Tick Survives 27 Years in Researcher’s Lab, 8 Years Without Food Newsweek (David L)
Mesmerising footage shows the incredible metamorphosis of Monarch Butterflies Flipboard (David L)
How beekeeping is helping to stop migrants being stung by exploitative labour in Italy Euronews (resilc)
16-Year-Old Chess Prodigy Defeats World Champion Magnus Carlsen Axios. But see the role of Covid!
Hot Springs National Park In Arkansas Has Just Been Named One Of The Most Stunning Parks In The World Only In Your State (David L)
Quantum gravity sensor opens window into world beneath our feet Financial Times (Kevin W)
Brain scans are saving convicted murderers from death row–but should they? ZMEScience
A 900-Page Book Catalogs Hundreds of Medicinal Plants through Colorful Renaissance-Era Woodcuts ThisIsColossal (David L)
A return to vegetarian Jewish cuisine BBC
Inward empire: What metaphors tell us about the inner life Times Literary Supplement (Anthony L)
#COVID-19
They really do want to kill us. From GM:
Iceland says it wants ‘as many people as possible’ to catch Covid after lifting all restrictions Independent. Quote from health minister:
To achieve this, as many people as possible need to be infected with the virus as the vaccines are not enough, even though they provide good protection against serious illness
Science/Medicine
Hey @fitterhappierAJ your episode is out. Thanks for all your insights! I hope people see how important it is to understand how Covid effects our immune system long term. #longcovid #TCells https://t.co/GJHn1lDD7W
— The Long Covid Sessions Podcast (@SessionsTlc) February 22, 2022
A small study suggests that "up to 43 small mitochondrial RNAs have their expression altered during the recovery from COVID-19" and that this may explain #LongCovid and other post-viral diseases. https://t.co/hGSYia3V6C pic.twitter.com/C3gxFvqaIi
— Jonas R. Kunst (@KunstJonas) February 21, 2022
“We established the presence of residual virus within the appendix & breast tissue of 2 patients who exhibited #LongCovid symptoms, 175-462 days upon diagnosis..
..Notably, the detection of negative-sense viral RNA suggests ongoing viral replication.”https://t.co/RcuH5GAZ6M
— charlos (@loscharlos) February 23, 2022
Canada
Trudeau ends use of Emergencies Act, says ‘situation is no longer an emergency’ CBC (Michael King)
US
One thousand truckers begin drive from California to DC TODAY in protest of COVID National Emergency Daily Mail
U.S. truckers plan pandemic protest, inspired by Canadian counterparts Reuters
Climate/Environment
Methane Emissions From the Energy Sector Are 70% Higher Than Official Figures IEA
Climate change is warping our fresh water cycle – and much faster than we thought The Conversation (David L)
Energy agency: Methane emissions higher than countries claim Associated Press
Climate Scientists Warn of a ‘Global Wildfire Crisis’ New York Times (David L)
Argentina’s drought-fueled wildfires continue to rage Reuters (resilc)
China?
Bringing up a child costlier in China than in U.S., Japan – research Reuters
DOJ scraps Trump-era China Initiative for broader national security program The Hill
Old Blighty
Parliament renovation could take 76 years and cost £22bn, report says Guardian (Kevin W)
New Not So Cold War
Brave of her:
This war and suffering could have easily been avoided if Biden Admin/NATO had simply acknowledged Russia’s legitimate security concerns regarding Ukraine’s becoming a member of NATO, which would mean US/NATO forces right on Russia’s border
— Tulsi Gabbard ? (@TulsiGabbard) February 24, 2022
Address by the President of the Russian Federation on the 24th and Vladimir Putin answered media questions on the 22nd Kremlin (guurst)
The situation is about to quickly escalate, probably in the next days The Saker. This was the right call.
Harsh conditions mean Russian troops near Ukraine will need to be moved soon Guardian
Ukraine asks Turkey to close straits for Russian warships Daily Sabah
Putin’s Moves on Ukraine Will Be a Historic Mistake New York Times. Resilc: “And Albright should know them based on her causing them.”
Boris Johnson tells City of London to prepare for tough new sanctions on Russia Financial Times (Kevin W)
Britain less keen on war with hard opponent Daily Mash
Russia May Use Cryptocurrencies To Evade US Sanctions New York Times. As pointed out yesterday, they are wet-noodle level. If we really think crypto is helping Russia too much, we might finally see that long-overdue crackdown. Oddly, ramsomeware attacks on state and municipal government services didn’t do it.
US Stokes Tensions With Russia by Building Military Base 100 Miles From Border TruthOut
From 2018: Dangers Grow: ‘New Cold War’ Acquired an Evident Ideological Component – Scholar Sputnik (guurst)
Russia postpones Cuba debt payments amid warming relations Reuters. Resilc: “When do the missiles go in?”
Syraqistan
Something Is Rotten in Jerusalem Project Syndicate (David L)
Cracks in Israel’s coalition government start to show Axios (resilc)
Imperial Collapse Watch
Is DoD briefing retired media talking head generals and colonels again? Turcopolier
Watch: Museum of the Future, the most beautiful building on earth, opens in Dubai – As it happened Gulf News . Resilc: “USA USA could have this too if we didn’t piss away a trillion a year on the war machine/empire.”
‘Malignant normality’: Professor of religion explains how the US weaponized Christianity to sacralize war Alternet (furzy)
Trump
Manhattan prosecutors leading criminal probe of Donald Trump resign Financial Times. Even my right wing buddies think this development in isolation to be a nothingburger in terms of helping Trump. The prosecutors may have decided that this suit is not that necessary given all the other ones going and/or have gotten wind that the judge is sympathetic to Trump. From one contact:
This particular case is over because it’d take forever to bring new lawyers up to speed and continue the grand jury. There are several other cases going, Dems are not stopping in the effort to prevent him from running. AG James has a (weak) case. They are starting a case in GA and trying to gin up a Jan 6 case.
Biden
White House preps public for sanctions sticker shock The Hill
Biden’s Real Challenge is Not Russia or China, but Poverty in America CounterPunch (resilc)
GOP Clown Car
Rick Scott’s 11-Point Plan Is a Haunted-House Version of Newt Gingrich’s Contract With America Esquire
North Carolina officials reject Cawthorn claim that Constitution’s insurrectionist ban no longer applies Politico (resilc)
Woke Watch
Why are black Americans being punished for their hair? BBC. Maybe I’m just showing my age, but IMHO pointing out concrete examples of how blacks are discriminated against now is far more powerful than nebulous issues. There are plenty of concrete grievances like wages, hiring (studies show that resumes with presumed-black names like Tyrell Washington or Lakisha Jones are regularly not even read). Starting with demonstrable and consequential wrongs and then identifying cultural mechanisms that perpetuate and reinforce them strikes me as rhetorically far more persuasive, along with having the further advantage of depersonalizing the discussion (ie, giving the potentially guilty space to reflect on their conduct privately, as opposed to presuming their guilt and regularly generating knee-jerk rejection).
This is my father's appointment letter to the History Department at SUNY Buffalo in 1965. I would like to call your attention to the second paragraph (+alt). #Twitterstorians pic.twitter.com/NhwCILnK49
— David M. Perry (@Lollardfish) February 22, 2022
The US Copyright Office says an AI can’t copyright its art The Verge
U.S. to hold its biggest offshore wind auction Reuters
See the replies, which were united and brutal:
The U.S. economy has been hit with increased gas prices, inflation, and supply-chain issues due to the Ukraine crisis. https://t.co/d9dwXWpcvf
— CBS News (@CBSNews) February 23, 2022
The Nocturnals Atlantic (resilc). IMHO, normalcy is highly overrated. Yet so much effort to enforce it!
Class Warfare
The Great Resignation is also the Great Retirement of the baby boomers. That’s a problem. Washington Post
Antidote du jour. @deadlyknitshade (hat tip martha r): “I present to you the fox that lives in my garden, for she is the most lovely thing.”
And a bonus (Jim D):
And a second bonus:
Thank you for your service!?Idaho trooper makes leaping roadside catch to grab escaping cat who was being rescued pic.twitter.com/DkPyXFiv7J
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 10, 2022
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
113 comments
Comments are closed.
National Parks ranking, worth it to click through to see the full listing from the MSN source article. Glad to see at least one destination where I visited September 2019, Bryce Canyon. Observation Point is worth the effort.
Russia and Ukraine
What is AMAZING to me is that I heard a republican representative make 2 arguments against Russia:
1. Domino theory – Russia won’t stop with Ukraine (shades of Vietnam)
2. We have to intervene now in Ukraine else we fight Russia here (shades of Iraq)
And as far as Cable news, it there anyone other than Tucker Carlson making an anti war case? So much for the “liberal” media. And the polls I have seen show a large majority oppose any fooling around in Ukraine, but our “republic” simply is incapable of respecting the wishes of the masses, instead of the wishes of the MIC.
Of course, now that I have learned Russian troups are tossing babies out of incubators, I retract my above statements /sarc
Someone on Twitter pointed out that both Russia and Ukraine have McDonalds restaurants, so the old end of history vibe is over
Cocomaan – I agree; I’m posting this so I can post an addendum to it
https://mediawiki.middlebury.edu/IPE/Golden_Arches_Theory_of_Conflict_Prevention
Problems with the Golden Arches Theory
The Golden Arches Theory has not held true in all cases, and explanations to explain these inconsistencies vary. In some cases, the increased contact between two countries due to integration may actually exacerbate points of contention between the two states, leading to more opportunities for conflict. Or, the difference may lie in the type of government in power: a democratic government may follow the Golden Arches Theory, but the Theory may break down when confronted with cases of nondemocratic or authoritarian regimes. The Golden Arches Theory assumes that governments respond to the desires of their constituents for economic stability and that the government knows it will be held accountable in the case that it does not provide for the economic well-being of its citizens. In the case of an authoritarian or nondemocratic state, leaders may not experience these dilemmas, causing them not to act in accordance with the Golden Arches Theory. [1]
===================================
So I just posted that because it gives me an excuse to post my favorite quote of ALL TIME (I mean, it really was an eye opener for me – that a man from a system universally despised had such an insight into how politics really works and people are manipulated) debunking the idea that “democracies” are prevented from starting wars (and don’t get me started on democracies doing anything the majority want when in fact the rich can veto ANY program, e.g., heath care, if it negatively impacts money making).
(Goering at Nuremberg) Later in the conversation, Gilbert recorded Goering’s observations that the common people can always be manipulated into supporting and fighting wars by their political leaders:
We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.
“Why, of course, the people don’t want war,” Goering shrugged. “Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.”
“There is one difference,” I pointed out. “In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.”
“Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.”
Of course Goering was right in this, and at the time he had hitched his wagon to a death-cult. He was right in ‘this’ and wrong (spectacularly wrong) in ‘that’.
It is a great fault to denigrate the truths of the infamous. In science and technology the ‘right-in-this’ are built into the conveniences of our daily lives, no matter the infamy.
Pip-Pip!
US bottom 85% (the people and family of those who would actually die in a war) is so cynical, burned out, and exhausted.
It only took 20+ years of constant ineffective wars, lockdowns, decling real incomes and woke US army HR policies for people to realize “war is a racket”
I don’t know about that.
I agree that many in the bottom 85% are “cynical, burned out, and exhausted” but if the past is any indication, were America were to launch a war many in that 85% would support it unconditionally. Combat vets and their families might be more critical but they make up a tiny percentage of the overall American population.
Many Americans support wars that they won’t fight in. The US loves to bully the bottom tier nations (Irag, Libya, Haiti, Panama) but even refrains from engaging miliarily with even the modest military power of Iran.
Pushing Russia to the edge with offensive weapons on its border is a MAJOR mistake. Russia is militarily superior to the US in ground combat. The Ukraine is in its backyard and the supply lines are short; they can maintain military pressure for a long time. Longer than the Ukraine population can endure.
From MikeTheMadBiologist’s blog:
We give you U.S. Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville (boldface mine):
Tuberville discussed the escalating tensions between Russia and Ukraine. He claims that a large part of Vladimir Putin’s desire for further annexation of Ukrainian land is due to the amount of farmland in Ukraine.
“He can’t feed his people,” Tuberville said. “It’s a communist country, so he can’t feed his people, so they need more farmland.”
If Alabama voters are this stupid, maybe, like happens in D.C., Congress should have to approve their budgets too.
Aside: Admittedly, the Substack Bois and the Anti-Antis have said stupid shit, but I think this takes the prize
Tulsi?
Oil prices are soaring which btw punishes Russia by making them richer. Given that the public already opposes involvement in Russia/Ukraine how are they going to feel when gasoline approaches $4 (already there in California of course).
None of this had to happen and should be laid at the feet of Biden and Blinken and all their “liberal interventionists” predecessors. Since the Clintons studied at Albright’s knee perhaps she is patient zero. The shocking thing though is how little ordinary Americans have to do with what is done in our name.
“liberal interventionists”, you mean like the ones that got us involved in Iraq?
The push to strangle Russia started many administrations before Biden and has kept up through all of them. Biden is to blame for his part but you need to look for a group of people or organization that transcends these administrations and has the power to turn presidents, prime ministers, and other leaders into puppets.
They are already puppets before they become Presidents.
I’m actually starting to admire Biden. He (courageously) withdrew from Afghanistan, and now isn’t promising a military counter-invasion, but is promising a bigger military budget. So he’s pacifying the Russians, as much as is politically possible now, and pacifying the MIC. He’ll leave it to a calmed-down Ukraine to persuade the public that a smaller military budget might be warranted.
Maybe I’m giving him too much credit, but that small adjustment looks like all that’s politically possible for him right now, and he’s taken that step.
The Battle of Paris was fought on March 30–31, 1814 After a day of fighting in the suburbs of Paris, the French surrendered on March 31 to the Russians
It seems like there should be more links today for Old Blighty COVID-19. Isn’t today the first day in England without COVID-19 restrictions?
Using the search function on major news sites:
Instances of: Russia, Ukraine, China, Covid, Trump, Johnson, Putin :
CNN:……30, 34, 2, 5, 5, 1, 10.
MSNBC:..28, 22, 0, 6, 11, 0, 8.
Foxnews: 46, 39, 3, 5, 6, 0, 21.
BBC:…….15, 22, 0, 2, 0, 4, 6.
MSNBC makes a living on ‘Trump’, no surprise there. Stark to see Covid still doesn’t rate higher than the person of Trump/Boris, for any of them. I added Putin after I saw that, as a small minds metric.
And goodness, China is off the radar, isn’t it? I check these sites to note what they aren’t talking about so much (the ‘Assange Index’).
Inspired metric there, well played! It would be an interesting thing to script and turn into nifty animated graphic: Realtime Narrative Weight Monitor
Covid? What Covid? What we need is fear of a nice war to keep us quiet. /s
By coincidence today is also the last day of my 10 day isolation. Felt really crap for the first week.
1965 SUNY Buffalo history professor’s charming wife.
This movie is coming to a theater new you. The patriarchy is being reestablished. PMC men will once again be judged by the beauty and femininity of their wives. A woman’s value will once again be measured by her beauty and femininity. Women are either going to get right, or they’re going to get left.
Regards to the letter and the tone of the second paragraph, was that not a running theme from the popular hit, Mad Men? I never really got into the series or watched it in passing. Regarding the comment on a return to patriarchy, not going to happen. Since 2006 I have had several female managers, all qualified and experienced (financial services).
“…not going to happen.” Wait until abortion is criminalized again, and see what happens. IMO that is why the anti-abortion movement is so well funded.
The ‘dirty little secret’ of the anti-abortion movement in general is that they want to outlaw all birth control; the Pill, condoms, IUDs, the lot. As like the Goering quote via Fresno Dan above, the ‘ordinary’ people can be cajoled into complying with almost anything. Remember when “The only good Indian is a dead one?” That wasn’t that too long ago. California kept on paying a bounty on Indian scalps on up into the Twentieth Century. The last legal killing of Indians in California that is remembered happened in 1907.
See: https://www.tachi-yokut-nsn.gov/history
Power to the People. The most subversive motto of our supposedly modern times.
I would say, yet again, to stay safe, but knowing the hippness factor of this commenteriat, it is a given.
“Americans are a primitive people disguised by the latest inventions.” – George Santayana
I’m surprised that that letter did not also say ‘Damn! That is one fine woman that you got there. She’ll make a nice addition to our stable.’
If we’re not too careful, an ’80s metal / hair metal video might break out in these parts….or a Van Halen / Van Hagar song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUDcTLaWJuo
Actually, that is kind of innocent when you consider some of the stuff that came later.
one notes you didn’t refer to Pearl Necklace.
hair is fine, as long as it’s Def Leppard.
I should have known…that little band from Texas. They had quite a few popular videos.
Maybe I am just old but I read the second paragraph as “Welcome to the Club, where all college professors are smart (and well paid, $8400?- Congressmen made only $22,000 in those days), all wives are beautiful, and all children are ‘above average.'”
It was – in short – an inelegant attempt to include “the wife” as a important member of the team because if I remember correctly, even in 1964, Dad could decide where we lived, but Mom had the right to veto.
women of that time were the “social network” and got a lot done behind the scenes that would never have gotten done (or only very slowly and poorly) if left strictly to the formal responses of the men in control and/or “official” channels.
so, yes….the wife component was very important to a fully functioning social economy back then. and if that’s what you’re trying to create (rather than now–higher ed is just a mass commuter school no matter where it occurs, it seems) then one needs to pay attention to those who will fulfill that “role”.
even if it’s done in an extremely sexist fashion, sadly.
$8400 would’ve bought you a home in Buffalo in 1965.
We were in Buffalo 15 years ago and there was a fair schwag of cheap homes for sale-some as cheap as the 1965 value, and I threatened my wife to become a slumlord and trade in one LA home for 87 abodes there, and all she had to do was roll her eyes, to nix the deal.
$12,000 would have bought you a Mid-Century Modern 1200 sq. ft. house with a commons area with pool in Palm Desert, CA in 1964. My parents bought it, I lived in it. Times change
Columbia Psychiatry Chair Suspended After Tweet About “Dark Skinned Model”
This tweet awakened an unpleasant memory. I was at the University of Rochester, about 1980-ish, and attended a conference at SUNY Buffalo, where the welcoming address was given by the then president. He told a rape joke. I was gobsmacked. And, to my eternal shame, did not get up and walk out.
Well, it works both ways.
After a stunningly beautiful female architect finished presenting her work during a visiting lecturer series to a group of graduating seniors in 1980, a female faculty member began to discuss her apparel, long finger nails (and polish), and hairstyle before commenting on the visitors work! Being one of the older students, I felt little reticence in loudly asking the female faculty member for less stereotyping and more discussion of her work.
If there was ever a word that sounds nothing like to what it refers, ‘pulchritude’ might be it. And I’m sure the tweedy dingleberry behind this letter was dictating it to his pulchritudinous secretary
CBS News
The U.S. economy has been hit with increased gas prices, inflation, and supply-chain issues due to the Ukraine crisis.
SoCal ‘Super Responsible’ MFG
@cynicpolitic
Feb 22
all of the stuff we’ve been dealing with for the last 2 years is because of the crisis that started in the last 2 days?
====================================================
Well, the only reasonable and logical explanation is that the Ukraine crisis has caused a tear in the fabric of time. And please, don’t tell me that our wonderful free press is captured by the military industrial complex and is nothing but a stenographer for special interests, as our greatest in the world democracy always does what is best for Americans and the WORLD. (do I really need a sarc tag???)
I didn’t read it, but the article was clearer that they were saying increased inflation.
IOW, the real story was that desperate world leader facing increased problems and rejection at home escalates tensions with another major power rather than recognizing their legitimate concerns all so they could blame the other guy for the problems,. Meanwhile they continue doing nothing to ease the problems that their people face daily and really care about. And for the record I mean the hair sniffing, largely corrupt and increasingly demented plagiarist.
And said desperate world leader, Depends Joe and Othellina, try typing out her last speech–are desperate for distractions. Sorry about your grandchildren’s bone cancer from the nukes, the ones several hundred miles from blast zones.
I voted for Bernie, then Tulsi, now I have a Let’s Go Brandon sign in my window facing the street. People are furious. This is not going to end well for the PIP, “Party In Power”.
Attempt to cover for a “federal” reserve that has completely lost control and has no Plan B?
While I didn’t read too deeply into replies, one comment references the specific news org was behaving much like the band playing on the deck of the Titanic.
Move those chairs. Good luck if you’re stowed away in the lowest decks.
From twelve days ago:
Russian Embassy, UK @RussianEmbassy
So, Lavrov is going to resign in protest, amirite?
I think that’s Russian deadpan.
“Scram’em Joe”, my god, he’s so tough!
Right up there with “I will return” Douglas MacArthur, Rough Rider TR, and Vinegar Joe Stillwell. Yeah, right.
Meanwhile, America is going broke and we are heading into an economic depression, at least if you talk to people under the age of 30, who don’t have a trust fund or a parent’s basement to live in.
As to the NYTimes commentary on Putin Moves on Ukraine, we’ll add that to “Saddam has weapons of mass distraction”, Hillary’s R2P, Right to Protect, girls in Afghanistan, Syria, Libya, and wherever there are potential oil and gas leases, then there’s the farcical Kamala Harris, that they so approved of:
“38 percent of Californians said they approved of her performance as vice president” Feb 16th poll. Home state advantage!
“Iceland says it wants ‘as many people as possible’ to catch Covid after lifting all restrictions”
Obviously he has been talking with Queensland’s Health Minister. But nobody bothers to ask such people in an interview about what happens when that ‘immunity’ wears off in a few months. What then?
Since this is an economics site, I’ll mention the obvious economic description of the “economic agents” dealing with repeated ‘exposures’ to the Covid 19: they are “Depreciating Assets.”
It sometimes looks like this is all some “Cunning Plan” to rebalance the Terran human population level back in line with the Earth’s natural carrying capacity.
Raises the question:
Incompetence or Malice, or perhaps Malicious Incompetence.
I’m not sure if Malicious Incompetence is an oxymoron.
Malicious Incompetence sounds like a metric on an “internal fitness evaluation” form. Tick that box and you will be promoted out into the realms of the Peter Principle.
The way “things” are shaking out right now, I can empathize with Serial Killers, Jihadists, and Community Policing Ride Alongs.
Will Niccolò Machiavelli please pick up the White Courtesy Phone?
P.S. I’ve always wanted an opportunity to say that. Made my day.
Anne Applebaum
@anneapplebaum
9h
My friend writes that she can hear explosions in Kyiv. A completely unnecessary war has started, born out of one man’s nostalgia,paranoia and fear of losing power.
================================================
It is really, really terrible what Biden is doing…Wait, Wha?!!???!!! she was talking about Putin???
Seriously, the MSM lock step, the total lack of skepticism, the inability to report objectively and in context the counter arguments and disputed facts, the religious belief in what White House and military “sources” say, is gobsmacking at the least. Capitalism is much more effective than communism’s Pravda and Izvestia at propaganda…
I’ve got the TV on here in Oz and the level of propaganda is impressive. They are having literal neocons from our universities saying that it is all about Putin being aggressive and how Russia started it eight years ago. No history, no context – nothing. To tell you the truth, I thought that the media propaganda effort with the living with the virus theme was impressive but this one is on another level. Oh wait – the Uni woman they are interviewing has just mentioned that her family is from the Ukraine and that she has a nephew or something that saw combat against the rebels and he has said that he is ready to fight again now. Yep. Totally objective reporting here. There is so much gas-lighting going on that I am feeling light-headed now.
Gaslighting? What gaslighting? We have always been at war with Eastasia.
It really does feel like an exercise in “Two Minutes Hate” aimed at Putin. As if one man has become the entirety of a big, populous country.
You’re right–next level impressive. The bad, BAD Russia man is Humpty Dumpty, obsessed with trying to put the USSR back together again. Elegant, simple, pure unadulterated bullshit.
But if gas hits $5 or $6 a gallon in Peoria, Dementia man is gonna find himself in the same boat.
I wonder how many truckers will just fold up their tents and wait if diesel hits $5 a gallon. A buck a mile just for fuel ain’t gonna help Brandon much.
On the bright side, he did find a way to keep the truckers out of DC. Make go bankrupt before they get to you.
Here in Sweden, we’re getting almost exactly the same news as in the US and Oz. Lots of the usual histrionics and, of course, gaslighting. Typical Five Eyes newsfeed stuff. The only difference is that the politicians are using this event to advocate joining NATO because it’s “our only defense” against a future invasion by Putin. Of course, almost every pol here has been wanting to join NATO, but they’ve had the tiny problem that the majority of Swedes haven’t wanted to join. After years of propaganda (and what happened today), the pols believe that their chance (gravy train) has finally come.
Well it would be payback for Sweden invading Russia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_invasion_of_Russia
For some reason everybody wants to invade Russia.
Applebaum is an Atlantic Council-NED hack, HRC sycophant, and certified nutcase (but I repeat myself). If, like me, you have overly protective gag reflexes that resist sticking a finger down your throat to expel toxic stomach contents, type her name into the State Department’s FOIA search field and read her emails to Hillary. One or two should do the job.
What she and Sikorsky get up to in private is their own business and I’d rather she keep her Fifty Shades of Blob to herself.
Re Something Is Rotten in Jerusalem
This is false, and I don’t think it’s an honest mistake.
The agreement was about the Al-Aqsa compound (aka the Temple Mount), not the Al-Aqsa mosque. The said extremists pray in the compound and not in the mosque – in which non-Muslims are not allowed anyway.
Twitter, telegram, TikTok is full of historic phone cam footage from Ukraine.
Check it out. raw, unfiltered. DC and Kiev has no control over the situation. This is the Russian version of Gulf War I. hopefully without the road of death.
Professor Mearsheimer’s talk and Q&A with King’s Politics in Kings College Cambridge about Ukraine. From 3 days ago, highly enlightening.
Hi guy and thanks for the link. Are you still “in country”?
In Bulgaria, and happy to be here even though Ukraine is a stone’s throw away. The level of hysteria on TV here is impressive, just as mindless as what y’all get in the US. It’s an interesting juxtaposition to the reaction of a largely russophile population. Personally, I am bothered by the ignorance of both. Had an argument with my well-educated and very compassionate GF both last night and this morning. She is a white collar equivalent of American liberal, with much the same limited understanding of the events and processes that brought us to this terrible war. The fact that I was raised, educated, and lived most of my life in the US, not to mention wearing the uniform for a stretch, just makes it harder for her to understand my failure to condemn Putin (it’s always Putin here as well, you see) without bringing up my adopted homeland’s misdeeds and responsibility for the war breaking out.
And while I understand realpolitik and how what happened today is the logical conclusion of everything that has happened since 1991, I think that today humanity again proved it’s collective stupidity. We will all be paying a huge price for long time to come. Particularly we in Europe, though I am sure that the people of the good ol’ USA will be paying a huge price as well. That’s the nature of the thing, in war everybody pays a price but those who are responsible for it breaking out.
Truly, today was a very depressing day for anyone who remembers the optimism of the early 1990’s and how that historical opportunity was so easily squandered by the end of that decade out of sheer hubris and greed…
Thanks. And best wishes.
Well put.
Excuse me Resilc but I think you’ll find that Trump Tower is very much located in the United States
https://www.science.org/content/article/largest-bacterium-ever-discovered-has-unexpectedly-complex-cells
By definition, microbes are supposed to be so small they can only be seen with a microscope. But a newly described bacterium living in Caribbean mangroves never got that memo (see video, above). Its threadlike single cell is visible to the naked eye, growing up to 2 centimeters—as long as a peanut—and 5000 times bigger than many other microbes. What’s more, this giant has a huge genome that’s not free floating inside the cell as in other bacteria, but is instead encased in a membrane, an innovation characteristic of much more complex cells, like those in the human body.
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lots of stuff yet to be known
Under Covid-19 heading it says “From GM:”
Does that refer to the statement preceding or the tweets following or was there a message not included in the post, perhaps? Or maybe I haven’t had enough coffee this morning.
GM is a researcher and part of the NC covid brain trust. That is given him credit for the link.
“nocturnals” is a bit fancy. i just call myself a vampire. you know, i’m sure when we became humans through evolution, we “needed” social interaction but that bears no resemblance to mass human society of constant, near anonymous interactions with tons of people getting in each others’ way. i think introverts like sustained, meaningfull interactions with a small set, which is what i imagine early tribal humans were like. encountering strangers was probably pretty rare, much less having to navigate interactions with them so that they didn’t end up like Otzi, the ice man.
oh, that building in Dubai reminded me of this:
Prometheus, the ship rises
don’t know that this association is a good one. i think the mind revolts at entering “buildings” that take such shapes. why not just keep it as a giant sculpture in a park?
Frankly that building reminded me of an oversized noodle. But regarding that death scene if Charlize Theron. That has got to be one of the most stupid scenes in Hollywood history. Only one of those women thought that instead of trying to outrun it, maybe it would be better to go left or go right – and she only thought about it at the last minute. It was like trying to outrun a train instead of simply leaving the tracks.
people in films never listen to the audience. i’ve often wondered if this is not some deliberate subtle forcing of audience participation by the directors.
after all, if no one ever went into the creepy deserted house, there’d be nothing to see for 90 minutes.
Looks like a leftover from the old Lucas imaging design studio before cgi, or maybe from the Fifth Element movie. Maybe the beauty is best seen up close.
I’m sure it’s possibly fascinating to tour.
Putin, warning against interference, says that Russia is a ‘powerful nuclear state.’
(bold mine)
let’s just say you aren’t getting any measured, thoughtful analysis or reporting out of the Times on this.
it has gotten so bad it is worse than parody
re: Free Test Kits by USPS mail
Got my two boxes (4 total) of Made in China iHealth COVID-19 Antigen Rapid Test, Model ICO-3000, in the mail yesterday. Will probably give them away as I do not put myself into harms way unprotected and they need to be used by 2022-07-23.
Now that the Omicron peak is behind us, we got ours yesterday after a two and a half week wait. The packaging reveals that the tests were made in China, our enemy, lol.
I’m still waiting for my free N95 masks that are supposed to be at the nearest pharmacy. Did anybody get them?
Using “The Saker” as a source? I’ve never run into this guy before but “Ukronazis” bowing to “Uncle Shmuel”?
I’m thinking this person just might have an agenda he’s pushing. Or am I being too sensitive?
Using sources that have an agenda is not unusual (HINT: That’s why she sources them.). Yves quotes the New York Times almost daily.
His agenda is that he is Russian moved to Amerika when a youth. He worked in NATO during it’s push into Yugoslavia. He now lives in FLA. He and a few others have good read on Russia. I do admit I go by the site every day;-)
Not sure I’m interested in “RockHard” as a source. Especially when it’s obvious they didn’t read carefully.
“Uncle Shmeul” is both accurate, and funny.
That’s really funny.
Our global air superiority seems to have vanished. We’re sending a whole 8–count ’em–8–F-35s to strike terror into the Russians. Is that how many were operational?
And where are the aircraft carriers in the Black Sea? Given what they cost, that should deter any would-be madman from invading another country.
Since those two American “defense” staples have disappeared, here’s a suggestion for how we can beef up the Ukrainians’ efforts to hold off the Russkies. Give Victoria Nuland a rifle and paradrop her on a road just in front of an advancing Russian armor column. Let her reap some of the whirlwind she sowed eight years ago under Obama.
And while I’m at it, it’s hilarious to hear all the Bushies who have been hired by MSDNC and CNN weep and wail about rules, order, the UN and NATO. They torpedoed all those things quite thoroughly in their eight years of nearly non-stop destruction with the “coalition of the
lackeyswilling.” As far as Bush-Cheney people were concerned, the “rules-based order” consisted of one and only one rule:Rule #1: We (USA) give the orders.
We mere citizens can just keep our heads down and wait for Putin to finish what bin Laden started.
Grace Slick, “Greasy Heart” (audio)
If we really want to strike fear into the Russians, they should have donated the F-35s to the Russians and told them to fly in them.
And if the Russians had remade them into working airplanes, (Removed the electronics) what then?
We get Raytheon to do a hostile takeover of Russia.
That was actually tried back in the 1990s. The result is what we are faced with today.
Hot Springs National Park In Arkansas Has Just Been Named One Of The Most Stunning Parks In The World Only In Your State
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For whatever reason, there just aren’t many hot springs back east compared to the west, and the few on the eastern seaboard tend to be commercial ones similar in look to Hot Springs NP, which has scant appeal to me compared to those in natural settings.
You want stunning?
Instead of a bunch of old buildings in Arkansas, walk 17 miles to Sespe hot springs, where the 190 degree water comes out of the side of a hill, and as an added bonus there’s a herd of about 35 bighorn sheep that like to hang around…
There is a wonderful hot springs some miles east of North Bend WA, inside Snoqualmie National Forest land. At some point in the past someone created a little pool out of rocks to catch the hot water so that a few people can sit in it. It was lovely when I was there about 30 years ago, but now of course it has its own website, you must pay a $20 fee to visit, a reservation must be made months in advance, and weirdly, proof of vax is required (for an outdoor hot spring).
One of my biggest gripes is now people must spend money to visit WA trailheads by buying a pass. National and state parks and trailheads used to be free, but now due to budget cuts everything has been monetized. Poors need not apply.
In Arizona now you have to buy your National Forest recreation site pass at a convenience store because they are no longer sold at the parking lots. And good luck trying to get the promised free parking that should come with a senior pass.
The annoying Bruce Babbit said during Clinton times: you pay to get into Disneyland, why not our national lands?
In SC state parks were once almost all free admission, now almost all pay.
However you can still visit and camp in National Forests for free although back East supposedly only on designated sites.
As for Hot Springs Nat Pk, I’ve been there and remain unstunned. Still the hilly parts of Arkansas can be mighty pretty.
Poors by definition can’t take two weeks off to go travel America so those who can, aren’t poors and can well afford 20 bucks. Just saying.
…there are also giant Condors nesting in the cliffs!
I first visited Sespe in 1968.
I was speaking to a friend yesterday who is a Christian (He genuinely tries to walk the walk, which I respect) and the son of a very successful preacher.
This is someone who grew up trusting and respecting authority and who has himsel fbeen quite successful.
He has completely lost trust in the US Government and bluntly told me that this Ukraine debacle was all about the polls looking bad for Biden.
Wow.
a very successful preacher.
?
Must be alluding to his prosperity god spell, no?
For whatever reason, a cheap Timex watch tells exactly the same time as a spendy Rolex, it’d be as a Ferrari only went as fast as a Smartcar, but looked oh so sporty,
https://robbreport.com/style/watch-collector/rolex-rippers-stealing-watches-uk-1234656441/
The indomitable Joseph Robinette Biden,,hero of the Ukraine will be delivering the SOTU in just a few days and I’m sure his speech writers could use some help.
Perhaps the Rev could chime in?
The first sentence or two are the most important and should advance both his foreign and domestic policy goals.
“The Republic is threatened by enemies from within and without as never before…”
Sounds just about right.
and adding…
Productivity in Washington is at an all time high in the Boded Administration, Notable in Covid Vaccine Efficacy, and military weaponry reliability, all Coupled by the level of honesty demonstrated by our elected, and undetected (Fauchi) officials driven by the level of Patriotic support and their concern for the common good demonstrated by their campaign donors.
Something like this. Chancellor Palpatine’s declaration of the Galactic Empire. (The Blobistas must be slavering in anticipation.)
See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hS57I6swXcc
Never cared for Tulsi Gabbert. Between her Fundie Hindu Modi beliefs, and now hobnobbing with the real FRighties, she is showing her true colors. Ugh!
Can’t have that inclusive, diversity, conviction of beliefs thing. It’s radical spokespeople like her who inspire subversive thoughts /s
Just throwing this in here. Has anyone else noticed the curious ‘slant’ on all things Russia that has emerged on the Krystal and Saagar program? They seem to have “drunk the RussiaRussiaRussia Kool Aid.”
As always, take nothing nor anyone for granted.
Yes, ambrit, I tend to binge on a couple of days’ worth of Breaking Point, when I am cleaning house, baking, doing big cooking spree, etc., and I noticed the change. But thought that they might have had a quiet word from You Tube to cool it.
I have noticed in radical leftist – not liberal – spaces there is only a shallow understanding of the post-Soviet space and much beyond the latest culture wars or “theory”.
Not only that. There seems to be some real fear of being labelled as a traitor to your nation state or the “collective West” even if you are also calling for some socialist revolution in your homeland. Indicative of further repression and social credit scores to come in the West?
One is reminded of the Guardians change of tone after MI6 came to visit and smashed up Snowdens laptop.
Whatever, I can’t think Lenin in 1917 was worried about being labelled a “Kaiserversteher” on the train back to St. Petersberg.
Western leftists are simply powerless and know it. Thus ritual wringing of hands and serious headshaking over Herr Putler. Few places to read a variety of rational takes left (like NC).
I agree, and some on the Twittersphere has noticed as well. I have watched them regularly since they were on the Hill, but once they went on their own, something changed IMO. What, I’m not sure. Maybe the fact they are on their own and at under the censorship/de-monetize umbrella of YouTube (Google), or something else. They did say last week (?) one day they had something taken down from one of the other platforms, so maybe they are a bit spooked. I don’t remember, but I think they also said they have had a couple of segments that YouTube took the monetization away, but I could be misremembering.
There was also talk on Twitter, and their own feed under the show, about Krystal leaving her husband to get hooked up with Kyle Kylinski (sp?) things changed. Some think Kyle has been an influence on her. She posted a picture of them on Valentine’s Day with a bunch of hearts, which was like announcing they were a “thing” so that part seems true at least.
But yea, I’m with you. If I were a paying subscriber, I would drop that at this point. They don’t seem to be the renegades they used to be, and seemed to have swallowed more than one flavor of Kool Aid.
Re: the item about Canada (Trudeau ending The Emergencies Act). Thank you! This made me feel like a genuine member of the NC community. Now my wife is calling me Mitch. :)
Oh, sorry! Will correct! I have a bad case of name dyslexia.
Trudeau ends use of Emergencies Act, says ‘situation is no longer an emergency’ CBC (Mitchell King)
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Canadian Blather Corporation (CBC) also reports that Canadian Prime Injector Elmer Fuddeau will be taking a few well earned days off to hunt wabbits.
From the Daily Mail article:
“Trucker Bob Bolus (pictured Wednesday) is leading a convoy from Pennsylvania to DC and has vowed to shut down the Beltway and other roads in and out of the capital city”
It’s so exciting to see someone meet their (name induced) destiny.
Them other truckers!
They kind of remind me of Spinal Tap getting lost in the basement in Cleveland.
“US Stokes Tensions With Russia by Building Military Base 100 Miles From Border”
The UK went one better. They were going to build two naval bases on the Black Sea for the Ukrainians and give them missile boats which obviously would be to attack the Russians in Crimea with. So it would essentially be two de facto NATO naval bases to be used against the Russian Navy.