Links 9/30/2023

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1. paul September 30, 2023 at 7:27 am

   Here’s one for the great canadian nc songbook:

   Lord Almighty
   Feel my trousers rising
   Higher, higher
   It’s burning through to my briefs
   Krys,Krys,Krys,Krys
   You gonna set me on fire
   My brain is flaming
   I don’t know which way to go

   <james burton slide />

   Your kisses lift me higher
   Like the sweet song of a choir
   You light my morning sky
   With burned love

   I feel my temperature rising
   Help me, I’m flaming
   I must be a hundred and nine
   Burning, burning, burning
   And nothing can cool them down

   They just might turn into smoke
   And I’ll feel fine

   Cause your kisses lift me higher
   Like a sweet song of a choir
   And you light my morning sky
   With burned love

   It’s coming closer
   The flames are now licking their bodies
   Won’t you help me
   Feel like I’m slipping away
   It’s hard to breathe
   And my chest is a-heaving
   Lord, have mercy
   Burning the hole where they lay

   Your kisses lift me higher
   Like the sweet song of a choir
   You light my morning sky

   With burned love
   With burned love
   I’m just a humka, a humka burning love
   Just a humka,a humka burning love
   Just a humka,a humka burning love
   Just a humka,a humka burning love
   Just a humka,a humka burning love
   Just a humka,a humka burning love
   1. John Zelnicker September 30, 2023 at 11:10 am

      Good Morning, paul.

      Thank you for your contribution to the NC Songbook, Volume Three.

      Do you have a particular tune in mind to accompany your lyrics? If so it would be greatly appreciated if you could provide a link to your favorite version. Please reply here or contact me at zelnickertaxserivce [at] comcast [dot] net.

      Stay safe.
      1. John Steinbach September 30, 2023 at 11:14 am

         “Burning Love” by Elvis
         1. John Zelnicker September 30, 2023 at 11:22 am

            Thanks, John.

            I knew it was an Elvis song, but I’m horrible at remembering song titles or tunes. No musical ability whatsoever.
            1. paul September 30, 2023 at 1:23 pm

               It’s a good number, and an amazing performance
         2. paul September 30, 2023 at 1:33 pm

            Correct!
            Very little search and replace needed
2. Michaelmas September 30, 2023 at 7:48 am

   Re. the Scott Ritter X/Twitter text under under ‘Feinstein R.I.P.’, YS writes ‘Please click through to read in full.’

   NCers should. My interest in/tolerance for Ritter varies. Here, though, he is bracingly forthright.

   Searingly forthright, even.
   1. IM Doc September 30, 2023 at 9:13 am

      By the way
      Hope you had a great day yesterday…….
      1. Michaelmas September 30, 2023 at 9:33 am

         It was my birthday. As for the ‘weighing souls against their sins’ part of Michaelmas day …

         Well, see Ritter.
      2. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 12:41 pm

         Doc that is one strange drawing – especially the second head of the devil in the crotch –
         1. bobert September 30, 2023 at 1:44 pm

            Talk about a case of crotch critters!
   2. Tom Stone September 30, 2023 at 11:11 am

      My clearest memory of DiFi is of my black and white pet rat climbing up her leg and her expression of frozen horror.
      She was there with her husband Bert Feinstein to celebrate my Father’s survival, it had been a year to the day since Dad’s third experimental brain surgery.
      Thirteen qualified for the experiment ( You had to have less than 6 Months to live and be experiencing Gran Mal seizures), one patient survived almost six Months, one lived 34 years (Dad) and the rest died either on the table or in the next few days.
      For those interested in DiFi’s corruption the “Anderson Valley Advertiser” did an in depth study decades ago and it is available in their archives.
      1. chris September 30, 2023 at 1:40 pm

         It’s probably best to see her life’s work as one bent on preserving and using power in the institutions she served. I think that’s the theme which links the anecdote from Scott Ritter and Matt Stoller, and also her role in investigating the CIA for torture. I’m sure she’ll be lionized with the Notorious RBG. I’m sure lots of stories will be presented in which she was funny, kind, brilliant. And we’ll once again ignore that people are complicated, no one is wholly good or bad, and even with good intentions bad things can come from someone’s work. The lady senator has a lot to answer for from her long career.
         1. Pat September 30, 2023 at 1:57 pm

            Sorry, but DiFi was first and foremost about preserving her own power. She was massively self serving.

            Personally I will never forgive her bit in undermining the Post Office and her reward of her husband being able to shore up his failing real estate business by brokering the sale of Post Office properties, which he usually managed to do in two steps to rake it in. Now he is reportedly a billionaire but I bet no judge his going to check his operations and undervalue his properties.

            The only thing complicated about Feinstein was the lies she had to keep straight.
            1. Robert Gray September 30, 2023 at 3:03 pm

               It’s often a mystery how politicians of all flavours can enthrall and command their supporters and constituencies. Why, for example, was DiFi so beloved on Castro St.? Didn’t they (the Castro people) see her for the grifter she was, or did they simply not care?
               1. Late Introvert September 30, 2023 at 4:04 pm

                  You’ve seen the real estate in The Castro, right?
               2. Pat September 30, 2023 at 4:06 pm

                  Well as someone who has been represented by D’Amato. Schumer HRC and Gillibrand (not that I voted for them in every election or at all) I can honestly say that sometimes it is name recognition, sometimes constituent service, many times it is tribal, and sometimes the opposition is so hideous that you vote against them.
                  The sad part of that list is that the best on constituent service was D’Amato. He was known as Senator Pothole and was old school in that much of his staff helped constituents through the bureaucracy to get any help they were entitled to receive, locally, through the state and from the federal government. He might have spent some of his time trying to end it, but as long as it was on the books and made voters grateful… And the people didn’t need to know the programs existed. I was not a fan but knew this was a “good thing”. I was also naive enough to think that was SOP and not old school and disappearing. I hated the judges he supported, but time and experience makes me wonder if NY and the country might not be slightly better off if Chuck hadn’t defeated him in 1998. (His record certainly makes Hillary’s stink even more by comparison even with the terrible taste in judges.)
                  That is a long way of saying that even those interested in politics might not be able to see the big picture. They see an issue or two, or the status quo or just buy the need the majority argument.
                  1. hk October 1, 2023 at 12:20 am

                     I endorse this sentiment wholeheartedly.
3. PlutoniumKun September 30, 2023 at 8:09 am

   RE: Scott Ritter Live

   I’ve no idea where Ritter got his information on the Biden initiative vs the Belt and Road, but he is not correct about railways and ports in the Middle East. UAE and Saudi rail initiatives are largely done with French and Spanish contractors, not Chinese and are domestically funded. While most of the Gulf nations are officially part of the Belt and Road, none of the official maps show routes going through the region directly. It’s not exactly like they are short of capital there.

   As for Haifa Port, it’s one of the secondary ports for the US Sixth Fleet. There was a proposed takeover by a Chinese investment company, but the Israeli’s rejected that in favour of an Indian bid. So in that sense, it makes perfect sense as a Mediterranean node for an India to Europe corridor.

   That said, he is correct that this was just waffle by Biden. Creating a development corridor from the Indian Ocean to the Med has long been discussed by the Gulf States among themselves. Ideally it would go through Beirut or Syria, but physical barriers and politics has long stymied this option. The only influence Biden could have would be in twisting arms and providing carrots for a series of high quality links between Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. The latter is particularly deficient in basic infrastructure and represents a major choke point .

   That said, it’s hard to see why anyone would ship something from Mumbai to, say, France with two break of transport nodes, when you can just use the Sinai Canal. It only makes sense in the context of a development corridor, which would be massively expensive to develop, although arguably it could work. It certainly makes more sense than Neon or whatever other crackpot scheme the Saudi’s are into at any give time.
   1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 9:11 am

      I wonder if all those different railway lines that they want to on-load and off-load goods from are all the same gauge or not. If not, that could create added difficulties. It took us damn near a century to standardize railway gauges here in Oz and it was a right royal pain while they differed. For railway enthusiasts here-

      https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/so-what-fuss-track-gauges-australia-robert-liu

      And Roman war chariots put in a very surprising appearance.
      1. R.S. September 30, 2023 at 9:40 am

         AFAIK to the extent those lines exist, they are. More or less so. Save for Jordan, which has its own narrow-gauge lines, so a new line has to be built anyway.

         I second PlutoniumKun’s point. This route in itself adds at least two more breaks of mode on top of the Suez route, without any clear advantage. It may work as a development corridor plus serving as a secondary route though.
      2. PlutoniumKun September 30, 2023 at 10:34 am

         Most of the more modern railways in the Middle East are on the same gauge, although they are not necessarily easy to interlink due to conflicts between passenger and (slower) cargo trains. From what i can see, one of the main problems they’ve had in getting their act together in this is indecision over what the railways are actually for – super comfortable long range commuting or hauling heavy goods. There are older narrow gauge railways too, mostly left behind by the Ottomans or French. 20 years ago i passed through Dera’a in Syria and the railway yard would have any of my trainspotter friends drooling – rows of rusting old steam trains, still in good condition thanks to the dry climate. This is the line featured in the famous ambush scene in Lawrence of Arabia.

         Btw, corrections to my comment above – I said Sinai canal when I meant Suez Canal, and my link was wrong, this is the correct one.
         1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 10:43 am

            Speaking of Lawrence of Arabia. One of the trains that he attacked is still sitting abandoned in the desert after over 100 years. It’s never been moved. Can’t remember if I saw it as a YouTube video or an article though.
         2. Synoia September 30, 2023 at 1:00 pm

            I do not understand why the Suez canal has not been supplemented with a second canal.
4. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 8:13 am

   After midnight
   We’re gonna let all the money run out
   After midnight
   We’re gonna shutdown and shout
   We’re gonna ’cause talk and suspicion
   Give a Freedom Caucus exhibition
   Find out what it is all about

   After midnight
   We’re gonna let all the money run out
   After midnight
   Gonna shake up the political scene
   After midnight it’s gonna be a challenge for the American dream
   We’re gonna have the Red Scare cause talk and suspicion
   Give a Freedom Caucus exhibition
   Find out what it is all about

   After midnight
   We’re gonna have a falling out

   We’re gonna ’cause talk and suspicion
   Give an exhibition
   Find out what it is all about

   After midnight
   We’re gonna have a falling out
   After midnight
   We’re gonna have a falling out

   After Midnight, performed by Eric Clapton

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkWccgl-9vs
   1. griffen September 30, 2023 at 9:06 am

      I’ve been in the wilderness of South Dakota for a week, but alas even my cellular device on my person gets beeps in the middle of a wandering hike, on a sunny day in the Wind Cave park. I’ll have anecdotes of bucks rutting in the oddest location, and a bison photo to forward for eventual posting. Badlands, Custer state park and yes Mount Rushmore…it’s a trip that did not disappoint.

      Back to earth…we’re running out of funding when? Oh good gawd no, America pays its bills ! News this morning, that without funds air traffic control for commercial flights could be interesting but not in a good way.
      1. Katniss Everdeen September 30, 2023 at 9:54 am

         This is my favorite part of the country. Isn’t the buffalo roundup this weekend?

         Last time I was there you could play single deck blackjack at $2 tables at Saloon #10 in Deadwood.
         1. griffen September 30, 2023 at 11:48 am

            I think that is correct on the roundup, my departure was on Thursday and the remainder of the family / crew left on Friday. We did a detour through Deadwood ( for a hot meal, nothing else ) after a sojourn to Devil’s Tower in WY. Remarkable scenery…looks like we got this trip under the wire so to speak if the shutdown prevails.
      2. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 10:38 am

         Last time I was at a Dakota was the day after the music died and there was a gathering outside in Gotham City.
   2. John Zelnicker September 30, 2023 at 11:19 am

      Excellent, Wuk. One of your best.
5. Steve H. September 30, 2023 at 8:13 am

   > The ends of knowledge aeon

   What an intellectual dumpster fire. Fukuyama to the white courtesy phone, please.

   > The 19th-century formation of the university established our three primary divisions of the humanities, social sciences and natural sciences. Now, we are proposing a thought experiment of a new four-part structure.

   More is better! We’ve just increased the infomass ‘of knowledge production as a whole’. From Kings’ blog:

   >> I draw on this concept to reveal how four crucial genres that emerged during this time—the newspaper, the periodical, the novel, and the biography—

   I had something to say about genres yesterday. The simple fact of the ambiguity of ‘genre’ is an example of people thinking they’re talking about the same thing when they ain’t. “Well, you figgered out somepin, didn’ you. Come right out of your own head.”

   I could say a lot, but I’ll cut to this. Who decides what ends are funded?
   1. Steve H. September 30, 2023 at 8:31 am

      mislinked ‘genres‘…
      1. Steve H. September 30, 2023 at 10:06 am

         You know what, you’d be better off reading Aurelien‘s piece that was in Links yesterday. It’s a macrophage for this article.
         1. tegnost September 30, 2023 at 11:05 am

            I was left pondering fukuyama after reading aurelians link yesterday, thanks for making the connection
            1. paul September 30, 2023 at 1:53 pm

               He’s the ultimate tryathelete
               All the gear,no idea
6. timbers September 30, 2023 at 8:17 am

   Mark Ames and Sarah-Aston Cirillo – It’s reached the point that Western hatred of Russia has become straight up racism. But no worries, I’m sure Google and FB are this very moment working on AI and censorship polices to block such views online.
   1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 8:50 am

      You forgot one of the rules from the Rules Based Order-

      ‘It’s OK when we do it.’

      Racism is OK when it is in a good cause. /sarc
      1. mrsyk September 30, 2023 at 9:43 am

         I’ve been hearing the same about censorship, and from surprising sources.
         1. tegnost September 30, 2023 at 11:08 am

            The “if you’ve nothing to hide the surveillance state is nothing to fear” is another trope I thought had been exorcised forever, but no…
            1. John September 30, 2023 at 12:00 pm

               The is only one rule and The Rev Kev stated it. Put another way it would read something like this. We can never be guilty of hypocrisy since we are always correct.
               1. GramSci September 30, 2023 at 1:29 pm

                  Even when we change our minds.
            2. Yves Smith Post authorSeptember 30, 2023 at 1:21 pm

               If you have sex you have something to fear. Pretty much any intimate relationship can be dirtied up.
            3. hunkerdown September 30, 2023 at 3:49 pm

               “Then shut up and strip, [familyblog]” seems like a good answer to that trope. The more transgressive and intimately degrading that familyblog, the better.
         2. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 1:06 pm

            between censorship justification and war justification from surprising individuals that i thought were friends with critical minds able to discern and at least discuss, now consider me a Putin enabler and apologist – canceled me – oh well – and here we are –
   2. Michael Fiorillo September 30, 2023 at 9:38 am

      Hatred of Russia, and minutely-targeted propaganda directed at the kind of morally vain, IdPol-obsessed liberals who put BLM/In This House We Believe (We’re Morally Superior To You)/We Support Ukraine lawn signs on their property. The Azov Nazis who have veto power over the Ukrainian State are quite open about their homo/trans-phobia, so this endeavor is clearly directed at a liberal audience in the US, one that has absolutely no idea of how ridiculous/insane they look to those outside their tightly-conforming echo chamber.

      You can just imagine the smirks on the faces of the people producing this horse*^+> as they put it together and run it. Unfortunately, for them and the Get Russia gang, this human’s mental illness got in the way of a pretty nice racket.
      1. bassmule September 30, 2023 at 9:46 am

         Self-congratulation from the Washington Post via The Atlantic. Nary a peep, of course, about their scrupulous stenography on behalf of the State Dept.’s Ukriane propaganda.

         How We Got “Democracy Dies In Darkness.”
         1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 9:58 am

            As Jimmy Dore said years ago, ‘Democracy Dies in Darkness’ is not a motto – it’s a mission statement.
         2. Michael Fiorillo September 30, 2023 at 12:51 pm

            Yes, and they then proceeded to give us years of unending Russia-Is-Infiltrating-Our-Precious-Bodily-Fluids as a down payment.
      2. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:15 pm

         This is more and more looking like a duel for power in congress and Wall Street, that is spilling over into the wider wold thanks to cargo culting by those trying to climb the status ladder (if i do and say like HRC etc i too can be rich and powerful).
   3. Neutrino September 30, 2023 at 10:15 am

      Ames, meet the Kievan Rus. They have their own input about Russians over the centuries. Note also Celts and not a few others, not just from the Steppe.
      1. Lex September 30, 2023 at 10:27 am

         Ah yes, with self-proclaimed heirs to Kievan Rus being the prime promoters of the racist trope that modern Russians are subhumans because they’re asiatic, the mongol horde reborn.
         1. R.S. September 30, 2023 at 11:26 am

            Yeah, that “muh asiatic hordes” trope is much older than 2022, or 2014, or 2004. Or even 1930s. Codified in its present form in the mid-to-late 19th century, and keeps popping up here and there, virtually unchanged.
            1. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:16 pm

               Tech may have advanced, but humanity is still stuck fighting the crusades…
               1. R.S. September 30, 2023 at 6:11 pm

                  This particular one is “the Polish question”. Primarily Frantz Duchinski and his followers. His theories were absorbed by some Galitzian scholars (in big quotes) virtually unchanged, and have been lingering on ever since.
   4. lyman alpha blob September 30, 2023 at 10:28 am

      On a related note here’s Trudeau’s semi-non-apology, I think it was the 2nd one, for the standing ovation applauding a Nazi on the floor of parliament – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSULOR6f-Hw

      He ticks of the list of Idpol groups who were likely offended – Jews, Poles, Roma, LGTB (with a few extras added to the acronym I’d never heard of before – bonus points!), “racialized” people (whatever the hell that’s supposed to mean) – before quickly pivoting to blaming and demonizing Russia again, as he did in the first apology. He also says we should “never forget the horror blah blah blah” – not sure if he said that part before or after a member of parliament asked for the standing O to be stricken from the parliamentary record lest anyone remember it.

      I have some questions for JJ – is it OK for run of the mill white people, maybe even some Russians who lost 20 million in WWII, to also be offended by the whole of the Canadian parliament applauding a real live Nazi, or do just those IdPol groups matter? Or were you assuming white people all tacitly agreed with the standing O like you did before you got called out for being a little too Nazi-adjacent yourself?
      1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 10:49 am

         I noticed that the first thing that he did was to blame all of it on the Speaker as if it was nothing to do with him. Did you notice too that he never apologized to the families of those Canadians who died in WW2 fighting the Nazis? Was it so not to offend the sensibilities of those Canadian-Ukrainians? But the guy is such a weasel.
         1. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 11:07 am

            “Six War Years 1939-1945: Memories of Canadians at Home and Abroad”, by Barry Broadfoot… is one heck of a oral history of WW2, captured in the early 1970’s as he crisscrossed Canada in search of tales to be told.

            A great companion to his opus: “Ten Lost Years, 1929-1939: Memories of the Canadians Who Survived the Depression”

            If you like Studs Terkel, you’ll love these books.
            1. NYMutza September 30, 2023 at 2:56 pm

               I read the second book you mentioned, and i highly recommend it. I have the first book in my possession, but have been busy reading other books for the time being.
               1. anahuna September 30, 2023 at 5:45 pm

                  Long ago I ran across a copy of The Regiment, by Farley Mowat. An account of his experiences in WWII. I remember it as full of a fine, scathing indignation.
         2. Jen September 30, 2023 at 2:16 pm

            Blaming the speaker was the only part of the speech he sounded animated about. The rest played like a hostage tape.
         3. Roland September 30, 2023 at 3:28 pm

            And the way he disses the memory of millions of Ukrainians who fought under Soviet colours. There were a lot more Ukrainians fighting on the Allied side rather than for the Axis.

            But what depresses is not just that my country’s PM is a bloody fool. It seems that hardly any member of Parliament was bright enough, or knew enough about WWII, to even refrain from joining the applause. What a disgrace.
      2. eg October 1, 2023 at 12:18 am

         As embarrassing as Trudeau’s performance was, it’s not like anyone else in the chamber, regardless of party, covered themselves with glory in this incident. They were all clapping like trained seals for the old Nazi.

         Our political class in Canada is a collection of performative ignoramuses.
   5. Danpaco September 30, 2023 at 1:10 pm

      As Trudeau so eloquently displayed last week, as well as the entire West for the last 2 years, we hate nazis unless they’re our nazis.
      1. El Slobbo September 30, 2023 at 8:40 pm

         Justin’s father, our former Prime Minister, was strongly against Canadian participation in WW2, which he thought was the fault of les anglais, and there are even stories of him taunting soldiers, telling them how they are going to die for the interests of a foreign monarch, as they were marching in formation.

         Not often discussed is that at the time, Canadian participation was controversial in Canada, nearly driving the country apart.

         My father volunteered, but in his explanation, that was because he knew his number was coming, and volunteers were given better treatment than draftees.
         1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 8:45 pm

            ‘Not often discussed is that at the time, Canadian participation was controversial in Canada, nearly driving the country apart.’

            Wow. You’re not wrong-

            https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conscription_Crisis_of_1944
            1. eg October 1, 2023 at 12:13 am

               Leading to this exquisite classic from Mackenzie King: “conscription if necessary, but not necessarily conscription.”
7. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 8:17 am

   “Ukraine Receives Last of Promised Western Tank Classes with Abrams Deliveries: How Will They Be Deployed?”

   And the answer is that they won’t be. More likely they will be used to defend Kiev or somewhere else like Lvov. There is no way that the MIC want to see the sight of Abrams tanks burning outside Robatino or maybe Bakhmut. You are talking about putting international sales at risk here. Fortunately time is on the side of the US here. All they have to do is slow walk the deployment of those tanks and in the next 2-4 weeks Rasputitsa starts – mud season. Those tanks are so damn heavy that they would quickly get bogged down and then get picked off by the Russians. And that means that that is a great reason not to deploy those tanks forward.

   And in related news, Russian soldiers who destroyed German Leopard tanks have started to receive their 1,000,000 Ruble bonus which is well north of US$10,000. You can be sure that many will be eager to pick up a bonus on destroying Abrams tanks with the remains being ship to Moscow’s military museum.
   1. Benny Profane September 30, 2023 at 8:53 am

      In the New Atlas/Marc Sleboda YouTube, Sleboda repeats what I have heard a few times, that some Ukranian soldiers want nothing to do with the western tanks, because that are juicy targets for the Russians, with bonus incentives for a kill. He even claims that some are disabled before they reach the lines, just to make sure.
   2. Polar Socialist September 30, 2023 at 9:22 am

      For what it’s worth, the rumor is that last night 8 Geran drones hit a railroad junction in Vinnytsia Oblast, while there was a train transferring the Abrams tanks to east. If true, some of those tanks may require a bit of maintenance (in Poland) before being re-deployed.
      1. S.D., M.D. September 30, 2023 at 1:00 pm

         Honestly, why are railroads still functioning at all in Ukraine? How many Russian gage locomotives that the west cannot possibly replace can there be?
         1. redleg September 30, 2023 at 2:27 pm

            1. If you keep the rail lines serviceable, then it is easier to monitor/target the rail.cargo.
            2. Railroad track systems are surprisingly resilient. They can be damaged but are fairly easy to repair quickly.
            1. JBird4049 September 30, 2023 at 11:36 pm

               >>>2. Railroad track systems are surprisingly resilient. They can be damaged but are fairly easy to repair quickly.

               During the American Civil War, General Sherman’s army developed Sherman’s neckties which involved heating rails and then twisting the softened rail often around the nearest tree. Otherwise, the Confederates would just rebuild the railroad.
         2. jrkrideau September 30, 2023 at 2:31 pm

            My guess is that the problem in that the railways are the main logistical / shipping means for civilian materials. Take out the railways and you have a massive humanitarian crisis with cities starving.
            1. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:30 pm

               Yep, that is the one thing that seem to puzzle people about all this. Russia has from day one tried to minimize civilian impact.

               If they wanted to they could outright bomb every power plant and dam flat, but that would case massive civilian harm and displacement. Instead they have tried to hit only substations and such near military infra to hinder the war effort directly.

               More often than not if we see news about some “Russian” missile hitting civilian areas, it is more likely to be a Ukrainian one hitting a town near the front line.

               But to find out that one have to look up the location mentioned on a map and know roughly where the line is, as rarely will there be a map attached to the article about the “Russian” strike.

               In the end most of the people living east of the Dnieper have some Russian ancestry. And thus Russia considers them “cousins”.
            2. GC54 September 30, 2023 at 8:10 pm

               Yes, destroy the train’s cargo, not the tracks. Easy to see from above even if cloudy (side-scan radar from low orbit). Rinse and repeat
   3. Henry Moon Pie September 30, 2023 at 11:07 am

      Just a note on Ukraine funding. In one of many votes taken, when Ukraine funding stood alone, there were 117 House Republicans that voted against it, more than the Republicans who voted for it. How many Democrats? Big, fat zero. Great work, Squad.
      1. Benny Profane September 30, 2023 at 1:24 pm

         It is remarkable how the Dems are all in. But, the momentum is definitely away from Ukraine funding. Sleboda in his New Atlas rant is very good at the details of the war we hear nothing of here, but, on the other hand he is very gloomy and pessimistic that this thing will go on for years, not seemingly aware that the average voter in the US will not stand for hundreds of billions more for this war. When that stops, Ukraine folds. We’re funding their social security, furcyryingoutloud.
         1. Gregorio September 30, 2023 at 2:41 pm

            Considering how long we managed to prolong the Afghan debacle, don’t “misunderestimate” how congress can continue to support an unpopular and costly war to keep their donors happy.
            1. Benny Profane October 1, 2023 at 12:31 pm

               We’re fighting a peer right now, with even better weapons and larger stock of artillery, and such a good air defense that our trillion dollar fighters are useless. Not a sandal wearing bunch of fanatics.
         2. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:33 pm

            For Dems Ukraine seems like a extension of TDS into PDS via Russiagate.

            The Reps likely want to see the Ukraine thing end so that they can pivot focus and resources towards China, that they see as needing to be put in place as “good little gooks” and get back to producing those cheap widgets.
8. Mark K September 30, 2023 at 8:45 am

   From the octopus article: “Essentially, the nervous system inside the octopus’ arms can bypass the brain and communicate with each other.”

   Dave Barry once opined, speaking of us humans, that as far as chocolate is concerned the hand and the mouth bypass the brain entirely.
   1. paul September 30, 2023 at 9:34 am

      The glaring fact that each one of us is an independent and very nervous system, seems to take the wind out of this revelations sails.

      If I knock my knee, the brain knows, and the autonomous system does its best.
   2. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 11:51 am

      while back read “the Soul of an Octopus” by Sy Montgomery – interesting book and quite defintitely described a very intelligent life – worth a read – i cannot disparage any animal and feel they all, in many ways, are much more intelligent than we are or ever will be by a huge degree – the arrogant illusion of our intelligence has provided justification for the chaos and debacle of environmental destruction we are experiencing as well as the social destruction of any sense of community(except the present community of NC) – one of the books i’m presently reading is a re-reading of Vonnegut’s final book, “A Man Without A Country”, which is a series of personal essays – in Chapter(?) 4, “I’m going to tell you some news.” he illustrates his unique genius writing about our addiction to fossil fuels – “….we….have all but destroyed this once salubrious planet as a life-support system in fewer than 200 years…..making…whoopee with fossil fuels……..And nobody can do a thing about it. It’s too late in the game.” – the book was published in 2005 – never denigrate the intelligence of any animal, it’s a fool’s errand – and here we are
      1. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:59 pm

         Intelligence is such a vague word.

         That said, there was an article recently about bonobos failing to distinguish between different pairings of colored light. that is, if say a blue light was followed by a yellow they were supposed to do something different than if it was a yellow followed by blue.

         And if we ponder it, is not providing and following sequential verbal or written instructions something fundamental to humanity? So much so that if a child beyond perhaps the ages of 2 fails to develop any semblance of language then there is automatic cause for concern?
      2. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:59 pm

         Intelligence is such a vague word.

         That said, there was an article recently about bonobos failing to distinguish between different pairings of colored light. that is, if say a blue light was followed by a yellow they were supposed to do something different than if it was a yellow followed by blue.

         And if we ponder it, is not providing and following sequential verbal or written instructions something fundamental to humanity? So much so that if a child beyond perhaps the ages of 2 fails to develop any semblance of language then there is automatic cause for concern?
   3. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:39 pm

      Yeah, i think we overestimate how much control consciousness actually has.

      One example is martial arts, where the idea is to practice various moves and counters so much that it becomes automatic.

      Or how we react to certain shapes and sounds, like say spiders or snakes, seconds before being conscious of their presence.
      1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 6:40 pm

         very true of martial arts – muscle memory is key – as is learning a musical instrument – yeah…intelligence – waddafug is that anyway –
9. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 8:47 am

   “With no opposition in the room, a rural Texas county makes traveling for an abortion on its roads illegal’

   Good luck with making that stick. The laws about this were settled back in 1823 with Corfield v. Coryell and have been updated since-

   ‘As the Supreme Court affirmed in 1958 in Kent v. Dulles, citizens have a liberty interest in the right to travel: “[t]he right to travel is a part of the ‘liberty’ of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment …’

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_movement_under_United_States_law

   In order to get their way, this Texas county would have to pass a law saying that the laws of a County supersede the Constitution of the United States. Let me know how that one works out.
   1. FlyoverBoy September 30, 2023 at 9:22 am

      You seem to believe that the current US Supreme Court gives two hoots in hell what long-established legal precedent is, on anything at all. I wish I shared your faith in this exceedingly well-compensated bunch.
      1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 9:29 am

         While writing that comment, I did wonder if a Biden DoJ would even care enough to challenge it.
         1. Pat September 30, 2023 at 9:54 am

            .
            How do they know the purpose of travel? This is very important. Why do they stop the car?
            I don’t think the DOJ will have to get into it. Let the county officials stop the wrong car or two and wrongly accuse someone. The county will be bankrupt before long. They will be sued on multiple items. And that is before we get into buses. (Do they indemnify the bus companies or do they expect them to query every female between 12 and 55 who want to buy a ticket?)

            This is performative. But I do think it will come back to bite them in the ass.
            For legal reasons it might end up that no bus company or car rental company may choose to operate there. It may cause some people to avoid the county. And these are just odd items. Constantly being under suspicion might make the area toxic to live in for a fair percentage of females. (That will be welcomed at first, but it won’t take long for it to become a problem.) And that’s before litigation.
            1. Hickory September 30, 2023 at 1:22 pm

               The county won’t go bankrupt because they’ll drop charges on difficult/publicized/expensive cases.
               1. Adam September 30, 2023 at 3:04 pm

                  This county has only 2,500 residents, so it could probably be bankrupted pretty easily.
            2. Gregorio September 30, 2023 at 2:29 pm

               I wonder how long before someone proposes a checkpoint where every woman of child bearing age has to stop and take a pregnancy test before leaving the state?
         2. paul September 30, 2023 at 10:12 am

            Please note:

            Cheap,able labor can be imported w/o obligation.

            This is a win/win/lose situation for the western lifestyle of the discrete and fabulous.

            ..and as we have a brood of lifestyle politicians, from edinburgh to berlin to brussels (all reporting with their own own one eye) who are astute at padding their own poisonous arses.

            ..it’s going to decay further.

            We have only one identifiable enemy left.

            Take him out and a thousand rainbows will encircle the earth, like perestroika but even better.

            To paraphrase the stranglers:

            Not more heroes but hanging around
   2. marym September 30, 2023 at 12:14 pm

      From the link:

      “Similar to the sanctuary city ordinance, the act would be enforced through private civil lawsuits.”

      This is another example of laws to legally able citizen against citizen surveillance, snitching, and bounty hunting that are being passed in relation to abortion, voting, and the “CRT” etc. school controversies.
      https://www.npr.org/2022/07/11/1107741175/texas-abortion-bounty-la

      Not only TX for travel restrictions
      04/06/2023
      “Idaho has become the first state to pass a law explicitly restricting some out-of-state travel for abortions. The new legislation makes helping a pregnant minor get an abortion, whether through medication or a procedure, in another state punishable by two to five years in prison.”
      https://www.nbcnews.com/health/womens-health/idaho-most-extreme-anti-abortion-state-law-restricts-travel-rcna78225

      07/11/2023
      “Advocates who counsel and aid Idaho teenagers seeking abortion care filed suit Tuesday against [Idaho] Republican Attorney General Raúl Labrador in a bid to overturn the state’s abortion travel ban…Legal experts say the ban, based on a model bill written by National Right to Life, one of the country’s largest anti-abortion groups, is drafted to sidestep implied constitutional protections for interstate travel. [emphasis added]”
      1. ACPAL October 1, 2023 at 1:23 pm

         There are so many ways to sidestep federal laws and the constitution that it’s pretty much anything goes. For example, the SCOTUS declared the second amendment applies to individuals and struck down NY’s practical ban. So what did NY do, they just rewrote their laws and kept their ban. State and local governments can pass laws faster than the courts can strike them down. And now that it’s so obvious that the SCOTUS is just a corrupt political football all government agencies can ignore almost any decision or law they want. Welcome to America.
10. Samuel Conner September 30, 2023 at 9:01 am

    re: the MIT News item on low-cost desalination —

    That a very encouraging development.

    The thought occurs, “now do contaminated groundwater”.
    1. John Beech September 30, 2023 at 10:37 am

       Samuel, I agree with you. Did you read the article vice ultrasound and PFAS yesterday?
    2. britzklieg September 30, 2023 at 12:43 pm

       I have understood that a big problem with desalination, besides the salt clogging up the works, is what to do with, where to put, the extracted salt and if that’s true then only have the problem is solved. That said, apparently they are working on a process to convert the hazardous brine into useful compounds.

       https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/slaking-the-worlds-thirst-with-seawater-dumps-toxic-brine-in-oceans/

       https://news.mit.edu/2019/brine-desalianation-waste-sodium-hydroxide-0213
    3. redleg September 30, 2023 at 2:44 pm

       My team is doing this as a pilot project in Minnesota using the PFAS’ foaming characteristic. Aerate the water and scrape off the foam until it doesn’t foam anymore. It’s working at the part-per-trillion (ppt) level and are moving on to more heavily contaminated (ppb) water right now. Next step is to scale it up to more than the 80 gpm (~300 L/min) rate we are running at the present.
       Waste PFAS foam is concentrated and sent off for either incineration or run through the experimental de-fluorinization unit we are working on. We’re not all doomed yet, or at least not via PFAS pollution.
       1. JBird4049 October 1, 2023 at 12:48 am

          This is pretty nice to hear.
    4. NYMutza September 30, 2023 at 3:02 pm

       I disagree. Unlimited potable water, along with unlimited energy will only accelerate the destruction of the planet. Limits are good. No limits are very bad.
       1. hunkerdown September 30, 2023 at 3:56 pm

          No, that’s Protestant ideology.
       2. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 5:52 pm

          Energy can’t be unlimited, though it may seem so in the short term.
11. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 9:01 am

    Great story about a local legend-the ne plus ultra of tree fallers, not to mention being drummer in the High Sierra Jazz Band, a Tiny Town institution. Some nice photos of Three Rivers in the article to give you the lay of the land.

    The Indigenous tree climber who saved a burning sequoia – and became a living legend

    In his 42 years with the National Park Service, Charlie Castro was among the few people trusted to scale the giant trees. Now 89, he has watched as fire has transformed the American west

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/sep/30/charlie-castro-sequoia-national-park-climber

    Dallas Blues – High Sierra Jazz Band, Suncoast Jazz Classic, 2014

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF0bj2NHryo
    1. mrsyk September 30, 2023 at 10:07 am

       Thanks for the Charlie Castro link.
    2. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 2:30 pm

       nice music, keep the beat Castro! – it has to be difficult for him given his personal relationship with those trees – had an old girlfriend who was from Bratislava many decades ago – she loved foreign films and took me to a flick about the cult of trees in Slavic mythology – one character would go around hugging trees saying ‘stromy’ – loved the movie and have had a fascination for trees ever since – when i ran every day years ago there were trees i would touch on my route and say hi – like i wrote it must be difficult for Mr Castro since the trees were/are his friends –
12. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 9:25 am

    Aside from Arizona & Utah, all of the National Parks will be shuttered during the shutdown. Both of the SW states paying the freight to keep their NP’s going, they feel its that important to their economy, no dice here.

    It’s a sliver lining for the 300 to 350 garage mahals who ply their traits on AirBnB & VRBO, servicing the Sequoia NP visitor.

    (sheds an imperceptibly tiny tear)
    1. Benny Profane September 30, 2023 at 9:44 am

       The Yellowstone bear and buffalo rejoice.
       1. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 9:55 am

          It took a few months of shutdown during Covid for this to happen…

          A few of the country’s most iconic birds decided recently to take in the sights from Moro Rock in Sequoia National Park, making it the first time in nearly 50 years that California condors have been spotted in the park.

          Recently reintroduced endangered California condors continue to reoccupy parts of their historic range, including the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California and adjacent foothills. Condors were seen atop Moro Rock, a popular hiking destination in Sequoia National Park, in late May. They are back to the towering trees and cliffs of the parks after being absent for nearly 50 years.

          “Condors were consistently seen throughout the parks until the late 1970s. Observations became increasingly rare throughout the latter portion of the century as the population declined,” said Tyler Coleman, a wildlife biologist with Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks, said. “Four condors were spotted flying near the Giant Forest and at least two near Moro rock.”

          https://www.nationalparkstraveler.org/2020/07/condors-return-sequoia-national-park-after-nearly-50-years
       2. Neutrino September 30, 2023 at 10:18 am

          But what is to become of the EMTs? /s
    2. NYMutza September 30, 2023 at 3:07 pm

       The last time there was a government shutdown Joshua Tree National Park was devastated by lawless yahoos in giant pickup trucks who marauded across the landscape uprooting hundreds of endangered Joshua trees. In addition, because restrooms were locked human feces was common along trails. I was there for a day hike witnessing this. I nearly cried.
    3. JP September 30, 2023 at 3:26 pm

       They will leave the back door open if you want to hike in. You don’t have to step off the trail very far to find a rest room in the back country.
13. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 9:28 am

    At the NYT, from the department of nothing will fundamentally change:

    What Happens Next to Feinstein’s Seat?

    Under California state law, the governor has the authority to name a successor.

    So Newsom qualified his previous pledge to appoint a black woman to fill DiFi’s seat to say that it would prohibit that person from seeking election to a full term in 2024. Wellie… So Schiff still has an inside track. Barf!
    1. Neutrino September 30, 2023 at 10:19 am

       Now pulling up on the outside, Michelle O?
       1. tegnost September 30, 2023 at 11:24 am

          I don’t think they have a mansion in cali, maybe zelensky has an extra they can use…
          In reality, California has plenty of qualified black women to choose from. The dems seem vaguely aware that their brand is turning and may look to burnish that image by picking someone who in the recent past they may have shunned…hope springs eternal…
          1. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 1:35 pm

             Well, the point I was making is that now Newsom says that whoever he picks cannot run for a full term. The last person he picked to fill KH’s seat did not have that restriction.

             That matters if he were to pick Barbara Lee, which previously was the thinking. I doubt she would take it with that restriction. Elsewhere the Donkey Show is a rental unit of the PMC.

             Mostly US politics is a farce.
             1. Pat September 30, 2023 at 1:49 pm

                But The gossip circuit believes Meghan Markle has been lobbying for the job for awhile. It would give it to a biracial woman, get her off his back and open up the seat for 2024.

                Not that I think this is the plan, but it is amusing, and not entirely outside our leaders level of stupidity.

                Sadly, I don’t think it is as much about giving it to Schiff as that the top Dems probably don’t want Barbara Lee, who would be the best choice.
             2. some guy September 30, 2023 at 5:56 pm

                Would such a restriction be legal or enforceable? What would happen if an eager Senator-appointee agreed to the restriction and later changed herm’s mind about that?
                Could he/she be legally prevented from running in the Senate Primary?
                1. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 6:46 pm

                   These people all are beholden to the DNC (and its paymasters) and if it were crossed, it would pounce.
          2. Glenda September 30, 2023 at 2:49 pm

             Barbara Lee has started her race for Diane senate seat and won’t want to be derailed by an appointment for a short term. She speaks for me. She actually has voted against some of the wars, but sadly disappointed me by not being against this recent one. Sigh. I wonder what kept her mouth shut. The woke powers can be mighty oppressive.
    2. NYMutza September 30, 2023 at 3:09 pm

       Does Newsom have the authority to prevent someone he appointed from running for a full term? Where does he get such authority? If he has it, he shouldn’t have it.
       1. NotTimothyGeithner September 30, 2023 at 4:23 pm

          No, but Newsom’s promise was deeply insulting, even to people who advocate for greater representation as Cali’s African American population is 6%. It was supposed to sound good, but it just comes off as pathetic. He’s just trying to find an out. He also doesn’t likely have a black woman with sufficient standing in the state who would have the right politics to justify the promotion over Barb Lee or a couple of others who would be unwelcome additions to the additions to the senate caucus.

          Newsom’s promise is a sign of what a rank amateur he is. He could see the problem created by Biden’s promise that led to Harris, and he thought it was a good idea.
    3. JP September 30, 2023 at 3:35 pm

       I kinda agree with Newsom. Lee’s appointment would tend to push Katie Porter out. I think the voters should decide who the next senator will be. (I favor Porter)
14. Wæsfjord September 30, 2023 at 9:42 am

    Re: US teachers’ pay

    Other countries place great importance on the teaching profession. In the Netherlands, for example, a high school teacher has to have a masters in their teaching subject and a masters in pedagogy. That’s how long it takes to do a doctorate.
15. Steve H. September 30, 2023 at 9:42 am

    The composition of the Antidote is splendid, the blazing white in the lower corners, the reflected orange blush in the snow under the tigers, the curves of the trees and the curves of the mother, the melding of the line of the kitten and the mother…

    Hiroshi Yoshida.
    1. Jorge October 3, 2023 at 3:54 am

       It’s definitely a composition.

       Here is the original photo:
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Panthera_tigris_altaica_13_-_Buffalo_Zoo.jpg
16. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 9:43 am

    “Defense Secretary Austin’s salary cut to $1 under GOP budget plan”

    Obviously those House Republicans are all graduates of the AOC School of Performative Theater. That measure has no chance of passing but they went with it anyway. The country is about to shut down and this is the best thing that they can spend their time on? It is like something out of High School.
    1. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 9:51 am

       You can tell the size of a man by the size of the thing that makes him mad.

       Adlai Stevenson
    2. Nikkikat September 30, 2023 at 11:03 am

       Yes, but I couldn’t help but laugh at the idea of paying Austin what he is actually worth. $1.00. lol
       1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 11:06 am

          Not two bits?
       2. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 11:19 am

          Make a wager for the usual amount-why not?
       3. GC54 September 30, 2023 at 2:13 pm

          Cost plus
    3. tegnost September 30, 2023 at 11:32 am

       I’m sure austin has a cask of raw diamonds somewhere stashed safely somewhere so I doubt he’ll miss a meal…
       https://www.axios.com/2020/12/08/pine-island-private-equity-biden
       Pretty sure these “folks” will help out as well…
       1. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 11:41 am

          Cask of Amontillado goes well with any meal.
17. griffen September 30, 2023 at 9:59 am

    Adding to the list of questions without answers, but my oh my how the mind could wander. Did Hunter Biden engage in an illegal act of transporting a woman of the night across state borders? I know I know…we may never know the true story of Dear Hunter. Much like the private client list of a known pedophile and suspected arms dealer. Or instead for a historical angle, OJ Simpson locating the real killer.

    Juxtaposing for a split minute, say for example this is perhaps Eric or Donald Jr I am sure we would know some tangible answers on what the Presidential offspring has been up to after several years of investigating. Just saying…the keystone kops must keep looking ( sarc ).
18. .human September 30, 2023 at 10:02 am

    Leaders in both parishes acknowledged the uncertainty of the situation, noting it’s unclear how much salt will enter the water systems, how long it will stay and what it will do to pipes, appliances and industrial equipment.

    Of course no mention to the effects on the population other than requestng that more bottled water be available at retailers.
    1. TimH September 30, 2023 at 11:33 am

       And on that other salt water topic, there are going to be issues if the salts pulled out of seawater by desalination get dumped back into the sea, progressively increasing the salinity.
       1. JP September 30, 2023 at 8:05 pm

          But how bout those dang rivers that keep diluting the oceans?
19. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 10:15 am

    ‘Facts
    @BefittingFacts
    *India 2018, Justin Trudeau invited a terrorist for dinner*’

    Guess who’s coming to dinner? Why would Trudeau do something like this? Apparently there are about 770,000 Sikhs living in Canada so is it that he wants their votes? To do stuff to make himself popular with them? Even looking at Jaspal Atwal’s Wikipedia entry shows that Trudeau should have steered clear of him in India-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaspal_Atwal

    The Indians are seriously unhappy with Trudeau with all his antics. One government official said that when Trudeau was in India last, that drugs were found aboard his aircraft and that he did not leave his room for two days. Is it true? No idea. But it shows the contempt that they have for Trudeau.
20. Lex September 30, 2023 at 10:15 am

    The earthworm study is much appreciated! The soil in my town is poor, because it’s mostly beach sand. Yet my yard is ridiculously productive and full of rich, black soil. The family that built the house in 1938 lived here until 2008. For a long time they farmed worms to sell as fishing bait. There is almost nowhere in the yard where sticking a trowel in the soil doesn’t expose 6-10 worms. I’ve seeded my vegetable beds and compost bins with red wrigglers too.

    I get away with cold composting and even very fast turnover of compost mostly because my bins are probably 75% worm bins rather than normal composting. It does lead to it being somewhat nitrogen heavy, but I amend the finishing bin with stuff to balance it that the worms eat and process for me.

    If you want to see a fantastic improvement in your vegetable garden, stop tilling it and add worms.
    1. John Beech September 30, 2023 at 10:53 am

       Lex, and how pray tell do you get worms in sufficient quantity to matter? I’m in Florida and where I live, if I dig a hole and leave the soil to sit in a mount it soon appears white like sugar sand. Very little to no black soil around here. Meanwhile, I have five acres and zero interest in raising food, but I do have bald patches appearing in the yard (grass disappears to near zero), which I’d like to attend to.

       And FWIW, the no-mow thing from earlier this spring (March?) led me to no-mow the entire south forty (the 3 acres I don’t have structure upon and which I use as a flying field for my model airplanes). That grass is so high now it will need a bush hog and a tractor with substantial horsepower. The guy I pay to mow says his 45hp John Deere won’t do the job and says call someone else before he’ll come back.

       With regard to the tall grass (more than knee high) and the bees, wasps, butterflies, and other pollinating critters? They seem happy enough so I have no regrets.

       Finally, I am also contemplating sowing wildflower seeds on the septic tank mound and letting that grow unchecked and un-mowed. Maybe forever. Unsure if first I need to spray Roundup and sterilize the soil and allow it to remain fallow a few months before doing so. Advice welcome because thoughts of not mowing that mound and having the scene of lots of flowers I’ve seen in photos appeals.
       1. EarthMagic September 30, 2023 at 11:19 am

          For the sake of the ecosystem and your personal health, please avoid Roundup.
          1. Steve H. September 30, 2023 at 1:30 pm

             Pulverize is approved for organic gardening.
             1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 3:23 pm

                Garden’s Alive is also a good source –
                https://www.gardensalive.com/product/weed-aside-trade-herbicidal-soap

                and strong vinegar will kill it all – my daughter uses a 30% vinegar on sidewalk and paver’s weeds – the stronger you find to use the deadlier it is – be careful and do your research –
       2. outside observer September 30, 2023 at 11:29 am

          Might be an interesting experiment to call in some mobile grazers, like goats, to cut down your fields.
       3. nippersdad September 30, 2023 at 11:43 am

          This is a fantastic book on building a wildflower meadow that answers questions like how to prep a site and then how to maintain it.

          https://lovenativeplants.com/ourbooks
          1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 3:15 pm

             thank you for that link – terrific!
       4. mrsyk September 30, 2023 at 11:50 am

          You might try covering the mound over the winter to get rid of whatever is growing there now. I’d put a couple inches of compost down first. For the top layer there are a number of commercially available biodegradable options. Optionally, I pretty sure cardboard can be used for the top layer.
          1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 3:17 pm

             i’ve known folks that go the cardboard route and my daughter is going with that as well – it works – by daughter is covering areas now and will cover the cardboard with our compost – agree that you should avoid using Roundup at all
       5. thousand points of green September 30, 2023 at 6:03 pm

          Here is a reasonably technical article about the effects of glyphosate on the soil it is put into, whether from Roundup or some other brand.
          https://www.soilassociation.org/media/7202/glyphosate-and-soil-health-full-report.pdf
21. Wukchumni September 30, 2023 at 10:18 am

    Minimum Wage for Fast Food Workers Jumps 30% to $20 Per Hour in California Michael Shedlock
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    It was already a fiat accompli a year ago in Cali, you’d see signs pleading for fast food employees on the front door for $16 to $18 an hour with some not so bad perks, and said signs never seemed to disappear.

    French fry makers make more money than most firefighters on the line now…
    1. Mark Gisleson September 30, 2023 at 11:08 am

       I doubt very much any fast food workers ever get overtime pay and and that they are still being subject to flexible scheduling and every other management science hell MBAs can dream up.

       Plus you have to smile at every [family blog]head who staggers into the restaurant. Minimum wage workers eat 90% of the [family blog] dished out in this country and get fired if they get even a tiny bit prickly.

       The way we treat minimum wage workers is INHUMAN. Raising their pay was just part of the fight, the truth is most of us (given a choice) wouldn’t do what they do for $100/hr.
       1. TimH September 30, 2023 at 11:22 am

          The bill Newsom signed only applies to restaurants that have at least 60 locations nationwide — with an exception for restaurants that make and sell their own bread

          So the Big Junk restaurants will do the absolute minimum required to come under the “make and sell their own bread” exemption…

          (2) “Fast food restaurant” shall not include an establishment that on September 15, 2023, operates a bakery that produces for sale on the establishment’s premises bread, as defined under Part 136 of Subchapter B of Chapter I of Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations, so long as it continues to operate such a bakery. This exemption applies only where the establishment produces for sale bread as a stand-alone menu item, and does not apply if the the bread is available for sale solely as part of another menu item.
          1. Big River Bandido October 2, 2023 at 12:41 am

             Sounds like a carve-out for Subway Sandwiches with Panera a beneficiary.
    2. Lexx September 30, 2023 at 11:34 am

       We’re outside a small town on the southern Oregon coast. There are plenty of people here interested in eating out and very few places to go. They are either closed or have limited days and hours and I gather it’s due to a labor shortage. Perhaps they left for better pay in California? The one bistro we managed to get seating in was being run by just two people, a waitress and a cook. There was a sign outside the entrance looking for additional cooks, adding 35% percent of the waitresses’ tips to the hourly wage, and I thought, ‘She must be one hell of a waitress to be able to support herself and the cook with her tips. We’re going to be out some serious dough, the food will be that good.’ There was a line waiting to get in out the door.and around the corner, the food we were all waiting for was just above average, bonus points for the fish and chips.. but the Pacific Ocean was just across the street, it was the least they could do…

       (The waitress was so young, new, and inefficient, I handed her a cash tip and bussed our own table out of empathy. From behind me she said ‘you don’t have to do that’ but I could hear her relief too and really, I kinda did.)

       Maybe Gov. Kotek could take a hint.
       1. Louis Fyne September 30, 2023 at 12:07 pm

          i imagine the problem is rental housing at any price within a 30 min drive (let alone afforable) as much as the wage
          1. Lexx September 30, 2023 at 12:41 pm

             Don’t disagree, Louis.. yet there are a lot of young people in town. Where are they living and what are they doing that they can afford to live here? Likewise hopping over the border into CA, more money an hour but maybe higher rents – lose/lose. Yesterday gas prices were posted at $5.07 a gallon. Commuting is out.
             1. Joe Well September 30, 2023 at 9:44 pm

                1) cramming in with roommates + staying in bad relationships
                2) living with parents/older family

                The generational “quality of life” gap is enormous.
    3. Objective Ace September 30, 2023 at 12:59 pm

       Not surprising that firefighters make so little since they are competing with unpaid prison labor. Not much of an incentive to raise the wages there.
22. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 10:40 am

    “Top US general taking steps to protect family after Trump death comments”

    Even on his way out the door he continues to disappoint. Milley could have come out and dared Trump to say such things to his face which Trump would never have done but would have chickened out. Instead Milley took cover behind the entire armed forces saying that an attack on him was an attack on the US military – and that ‘there are 2.1 million of us.’ From this and something that I saw on the news tonight, Milley wants to leave office while he is wrapped in an American flag. His replacement should be fun. A real China-hawk who is itching to take it to the Chinese.
    1. John September 30, 2023 at 12:17 pm

       A real China-hawk who is itching to take it to the Chinese.

       I suppose he is the next one up, but can he possibly be such a moron. Then again, becoming Chairman of the Joint Chiefs is a political achievement having little or nothing to do with actual military acumen. Consider this, the US has an air force general as the senior commander at a time when drones and missiles are rapidly making manned aircraft obsolete.
    2. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 6:05 pm

       USA worship the uniform/warrior like few other nations in the world.
23. Ignacio September 30, 2023 at 10:45 am

    RE: Monotti’s tweet on cancer relapse after boosting. He argues in his tweet about possible mechanisms involved in the relapse. I will add another one because it has been long known that the innate immune system is involved in the maintenance of cancer cells dormant and on relapse and metastasis. See a review on this here.

    Ok, what has to do the innate immune system with Covid vaccines? This other paper deals with it: The impact of BNT162b2 mRNA vaccine on adaptive and innate immune responses. Now, connect the dots.
    1. John Beech September 30, 2023 at 11:00 am

       Ignacio, it’s impossible to connect the dots without the raw data as IM Doc cogently explains in his separate post regarding COVID a few days ago. Until then, all we have is anecdotal data and conjecture.

       Me? I very much wish white hats preyed on FDA and found this data and released it much like Julian Asange did with DoD documents. Why? It’s due to my suspicion, absent nefarious means, the raw data will never see the light of day. Why not? Due to how Monday Morning Quarterbacks will maul those acting under the gun during a national emergency. Just look at how they’re being accused of terrible things with incomplete information!
       1. Ignacio September 30, 2023 at 1:30 pm

          In that case let me put it more bluntly.

          From the review:

          While chronic inflammation is well known to promote the onset and development of cancer, it is now also being implicated as one of the main drivers capable of re-awakening dormant cancer cells. Patients suffering from chronic inflammation are more likely to develop advanced metastatic disease as a consequence of the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-α, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-8, TGF-β1, IL-18, and members of the IL-6 family, including OSM [35,61,62].

          Then we have, for instance:
          Increased Interleukin 18-Dependent Immune Responses Are Associated With Myopericarditis After COVID-19 mRNA Vaccination. Link.

          Other instances of after vaccination IL-18 mediated autoimmune diseases have been described.
24. Jeff W September 30, 2023 at 10:56 am

    From “Octopus Intelligence Is Unlike Anything We Know” Mind Matters:

    …there is probably something underlying our universe that drives some life forms toward intelligence. It cannot just be Darwinian natural selection for survival because vast numbers of other life forms can survive quite well with very limited intelligence.

    What a weird, illogical—and indefensible—assertion in an ostensible science article, until, perhaps, one realizes that Mind Matters is, according to the site’s About page, “operated by the non-profit Walter Bradley Center for Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Discovery Institute in Seattle.” (“Operated,” not “published,” whatever that means, and “Discovery Institute” is oddly anarthrous.) The Discovery Institute is, of course, the well-known think tank promoting the anti-evolution argument of intelligent design.
    1. Revenant September 30, 2023 at 11:26 am

       Those intelligent designers should be careful in the case the octopuses turn out to be the real children of God. Especially an Elder God….
25. Freddy September 30, 2023 at 11:23 am

    Trump’s speech at Republican Convention in Orange County is worth a watch on Youtube. The man’s energy is phenominal, over an hour, without a telepromter.

    Listen, don’t read the transcript. The most important policy promise:
    “I will avoid World War Three by stopping the Ukranian War”…

    Yes, but he sends mean tweets and grabs women, isn’t that reason enough to prevent him being on the ballot? /sarc.
    1. John September 30, 2023 at 12:24 pm

       The man can read a room. Exactly how would he stop “the Ukrainian War?” Stop sending weapons? Convince NATO nations to stop sending weapons? Stop funding the day to day operations of Ukraine’s government? Seems to me that those ships have sailed. Russia has won the war. Russia is placed to decide the outcome when it chooses.
       1. Pat September 30, 2023 at 1:40 pm

          Well he could start by doing all those things plus ending all intelligence they have access to that they have used for their various attacks on Crimea and in Russia proper. He could also make it clear that they need to surrender.

          Oh and immediately arrest and prosecute any intelligence operative or member of the military that is insubordinate and ignores those orders.

          I mean it isn’t as if he doesn’t have lots of proof that anyone trying to undermine his administration isn’t going to stop when he is out of office, so just go for it.
       2. JP September 30, 2023 at 8:24 pm

          Yeah he can read a room but can’t really read so forget the telepromter. If I wanted stream of consciousness I would read James Joyce not listen to the random walk of a chicken (anti-lib) fancier.
    2. Michael Fiorillo September 30, 2023 at 3:45 pm

       He unilaterally broke the INF Treaty with Russia, and gave the Ukrainians all the missiles asked for. Whether that was because he’s a hypocrite, or was played into appointing Neo-con Blobsters, doesn’t really matter that much.

       What matters about Trump the Peacenik is not his sincerity, but the mass receptivity to that message, and how that terrifies the people who really matter. That they would go to the lengths they have to destroy and discredit an anti-war and anti-globalist messenger, even when in the tainted vessel of a Donald Trump, is a real measure of their weakness and vulnerability.
       1. ChrisPacific September 30, 2023 at 7:27 pm

          It depends. His plan for how to end the war is hopeless fantasy and only makes sense in Trump universe, so the question is what happens when it fails? I see a few possibilities:

          1. He and his administration begin the hard slog of rebuilding trust and reaching points of agreement, while convincing NATO countries to do the same (haha, just kidding!)
          2. He pretends it’s worked and ignores all real world evidence to the contrary, up to and including Russia overrunning more of Ukraine
          3. He gets angry and looks for somebody to blame.

          Number 2 probably favors Russia if Putin is skillful enough to avoid doing anything that punctures the fantasy too obviously and count on the self-delusion capability of Trump and his supporters. If it means an end to NATO escalation then it would probably be better than any of the alternatives.

          Point 3 would seem to offer plenty of scope for the neocons to play Trump once again. Convince him it was all Putin’s fault and let him adopt the cause as his own. The one mitigating factor is that Trump has a much better nose for failure than Biden and will probably be wary of being shackled to a losing cause.

          My money would be on 2, but 3 can never be ruled out where Trump is concerned.
          1. Pat October 1, 2023 at 4:24 am

             Well I see a fair amount of fantasy in your take (not that that isn’t the case for most of our current State Department as well.) The realists among us have already realized that Ukraine is lost. Knowing that peace means that essentially Ukraine will be a satellite of Russia. Why? Nothing else will be acceptable to the victor in this, Russia.
             All that Trump, or anyone else will be able to do, is paper over how bad a failure this was for the Neoliberal brain trust and maybe head off some of the worst fall out for both Ukraine and Europe. And we should do that as soon as possible. If it continues, we will have created a far worse terrorist state than anything in the Middle East and the economic disaster will make the results of Libya look like a walk in the park. And that’s before the current war mongering real fantasists start a nuclear war because they stupidly believe they can “win” it.
             1. ChrisPacific October 1, 2023 at 8:27 pm

                The realists among us have already realized that Ukraine is lost. Knowing that peace means that essentially Ukraine will be a satellite of Russia. Why? Nothing else will be acceptable to the victor in this, Russia.

                I’m not sure what made you think I disagreed with this. My comment was about how a hypothetical Trump administration might react to that situation.
26. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 12:02 pm

    “Did animal evolution begin with a predatory lifestyle?”
    possible anthropomorphic projection?
    1. LilD September 30, 2023 at 1:25 pm

       Life is about exploitation and predation. Some organism expends resources to create some order, which can be consumed by its predators…
       It’s rentierism all the way down…
       1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 2:45 pm

          had to laugh at that LD – life could be described in the manner you illustrate or could life be about cooperation and self- sacrifice too? – perhaps any description of life is anthropomorphic – but gotta agree about rentierism at least from top to bottom of the human food chain –
       2. Keith Howard September 30, 2023 at 4:01 pm

          Wouldn’t you agree that exploitation and predation are loaded terms? What seems to me salient and fundamental about the behavior of living organisms is that they are opportunistic: If there is a resource available to be made use of, some life form will notice it and employ that resource to grow and generate offspring. In this, the human species (as a species) is exactly as intelligent as any other.
          1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 6:52 pm

             KH – “…the behavior of living organisms is that they are opportunistic..”
             that sounds like evolution to me – and the ‘loaded terms’ was to what i was reacting – realized it when you mentioned it – and the equality of intelligence in the sense you refer seems good enough – human’s unique ability to objectify creates conundrums –
27. Malachi September 30, 2023 at 1:48 pm

    “One of my concerns is that Covid bad effects are often attributed to the vaccines, but this cohort is cancer survivors in many cases taking immunosuppressive drugs and thus regularly monitored:”

    This doesn’t tell you anything about whether these cancers are a result of the shots.
    1. Yves Smith Post authorSeptember 30, 2023 at 1:54 pm

       Yes it does.

       It means with them that a cancer resurgence will be caught faster than a cancer would be diagnosed in a cancer-free person. Plenty of cases of finding a stage 4 cancer and person being dead in a month or two, and you can’t well estimate when the cancer started. With these closely monitored patients, you can, and so the claim that a cancer resurgence came in close proximity to a vaccination is likely to be a valid sighting. And that MD claims the resurgence are often unexpectedly aggressive.
28. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 2:46 pm

    Madelene Albright has died. (my crocodile tears are filling buckets)
    1. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 2:53 pm

       put a stake through her heart to make sure – hope her death slow and painful – now how about Hellary –
    2. MaryLand September 30, 2023 at 3:04 pm

       She died in March of 2022.

       https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_Albright
       1. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 4:00 pm

          Oops!!!!!

          Double Oops!!!!!

          I was looking at my X/Twitter feed and that came up. I duckducked her name and the death notice links came up but I didn’t notice the date of 3/23/22.

          Maybe we could just celebrate her passing again.

          :-/
       2. griffen September 30, 2023 at 4:28 pm

          One can never be sure of how much or for how long, evil persons can live on in perpetuity, however…Maybe she much like Emperor Palpatine found a unseen path to the dark side and was living still in an uncharted location ( sarc ).
29. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 2:50 pm

    “Desalination system could produce freshwater that is cheaper than tap water”
    is that with a fully loaded cost including the brine left over and consequences of its disposal – just wondering –
30. Jabura Basaidai September 30, 2023 at 2:58 pm

    “Iran plans to build oil refinery in central Syria in partnership with Venezuela”
    this should be very interesting and appreciated that shot of the US stealing Syrian oil – i don’t lack words to express outrage at the theft which has been going on for quite a while, just want this post to not get lost in the aether – but this sounds like a bullseye in the making with two “terrorist states” coming together to aid Syria and don’t forget to throw in Xi’s handshake with Assad and supposedly providing assistance to secure peace – considering the US addiction to war this can get weird quick –
    1. digi_owl September 30, 2023 at 6:03 pm

       The crux of the post-war “dismantling” of the colonial system has been to lock former colonies into a dependency on refined goods from the west while only producing raw materials themselves.

       Any time a leader has tried to push for doing the refinement locally, they get removed from power in some way.
31. flora September 30, 2023 at 5:57 pm

    PubMed.

    Inability to work following COVID-19 vaccination-a relevant aspect for future booster vaccinations

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37562083/
32. some guy September 30, 2023 at 6:12 pm

    So RFK Jr is going to run on some sort of Independent ticket? What if Tulsi Gabbard joined him on that same ticket? Would both of them together attract more votes than either one alone?
    1. flora September 30, 2023 at 6:57 pm

       Which D/R candidate will he most likely draw votes away from? Perot drew votes away from GHW Bush, Anderson drew votes away from Carter. Can he even get on ballot in all 50 states? What about Cornel West? Too bad about Tulsi being WEF, that’s a deal breaker for me.
       1. Alice X September 30, 2023 at 11:17 pm

          What does WEF mean?
          1. skippy September 30, 2023 at 11:42 pm

             https://www.weforum.org/
    2. Tom Stone September 30, 2023 at 7:00 pm

       RFK/Gabbard would appeal to quite a few people and totally enrage even more.
       If Trump wants a VP who is life insurance ( Even better than Kamala!) , RFK Jr would be a great idea.
       Quite a few Republicans would be OK with Jr, and so would a lot of people who are looking at Trump and remembering that he was merely a disaster, survivable by Humankind.
33. flora September 30, 2023 at 6:15 pm

    Ed Dowd on Gettr. Shout out to NC in the comments.

    Interesting facts:

    Disability Population 16 & over is up 3.1 million from pre 2020 high. Or 10%.

    Disability Employed Population 16 & over is up 1.8 million from pre 2020 high. Or 30%.

    Observations: Rate of change is higher for disability employed.

    https://gettr.com/post/p2rf3bv7062
34. flora September 30, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    Zbigniew Brzezinski, 25 quotes. He dreamed dreams.

    https://www.azquotes.com/author/2100-Zbigniew_Brzezinski
    1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 7:11 pm

       He may have dreamed big but so did the Austrian corporal. Seems that a lot of his thoughts have become part of official US policy. For example-

       ‘It is conceivable that at some point a truly united and powerful European Union could become a global political rival to the United States.’

       With the present war and the destruction of the NS2 pipelines, that possibility has been eliminated as now the EU is totally reliant on the US so mission accomplished. Next target will be the BRICS and it seems that India is the first nation to come under assault. Washington is trying for that 90s ideal that there be no competitor to the US but that the US stands alone as the apex nation.
       1. flora September 30, 2023 at 8:22 pm

          Look at some of his quotes and compare them to what is promoted today by actions in the US, Western Europe, and the WEF.

          Our on-going Ukr policy since the end of the USSR:
          ” However, if Moscow regains control over Ukraine, with its 52 million people and major resources as well as access to the Black Sea, Russia automatically again regains the wherewithal to become a powerful imperial state, spanning Europe and Asia.”

          Our neoliberal economic policy:
          ” People, governments and economies of all nations must serve the needs of multinational banks and corporations.”
          1. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 8:29 pm

             That last one would have meant that he would have gotten all the financial and political backing that he ever would have needed.
35. skippy September 30, 2023 at 6:36 pm

    ‘The quotes were £5,000 or more’: electric vehicle owners face soaring insurance costs

    Drivers who ditched petrol and diesel to help save the planet face huge price rises in premiums

    https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/sep/30/the-quotes-were-5000-or-more-electric-vehicle-owners-face-soaring-insurance-costs

    Welp no one saw that coming … eh … as insurance drives just about everything these days as no one will do business without it e.g. how can you sell something when the cost of it is punitive.
    1. GC54 September 30, 2023 at 8:26 pm

       Get a used EV. Some depreciate very rapidly and come with new batteries. US gives $4k tax credit if used EV is under $25k. (Many non Teslas are.) Some states/counties are charging road tax for EV annual registration because driver doesn’t pay gas tax. Mine is $140/yr.
       1. skippy October 1, 2023 at 3:04 am

          Has no relevance to insurance prices mate …
36. flora September 30, 2023 at 6:54 pm

    Taibbi’s latest. Public excerpt:

    Anthony Fauci Was America’s Warmup Dictator

    He institutionalized the purposeful lie, suppressed critics, mastered emergency politics, even sold himself as a sex symbol. Anthony Fauci gave the next monster a playbook

    https://www.racket.news/p/anthony-fauci-was-americas-warmup
    1. Lunker Walleye September 30, 2023 at 8:26 pm

       The anti-masking comments surprised me. I am still wearing them and am probably in the 1% who is.
37. flora September 30, 2023 at 7:06 pm

    Matt Taibbi and Walter Kirn, public excerpt.

    America This Week, September 29, 2023: “The Tell-Tale Reich”

    https://www.racket.news/p/america-this-week-september-29-2023#details
38. Tom Stone September 30, 2023 at 7:12 pm

    Fauci also personally visited both the Feebs and the CIA to discourage speculation about a Lab leak being the origin of Covid-19.
    Which worked.
    Fauci and Daszak were both certain that the Virus could not possibly be due to a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology because they both knew the place so intimately, having funded some fascinating research into bat corona viruses there.
    In cooperation with the Chinese MoD.
    No, Fauci knew how important it was to look forward, not back!
    And he did the right thing to avoid embarassing the right people, which is something you don’t want to do.
    Ask Chelsea or Julian if you doubt that.
39. The Rev Kev September 30, 2023 at 7:27 pm

    Wow. New York got clobbered but good by those floods-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-V-9SDk3s (8:24 mins)
    1. skippy September 30, 2023 at 8:04 pm

       The hydrology used was based on a completely different historical perspective …. good luck with that thingy …
    2. skippy September 30, 2023 at 11:32 pm

       Better video mate ….

       NYC Underwater: The Day Nature Rewrote the Record Books – Jonathan Petramala

       https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHnU9OzYGD8

       What a AFL match, wanted the Vics tOo* lose the plot but it was close. So now its down too the NRL tonight …
40. Joe Well September 30, 2023 at 9:30 pm

    Re: Scott Ritter

    Thanks to the embedded tweet, I checked out Scott Ritter’s Twitter and…

    whoa…

    A whole bunch of antiwar tweets that are exactly what you’d expect and then…

    Bam! A retweet of a homophobic tweet with accompanying pornographic video from the account of an actual self-proclaimed Flat Earther.

    Why do so many of the people willing to criticize our elites and call out the elephants in the room have to be a least a little bit totally out of their minds?
    1. caucus99percenter September 30, 2023 at 10:54 pm

       Could we see a link so we can judge for ourselves? Otherwise this comment has a vague air of drive-by character assassination about it, a practice not unheard of in political discussions on the Intertoobz. Particularly in regard to Mr Ritter, who as everyone knows played a key role as weapons inspector exposing the lies Bush, Blair & Co. used to sell the Iraq war.
41. Jason Boxman September 30, 2023 at 11:36 pm

    A display of being pathetic.

    Representative Jamaal Bowman, Democrat of New York, pulled a fire alarm in the House Cannon office building on Saturday as his party was trying to delay a vote on a stopgap spending bill, prompting an evacuation of the building and investigations by the Capitol Police and the House Administration Committee.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/30/us/politics/jamaal-bowman-fire-alarm-house.html
42. Laura in So Cal September 30, 2023 at 11:44 pm

    Anecdote:
    My best friend fought leukemia for years in her late 20’s to mid 30’s including a bone marrow transplant. She had been cancer free for over 20 years. Within weeks after her 1st booster in late 2021? (3rd shot), she developed weird symptoms and went to the doctor where they discovered her leukemia was back. She just went back into remission in April 2023. I pray she stays there.

    She did have Covid in Dec 2020 before vaccines were available.
43. caucus99percenter October 1, 2023 at 12:42 am

    Left-populist, “pro-Russian” Robert Fico and his Smer party win Saturday’s parliamentary election in Slovakia.

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-01/robert-fico-wins-sovlakia-election/102922262
44. Frank October 1, 2023 at 5:56 am

    I find Mark Sleboda to be much more credible than either Ritter or MacGregor. Similarly, he served in the US Navy as a nuclear engineer, so can claim some credibility on that front. But he’s also lived in Russia for many years, is well connected and knows the domestic political scene about as well as anyone. His take that this war will continue for years as a slow grind is clearly the correct one.
45. Geoffrey Dewan October 8, 2023 at 11:30 pm

    For a little bit of background/context , Angus Dalgleish seems to be a very hard Right British “populist” and Brexiteer. Wrote a whole book on China conspiracies and lab leak theory.

    Not saying he’s making this up or even that he’s wrong but he does seem to have a rather large axe to grind so it would be good to see some real clinical reporting on this before jumping on this bandwagon

    Kind of reminds me a little of anti-vaxxers who claim that vaccinations have caused many more deaths than Covid itself. (ie,if that were true most of my family and friends would’ve died already Proceed with caution on this one.

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