How Legos went from humble toy to criminal black market item fueled by L.A. heists Los Angeles Times
Mysterious monoliths are appearing across the world. Here’s what we know. Vox
What If We’re Stuck Down Here? Defector
Climate/Environment
Top 14 hottest places on Earth from Tunisia to Kuwait, as heatwaves sweep much of world The National
The Extreme Weather Report, June 22, 2024. pic.twitter.com/Sgkl6hBnV8
— Yellow Dot Studios (@weareyellowdot) June 22, 2024
Downward Mobilisation The Break Down. The deck: “Private investment cannot and should not drive decarbonisation. It’s obvious: we need the state.”
It was meant to be a Christian utopia. Now this Nigerian community is helpless against rising seas AP
Water
Not just a Gulf problem: Mississippi River farm runoff pollutes upstream waters Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Pandemics
COVID infection endangers pregnancies and newborns. Why aren’t parents being warned? The Gauntlet
BMJ Paper at Center of COVID Vax Deaths Controversy Gets Expression of Concern MedPage Today
Foresight*: Pathogens from the Permafrost German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “Combating the Spread of an Animal-borne Disease with or without Russia.”
India
Africa
Why exactly are major international firms leaving the Nigerian market? An Africanist Perspective
Coup-hit Niger was betting on a China-backed oil pipeline as a lifeline. Then the troubles began AP
Japan
Marines Add New “Littoral” Combat Unit to Okinawa to Defend Japan & Philippines Warrior Maven
Only 10.4% want PM Kishida to continue to serve: Kyodo poll Kyodo News
Are Tokyo’s public toilets the new tourist attractions? Here are 13 unique ones worth visiting Channel News Asia
China?
China’s Vulnerability Paradox: How the World’s Largest Consumer Transformed Global Commodity Markets (book excerpt) Pekingnology
South China Sea: Philippines’ anti-ship missile base puts Scarborough Shoal in cross hairs South China Morning Post
In Southeast Asia, the Authorities Are the Biggest Gun Dealers in Town The Diplomat
Syraqistan
Dozens killed in northern Gaza during Israeli assassination attempt The Cradle
JENIN: Israeli forces tied an injured Palestinian man to the hood of their vehicle, using him as a human shield during a raid in the Occupied West Bank city. pic.twitter.com/wht3rBVuhX
— Hamdah Salhut (@hamdahsalhut) June 22, 2024
The Collapse of Zionism New Left Review
***
US offers assurances to Israel this week in the event of full-blown war with Hezbollah CNN
Addendum: And no, the US helping out with a couple squadrons of naval strike aircraft from a carrier sitting off the coast is not going to meaningfully change the operational balance in South Lebanon. pic.twitter.com/enIcBy9H91
— Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) June 23, 2024
***
Yemeni, Iraqi Resistance jointly target five Israeli-bound ships Al Mayadeen
Houthi claims of attack on US aircraft carrier are false: US officials Al Arabiya
European Disunion
The dangerous framing of a Putin Puppet Left Bloc. Clare Daly.
EPP snubs hearing before Brussels court on von der Leyen’s Commission candidacy Euractiv
German automakers pressure EU leaders to drop China EV tariffs Nikkei Asia
Paris’ Rise as Finance Hub at Risk After Macron’s Election Call Bloomberg
🇫🇷elections. Bardella: as PM I will order an audit of public finances because they are in such a dire state that we won’t be able to keep our expensive promises on pensions, VAT etc.
In fact, all figures are public, published by the 🇫🇷 treasury every month. RN backpedaling again. https://t.co/NkLk6rfU3Y— Giovanni Capoccia @gcapoccia.bsky.social (@gcapoccia1) June 22, 2024
New Not-So-Cold War
South Korea, Japan, US agree on ‘close’ security cooperation in wake of Putin-Kim summit Anadolu Agency
EU allegedly mulls security partnerships with Japan, South Korea baha
Nothing to worry about? South Korea sounds the alarm Gilbert Doctorow
South Korean Military Power: Lessons Europe can Learn from Seoul The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies
***
Negotiations needed to end war in Ukraine but Putin ‘cannot be trusted,’ says Mark Milley The Kyiv Independent
Rerouting of Russia trade to add more Caucasus, Central Asia growth in 2024-2025, says Oxford Economics Intellinews
Old Blighty
Farage’s children Wrong Side of History
Sunak, Starmer slam Farage claim that EU, NATO ‘provoked’ invasion of Ukraine Politico
The housing market scam that the Labour Party has ruled out solving The Canary
South of the Border
Driving Capital Phenomenal World. “The USMCA, the IRA, and Mexico’s electric vehicle boom.”
Spook Country
Trump
Democrats en déshabillé
The Junior Partner Strategy Left Notes
Democratic National Convention Will Treat Influencers Like Press This Year Gizmodo
2024
Democrats ramp up efforts to block RFK Jr. from appearing on ballots across the nation CNN
Imperial Collapse Watch
The Zero Sovereignty System Philip Pilkington, Postliberal Order
Boeing
Virgin Atlantic Boeing 787’s windscreen cracks at 40K feet, forcing terrified crew to reroute San Francisco-bound flight New York Post
Problems at Boeing cast a shadow over 777 freighter conversion certification The Loadstar
The US still cannot get its astronauts back to earth due to Boeing technical problems.
(The US used to rely on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS)).
“What was meant to be a one-week stay in space for astronauts Suni Williams and… https://t.co/KviuLkKcTT pic.twitter.com/JLgreqx1Nd
— ⏳Towhee 🌏☮️ (@amborin) June 22, 2024
Healthcare?
These Big Health Insurers Covered Fewer People in the Commercial Market in 2023 Than They Did in 2013. Yet Profits Were Up. Here’s How. HEALTH CARE un-covered
FDA Warns Yet Another Birth Tissue Company MedPage Today
Antitrust
Inside FICO and the Credit Bureau Cartel BIG by Matt Stoller
Police State Watch
COMPANY LINKED TO FEDERAL EXECUTION SPREE SAYS IT WILL NO LONGER PRODUCE KEY DRUG The Intercept
Groves of Academe
The Crackdown on Campus Protests is Just Beginning In These Times
Digital Watch
Publishers’ lawsuit leads to removal of 500,000 books from Internet Archive Techspot
Microsoft admits no guarantee of sovereignty for UK policing data Computer Weekly
Zuckerberg, other Meta executives denied employees’ pleas to fund youth safety programs: Report Washington Examiner
Guillotine Watch
Thirteen arrested after fireworks from yacht spark forest fire on Greek island The Guardian
The Bezzle
Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery The Verge
The State Wants to Nationalize Second Mortgages. What Possibly Can Go Wrong? Mises Institute
Class Warfare
Does the US have a housing shortage—or an affordable housing shortage? 48 Hills
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
198 comments
Comments are closed.
Lego is the plural of Lego.
I will die on that hill. My UK 6 year old inner self tells me.
Wait until you see the new, improved version of Lego. Each one will be equipped with it’s own AI which means that kids won’t have to do anything. They will just sit there watching while the Lego blocks assemble themselves and at the end of the day, will disassemble themselves and pack themselves into their box. It’ll be great. Meanwhile, I will keep the bucket of analogue Lego that I have in storage.
If they come up with Legos that will pack themselves away at the end of the day, they will have a blockbuster. Just sayin’. ouch
Will the AI realize an integral part of the process is to leave one piece out, do be discovered barefoot in the middle of the night?
There will also be the version that will leave out a single piece out to be discovered by the family cat or dog and swallowed necessitating a visit to the vet.
Ditto(s).
I literally laughed out loud at those parentheses and my Dad instantly guessed what website I was reading.
Reported in Haaretz. Not reported by any US outlet that I’ve seen, yet:
Biden Point-person on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Resigns Citing Family Reasons
Huge. I’ve kind of felt like a crazy person shouting here that the Biden State Dept. approach to Israel is in and of itself criminal. But I’m not the crazy one, at least in this regard. These lunatics like Blinken are the crazy ones. They’ve committed fraud, use textbook bad-faith negotiating tactics, and generally have done things that no diplomat would ever do. Someone coined the term “dead cat diplomacy” – the goal is not to reach an accord but to lay the “dead cat” on Hamas’s doorstep.
https://foreignpolicy.com/2024/06/14/biden-gaza-israel-ceasefire-deal-diplomacy/
This sort of malfeasance by those who took a career path in order to serve a higher good has to be corrosive on the soul. Glad to see that some people have the decency to quit rather than continue to do evil.
One look at Blinken’s family background, upbringing, schools and political career will disabuse you of any thought that he ever was groomed for serving, or sought out, a “higher good”. These people hate us.
“The dangerous framing of a Putin Puppet”
It is a shame that Clare Daly and Mick Wallace both lost their seats but we have to be realistic here. When they made their speeches it was mostly to an empty chamber and they would never influence most of the members of the Parliament. In fact, from having seen the EU Parliament in their votes over the past several years, I would adjudge them to be a lost cause. Perhaps Clare Daly and Mick Wallace could devote their attention to causes in Ireland now. Say, does Ireland have a foreign agent law to reign in their NGOs?
The US has Ireland by the nuts. 10% of the workforce work for multinationals, mainly American. Most Irish people have sadly become Westoids, more interested in British soccer and American trash “culture” than having to think.
Reading the comments on Irish Reddit, my fellow countrymen have sadly drunk the US Koolaid where Ukraine/Russia is concerned. National broadcaster RTE has done its job well.
The ruling FG/FF government are fully pro US, pro Nato, and pro Globalisation, and committed Atlanticists.
But even they had to speak out on the Gaza genocide. No-one here can or will support it.
Personally I’m feeling very sore that this is being allowed to destroy the US.
I would suggest they address the chronically dysfunctional housing market very much in, and increasingly around Dublin.
I was passing on to a friend of my mothers her passing and the conversation,as it increasingly does, to the terrible fact that her middle aged son,on 50,000 euros could not move out into a place of his own.
I’m irish both sides 1000 years, but I am drawn to what a desiccated,very protestant NI solicitor offered me unsolititiously on crete:
” They are all rogues with a smile”
Build an ark like you did last time. /snark
Come on! I heard my first 9/11 joke 2 hours after it happened. We Brits have messed up humour. And you Yanks gave us George Carlin RIP.
I’m disappointed I didn’t think of that. Thanks for the laugh this morning.
Thanks but I bow to a group of NC real masters of satire with their song lyrics etc :-)
Maybe they can sell that land to the Seasteading Institute. The attraction for them would be that they would start on dry land but eventually be all at sea.
All you need is starlink , amazon next day service,uber eats and a highly motivated leader to emerge from the chosen there.
You can get ‘lord of the flies’ on audible.
One island, one ATM, one people.
rev kev, I worry that you are not positive enough.
Hahaha! I’m half Aussie so this is music to my ears…. As are most of the comments by Rev Kev.
(Note to self: renew aussie passport this year to keep escape route from UK viable).
Thanks so much for this. Perhaps it should be noted that the traditional government response to landlords and their games was rent control as in NYC. It sounds like Real Page’s big idea was to translate New York’s perpetual scarcity of apartments to the country as a whole and then daring a captured government and especially third way Dems to object. One could suggest it resembles another instance of carefully controlled supply–corporate medicine where the huge prices are the result of limited competition and a perhaps artificial scarcity of physicians (a favorite Dean Baker theme).
There once was a commonsense understanding that greed is not in fact good although it can motivate economic activity that must be carefully managed by the countervailing power of government. All the push in the other direction since Reagan is mere medicine show flummery–the sort of grifting that Mark Twain satirized in his books. Back then when the public got wise tar and feathering was the solution. It’s a fashion look that may need reviviing.
This is not a correct view. Rent control (and rent stabilization) was limited to a certain stock of apartments from many years ago. There are certain successor rights, and apartments can be decontrolled (if tenant illegally sublets, if does not live there at least half the year, and these buildings keep logs, or if the rent breaches a certain level and the tenant has above a certain level of income for two years running). New builds are not rent controlled or stabilized.
Thanks for the setting straight. And of course my comment meant to go under Conor’s Real Page post and put here under Links by mistake.
I will stand by the view that housing like medicine needs far more government intervention.It has been pointed out that for all of the Soviet Union’s problems everyone had a place to live.
Were it not for 2.3 million “unauthorized immigrants” living in California,
we’d have access to a lot more housing units.
Imagine Trump deporting, or encouraging them to leave on their own; Do you know how many millions of low and middle cost housing units would come onto the market and how low rents would go?
Sanctuary state, free healthcare for illegals, but clawbacks for natives, California cannot invite illegals from all over the world to pour in and then cry about the lack of housing.
https://californiadegrees.org/illegal-immigrants-in-california-statistics/
While I agree with having too many immigrants, the housing and healthcare issues have been a growing crisis for over forty years as they are manufactured by the elites. The immigrants at worst increase the problems. They did not cause them.
When I worked as a Spanish interpreter in New York, I learned that it was common for immigrants to live 4 or 5 to a room, saving money to send home. No great strain on the available housing stock.
Anybody who gets a job in the USA should have a green card or even citizenship granted, along with the job. Otherwise, you are taxing them without the possibility of them getting meaningful representation. Once that happens, blab all you like about “free healthcare for illegals” and the rest of your bs.
Taxation without representation is tyranny.
That isbullshit. So I visit New York City and have to pay high hotel taxes and therefore I should vote there? This is where your “you get to vote if you are taxed” argument goes.
Long-stay tourists and expats and corp employees on foreign assignments are in the same boat. I lived for two years in Australia. It never never would have occurred to me to think it was reasonable for me to vote there until I had at least permanent residence (and in Oz that might not have been enough for me to vote). I am now in a country on a long-term basis and I will never be able to vote here either.
If you do not have a lasting commitment to being in a country, and a mere job does not cut it, since you can quit it at any time and go home, I do not see the basis for being allowed to vote unless you give up your home country citizenship.
Where I live, if you have been a resident for more than two years, you get to vote in the local (county and municipality) elections – you can even stand as a candidate. And likewise, a citizen living permanently abroad can’t vote in the local elections.
Just cause eviction laws at state, and more harsh ones at local level, mean that a bad tenant can dig in and stay for a long time w. landlord having to pay utilities,and hotel relocation costs, including pet sitting if they lose in civil court.
In Marin County, California, taxpayers fund Marin Legal Aid which sues on behalf of tenants who pay rents of 6% of C.P.I. Damages to landlords are unlimited.
Some towns, like Fairfax, passed more extreme laws, without a public vote, allowing renters in legal, or illegal units, yurts, tents, garage conversions, to sublet to anyone of their choosing, at a profit to themself. Landlord cannot evict them and must appeal to the Berkeley Rent Control Board, in a different county, to adjudicate.
And they wonder why there are so many vacant units used for storage, potential visitors etc? It’s almost like someone designed a system to destroy the private rental market and hand it over to institutional investors who get to build massive out of scale rental units following new state requirements that allow that.
Clearly, I need a new handle because I did not write the above. So I will be Ann of BC. Canada seems to be having the same troubles as the EU. Poilievre is ahead in the polls right now.
https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2024/06/18/Europe-Hard-Right-Parties/
“Degrading our political discourse while subverting confidence in basic facts and demonizing those who don’t agree is the hallmark of the hard-right populist style of politics gaining traction across the world. Pierre Poilievre, Donald Trump and their ilk have tapped into something that is both inscrutable and undeniable. They nurture and harvest grievance by offering simplistic scapegoating.
By way of explanation, Margaret Atwood noted an editorial cartoon showing a Handmaid and her daughter who asked her, “But why didn’t you vote against them Mom? Why didn’t you try to stop them from taking it all away?” Handmaid’s answer: “Well back then gas prices were quite high honey….”
Unfortunately, they don’t seem to be doing that, or a lot more people would be able to find places to rent.
Airplanes
The aviation hearld
https://avherald.com/
Is one of the best places to find news and incidents in the aviation world.
In it you’ll find that there are other manufactures of commercial aircraft beside Boeing and that parts falling off and things breaking happen on all brands and all airlines.
And there is a lot of commercial flights a day, nearly 100 000.
https://www.oag.com/airline-frequency-and-capacity-statistics
Found the Boeing shareholder
“German automakers pressure EU leaders to drop China EV tariffs”
Those German automakers know that the Chinese are dead serious about fighting those EU tariffs and have just received confirmation of that. German Minister for Everything Robert Habeck went to China for a 3-day visit where he was scheduled to meet with Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The Chinese were not impressed with the EU’s announcement last week of new tariffs of up to 38% on Chinese EVs and are making their feelings known. So Habeck never got to meet with Li Quang but had to settle for a bunch of meeting with more junior officials. To Robert Habeck I would say ‘Welcome to the bigs!’
https://www.rt.com/business/599731-habeck-li-qiang-canceled-meeting/
Here in SC we are in the midst of another BMW expansion and our Lindsey declared that half the factory’s output goes overseas. So should the Chinese decide to retaliate against the new US and Europe EV tariffs it could hit Republican American pocket books. Stay tuned.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1804364456983695666
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
That’s SO typical of the attitude that’s completely destroying the West’s relationship with the Global South.
Germany’s Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck goes to China ‘for the first time’ (meaning he doesn’t know the country at all) and immediately launches into a lecture on “human rights”, saying incredibly offensive – and completely false – things, such as saying that “children have to work miserably, under miserable conditions” (which is absolutely not true, in fact if China can be criticised for anything it’s too much ‘education’ for children – whose parents sometimes overload them with homework – but lambasting them for child labor in 2024 is laughable).
China’s premier Li Qiang proceeded to cancel the meeting that he had planned with Robert Habeck, who was then so incredibly clueless as to comment he “didn’t know why” the meeting got cancelled. Here’s a clue for you Robert: maybe because you came to insult his country?
Imagine a Chinese minister going to Germany and upon arrival spewing incredibly offensive and clueless lies about the country…
12:03 AM · Jun 22, 2024
“Imagine a Chinese minister going to Germany and upon arrival spewing incredibly offensive and clueless lies about the country…”
For most of the CW they wouldn’t even need to go to the trouble of coming up with a lie. The truth is offensive enough that it can get you jailed around here these days.
Re Sunak, Starmer slam Farage claim that EU, NATO ‘provoked’ invasion of Ukraine
I have absolutely neither time nor respect for grifting, self-centred snakeoil salesman Nigel Farage, but the unanimous pile on from British media and politicians is an object lesson in how corrupt the system is in Britain. Dissenting voices are not allowed, nor any kind of critical thinking in actually examining what has happened in Ukraine over the past decade and earlier. It also offered these voices a further opportunity to once again raise the Skripal case as another heinous Russian crime, with no looking at any of the numerous glaring holes in the official narrative. Worst of all, the vast majority of people unthinkingly accept the official narrative of Ukraine and the Skripals without a single wait a moment, does it genuinely make sense?
May be a smart move by Farage here. The British must know that their economy is being pushed into recession almost certainly caused by the manic support of the Ukraine by both parties. And they can see how Ukrainians are treated like favoured children while their own needs are discounted or ignored. So by Farage coming out and saying the truth, he has managed to make himself stand out from both the Tories and the Labour party which is not a bad thing. It may even split off some voters from both the big parties to vote for Farage instead.
Apart from saying the west provoked the invasion due to Nato expansion, Farage quite cannily added that Putin was wrong to invade Ukraine. Even so, he has been unanimously painted as a Putin puppet. One tabloid front page even led with the mindboggling ‘Zelensky warns Farage is infected with the virus of Putinism’.
I wonder how much the British believe their media anymore. There has to be a point where the gaslighting just gets too much. After the Hillsborough disaster back in ’89, people got so sick of the newspapers trying to blame the fans for all those deaths that when one newspaper- The Sun – really went overboard, that people in Mersyside boycotted that newspaper and do so to this day. So what happens if nearly all other media is boycotted as well one day-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillsborough_disaster#Controversies
Anecdotally, around here in centre of the “soon to be rebuilt red wall”, nobody is buying newspapers or engaging in political discourse.
Everyone is utterly exhausted. Farage has been extremely clever with the Russian thing. Two things NOBODY wants around here is national service and it being to save Ukraine.
The British National Party had non negligible vote in my constituency right up to 1997. Its child, Reform, is in 3rd place according to constituency based surveys. The soon-to-be-Labour-MP better start listening to voters here rather than London Labour head Office if he isn’t to be a one-termer.
National service draft? It’s almost like Rishi is trying to lose. / ;)
Yeah, I wonder if he and his mates have a Green Card to go someplace else? ;-)
I read somewhere a while ago that Sunak is supposed to have said to somebody that he did not want to be a wartime Prime Minister. If my memory is correct and he really said that, then perhaps he really is trying to throw the election.
He doubled down on that and said that those that did not join would be sanctioned on their bank accounts, government services, etc. He really doesn’t want to be the PM anymore.
I know that everyone cannot believe how anyone reads the MSM.
But, when I FaceTime my mum in Worcester (I am in NSW, Australia) I am often reduced to rage by her idiocy.
She voted for Boris because the MSM to.d her Corbyn was “sneaky” or whatever.
All these old fools can still vote. Although, she might not this this.
I implore her to vote for the UK Workers Party if they stand in Worcester, which they will. But she tells me how she likes the look of Starmer.
When I find myself yelling at my 79 year old Mum on FaceTime I remember how the MSM might seem marginal to me but not to a lot of other people.
Very depressing.
I just don’t engage with most family regarding politics.
Better than the doctor prescribed anti-hypertensives am on!
Actually, just recognizing an opportunity that’s smacking him in the face. Farage went from zero to second in, what, a week or two? I’m pretty sure that a lot of the British public is starved for a politician who is willing to speak some sort of truth to them, and here he is.
He is NOT second. Though you are right that he has identified a key issue that a lot of hitherto “silent people” identify with.
My constituency is a bellweather seat. If Labour don’t win it back they’re toast. (They’re gonna win it massively.) If Reform get close to the Conservatives (2nd place) then I predict Prime Minister Farage in 2029 or soon after. People round here are giving Labour ONE last chance.
If Starmer governs according to his nonsensical manifesto then both Labour and Conservative will be entries in history books. People like me are stymied. 5% of the Green manifesto is good, saying good stuff about land value taxation and MMT. The rest is nonsense. 5% of Reform is now new clever posturing (Russia). Labour is “would you like fries with your turd sandwich?”. Tories are not even considered. Lib Dems are remembered for their utter treachery in govt. Hell, their leader went to my school and his political philosophy makes me ashamed.
Actually on vote share Reform looks like they are in second place.
https://nitter.poast.org/Samfr/status/1804430570849526058#
Reform lead Tories among young and middle aged voters and among working class voters. Level pegging nationally except London. So rich, old, urban Tories (the banker class) are Sunak until they die….
What is more, they’ve pulled the jumpers from the Tory ship onboard and now the Labour vote is starting to dive overboard. Look at the votes and you see the Labour line beginning to bend down like the Tory line did.
https://nitter.poast.org/Dylan_Difford/status/1804908523676925974#m
I don’t think it will translate into many seats, the vote is too dispersed, but Reform is the opposition to both main parties now.
As you acknowledge, FPTP and actual seats won will be the key thing. I’m not (yet) convinced Reform are beating the Tories in terms of vote share – I wanna see an attitudinally augmented opinion poll from one of the major companies like the YouGov 2017 “pilot/alternative” survey.
But Rishi is certainly doing everything I thought possible to eliminate the Tories…and you’re right about the “softness” of Labour support. That is what I hinted at above. Labour should be concerned about 2028/2029 not 2024.
Another telling parallel with the US that demonstrates the state of politics throughout the West these days. Trump has made similar remarks about our provocation of Ukraine and faced similar indignant criticism by our own Establishment duopoly. Republican leaders here have to be a little quieter in criticizing Trump, since he is supposedly their party leader and controls their base. But their actions are basically the same.
Indeed. I’m somewhat familiar with minutiae of USA politics but I’ll be happy to be corrected on this topic. I feel that Trump wants an “exit strategy re Ukraine” but a bunch of his supporters have drunk too much of the kool aid. (Perhaps part of the rapture nonsense that causes weirdo-Christians to cheer on the end of days via Israeli nuclear victory/defeat leading to the book of Revelations).
Where is US isolationism when we actually need it?
We’ve needed it since they took out Kennedy. I’m more than ready now.
Trump helped get us out of afghan, Jan 25 might be a great time to get out of Ukraine. Course, he’d be all in for israel… wonder what the situation there will be in another 7 months? Imagine they manage to get Hezbollah fully engaged…. And my guess is that would excite the Syrian/iraqi resistance… Jordan would be a wild card if the natives get really restless.
All in for Israel, or all in to save Israelis from themselves? Isolationism, managed trade and effective border control might just give the US the breathing space it needs to heal and force the rest of the Collective West to follow suit.
The more I look the more I think all current Western leading pols are owned by the same financial interests. Neoliberalism uber alles. / ;)
I wonder if Farage’s de-banking had an effect?
I think T’s 90+ indictments in one year, the year he decided to run again, has had an effect on the electorate. / ;)
See – The Zero Sovereignty System Philip Pilkington, Postliberal Order link above.
“I have absolutely neither time nor respect for grifting, self-centred snake oil salesman Nigel Farage, but the unanimous pile on from British media and politicians is an object lesson in how corrupt the system is in Britain…”
When the great Russian studies scholar Stephen Cohen sought to explain in 2014 that war was being provoked in Ukraine, the response from the New York Times reporters was to call the Princeton and NYU professor “a villain.”
* https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/11/opinion/a-russia-scholars-views.html
A Russia Scholar’s Views
The Ukrainian crisis, the worst and most fateful of the 21st century, is the outcome of Washington’s 20-year bipartisan policy toward post-Soviet Russia, spearheaded by NATO’s eastward expansion.
STEPHEN F. COHEN
New York, March 7, 2014
I used to listen to the (otherwise execrable and Zionist) John Batchelor’s radio show every Tuesday night for his hour-long conversations with Stephen F. Cohen. Whatever Batchelor’s other views, he continued to provide an opportunity to hear that admirable voice of wisdom. Much missed.
I was for years here posting links to Cohen interviews, articles and to his book “War with Russia?” but they never got any traction. I remember seeing some nay-saying about his perspective from Doctorow and Helmer highlighted. They seem put off by his close relationship with Gorbachev. Professional jealousies, especially coming form otherwise admirable people, are terribly unattractive and Cohen, once the go-to guy on Russia decades ago when the MSM was still doing its job as the fourth estate, should have been heeded not ignored. The Nation, due to his wife I assume, continued to give him space and towards the end he often teamed up with Aaron Maté for some hard hitting truth-telling about the nazis in Ukraine . That critical perspective died at The Nation after he did, replaced by celebrations of Navalny, Zelensky and the like and Maté is now persona non grata there.
“I was for years here posting links to Cohen interviews…”
Excellent; what valuing scholarship should be about.
This bit:
Can probably be applied to most countries in Europe :(
Attack-dogs that don’t attack, shepherding-dogs that don’t shepherd and guard-dogs that don’t bark are soon retired/replaced. The hounds have to show their value by hounding someone, anyone except one of their own. So for the hounds the cost/benefit calculation is simple. Do what is expected no matter what.
For the hounded, in this case Farage, then the cost/benefit is more complicated. Is the fight worth having, is it worth the (limited) time and resources spent even if there would be a win?
Not fighting risks being accused of selling out but if the issue isn’t that important to votes/supporters then that risk might be worth taking.
The above might seem like a conspiracy, I don’t think it is but I do think that anyone in pack who does not do their bit risk being attacked by the pack due to the nature of the hounds in the pack. Eat or be eaten…
And still no mention of the Workers Party, which opposes the Ukraine war and the Gaza genocide, and is fielding more than 160 candidates, many of them muslims, in the General Election.
The MSM may hate Farage, but what they really fear is the Workers.
The MSM have nursed farage with their own sterile milk for as long as I can remember.
They (dis)honestly disdain him, yet tirelessly and forcefully entertain him.
I am confident that there is a camp bed in the foyer of the bbc HQ reserved for him.
Tell me more about the workers,alex,and how are they feared
…and funded
Each candidate pays his own way.
Cold War on Skates update:
Those in the Gulag Hockeypelago are keenly aware that silver is around $30 U.S. per ounce (equal to approx $193 an ounce in frozen tundra toonies) and should the Oilers regain possession of the cup for Canada after a 31 year hiatus, speculation is rife that if melted down, would sharply cut their national debt, and perhaps a less unwieldy trophy that doubles as an insulated cup made by Stanley, might be a better fit.
Would love to see McDavid et al hoist that beast. Here’s one Albertan’s sentiments about rats, and the Rat Patrol Corb Lund 3 minutes
https://youtu.be/B2xjxRBc1vw
My Calgarian cousins were here for my niece’s wedding, and I almost got them to admit they were pulling for Edmonton to win the cup, but then they thought better of it and changed the subject to professional pickleball.
There becomes a scarcity effect of important sport events to follow by late June. Can’t report or suggest that I have much legitimate interest as to whether the Canadian based team or the south Florida based team actually wins the trophy late Monday evening. I find it incredibly odd that Florida teams have been the more recent hot bed of Eastern Conference participants … Tampa was in the mode of just winning baby ( hat tip, the ghost of Al Davis ).
Glad I don’t suffer or have withdrawals from my non existent sports betting app.
Florida Man has suffered virtual barrages of clickiscism for so long now, and this being a team effort, the joke writes itself…
6 Florida Men squander 3-0 Stanley Cup finals lead.
Re The Collapse of Zionism
So in other words they want a Creationism theme park devoted to Biblical literalism. As a result
Ever since WW2 the mantra has been “never again” to allow a repeat of Hitler’s destruction of the Jews but if a group of Jews in the Middle East are committed to a course of self destruction (and the killling of thousands or even millions of Arabs) should not good liberals like Ken Burns speak up? After all he said he wanted to become “part of the conversation.” Whereas in reality most American supporters seem more concerned with controlling the conversation.
> More than half a million Israelis, representing the State of Israel, have left the country since October,
Sample point of one. I just got back from there. The outgoing flight was half-empty, the return one was packed.
Maybe they got their call-up papers and had to return. I was reading how the Ultra-Orthodox are still refusing to fight as it is not their problem so the government is considering raising the ages of those who serve in the reserves. Thus the IDF will be like the mafia – just when you think that you are out, they drag you back in again.
Do the passengers still clap and cheer when the plane lands in Israel? I travelled to Israel in 2000 just before the second intifada. Most people on board erupted in cheers and clapping upon landing. Only time in my life, I have witnessed that on a plane.
Yes, but they also applauded when we got back to Germany. This may be a German thing. Der Postillon once had an article about a pilot immediately taking off again, because the passengers didn’t applaud.
BTW, I may not have been clear, but there were many more leaving Israel that arriving.
Now that I think about, if I am on a Boeing plane maybe I should be clapping and cheering whenever we successfully land anywhere.
“I may not have been clear, but there were many more leaving Israel than arriving.”
GK, clarifying about flying from Germany to Israel, and flying back to Germany.
AFAIK nobody really knows when and where this custom was invented, but applauding used to be a German thing. I’d say it was also quite common in Eastern Europe.
Every landing I made in South America in 70s-80s-90s was accompanied by general applause. Just non-political relief + cheerful bonhomie.
I witnessed the same thing on a plane that landed safely after a very turbulent flight (it didn’t land in Israel).
@Ghost
Clapping when the plane lands is also a Quebec thing. It happens every time I land in Cuba from Montreal and it’s not because it’s Cuba.
I understand and mainly empathize with your “good liberals” comment. But it is the case that this is one issue – perhaps the only one regarding recent foreign policy – where a number of good liberals have actually come down on the right side of history. That is part of the propaganda problem faced by the Israel Lobby and their Establishment lackeys; liberal media and academia as a whole are not completely hoodwinked on this issue, though of course their leadership is still controlled. So there are cracks in the dominant narrative. Just in today’s Links we have another State Department official jumping ship, another compatible “left” outlet I’d written off (In These Times) condemning repression of campus protest, and other signs of opposition.
Of course this still changes nothing as far as policy is concerned. The decision-makers are completely captured.
Seems polarization is winning. If all seculars leave israel, those left are entirely right wing. If most of those thinking state is doing the wrong thing resign, the more of those remaining are more supportive of existing policy. We need change at the top, and that won’t be in sight until if and when the Israeli land-based carrier is sinking. It’s up to the Muslims.
I respect Pappé and await his new book coming July 30, 2024:
I will buy it if I can (not from googlezon, though) but may have to wait for a library copy.
He discussed it, and more with Aaron Bastani at his Novara Media site a week ago:
To their credit our library got his book Ten Myths About Israel. Of course they also have plenty of books on the other side.
Michigan has a state wide linked library system where one can get anything published if the local library doesn’t have it. Some of the titles I get from them are only found in the universities. My home library is not in an affluent district.
If there were six of me I still couldn’t keep up.
Same here in Denver. DPL is connected to Prospector, a network that includes most public and university libraries in Colorado and Wyoming. And if that doesn’t work, Worldcat is available. I’ve borrowed books and orchestral scores from various U.S. states, Canada, and England. No charge, but I do occasionally donate. The public library is much more that most people know.
I can usually find books I want to buy at bookshop.org. They currently have several by Pappé but not the new one for pre-order yet. Their about page explains their donation of profits to local bookstores.
Thank you! They also have a locator for local shops. I found one that I have been to, but this is helpful.
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/02/opinion/02iht-edkkhouri.1.6957143.html
August 2, 2007
A new history lesson in Israel
By Rami G. Khouri
BEIRUT — Here’s a little event that may have big implications. The Israeli education ministry has approved a textbook for Arab third graders in Israel that for the first time describes the 1948 war that gave birth to the state of Israel as a “catastrophe” for the indigenous Palestinians and their society. The Palestinians have always referred to 1948 as their nakba, or catastrophic national shattering, dispersal, exile, occupation and disenfranchisement.
This may be the first tangible sign that the Zionist Israeli establishment is prepared to move in the direction of acknowledging what happened to the Palestinians in 1948, which is a vital Palestinian demand for any serious peace-making effort to succeed. Israelis in turn would expect a reciprocal Palestinian acknowledgment of Israel’s core narrative.
The new textbook states that “The Arabs call the war the Nakba, a war of catastrophe, loss and humiliation, and the Jews call it the Independence war.” It adds that, “some of the Palestinians fled and some were expelled following the War of Independence,” and that “many Arab-owned lands were confiscated.”
Unfortunately, the official textbook for Jewish Israelis in the same grade does not offer this Arab view, but sticks to the Israeli version of 1948 history as a moment of Jewish valor and national rebirth. Yet the new Arabic text may be significant if it reflects an Israeli capacity to become more historically honest, and sensitive to the legitimate political rights of their Palestinian foes.
The facts of the Palestinian Nakba in 1948 are quite well documented now by Israeli, Arab and foreign historians. Something like 750,000 Palestinians (about half the population) was driven out of or fled their Palestinian homes and lands in 1948, for various reasons. Those refugees now number over 4.5 million.
One of the biggest debates about 1948 is on motives, especially the Palestinian view that Zionist leaders and militias implemented a planned ethnic cleansing campaign to systematically drive out the Palestinians in order to make room for a Jewish state. Israelis argue that Arab leaders told the Palestinians to leave so that Arab armies could attack the Jewish forces, or that Jewish attacks on Arabs were only in self-defense.
Much of this debate has been resolved by respected scholars. The most recent and complete treatment of this issue is a book by the Israeli historian and University of Haifa lecturer Ilan Pappe, entitled, appropriately, “The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine.” …
Rami G. Khouri is director of the Issam Fares Institute at the American University of Beirut.
hmm…
That’s from 2007, I wonder if it actually happened?
Heat temps are high and staying that way…don’t need to become a meteorology expert to explain that. Helpful commentary from the peanut gallery never hurt anyone however.
Salesman Ricky Roma adds his opinion on the heat, from the ever excellent movie Glengarry Glen Ross…”they say you should not drink alcohol, for they say it dehydrates you…they say you should drink water…”
And erstwhile the story about the historic rainfall levels that have been pummeling the south Florida cities in recent weeks, I find this gem below about a recent act of legislation on the matter from the governor’s desk. No more record rainfall on his watch!
“…has signed a bill that would make the term climate change largely verboten in many state statutes…”. FWIW I’m sure Noah or Gilgamesh might have disagreement on that. \sarc
Next up, Texas will tell Florida “hold my beers” as they legislate or proceed to rule out deep freezing temperatures.
90° F in Boulder, Colorado, right now, on its way up to 93°.
Doctors’ warnings ringing in my ears: in such conditions make sure to drink plenty of liquids, as in at least 3 liters a day, and replenish electrolytes accordingly — otherwise Bad Things Will Happen.
97 in my backyard in Denver (confirmed by a local Weather underground station)
99 in beautiful Fort Collins, 106 back in Tiny Town.
Okinawans will be delighted to have even more protection.
https://www.axios.com/2023/05/13/okinawa-protests-us-military-bases-close
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protests_of_US_military_presence_in_Okinawa
I seem to remember Japan lost a war, but the Navy did give Okinawa back to Japan (though I suppose one can ask if the Ryukyus are really “Japan”). But it isn’t really “new” so much as a reconfiguring Marine infantry from a “mini-army” into a different type of force. This by the way facing stiff resistance from various retired types who prefer the old organization. The 3rd Regiment here at KBay Hawaii has been the model.
The US Occupation of Japan ended in 1952, but the US military retained control of Okinawa until 1972. Still today, there are US military bases everywhere in Okinawa and, as a result, it is by far the poorest prefecture in Japan. After all, who wants to invest with military aircraft flying overhead constantly, Osprey falling out of the sky, crashing into schools, drunk GIs raping and killing locals, etc.?
As you say, none of this is “new”, but it seems the issue in this “reconfiguring” of US and Japanese forces, is that it involves the new deployment of missiles, both short and long-range.
Does China have cause for concern? I would submit that the historical record says they do.
Because missiles in Okinawa have been serious issue in the past, e.g.:
The Okinawa missiles of October – Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
https://thebulletin.org/2015/10/the-okinawa-missiles-of-october/
We are all very likely alive today because of the caution and common sense of those base commanders, to refuse a direct order to launch a first strike against China and Russia.
Could we expect the same caution and common sense from the US in the future?
One look at Biden, Blinken, and the other clowns driving the car tells me: “no”.
I remember (this is now the most important verb in our world) in one of chalmers johnson’s books about the hatred the okinawas has for the callous, brutal and un-prosecuteable pollution that the native population continues to pay for vassalage.
“Does the US have a housing shortage—or an affordable housing shortage?” 48 Hills
Also, regulators never fixed all the problems from 2008.
“The State Wants to Nationalize Second Mortgages. What Possibly Can Go Wrong?” Mises Institute
More socialism for the wealthy.
Ha, just read an op-ed in the local paper trying to sound upbeat about the nosedive the real estate market is in: “Although the country has 70 million more people than in 1995, existing home sales nationally are now at levels seen in that year.” Leads into: “Hepp said even if sales aren’t picking up steam, home prices are. Her forecast calls for a 5.7% gain nationally, describing it as “another really robust year” for home prices.”
The 2008 crisis was blamed on subprime lending. The next one is going to be much grander in scale as home prices are absolutely not tracking wages.
“…regulators never fixed all the problems from 2008.”
That’s right. Here is Simon Johnson’s 2009 essay in the Atlantic magazine.
The Quiet Coup
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/05/the-quiet-coup/307364/
“Negotiations needed to end war in Ukraine but Putin ‘cannot be trusted,’ says Mark Milley”
‘Milley was not optimistic about this possibility, saying Russia is “clearly not ready to negotiate” and the decision to enter talks should be up to Kyiv, which has said it will only happen when the Kremlin withdraws all its troops from Ukraine.’
This was the guy that was until not that long ago the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff whose advice carried so much weight in government. He was talking about his thoughts at Princeton so I doubt that he was challenged by an original question. One like-
‘General? The Ukrainians are losing up to 2,000 men a day right now. How long until the Ukrainian military are unable to man their lines anymore?’
or maybe
‘General? Can a country continue to fight without an electricity grid, economy or even the workers needed for what is left of an economy?’
What is Kiev “up to”, i.e. capable of?
Without billions per month is donations Kiev would fold.
Kiev is “up to” exactly what US wants.
to the ends that truckloads of bodies don’t yet register.
“Negotiations needed to end war in Ukraine but Putin ‘cannot be trusted,’ says Mark Milley”
The point is that the Russian government must be overthrown and Russia gradually torn apart by NATO so that a properly docile Russian government can be trusted. Precisely as a properly docile Chinese government that accepts being contained and torn apart and stopped from developing economically can be trusted. There is no actual American diplomacy at present.
Milley was not optimistic about this possibility, saying Russia is “clearly not ready to negotiate”…
Does Milley actually believe what he is saying? Did he read Putin’s latest speech? The fact that Russia holds the stronger negotiating position due to the reality on the ground is not the same thing as being unwilling to negotiate.
I used to think our military leaders, schooled in logistics as they are, have a more realistic outlook than the political leadership. Guess not. [sigh]
For me the relevant part of this is how he washes his hands saying this is something between Ukraine and Russia as if the US has nothing to do with it. “Up to Kyiv”. Francois de la Rochefoucauld said that “hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue”.
Speaking of diplomacy:
Seeing reports that ATCMS with cluster munitions hit vacationers on the beach in Sevastopol, and the Russian MOD holds the US responsible and promise a response.
The one true statement he made was that in the event of the unconditional surrender of the UAF, defence spending in the West will have to double. This with the possible re-emergence of the petroleum deficit in the medium term is a threat to the finances of the Empire, especially in the face of a 7% deficit in so-called good times. Hence the looting of the peripheral satraps of the Empire we see starting now.
Defence spending to double?
Why stop there?
South China Sea: Philippines’ anti-ship missile base puts itself in cross hairs.
BTW, those are brand new BrahMos missiles, aka Indian version of Russian P-800 Oniks. Maybe USA will be able to get access, and reverse engineer them, and make a supersonic anti-ship missile by the end of the decade.
The US’ pentagon can scarcely reverse engineer weapons it paid to design that are out of current manufacture!
While US’ contracts will yield low quality unreliable copies.
Nationalizing second mortgages–
I’m usually not a fan of the Mises Institute, but this was striking in the article:
The author then went on to explore why the government would want to get into the business of backing even riskier second mortgages after failing so miserably at being prudent in the run-up to ’08. What came to my mind was a line from an old Bonnie Raitt tune:
“Luck of the Draw”
No one wants to be the one in charge when this BS collapses. Keep that wheel turnin’.
I decided not to report on this because giving it attention makes readers think it is meaningful when it isn’t. Chris Whalen, who is a top mortgage banking expert and ALSO a libertarian (as in virtue of ideology should be a critic) explains:
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/13/why-second-mortgages-could-make-a-comeback
But, still, here we are, 14 years later, and somebody in our government apparatus thinks this is a good idea. Instead of helping kids form families with cheaper housing. Suicidal financial capitalism.
I sold my Fannie Mae stock in 2007 for around $60 a share before the housing bubble burst, and now it’s worth a little more than a buck almost 20 years later, after the new & improved housing bubble that is vastly bigger than the previous version, what gives?
“…what gives?”
The Treasury gives, and gives, and gives.
Tis an odd tale of the GSEs. They’ve been in conservatorship since the fall of 2008 when Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke were around and wrecking havoc on us.
Legally they have to send all profits back to the Treasury and cannot pay shareholders a dividend. As such they’re not suitable for respectable investors. However every once in a while some hedge fund is rumored to be building a position in anticipation of the next administration releasing them and then we see pigs in action.
Wall St decided to become landlords themselves. How does a buyer outbid Wall St. made flush with years of zero-interest money ? / ;)
Indeed, and wasn’t that the point after all?
Enough money to buy the moon and charge for each viewing…
“29.95? But I didn’t mean to look! It was just there out the window!”
Re: Groves of Academe, The Crackdown on Campus Protests is Just Beginning In These Times
Some argue that campus protests are stupid and do nothing to help people in the Middle East. Perhaps the benefit is that the new generation is pulling the mask off of the empire and learning the true nature of this society.
“As a result, colleges are coming to look more like a police state than institutions of higher learning. And this is just the beginning. With students leaving for the summer and most encampments removed at least for now, university administrations have the chance to overhaul campus policies and implement newly repressive measures in the fall.”
The fall? IU did it overnight in secret.
I think the college as educational institutions are running out of steam. Education has already begun to change through online learning, Youtube, and so on. What needs to happen is, alongside the online thing, actual teachers who are competent at teaching can set up shop as tutor’s advisers. Colleges are diminishing and that should be obvious by now. I always recommend that young people not go to college in this country as a starting point–I think they are wasteful businesses whose time is passed and a new system will take its place.
Speaking as an active university instructor, I would question this line of thinking. Enrollment numbers took a hit during the pandemic, but they are up again, at least in the US, showing growth for the past two semesters. Strongest growth has been in community colleges. In my corner of the world, I am seeing more transfer and foreign students than ever before.
Online learning, YouTube, etc., are not going to give you a B.A. to put atop your CV, and the way the economy is going, if you are entering the workforce and you want to remain in the middle class, that four-year degree from a real bricks-and-mortar college is going to make a difference. We can sit here and critique higher education as a diploma factory, bogus credentialing system, etc., but students do learn something in many programs and HR people will continue to sort on holders of a four-year degree.
In fact, the economy isn’t producing enough jobs for those college graduates, so there will be a lot of competition. That may deter some students from pursing college, but the rest will double down on getting through and getting that degree.
Ergo, I don’t see colleges and universities going away, not unless our economic system drastically changes. Rather, the trend I am seeing is that more students are working to pay tuition, and taking longer to complete a degree. 6 years is becoming “the new normal”.
Cannot do that with STEM and applied science.
Palestinians did take note of (and approved) campus protests in the west.
South Korea, Japan, US “agree” on close security “cooperation” in wake of Putin-Kim summit
“Arizona toddler rescued after getting trapped in a Tesla with a dead battery”
So I’m imagining a Tesla Y going into the water and the power dying as a result. The woman behind the wheel has to unbuckle her seat-belt, clamber between the seats to reach her toddler, undo her toddler’s seat-belt, go to the bottom of the rear door pocket, slide her fingers into the slot to lift the cover, and then pull the release cable forward to open the door. Anybody have any idea how long a Tesla Y will float for? Musk has said that Teslas can ‘float well enough to turn into a boat for short periods of time’ but I’d hate to put that to the test.
The recent drowning of McConnell’s sister in law in an estate pond (she may have been alcohol impaired) was in a Tesla that she failed to escape from. There’s also the thing with the exterior door handles that only pop out when you have the radio dongle–an antitheft measure?
Musk is a big believer in trial and error with his rockets (if one explodes during a test that’s a “learning experience”). But one does need to question whether he is also conducting experiments using his customers as Guinea pigs.
Experiments on American customers as guinea pigs…sounds like a good intro to an SNL skit! Here sign this liability waiver and accept this product, which you dear consumer are paying for the privilege to purchase and use for your personal needs.
It’s all circling back to Fight Club territory… But not as satire unfortunately.
Of course if a person is panicking, that is another deal. As I type this, the wife is watching a series of videos of this group that goes around the US using sonar to find underwater cars and sending down divers to confirm the car’s ID and if remains are still inside. On the current one, the sonar showed this guy’s body halfway out the sun roof but stuck. Some river or dams, they may find as several cars and close out a lot of cold cases. The Mythbusters once did a segment of being in a car that sinks and having to let the water in to open the doors and harrowing does not begin to describe that episode.
I believe you can buy a special tool to keep in your car and that is designed to break safety glass windows from inside.
Perhaps should be standard Tesla equipment.
An entire private jet was just found under Lake Champlain. It had been missing for decades.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/underwater-video-reveals-private-jet-that-fatally-crashed-decades-ago-in-vermonts-lake-champlain/ar-BB1obA7p
Wow. That’s bizarre. I guess it’s probably more interesting than the gold miner’s reality TV series that was on like the History channel or whatever. I remember when History did actual history, like 20 years ago. Sigh.
That Mythbusters episode I mentioned? Here is a segment from the full episode-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIx719_oer0 (2:57 mins)
In these fancy cars that one day hope to drive you, deaths are data gold. They can help teach the car to avoid killing the next person. One could argue we need more deaths to teach the cars better–like those reCAPTCHA images except Tesla needs deaths not clicked photos of stoplights.
Americans drove 3.17 trillion miles in 2022 with 42,795 deaths in motor vehicle accidents. That’s one death for every 74.1 million miles driven. That’s what Tesla’s autonomous driving has to beat. It’s going to take a lot of human Guinea pigs to reach that goal, but hey, it’s worth it, so I can text and post my influencer videos while “driving”, right?
Wasn’t the use of human shields pretty common in the Mad Maccabee films?
Mad Max, too.
Sorry, the “human shields” are used in the Boeing MAX ‘crash course.’
“Two hundred go in! None come out!”
Thudderdrome?
‘⏳Towhee 🌏☮️
@amborin
The US still cannot get its astronauts back to earth due to Boeing technical problems.
(The US used to rely on Russia to ferry its astronauts to and from the International Space Station (ISS)).’
Said the other day that Boeing may start demanding that those two astronauts return tout suite as they are making Boeing look bad. Well it’s too late for that now as that pair are now stuck on the ISS until further notice. NASA should start charging them rent. But then another calculation come into play. Just suppose that Musk is not in a position to send a vehicle to rescue them because of the long lead times. That leaves asking the Russian sending a Soyuz up to go get them but will that happen? Would Biden actually allow this to happen in public? For him, it would be an international humiliation as it would be seen as Russian competence versus American incompetence. It is no such thing but the media spinners will still panic at the thought and would be a bad look in the lead up to the November elections. So I guess that they will just keep on sending food to the ISS until after the election is over.
Boeing strikes me as inept as AMF was when they branched out from bowling and nearly destroyed Harley Davidson in the 70’s.
Sure, lots of Harley riders were stranded when their rides quit on them, but at least they were on the Earth’s surface.
The Boeing MAX: the AMC Gremlin of planes!
“Gremlin” and “plane” in the same sentence? Paging William Shatner! . . .
More info here
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/two-astronauts-wait-to-come-home-as-boeing-races-to-understand-spacecraft-issues-here-s-what-s-at-stake/ar-BB1owS5J
How many people can the ISS support anyway? Send up two “specialists” with legitimate science experiments to conduct. Let them stay for as long as the experiments take. I was under the impression that the ISS was up there to do science, not publicity stunts.
One thing in this whole affair puzzles me: Barry Wilmore is 61; Suni Williams is 58. I thought that astronauts had to be significantly younger (at least 10 years younger or so) — with all the physical stress being in zero gravity, showered with cosmic rays, declining reflexes, and all that.
Is our society at the stage where not only the infrastructure is getting creaking old (the ISS is already 25 years old and to be decommissioned within 6-7 years), but also where the only people capable of dealing with it are near retirement age?
I’m thinking that it both their turns as far as astronauts are selected, alphabetically.
If you are an aspiring middle aged astronaut named Jerry Wizenhammer, sit tight.
But yeah, where is flight fortunate fellows in their early forties, ala Neil or Buzz, light years away from me now?
They are The Expendables.
Officially 2 factors in the return delay: scheduled spacewalks now have priority (most of what goes on at ISS is its maintenance), failed thrusters on $tarliner’s discarded-before-reentry service module can’t be examined on the ground so engineers are trying to maximize failure analysis before it is dumped. Unofficially …
So, in the spirit of cooperation, can we expect the wily putin to loudly make the offer?
My guess is the Russians are checking the feasibility as we speak.
If Biden tried forcing them to stay up there to avoid campaign embarassment, Trump could make the campaign promise of promising to accept Russia rescuing them and bringing them back if Trump is elected.
Astronauts Quemoy & Matsu, I presume.
Re: What If We’re Stuck Down Here?
We are. Deal with it.
But what about Mars? The billionaires still need a fantasy of survival and escape. They can’t bear to think about being trapped down here with us peasants.
If you believe, they sent a poor woman to Mars…
Anyone else has a fierce appointment with his own personal nuclear bomb.
I say let them go to Mars and then beg the Earth to send another ship full of dialysis machines.
“Oh… the rocket exploded on the launch pad — sorry about that.”
Read the Mars Trilogy. Exciting enough.
Yes, we need to ditch these expensive man-child fantasy projects like sending humans to Mars and get busy saving our asses here. This is our home. It is wonderful for us. I am happy to live and die here.
I put a small deposit on a pied-à-terre on Pluto, but i’m probably not going to follow through on it.
You should buy some land on the Moon-
https://lunarregistry.com/moon-land/
Of course if you go to live there, it is a long trip to the nearest supermarket.
Pluto has been reasonably well mapped thanks to New Horizons. You can even get beachfront property, although the ‘sea’ in question is made of nitrogen snow (Sputnik Planitia).
Those who are concerned about how to reduce Global carbon emissions don’t seem to have read the post about the consequences of repeated Covid infections earlier this week.
After 3 infections the odds of contraction Long Covid are 38% and Americans are being reinfected 2-3 times per year.
The dots are not difficult to connect and the consequences are entirely predictable, a very substantial reduction of the Human population which has already begun.
Already existing pathogens are enough to kill tens if not hundreds of Millions over the next few years and when you add the certainty ( And it is a certainty) that a population with severely damaged immune systems will be much more vulnerable to diseases that are affecting other Animals such as Avian ‘Flu, it’s going to get messy.
I would be very surprised if the Population of the USA exceeded 200,000,000 in 2035 or if US life expectancy exceeds 50 years by the end of that same year.
The Jackpot is here, now.
For myself, for today, I plan to buy a loaf of good bread and give the clerk a rose and a kind word before doing my laundry.
>>>I would be very surprised if the Population of the USA exceeded 200,000,000 in 2035 or if US life expectancy exceeds 50 years by the end of that same year.
A 40% drop in the population in a decade? That is Black Death levels of catastrophe.
That’s Deagel report territory.
If it drops that fast, the remaining 60% will probably realize that a drop that fast was engineered on purpose and will suspect that the only way they can save themselves is to somehow rise up and capture and exterminate all the Jackpot Design Engineers and the people they work for.
I think the Jackpot Design Engineers and their masters don’t want that to happen. They would like the Long Cull to play out much slower than that, slow enough that it can be spun as fate or bad luck or a series of slow rolling accidents.
It’s actually a bit less than 40% and if you look at what is happening it is a conservative estimate.
I’m a cancer survivor who learned what being immunocompromised by losing 8 pounds in two days.
That’s AFTER the fluids were replaced.
Surprisingly the Nurses in ICU recognized me when I visited a friend there earlier this year, after three years!
When I came to the first time I asked my Nurse if they were filming a Movie because all of the nurses looked like supermodels…
I think that the United States population is about 335 million. A forty percent drop would leave 201 million people.
And you think this is conservative? That’s grim thinking, not that mere grimness would make it unlikely. 40% would rollback the population to below 1970s totals.
Aerial AIDS is what I sometimes think of Covid, and AIDS patients do tend to get remarkably slim.
If some people are trying for a Jackpot, it might not end they way they want as chaos tends to be chaotic, or unpredictable and uncontrollable.
Perhaps we should give covid a nickname which clarifies this aspect of covid. I suggest
covAIDS. Other people might suggest other names.
“When I came to the first time I asked my Nurse if they were filming a Movie because all of the nurses looked like supermodels…”
I envy you, Tom. I’m not good lookin’ enough to try that line. I did explain to the intake staff and nurses standing around at the infusion center how my long pony tail was a “freak flag.” I recited the verse for them:
“If Six Was Nine”
Then I waved my (pony) tail at them. Must be the chemo brain.
200,000,000 by 2035 sounds like a very reasonable over/under number to me. Where do I place my bet on the under?
Another good source on housing affordability is a recent book by Gregg Colburn, “Homelessness is a Housing Problem”. Colburn goes through all the memes about homelessness, including substance abuse and mental health issues, and finds little correlation. The real reason for homelessness is the lack of affordable rental units. Seattle, San Francisco and Boston have five times as much homelessness as Chicago, Detroit and St. Louis.
https://homelessnesshousingproblem.com/
Guardian headline ‘The greatest thinker you’ve never heard of’: expert who explained Hitler’s rise is finally in the spotlight.
They are talking about Polanyi…..
Thank you!
Very cute that this writer thinks that “warnings” will have an effect on parents-to-be. Even early in the pandemic, when the media was plastered with warnings about covid, most people seemed to ignore the warnings and carry on with what they preferred to do. I can’t even imagine how little people are paying attention to the scarce warnings now.
The lawsuits are starting. KS AG sues Pfizer.
https://ag.ks.gov/docs/default-source/documents/2024-06-15-pfizer-complaint-(002).pdf
Thank you, Flora.
I expect the Pfizer execs will get hit as hard as the PGE execs who pled guilty to 85 counts of Manslaughter.
$41,000 per human life for PG&E, thank you. Paid for by the company.
Why? You got a problem with that?
True enough. For many the Pandemic ended in May or June 2020. I know places were busy indoors and out to allowed capacity in Somerville back in fall 2020. In December in Raleigh, places indoors were fully packed by parking lot capacity. It was probably safer then actually.
Due Diligence goes where the MSM refuses tread: Worker pleads for class solidarity (15:44): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cu9x_Epwdmo
Antidote du jour
This dog once was a Belgian Shepherd with troublemaking tendencies, but at the end of his owner’s patience he became a larger than life beacon of science, as he was the first¹ to be vaccinated against alopecia (loss of hair) – And his obedience has improved too!
¹Omitting a dozen desperate balding specimen of homo sapiens (male)
“Democrats ramp up efforts to block RFK Jr. from appearing on ballots across the nation”
Because saving “our democracy” may require a little less of it…
@ddt: “a little less” sailed a long time ago…
Something to keep in mind – if Israel intends to use nukes in Lebanon, some form of equivalent false flag in Europe blaming Russia will likely follow in order to spread the global outrage. Is this why Sunak & Macron are both so keen to jump ship now (in July)?
He did it again. So Rod Stewart went to Budapest to give a concert and once more displayed a huge image of Zelensky while dressed in blue and yellow. And once more the audience booed-
https://dailynewshungary.com/video-president-zelensky-booed-rod-steward/
Rod, give it up mate. Nobody cares about about your performative theater to Zelensky. They know what he is all about.
Cue up Leonard Cohen’s Everybody Knows.
> The Zero Sovereignty System Philip Pilkington, Postliberal Order
With respect to Truss, my recollection is that it became a bit of a vicious cycle because the UK pensions which had LDIs (liability driven investments) were forced to sell off their gilt holdings. This could have been nipped in the bud if the BoE stepped into the market, but the BOE made an active decision not to intervene. In effect, Truss truly got hung out to dry by the BOE.
Jeff Snider weighed in at the time that the euro dollar trading system/market was in risk off mode (even more so now I would think) due to pledged assets (I.e. bonds) being pledged multiple times. And so when risk started creeping into UK gilts, the euro dollar market started discounting them even more so. Adding fuel to the fire.
With respect to France, well they lost their sovereignty when they gave up their currency for the euro. It’s easy to play the countries in the euro currency system against each other. And this gets amplified by the euro dollar trading system too.
With respect to US treasuries, my recollection is that US treasuries are not exposed to the same type of risk from the euro dollar trading system as other foreign debt. So I don’t see a way for the elite players to hang a US administration out to dry. Need to bone up on Jeff Snider’s youtube videos to remember how he speaks to this. That said, I can well imagine an orchestrated media campaign to attempt to induce something even so. If anything just to induce the Whitehouse to blink in the face of media scrutiny regardless of what yields are doing. Not all that different than how this works when debt ceiling negotiations happen and the Whitehouse says they have a gun to their head, even when the market is doing no such thing.
Suni Williams is 58 years old. She looks like she is in her 70s: https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/astronaut-suni-williams-prepares-for-crew-flight-test/. This does not seem to be a healthful profession.
Check out the article “What If We’re Stuck Down Here?” up in the top of the links.
And reading that article, I didn’t see anything about cataracts an astronauts due to increased exposure to radiation. There’s been some research done on that.
The impact of space travel on kidney function seems a pretty serious showstopper, but of course people have been doing dangerous stunts for celebrity and media attention since forever.
“Evel Knievel syndrome” — there must be some official name for it.
The solution has been previewed in SF films — artificial gravity via a rotating assembly in the ship (e.g., the Hermes in The Martian (2015) —, but are there any real-world designs in the pipe?
She looks old becase her face is not filled with botox, and has no makeup (real or Photoshopped one). If she wasn’t fit, they would not put her on a rocket. Unlike politicians, they do have mental & physical health tests.
Of course there is human variation. But I know a lot of people who very definitely don’t use botox or fillers and they don’t look like that at age 58, or even 68. If it is not health, perhaps it is sun or other ray exposure (from her profession) making her skin look weathered. But I do wonder what her telomeres look like. And because NASA’s ability to test their equipment for safe use is so poor, it could be that they are not so great at testing their humans for safe activity.
“Foresight*: Pathogens from the Permafrost”
Kinda sad to see Russian Derangement Syndrome (RDS) permeate itself down to these three scientist and making the whole article accusatory about something that has not happened yet with its 2027 scenario. Those three scientists should be reminded that it was not the Russians that imposed a scientific embargo on the west but the west that imposed an embargo on Russia. Science should have been off limits to political embargoes but instead it was the EU that did so with their 5th sanctions package back in 2022. If they are worried by a pathogen emerging from the Russian permafrost, then they are going to need Russia’s cooperation at all levels and not just some NGO like they were talking about. RDS is a powefull thing when in full flight.