Links 10/12/2022

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1. Antifa October 12, 2022 at 7:01 am

   BEST OF FRIENDS
   (melody borrowed from Frankie Lee and Judas Priest by Bob Dylan)

   Well, America and Europe
   We were the best of friends
   We made action flicks and police Crown Vic’s
   They made baguettes and Mercedes-Benz

   We’ve had our minor differences
   But we all were in the lane
   Until the day we blew their Nord Streams up
   With absolute disdain

   Them that say we didn’t
   Lie as boldly as Huck Finn
   We just put half a billion people
   Into a tailspin

   And down the road this will be portrayed
   As our own suicide
   When your best friend stabs you in the back
   Well, that friendship has died

   This is not abstract discussion
   For the diplomatic sphere
   This deprives millions of heat and light
   At the worst time of the year

   This affects every mother and child
   North of the Mediterranean Sea
   Terrorism is forcing people
   To be how you want them to be

   Apparently, our government
   Wants Europe to sacrifice
   Heat and light unless they pay us
   Ten times the normal price

   When we can’t convince, we blow stuff up
   That’s always been our style
   The moment you don’t agree with us
   We get downright hostile

   But killing an undersea pipeline?
   That’s as final as a guillotine
   We can’t undo a thing like that
   With a media smokescreen

   We did it to wall off Europe
   From economies further east
   That new Silk Road from China
   And the oil-soaked Russian beast

   But let’s step back a moment
   For a panoramic sight —
   This deed tells every other nation
   That we have a divine right

   To violate their sovereignty
   From Somalia to Laos
   We’ll come and kick your front door in
   Like it’s a Detroit crack house

   This was the deed of a Neanderthal
   Not some disruptive Renaissance man
   The desperate act of zealots
   With a short attention span

   And it will cost us plenty
   Over There and here at home
   All the chickens will come home to roost
   Wherever else they roam

   Kicking a friend in the crotch
   Won’t win their heart or soul
   Once trust is gone, if they stick around
   It’s to leech off your bankroll

   Even if it’s never mentioned
   There’s that Thing That You Have Done
   And they don’t even wonder anymore
   If we’ll use that Tommy gun

   Pipeline bombs puts our empire
   Out on the rubbish heap
   It’s a simple concept, folks
   As you sow so shall you reap

   We’ve done a thing that cannot be
   Forgiven or reimbursed
   A grave mistake for short term gain
   Completely uncoerced

   As Putin says, the sun has set
   On Europe and the West
   We won’t partition Russia
   Or own China’s treasure chest

   We’re the fools who make up new rules
   While out on the playing field
   With no self respect or honor
   Nukes is all we wield

   (harmonica)

   Like Al Capone, we have no heart
   No sense of right and wrong
   And we keep on playing checkers
   While the world now plays Mahjong

   If stupid is as stupid does
   This pipeline episode
   Makes us like Wile E. Coyote —
   We’re in descending mode
   1. nycTerrierist October 12, 2022 at 8:40 am

      all’s I can say is, Bravo Maestro
   2. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 9:05 am

      Wow! I think this was your best yet!

      Really, well done.
      1. EGrise October 12, 2022 at 11:15 am

         Agreed. Bravo!
   3. juno mas October 12, 2022 at 1:10 pm

      Yes, Antifa, your talent with rhyme and reason is a delight!
2. Patrick Donnelly October 12, 2022 at 7:16 am

   Neutron radiation is temporary, except for those close to detonation. They will get cancers.

   There are no long lasting or identifying isotopes.

   “No one knows who dealt it” …..

   Given that the oil and banking families are behind the Ukraine, the last drop of Ukie blood, and J Bolton has suggested assassination is fair play, are those families seeking shelter?
   1. jsn October 12, 2022 at 10:16 pm

      I read a comment the other day that nuclear blasts have seismic fingerprints by which seismologists can tell type, and thus provenance.

      I hope that’s true.
3. Matthew October 12, 2022 at 7:33 am

   The G7 statement does not say that Russia was shelling the plant.
   1. Polar Socialist October 12, 2022 at 7:45 am

      Are you saying G7 condemns Russia shooting down kamikaze drones in the premises or preventing the Ukrainian commando attacks on the power plant, then?
   2. Yves Smith Post authorOctober 12, 2022 at 7:47 am

      In light of the coding of other remarks, that is not how I read this, since they discuss the plant personnel explicitly as a second matter: “We condemn Russia’s actions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant”.

      What actions do you think they are referring to, pray tell? If they wanted to criticize Russia occupying the plant, they presumably would have said that, as opposed to “actions at” which presupposes Russian possession.
      1. David October 12, 2022 at 8:06 am

         If you read the statement in context, it says:

         “We condemn Russia’s actions at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and the pressure exerted on the personnel of the facility. This is a further irresponsible escalation and we will hold Russia responsible for any incident caused by their actions. The safety, security and safeguards of the nuclear facility are paramount and we support the International Atomic Energy Agency’s efforts in this regard.”

         It’s fairly clear that they are not talking about an attack on the plant, but rather actions taking place at the plant, including “pressure exerted on the personnel of the facility.” The “this” in the next sentence clearly refers back to this pressure and other actions “at” the plant. There have been lots of stories circulating about attempts to link the station to the Russian grid. Whether there’s any truth in them or not, such an action could be described as “escalation.” If they had wanted to make a specific reference to attacks “on” the plant, they could easily have done so.

         I think we’re probably seeing here the result of a struggle over drafting, in which some states wanted to condemn the attacks, whereas others didn’t. This slightly obscure form of words was probably a compromise, which states could interpret in different ways.
         1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 8:16 am

            Only trouble here is that like the destruction of the Baltic sea pipelines, you have to look at the artillery pounding that nuclear power plant and pretend to be mystified where it is all coming from. ‘Such a mystery!’ they exclaim. ‘Will we ever find out where it is all coming from?’ Of course the Russians could submit radar records showing exactly those rounds are coming from but the same people writing those reports would look at those records, shake their heads, and say that it is all so mysterious.
         2. Polar Socialist October 12, 2022 at 8:26 am

            I’m sure you’re right about the drafted by a committee. It’s also probably English being my fourth language that I assume “actions and pressure” means “actions” are different from “pressure”.

            What I’m wondering is what is this pressure: Not allowing them to leave the plant to run on it’s own? Or paying their (likely higher) salaries? Protecting them and their families from bombardment coming from unknown source? Allowing their families to seek refugee from the bombardment from unknown source?

            It was already announced that when the bombardment from unknown sources disconnects the plant from Ukrainian grid, it’s been provided with emergency power from Crimea – so it definitely has been connected to Russian grid a long time ago. Otherwise it may have had an accident already. Considering that until the February of this year the ZNPP was connected to Russian grid, it’s not really a biggie.

            The generators have to be synchronized with either Ukrainian or Russian grid, and currently the Ukrainian grid is having serious stability issues, so very likely the generators have been synchronized with Russian grid, anyway.

            I’m sure Somebody here with actual experience of power plant operations could give more precise information.
            1. Sibiryak October 12, 2022 at 9:25 am

               It’s also probably English being my fourth language that I assume “actions and pressure” means “actions” are different from “pressure” .

               No, your logic is impeccable. Your amazing mastery of English has nothing to do with it.
         3. Yves Smith Post authorOctober 12, 2022 at 8:27 am

            I’m sorry, but “we will hold Russia responsible for any incident caused by their actions” refers to accident risk, not changing the power output from its old connection to the Ukraine grid to a new connection to Donbass/Russian held areas. Please tell me what “action” other than the alleged shelling could lead to an “incident”.

            And the insinuation about the staff is also misleading. The IEA was clear the staff was working regular hours and not being over-taxed schedule-wise. They were not happy with Russian soldiers being their minders and effectively incarcerating the staff at the plant, but the IEA was unable to come up with any resulting risk.

            I am sure the staff was freaked out by being captive while all the shelling was going on but they still looked to be doing their jobs well despite that.
            1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 9:14 am

               I have been hearing stories about the torture of the Nuclear power plants’ director and employees. Whether true or not I obviously cannot say, though the original sources are from Ukraine. Ghost of Kiev and all that; they have form, so take it for what it is worth. This may be what they are referring to.

               “The invaders are detaining, torturing, and killing employees of the Zaporizhzhia NPP. This is not only a war crime against the civilian population but also a violation of the principles of nuclear safety, one of which is precisely the preservation of the integrity of the team responsible for the facility,” the Ombudsman wrote.

               He recalled that after the capture of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, its personnel became hostages and continue to work to this day. “Dozens of people were abducted, and their further fate is unknown,” Lubinets stressed.

               In particular, on August 3, a man with numerous bodily injuries in a coma was taken to the Energodar hospital.

               “He turned out to be an employee of the Zaporizhzhya NPP, scuba diver Andrei Goncharuk. As a result of injuries received from a severe beating, because he did not want to cooperate with the occupiers, he died without coming out of a coma,” the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada stated.

               https://odessa-journal.com/russians-detain-torture-and-kill-employees-of-the-zaporizhzhia-npp/
               1. lou strong October 12, 2022 at 11:21 am

                  I just finished to watch a short video showing a civilians’ killing near Kupyansk.
                  It was posted by a Kraken soldier in order to accuse Russians of the killing, but it turned out, by context,vid metadata and by an artless attempt to manipulate the vid after the first publication, that it was a Ukrainian killing of pro-Russian locals.
                  By the way Russians ,as everybody in the world, are capable of atrocities,but my impression is that the constant flow of atrocities ascribed to them by Nato-UKr have found until now little evidence.
                  If a Nato-UKr pattern is to be supposed , it’s the pattern to ascribe their own atrocities to the Russian side.
                  In the meanwhile Russian sources claimed that a few days ago the Russian Services found that the director of Zaporizhzhya NPP Igor Murashov was in touch with the Ukrainians during the shelling, giving them infos, and allegedly took him to the Zaporizhzhya green corridor and let him go to the Ukr side.
                  Let’s not forget that the “official” truth in the West is that Russian are shelling themselves.
                  1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 12:05 pm

                     “Let’s not forget that the “official” truth in the West is that Russian are shelling themselves.”

                     Yep. In every single instance we are told that it is the Russians doing things to themselves. Were that true they would be the most insanely self destructive people in world history, which brings into question why, after thousands of years worth of Russian culture, they still exist at all.

                     We are clearly ruled by kindergarten level bullies:

                     https://tenor.com/view/stop-hitting-yourself-nelson-muntz-gif-20467312
                     1. Sibiryak October 12, 2022 at 12:30 pm

                        The Russian missile and drone attacks that killed at least 19 people across Ukraine on Monday were traumatic and wide-ranging, but they were not as deadly as they could have been [,,,]

                        That has renewed questions over the quality of Russia’s weapons… —The New York Times Oct. 11

                        Hmm…if only Russia had used more precise missiles, they might have hit their intended targets–civilians–rather than veering off and hitting SBU offices, electrical plants, railroads etc.
                        1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 2:27 pm

                           I saw reports that the anti-missile systems that Ukraine uses failed in many instances, causing even more death and destruction than did the Russian missiles they were meant to intercept. Strangely, or perhaps not, there was no mention of how many civilians Ukraine managed to kill. I suspect that they would not compare favorably.
            2. David October 12, 2022 at 9:17 am

               The two uses of the word “action” refer to the same thing, ie things happening at the power plant. I don’t know what the drafters had in mind, and it’s quite possible they didn’t either. In communiqués of this kind, the original draft often gets so hacked around that in the end it’s meaningless. This is a political communiqué not an objective presentation of facts.

               In any event, only two of the G7 have English as their native language. As hosts, the Germans would probably have provided the initial draft, and Aktion in German has a much wider range of meanings than “action” in English. Writing in international English (“Globisch” as it’s sometimes called) is a constant source of confusion.

               In any event, it’s clear that the communique contained no direct reference to bombardment of the power station, which itself is interesting.
         4. Sibiryak October 12, 2022 at 9:13 am

            If they had wanted to make a specific reference to attacks “on” the plant, they could easily have done so.

            Likewise, if they had wanted to make specific reference to attempts to link the station to the Russian power grid, they could easily have done so.

            By being deliberately vague, they made it entirely reasonable for people to deduce that Russia’s “actions” refers to the alleged Russian shelling of the plant, which got a lot more public attention and was far more of a threat.
            1. britzklieg October 12, 2022 at 10:32 am

               This.
            2. David October 12, 2022 at 11:20 am

               This is the art of communiqué drafting by committee. Quite often you can tell from the final product something about how the discussion went, and it looks as though here there were those that wanted to condemn Russia for the attacks, and those who didn’t, and the result was a compromise which suggested something without actually saying so. Likewise, if you read the paragraph carefully, there are three sentences which don’t actually follow on from each other, and were probably worked on at separate times. Bits of one sentence may also have been traded for bits of another. The result doesn’t have to make sense: it just has to be minimally acceptable to everyone.
         5. britzklieg October 12, 2022 at 10:31 am

            BS and you know it.
   3. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 10:02 am

      Having read that G7 Statement on Ukraine, they are doubling down and there is no mention of any possible future negotiations. The interesting wrinkle is the mention of Belarus – which may be the next way to try to attack Russia through a regime-change operation. A 1,000 Russians have gone there to set up a joint task group to firm up defenses and already the Ukrainians have blown the bridges and mined the roads on the 1,000 kilometer long Ukraine-Belarus border. I think that the Belorussians are wary of Polish intentions for western Ukraine going by recent changes in their laws too. At that G7 meeting, Zelensky was demanding the setting up of international observers to ‘monitor’ that border which would be made up of troops from NATO in all likelihood. Can you spell mission creep? As I noted before, the west have gone too far to stop trying to beat Russia as the financial system of the west now depends on bending Russia to their demands. The consequences of losing for them are too frightening and the de-industrialization of Europe is a glimpse of what lay in store for them if they lose. So it is not over yet by a long shot.
      1. Tom Stone October 12, 2022 at 6:01 pm

         17% of the World’s Covid deaths hint at what is in store for Americans.
         500 a day or thereabouts.
         So far.
   4. Sibiryak October 12, 2022 at 10:40 am

      The G7 statement does not say that Russia was shelling the plant.

      The bottom line is they don’t condemn the Ukranian attacks on the plant, which makes everything else they say morally vacuous.
      1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 11:35 am

         Exactly. I have now read several articles which quote the head of the IEA, and not one of them attribute the shelling to Ukraine. That cannot be a mere oversight. How does one get through all of those articles and fail to explicitly mention who is doing the shelling?

         The UN is losing any credibility it may have had left over Ukraine.
         1. Irrational October 12, 2022 at 11:57 am

            Indeed, and this is compounded by UN Secretary General making some very partisan statements and so-called investigations concluding only Russians do bad things.
         2. Oh October 12, 2022 at 2:33 pm

            The UN lost its credibility a long time. They’ve been a pawn of the US forever.
            1. Joe Renter October 12, 2022 at 3:50 pm

               The security council is a sign of failure IMO.
4. zagonostra October 12, 2022 at 7:49 am

   >Noam Chomsky on Where Artificial Intelligence Went Wrong Atlantic (David L)

   That tells something about evolution. What it strongly suggests is that in the evolution of language, a computational system developed, and later on it was externalized.

   A couple of weeks ago on a flight I re-read a small book by Tom Wolfe that my daughter gave me called The Kingdom of Speech. When I first read it, maybe 4 o 5 years ago when it came out, I dismissed it. I had read many of Wolfe’s novels but I thought he was out of his element and brash for intruding on the “greatest living intellectual of our times.” After all, I had been keenly reading and listening to Chomsky for many many years and often would appeal to his works when in discussions with friends, he was something of an authority on language and politics. He embodied what an “intellectual” should strive to be. I placed Chomsky on a pedestal.

   Maybe it was Chomsky’s comments about people who refused to take a vaccine that made be want to take another look at Wolfe’s book. It was a curious experience coming back this little book after so summarily rejecting it. It made me realize just how susceptible I am to judging a book/person by its cover. Wolfe’s basic contention is that language can not be explained by evolution and that Chomsky’s is hamstrung in his analysis by his reliance on neo-Darwin theories and evolution in general.

   Drawing on the work of Daniel Everett, Wolfe’s basic contention is that Chomsky has it wrong with his theory that there is some “computational system” that has evolved that led to language like the ear evolved into an apparatus that allows hearing. The story of Everett foray deep into the Amazon jungle to study an isolated tribe is highly entertaining and filled with adventure that makes for a good read. What Wolfe concludes is that language is a human artifact, and is not based on some “language device/organ” that evolved following the same trajectory as biological evolution. It is only a “mnemonic system – one that has enabled homo sapiens to take control of the entire world.”
   1. Polar Socialist October 12, 2022 at 8:34 am

      May I suggest a book on the development of language, that makes a good argument for it’s evolutionary development: The Singing Neanderthals.

      It’s at places quite heavy reading, but I guess it’s unavoidable, since Mithen travels trough multiple disciplines and is kinda forced to introduce them all on the way to his arguments.
      1. zagonostra October 12, 2022 at 9:29 am

         It’s not evolution per se that is the issue. It is that Chomsky posits that a “language device” or something akin to an organ exists, a “computational system.” To my way of thinking the ensemble of all the neurological/biological systems that make up human beings as a species created the capacity for language and social factors allowed speech/language to emerge. Both had to come together. I’m coming at this from a “symbolic interactionist” approach (George Herbert Mead) which recognizes evolution but doesn’t rely on finding a “language organ” or “deep structure” or a “universal grammar.”

         Thanks for link, look forward to reading.
         1. Kouros October 12, 2022 at 4:25 pm

            The exceptions could serve as beacons. All those young kids able to extract cubic radicals out of numbers or multiply huge numbers the way normies do 2 x 2 seem to be endowed with some powerful computational / linguistic organs (math is another language). Nobody memorizes the square root of 9871.
      2. Lex October 12, 2022 at 10:11 am

         That’s going on the list. From what I know of human development, we had the ability to make sound for thousands of years before there’s any indication of using that ability for language. But music is the universal language. So I’ve “concluded” (without the prerequisite academic credentials for being taken seriously) that language developed from music. We made sounds and pounded on hollow logs or synchronized those mouth sounds to the rhythm of falling rain or our footsteps. We began to repeat certain sounds to accentuate the rhythm which they were made over, and in this we both trained our vocal cords and began to give meaning to specific sounds. Next thing you know (in an evolutionary sense) we began to use “language” as we’d describe it today in the halls of academia.

         I don’t think that makes Chomsky’s ideas about how language influence or define the way we think now. That appears to be at least generally if not scientifically confirm-able. But in the question of chicken or egg, I’d side with the development of language creating the computational sort of language Chomsky talks about rather than there being some sort of Platonic computational matrix of language that precedes the ability to effect language itself.
         1. jsn October 12, 2022 at 11:00 pm

            There was at some point a genetic selection or spandrel that gave form to symbolic representation, whether it was words per se, tonal scales or something else.

            Whether by direct selection pressure or as a side effect of courtship rituals or whatnot, it was powerful enough to let autistic savants, musical and mathematical genius, poets and politicians all, on occasion, do amazing things.

            To my mind “language instinct” maps better over the facts I know directly than “language organ”: if you’re not exposed to language by a certain point in brain formation, you’ll never have it. It’s a potentiality that, if left undeveloped will accrue to other, probably less powerful activities.
         2. c_heale October 13, 2022 at 3:06 am

            I don’t think the first paragraph can be true. Many animals have been show to have a language, although in most species it is quite limited.

            Therefore I think that language is something that is part of the animal world and that humans have just taken this ability much further than most animals are capable of.
   2. Xquacy October 12, 2022 at 9:06 am

      Maybe it was Chomsky’s comments about people who refused to take a vaccine that made be want to take another look at Wolfe’s book [about language].

      I would think that is not the sort of argument you say out loud. Its possible to be perfectly wrong about something, and yet right about something else. Judgment about a figure’s trustworthiness has no bearing, either positively or negatively on the plausibility of their assertions. That being said, I hear repeatedly that Chomsky committed some unpardonable sin in his comments on vaccine mandates. I have looked at the interview twice now, and failed to find evidence for the accusation that he recommends mandates;

      “I think people who refuse to accept vaccines, I think the right response for them, not to force them, but rather to insist that they be isolated. If people decide ‘I want to be a danger to the community by refusing the vaccine’, they should then say ‘I also have the decency to isolate myself.'”

      https://invidious.namazso.eu/watch?v=7RPt7hRfr8I

      Further comments by comparison to small pox makes it clear he calls for a response proportionate to the severity of disease. I don’t hear support voiced for state sponsored, forced isolation, for Covid-19 here.
      1. zagonostra October 12, 2022 at 9:40 am

         “Judgment about a figure’s trustworthiness has no bearing, either positively or negatively on the plausibility of their assertions. ”

         In an ideal world you are correct. In the real world you couldn’t be more wrong. I can not test the truth value of everything I read or hear so I rely, maybe overly rely, on the person or source, There is no getting around this, though I wish it were otherwise.
      2. hunkerdown October 12, 2022 at 10:29 am

         “A danger to the community” is doing a lot of work there, especially seeing how the vax-fetishist PMC manufacture superspreading events wherever they go. If anyone needs to be forcibly isolated from society, it isn’t the control group.
   3. GramSci October 12, 2022 at 9:18 am

      Da steh ich nun, ich armer Tor!
      Und bin so klug als wie zuvor;
      Heiße Magister, heiße Doktor gar
      Und ziehe schon an die zehen Jahr
      Herauf, herab und quer und krumm
      Meine Schüler an der Nase herum-
      Und sehe, daß wir nichts wissen können!
      1. BillS October 12, 2022 at 9:58 am

         Woeful words of Dr. Faustus, who exchanged his soul for vanity, conned by the wily Mephistopheles!
   4. Carolinian October 12, 2022 at 9:37 am

      Not that I have any expertise on an article that is way above my pay grade but I’ll sign up with Chomsky on this one. My psychology major brother was once into B.F. Skinner but now agrees that Skinner’s mechanical approach to behavior was far too reductive and left out the complex way that animals (that’s us) are predisposed to learn certain things. Wolfe was a Virginia conservative who was often on target debunking the arts but was also below his pay grade on this one I suspect.

      Of course Skinner was also right about lots of things and was taken up by behavior manipulators like the advertising industry. But manipulating other people is a lot simpler than trying to create a brain.
   5. Thistlebreath October 12, 2022 at 12:23 pm

      Cormac McCarthy, author of “No Country for Old Men,” “All the Pretty Horses,” etc. etc. has a few ideas about human language, conscious vs. unconscious and more.

      https://intmassmedia.com/2017/06/05/cormac-mccarthy-on-language-and-the-unconscious/

      I think he’s right, so did Ray Bradbury (“Don’t Think, Write!) and Dean Koontz in his now hard to find book, “How to Write Best Selling Fiction” (“allow enough time for your unconscious idea pump to get going”)
   6. PlutoniumKun October 12, 2022 at 12:27 pm

      I’m not a linguist, but so far as I’m aware Daniel Everett is in a very small minority in his beliefs – he happens to have had something of a megaphone for those beliefs as there are lots of people who want to prove Chomsky wrong. Tom Wolfe is entertaining as a writer, but he has a history of using his impressive writing skills to twist and distort history. His From Our House to Bauhaus is very entertaining and makes some very good points, but I’d never take it as an accurate history of architectural thought.

      As Everett has declared himself the sole interpreter to the world of the Piraha language, his claims are pretty much un-falsifiable. Its also very dubious to assert that just because one very obscure language in the Amazon rainforest is not recursive then that automatically means any linguistic theory that asserts that recursiveness is fundamental to language is proven wrong. It’s like arguing that birds did not evolve to fly because some birds are flightless.
      1. zagonostra October 12, 2022 at 1:26 pm

         Its also very dubious to assert that just because one very obscure language in the Amazon rainforest is not recursive then that automatically means any linguistic theory that asserts that recursiveness is fundamental to language is proven wrong.

         That’s the beauty of science, you only have to find one black swan to tank the whole notion that all swans are white.

         Funny thing, I had the exact reaction/impression you did on my first reading. It was only on re-reading and in light of Chomsky’s comments that voting for Trump would lead us to WWIII, that any sane person would vote for Biden, among other comments, that made me re-think Wolfe’s take.
   7. Jeremy Grimm October 12, 2022 at 5:11 pm

      The discussion in the Atlantic link ranged very far and very wide making an analysis of its content difficult and probably prolix — sorry. Also I did not understand many of the points made in the discussion. I believe Skinner should be kept within his box, but I have long greatly admired David Marr and his book on Vision. I believe Chomsky’s theories of language and the mind fall short of the goals set forth in Marr’s program for cognitive science. I believe the problems Marr studied and characterized were far less complex than the problems of language and mind that Chomsky tackled. But I believe Chomsky’s framework for understanding these problems stands many tests as the best theoretical basis for advancing cognitive science into areas like consciousness and intelligence.

      Dragging Skinner back into the mix: “unequivocal triumph of an essentially Chomskyian
      approach over Skinner’s behaviorist paradigm” makes no sense to me because I never held
      Skinner in much regard, and held him in even less regard after caring for a few pet rats. [I
      do admire the discovery that rats could be driven insane by placing them in a training box
      that tendered punishments — solely, although I am not sure whether Skinner alone deserves
      full credit.] The disagreement between Chomsky and AI theorists operating on extracting
      ‘intelligence’ from masses of data seems much more interesting than Chomsky versus
      Skinnerisms. I believe Chomsky’s observation: “regularities in masses of data is unlikely to
      yield the explanatory insight that science ought to offer” comes to the heart of matters and
      raises a most interesting problem for human intelligence. This is a problem that troubled me
      on first reading about the computer solution for the four-color problem. What kind of human
      knowledge and understanding yields from an AI analysis of some great mass of data? What
      human understanding might be conferred from a lengthy computer proof exhaustively proving
      the four-color problem? Are there things simply too complex for the human mind to
      understand? I do not believe so; I do not want to believe so. I can more readily believe an
      understanding based on some exhaustive optimization of massive amounts of data may prove
      useful, but it is not Knowledge and it offers little knowing.

      I believe Chomsky identified the essence of how Artificial Intelligence [AI], went ‘wrong’: “AI and robotics” … “shifted to engineering”. This is a kindly characterization that sidesteps the extent to which AI and robotics became tools to serve Big Corporations, serving Neoliberalism’s approaches to science. Big Data and the probabilistic approaches to AI do offer enticements to profits but they offer little/nothing to better understanding the nature of intelligence. Science and the interests of Big Money do not mix.

      I believe Chomsky’s approaches to language and mind failed as their theoretical application grew in complexities with practice. Examine current models of English syntax. The rules of syntax have grown in complexity to almost rival big data.

      This review in the Atlantic did not mention the efforts to construct the “Small Talk” computer understandable world, as a means to train robots to learn how to understand and operate in a synthetic world. I do not know how these efforts fit into the evolution of AI. I believe they embody the failure of rule-based models of reality as a way for robots to learn the world as children lean language. Syntax based based reality either did not work or required a much more complex syntactic model than even the most obsessed minds could construct. I believe Chomsky’s ‘answer’ is incomplete, and I believe he would readily acknowledge that. But his answer is correct as far as it goes.

      I believe the most important question to contemplate is: “What does does it mean to Know something — as a human intellect — as any intellect … ?
      1. BlakeFelix October 12, 2022 at 9:34 pm

         I like Chomsky, but my favorite Chomsky joke is that linguists think that he is a brilliant political philosopher with some goofy ideas about languages and political philosophers think that he is a brilliant(cunning?) linguist with some goofy ideas about politics.
5. griffen October 12, 2022 at 8:04 am

   Money laundering article is a real doozy, worth a thorough read if you have the time to spend. It also hearkens to the plot or sub-plot of The Dark Knight; how to wash all those funds. Okay the film is a work of fiction but there are so many films in the genre of gangsters, cocaine and the fluctuations of moving cash around.

   It’s no small surprise to learn how much these flows can influence real estate markets, not directly but indirectly as wealthy Chinese seek to move their fortunes around the globe.
   1. russell1200 October 12, 2022 at 9:52 am

      This stuff came up some time ago, but it seems to be one of those slow percolating type of stories. At the bottom half of story they do a good job of explaining the transactions. The WSJ completed the loop in a story by continuing on to show items being bought in China being shipped to Mexican discount chains. Presumably the Yuan used to buy these goods is sold at a discount which they can afford as the US$>Yuan transaction is done with a fee attached.

      What I don’t like is all the hyperventilating about Chinese Government involvement.

      Given that a lot of the US$ end goes into US real estate, it is hard to see where the Chinese Government would push this type of deal: except as individuals trying to make their own safe nest egg. That is like saying Trump’s making a lot of $ on NYC real estate was an official US attempt to help the Russian Oligarchy. LOL
6. Silent Bob October 12, 2022 at 8:08 am

   Chicago Tribune Covid article gave me a chuckle:

   Craig Klugman, professor of bioethics at DePaul University, said that “from an ethical standpoint, lying is almost always wrong.”

   Unless you’re a bioethicist justifying vaccine mandates and vilifying anyone who dares to question the narrative. Then they are noble lies. They really can’t help themselves, can they?
   1. Arizona Slim October 12, 2022 at 8:14 am

      No, Bob, they can’t help themselves.

      But we can help ourselves. Let’s do that instead.
   2. Katniss Everdeen October 12, 2022 at 9:41 am

      So, I wonder where this “bioethicist” was when Malone and McCullough and Ivermectin were getting beaten up and cancelled. A little more from him:

      But he called dishonesty regarding an individual’s COVID- 19 status or prevention measures particularly egregious, because “it’s lying that could have deadly effects on other people.”

      “It’s likely that some of this lying resulted in deaths,” said Klugman, who was not involved in the study. “We’ll never know.”

      Interesting “ethical” point of view in the “context” of the admission that the “vaccine” was never tested for its prevention of transmission, while being undisputedly promoted as such. Or in pregnant women for that matter. Lots of “particularly egregious” shit floatin’ around over the past couple of years.
      1. shinola October 12, 2022 at 1:18 pm

         IIRC, when the vaccine was 1st provided to the public, it was NOT claimed to provide immunity from the contagion it self – the only claim was that the vax helped to reduce the risk of severe symptoms. A vax’d person could still catch, carry & spread the virus. (At least that was my understanding). AFAIK, that has not changed.

         Somewhere along the line people started behaving as if the vax provided immunity.

         I still avoid going to any indoor public space that is not necessary, such as pharmacy & grocery, and avoid those places during their usual busy times. Wife & I still wear masks when we go to those places. More often than not, we are the only ones in the store still wearing masks.

         This thang ain’t over yet. Like it or not, we’re all covid equivalents of Typhoid Mary.
         1. will rodgers horse October 12, 2022 at 3:48 pm

            nope. this is not accurate. The RCTs were set up to measure prevention of symptomatic infection. They were not set up to measure prevention of death etc. Despite that there are copious videos easily still available that show the willful spreading of the notion that prevention of infection nad transmission was very high. From Fauci, Bourla, CDC officals, talking heads etc.
         2. Late Introvert October 12, 2022 at 6:04 pm

            I don’t agree with your 1st paragraph at all. Everyone I knew at the time, including my mom – a former nurse, was convinced it was a proper sterilizing vaccine and were quite upset when I said it wasn’t.
            1. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 6:41 pm

               Let’s not forget that Biden also said publicly and on TV that if one were vaccinated one could not get infected, nor could one infect others. That Biden often “gaffes” is not an excuse for his administration’s lies regarding the efficacy of the vaccines.
         3. eg October 12, 2022 at 6:59 pm

            I don’t recall the official pronouncements at the outset regarding the vaccines, but thanks to NC and its commentariat I knew early on that they did not afford sterilizing immunity — in fact, I owe it to the NC community that I am even aware of the concept of sterilizing vs non-sterilizing immunity where vaccines are concerned.
         4. Norm de plume October 12, 2022 at 8:27 pm

            IIRC, when the vaccine was 1st provided to the public, it was NOT claimed to provide immunity from the contagion it self

            Oh for goodness sake.
7. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 8:08 am

   “Lying about COVID status is common”

   Yeah, there is a lot of finger wagging here but not that much context. For example, how many people could not actually find out their Covid status as either they could not take the time from work to be tested as they are literally living hand to mouth or they would quickly find themselves fired and living on the streets if they tried to take time off sick. To get into the weeds you would have to break down these statistics by income level and maybe postcode which would indicate their status. Lots of people were justifiably frightened of taking an experimental vaccine that only had emergency clearance but knew that they would be ostracized not only from their social/family groups but might also lose their jobs/careers as well so lied as well. Sure, you would have a lot of entitled people that will lie about their status because of ‘mah rights’ but I seriously doubt that this is the case with all those people. So without the contextual analysis and a breakdown of the financial positions of all those surveyed people, this study is at best a finger wag.
   1. Objective Ace October 12, 2022 at 9:06 am

      The heading is also misleading. Covid status = positive or not. Whether your vaccinated or routinely wear a mask, etc. is not your Covid status. While lying is generally not good, lying about having covid is much worse than the latter
8. Bugs October 12, 2022 at 8:25 am

   That is a very handsome dog. Now I feel jealous and will have to send you some photos of my canine companion, who’s even more elegant and debonaire… ;)
9. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 8:26 am

   Flying your freak flag–

   Yesterday, we had Steve Waldman quoting a defiant line from Jefferson Airplane’s “We Can Be Together,” which was strange enough for a guy who would have been in 1st grade when the “Volunteers” album came out. Of course, he misapplied it to liberal elites rather than Paul Kantner’s original intent to apply it to defiant resisters, something Waldman could do only by leaving out the preceding line:

   We are forces of chaos and anarchy.
   Everything they say we are, we are.
   And we are very proud of ourselves.

   Now these days, you could certainly argue that lib PMCs were forces of chaos and anarchy. The CIA may even consider that their overriding mission statement. But that was definitely NOT what Paul Kantner was writing about.

   Today, a NYT headline writer quotes from Jimi Hendrix’s “If Six Was Nine.” This time, it’s the paper of record that gets it wrong, making “election deniers” the “freaks.” Here’s what Jimi actually wrote:

   White collared conservative,
   Flashing down the street.
   Pointing their plastic finger at me.
   They’re hopin’ soon my kind will drop and die,
   But I’m gonna wave my freak flag high.

   It’s bad enough that so many defenders of the status quo s–t on the hippies as the source of all our modern troubles, when in fact, it was the hippies who sounded the alarm against the empty, value-less consumerist culture of America. But now, the PMC-ers take it further by trying to find resonance points by using 60s lyrics but completely distorting the point of those lyrics.

   Maybe Leary wasn’t all wrong about acid in the water supply. We can start just by putting it in Evian bottled water and Napa Valley cabs.
   1. hunkerdown October 12, 2022 at 9:30 am

      PMCs recuperate and rationalize every thing into alignment with the ruling ideas. It’s their job, nay, their life’s work, in upholding the capitalist order (and, incidentally, Khrushchev’s order as well). The best that can be done, aside from returning the personal sabotage they so enjoy inflicting, is to reject their social performances resolutely and détourn ’em back.

      Acid in the water was Yippies, not hippies. Regardless, the chattering classes seem to be microdosing BZ and MSDNC as it is; maybe a good long total drug holiday, especially from religious opiates, would do them every bit of good.
      1. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 11:21 am

         And there was the time Grace Slick and Yippie Abbie Hoffman were in line for Tricia’s Finch College party at the White House. Grace, an attendee of Finch at one point, had an invitation. Grace was ready to dose Tricky Dick, but the Secret Service didn’t like the looks of Abbie, even though he was shaved and in a suit.
         1. hunkerdown October 12, 2022 at 3:36 pm

            HMP, my mistake, before the Yippies, Dr. Leary apparently did toy with the idea once in the literature, apparently to troll the CIA.

            Alas, as that would have been quite a party. Much more entertaining than the Ambien we’re getting these days.
   2. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 9:30 am

      This is seen all the time with PMC’s coopting MLK’s speeches. I think I even saw where the CIA (or was it the FBI?) had recently coopted one. They have spent a long time rinsing the message out of the rhetoric, and that is how we get people like Warnock in the Senate.

      The first time I heard him speak of his unconditional support for Israel in the same piece where he made sure to point out that he was a former pastor at Ebenezer I recognized him for what he is.
   3. Martin Oline October 12, 2022 at 9:45 am

      I was thinking about this song by the Airplane just the other day. It is at least 54 years old and yet it feels so relevant today, mainly due to the truly apocalyptic ending, which I won’t copy here. (Jelly, juice, and bubbles, bubbles on the floor)
      The House at Pooneil Corners
      You and me, we keep walking around and we see
      All the bullshit around us
      You try and keep your mind on what’s going down
      Cant help but see the rhinoceros around us
      Then you wonder what you can be
      And you do what you can to get balled and high,
      1. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 10:23 am

         I am perceiving a similar attitude moving through the young today. Even the reaction of some of the young to Covid by gathering and partying has the whiff of nihilism around it.

         Another verse from “The House at Pooneil Corners” talks about an old concern become new again. (Link to album version with its striking cover: audio)

         Everything someday will be gone except silence.
         The Earth will be quiet again.
         Seas from clouds will wash off the ashes of violence,
         Left as the memory of men.
         There will be no survivor, my friend.
         1. Bugs October 12, 2022 at 1:12 pm

            The cover of that record – Crown of Creation – has the band floating in an orange mushroom cloud.

            They were so good then. It was sort of the peak of psychedelic rock. All downhill from there, folks.
      2. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 6:46 pm

         The Quicksilver Messenger Service song “What About Me” lyrics are timeless. Though it was written decades ago it resonates today like few other songs from that era.
   4. digi_owl October 12, 2022 at 11:02 am

      This is an age old thing, and why France came up with “rights of the author”. That gave us the whole life+X years copyright duration once the Bern convention tried to come up with a “global” system of copyright.

      Because those rights included the right to deny someone the use of a work for political campaigning the author didn’t agree with.
      1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 11:08 am

         Not a true story. I heard that somebody once tried to copyright the Bible – but their claim fell apart when they could not prove authorship of that work. So at the moment ‘Steamboat Willie’ is still the gold standard of copyright laws.
   5. Joe Renter October 12, 2022 at 4:12 pm

      I think the Beat Generation beat the hippies to point out the shallowness of our society and wanted something different other than the status quo.
      1. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 4:55 pm

         Wendell Berry’s friend, Gary Snyder, would fit in there, but Kerouac ended up pretty lost.
10. nycTerrierist October 12, 2022 at 8:32 am

    The Chocolate Poodle would like a sandwich, please

    anybody?
    1. wol October 12, 2022 at 11:52 am

       We inherited a similar black dog we later learned from a veterinarian is a ‘Cavadoodle’– King Charles Spaniel + miniature poodle, bred for companionship. Looks like a black Highland Cow without horns. Enthusiastic about anything. Great dog; separation anxiety can be a thing.
    2. Late Introvert October 12, 2022 at 6:18 pm

       When my daughter was about 6 she made a peanut butter sandwich and put it on the floor in the back porch while she went to get a glass of milk. Domino the Rat Terrier had a good day that day.
11. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 8:33 am

    There is No Single War In Ukraine and NATO Is In Trouble Larry Johnson
    Compounding the military challenges confronting the United States and NATO, there are the economic and political headwinds. Joe Biden is likely to lose control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. If this happens, he will no longer have a congressional ally eager to keep shoveling money and weapons into Ukraine. The economic conditions throughout Europe of inflation and shuttering businesses will fuel more domestic unrest and diminish enthusiasm for keeping Ukraine afloat.
    ==============================================
    Another thing – it has been about 10 degrees warmer here in Fresno for a few weeks now. And it will not be until Oct 23 that we have a forcast high that is not higher than normal. I don’t know how the weather is in Ukraine, but my point is that winter will come at some point. And I suspect that is going to be a lot more difficult for Europe and Ukraine than Russia.
    1. Bart Hansen October 12, 2022 at 9:09 am

       The temps in Kiev are about the same as where I live in VA: Highs in the 50s and lows in the 40s and high 30s.
    2. digi_owl October 12, 2022 at 9:17 am

       The risk is that a post-election congress will start to shovel more than money and material into the Ukraine grinder. After all, MIC pork is the one bipartisan stalwart.
       1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 9:38 am

          Agreed. That will be the point at which we see the similarities are stronger than the differences between the parties, and that all of this is just campaign rhetoric. I am seeing war hawk Republicans being called “RINO’s” by the MAGA crowd. They apparently have the memory of mosquitoes; that is what the Republican party is, and the five people on that side of the aisle that say different does not a difference make.
12. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 8:39 am

    “IMF expects Russia’s GDP to fall 3.4% in 2022 and 2.3% in 2023”

    They must be very disappointed. When the collective west launched their sanctions campaign way back in February, I think that at the time the estimation was that the Russian GDP would drop 20-30% but of course that never happened. They’re getting stung by a high inflation rate though but that is heading down along with interest rates-

    https://www.statista.com/statistics/276323/monthly-inflation-rate-in-russia/

    So I guess that the IMF has now shelved all their “rescue” plans that they had ready to implement in Russia through IMF loans aka IMF pillaging.
13. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 8:45 am

    If our humble blogger will be participating in one of Gonzalo Lira’s Roundtables tomorrow, that must mean that they have gotten the power back on in Kharkiv which was out yesterday. I checked the forecast for that city tomorrow and it say that it will be fine and sunny with a chance of Kalibrs.
14. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 8:51 am

    U.S. Preps for Nuclear Fallout Gizomodo (Dr. Kevin). Believing your PR to this degree amount to escalation.

    The posters describe what to do when/if a radiation emergency occurs. Residents are instructed to take cover inside a basement or the middle of a building, wait inside to reduce exposure to radiation, and keep informed via radio, television, computer, or mobile device for further instructions. These instructions are the standard procedures for what to do in the event of a radiation emergency, and were recently reiterated a few months ago when New York City Emergency Management released a viral PSA on the topic. According to information listed toward the bottom of the poster, this particular messaging was issued by the Department of Homeland Security.

    The threat of a nuclear attack is a looming one, and the messaging from the U.S. government isn’t particularly comforting. While anxiety may be brewing across the country, we’re not exactly staring down the barrel of a missile silo just yet. Some political analysts argue that Putin’s attitudes toward a nuclear threat are “sabre-rattling” (which the Russian politician allegedly has a long history of) in order to stoke fear in the West.
    ==================================================
    “Some political analysts argue that Putin is sabre-rattling.”
    I can’t really blame Gizmodo for NOT pointing out that Biden may be “wagging the dog” because that was not the subject of the story. But it does show the default assumption constantly reiterated in the press (rah rah USA). And the fact that no MSM (as far as I know) has even brought up this point shows the unsophisticated or totally in the pocket views promulgated in the US press.
    Even as recently as the Clinton administration there was quite a bit of push back against the Clinton drone strike in Africa. Now, the credulity of the US press toward US government briefings is total. How things have evolved…
    1. SocalJimObjects October 12, 2022 at 9:35 am

       Is there a Starbucks at the basement? Preferably a non unionized one and able to deal with 40 lines of special requests for a single Frap order? If yes, then sign me up for a spot!!!
    2. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 9:47 am

       Correct me if I am wrong, but wouldn’t electronics like radio, television, computer or mobile devices be the very first thing to get fried in the event of a nuclear attack? OK, so we are to wait in our basements, sucking up neutrons and wondering why our radios don’t work? When are we supposed to go back to shopping in the event that no one shows up on the TV machine? Is there a plan B?

       As advice goes, I suppose it really isn’t all that worse than the usual soma we are fed.
       1. semper loquitur October 12, 2022 at 10:28 am

          And what would those radios etc. tell you? You’re s(rewed? Stay in the subway tunnel and eat rats? Or each other? Does anyone think there would be a coordinated official response? It’s also reassuring to know that we have the money for the anti-radiation meds that won’t get distributed. No money for free COVID tests though.
          1. hunkerdown October 12, 2022 at 10:58 am

             They can watch the exciting new game show Remain Indoors (That Mitchell & Webb Look)

             When I think of EMP, I think of a 10V/cm “shock wave”, and the several cm of wire and squiggles connecting between delicate innards that, in their variety of poses and aspects, would make eminently suitable antennas for that wave. At -4.7V, silicon diode junctions experience reverse breakdown and any significant current through them blurs the sharpness of the junction. And then there are the thin even nanometer sheets of silicon dioxide that make up the gates of MOSFETs on chips, which break down catastrophically at similar voltages.

             On the other hand, VHF/UHF walkie-talkies have utility, especially if someone(s) had the foresight to throw a solar charger into a suitably well-shielded, well-buried trove. The amateurs who still have tube rigs for DXing will still have their tube rigs, and may even find someone to DX with after The Event.
             1. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 11:56 am

                hd
                that was the most hilarious documentary..er, satire, I ever saw.
                Seriously, If I’m correct it was made a few years ago. Until the zeitgeist turns, and we start seeing SNL mocking the notion that nuclear war survivial is nuts, it just shows that the elite is completely in charge of everything we see.
             2. Joe Renter October 12, 2022 at 4:21 pm

                If their tubes still function. You can only source through Eastern Europe last time I checked. I was a Ham operator when a teenager. Lots of good memories. Worked Russia on 5 watts CW with coax cable antenna lying on top of shingle shake roof.
                1. hunkerdown October 13, 2022 at 8:32 am

                   Valves are (more) robust against EMPs compared to solid-state devices. Soviet military avionics used them extensively for that reason even into the solid-state era. It’s hard to blow holes in a vacuum.

                   Valvemaking is less complicated and intensive than watchmaking, for what that’s worth. The HackADay blog has featured several artisans, one of whom built an audio amplifier around his new artifice. Not the most demanding application, to be sure, but it proves the concept. I mean, we made these things back in the 1950s…
          2. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 11:04 am

             The real beauty part of being in New York would be the quality of the chefs down in those subway tunnels. I doubt that one could find tastier rats cooked over fires fed by plastic puffer coats anywhere else. One can only imagine the award winning sauces that could be made with iodine.

             Yeah, this doesn’t sound like it was gamed out very well.
             1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 11:12 am

                Mmmmm. Rat burger. Yum yum-

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kevsMqQ5DyU (1:23 mins)

                Better than eating food grown in top soil contaminated with radioactive dust.
          3. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 11:51 am

             ” Does anyone think there would be a coordinated official response?”

             Maybe not official, but all the important people will know where to go.

             Video

             One thing I never noticed when seeing the movie is that this final scene is labeled “22,087 years later,” LOL. But, but warp drive…
    3. Carolinian October 12, 2022 at 9:51 am

       I read that Biden was recently overheard saying “nobody f**cks with a Biden” and that’s just the sort of person you’d want in charge of nuclear weapons, right? Pat Lang, before he wigged out over the war, said Biden should never ever be near the nuclear football and he knew something about the procedures involved. These are scary times.
       1. semper loquitur October 12, 2022 at 10:48 am

          That statement he made, I think, sums up Biden nicely. It’s all about personal power and leverage. It’s one reason why he paws women and girls publicly, with their family looking on. It’s why he would swim naked in front of his female guards. Whatcha gonna do about it? Fu(king degenerate.
          1. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 6:54 pm

             Biden has always viewed himself a some sort of tough guy. That goes back decades. He’s not a big man. In a bar fight Biden would be knocked out cold right quick. But he talks tough. It’s all an act as he wants to get in good with the “working man”, the tough steel worker, the guy wearing the hard hat carrying a lunch pail. Biden is none of those men, and never has been. He’s a phony, as are most politicians.
          2. ambrit October 12, 2022 at 7:35 pm

             When Gaius Caligula made pawing women and girls publically a perquisite of his office, eventually the Tribune of the Praetorian Guard stepped in and ‘rectified’ the problem. Caligula did not like the solution the praetorians came up with.
             Biden is over-stressing the social compact that supports the American form of government. He just might have to be deposed through the invocation of the 25th Amendment. Much as we might dislike Harris, I would prefer her sort of vacuous corruption to Biden’s malevolent degeneracy.
             Biden is the reason for the 25th Amendment.
       2. Bugs October 12, 2022 at 1:18 pm

          It sounds like the words of a gangster. That’s the kind of world we live in.
          1. roxan October 12, 2022 at 8:26 pm

             Biden presents himself as a gangster. He swaggers, wears dark glasses, and has the demeanor of a street punk. So does Hunter–depraved.
             1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 8:33 pm

                He learned everything he knows from “Corn pop.”
15. Tom Stone October 12, 2022 at 9:26 am

    If you think a Nuclear exchange is survivable I suggest you read up on radiation poisoning.
    It’s one reason I own firearms, given a choice of watching people I love die of radiation poisoning or putting a bullet in their head I will choose mercy.
    That’s the reality of Nuclear War, putting a bullet in my daughter’s head may well be the most loving thing i could do for her.
    Because Markets.
    1. Katniss Everdeen October 12, 2022 at 9:54 am

       That’s pretty grim. Doncha think we should try something else like putting an Orange Man outsider back in the white house before it gets to that?
       1. Carolinian October 12, 2022 at 10:18 am

          Trump may be the lesser evil compared to Biden but that’s a pretty low bar. I think it’s going to take more than one politician to wake the country up. An anti-war movement would be nice.

          It’s odd the way villains have “legs” (H’wood lingo). People still can’t get over Hitler and dead Osama seems to have achieved his goal of discombobulating “the Great Satan.” 9/11 did change everything–at least for the elites. After all that time the terror was aimed at them.

          Give peace a chance goes the song.
          1. hk October 12, 2022 at 10:55 am

             Give peace a chance by killing all “our” enemies, real and imagined, actual and potential…..
             1. Eureka Springs October 12, 2022 at 11:26 am

                Give peace a chance by killing all “our” enemies, real and imagined, actual and potential…..

                Including anti-war activists, demonstrations. One has to have representative governance, dare I say democracy, in order to be heard, not silenced, arrested, treated as a terrorist and or traitor.

                There are many reasons we have so few speaking up. It has never worked is my reason. And yes, I’ve participated much over the decades.

                Seems like the biggest tell this time around is even a few words of – this war is wrong, based on lies, etc, whether spoken honestly or not, cannot be found in the Prog wing of the House. When not one voice says so you know there must be serious threats and blackmail running amok. This is worse than what Bush Cheney accomplished in terms of complete silencing.
          2. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 11:09 am

             Carolinian
             I think it’s going to take more than one politician to wake the country up. An anti-war movement would be nice.
             I agree. But a journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and apparently these days in the USA, our antiwar faction is voiceless and powerless.
             As the evangelicals would say, Trump is an imperfect vessel, and he certainly is an imperfect vessel to advocate a sane policy with Ukraine and Russia. Sure, there are a precious few like Tulsi Gabbard, BUT Trump is the only one with a politically potent following. Trump moved the repub establishment on immigration. I don’t know if Trump can do it with the war machine, but just like the idea that Hillary was inevitable, it could be that all the Americans who don’t want another war could coalesce – I would prefer someone other than Trump, but if Trump is the choice, than Trump it will be…
       2. TooTired October 12, 2022 at 10:28 am

          It IS grim. But is putting Orange Man “outsider” (and yeah, that word is doing a lot of work there) the only other option? Cause I don’t see that one ending up any better.
          1. Katniss Everdeen October 12, 2022 at 11:09 am

             So just to be clear.

             As far as you’re concerned, a contest between the Orange Man, who just a few days ago inveighed against nuclear armageddon, and shooting your daughter in the head to alleviate the suffering of radiation poisoning caused by a demented president determined not to lose a game of nuclear chicken that he mindlessly started, is some sort of a “choice?”
          2. JohnnySacks October 12, 2022 at 11:13 am

             We’re all going to die, and hopefully from old age, but there’s no guarantee.
             Any candidate, regardless of political party, who advocates beyond the accepted narrative is laughed off the stage into the dustbin of history’s failed campaigns.
             Mike Gravel voicing a counter narrative amidst the rest of the walking horror show’s smirking contempt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBcMUZAXMW4
             1. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 11:27 am

                JS
                Any candidate, regardless of political party, who advocates beyond the accepted narrative is laughed off the stage into the dustbin of history’s failed campaigns.

                I think you bring up a terrific point. I would point out that Trump (and again, I hate Trump) is the only politician since Eugene McCarthy or perhaps Carter who escaped the vetting by the media that annoited them or their proposals as “serious” and “viable.” We have a LOT of censorship by omission in this country…
                Trump seems the only voice with the political potency to make negotiations about Ukraine newsworthy. Otherwise, our media imposes a blackout on the very concept that war should end by negotiations or even that nuclear war is bad!
             2. semper loquitur October 12, 2022 at 1:02 pm

                Laughed off for now. Let someone get into office who tries to make a difference and they’re dead, I reckon. Then they will blame Putin.
                1. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 1:24 pm

                   A similar script was in play 60 years ago, but somebody backed off.
    2. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 10:50 am

       TS
       “and keep informed via radio, television, computer, or mobile device for further instructions.”
       I imagine after the nuking, there will be a substantial market correction – I imagine the media will advise us that it is a wonderful buying opportunity for stocks…
       What with all the collapsed building, damaged infrastructure, and millions upon millions of dead, I’m thinking to buy Caterpillar stock and looking at opportunities in the death care market.
       https://khn.org/news/article/funeral-homes-private-equity-death-care/
       One thing that may present a great opportunity is pet death care – after all, those dumb animals won’t know to come in when the big one(s) drop. Now, with all the radiation, those dead pet carcasses won’t decompose, but still, who wants to see fluffy with her cold dead eyes staring blankly just lying there?
       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqsT4xnKZPg
    3. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 12:57 pm

       A very sad state of affairs when we believe the technocrats, neoliberals, and such think the answer to their problems is “dead people can’t see what a mess we made of everything.”

       They equate the end of their worldview with the end of the world, so maybe that is where the work needs to be done…trying to convince those ultimate cynics otherwise.
    4. Joe Renter October 12, 2022 at 4:28 pm

       Tom Stone @ 10:28
       Wow. Harsh, but these are the times we live in. Personally, I found that one can buy cyanide on the internet. Also thought of going downtown to source rainbow fentanyl pills. One should consider options.
    5. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 6:59 pm

       The more ethical choice would be for you to put the bullet in your own head so you would not witness your daughter suffering from radiation poisoning. Your daughter may prefer to suffer from radiation poisoning than die from a bullet to her head. None of us should play god.
    6. eg October 12, 2022 at 7:14 pm

       I for one have no interest playing the part of an extra in the real life production of “The Road.” Give me a starring role right at the epicentre of a blast radius, thanks.
16. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 9:31 am

    ”Pure racketeering’: Kremlin slams G7 ploy to restore Ukraine using stolen Russian assets”

    Pretty sure I heard Alexander Mercouris talking about this possibility a coupla months ago and its importance. I believe that right now that all those Russian assets are frozen but potentially can be still returned to Russia through eventual negotiations. Fair enough. It is unprecedented on such a scale but there it is. But when you are talking about taking those frozen assets and then spending that money like it was your own, that is on another level altogether. You don’t do that nor do you even go there. And like crossing the Rubicon, once you do it you can’t take it back. It puts the nations of the world on notice that the countries of the G-7 have decided that they can if they feel like it, steal the money of a sovereign nations and use that money on whatever they want. So if the countries of the EU find that they are doing it tough, there is now a precedent on the books to grab the wealth of any country that they want and spend it on themselves to bail themselves out. And as they say in Star Wars- ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’
17. Xquacy October 12, 2022 at 9:39 am

    Putin’s again made two offers for delivery of Gas to Europe:
    (1) Via the last unbroken link of Nordstream 2

    Russia is ready to start such supplies. The ball is in the court of the EU. If they want, they can just open the tap.

    (2) Via nordstream reroute through Turkstream

    We could move the lost volumes along the Nord Streams along the bottom of the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea region and thus make the main routes for the supply of our fuel, our natural gas to Europe through Turkey, creating the largest gas hub for Europe in Turkey.

    Only if!!!

    That is, of course, if our partners are interested in this. And economic feasibility, of course.

    source: @Guardian (reporting Putin’s address to Russian Energy Week international forum)
18. Alice X October 12, 2022 at 9:42 am

    Via Consortium News:

    Caitlin Johnstone: Big Brains Going Extinct from Stupidity

    This is peak crazy. A thinking species that regards as outrageous heresy any opposition to nuclear-war brinkmanship that can cause its extinction cannot get any more crazy.
    1. Alice X October 12, 2022 at 10:08 am

       Medea Benjamin, Nicolas J.S. Davies via Common Dreams:

       Biden’s Broken Promise to Avoid War with Russia May Kill Us All

       The irresolvable dilemma facing Western leaders is that this is a no-win situation. Only courageous peace talks can bring this terrifying conflict to an end.
       1. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 10:29 am

          AX
          thanks for the links. But what is heartbreaking is that one has to look for more obscure sources, when the horror and opposition to nuclear brinkmanship should be 95% of what we see on TV news and in our newspapers. The fact that it is not just shows that “news” has lost all meaning.
    2. flora October 12, 2022 at 10:42 am

       Does anyone in DC or the MSM have big brains? Or any brains at all beyond learning to parrot the latest talking point no matter how nuts it sounds? Assigning the DC/MSM blob as a “thinking species” flatters them.
       1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 10:52 am

          At least EU officials have their priorities right-

          https://rmx.news/european-union/eu-officials-set-to-receive-big-wage-hikes-despite-the-move-going-against-the-commissions-own-advice/

          And here I was worried how von der Leyen would make out this winter.
          1. Alice X October 12, 2022 at 7:11 pm

             That should go over like a lead balloon! One would think.
       2. hunkerdown October 12, 2022 at 11:01 am

          Yes, they do. So big that they think the rest of the body is subordinate to them. That’s the problem with idealism.
19. jefemt October 12, 2022 at 10:05 am

    Supreme Court and Day work. Back on the PMC bash.. the arrogance of what constitutes a ‘professional’.

    The oil company certainly has criteria for who ‘gets’ the designation of tool-pusher, and commensurate pay. Decades of experience, much of it adverse and negative.

    What electrician or plumber or auto mechanic do you want working on YOUR things?

    I’d say the lawyers may have wanted to bear down on defining a professional, and the arrogance that ‘professional’ can only come with a college diploma augmented by one or more ‘advanced’ degrees.

    I mean, look at the HR job description requirements: x degree, Y degree, or equivalent experience.

    Now is the tool pusher self-employed, owner of a Micro S Corp, paying himself a teeny wage, and sheltering the balance of his wages from taxes? Travelling the third world on his days of on a much lower cost basis? Not demanding other benefits, such as health insurance, dental, vision, 401K, ESOP, paid vaca, yada?

    The world needs to deep six benefits as a part of compensation.
    Turn the benefit bundle of goodies into nationalized well-regulated Utilities.
    Turn the workforce into a bunch of micro-business people, not dependent wage and benefit slaves.

    Give self-employed and art types a chance to participate in health care, dental, etc at a reasonable outlay.

    Two alloy-laden lightweight faux pennies- from this pigeon-hole:
    a day-wage oil trash sole proprietor tax mule consumer debt-serf
    1. JohnH October 12, 2022 at 11:58 am

       Given that hourly and salary are two entirely different schemes – pay by (temporal) input and pay by (productivity) output, respectively – it seems to me that a daily pay rate is much more akin to hourly employ than salaried employ.
20. antidlc October 12, 2022 at 10:20 am

    https://twitter.com/ddiamond/status/1579925586574995456

    Dan Diamond
    @ddiamond
    At White House, @tylerpager
    presses @AshishKJha46
    on low covid booster rate + if Biden’s “pandemic is over” rhetoric contributed.

    JHA: A majority of American adults go get the flu shot every fall… they don’t do it because the president comes out and says we have a flu pandemic.

    No internal goals, no external goals. “We are not setting targets. We are focused on driving deaths down, getting more people vaccinated, and with a very simple goal which is more vaccinations better, lower deaths better.”
    1. antidlc October 12, 2022 at 12:04 pm

       Transcript to the entire briefing:

       https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings/2022/10/11/press-briefing-by-press-secretary-karine-jean-pierre-and-covid-19-response-coordinator-dr-ashish-jha-5/
       Press Briefing By Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre And Covid-19 Response Coordinator Dr. Ashish Jha
21. flora October 12, 2022 at 10:28 am

    Paypal falls after weekend blowback over misinformation policy that would have fined users $2,500

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/paypal-falls-after-weekend-blowback-over-misinformation-policy-that-would-have-fined-users-242500/ar-AA12NtvN

    It’s misinformation policy itself was..er…misinformation? / ;)
    1. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 10:43 am

       When I saw that news article, I could imagine how such a measure could be used. Naked Capitalism uses PayPal. So what happens if all that pandemic information that NC reports on is “judged” by PayPal to be misinformation and starts to hit NC up with fines. That sort of thing happening across different independent organization could get real ugly real fast.
       1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 11:45 am

          This has actually happened to us. They refused to pay off my bet to NC until I would explain why I had used “Nordstream” in the header. They had actually frozen our account.

          We are in the process of finding other means.
22. Lex October 12, 2022 at 10:39 am

    I’m curiouser and curiouser about political undercurrents in Ukraine these days. Now there’s open talk that the WaPo piece on the Dugina assassination was a warning to Ukraine. Now there are leaks that Biden is giving firm talks to Zelensky about complaints over aid. And then in the last day or so there have been leaks coming out of Ukraine that include showing the filming of the crowd running away from an attack and the bandaged babushka in Kiev (where she’s taking a selfie to send to her sister in Russia), and finally the CGI work on Zelensky. That last one has production values like the producers are proud of it so it’s hard to determine how much of a “leak” it is.

    Combined with rumblings on Ukrainian TG channels about how Zelensky said the air defenses were perfect when they’re obviously not and a fair amount of chatter about how the politicians in Kiev are going to let the population suffer while they live well, with some talk about Zelensky being nowhere near the capitol (see, CGI work). The breadcrumbs are starting to add up to Zelensky getting dumped by the US or at least preparations being made to abandon yet another friend/proxy.

    That, of course, would be the ultimate victory for Putin. Such behavior can be ignored in a lot of places, but right in the middle of Europe is much harder. Is Putin’s patience related to this as much as energy catastrophe in Europe?
    1. flora October 12, 2022 at 10:53 am

       Is the DC crowd starting to diem Z a liability instead of an asset?
       1. chris October 12, 2022 at 11:38 am

          Heh. If the talking from my friends is any indication, that’s a big NO. No one in DC is publicly saying they’ll back away from Ukraine now. For those in the big OEM and weapons biz, they can’t let that happen. If our wonder weapons can’t turn the tide, then why should our NATO allies and others buy them?

          It looks like we’ll need to see some kind of distinct change in the current situation to merit any kind of change in US communication of public support for Zelenskiy. As an example, Krystal Ball on Breaking Points yesterday was discussing how Russia taking out Ukraine’s electric grid and limiting their energy supply WAS NOT A MILITARY OBJECTIVE. As if soldiers who are cold, hungry, damp, and can’t use modern equipment are efficient fighters. And she’s one of the more realistic liberal leaning commentators on the topic. Other people I know in DC are all aboard the “Russia is losing and Putin’s back is against the wall” train. So until Ukrainians and Europeans start freezing to death, or there are obvious victories that support the claims of our weapons being superior, the current situation isn’t going to change.
       2. Skip Intro October 12, 2022 at 12:01 pm

          you have a typo… oh wait I see what you did there!
          1. juno mas October 12, 2022 at 2:06 pm

             Yes, you need to be of a certain age to recognize Ngo Dinh Diem. Assassinated in a US organized coup in 1963.
             1. Sibiryak October 12, 2022 at 2:21 pm

                After having been declared “the Winston Churchill of Asia” by LBJ in 1961.
             2. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 5:02 pm

                The CIA does not hand out golden parachutes.
    2. David October 12, 2022 at 11:34 am

       I’d express it this way, I think. When you are publicly very close to a controversial figure (the Shah is a good example) then when that person falls you go down with him. That’s bad enough, but what’s worse is that you’ll be completely out of favour with the government that takes over. (See Iran again.)
       The trick is that, if you’re not sure someone is going to survive, then you start to gently detach yourself from them, but in a way that is so delicate that people hardly notice. This is the way I would expect it to begin, and it’s at least as much an unconscious process as a conscious one: people find themselves adjusting the language they use, toning down speeches, being a little more open-minded. If Z ever does fall, then it’s important that the West has put sufficient distance between itself and the current regime that it can argue that (1) we had to stop Putin and you can’t always choose your allies (2) we did everything we could privately to stop/prevent X,Y Z (3) there were things that were hidden from us, and we are shocked, shocked to find out etc. (4) nonetheless, in an imperfect world it was the right strategy at the time, even if mistakes were made.

       If the country is small and distant, like Libya, you can get away with moving overnight from Gadhafi is a valuable ally in the War on Terror to Gadhafi is a monster oppressing his people, and hardly anybody notices. Here you can’t.
       1. hk October 13, 2022 at 1:09 am

          For the average American, I don’t think Zelensky is (still) particularly recognizable beyond elite circles. If Zelensky’s history gets “corrected” next year, I don’t think it would generate much more response than “good riddance.”. Would European reaction be that different?
23. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 10:48 am

    What a great interview with Eric Holder. What a pity he couldn’t have been the AG when the Court gutted the VRA and Obama was crushing dissent in places like Ferguson, Missouri.

    Such a lost opportunity.
24. fresno dan October 12, 2022 at 11:41 am

    https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/10/09/the-u-s-has-leverage-over-saudi-arabia-its-time-to-use-it-00061082
    OPEC has never cut production in such a record tight market and these production cuts will lead to unsustainably low oil inventories, sending the price of oil skyrocketing out of any “acceptable band.”
    ….
    U.S. military collaboration with the Saudi regime is more extensive than many realize, but that also gives the U.S. significant economic and security leverage over Riyadh. Today, Saudi Arabia is hugely dependent on U.S. defense assistance, purchasing the vast majority of its arms from the United States.
    ==================================================
    Was Blumenthal in an insane assylum during the OPEC oil embargo???
    And maybe we are the one dependent on SELLING weapons to Saudi Arabia (well, the defense lobbyists who control the US government to maximise their proffits).
    And finally, this clarifys that Blumenthal is so mentally ill that he really did believe the Steele dossier…
    1. Darthbobber October 12, 2022 at 2:31 pm

       This passage is priceless:
       “Today, Saudi Arabia is hugely dependent on U.S. defense assistance, purchasing the vast majority of its arms from the United States. The country cannot substitute defense suppliers unless it wishes to partner with Russia, Iran or China for far inferior systems which have no interoperability with their existing weaponry.”

       American defense “assistance” consists of selling weaponry for top dollar.

       And the smug belief that Russian, Chinese, or even Iranian competitors are “vastly inferior” has been shown to be laughable.

       I suspect the Saudis were aware going in that this leverage, such as it is, might be used.
       1. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 7:08 pm

          The reality is that advanced weapons systems globally have not been thoroughly tested on the battlefield, so nobody can be certain they will work as advertised. This applies to weapons provided by every country in the world. It is not in anyone’s interest to test these weapons thoroughly on the battlefield per chance they fail.
25. Rod October 12, 2022 at 11:59 am

    John Feffer writing a real simple beginning truth in that Hankyoreh article on the Climate Crises:

    Only compassion and cooperation will lead us out of the dead end of fossil fuels and overconsumption.

    probably applies to Ukraine also
    and Covid, etc.
    1. Henry Moon Pie October 12, 2022 at 12:00 pm

       How about from “Compete and Consume” to “Cooperate and Conserve?”
       1. Rod October 12, 2022 at 5:47 pm

          Thnx HMP. I’m right with you.
          That works on one layer, like Feffer’s.
          Something short and indicative to get the talk going—hard ‘selling’ a better future.
          Sometimes I use Decommissioning and Realignment.
26. tegnost October 12, 2022 at 12:07 pm

    Along with jawboning riyadh into waiting til post election to resume properly capitalizing their resource, who else has the white house been leaning on, and will there be a conglomeration of bad news in late november, indeed for the time until the next electioneering season begins? For myself, I am apprehensive.
    1. nippersdad October 12, 2022 at 12:44 pm

       The outrage is becoming fairly routine; Jake Sullivan getting angry that Putin would obliquely mention how State is always calling them up to “warn” them about the use of nukes in his speeches (“This is supposed to be private!”) and now being outed for pressuring the Saudis over when they can exercise their cartel rights to change prices on oil. They have been asking favors from the Chinese, so I would bet that the next installment of hissy fit theater might concern them.

       Maybe something about all those Chinese metals in F-35’s? If China is curtailing the sale of materials necessary to produce toys, Christmas for Boeing and Raytheon may look bleak when they cannot fulfill their new orders.
27. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 12:20 pm

    “Watch as Pfizer executive Janine Small admits to EU parliament that Pfizer did not test the vaccine for preventing transmission of Covid prior to it being made available to the public…”

    Something that was talked about on NC over a year ago.
    Now look at Moderna.
    And it was only J&J admitting at first that shots would start losing what effectiveness they may have had in less than a year.
    1. JEHR October 12, 2022 at 3:01 pm

       Many people suffered from not getting vaccinated when the vaccine did not protect either themselves or others. How many billions of dollars did Pfizer make? Well, we know that all that money should be given to the people who suffered not the creators of a mythical vaccine. How horrible our world has become where lying is more common than truth-telling. I’m glad I will be leaving soon myself!

       The funny thing is that masks, distancing, having clean air will do much better and for a longer period of time than a million Pfizer shots.
28. Katniss Everdeen October 12, 2022 at 12:44 pm

    For anyone who’d welcome a respite from all the talk of armageddon and nuclear winter to “punish” Russia for daring to exist, here’s a short video of a convoy of utility trucks arriving on Sanibel Island yesterday, over the temporary bridge made passable two weeks after Ian laid it to waste.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqZmsM6fYwg

    “Build Back Better.” “Yes we can.” “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” The Ron DeSantis presidential campaign ads are writing themselves. And this time with video backup.

    I’m revising my ideas for a 2024 dream team. DeSantis for president and Donald Trump for head of the fbi, cia, “defense” department or secretary of state. The sound of heads exploding would be deafening.
29. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 12:45 pm

    NYC mayor, Eric Adams: migrant centers in every community.

    Me: imagining the looks on migrants faces when they get a crib with a view of Cental Park.

    Singing:
    “Just my imagination
    Running away with me…”

    Maybe not so, if talking about live-in help.
30. Wukchumni October 12, 2022 at 1:13 pm

    I’ll admit to being surprised Bernanke didn’t win a MacArthur Grant, in order to solidify his genius role in bailing out bankerdom.
    1. Bugs October 12, 2022 at 1:25 pm

       Don’t tempt fate, Wuk. Stranger things have happened.
    2. Anthony G Stegman October 12, 2022 at 7:10 pm

       The Israelis may give Bernanke a million dollar prize the way they gave one to Fauci.
31. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 1:19 pm

    “What Will Happen to America if Trump Wins Again? Experts Helped Us Game It Out” Washington Post.
    Go long on fainting couches.
32. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    #monkeypox Current situation summary

    First case in Mozambique and Vietnam.
    Bolivia records first death. pic.twitter.com/pjpOkpnvfG

    Vietnam…getting closer to China.
33. flora October 12, 2022 at 1:23 pm

    Thanks for the Malone link. Pretty interesting what’s possible now behind the scenes and how it can be used. Seems related to FB’s “emotional contragion” experiments run on its unwitting users in 2012. This Forbes report is from 2014.
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/06/28/facebook-manipulated-user-news-feeds-to-create-emotional-contagion/

    and

    https://ideas.ted.com/need-to-know-about-facebooks-emotional-contagion-study/
34. Mikel October 12, 2022 at 1:28 pm

    “Neuroscientists unravel the mystery of why you can’t tickle yourself” ars technica

    “The leading theory holds that tickling provokes laughter thanks to a prediction error by the brain. An unpredictable touch confuses it, sending it into a mini frenzy. Self-touch is always predictable … so, no frenzy…’

    I guessed it was the element of surprise before opening the article.
    And it’s one of the early questions that baffles children and they tickle each other as an experiment.
    Well, at least they used to….
35. Maxwell Johnston October 12, 2022 at 2:14 pm

    Ukraine, Covid, midterms, climate change: basta e finito! Now for some important news, my man Larry the Cat is doing good:

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/oct/11/larry-the-cat-fox-no-10-downing-street-chief-mouser-pm
36. The Rev Kev October 12, 2022 at 7:43 pm

    I’ll be damned. Alex Christofouro has been saying for days that Zelensky has been green-screening himself into different settings in his appearances. Turns out he was right-

    https://www.bitchute.com/video/uQhvbnJKu2hZ/ (44 secs)
37. RobertC October 12, 2022 at 10:21 pm

    NC contributor Jan Krikke published two-part series on the global crisis centered on Ukraine at Asia Times. Part 1 and Part 2
    1. Yves Smith Post authorOctober 13, 2022 at 12:16 am

       Thanks for the link but Krikke has not been a NC contributor.

Comments are closed.