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Links 5/1/2024

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Dear patient readers,

We are light at launch because I lost a lot of Links work. Please come back at 7:30 AM EDT for a full ration.

The double-fanged adolescence of saber-toothe EurekAlert (Chuck L)

J Doyne Farmer: The man reinventing economics with chaos theory and complexity science New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)

In Iceland, almost all diagnosed Down syndrome pregnancies are aborted after prenatal testing. Some bioethics experts are concerned ABC Australia (Kevin W)

Two medicines for opioid addiction also help with compulsive gambling New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)

Three women likely contracted HIV from ‘vampire facials’ at closed New Mexico Spa: CDC USA Today. From the weekend, but nevertheless a headline for the ages! Separately, any provider who handles blood products, even if supposedly your own, needs heavy-duty scrutiny. I was screwed up bigly by an MD years ago who had a clinic and tons of fancy equipment. Fortunately not in a lasting manner.

#COVID-19

Climate/Environment

EPA bans consumer use of a toxic chemical widely used as a paint stripper but known to cause cancer Associated Press (Kevin W)

America’s Wind Power Production Drops For the First Time In 25 Years Bloomberg

Extreme Heat Continues To Scorch Large Parts of Asia Straits Times. Temps here are high enough to produce expat whinging but only about two Celsius higher than normal. But also a longer peak heat season than the old normal. A bigger deal is rainy season start is late and last year, rainy season was also underwhelming, soak wise.

China?

I dimly recall a reader (PlutoniumKun?) pointing out that new LNG carrier supply, which was dominated by South Korea, as already booked up for years. So this is a very big deal:

China Launches World’s Largest Electric Container Ship Tech Times.com

European Disunion

Call me Ursula. Von der Leyen rebranded ahead of elections. Politico (UserFriendly)

Pfizergate: Ursula von der Leyen’s shady Covid vaccine deals prove she can get away with anything RT

Freedom of expression and freedom of the press will be abolished in the EU Anti-Spiegel via machine translation (Micael T)

Luxembourg: Poverty in Europe’s wealthiest country DW Documentary YouTube (furzy)

Margita, 84, is forced to turn off the electricity after the increased fee: “It’s terrible” Aftonbladet via machine translation (Micael T)

Windows Onto History: The Defenestrations of Prague (1419–1997) Public Domain Review (Anthony L)

Gaza

‘Operation al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 206: Blinken says Israel has no plan to ensure civilian safety in Rafah Mondoweiss

Exclusive: Israel planning ring of checkpoints to prevent men from fleeing Rafah Middle East Eye (Kevin W)

Blinken in Israel seeks cease-fire and hostage deal to stave off Rafah move Washington Post. And I want a pony.

Netanyahu vows to invade Rafah ‘with or without a deal’ as ceasefire talks with Hamas continue Arab News. So why should Hamas bother with this charade?

The Israel-US game plan for Gaza is staring us in the face Jonathan Cook (Chuck L)

Report of the Independent Task Force on the Application of National Security Memorandum-20 to Israel Just Security (guurst). The media has picked up on the report, which describes in detail how Israel sure looks to be perpetrating war crimes.

UserFriendly remarks:

Oh, I see. Biden wants to lose the entire working class, not just whites. Sorry black people, I know you wanted reparations, but you see, we need to let Israel displace 2 million people so we can give them all homes. I hope you don’t mind the rent increase either. Oh, and Jews, who vote 75% Dem, hope you enjoy your new fellow citizens.

Pure genious.

Israel Said Their Sons Were Murdered by Hamas. These Mothers Weren’t Convinced. Wall Street Journal. A break with the narrative.

Gaza Protests

New York police storm Columbia University and arrest pro-Palestinian protesters Financial Times. Lead story and I am now geolocating in Asia….

New York police arrest dozens as protesters cleared from Columbia campus BBC. Perhaps I missed it but aside from snipers, I have not seen much/any of the more aggressive crowd control methods, like tear gas, sound cannons, and supposed new tech like goo that impedes good footing and makes protestors fall down, and of course tanks. CNN per the pink paper above did report the use of flash bangs and pepper spray in the Columbia clearing. I dimly recall only one deployment of mounted cops. Is this because the powers that be are trying to deny the protestors a “police brutality” talking point (despite some mess-ups like putting the George Floyd hold on a female professor)?. Or because campus administrators don’t want the grounds messed up any more than absolutely necessary before reunions, a big fundraising event, which generally take place right after graduation? Or is this simply that (significantly) white kid protestors of course get kid gloves treatment compared to say, BLM or back in the day, the clearing of Occupy occupations?

Police arrive on UCLA campus amid reports of violence; Columbia building cleared Washington Post

Professor remains hospitalized after being beaten by police during pro-Palestinian protest at US campus YaniSafik. Headline by HuffPo on same story fails to mention still hospitalized.

Columbia protesters should “leave the area now” after demonstrations “coopted by professional, outside agitators,” Mayor Adams says CBS (Kevin W)

Gaza Palestinians Thank U.S. Students for Solidarity Protests Against Israel TrimFeed

‘Global Intifada’ – Palestinian Students Force Germany’s Envoy to Flee from Palestine Museum Palestine Chronicle (Kevin W)

Meet the ‘homegrown violent extremism’ researcher behind the crackdown on pro-Palestinian students at USC Mondoweiss

New Not-So-Cold War

Ukraine war live updates: Russia shows off NATO military hardware captured in Ukraine; Moscow to beef up weapons, front line forces CNBC

What 10 Years of U.S. Meddling in Ukraine Have Wrought (Spoiler Alert: Not Democracy) RealClearInvestigations. UserFriendly: “Aaron Mate’s magnum opus.”

MAY DAY! MAY DAY! CELEBRATION FOR RUSSIA, NOT A STRESS TEST John Helmer. Russian economic forecasts.

Big Brother is Watching You Watch

FCC fines wireless carriers for sharing user locations without consent ABC (Kevin W)

Imperial Collapse Watch

The quality of what is coordinated Steve Waldman (UserFriendly)

WHERE ARE THE NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATES? Seymour Hersh

The Trump-Biden World War III Bill Wayward Rambler (UserFriendly). A stinging recap.

Trump

Elise Stefanik Is a Trump Stooge—and This Ethics Complaint Proves It New Republic (furzy). Stefanik is a horrible person, witness her persecution of university presidents over trying to preserve free speech on campus. But it is crystal clear that all of the major actors behind Trump cases, including Smith, are pretty obviously trying to move them along as rapidly as possible so as to hurt Trump before the election, whether by him losing or simply forcing him to be in court and not out campaigning.

How Far Trump Would Go Time. UserFriendly: “They should re-title this ‘Things that Biden is willing to let happen so he can keep committing Genocide.'”. Moi: Look at how this was retitled. URL suggests first was the bland “Donald Trump 2024 election interview.” An reader sent a print cover image (who sees print these days?) as “If He Wins.”

We Are Talking About the Manhattan Case Against Trump All Wrong New York Times (furzy)

Our No Longer Free Press

MSNBC’s Wallace: “All of the Conspiracy Theorists are Republicans.” Jonathan Turley. Remarkable they can say that with a straight face after Russiagate.

Why I’m Resigning From The Intercept Ken Klipperstein. Erasmus: “The latest indictment of the PMC establishment that ruins journalism and suffocates institutions. (Glenn Greenwald had quit years ago.)”

What is prebunking? Those Nerdy Girls (Dr. Kevin). I doubt that this works. There is a significant literature on debunking that found that repeating a meme had the effect of reinforcing it….which oddly the wannabe debunkers ignore. For instance, trying to explain that Saddam Hussein had nothing to do with 9/11 reinforced the idea that they were connected merely by having the key words in the same paragraph. Prebunking as described here has the same flaw.

Cigna Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly, Says Former Cigna Medical Director ProPublica (Dr. Kevin)

The Bezzle

Guillotine Watch

The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues” New Republic (BC). Important. Makes Snow Crash’s dystopia look tame.

Class Warfare

NYC to hand out subway fliers to deter migrant children from selling candy Gothamist (furzy). “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, to beg in the streets, and to steal their bread.”

Antidote du jour. From reader Stephen T:

My neighbor Mark lost one of his cats last week. Ernie, a tuxedo, left us suddenly after a brief illness. He was a wonderful cat. He was a great companion to Mark, who has suffered many health issues in the last few years; Ernie’s care for his human was a huge part of what has kept my friend going through his troubles. Ernie always greeted me warmly during my visits, jumping into my lap and cuddling with me each time I stopped by. His loss is a terrible blow to Mark, and is keenly felt by his friends like me. I would love it if you could honor such a wonderful cat by including him as an Antidote; Ernie is richly deserving of such a tribute. Thank you for your time and compassion for Ernie and Mark.

And a bonus (Erasmus):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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211 comments

  1. Antifa

    AIPAC
    (melody borrowed from Does Your Mother Know  by Abba)

    You’ve been bought easily
    You come through every time we show up with a check for you
    You vote as we tell you to

    Cash conceals lots of lies
    Naked greed in this place means the stealing is done with a smile
    That’s on both sides of the aisle

    You wanna be a heavy hitter as a Congresscritter?
    AIPAC’s gonna give you the clout!
    You’ll always get reelected with money we’ve collected
    AIPAC’s handing more money out!

    If you’re queasy because sleazy
    People rule this world
    Think about the dough
    It’s a puppet show

    Be lubricious it’s delicious
    You’re atop this world
    There’s a golden glow
    To the status quo

    (musical interlude)

    AIPAC is your confidant
    We’ll be here with our cash every time that you have to re-run
    We’re gonna get the job done

    Take our loot and use your guile
    We’ll be here on the scene talking points to keep you versatile (smile)
    We’ll guard your public profile

    You wanna be a heavy hitter as a Congresscritter?
    AIPAC’s gonna give you the clout!
    You’ll always get reelected with money we’ve collected
    AIPAC’s handing more money out!

    Antisemite isn’t polite
    In our modern world
    Israel must grow
    We have lawns to mow

    When we’re squeezing we’re not teasing
    We need bombs to hurl
    If your vote comes slow
    We can fetch more dough

    You wanna be a heavy hitter as a Congresscritter?
    AIPAC’s gonna give you the clout!
    You’ll always get reelected with money we’ve collected
    AIPAC’s handing more money out!

    You wanna be a heavy hitter as a Congresscritter?
    AIPAC’s gonna give you the clout!
    You’ll always get reelected with money we’ve collected
    AIPAC’s handing more money out!

    You wanna be a heavy hitter as a Congresscritter?
    AIPAC’s gonna give you the clout!
    You’ll always get reelected . . .

      1. mrsyk

        Good morning HMP, how does your garden grow? I’ve been missing your calm in the storm.

        1. Henry Moon Pie

          I almost bought the farm a few weeks ago from a chemo reaction that first reduced my potassium to life-threatening levels, then created a blockage that put 150 oz of bile into my stomach, doubling its size. A capable ER doctor diagnosed things quickly, and the ER surgeons cleverly and deftly slipped a tube down my nose to pump enough of the stuff out to keep me from bursting wide open. I watched the eclipse from the 5th floor window of the hospital.

          I quit the chemo at that point, my digestion is working again and I’m up and about. There’s a proposal to restart with a new poison. That will be discussed tomorrow with the chemo doctor, but she has a very uphill battle to convince me to go back into that. The side effects of this proposed drug are the same as what almost killed me.

          So by next week, I hope to be in the garden. There’s a ton a work to do.

          1. mrsyk

            Despite the reality of my surroundings, gardening makes me feel weirdly optimistic. Do stay with us Henry.

          3. c_heale

            Chemo is really unpleasant. So hopefully they will find some good alternative drug (chemo or otherwise).

          7. The Rev Kev

            Good to hear that you made it through OK, Henry. May you find peace and serenity in your garden.

    3. Earl

      Is there an Antifa song book?
      I would buy one
      I suggest also making a CD
      It would sell

      Folks are very fed up.

    4. Voltaire Never Slept Here

      Has anyone seen any actually existing Antifa involved in any of these so-called anti-Zionist protests?

      I haven’t.

      I wonder why that is…

  2. griffen

    Today is your day
    For it is the first of May
    We give all our Mothers
    Their own special Sunday
    Moms, whether dead or living,
    Mom – you deserve Special Every Day

    Exceptions to the rule exist…as with some aspects of childhood one’s mileage may vary and widely so. Some parents admittedly were never cut from the cloth to be a parent.

    1. Feral Finster

      Song: I Didn’t Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier
      Lyrics: Alfred Bryan(1)

      Music: Al. Piantadosi(2)
      Year: 1916(3)
      Genre: Traditional
      Country: USA

      Ten million soldiers to the war have gone,
      Who may never return again.
      Ten million mother’s hearts must break
      For the ones who died in vain.
      Head bowed down in sorrow
      In her lonely years,
      I heard a mother murmur thro’ her tears:
      CHORUS (sung twice after each verse)
      “I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier,
      I brought him up to be my pride and joy,
      Who dares to place a musket on his shoulder,
      To shoot some other mother’s darling boy?
      Let nations arbitrate their future troubles,
      It’s time to lay the sword and gun away,
      There’d be no war today,
      If mother’s all would say,
      I didn’t raise my boy to be a soldier.”�
      This song was originally posted on protestsonglyrics.net
      What victory can cheer a mother’s heart,
      When she looks at her blighted home?
      What victory can bring her back All she cared to call her own.
      Let each mother answer
      In the years to be,
      “Remember that my boy belongs to me!”

  3. mrsyk

    IDK why, but Ernie reminds me of the cat in Murakami’s Kafka by the Shore. Rest easy Ernie.

    1. The Rev Kev

      You have a cat like that, then you keep yourself going so that your cat is not left eventually to fend for itself.

      RIP Ernie

      1. Pat

        Yup.
        Safe travels over the bridge, Ernie. My condolences to Mark and all of Ernie’s friends. Till you meet again.

    2. Terry Flynn

      Same sentiment. Our cat Mia is inverse colouration to Ernie. She’s lovely & intelligent. If I ever get the OK from my elderly mum to submit a video of Mia on my bed watching and interacting with a YouTube cat video on the TV I’ll do so.

      1. mrsyk

        She’s lovely & intelligent. Of course she is! Hopefully a bit spoiled as well. I should submit some pics of our lot.

  4. The Rev Kev

    ‘Remi Brulin
    @RBrulin
    Not to state the obvious but this is a clear call to terrorism on gigantic scale. Yet another one by a member of this government. By the (INSANE!) standards we apply to our enemies, this makes the entire Israeli gov terrorists or terrorist supporters, & thus, legitimate targets…’

    It is these same nut-jobs that are demanding that Netanyahu invade Rafah or else they will pull out of government causing it to fall. As this would mean that Netanyahu might be facing a prison sentence through outstanding charges, it is not hard to guess what his next move will be.

  5. DJG, Reality Czar

    Thanks for the tweets and news specific to today as a holiday.

    Happy May Day, which is Labor Day. And, oddly, given that the holiday arose from Chicago and the struggle for the eight-hour day, as mentioned in the Twixt above, the U.S. observance in September is one more victory for management.

    Notes and observations:

    I just returned from the yearly parade here in the Chocolate City of the Undisclosed Region. As I was walking in the parade (rule of life: inside the parade, not as a spectator), I was reminded that the Left still exists and makes a strong case for its existence and liveliness.

    The vague, dismissive idea that there is no Left and no Right in politics is the usual denial of history and of current circumstances. The current war (the single war) in Russia and Palestine is the foreign policy of political parties dominated by market fundamentalism, colonialism, and disrespect for the rights of labor. That would be both major parties in the U S of A. (A hint: Both of these parties are right-wing parties.)

    It helped to spark my contemplation, of course, to know that Turin was the most bombed city in Italy during WWII. It helps to run regularly across the “stumbling blocks” by German artist Gunter Demnig.

    Here is one:
    https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pietre_d%27inciampo_a_Torino#/media/File:Stolperstein_für_Felicino_Ottolenghi.JPG

    This stumbling block lies in Via Gramsci, not far from my place. I also made a point of passing the building—now a luxury hotel, naturally, in still another victory for markets !!!—where Gramsci had his rooms in the years he was studying at University of Torino and then making his name as a radical. Gramsci knew / still knows about the difference between Left and Right.

    None of this is nostalgia—it’s morally obtuse to feel nostalgia when one is standing under one of the plaques put up on walls around the city to honor persons murdered by the nazi-fascists. The stumbling blocks and the plaques remind us of the importance of political stances.

    Meanwhile, in the U S of A, one sees the Republicans who want to oppose labor unions “to the gates of hell” and support the so-called right-to-work laws. Meanwhile, the Democrats of the U S of A can’t get labor-law reform through the Congress, much as they can never get a codification of abortion rights through the Congress. And the health-care system will be refined and adjusted by Markets.

    It’s no accident, given that Jill Stein is the main candidate on the Left and has a party base, that Stein has been charged with brutalizing a police officer. See: Eugene Debs.

    Happy Labor Day to all.

    1. digi_owl

      the idea that there is no left is down to the incessant US “cultural” exports that has muddied the European understanding of the terms.

      The worker/materialist left still exist in Europe, but is under constant attack by a neolib “left” backed by USA that wants to strip it of all grounding in materialism.

      Because once one do that, one can easily confuse left-right with liberal-conservative. And thus create the fantasy that anyone that is talking about material problems like housing or food are conservatives and thus also against abortion and same sex marriages etc etc etc.

    2. Alice X

      The Federation of Organized Trades and Labor Unions (FOTLU) was formed in April 1881 in opposition to the Knights of Labor. In 1882 the FOTLU proposed the first Monday of September as a national Labor Day. At its October 1884 convention the FOTLU supported a resolution that May 1, 1886 would begin a national recognition of an eight hour work day, and if not there would be a general strike. Protests in Chicago on May 1, 1886 led to the infamous events later that week.

      The American Federation of Labor (AFL) was the successor to the FOTLU and maintained its support for the September date for a national Labor Day. Grover Cleveland on June 28, 1894 signed into law making the September date a federal holiday. This distracted attention from the then ongoing brutal suppression of the Pullman strikes that year (Eugene V. Debs was imprisoned) and to distance it from the May 1 date which had been proclaimed as International Worker’s Day by the socialist Second International in 1889. My 2¢.

      Happy May Day! (International Worker’s Day)

      Workers of the world unite, you have nothing to lose but your chains!

      1. Alice X

        But it took 54 years from that FOTLU resolution for the official establishment of the eight-hour day with the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

    3. gk

      Jill Stein: I vote in NJ. She’s not on the ballot.

      Just voted in the Democratic primary. My choices were Genocide Joe, uncommitted (cease fire now), and Terrisa Bukovinac, who makes all the other candidates look good.

    4. Chris Cosmos

      There is, clearly, no left-wing organized politics in the USA. There are fragments here and there but it is clear that it has no force because all the utterly absurd lies the media turns out is not questioned by any but a few of us who are refugees from what was once the left augmented by far more on the right who oppose the police state/warmongering mentality of the oligarchs and both their political parties. I thought, mistakenly, that Sanders and AOC were a new-dawn but both have proved without a shadow of a doubt to be supporters of the oligarchs.

      1. MarqueJaune

        Thanks for this! It’s been some years since I listened to this song…
        Btw, the album of this song has one of the most awesome names of albuns ever:
        Talking with the taxman about poetry

    6. Alan Sutton

      Very pleased to see Eugene Debs name surfacing. Although I am sure he was not totally memory holed to the people on here.

      Last year when Trump’s legal troubles ramped up there was a lot of debate about whether imprisonment would prevent Trump running.

      There was even an admission that “no, it wouldn’t because it has happened before” but nobody ever mentioned who it was that did that or when it was or why it was necessary.

      Of course, we know who, why and when but to spread the name out loud would have been to evoke something much too scarey.

      Socialism anybody? Cough cough. Debs got 5 million votes while in jail I think.

  6. Patrick Donnelly

    If de and pre bunking of spoofs and lies did not work, why would they invent fact checkers and shadow banning?

    Weird comment about ineffectiveness …. undermines much!

    1. Yves Smith Post author

      Because they don’t bother reading social psychology research and think that of course people believe what supposed authorities tell them, in this era of widespread distrust of Western institutions.

      Another famous study took the same “Saddam did not have anything to do with 9/11” factoid and produced a mini doco, including George Bush saying as much.

      Seeing the video led people who believed Saddam did have something to do with 9/11 to do so ever more firmly. In general, debunking efforts lead people to double down on their priors. At best “prebunking” assumes the person has no priors in the area under discussion.

      And shadow banning is not debunking of any kind.

      1. Terry Flynn

        UK political satirical panel show Have I Got News For You (HIGNFY) has used this phenomenon for approximately 30 years in order to avoid getting the BBC sued.

        They tell the PMC enforced line knowing full well that all British viewers will strengthen their views that the opposite is true.

      2. Feral Finster

        Zionists still recite “babies burned alive in ovens” as if it were established fact, rather than a long-debunked lie.

    2. JustAnotherVolunteer

      So the one useful nugget I took away here was that understanding rhetorical devices can help readers vet content. I’m old enough to have had Rhetoric as part of my high school debate training. I imagine it’s fairly rare in schools now.

  7. Emma

    Lucky for China that it will never need LNG ships again, once the pipelines in the works come on line. A shipyard that can quickly build 18 of these big boys has the capability to build lots of other vessels too.

  8. UserFriendlyyy

    N Special Rapporteur for the human rights situation in Palestine, @FranceskAlbs, tells the EU Parliament:

    “Israeli soldiers have published endless footage boasting about their killing of families, mothers, children, the bombing of homes, mosques and schools. Self-incriminating…

    — Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) April 29, 2024

    Boy have they ever. The telegram channels where they brag about dead kids are proof the whole country has gone insane. This one got to me. kid maybe 3-6, they took the time to put a smiley face on the genitals, but not the huge bullet wound on their ass. With this attached caption (translated from Hebrew):

    : “The aforementioned microbe took a bullet in Tulkarm 😁📷 Now I invite you in the comments to give a beautiful and funny title, come on, bomb it, I trust you”

    My tweet has a link to the Telegram channel if you have a barf bag ready.
    https://twitter.com/UserFrIENDlyyy/status/1785537294520201539

    1. The Rev Kev

      I wouldn’t be surprised if the bullet smashed that kid’s pelvis. But yeah, the Israelis have gone into a dark area with glee thinking that there will never be any consequences for them.

      3. jhallc

        I was shocked by the depravity of the Israeli citizens in the Al Jazeera investigative documentary on the Oct. 7th aftermath. The repeated violence (kicking, stabbing, beating with sticks) done to the dead Hamas fighters was difficult to watch.

    2. Antifa

      As Ilan Pappe (and others) have often pointed out, this insane glee by Israelis over brutality against Palestinians is a direct result of several generations of Israeli schooling where the students are taught to hate Arabs from the first day throughout their education.

      And then they join the IDF and put their hatred into practice by occupying the West Bank and Gaza.

      1. gk

        Not just schooling. It has made it to the yeshivas in the US. Here is an article about 964 Park Place in Brooklyn. Summary: A Jewish landowner has been trying to steal an apartment from its Black owners. He sent some yeshiva students to harass the owners. And then

        At one point, for reasons unclear to the witnesses I spoke to, the bochurim began chanting “Mavet La’aravim,” a chant commonly used at right-wing rallies in Israel meaning “Death to Arabs.” When a Jewish member of BED and CHTU translated the phrase for his comrades, some eviction defenders chanted, “Free Palestine!”

          1. gk

            It’s getting complex but maybe I should have given more context. Death to the Arabs was directed to the Black New Yorkers by the Yeshiva students. The “free Palestine” was the response by the Jewish defenders of the homeowners.

            Palestine seems to have become a symbol of resistance to the establishment. See the Palestinian flag in this demonstration against the admission fee to Venice….

    3. Vilde Chaye

      Please do not link to AI-generated pictures of gore. In the alternative, please improve upon your critical visual skills so as to not be manipulated in the future. Also, if you cannot read Hebrew, do not link to images purported to be written by Hebrew speakers. They are not. Thank you.

      1. gk

        What’s wrong with the Hebrew? I suspect that a non-Hebrew speaker would use “חַידַק” instead of a literal transcription if “microbe”. It’s precisely that idiomatic use of language that makes it plausible.

      2. JustTheFacts

        Provide evidence that is an AI generated picture if you want to be believed. Otherwise, I’ll have to assume you’re just a pro-Israel propagandist spreading disinformation.

        I see no reason not to take UserFriendlyy’s post at face value, since the publicly accessible dead_terrorists telegram channel shows a lot of people suffering and the Google translation of the channel description is “On this channel you will find diverse and colorful images of damn terrorists who received “treatment” from an incident after they made trouble for the people of Israel The beautiful angle of the education animal blood with a little humor”. The comments below the images and videos of suffering are no more empathetic.

        If you hadn’t arrogantly tried to silence UserFriendlyy I wouldn’t have looked further into it. Presumably that wasn’t your intention.

    4. NYT_Memes

      “Human beings are so made that the ones who do the crushing feel nothing; it is the person crushed who feels what is happening. Unless one has placed oneself on the side of the oppressed, to feel with them, one cannot understand. As soon as men know that they can kill without fear of punishment or blame, they kill; or at least they encourage killers, with approving smiles. Evil when we are in its power is not felt as evil, but as a necessity, or even a duty.” 

Simone Weil, Lectures on Philosophy

  9. Wukchumni

    Windows Onto History: The Defenestrations of Prague (1419–1997) Public Domain Review
    ~~~~~~~~~

    It’s a uniquely Czech thing, and I think inbred into us, for when I was 5 and with the family at our grandparents farm in Okotoks, Alberta (about 20 miles south of Calgary) I pushed my older sister out of a 2nd story barn window and luckily for yours truly, only resulted in a sprained ankle for her, but it set a pattern where she didn’t trust me all that much until we were adults and now everything is hunky dory, and I can be trusted around windows of opportunity with her.

    1. The Rev Kev

      The moral of the story is that if you are going to do any negotiations in the Czech Republic, make sure that it is on the ground floor and that if there are large windows, make sure that they are kept wide open.

  10. mrsyk

    This should suffice for police brutality. I believe these are CUNY faculty members getting the business.

    1. Yves Smith Post author

      Yes, it looks as if with the Columbia clearing, the tactics have gotten rough. I see Twitter reports of bruised faces and some having to go to the ER. But still weirdly none of the more efficient forms of crowd control/dispersing, like the aforementioned tear gas, pepper spray, and mounted police. The cops instead seem to be beating kids up at close quarters. Ugh.

      1. flora

        Tear gas and pepper spray on the quad might affect the admin. Wind and all that. Horses on the quad would mess up the beautiful grounds and be visible for some time, noticeable especially during the upcoming commencement ceremonies. It would harsh the mellow of a dignified, above the fray, idyllic campus environment. Can’t have that.

        The police are being trained to accept using brutal tactics against unarmed and peaceful protestors even at the Ivy schools, beating up presumably rich kids. That’s enough. / ;)

    1. Mikex

      My thoughts exactly, Lena. Sounds like Ernie was a great friend, so condolences to all.

  12. Mikel

    The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of “Blues” – New Republic
    “…But in a podcast interview one month before the conference, Balaji laid out a more disturbing and extreme vision.

    “What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,” he said, after comparing his movement to those started by the biblical Abraham, Jesus Christ, Joseph Smith (founder of Mormonism), Theodor Herzl (“spiritual father” of the state of Israel), and Lee Kuan Yew (former authoritarian ruler of Singapore). Balaji then revealed his shocking ideas for a tech-governed city where citizens loyal to tech companies would form a new political tribe clad in gray t-shirts. “And if you see another Gray on the street … you do the nod,” he said, during a four-hour talk on the Moment of Zen podcast. “You’re a fellow Gray…”

    And that’s before the story goes into the Tan takeover of SF.
    The USA has enough to reckon with and now it’s just getting more and more creepy.

    1. Emma

      Really the inevitable outcome of the ‘transhuman movement’. The always comes back to weirdly shaped autistic weirdos who think they’re better than everyone else.

      2. hunkerdown

        Autists don’t actually care much for class society. They tend to see it as idiotic, wasteful complexity.

        1. Emma

          Sorry, that was the wrong thing for me to say and I realized it as soon as I re-read my comment. These people are sociopaths.

      1. Benny Profane

        And beige is so last year.

        Always loved that episode in Breaking Bad when he and the wife went to a party filled with these types, his former partners, although pharma, not tech, and they really did the styling well, dressing up all of the rich people in muted beige and grey, and Walter in a really bad suit and tie.

    3. Amfortas the Hippie

      mencius moldbug(curtis yarvin=thiel’s court philosopher at one time)…has been laying the groundwork for this for a long, long time….making citizenship even less territorial and more abstract…where you can be a citizen of IBM, and your neighbor is a citizen of apple,inc…or whatever….with the CEO as some kind of feudal lord.
      i thought it was a terrible idea way back then,lol.
      but here we are.

      1. gk

        So if you were a citizen of Lucent, would you suddenly find yourself a citizen of Nokia?

    4. Feral Finster

      This is simply PMC class consciousness taken to the next level by making it literal.

    5. Laughingsong

      There was another link to an article about this guy a while back. When I read about his SF idea, it reminded me of a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode called “Past Tense” (a two-parter). It’s one of those episodes where they end up in the past (as they do!) accidentally. The year? Yeppers, 2024. There’s a barricaded part of San Francisco called the “Sanctuary District” where all those pools get locked in, keeping the rest of the city for the elites. Sounds like what this Uber tech bro wants.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Past_Tense_(Star_Trek%3A_Deep_Space_Nine)

  13. notabanker

    I have had many cringeworthy moments watching YouTubers using MEC. One, there is no reason to use it, there are a ton of other much less toxic products that work well. Two almost no one takes appropriate precautions. That stuff is really nasty. Should have been banned long, long ago. It’s crazy people will literally risk their lives to strip paint off of furniture.

  14. Patrick Donnelly

    Will the West Bank also be emptied?

    Payments from the USA taxpayer will mean that it was not forced on them …

    But how to make the war crimes disappear? Will Bibi et alia suffer a heart attack and be quickly cremated?

  15. The Rev Kev

    ‘Al Jazeera English
    @AJEnglish
    A group of Israel supporters have attacked anti-war protesters at UCLA university in Los Angeles in the US. The group was filmed carrying out assaults and using fireworks and pepper spray on demonstrators at the Gaza war protest encampment.’

    I see videos of protestors defending themselves but never actually causing fights. Those Israel supporters really wanted violence but it is strange that the police or uni security did not intervene. Was the word passed down to them? What would have happened if one of those fireworks started a fire in a building? Perhaps what those protestors need is a squad of volunteers who are ready to up their game when faced with such goons. And others should be filming those attacker’s faces to find out just exactly who those guys were. Is this doxxing? Perhaps. But those goons loss their right of privacy by attacking and assaulting people.

    1. mrsyk

      In this this video you can see that the cops have cleared out allowing whatever to happen. At the very end of the video you will notice a man in a blue hat who seems to be an agent provocateur. He appears prominently in the footage I’ve seen so far.

    2. Amfortas the Hippie

      if the cops had (presumably) defied orders and interfered to stop the zionist violence…would they then be hauled before a star chamber for antisemitism?
      we edge closer and closer to the edge of Hobbes’ state of nature…by design(gop=>dems=>RBIO=>israel’s gladio army in USA)

    3. Dr. John Carpenter

      Funny, all the headlines I’ve seen this morning are worded in a way to give the impression that the “pro-Palestine” protesters started the violence. Wonder why that is?

  17. DJG, Reality Czar

    Ken Klippenstein, Why I’m Resigning from The Intercept.

    Thanks to Erasmus and to Yves Smith for “up-voting” this delicious tale of woe and of creating a new job for himself.

    As a native of Illinois, you know, a flatlander, I often think of the Cheeseheads as a placid folk, content to eat cheese curds and ruminate. But the whole essay is like a tasty aged sharp Wisconsin cheddar. Dig in.

    As a publishing barnacle, I can assure you that the Alice-in-Wonderland org chart is very much how publishing houses are structured these days. Top heavy. With a Director of Degrading Customer Experience. Who has an assistant in charge of Nonfunctioning Unsubscribe Buttons. Enlarge it and be amazed!

  18. The Rev Kev

    ‘Michael Tracey
    @mtracey
    Always remember: Elon Musk collaborated with his good pal Bibi Netanyahu to call these American college kids “Nazis” for having the audacity to protest Israel’s war of annihilation in Gaza! Yes, that really happened!’

    No real surprise here as Musk went to Israel in November to meet Netanyahu. Probably Bibi told Elon that if he did not crack down on people criticizing Israel on Twitter/X, then he would call his friends in Congress to make serious trouble for him back in the States. That is the sort of trouble that Musk does not need so he kowtowed to Bibi and still is-

    https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/28/elon-musks-israel-trip-what-was-the-purpose-what-did-he-tell-netanyahu

    1. digi_owl

      Given that is is clear that Zionists are willing to throw their economic power behind backing Israel, Bibi may well have threatened Musk’s lines of credit more than anything political. After all, the Twitter purchase was pretty much a shotgun wedding once Musk tried to withdraw his offer.

    2. Synoia

      The Afrikaans and Israelis have similar views 0n the subject of who are the chosen people.

      1. The Rev Kev

        It’s probably why Apartheid South Africa was able to successfully work together with Israel on a nuclear weapon for the former.

  20. Wukchumni

    Two medicines for opioid addiction also help with compulsive gambling New Scientist
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I broke my streak at 27 games of not watching any MLB this season, and was frankly shocked by all the gambling references that continually were talked about or in the graphics as the game was going on…

    Now imagine the same thing with opioids?

    We have a huge gambling problem that will bring down the game, and when I say game, I mean all of pro sports.

    2. lyman alpha blob

      It’s not going to end well. The bet humping is incessant, to the point I hear radio jocks bemoaning the fact they can’t yet bet in certain states. Right before I change the channel.

      The in-game stuff is the worst, and you know some athletes must be cashing in. If there’s a prop bet that a given hitter is going to strike out in the next at bat, and it’s the 8th inning and your team is up by 10 runs, as that hitter, why not go up there and watch strike three go down the middle of the plate to earn a little extra scratch?

      If it can be done, then someone or lots of someones have done it already.

  21. Colonel Smithers

    Thank you, Yves.

    You’re amazing and don’t need to apologise.

    Further to United Health’s malign activities in the US, the NC community won’t be surprised that dear old Blighty is not spared as per https://www.nhsforsale.info/private-providers/optum-united-health-new/ and https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/health-firm-handed-7million-help-21556330.

    United Health currently owns Labour leader Starmer, his finance spokeswoman Rachel Reeves and health spokesman Wes Streeting.

    1. Terry Flynn

      Thanks Colonel. Another example of a US-based company buying a UK (Nottingham) institution, getting its hands on who knows how much NHS data and now, having squeezed as much money out of it as possible, is looking to sell it off is Walgreens Boots Alliance. Here in its backyard, Boots is in a sorry state as a chemist (pharmacy).

      Our local branch is understaffed and awful. I was told personally by an employee that most of the male staff have quit due to verbal and physical assaults. The principal pharmacist (a lovely young man from the Republic of Ireland) quit a few months ago: he had to do CPR on a woman who collapsed with heart failure whilst in the (usually 30-60 minute) queue to get meds. The lady died. That was the final straw. He has quit the lunatic asylum aka the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland and moved back to Eire. I simultaneously moved my “automatic electronic” pharmacy to an independent one 50 metres away who don’t seem to have problems getting basic medications on the “key list” of international health bodies (unlike Boots).

      Two Boots stores in North Nottm are shutting. At this rate Boots will exist only in the city centre and two suburbs for an effective metropolitan area of approximately 1 million people.

        1. Terry Flynn

          Many thanks – those articles look great.

          People round here KNOW something is profoundly wrong. The East Midlands Mayoralty election tomorrow will shed some light on what they’re thinking. Labour predicted to win, Tories 2nd, but Reform 3rd: the BNP had a worryingly large vote pre-1997 round here so once you add in people fed up with the two main parties maybe that’s unremarkable. Greens predicted to come 4th. LibDems and the independent candidate may lose their deposit. If the LDs do perform abysmally I’ll laugh. I have a longer memory than many and they enabled austerity. They don’t deserve power ever again. I’ll either vote Green (at least their national manifesto has MMTish in there) or spoil my ballot.

    1. JohnA

      In the meantime in Manchester England, a self-described British-Israeli woman and zionist, has a meltdown because a bus driver is wearing a BDS badge. She claims it is intimidating her and becomes increasingly aggressive, belittling and extremely offensive. The driver stays calm and does not rise to the bait. The woman herself filmed and posted her rant, with a view to getting the driver fired.
      https://twitter.com/NorthWestFOI/status/1785263800163135787/video/1

      1. The Rev Kev

        Zionist Karen will be demanding to see a manager soon. In the end she actually becomes racist at this poor guy in order to denigrate him and demands that he takes Israel’s position on the Hamas attack. I see that he was smart enough not to take the bait on all that she was saying to him. Funny how one moment she describes herself as British-Israeli but then seconds later describes herself as Israeli to justify her harassing this guy.

  23. Vicky Cookies

    Reflections on the camping trip:

    As always when the issue being organized around is Palestinian solidarity, the level of political discussion is advanced; 20-year-old students showing maturity and an appetite for nuance beyond their years and in spite of their media environment; class consciousness high.

    Police in riot gear have just stormed our sister encampment at UW-Madison. We’re hoping for their safety, and drawing lessons from the militarized response they’ve elicited.

    The encampments in Wisconsin are at public universities within the state system; arguably, the land being occupied is paid for by the students’ tuition and taxes; still, it is a step towards clawing back the commons.

    Gaining democratic control over local institutions is important in and of itself, but what motivates those I’ve spoken with is their horror at the genocide being committed with their tax dollars, and the contempt and cruelty of their ruling class, however labeled.

    The encampment, outside of the teach-ins and other programming, has maintained a picnic feel, albeit a charged one. Volleyball, duck duck goose, and plenty of food provided gratis by Palestinian restaurants. Police presence almost nil; a drone or two, and campus police parked across the street. I’d imagine the vibe would change mirroring the level of violence the police threaten. People were very ready to defend the space with linked arms and shields on the first day when they were threatened with mass arrests.

    Local politicians and administrators should be thinking of what part they’d like to play in this, when the history books are written; if they can’t think of that, they should think of their elected and appointed positions, which can be taken by someone else.

  24. KLG

    Compare and contrast the following sentences.

    Police in New York set to clear out the anti-Israel mob from buildings at Columbia University.

    Police in Selma set to clear out the anti-America mob from the Edmund Pettus Bridge over the Alabama River.

  25. GramSci

    Re: 10 years of US meddling in Ukraine

    A good recap, but odd that Maté does not mention Merkel’s description of Minsk II as a ruse to buy time, instead presenting her as sincerely pursuing peace.

    1. Camelotkidd

      What’s illuminating about Aaron’s reporting is that Russia-gate appears to be projection in that the real meddling was done at the behest of the Democrats by Ukraine

      1. digi_owl

        These days i reflexively read any headline about USA accusing Russia or China or even Iran of doing something as projecting, with the suspicion that USA has been doing just that to them for far longer.

        1. Milton

          Indeed. I’ve been doing that now for the past 8-10 years; or since I became truly “woke”. It makes me wonder though, how much of the self-evident truths that I had been spoon-fed since childhood are really projections put forth by the ruling elite. I’ve always been sceptical but mostly it was degrees and not whether what was being disseminated as news were outright lies.

    2. Jeremy Grimm

      I was fascinated by the blurb under the picture of Biden near the top of the link. Though the statement was lifted out of context, left on its own — Biden actually said something I can wholeheartedly agree with.
      Biden: “Freedom and democracy are under attack, both at home and overseas. History is watching. …”
      Biden has that right!

    3. UserFriendlyyy

      Merkel was staunchly against Ukraine in NATO and has only recently muddled her position to improve her domestic favorability.

      Zelenskyy’s accusations resulted in Merkel breaking the silence that she had maintained since leaving office in December 2021. She issued a statement saying that she stands by her “decisions relating to the NATO summit in 2008.” A short time later, she expanded on that statement, saying that, at the time, Ukraine had been divided on the issue of joining NATO and that Russian President Vladimir Putin would not have just quietly stood aside and allowed the country to be accepted into the alliance. “I didn’t want to provoke that,” she said.

      Ukraine categorically refused to implement Minsk I or II. I wonder if our dozens of CIA bases on Russia’s border with Ukraine had anything to do with that.

  26. ChrisFromGA

    Breaking: Marjorie Taylor-Greene just announced that she will make her motion to vacate the House speaker “privileged” next week, meaning that it will have to come to a vote.

    Much like a partner coming home to find their lover “in the act” with another person, we’re about to find out who we really married with Mike Johnson. It’s the uniparty’s coming out party. Democrats are going to have to go on the record (and Republicans, too) that they’re no longer Dems and Republicans, but defacto whores for the MIC.

    Popcorn on standby.

    1. The Rev Kev

      It will be harder for Republicans as they will stand out as RINOs who will vote in lockstep with Democrats.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        Agree, but it will be interesting to see if Hakeem Jeffries votes for Mike Johnson rather than himself.

        I suspect there will be some careful vote counting on both sides this weekend to identify enough Democrat “Judas goats” to vote to save MJ, to compensate for the Republicans who won’t vote for him. Preferably, from safe districts.

        I’m watching the press conference. MTG and Massie are making the solid point that Johnson could just resign like Boehner did and stay as on acting speaker until a new Speaker is chosen. Also, there is zero chance of Republicans keeping a majority with Johnson. So they really have nothing to lose in dumping him.

        1. The Rev Kev

          What if there is no actual vote but just a voice acclamation like they did for the CARES Act back in 2020? Then the Speaker can just rule who he thinks has the most votes.

          1. ChrisFromGA

            I would not put that past them, but I highly suspect that is illegal under House rules. Or, requires unanimous consent which obviously they’re not going to get from MTG and Massie.

            Any parliamentarians in the crowd please speak up.

            PS – will be interesting to see how AOC and Rashida Tlaib vote.

            1. The Rev Kev

              Wait! What about the Parliamentarian of the House Jason Smith. Could he derail the whole thing on a supposed technicality?

              1. ChrisFromGA

                I doubt it. Plus, it would backfire. Just make the whole, rotten lot of uniparty scum look even scummier. If that’s even possible.

    2. Wukchumni

      M T-G is my favorite heroine addiction, having soured on Boebert.

      She’s a card carrying evang and so is Johnson, why the dogma discord?

      1. ChrisFromGA

        My 2 cents: MTG is the real deal, someone who thought she could go to DC and make a difference. Whatever you think about her beliefs, you have to admire her character. I would bet that some phone calls have been made offering her all kinds of lucre to cease and desist.

          1. Amfortas the Hippie

            aye!,lol
            beat me to it.
            i, reluctantly, agree.

            stupidest timeline, and all.

        2. Wukchumni

          8/10’s of an inch of rain @ Burning Man allowed M T-G to reach this conclusion…

          There are 73,000 or 75,000 people in the Nevada desert now at this Burning Man. They’re locked in. They’re not allowed to leave. And they’re basically, probably being brainwashed that climate change is the cause of all of it, it’s the root of all evil and it’s going to destroy the earth and they’re feeling the panic.

        3. t

          My 2 cents. She’s driven by ego, ego, more ego along with being truly stupid and having not one ounce of empathy or human feeling.

          Went to school with girls like her. Work with women like her.

          We’d all be better off if they had better meds for them.

          1. ChrisFromGA

            Can’t say you’re wrong, but where you sit is generally a function of where you stand. I just don’t see it as acceptable to have both parties shamelessly working in unison to cling to power, to the detriment of the voters. That means, functionally, we have no choice. That’s what gives us Democrat and Republicans as labels only. Differences are what make the system work, at least as it was designed hundreds of years ago.

            What if LBJ had said, “why fight for civil rights when I can just take a few more zeroes in my bank account and go along with Southern Democrats?”

            What if FDR had caved to business interests?

            At any rate, I think Mike Johnson made a huge mistake in not at least throwing the Freedom Caucus a bone or two. A stronger and more astute pol like Gingrich would have given them some sort of win, like more money for the border. Don’t forget that he had leverage – the debt ceiling agreement negotiated by Kevin McCarthy would have forced deep cuts in spending if they had merely put a year-long CR on Biden’s desk and dared him to veto it.

          2. The Rev Kev

            What you say may be true. But at least she is not waving a little Ukrainian flag in the House and chanting ‘U-kraine! U’kraine!’ while voting away tens of billions of dollars to a foreign country. She has that in her favour at least.

          3. Amfortas the Hippie

            yup. ive been around woman just like her for most of my life.
            i finally broke down and perused her twitfeed a week or more ago…just to see for myself.
            while i find a whole lot to cringe at, i was surprised that on things like foreign policy and even First Amendment, she almost sounds like Lefty Me, sometimes.
            wierd.

            same w Masse…and a handful of others that 20 years ago i would have been wholly against.

          4. Vandemonian

            Watching from afar, she almost seems to be proof that one’s political stance and one’s personality are separate things. And we’ve been trained to vote for ‘attractive’ personalities.

          5. hk

            Everyone who does so out of “conviction” does so out of ego: I’m more right than you. Most of them are annoying at least and very dangerous in many/most cases (Why I believe that the biggest threat to democracy comes from self described democratic activists, who believe that they are more right than “the people.”). But, sometimes, these people are not only actually right, but necessary. I think MTG, at least at this moment, qualifies.

        6. Yves Smith Post author

          MTG has learned how to make a difference in a short period of time. In the beginning, she was dismissed as a loudmouth loon. She still says some loony things but others are spot on.

          Contrast with AOC, who started out with an enormous bully pulpit of fawning press.

          1. rowlf

            A local Georgia politics radio show had an Atlanta Journal Constitution reporter on their roundtable and while the reporter sounded like a Democratic Party supporter, they went out of their way to point out that MTG has a on media persona and an off media persona. The reporter said away from cameras and such MTG acts entirely normal and engaging.

            George Wallace level kayfabe?

      2. Feral Finster

        Because there are literally thousands of evangelical denominations and independent churches, and each of them preach something different.

        Years ago, I had a discussion with a Pakistani Muslim and a Syrian Muslim on whether Catholics or Protestants were more hardline. The answer is in both cases – it depends.

    3. pjay

      Brad Pearce (the Wayward Rambler post above) makes a good case that *Donald Trump himself* is “married” to Johnson, if only in a marriage of convenience. He argues strongly – and I agree – that those MAGA true believers like MTG are simply deluded idiots if they see Trump as some kind of principled savior. Besides, just because she has good sound-bites on Ukraine and hates the despicable tool Johnson doesn’t excuse her miserable positions on many other issues.

      I suppose I like that long Wayward Rambler piece because it captures my own view of Trump almost completely, including this passage:

      “The only possible justification that I see remaining for preferring Trump over Joe Biden in 2024 is simply to not let their 8 years of ridiculous persecutions and bullshit legal trials triumph [and admittedly I find this compelling enough that I still prefer Trump over Biden in 2024, though not in such a way that I will do anything to try and bring about that result.]”

      Pearce provides much evidence for why there is no reason to think Trump would be any better on foreign policy than Biden. Much like Michael Tracey (who he cites extensively), he has as much contempt for deluded Trump worshipers as he does for the Democrats. It is well worth a read.

      1. Roland

        There is at least one good reason to think that Trump would be better on foreign policy than Biden.

        That reason would be the best reason of them all: experience.

        Trump has already been President, so you have good idea of what sorts of things he might do as President. Starting a war is not one of them.

        Indeed, Donald Trump has been the only post-Cold War US president who, during his term, did not add to the number of wars his country was fighting.

        That is a real-world observation, concerning the most important question of foreign policy, if not of all politics. A question that Donald Trump has answered correctly, but that Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden all got wrong, at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives around the world.

  27. The Rev Kev

    ‘Talia Jane
    @taliaotg
    Palestinian students at Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg, Germany received an email from the school that they’ve been recategorized as “stateless” due to governmental “changes in the statistical requirements.” Germany no longer recognizes Palestinian as a nationality.’

    This has been building up for some time. Back in 2020, the Freiburg Administrative Court reconfirmed the finding that there was neither a Palestinian State nor a Palestinian nationality. This was an interesting circle to square as Germany also favours a 2 State solution which is hard if you do not recognize the citizens of one State being citizens-

    https://gpil.jura.uni-bonn.de/2021/04/german-court-confirms-that-there-is-no-palestinian-state-and-no-palestinian-nationality/

    But being Stateless in Germany sucks and they have 126,000 people that fall into this category. They are not wanted but they have no paperwork so that they can leave-

    https://www.dw.com/en/stateless-in-germany-denied-the-right-to-have-rights/a-67237480

  28. antidlc

    RE: Cigna Pressured Her to Review Patients’ Cases Too Quickly, Says Former Cigna Medical Director

    Wendell Potter comments:
    https://wendellpotter.substack.com/p/death-panels-abroad-cigna-whistleblower

    Health care denial BS has been going on a long time:
    The confession of a managed care medical director — Linda Peeno
    June, 1996
    featured in Michael Moore’s “Sicko”
    https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4569390/user-clip-linda-peeno-confession-managed-care-medical-director

  29. t

    Off topic but today in good news: my rightwing dog friends and rightwing horse friends and my rightwing hunter kin are all disgusted by and making fun of Kristi Noem.

    Wasn’t expecting that. The Trump halo effect has limits.

    1. Wukchumni

      You have to wonder whatever made her decide to include that tidbit in her book?

      She’s quite fond of killing animals, not just puppies.

      In an attempt to salvage her political career the other day, she mentioned shooting 3 horses, in defense of who knows what?

    2. The Rev Kev

      Going through her Wikipedia page, you can see that she is heavily, hard core conservative-

      ‘In 2015, she co-sponsored a bill to amend the 14th Amendment to define human life and personhood as beginning at fertilization, federally banning abortion from the moment of fertilization.’ Wow.

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

      Sounds like she is also a bit too fast on the trigger when she gets frustrated.

      1. Feral Finster

        Welcome to South Dakota. There was an incident some years back when a Native politician had the brilliant idea of putting a Planned Parenthood on one of the Reservations in SD, bring business to the community, see?

        The Natives on the Rez went ballistic. As in “drive-by shooting her house” ballistic. The politician had to get police protection and the State Police told her that they could not guarantee her safety. She ended up leaving the state.

  30. The Rev Kev

    “Freedom of expression and freedom of the press will be abolished in the EU”

    It was always going to be this way as the EU transforms itself into the European Hegemony. Everything will be policed to suppress any dissent and those that persist will be arrested or have their bank accounts suspended. I would not be surprised if down the track that if you want to go onto the internet in Europe, that you will be required to log on with a government ID first so that they can follow you everywhere you go. It would be a logical extension on what they are doing now by trying to stop “unapproved” info flowing into Europe. The only thing that surprises me is how rapid this elimination of freedom in the EU is going.

    1. Mikel

      Panic setting in after centuries, realizing they weren’t the only ones doing “discovery.”

    2. Feral Finster

      “Freedom of expression and freedom of the press will be abolished in the EU”

      This already happened, starting in February pf 2022.

    3. Chris Cosmos

      I’m not in the least bit surprised by the repression in the EU. When people insist on materialism and hedonism moderated by no spiritual considerations then hard-core state repression will supply comforting narratives on good and evil based on force. Only spiritual beliefs point to some higher power and some kind of moral order barring a moral order anything is possible if you use the proper techniques of mind-control combined with active repression. I see no remedy to the current outbreak of repression–all the moral crusades against Putin, China, Palestinians, Iranians and so on fills up the need to identify good and evil. In a complicated world this simple project works perfectly.

    4. Kouros

      European Oligarchy more likely. I don’t know where is the Hegemony extending to outside Europe, and even inside Europe, some people balk at having their mouths shut. Hungarians definitely. And it is not only their premier, Orban. They are a bit hot headed there… And this is only one example.

  31. mrsyk

    Professor remains hospitalized after being beaten by police during pro-Palestinian protest at US campus, Here’s a video of professor Steve Tamari receiving the beatdown that left him with broken ribs and a broken hand.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        This has a bit of a “Mao’s cultural revolution” feel to it. Singling out intellectuals, particularly older ones for abuse and punishment.

        BRICS countries, take note.

        1. mrsyk

          IMO the Gaza camp protests are in a strong growth stage. Do they have the sympathies of anyone who disagrees with sending oodles of MIC cash equivalents overseas? Perhaps. Those kind of numbers would create a difficult environment to control with police brutality.

          1. Wukchumni

            All it would take is for the protests to spill out on the streets of these not so united states for it to have an impact that is undeniable, for now its all college kids, imagine regular Joes (not that one) and Janes of all ages getting in on the action?

            1. ChrisFromGA

              College campuses generally hibernate once spring final exams are over in a week or so. It will be interesting, though to see what the hot summer nights of ’24 bring.

              My memory of the BLM protests back in 2020 is that they really shifted into high gear around Memorial Day. There was a strong whiff of revolution in the air, which only passed when the Confetti Money a.k.a CARES act started hitting the streets, after some delay while the Fed printing machine had to shift into high gear.

              Ain’t no way I’m sittin’ at home tonight
              I’ll be out until the mornin’ light
              A-just-a hangin’ ’round ’em local parkin’ lots
              Oh, checkin’ out all the law enforcement, see what they got

              Wow! ‘Cause they love it, when me an’ the boys
              Wanna play some love with them chemical toys
              Wow! We wind ’em up n’ let ’em go, whoa!
              Oh, yeah!
              Whoa, yeah!

              Summer nights, a rad scenario
              A brick is all we need, dontcha know?
              We defenestrate, when the gang’s all here
              Hot summer nights, that’s my time of year

              Van Halen, “Summer Nights”

            2. Feral Finster

              The obvious thing to do is to make this a “snowflake college kids vs Us Regular Joes like Scranton Joe Biden here”.

              Cynical, but so what?

          1. mrsyk

            College and University faculty should take note. Here is a prime opportunity to bring administration down to size.

  32. digi_owl

    “J Doyne Farmer: The man reinventing economics with chaos theory and complexity science New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)”

    Paging Steve Keen to the courtesy phone?

    Seems like the one reason Farmer gets any attention is his older stunt at the roulette table.

  33. petal

    Looks like it’s a go here at Dartmouth starting tonight. I imagine the president will have them arrested and suspended so fast their heads will spin. She had had Roan Wade and another student arrested in October for trying to set up an encampment in front of the administration building. A colleague and I walked right through the middle of the bruhaha without even realising. I am going to keep away from this one other than walking by or going by on the bus but I figure it will not be allowed to exist for long.

    Pro-Palestine protest encampment planned at Dartmouth College after student union strike begins

    Snip:”HANOVER, N.H. —Students protesting the Israel-Hamas conflict are planning to set up an encampment on the Dartmouth College campus on Wednesday.

    A representative from the Palestine Solidarity Coalition at Dartmouth told WMUR that the encampment will begin around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday.”

  34. digi_owl

    “In Iceland, almost all diagnosed Down syndrome pregnancies are aborted after prenatal testing. Some bioethics experts are concerned ABC Australia (Kevin W)”

    May be down to how Iceland, being a small and closed community for a long time, is very sensitive about inbreeding and its ramifications. This is why they have some of the most extensive genealogies out there.

    1. Daryl

      It’s weird that we hear from “bioethics experts” when it comes to relatively obscure issues like this.

      But then US making itself a breeding ground for virulent diseases, or having a healthcare system that bleeds people dry before killing ’em: crickets.

  35. digi_owl

    “Two medicines for opioid addiction also help with compulsive gambling New Scientist (Dr. Kevin)”

    All addiction is escapism?

    1. Antifa

      In our quest to get more dopamine
      There are laws we will all contravene
      We quickly form habits
      Like lab rats or rabbits
      The road back is labyrinthine

  36. jsn

    I do enjoy a good rant, but Brad Pierce, I think, is giving way to much credit to Hillary Clinton.

    “Knowing what we know now, it is probably the case that we would have relatively better relations with Russia if Clinton had been elected in 2016. Despite her hawkishness and general malice, we wouldn’t have been subject to a vast movement to cast Russia as the source of all evils within our society. As said above, since she is a known Russia hawk, she wouldn’t be pressured into behaving like one, and would have at least some chance of being Nixon going to China.”

    Watching this stuff in real time, perhaps my recollections are wrong, but the relevant loathsome staff in the Biden Administration were part of the crestfallen at the Javits Convention Center on that November evening in 2016. They’d been planning since 2014 for a war with a Russia then weak enough it almost certainly would have been badly damaged by sanctions and was as yet in no position either to fight NATO or functionally aly itself to China. Maybe it’s just me, but proxy war with Russia has been baked in since 2014 at the latest and the perps were all assembled and salivating for a second Clinton Whitehouse for that purpose.

    1. tegnost

      IMO it’s the democrats war and would have happened 4 years earlier if hills had been anointed so one good reason to hate donald the orange (If he’s king now we need a new nomenclature) is he gave russia 4 more years to prepare. No question the tpp was also thus and is shelved… for now.

    2. pjay

      I agree with your main point here. The idea that Russiagate and our massive anti-Russia mobilization was mainly a result of Hillary’s campaign and sore-loser antics is ridiculously shallow and misses the whole previous 8-year – or more accurately 25-year – campaign to encircle, loot, undermine, and balkanize Russia. And none of Hillary’s previous words or actions suggest restraint in Ukraine. But that said, I think Pearce is spot-on in his analysis of Trump with regard to foreign policy. And despite the passage you quote here, he says a lot of other things as well, including this:

      “The idea that Trump is somehow antiwar has been persistent, though it was never true. It’s accurate to say that Trump was somewhat more inward looking than the mainstream internationalists, and in 2016 he was certainly the less warmongering candidate compared to Hillary Clinton, though that would practically have been true of Genghis Khan if he had been her opponent. The difference was perhaps more than anything that it was relieving that Trump at least had this “transactional” approach to foreign policy you hear about… and that he seemed to care if foreign conflicts served concrete national interests, as he views them. It is fair to say that his campaign policy in 2016 was one of rapprochement with Russia- again at least relative to Clinton- and that at the time he was a wildcard…”

      But he then goes on to explain why Trump’s actions once in office provide no reason for optimism. His main theme is not really that Hillary would have been better, but rather a curse on all their houses.

      1. digi_owl

        I wonder if the one benefit of Trump is that he is in the hospitality business. This means he need to think longer term in terms of good relations with the nations where his hotels etc reside.

        Clinton etc is deeply financial, and so is fundamentally about pump and dump. To them it seems foreign policy only serve two goals, priming the pump and keeping them in office.

      2. jsn

        I agree with you entirely.

        As I said, I like a good rant, but that was the one nut in the handful that was foul when I bit it!

        A pox on both their houses indeed.

    3. Jeff V

      I seem to remember Hilary Clinton pushing for a no-fly zone in Syria. Which would have led to US forces shooting down Russian aircraft. Which would have led to World War 3.

      So not an improvement on the current situation.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        Yeah, count me as a hard “pass” for inventing a time machine, going back to 2016, and deleting a bunch of votes for Trump. I like breathing.

      2. Pat

        Pretty much. And anyone who doesn’t realize that all of the worst elements of Biden’s foreign policy debacle crew were deeply associated with Secretary Clinton’s State Department wasn’t paying attention then or is “misremembering” on purpose. That entire crew wanted Russia dismantled or war. Too many rice bowls waiting to be filled from the spoils, the biggest of which was Clinton’s own.

        1. digi_owl

          The deeper irony is that Clinton and Biden was defending Putin as a friend of USA during Obama’s re-election…

        2. Cassandra

          Word was that Victoria Nuland was going to be HRC’s pick for Secretary of State in 2017. And don’t forget Herself’s glowing words for her mentors Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright.

      3. t

        Remember it well. Very well. And also recall the cynicism of her campaign assuming that Pantsuit Nation wouldn’t understand the implications, let alone questioning the hubris.

    4. Feral Finster

      So it’s not the conspiracy theorists’ fault but the fault of the unjustly accused?!?

      Is this Pierce character serious?

      And did he forget how Clinton was threatening a “no fly zone” over Syria, to name but one? The United States seeks the destruction of Russia, not because of any partisan politics, but because Russia insists on acting like a sovereign country and not a vassal.

      That’s it. No goofy conspiracy theories needed.

  37. digi_owl

    “MSNBC’s Wallace: “All of the Conspiracy Theorists are Republicans.” Jonathan Turley. Remarkable they can say that with a straight face after Russiagate.”

    Because to the neolibs, Russiagate is not theory it is dogma.

    1. pjay

      I hear those Nerdy Girls have already “prebunked” Turley’s article. So no need to actually read it. Get your wonderful totally safe and effective COVID boosters! Use those condoms for safe sex! And don’t read Republican “conspiracy theorists” like Turley! Stay safe! Got it.

      1. LifelongLib

        Re covid vaccines, it looks like the claims that they prevent illness and/or transmission have been quietly dropped, so there’s been some progress…

    1. Polar Socialist

      If you spend enormous amounts of copium and hopium trying to pretend that Ukraine ever had a chance and still has, it’s kinda annoying to see the other side making counter-exhibition. And moreover, in a Victory Park commemorating shortly the celebration of the last time Russia crushed Das Neue Europe…

    2. Yves Smith Post author

      What crybabies.

      It is a proud tradition going back to the Roman triumph, if not before, for the conquering general to have a grand parade with exotic items from the conquered lands en train. See here:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uPiH-LBna5I

      Now they could beef that Russia is rushing the timetable by showing the goodies as if they had won already.

      1. The Rev Kev

        Could be worse. The Russians could park a Leopard 2 tank outside the Germany Embassy and an Abrams tank outside the US Embassy as has been happening in the west with Russian Embassies and Russian tanks.

        1. Polar Socialist

          I’ve seen several photos of a huge screen at the entrance of the exhibition stating that employees of the US, UK, France, German and Polish embassies can pass the queue to access the exhibition. Not quite sure if it’s just a photoshop or genuine trolling.

  39. ChrisFromGA

    Antifa’s latest parody spurred a thought. When they have the vote next week on the motion to vacate Mike Johnson, C-SPAN ought to have one of those NFL-style TV graphics for each Congresscritter as they vote, but instead of football stats like QB rating, receptions, or sacks, they could show:

    “Up next to vote: Hakeem Jeffries!”

    (Cool CGI graphic of him taking a bag of cash from a lobbyist and grinning)

    AIPAC rating: 100
    MIC donations: $50M
    Number of Palestinians slaughtered per dollar: 3
    Total sellout rating: 99.3

    Baseball fans really love stats, so I’m sure they can come up with some good ones.

      1. ChrisFromGA

        EFA: Earned Foreign-lobbyist Average

        Measured in average dollars per vote.

  40. Wukchumni

    I’m surprised the powers that be haven’t called protesters @ the Ivy League level:

    ‘Columbian Cartels’

    1. ChrisFromGA

      The current methodology of TPB is to defame the protesters as “outside agitators” not actual students.
      AFAIK, the only “evidence” of this allegation is that the tents are all the same color, or brand.

      Personally, if I were to join a tent city, I’d go with my trusty REI one-man tent, as I snore and don’t think my tentmates would appreciate that.

      The usual bogeymen are being conjured: Soros, The Stay-puft Marshmellow man.

  41. PlutoniumKun

    I dimly recall a reader (PlutoniumKun?) pointing out that new LNG carrier supply, which was dominated by South Korea, as already booked up for years. So this is a very big deal:

    Big day for China’s industries as CSSC signed world’s largest single shipbuilding deal w/ Qatar Energy to build 18 LNG Carriers w/ 271,000 cubic meter in carrying capacity
    This is world’s large LNG Carriers – 57% greater than standard 174k cubic meter carriers
    Designed by HD… pic.twitter.com/ZNzX6luQfx

    Yes, it was me. This isn’t the first order for Chinese LNG carriers, there was a smaller one last year by QatarEnergy (in which, incidentally, ExxonMobil has a significant shareholding). Although curiously QE(LNG) say nothing about the order on their website, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that much – its been widely reported in the shipping media.

    The big Busan shipbuilders are the most advanced in the world, and have up to now cornered the market in LNG carriers, among other specialist types of ship – but they’ve a full order book for several years (including enormous orders for Q–Max LNG carriers from QatarEnergyLNG, the biggest standard ship size).

    The important thing here is that the South Koreans have no longer cornered the market, but that’s just how these things go. Interpreting the deal is a little harder. The Qataris have proven masters of playing off both buyers and sellers of LNG against each other, and have been getting even richer lately thanks to the Ukraine War. They are reported to have long term contracts with China for LNG – and this may be connected to the contract (apparently, the contract involves some complex leasing arrangements with Chinese companies, which suggests to me that its the Chinese government, not Qatar, who is ultimately the buyer of these vessels – my guess is that the ‘buyer’ is China, on the basis of a Qatari leasing deal tied to previous exclusive supply contracts to China, which may or may not have some exit clauses).

    Long term contracts for LNG have never made much sense to me. LNG is pretty much the most expensive energy you can buy – the only reason the market is thriving is because the cheapest gas is in regions difficult to connect with pipelines, and buyers are desperate for alternatives to pipelines in order to leverage better deals from other sources. Because of the high fixed costs of pipelines, buyers are always vulnerable to some form of blackmail from suppliers, which is why Europe was trying to build up excess LNG terminal capacity even before the Ukraine war – it made strategic sense, if not economic sense. Some analysts think that LNG capacity is being significantly overbuilt – but this may not impact on Qatar, as like Saudi Arabia, it can thrive as the least cost provider of whatever market remains. In other words, the LNG market exists because its the only way gas can be turned into a fungible tradeable commodity, not because it makes sense in immediate economic terms. Its also, it should be said, a catastrophically bad fuel for the climate due to the energy requirements to compress and cool it.

    China is a huge buyer of gas (third biggest in the world last time I checked, possibly #1 for LNG), mostly LNG from Australia and pipeline gas from Turkmenistan (you just need to look at a map to see why the Chinese aren’t happy with this source). There are proposals to massively increase pipeline connections to Russia of course, but these will be expensive. China is also investing heavily in domestic gas (theoretically, it has a lot of shale gas, although its all in areas under extreme water stress, and fracking is an extremely heavy water user). Gas in China is significantly more expensive than most other energy sources (i.e. coal and renewables and maybe nuclear), its mostly being used to tackle air pollution and for specialist industrial use. China is also investing at an astonishing rate in every single energy source – coal, renewables, nuclear, etc. This may be a wise investment in the future, or it could lead to a catastrophic problem over the next few years if demand doesn’t catch up. So far, energy use in China has stayed relatively strong, although it seems its mostly from industry, not households. But the dip in gas use in 2022 may be significant, as the most expensive source of energy is always likely to be a leading indicator in the market. Of course, its only with hindsight that we can distinguish market blips from fundamental shifts.

    The interesting side issue to this is Iran. Qatars new fields are part of a shared geological bed between it and Iran. Nobody knows what sort of deal Qatar has with Iran (almost certainly involving large bags of cash). Iran has struggled to develop its own LNG production capacity – its interesting that China seems to prefer dealing with Qatar than Iran.

    While its always hard to interpret this sort of report – a lot of this type of deal never results in actual ships, as the financing and motivations are so murky – but my guess is that the big winners are the Qatari’s, who are absolute masters of playing off the supposed bigger and stronger players against each other. South Korea is something of a loser, although I doubt they will lose too much sleep over it, as they have around 10 years worth of full order books.

    1. JustTheFacts

      I think I read that Iran is building a natural gas pipeline to Pakistan, and China one from the same area in Pakistan to China which would provide a means for Iran to export gas to China without using a maritime route which could be disrupted by the US.

      1. PlutoniumKun

        That pipeline was officially cancelled by the Iranians just last month. It was never really viable, given that it runs through Baluchistan and the chaos in the Pakistani economy. There are also significant issues with the Qatari’s, as the connection was with the South Pars field, which is shared with that country and so would be subject to whatever secret agreements Iran and Qatar have over that gas.

        It was never the serious intention to connect with China – the terrain is just too difficult.

        People need to always read up on projected gas pipelines with scepticism. They are technically relatively simple (unless, for example, you have to go over the Himalayas), but very expensive to build and require very complex agreements between producing and consuming ends, plus whoever is financing it. Construction companies and amateur geopolitical thinkers love them, but generally reality hits hard when someone has to put their name to the financing papers, which is why most of them never get built.

        1. JustTheFacts

          Yes, I was wondering about the terrain. It looked pretty daunting. Thanks for your answer!

  42. EarthMagic

    Condolences to Ernie’s human.
    If circumstances permit, consider adopting a sweet older cat. All of the love and less of the orneryness.

  43. Es s Ce Tera

    re: The Israel-US game plan for Gaza is staring us in the face Jonathan Cook (Chuck L)

    I’d like to propose another timeline. It was the late 1940’s that the Allies started hear about possible German death camps and mass exterminations, but there was widespread scepticism and disbelief. It was 1944 when the Soviets liberated Madjanek, but still there was disbelief. Finally, in 1945 the Allies themselves arrived at these camps, had irrefutable evidence.

    Fast forward to 2025-2026, after the ICC and ICJ rulings, Zionism is the new Nazism, the words are interchangeable, the US is unable to hide its complicity, too much evidence abounds that it gave the Zionists an assist, US international standing is the lowest it has ever been. A movement is underway to relocate the UN, start a new League of Nations sans the US. Laws are passed worldwide making Zionism illegal. In an optimistic outcome in the US we see AIPAC disbanded and the US shamed, in a pessimistic outcome the US doubles down on its support for Zionism with all that this logically entails, such as embracing scientific racism, race supremacism and slavery, abandons democracy and any pretense of equity, tosses the constitution and remakes laws, takes the first step as per the German Nazis 70ish years ago and Israel more recently and begins removing citizenship based on ethnicity. Those Palestinians it absorbed under Biden? They’re the new slaves.

  44. Amfortas the Hippie

    the aaron mate thing on ten years of usa meddling in 404 is pretty good…a decent overview…with links to cached msm reporting.
    more or less as i remember those 10 years on this issue.
    but it wont matter to the True Believers…

  46. BP

    Temps here are high enough to produce expat whinging but only about two Celsius higher than normal.

    As Dima over at MSC might say “2 Celsius higher is a LOT”.

    Temperature distributions are bell-shaped. If the AVERAGE goes up by 2 degrees, meaning the bell shifts over by 2deg, then the incidences of the really high temperatures along the tail of the distribution goes up exponentially. It’s not the average that kills, but the extremes. its a point I try to make to my physics classes and anyone else who wonders what’s the big deal of a 1.5 or 2 or 3degree average increase.

    1. Yves Smith Post author

      No, what I wrote was not clear. The highest temps at the hottest time of the year here are 2 degrees C higher. That is over a period of 10 years or so. This is maybe 2 weeks, not all year.

      The peak temp for 10 days is about the same as a “normal” heat wave in NYC, which we get at least once, 2-3 days a year, sometime more, 97F to 100F. But a lot of buildings have Mediterranean design, which covered but open air internal corridors. So you are exposed to it more than in a northern city.

  47. Kouros

    Today was one of the days of the week when my team huddles online to salute the sun, state possible emergencies and bond via some online game.

    I announced loud and clear that I started my day by celebrating May 1, May Day, by listening The Internationale. Bewilderment. The only thing coming to their minds (all under 40, but very close to 30) was the Maypole. Nobody heard of the Chicago strike, the Haymarket incident and the 4 leaders hanged albeit the deads in Haymarket were at the hands of the police. Beside bewilderment was also boredom and annoyance, maybe a bit of shame that an immigrant knew the history of the continent better than them. Almost all my colleagues have Masters in a public health or related discipline…. Depressing.

  48. JustTheFacts

    Bringing the Palestinians into the US as refugees:

    The American right wing on Twitter seems not to want the Palestinians to come to the US because they believe the Palestinians have a culture which is incompatible with the West’s. That should logically mean that they want the Palestinians to want to stay in Palestine, and therefore they’d want the Israelis to stop slaughtering the Paelstinians there. Yet the very same right wingers seem to support Israel’s actions. This does not make any sense to me.

    What am I missing?

    1. NotTimothyGeithner

      “Mighty white of you”

      This is all it is. Whether Joe Biden, or some MAGA freak, this is just white settler fantasy cosplay.

  49. Paul J-H

    Finland: Prime Minister Orpo indeed did stress the need for EU support from the EU for Eastern Finland. Official press release: https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/-//10616/prime-minister-orpo-and-european-commission-president-von-der-leyen-visit-finland-s-eastern-border, here the public news summary: https://yle.fi/a/74-20084550. Petteri Orpo calls for the development of a special fund for Eastern Finland. (btw a pretty bizarre presser – they didn’t edit out about 40 minutes of waiting on the airport). VDL mentions negative impact of closing border for Eastern Finland. She mention green energy projects and tourism projects.

    I couldn’t find a source for that 10 billion number, but in this local newspaper VDL is quoted as saying: “Eastern Finland gets 61 million from the EU, that is invested in revitalizing the area (from cross-regional funds).” (and the presser mentions money from Frontex, 230 million euros or so) https://www.ess.fi/uutissuomalainen/6709753

    Maybe the author of the tweet cobbled together various sums of EU-projects (Eastern) Finland is involved in, such as indeed a hydrogen project, but this tweet is at least misleading. I am fluent in Finnish, I’d appreciate it if I could fact-check such tweets for NC, as I also know where to look.

    1. Polar Socialist

      It seems that the 10 billion is from an advert by Petri Roininen, True Finn turned to centrist who’s looking for a position in Center Party’s leadership, is candidate to EU parliament and bought campaign ads in local papers during VdL’s visit.

      No amount of money can revitalize eastern Finland without opening the border. And even then it will take some time and detoxification. Like admitting that Russia has never had to prevent migrants from coming to Finland vie Russia – they did it voluntarily to retain good relations. When Finland started to apply the EU Commission idiotic and illegal restrictions on Russian travel, Russia countered by not filtering outbound traffic anymore.

      1. Paul J-H

        Ah, Petri Roininen, yeah I know him from Twitter. Not a very nice person.

        And I agree, Eastern Finland relies on consumers from Russia and the paper industry raw materials from Russia (less regulations = more profit). In large parts of Eastern Finland the road signs and other information boards are (were?) often in Russian too.

        I don’t really buy this claim by Orpo, that Russia is “instrumentalizing immigrants” either. I think the causality is just like you say.

  50. The Rev Kev

    Just listening to Brian Berletic’s latest video where he is talking about the new British Challenger 3 tank-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4Vfa_xZP5g (24:00 mins)

    If you want to know how bad western production methods can leave your with military equipped with the wrong gear, this is the video for you. The British learned little from the war in the Ukraine as you can see from this tarted up Challenger 2 tank. The Challenger 3 is more expensive than a brand new tank and is the wrong machine for the modern battlefield. How can they get it so wrong?

    1. Polar Socialist

      The weird part (going by Wikipedia here) is that the upgrade proposal was signed in 2021 and full “operational capability” is expected in 2030.

      For what it’s worth, it takes about 9 months for Uralvagonzavod to turn a rusty T-72B to a practically new T-72B3M (which is technically a T-90 build from an old hull) and they seem to process about 200 per year.

      That’s 15 in a month for T-72B3M upgrade, and one per month for Challenger 3. According to the “open source intel” the cost for T-72 upgrade is $250,000/unit and for Challenger 3 around $6.5 million/unit.

      Some might say Challenger 3 is achieving the goals set for it…

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