This Fluffy Little Anteater May Be a New Species Smithsonian Mag
SCIENTISTS FIND THAT GETTING NAUGHTY HELPS PROTECT AGAINST COGNITIVE DECLINE Futurism
Female frogs pretend to be lifeless to dodge mating Interesting Engineering
Climate/Environment
Degrowth – How Anti-Worker Would It Be? Green Social Thought
Who is paying for your electric car? SOMO
A Caltrans executive questioned a freeway expansion. Then she was demoted LA Times
#COVID-19
Royal Alex becomes first Alberta hospital to bring back required masking CTV News
Victorian schools run classes without teachers.
“Teachers are combining classes, cancelling specialist programs and having their leave refused to cope with crippling staff shortages in Victorian schools, a new survey finds.”
Source: https://t.co/F7d9taacu8 pic.twitter.com/DCJgr3aI3d
— Denis – The COVID info guy – (@BigBadDenis) October 13, 2023
Syraqistan
Israeli Conflict Takes Eschatological Turn + Ukraine War Updates Simplicius the Thinker
THE PLAN TO WIPE OUT HAMAS Seymour Hersh
from Hersh’s piece that dropped a few minutes ago pic.twitter.com/l7M4Qt99IA
— Warren Commission Test Skull (@conzmoleman) October 15, 2023
A Textbook Case of Genocide Jewish Currents
UN says Gaza shelters ‘not safe anymore’ as water runs out The Business Standard
Settlers take advantage of Gaza war to launch West Bank pogroms +972 Magazine
Hamas Attack Surprise. So Much for AI Andrew Cockburn, Spoils of War
Israel’s intel failure is ‘bad for business’ The Cradle
The Secrets Hamas Knew About Israel’s Military New York Times. The deck: “Hamas gunmen surged into Israel in a highly organized and meticulously planned operation that suggested a deep understanding of Israel’s weaknesses. Here is how the attacks unfolded.”
Hezbollah attacks five Israeli military sites in occupied territories Al Mayadeen
Can Israel Handle a War on 2 Fronts? Foreign Policy
A-10s Arrive in CENTCOM After Hamas Attacks on Israel Air & Space Forces Magazine
5,000 sailors head to Mediterranean aboard USS Eisenhower: ‘It’s real now’ The Virginia-Pilot
Royal Navy To Deploy Response Group To Eastern Mediterranean Naval News
***
The Biden Administration Is Aiding and Abetting War Crimes Eunomia
The FT quotes EU officials saying “we may be about to see massive ethnic cleansing” and “we’ll pay a heavy price in the global south [for supporting it]”.https://t.co/l7jf76Cppo
This is insane. They’re predicting a “massive ethnic cleansing”: why on earth is it so hard to, at…
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) October 13, 2023
Germany does not support UNICEF call for Gaza cease-fire Middle East Monitor
Russia’s Draft Ceasefire Is The Last Chance To Prevent An Unprecedented Humanitarian Crisis Andrew Korybko
Israel-Hamas war: China to ‘soon’ send special envoy on Middle East de-escalation mission, top diplomat Wang Yi says South China Morning Post
Netanyahu is an albatross around India’s neck Indian Punchline
A statement from the Bloody Sunday Families: https://t.co/bztevpvWVE pic.twitter.com/xZyPOewA8D
— LD67🇵🇸 (@LD_1967) October 13, 2023
***
Pro-Israel Propaganda Is Stupid Moon of Alabama
Police in Berlin banned a demonstration against violence in the Middle East over concerns of antisemitism.
It was organised by Jewish Berliners.
— DiEM25 (@DiEM_25) October 14, 2023
Meta cracks down on Hamas content after EU warning Interesting Engineering
Publish the Names of Students and Professors Who Support Hamas Lynching and Rapes Alan Dershowitz, Gatestone Institute
All of this started during Russiagate where the public was prepared to accept state/corporate capitalist censorship of news & information. Now there are no restraints. Either tow the state line or be shut down. https://t.co/yCKjA0t7Ty
— Ajamu Baraka (@ajamubaraka) October 14, 2023
Human Rights And Free Speech Are For Times Of War, Not Just Peace Public News
The Koreas
North Korea has sent arms to Russia for use in Ukraine: White House Channel News Asia
North Korea denies its weapons used by Hamas against Israel Channel News Asia
North Korea raises the specter of nuclear strike over US aircraft carrier’s arrival in South Korea AP News
China?
Beijing’s food security concerns “overstated,” Huang Jikun says, urging yield over acreage, farmers benefit over security obsession The East is Read
US National Security Worries Over Chinese Bitcoin Mines The Crypto Times
European Disunion
Poland’s ‘bitter election’ could bring more trouble for the European Union Modern Diplomacy
Poland’s election in charts Notes from Poland
New Not-So-Cold War
Budanov admits Ukraine big counter-offensive is over The Duran (Video)
Now Russia is fighting to gain territory in the east of Ukraine The Economist
Ukrainian finance minister sees ‘tiredness’ among donors Washington Examiner
Ex-Zelensky aide calls for new government in Ukraine RT
Ukrainian AI attack drones may be killing without human oversight New Scientist
War, economic crisis and rage is the price of building a new world order George Friedman, MarketWatch
South of the Border
Florida International University Hires Failed Venezuelan Coup Plotter as Visiting Professor at Adam Smith Center For Economic Freedom Covert Action Magazine
The Lucky Country
The Renters’ Constituency Phenomenal World
Australians reject Indigenous rights referendum: government CGTN
Spook Country
Mathematician warns US spies may be weakening next-gen encryption New Scientist
Biden Administration
2024
Haley closes in on DeSantis as biggest challenger to Trump The Hill
Antitrust
U.S. antitrust enforcer says pressing on with fight against Microsoft/Activision deal Reuters
Ending Junk Fees, the Most Annoying Thing in American Commerce BIG by Matt Stoller
GOP Clown Car
Mike Johnson prepares for speakership bid if Jordan fails to secure majority Washington Examiner
Republicans Are Using Anti-China Rhetoric to Undercut Striking UAW Workers’ Demands Workday Magazine
AI
Shield AI sees DoD opening for ‘intelligent, affordable mass’ of drones Breaking Defense
What You Need to Know About Generative AI’s Emerging Role in Political Campaigns Tech Policy Press
The Final Frontier
Class Warfare
Renting can age you faster than smoking or obesity, researchers find New York Post
Kaiser, union at tentative deal with 21% raises: 6 things to know Becker’s Hospital Review
Music Streaming Royalty Hacking Shows How Desperately The System Needs To Be Overhauled Techdirt
WHO CARES ABOUT EFFICIENCY? Law and Political Economy Project
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
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“Scientists Find That Getting Naughty Helps Protect Against Cognitive Decline”
There is proof that this is true! Consider the phrase ‘dirty old men’ which dictionaries explain saying that ‘Dirty old man is an expression some people use to describe an older man who they think shows an unnatural interest in sex.’ So on the street you will see old guys checking out young girls walking by. But here is a thought. Why is there no such phrase as ‘clean old man?’ I’ll tell you why. Because they can’t be bothered checking out pretty young things, they lose interest in everything and die before they get a chance to be old. The ones that show an interest in the opposite sex maintain an interest in lots of things and so continue to grow old, hence the phrase ‘dirty old man.’
And on the other side of the coin, from above:
“Female frogs pretend to be lifeless to dodge mating”
Which sounds like some of my First Dates, back in the day….
>Female frogs pretend to be lifeless to dodge mating…
Worked for me…
I was going to say, there is a wife joke in there somewhere…
My wife said that the research is likely not complete since it is possible that female frogs pretend to be dead only for certain male frogs…
‘naughty’? It’s astonishing that such an infantile connotation of sex still has any currency. One wonders if it was AI-generated.
Thanks for saving me the trouble of pointing that out.
Though the British sometimes speak of “naughty bits.” When it’s Monty Python, you can be sure it’s satirical, but elsewhere….?
This reminded me of The Beatles’ A Hard Day’s Night, in which Paul’s grandfather (played by Wilfred Brambell) was described repeatedly as “very clean” (as I understand it, this was an inside reference to an earlier sitcom role Brambell had played, in which he was always called a DOM).
> Paul’s grandfather
Whenever I see Paul’s grandfather, I think of how much he looks like another trickster: James Joyce.
Wilfred Bramble was a pretty odious character with a penchant for young boys.
‘SCIENTISTS FIND THAT GETTING NAUGHTY HELPS PROTECT AGAINST COGNITIVE DECLINE’
Will wanking do just as well? Otherwise this article favors couples (or coupling) “doing” each other .
Twenty seven days together on the road (he wouldn’t let me drive) where I learned the roads are full of “Wanker!” drivers, every one of them both cognitively high functioning and morons. (No, Husband is not and never has been British. No idea why ‘wanker’ has become his new favorite.)
My British roommate (straight female) preferred “tosser” as do I (bi male USian). It’s a bit less obvious and imho far more clever.
Did he hold his forefinger and thumb together to form a ring and then vigorously wave his hand up and down in the direction of the drivers who had attracted his ire?
Ah yes, Bono. The guy that professed his love for the Chinese firewall. And wanted a western equivalent in order to protect his copyrighted songs from MP3 sharing teens.
Ah yes, Huitfeldt. Who is now embroiled in a insider trading scandal that has also managed to snag former prime minister Erna Solberg.
From Slavyangrad (but widely reported, it seems). Get yourselves strapped; the ride has just begun.
If Hezbollah lob one or two missiles to explode near Israel’s Negev Nuclear Research Center to give them a warning about the consequences of invading Lebanon, will Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency do a repeat performance of his act at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station and say that the IAEA just can’t work out where those missiles came from or who fired them at all?
It is like a ‘Twilight Zone’ episode, you know it’s July 1914, but no one else believes you.
World War I, part 3.
Seems to be some debate whether that’s a Hezbollah flag or that of an Israeli unit. The fact remains that a situation where Hezbollah captures a base in occupied Lebanon is getting more and more realistic. There are growing reports of ATGM strikes on IDF equipment and outposts.
Have these people lost their minds? Did no one watch Ukraine? Did somehow everyone started thinking that war is a walk in the park and that your enemies just drop dead by themselves? The crisis of elite competence has reached apocalyptic levels. I hate Churchill, but his generation could at least make strategic calculations.
I wouldn’t discount that out of hand – the IDF does have some experience fighting on multiple simultaneous fronts, after all.
Yes, they do. Fifty years ago. A lot has changed over the past half century.
That’s true but it’s more recent experience than pretty much anyone else can claim. I don’t think anyone in Israel thinks war is a “walk in the park”. I also don’t think fighting on two (or three if the criminal actions of settlers provoke a reaction in the West Bank) is something the IDF would be eager to do, but Israeli history suggests that failing to anticipate or prepare for a multifront conflict would be foolish on their part.
The Russia-Ukraine situation probably isn’t relevant here. Ukraine has never fought a multifront war and I don’t think Russia has since the end of the Russian Civil War in 1923 (not sure about that and I’m certainly willing to be corrected).
“Haley closes in on DeSantis as biggest challenger to Trump”
These two people are some of the most toxic people on the American political scene, which is saying something, though Haley has more of a track record on the international scene. I suspect that DeSantis’s success would not translate to the national stage much less the international stage. I can only imagine a debate between these two-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7pfsneLSSM (1:48 mins)
Pretty much everyone that any media outlet has as a contender fall into some of the most toxic people on the political scene category (both sides). It appears to be a job requirement as far as the people who control the system and media are concerned. That said there is no one in the Republican establishment that can run a night of the long knives play on Trump.
It looks like the Hill, and whoever, are pinning their hopes on a Haley long shot win of New Hampshire. I can’t say for sure, but personally I wouldn’t bet on it. And even if she does pull it out, that rarely translates to the nomination. Her candidacy will still be underwater by midpoint in the primaries.
The establishment is desperate for a primary candidate to take Trump out cleanly. That is not going to happen. If there was a real change candidate, in either party, they might have a chance. But there isn’t. Trump is still the closest to a change candidate the Republicans have. And the DNC is shutting down the primary process every way they can find to protect Biden, forget any alternative candidate there. They really are going to have to twist the legal system into a pretzel or get him on a small plane.
There is another scenario, according to my PMC friend (these people are so entertaining), and this one is a real dandy. Gym (as they like to call him) Jordon will become speaker. His goal is to destroy America (yes, they said that), and part of the plan will be taking out Harris & Biden by assassination and then becoming president himself. Then make it a dictatorship. Of course if that doesn’t happen and Trump wins, the “Red Hats” will start killing all the liberals and make Trump dictator by decree. So you end up with Jordon or Trump and America becomes a Russia fascist state under Putin either way.
Yes, some people really are this nuts and they live among us. It’s beyond me how one can get this unhinged and paranoid. I don’t imagine it’s too healthy either. Hillary might have been on to something when she talked about de-programming, but she might have left a few people off the list.
You should tell your PMC friends that it is actually Nikki Haley that wants to be President and then Dictator of America and that she is using Trump and Jordon to distract people with. At least that story has a patina of plausibility.
But never tell them that birds aren’t real.
They might like Haley since she’s all in on all wars, and if she said something bad about Trump, that is a plus. They think the next speaker should be Liz Cheney or Adam Kinzinger because they love them because of Jan 6th (and they are not on Putin’s payroll).
They are the poster children of what you are when falling down drunk on MSNBC, NYT, WaPo, CNN, and Team Blue gaslighting BS.
I used to enjoy my blue uni town’s October zombie walk night, where mostly college kids dress up as zombies with lots of fake blood (catsup or food coloring) and shamble slowly around downtown, stumbling and howling “must eat brains” and swinging arms side to side. It’s fun. The costumes are entertaining.
I always wondered what would happen to a lot of them when they graduated and went out into the world. Sounds like some of them found their real zombie homes among your PMC friends and in the MSM. (Must find brains!) / ;)
I tried that. I sent all of my blue zombie
friendsrelatives vids of President Zelenskyy playing Hava Nagila with his familyblog, making sure to point out that they were all different performances of the same act.It didn’t work. The ladies thought he was kinda cute.
Haley is as ambitious as Lucifer, and she knows what people of influence and authority want to hear.
Like that straight-A student who will jump through any hoop the teachers put in front of her. If the ninth grade math teacher tells her that 2 + 2 = 5, then that’s what she’ll dutifully put down on her math test.
I find it really interesting that nobody has criticized a male politician for “ambition” since Caesar’s funeral, but it seems to be considered a fatal flaw for women.
Of course she’s ambitious as Lucifer – she wants to be President, after all. The same could be said of anyone else who has thrown his/her/their hat in the ring (including RFK, Jr. and Brother Cornell).
I’m not worried that she’s ambitious, I’m worried that she’s a dangerous loon.
Is Hillary more ambitious than Lucifer?
Pretty much and I heard similar criticisms leveled at her, particularly from Obama supporters in 2008.
Nobody runs for President who isn’t more ambitious than Lucifer.
If Brother Cornell is really ambitious to be President, then he will try recruiting RFK Jr to be his VP running mate. If he doesn’t try to do that, it shows he is not ambitious to be President.
I myself think that Brother Cornell is just on a speaking-truth-to-power trip with no intention of winning anything.
He might be the exception to the rule, but I suspect not. I don’t actually consider ambition in and of itself to be a flaw. I think ambition without moral restraint certainly is. I agree with West about many things and I hope his ambition doesn’t keep him from being a gadfly.
Nobody presented a male politician for comparison.
Ambition is one thing, but Haley and those like her will do anything to get what they want.
“….forget any alternative candidate there.”
Don’t count out stealth candidate Dean Phillips just yet. He is trying to “midwestern nice” his way into pole position….
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/10/13/dean-phillips-new-hampshire-dems-00121555
….and if he can manage that then the “anyone but Biden or Trump” crowd of Reagan Democrats will go wild.
Ooh. I had been, but I am from the disruption camp. Anything that disrupts the DNC and doesn’t trigger more legal invasions of civil rights is a good thing. So I could get behind this occurring.
I agree. He has been a made man since he led the attack against Ihlan Omar over the Benjimans thing. I think he has potential, but I don’t know what to make about his primary challenger coming from the DNC Executive Committee. It may be coordinated or it may be that they are following through on a threat. Safe seat, it really doesn’t matter, but I don’t think he will be as likely to step down when bidden to do so as Klobuchar was.
We should know within the next two weeks.
Although Dean Phillips is popular in his district, MN-03 has traditionally been a Republican district — the previous Democrat to represent the district was Roy Wier who lost the seat in the 1960 election. It has been trending blue in the past few years but it’s not solidly democratic the way that MN-04 and MN-05 (Ilhan’s district) are (Obama barely carried it in 2012).
It could easily flip back to the red column if he doesn’t run in 2024 the same way that MN-01 flipped back to the red column after Democrat Tim Walz’s successful gubernatorial run (after representing the district for six terms).
Thx for the MN01 shout out : )
Also (to nippersdad) I’m pretty sure Klobuchar only ran for President because she was asked to by the same person who asked her to stop running.
Did Nikki make it up to 10 percent? Wow.
She’s probably hoping that Dem lawfare will take out Trump and then her rich backers can buy her the election against fading Joe. Meanwhile her unhinged belligerence likely pleases some sections of the press and her contempt for working people some other sections. And if none of that happens she and her husband are doing very well for themselves.
Heh, and the Times had the audacity to post a story yesterday concern trolling the Republican Party about Trump working behind the scenes to work the nomination process. Hilarious, from the party that stands with the Democrat Party, which is intent upon having no primary at all. You can’t make this stuff up. It’s too transparently stupid.
“These two people are some of the most toxic people on the American political scene”
The selection process works quite well.
If I recall correctly, Haley’s international track record is basically a stint as ambassador to the UN where she regularly displayed her ignorance of international affairs. So, I’m not sure we should presuppose DeSantis falling short of her dismal international record.
True, and DeSantis has experience as a Navy lawyer at Gitmo providing legal cover for torture. It’s a funny old world, ain’t it?
Of course, Boris Johnson as PM made disparaging remarks about Putin vis a vis invading Ukraine and said if he were a woman he would not be so war like. As ever Putin bettered him by pointing out that Margaret Thatcher did not hold back as a woman when engaging in the Falklands war.
‘Renting can age you faster than smoking or obesity, researchers find’
‘When we include historical housing circumstances in the analysis, we find that repeated housing arrears and exposure to pollution/environmental problems are also associated with faster biological ageing.’
Who was in the control group? White homeowners in areas that are not ‘sacrifice zones’? Is that with or without a mortgage, and if with a mortgage, under what terms? Can I pick up one of those DNA methylation kits at CVS or does my primary care physician have to place an order with each and every one of life’s hard knocks so I can get a better bead on what’s coming? (Maybe there will be a badge in the future like for those working in Radiology measuring each ‘exposure’.)
Also… duh. I’m pretty sure that my FIL’s two boys died prematurely precisely because of their lives of financial struggle and everything they did to themselves coping with the stress… whereas their sister is fine.
Look at the bright side. The next time that the World Economic Forum goons come knocking at your door saying that you must own nothing to be happy, you can turn around and say that is not true as renting can age you faster than smoking or obesity.
What a ridiculous headline. Renting, if one can afford it and has a good landlord, can be very stress free. Certainly much less stress than maintaining a home on a decent amount of land with high property taxes.
Sure, if all apartments are well-insulated against drafts, neighbors in conflict due to capitalist drama, and so on. That is not the state of things.
Dude, really, cigarette smoking and obesity vs. a crappy apartment? Move. That’s also the advantage of renting.
And learn to code while you’re at it!
Nowhere else in the world are so many obsessed with owning a home. Half of Germans rent. The contribution to environmental damage and resource overuse is staggering.
I rented almost all my life. I’ve lived in one BR apts and one 1,200 sq ft apt with a maid’s room and two bathrooms. After a lifetime of paying rent I had exactly zero equity and no control over rent hikes. Renting sucks.
As a property owner now, I’m almost ashamed to be getting such a great deal. I have absolute security from eviction even if I catch COVID. My property taxes might go up but that’s nothing compared to a bump in rent because rent is every month forever.
Well, not forever forever.
And, if you take out a 30 year or even a 15:year at a certain age, well, that’s pretty much forever. Unless you live to 95.
Hey, I’ve rented for most of my adult life, because, first, I was a New Yorker, and, then my ex wife got the co-op during the housing bubble. Then they gave me a 30 year at 62 for a condo, which I thought was weird. But, yeah, it’s worked out well as far as actual “ownership” and equity “enhancement”, but, my place is valued finally at 2006 levels. Who can predict this stuff?
What is “renting in Germany” like compared to “renting in America”?
Is this a case of comparing apples and wax fruit?
In my experience renting can be stressful – not knowing how long you might be allowed to stay before the landlord sells or wants to remodel, things breaking and landlord won’t respond etc. I once rented a house where after 6 months the person decided to sell the place and gave me 30 days notice, which was when I decided to try to buy my own place. I owned a rental for a short time and the previous experience of renting I’m sure made me a better landlord.
Sounds like a “scientific” study by real estate agents in white coats.
Reeks of desperation.
Glad to see that the reality of tenement living hasn’t penetrated your blissfully solispsistic “inner life” yet.
Renting, and precarious renting is a sign of low income which is a bit multifactorial but also dependent on the existing broader political framework.
Low income? Have you priced a nice two bedroom in Manhattan or SF?
Now Russia is fighting to gain territory in the east of Ukraine The Economist
Yes, but fighting to gain territory not very well, at least not in Avdeevka. On balance Russia has more advances than not, but the Ukraine forces which are supposedly out of ammo since forever have done some impressive push backs.
The old men in the Kremlin continue to hold back and shackle Russian military entirely at Russia’s expense. For example, Awful Avalanche just concluded it’s coverage of Avdeevka. He spent some time on antidotal evidence that Avdeevka is now completely de-populated. Including of Russians. Which begs the question why hasn’t Russia destroyed it and it’s considerable numbers of UAF forces, and then proceeded onto the next targets which are of considerable importance?
I think that the Economist has got the wrong slant of what is happening here. Avdeevka is one of those heavily fortified defenses that the Ukrainians built after 2014 and I saw a video of Russian inspecting a captured bunker made out of steel-reinforced concrete there. Avdeevka is also one of the places that was used to bombard Donetsk city for the past eight years. Regardless. I do not think that it is territory that the Russians are wanting to take but are using Avdeevka as a means of applying pressure on the Ukrainians. Because they have thousands of their guys there – I heard a figure of a possible 15,000 men – the Ukrainians have to defend it so will throw more men, machinery and ammo into the battle. But the Russians know that supplies are not going the the Ukraine much anymore but are going to Israel instead. By attacking, they are forcing the Ukrainians to burn up a lot of their remaining stock whether they like it or not. In other words, it is exactly what the Russians have been doing ever since last year and when the Ukrainians are running on empty, it is game over.
Yeah, still using the rope a dope offense, minimizing their own causalities while allowing the best and brightest of Ukraine to throw themselves into pretty certain death.
This Israel/Hamas conflict has to have the Zelensky Nazi regime packing their bags and looking for an exit. I’ll bet most above a certain level, including in the military, have decent amounts of money stashed elsewhere in the world, and now the trick is to get themselves and family safely to it. You wonder if the Biden ship of fools were somehow behind what’s going on in Israel/Palestine just to create a huge distraction that all of our political class can get behind before the campaign. If so, super effective. Putin can just wait this out and freeze western Ukraine this winter, watching it depopulate even more. No time to embark on a suicidal offense. Highly doubtful Ukraine is getting that hundred billion and any more precious artillery, and now that the money spigot is trickling, the entire civil society of the country will collapse quicker than you think.
We have brown people to exterminate in the Middle East again. Woohoo. Even MSNBC has actually taken its three Muslim on air personalities off the schedule for now. Amazing.
Is the Zelensky government a Nazi Regime? Or is it a Nazi-hostage regime? I myself suspect the Ukranazis are watching Zelensky very carefully and have shooter teams ready to kill him and his entire family if he even “looks” like he is trying to leave the country.
Zelensky does not have a choice in the matter. And he has no means of physical escape.
Yeah, resist the impulse to look for lines on a map to move, and question analysis that does same. SMO still wants first and foremost to crunch up Ukrainian forces and weapons with fewest casualties. No reason to expect Putin to lose patience when patience has been paying.
But the reintroduction of Wagner to Avdeevka signals, IMO, a shift to territorial goals in that instance. Moscow perhaps a little less shy of casualties when it’s those guys. It makes sense there. Stop the shelling of Donetsk. Also, the targets are more likely experienced and politically convicted, rather than the conscripts Ukraine have been tilting at windmills in the counter-offensive.
I will, like Simplicus, watch Avdeevka as a bellwether for future attempts to gain ground against fortified defenses.
Which in turn begs the question of why not go around it?
Have you seen the maps, this is what they are trying to do, while cutting all the outside links to Avdeevka.
No, around Donbass altogether. Russia has hundreds of kilometers of border between Ukraine and Byelorus that is could use, for instance.
But then how will they bring EU/US at the table? Russia needs to drain a bit more the West, beside ruining Ukraine.
It seems like the plan is to encircle Avdeevka first, and it seems to be progressing.
Remember, for the Russians it’s not about territorial gain.
Also, isn’t this where a lot of the shelling of civilian populations in Donetsk originates? Would encircling/getting closer to Avdeevka make it easier to stop the shelling? Make Russian counter battery fire more effective? (Wow. Look at me use military jargon like I know what I’m talking about!) If so, then that alone must surely count as a win for Russia, no?
Yes. If they can cut the supply lines, eventually the UKRs ought to run out of shells to fling at civilians in Donetsk city.
I’d submit that for Russia this entire misadventure has been about territorial gain.
That may be a much-desired side benefit . . . . some ” fruits of war ” if you will.
But I think the main goal remains to reduce Ukraine down to the status and condition that Paraguay was right after the Chaco Wars. When that has been achieved, the RussiaGov will give Nazi Banderazovi Galiciakraine to EUrope as a poisoned apple gift.
The SMO had specific goals. One, the de-nazification of Ukraine, and the de,-miltarization of Ukraine. As for the second, it’s been a slow success, and the first may take more time, if ever. Putin could have reduced Kiev to rubble, but he really does not want any part of western Ukraine. He wants to starve and freeze it and create an impoverished rump state, and, so far, considering the population and military losses, and the destruction of the economy, he has succeeded. Have patience. This will take awhile.
Nope, read Aurelien’s recent piece for some enlightenment. Russia’s strategic goals were outlined in December of 2021 before its intervention in the Ukrainian civil conflict even began. This has been admitted by the head of NATO himself. What ends up happening in Ukraine is, strangely, largely incidental. Putin recently talked about how Russia, being the largest country in the world, is not in need of any more territory.
Your comments seem intended to paint Russia as a uniquely bad actor on the world stage, but that’s not how it works. Countries have interests and they pursue them however they can. You’ll continue to have a difficult time understanding these events with this approach.
Shiver me timbers!
“in the east of Ukraine”. Russia and the people of the Donbass would beg to differ. Avdiivka is in the Donetsk oblast, which voted to join Russia. So it’s now in the west of Russia. And the Ukrainian army has been an occupying force since that vote.
Aaand only a day later Dima claims the Russians have decided to stop attacking Avdeevka directly and carpet bomb it into ashes instead.
Re Music Streaming Royalty Hacking Shows How Desperately The System Needs To Be Overhauled
I don’t understand what the difference between the current approach
and the proposed one
When you sum up all individuals’ contributions, wouldn’t you end up with the same number?
This one also puzzled me at first. I think the difference comes from the variances in how much each user streams given a relatively flat subscription fee per-user. For example, if I pay $10/mo, and only listen to 2-3 hours of music each week, and of that I’m listening to one band half of the time, than that band would get 50% of $10 minus Spotify’s cut — an amount that may actually be measured in dollars, not cents. But because there are users who stream for hours and hours a day, my hour or two of streaming that band barely registers against the total number of songs listened to platform-wide. Maybe the band would receive a tiny fraction of a cent for my listening.
The “unfairness” in the model proposed by the article is that the per-stream value of each song would vary widely; someone’s who song is played 20x a week by dedicated fans (who don’t listen to much else) would make way more for each time the track is played than a song that is played once a week by 20x the number of fans; especially if that second group of listeners consumed more music overall. I don’t actually think that is unfair at all, but it changes the “value” of the song from a simple formula of % of all streams on the platform to a more complicated one dependent on the behavior of an individual artist’s listener base.
I use Tidal at about $13/month. Musician owned, it pays the highest rates/stream at .0125 to .015/stream. Vast library & many obscure musicians.
Luddite that I am, I preferred buying vinyl for $7 and and having unlimited “streaming” for no extra charge. Pretty sure popular musicians who cashed in on their creativity liked this method as well. At this point, if you’re a musician, why bother?
If there is a big enough customer base for new vinyl, then those musicians who can make a living selling new vinyl records of themselves to a loyal customer base who will buy vinyl at vinyl prices will do so.
The CD revolution and then the streaming revolution after that may have turned out badly enough for enough people that a sustainably vinyl-supporting music community may go back to the future. Back to vinyl.
Another vote for Tidal! It’s great!
IMHO Qobuz is the best. Unlike Tidal they never supported MQA and their streaming goes from first step CD quality all the way to 24/192.
This would be the logical way because it somewhat mimics record sales. The pooled method would be like a label taking all of its revenue from physical sales and distributing them among signed artists. Even though say Michael Jackson’s “thriller” accounted for 60% of sales for the week.
Thanks, indeed the distribution would change. Though I’m not convinced that the outcome would be fairer. The system would benefit the artists who have dedicated fans at the expense of artists who are listened by people who listen to all kinds of music. It’s possible that this change would actually hurt young artists
It’s not so much the variety of music people listen to as overall quantity of songs they stream in a subscription period. I think this would give emerging artists a chance to actually get some revenue from their fans, whereas currently the numbers per stream are so comically low that only the most popular of the popular make any money. But there are months where I barely stream any music, except to maybe check out a couple new bands — or listen to one song or album that particularly resonates in the moment. In those instances, the artist would get a substantial portion of my monthly fee vs. a tiny fraction of a penny. This is an edge case, but a plausible one — even if it only happened occasionally it would result in much higher payouts for obscure bands compared to the current model where I think you need something like 2.5 million streams to make $10k (which basically would just recoup the cost of recording and mastering an album).
In contrast, let’s say $5 of a user’s monthly subscription fee goes to artists payouts (that’s under 50% of what the user pays; allegedly Spotify gives 70% to rights holders). If a band’s music makes up 10% of a user’s total monthly streams, that’s 50 cents per user per month. Check my math… but to recoup the cost of a $10k record, they would need ~20k fans, who, during a given month, stream one song by the band for every 10 songs they listen to. That’s still a challenge, but IMO a significantly more achievable one.
For a band to hit the 2.5million streams currently required to hit a $10k payout with only 20k fans, those fans would each need to stream music by the band 125 times. For a ten album song, that means 12.5 album listens per user. That seems like a lot! As a low volume streamer (I still have records and the radio) … If I’m listening to an album 12 times in a month, it’s probably making up a lot more than 10% of my overall streams — so I think most emerging bands would get to $10k a lot sooner under the proposed model than the current one. However it’s all speculative without really having data about listener habits.
Good luck auditing either bezzle.
In these discussions the accounting algorithms themselves may be a bit of a smoke screen deflecting from the question of who gets to handle the money.
It sounds like there are a fair number of streaming services out there. I would guess that each musician with recordings would be on every service available?? The total paid per musician from all the different services may be quite substantial. Focusing only on Spotify leaves out a lot of streaming revenue it seems. Personally I think the artists with the most streams per service should receive the most money – like the artist who sells the most records receives the most money per record sold if they have a decent agent. My analysis leaves out the live performance revenue stream.
As a musician (although I personally don’t have skin in the game, not being on any streaming platforms) it is infuriating to see the way streaming royalties have played out. We are dealing with computers here — it should be child’s play to be able to count the number of streams each person gets and divide royalties accordingly. Although, even if you get a million streams with the current royalty rates it amounts to a pittance.
It’s also a major gripe that BMI, ASCAP and other performing rights organizations are pathetically unable or unwilling to negotiate a better deal for artists.
The musicians’ union also used to have some teeth back in the day, for example when they boycotted the recording industry in the early 1940s. These days I assume the majority of performers aren’t even members of the AFM.
To make $1 on Pandora you need to stream your song 750 times. Compare that to writers’ royalties on physical media which used to be five cents per song – if you were the writer of both sides of a 45 rpm record you made $.10 for every copy sold. So if you sold a million records you made $100k.
Handy streaming royalties chart –
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/how-much-do-artists-make-per-stream-1.png
To really keep track of what you are streaming, your computer would need to be tagged with a unique ID that could not be spoofed in any way. It would mean adding a hardware-level security kernel that you could not deactivate or tamper with in any way, and it would need to be visible to remote servers.
To “validate” your license and ownership of the device, you would have to present other ID and likely share additional personal data. Computers, phones, tablets would all become more like cars, with a unique VIN that’s registered in a state database that LEO could access.
Spooks would love it. They could track you much more easily than they do now.
Moreover, the new DRM models proposed for this have been such that even though you are buying some music, actually you are only buying a license to that music, and that license can be revoked by a remote server.
In part because this kind of tech is so invasive and would annihilate much of the online privacy that people take for granted, it has never taken off.
If you search for “The DRM graveyard: A brief history of digital rights management in music”, you’ll find an article that offers just a partial list of the many proposals — especially from Microsoft — and how they all died over the years. There were many nefarious dimensions to these proposals, such as Microsoft trying to lock out any “free” music formats, and get other vendors to make it impossible to, for example, play open-source OGG files on their platforms.
It’s not so surprising that none of this happened.
‘DiEM25
@DiEM_25
Police in Berlin banned a demonstration against violence in the Middle East over concerns of antisemitism.
It was organised by Jewish Berliners.’
This is nothing new for German police who should know better. Even last year not only were German police banning any demonstrations connected with Palestine but if you had Palestinian colours or were just wearing the Palestinian head scarf – the keffiyeh – it would be enough to get you arrested and fined. Oddly enough when I was visiting Germany back in the 80s, lots of people had a keffiyeh.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-shireen-abu-akleh-protest-palestine-b2079954.html (From 2022)
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/germany-police-admit-protest-ban-people-detained-looked-palestinian (March of 2023)
And now I read that Berlin state authorities have banned the wearing of Palestinian keffiyeh scarves in schools, saying it could be a ‘threat to school peace.’ Must be more of those European values that I keep on hearing about I guess.
So a WW2 Europe conquered fascism so that a kinder gentler fascism could take its place? Domestically. Of course their pro the Ukraine neonazis foreign policy is old school.
There have been articles suggesting that the current EU elite investment in Israel is really about the country’s role as a lab for social control. If speech is inconvenient then call it hate speech. If resistance arises call it terrorism even when it consists of peaceful demonstrations. The narrative is all. Orwell as handbook rather than warning.
Not even that, card carrying nazis were allowed to run West Germany once the Nuremberg trials had made an show out of the remaining figureheads.
Fascism may well be the end state of capitalism soaked in debt and saturated markets.
So when is Ursula and Biden announcing that the EU is seizing Qatari assets as the US govt has long alleged Qatar looks the other way as Qatar is used as a location to aid Hamas
the Qatari sovereign wealth fund own FC Paris-St Germain and a really! nice hotel in central Paris.
And renouncing the EU-Qatar gas deal?
not holding my breath of course…..just find it fascinating whicn narratives gain traction in media/social media and which don’t
For a while after the Khashoggi murder and dismemberment, people vowed not to forget and MBS of Saudi Arabia was referred to as Monarch Bone Saw.
But now, thanks to Plausible Deniability, “Henchmen acted without my orders” variant, he’s back in everyone’s good graces. In fact, the Garden of the Democracies™ has to come begging, hat in hand, to him.
Yack it up, yack it up
Buddy gonna shut you down
It happened on the DC strip where the Jordan river is wide
(Ooh, rev it up now)
Two separate political parties within one standin’ side by side
(Ooh, rev it up now)
Yeah, the Trump-injected Red Scare and the ones who don’t make a scene
(Ooh, rev it up now)
Revvin’ up their rhetoric, and it sounds real mean
(Ooh, rev it up now)
Yack it up, yack it up
Buddy gonna shut you down
Declinin’ prospective Speaker approval numbers at an even rate
(Ooh, movin’ out now)
On account of no likely possibilities, talk of a shutdown accelerates
(Ooh, movin’ out now)
Freedom Caucus is in delight-to tear down the system is a win-win
(Ooh, movin’ out now)
But will Hakeem really butt in?
(Ooh, movin’ out now)
Gotta be cool now
Power shift here we go
Any chance of a dodge is windin’ out as a strictly no-go
But the cruel injected caucus are really startin’ to say are you friend or foe?
To get the traction they’re still riding the Hunter clutch
The laptop isn’t helping that machine too much
PotempKevin to the floor, hear his masters speak
(Ooh, pump it up now)
And now their strategy is startin’ to stink
(Ooh, pump it up now)
The My Kevin stand-in is hot with induction but it’s understood
(Ooh, rev it up now)
Nothing ever gets done in this DC hood
(Ooh, pump it up now)
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, now I shut you down
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, now I shut you down
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, now I shut you down
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, now I shut you down
Shut it off, shut it off
Buddy, no Speaker means I shut you down
Shut Down, by the Beach Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thXjTd1AWNo
i think you’ve caught a wave, and you’re sittin on top of the world!
“Australians reject Indigenous rights referendum: government”
Said in a previous comment that a tactic of the Yes campaign was to shame people to vote for their side. Now that they lost, they are trying to shame people because the vote failed with some activists calling for a ‘week of silence’ to cope. The media seems to blame the loss on a misinformation campaign but at least they are not claiming that it was a Russian or Chinese one – yet. But some people are going feral at losing and one said ‘With the majority of Australians voting no to that proposition, I think it will be at least two generations until Australians are capable of putting their colonial hatreds behind them.’ For some of these activists, their response reminded me of how Democrats responded the night that Hillary lost back in 2016. But after spending a third of a billion on this Referendum, our Greens are now saying that we now need to spend another quarter of a billion having Truth and Justice commissions around the country. The truth of the matter is that for these activists, nothing will ever be enough and there will always be more demands and by nature they will always be divisive. But people right now are under pressure because of inflation and rising prices like elsewhere so why the Prime Minister spent a big chunk of his political capital as well as effective governing time on this Referendum was a question never answered. He is now being accused of being out of touch with most people and only listening to special interest groups back in Canberra.
A little over a year ago the polling was overwhelmingly in favour, it’s only in July that the polling started to favour “no”, I am not sure what happened to cause a shift in the other direction (some attribute it to Peter Dutton and the Liberal party, who seem to have taken the fairly risible angle that the referendum “racist against white people”), but given the lead in time needed for such a referendum, I fail to see how a referendum that was polling such numbers initially was a sign of those calling it being “out of touch” or “only listening to special interests from Canberra” (as opposed to how they managed it, which was evidently poorly), and similarly fail to see what harm would a constitutional amendment allowing for an advisory council to Parliament representing the interest of indigenous people who have been there for 60,000 years cause?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opinion_polling_for_the_2023_Australian_Indigenous_Voice_referendum
There may have been polls a year ago but this Referendum never came on most people’s radar until about six months go when the Prime Minister announced that he was going to hold it. Then for most people it was a case of wait, what?
Voting against this proposal is indeed shameful. I don’t see anything wrong with making that a salient aspect of this referendum. Sadly there is a large strain of simple denial of history and the injustice inflicted on Aboriginal people in Australia.
“Let me abos go loose, Bruce
Let me abos go loose
‘Cause they’re of no further use, Bruce
So let me abos go loose!”
That was from a hit song in the 1960s.
I remembered hearing that song once. And here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RviuTfdfArM
At least in this 1960s song — also “problematic” by today’s standards — the indigenous win:
https://youtu.be/vXuPJNXjlRM
(“Mr. Custer” by Larry Verne)
Maybe. Or, maybe it was a garbage proposed change. I voted yes for reasons I won’t go into here, but what raised my bile was seeing ads in a shopping centre saying “vote yes for potentially better health outcomes for aborigines later on!!”
So if better health outcomes is something that the yes group wanted, why wasn’t the constitutional amendment “the government is responsible for aboriginals having the same health and life expectancy as non-indigenous”? Simple, clear, direct, and you know what you’ll get without pages of explanation.
The logic for voting yes to the voice for better health both fails Lamberts “concrete material benefits” test, and has exactly the same indirect logic behind it as trickle-down economics, ie “vote to give more cash to billionaires, it could lead to more cash for poor people later!”. Imagine if instead of a plebiscite for legal gay marriage, it was a vote for “a gay voice to parliament that could lead to legal gay marriage”. Or the vote for a republic in 1999 was “a vote for a pro-republic voice to parliment that could lead to a republic sometime” (maybe a bad example because the republic vote lost anyway, but you get my point)
Over a year ago the Liberal/National government was decimated at an election, and Dutton aka Lurch, got the job as leader of the Lib/Nat rump Opposition.
Dutton is a gutter fighter who wants to be PM in 3 years because if he loses the next election, he will be toast.
The No Campaign against the indigenous having a group to advise Parliament had nothing to do with the indigenous people, they were just useful idiots for Dutton.
Dutton weaponised the indigenous wish for recognition so that he could smash down the current popular PM Albanese. Destroying the referendum using fear, uncertainty, doubt and most of all racism, was his first battle to get back to being PM.
For Dutton and his party of Murdoch captives, no tactic is too low and no lie is ever out of bounds. Dog-whistling lies and more lies using social media won the day. Anyone using lies, deceit, manipulation, fear and racist hatreds will always win over anyone with decency and principles.
Well, thank you. I have never voted Liberal in my life. My God-Father was Lance Barnard. And I voted ‘No’ for roughly Rev Kev’s reasons. Good to know how you think of me.
If you were one of the planners of the No campaign, then yes that is exactly what I think of you.
If you were just a consumer of the No campaign, then no, I think you were actively misled by vicious and self-serving political propaganda, as are we all by political propaganda when we don’t understand its underlying purposes.
Kaiser: The $23/hr min out of state (CA) is excellent. But unless there’s a reopener for years 3 and/or 4, 21% over 4 years might cause some rank and file hesitation. Of course, staffing improvements might be the #1 agreement lever, but when you have them on the ropes after a decade of nothin’, it’s no time to settle cheap.
P.S. What was the acting Sec. of Labor’s ‘intervention’? Reminding Joe that chicks working in hospitals and nursing homes are just like UAW studs he used to work shoulder-to-shoulder with? /s Requiring Kaiser to, you know, actually FOLLOW negotiating labor law?
Beware the Ides of October…
veni, vidi, vivisection
Classic gallows humour. Thanks for the LOL.
Reporting now says that the ground offensive is delayed. Either because of disagreement within the new Israeli war government or because it’s raining. The actual reason would be cloud cover hindering IDF air support, but the NYT headlining it as rain is maybe something.
Netanyahu is saying 18 months for a ground operation. There is no way Israel can manage or survive that. Especially given that Blinken’s regional tour was such a failure that he’s going to turn around and try again. Blinken couldn’t even get Egypt to agree to letting US citizens out of Gaza. Egypt demands Israel let the aid convoy into Gaza in return for letting US citizens out. Nor could he get anyone to agree to resettling Gaza in a Sinai tent city, which was presumably Plan A to settle this “diplomatically”.
Israel is digging deeper into a no-win situation and the US isn’t in a much better position. The warnings against outside involvement are because there’s nothing the US can really do about it except bomb/missile attack, while having unsupportable assets in Syria and Iraq. Nobody’s doing what they’re told, and that leaves Biden’s state department at a loss because telling people what to do and threatening them is all Biden’s state department knows how to do.
to be cynical, i propose that the real reason that the offensive is delayed is that the IDF wouls like more ammo (see US stocks moved to Ukraine).
once the offensive starts, no guarantee that western military cargo planes can play into Israel as no one (besides Hezbollah) knows the true capabilities of Hezbollah’s arsenal.
I would not want to flying the first C17 going to Israel after the Gaza offensive starts….an unreasonable risk of life
It could be too that Israel cannot depend on their weekend warriors to engage in street battles with Hamas soldiers. For that you need your elite formations. And there is the problem. They probably have enough elite formations to face Hamas or enough to face Hezbollah – but not both at the same time. And I would not mind betting that Hezbollah has told Israel in no uncertain terms that if they go into Gaza, then Hezbollah will drop the hammer on them in the north leading to a two-front war. The US could make noises that if Hezbollah does that, then aircraft from those two carriers will bomb them. But when the US did that with the predecessors of Hezbollah, the direct consequence of that was the ’83 Beirut barracks bombings which resulted in over American 250 deaths. And there is no shortage of US bases in the middle east which would suddenly become targets.
US bases? How about the downtowns of numerous American cities? Truck bombs are easy.
Good point. I don’t think it’s a matter of if, but when.
I hope not. B would love an excuse to push his domestic terrierist bill through congress. Think patriot act v. 2. …on steroids.
(I’m starting to think all Western govts would love an excuse to crack down on their citizens’ free speech and right to descent even more than they already have.)
typo: dissent.
Really? Don’t you think that western governments really would like their citizens to exercise their right to “descent'” assuming that means going down, down, to the bottom of the barrel? Remember what Horace Greeley said years ago– Go down, down, young man, and bury yourself in debt.
That does sound like plan… / heh
Our right to descent is probably our only right-left.
From the NYP just an hour ago;
FBI director warns of rise in terror threats against Americans, potential copy-cat attacks on US soil
While I don’t doubt this is true, I trust Wray and the FBI about as far as I could throw the building they are sitting in.
I once read a colorful Texas saying about trusting some untrustworthy person . . .
” I trust (whomever) as far as I can throw a chimney by the smoke.”
My sister in san diego knows a couple of people with kids in the idf…apparently they’re unhappy…
It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye…
It leads me to wonder how many foreign fighter are in the idf…
I was reading an article a coupla days ago talking about all the Americans that were flying out to Israel to report for duty with the IDF and it sounded like it might be hundreds. Not Israeli tourists mind, actual American citizens going to re-join another country’s army. This must be true for countries all around the world. One shouldn’t join the army though. It’s dangerous as they have guns and knives and everything. Somebody could get hurt.
The really interesting bit for me was certain Russian liberal celebrities celebrating the fact that some people ran away from conscription here, only to be called up to fight for Israel instead. Naturally, that is altogether morally superior in their eyes!
Regular Kaminskis .
Hezbollah doesn’t even have to attack Israel (occupied Lebanon) to stretch Israeli forces. Just being there, harassing and forcing Israel to commit resources in case Hezbollah moves is problematic enough. But I agree. Hezbollah has made it pretty clear that they will respond and that’s a strategic problem for Israel that aerial bombing won’t solve. Evacuating northern Israel is also bad.
I disagree with the idea that there will be attacks on US carriers. US bases in Syria and Iraq are far better targets with higher success percentages and lower escalation potential.
I find myself thinking of that column of Russian vehicles outside of Kiev back when the SMO kicked off, that stopped Ukraine from committing it’s full force to the south.
Have they forgotten Falujah.
Those were US Marine suffered, and those terrorists did not have 75 years to prepare.
While US held all the cards: artillery, air support and had them boxed.
Seymour Hersh’s latest column, mostly paywalled, says Isr officers tell him they have US ‘bunker buster’ bombs which they plan to use to flatten the place before sending in ground troops. They expect the the dropped bombs will penetrate the tunnels and take out the hamas fighters (and everyone else sheltering in the tunnels – including maybe the hostages). I guess we’ll see.
Gaza is a bit softer than Iwo Jima.
Maybe big bombs, more guided will work there, maybe not.
Hope is not proffered strategy.
Benefit to thumping rubble?
The real problem is political, rather than military, I should think. Gaza has more than 2 million civilians who have nowhere to go (and conceivably, many would prefer not to leave). Iwo Jima was completely uninhabited as far as civilians went (the handful of civilians were evacuated by the Japanese government months in advance.) Unlike on, say, Okinawa, the sufferings of the civilians will be shown live throughout the Muslim world whose populations are already pissed off and unlikely to give Israel (and for that matter, US and the West generally, who they consider more or less the same as Israel) any benefit of the doubt. That is going to be a diplomatic catastrophe for the entire West, not just Israel, of unprecedented proportions (for a power that was not already thoroughly beaten anyways–appropos or not, I first thought about the liberation of the Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp that was filmed and widely shown–except the Nazis were already beaten when that was going on and they didn’t really suffer diplomatic consequences from it.)
It was one of the reasons that they was not much resistance to the expulsions of the Germans as it was seen as a kind of justified communal punishment by some.
Indeed, and in a way it already is that. One of my friends pointed out that it really looks like the West has “written off two million Palestinians as collateral damage”.
Are any Western leaders calling on Israel to stop the madness?
Seems like “we” are mostly just sending more weapons, aircraft carriers, etc.
“…no one knows the true capabilities of Hezbollah’s arsenal.”
Seems like those aircraft carrier groups just off the coast would make for juicy targets as well, for both Iran or Russia via Hezbollah. Practice for closing the Straits of Hormuz.
USN commissioned first flight III Aegis destroyer, newest radar, can get there from Gulf of Mexico?
That said, 20 odd attack sortie per carrier per day per nuclear carrier until something big breaks is not strategic.
Potential not worth risk to carrier sales.
Re: Audit calls NASA’s goal to reduce Artemis rocket costs ‘highly unrealistic,’ threat to deep space exploration
The Artemis boosters and Shuttle boosters (and Ares boosters if anyone remembers the precursor to Artemis) are solid-fuel rockets. Just like the Minuteman and Polaris missiles. Once lit, one cannot turn them off. They can’t be restarted. They can’t be reused (unless one participates in a farce of reuse by replacing every part). However, they are damn powerful which is useful if you are trying to move something really heavy fast and far.
The thinking seems to have been to keep the facilities, engineers, physicists, chemists all employed so that the capability to construct such things didn’t evaporate. That is, the high cost of Artemis is largely a DoD concern. And those guys are not used to thinking about cost. Note that this thinking is in the same scope as the decision in the early 1990s to use the Russian RD-180 engine in the Atlas V rockets; namely to provide employment for their scientists and engineers, hopefully dissuading them from taking their expertise … elsewhere.
Reusable boosters are really neat, imo. I made time to watch the recent SpaceX launch of the Psyche mission just to watch the boosters land.
https://www.space.com/nasa-psyche-spacex-falcon-heavy-launch-success
IIRC solids do have an off switch, you blow a hole in the side of the rocket dropping the internal pressure and it pretty much flames out. Of course there is no restart from this.
Back in the 80s and 90s when I worked around rocket research the various government agencies and lots of private wannabes all thought they could dramatically reduce the cost of space launch. In reality most of the ideas would have cost more money to implement than they would have saved, especially NASA’s. NASA is still trying to increase their R&D budget by telling fairy tales.
I’m not an engineer or anything close, but it always seemed to me that reusability puts on so many extra design and maintenance requirements that it would usually be cheaper to build something to be used once and discarded. I welcome correction.
@Alex, no, these are not the same.
Option 1 is aggregating all revenue and apportioning in proportion to percent of total streams.
Option 2 is aggregating a user’s streams and apportioning his/her subscription money to the artists streamed in proportion.
An artist’s absolute payment from a given user’s stream under Option 2 is independent of the user’s absolute streaming volume. If the user streams two songs or two million, you still receive half the sub if you are half the songs.
Under option 1, imagine two hypothetical users one of whom streams 2 songs, one by artist A and one by B and one streams 2 million, one million by C and one million by D. Artist A receives one in 2,000,002 of the revenue. Whereas under Option 2 artist A receives 25% of the revenue!
The difference between artists gets worse if the users pay different subscription amounts under option 2.
This change favours niche artists with ardent fans, whose percentage take is otherwise steamrolled by the Taylor Swifts and Beatles of this world.
Another aspect to consider in the mix: streaming services aren’t sending payments to individual artists/bands.
Artists with major label distribution have this added bonus:
https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/03/29/major-labels-indie-artists-streaming-study/
“… compounding these obstacles are the “confidential and complex” contracts that major labels ink with streaming services as well as their ownership stakes in the platforms, per the report…”
And even Indi and niche artists aren’t dealing with each streaming service worldwide on an individual basis (i.e.uploading to each service one by one). They use other distributors:
https://www.whippedcreamsounds.com/best-music-distribution/
I see Alan Dershowitz is still around, punching college students no less. I guess that’s a step up from whatever activities he was undertaking during the Epstein years.
And Alexander Acosta, who Trump rewarded with a cabinet post (Labor ffs).
Go take a hike dept:
Today’s destination is the Twin Lakes in Sequoia NP, a 13 mile dayhike out of Lodgepole campground.
https://modernhiker.com/hike/twin-lakes-sequoia-national-park/
We are in search of this:
https://aircraftwrecks.com/pages/b-12a.htm
p.s.
Is it p.c. to still ok to call a fabulous stretch of fall that feels like summer in the daytime-albeit no mossies and colder nights:
‘indian summer’?
We’re cool with good Native American names such as the Atlanta Braves, but ixnay on the Cleveland Indians.
I’d suggest the Russian version of this concept, “babye leto”, but that means “women’s summer” at best and “broads’ summer” at worst. Probably not a good replacement.
Indigenous People Summer. Get it right.
And Indians is kind of an insult because it came about because Europeans thought they were in India and were too lazy to make up a new word.
Whereas we former Atlantans used “braves” as a compliment to Indigenous People.
Whereas we former Atlantans used “braves” as a compliment to Indigenous People.
Ah yes, the “tomahawk chop” is beloved by indigenous everywhere because they know how much the frenzied atlanta fans, cheering on overpaid celebrity-culture athletes, are attuned to indigenous history and ways of living. A compliment indeed.
I take it this was said/written in jest.
Let’s get something straight: town and street names, sport team names – any naming of something with an allegedly indigenous characterization is simply a lie. It’s so insulting it’s hard to know where to begin. Beyond that, it’s just plain dumb. It’s competley one-sided, utterly devoid of any sense of historical accuracy. By design.
A jest, yes, but I’d say some causes are worth “going to the mattresses” and this is not one of them.
And if you want to change all the proper names in America derived from native words–often in tribute even if you refuse to believe that–then good luck. We are talking not just cities but states even.
It is possible you diminish your cause by not picking the right fights. IMHO.
You didn’t address the tomahawk chop.
The names are insulting to me, as they often aren’t remotely accurate. The names are simplified and anglicized. They range from subtle to wholesale changes of the language in order to erase the culture, just like what’s been happening in Palestine for close to a century.
The subtly insolent authority your words convey is rather telling. It speaks volumes, as the saying goes.
For the record, I’m not involved in any causes and, your “IMHO” notwithstanding, I don’t infer any humility in your suggesting what the “right fights” may or may not be, though that’s obviously your prerogative.
You straw manned Carolinian with the tomahawk chop. That’s bad faith argumentation and a violation of our written site Policies.
And you were the one who then engaged in name calling.
And he correctly points out that your beef over naming is way down the list of indigenous rights issues. How about their terrible poverty and continued isolation on reservations?
When he refused to take up your childish attempt to bait him, you then try another name calling strategy, of “The subtly insolent authority.” Yes he’s acting like an adult and you aren’t. And you try getting pissy about him being more civil to you than you deserve.
I trust you will find you happiness on the Internet, elsewhere.
I await the auction for corporate naming rights to the Dakotas, Minnesota, Mississippi, etc., etc.
It’s the next logical step in the process of dissociation from the natural world. Erasing many millennia of culture and its corresponding language that convey the subtleties and symbiotic nature of our relationship within the web of life, nature – whatever terminology one chooses to use these days.
Modern society divvies the world up and sells it. The same world it has to take a containerized version of every time it flies off into space. Literally crying for the moon…or some other planet.
I am just another ignorant Boat-person American, like most of the American commenters here.
But I heard/ read somewhere that most Indigenous Nations people here don’t object to being called ” American Indian” by us Boat-person Americans, assuming its the best we can do.
( Vine Deloria Jr. once referred to us as ” American Americans”).
I remember years ago a headline to an article in Akwesasne Notes reading . . . ” Not Native Americans. Sovereign Independent Nations”.
If one wants to coin yet newer words for displaying ever more respectful respect, how about ” Indiandigenous”?
I find it annoying that every generation or so, we have to have another approved term for whatever group is being talked about because reasons.
There are extremely unpleasant terms used especially in the past, but at some point it is just looking for a reason to be aggrieved, instead of looking to fix a grievance.
Gunna have to ask. I see these beautiful places that you and your mates go hiking in that you have shown us over time. So on your trips, do you take many photos? If so, do they compare to what is on those web pages?
Was reading that Carleton Watkins brought 2,000 pounds worth of camera equipment in 10 wagons, in order to take images of Yosemite Valley in 1861, we can do vastly more on a smartphone that weighs in at 7 ounces…
Aside from a flower a friend couldn’t figure out what it was and took a close-up shot to ascertain later, I think that was the only photo 4 of us took today on a wonderful outing. We never found the ill-fated B-10/12 bomber crash site, no biggie.
For the most part i’d rather be in the moment, than catch a fleeting glimpse.
The Sierra is as beautiful as any images you’ll find on the web, some days it feels akin to a moving canvas as you amble along where most anything you click looks like something Ansel Adams captured in 1936, and if you’d like you can adulterate the photos in the darkroom held in your hand, just like Ansel did in his darkroom.
When I drive out west I sometimes imagine there’s a Cinerama movie outside my windshield. IMO driving in the West is one of America’s great redeeming experiences. Perhaps given all that we know now it’s a selfish experience (the roads too) but we inhabitants do have that privilege, rich or poor.
I would suggest that taking a train across the West is even better and allows one to see even more, partly because one isn’t preoccupied with driving.
Not that anyone asked, but I find that snapshots, unless you’re really lucky, fail to convey the beauty of most large scale natural sites. Mountains, canyons, big sky just don’t translate well to small format pixels.. unless you’re Ansel Adam’s…
Actually I find the same and pictures that I have taken do not show the depth or importance of what I have taken. They seem flat when I look at them in terms of depth.
Nice essay on focal length
http://www.winecountry.camera/blog/2022/1/21/ansels-focal-length
That is one funky looking bird:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/Martin-B-10B.jpg
Radhika Desai is under attack at the CBC for a trip to the Valdai Conference https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/radhika-desai-valdai-russia-ukraine-1.6995250. This is serious the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Company -the English government news – they are not neutral) has been leading witch-hunts cancelling people and destroying them financially for having the wrong thoughts and opinions.
Pro-Ukie rally down at Washington Park at 2:00. Heading down to demonstrate my full support. I’ll whip out a few ‘seig hiels’ in solidarity. The bourgeoisie with their blue and yellow apparel absolutely will not get it.
Maybe instead of throwing out salutes to them, mess with them instead by shouting out statements like ‘Hey, Israel is more important than the Ukraine, you know!’ and watch them try to counter that particular IED.
has someone done that meme with the guy with his girlfriend checking out the other girl, but with US,Ukraine and Israel yet?
Answer:
yes
That Image will apparently vanish soon. Just enter “Israel”, “NATO”, and “Ukraine”into the Distracted Boyfriend Meme Generator.
George friedman…what a crock this marketwatch op ed is…
There are two points I am trying to make here. First, nations contain many millions of people. These people spew out decisions that they blame on leaders, because the real process of millions of people living together is too complicated to grasp. Someone must be blamed, and it can’t be oneself, so there is periodic rage. Second and perhaps more significant, the problem of the new period grows out of the solution of the last period.
More accurately stated as these leaders spew out decisions they blame on people, just like this useless bloviator is doing.
In their opinion the globalists already taken over the world, resistance is unseemly
Right? Millions of people actually go about the biz of learning to live together everyday.
His idea of the “real process of living together” is probably following mandates from dangerous clowns like WEF crowd.
G.F. once made an amazing point about the tech world, but this commentary borders on inhinged.
“unhinged”.
But that commentary is so wild it may be something new called “inhinged.”
I know, right? Here I thought Putin, Biden, Netanyahu et al. were making decisions, but apparently they were just scapegoats for decisions “spewed out” by the masses. All I can say is I don’t remember doing that…
In all seriousness I really wonder what he even meant by that, since both the wording and the concept are very strange.
George Friedman, neoliberal think tankie extraordinaire. Mystical bullshit is the neolib way.
Ah, George Friedman, The Man from Stratfor speaks out! Many years ago I somehow ended up on hedge funder John Mauldin’s mailing list, and therefore was subjected to frequent missives from Mr. Friedman on various affairs international (Mauldin apparently held Friedman in the utmost esteem). Eventually I consigned Mauldin to my spam box, and Friedman joined him there. I haven’t heard a pip from Friedman for several years, so I’m surprised to hear that he’s still around and spouting nonsense. This particular article is full of bloopers, so I’ll pick out only one: “…the problem of the new period grows out of the solution of the last period.” How trite. Antonio Gramsci said it much better way back in 1930: “The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born; in this interregnum a great variety of morbid symptoms appear.”
Remember, and you heard it from Friedman: progress is a painful struggle with reality. And you thought it had to do something with things getting better for everybody. Silly you. I bet you’re going to get mad about that now, and blame Friedman. Or Leaders, whose intentions do not lead to outright failure. I bet you didn’t even know that the reason the Soviet Union was broken up was because Leaders intended to make the region more Efficient, did you? But then I guess the intention changed, and it was not a complete failure and you better not blame any Leaders for that, but anyway then the cycle changed.
Friedman’s all over the place in the following interview, though he’s adamant in his ideological devotion to Israel. He basically says Israel has no choice but to destroy not only Gaza but also most Arab governments because they support Palestine. He then says that he didn’t think Hamas was a viable entity of late.
It’s hard to take what Friedman’s saying seriously if you take his words at face value, but it’s probably wise not to do so. His points on alleged intelligence failures due to the executive (in this case the prime minister) wanting to hear what they want to hear is a time-honored game in their world.
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/special-edition-israel-at-war-george-friedman-on-where-the-conflict-goes-from-here/
https://geopoliticalfutures.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Talking-Geopolitics_Podcast-Israel-at-War-transcript.pdf
“In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can be sure it was planned that way.” FDR
“There are two histories: the official one, which is a lie, and the hidden one, which is where you find the real causes of events.” -de Balzac
People can laugh at Friedman all they want, but he and Stratfor (now merged into Rane) were prominent strategists for major US military contractors and their operations. And he has always had an obvious affinity for Israel.
“two histories”
I wish it was just two. It often seems like there are as many public ones as there are political points of view. And the “hidden” one stays that way until long after the fact because it’s not flattering to anybody and not in their interest to reveal.
he’s adamant in his ideological devotion to Israel. He basically says Israel has no choice but to destroy not only Gaza but also most Arab governments because they support Palestine. He then says that he didn’t think Hamas was a viable entity of late.
Yes, his excitement over the Israeli operation is palpable:
“Okay, now there are many plans being hatched by Israeli
Special Forces. And how to take this. All of them contain serious threats. They have to be executed perfectly.”
As you said, Friedman basically says that there’s nothing anybody involved can do – it’s a temporary stalemate, to be followed by:
“The wrath of God is going to fall on everybody involved.”
When George Friedman says “the wrath of God is going to fall on everybody involved” he doesn’t mean it’s going to fall upon the Israelis. They’re entirely innocent in his mind. And once again it’s them against the world:
“And the real problem that emerges here is that Israel is left in a position where they’ve got a bunch of hostages being held, Israelis. No cooperation coming from the world and they’re going to take a large-scale military operation as punishment because they’re frustrated and can’t do anything else.”
This despite the US giving more financial and military aid to Israel than any other country by far, despite Israel having stolen nuclear secrets from the US, among its many other espionage activities inside this country. Israel is itself the fourth largest military in the world and one of its few nuclear powers, and Israel’s lobbies and organized community fervently operate inside every western nation and most other nations around the world.
Israel does business with plenty of countries around the world and is known to spy on just as many, yet Israel once again plays the “poor little me” card.
In wondering how this operation could have penetrated Israeli/US intelligence and defenses, Friedman wonders if outside forces may have helped Hamas and mentions the names of China and Russia, but quickly opines that it wouldn’t be in either’s interest to do so.
He also speculates at one point that Hamas may not have intended to take prisoners – he makes it seem like they just sort of bumbled into this.
Friedman’s speculative assertions about Hamas would be absurd on their face if there weren’t intention behind them. There’s no way he wasn’t aware of MEMRI’s report:
https://www.ianwelsh.net/thinking-about-a-hezbollah-intervention/#comment-148191
https://www.ianwelsh.net/thinking-about-a-hezbollah-intervention/#comment-148203
This is simply more coordinated intentional misdirection on behalf of Israel.
https://www.globalresearch.ca/greater-israel-the-zionist-plan-for-the-middle-east/5324815
https://archive.ph/fbmKf
The masses did not spew out NAFTA, American membership in WTO, MFN for China, etc. and then force the leadership into carrying them out.
Now . . . . what if us millions of masses and masses of millions were to begin engaging in a genuine cultural and social live-life rolling rebellion against The Leadership? What would it look like? Supposedly 75% of measurable monetized “economic activity” in America is ” consumer generated”. What if a few tens of millions of those “consumers” began directing their consumption partly away from Massy Industrial Trash and towards Classy Artisandustrial Treasure? I bet that half the people in America could spend more of their money on Real Food as against the Fake Fuud that so many of that half the people in America currently buy. What would motivate them to do so?
Every dollar is a bullet on the field of economic combat.
Is there a future in a growing Free UnMarket Biophysiconomy? Is the Forced Market Moneyconomy the only ‘conomy there is?
Katie and Matt, Useful Idiots. utube. the goog says this interview of 3 journalists is age restricted and asked me to sign in to watch. go figure.
Palestinian journalist on Israel’s ATTACK against Gaza – Refaat Alareer Yumna Patel Muhammad Shehada
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBslqJWXVGs
I was watching some vids yesterday and youtube suddenly acted like I needed to double confirm identity on with phone (like I never signed in with the same laptop thousands of times before).
I didn’t.
Going to wait.
No such restriction of this interview at rumble –
https://rumble.com/v3p4umd-palestine-voices-on-israels-war-against-gaza.html
And you can watch without needing an account.
Thanks. I’ll check rumble in future to avoid the goog sign-in gate.
I’ve been making notes of the rumble channels for my fav youtube channels, esp the ones likely to get axed. And *not* with FFox bookmarks. I weep for my children’s generation, and even more for their children’s, and those to come. It is enough to make one get religion or at least to hope for miracles.
If Rumble is a business which hopes to make money, and they maintain their free-speech-friendly approach, would they tolerate the migration of liberadicals and leftists from the Censorship-based Mainstream Platforms over to Rumble? If they can stand the thought of leftists and such on their platform, it could be a real business-growing opportunity for them.
Likewise with free-and-equal crowdfunding platform businesses which may arise in the wake of GoFundMe and such censoring crowdfunding efforts for political persecution reasons.
“We may be about to see massive ethnic cleansing,” says one EU diplomat. This from no less a personage than Gideon Rachman. With the possible exception of the inimitable Max Seddon, he has been the FT’s rabid dog on Ukraine, but he is rarely widely quoted. He is still misreading the tea leaves on Ukraine. Or maybe he is being required to continue with the “as long as it takes” Party line until two years of his histrionics end in the ash can. Just trying to get out front of backlash on this one.
Any other country that was doing what Israel is doing would be the target of a massive world-wide sanctions campaign, boycotts of any of their goods & services, and financial pressure brought about by the US and the EU with demands for negotiations. Instead, our media is telling us to ignore what we see and say that it is not happening while we actually watch it in real time. No wonder Putin says that we in the west live in an Empire of Lies.
Maybe not if said country was a friend of the US and UK. I can think of 2 other countries right now where this applies.
I have sense that large board pieces are being set for something no one wants. Hope I’m wrong.
Junk fees in restaurants.
Waiter gets cash tip. Restaurant gets cash if family owned.
Refuse to pay “employee health charges” or “Equity charges” “cost of living charge” usually in fine print, or sometimes not at all on menus in corporate restaurants.
Simply deduct them from the bottom line and state that you refuse to pay them.
When mandatory tips, as for larger groups, pay them in cash to the waiters, busboys, then refuse to pay them on the bill. You never know if such bottom line tips actually get to the staff or are kept by management.
If they give you a hard time, “We will tell everyone we know that you are thieves, the food’s not good and we got violently ill eating here.” Managers always back down.
If paying with credit card, write “cash” on tip line and leave some green for the waiter/waitress.
So Blinken is being sent back to the eastern Mediterranean this week, and specifically Egypt. One suspects primarily to threaten Sisi to accept the Sinai option, since that’s the only thing likely to get Israel to back off. But Sisi can’t accept it nor do the Palestinians want it.
While there are only 50 confirmed US citizens in Gaza, their deaths would be politically problematic. With Egypt bending Biden over the barrel backwards by not allowing those 50 out unless the US gets Israel to let the humanitarian aid convoy in, Blinken has no good options. And he’s not a diplomat capable of making lemonade from received lemons. We desperately need some serious people in charge of things and there are none to be found west of the Danube.
According to State Dept., 29 dead US citizens so far, 16 unaccounted for. All blamed on Hamas.
Are these US or dual?
If “duals,” use the 2/3 rule from the Constitution. They count as 2/3 of an American for census, and political reasons.
If “duals,” use the 3/5ths rule from the Constitution.
Thanks for all your posts. Very thoughtful and interesting, and I always enjoy reading them. Wow, at my age, I can still learn something.
I thought I heard Blinken being reported to have said that the so-called “Sinai option” is a “non-starter”.
If he meant it, then why would he pressure al Sisi otherwise?
Pressure which al Sisi would reject in any case. And with China rich enough to replace American funding to Egypt if the opportunity arises, al Sisi would have nothing at risk by rejecting such pressure in any case.
I wonder if Blinken is only there to negotiate for the 100-odd USians trapped in Gaza, and once they’re free, he can do his victory lap while Israel proceeds to bomb the remaining 1.9 million inhabitants.
Krystal and Saagar, latest. utube.
BREAKING: 1 MILLION Flee Gaza As Iran THREATENS WAR | Breaking Points
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=if_rJtcpMnM
Sounds like America is going to be in at least two hot proxy wars. Not good, but lets hope it stays at just that.
I just don’t understand American elites. They spend forty years running their own country down from being “the arsenal of democracy” to a giant consumer/service country, and then at the end of all that decide to pretend we’re still what we were over fifty years ago.
To be honest, I don’t think it’s possible or smart for America to completely disengage from foreign politics, but a bit of realism as to our capabilities would be appreciated. If American elites are still intent on wrecking their own country, they need to back off from trying to wreck a whole bunch of other countries. It’s just handing leading roles to those superpowers that are actually looking out for their own people. Or conversely realize that they need to be realistic that it was FDR and New Deal America that created and maintained American Empire.
I would really, really, really like to have been a fly on the wall for when American billionaires (Bill Gates, Elon Musk, and I’m sure there were more) went over to China and had talks – THAT is where American foreign policy going forward was set.
Brian Berletic at The New Atlas. Mostly about the history of hamas and US involvement in several ME uprisings.
US Running Low on Weapons as Proxy Wars Target Russia, Iran, & China
https://rumble.com/v3pbt04-us-running-low-on-weapons-as-proxy-wars-target-russia-iran-and-china.html
adding: this sounds like the old UK and FR messing in the old Ottoman Empire over 100 years ago, See the Arab Revolt.
Basically it seems more and more like the western world is stuck in some kind of nostalgia mood, with the boomers in charge thinking they are still in their “spry” forties while the rest are reading comics and watching Saturday morning cartoons.
American elites consider America to be a “burndown”. In other words, their plan has been to burn it down, grab the insurance money, and run to greener pastures. Seen in that light, it is easier to understand.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-10-10/work-resorts-are-latest-return-to-office-perk?srnd=premium/
“Work resorts”. It’s like a vacation, but not.
Oh, well.
Providing an actual office still hasn’t been an idea.
How a Fertilizer Shortage Is Spreading Desperate Hunger (Or use archive.ph)
Joe Biden said that we would all have to sacrifice until
“Ukraine is free” for as long as it takes
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/09/biden-sacrifices-ukraine/
.. 76% milk, dairy and egg inflation in the last year as high diesel prices and lack of fertilizer and Ukrainian grain on the western world market bites into energy and food prices.
1.5% of Americans got partial student loan relief, over a trillion dollars of credit card debt with rising interest rates.
Things were better when Trump was president.
Thank you for linking that. It is horrible but it is better to know than not to know.
Interesting update to the Censorship Complex:
https://thegrayzone.com/2023/10/05/us-govt-prosecution-uhuru-first-amendment/
“Who Cares About Efficiency?”
What a useful article for anyone like me that has wondered about the deceptive use of “efficiency” by economists and policy scam artists! It separates and defines all the different senses of the term, and their functions in the neoclassical theory, from the standpoint of a regular person — and it shows you where the bodies are buried. Thank you for linking to it!
Yes, that was a treat, wasn’t it?
Re the parliamentary election and referendum in Poland today:
Voting closes in half an hour at 9 pm local (= Central European Summer) time. Soon after, the Polish news agency PAP will announce exit poll results and commence tracking election returns as they come in.
https://www.pap.pl/en/news/parliamentary-elections-referendum-start-poland
Record turnout of 72.9 %. Exit poll conducted by Ipsos, as reported by public TV station TVP (tvp.pl):
36.8 % Law and Justice (PiS)
31.6 Civic Coalition (Eur. Council pres. Donald Tusk)
13.0 Third Way (Poland 2050 + Polish People’s Party)
8.6 New Left
6.2 Confederation
Not making the 5% cutoff:
2.4 Non-Partisan Local Government Party
1.2 Poland Is One
Failure of PiS plus Confederation to achieve a majority of seats in the Sejm means that the PiS government is out and a new, more EU-compliant coalition under Donald Tusk is in.
Well, this was a depressing read:
https://easychair.substack.com/p/enumerating-exceptional-properties
Enumerating Exceptional Properties of SARS Cov 2
The first common SARS virus
Anthony J Leonardi, MBBS, PhD
The cough syrup shortage in Japan is something I will keep an eye on, it may be the first undeniable evidence of widespread immune dysregulation.
As far as lifespans, I expect the USA’s average lifespan to be in the low 50’s or high 40’s within a decade or so.
And this absent a mutation that kills a shitload of people in a big hurry, just what we have now…
I earnestly hope that your thinking about lifespans is way too pessimistic, though it does seem likely that there will be continued decline.
I take a small (and it is very small) measure of comfort from the thought that if the concerns about “impaired immune surveillance” turn out to be valid, there will at least be an exceedingly powerful incentive to invest vast public sums into research on anti-tumor therapies.
—–
On that topic, I have been scratching my head for several years wondering why there has been no followup on this experimental drug combination. There is nothing after 2018 on the metformin/syrosingopine combination, after a series of very promising studies.
>>>A Caltrans executive questioned a freeway expansion. Then she was demoted LA Times
And the corruption just continues, even increases in the recent years. The emptying out of the news media in the state certainly does not help in trying to find out what state and local governments are doing, but at least the LA Times is doing something, however minimal.
It looks like the only undamaged Nordstream 2 pipeline is now kaput.
Sorry everyone, false alarm. I got a little too far ahead of myself when I saw this pop up in a discussion thread on a different site and didn’t check the published date. If possible, please remove this thread. Thanks!
From the Duran. Christoforou and Mercouris.
Scholz coalition shows signs of fracture
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww2Y62FuoAA
After the elections in Bavaria and Hesse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfErCSuSBYw
Article about the German right-wing populist AfD party from Chronicles, which, to use former editor of the Whole Earth Review Jay Kinney’s label, is a “long-running paleo-conservative magazine.”
Germany’s Right-Wing Political Miracle
I came across this little AI mashup project recently. Potentialities like this are among the reasons I’ve been so supportive of the on-premises and personal use of LLMs and machine learning, and perhaps why the Effective Altruism and national security cults are freaking out about it. Screenshot at link.
Anyone with a decent gaming/enthusiast video card, or a decent PC and an OpenAI account, can run this on their own computer. Newer Apple Silicon also includes neural network cores and could run it with some fiddling.
Why learn to think when a video card can do it for you?
People learning how to outsource their ability to think… sounds pretty good from the establishment perspective.
Acacia, what about using this as a teaching tool for that very same skill? And more importantly, why didn’t you think of that?
Because I’ve been teaching students critical writing and thinking for some years now, and because I’ve also been watching the whole AI phenom for decades now, too, at least since I worked in the same dept. with John McCarthy many moons ago.
If the goal is to teach people to write and think critically, there is a very long tradition of detailed knowledge and techniques — well over 2000 years, actually — of doing this. All the sources and “teaching tools” we need already exist. You can start with Gorgias’s Encomium to Helen, then Plato’s Gorgias, then the Sophist, the Phaedrus, any other Plato you’d like, then Aristotle’s Rhetoric, then Cicero’s De Oratore, and proceed from there. Not all required, of course, but that’s roughly an origin.
Over the years, I’ve been looking at what AI has to offer — of course, including the latest so-called LLMs “advances” —, and my position remains that trying to use any of this tech would be counter-productive for those who are serious about developing their own mental powers. Simply put, there are better ways to do it and better ways to teach it, unless we’re talking about people who aren’t really serious about learning. As I see it, this tech is mainly for people looking for “short cuts” and as such it will serve the status quo nicely. That’s not what interests me.
Not sure if others have seen this yet, but if you read it make sure you’re not drinking anything. The article is an excerpt from a book written by a CFR member titled “Getting Russia Right”. What I understand from the article is that the people in charge still believe in the illusion of control. They may even think we can repair relations with Russia after the Ukraine war ends in some fashion. The ending paragraph really describes the enormous delusions our western leaders are laboring under:
I can’t conceive of a situation where Russia could be separated from China, or where Russia would voluntarily work with the US or EU on anything right now. I also can’t understand why we’re going back to old beige book assumptions when it comes to Russia’s economic impact in the world. Haven’t the events of the past two years shown us that Russia contributes a lot to the global economy and that attempting to sanction them does more harm to the west than to Russia? Yet, when you read that article, you get the idea that the person who wrote it believes the sanctions were successful. I don’t have a lot of hope for future US diplomatic efforts if this book represents reasonable thinking.
The funniest thing about that piece is how the author probably thinks he’s being edgy and provocative by suggesting the US start to view Russia as a potential ally against China. They’re always so many steps behind, that train left the station a long, long time ago. However, thinking very long term, I do believe the Russians would prefer the US not come completely apart at the seems so as to remain a pole and counterweight to China. Any unchecked power, whether it belongs to China, Russia or the US, is not a healthy situation as we see now. Currently, China is behind Russia in a lot of military technology, and especially nuclear arms, but that situation is changing rapidly.