Recent Items

Links 6/6/2023

Posted on by

Launching Links with somewhat short rations. Please review again at 7:30 AM for a full dose.

Bear Conflicts are Expected to Increase in June iBerkshires (resilc). You’ve been warned!

One-third of galaxy’s most common planets could be in habitable zone University of Florida (resilc)

Was He Apollo’s Son? Plato of Athens: A Life in Philosophy Literary Review (Anthony L)

#COVID-19

Kevin W on the tweet below: “My take is that a narrative is being built to make all future lockdowns illegal because it makes the economy sad.”

Climate/Environment

US Supreme Court Rejects Big Oil Challenge to Offshore Fracking Ban in California Common Dreams. Mirabile dictu.

US Treasuries Blacklisted by German State as ESG Law Takes Hold Bloomberg

China?

DEA: Chinese organized crime laundering money for Mexican drug cartels NBC (furzy)

European Disunion

Using Angola’s power glut for Germany’s energy transition DW. Resilc: “In effect, mining Africa yet again.”

La belle France

France faces 14th day of nationwide protests to derail pension reform France24

Old Blighty

WHY A PAIR OF BRITISH OFFICIALS WATCHED PAINT DRY Now I Know (Dr. Kevin)

Guatemala’s presidential hopefuls channel heavy-handed tactics of El Salvador’s leader Associated Press (resilc)

New Not-So-Cold War

We have a post on the Kakhovka dam destruction but some additional tidbits and initial commentary below

Don’t Forget WaPo’s Report From December About Kiev’s Plans To Blow Up The Kakhovka Dam
Andrew Korybko.

NATO chief calls destruction of dam in southern Ukraine ‘outrageous’ Anadolu Agency

Ukraine war: What we know about Kakhovka dam attack BBC

* * *

An Unwinnable War Foreign Affairs. Important. I had wanted to take this apart but the events of the day intervened. Foreign Affairs is THE heavyweight American foreign policy journal, so rest assured that whatever it says has a big following or is emerging conventional wisdom.

Major trigger warning: you do not want to watch this any time in close proximity to a meal and maybe not ever. I just looked at itty bits. That was enough. Those of us, even who are having difficult times, have very little clue how terrible war is:

Ukraine war: Kyiv says troops advance on eastern front BBC

Corteva Agriscience And USAID Announce Collaboration to Support Ukrainian Farmers PRNewswire. Resilc:

When I started with USAID in ’79 it was about rural poor. I set up small scale credit in Indonesia programs. 12$ loans. Then Reagan started the let’s all support of US corps and political aspects and it has snowballed ever since…….. USA USA

Syraqistan

Imran Khan: U.S. was manipulated by Pakistan military into backing overthrow Intercept (resilc)

Make ISIS Iran’s Problem American Conservative (resilc)

Saudi Arabia to cut oil output by 1 million barrels a day in July Al Jazeera (Kevin W)

Who is looting Yemen’s oil, and where does it all go? The Cradle (guurst)

Saudi Arabia Executes Two Shia Bahrainis on Terrorism Charges in “Grossly Unfair” Trial Juan Cole

Inside the Taliban’s war on drugs – opium poppy crops slashed BBC. Resilc: “Synthetics will kill it anyway.”

Imperial Collapse Watch

The Demon in America’s Sacred Narrative Michael Vlahos (Chuck L)

Did Shangri-La give birth to a new Quad? Asia Times (Kevin W)

Five things the debt-ceiling deal suggests about the future Robert Reich Guardian (resilc)

Washington’s self-defeating foreign policy Asia Times

2024

Trump’s Challengers Are Making the Same Mistakes All Over Again New Republic (resilc)

Mike Pence’s presidential candidacy is doomed but he continues anyway Washington Pos. Um, let us not forget the GOP competition includes John Bolton.

Cornel West announces he’s running for president Politico (Kevin C)

Biden

The Complicated Reality of Joe Biden, America’s Oldest President New York Times

Trump and Obama’s former doctor: Biden ‘not fit mentally or physically to be president Daily Mail (Li)

Trump

Trump smoking gun tape gives Jack Smith all he needs Washington Post (furzy)

GOP Clown Car

Stewart Rhodes Says He’s a Political Prisoner. Are Republicans Listening? Intercept (resilc)

Oath Keepers Are Going to Prison, But They’re Not Going Away Vice (resilc)

Democrats en déshabille

Newsom slams DeSantis over migrant drop-off: ‘You small, pathetic man’ ABC7. Kevin W: “Kidnapping charges? Calling the ICC.” Moi: Namecalling is not the first line of defense for those in a strong position.

Woke Watch

The backlash: how slavery research came under fire Guardian (Kevin W)

Our No Longer Free Press

The demise of CNN Robert Reich (furzy)

Gunz

Georgia College Students can Continue to Bring Handguns to Class, even Concealed: State Supreme Court Juan Cole

AI

AI-generated content should be labelled, EU commissioner says Al Jazeera

The Bezzle

Elon Musk Apologizes for Tesla’s Annoying Automatic Wipers, Still No Hope for Owners autoevolution (resilc)

Class Warfare

Zeitgeist 2023 Heisenberg Report (resilc)

America’s quit boom is over Axios (resilc)

Idle rich baffled by poor people’s distaste for dangerous, low-paying jobs Boing Boing

What the debt ceiling debate missed Financial Times. Important (and archive.ph is your friend)

America This Week: “The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas” Racket News (Chuck L)

Antidote du jour (furzy):

And a bonus (guurst):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Subscribe to Post Comments
140 comments

  1. griffen

    War is hell thread, yep I made just over a minute into the video. I generally have an open mind to watching such graphic, detailed video, but that was enough and just horrendous injuries.

    Forewarned is good advice.

    1. John

      On the other hand, perhaps some of those cheer leading for war and more war might be sobered by a glimpse ot to what their support leads. Hollywood it is not.

      1. Tom Stone

        That video clearly illustrates the Glory of war.
        Shredded humans and poisoned land.

    2. Ignacio

      I watched only 30 secs. Anyway the message that we should hate war and its consequences merits posting it. It was good idea, IMO.

      1. S.D., M.D.

        Vids like this should have been widely circulated for at least 16 months now. Better late than never.

    3. The Rev Kev

      Pretty bad that video. And if that guy survives his wounds, his life as he knows it is likely over with no idea if the Ukraine will take care of him in civilian life. Looks like an artillery or mortar round nailed those guys with either shrapnel or timber splinters blown off those trees. If you can take it, here is the second part of that video-

      https://www.bitchute.com/video/g8yB06Ykzb7P/ (8:22 mins)

      1. Frank

        I watched both videos in full, I felt obligated to, sitting comfortably behind the lines. It put me in a pretty foul mood. I would have put the guy out of his misery, he probably would have done it himself, except that he had no functioning limbs.

        1. Roxan

          Videos of the wounded should be required viewing for all the idiots who support wars! Likewise, some honest videos of what gunshots actually do should be shown on the evening news. Far too many think war is like a John Wayne movie.

          1. digi_owl

            Sadly i don’t think it will affect much, as there seem to be quite a few Ukraine cheerleaders hanging out on Reddit subsections dedicated to raw video from the front line.

            The only thing that kinda sorta seem to help is placing them, or their loved ones, at risk of being sent to the front.

            That said, it is always hard online to tell if someone is genuine or some edgy teen trying to count coup.

    4. JTMcPhee

      Seeing the destruction has never stopped it. Revulsion by the people so affected ( there being MANY who get off on this, hence popularity of first person shooter “games” and hits in war porn sites) often turns to supercharging revenge fantasies and absorption of propaganda memes and eventual desensitization and dehumanization (but what is more “human” than violent war?), just carrying it on into the next generations.

      Glad some of us can feel good about being repelled by THIS instance. How is that going to change anything for the “better?” Are we also repelled by blasted bodies of, e.g., Palestinian kids? Kosovars? War porn exists because like sex porn, there’s a huge and in many cases perverse demand for it. Good luck redirecting such predilections.

    5. Adam Eran

      I have a relative who was on the first wave on Iwo Jima (WWII). He is the most antiwar person I know. The experience convinced him, even after he volunteered.

    6. Gregorio

      Watching that sort of video should be required for anyone considering a military career.

  2. ChrisFromGA

    Watch your Crypto Crater

    (Sung to the tune of, “Keep ’em Separated” by the Offspring)

    Watch your crypto crater

    It’s like the latest fashion
    Like a spreading disease
    The neighbors are braggin’ on their way to retirement
    Paper gains with the greatest of ease

    Celebs stake out their own twitter locales
    But if they got your wallet keys its all over pal
    If one guys tokens and regulators don’t mix
    They’re gonna bash it down, crash it down, crash it down, crash it down!

    Hey, man, you bet on money just for free?
    Take it out (you gonna watch your crypto crater)
    Hey, man, you disrespecting Bernanke?
    Take him out (you gonna watch your crypto crater)
    Hey, they don’t pay no mind
    If you filed a 10-k you won’t be doin’ any time
    Hey, come out and play!

    By the time you hear the siren
    It’s already too late
    One got vaporized and SBF is in jail
    You’re buying power’s wasted and the Feds are a waste
    It goes down the same as the ponzis before
    No one’s getting smarter, no one’s learning the score
    A never-ending spree of greed and envy and crime
    It’s gonna tie your own rope, tie your own rope, tie your own

    Hey, man, you bet on bitcoin gains for free?
    Take it out (you gotta watch your crypto crater)
    Hey, man, you disrespecting Bernanke?
    Take him out (you gotta watch your crypto crater)
    Hey, they don’t pay no mind
    If you filed a 10k you won’t be doin’ any time
    Hey, come out and play!

  3. The Rev Kev

    “Elon Musk Apologizes for Tesla’s Annoying Automatic Wipers, Still No Hope for Owners”

    This is really getting into the Babylon Bee territory here. Wipers that come on when it is sunny and refuse to work when it is rainy? Seriously? And just watching that brief video, that is really annoying watching those wipers go off on a sunny day and drag across the glass. For Musk, it is always about the razzle dazzle rather than the engineering but there was always another solution. Voice command. He could have set up a Tesla so that it has voice command for some functions so here it would have been a matter of “Wipers on!” or “Wipers off!” and he could have had his razzle dazzle and used something that would look cool for his customers.

        1. cnchal

          Not on my cars, and if I had my way, on no other car either. What Tesla gets away with is astounding. All our cars are greater than twenty years old and two of them have ‘rain sensing’ wipers that work and a wiper switch at the right hand finger tip, exactly where you need it.

          The dumbfuckery of modern cars is so horrible, whenever I look at newer than 2006 I wretch, and the newer it is the moar I wretch. Seen the latest BMW with the gigantic booger grille, ready to chew off the trunk of the car ahead? Even the electric ones have it. For the next ten years minimum, we are going to face that ugly crap rolling along the highway. The wipers better work better than what Tesla puts out or they can change their slogan to the ‘ultimate crapola machine’.

          1. Michael

            I have 2 vehicles I bought new before 2006 that run well with minimal maintenance.
            Why do 90% of new vehicles not have passenger seats with the electric controls like the driver?

            1. Duke of Prunes

              It’s cheaper to manufacture, yet the lack of this feature probably will not stop most people from buying the car. It’s called “de-contenting”, and MBAs love it. How can we sell something for more while making it costs less?

    2. HomoSapiensWannaBe

      “We can’t figure out how to get our wipers to work automatically, but you can trust the self-driving mode!”

    3. semper loquitur

      I declare it a “Vonnegut Event” based upon your assessment, Rev. I seem to recall that one of the Tesla model’s doors cannot be opened mechanically unless you pull a kind of cord or strip from between one’s legs beneath the seat to open the doors. Cause that’s where I’d look for an emergency handle to open the doors when the electrical system goes down. What with the tales of batteries burning for who knows how long, I could only think of the occupant as being forced to pull the pin off of an enormous thermite grenade.

      1. The Rev Kev

        ‘you pull a kind of cord or strip from between one’s legs beneath the seat’

        That kinda sounds like the ejection device out of an aircraft but if the batteries start burning, that would not be a bad option.

    1. pjay

      That was my reaction as well. But though Reich is pretty insufferable, I find him to be the ideal read for anyone who wants an example of complete liberal obliviousness. His ability to twist reality into a pretzel shape to defend the Democrat machine seems to know no bounds. And unlike many hardened and cynical politicos, I think Reich actually believes the BS he spews forth. Whether it’s defending NAFTA or the Clintons in general, calling for Liz Cheney to run for President, depicting Biden’s budget deal as a masterful accomplishment against crazed MAGA Republicans, or holding the pre-Licht CNN up as the epitome of non-partisan journalistic excellence, Reich’s ability to reinforce his liberal ideological bubble against all contrary evidence is always impressive. Being an academic completely removed from actual politics probably does help in this regard.

      1. ChrisPacific

        I did find some (perhaps unintentionally) revealing quotes:

        But this was not Biden. In his 50 years of public service, he has never delivered a speech with the power to alter the public’s understanding of a major issue.

        Instead we’re told he is ‘working quietly behind the scenes.’ Sure he is.

        The part about Medicare and Social Security being untouchable by Republicans was interesting as well, if not news. We could also point to their failure to repeal Obamacare. It highlights the push for ‘bipartisan consensus’ as the big lie that it is – more specifically, air cover for pushing donor interests. No bipartisan consensus is needed. If a sensible healthcare solution that actually met people’s needs was ever passed, no Republican effort to repeal could ever succeed. They would have nothing to replace it with except, well, nothing. In their world view that’s a better option, but with any kind of decent healthcare in place, that would be so self-evidently untrue as to be politically DOA.

    2. Benny Profane

      Yeah, holy mackerel, the CNN piece is really something. Note to Reich: Its just business, bud, the old anti Trump CNN is now the least watched cable news channel most of the time. Something had to be done. Unless you’re angling for some of that juicy Anderson Cooper propoganda money, then I understand.

  5. Henry Moon Pie

    I was surprised this wasn’t in Links this morning given the potentially historic implications.

    Adding to his already storied record of 2 league MVPs and 2 Super Bowl MVPs, Patrick Mahomes yesterday thwarted a teammate’s brazen attempt at a coup conducted before a large crowd on the South Lawn. Just after Mahomes and top NFL TE Travis Kelce presented President Joe Biden with a Chiefs jersey, the Chiefs perennial All-Pro TE boldly stepped behind the Presidential podium, apparently in an attempt to announce his seizing power from the elderly Biden. Mahomes, with his legendary peripheral vision, spotted the coup plotter, and acted swiftly to move Kelce back to his assigned spot for the group picture.

    Biden was so thrilled by the Chiefs jersey that he declined to order Kelce sent to Gitmo.

    (Video)

    1. griffen

      It’s a KC Coup! Haul them into the depths of hell, I mean to Gitmo for sure. Absent that, send them off to the Texans (which is the nearest to destination hell for a NFL franchise, or the Panthers maybe). Kelce just reminds me quite much of Gronkowski. Incredibly talented at the position, but also incredibly fun to observe.

      I must wonder, did Joe Biden make any cracks about playing for the Browns in a leather helmet against Corn Pop? \ sarc

      1. Henry Moon Pie

        He actually did talk about when he played. The mic wasn’t working well for the first 5 minutes or so, and Joe was in an echo chamber. But he talked about some coach he had, etc.

        Obviously, the little stunt was planned in advance by Kelce and Mahomes. Kelce is really feeling it after a successful hosting of SNL and signing with CAA in Hollywood. Lots of distractions for a Super Bowl team, even when they’re playing in a cowtown like KC.

  6. The Rev Kev

    “Georgia College Students can Continue to Bring Handguns to Class, even Concealed: State Supreme Court”

    Gawd. If those students are going to be doing stupid stuff like this, then they should listen to a real expert on how to use them who was the real deal-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEJNpWBcvQE (11:05 mins)

    I note that his advice contradicts YouTube videos that I have seen by modern experts.

  7. mrsyk

    “Trump and Obama’s former doctor: Biden ‘not fit mentally or physically to be president”
    “Hillary with a weed problem” (Amfortas) could be president in a (lack of a) heartbeat!

      1. ambrit

        “I watched the video of Biden of tripping….”
        There we have it concisely described in one pithy aphorism. “They” are all ‘tripping.’ Reality has been left far behind by this bunch of Silly Solons.
        As for him having trouble getting back up; this reminds me of ‘Her Awfulness’ Hillary and her mishap next the Mystery Machine, Secret Service issue. That was on 9/11 2016 in New York.
        When they show you what they are, (doddering old fools,) believe them.

  8. Samuel Conner

    > all future lockdowns illegal because it makes the economy sad

    Expenditures on medical care are counted as positives for GDP. Ain’t it great that when workers get sick enough to require medical care, that can add to GDP? Sort of a neoliberal exterminist automatic stabilizer.

    I do wonder what will happen as the health care industry work force is ground down and depleted by overwork and things like Long COVID.

    1. The Rev Kev

      There is at least one State here in Oz that has taken away the power of that State’s chief medical officer to mandate a lockdown but will leave it up to the medical expertise of the politicians of that State instead. Just writing that sentence made me feel if I had lost a coupla IQ points.

      1. John

        Lambert supplied the rationale in 2014: (1)Because profits. (2) Go die.

        Capitalist compassion at work.

        1. JEHR

          If you look at the people who worked on the studies, you will notice that there is a close association with Economics and Political Studies. I would like to see the scientific evidence from healthcare professionals rather than those who do economics and political studies. Of course, there is a wide divergence between what economists and politicians do and what healthcare professionals do. I would think that the healthcare professionals would do all they could to limit the number of deaths even if they were mostly deaths amongst those over 65 years of age. From what I have seen of economists and politicians, I wouldn’t think that the death of a few old people would not much concern them if the lockdown affected their making of money from the economy.

          SOURCE: DID LOCKDOWNS WORK? THE VERDICT ON COVID RESTRICTIONS BY PROF STEVE H HANKE, PROFESSOR OF APPLIED ECONOMICS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH AND ENGINEERING AT JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY, DR LARS JONUNG, PROFESSOR EMERITUS AT THE KNUT WICKSELL CENTRE FOR FINANCIAL STUDIES, DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS, LUND UNIVERSITY, SWEDEN AND JONAS HERBY, SPECIAL ADVISER AT THE CENTER FOR POLITICAL STUDIES (CEPOS) A THINK TANK BASED IN COPENHAGEN, DENMARK

    2. Henry Moon Pie

      One thing they miss in all these debates about “lockdowns” is that even in states where there were no lockdowns, we vulnerables excluded ourselves. No mandate was required. Not everybody is gullible enough to head into a room full of unmasked strangers and share air when there’s a dangerous virus going around.

      I guess the billionaires can try Bush II’s exhortations to go shop, or maybe a new kind of mandate:

      You will go to Applebee’s every Friday night, citizen. Rain, snow, hurricane, tornado or deadly virus, You will go. And you will enjoy it.

      Gotta keep that churn goin’. The Invisible Hand doesn’t like it when the churn slows down.

      1. Amfortas the hippie

        yeah.
        i remember talk at the time about how it was almost like a general strike…but uncoordinated n the extreme…and preceding the so called mandates.
        i immediately locked our place down…including wife being the first person at the school to work from home.
        i was the only person who left this place for a couple of months at least…to forage for supplies and whatnot.
        but we’re all s’posed to fall from the turnip truck all dewey eyed every morning and not remember things that happened yesterday…let alone 3 whole years ago.
        (i’m a weirdo for remembering articles i read 30 years ago(many of which have apparently been scrubbed in the interim))

  9. tevhatch

    China? Related links:

    1. DEA: Chinese organized crime laundering money for Mexican CIA drug cartels NBC (furzy)

    The Pentagon is trying to push China into making a mistake, a real hot war would upset too many profitable relationships. along that line….

    2. Western corporations are refusing to go along with the US-Western strategy of decoupling from China — and the militarisation of great-power relations. Is the capitalist class revolting against the military-industrial complex and the neocons?

    Mr. Fazi missed the opportunity to show how NATO, ie USA, is using it’s EC democracy distroying proxy, the EU, to enforce sanctions packages on EU corporations. All so the USA mostly gets a free ride, yet sees it’s competitors in China from the EU hobbled.

    He could have easily shown how the USA is doing gobsmacking amounts of trade with Russia, to the extent it’s highly likely it’s even Russian heavy crude and diesel being re-shipped out of Texas to the EU, and Cargill is raking it in on grain laundry.

    1. ambrit

      If the Chinese Tongs are laundering drugs money for the Cartels, then what are they getting in return? The possibilities are endless.

  10. FreeMarketApologist

    Re: The SEC going after Binance.

    At the crack of dawn today (6 June), the SEC announced they’re also filing charges against Coinbase for operating as an unlicensed exchange, broker, and clearing agency.
    Press Release: https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-102\
    Compliant: https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2023/comp-pr2023-102.pdf

    (and, just in case you thought the SEC was ignoring the TBTF banks, last week they fined Carrie Tolstedt, the former head of Wells Fargo & Co.’s Community Bank, for her role in misleading investors).

  11. The Rev Kev

    “Using Angola’s power glut for Germany’s energy transition”

    Gotta shake my head at this. It is all about using Angola’s excess power to manufacture green hydrogen to supply about 450,000 German households so yeah, mining Africa. Maybe, just maybe, they should also consider other considerations. What if they had also made a side deal with the Angolan government to hook up communities to the electrical grid. The Germans then get the green hydrogen, the Angolans are happy because a lot of their people are being hooked up to the electrical grid and will give the German a pass while the Angolan government gets a win by presenting this as a victory to their voters, errrr, people with the bonus that they will get a stream of revenue from those new communities paying for their electricity as they are now connected to the grid.

  12. Ignacio

    RE: Kevin W on the tweet below: “My take is that a narrative is being built to make all future lockdowns illegal because it makes the economy sad.”

    Yep, and after all who cares if there are 200.000 less Britons in the World, 1.000.000 USans, 200.000 Italians, etc. Let’s put all in terms of dollars and pounds, the only “correct” way of thinking.

    1. The Rev Kev

      The most dangerous part of the lockdowns for the economy was having huge masses of people sitting at home having the time to rethink their life choices and how work fitted into their lives. Corporations are still having trouble forcing the cubicle mice back into those ill-ventilated skyscrapers simply because they were off the hamster wheels for too long.

      2. Willow

        Revolting mice!
        Corporate resistance to working from home just shows how bad management is at motivating staff that they need redeploy plantation capitalist techniques corralling staff in easily monitored workspaces.

    2. Jeremy Grimm

      The link pointed to by the tweet linked in today’s Links: “Lockdown benefits ‘a drop in the bucket compared to the costs’, landmark study finds” pointed to by the tweet:
      Researchers say draconian measures taken in spring 2020 had ‘negligible impact’ on Covid mortality compared with lighter-touch countries
      By Laura Donnelly, Health Editor 4 June 2023 • 10:23pm [Note the date.]

      I tried to locate a link to the “landmark study”, but found none in the telegraph story — so I took a look at the comments to the story:
      The third comment to this story, M Jennings, pointed to another article that offers some background:
      “Scientists criticize flaws in study that found lockdowns do little to reduce COVID deaths”
      https://nationalpost.com/health/johns-hopkins-study-finding-lockdowns-do-little-to-prevent-covid-deaths-flawed-critics-say
      From that article:
      “Throughout the pandemic, most COVID research out of Johns Hopkins University has typically come from its Coronavirus Resource Center, an initiative run out the university’s world-renowned medical school.

      But the new paper, which was drafted by three economists, comes out of the university’s unaffiliated Krieger School of Arts and Sciences.

      The economists — who were led by Denmark’s Jonas Herby — only sought data on COVID mortality, and ignored the effects of pandemic strictures on other factors such as hospitalizations or overall case rates. They also excluded any study whose accounting of lives saved was based on forecasts.”

      The National Post’s article included a link to this:
      February 3, 2022 [Note the date]
      “expert reaction to a preprint looking at the impact of lockdowns, as posted on the Johns Hopkins Krieger School of Arts and Sciences website”

      https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-a-preprint-looking-at-the-impact-of-lockdowns-as-posted-on-the-john-hopkins-krieger-school-of-arts-and-sciences-website/

      From this — there was a link to the “landmark study”:
      “A LITERATURE REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS OF THE EFFECTS OF LOCKDOWNS ON COVID-19 MORTALITY”
      SAE./No.200/January 2022 [Note the date]

      https://sites.krieger.jhu.edu/iae/files/2022/01/A-Literature-Review-and-Meta-Analysis-of-the-Effects-of-Lockdowns-on-COVID-19-Mortality.pdf

      The “Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and Lund University” mentioned in the Telegraph article are economists. I am not sure what kind of scientist an economist is.

      1. ChrisPacific

        Why am I not surprised to find the fingerprints of economists all over this?

        Even the article itself seemed to be sourced entirely from economists, some of whom were fiercely critical of the quality of epidemiological science during the pandemic (economists as always are not big on self awareness).

        And if you’re going to look at the effect of lockdowns, why not look at countries where they worked, like Australia/New Zealand or China? If I build an internal combustion engine inexpertly and it catches fire, it does not mean that internal combustion is a dead end technology that should be abandoned.

        Even by Telegraph standards, this one is pretty rancid.

        1. Amfortas the hippie

          economics’ physics envy strikes again.
          what is it?..”assume a spherical cow”?…or can opener, or something?
          having grown up reading the Classics and philosophy, i was shocked when i turned my attention to economics…at least the modern version(like, not the original texts, Smith Ricardo, etc)…at how myopic to their own myopia they were.

          1. some guy

            What do you do if you have a bunch of canned food and no way to open the cans?

            First, assume an economist who can assume a can opener for you.

    3. Samuel Conner

      > if there are 200.000 less

      on the upside, reducing the denominator would, ceteris paribus (and before objecting to this assumption, remember that I’m “thinking like the elites”, and higher than zeroth order effects may be too difficult for them to comprehend), increase “GDP per capita”.

  13. KD

    Lacking any special knowledge or access to anything other than public sources, I do not think you can count out Russia damaging the dam. Part of the retreat from Kherson was based on fears of the impact of flooding on the Russian positions. This action appears to make it much more difficult for the Ukrainians to conduct operations on the Kherson front line, unless the plan was to let all the water drain out for a month and then attack (but now the Ukrainians lack control over flooding levels). This would allow the Russians to buttress positions East from the Kherson line without fear of Ukrainian incursions. Further, it is uncontested that the Russian blew a dam in the Marinka area, so its not like the Russians are against blowing up dams.

    I am having a hard time seeing how this action helps the Ukrainians conduct their offensive–it sounds like they were holding down water levels southwest of the dam to facilitate the use of islands, and this action takes it off the menu. Maybe its just a random act of terrorism, but if so, it would be better targeted toward Russia or Crimea. So my guess would be Russia, although not clear on how it is some “war crime” as it seems like it is in pursuit of a legitimate military objective.

    1. hunkerdown

      Did you miss the impact on the water supplies to the new territories? It would benefit any weak force to create humanitarian, infrastructural distractions for their strong opponent.

      1. KD

        Sure, but the issue is the timing, it looks like the UA is starting operations in Zaporizhzhia and this muddles any efforts in Kherson and frees up Russian forces who now don’t have to worry about their Western flank. I wouldn’t rule out Ukraine but I can’t imagine the Russians haven’t anticipated what happens if the dam blows in connection with the withdrawal from Kherson. If the goal (according to Mearsheimer) is to wreck Ukraine, this certainly doesn’t hurt.

        1. R.S.

          If the goal (according to Mearsheimer) is to wreck Ukraine

          Since 30.09.2022 the Kherson region is legally Russia, and this can’t be undone short of breaking Russia apart or some equivalent of that. So it would be like nuking San Antonio to wreck Mexico.

          1. KD

            I think Russia needs to win the SMO out-and-out first, and then worry about civilian infrastructure later. You can always evacuate civilians from a territory. In addition, if Mexico were itching to re-take San Antonio, I think nuking it would be a sure way to make Mexico re-assess its territorial ambitions.

            1. some guy

              If the RussiaGov wants to create a long-term John Helmer type No Man’s Land in Central Ukraine to help keep NATO missile launchers too far away from Russia to reach it, this could help achieve that longest-term result. ( If I remember correctly what I think I remember Helmer having written several million words ago).

        2. Grebo

          Mearsheimer does not say it is Russia’s goal to wreck Ukraine, he says that will be the result of US policy.

    2. Maxwell Johnston

      Though I like your contrarian take (and I’m a natural contrarian myself), this is too much of a stretch for me. RU military has overwhelming superiority over UKR all along the front line and has been systematically blasting away at UKR ammo depots and rear echelon formations, hence RU has little to fear from any UKR “big push” (to use the WW1 parlance) along any one point of the line. Plus, a key objective for RU in this conflict is to secure water supplies for Crimea (which had been a huge RU-UKR bone of contention since 2014). Why would RU do this now, just before the hot Crimean summer starts? It simply makes no sense, neither militarily nor politically nor financially.

      I think UKR did it. And given that the dam was in bad shape anyway, it probably didn’t take much effort.

      Recent UKR behavior seems increasingly unhinged: drone attacks on Moscow (none successful in military terms, though fun to watch on video), a bunch of suicidal partisan raids on villages near Belgorod, and now destroying a dam and causing incredible damage downstream. To what purpose? At this stage, I doubt that either Z or Zh (Zelensky or Zaluzhny) are controlling events.

      Methinks we’re in for a hot summer in UKR. I hope things don’t spin out of control.

      1. Daniil Adamov

        My thinking is mostly along similar lines, but:
        1) One should never underestimate the possibilities of stupidity in wartime. I agree it makes very little sense for the Russian side to do this, and yet someone may have panicked or made a stupid decision to complicate the counter-offensive;
        2) There is also the third option, that the dam collapsed because of past damage that was not repaired due to the war. Frankly I am not sure that it is so rational for either side to destroy it. Ukrainians may have done so out of some mix of desperation and short-term calculation, yes… but you’d think it would’ve made more sense for them to do it before or during their Kherson offensive, when it would have had greater military impact. “It happened on its own” is my preferred contrarian take.

        1. Polar Socialist

          I also have somewhat conflicted feelings about the possible culprit: the first comments I saw made the case that the flood wave will remove a lot of Russian minefields on the left bank, and force the troops to relocate on the higher ground in new positions that may not be as well prepared as the ones on the bank.

          But then I saw the videos of the Ukrainian troops on the left bank trying to escape from the flood while being hammered by the Russian artillery – surely they would have been pulled out before blowing up the dam.

          The most plausible explanation, at the moment, is the dam giving up on it’s own, after all that it has suffered. And yet, I’ve seen statements that Ukrainians have opened gates upstream of Nova Kahovka, which, if true, kinda points towards nefarious intent.

          At least it’s a good excuse if the (counter)offensive peters out with a fizzle.

          1. tevhatch

            But then I saw the videos of the Ukrainian troops on the left bank trying to escape from the flood while being hammered by the Russian artillery – surely they would have been pulled out before blowing up the dam.

            Have you been watching this war? The biggest number of victims of the Ukraine military are it’s own cattle.

            1. pjay

              Well, NBC News just said all signs point to the Rooskies, so I guess case closed. They also talked about the Washington Post story on the Ukrainians blowing up the pipeline in the same news segment.

            2. The Rev Kev

              Unfortunately I have to agree as the Ukrainian leadership have proven time and again that they will sacrifice their own troops by the thousands merely to make a media statement. Leaving those Ukrainian troops on those islands to be rescued by boats is exactly the sort of thing that they would do to make them look innocent.

        2. Amfortas the hippie

          does “The Ukraine”(showing my age, perhaps) even have Command and Control at this point?
          looks more and more like Somalia or Sudan, to me.

          my bet is a little group of Nazi True Believers floated some mines downstream to cause mayhem.
          a wooden shipping pallet with some air=filled soda bottles and a contact trigger=floating IED.

    3. Procopius

      According to Mercouris, a lot of Russian defensive works are in areas that obviously will be flooded. So you have disadvantage there, too, since their defense will be from an area less well prepared. I blame the Ukrainians because they love to hurt Ukrainian civilians. I don’t believe the “ecological disaster,” though.

  14. jefemt

    Antidote: next up, several deep rubs against anything white, expensive, and difficult to clean…

  15. Kurtismayfield

    The US has no left.

    Leader of Progressive caucus admits that her vote is theater

    U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, leader of the 101-member Congressional Progressive Caucus, voted “no” on the deal to raise the nation’s debt limit Wednesday night.

    But Jayapal, whose caucus includes nearly half of all Democrats in the U.S. House, wants to be clear on one thing: The deal was all but sure to pass without her vote and if they needed her vote she’d likely have voted “yes.”

    This is how you admit that you really like what you’re s happening, and your vote is performative.

  16. Lexx

    It was probably the subject of the Oath Keepers and the root word ‘keep’.

    Okay, so I pay attention to a lot of dramas, not watching but listening with earbuds (multitask), and a phrase I think I’m hearing much too often has come to my attention. It’s like an editor for Jon Stewart has gathered together the same talking points on a story and every news anchor is echoing those points word for word, and once you’ve heard it you can’t unhear it. It feels like propaganda, repeated over and over until it sounds like ‘truth’.

    The phrase is “keep (blank) safe”. Provide your own pronoun, all of them are being used. There are a lot of other word choices to describe that action, but I’m not hearing those; it’s “keep (blank) safe” every time. At least once an episode (possibly every episode) and the actor taking action is usually white and male (with supporting cast). Some other character (usually female or young or an animal or some vulnerable combination) is in explicit danger, and the rescuer’s job is to keep (blank) safe and failing that take some over-the-top action to rescue them.

    In my 65 years I have never heard one phrase used so much to drive the plot. Have network executives arrived at the formula that guarantees them compelling television and an audience? Are they writing notes when they read the approved scripts that say, ‘include the phrase ‘keep (blank) safe’ three times in this episode’, or do writers just automatically write it in anticipating the ‘notes’ to come? Who is the audience supposed to be? Who is being served and why? If art imitates life, we’re all in terrible trouble and we need to be rescued. Stranger danger abounds.

    I’ve made a list of my preferred leading actors to come get my ass out of an inevitable jam that I’m incompetent to handle on my own for obvious reasons* Thank heavens for Hollywood. Now I know I’m supposed to sit and wait for help to arrive.

    *Not white, male, and lack ‘special set of skills’.

    This is a spoof trailer.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0taSU3OsDC8

    1. Carla

      In my experience, “keep safe” as a routine directive started BIG time with onset of the 2020 shut-down. I would say “Be well” to others, but they always seemed to say “Keep safe” to me and everyone else, as if Covid-19 was not an illness, but an assailant that was going to reach out, grab us by the throat, and strangle us. Turned out to be prescient.

    2. flora

      It used to be sex that was used to sell things. Think of the annual auto shows where new car models were rolled out with gorgeous women presenters caressing the cars. TV ads suggested ‘use our product and watch your social life improve.’

      Now? It’s fear that sells. Or the ad men think fear sells. Or some outfit want to always remind us it’s a dangerous world and we should be afraid, very afraid. [Family blog] that stuff. / ;)

      1. digi_owl

        Sex still sells, from what i have seen. Or at least every last sugar-water commercial that runs whenever i walk past a TV seem to be about.

        1. ambrit

          I learned from the Advertising 101 class I audited way back that the two items that always grab the attention of the sub-conscious are Sex and Death.
          Thus, muscle cars and the like are generally about self doubt and impotence fears. They don’t call those super fast street bikes “Crotch Rockets” for nothing.

      2. Lexx

        Yes, and as much as fear sells, it’s the answer to fear/danger that interests me of late. The answer is ‘tribe’. Strangers on the street won’t come to your aide, don’t appeal to your neighbors, your “community” is just a collection of homes and businesses with zero interest in your safety… they are extras is your drama… only tribe matters in a crisis and if you’re not secure within that agreed upon mutual interest group, you’re doomed.

        I would be the first to say that no one really gets anywhere in this life without the support of uncredited thousands. But what I’m hearing lately is a more specific and consistent drumbeat about the role of ‘tribe’ I can’t recall hearing even 10 years ago. I find the consistency across so many networks weird… weird and profitable, like a Disney princess movie.

  17. Koldmilk

    I don’t have to watch that horrific video because I will never forget a passage from The Cruel Sea (1951) by Nicholas Monsarrat describing the treatment of a sailor covered in burns. The attempt to apply burn ointment peels away the man’s skin and flesh and the medic treating him prays for him to die.

    That book, and others written in the period soon after the war by those who had experienced the horrors, cured me of any romantic notions of warfare.

    1. Clint Olsen Wright

      Every cheerleader of the Ukraine conflict needs to view that video in a continuous looping reel, especially Lindsay Graham.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        Preferably with his head immobilized and his eyelids propped open, preventing him from closing them, a la “Clockwork Orange.”

      2. nippersmom

        Lindsay Graham may be a sadistic enough psychopath that he would be unmoved– or even excited–by the intense suffering depicted in the video. Scott Ritter recently described Graham as “soulless”. I don’t think he was wrong.

  18. Benny Profane

    So many flaws in the arrogant Foreign Affairs piece, like calling the invasion unprovoked for the thousandth time, and, well, assuming that suddenly both sides are at a standoff, after Bakhmut fell, and now Ukraine is reduced to kamakazie terrorist attacks, while a massive well supplied Russian army slowly advances. But this is really something:

    “Moreover, there do not appear to be any ongoing efforts either within the U.S. government or among Washington, its allies, and Kyiv to think through the practicalities and substance of eventual negotiations. Compared with the efforts to provide resources for the counteroffensive, practically nothing is being done to shape what comes next. The Biden administration should begin to fill that gap.”

    A Biden administration that is led by a dottering, somewhat senile 80 year old who is entering a campaign for his second term election in a little over a year, with piss poor approval ratings, and bringing along a VP candidate who should be a safety valve, but, America likes her even less, by far. Why in the world would Putin negotiate with that, especially when there is zero chance of a decent NATO force entering Ukraine, besides the Poles, and even that country had a massive protest Sunday against the ruling party? No, I’ll bet that Russia will just settle in, make a million artillery shells, and wait for the west to slowly fade into failure. What’s the rush?

    1. John

      Unprovoked. Unprovoked. Unprovoked. Say it over and over and maybe someone will believe it. Guess it worked on the sheeple.

    2. jrkrideau

      So many flaws in the arrogant Foreign Affairs piece,…

      It was bad but it was a statement that Ukraine/Nato/USA cannot win which may be a start. The rest of the crap makes me wonder if the author really believe it or is afraid of becoming a pariah if he says that, for all intents and purposes, “We lost”. If he believes it’ Rand has sunk even lower in my opinion. If not, he may be trying to lay some groundwork before telling the White House that it’s time to bail.

  19. The Rev Kev

    ‘We have a post on the Kakhovka dam destruction but some additional tidbits and initial commentary below’

    This is the third attack on Russian infrastructure. There was the demolition of the North Sea pipelines with everybody pretending that they did not know who did it, there was the attempted destruction of the Crimean bridge using a truck bomb driven by an unknowing driver and now there is the destruction of this dam which serves for hydroelectric power generation, irrigation and navigation. I note that Wikipedia says that ‘At the time of its destruction, the dam was under Russian control, and its level had risen to a 30-year high.’ so it sounds like this plan was a long time in preparation and was done for maximum effect.

    1. ambrit

      “it sounds like this plan was a long time in preparation and was done for maximum effect.”
      This happened to happen at the time of peak water height and flow, the late spring snowmelt pulse.
      The above alone raises questions of circumstance and malevolence.

      1. Polar Socialist

        For what it’s worth Big Serge is saying that Ukraine has opened the gates of the upstream Dniepr Hydroelectric Station. Which will maximize the effect a little bit more.

        1. ambrit

          From which we can confidently assume that before this is all over, the Russians will take control over the entire Lower Dnieper River. It is simple risk avoidance for them. It would guarantee flood control, hydroelectric power generation, atomic power plant cooling, and water supply for the Crimea and regional agricultural irrigation.
          The Westernized Ukraine has shown itself to be unscrupulous in the extreme. If I were a Russian, I would not give the Ukraine any “wiggle room.” Make Kiev a totally controlled client state, take the Russian speaking regions into Russia proper, and perhaps deal out the minority populated oblasts to their cousins in neighbouring nations.
          The Fall of the Soviet Union left a lot of downright stupid borders. Time to ‘rectify’ the mess and plan for smoother sailing ahead.

          1. Divadab

            Yes this whole thing is ultimately about adjusting borders formed in the chaotic weakness of the collapsing Soviet Union. Same as what precipitated WW2- adjusting borders imposed on a defeated Germany.

  20. The Rev Kev

    “Make ISIS Iran’s Problem”

    But that is what they want over there. Suppose the US pulls out of Syria, what happens next? Al Tanf gets shut down, the terrorists in training get arrested and the refugees kept as hostages are relocated to civilized areas. And in the east of the country? ISIS gets shut down, their supply lines are blocked and they wither on the vine and are hunted down piecemeal. If ISIS leaders want out of this region, either they will have to hitchhike with the retreating US forces or else they will have to wait for one of those mysterious unmarked helicopters that are seen so often in this region acting as the ISIS transport corps.

  21. RookieEMT

    Being a combat medic sucks.

    He’s the only first responder. His equipment is very basic. At all times, at risk of being struck by artillery. Multiple patients. His primary patient looks pretty darn critical. It might take hours for the patient to be evacuated.

    Tourniquets hurt to apply when training with a healthy limb. The tourniquets hurt much worse when the limb is injured and heavily bleeding. So the poor gent gets tourniquets on multiple injured limbs. The medic finds a small shrapnel wound on the gentlemen’s chest. Is that a risk of internal bleeding? Well the medic has no equipment to deal with that.

    His patient’s face is going white. Decreased responsiveness. Signs of shock.

    At one point, the best the medic can do later is toss a blanket on the man and wait.

    1. Revenant

      Medical understatement, RookieEMT: the guy is the colour of bone, rigid and mute!

      Still, it is amazing and terrible what people can survive. Tie off his limbs, keep the core full of blood, hope he keeps breathing and is neither bleeding out internally nor has collapsed lung, the medics might keep him alive.

      As a torso. :-(

      The video’s main impression was not horror but humanity. We are all flesh and bone and the medic never stopped calling him brother. If I am ever FUBAR, I hope somebody calls me brother.

      1. RookieEMT

        Im not really religious but I had that distinct need to pray for all three involved and did so right after watching.

  23. ChiGal

    well, if no one else wants to be the first to say it, I for one am relieved (if not hopeful) that someone is running for president for whom I am happy to vote: Cornel West.

    right on, brotherman

    1. semper loquitur

      He’s got my vote. I will enthusiastically promote his campaign. What a sharp sword Dr. West equips his army with! To horse, comrades, to horse!! If nothing else, at least you will be right!

    2. Michael McK

      I am in an open primary state so I will still be for RFKj in order to stick it to the far right asses who call themselves Dems these days but I am very glad to have someone to vote for in the general election.

    3. WillyBgood

      I too will be throwing my vote to the wind for this man, happy to have the chance to vote for the greatest good versus the lesser evil. If he has any success at all expect the viciousness to be turned to 11, making what happened to Bernie look almost accidental.

  24. semper loquitur

    Typical clumsiness in the Guardian bit about the study of the history of slavery. This excerpt gets to the nut of the problem:

    “What happened at the college demonstrates the collision between two different worldviews: one that sees research into the history of slavery as a routine, but vital, academic exercise; and another that sees it as an overtly biased undertaking and a threat to the way historical knowledge is produced. The intensity of this clash sheds some light on why it has proved so difficult to reappraise Britain’s past.”

    It is not the case that those who seek to research the history of slavery are utterly agenda free. I would guess the vast majority of researchers are like the hero of the article, honest seekers of knowledge who go where the resources take them. But there is a movement afoot in academia, we all know this, and it doesn’t seek here to research slavery but rather to mold the perceptions and conduct of the history of slavery to it’s particular ideological goals.

    The goals of the descendants of former slaves, you ask? Reparative justice? No, not so much, although good things can sprout from $hit. It’s more about the goals of elites who seek capital in that bullion of the $hit-lib economy: public moralizing. As well as the hustlers like D’Angelo who make solid cash selling epistemically vacant literature to the credulous and flagellant.

    And it doesn’t a lot to build a “case”. A few men in ballgowns reading to children, a few teachers declaring all white students to be inherently flawed, a few “trans” identified male “athletes” stealing medals and knocking around women, a few parents being told by their freshmen children to “check their privilege” while they cut another check is all it takes. The Right raise the alarms of civilizational collapse based on this pretext of curdled Kool-Whip. It’s what Matt Walsh does, Shapiro, all those lovelies, here in the US. It’s why I call performative Wokeness “The Other Right”.

    1. marym

      Every cause and tactic taken up by the “left” in my lifetime has been criticized for (among varied other things) provoking the “right” to extreme backlash. It’s difficult to reconcile “it doesn’t take a lot” with attributing eliminationist rhetoric and policy on the right to Performative Wokeness.

    2. hunkerdown

      It’s just capitalist social property. Midwit classes are created precisely to fight over this garbage and enforce it on the poors. It would be better to burn Plotinus and stop pretending that anything “greater” has any business existing, so that classes don’t waste food and other people’s time on it anymore. Onticide = Dreamtime and is devoutly to be wished because it’s better than going to the stars!

  25. JTMcPhee

    On war, from Wagner PMC Telegram channel (machine translation fro Russian):

    What is it: war? Why every day, whether you want it or not, you return to the ruins of the burnt city pierced by the winds, to the February mud rolled out by caterpillars, where single mines fall with a short whistle and black powder snow pours from the sky …

    Trampled by heavy army boots, machine-gun shells crunch and plaintively tinkle under your feet, and the sounds of distant cannonade fill you not with fear, but with a state of habitual peace of mind …

    Probably because war is always war. Both in the past and in the present. Targets are changing, weapons are being improved, and soldiers continue to live and fight according to the original laws: for a lieutenant torn apart by an anti-personnel mine, for a height that must be taken at the cost of any losses, because if it is not taken today, tomorrow the losses will be even greater.

    Society for the most part refuses soldiers, and they continue to fight without banners, without holy truth – for the last puff left by a comrade, for a sip of warm vodka divided into two, for something found only here, at the bottom of a cold, rain-filled trench, under the alien sky crossed out by tracers …

    And this something that cannot be expressed in words remains with you for life, until the last breath, as the most important and inescapable. Because, no matter how unnatural, but here you were happy. Maybe the only time.

    So he lived: from war to war. From business trip to business trip. From the fear and unsettledness of this life to the height to which he walked with his head held high, holding his hand on the safety of the machine gun …
    🎼@wagner_group_pmc🎻

    2. digi_owl

      That is the “sailboat” story dressed up in the Discord chat room leak for “credibility”, no?

    3. ambrit

      My Ultra-Cynical sub-unit thinks that this is an exercise in “building a legend.” The groundwork is laid so as to allow the Ukraine to carry out some sort of ‘weapon of mass destruction’ attack on the Russians. The “excuse” will be that the Ukrainians have a ‘history’ of going “off the reservation.” All along, the Organs of State Security will have had a crucial role in the carrying out of the fell designs.
      Remember that “weapons of mass destructions” are not just nuclear devices. The category includes chemical and biological devices as well. The West has been using High Security Bio-labs to carry out “research” in the Ukraine from well before this war broke out.
      We live in interesting times.

    4. Daniil Adamov

      I’d also watch out for more and more people “suddenly noticing” unsavoury types among the defenders of freedom.

    5. pretzelattack

      and the New York Times article, rediscovering the Nazi roots of the Azov battalion.

    6. pjay

      I thought it was noteworthy that the story was not pay-walled, but on the contrary was reproduced at other sites like MSN. I also thought this paragraph was pretty interesting:

      “The European intelligence made clear that the would-be attackers were not rogue operatives. All those involved reported directly to Gen. Valery Zaluzhny, the country’s highest-ranking military officer, who was put in charge so that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, wouldn’t know about the operation, the intelligence report said.”

      Zaluzhny? How convenient.

    7. tevhatch

      Grayzone participated in recent expedition to the site, found a USN naval diver boot not far from site of explosion. Seems the Swedes didn’t look to hard during their investigation or they would have quietly removed it.

      1. Late Introvert

        I don’t believe this any more than I believe the WaPo story, but it does like it’s time to move on to the next war now.

  28. Alex Cox

    Fascinating satellite maps in the BBC piece about the Taliban eradicating opium in Afghanistan… again. If you read all the way through, near the end the author mentions that the Taliban did this once before, in 2000 – just before the US/NATO invasion.

    Over the ensuing 20 years, we read repeatedly about how US/NATO efforts to eradicate opium were failing — each year of the occupation, more and more opium was grown. I used to wonder… aren’t there satellites which can detect the poppy fields? Presumably not, or surely the Americans and their allies would simply incinerate the demon crop from the air.

    Strangely enough, today the BBC reports that there is satellite imagery of the opium fields, and shows us the pictures. Now that the US has gone, the Taliban are using it to destroy the crops. I wonder why we never thought of that?

      1. tevhatch

        I’d consider CIA controlled sales of heroin, amphetamines’, etc. an oh so American regressive tax on the poor.

    1. psv

      Yes, I agree – very interesting details on the trade issues. The anecdote about using varnish gives good perspective.

  31. Keith Newman

    “What the debt ceiling debate missed FT”
    Unfortunately i was not able to find this on archive ph.

    1. Late Introvert

      I’m getting to be an expert, although I’m using archive.is.

      If you don’t see the link of the article, paste the URL from the NC link into the search form box at the top of the page. This usually works. You can also click on the “Financial Crimes” home page link, and then find all of that day’s articles linked from there. This all works for “Wall St. Genocide” too.

      https://archive.is/t9wl4

      I thought it was a pretty amazing discussion for them, MMT adjacent pro-debt spending although they avoided the topic of fiat currency entirely, as expected.

  32. ThirtyOne

    From Telegram channel Witnesses Bayraktara

    Have you noticed that 2 major infrastructure facilities were damaged almost simultaneously? On June 5, an ammonia pipeline was blown up in the Kharkiv region, and on June 6, the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station was destroyed. It is hard to believe in such coincidences. In both cases, the responsibility is being shifted to Russia.
    —
    With regard to the undermining of the amiacoproaod, the story resembles a tragicomedy. Near the village of Masyutovka, Kharkiv region, Ukrainians blew up an ammonia pipeline. Yes, yes, the very one that Russia has been trying in vain for many months to launch as part of the grain deal. As soon as Russia on June 2 announced the suspension of the registration of Ukrainian ships in ports and demanded the resumption of ammonia supplies … and after 3 days the pipe was blown up …

    But this news was not joyful for all Ukrainians. Due to the direction of the wind, ammonia went towards the Ukrainian positions. 1 fighter definitely died, several were taken to the hospital with poisoning. In addition, it was decided to postpone the Ukrainian offensive in these parts because of ammonia.

    In a word – do not drink the branch on which you sit. Even if this b#tch belongs to Muscovites.

  33. flora

    Taibbi’s substack latest on the twtr files. public, no paywall.

    Twitter Files Extra: How the World’s “No-Kidding Decision Makers” Got Organized
    The Atlantic Council is hosting its 360/0S Summit at RightsCon this week, and Twitter Files documents tell us more about how this VIP-room-within-a-VIP-room was formed

    https://www.racket.news/p/twitter-files-extra-how-the-worlds

    adding: I like the name RightsCon. Seems appropriate, as in Rights Con. They don’t try to hide it do they?

  34. The Rev Kev

    Martha Stewart once more proving that she is in fact a sociopath-

    “Martha Stewart says America will ‘go down the drain’ if people don’t return to office”

    https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/06/business/martha-stewart-slams-hybrid-work/index.html

    And here is one quote from her-

    ‘Look at the success of France with their stupid … you know, off for August, blah blah blah. That’s not a very thriving country. Should America go down the drain because people don’t want to go back to work?’

    1. Late Introvert

      Look how she has doubled down on her shilling for the owners even after they put her in the resort prison.

  35. some guy

    I looked a little deeper into the Corteva AgScience and USAID article to see what this company is about, and here is an article from their website giving a flavor and an aroma of the orientation of this company.
    Here is the title of that article. ” Corteva Agriscience Announces Commercial Launch of Optimum® GLY Canola
    Proprietary, advanced herbicide trait technology for canola will be available to farmers for 2023 planting season.”

    Here is a choice quote from that article . . . ” Optimum GLY herbicide tolerance is a new, proprietary glyphosate trait technology intended to deliver enhanced weed control and a wider window of herbicide application, compared to first-generation glyphosate trait technology*, so farmers have more choices and flexibility for effective and responsible weed management.”

    Here is the link to this particular article . . .
    https://www.corteva.com/resources/media-center/corteva-announces-commercial-launch-of-optimum-gly-canola.html

    Wherever the glyphosate trait technology goes, the glyphosate is sure to follow. Pour it on.

    Meanwhile, if the RussiaGov is really committed to the rigid exclusion of GMO technology such as this from anywhere on Russian Federation territory, then Russia may find a market for “No-GLY” canola among the people and countries who prefer to ingest zero Glyphosate in their food.

Comments are closed.