Bird of the Week: California Brown Pelicans Discourse Blog
OPEC+ Agrees to Extend Output Cuts Until Mid-Year OilPrice
Chronic wasting disease threatens First Nations food security The Narwhal
The Extraordinary Lives Of Coast Redwoods NOEMA
Strength Alone Atmos
Climate/Environment
“Concerning” Findings – Study Links Everyday Chemicals to Parkinson’s Disease in Western U.S. SciTech Daily
Neurodegenerative effects of air pollutant Particles: Biological mechanisms implicated for Early-Onset Alzheimer’s disease ScienceDirect
***
Utility fraud and corruption are threatening the clean energy transition Floodlight
7/7. The org where I work was founded 50yrs ago with sustainability as a key part of its mission. But ILSR has been at odds with big enviro groups many times b/c of their unwillingness to confront issues of concentrated ownership, scale & power—which we see as being at the root.
— Stacy Mitchell (@stacyfmitchell) March 3, 2024
Toxic Train Bombs
Shipper groups sound alarm over Norfolk Southern proxy fight Trains.com
#COVID-19
⚠️BEYOND ANGRY—Lots of confusion on CDC’s new isolation guidelines— why? Because The CDC MADE THEM CONFUSING & VAGUE ON PURPOSE. Proponents claim it still has “some isolation” & still “some precautions”. But if you read actual guidelines (which are clear as mud)—see if you think… pic.twitter.com/uB7UNkbMAS
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) March 4, 2024
Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science Guardian
We need to talk about disease eradication. Those delighted with the uncontrolled spread of Covid often justify it by saying nothing else can be done, that it can’t be eradicated. Like most public narratives in this pandemic, that’s a blancmange of half-truths. /1 pic.twitter.com/CYH9BiZfjW
— Henry Madison (@RageSheen) March 2, 2024
Africa
Policy Failure caused Zambia’s Food Crisis Africa Watch
India
Farmer Unions Announce March Towards Delhi via Road, Air, Rail and on Foot on March 6 The Wire
Inside the Libido Industry Open Magazine
The Koreas
Thousands of South Korean doctors rally as healthcare standoff escalates Channel News Asia
China?
China’s Dangerous Inflection Point Dollars & Sense
Why fixing inequality is central to China’s common prosperity goal South China Morning Post
Syraqistan
Scores of Palestinians killed, injured as Israel bombs aid truck in central Gaza Anadolu Agency
Oxygen, water, dates top the the list of aid denied by ‘Israel’: CNN Al Mayadeen
US plans more airdrops into Gaza amid hope for Ramadan cease-fire Washington Post
Genocide as capitalist opportunity pic.twitter.com/TeZRcMrAqs
— Yoav Litvin (@nookyelur) March 3, 2024
Old Blighty
Property Developer Patriotism Tribune Mag
European Disunion
European Parliament to Consider Renewing Free Trade Agreement with Ukraine Next Week Kyiv Post
All six crossing points on Polish-Ukrainian border blocked, 2,400 lorries in queue Ukrainska Pravda
Poland signs $2.5bn deal with US for air defence system Notes from Poland
New Not-So-Cold War
Fall-out from the Bundeswehr scandal Gilbert Doctorow
Germany Accuses Russia of ‘Information War’ After Military Recording Reuters
***
Footage Confirms Destruction of More U.S.-Supplied Abrams Tanks in Ukraine Military Watch
ACURA ViewPoint: Paul R. Grenier: Thoughts on The Quincy Institute’s “The Diplomatic Path to a Secure Ukraine” American Committee for US-Russia Accord
The Balkans
Serbia’s ruling party says will rerun marred Belgrade vote Euractiv
West increases pressure on Serbia to recognize Kosovo: President Anadolu Agency
Imperial Collapse Watch
Collapsing Empire: ‘How US Broke Kosovo’ Active Measures
NASA scraps $2 billion satellite refueling plan after years of delays Interesting Engineering
Will NASA be able to return Mars samples to Earth? New audit raises doubts Space.com
Boeing
Alaska Airlines, Boeing sued for $1B over horrific mid-air blowout that sucked away teen’s shirt New York Post
Former Boeing Senior Manager Walks Off Alaska Airlines Flight After Realizing It Was A On 737 MAX 9 Simple Flying
Air traffic controllers are overworked and stressed — and that’s dangerous for safe flying Business Insider
Fresh hope in mystery of missing Malaysia MH370 flight as search update given AP
Global Elections
Pakistan: Imran Khan’s supporters arrested for protesting against poll rigging Indian Express
South of the Border
Complaint by Ecuadorian Indigenous nation asks BC Securities Commission to investigate Solaris Resources Canadian Dimension
Yellen sees big jump in US imports from Chile, eyes progress on green transition Reuters
Learning from Chile Africa Is A Country
Spook Country
Death of Angela Chao, sister-in-law of Mitch McConnell, under ‘criminal investigation’: reports FOX Business
Tesla Hacked? Kyle Bass Raises Questions On CCP-Linked Angela Chao’s Death The Deep Dive. From Feb. 17.
2024
AIPAC uncorks $100 million war chest to sink progressive candidates POLITICO
Trump campaign press secretary on Haley DC win: ‘The swamp has claimed their queen’ The Hill
Your Guide to What’s on the Ballot on Super Tuesday Bolts Mag
Democrats en déshabillé
Kamala Harris visits Selma for the 59th Annual Bloody Sunday Bridge Crossing Jubilee Montgomery Advertiser
This is how you know what Kamala said today was a cynical ploy. Israel is the one who rejected the ceasefire because they don’t want a permanent one, they want their hostages *and* want to resume bombing. Putting pressure on Hamas instead of Israel tells you all you need to know. https://t.co/B92NjNKvM3 pic.twitter.com/TUpPi77n4l
— Lindsay Ballant (@lindsayballant) March 4, 2024
This is such a powerful picture!
📸: Saul Loeb pic.twitter.com/PtkV0WUouR
— best of kamala harris (@archivekamala) March 3, 2024
Realignment and Legitimacy
The End of the Future Jacobin
Our Famously Free Press
Kara Swisher’s Reality Distortion Field Disconnect. “In “Burn Book,” the longtime tech journalist tries to rewrite her story for the post-techlash era.”
The Supremes
Supreme Court to release decisions Monday, with Trump Colorado ruling a strong possibility NBC News
California’s Reckless Supreme Court Gambit Scheerpost
Ex-Supreme Court Clerks Find Big Money Opportunities in Litigation Finance Law.com
AI
AI Helps Litigation Funders Mine Court Dockets for Legal Gold Bloomberg Law
Capital Flows Into Litigation Funds With Social Justice Impact Bloomberg Law
The Bezzle
Class Warfare
Rich Countries Are Becoming Addicted to Cheap Labor WSJ. “Becoming”?
Riders in the Smog: Pollution is poisoning gig workers Rest of World
Louisiana’s New Governor Gutted Critical Corporate Subsidy Reforms Boondoggle
Sports Desk
Caitlin Clark points record: Iowa star passes Pete Maravich for top scorer in NCAA history Iowa City Press-Citizen
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
137 comments
Comments are closed.
‘best of kamala harris
@archivekamala
This is such a powerful picture!
📸: Saul Loeb’
And if you look hard enough, you can see a touch of Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” –
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Problem_We_All_Live_With
Wanna bet more time was spent on that totally not planned or set up photo/s than was spent on her clearly bs speech.
If that picture is supposed to be Kamala crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge she’s going the wrong way.
—–
Today’s antidote.
A Wonderful Bird Is The Pelican
By Dixon Lanier Merritt
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican!
haha, that poem was awesome!
I’d like to think she kept walking; probably no such luck though.
“Fweedom!”
I love the symbolism. The Civil Rights marchers walked over the bridge. The police opposition stood on the other side blocking them from entering. Kamala, being a centrist, struts across the street between the two sides.
It is all symbolism for these people. Like some kind of elaborate wicca ritual gone self-referential.
I looked at that Twitter account and didn’t get the impression it is insincere or satire. Kinda disturbing to think Kamala has fans.
Probably people that cheered for HRC before the 2016 faceplant, and now has doubled down by finding themselves someone that is not just woman but also black.
Military dog robots. Ah yet again Black Mirror got there first.
“Former Boeing Senior Manager Walks Off Alaska Airlines Flight After Realizing It Was A On 737 MAX 9”
As another reader so astutely pointed out, Boeing executives don’t fly aircraft like their own Boeing 737 MAXs but fly business jets owned by Boeing instead. They probably tell each other that it would look really bad if one of them were killed in a Boeing 737 MAX crash so it is for the good of the company that they fly on those business jets.
I remember a youtube segment with the Millboro Man after his career, on health concerns of his practice, but before he was diagnosed (and died) with lung cancer.
On a long trudge up a mountain side for photo shoot, MM recalled being winded, while in noting the suits were not, asked and remembered hearing:
Capitalism 10n, written into the bylaws of the Constitution. Kamala’s handlers keep a copy on their phones. And on hers. A copy of the bylaws that actually runs the big things, held under a code of silence assumed by those who gain admittance to the club. It’s a small club and I am certain I am not in it. But Kamala did say something of note, Love for Sale, who will buy, who will sample my supply.
My, but I am cynical. Maybe there is scintilla of humanity there that can be pushed forward?
Came across this odd little link – said to be German state children’s TV promoting NATO weapons supply, in Thomas the Tank Engine style: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kgsVFZXnkAE?feature=share
It’s a Youtube snippet, and I can’t figure out a translation mode.
p.s. seems to be from this organization: https://www.zdf.de/kinder/logo?at_medium=Social%20Media&at_campaign=YouTube&at_type=Organic&at_specific=logoplus
Shades of when they trotted out a cute little girl to call for escalating the War On Syria.
At least an animation can’t go off-script.
I don’t know whether this particular video was aired (and I highly doubt it), but it’s indeed produced by a team working for ZDF. Here’s the link to their videos on the ZDF website (no translations there either)
https://www.zdf.de/kinder/logo
The propaganda is through the roof. Why should German children even care about Nawalny, Taurus missiles, etc?
“Fall-out from the Bundeswehr scandal”
‘There is great consternation that the Russians have accessed what should have been maximally secure communications lines. In its coverage today, Le Monde tells a similar story.’
Boy, those Bundeswehr guys must be scratching their heads trying to work out how the Russians broke an encrypted line so that they could record that conversation. The Russians must have used some of their supercomputers. Unless of course…
‘The article pointed out that the officers had used standard WebEx video conference software that was not encrypted to discuss “highly sensitive military secrets” which, among other things, revealed details about the deployment of Storm Shadow missiles and confirmed the presence of the British military in Ukraine.’
https://www.rt.com/news/593723-germany-leaked-conversation-missle-delivery/
Oh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQeezCdF4mk
Pair that with the next link, “Germany Accuses Russia of ‘Information War’ After Military Recording”, and I’m starting to feel deja vu all over again.
Russia declares red lines, releases information showing the West planning to cross the line, the West screams disinformation and then…
Ever notice that there does not appear to be an Atomic Fireball emoji?
We need one to use at the end of comments about NATO and the West’s military strategy in general nowadays.
I’m sure this is completely unrelated, but:
‘Berlin on lockdown after German armed police open fire on far-left communist terrorists’ – Express
https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1873124/Berlin-lockdown-police-armed-shooting-Red-Army-Faction-terrorists-communist
Forget about that leaked discussion; the Red Army Faction is back people! Cold War 2.0 is really coming full circle. Makes me almost nostalgic.
What? Wasn’t the Red Army Faction wiped out in the
1970s1980s? Are the old members coming out of retirement in their (at least) sixties?Perhaps the government is trying to get those right-wing Ukraine skeptics in the AfD to believe it’s the 1970s and the Commies are coming again.
As far as I get it, the claim is they’ve detained Daniela Klette (it seems she wasn’t even really hiding), and now they’re after Burkhard Garweg und Ernst-Volker Staub.
Link in English re:Klette’s detainment.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/mar/02/daniela-klette-germany-most-wanted-woman-neighbours
Of all the things I didn’t expect to see Bellingcat involved.
===
Police have yet to confirm the link between the arrest and a podcast from 2023 for which an investigative journalist from the website Bellingcat put the police wanted notice of Klette from the 1990s through the AI image search tool PimEyes, which detected images of the older version of her, AKA Claudia Ivone the capoeira enthusiast, online.
===
And per the NYT (thank you, Mark Ames), it was a guy from Bellingcat who helped find her! (Though he did wonder why they didn’t look for right-wingers either.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/01/world/europe/daniela-klette-red-army-faction.html
One of them dialled in from Singapore. A country where government surveillance has always been at levels that would make most Western countries blush. China may have backdoored the Singapore collection and passed the info onto Russia. That the call was made from Singapore, both a former British colony and Chinese population, it’d be the ideal location for a set of ’embarrassing leaks’. A Bundeswehr rebellion? Coming just after Macron’s ‘need for boots on the ground’ and Scholz’ emphatic ‘no’.
If you believe Roderich Kiesewetter, then the eavesdropper simply joined the call.
===
Unfortunately, there are increasing indications that a Russian participant openly joined the Webex conference, and no one noticed that one more participant was present there.
===
“Es verdichten sich leider Hinweise, dass offensichtlich ein russischer Teilnehmer sich in die Webex eingewählt hat und dass offensichtlich nicht auffiel, dass dort eine weitere Zuwahlnummer war”, sagte der stellvertretende Vorsitzende des Parlamentarischen Kontrollgremiums in der ARD-Sendung Bericht aus Berlin.
===
https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/abhoerfall-bundeswehr-104.html
Thanks for linking to the story about Caitlin Clark breaking Pete Maravich’s NCAA scoring record. Her shooting and scoring ability is phenomenal; her floor vision and passing are Maravich-esque as well. Awesome to see. Fun fact: Pete set the record 16 years before the NCAA had a three point line. Looking forward to following Caitlin’s pro career.
Yep, congrats to her and all the attention she is pulling into the sport…and doing so while playing for a highly ranked team this season. I might split my attention to the women’s tournament bracket in the coming weeks ( also watching if the South Carolina women can actually run the table ).
Pete Maravich led a shortened but interesting life. Several books have been written about him and also his father, whom he played under at LSU.
Tickets were $550, also a record. I used to take my daughter to the UI Women’s games about 10 years ago. The place was mostly empty and tickets were $8.
Now you can’t get in unless you’re rich. They interviewed all these people from out of state who were at the game. Yay, rich people.
An old friend from high school attended UF in the middle 1990s, about the same time the school hired a young Billy Donovan to head their men’s basketball program. This friend used to joke about how empty the place might be and how cheap tickets were. Donovan started to win a few years later and I am sure that all changed.
Ticket prices for these amateur (in name only) athletic events have become just insane.
I liked the fact it wasn’t crowded, and cheap (not the snacks though.) They were a good team even back then, Coach Lisa Bluder gets a lot of credit, for already having a strong foundation that could attract a Caitlin Clark in the first place. Women’s basketball in Iowa is a whole thing, it goes way back.
We stopped going to the games as my daughter grew up and I never got to see Caitlin in person. She is fun to watch for sure.
Congratulations to Caitlin Clark! A truly phenomenal player who may be one of the best basketball players of all time. But . . .
If we are being honest she did not break “Pistol” Pete Maravich’s true scoring record. Maravich played only 3 seasons(freshmen were not allowed to play varsity) and there was NO 3-point line/shot at that time. If The Pistol had a 3-point line he would have scored over 1000 points more! And if he had played for 4 years instead of 3 he also would have scored another 1000 points! No one will ever come close to the player The Pistol was(Clark’s scoring average is 28.3 and Maravich’s scoring average was 44.2 and might have been as high as 57! if he had a 3-point line). I had the good fortune to see him play against the Celtics and Wow! A truly amazing one of a kind player(I gave up playing basketball seriously after that since his skills were inhuman and my game wasn’t even on the same planet)!
Pete was the coaches’ son & had a “green light” to shoot. He averaged 38.1 shots per game, while Clark averaged over her career only 19.9 shots per game. Pete averaged 5.1 assists. Caitlyn 8.2. Pete rebounds per game 6.4 & Clark 7. She will likely end her college carreer as the 3rd all-time assist leader.
Yes, Pistol Pete is still the “scoring” leader at 44 ppg. Clark is now the NCAA total “points” leader and a remarkable player, too. Clark’s 3 point shooting is stunning and her all ’round game is as smooth as Maravich. The strides the women’s game is making is magical; 50 years ago they didn’t play full-court and players on offense were only allowed 3 dribbles. Today the women play a faced paced, all-player, screen-and-move game that accentuates high BBall IQ.
Nice overall summary of where China is now and how it got here.
The author, for anyone interested, is a former financial regulator who is active in the DSA and a number of left leaning financial think tanks – including the Chicago Political Economy Group, not to be confused with the Chicago School of pseudo-economics.
He is a rarity among long time china watchers in that he seems more interested in looking at the data, rather than trying to shove current events into their own preconceived beliefs. He has produced a few good powerpoint overviews of data on the CPEG website that are quite useful.
“And China’s solar energy investment has become a major driver of overall investment.”
China’s high level of domestic investment in infrastructure has not stopped.
While this isn’t OilPrice, this video has images of the MASSIVE 455GW renewable project that China is building. When finished, the projects will provide about as much electricity as India uses or enough for 400 million homes! The video gives a visual overview of the size.
The 13:30 minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX_PeNzz-Lw
The transcription text for the video is here: https://undecidedmf.com/chinas-massive-desert-project-is-about-to-change-the-world/
;
“US plans more airdrops into Gaza amid hope for Ramadan cease-fire”
This sounds like the US is “doing something” but when you consider that each transport is dropping only 38,000 meals while there are over two million starving people on the ground, it is only a drop in the bucket. My own belief is that this air operation is to take attention away from the fact that the Israelis are stopping the bulk of trucks getting through and attacking many of the ones that do. So these air drops are to stop the Israelis looking like genocidal maniacs.
Ceasefire? They’re serving up a steaming plate of hopium along with your morning coffee.
Benny Gantz went off the reservation and flew to DC to talk with the regime. Netanyahu expressly denied that he speaks for the governing coalition and chastised him for defiance:
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/03/israel-hamas-netanyahu-washington-00144577
My worry is that Beebs will roll the tanks into Rafah on Ramadan eve. It’s what, only six days?
In a recent thread was raised the question of why Burns of CIA would be talking with Mossad people since neither group had anything to do with ceasefire negotiations.
The thought just occurred to me . . . . what if CIA and Mossad were quietly discussing how to perform a “leadership change” operation in Israel . .. who would need to get which ducks in what rows, etc.? Could Gantz be part of such discussions?
Good catch. You may be on to something.
We are supposed to oppose CIA subversions and overthrows, but in this case I might not object.
Maybe someone in The Bubble should tell Biden he might also consider doing some airdrops into New York City and San Francisco and others. If they add “and you can include some voter registration forms” he might perk up and listen for a few seconds.
I think George Carlin said it best in the early 90s.
“We don’t fix the homeless problem, because no one can make money off doing that!”
That pretty much applies to all social problems that the USA seems unable to fix.
I’d replace “unable” with “unwilling”.
As our president’s father used to say to him, “Joey, where there’s a will, there’s a way. Now, stop being an a**.”
I wonder if it’s that they think they can fool the voters in to believing Biden is actually helping the people in Gaza. That this might get people to stop protesting him and keep the uncommitted voters from gathering steam.
I think that is exactly it.
Of course, it’s shamefully brazen and insane, because crediting Biden for a hypothetical ceasefire would be like crediting the Philadelphia police commissioner who burned down a building full of black activists in the Philly MOVE bombings after they already killed those guys. Oh, great job Philly, they stopped killing civilians including children! Give ’em the Nobel peace prize.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_MOVE_bombing
Are the air drops to make the Israelis look more humane? Because with all the reports of IDF ghouls attacking civilians seeking food, it comes across more like bear baiting.
I think the Rev is exactly right, though I believe it was more a PR stunt for the benefit of the Biden administration. The US got Israel to allow this inefficient and inadequate “air drop” strictly for the visuals, so that we could pretend to be doing something. This, along with Kamala’s call for “an immediate cease fire,” was plastered all over the evening news last night. I didn’t see much about Israel shelling aid trucks, though.
That is how these clowns roll, isn’t it? It’s never that a policy is wrong or the economy is actually bad or a politician is unpopular – it’s always simply more PR needed to fool the rubes according to the ruling class.
I had a buddy tell me over the weekend that there was a ceasefire coming according to an article he got in his newsfeed. Apparently it must have been this PR stunt, which if you ask me is just some cover to make Biden’s “ceasefire by the end of the weekend” comment, which he mumbled between bites of his ice cream cone a few days prior, look potentially accurate and not just the ramblings of a senile old warmonger who’s 100% OK with genocide.
Assigning Harris to the ceasefire beat is a sure sign the entire effort is doomed. Remember when she was the border czar? Good times!
The word “moral figleaf” come to mind.
The gesture fools only those who actively wish to be fooled.
The air drops by all actors involved are, yes, PR, but are taking that form because the trucks are held up by the IDF (and being occasionally bombed by same). Jordan dropped some supplies into the Med, probably to avoid flattening people, but the scenes of people rowing their way to sinking and damaged aid on makeshift rafts, then rowing back to swarms of starving people on the beach are bad PR for all.
Imagine an alien clandestinely taking notes during this gruesome spectacle: what mighht they conclude about our species? So as not be misanthropic, what might they conclude about the way our social organization precludes our best impulses from being factors in the decision making of our greatest authorities? Saturnine days, my friends.
“My White House – Mission Impossible: How I, the first female CIA disguise division chief, deceived the Secret Service, infiltrated the Oval Office and shocked the President… by peeling off MY face”
‘I changed into a man’s suit and donned the mask of a black male, adding matching skintight latex gloves that were precisely painted with the same skin color, including veins.’
Shades of the old 60s TV program “Mission Impossible.” Of course this article was talking about events of the early 90s but since then, things have gotten easier in this department. All that woman agent would have to do these days is to walk into the White House and say ‘I identify as a black male!’ and she would be in.
Caused a spit take! Thanks for the laugh.
There’s that one joke again.
And I identify with it!
A relative of mine of mine who is a neurology resident and works with Parkinsons patients mentioned to me some time ago that they’ve had surprisingly good results treating patients with pro and prebiotics to improve their biome.
I’ve thought for some time that standard protocols for assessing the toxicity of various chemicals in our food may be looking at the wrong thing – the main health impact may not be through direct toxicity, or even indirectly through endocrine impacts, but via interference with gut bacteria. There is tantalizing evidence that even very small quantities of some agricultural chemicals may have very significant impacts on our gut biome – although there are so many confounding variables its extremely difficult to measure.
Another good reason I think to chose organic when possible, or better still, grow your own food.
Wow, that is a very good lead. Thank you.
“All six crossing points on Polish-Ukrainian border blocked, 2,400 lorries in queue”
Those Polish farmers are not backing down as they know that they cannot compete with tariff-free Ukrainian grains which will put them out of bsiness. And by now they know that the European Parliament is not their friend but will sell them out in an instant. The Ukrainians tried to sneak their grain through the backdoor by using Lithuania as a conduit but now those Polish farmers are now checking for Ukrainian grain coming through Lithuania-
https://au.news.yahoo.com/polish-farmers-look-ukrainian-grain-200000783.html
Of course if the Ukrainians had honoured the Black Sea grain corridor, then this would not be such an issue. But they just had to abuse that agreement to try to attack Russia with.
“Those Polish farmers are not backing down as they know that they cannot compete…”
Fine, helpful comment.
The reason that they cannot compete is that they have to pay all sorts of fees and taxes for selling their grain whereas the Ukrainian grain zips through tariff free. Doesn’t even matter that some Ukrainian grain is using pesticides that are banned in the EU.
whats the GDP of Honduras?
and what was not helpful about it? rev’s truthful statement is stating the obvious. what we are witnessing is history, just as the world witnessed it in 1914, and 1930, the complete unraveling of a crank policy, that has help to drive the world into war once again.
you can have a civil society or free trade, you can’t have both. you can have a pristine environment, or free trade, but you cannot have both.
Just like to point out that this grain isn’t being grown by struggling independent Ukrainian farmers. As far as I know, Ukraine’s ag industry has been completely taken over by US/Western multi-nationals. They’re the ones who stand to profit by dumping cheap grain into Europe, since it will drive independent farmers out of business, and allow total imperial control over Poland’s food supply.
CORRECT!
I’m at a loss to help explain some of these problems of near collisions and runway incursions, especially the JAL disaster.
Radio communication in aviation is nothing like normal speech. If the tower gives instructions, it first identifies the aircraft and then speaks in clear simple language. The proper response is to identify yourself and repeat the instructions exactly. For example, the tower says, United 42 taxi to and hold short of Runway 27-Left. The pilot response is, United 42 taxi to and hold short to runway 27-Left.
It’s impossible that anybody would respond with, sure, no problem or ok, and even a response like, United 42 hold short is inadequate.
Moreover, as both pilots are almost always listening to the same radio frequency, it’s hard to imagine both would somehow screw-up.
This might appear awkward at first but, in fact, it allows aircraft and air traffic control to communicate very fast without confusion which is necessary at congested airports.
As to near collisions, aircraft descending toward an airport are still traveling fast and, besides, pilots are not looking out the window as much as people think. You’re often flying an arrival route which requires you to be at specific points at a specific speed and altitude.
The speed limit below Ft 10,000 is nearly 300 mph. Thus, two aircraft on a collision course are hardly visible to each other when one minute apart and surprisingly, even if you spot another aircraft it’s difficult to determine visually if you should climb or descent. At higher altitudes and higher speeds the other aircraft would barely be a spec in the distance. There is a device on the aircraft, known as TCAS, to provide information, but its no comfort to think ATC put you on a collision course.
I have experience flying large airplanes internationally which is interesting as long as you don’t mind decades of jet-lag. I think the most salient point of all is fatigue. I can’t imagine controllers working 10-hours a day 6-days a week.
Immediately after a commercial airplane takes off, especially in big cities with more than one airport, and especially in bad weather, you immediately enter a radar environment where everybody needs to know what they’re doing, and everybody needs to know what the next step is. This system was not designed to work with exhausted air traffic controllers.
This sounds exactly like the run up to the Air Traffic Controller’s Strike back in 1981. Back then, Reagan, (may he eternally rot in the Retired Actors RedGreen Room,) fired all the unionized controllers and replaced them with military controllers while replacements, (scabs,) were procured.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_Air_Traffic_Controllers_Organization_(1968)
Does the military have sufficient ‘replacement’ controllers today?
Yet another reason not to fly commercial.
The Air Traffic Controllers weren’t completely in the right but I can say with confidence that the surrendering Japanese Army in WW2 was treated with more compassion than Reagan showed the striking controllers.
made me think about the air traffic controllers union strike as well – not sure what they got wrong as you suggest and from previous post i assume you are or were a commercial pilot so probably have a better handle on that – but it seemed too radical of an act by Rayguns and it certainly rattled all unions –
https://theintercept.com/2021/08/06/middle-class-reagan-patco-strike/
i won’t get on a Boeing any time soon –
It seems that she reversed into a pond on her property and drowned.
I do love a conspiracy theory involving the deep state of one country or another, but there have been reports in the past about incidents with Tesla and the ease of going from ‘drive’ to ‘reverse’ inadvertently – apparently the most up to date models will do it automatically if an obstacle is detected in front of the vehicle when starting.
Given Chao’s family have very deep pockets and very wide and deep political connections in the US and China (her sister is Elaine Chao, Trumps Secretary of State for Transportation), I suspect this could be very big trouble for Tesla if it turns out its a design fault.
If a Tesla goes into a pond, does everything short out, and does that mean you cant open the door/window? I understand that an elderly person may not be able to kick-out a window. Perhaps panic, or she couldn’t swim?
She should have purchased the ‘Automatic Airlock Option’ and activated it by whistling Yellow Submarine, a procedure which is tested by Tesla as an alternative to traditional passwords.
Did you know, that many filthy rich people have trouble parting with their gold, although drowning?
“The FAA Will Let New Air Traffic Controllers Skip The Academy, But That Still May Not Help New York”
‘The new FAA Administrator, Mike Whitaker, announced that graduates schools participating in the agency’s Collegiate Training Initiative that update their curriculum to cover all of the material taught at the FAA’s academy for controllers will no longer have to attend the FAA’s academy. Instead, once they’ve passed controller aptitude testing, they’ll be assigned to on-the-job training.’
Wait now. Did he just say that they are dumping formal training at the FAA’s academy and going for on the job training instead? For air traffic controllers which deal with the lives of thousands of people each and every hour? Is that wise?
Further on, article seemed to say that those who had completed private training courses or were making lateral moves (ex-mil?) would be those allowed to skip the FAA academy. But they allowed a quote from an observer /concerned party to do the explaining, which isn’t best source or helpful to the fast, casual reader.
From Florida is swamped by disease outbreaks as quackery replaces science
Someone protests too much! Biden and the CDC are effectively carrying out the GBD, to this day.
Which doesn’t excuse Ladapo from being a whack job.
After listening to most of this on a long drive, I’ve concluded that Tucker Carlson is hardly as smart as he thinks he is. But, he’s doing great work, and he admits his faults readily. Tried to interview Snowden, but, only had dinner with him. Snowden seems to be unhappy and stuck, wants no part of the limelight.
https://youtu.be/f_lRdkH_QoY?si=4iGbbsBWeQ58g-sr
Remarkable that both of these people seem to have no clue as to what Putin was talking about with denazification. Both thought it was a joke. Have they never heard of Stephan Bandera? No wonder Putin started with a history lesson.
I will confess that Tucker has always annoyed me greatly. I will also confess that my views may be polluted because a college roommate of mine taught at St Georges School in Rhode Island when Tucker was there and found him to be an insufferable twit even back then. However, I gathered myself and watched all of his Putin interview (where he seemed a bit clueless and nowhere near Putin’s mental ability) and then all of his talk with Lex (who I think is maybe the best interviewer out there right now). All that watching made me slightly more favorable to Carlson, he seemed more human, as in, he is well aware he is a mighty asshole, and I find many of his views =, to my surprise, match my own. But as this reader says, when it came to the denazification talk, both in the Putin interview and then with Friedman, it’s as if these guys simply cannot comprehend or get the nature of the Russian fear. Maybe it is because they are too young to have met and talked extensively with survivors of that era, or failed to read, among other tomes, Shirer’s Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. They can’t see the parallels, the sinilarities, and so they dismiss all of it. Huge mistake. Huge.
It’s a product of the first Great Boomer propaganda saturation. I was brought up to believe the Anglo Saxon victory in WW2. You know, Churchill, FDR, and American industry. Not until later in life did I learn much about the battle of Stalingrad and the fact that the Russians were first to Berlin. Then there’s the complicated complicity with the Nazis by various groups and militaries in Eastern Europe assisting in the Holocaust and various other acts of ethnic cleansing. Nobody wants to talk about the Poles killing so many Jews, the most Jewish of states pre war. They even attacked and killed returning Jews from the camps after the war ended.
This generation is being taught, Putin bad, evil, Russians are marching west. It never ends.
Once again, from the organization that absorbed and employed and adopted “policies” of a whole lot of actual real Wolfshead Nazis,via Operation Paperclip and other Dulles-Donovan “initiatives:”
“We will know our program of disinformation is complete when nothing the American public believes is true,” per William Casey, CIA director and all around Dr. Evil sh!t.
Statements explicitly expressing fear are not part of the discourse of international diplomacy. I imagine the idea is to appear resolute, full of conviction and a willingness to fight for one’s interests. I doubt it would have made much of a dent in the efficacy of cold war propaganda, but getting behind the stern mask of Kremlin leaders to an appreciation of their anxieties and fears might have contributed, and would currently contribute, to prodding people into taking their perspective more seriously.
Putin’s history lesson would have been more effective if he’d briefly loosened up to say something like “My God [note the now plausible reference to a deity], we lost 26 million people to the Nazis less than 85 years ago! We cannot tolerate fully armed Nazis, people who call us cockroaches and laugh when we are burned, gaining power in a country next to us! We are horrified and frightened by these developments and NATO’s contribution to them. Is this so hard to understand?!”
Not exactly his style, and the whole thing would’ve been called an insane rant in Western media (although, not much to lose there).
I read somewhere a few years ago that Snowden has not managed to learn Russian well. Which seems totally crazy and shortsighted. No wonder he feels unhappy and stuck if he cannot properly integrate and communicate with people around him.
My missus has an occasional interaction with Mrs. Snowdon on social media and although Mrs Snowdon misses her family in America, she at least seems fairly happy.
That video is 3 hours long!
Welcome to the new world.
Just announced: Supremes say Trump stays on Colorado primary ballot…
Gonna be a tough day in PMCville.
Probably Rachael Maddow’s show tonight on MSDNC (oops,MSNBC), will be must see TV. Might have a stroke right there at the desk…
Without a doubt. Maybe you can watch so I don’t have to. ;-)
Maybe we can start a bingo card. I’m going with “the Supreme Court is now controlled by Russia.”
I’ll predict it will be portrayed as symbolizing the right-wing fascist take-over of our Courts, which has been part of the long-term plan culminating in Trump becoming fascist dictator. That’s not to say that this couldn’t be coordinated by fellow fascist dictator Putin, of course. He’s clearly in on it with all his election interference and such.
>Without a doubt. Maybe you can watch so I don’t have to. ;-)
I think the world of everyone here and I usually don’t mind taking one for the team but that’s getting to be a mighty big ask…
It really is. I should apologize Randall. Cruel and usual punishment.
I often wonder why, no scratch that, HOW people can watch her. Truly awful stuff.
That’s okay, we can still be friends.
I’m sure we can find the high/lowlights cut tomorrow on u tube
“Hillary warned us!” needs to be on the bingo card. The Rachael crowd loves that one.
I have gotten so used to calling them MSDNC that the other day when I wanted to see if a certain story was noted on their website, I typed in “msdnc.com” by mistake.
Despite that joke being around for years and all of the parody opportunities available, the actual url “msdnc.com” is, it turns out, not in use yet and available for the relatively low price of just over $3K.
I smell an opportunity for some enterprising joker!
Sounds like something the Onion or the Babylon Bee should snag…
I guess that judge in Cook county has to go back to her traffic court day job.
Can’t wait for the memes. / ;)
9-0, so no way to argue that this was the result of Trump appointing frat boys and tradmoms to the SC bench.
Looks like the Supreme Court basically punted to Congress:
https://www.scotusblog.com/2024/03/supreme-court-rules-states-cannot-remove-trump-from-ballot-for-insurrection/
Am I missing something here but doesn’t Trump have to be convicted of insurrection first?
Well, it would probably help the case if somebody was convicted of insurrection first.
As far as I can tell from wikipedia, people have been convicted of disorderly conduct, assault, trespassing and “seditious conspiracy” (whatever that is).
The End of the Future–
Each new day’s worth of Links is a testimony to the fact that we’re stuck as a society, unable to mount any serious effort at tackling any of our growing list of problems, seemingly riding helplessly on a train headed for a nasty derailment. There may be some answers as to why we’re impotent in labor historian Steve Fraser’s “The End of the Future,” and a nice companion/comparison piece, “Secularization Comes for the Religion of Technology,” by Michael Sacasas.
Whence came this paralysis? Fraser points the finger at Neoliberalism:
Sacasas looks deeper into the dominant worldview in this age to find the source in the “secularization” of the dominant religion of our time–no, not Christianity, already secularized more than a century ago–but instead, the religion of technology. And though the term is not mentioned by Sacasas, Neoliberalism has played a role:
But a “consumer society” is one bereft of meaning beyond “the one who dies with the most toys wins.” It has left us adrift:
When did our malaise begin? Focused on the “religion of technology,” Sacasas points to 1939 as both the apotheosis of techno-faith and the beginning of its secularization:
Since that high tide, Sarcasas says our society’s faith in technology has been shaken by the Bomb, discomfort with the idea that humans must conform and adapt to whatever technology thrusts upon us and the devolution of mighty Progress to mere Innovation. We’re left adrift and without the glue our society needs to hold together:
It’s hard to argue with Sacasas on this point. While there remain many true believers in the religion of technology as Sacasas readily admits, the kind of consensus about technology and the future has crumbled along with trust in Science. Liberals shaking their fingers at skeptics and accusing them of being Luddites, Fundamentalists or conspiracy theorists has only accelerated the secularization process.
But my heart tells me that it’s my fellow Boomer Fraser who is onto something when he says that the Future ended back in our youth:
Fraser places part of the blame for the failure of the hippies to persuade us to change course on the Boomer generation itself:
My takeaway from these two pieces is that there is no going back to the past either for those whose model is “Little House on the Prairie” or for those admirers of the New Deal. Both those worlds, especially as mythified in our imaginations, are too far removed from our realities. Christianity is now more a schismogenetic reaction to the dark vision for humanity and the planet harbored in Silicon Valley and large parts of the academy than it is a real religion still capable of widely shaping worldviews in the West. The New Deal was built on the backs of community organizations and unions that are mere shadows of themselves if they continue to exist at all.
Only a new worldview is capable of delivering us from our anomie. There are now at least hundreds of people endeavoring to envision that new paradigm, that new identity for humans, but who knows what its ultimate source will be. Perhaps some community already in existence will demonstrate the power and utility of that new worldview. Maybe a new prophet will arise, not of YHWH or Mammon, bearing a vision of a new Future and a new Human. For now, as many have noted before, we’re in that painful In Between Time, waiting for a New World to be born.
It really is a religious fervor. I am currently in the midst of a “modernization” push which is hellbent on larding up the workplace with moar technology that works far less well than what it’s replacing, but does allow for the surveillance of pretty much every keystroke made on the various new softwares.
This link that flora posted yesterday was a little ray of hope that just maybe people aren’t going to take it lying down. They’re going to fight it standing up in an 8 ft tall dinosaur suit – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whR41-GnVWk
i thought the Fraser thing was great…essentially summing up the meat of the nut of my own critique of this neoliberal, neofeudalist postpost modernist endarkening world.
but…like my own IRL discourse….its far too long to send to just about anyone i know.
which reminds me of my favorite, so far, western takes on the tucker/putin interview…especially the one in Agon mag: westerners have no history…and are bored out of their mind by long historical context building soliloquies.
ergo we cant even begin to understand a POV outside of our own very narrow and ahistorical view.
Maybe these insights indicate some of the violent reaction to “Putin” and the seeming success of the Russian Federation. Which on shallow observation has large components of Orthodox Christianity and socialist realism to distinguish that political economy. Read his recent address to the nation, it’s long and detailed. http://en.kremlin.ru/events/president/news/73585
He’s running a war defending against the depraved West’s mindless attempts to break up and loot Russia, a war to hopefully end Nazism (though that’s more persistent than toenail fungus.) But also building a commensalism across 50-some ethnic and religious assortments. Russians seem to actually have something to look forward to, and maybe might not get terminally dehumanized by the tech disease.
But who knows? After all, our bosses have made it clear that we are to know nothing, to own nothing, and to be if not happy, then at least terminally despondent and depressed.
To me (admittedly someone much younger than a Boomer and living in a very different country) the lost future(s) seem to be of a piece with the religion of progress. I’m not convinced we need an imaginary future; people somehow got by without one before (at least in the sense mourned by Fraser). A mostly imaginary past is still somewhat more grounded than that, but maybe there’s a way to do without either. We might do better without future utopias and past golden ages, with more awareness of human limitations.
The article made me think back to John Michael Greer’s old post on the Shape of Time.
I always enjoy Greer, and had missed that very pertinent piece. Maybe an old “prophet” like Hesiod will provide the new outlook. If human epochs are cyclic, right?
I think it’s definitely worth looking at “pre-progress” ideas of time and history, at least. They help show how people found some value in their lives without an increasingly incredible expectation of everything always changing for the better. And yes, one doesn’t need to adapt Hesiod wholesale to learn something useful from him.
Isn’t this the standard left complaint: if only people could be convinced to think differently all would be well.
It never seems to have worked up to now. A cynic might suggest that the New Deal was about forestalling socialism, not installing it. As for technology, the wheel was technology. Also farming, writing, printing, etc.
There’s an alternate view that we are not spiritual beings but rather flesh and blood natural beings who do think–sometimes. Here’s suggesting the real problem is less technology than the people who use it and their capacity to create narratives to justify their mistakes. I’d say there is not nearly enough science rather than too much.
Yep. Same as Bismarck’s welfare scheme. It as about giving the working class just enough for them to calm down in the present, even if it would prove unworkable a few generations down the line.
Also the “left” fails in changing thinking perhaps because their message is in the end ascetic, while business has, thanks to psychology, found every more elaborate way to market to emotions and instincts.
Was the New Deal ever actually sold as socialism? I could’ve sworn it was specifically promoted as a way to combat socialism. Certainly that was the case with Bismarck, as digi_owl points out, and with his Scandinavian and British imitators.
Regardless, it’s only socialism in the same sense in which Bismarck or Churchill could, on some rare occasions, describe the policies they support as socialist. Socialism effectively has two meanings: support for the complete elimination of the private sector or support for any level of state involvement in the economy. It does no good to conflate the two meanings. Yet for some reason, a lot of Western leftists seem to fall for this (as do a lot of rightists, but the benefit to them is more clear).
After USSR crumbled, most “leftists” are champagne leftists at best.
They are not really that different from the pre-communist left that came up with various bleeding heart welfare schemes as the industrial revolution decamped subsistence farmers into urban slums.
What i find interesting is the potential resurgence of a “conservative-left”, as seen with Wagenknecht in Germany and Galloway in UK. As in conservative on social issues and leftist on economic issues.
This in contrast to the last few decades of western politics that has oscillated between liberal-right and conservative-right politics.
“As in conservative on social issues and leftist on economic issues.”
Color me clueless, but my poli sci professor used those same words to broadly define “populist” politics/politicians.
That is an obvious populist combo, isn’t it? Since in both cases, it effectively panders to the majority – both its economic interests and its prejudices. Not sure whether it really describes Galloway or Wagenknecht, though – their social conservatism mainly seems to consist of rejecting a very particular strain of social progressivism, rather than in advancing a positive conservative agenda of their own.
There is something interesting about history of technology: that the so-called Dark Ages were much more technologically active era than the Greco-Roman times, yet people just forgot, or worse, didn’t even realize the progress that took place. The thing to note, of course, was that these progresses were not shiny world changing stuff, but stuff that imoroved daily lives, often fairly marginally: improvements in farming techniques, animal husbandry, food processing, wealving and other crafting techniques. Not exactly stuff to inspire “imagination,” but, in some sense, much more “useful.”
I always wondered if this captures the paradox of the technology worship: we want our god to be something awe-inspiring and grand, not humble things that are simply and quietly useful.
Re Scheerpost on the Supreme Court and CA homelessness
In other words the precedent says being homeless or poor is not a crime but the often resultant behavior can still be considered a crime. Meanwhile the 9th circuit is saying that cities can’t regulate the behavior without addressing the underlying condition.
I’d say what’s unreasonable about the article is the assumption that local governments have this responsibility for what is after all a national issue and disgrace. It’s the same argument that says retailers should look the other way at shoplifting because arresting shoplifters is criminalizing poverty or those who are not white privileged.
https://jonathanturley.org/2024/03/02/washington-post-reporter-mocks-shoplifting-stories-as-the-panic-of-a-sticky-fingered-nation-built-on-stolen-land/
And the article slides past the reality that many homeless are drug users with a life style that isn’t compatible with supervised public housing just as at least some of the shoplifters take advantage of the decriminalization to steal for organized crime groups. Reality is complicated whereas moralizing is easy and doesn’t have to worry about practicalities unless, of course, it’s in the moralizer’s own backyard. Then it’s NIMBY to the max.
– Anatole France
Not just the US then.
I think the point I’m trying to make is some pushback to the notion that the law by itself does solve problems and that courts can wave their hands with results that are villainous or heroic depending upon the wavers. Our system was set up to make the legislature the main source of representation and power and that’s where the rot really lies.
>>>Our system was set up to make the legislature the main source of representation and power and that’s where the rot really lies.
I would say the poison, not the rot as it was done deliberately, but yes, the legislature is supposed to be the first among equals. For example, if Congress really wanted to, it could effectively tell both the President including the deep state and the Supreme Court to pound sand using, if nothing else, the power of the purse. But that would require having a spine.
yuck!
Looks like SCOTUS has ruled that only congress can apply 14th amendment sanctions to officeholders and candidates.
Pathetic to see Kagan, Sotomayor and Jackson attempt to undermine a per curiam ruling and preserve potential grounds for Orange Man Bad state by state removals, permanent lawfare, and 2024 election confusion.
The doctrinal ship their effectless note attempts to board sailed in the 1950s, and they damned well know that.
TL:DR Democracy is too important to be left to the voters. /s/
https://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/trump-v-anderson/
Decision text at ‘Reversed’.
Here we have the current account balances as a percent of the GDPs of the 10 largest countries by GDP from 2000 through 2023. The consistency of these current account balances is striking and that includes the Chinese consistency. Also, the surpluses of Germany and Japan relative to GDPs are generally significantly larger than the Chinese surpluses.
As for “cheap” Chinese goods, that is a mere term of prejudice since Chinese exports cover a range of prices and while China sells a very large number of cell phones through Africa, they are generally made in Africa, vary in price, of fine quality, and are fortunately affordable for a broad range of Africans.
I can find no problem, but the Wall Street Journal always but always finds a problem with China, even or seemingly especially with China’s very existence.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October/weo-report?c=223,924,132,134,534,536,158,186,112,111,&s=BCA_NGDPD,&sy=2000&ey=2023&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1
October 15, 2023
Current Account Balance as percent of Gross Domestic Product for Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States, 2000-2023
Before China Japan and South Korea went through the same period of being considered “cheap junk” until quietly it was not.
I still recall when people started brandishing the first Samsung flip phones on the European markets, and they did indeed look like something out of a toy store. But look at them now.
Never mind that most of the actual manufacturing of iPhones are done in China, in factories run by a Taiwanese company.
Heck, there was even the old slight of hand of having a product 99% completed in China proper, then trucked into Hong Kong for the remaining assembly and boxing. All to allow the boxes to be labeled Made in Hong Kong.
As for Chinese debt at an “inflection point” where it has supposedly been these last 25 years. Chinese debt as a percent of GDP is significantly less than that of Brazil, France, Japan, the UK and the US, among the 10 largest economies by GDP. Chinese debt is the same relative size as that of India.
China has foreign currency reserves of about $3.2 trillion, and holds another $1.5 trillion in foreign securities in a sovereign wealth fund. Also, Chinese domestic savings as a share of GDP are far, far higher than the savings of any of the 10 largest economies.
If there is a Chinese debt problem, I surely have not been able to find it, for all the repeated ferocious Western writings about such a supposed problem.
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2023/October/weo-report?c=223,924,132,134,534,536,158,922,112,111,&s=GGXWDG_NGDP,&sy=2007&ey=2022&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1
October 15, 2023
General government gross debt as a percent of Gross Domestic Product for Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States, 2007-2022
2022
Brazil ( 85)
China ( 77)
France ( 112)
Germany ( 66)
India ( 81)
Indonesia ( 40)
Japan ( 260)
Russia ( 19)
United Kingdom ( 102)
United States ( 121)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1hPXQ
January 30, 2018
Total Reserves excluding Gold for China, United States, India, Japan and Germany, 2017-2023
Re: Redwoods
Great article on the powerfully seductive world’s tallest trees. While the article correctly identifies the mechanism for “sucking” water to the trees top, it mis-states the extent of xylem in the trees structure. Xylem cells are mostly on the tree trunk/branch peripheral circumference (just beneath the thick bark) in a relatively thin band. As the tree ages/grows these older cells transform into structural heartwood (the tree trunk) while new xylem water transport cells remain at the periphery.
See; https://www.britannica.com/science/xylem
For Colorado news that doesn’t involve the Supreme Court, the guy commanding the NASA Crew-8 mission to the ISS which launched last night is from Wheat Ridge. Not a peep in the local press.
Norfolk Southern proxy battle… I didn’t realize TWO hedge funds were circling the carcass.
The hedgies may have a point, CEO Shaw made $13.4M last year: Norfolk Southern CEO received 37% raise following derailment
But, but, but… Norfolk Southern says we misunderstood:
As investor group calls for ouster of NS officials, railroad seeks to correct ‘false claims’
In this warped, degenerate late stage capitalism, two hedge funds that hold only $2B in Norfolk Southern shares are essentially calling the shots for a corporation with $56B market capitalization. Who knows what other instruments are out there to win the battle. Norfolk Southern hasn’t abandoned PSR methods, but the ghouls are certainly able to do moar PSR, layoffs, closures and asset stripping. Transportation policy is set by Wall Street.
When do the companies who send their products via Norfolk Southern start pulling out?
“Transportation policy is set by Wall Street.”
Is there any policy of any import that *isn’t* set by Wall Street?
Res ipsa loquitur
Why Gaza is more dangerous for Western elites than Ukraine:
@antoinette_news “BREAKING Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been referred to the International Criminal Court as an accessory to genocide in Gaza making him the 1st leader of a Western nation referred to the ICC under Article 15 of the Rome Statute. 100+ Australian lawyers back this move.”
https://twitter.com/antoinette_news/status/1764753211775475942
Expect more hyperventilation over Russia as Western leaders try to distract from having to take action over Gaza.
Lapham investigates our anomie with the help of his first-cousin–
Seriously, Lapham takes a look at historian William Ophuls’ cyclical theory of civilizational development and dissolution, and Ophuls is Lapham’s actual first-cousin.
For anyone interested in exploring Ophuls’ ideas further, here’s a Nate Hagens interview of Ophuls. (“William” is Patrick Ophuls’ pen name.)