but get bogged down in Covid minutiae.
Flora, I saw that a couple of days ago. Explains a lot doesn’t it. Of course Fauci may in fact be wealthy enough that he belongs there with the billionaires. RFK jr book was enlightening on the subject of money and big Pharma. I believe his financial disclosures was short on truthfulness.
Took me SEVEN weeks to read that darned book. There were parts that were so emotionally draining, I could only read two or three pages at a time.
The above being said, I highly recommend RFK Jr’s book.
Nikkicat, his (Fauci’s) financial disclosures were long on “truthiness”. Was is Steven Colbert who coined that term? Back in the day, before he sold out?
Re Leonard Cohen and the song “Famous Blue Raincoat”.
The line “Did you ever go clear?” refers to a procedure in Scientology where one becomes free of certain subconscious baggage.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_(Scientology)
I was unaware of the Greek acid period.
“Bill Clinton’s Role in the Crisis Over Ukraine CounterPunch.”
‘Resilc: “Just about every shitstorm we face starts with Clinton.’
This is a case where the attached comment, by Resilc here in this case, is just as important than the story itself. I think that he nailed it as when I think about things like the gutting of financial regulations, the concentration of media corporations into only six corporations, NAFTA, globalization, the concentration of defence corporations, the Crime Bill, and other acts, these really happened on Bill Clinton’s watch and it turns out that he led America down some very dark avenues.
BINGO. reagan and carter were bad, but no one, no one out did what nafta billy clinton did. he never slept.
he turned the clock back in america to the robber baron era, in just 8-short years. he completely reversed almost all civil society initiatives that were globally put into place after WWII.
nafta billy made sure the fascists won the war.
and we can never recover till his disastrous policies have been reversed. americans must be educated about what nafta billy did, and also his support infrastructure.
other wise once we collapse, bloodshed will ensue!
So, is the board president leaving CALPERS really a personal health issue, or is it a rat deciding that it is time to abandon ship?
Not clear but that board is getting worse with every passing day. Jones was not a public embarrassment. Theresa Taylor already is.
That should be in response to Carolinian.
For those who don’t know, may I present the Rahm Emmanuel stand in learning he needs to get more racist
This was a monstrous show. One subplot from the first season was how the character okay ed by an actor known for double teaming a couple of minors was such a sexual dynamo a hooked didn’t charge him for sex. It’s okay because she was hooking to okay for law school. I figure Tobey would be writing think pieces titled, “why dumb kids are too stupid to listen to Tom Friedman. Probably rap music.”
I admit that I didn’t watch it that much so I’m hardly an expert. By the time the show came along we were all thoroughly sick of Clintonworld. The main result of his impeachment was that it forced other Dems to defend him.
if the democrats had turned on the fascist nafta billy clinton during his impeachment, we might not have gotten the repeal of glass-steagle, deregulation of derivative and commodities and free trade with china.
Re: McLuhan, so a half-forgotten intellectual who died 15 years before the Web was even invented is now responsible for today’s collapse of social cohesion? All by himself? Is it Mr. Majin’s Oedipus’ complex writing?
McLuhan’s books should be required reading for anybody who ever wants to buy a digital device.
“NEW—1 in 10 people with #COVID19 still could be infectious beyond 10 days, and some could remain so for as long as 2 months, a new study suggests, and pose risk of onward transmission. Plus, “we wouldn’t be able to predict who they are”
What if what is being called “long covid” in some people is “can’t get away from covid”? Or unable to get away from covid long enough to get well? Despite “anti-bodies” for a certain variant – they often wouldn’t know what variant they were being exposed to.
There is no one-size-fits-all way that anti-bodies work or last. It’s all estimate and averages type of info.
And it has to be remembered that even now there all kinds of variants stewing and brewing. The public isn’t informed until its deemed “worthy” of a certain level of concern.
The biggest problem with the IVM study is they didn’t properly control for people taking and not taking ivermectin as they admit in the paper. The results are highly questionable.
I haven’t seen this story covered so I present the link.
https://youtu.be/7i1IsO5npSo
You can skip down to 3:05 because the first few minutes the commentator from The Hill is apologizing for his source being the right wing organization Project Veritas. After about 6:00 its just drivel as well.
The real damning information comes about 5:40. This along with many other items are the smoking gun that US scientists in 2018 in a propoal suggested to the Wuhan lab how to create a human infectious coronavirus using gain of function techniques. Just a few months later a coronavirus with the exact same genetic sequence as the proposal appears, voila COVID-19.
This is an extract from the video “The relevance of this is that SARS CoV-2, the pandemic virus, is the only virus in its entire genus of SARS-related coronaviruses that contains a fully functional cleavage site at the S1, S2 junction.” And a later quote from Martin Wikelski, a director of the Max Planck Institute in Germany “The information in the proposal certainly changes my thoughts about a possible origin of SARS-CoV-2.” .
Here’s another article that reviews how Faucci et al blackballed and tried to silence a scientist who was suspicious of Covid’s origin.
Link: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1550686/covid-wuhan-lab-theory-coronavirus-china-professor-Angus-Dalgleish
An excerpt: “He said his team had found amino acids on the spike with a positive charge, allowing the virus to cling to negative parts of the human body.
But it was highly unusual to find so many positive charges in a row because they also repel each other, he said.
“We realised when they released the sequence of the virus it broke the laws of physics for a natural virus meaning it was genetically modified.”
Will Trump Lose His Throne to Ron DeSantis? New Republic (resilc)
Do you want to be entertained, or governed? I think the US (both parties) have made it clear what type of candidate they prefer…
Instead of the well-trained and capable Maximus, we get the irritating and sheltered, petulant Commodus. Petulance was not one of Marcus Aurelius virtues from the fictional telling.
I recently watched “No Country for Old Men” for the 3rd – 4th time, always entertained. And it leaves no doubt, Bardem plays one really bad hombre. Spoiler alert, he spends a good chunk of the movie killing peoples.
A couple of days ago I was having a conversation with a very successful self made man and mentioned that the CDC was still recommending against the use of N95 masks and that the definition of Vaccine had recently been changed.
The response was “You’re a Goddamed Liar”.
I suggested he hop on duckduck go to confirm what I had told him and his reply was “Eff YOU!!”.
How successful?
He spent @$1MM and 2 years building the car of his dreams.
I’ve been thinking about his reaction and similar reactions from highly educated and successful people I’m acquainted with and have reached a tentative conclusion.
They got with the program, they were in the right place at the right time, worked hard and smart,had no serious bad luck and were successful.
They were “One of Us”, they matter, they deserve respect, they trust the system because the system has rewarded them for being worthy.
Not like “Those People”.
Being confronted with the ugly truth that they do not matter to TPTB, that in the eyes of the system they have no more worth than the homeless black beggar on the corner is inconcievable.
Try convincing a Biblical truther that men and women have the same number of ribs and you will get a similar reaction even if you put a male and a female skeleton in front of them and ask them to count the ribs.
Denial of this magnitude comes at a very high cost emotionally and the usual reaction is uncontrollable rage.
It’s going to be an interesting year.
To myself, I’ve been saying that 2022 will be epic. And now I’m saying it here.
Anecdotally, is that implying quite possibly that 2020 and 2021 were just prelude to an even bigger, badder year ?
Last 24 months have been pretty epic, methinks.
More on the Villa Aurora family feud:
https://www.newsweek.com/texas-born-princess-sees-villa-rare-caravaggio-auctioned-off-amid-inheritance-dispute-1670399
The step mother is Rita Jenrette, whom I kinda sorta remember from the 80s….
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rita_Jenrette
Don’t be #, Don’t B b, Just B natural. Sorry, couldn’t resist
Noted!
when ever i hear people say its reagans fault, i grit my teeth. reagan was no friend of mine, i despised him. although he did learn a few lessons along the way, he still was a terrible president. jimmy carter takes some blame, he was really bad, he may have ended up as bad as nafta billy, but there were still some new deal types left that checked him. and carter never learned a dang thing.
the bushs, typical royalty types, corrupt to the bone.
but the real damage done to america and the world was from the fascist regime of nafta billy clinton.
every possible problem facing america and the world, can be traced back to this monster.
i have repeatedly said we can never recover till this monsters policies have been reversed, and he is responsible for the deaths of millions, and the enslavement of billions, a true war criminal.
so when i saw this, i posted it last night. i had to, the story has to be told. to many still think he was some sort of mis-understood character.
https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/01/18/bill-clintons-role-in-the-crisis-over-ukraine/
I think you give far too little credit to Reagan, Stockman, and saintly Uncle Miltie Friedman.
i give them plenty of s##t. nafta billy clinton actually believed miltons freidmans crap. brad delong even said so, he was nafta billy clintons main economic advisor, who has apologized for what he did. he plainly said everything nafta billy did was pure economic nonsense, that either created whole new problems, or made existing problems worse.
i cannot see one thing reagan did that was worse than what carter did. both were morons that believed miltons crap.
but it was nafta billy clinton that created this mess. not reagan or carter, they added to it no doubt about it, but they never went pure fascist.
Margaret Thatcher was supposed to have said that Tony Blair was her greatest accomplishment. In a like manner, Third Way Clinton could be said to be Reagan’s greatest accomplishment. (In a nihilistic sense) Clinton really got the Neoliberal train rolling.
BINGO!
What about the saintly Dwight Eisenhower? Overthrowing the elected government in both Iran and Vietnam counts as a beginning of serious problems to me…
Look, he’s drinking up inside, outside Whitehall
Blonde and hairy, the disheveled gall
Now everyone wants his head
Hanging by a little thread
Boris the despised one
Boris the despised one
Now he’s dropped on to the floor
Heading for an apology tour
Maybe he’s as scared as me
Where’s he gone now, I can’t see
Boris the despised one
Boris the despised one
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
There he is wrapped in a fetal ball
Doesn’t seem to move at all
Perhaps his term is dead, I’ll just make sure
House of Parliament vote him out the door
Boris the despised one
Boris the despised one
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly, crawly
He’s come to a sticky end
Don’t think he will ever mend
Never more will he crawl ’round
Number Ten Downing ground
Boris the despised one
Boris the despised one
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvFuUaCe8eY
Oh dear, that’s good….
So, Thomas Frank did us a disservice labeling them the Professional Management Class.
They’re actually the the Professional Mismanagement Class.
I find the whole PMC concept to have a certain “Protocols of … ” energy to it.
The problem isn’t that there is a monolithic cartel of university graduates, working against everyone else.
It’s that everyone in the country is out for themselves, at the expense of everyone else.
Everyone in “what country” is out for themselves at the expense of everyone else ?? Perhaps you don’t get out too often… despite our differences, there is a huge part of America where people volunteer on a regular and continuous basis, keeping the thread together that makes for an annoyingly great country despite the stupidities committed by a small subsection of our population in the halls of power, properly described currently as the pmc…and gaslighting by trying to throw Greek fire on the issue by proto kalz noise…at best one can argue the pmc is walking around unconsciously oblivious to the net negative results of their lemmingness…with limited concern for the long term effects of their little Bellamy salute to the alter of mammonite silence…I might not hardly ever agree with some guy leaning into the bartender who is just trying to make a few tips serving up watered down beer at the local vfw, but I am not going to ignore his regular volunteer work which has a net positive effect on the over all concept we call society. Yup we can do better, but blaming Americans for also having a subset commonly known as the pmc…not buying that movie ticket…
I can assure you that you’re talking about a tiny minority of Americans who are altruistically doing good deeds outside of their families, rather than “a huge part”.
The whole country was designed from the start with everyone having the freedom to pursue their own self interest, and that’s just what they are found to be doing at every level, management or otherwise.
I obviously didn’t make it straight forward enough…the VFW guy isn’t being altruistic, but is still doing and again, there is much of this country where people volunteer regularly and keep rowing the boat, giving and giving of their time and energy…look up once in a while… it’s not such a bad country…we can do much much better… open a door for a stranger every once in a while and then sit back and watch the flow cascade… it’s not really that hard….
Again, I would disagree about the amount of people in the group you describe. It is most definitely not, “much of the country”.
I am not celebrating the fact, but in “The Game of being American”, everyone is out for themselves. Those are the rules. Some people are much better at it than others. “Don’t hate the player…”
> everyone is out for themselves.
Even at the most degraded level of neoliberalism, that’s not true. (Thatcher: “There are individual men and women and there are families.”)
The challenge is to get Americans to move beyond families, and having moved beyond families, not to move toward personality-driven narratives, or the most noxious forms of altruism.
But I think the test of your proposition would be a society-wide tendency for surrogate mothering. So, no. Having children is not a balance-sheet proposition.
People mustn’t forget that even on a great website like NC it can be an echo chamber of sorts. I consider the content far ranging, with the commenters being diverse and cerebral. My opinion is that it is still an echo chamber for Nihilism.
At the heart of the world that Juanholio sees is a world of Nihilism I would suppose? Where the NC readers probably have a strong influence on our peers by bringing intelligent conversation, we can also have a strong impact by rejecting Nihilism. Through the network effect if you can influence a handful of people in your lifetime to reject nihilism, and they in turn can do the same, we can win. This is good vs evil stuff. We all have ready plenty of NC articles talking about how the algo’s of the inter web successfully operate off of fear over positive stories. If we want to be objective then we must all assume that even NC is influenced by this fear and do our parts to fight back. It seems like Alex might be good at that here. Just my .02 and early morning rant. Thanks Alex for the positive perspective.
Like my dad, a steelworker/economist, often used to say, It’s dog eat dog. Or on Fridays, us being Catholics, Big fish eat little fish. I think the second is more true, because size does matter, and bigger is -well, not better necessarily- just bigger. Capitalism, especially the american kind, has produced possibly the most self-centered and self-righteous personality since antiquity. All the advertising, and all the propaganda, and all the proud and unfeigned ignorance blasting 24/7, has worked to create that most impossible shibboleth of them all, the Self-Made Man.
> the Self-Made Man
A sort of auto-golpe of the superego by the id (greed being most definitely of the id).
As in monsters from the Id?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2BYyeS-fIU (2:43 mins)
> The problem isn’t that there is a monolithic cartel of university graduates, working against everyone else.
I agree with you. “PMC” is really a placeholder for a better set of analytical tools, which I am thinking hard about (and will happily stea– er, borrow from anybody else who gets there first). Marx is too crude, liberals are too mushy, libertarians are sociopathic. “PMC,” even if directed at the right social “tissue,” as it were, is a hammer, when a scalpel is needed.
That said, there is no “everyone” in any useful sense; too many clashed material interests at stake. Nor do I believe that 100% of the people are out for themselves 100% of the time; elites, perhaps. Not the 99%. Selfless acts of altruism take place all the time. They’re just not newsworthy.
Where the PMC fails as a class is that is has only an indirect relationship to economic production. The vast majority of the PMC is order takers (as well as order givers) and even the order givers among them (in politics, NGOs, etc.) ultimately serve at the behest of capital. In Marxian terms, they are not a class “by themselves,” even if they might be a class “of” and “for” themselves.
This condition makes them strong advocates of the status quo and, in a large and wealthy country like the USA, there is of course a lot of PMC work to be done, which can sometimes give them the appearance of being a stand-alone class. But they are not a dynamic class.
Call them what they are: the ever trusted overseer class.
The other side of the horseshoe also has their own version(s) of overseers.
But they are a class not a monolithic group. Each person has their own area of responsibility and the pieces they are responsible for are just random pieces until they can be shaped and snapped into a complete puzzle board.
PS. I think they are useful tools which can be used, or even be self-directed, for good, bad or neutral. It depends on the puzzle board(s) their pieces get snapped into. And I also think that they can get snapped into multiple puzzles at the same time so parsing out what’s good, bad, or neutral can be difficult without understanding the goals of the puzzle-master.
> PS. I think they are useful tools which can be used, or even be self-directed, for good, bad or neutral. It depends on the puzzle board(s) their pieces get snapped into. And I also think that they can get snapped into multiple puzzles at the same time so parsing out what’s good, bad, or neutral can be difficult without understanding the goals of the puzzle-master.
This is a terrific metaphor that gets at the complexity of it. One might say that the PMC (see above), our governors, are as complex as a class as the deceptions our rulers need to keep in play to maintain themselves in their positions. And that is extremely complex. And because bullshit is embedded in lived experiences (“lead our lives”) it has to be addressed at that level and not abstractly.
future of ag is biology, i.e. psuedomonas https://phys.org/news/2022-01-smart-soil-bugs-farmers-ecofriendly.html
I’ll see your academic paper and raise you a 2 hour youtube video recorded today: Multiplying Beneficial Microbes (https://youtu.be/cvd4cHsrqrM). Looks like it’s released by soilfoodweb.com
Sorry, that video I linked to is more of an ad…
Israeli trial, world’s first, finds 4th dose ‘not good enough’ against Omicron Times of Israel.
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I’ve been keeping up with our leper colony cleverly disguised as geezers on skis, and a week later our group is still testing positive.
We’re all retired and can stay away from others for 10 days or 2 weeks, whatever it takes.
But it isn’t us i’m wondering about, so far from my anecdotal total of around a dozen who’ve caught Omicron since xmas, none are really feeling put out by it, meaning that those going back to work after 5 days are all Typhoid Tiffany & Viral Liam’s waiting to spread it via retail.
Water is for lying over-Whiskey is for lying under
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The wealthy community north of Scottsdale is the site of the latest skirmish in a coming water war. It’s a New West struggle that plays out like the Old West stories that have left ghost towns strewn across the Arizona landscape.
Everything is great as long as the resource you’re taking doesn’t run out.
And then it does.
There have been screaming matches, property damage and death threats, according to the people who live there. The hostilities are to the point where the residents who spoke to 12 News wanted to remain anonymous.
What will you do when the water goes away?
The Foothills won’t be the last Valley community that will have this conflict. A combination of relaxed real estate regulations, careless Maricopa County permit issuing and an Arizona law loophole will lead other multi-million dollar communities in the state to inevitably dry up.
https://www.12news.com/article/news/regional/scorched-earth/rio-verde-foothills-water-rural-arizona-law-valley/75-6ae2ef4d-7cd1-4a93-babb-9eea7a0634a6
Dad joke:
Guy comes in the house after spending several hours cutting grass in the hot sun.
He is asked whether he would like a glass of water.
Guy: I’m thirsty, not dirty.
That is a rather disturbing story that. It seems that going forward, that if you are going to buy a house you will need to check on the local water supply along with a lawyer checking it out too. But since when was depending on trucking water from a neighbouring community thought a good idea long term? I am surprised that this community did not try to sue that other community to keep the spices, err, water flowing.
> https://www.12news.com/article/news/regional/scorched-earth/rio-verde-foothills-water-rural-arizona-law-valley/75-6ae2ef4d-7cd1-4a93-babb-9eea7a0634a6
I love that they have an actual category called “Scorched Earth.” Seems telling, somehow.
Same thing will happen in Denver soon. Still massive population influx going on. Local planning departments still requiring irrigated landscaping at most new Developments , even industrial ones which is ridiculous. I would support a state measure to require Xeriscapes, it seems the local munis will act too late on the issue here.
Gulfstream has been offering missile defense systems since at least 2000 in their business jets.
https://www.flightglobal.com/anti-missile-kit-offered-by-gulfstream-/33299.article
There are lots of places in the world where such a system might pay for itself, if it works. (And FedEx needs to fly.)
Rant: What are we supposed to believe ATT is going to do with 5G?
They haven’t got the other “Gs” working worth a damn.
>How to think about war in Ukraine Timothy Snyder
Ctrl + F ‘Donbas’. No hits. Why am I not surprised?
5g low power vs high power… American mobile carriers basically refuse to pay to have lower power antenna as they would need to pay up and the cat is out of the bag as to what can and can’t or should be paid to property owners. The mobile carriers more or less ripped off a wide number of property owners in the past and that would be extremely difficult to pull off today…there are also multiple companies competing with them for roof tops and other locations, making offers to property owners and stepping in front of the mobile phone companies…thus, the major cell co’s have decided to save money by pushing these high power unshielded microwave guns out to the public arena by using their existing lease agreements to save money, while charging Americans pretty much the highest monthly mobile phone rates in the world…
And now for something truly entertaining….
Read some comments this morning on an ex-Motorola employee group forum.
What’s the crux of the problem? From a technical perspective, while the bands do not overlap when all equipment is operating perfectly (as the guy in the youtube video says), all equipment does not operate perfectly forever. They mention a single small paging transmitter, that had operated for years, suddenly taking out part of a major city’s police radio system because of issues with the equipment. Obviously, the stakes are much higher. Furthermore, older airline equipment may not have the proper filters to guard against adjacent band interference since these 5G bands weren’t really used when the equipment was designed.
The cellular companies paid for their bandwidth and want to use it. The airlines don’t want their planes to crash, and probably want some help ($$$) with upgrading their electronics to handle a problem they did not create themselves (and apparently, there is legal precedent about this).
The consensus is they will work it out.
> The major cell co’s have decided to save money by pushing these high power unshielded microwave guns out to the public arena by using their existing lease agreements to save money, while charging Americans pretty much the highest monthly mobile phone rates in the world
Rash of copper wire thefts, cell phone tower tampering continues The Monroe News.
Everything’s gonna be fine.
Fun fact – I was witness to another expert being asked a question today – “Are these deaths from omicron or delta?” “Is anyone testing these strains?”
A very interesting point. why have we not seen ANY published data on this. Not hard to do. I suspect Delta is still driving the deaths and lo and behold no one is using Rgeneron anymore.