At the Money: Keeping It Simple The Big Picture
The great wealth transfer is coming (but are advisers prepared?) FT
Climate
AI’s appetite for power could double datacenter electricity bills by 2030 The Register. The deck: “Believe it or not, this is modest relative to other predictions.”
Gassy cows and pigs will face a carbon tax in Denmark, a world first AP
Massive Saharan dust plume making its way over the Atlantic The Watchers
1,000 Lightning Strikes Trigger CA Wildfires: Fire Season Has Arrived Banning-Beaumont Patch
Europe’s largest renewable producer scales back plans for wind and solar plants FT
State and Local Climate Litigation for Protecting Public Health NEJM
Water
Water used to disrupt Delhi water crisis protest. Internet points out the irony India Today
Syndemics
Complaint of Gross Misconduct Relating to CDC’s Violation of the Information Quality Act (press release) World Health Network
Three months into bird flu outbreak in U.S. dairy cows, experts see deep-rooted problems in response STAT
Capitalism’s New Age of Plagues, Part 6: China’s Livestock Revolution Climate & Capitalism
China?
Dates set for China’s long-awaited third plenum when policy direction will be revealed South China Morning Post
China has big plans for its emissions reduction incentive programs called Tanpuhui S&P Global
Graphene find in China’s Chang’e-5 moon samples challenges lunar origin theory South China Morning Post
Sinaloa drug cartel laundered millions through Chinese network in L.A., prosecutors say LA Times
Syraqistan
How Israel is creating a ‘dead zone’ in Lebanon FT
Exclusive: Israeli documents show expansive government effort to shape US discourse around Gaza war Guardian
Netanyahu picks fight with Biden over arms transfers as US election heats up The Hill
Houthis claim to have developed long-range hypersonic missile Splash 247
European Disunion
The secret, unwritten rules of the EU’s top jobs carve-up Politico
Member of Hungarian PM Viktor Orban’s police escort killed as car hits convoy leaving Euro 2024 match Independent
Dear Old Blighty
The UK election has already failed Politico
Blue Ruin The Baffler
Labour ‘not putting up a fight’ against Farage in Clacton Guardian
New Not-So-Cold War
Amid war setbacks and complaints, Ukraine changes another top general WaPo
Former Joint Forces Commander Sodol is responsible for defence preparations in Kharkiv Oblast, Azov chief of staff tells investigators Ukrainska Pravda
Ukraine’s antiwar faction begins to take shape Carl Beijer
* * * SITREP 6/26/24: Things Heat Up With Reports of North Korean Troops to Donbass Simplicius the Thinker(s)
* * * American diplomat found dead in Kyiv Ukrainska Pravda
South of the Border
Coup attempt in Bolivia fails after new military chief orders troops to return to bases Anadolu Agency. Shot:
BREAKING: Bolivia coup attempt being led by general Juan José Zuniga, who says 'We will take back our homeland. Our country can’t continue like this.' pic.twitter.com/6du34hrb4J
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) June 26, 2024
Chaser:
👀 Bolivia coup plotter General Zúñiga EXHIBITED IN HANDCUFFS
"We are going to make our country's democracy be respected, whatever it takes." pic.twitter.com/t0rCuUWhaA
— COMBATE |🇵🇷 (@upholdreality) June 27, 2024
Transforming Mexico New Left Review
The Caribbean
Haiti: The Multinational Force Arrives Internationalist 360º
The Supremes
The Supreme Court’s newly leaked abortion decision, explained Vox
* * * Wisconsin Supreme Court seeks investigation after abortion draft order leaks AP
Our Famously Free Press
25+ Years of Daily Show Clips Gone as Paramount Axes Comedy Central Site LateNighter
Spook Country
Elite misinformation is an underrated problem Matt Yglesias, Slow Boring
A Jawboning Executive Order for Day One of a New Administration Lawfare
Assange
Julian Assange case ends ‘with me here in Saipan’, judge says in court PA Media
Julian Assange freed after pleading guilty to one espionage charge at a hearing in Saipan ABC Australia
Stella Assange says WikiLeaks founder needs time to ‘let our family be a family’ before speaking publicly – as it happened (live blog) Guardian. Big if true:
Pursuant to his plea agreement, Assange waived any right to seek records under the Freedom of Information Act related to his prosecution or extradition:
JUDGE MANGLONA: "As to paragraph 19, this is a waiver of the Freedom of Information Act provision. This is very particular for…
— Michael Tracey (@mtracey) June 26, 2024
Big but not true:
Lots of posts going around that Wikileaks has deleted the DNC Email leak as part of Assange's plea deal. This is incorrect information, and is being reported due to a lack of context of the Saipan hearing published by @theage.
The Age's live report states that "The court hears… https://t.co/0m0y77tWcy pic.twitter.com/kT3VbU8Ycm
— L0la L33tz (@L0laL33tz) June 26, 2024
US says Julian Assange put people ‘in danger,’ likens him to drunk driver Anadolu Agency. Commentary:
State Department Spokesman Matt Miller today alleged that the 2010 publications of WikiLeaks and Assange harmed numerous people.
Several WH reporters badgered him to give a single example, and — like everyone making this false claim — he couldn't. Watch: pic.twitter.com/SRvUmz53pM
— Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) June 26, 2024
Assange Is Free, But US Spite Will Chill Reporting for Years FAIR
Digital Watch
Connecting the Dots: Evaluating Abstract Reasoning Capabilities of LLMs Using the New York Times Connections Word Game (preprint) arVxiv. From the Abtract: “To deepen our understanding we create a taxonomy of the knowledge types required to successfully categorize words in the Connections game, revealing that LLMs struggle with associative, encyclopedic, and linguistic knowledge. Our findings establish the New York Times Connections game as a challenging benchmark for evaluating abstract reasoning capabilities in humans and AI systems.” Commentary:
We think LLMs have a far way to reach human level abstract reasoning. @fchollet and @MelMitchell1 have been proponents of the ARC challenge a great way to stress test LLMs. We need more ambitious benchmarks / test sets to find if LLMs are actually good at abstract reasoning.(9/n)
— Tuhin Chakrabarty (@TuhinChakr) June 26, 2024
Tiktok LLM The New Inquiry
Boeing
How potential Boeing criminal charges could have ‘huge’ impact globally Global News
Whistleblower warned Boeing of flaws in 787 planes that could have ‘devastating consequences’ CNN
NTSB sanctions Boeing for sharing unauthorized Alaska 1282 information during media briefing The Air Current
Supply Chain
Singapore port congestion shows global ripple impact of Red Sea attacks Hellenic Shipping News
Police State Watch
Police Departments Have Shrunk. Crime Is Plummeting. Now What? Slate
Zeitgeist Watch
Insuppressible urges Indignity
Grindr to Delve Into Dating as More Users Seek Long-Term Relationships WSJ
Class Warfare
Anglosphere Costs and Inequality Pedestrian Observations
Antidote du jour (Wkynast):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here
136 comments
Comments are closed.
ABOVE THE LAW
(melody borrowed from Turkey In The Straw [traditional] as performed by Andy Z)
Biden’s gone senile as his gaffes have showed
He wanders off headin’ down the road
He stands there frozen when his spring gets sprung
Jabberwocky rollin’ off his tongue
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
If Trump is reelected he can take a bow
All his crimes behind him now
He’s got grudges stickin’ in his craw
Clearly planning for a coup de’etat
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
The Biden clan had an income stream
Twelve years running it’s a pirate’s scheme
Ukraine money for some VP clout
Ten Percent Guy hands it out!
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
(musical interlude)
Trump does business with a secret sauce
Makes his profits with a double-cross
Signs your contract with a feather quill
You wait for payment and you’re waitin’ still
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
Biden really needs a new zip code
Assisted-Living is his next abode
Four more years ain’t happening
Ain’t no way to fix his wiring
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
Two corpse candidates they’re tryin’ to sell
While the whole damn country’s goin’ straight to Hell
Two old geezers tootin’ their own horn
Both as naked as the day they’s born
People write the laws — write ’em every day
Then they hem and haw — what’s it really say?
I read the Constitution this is what I saw:
Ain’t nobody stands above the law!
Woo hoo ! Comer’s impeachment finds $24 mil in, er, loan paybacks. We’ll see about that “income stream.”
I can’t think up original lyrics to match yours so I won’t try. Instead, I’ll post the lyrics to a song that was the “B side” to the infamous “Chicken Song” by Spitting Image – the show in its heyday in the early 1980s was watched by up to 40% of all adults in the UK. (It also provided a basis for a still-debated spat between Prime Minister Thatcher and her Majesty the Late Queen E2).
NOTE: This song was broadcast in the height of disgust at Apartheid SA. Don’t try to read anything into it about the current SA or the colour of people’s skin, or think this can be extended to all white South Africans.
I’ve travelled this old world of ours from Barnsley to Peru,
I’ve had sunstroke in the arctic and a swim in Timbuktu,
I’ve seen unicorns in Burma and a Yeti in Nepal,
And I’ve danced with ten-foot pygmies in a Montezuma hall,
I’ve met the King of China and a working Yorkshire miner,
But I’ve never met a nice South African!
(Chorus)
No he’s never met a nice South African,
And that’s not bloody surprising man,
‘Cause we’re a bunch of arrogant bastards who hate black people!
(Traveller)
I once got served in Woolies after less than four week’s wait,
I had lunch with Rowan Atkinson when he paid and wasn’t late,
I know a public swimming bath where they don’t piss in the pool,
I know a guy who got a job straight after leaving school,
I’ve met a normal morman and a fairly modest German,
But I’ve never met a nice South African!
(Chorus)
No he’s never met a nice South African,
And that’s not bloody surprising man,
‘Cause we’re a bunch of talentless murderers who smell like baboons!
(Traveller)
I’ve had a Close Encounter of the Twenty-Second Kind,
That’s when an alien spaceship disappears up your behind,
I got directory enquiries after less than forty rings,
I’ve even heard a decent song by Paul McCartney’s Wings,
I’ve seen a flying pig in a quite convincing wig,
But I’ve never met a nice South African!
(Chorus)
No he’s never met a nice South African,
And that’s not bloody surprising man,
‘Cause we’re a bunch of ignorant loudmouths with no sense of humour!
(Traveller)
I’ve met the Loch Ness Monster and he looks like Fred Astaire,
At the BBC in London he’s the Chief Commissionaire,
I know a place in Glasgow which is rife with daffodillies,
I met a man in Kathmandu who claimed to have two willies,
I’ve had a nice pot noodle, but I’ve never had a poodle,
And I’ve never met a nice South African!
(Chorus)
No he’s never met a nice South African,
And that’s not bloody surprising man,
Because we’ve never met one either,
Except for Breyten Breytenbach and he’s emigrated to Paris…
Yes he’s quite a nice South African,
And he’s hardly ever killed anyone,
And he’s not smelly at all, that’s why they put him prison!
FYI Versions of the the Central TV (UK Midlands part of what became ITV) broadcast version are there on YouTube. Given the parallels with a certain country recently, I think this song needs to be replayed!
One YouTube catch of the piece of iconic TV we watched when I was a teenager lapping up all political stuff is here
I remember that, now that you mention it. Thank’s Terry. The reversed video is on YouTube here. Presumably the original is kicked out for copyright. I downloaded it and reversed it again with ffmpeg -vf reverse -af areverse. Worth it. It starts with President Botha saying
My fellow South Africans, I feel it is time to tell you the facts as they really are.
1. Banana are marsupials.
2. Cars run on gravy.
3. Salmon live in trees and eat pencils.
4. Reform in South Africa is on the way.
I’m learning things daily about how to download stuff that the Broadcasters keep kicking out!
ITV stuff can get through but Channel 4 has, from the get-go, furiously gone after anyone who posts clips from Graham Norton’s original C4 show. EVERYTHING he has done since is so tame as to be unwatchable. When he was on C4 he interviewed Carrie Fisher (RIP) and she famously revealed that she had got to know and like him following some silly random Hollywood party that he’d felt awkward and out of place at.
Then they became BFFs and most of the absolutely outrageous stuff on the “wild wild west of the internet” that Norton drew our circa late 1990s attention to turned out to be stuff that Fisher had emailed him on her “good” days. Norton’s own researchers were not the source of the most outrageous stuff he broadcast! IIRC twas one of her interviews where she first hinted at the now acknowledged fling she had with Harrison Ford during the original Star Wars.
Good times. I’ll drop these nicely distilled lyrics written by Lou Reed in 1964 and modified in ’74 from the song “Heroin” off the lp Rock N Roll Animal,
When the smack begins to flow
Then I really don’t care anymore
About all you Jim-Jims in this town
And everybody putting everyone else down
And all the politicians making crazy sounds
And all the dead bodies piling up in mounds…
I particularly like the guitar work that follows this verse. It is angry, manic, has an incrementally increasing tempo, and perfectly suited for the subject material, which brings up the last word of that quote, Yeah! (angrily hums guitar solo, verbatim mind you because it’s been seared to my black heart). Start your listen about nine minute in if you must.
Yeah that change in tempo etc is pretty amazing, thanks!
Whilst not the same phenomenon, I only recently discovered the full version of a song I knew one verse plus chorus to, because it was the theme to all but Season 1 of Peep Show.
Really resonates with me, plus quite a few of the lyrics kinda echo what people on here have expressed for yonks.
Ha! I’d forgotten that former drinking anthem. Good one.
Well, I wasn’t expecting that on NC, Terry.
I had the LP and, while we were word perfect on the primary school school bus with the Chicken Song, none of my friends found the South African song as amusing as I did. This was possibly because as an unsupervised bookworm I had already read Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure from my mother’s bookshelf and although I lacked an adult’s moral compass, I had a schoolboy’s disgust with the farcical hypocrisy of apartheid.
Spitting Image was truly brilliant. Their caricature of tiny, snivelling David Steel in debonair David Owen’s suit breast pocket truly doomed the Alliance.
Totally on same page!
It’s ironic that back then most Brits could name most of the Cabinet thanks to Spitting Image.
These days I’ll be lucky to name the top three incoming Labour people.
A DECENT ZIONIST
(melody borrowed from I’ve Never Met A Nice South African by Spitting Image)
I’ve escaped from Turkish prisons by committing seppuku
I have dined at Mar-a-Lago and the toilet’s ormolu
I’ve known a dozen Senators through holes in toilet stalls
I have swum to the Titanic and I’ve climbed Niagara Falls
I’ve twice been a flatliner eating donuts in a diner
But I’ve never met a decent Zionist!
No he’s never met a decent Zionist,
A conceited haughty prig and narcissist,
A worldwide tribe of pompous racists who hate brown people!
I have studied with the Yogis I can transubstantiate
I own private slave plantations in the Old Dominion state
I rewrote the Constitution with a set of seven rules
I have taught Brazilian Shamans how to exorcise their ghouls
I have slept with Vestal Virgins and picked pockets as an urchin
But I’ve never met a decent Zionist!
No he’s never met a decent Zionist,
A conceited haughty prig and narcissist,
We are a herd of Bronze Age baby killers who despise the lot of you!
I’ve written gangster rap and I think some parts of it rhymed
My battles with the Russians left me bloodied and begrimed
I’ve never trusted bankers or the character of kings
I can’t tell pain from punishment from arrows or from slings
I’ve seen Pandora’s box it’s a quantum paradox
But I’ve never met a decent Zionist!
No he’s never met a decent Zionist!
A conceited haughty prig and narcissist,
We’re sneaking backstabbing murderers who love to kill civilians!
I have been down to the crossroads and the Devil wasn’t there
I have served Supreme Court judges rum n’ Coke with pubic hair
I have the first Jeep made by Willys and I’ve hunted with the ghillies
Danced at discos with young sillies and I’ve clogged with old hillbillies
I have lived by highest scruples and I taught them to my pupils
But I’ve never met a decent Zionist!
No he’s never met a decent Zionist!
A conceited haughty prig and narcissist,
A psychopath mouth-breather
Except for Norman Finkelstein and he’s living in America . . .
Norman is an anti-Zionist
He sees no need to kill anyone
He’s not popular over there at all, because of his vision.
I hope you didn’t pray in aid ChatGPT because some of these lines are brilliant!
If you nap under a baobab tree, visions come to thee . . .
But “he who sits under a sycomore tree, gets shat upon by doves” (Louis de Bernières)
‘Michael Tracey
@mtracey
Pursuant to his plea agreement, Assange waived any right to seek records under the Freedom of Information Act related to his prosecution or extradition:’
Yeah, I can see it now. So a person contacts US authorities next month to seek records in connection with the prosecution and extradition of Julian Assange under the Freedom of Information Act. When asked for their name, they reply ‘Stella Assange.’
We are more likely to find out who shot the Kennedy brothers than to see the contents of those files.
Yes, I noticed that too. However, the ruling states “either directly or indirectly through a representative” so, what if I (for example) submitted a FOIA on my own, not as a representative of Assange? This will be interesting, yet scary.
Yes. You could be Assanged.
Assange: I don’t understand the implications of the FOIA waiver. Could not any citizen request info under FOIA (not Assange)? And was any of the info Assange obtained, obtained through FOIA? The American public has a right to know what bases sustained this kangaroo court and made him a political prisoner for so many years.
C’mon guys. Obviously, now that he’s guilty– spying on him and the techniques thereof — are a matter of our national security, right?
Looks like many in NC are noticing this quandary. Go Team!
Maybe the government could claim an exemption based on Assange’s “personal privacy” if someone else FOIA’ed him? The following is one of 9 FOIA exemptions:
Exemption 6: Information that, if disclosed, would invade another individual’s personal privacy.
Blue Ruin article re UK is largely on the money. My constituency (Gedling) is keystone in the red wall (mixing metaphors there). The Tory who snatched it last time is gonna get utterly pasted. He is a member of the (in)famous 1922 Committee. He got into it practically days after first election to Parliament, which instantly caught my attention.
Labour is well-known for its internal wars based on “alphabet stuff” etc but the Tories have their own “set of boxes” that if a candidate can tick, will….well, get onto the 1922 Committee etc. Everyone round here knows why our MP got onto it. And they are just as digusted at promotion not based on what you can do but on what you are, in the Tories as they are re Labour.
The MP sends literature that is coloured green or red and only says “Conservative” in small font at the bottom. Unfortunately, he has a face that satirists quickly spotted as looking like a certain cartoon character. He has had this moniker for years now. More worryingly for The Tories (and also, ultimately Labour), the candidate to come in 2nd on 4th July could easily be the Reform candidate. We are in very dangerous unstable territory in political terms.
According to the header, LizTruss will reveal all the solutions to not only save England, but the West. Forty-five days in power and 392 pages. But wait a bit before you hurry out to your local bookstore. As we used to say in the record business, “It’ll soon be in the cut-outs.”
MSM are keeping a very big lid on Reform momentum. Just casually dropping in a single column below the fold item in legal disclaimer font size that Reform might get 18 seats on current polling, when the received wisdom is Farage won’t get one. And that’s the central case: the extreme is over fifty!
The problem is that the more people vote for Reform, the less each marginal vote for Reform risks being wasted and it becomes a self-fulfillimg prophecy. I suspect that under conditions of maximum information (polls, free speech), first past the post is a bi-stable system, with at any time only two main opposed parties. The Tories will flip out like a light and Reform takes their place as the herd moves to the other side of the boat….
In a way, the SNP demonstrates this in Scotland, which is a closed subgroup of voting. It is SNP or Labour landslides on the left, nothing in between. You could argue NI is the same on the sectarian right, with the DUP wiped out by the UUP.
So the MSM has stop people believng that voting might change anything!
>Exclusive: Israeli documents show expansive government effort to shape US discourse around Gaza war – Guardian
While the full extent of Israeli government influence on US institutions is not known, Knesset debate provides a window into Israeli strategy and interactions with US advocacy groups…
Hadas Lorber, then working as an aide to Israel’s national security council, noted during the same hearing that the prime minister’s office had met regularly with DC-based groups as part of “an honest attempt to see how we can combat antisemitism, how we can increase legislation in front of all the different members of Congress, to promote legislation in the US that will combat antisemitism, that will work on campuses”.
Yes, it’s just about “promoting legislation to combat antisemtism” what’s wrong with that? It’s not about continuing to appropriate billions annually to Israel, to stop pro-Palestinian right groups from getting a fair hearing, it’s not about threats of primarying foes and funding friends, nah, just being good ole boyscouts and fighting those evil Nazis.
They steal everything from the Arabs, even their semitic identity. Most Jews are European or half European. They lived in Europe for 2000 years. Time to call out their fraud.
~Most Jews are European or half European.
Not exactly, the diaspora after the Roman expulsions went in multiple directions. Today, in my understanding, it can be reflected in simplified form in the descriptions of the Ashkenazi (European) and Mizrahi (Asian and North African) groups. Zionism was to start, a European secular movement which was directed at Palestine, which held a small percentage (ca 4%) of indigenous Asian Jews (who largely were against the Zionist idea). In the late 19th century an influx from Eastern Europe (50,000 between 1882-1914) began after the Ottomans allowed foreign land acquisition and with the Tsar’s pograms . The Brits decided with Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour’s declaration of November 1917 to really !@#$ things up. Baron Montegu, a highly placed aristocrat in India (and Jewish) wrote a scathing letter to the government stating what a bad idea it was, and what would happen. After 1948, the surrounding Muslim nations largely expelled their Jewish populations who had lived there peacefully for centuries. They had not experienced the anti-semitism of European Christendom, but fell victim to what Montagu had predicted. Today in Israel, the two groups are roughly equal in size but the Mizrahi, with higher birthrates have been gaining. They are associated with a much more radical religious nationalism. There is much, much more to the story and I hope I haven’t misstated things off the top of my head. I have to go grocery shopping.
The DNA results are in and they say ‘Instead of being primarily the descendants of the 12 tribes of Israel, present-day Jewish populations are, finds Elhaik, primarily the children of a Turkish people who lived in what is now Russia, north of Georgia, east of Ukraine. This civilization, the Khazars, converted from tribal religions to Judaism between the 7th and 9th centuries.’
https://academic.oup.com/gbe/article/5/1/75/730630
The Palestinians are more likely related to those original Hebrew people. That is probably why in Israel you cannot get a DNA test without a doctor’s prescription or a court order-
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240110-israels-dna-wars-forbidden-tests/
Thanks! There are distinct genetic markers that groups can have and the Ashkenazi have some specifics. The Khazar narrative has been explored before but I’m not entirely convinced by this piece. I would say the Palestinians are more likely related to ancient populations of the area than some others who claim exclusivity. In any event, the much clearer history of recent centuries, on the ground, gives solidity to the fact that Palestine belongs to the Palestinians, who are multifaceted, but not to the forced implants of the last century.
Palestinians are closely related to Lebanese and Syrians, and cluster quite closely with Natufians, people who lived in Levant 10,000 years ago.
Welllll, I seem to recall reading the Jews of the bible were actually from around the Black Sea to start with. Came south because they heard it was nice down there with beaches, kinda like Miami. So which came first, the chicken or the egg?
Abraham, the first Jew, is supposed to have come from Ur in southern Iraq. So he was Mesopotamian. David Rohl has an entertaining theory that the Mesopotamians came from Lake Van in Kurdistan, nearer but not that near to the Black Sea. Fairly close to Mount Ararat though.
While the official policy toward Jews in Russian Empire oscillated between kind of acceptance and full blown anti-semitism, I don’t think the official Russia never organized any pogroms – sometimes the officials took their time to intervene, but pretty much all pogroms ended when the officials did intervene (on 17 April 1881 in Elisabethgrad [Ukraine] army opened fire on the perpetrators to stop violence).
The pogroms happened mostly in areas populated by Ukrainians, Poles and Greek in areas Russia had acquired only a generation or two earlier (from Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth and Ottomans). The generic oppression (known as the May Laws, in 1882, basically blaming the Jews for the pogroms) did cover all of Russia.
The 3 partitions of Poland completed in 1795. Russia had taken eastern Ukraine by 1656 and Crimea by 1774. Off the top of my head. I have to go shopping now or I won’t get any bread. As for other information on Palestine I look to Palestine and the Palestinians.
East of the Dnieper by 1686.
Samith K. Farsoun: Palestine and the Palestinians
I’m gone.
Russia defined a Pale of Settlement for Jews and my understanding is that the definition resulted in the pogroms almost be cohesively occurring in land in the Ukraine. I don’t remember if this was in or out of the Pale though!
Eastern Ukraine was not known as any part of Ukraine at the time. In the early 19th century “Ukraine” meant, depending on the user, either the area around Kharkov (considered by most as “Slobozhanshchyna” and “Russian Ukraine”) or the area around Kiev (“Western Ukraine”.
It was (and is) a complicated matter; the budding nationalist in Ukraine detested the term Malorossiya (Little Russia), but easily adopted the idea that Malorossiyans all the way to the Don river were, of course, Ukrainians since the term was used also of Ukrainians.
I used the term Ukraine historically only for a modern quick reference and because I was in a hurry to get out the door. What I would like to know more about, beyond the boundaries of empires which were created and recreated by armies and treaties, which are stressed in simplified histories, is the emergence and divergence of language groups. There have often been differing communities across ancient state boundaries, which did not have the modern nation-state meaning. It is a vast and complex area of investigation.
Ditto. I wrote the Ukraine deliberately, for the geography, not the country.
Greenwald had on Lee Fang and Jack Poulson who led the investigation in conjunction with the Guardian, this is their piece:
Israeli Documents Show Expansive Covert U.S. Influence Campaign
However, the Greenwald interview was abbreviated by the breaking news of Assange’s release:
Israeli Influence Campaigns on U.S. Campuses Investigated with Journalists Lee Fang and Jack Poulson
This is a very good article that had also been recommended a couple of times by NC commenters. It surprised the hell out of me that it was allowed in The Guardian. What’s up there? I know the Palestinian plight is one issue for which “liberals” are allowed to show sympathy. But the British press and Labour have been so controlled that I was taken aback.
This article also compliments the conversation around Rob Urie’s piece on the Israel Lobby yesterday. Though I agree with almost everything in Rob’s useful discussion of the MIC, I think it is misleading, even dangerous, to see Israeli policy as *only* a reflection of the material interests of the arms merchants. Neither is the ‘Lobby’ in complete control. Rather, each uses the other as their perceived interests converge over full support of the Zionist state. Marx said that for capital it’s “Acculumate, accumulate. That is Moses and the Prophets.” But that is *not* true for all parties. For some, “Moses and the Prophets” takes on a different meaning. And as we know from vast experience, when our National Security folks seek to harness ideological belief or fanaticism for its own ends this can often lead to blowback beyond our control, whether it’s jihadists in Central Asia or the Middle East, neo-Nazis in Ukraine, Zionists in Israel, or Christian Zionists in the US. And we have such ideological True Believers scattered throughout our National Security apparatus as well, whether neocon ideologues or East European Russophobes or Christian reconstructionists or just plain fascistic right-wingers who often achieve positions of considerable influence. These people are motivated by more than pure material interests, and when such ideologues are able to harness the vast influence of money for their own ends, then we are in real trouble.
>American diplomat found dead in Kyiv Ukrainska Pravda
I don’t think I’ve ever read an article with less details.
RT gives a few more details-
‘“Yesterday around 11am the body of an attache at the US embassy was found inside a room at the hotel,” Strana quoted its source as saying. “There were no signs of violence on the body.”
According to Strana’s source, the man, who had arrived in Ukraine on June 15, had shown elevated cholesterol levels in medical records provided by the US embassy. Local police have reportedly launched an investigation into the cause and circumstances of the diplomat’s death.
New Voices reported that the hotel room where the body was discovered had been locked from the inside and that no autopsy was performed, as the corpse was claimed by the US embassy.’
https://www.rt.com/russia/600060-kiev-us-diplomat-dead/
Rev Kev:
So you’re saying a few dinners of pierogi with extra sour cream did him in?
It would be irresponsible not to speculate. (Although the detail of the door locked from the inside seems a tad too normal to me. The lack of autopsy is not normal, though.)
Nor any mention as to how he was dressed – if at all. And that door. I bet that it was one of those that you can set the lock as as you leave and it locks behind you. By passing over the details, they have invoked the Barbra Streisand Effect.
Pierogi with extra sour cream, and a salt shaker half full of cocaine.
Which prompts the Deplorables to ask: Has this person in any way been associated with Hunter Biden?
Deplorables Unum?
Aka. “Laptops ‘R U.S.”
Ukraine has a reputation for strenuous evening entertainment. Not that I have first-hand knowledge or anything.
“Elevated cholesterol.”
That’s a test marker, not a disease. I’d have been dead for 30 years if it were a disease.
Sounds like a cover-up.
…maybe he was playing Russian cholesterol roulette?
He ate too much salo.
https://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A1%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%BE
Or perhaps that’s “Salo: The 120 Days of Kyiv.”
History shows that the “nightlife” in the capitol of a collapsing regime is generally a bit “excessive.”
Maitre d’: Would monsieur care for an apéritif, or would he prefer to order straight away? Today we have, uh, for appetizers: Excuse me. Mhmm. Uh, Salo, moules marinières, pâté de foie gras, beluga caviar, eggs Benedictine, chicken Kyiv, tart de poireaux– that’s leek tart,– frogs’ legs amandine, or oeufs de caille Richard Shepherd– c’est à dire, little quails’ eggs on a bed of puréed mushroom. It’s very delicate. Very subtle.
Mr. Creosote: I’ll have the lot.
Don’t forget the mint!
It’s wafer thin!
Joker:
Heck, that’s what we in Italy call lardo. We have it as a snack before breakfast, ne.
[Also good for terrifying tourists from the U S of A.]
On the other hand, your cocaine connection above is good speculation.
a test marker, not a disease! Spot on! Certainly not a cause of death….. mine is pretty high (total 292 mg/dL) and I`m fit (go fell walking) insulin sensitive and nearly 80. Generally, “high” rather than low LDL levels correlate with lower all cause mortality..(.but the devil is in the detail…just not causal of anything negative)….especially later in life and esp in women, but at least there is nothing threatening about it. I`m keeping mine….
~pretty high (total 292 mg/dL)
gads, mine is 103! But then I’m veggie powered, or maybe under-powered, dunno…
did you get the bread?
Yup! :-)
Door locked from the inside? Maybe it was a wayward orangutan.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murders_in_the_Rue_Morgue
Two words: hookers and blow.
<Coup attempt in Bolivia fails after new military chief orders troops to return to bases Anadolu Agency.
First thought on seeing headline was if they found CIA finger prints anywhere. Not up to speed on politics in Bolivia and article doesn't give much context or recent history.
Well, you’ve got Lloyd Austin’s doppelgänger there in the guise of that Bolivian general in handcuffs~
But unlike the January 6th rioters, at least those soldiers remembered to bring their guns to that building. Saw that video of that general under arrest on the news tonight and a short tune played in my mind-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQeezCdF4mk
Let us not forget Gen. Laura Richardson, who has been promising the South Americans her many Monroe-Doctrine-ish tender mercies. As well as her much-too-focused attention on lithium deposits.
I wouldn’t rule out Argentine nutso president Milei yet, either.
It would be irresponsible of us not to speculate.
It would be irresponsible of us not to speculate.This, because the good ole days of “innocent until proven guilty” are so far in the rearview mirror. Perhaps we have a new unofficial motto.
That applies to state actors not us. Biden should prove his innocence on this matter if he doesn’t want the US to be accused.
Our coups weren’t particularly smooth in the first place, but civil society in these countries is stronger. Also the “left” in these countries isn’t perceived as a threat to the bourgeoisie or even the wealthy.
What we use to offer simply isn’t there. Libya really ripped the mask off. No one wants to be Libya without a house in McLean, and even then living in sprawl with meals from Cabelas to look forward to isn’t a great deal.
“… meals from Cabelas…”
Do you mean MREs? Mountain House is WalMart adjacent, and others abound. Just heat and eat! The perfect solitary confinement meals!
No granular detail as to whether all of the ‘revolting’ military units returned to barracks, or if there was fighting anywhere.
Looks like this General tried to pull a Praetorian Guard powered “colour revolution” and failed.
This actually says good things about the state of play in the country. The Army obeyed orders and stood down.
I meant Carraba’s. Northern VIrginia is an upscale chain hell hole.
Reminds me of the “Keystone Cops” Turkish coup (has the whole story ever been aired out? Was the US involved?)
Step 1: Military officer(s) rises up…
Step 2: Seize something;
Step 3: insert lots of DC hopium;
Step 4: rebirth of democracy!
We are quite adept @ coup d’coups, almost similar to something out that Woody Allen film Bananas, albeit with the comedy being unintentional.
I had forgotten Bolivia cut off all relations with Israel, maybe just a coincidence?
There you go with all that thinking again…
You can add Bolivian President Arce meeting with Putin at the Petersburg Int’l Economic Forum to solidify relations with Russia as another coincidence.
Below is a good visual of all the “changes” the CIA helped bring about for our neighbor’s to the south.
https://x.com/sabbysabs2/status/1806108442551316903?s=51
If I were starting a band today, Bolivian Coup or Bolivian Coup Attempt would be a contender for a name.
Can’t keep up with Bolivian coups..
“Music Coup” sounds like an old fashioned Punk band.
“We put the ‘sic’ back in Music!”
It hasn’t even been 5 years since the last one, which by the way was successful and involved the OAS….
https://nacla.org/review-coup-story-violence-and-resistance-bolivia
Andrew Korybko argues that it was more of an internal squabble, though he doesn’t rule out some “opportunistic” CIA interest:
https://korybko.substack.com/p/theres-much-more-to-bolivias-failed
<Haiti: The Multinational Force Arrives
Interesting headline, they just "arrived" out of thin air. We can't say that they were sent by the hemisphere's hegemon, no that wouldn't do.
There isn’t a more corrupt and brutal police force in Africa than Kenya. A UN investigation called them “death squads.” They’ve murdered and disappeared protesters on orders of politicians.
That’s why Biden is sending them to Haiti.https://t.co/SgLcyKcY1G
— Dan Cohen (@dancohen3000) June 25, 2024
The agreement that Haiti had to sign said this in part-
‘The Haitian government recognizes “the right of MMAS and its contractors to import, by the easiest and most direct sea, air or land route, free of duties, taxes, royalties and other charges, without further prohibition or restriction, equipment, provisions, supplies, fuel, materials and other goods, including spare parts and means of transport, for the exclusive and official use of MMAS”.’
That is very similar to the agreement that the US had with Niger that was so onerous, that it caused Niger to kick that US base out of the country after the coup when a US delegation demanded that that agreement be renewed. Some people think “negotiated agreement”. I, for some reason, think of “washing machine.”
I took note of the brief rundown of some of the money flow:
“But it was the Canadian company GardaWorld Federal Services LLC that won the first contract, worth 30 million five hundred thousand US dollars, to provide security for the newly created base for the Multinational Security Support Force in Hayii under the aegis of FAR16.505(b)(2).
The Pentagon, U.S. Department of Defense has issued a call for tenders for a broadband internet company capable of supporting 1,400 customers and another commercial company for hygiene services to the multinational force for toothpaste, shampoo toothbrushes, skin cream (lotion) and beds to accommodate 1300 customers.
The dry cleaning service will cost US$150 per person per week, while the truck drivers will earn up to US$1,800.00 and can subcontract to the Haitian contractor for US$100.00…”
Those Kenyans are looking like a return of the Tonton Macoutes. No matter how hard the Haitians try the United States is constantly overthrowing its government and stealing its wealth. Really, the two centuries of poverty is the responsibility of the French and the Americans.
Re the Glenn Greennwald tweet:
Matt Lee grilling Matt Miller is always heart warming!
I found Miller’s performance depressing as hell, even if it’s the norm for the ruling class to face the public with intellectual half-wits. I’ve developed a bit of respect for Lee off of this. He showed immense restraint and composure.
I don’t understand why Lee hasn’t been banished to the back row with the rest that are never asked for questions.
Running out of seats in the backrow?
Miller and the Biden communication team believe they are providing great answers.
How about “believe they are providing great cover”? I am honestly unsure if career politicians actually believe anything except “money is good”.
1,000 Lightning Strikes Trigger CA Wildfires: Fire Season Has Arrived Banning-Beaumont Patch
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Interesting how the lightning strikes north of us near Fresno started fires on the valley floor and in the foothills, but not the higher climes of the Sierra, and its a bit smoky here in Tiny Town as a result.
Hell sets in once again just in time for July 4th, with a string of 106 to 107 degree temps over 5 days, which often lead to cloud buildup in the higher climes and more potential of lightning strikes, something we normally don’t see until around August.
We are already up to 1/3rd of the acreage burned in wildfires last year in Cali, and I never think of this time of year as being that big of a worry, but that was then and this is now.
The 1 insurance policy on my home can’t be cancelled, and that is the clearing out of my surroundings as best I can, yesterday was all about cutting out dead branches on trees I last pruned a few years ago, and with a 14 foot long pole-saw I can get most everything that’s say 17 feet up, and I was amazed at how much newlydead stuff was under that level~
Re: defensible space is the 1 insurance policy that can’t be cancelled.
Well said. Pole-saws are awesome for trimming fuel ladders!.
Nate Silver’s first election forecast gives Trump a 66% chance of winning electoral college.
Expect the panic to set in today.
Just hope this doesn’t speed up the time-line for something even dumber from our current leaders.
In the 2004 election year, we could anticipate with great anxiety the release of a Code Orange from DHS secretary Tom Ridge. Do we need a new, improved Boogeyman for the current election year?
They’ve tried Putin, Putin and Xi, Xi and Putin. I put nothing past our high office political leaders, at the zenith of power but closer to a true life climactic ending ( Biden, Pelosi, McConnell…the list is a long one ).
“Netanyahu picks fight with Biden over arms transfers as US election heats up”
Just had the thought that Netanyahu may have fired a shot over old Joe’s bow to bring him to heel. AIPAC went in and caused Jamaal Bowman to be crushed in his election by swamping that district with their money. So suppose that this was a case of killing the chicken to scare the monkeys? The unspoken message was that Netanyahu can do the same to other Democrats come this November and he would rather work with Trump in any case as Trump gives him everything that he wants. But so that this was not personal for old Joe, the target was a so-called Progressive who old Joe would never care about.
Boss Tweed from Talmuddy Hall calls the shots around these parts of the 50 boroughs on the flag.
I think that is an excellent theory. However, monkeys are insulted that you would compare them to Joe Biden.
Bowman could fire a shot right back over AIPAC’s bow by running in his district as an Independent. He has the name recognition. And just enough of the Hispanic and Black half of his district might vote for him so as to cost the “Primary winner” the election.
It could establish a precedent that any “primary challenger” who defeats a Democrat with the help of AIPAC money will then go on to lose the election if the “primary loser” runs as an independent on- in part- a ‘break-AIPAC’s-power” platform.
Worth a try, eh . . . Mr. Bowman and supporters?
Is that allowed in New York, or does that state have the kind of “sore loser” laws that Michigan has? Here, having even been on the D primary ballot would bar one from being on the general-election ballot as the candidate of any other party — or even as a “No Partisan Affiliation” independent. He could register a write-in effort . . . so write-in votes for him would at least theoretically be counted.
Netanyahu picks fight with Biden over arms transfers as US election heats up The Hill
~~~~~~~~~~~~
UFC 86
Bibi (‘Gilt Trip’) Netanyahu versus Joe (‘Ironclad’) Biden
2 hadversaries go into the octagon, one always gets whatever he wants.
$49.99 PPV
$29.99 PPV HD
“Police Departments Have Shrunk. Crime Is Plummeting. Now What?”
Ooh! Now that’s hard. Really hard. I could suggest things such as spending more on the training of police officers using the money saved by having less officers but it does not matter. As experience usually wins over hope, I would say that what comes next is demands for a bigger budget and more military equipment for police.
Bazookas for peace officers!
Maybe not bazookas but I know of a guy called Big Z that can give you a great deal on crate-loads of ATGMs – never used. I asked him which country he lived in and he just laughed and said Country 404 wherever that is.
Cop City in the SF Bay Area. Trained by Israelis.
Coming to your town soon.
Re “what comes next”, don’t forget some manufacturing of fear.
Is it me, or has there been a lot of “leaking” going on around the subject of abortion court cases?
and in an election year…. / ;)
heh heh heh, you do get me.
“Grindr to Delve Into Dating as More Users Seek Long-Term Relationships” WSJ
I remember a party scene saying: ” Meet them in a club, lose them in a club.”
If a choice was made by choosing from a constant stream of options, then when the going gets tough, the stream of options would probably get turned back on.
What convenience can do to experiences rears its head again.
Grindr dating is an oxymoron.
Nobody, but NOBODY in my experience goes on there realistically expecting a relationship.
People wanting a relationship have other options: “general” sites like Jackd, “specific interest” (ahem) ones like Scruff etc. Grindr is dreadful and even people who use it hate it IMO.
People are still on Ashley Madison after all the fake profiles for women were revealed and the site was lax with security.
Go figure.
Good joke I heard yesterday:
Luis Arce: knock, knock
Elon Musk: who’s there?
Arce: Lithium
Musk: …I don’t get it.
Arce: Exactly!
Ah yes. Of course-
‘In July 2020, Musk tweeted, “We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it” in response to a Twitter user who implied that the US government organized a coup (referring to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis) against Evo Morales for Musk to obtain lithium from Bolivia.’
You think that he is crying on Laura Richardson’s shoulder right now?
“How Israel is creating a ‘dead zone’ in Lebanon”
Par for the course for the Israelis. When it became obvious that Hezbollah cleaned the IDF’s clocks back in 2006, the Israelis shot over four million cluster bombs into southern Lebanon in the last three days of the war to turn the whole area into a death trap for returning civilians. Entire towns were covered in cluster bombs but as a large number of those cluster bombs were old American stock from the 1970s, as many as 1 million of them never went off so sat there as land mines. They ended up killing or maiming about 200 people and it took years to clean them out. Yes, this counts as a war crime but the Israelis did it anyway out of spite. And now they are poisoning the land with white phosphorus, again out of spite.
Edifice wrecks update (hat tip, Wukchumni)
https://www.costar.com/article/458257753/simon-moves-to-give-up-philadelphia-mall-canceled-deal-could-signal-fatigue-relocation-plans-spell-trouble-for-dc-office-loan
“Police Departments Have Shrunk. Crime Is Plummeting. Now What?” Slate
Looking at the headline, I remind myself that correlation does not equal causation.
But damn…
“SITREP 6/26/24: Things Heat Up With Reports of North Korean Troops to Donbass”
This does not sound so likely but then again maybe it does. If there is one thing that the North Korean military does not have it is experience on modern warfare. By sending some of their troops to take part in operations, they can be trained up and get to experience how modern warfare is now done. Then, when they rotate out back to North Korea, they can serve as instructors to the rest of the military and train them up to standard. And it would give the South Koreans a bit of pause as well and make them wonder if sending all that artillery to NATO was worth it after all.
My thoughts, too (likely for the experience). Plus the opportunity to try out north Korean weapons variants in an actual war theater. South Korea, of course, does not have an equivalent opportunity.
Au contraire. South Korea can LARP in the Ukraine if it chooses. Kimchi pierogi.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/27/us/supreme-court-opioid-settlement.html/
“Supreme Court Rejects Liability Shield at Center of Purdue Pharma Settlement”
The liability shield would have protected members of the Sackler family from civil claims related to the opioid epidemic.
Oh…maybe I can give them some points.
“…The decision jeopardizes a carefully negotiated settlement Purdue and the Sacklers had reached in which members of the family promised to give up to $6 billion to states, local governments, tribes and individuals to address a devastating public health crisis.
It all but ensures that members of the Sackler family, who controlled Purdue Pharma, the maker of the prescription painkiller OxyContin, will no longer be subject to a condition of the deal that had generated significant criticism: immunity from liability in opioid-related lawsuits, even as they had not declared bankruptcy….”
I don’t know what this does to the time frame for victims receiving compensation.
“US says Julian Assange put people ‘in danger,’ likens him to drunk driver” Anadolu Agency.
Alzheimer’s patients also aren’t allowed to drive because they could put people in danger.
Just sayin’….
The science of protests: how to shape public opinion and swing votes (Nature, but not paywalled)
This compilation of recent social-sciencey research complements more journalistic takes, like those of Vincent Bevins.
Pre-debate theory here. Knowing NC, I’m hoping Yves et al post a running commentary on “our site”. But if not, I understand.
Anyway, my theory. During the debate, Biden has a few small gaffs……. I hope for, but can’t imagine a large one such as freezing and staring. But he has a few gaffs then Trump turns to the camera and announces “I can’t be complicit in elder abuse. I am leaving this debate and we’ll see what the people decide in the ballot box.”
Trump would “win” hands down!
That scenario would cause so many heads to explode that they would have to take stock market indexes to 500,000 to keep the PMC calm while they figured out what to do next.
Graphine
Having actually worked with Apollo 17 lunar samples back in the 90s, the carbon is consistent with accretion of carbonaceous chondrite material via impacts. I suspect they’re way out over their skis on this. They should be looking at high pressure explanations first, and only if those mineral phases are absent focus on temperature. I expect that most (60+%) of their samples are tiny green or orange glass spheres from micrometeorite impacts and that the iron in the samples is native metal, all from impacts.
Elite misinformation is an underrated problem
Talking about implicit fossil fuel subsidies:
Has anyone noticed that California has the highest gas taxes in the Nation? Paying $5.90 gallon today. Going up another .50 gal on Monday, and then another .50 a year from Monday as well.
However, those are paid by motorists at gas station. There’s no oil extraction tax paid by oil producers in California as there is in other states.
Could that have to do with Governor Jerry Brown being heavily donated to by Armand Hammer’s Occidental Petroleum, or, more importantly today, Gavin Newsom’s career creation funded by the Getty Oil Heirs?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Severance_tax_legislative_history_in_California
Labour ‘not putting up a fight’ against Farage in Clacton Guardian
It can’t have helped that British GQ ran an interview with Mr Owusu-Nepaul this month because of his viral sense of style. Journalist Marie Le Conte also named him as her “Hero of the Week” for his attention to fashion in a recent Oh, God, What Now? podcast. (Owusu-Nepaul says he buys all his clothing at the local charity shop.)
Labour HQ was actually “furious” at all the attention Owusu-Nepaul was getting? It seems positively demented to me. Le Conte, for her part, tweeted “v small time behaviour, this.”
NYT tells us (again) about Russian human wave attacks and Russia’s 500,000 killed or wounded. This reminds me of Walter Cronkite’s weekly body counts of NVA and NLF when I was a kid…
Russia Sends Waves of Troops to the Front in a Brutal Style of Fighting
>Russia’s use of infantry in wave attacks
This characterization always leaves me head-scratching. There is a wiki article on “wave attack” that references various journalist or historian writings, but no doctrinal pub that I can see. So what exactly is a “wave attack”? It seems to imply an assault without much in the way of supporting fires. But accepting the notion that Russia has superiority in artillery I would think there would be ample indirect fires. Maybe the idea is that infantry units lack heavy weapons of their own for fire support?
I’m not sure if the “wave” concept implies a certain assault formation? Or objective?
“Human wave attack” is an excuse for losing a war/battle.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2F4akL1AS5w
Thinking back to the days of Korea, a “human wave attack” by the Chinese seems to have been a brief artillery preparation, followed by a very large number of infantry soldiers. The allied machine guns would stop most of them, but some would get through and attack the allied troops hand-to-hand. The phrase always sounded disapproving, to me, like only poor people, who were so desperate they did not care for their own lives, would do that. Which, of course, was one of the stereotypes of the Chinese back in the ’50s.
Since no one has commented on today’s Antidote, I will. My wife and I love the spring and summer in upstate NY. We have numerous flowers, plants, and bird feeders around our house and in our back yard. We love sitting out on our deck and enjoying the wildlife around us at this time of year.
But we hate yellow jackets! We will declare war on them if we detect a nest starting up. We have had several negative encounters with them over the years. We go from peaceful, nature-loving retirees to rabid anti-bug humans when they start flying around.
Just a confession. Seeing that picture triggered my guilt. My Buddha-consciousness has a ways to go yet. And I still have to deal with the effects of a Trump-Biden debate later today!
Ditto. Bumblebees on the other hand, big, lumbering manatees of the air. Love bumblebees.
They’re an invasive pest around here.
I can’t tell what’s going on with this one. Its wings don’t appear to be moving so it’s definitely not flying, and its legs don’t seem to be attached to anything. Maybe it’s dead, and lying on its back?