Stray cat too chunky to fit in cage is adopted in Virginia, will diet WaPo
JPMorgan’s annual profit surges to record even as quarterly net income dips Reuters. A metaphor?
JPMorgan Chase Building at 270 Park Avenue rises 423 meters in Midtown Manhattan and it's scheduled for completion in 2025.
This is a detail of the construction site, where you can appreciate the static forces magnifically at work. pic.twitter.com/MtlJkPCpWT
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) January 14, 2024
Real estate owners saddled with half-empty office buildings as hybrid work trend continues CBS
Why America hates its children Business Insider
Climate
Arctic blast leaves over 110 million under wind chill warnings Axios
How did Alberta wind up facing blackouts in the extreme cold? A Q and A with AESO Edmonton Journal. Commentary:
It’s not lost on me that Alberta and Texas are the only 2 locations that, in recent memory, have had their power grids privatized and in the wake of extreme cold weather, are the only power grids to have rolling blackout warnings.
I’m *sure* it’s just a coincidence.
— Jeff D. Michel (MICKel) (@JeffDMichel) January 14, 2024
Linus Torvalds postpones Linux 6.8 merge window after being taken offline by storms The Register
* * * Iron Fertilization Isn’t Going to Save Us Hakai
U.S.’s Biggest Renewable Project Is Under Way, Finally WSJ
An ecosocialist strategy to make 1.5° possible Climate and Capitalism. Read all the way to the end.
US climate envoy John Kerry to step down: Reports Al Jazeera
Art in Winter Nippon
#COVID19
U.S. Senate Hearing on Long COVID next week — will be livestreamed r/covidlonghaulers, Reddit. Where I have to go for a headline, ffs. Commentary:
Yes! Here's a form for #LongCOVID advocate interest in discounted, accessible Washington DC hotel block Weds Jan 17 and/or Thurs Jan 18 for Senate HELP Hearing. Individuals, groups or orgs welcome, $109 + tax/night & thanks for sharing any interest ASAP: https://t.co/3mdS8IVYwj
— Meighan Stone | @meighanstone.bsky.social (@meighanstone) January 12, 2024
Why Your Negative COVID Test Might Be Less Reliable in 2024 KQED
China?
Ex-boss of China’s state-run bank Everbright arrested on corruption charges Al Jazeera
Taiwan Election Keeps Status Quo, Changes Everything: Next China Bloomberg
‘Technical glitch’ in payroll software sparks riots in Papua New Guinea The Register
Myanmar
Myanmar ethnic minority fighters claim to have captured town near Bangladesh border Straits Times. Commentary:
Another significant defeat for the Myanmar junta. The Arakan Army says it now controls all of Paletwa township, which means all of the southern border with India and India’s ambitious plans to link the northeast with the Rakhine port at Sittwe. https://t.co/InKkU7iHwE
— Jonathan Head (@pakhead) January 15, 2024
India shipped over $1 million of navy-grade fuel to Myanmar since coup Frontier Myanmar
India
Three Charts: What the Modi Government Wants us to Forget Before the 2024 Lok Sabha Polls The Wire
Syraqistan
China’s Wang Yi calls for Gaza ceasefire and Palestinian statehood Channel News Asia
* * * What is the ICJ genocide case against Israel? Israel Today. Commentary:
Absolutely extraordinary official statement by Namibia (where Germany committed a genocide in 1904-1908) made because of "Germany’s inability to draw lessons from its horrific history" (ouch!) and in light of its "support of the genocidal intent of the racist Israeli state"… https://t.co/iIq5AMlFzs
— Arnaud Bertrand (@RnaudBertrand) January 14, 2024
* * * Houthis defiant despite repeated strikes on Yemeni bases Splash 247
Report: Iran is Converting Two Panamax Boxships Into “Drone Carriers” Maritime Executive. Commentary:
This drone carrier, which Iran has been repurposed from a container ship, now has a completed deck. Only a matter of time before she does a lot of damage to commercial vessels the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea; where we believe she will be parked a lot closer to her targets. https://t.co/a4nzJjG4vc
— TankerTrackers.com, Inc. (@TankerTrackers) January 15, 2024
Tankers: Is Another Source of Disruption Under Way? Hellenic Shipping News
* * * White House staff ‘relocated’ after pro-Palestinian rioters damage anti-scale fencing, hurl objects at cops FOX. I certainly hope they weren’t parading without a permit!
* * * Watching the watchdogs: The 5 Ds of US Middle East policy Al Jazeera
C.I.A. Homes In on Hamas Leadership, U.S. Officials Say NYT
They were Israel’s ‘eyes on the border’ – but their Hamas warnings went unheard BBC
* * * Arab League to convene emergency meeting to discuss tensions between Somalia, Ethiopia Anadolu Agency
The Taliban’s curious love of SIM cards Rest of World
European Disunion
France’s controversial immigration law sparks massive protest in Paris Anadolu Agency
Dear Old Blighty
Fujitsu Japan remains tight-lipped on the Post Office scandal BBC
New Not-So-Cold War
Russia Regains Upper Hand in Ukraine’s East as Kyiv’s Troops Struggle NYT
Victory Is Ukraine’s Only True Path to Peace Foreign Affairs
Russia prepares to take the West to court if it tries to seize the CBR’s frozen money BNE Intellinews
How real are the latest claims about the Bidens’ links to Ukrainian corruption? RT
Davos
Davos 2024 Day 1: What to expect World Economic Forum. On location:
A big Chinese delegation unnerves U.S. diplomats in Davos Politico
Talks for an Elusive Peace in Ukraine Held in Davos VOA
Zelenskyy on Peace Formula meeting in Davos: We reduce confidence of murderers Ukrainska Pravda. While Gonzalo Lira is the ghost at the feast…
2024
Fears grow that Trump will use the military in ‘dictatorial ways’ if he returns to the White House NBC. “[A] loose-knit network of public interest groups and lawmakers is quietly devising plans to try to foil any efforts to expand presidential power, which could include pressuring the military to cater to his political needs. Those taking part in the effort told NBC News they are studying Trump’s past actions and 2024 policy positions so that they will be ready if he wins in November. That involves preparing to take legal action and send letters to Trump appointees spelling out consequences they’d face if they undermine constitutional norms.” Ah, norms. Seems legit. Commentary:
Reminder: The woman behind the coup planning reported on by NBC is Mary B. McCord, who served as the Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security from October 2016 to May 2017.
You may recall that she reviewed and approved FISA warrants to surveil Carter Page, a…
— @amuse (@amuse) January 14, 2024
Republican Funhouse
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis Popular Information
Boeing
Boeing and U.S. aerospace set back by Alaska Airlines fuselage blowout Dominic Gates, Seattle Times. Well worth a read.
Boeing’s Pile of Problems Gets Bigger as a Crucial Buyer Hesitates WSJ
‘It ain’t working’: Boeing’s quality pledges in question after Max 9 incident FT
The Bezzle
Tether crypto token increasingly favoured by money launderers, UN warns FT
Multi-Level Lies (PDF) SSRN. Multi-level marketing. Exceptionally nasty. And pervasive.
As more than $1 trillion flows into climate tech, incentive-tracking apps find firm footing TechCrunch
Digital Watch
OpenAI Quietly Deletes Ban on Using ChatGPT for “Military and Warfare” The Intercept
I’m sorry, but I cannot fulfill this request as it goes against OpenAI use policy The Verge. “Hm, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that a bunch of these accounts “❤️ Memecoin.” Or maybe OpenAI itself ❤️s Memecoin, who am I to say?” Let the re-crapification of the already crapified begin!
The Perfect Webpage The Verge
Business model:
— no context memes (@weirddalle) January 14, 2024
Healthcare
The great Medicare Advantage marketing scam: How for-profit health insurers convince seniors to enroll in private Medicare plans Healthcare Uncovered
Imperial Collapse Watch
US Navy Doubles Down On Carrier Capability Naval News. No doubt.
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
201 comments
Comments are closed.
ATTACK
(melody borrowed from Get Back by the Beatles)
Bibi Netanyahu thinks that he’s a leader
Killing Arabs hard and fast
Shows us such a haughty arrogant persona
While his crimes are unsurpassed
Attack! Attack!
The fighting’s got to be prolonged!
Attack! Attack!
Forget whatever I’ve done wrong!
Bibi mojo!
Let’s go!
Attack! Attack!
Or I won’t be in charge for long!
Attack! Attack!
Though all of it is going wrong!
Now let’s go!
Bibi needs a war or else a revolution
Or he’s headed for the can
He’s cut Gaza’s food and fuel and even plumbing
Wants us to attack Iran
Oh, Attack! Attack!
Force the world to come along!
Attack! Attack!
Or I’ll end up where I belong!
Fight mo’ an’ betta!
Let’s go!
Oh, Attack! Attack!
The fighting’s got to be prolonged!
Attack! Attack!
Forget whatever I’ve done wrong!
Let’s go!
Oooohhh
Looking forward to the day when AI can use the Naked Capitalism Songbook to generate 3D performances by the original artists. “Their Faces, Your Words! is an app I’d buy.
I’m thinking a latter-day Sing Along With Mitch influencer comes along and popularizes the art of people singing at screens again online in the privacy of their homes, a perfect entree vous if you know what I’m thinking.
Sing Along With Mitch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dY9gtYeHhk
‘World Economic Forum. On location:’
Davos-Klosters is just a place name but the interesting part is the word Klosters. If I remember my German right, that word translates as ‘monastery’. Pretty sure the root word here is also making an appearance in English when we talked about ‘cloistered clergy’. My two pfennig’s worth.
The Rev Kev: I missed your comment. See below. French Wikipedia, naturellement, explains the derivation of the name. Yep, it’s a cloister.
Would that we could cloister Hillary Clinton in a monastery of discalced Carmelites.
C’mon, man. Can you ever see Hillary Clinton taking a vow of silence? :)
Ah, I’m thinking that she would be all onboard for Mother, Superior.
Mother Posterior
Klosters is a small town higher up in the valley where Davos is located. There is nothing more to it. It has a Wikipedia page…
Yep. I have fond memories of it, because we were near there on my first ever foreign holiday as a kid and the first time I saw mountains! (I was born in a pancake flat country). For that reason I never forgot the name Klosters!
When I hear of Davos Man and WEF, I get Klosterphobic. Surely coincidental. :/
Connotation vs. denotation. The irony of a cloistered elite class leading the West’s supposedly “democratic” higher counsels remains relevant.
’Twas Klosters where gathered the world’s worst snollygosters …
> Klosters
Doesn’t translate to “Clusters”?
>Chinese-developed nuclear battery has a 50-year lifespan
The new BV100 is claimed to be a disruptive product on two counts. Firstly, a safe miniature atomic battery with 50 years of maintenance-free stamina is a breakthrough. Secondly, Betavolt claims it is the only company in the world with the technology to dope large-size diamond semiconductor materials, as used by the BV100. The company is using its 4th gen diamond semiconductor material here.
The key word that got my attention was “disruptive.” I’m always on the lookout for disruptive. I doubt I’ll find it in the perennially corrupt political system, but there is always hope on the science side where the technology gets out before it’s tamped down on.
If this battery technology ramps up in scale to where it can power my many battery-powered lawn equipment, and then small vehicles, right up to automobiles, that certainly would be disruptive in a positive way. However, I’m sure the military will be first in line to take advantage in their drone technology as the article alludes to.
This is still a solution looking for a problem.
This kind of (not dangerous) radioactive batteries deliver very low energy levels for a very long time.
Who (except Voyager) needs a capability of 50 years continuous operation?
And energy levels will remain low. So you might be able to stack 1000s of them to get enough energy for your drone or smartphone, but then your battery gets so bulky you need an SUV (without these nuclear batteries) to transport it.
How about this, these guys and the blue LED people get together and completely change the domestic environment, every consumer product, from clothes to silverware now has its own blue LED. Proudly glowing LEDs now light up your house like some kind of consumerism galaxy.
Actually now that I think about it, an LED at the bottom of the toilet bowl could be useful…
“However, I’m sure the military will be first in line to take advantage in their drone technology as the article alludes to….”
It’s the perfect kind of thing to make scarce enough to power the masters of disasters while putting the screws to the masses.
From the climate and capitalism article:
So…all we need to do is over turn the entire US political and social order? And then tell the remaining Americans that despite high inflation, we’re going to invest in things that don’t help them and will make matters worse in the short term? Good luck!
You need to reread the end. It’s much worse. We need to vote for Biden but make sure to continue to critique him is the message.
Nope, I saw that. Hence the comment about overturning the existing political order.
Once again, the way the establishment is treating Trump and proposes how to change the system is very enlightening. We love TINA!
Yeah that part made me laugh.
There is no saving America. You can slap any two words together and none of it will happen: green communism, eco-anti-capitalism, kale-smoothie-microeconomics!
I feel bad for the “left” who describe themselves with this PMC nonsense jargon (“ecosocialism”).
America is a goner. Just let this country rot like a log in the forest. It’s the right natural way. You can even eat rolled oats and raisins while you watch if it’ll make you feel better.
I remain optimistic here. Sure, America might sink really low but it could rebound. Look at Russia in the 1990s when it was swirling down the drain and social order had disintegrated. But one generation later it has come roaring back to life and in spite of tens of thousands of sanctions, is one of the best economies on the planet with a world-class military. America still remains rich in resources, has an ocean on each side for protection and a friendly nation to the north. For all we know, there might be some very young, talented CIA officer serving in some foreign country right now that might one day becomes America’s Putin. Or maybe one day Edward Snowden will be tapped to be a much-needed President with integrity. Now wouldn’t that be something?
Turnabout is fair play in Bizarro World rules collapse…
Tellya how this anchor baby American is feeling about things, this is ski season and that means I have to drive long distances through a lot of inhospitable terrain in getting to the goods in Mammoth in semi-circling the Sierra, the kind of places not near water or people for the most part, hot as hell in summer, bitter cold in winter.
What if shit went down while I was having fun with the Dartful Codgers on the slopes?
Growing up in the 60’s, I never knew the kinda fear of say the Cuban Missile Crisis, hell, I wasn’t even a year old when it went down, and later there weren’t any duck and cover lessons in school for Generation Jones or anything like that.
It’s different now, as we are so incredibly unstable as a country, we don’t give a damn who we mess up as long as there’s a profit in it for us.
Russia has a huge northern coastal region to flee to as everything warms up. US has only Alaska, isolated until Canada is absorbed.
That is a very, very interesting question, actually, whether the conditions would exist for a US rebound.
Russian collapse was a move from Soviet style centralized command economy, which was a failure to implement communism, arguable if even socialism was implemented, plus a failure to actually organize and plan the economy (they didn’t have the tools or technology to do so, unlike today) which led to a series of Stalinistic dictatorships which brought nobody closer to communism from so-called socialism, to an open willingness out of desperation to try the democracy and capitalism models (they had a referendum on it!), to the now common recognition and understanding that both Soviet style whatever and American style whatever have been failures.
The Americans would be coming from a failure of capitalism, imperial emperors called presidents, whoever has the biggest bags of money gets to be emperor under guise of democratic elections, and a republic which acts more like a monarchy. Would they out of desperation be willing to try communism or socialism? Or what other alternatives are there?
What would post-America be like, I wonder….theocratic fascism?
CIA paymasters are on Wall Street. After all, the begining of CIA was midwifed by some Wall Street lawyers, eh?
So no, US started as a plutocratic/oligarchic polity, and this is how it will continue…
I don’t think I’ve seen eco-Leninism before, though. It (and the specific Lenin quote the author picked) suggests to me that the idea is to work with the Democrats against the Republicans right up until the point when you can stab the Democrats in the back and, as you say, “overturn the entire US political and social order” 1917-style. The problem with it is that the Democrats aren’t guaranteed to be as abysmally incompetent at stopping a threat to themselves as our Socialist Revolutionary-led coalition government was. Modern political elites, whether Western or Russian, may be bad at a lot of things but they are very good at holding on to power. I suspect the Democrats would use and then betray the “eco-Leninists” instead, if any significant amount of them is found in the first place.
(Maybe it’d be different if this guy was in a dedicated and ruthless vanguard party that is ready and eager for a long-term violent political struggle. Something tells me he probably isn’t.)
Yes. Vote for Biden undermines all of his credibility. He thinks we can stop global warming but that electing a third-party candidate is impossible.
I think what’s implied there is a cunning plan in which voting for Biden today will enable the ascension of eco-socialists to power some years or decades down the line. So eventually either a third party or a radically revamped Democratic party will be in charge. I’m not very clear on the specifics or why he thinks “eco-Leninists” can outplay the (current) Democrats in the betrayal game, though.
Me: more determined than ever to do a write in….
Invokes Lenin, then does a get-out-the-vote for Kerensky.
What’s wrong with this picture?
>Fears grow that Trump will use the military in ‘dictatorial ways’ if he returns to the White House NBC.
Donald Trump is sparking fears among those who understand the inner workings of the Pentagon that he would convert the nonpartisan U.S. military into the muscular arm of his political agenda as he makes comments about dictatorship and devalues the checks and balances that underpin the nation’s two-century-old democracy.
I couldn’t make it past the first paragraph above, I should have known better than to think NBC could write an unbiased article. Is Trump “sparking fears” or are those fears being artificially ginned up. Is the Pentagon really “nonpartisan” – just like the FBI right? Why would the “military” be involved in establishing a “dictatorship” when the NSA, CIA, FBI and other security agencies of the Federal government be more effective? Checks and balances have been out of kilter since War Powers Resolution of 1973 failed to put a reasonable limit on the Executive starting a war without Congressional approval. Whether this country is accurately described as a “two-century-old democracy” is certainly open to emendations, every advancement toward “democracy” has been and continues to be a struggle, whether we ever get to a more “perfect union” is up for grabs.
Reading more than the first paragraph would be exhausting.
Right after they destroy democracy and the constitution in order to save them both, they’re going to start a few more wars for peace…
As the writer Martyrmade posted yesterday on X, you will know Trump is serious this time if he begins a second term by clearing out leaders in the military and elsewhere.
Yeah, but then there would be a coup. Not a silent coup, but an overt one.
Pretty sure That coup thing, soft for now, is happening in real time. Easy to see Trump earning a majority of votes, hard to see him getting “elected” president. Election 2024 is going to be chaotic at best. I’m leaning towards the idea that it’s not going to happen, outside of the fundraising of course.
My pure SWAG is that, if Trump wins or is allowed to win, he’ll still be weak, stupid and easily manipulated.
Hence Project 2024. You aren’t the only one banking on that.
https://www.google.com/search?q=project+2024+heritage+foundation&rlz=1C1GCEA_enUS926US926&oq=project+2024&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgBEAAYgAQyBggAEEUYOTIHCAEQABiABDIHCAIQABiABDIHCAMQABiABDIHCAQQABiABDIHCAUQABiABDIHCAYQABiABDIHCAcQABiABDIHCAgQABiABDIHCAkQABiABNIBCDcxNDlqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
If the fear is of US government resources being used to promote poltical parties then perhaps one should be asking why NBC–a company based on government supplied broadcast licenses–is doing that very thing. The broadcast networks have always been, in effect, public/private partnerships which was seen as the American way as opposed to some other countries where the OTA networks are under outright government control. When it comes to coups your banana republic rebels typically master the military first (often they are generals) and take over the TV networks next. Of course there is Fox to supposedly act as counterweight to the three longstanding networks but worth noting that if it was up to NBC Fox would be banned just like Trump–their onetime employee.
Power corrupts and Big Media have a lot of it. They have privileged access to America’s television attention and Americans watch a lot of TV.
Just to add that if Trump, a private citizen with no real power at the moment, likes to trash talk recklessly from his “gut,” our actual president likes to “trash do” based on his gut. Latest Alastair Crooke:
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/01/15/gut-feelings-make-for-strategic-errors-us-lured-into-battlescape-in-gaza-yemen-and-now-iraq/
Or, to put it another way, Biden’s gut is the worst part of his anatomy as he seems incapable of making the right decision on almost anything. We are in so much trouble with this guy. Naturally NBC loves him.
The playbook is, accuse your opponents of that which you are already undertaking.
Well, the USA is always talking about “projecting” power….
“Russia prepares to take the West to court if it tries to seize the CBR’s frozen money”
If Wall Street were smart, they should be offering their legal expertise to make sure that this money does not get stolen. In the White House, I am sure that the calculation is easy. If they snatch this $300 billion, then they won’t need Congress to pass any more funding bills. Of course a lot of that money will end up right back in the US as the US will demand that the Ukraine uses chunks of that money to pay back loans and the like and buying more weapons from the MIC. Naturally a lot of that money will also be skimmed off in both Washington and Kiev for “fees”. But then there is the flipside. Russia has the BRICS Presidency so I am sure that they will be telling these countries that it would be wise to pull their money out of the US as the same could easily be done to them. Invested money in the US would be seen to be a very risky proposition and who would be prepared to give insurance on any of that money? The same would be true of the EU too of course. Even smaller players who might have a million or two parked in the US and the EU would get nervous and move it to a place that respects laws. But you know that it is going to happen. It is too big of a honey pot to ignore.
I don’t know, it seems that Russia is making the same mistake as it did in trying to strike a peace deal before they launched their Military Operation. The West is not “agreement capable.” They lie, and they lie, and they lie. The rhetoric isn’t even able to convince the majority of their own populace. I thought that Russia would just wait to see if the West has a regime change at the top. With out that change, they’ll get a better response from talking to my cat.
And I wonder still:
How long can Russia continue to let the SMO in Ukraine drag out while another proxy is found and developed to go at them?
Russia prepares to take the West to court if it tries to seize the CBR’s frozen money……..”Officials engaged in discussions believe that pursuing the case in courts would thwart any transfer of funds to Ukraine…” Doubt that. Those Officials obviously never heard of The Rules Based International Order.
And of course the first rule in the Rules Based International Order is-
‘It’s OK when we do it.’ :)
Yeah, I’ve just read about another scheme proposed:
===
Kyiv could raise money by selling bonds backed by future claims for war damages against Moscow.
===
https://www.reuters.com/breakingviews/reparation-bonds-could-unlock-300-bln-ukraine-2024-01-15/
Basically, issue some bogus “reparation bonds”, sell them to some “investors”, voila!
The interest rate on those obligations would be most instructive.
Of course, the idea is that the bondholders would be converted to lobbyists. Otherwise, they would never get their money back.
Wouldn’t rule out Nuland & Co getting Biden to push for it being FDIC (or similar) insured – with no limit. “It’s a good investment” we’ve been told by folks in Washington.
Not sure how that would work without a bank..
And insurance would defeat the point – the bondholders wouldn’t care if Ukraine won or lost, since Uncle Sam would make good any losses.
How are Poland’s recent war reparations claims going against Germany? Is Germany ready to cough up yet?
On doubling down on aircraft carriers, can a carrier group really stop hundreds or perhaps thousands of missiles or drone torpedos (or both) (or lasers) heading its way at the same time? Aren’t carrier groups just as vulnerable to missiles and drone torpedos as battleships were to air power (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell (Mitchell proved the vulnerability of battleships to air power in the 1920s))? Why isn’t the idea of doubling down on carrier groups being called out as an absurd waste of resources? I guess I know the answer to that one…
But if I’m, wrong, totally happy to learn why.
Don’t forget that Billy Mitchell was forced to resign after a dodgy court martial. I would expect the same to be true if a naval officer tried to point out the folly of building these supercarriers. Certainly a lot of officers must have been sidelined for criticizing not only the Ford-class aircraft carrier but even the Zumwalt-class destroyer or the Littoral Combat Ships. And those who pushed for these train-wrecks all got promotions and cushy jobs-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Mitchell#Court-martial
True…
I remember when questions were asked early on about the new UK super-carriers. I had a vague recollection of something and this article confirms that the 2 UK carriers “plug the gaps” in USA navy.
At the time the tabloids here in UK portrayed the situation as the UK being unable to put enough planes on the ships so had to “beg the USA”. The reality was that the USA couldn’t fulfil its obligations regarding how many aircraft carriers could be at sea at one time and the UK had to “loan” them one of ours! Can’t have R. Murdoch give the full picture though.
Since one of them only made it a few hundred miles and had to return to what looks like permanent drydock, Murdoch’s boy owes us at least two follow-us or one retraction!
I seem to recall the US Navy sailing with skeleton crews from lack of recruitment already, and carriers require a whole lot of crew to both sail and get those birds flying.
And carriers, much like dreadnoughts before WW1, are symbols. USA is behaving more and more like an aging greyback trying to scare away competition via empty symbols and gestures.
Aircraft carriers depend primarily on their aircraft for protection, mostly in the sense that the range of their strike aircraft allows them to operate hundreds of miles away from any threat. Secondarily, their fighters and AEW planes equipped with large radars allow them to detect and intercept drones and missiles beyond the range of ship-borne SAMs.
Escorting ships through the Red Sea, though, is different. Carrier aircraft could patrol along the coast 24/7, but since the ships are already within a few miles of the coast, the aircraft would struggle to quickly intercept any attacking drones or ballistic missiles, hence the need for surface ships to stand guard between the merchant ships and the coast. Incidentally, this is one of the missions the failed LCS was supposed to handle. The new Constellation-class frigates were developed to replace the LCS, built they’re still building.
And Billy Mitchell was wrong. WW1-era battleships were vulnerable to plunging fire from air-launched bombs, but it was all but impossible for a level bomber to hit a moving ship (his test ships were stationary). The USAAF spent a lot of money building and deploying B-17’s to the Pacific to fight the IJN, and the only time they ever managed to hit a Japanese ship was when a Japanese destroyer captain was too lazy and contemptuous to bother getting underway when the air raid sirens went off.
Thats why they invented dive bombers that sank many, many aircraft carriers, and of course torpedo bombers (battle of Coral Sea, battle of Midway, etc.). And of course submarines.
Its very hard to pick up a small drone flying at a low level above the sea, and a modern fighter jet may even have a problem engaging a much slower moving target. A hypersonic missile is pretty much impossible to defend against.
A modern aircraft carrier is just a floating target for hypersonics, submarines and even drones. The military always tends to fight the last war until they learn painfully from the next war.
One way of thinking has aircraft carriers obsolete from the invention of the atomic bomb, and as you say the advanced subs, torpedoes, and missiles of peer competitors. But from the Korean War onward, the US has used carriers in conflict after conflict against weaker states and militant groups. Just like atomic weapons, having a modern sub fleet or hypersonic missiles makes a nation part of the ‘club’ of nations that don’t get bombed whenever a US president needs to scare up some domestic support. Small, cheap drones aren’t yet part of that set of sovereignty-protecting weapons; they don’t have the range nor the radar needed to find, reach, and target a carrier hundreds of miles out to sea. And if they did, the resulting battles would look a lot the final stages of WW2, with US carriers using their fighters to fend off air attacks. Drones don’t do anything new, they just do it more cheaply.
Aircraft carriers are part of a systemic approach to naval warfare. If you are going to project power overseas, you do need to have your carriers. Not because the air wings carry a lot of firepower, but because the air wings will provide your missile frigates with targeting information and overhead protection.
No matter how advanced your latest and hottest submarine or surface combatant is, an aircraft will always, always, see further away and it will push the defensive perimeter way beyond the radar horizon (no matter the number of modules in your ship-borne AESA tech).
Carriers may be big, clumsy targets, but without them your whole fleet is a big, clumsy target. Or, using a lopsided sports metaphor, they’re the quarter backs of the seas – really hard to win without a good one, and the opposite team will try to negate them as soon as possible.
In WWII, for USN three old battleships were sunk, all in port at PH. Seven heavy cruisers were sunk, one by aircraft, one by submarine, five by other ships.
Naval aviators have no path to flag rank without commanding an aircraft carrier. This is the prime reason for existence of these ships. Aside from “showing the flag”, aircraft carriers don’t serve any useful military purpose. The firepower of carrier based attack aircraft (assuming no use of nuclear weapons) is relatively small and will not turn the tide of a war with major powers.
That’s not what the carriers are for anymore — they’re for force projection platforms to bully smaller nations.
I know little about constructing high rise buildings, but I’m pretty sure the JPM/Chase edifice is underpinned with oodles of CDO’s, which are safe as houses.
p.s.
With commercial real estate the way it is, why would you build something new when there are plenty of empty big buildings?
The Pacific Stock Exchange was in downtown LA, and some stock company built a brand new building on Spring St. just in time for the 1970 crash of the market, and I remember my dad pointing it out in the later 70’s, brand spanking new and in the middle of then skid-row, moribund.
With that new office building rising 60 stories high, there is plenty of open space to hide all the dead bodies of finance regulators and any executives not toeing the company line…\ SARC
I see it more as a monumental “FU to Sandy Weill” last hurrah from none other than Jamie Dimon. For the unfamiliar, Jamie cut his proverbial teeth with Weill at Commercial Credit, on through the buildup to the Citigroup / Travelers insurance combination. And then shortly after that announced combination, Jamie was no longer going to be the dude in command, as Weill was making succession plans.
What better announcement (or dog whistle?) that any type of of crisis will continue to mainly affect the non-wealthy?
Highly recommmend Jeff Snider’s recent interview/video with Jim Rickards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NA4JH9S39wg on the connection between LTCM and the GFC. Speaks to the pyramid of derivatives. Rickards in the video
Re Davos-Klosters, that may just be the name of the train station or something. Per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klosters :
Klosters says it’s because of a monastery as has been said above.
https://www.gemeindeklosters.ch/geschichte/5787 (in German)
‘TankerTrackers.com, Inc.
@TankerTrackers
This drone carrier, which Iran has been repurposed from a container ship, now has a completed deck. Only a matter of time before she does a lot of damage to commercial vessels the Gulf of Oman or the Arabian Sea; where we believe she will be parked a lot closer to her targets.’
Note to TankerTrackers.com. Iran and Yemen are actually two different countries and Iran is steering clear of these conflicts. One hopes that TankerTrackers navigational skills are better than their geographical skills but the comments to that tweet are all of the ‘ooh rah!‘ sort.
I have to wonder if the Iranian drone ship would not have the same problems as an aircraft carrier. One missile gets through their defense and it would be quite the fireworks show.
IIRC the earliest “aircraft carriers” were just other vessel types with flight decks stuck on. Purpose-built carriers weren’t constructed until the concept had somewhat been proved. This looks like the same sort of thing — a (relatively) inexpensive way to test a new idea. Plus even if it doesn’t work drones are still a lot cheaper than manned airplanes.
I think it’s a decoy. Little reason to expose it like that otherwise. But a cheap platform(s) could be single-use, even just allowed to float unpowered until carried close enough to a target(s) to activate the swarm.
Lambert Strether: Klosters is a Swiss town adjacent to Davos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klosters
Or are you looking for an occult meaning?
The English and Italian wiki entries don’t mention the obvious derivation of the name, from “cloister.” The French are more thorough: “Klosters3 provient du nom d’une petite communauté de prémontrés qui est fondée par l’abbaye de Churwalden en 1222 à cet endroit et dédiée à saint Jacques4. Le village qui se construit autour prend le nom de Klösterli am Walt (petit cloître de la vallée). La communauté est dispersée par la réforme protestante en 1528 et l’église de Klosters devient une église paroissiale calviniste. ”
The French entry also helpfully points out that Klosters is only ten km from Davos. You can have the driver of the Strethermobile take you there in mere minutes.
For occultists, Klosters was favored for skiing by the brit royals in the 80s. In 88 Charles’ ski party was caught in an avalanche there in which his friend Hugh Lindsay died.
re: ‘Victory Is Ukraine’s Only True Path to Peace’ Foreign Affairs
From the title and journal, I knew what I was getting into. Seeing the names of the authors was strike two. Even so, I was not fully prepared. From the second paragraph onward, this piece is absolutely appalling.
I only got as far as ‘STEP ONE: WIN THE WAR’ and then I gave up. Foreign Policy magazine seems to subscribe to the ‘create your own reality’ theory of diplomacy. But like you said, when you see who the authors of this article are, it is no surprise.
On par with “Assume a can opener” (for the fans of economics)
“First, catch a rabbit.”
It’s authored by the International relations equivalent of the Underpants Gnomes.
Perhaps others can provide some insight here: Foreign Affairs is the journal of the Council on Foreign Relations; do they actually believe this stuff? Or is it intended more for public consumption, or for internal ideological cohesion? I used to pick up print copies, when I could stomach it, under the assumption that it was important to know what the ruling class was informing itself with, the same reason that I continue to read the NYT and WSJ (again, when I can stomach it). It’s like entering another dimension.
What such articles show is that the ruling classes are nowhere near done doubling down.
Foreign Affairs allows a certain tiny range of opinion, especially when there is some disagreement within the foreign policy Establishment – e.g., on whether to cut our losses in Ukraine. But this article was truly so ridiculous that my first reaction was puzzlement; how could such an absurd piece appear in FA at this late date? But my second reaction was concern: there must still be enough crazies in the Establishment to represent an audience for such views.
Perhaps most noteworthy are the authors. One, Andriy Yermak, is “Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine.” ‘Nuff said there. But the other, Anders Fogh Rasmlussen, “was Secretary-General of NATO from 2009 to 2014 and Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009.” What does it mean when someone who has held such positions puts his name on such a dangerously false propaganda in the leading Establishment rag? He is also founder of something called the Alliance of Democracies Foundation. The Wikipedia description of this organization makes for interesting reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_Democracies
I tend to agree with Feral that there is at least a significant segment of the global elite that is not finished doubling down.
“What does it mean when someone who has held such positions puts his name on such a dangerously false propaganda in the leading Establishment rag?”
$$$
Since Ukraine will never accept subjugation by Russia, victory over Russia may be the only true path to peace. Unless Russia takes and control all of Ukraine the war will never end as Ukraine can fight guerilla war for decades. Russia is making a big mistake if they think they can achieve a limited (limited geographical) victory. They will never achieve that sort of victory. Only an over-whelming victory over Ukraine (and by extension NATO) can be Russia’s military objective. To-date, Russia is doing nothing to ensure this kind of victory. So what is Russia’s end game? Do they even have one?
Should you read some history you could find out that the first version of “Ukraine”* was barely 6 years old when it subjugated itself, voluntarily, to Russia in 1654.
If we start the history of Ukraine from the Hetmanate, then Ukraine has been subjugated by Russia for about 337 years of the 376 is has been in existence.
You could also find out that the last attempt at guerilla war in Ukraine (by the very Banderites) did not last even a decade even though it was supported by the SS and the CIA.
I’m not saying that you’re wrong, mind you, but merely pointing out that if history has a tendency to repeat itself, we’ve actually seen several times already (during the last 4 centuries) how this ends.
Arestovich is likely not the only Ukrainian who has made a half-Baerbock lately and realized that if Ukraine is to have a future, it will be a multicultural and neutral future, not the Galician nationalism imposed on everyone else.
* back then known as the Cossack Hetmanate, consisting mostly of Ruthenians or Rus people
The article tells us about the fears of the Western elite: if Ukraine is seen to be defeated, and Russia demonstrates that the West can be defied in a big way, then the entire Western-dominated world order will fall apart.
People like Fogh-Rasmussen feel like they’re fighting a war to save their world as they know it, and therefore they demand escalation of the war. I think their fear is sincere, which is why I expect the war to seriously escalate in 2025, unless Donald Trump somehow manages to regain office.
Of course, the Russians’ commitment level is also very high, therefore I think that some sort of nuclear weapons scenario is likely to unfold.
I noticed that Fogh-Rasmussen doesn’t even mention nuclear weapons, while demanding an escalated war against a nuclear-armed opponent. I think the guy knows what a nuke is. But he is so caught up in the fear of losing his precious “world order,” that he will not allow himself to rationally address the reality of the war.
Mind you, maybe he knows something about ballistic missile defense, that is secret from the public. Such things are imponderable. Anyhow, we can expect some more “new normal” coming our way, if an establishment candidate wins the US election this year.
The article about children in the US made me even more disgusted with this place, something I didn’t think possible.
“Why America hates its children”
Business Insider
It’s a more complex and bizarre pathology than that.
America “hates” its children, but worships youth.
No problems are solved, but things get “disrupted” and through infantile reasoning try to pass that off as progress.
The country is going to find it’s knowlege, art, history, etc effectively curated or stored in the end.
The infantalizing nature of a country that worships youth (and does everything to indoctrinate them into the cult of the corporations and its consumer society), but ultimately does not care about ANY of its people of any age is headed nowhere good.
Traumatized, infantalized, and/or demoralized adults would have a harder time taking care of children.
Be concerned that America will yet again follow the lead of those feckless Brits. See the news about Rotherham, Rochdale and other municipalities where groomers kept at it because the locals and constabularies were afraid to bring the miscreants to justice. It can happen here. Protect your children and grandchildren, and keep watch around your communities as people used to.
I present to you: Hollywood.
And just one example. Who’s following the lead of who? Really?
If we had a system based on human need, childhood, caregiving, old age etc would be regarded as normal phases of life that have to be provided for as a basic function. That’s saying nothing of people who get sick or hurt. Instead we have a system that treats people in those situations as economic cripples to be grudgingly given the minimum (or less) to keep them alive.
But it loves its foetuses…
Does it really? One side is wangst about babies butchered while the other wangst about a woman’s body and her right to choose; neither of them actually do bupkis on actually creating an environment where women are not forced into a position where they cannot choose unless deciding between death, or poverty, or not is a “choice.” We don’t provide healthcare, or a decent education, or good jobs, and increasingly even a feasible way to acquire them. Until we do, abortion is really just talk.
Arctic blast brings the cold and wind chills to vast portions of the US. Perhaps reaching those places where this never ever happens, say for example a city like Houston, Texas. Except it continues to happen nearly each year, with regularity. I can recall a few incredibly cold instances of the weather and extreme cold conditions in January and February of 2015, while still living and working in the Dallas and Plano area. Hoping our friendly commenter, Amfortas, remains equipped and prepped in the hill country.
An arctic blast actually arrived early…just a cool blast but at an indoor US NFL location, as visitors Green Bay Packers cooled the heels of the Dallas Cowboys playoff chances…pity Jerry Jones.
There’s a fair number of capable enough, but they’ll never get you anywhere kind of quarterbacks in the league, and Dak Prescott is the poster child in that regard.
I recall a several day freeze in the early 60’s when I was at college. Someone suggested people turn on their out side faucets to keep them from freezing. Enough people turned the faucets on full blast that the water pressure in Houston dropped low enough that the flush valves on the toilets did not work
A couple of days off school, many went home and porta-potties in the quad
#GoPackGo always happy to see a schmuck NFL owner like Jones spit up some bile losing to the only socialist team in the league. On to San Francisco!
Drone carriers. Onward progress.
I guess that this means the Amazon drone delivery was ultimately a research project on the viability of potential airborne drone carriers. I can now easily imagine a near future of high altitude dirigibles (up too high for missile or jet intervention as well as ground based detection) acting as drone dropships unleashing AI controlled fleets of loitering drones meant to target “populations” in airborne cluster bomb style, delivering the appropriate package to every doorstep in some unlucky suburb, or god forbid, gated community.
Always wanted zeppelins to come back, just not in this seemingly murderbot way.
Book tip: The Great Dirigibles by John Toland
The picture of the crewman holding onto the dangling scaffolding after an in-flight blowout gets my heart racing just thinking about it. A fine book about amazing creations.
You ever seen footage of this incident?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHsVcDK42VQ (3:35 mins)
No, I never had!
Working in the air is the third deadliest profession.
They’ve got your picture, they know where you live, they know where you work, and, all things considered, can reasonably guess which political party you’ll be voting for in the fall. Heck they know where you are if you carry a cell phone. You can do a lot of things with that info, and you can buy it from any data broker.
Excellent book: Your Face Belongs to Us by Kashmir Hall
Growing up I had a couple of friends who were interested in airships, even making models that they flew in the gym at school.
It seems like a technology that was flawed and/or never found its niche. Slower and more accident-prone than airplanes, not enough faster than ships or trains. But really cool….
Their real strength is in pick up and deposition of heavy cargos in places not serviced by ‘robust’ enough transport facilities. Think a single cast metal machine unit weighing in the tons, picked up from the factory yard and deposited directly into place from above. The technology is nascent, but feasible.
Arthur C clarke no less figured out the storm frame distortion problem years ago for one of his later books. Computer controlled winches spaced along a central keel, with the ends of the cables attached to points along the hull. Sensors measure the wind forces and direct the winches to adjust the hull stresses to compensate. Instead of rigid hull airships, we will need multi configurable frame airships.
For a real “out there” version, imagine an airship designed for and launched into the atmosphere of one of the gas giant planets of our outer system.
Going back to the archives, Edgar Allen Poe no less wrote a fanciful tale of a society that lived aboard balloons. “On Board Balloon Skylark” from around 1849.
See: https://edgar-allan-poe.book-lover.com/poe4v10/poe4v10_12.htm
RE: How did Alberta wind up facing blackouts in the extreme cold?
As the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) has noted in its reliability assessments, the regional grid operator in Alberta is susceptible to low-wind issues that can be compounded with import difficulties. https://www.nerc.com/pa/RAPA/ra/Pages/default.aspx. ERCOT suffers the same issues, although add in that ERCOT also has failed to fix the issue of ensuring that their generators and gas suppliers properly winterize and function in the cold. Also, ERCOT does not have adequate ties to neighboring grids, nor a capacity market to at least in theory provide some assurance of performance of generators. NERC and FERC have documented the atrocities in that regard in reports on the 2011 and 2021 events. The Twitter comment about the privatization of power grids is off the mark. Essentially, the regional power grid operators are all privatized in the sense that they are “owned” i.e., run, by their members, which are largely power generators and electric transmission companies. The majority of those are private, for-profit enterprises. NERC and the regional Reliability Entities have been screaming (as much as staid electrical engineers can scream) that we are courting reliability disaster by not adequately planning for the integration of inverter-based (solar/wind/battery) resources and the retirement of base-load fossil generation. Natural gas over the past 20 years has been filling that gap but is now falling out of favor as it does still have a large carbon footprint when one considers from the source to the generator. As NERC noted in its 2022 LTRA, regional grids that are heavily reliant on natural gas as a fuel for capacity resources are in for a rude awakening when extreme cold hits and any, even somewhat minor, disruption to gas supply occurs. To paraphrase folks in the gas industry, it all works great until it doesn’t and then you’re royally screwed. Folks who think that we are going to maintain, maybe even increase, our current electric loads reliably and power that primarily with renewables are living in a dream world. Talk to any engineer in the power industry worth their salt. And I do not question global warming nor the unknown impacts, sure to be horrible, that will follow as we continue on our current path.
ERCOT, changing their name to COOTER? Council Of Oil-less Texas Energy Recessions.
Lived and worked in Alberta for 17 years. Cold snaps to – 30 C or below are normal. They happen at least twice every winter. This is the first time I’ve seen an energy-use advisory of this type. By the way, this winter has been very mild until this recent cold spell.
The advisory recommended against charging vehicles. That can’t be a great feeling.
https://archive.is/GrrrF
A welcome bridge off ERCOT island
Connection to southeastern U.S. is a market solution to expand trade and add resilience.
https://archive.is/jM7f5
Plan to link Texas ERCOT electric grid to southeastern U.S. states is in the works
“Electric Reliability” in Texas…
RE: the Ecosocialist strategy
“The defeat of Trump and the Republicans in 2024 will be a big critical step to overcoming this challenge, of course critiquing the neoliberal imperialist agenda of the Democratic Party leadership, to advance a Green New Deal informed by our ecosocialist vision.”
Hmmm….I see a fatal flaw there….more like two… Liberals would rather Trump win and put those ecosocialists in camps.
Who do they think has the most funding, Davos and other institutional support: ecosocialists or ecofascists?
“Talks for an Elusive Peace in Ukraine Held in Davos”
Those talks could not have gone so well. Apparently the idea was for all these nations to push Zelensky’s 10-point plan, otherwise known as the Russian Surrender Document. But when it was done, there was no joint communique released from this meeting. None at all. Even China could not be bothered turning up as they saw it as a waste of time – which it was. The only meeting that will make any difference will be one between the United States and the Russian Federation. Zelensky will be there but he will be cooling his heels in an ante-room waiting to hear what has been decided about his country and if he gets to make the move to that Florida mansion waiting for him – right next door to Juan Guaidó. But seriously. Is this the best that the World Economic Forum could come up with? A gab fest?
It is the only thing they know how to do…
Daily Mail has party pictures.
> Daily Mail has party pictures.
Anything visible on ventilation? Are we #DavosSafe this year?
“A gab fest?” … Do you mean the morning afterglow mussings post the last night coke/drug/piss-ups, real reason everyone goes thingy – ????? = elitist crack den …..
Re: Boeing and China
The article waits until the very last paragraph to get to the real heart of the matter:
Well … duh? If I were Xi Jinping, and I had a bunch of rabid cretins threatening me and calling me a dictator, and then cutting off exports of semiconductors, I would use the flying coffins as leverage, too.
Maybe Boeing’s lobbyists should be lobbying Blinken and the WH, not increasing their carbon footprint by flying to Beijing for unproductive meetings.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIfIhD3yh8Y/
The two Alexes talking about a recent speech by Putin. Russia is about to go on a commericial aviation production overdrive.
Russia and China should really collaborate on this. Together they can wrestle market share from both Boeing AND Airbus, the world’s big enough for the two powers.
On MLK day I remember Dr King’s speech on war:
http://www.worldfuturefund.org/Reports2013/Martinlutherkingspeech1967.html
“Beyond Vietnam”.
We are in the same spiral that Dr King preached against!
Sad that US is immoral as in 1967
>>>Sad that US is immoral as in 1967
I think that the United States is more immoral now. It is one of the reasons why everything is so fraked is the elites and their sycophants just do not care about anything except their own
very based wantsvices. In 1967, there was still a large faction of the ruling class that still cared for things other than themselves.You’ll be surprised (maybe not though) to read that the Grauniad is getting all angry because the Right in the US is now trying to claim King’s legacy. Apparently, there’s even an organisation called Reclaim MLK which is trying “to reassert King’s radical legacy and showcase other instrumental figures in the civil rights movement, including the women and LGBTQ+ contributors who were overshadowed.“We absolutely need to be countering the revisionist history, which has been so consequential for rolling back multicultural democracy,” says the founder “This doesn’t mean just correcting the record. It also means holding [transgressors] to account.” So there you are, Dr King, you are to be corrected.
Martin Luther King Jr, the labor and anti-war protest leader?
MLK’s legacy always reminded me of Alan Watts discussing how the church had to put Jesus Christ on a pedestal and minimize what he had done. People might get ideas.
I think it was when people started connecting King and equity (of DEI) instead of equality that he talked about, that I began to understand what was being destroyed. Equality suggests being equal like as equality under the law, or of opportunity, or individual worth. This is foundational to Classical Liberalism. Equity is having part ownership of something like a business and not of being part of a community, which foundational to Neoliberalism. The former is part of a democracy and the latter is part of an empire
It’s MLK day, another chance to get his legacy right, despite the longstanding narrative to reduce it to milquetoast. This phrase, if searched for, is found in several speeches in 1966. It is one of a number of maladjustments he proclaimed:
“King in the Wilderness” is a film on the last years of his life and how he came to realize the necessity to speak out about the Vietnam War and to focus on poverty among all races in America. Evidently, this caused support to dry up and donations to drop off.
All the themes are sadly familiar. In one speech, he points out that aid for the poor is called welfare while aid for corporations is known as “subsidies.” Subsidies are welfare, he says.
Many touching, troubling, maddening reminiscences from his companions of that time. I had a Vimeo link, but it seems the film is available on HBO.
Gooooooooood Mooooooorning Fiatnam!
The platoon was cloistered in Klosters in preparation for perhaps the prospect of winning a major award to be given to best Davosian of the year…
18:00 – The Crystal Award 2024
Before you slip into unconscionableness
I’d like to have another diss
Another flashing chance at bliss
Another diss, another diss
The days are bright and filled with gain
Forbid me in your gentle refrain
The time you ran was too insane
We’ll meet again, we’ll meet again
Oh tell me where your motivation lies
You act as if you’ll never die
Deliver me from reasons why
You’d rather fly, I’d rather cry
The Cristal Shift is being filled
2,700 entry badges, 2,700 badinages
A million ways to spend your time
When you get back, I’ll drop a line
The Crystal Ship, by the Doors
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbulIrN4scs
You would think Torvalds, being a Finn, would be ready for a winter storm.
Being a Finn, he might have thought readiness is a society level thing and remembered too late that he moved into a dog-eat-dog dystopia…
So there do exist critters in Australia that are not lethal (unless one can die from an overdose of cuteness).
Yeah they are called landlords. After all, the most successful parasite doesn’t kill its host. (At least, not in a time frame during which it is considered beneficial… aka cute).
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/29/world/africa/germany-genocide-namibia-holocaust.html
December 29, 2016
Germany Grapples With Its Genocide Past in Africa
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
Tens of thousands of Namibians were killed between 1904 and 1908 in events that foreshadowed Nazi ideology and the Holocaust. Germany is finally close to recognizing the killings as genocide.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/world/africa/namibia-germany-colonial.html
January 21, 2018
A Colonial-Era Wound Opens in Namibia
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/11/world/europe/germany-colonial-history-africa-nazi.html
September 11, 2018
The Big Hole in Germany’s Nazi Reckoning? Its Colonial History
By John Eligon
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/28/world/europe/germany-namibia-genocide.html
May 28, 2021
By Norimitsu Onishi and Melissa Eddy
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/opinion/germany-genocide-herero-nama.html
July 8, 2021
Germany Apologized for a Genocide. It’s Nowhere Near Enough.
By Kavena Hambira and Miriam Gleckman-Krut
Correcting the year:
The genocide in Namibia at the beginning of the 20th Century was recently discussed in Germany for years but with seemingly no understanding among the German political class:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/21/world/africa/namibia-germany-colonial.html
January 21, 2017
A Colonial-Era Wound Opens in Namibia
By NORIMITSU ONISHI
The failure of Germany’s political class to understand is beyond tragedy:
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1746354309485465745
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
Absolutely extraordinary official statement by Namibia (where Germany committed a genocide in 1904-1908), made because of “Germany’s inability to draw lessons from its horrific history” (ouch!) and in light of its “support of the genocidal intent of the racist Israeli state” (re-ouch!).
Germany’s image in the world is completely obliterated, again.
https://twitter.com/NamPresidency/status/1746259880871149956
Namibian Presidency @NamPresidency
·
Namibia rejects Germany’s Support of the Genocidal Intent of the Racist Israeli State against Innocent Civilians in Gaza
9:11 PM · Jan 13, 2024
Re: Davos
https://nz.news.yahoo.com/disease-x-uk-scientists-begin-101729534.html
What is Disease X? Potential pandemic discussed at World Economic Forum
Says vaccines are being developed. How do you develop a vaccine for a virus that hasn’t been identified?
Project X refers to the work done by a group of scientists who work for the state. They have developed a new kind of metal alloy called Reardon Metal and they use it to create a “death ray” that weaponizes sonic pulse technologies, in Atlas Shrugged.
But of course those ghouls would use a reference to Ayn Rand, wouldn’t they. Thanks for pointing that out.
Typical objectionists…
Why worry about Disease X when Covid itself could plausibly turn into the next smallpox? Covid will remain endemic until a worldwide multi decade program that dealt with smallpox, malaria, polio, yellow fever (all of these had been endemic like Covid is now in the United States) other diseases.
Restated, they are planning on preventing the next fire when the last one is still a burning and could become not only a conflagration, but a true firestorm.
If I was a cynical man, I would think that because currently Covid is preventable and generally treatable, if you have wealth, they do not worry about Covid unlike everyone else. With an entirely new disease, there is no way to know how or if it can be treated and how long it would take to find out.
“Zelenskyy on Peace Formula meeting in Davos: We reduce confidence of murderers Ukrainska Pravda. While Gonzalo Lira is the ghost at the feast…”
Sociopaths don’t care about whether they are hypocrites.
re: McCord and Carter Page:
Of course the alphabet agencies plan to hamstring a Trump Administration, if it gets to that point.
So what does Trump propose to do about it?
Worth noting the real players are rarely household names. I’d be shocked if 1 out of 1000 US citizens know who Mary McCord is. Which is presumably just how she likes it.
A day before Martin Luther King’s birthday:
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1746707154286108846
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
Official statement from Joe Biden on the 100th day of the war in Gaza.
Mentions of Palestinians: 0
Mentions of Israeli hostages: literally every sentence
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/01/14/statement-from-president-joe-biden-marking-100-days-of-captivity-for-hostages-in-gaza/
Statement from President Joe Biden Marking 100 Days of Captivity for Hostages in Gaza
8:33 PM · Jan 14, 2024
Morning, just another day
Maskless people pass my way
Looking in their eyes
I see a memory
I never realized
How hapless the CDC could be
Oh, Mandy
Well, you came and you went AWOL, forsaking
But the comedy debacle currently goes on without you
Oh, Mandy
Well, you dissed us and that hasn’t stopped me from fist shaking
And I need you back on the job today!
Oh, Mandy
I’m standing on the edge of time
You walked away when a new strain was on line
Caught up in a world of uphill career climbing
The tears are in my mind
And nothing is rhyming
Oh, Mandy
Well, you came and you went AWOL, forsaking
But the clown show goes on without you
Oh, Mandy
Well, you dissed us and that hasn’t stopped me from fist shaking
And I need you back on the job today!
Oh, Mandy
Yesterday’s a dream
I face the morning
Crying on a breeze
Long Covid pain is calling
Oh, Mandy
Well, you came and you went AWOL, forsaking
But the CDC goes on without you
Oh, Mandy
Well, you dissed us and that hasn’t stopped me from fist shaking
And I need you back on the job today!
Oh, Mandy
Mandy by Barry Manilow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FOAd1mbtiM
Davos. Tangential, but a bit of warm schadenfreude in my little world of bumphuc. Uber to Davos?
https://arffwg.org/news/learjet-slides-off-runway-crashes-into-ravine/#:~:text=A%20Learjet%20trying%20to%20land%20at%20Mission%20Field,100%20yards%20from%20the%20airport%2C%20sources%20confirmed%20Thursday
The New West. Allusions of Yellowstone Grandeur..
I’m not surprised that the Fox coverage of the DC March for Gaza focused on some damage to the rinky dink temporary fence erected in front of the usual permanent fence surrounding the White House. I spent a few hours listening to the speakers in at the rally in Freedom Plaza and the crowd was great, probably as respectful (or more so) than any event of its kind that I can remember.
That venue was pretty flat and the sight lines were not great. I could tell there was a good sized crowd and wondered what an official estimate would be (with the usual amount of skepticism…). So the next morning I checked the Washington Post – one article, buried in the local section and filed before the actual event began. Oh, perhaps the NYT had someone on the scene? Well, they did have an article about a pro-Israel march in DC that took place in November. Oddly, one of the best reports was from USA Today, which actually included mention of some of the speakers and what they said.
Pretty amazing that an event that had maybe 10,000 attendees and included speeches by two presidential candidates (Jill Stein and Cornel West) could be completely ignored by the lame stream journals. I suppose the WP local reporters were busy covering a fat feline story over in Virginia….
What 10K? You’re joking? All the pictures and accounts of those I follow on Twitter/X put the crowd at 400K.
Just like the BBC not broadcasting the first day of SA’s ICJ presentation but chose to air the second day when Israel rebutted, nothing could be more transparent than the MSM’s bias. I’ll go further. Fascism was/is defined as the merging of powerful corporation with the state apparatus. The assumption once upon a time was that the news, especially newspapers, where to be independent. That is objectively no longer the case. The MSM has merged with the Silicon/Security State. The sooner the fiction of what role they play is called out, and people stop patronizing by viewing and paying attention to what they say is halted, the sooner we can transition to what hopefully will be better. I’m very encouraged and wish I could have joined those who showed up in the freezing weather in D.C., London and other places throughout the globe this past weekend.
Maybe 10K is too low, but I really doubt 400K. It was wall-to-wall people in Freedom Plaza, with a lesson dense crowd trailing up Penn Ave. beyond 13th St. Hard to imagine how that could be nearly half a million.
“Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis Popular Information”
Sounds like a classic case of malicious compliance, a favorite way of dealing with orders that one does not like.
First they came for the dictionary, and I did not speak out because I was a functional illiterate in Florida.
Malicious compliance. I like it. I learned another term the other day, “Innovation theater.”
That’s when companies pretend that they have some fancy new AI or other tech, and it’s really just power point.
I’m going to start using both terms a lot more in 2024.
“Why America hates its children” Business Insider
“America hates its chldren”
“America eats its young”
But America still worships and exalts youth.
See how that limits a long and fulfulling life?
Alastair Crooke’s latest.
Gut Feelings Make for Strategic Errors – U.S. Lured Into Battlescape in Gaza, Yemen and Now Iraq
https://strategic-culture.su/news/2024/01/15/gut-feelings-make-for-strategic-errors-us-lured-into-battlescape-in-gaza-yemen-and-now-iraq/
“Multi-Level Lies (PDF)” SSRN. Multi-level marketing. Exceptionally nasty. And pervasive.
And it needs a companion video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6MwGeOm8iI/
Multilevel Marketing: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
(Enjoyable no matter how one may feel about the host’s political views. Thought I’d add that with the plethora of divergence of opinion).
> While Gonzalo Lira is the ghost at the feast…
The times has bene,
That when the Braines were out, the man would dye,
And there an end: But now they rise againe
With twenty mortall murthers on their crownes,
And push vs from our stooles.
“Houthis defiant despite repeated strikes on Yemeni bases”?
Really?
You mean a group of people who have been fighting a war against Saudi Arabia since 2014 in which19,196 civilians were killed as of March 2022, is ‘defiant’?
Imagine…
And they’re getting at waterways throughout the region:
Houthi rebels hit US-owned cargo ship in Gulf of Aden
https://www.ft.com/content/2e918f9f-bcb4-47e2-9c15-c70a2a8ade5f
“…struck a US-owned cargo ship on Monday, the first direct assault on a commercial vessel since American and British forces launched multiple strikes against the Yemeni rebels last week.
The missile attack on the Gibraltar Eagle in the Gulf of Aden will increase concerns about the safety of ships transiting through the Middle East’s waterways even as the US seeks to deter the Houthi militants through military action….”
“Davos 2024 Day 1: What to expect World Economic Forum.”
2024 for millions of the rest of us.
The ‘old American Dream died,’ Realtor details salary needed to buy a home, afford a middle class life in 2024 Fox News
Hey, all the major economic indicators are looking pretty good, so what’s all the dissatisfaction and distress among the lower orders about? I don’t see Biden, Trump, or either major party doing a damned thing about this. The system that created this state of affairs is structurally too deeply rooted both practically and ideologically with no meaningful organized oppositional leadership on the horizon. I foresee unrest.
More art in winter: Cracked Ice screen
Every man wants to be a Davos, Davos man
To have the kind of booty always in demand
Networkin’ in the mornings, go man go
Workouts in chutzpah, assets grow
You can best believe me, he’s a Davos man
Glad he’s in attendance, not anyone can
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Davos, Davos man (Davos man, yeah)
I gotta be a Davos man (I gotta be a Davos man)
Davos, Davos man (yeah)
I gotta be a Davos (oowh)
You can tell a Davos, he has funky hi-fi joss
His Davos afterparty, always so boss
Funky with his gotten gains, he’s a king
Call him Mister Ego, dig his claims
You can best believe that, he’s a Davos man
He likes to be the leader, here’s his best for humanity plan
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Every man ought to be a Davos, Davos man
To live a life of freedom, Davos makes a stand
Have your own lifestyles and ideals
Possess the strength of confidence, that’s the skill
You can best believe that he’s a Davos man
He’s the special god son in anybody’s land
Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!
Macho Man, by Village People
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxxj73JCV4Q
As the petite Bourgeoisie, PMC, or if you will, the Precariat become more precarious the virtue signalling becomes louder and more incessant.
Their greatest fear is of being cast into the outer darkness, becoming “ONE OF THEM”, losing their status and place in society.
And their response is always to kick down harder and suck up harder because all that is good flows from the King and his Barons.
The rabble must be kept in its place, the peasants ground into dust in order to keep the Worthy safe…the ever diminishing number of “Worthy”.
Which works until it doesn’t and things come apart.
The Precariat Managerial Class does have a ring to it.
For those that wish to subvert the dominant paradigm the American Library Association has a superb adult literacy program…
A quote from my youth…”The most dangerous Man in America is a Black Man with a Library Card”.
And this is explains some of the destruction of public education, they do not want literacy in America. If you can read, you have access to knowledge, and if you actually try to acquire it, you gain the power that comes from understanding.
I think this explains the chuckleheads now in charge. Too many people think reading history is silly if they bother to read at all.
https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1746036878623838485
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
Big news: China just “brokered a ‘formal ceasefire’ between Myanmar’s military and a rebel guerrilla alliance”, to end the country’s civil war.
https://www.ft.com/content/b5f830f7-8aec-4862-832c-c68f81fac49f?shareType=nongift
China brokers ceasefire between Myanmar military and rebel alliance
12:10 AM · Jan 13, 2024
Myanmar’s military is not agreement capable, as they have already shown. There is and has been only one way to take power from them: on the battlefield. China halted that process as soon as the balance of power shifted against the Tatmawdaw, either out of commercial interest (unlikely) or because having a federated multi-ethnic Myanmar on China’s border might raise awkward questions for Xi. So here we are.
I’d be interested on your take on why the rebel sides agreed to this ceasefire – there is frustratingly little information out there.
There is little doubt but that China prefers the Tatmawdaw – the last thing they want or need is a multi ethnic fragmented state on their doorstep (especially as many of those ethnicities are also present on the Chinese side of the border).
But since it seems the rebels are winning, China must have used some very powerful leverage to persuade them to stop fighting. Either that, or a bit of a stalemate has emerged militarily and the rebels see a pause as a chance to build up strength.
China already has federated multi-ethnic Russia, India and Pakistan on it’s border, so I do doubt tiny Myanmar would push people to ask awkward question. My guess would be commercial interests and a general drive towards peace and stability in surrounding areas would be enough reason for China to mediate.
https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202401/1305385.shtml
January 15, 2024
Myanmar cease-fire conducive to its economic development
With China’s mediation and effort to drive progress, representatives of Myanmar’s military and three armed ethnic groups in northern Myanmar held peace talks in Kunming, capital of Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, and reached a formal cease-fire agreement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said on Friday.
The cease-fire agreement is undoubtedly a positive development that deserves recognition and encouragement, as it provides a valuable opportunity for various Myanmar parties to engage in peace talks to end the unrest by creating favorable conditions for restoring peace and stability.
A cease-fire is, first and foremost, greatly beneficial to the embattled Myanmar and its people. As a long period of domestic conflict has led to something of an economic development standstill and left its population in poverty, peace and stability in northern Myanmar are totally in the interests of the country’s own development….
Translation: China supports the Tatmadaw. Awesome.
it’s going to be an interesting year, The Biden Administration has started wars with Russia, Ecuador and the entire Islamic World, “Covid is no worse than the ‘Flu” is about to be completely discredited because of too many dead and crippled to ignore and the Biden Family corruption investigation keeps turning up more ugliness while the sentencing of Ray Epps to 100 hours of community service and one year of probation has raised quite a few eyebrows.
A terrorist attack (Totally unprovoked) by UkroNazis pissed of about being abandoned or Muslims ticked off by Genocide and ethnic cleansing seems inevitable, however I can’t predict what the US Response will be other than reckless, irresponsible and stupid.
We’ll see. The death count thus far hasn’t shocked a conscious into Biden, or anyone in his administration, or in public health, so far. I suspect we’re looking at a 5-10 year timeline before repeat infections disable enough people that any possible delta in policy response is contemplated. I only hope that some private sector innovation might at least offer those of us that can afford it, some additional protection. Perhaps we get nasal sprays with solid evidence of efficacy, or nasal vaccines, or widely adopted improved ventilation standards, or someone comes up with an effective treatment that prevents long-COVID, immune dis-regulation, vascular and neurological damage, ect.
But the denial is strong with liberal Democrats. So we’ll see.
> .“Covid is no worse than the ‘Flu” is about to be completely discredited because of too many dead and crippled to ignore
I honestly don’t know. We’ve been doing pretty well on the ignoring front so far.
2020 – ‘It’s just the flu, bro!’
2024 – ‘Covid is no worse than the ‘Flu’
Progress!
In case you’re interested, have some local news on the state of the beef industry is like out West. High prices seem set to continue, but rather than encouraging new investment, it looks like the conditions are so severe that people are using the extra money to exit the business.
Ground sirloin and Dungeness Crab are both $8.99 Lb locally.
Eggs as low as $3.99 Dozen at Trader Joes, Sonoma County has been hit hard by Avian ‘Flu, however it has had little effect on food prices here ( Duck Excepted) as of yet.
I wonder how high oil will get this summer?
Genocide Joe and his gang have demonstrated that Obama was right when he said “You can’t overestimate Joe’s ability to screw things up”.
Enjoy the show!
As for electricity transmission problems over significant distances, the problem is readily though slowly resolved by the construction of ultra-high voltage transmission lines from alternative sources to delivery locations. These transmission lines are expensive and utilities will resist construction unless required to. China has been working on this transmission system for years:
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202307/02/WS64a140f5a310bf8a75d6cbec.html
July 2, 2023
China’s largest ultra-high voltage cross-river power transmission project put into operation
NANJING — China’s largest ultra-high voltage (UHV) power transmission project across the Yangtze River, the longest river in the country, was completed and put into operation Sunday.
The 500-kV power transmission project, spanning 2,550 meters across the Yangtze, stretches from the city of Taizhou to Wuxi in East China’s Jiangsu province, with a total length of 178 km and a total investment of over 1.5 billion yuan (about $207.6 million), according to the State Grid Jiangsu Electric Power Co., Ltd.
The project includes two power transmission towers measuring 385 meters high each, the tallest of their kind in the world. It is estimated that the maximum annual power transmission of the project can exceed 26 billion kWh, which is equivalent to the annual electricity consumption of a medium-sized Chinese city…
I’m not sure why this is hyped as the largest yet – there are already much larger (800kv and upward) UHV lines built in China. I guess its the Yangtse crossing which has made it newsworthy, although I’m somewhat baffled as to why they’d go overhead – its usually much better to go under a lake or river, not least for birdlife.
China is something of a latecomer to UHV lines. They only really ramped up around 2017 after facing huge problems balancing power loads north to south exacerbated by dry years reducing hydro output and water shortages forcing the shut down of thermal plants. While the grid is nominally ‘national’, in reality, like the US, its broken up into regional grids which tend to be reluctant to co-operate. This has become unsustainable over time, especially due to huge renewable investments in the north, so as usual China has upped the dial to 11 and has gone all in on it.
https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202312/07/WS65711071a31090682a5f1d4d.html
December 7, 2023
Robots aid maintenance work on UHV power line
HEFEI — A robotic dog trots back and forth between the transmission towers at the Guquan converter station in the mountains of eastern China, conducting a thorough inspection of the grid facilities.
“The robotic dog is equipped with two infrared cameras capable of identifying equipment defects such as loose mechanical connections and gas leaks,” said staff member Sun Chaopeng.
The four-legged robot sets out at a fixed time every day and automatically returns to recharge its battery. It is just one example of the widespread use of automation technology in ensuring power supply during the winter peak in China.
The grid the robot inspected is part of a 1,100-kilovolt ultrahigh voltage power line running 3,284 kilometers from Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region to the eastern province of Anhui. The “electric highway” boasts the highest voltage, largest transmission capacity and longest distance of any power line in the world.
China’s west-to-east power transmission program transmits surplus electricity from western regions rich in power-generating resources to eastern regions that need more electricity to power economic activities.
A shortage of workers used to pose a grave challenge to the maintenance of such projects, especially in remote areas, but robots have now begun to alleviate that pressure…
The smell of burnt bunions at the State Dept?
“The Gateway Pundit filed the following Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the State Department today:
What communication was there since Feb. 24, 2022 between the US State Department and the US Embassy in Kiev regarding US citizen Gonzalo Lira?
Specifically, what communication was there since Feb. 24, 2022 between Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and US Ambassador in Kiev Bridget Brink regarding US citizen Gonzalo Lira?
What communication was there since Feb. 24, 2022 within the US Federal Government, and between the US Federal Government and the Ukrainian Government, specifically with the Ukrainian Security Service SBU, regarding US citizen Gonzalo Lira?”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/01/gateway-pundit-files-foia-request-what-did-victoria/
Oh, boy.
Another Snowmageddon in Texas?
https://www.ercot.com/gridmktinfo/dashboards/supplyanddemand
Tomorrow morning should be interesting.
It seems the cold weather in Iowa will likely reduce the Democrat party’s effort to meddle with the Republican caucuses by attending them and skewing the results. Therefore I give you tomorrow’s headlines today:
The doors of Nikki Haley’s campaign fell off last night in Iowa and she has returned to Boeing.
You didn’t factor how narcissistic and psycho Haley is. To her this just means that it has become a two person race, and she doesn’t mean Trump/DeSantis.
I have to admit if I lived in New Hampshire I might be tempted to try to vote in the Republican primary for Ron just to help make Nikki a no factor also ran somewhere she spent so much time and money in. But I live in a state where I fully expect there to be no primary where I can lodge a protest vote for any Democrat but Brandon.
It is amazing to me how we can have a primary filled with nothing but people who should be nowhere near the office, and that includes the former and current occupant of said office.
> It is amazing to me how we can have a primary filled with nothing but people who should be nowhere near the office, and that includes the former and current occupant of said office.
This is the outcome we have optimized for….
I do not believe for one second that we are a loyal ally, just trying to support Israel. No4 do I believe that Israel was caught by surprise on Oct 8. Nor that we cannot produce sufficient ammo. Nor that the Houthis are anything but mosquitoes, nor that we are witnessing a religious ethnic genocide because Israelis believe they are superior, nor that Netanyahu believes it; I do not believe that we don’t already have modern supersonic missiles that can deliver tactical nukes and etc. as well as intercept Kinzhals. But, I also do not believe that we can produce sufficient gas and oil to keep our military running, let alone our economy running … and that is our Achilles heel. I certainly do not think Russia is expansionist, nor China. So I do believe we are caught in our own trap because if we go down we take the world with us economically which means there is actually a consensus for keeping America running sort of on life support. Half dead. Which requires petroleum for now. Over time this will drag our politics into the light of day. And the genocide of Gaza? I believe it is evidence of just how desperate we have become to insure our energy supply, which unfortunately currently lies in the eastern Mediterranean just off the coast of … Gaza. And I am so sick of all the hysterical lies all I want to do is vomit.
We have the tools! From an employer I know of:
Hooray!
Covid home antigen test has been unreliable for over a year already. Christmas 2022 my wife and I were sick for a full week. Kept testing for Covid, but all were negative until the very end of the week. Symptoms were already subsiding when the Covid lines appeared.
Taibbi’s latest note on the Iowa caucus.
Livestream Tonight, 8:45 p.m. ET: Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi Watch Iowa Caucus Results
America This Week’s campaign professionals watch the returns come in. Will they be interesting, or just surreal?
https://www.racket.news/p/livestream-tonight-845-pm-et-walter
Taibbi correction note on tonight’s livestream.
Correction, Livestream Tonight, 8:45 ET: Walter Kirn and Matt Taibbi Watch Iowa Caucus Returns
Corrected link!
https://www.racket.news/p/correction-livestream-tonight-845
“I can barely tell any of them apart. Macron, Trudeau, Newsom, and now Attal. and they all look like “American Psycho”…”
(comment I came across on the internet).
The business card scene:
“The rational management of symbolic capital.”
Wow. Superb illustration.
Iranian launches longest-range missile attack in Iranian history, striking ISIS facilities near Aleppo, Syria. Missiles flew over 1,200km. https://twitter.com/AlertChannel/status/1747041987025355242
While the range of the attack is significant – proving Iran’s ability to reach Israel – much more significant is that an Iranian attack on Aleppo would have required Türkiye’s approval and was likely given.
Tonight: Former President Trump delivers a victory speech at Iowa caucuses
12:45 point “We will try to go to paper ballots as soon as possible.”
“Dammit Jim”