Links 7/1/2024

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1. Antifa July 1, 2024 at 7:01 am

   IDF VERSUS HEZBOLLAH
   (melody borrowed from Marching To Pretoria  {Traditional} as performed by The Highwaymen)

   This Gaza fight is misery
   I’m just a soldier pawn
   Sent here to mow the lawn
   My closest friends are gone
   Misery loves company
   How long can this go on?
   What we did here is wrong

   But we march north to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah!
   We are going to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, oh yay!

   We’re really just some cooks and clerks
   Dressed up in soldier suits
   Camo and combat boots
   Handed a gun that shoots
   Along with U.S. fireworks
   But we’re still just raw recruits
   Headed to Beirut

   Yes we march north to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah!
   We are going to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, oh yay!

   We’ve lost all northern Israel
   We’ve fought them twice before
   Hezbollah’s so hardcore
   This might mean world war
   When Iran comes in as well
   We’ll hear their missiles roar
   The river to the shore

   But we march north to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah!
   We are going to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, oh yay!

   Iran is backed by Russia now
   Tactical nukes are out
   We can’t toss those about
   Moscow has left no doubt
   That’s one thing they won’t allow
   They have a lot more clout
   We cannot go that route

   But we march north to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah!
   We are going to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, oh yay!

   But we march north to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah!
   We are going to fight with Hezbollah, with Hezbollah, oh yay!
2. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 7:15 am

   ‘Paolo Gerbaudo
   @paologerbaudo
   The real patriots were of course the French maquis and Italian partisans who fought to reclaim their countries’ independence. How did it even happen that the heirs of Pétain and Mussolini progressively managed to lay claim to patriotism? It’s surreal when you think about it.’

   Ooh, ooh! I think that I can answer that for Paolo Gerbaudo. The reason that this is so is because the heirs of the French maquis and Italian partisans decided to adopt the methodology of the Nazis that they were fighting against such as stricter controls, censorship, harassment of journalists, etc. and become the people that they were fighting. That is why they tolerated Nazi parades in the Baltic States and in recent years welcoming Nazis from the Ukraine as they train, arm and finance them. If Adolf dropped through a worm hole into Brussels right now, he would be welcomed as a misunderstood, Austrian patriot who fought the Russians because of European values.
   1. zagonostra July 1, 2024 at 8:16 am

      They did more than just “adopt methodology” as you well know if you’ve read up on Operation Paperclip. Also, all those blue-eyed German speaking Argentinians suggest that the official history of how WWII came to a conclusion were less than fully truthful, e.g., Martin Bormann.
      1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 8:47 am

         Or all those blue-eyed, true-believing Ukrainians that were rescued from the Soviets and sent to places like Canada and the UK as well.
   2. DJG, Reality Czar July 1, 2024 at 8:49 am

      The Rev Kev: Not exactly. There are very few Italian partisans who “went over.” Having witnessed the brutality of a civil war within a larger war, they stayed more or less true to their ideas.

      Yes, there were scandals. Pierpaolo Pasolini’s brother, a centrist partisan, was killed by leftist partisans. I regularly read articles by historians still trying to interpret this or that historic event—including who actually killed Mussolini.

      Yet even the many who fought with the centrist groups like Azione and the Catholics did not backtrack. The partisans are a very interesting thread in Italian history. There are some partisans from WWII —men and women of great age—who still lead the demonstrations.

      So you may be skeptical, but there’s also what Italians call hitting one’s foot with the hoe.

      Instead, you may want to look at the site of the National Partisans Association in Italy:

      https://www.anpi.it/

      Hmmm. Membership is open. May be time for me to join up.
   3. Michael Fiorillo July 1, 2024 at 11:02 am

      They also supported “humanitarian intervention” in Iraq, Libya, Syria, etc. which exacerbated an immigration crisis benefiting the Right, just as #McResistance imbeciles in the US say nothing about coups, interventions and sanctions in South and Central America which aid Trump’s immigration narrative.

      Embarrassing folly conducted by morally vain fools convinced of their superiority…
      1. DJG, Reality Czar July 1, 2024 at 1:18 pm

         Who is this They you’re talking about?

         Paolo Gerbaudo (and his surname indicates he may even be from the Undisclosed Region) knows exactly what he is talking about. His assessment of the Italian situation is on the mark. You can go through his other tweets as backup / confirmation.

         But what would an Italian know about Italy?
         1. Michael Fiorillo July 1, 2024 at 5:09 pm

            My comment should have appeared further up, in response to Rev Kev’s comment that began with a quote of Gerbaudo (who I don’t know and was not referring to) and was referring to current NATO/EU neoliberals.
            1. Captain Obvious July 2, 2024 at 6:39 am

               Your comment should have not appeared further up, because there are mulitple responses to The Rev Kev, and they are lined up and sorted chronologically. ;)
   4. Kouros July 1, 2024 at 5:56 pm

      Have you heard of Operation Gladio?! US helped in replacing those partisan commies with Nazi collaborators…
   5. bertl July 1, 2024 at 6:20 pm

      “If Adolf dropped through a worm hole into Brussels right now, he would be welcomed as a misunderstood, Austrian patriot who fought the Russians because of European values.” Rev Ken.

      European values towards the “other” have always been very flexible, depending on which side the dollar falls, of course. Be interesting to see how the European élites respond when the dollar just falls, the euro breaks, and the rouble and the CNY become harder than blocks of Lonsdaleite.
3. PlutoniumKun July 1, 2024 at 7:21 am

   Precious rare earth metals belong to the state, China declares Politico

   The article is a little misleading – what it seems to be referring to is the newest draft of the state Mining Law. While all minerals theoretically belong to the State in China, in reality in the past few decades there has been pretty much a free for all with local administrative governments being encouraged to ‘facilitate’ mining by private interests without much regard to the environment, or taxes, or pretty much any kind of regulation. The newly revised law seems to be mainly aimed at plugging a lot of loopholes – for example, mining companies passing on old mines to shell companies to walk away from clean-up liabilities. It also seems to be putting in place stricter rules on regulating the supply chains of processed materials.

   It is, in short, trying to establish more control by Beijing over the industry as a whole – the draft law includes provisions that Chinese companies have to follow domestic regulations when operating outside China, although its hard to see how that can be enforced.
   1. Joker July 1, 2024 at 8:54 am

      Beijing’s hold on the coveted resources has long been seen as a threat to Western clean power and tech supply chains.

      Chinese hold on their own resources is a threat to Western (clean) power. How dare they?
      1. Louis Fyne July 1, 2024 at 9:24 am

         ironically US natural gas is the same way and should be treated the same….ignoring the CO2, natural gas is too useful and valuable of a widget to pump out of the ground for $2.99/mmBTU and export to EU-East Asia.

         not holding my breath for a US export ban.
   2. Michael Hudson July 1, 2024 at 10:05 am

      It’s much more complicated. Most rare earths were being mined by Taiwanese companies. They were hardly taxed. I spent an entire week a decade ago meeting with the central committee explaining the concept of natural-resource rent, urging them to take control and sharply raise the price to reflect the environmental costs of mining these metals.
      There was no concept of rent-extraction, merely letting the Taiwanese owners sell the ore are market prices. So the Chinese took over the refining, which is where the real cost comes in.
4. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 7:27 am

   … Say a little prayer for you

   … The moment you wake up
   Before you put on debate makeup (makeup)
   I said a little prayer for you
   While combing your hair now
   I’m wondering what to do now (do now)
   I say a little prayer for you (for you, ooh)
   Oh, baby

   … ever
   (You’ll stay in my heart and I will love you)
   (Forever) forever (and ever) ever
   (We never will part, oh, how I love you)
   (Together) togethеr (together) togethеr
   (That’s how it must be for our country to live without you)
   (Would only mean heartbreak for me)
   Ooh, ooh, ooh

   … they talk of your debate bust, dear
   While deriding, I think of us, dear (us, dear), hey
   I say a little prayer for you, oh, oh-oh, oh-oh (oh, shawty)
   At Camp Davd, I just take time
   And all through the Biden family breaktime (breaktime)
   I say a little prayer for you

   … forever
   (You’ll stay in my heart and I will love you)
   (Forever) forever (and ever) ever
   (We never will part, oh, how I love you)
   (Together) together (together) together
   (That’s how it must be for the country without you)
   (Would only mean heartbreak for me)

   … Only mean heartbreak for me

   Ooh-ooh
5. Ben Panga July 1, 2024 at 7:28 am

   https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/bidens-family-keep-fighting-donors-alternatives-rcna159694

   Mostly about keeping GenJoe but hedges a fair bit also:
   
   “Another senior Democratic official who has spoken directly with Biden and members of his campaign team said he has been reassured about Biden’s staying in the race and characterized his team’s posture as “powering through.”

   But he also said he has had a lot of “one-off texts and conversations” with his peers and predicted the next two weeks would be critical.

   “We’ll have polls and we’ll have a money count. If they’re good, it leans that he [remains in the race]. And if it’s not, all bets are off,” the official said. It will be “decided on data more than emotion. It’s too early to make the call.””

   So…if he doesn’t literally poop himself and fall over at a campaign event in the next fortnight he is in fact the best chance to save “Our Democracy “.

   The cope in the article is amazing. The cope all over the media is amazing. They are really thinking they can go with memory-holing what we saw last week. The worse bit is I wonder if they aren’t wrong.
   1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 8:28 am

      2028 was seen as wide open. My gut is the “ambitious” just want Biden and Harris to lose quietly.

      None of these people have profiles to set them apart, not even a faux book about values. They just have wooed potential donors. If they speak up now, they will be crucified especially since it’s almost certain they’ve known for some time.
      1. hk July 1, 2024 at 1:09 pm

         HRC probably doesn’t have until 2028, so she might jump in more eagerly.
         1. Neutrino July 1, 2024 at 2:43 pm

            HRC and others asking their attorneys if there is a statute of limitation on treason. 1/2 s
   2. Jeff W July 1, 2024 at 8:32 am

      “They are really thinking they can go with memory-holing what we saw last week.”

      Glenn Greenwald predicts [at about 49:21], that, following President Obama’s marching orders, the media will turn on a dime and switch to the “just a bad night”/“we know he can do the job” narrative.

      And the—I dunno—sheer insanity of the Biden family, urging Joe Biden, to “keep fighting.” For whom? Why? Never mind the country’s interests—elder abuse doesn’t occur to any of them? It’s mind-boggling.
      1. Benny Profane July 1, 2024 at 8:44 am

         Fighting for themselves. It’s been a good run, and, I suspect, much money has been made. Even if he loses, he can go on a pardon spree before January, and dig graves for the skeletons. Betcha she has a ledger book somewhere with all the dirty stuff, and that will be tossed in the family fireplace on Nov. 7 if things go on as they have.
      2. Acacia July 1, 2024 at 10:30 am

         As Carlson put it: so that Dr. Jill can keep going to state dinners.
         1. juno mas July 1, 2024 at 12:45 pm

            As most folks know Jill Biden is not a medical doctor. She has one of those educational degrees known as a doctorate of philosophy in education; Ph. Ed. (Not a PhD.) These are like the Nobel Prize in Economics. Not really a Nobel Prize but claimed as such in the Economics profession. In academia the Ph. Ed. places you on a higher salary rung, so it is an attractive goal for administrators. In science/engineering it gets you nothing. The “Dr.” prefix only has cache in academia.

            I have good friends who have Ph. Ed’s and they have no special skills. Inside or outside the campus.

            My medical doctor says he’ll take his books to my good friend ‘doctors’ when they get sick. ;)
            1. Ann July 1, 2024 at 2:50 pm

               I have been a co-supervisor of Ed.D. students (Not Ph.Ed.) because the topic had some vague connection to health. Their dissertations are not much more rigourous than an undergraduate term paper. I stopped doing this because their supervisors from the School of Education were so supportive of poorly written, poorly documented, poorly argued, poorly defended academic work.
      3. Mikel July 1, 2024 at 10:51 am

         From an unusually good source: Obama’s tweet supporting Joe Biden was disingenuous. In private, Obama is telling people Biden can’t win, and he is therefore in favor of an open convention. Obama will not say whom he supports, nor as of yesterday afternoon had he met personally…
         — Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) July 1, 2024

         It’s a mess.
         1. Michael Fiorillo July 1, 2024 at 11:07 am

            That would explain Axelrod and Plouffe’s apparent “honesty” about the matter. Hard to imagine they’d be so vocal if Obama solidly supported Uncle Joe.
            1. Neutrino July 1, 2024 at 2:47 pm

               With all the legal activity recently, maybe folks are queueing up for those deathbed pardons?
               That would fit into the full ghoul aspect of so many in the twitter- and pundit-verses.
         2. Henry Moon Pie July 1, 2024 at 3:19 pm

            Is there a split between the Obamas and the Clintons? More and more, it looks like Obama’s deal to stop Bernie in ’20 included ceding State and the NSC to the Clintons. If Biden is out, that deal is dead, and it appears that a new one has not yet been reached. Otherwise, Joe would be gone, and we would know who his replacement is.
         3. Jeff W July 1, 2024 at 4:16 pm

            Thanks, Mikel! That’s relevant—and interesting—information.

            For those who are curious, here’s the entire tweet from Tucker Carlson.
   3. Mikel July 1, 2024 at 10:11 am

      It’s like none of the real issues matter. They put a “family legacy” ahead of laser focus on all of things that need to be fixed.
      Send the family to counseling or therapy to deal with a new chapter in their lives and the country needs to keep on pushing in another direction.
      1. John k July 1, 2024 at 12:47 pm

         There’s nothing that needs to be fixed that our oligarchs want fixed. The 2024 winnah is not gonna fix anything.
   4. albrt July 1, 2024 at 11:50 am

      The only legitimate way forward that I can see is for Harris and the cabinet to remove Biden using the 25th amendment. The process would be legitimate, legal, and would be seen by the vast majority of voters as doing the right thing. Harris would legitimize herself if she takes a difficult and necessary action in a crisis, and Harris will be seen as much stronger and more presidential than anyone expected.

      I do not take seriously the argument that if Biden were removed from the presidency that the Democrats would still be stuck with him on the ballot. Nobody is really going to take that position, particularly if Biden is being replaced on the ballot by Harris as the actual incumbent president.

      It would be entertaining if Biden attempted to fight his removal – the 25th amendment allows for that. But I think Harris would win the congressional vote confirming Biden’s removal.

      I don’t really expect this to happen because the Democrats have form, and they will probably want to keep following the money and the polls and making backroom deals that further erode any legitimacy they have. But if Harris actually succeeded in removing Biden by legitimate means, and then she took some strong actions to differentiate herself from Biden in the next several months, I think she would beat Trump fairly easily.
      1. pjay July 1, 2024 at 12:15 pm

         There are several problems with this scenario. Here are the two biggest in my view. First, the Dems are already sharply split on ditching Biden. Any attempt to invoke the 25th Amendment would be very divisive among party apparatchiks in my view (the “vast majority of voters” don’t count in such a decision). It would weaken further an already weak Democratic Party.

         But the second problem is that, in strong disagreement with your last sentence, there is not a chance in hell that Harris could beat Trump. No way, no how. And that is before we consider that at least some Democrats would consider her supporting a 25th Amendment move a stab in the back to ol’ Joe. The only way Harris becomes President is the same we she became vice president – as an unelected candidate if Biden would somehow happen to win and then departs.

         I’m sure that there are a number of more technical obstacles to such a move. But even if possible, I can’t see this as a viable solution.
      2. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 12:27 pm

         Legitimacy is so far in the rearview it’s hard to recognize. I’m thinking we’ve moved to an era when lawfare has replaced/become synonymous with legitimacy. This is important because it brings into focus the opportunities for “soft-coup” attempts. The example you use is one of several paths to power. This is one variation of Kamala’s route, noting that Kamala’s route to power rests solely on her legacy position. Her chances are increased in the first and third of the following scenarios.

         1, Joe dies before the convention.
         2, Joe dies or retires between the convention and the election (Dr. Jill’s fervent wish).
         3, Joe dies or retires after winning as president elect.

         It’s the second scenario that I find the most interesting as it is when those irritating rules of democracy are least present. I can assure you that I’m not the only one thinking this. This is when the boys in the backroom get to decide.
         This general election will be won by the team that has the most effective combination of lawfare and cheating, so electability is not on the main list of considerations.
         1. Expat2uruguay July 1, 2024 at 7:00 pm

            Imagine how convenient it would be if old Joe Biden was assassinated. The possibilities: a russian! An iranian! Or here’s a southern curve ball, a brazilian!

            And another thing that I find absolutely bat**** crazy is all of this talk about whether or not Biden is capable of running for president and very little talk about whether or not he’s capable of being president. This while the United States slips into not one but two or possibly even three wars. Plus, he’s already been ruled incapable of going to court and defend himself!

            Why Brasilian? Well it’s a little bit of paranoia that’s been growing that when the United States admits that it can’t be the global hegemon it will immediately turn to bullying the other countries in the Americas. So there ist the necessity to create the evil enemies that need to be corrected by the “Continental policeman”.
            1. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 8:21 pm

               Utterly unnecessary. Only a fool would interfere with an opponent who is self destructing.
            2. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 9:40 pm

               It used to be that if you got assassinated, they would name a grove of Giant Sequoias after you, along with individual named trees.

               Kind of a consolation prize, sorry you took a bullet-here have a bunch of giant trees with your name on ’em.

               There’s the Lincoln Tree (4th largest) McKinley Tree (28th largest) & Garfield Grove here in Sequoia-Kings Canyon NP and the McKinley Grove further up north.

               http://famousredwoods.com/lincoln_kcnp/

               http://famousredwoods.com/mckinley/

               https://www.redwoodhikes.com/SequoiaNP/Garfield.html

               https://www.redwoodhikes.com/McKinley/McKinley.html
      3. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 12:44 pm

         Harris lacks the character to do any of that. She is surrounded by Clintonistas. She may try to move against Biden, but it would be the most hackneyed way imaginable.

         “Breaking News: Harris had a sit down with Biden, Sarah Jessica Parker, Jimmy Kimmel and Rob Reiner asking him to resign.”
         1. albrt July 1, 2024 at 1:47 pm

            I don’t disagree that Harris probably lacks the necessary backbone. But all the paths forward are improbable, and I’m just pointing out the one that I think would be most likely to lead back to a government the majority of Americans would recognize as legitimate.
         2. flora July 1, 2024 at 3:01 pm

            Eh, there’s always bribery. Wonder what Dr. Jill would consider a good consideration? / ;)
            1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 7:58 pm

               She’s Queen. There is nothing to offer. There is a reason term limits are terrible ideas.

               Jill wants to play queen and then be the first widow.
6. Mikerw0 July 1, 2024 at 7:34 am

   On AI…

   As well discussed on NC, right now the hype is way, way ahead of the reality. And, we’ll leave aside that it is environmentally destructive.

   One thing to think about. The average human adult should have a daily calorie budget of about 2,000 – 2,200/day (we’ll leave out that we seem to consume twice that). 2,000 calories (it’s really kCals) is 2.326kWh. That’s nothing. Now consider what our brains process and do. It keeps us alive taking in massive amounts of input, keeps multiple complex systems functioning, allows us to drive cars at high speeds, and yes things like riding a bike. For that amount of energy in that’s pretty amazing. Back to biking, at a moderate pace on flat terrain with no wind takes about 185, or so, watts. In an hour that’s about 500kCal. So sports consumes a lot of that energy.

   Now compare what the human brain can do against these energy devouring technologies that are meant to replace it. Autonomous driving — massively calculation intensive. Works so poorly that many attempts have been shut down and proponents are arguing that we should have to wear transponders to tell the cars where we are (the most recent versions I’ve read about have a 3% success rate of seeing cyclists.). LLMs, supposedly really great and they can’t add 1 + 1. What they are incapable of grade school math? I could go on, but you get the point.
   1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 7:51 am

      Here is a Honest Government Ad about AI to give a bit of context to this subject-

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TtVJ4JDM7eM (3:54 mins) – language alert.
   2. Craig H. July 1, 2024 at 9:37 am

      Tyler Cowen thinks Claude is giving answers like a professional economist.

      What percentage of professional economists could give an answer of comparable quality and nuance?

      Claude Sonnet 3.5, economist
   3. Joe Renter July 1, 2024 at 10:04 am

      About your wattage of 180 at 15 mph and flat terrain. I think that is high amount. Last week I rode 40 miles with 1100 ft of elevation, averaging 18.4 mph and my average wattage was 150 watts according to Strava.
      But to your point, riding bikes would would solve a lot of problems and even pedal assist bikes would help. It’s our culture of the automobile and the mindset that holds back progress in this area.
   4. Mikel July 1, 2024 at 10:28 am

      “LLMs, supposedly really great and they can’t add 1 + 1. What they are incapable of grade school math?”

      The LLMs must have been “learning” from actor Terrence Howard’s social media posts and interviews.
7. PlutoniumKun July 1, 2024 at 7:36 am

   Chinese rocket static-fire test results in unintended launch and huge explosion Space News

   A very big ‘ooops’ moment. That booster was out of control and could have come down anywhere. In 2014 China changed its space policy to one of a centralized agency to actively promoting a range of competing private operators – there are at least half a dozen separate companies in China all aiming for a slice of the launcher market. Their record is spotty to say the least – just last week there was a rapidly censored image circulating on Chinese social media of a spent primary booster returning to earth rather rapidly over a populated area. There have been several such incidents over the past year or so.

   Its possible that China could produce its own Space X, but I suspect with all the accidents they will be doing a long overdue cull and perhaps re-centralize its space industry.
   1. .Tom July 1, 2024 at 8:07 am

      The videos of this event are amazing and you should watch them.
   2. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 8:24 am

      I take a more charitable attitude here to those accidents. If you want to build space rockets, explosions are the punctuation marks of your progress and the only nations that do not have accidents like this are those that do nothing along these lines. Think of the horrible accidents and explosions that Space X has had too and not that long ago either-

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K48AasRJpag (4:51 mins)

      So the Chinese will learn as did other nations like the US and Russia and hopefully incorporate those lessons into their future designs and tests. If the Chinese are spreading their operatives to half a dozen companies, that is not surprising as the Chinese methodology is to do so in other fields, see what works, and then have that adopted by everybody else.
   3. Captain Obvious July 1, 2024 at 9:02 am

      It’s a very big ‘ooops’ moment, only because they don’t have Chinese Musk to sell it as a great success.
      1. ebolapoxclassic July 1, 2024 at 4:34 pm

         Haha, exactly. And no Reddit bugman cult in the control room cheering and clapping like seals both at the awesome explosions and at the “great amount of new data to analyze”. Bizarrely, in some videos I’ve seen there’s a surprisingly sullen-looking Musk himself present in the control room, presumably taking the opportunity to see who is the first to stop clapping and cheering.
8. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 7:47 am

   “Siberian Wolf Preserved For 44,000 Years Could Host Ancient Viruses’

   It must have been a very beautiful animal when it was alive and in its prime. You wonder if the permafrost may not one day give up more rarer, extinct animals like perhaps a Saber tooth tiger. One can hope. Of course the survival of this wolf raises an interesting question. We all know that dogs are descended from wolves but actually they are descended from a variety of wolf that no longer survives. So it would be very interesting if the DNA analyses shows this wolf, or perhaps another wolf one day to be discovered, to be the direct ancestor of all dogs. It would be the canine equivalent of finding Ötzi the iceman.
   1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 7:53 am

      As luck would have it, the oldest wood in the world is also approx 44,000 years old…

      ‘Swamp Kauri’ is what they call buried trees in the north of the North Island in NZ. Some cataclysmic event happened back in the day and felled them all, burying them around 20 feet deep in peat.

      The wood has about 70% of the tensile strength of modern wood, and I wonder if studies have been made to determine what life was like all those years ago, reading the rings?

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swamp_kauri
9. Benny Profane July 1, 2024 at 7:49 am

   The NYT runs a remarkable story all about how Biden is going to get up off the mat and fight on, with his family’s help and support, and tries to throw some staff close to Joe under the bus, because it was their fault. This coming from the paper who’s editorial board just called for him to step out of the race.

   Biden’s Family Tells Him to Keep Fighting as They Huddle at Camp David https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/30/us/politics/biden-debate-anxious-democrats.html?smid=nytcore-android-share

   I was astounded to read this: “One of the strongest voices imploring Mr. Biden to resist pressure to drop out was his son Hunter Biden, whom the president has long leaned on for advice, said one of the people informed about the discussions, who, like others, spoke on condition of anonymity to share internal deliberations. Hunter Biden wants Americans to see the version of his father that he knows — scrappy and in command of the facts — rather than the stumbling, aging president Americans saw on Thursday night.”

   I mean, really?
   1. griffen July 1, 2024 at 8:04 am

      Fighting for You (!). Pat Benatar lyrics….

      We can’t afford to be innocent
      Stand up and face the MAGA enemies
      It’s a do or die situation
      Joe will be invincible

      Democracy Dies in Dumbness. Harry and Lloyd in Aspen but here we are in 2024.
   2. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 8:45 am

      Hunter wants to be the next prez. This is Dr Jill’s desire as well. For this to occur, joe needs to officially secure the nomination. Then the window for a swap will be open. Lawfare will be raging, but I think this path can be accomplished inside the rules.
      To sum, joe needs to survive thru the convention.
      1. schmoe July 1, 2024 at 8:53 am

         Maybe Jill is the de facto President and wants to remain so. She is probably a better bet than Kamala. Or Trump if he appoints Bolton, Haley and Pompeo to his 2025-2029 regime.
         1. Katniss Everdeen July 1, 2024 at 11:59 am

            Tucker Carlson’s latest tweet:

            From an unusually good source: Obama’s tweet supporting Joe Biden was disingenuous. In private, Obama is telling people Biden can’t win, and he is therefore in favor of an open convention. Obama will not say whom he supports, nor as of yesterday afternoon had he met personally with Biden to deliver the message. Relations between the Obamas and the Bidens have never been warm. At times they’ve been hostile. But recently they’ve deteriorated further, mostly due to Jill Biden. In the hours and days after the debate, she kept her husband cloistered away from anyone who might convince him to drop out. Jill Biden is the driving force behind her husband’s reelection campaign, just as she was in 2020, when other members of the family (including Biden’s sister Val) considered him too impaired to run. The next generation of potential Democratic candidates understands all this as an opportunity and they’re circling, particularly Gretchen Whitmer, who is promoting herself aggressively.

            Make of it what you will.
            1. Duke of Prunes July 1, 2024 at 12:21 pm

               Gretch is probably the only one on the bench thirsty enough to want to jump on this burning platform vs wait another 4 years.
            2. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 7:56 pm

               I doubt Carlson has any non-Clinton sources in Team Blue. The first bit sounds right, but Hillary would need an open convention to avoid looking like she’s running.
      2. Neutrino July 1, 2024 at 9:43 am

         Hunter! the new Jeb!
         Dynastic families on the bingo card.
         /s
         1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 9:53 am

            Better the new Jeb rather than the new Billy Carter.
            1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 9:57 am

               The only thing I can remember about Billy Carter was Billy Beer, which was kind of tantamount to cryptocurrency for a few years, you’d see a 6 pack advertised for $1500, which in 1978 was moon money (numismatic slang for asking a whole lotta do re mi for an aged round metal disc) and i’m not really sure why, but keep in mind this was around the same time as mood rings and pet rocks.
               1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 1:57 pm

                  p.s

                  Looked it up on eBay, and a 6 pack of Billy Beer is fetching $20 now, ha ha!
                  1. Neutrino July 1, 2024 at 2:52 pm

                     Nortel was famous about 20+ years ago for tanking.
                     If you bought $100 in stock, that plunged.
                     If you bought $100 in beer plus deposits, you enjoyed drinking it and the deposit refund value was still more than the stock value.
            2. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:09 pm

               Hey now! Who would you want to “have a beer with?” Obama is a direct lineal descendent of good old boy Billy.
               Hunter Biden has always struck me as an unintentional parody of Baldrick from the “Blackadder” television programme. “Hey Dad! I’ve got a cunning plan!”
            3. IMOR July 1, 2024 at 1:44 pm

               Not really, no.
         2. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 10:15 am

            Dynastic families on the bingo card. Center square. Dynasties are forever in vogue.
            1. flora July 1, 2024 at 3:10 pm

               Heh. / ;)
               1. Reply July 1, 2024 at 5:31 pm

                  Cover story at 11:00. ;p
      3. Pat July 1, 2024 at 10:10 am

         everytime I think I am finally at bottom something new occurs in the left is right/black is white world of modern Democrats. That anyone in the party of prudish snobs thinks that Hunter Biden has the chances of an ice cube in a heat dome of becoming President is beyond me. Unless they think Trump is blazing the trail just for Hunter. Porn stars – check, criminal convictions – check, lying non stop – check. Mind you Trump ran a supposedly successful business for years and has no record of multiple drug addictions, but why should that bar sweet baby Hunter from his rightful “inheritance”.

         Even as speculation this is mind blowing.
         Personally I think they just ran the numbers and realize that they win or they go to prison. Not just Hunter most, if not all, of the family could be traced to the influence gravy train. And I’m not sure that Biden pardoning himself and his family would hold up.
         1. Katniss Everdeen July 1, 2024 at 11:04 am

            A person could be forgiven for thinking that this passage was written tongue-in-cheek.

            Just ahead of the reddest, whitest, and bluest day of the american year, citizens should be “inspired” by the image of a non compos mentis “president” relying on the “counsel” of a debauched crack addict, who peddled influence internationally to fund his “lifestyle,” while his paterfamilias greased the skids from the white house cheap seats.

            Proud to be an american…
            1. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 12:30 pm

               …little pink houses for you and me…
               1. Henry Moon Pie July 1, 2024 at 3:33 pm

                  “Little boxes made of ticky tacky”

                  Malvina Reynolds
                  1. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 8:17 pm

                     Heh heh, that was good. Thanks. …they all come out the same…
         2. chris July 1, 2024 at 10:20 pm

            Dateline 2032: The Hunter Biden and Jenna Bush administration today proudly signed a bill making drug use in the US a mandatory requirement for public service.

            “For too long we real Americans have had to suffer the outrageous concerns of strange people who believe that restricting bodily autonomy and personal pleasure is a virtue. But no longer! From now on, people who engage in recreational and professional pharmacological pursuits will be running this country. God bless every user and God bless America!”
   3. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 8:48 am

      The country is counting on a meth-odd actor in this drama playing out, and based upon what I’ve seen with meth addicts, everything & everybody that is in their circle of family & friends is deeply affected in a bad way by their actions.
      1. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:13 pm

         Well, you must admit that Dear Hunter has the “Steele everything in sight” method figured out.
         “Reality? Just more Russian disinformation! Go back to shopping!”
   4. Nikkikat July 1, 2024 at 10:12 am

      Well, we have all been wondering who is running the country, surely not that ancient waxy looking dead man at the podium. Ahh! It’s Hunter he depends on for advise now that his beloved Beau, the one he used to depend on is dead from cancer. That all makes sense, forget about that Hillary election loser Jake Sullivan. Hunter, my crack smoking, hooker loving son, the one with the laptop full of Russian disinformation. Champion of our Democracy is my first choice. Why isn’t he running for President?
      1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 10:15 am

         While i’m not willing to give him the nod, he certainly gets the vice nod!

         Hillary/Hunter 2024!
         1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 10:26 am

            Look at the bright side. There is no possibility that Hunter could ever be blackmailed because of all the stuff that has been released into the public domain so could be the Vice Prez as he is so experienced at the job. And Jill can run as President as she already so much experience at the job. A mother-son combination? The media will lap it up.
   5. ebolapoxclassic July 1, 2024 at 4:49 pm

      I was also amazed by the complete lack of logic in Hunter’s (quoted) statements. (Perhaps his heavy use of crack cocaine has affected his capacity for logical reasoning.) For two reasons: One, why would continuing to parade your rapidly declining dementia patient father make people see the scrappy, in command, sharp person you know (what??) him as? In what world would it not achieve the opposite? And second, how can he possibly actually mean “the version of his father he knows“?

      Contrary to what the Biden team has been trying to put out there, no reasonable person of course accepts that Joe Biden is a doddering, confused, stumbling, mouth-agape zombie – for whom whatever stimulants they pumped him full with before the debate only function for a couple of minutes – only when he’s appearing at a press conference, at a G7 meeting, or a public debate, and then is completely lucid behind closed doors. It’s all well and good that Hunter perhaps has known and remembers such a version of of his father, but insisting that this person still exists is so delusional that it’s beyond words.
10. Acacia July 1, 2024 at 7:50 am

    Is the Zerba photo by generative AI? Something doesn’t parse.
    1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 7:55 am

       Nah! Check out the ears. The Zebra on the right is the one that you can see in full but the one on the left has it’s head hidden behind the other.
       1. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 8:51 am

          Zebra’s are op-art ready!
       2. GF July 1, 2024 at 6:37 pm

          Actually there are more than two zebras in the photo.
    2. Captain Obvious July 1, 2024 at 9:06 am

       It’s dazzle camo.
       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dazzle_camouflage
    3. Milton July 1, 2024 at 10:28 am

       That Composition has been done to death. I remember seeing a similar shot in a small photo book called Laughing Camera back in the 60s.
    4. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:16 pm

       It’s actually a political cartoon. It shows the “two political parties” of America. Two “bodies” with one “head.”
       Or, it could be an advert for ‘Gore Vidal Sassoon.’
11. Aurelien July 1, 2024 at 8:18 am

    French elections.
    As often, it’s useful to take a step back.
    The first thing to do is to stop talking of the RN as the “extreme Right”: eleven million people voted for the RN and its allies yesterday, and scarcely a handful of them sport Runic tattoos and parade around in paramilitary uniforms. The problem is not that the RN are at the “gates of power” (and you put them there, Macron, nobody forced you to call an election) as that they represent a complete rejection of the neoliberal Brussels-based politics of the large cities and the relatively wealthy which has dominated politics in recent years. Ironically, the RN’s programme—national preferences, control of immigration, wariness of Brussels, emphasis on jobs and security— would have seemed mainstream centre-right scarcely a generation ago. It’s also striking that many of the areas now dominated by the RN were previously strongholds of the Communists and Socialists.

    The raw percentages were much along the lines expected. There are theoretical outcomes for the second round that would give the RN an absolute majority, or more probably a majority with the few remaining deputies from the traditional Right. But I doubt if that would happen in practice.

    Neither the Macronists nor the FP now expect to have an overall majority. Each seems to hope to be the major partner in a coalition. Since at bottom they are all parties of the Establishment, they have rapidly joined forces to find a way of keeping the RN out of power by any means possible. The Macronists have quickly forgotten how “extreme” the FP was supposed to be (Oceania was never at war with Eurasia). As a result, the two have basically agreed to stand aside in constituencies where they came third, to give the other a clear run, to ensure the famous “barrier against the extreme Right.” Mélenchon said this first (he’s clearly hoping for a Ministerial job in a coalition) and the promise is unqualified. Attal, the Prime Minister, seemed to make the same unqualified commitment, but the Matignon rowed that back quickly to say that of course for Mélenchon’s LFI, support would be on a case-by-case basis: quite a few of the LFI candidates would simply be unacceptable to Macron’s supporters, who would say at home, and the RN would win.

    Theoretically, this arrangement could produce a FP-Macronist coalition, with either as the dominant party (though the FP seems better placed overall.) But there are too many uncertainties, jealousies and rivalries to make anything more than very wild guesses, and of course the electorate will not necessarily meekly follow the bidding of the political leadership: indeed, that’s one of the problems. By any standards we are in for a rough period: probably the roughest since 1968, possibly since the overthrow of the Fourth Republic a decade before. .
    1. Ignacio July 1, 2024 at 10:21 am

       That phrase: “the electorate will not necessarily meekly follow the bidding of the political leadership” IMO might turn important in the second round. For now, we see the fear mongering hasn’t worked this time.
    2. hk July 1, 2024 at 10:32 am

       The people with runic tattoos are defending “democracy” and “western values” in Ukraine, after all….
    3. ilsm July 1, 2024 at 10:54 am

       Is France better “run” than in 1939-40?
    4. ebolapoxclassic July 1, 2024 at 5:07 pm

       Leaving aside moral judgements (as you also seem to want to do in your post), how would you rate Le Pen’s potential as a “bait-in-swtich” candidate in relation to Meloni’s?

       In broad terms, the perception I have of them respectively is of Meloni as an intelligent, cunning, from the start completely malicious conwoman (and very possibly long-time CIA asset), while Le Pen’s recent turn-abouts in regard to the Ukraine war, China/Russia, the EU and NATO seem to be more like opportunism. She seems to be flexible with core principles (even booting her own father out of the party he founded), but also sincerely concerned about what sees as France’s interests. But I am unsure both whether this perception is correct, and also of the significance for the direction the RN might take in positions of power.

       (It’s probably also necessary to add other figures, such as Bardella, to the picture, and also organizational differences between RN and the Brothers of Italy. One difference is of course that the RN is a party with a long history, while the Brothers of Italy is a recent, somewhat artificial creation; another is that France, unlike Italy, is not an occupied state literally run from a foreign embassy, and seems to have retained a higher degree of poitical dynamism.)
    5. YassineA July 2, 2024 at 5:46 am

       Just today, RN had to withdraw one of its candidate from the second round because she took a photo of herself wearing a Nazi cap

       One of RN’s candidate has been sentenced because he shot at 5 black youths while putting up electoral posters after calling them “dirty n***ers”

       Another candidate (Gilles Bourdouleix) declared that “Hitler maybe did not kill enough roms”.
       Another candidate (Marie-Christine Sorin) declared “not all civilizations are equal, those that have no humanism and no respect for women, in the name of a religion, have just remained below bestiality in the chain of evolution”.
       Another candidate assured us that she is not racist because her ophtalmologist is jewish and her dentist is muslim.
       This is just a small sample of what RN candidates are about. But RN is not the extreme right ?

       What about RN voters ? Last week, the CNCDH released its annual report and the results are edifying.

       54% of RN voters consider themselves as racist.
       51% of RN voters consider that French muslims as “not like other French people”.
       31% of RN voters consider that the army running the country would be a good way to govern.
       Again, just a sample of questions. But RN is not the extreme right ?

       What about the political agenda ?
       RN wants to eliminate birthright citizenship, a right that exists since 1889 and that not even Pétain tried to remove.
       RN wants to discriminate between french citizens and foreigners living legally in France for the access to public services, dwellings and jobs, something that is against the french constitution.
       RN wants to institute a presumption of self-defence for law enforcement officers who use their weapons.
       RN wants to ban wearing the muslim headscarf in public spaces.
       Again, just a sample of measures. But RN is not the extreme right ?
12. Useless Eater July 1, 2024 at 8:20 am

    Does anyone know why Arthur C. Clarke chose to use a smooth, machined, sharp edged monolith in the first place? (I understand his original intention was a pyramidal one before they switched to a rectangle for the movie)
    1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 8:48 am

       Kubrick and Clarke storyboarded it together (you are supposed to read the book then watch the movie), but my guess is it’s a combination of factors crystal skulls, obsidian being cool, simplicity of design, and the glass skyscrapers being built.

       The rectangle is the movie screen before the movie starts. It’s meta.
       1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 8:55 am

          I looked around supposedly Kubrick designed the pyramid but people he showed his mock up to didn’t recognize it was four equilateral triangles, so he went in a different direction. Clarke didn’t change it for the book.
          1. Carolinian July 1, 2024 at 9:32 am

             There’s like a whole book about the making of 2001. It’s interesting stuff. Example: the heavy breathing sounds during the spacesuit sequences were provided by Kubrick himself.

             And he even took plot suggestions from the crew so the notion that it’s the work of individual inspiration doesn’t track.

             For Kubrick as always it was all about the images and brilliant they are. Arguably it’s the best scifi movie (as cinema) ever made.
       2. Mark Gisleson July 1, 2024 at 9:13 am

          Thanks. Somehow managed to be in Omaha when 2001 was released and saw it in cinerama. Afterwards fifteen-year-old me walked around the lobby explaining the movie to confused adults.
          1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 9:46 am

             My mom took me to see it in the summer of ’69 in the Big Apple, and I was only 7, so imagine how incredibly trippy it was for yours truly.

             My mom told me years later that she was the only woman in the packed movie theater matinee that day~
             1. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:27 pm

                My Dad, ever the technocrat, took me to see it when it first ran in an old fashioned large screen theatre on Miami Beach. Being in the early teens, I ‘groked’ it right away. (An old joke goes: “Q) What’s the Golden Age of science fiction? A) Thirteen.”)
                Afterwards, my Dad did not try to ‘explain’ the film to me. That’s when I knew that I had “arrived.”
    2. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 9:09 am

       Re: the new monolith

       Didn’t someone do this around 2010? Could this even be an AI pickup of an old story?
       1. Ben Panga July 1, 2024 at 9:22 am

          There have been a handful of these monoliths recently, in the USA and elsewhere. I dabble in UFO twitter and they were much discussed there. They don’t seem that intriguing to people, and the most common view is art/prank.
          1. Carolinian July 1, 2024 at 9:57 am

             The article I saw said that the first one had been there for years and was likely dismantled by offended environmentalists. The rest are copycats. And yes, art.
       2. t July 1, 2024 at 10:04 am

          When I Did a Thing did this thing several years ago, it was about how easy making a monolith is, and general tomfoolery.
    3. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:38 pm

       Fun fact: The dimensions of the Monolith are the squares of the first three integers: 1, 4, 9. The numbers represent a puzzle in mathematical form. The idea is that, since mathematics are universal, (at least in our pocket universe,) it will be the basic form of communication between sentient species.
       Kubrick reportedly wanted the Monolith to be a pyramid, but it evidently was not visually impressive enough. Kubrick was really all about visual storytelling. (He started out professionally as a still photographer when he was 17.)
       It is reported that Clarke and Kubrick did the storyboards for the film together. So, a collaborative effort.
    4. Jeff W July 1, 2024 at 5:08 pm

       It wasn’t Arthur C. Clarke who chose to use that monolith. Apparently, the London firm that was supposed to construct the Plexiglas pyramid recommended a flat slab design instead, due to construction constraints, and then production designer Anthony Masters suggested making the monolith black when the glassy appearance of the slab proved disappointing. (The specific page given as a reference from Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece is unavailable online but probably that book contains more detailed information.)
13. GlassHammer July 1, 2024 at 8:22 am

    On Boeing,

    I am not sure a company with a criminal conviction can be awarded (or retain) military contracts. Makes me think Boeing will take a settlement and stay out of a courtroom.
    1. WobblyTelomeres July 1, 2024 at 8:40 am

       Have you noticed how little money it takes to buy Congress? Bebe Rebozo must be spinning in his grave.
    2. JTMcPhee July 1, 2024 at 8:41 am

       When I got involved as a government attorney in contracting matters, I quickly learned that “grounds for debarment” can be futzed a lot of ways. I forget a lot of detail, it was forty years ago, but “indispensability” was one.

       And the debarment attached to one corporate person could be bypassed by just selling the actual business on to another corporate person. Gave a lot of lawyers the opportunity to discover the “hidden law” buried in enforcement policies and delegations manuals and memorandas of understanding.

       So maybe “the law” might still say a criminal conviction triggered debarment, a term of art in federal contracting law. But the corporatists will simply interpret it (“regulatory interpretive memoranda —RIMs, for all the acronymophiles out there, were and likely still are a thing) or, if the cognitive dissonance gets too loud and uncomfortable, the offending statutory language will disappear via a sub-sub-subsection of one omnibus bill or another. And then we can all shake our heads sorrowfully and ruefully, or smugly if one is a successful lobbyist, and intone “but that’s the law.”
       1. GlassHammer July 1, 2024 at 9:36 am

          Thanks for the information, had a feeling there were many devils in the details.
    3. ilsm July 1, 2024 at 11:01 am

       Citizens’ United!

       I doubt DoJ could make a case.

       Who signed off on the specs? In use who certified the crews/aircraft mix “safe”?

       The two disasters resulted in SW/HW fixes removing some human input, etc.

       The idea that a design choice, even one that causes fatalities can be a crime is unique.

       The operators should be co-defendants.

       Tort, maybe!
14. JTMcPhee July 1, 2024 at 8:22 am

    To the Demliberals fake-whining about the demise of Roe v. Wade and the declared end of deference to admin agency expertise: these Fokkers got what they in their secret hearts wanted. On their way to mystical union in the Uniparty, they played Washington Capitals to the Harlem (racist!) Globe Trotters. Filled the team with clumsy second-stringers and got on with the real game of corporate Powell Memorandum “ownership society.”

    Some of the vaguely New Deal holdovers warned in detail about what was happening, like Stephen Breyer, here: https://www.vox.com/22454648/justice-stephen-breyer-supreme-court-retirement-book-harvard-court-packing-voting-democracy. But gee, we Dems are too weak to fight the Rep minority when judges like Thomas and Scalia get nominated. Or to remove the self-imposed “rule” on filibuster.

    And it’s amazing how the SCt, a court of limited jurisdiction, and no enforcement power, gets to become the instrument of wealth transfer and corporate oppression.

    What if people just ignored the court and its “anti-democratic” pronunciamentos? It’s coming to that. It’s coming to a lot of really bad stuff that the carefully curated incompetence of the nominal democratic left is incubating.

    But of course I’m just preaching to the choir here. I figured out, a couple of years after law school, how the fix was in and how massively the reality of the legal process diverged from the majestic imago I was fed in Con Law and Federal Jurisdiction.

    “Bye bye, Miss American Pie…”
    1. Nordberg July 1, 2024 at 9:39 am

       Small point. It is the Washington Generals who are the victims of the Glode Trotter.
    2. Big River Bandido July 1, 2024 at 10:31 am

       we Dems are too weak to fight the Rep minority when judges like Thomas and Scalia get nominated.

       Who is “we”? And who pushed the Thomas nomination through the Senate anyway?
       1. John Wright July 1, 2024 at 12:44 pm

          But Biden then voted against confirmation.
          Having one’s cake and eating it too.
    3. hk July 1, 2024 at 10:46 am

       The thing to keep in mind is that Dems, back in 2001, were the ones that brought up openly politicizing confirmations of judges (using abortion rights as justification.). It was also the Dems who broke the taboo over filibuster (that it’s not “real.”). Now, one could say that they hemmed and hawed and didn’t do much…. But if you break the make-belief, you can’t maintain the ritual by making up stories. Of course the Republicans were going to use the excuses in full for their own advantages, once the gloves came off.
    4. ilsm July 1, 2024 at 11:06 am

       Dem/libs like to keep the vox populi out of the loop!

       “these fokkers….”

       Reminds me of the Norweigan fighter pilot early in WW II telling his RAF buddies about being shot down by “these fokkers….”

       “That fokker was a messerschmitt!”

       Deplorables have no say!

       Dem/lib fascism.
15. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 8:23 am

    YOLO COUNTY – Nearly 12,000 Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) customers across eight Northern California counties could be impacted by a potential Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) on Tuesday.

    Which counties could be impacted by the PSPS?
    PG&E says the PSPS could affect customers in Colusa, Glenn, Lake, Napa, Shasta, Solano, Tehama and Yolo counties.

    PG&E said nearly 12,000 customers across those eight counties may be affected by the shutoff. Most of those customers are in Shasta County, where PG&E said nearly 8,900 customers could be affected. About 1,900 customers in Tehama County and 500 in Colusa County could see their power go out.

    The shutout could impact 200 customers in Yolo County while fewer than 100 customers could be impacted in Lake, Napa and Solano counties. Customers can use the PG&E outage map to see where the outages may occur.

    “We have not actually had to do one on a large scale in a couple of years,” said PG&E spokesperson Jeff Smith.

    A PSPS generally affects certain areas of a county, not the entire county. But PG&E said due to the interconnectivity of the grid, any locations with PG&E territory may be subject to a PSPS event.

    https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/potential-psps-northern-california-tuesday/
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I got a bad feeling about the upcoming 10 day skein where temps will be 105 to 112 degrees in greater Godzone, with no letup in sight.

    This will be exacerbated by July 4th festivities and a Chinese plot (all fireworks seem to come from the Middle Kingdom) to provide bewarewithal for conflagrations. Every year on July 4th, fire ignitions caused by human beans spike, that ain’t no bueno.

    To turn off power means no a/c and that means you’d be relegated to the a/c in your car pretty much as a sole cooling device, and this is about one of the longest duration heat domes I can remember in Cali.
    1. ChrisFromGA July 1, 2024 at 9:15 am

       “YOLO” County – is that where all the cool Gen-Z kids go to do things like skydive, ride a motorcycle in a bikini, and buy up meme stocks?

       Y.O.L.O. = You Only Live Once
       1. Nikkikat July 1, 2024 at 10:29 am

          Chris from GA, you will have me laughing all day, over that one. YOLO man YOLO for all it’s worth! I’m gonna find my bikini and go for a ride Bro!
    2. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 9:27 am

       If we lost power long term, I would worry about the food in the fridge and freezer more than the air con. I suppose that you have a genny for that. We have had summers so hot here that sometimes I find myself thinking how a punkah would look in our living room-

       https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punkah
    3. neutrino23 July 1, 2024 at 7:32 pm

       Some of us are getting prepared. After suffering through a PG&E shutdown a few years ago we put in solar panels and a battery. If they shut off the power we are good. I’ve heard that this combination of solar panels and a battery is becoming more common. Last time I had to keep running to the store for dry ice. No longer.
       1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 7:46 pm

          I was just in Visalia, shopping for groceries & sundries to be positioned here in hades-adjacent when the big heat rolls in…

          I was surprised by how many fireworks stands I saw, maybe 8 or 9.

          It’s gonna be 112 degrees on July 4th there~
16. Alice X July 1, 2024 at 8:35 am

    I put this up yesterday but I think it is worth repeating (they have changed the title). Readers here will be acquainted with the territory and these two are quite articulate in describing the terrain. Both are Brits, Sarkar with Novara Media and Kennard with Declassified UK.

    On Intelligence Services, Corporate Media & Propaganda | Ash Sarkar meets Matt Kennard
    1. Ben Panga July 1, 2024 at 10:43 am

       I just watched all of that in one sitting. Kennard is really good. It really does cover how a lot works in British media/imperialism.

       Thanks!
17. Patrick Donnelly July 1, 2024 at 8:37 am

    https://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/american-military-bases-europe-heightened-state-alert-111564871
    1. Captain Obvious July 1, 2024 at 9:09 am

       https://abcnews.go.com/International/several-us-military-bases-europe-heightened-state-alert/story?id=111560635
    2. Ben Panga July 1, 2024 at 9:16 am

       “They” sure could use some distraction right now.
18. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 8:38 am

    “How the Zebra Got Its Stripes – and How Humans Stole the Trick”

    The author missed a great opportunity to mention how Zebra camouflage was also used with ships where it was known as Dazzle camouflage-

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

    Amazing photos.
    1. Carolinian July 1, 2024 at 9:35 am

       For those who want the digest version the stripes confuse biting insects. I need a shirt like that for the mosquitoes.
       1. t July 1, 2024 at 10:07 am

          The can still smell you.
19. JTMcPhee July 1, 2024 at 8:55 am

    On the topic of hidden administrative law, a business development piece from a Big Firm lawyer: https://adlaw.jotwell.com/uncovering-the-hidden-world-of-administrative-guidance/
20. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 9:13 am

    “A mysterious monolith appeared in rural Colorado. Do we really want to know where it came from?”

    Anybody else here thinking that all those wooden pallets scattered around that isolated hill top were used to transport that monolith there along with the bags of cement and tools needed to install it? But the whole thing is pretty harmless and generates an additional revenue stream for the locals so who am I to criticize?
    1. Useless Eater July 1, 2024 at 11:27 am

       The one behind the coffee shop is not so mysterious. The one way out in the middle of nowhere, far from any roads, that wasn’t found for 5 or 6 years, that one is a little more thought provoking. Not that I’m saying aliens, I’m just saying…. why? Which inspired my question above about why Clarke used the type of monolith he did (or a monolith at all, in any form or shape)
       1. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:48 pm

          See comment above. Clarke had a reason for the way the Monolith looks. Mathematical. Its dimensions are the squares of the first three integers: 1, 4, 9. It’s a puzzle for the monkeys to play with.
21. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 9:47 am

    ‘Dr David Berger, aBsuRdiSTe cROnickLeR
    @YouAreLobbyLud
    Can anyone think of some kind of mass sickness or disabling event that commenced around the beginning of 2020, and is still ongoing, which could have caused this? I’m stumped. 🤔’

    in the books that I have read to do with life in America, I note that volunteering seems to be a big part of social life there though I could be wrong. But assuming that it is, I wonder if all that mass sickness and disabling has not effected volunteering in America and maybe put a crimp on it.
    1. ilsm July 1, 2024 at 2:41 pm

       mRNA vaccine mandates from Spring 2021…..

       Require everyone be exposed repeatedly to dangerous covid 19 proteins whether the see the virus or not.

       Mandates end we still have people taking every “needed” vaccine.
    2. CanCyn July 1, 2024 at 2:58 pm

       I’m in Canada but here’s a local report on that….I just started to volunteer for a little organization that offers support and programs for seniors – Meals on Wheels, a food bank (for all, not just seniors) recreational and cultural classes, 9-5 adult day care for people who’s families need help. They kept the food bank and Meals on Wheels running but during that first year, all other programs were cancelled. Apparently both volunteer and client numbers are barely at pre-COVID numbers.
22. Expat2uruguay July 1, 2024 at 9:51 am

    Re: extreme cold in Antarctica The tech daily story is about record cold weather recorded during the late winter months of July and August of last year. Then it goes on to say this:

    “Interestingly, at the same time, record-breaking high temperatures were occurring in South America, which is relatively close to Antarctica.”
    In Chile, temperatures soared close to 40°C (104°F), while Rio de Janeiro broke a 117-year-old heat record.

    See the problem? Cold temperatures in Antarctica in the winter and hot temperatures in South America in the summer! These temperatures were not “occurring” at the “same time”. Maybe this article was written by AI that doesn’t understand when winter and summer are in the southern hemisphere, I don’t know.
    Anyway, here in Montevideo Uruguay the temperatures last summer we’re not exceptionally warm and so far this winter we had warmer temperatures in the first half of June, but things are quite cold now.
23. spud July 1, 2024 at 10:05 am

    remember, dim wit free trader bill clinton, sold off americas rare earths reserves. most likely to try to help pay for the enormous trade deficits the dim wit was racking up.

    http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/articles/2019/3/21/viewpoint-china-solidifies-dominance-in-rare-earth-processing

    ” This is an appalling story of a long-running U.S. economic and national security failure that has put the nation behind China on many next-generation weapon systems while stifling the economy.

    Most of these named materials are not stockpiled by the Defense Logistics Agency. The U.S. government sold off its entire strategic reserve of rare earths between 1994 and 1998. The agency’s strategic reserve now holds only small amounts of rare earth oxides and dysprosium metal. “
24. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 10:08 am

    “China’s dominance over critical minerals poses an unacceptable risk”

    The authors seem to be unhappy how so many critical minerals are located in China as if that was their nefarious plan all along. Maybe the west should demand that the Chinese exports their mines, aka big holes in the ground, to more friendly western countries instead. Maybe too some of or leaders should not be so keen to get confrontational with the Chinese lest they go all Soup Nazi and say. ‘No critical minerals for you!’
    1. CA July 1, 2024 at 11:53 am

       “China’s dominance over critical minerals poses an unacceptable risk”

       The problem with this racist repeated fear-mongering is that it indeed frightens people however irrational or absurd such pronouncements are.  Make no mistake though, this repeated fear-mongering about China is sheer racism.  The determined wish is to try to build enough support to undermine Chinese development.
       The wish is to immiserate 1.4 billion, and ruin a benign 5,000 year old civilization.
       1. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 12:51 pm

          Don’t forget the Globalist desire to reduce that 1.4 billion population to 100 million. (To save the planet of course.)
25. Tom Stone July 1, 2024 at 10:25 am

    It crossed my mind this morning that Merrick Garland is holding some nice cards, the two criminal referrals he’s been sitting on for a Month…nothing all that serious, just a little perjury on the part of Jim and Hunter Biden.
    I wonder how many sweet promises are being whispered in his ear?
    If the big boys really want Joe gone it’s one way to encourage him to spend more time with his Family that is not as extreme as adjusting his meds or a slip and fall.
    1. Big River Bandido July 1, 2024 at 11:09 am

       Everyone is proposing that *someone else* stand up and take the authority to tell the President to step down as nominee. No politician will take that assignment. We know enough about Biden to know how he treats people who “betray” him, and no one with anything to lose will dare challenge Biden for fear of alienating him if he sticks around.

       There’s not going to be an intervention. O’Bomber made his bed and can lie in it.
       1. Screwball July 1, 2024 at 12:09 pm

          There’s not going to be an intervention. O’Bomber made his bed and can lie in it.

          I agree, and I’m getting a kick out of it. St. O is all about St. O and his legacy, and this doesn’t look good on him for those of us paying attention. For a guy who so many worship, and I mean worship, he sure made a mess out of a lot of things.

          Add in the Clintons, and now the Biden’s, and these three families have really brought a lot of bad things to our politics and the American people.

          They should all go away – far away.
          1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 2:04 pm

             Going back to the reported “I’m good at killing people line” remark he made when putting together a list of his accomplishments to use for re-election, I think he knew his legacy would always be as a do-nothing. The only way out was to make sure the Dims that followed were in much worse shape.
26. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 10:33 am

    “Ultra-Orthodox protest against order to enlist in Israeli military turns violent in Jerusalem”

    This was always going to happen as many times in videos I have seen them turn violent over one thing or another. They do the same with Israeli cops and soldiers too and I saw on the news tonight they got into pushing contests with some cops. But Jesus H. Christ – do they have to bring their kids along? Not just teenage kids but younger than that? That is totally not cool that.
    1. Michael Fiorillo July 1, 2024 at 11:26 am

       You’re talking about inbred fanatical tribes here, who don’t even think of secular Jews as being Jewish; what most of us think of as “normal” doesn’t really apply.

       On the other hand, anything that speeds up Israel’s political and social fracturing is a good thing.
    2. mrsyk July 1, 2024 at 11:47 am

       Anyone know the yiddish term for Waffle House?
       1. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 12:08 pm

          Anyone know the yiddish term for Waffle House?

          White House?
       2. Lena July 1, 2024 at 12:18 pm

          The closest I can think of is “Latke Hoyz” which would translate to “Pancake House”. Not really a thing in Yiddish culture though.
       3. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 3:41 pm

          Knesset?
       4. cousinAdam July 1, 2024 at 5:36 pm

          I would submit “chazerai” – loosely translates to ‘junk food’. I first learned the word reading Philip Roth’s “Portnoy’s Complaint” as an adolescent in the late sixties.
27. ChrisFromGA July 1, 2024 at 10:41 am

    SCOTUS gives Trump immunity. Film at eleven!

    https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4728551-trump-presidential-immunity-supreme-court/

    PS – 119 pages of legalese. Obviously, a lot to digest and this makes for a winner of a week for Orangeman, for sure.
    1. ilsm July 1, 2024 at 11:09 am

       One cut at dem/lib fascism!

       So much more needed!
       1. ChrisFromGA July 1, 2024 at 11:15 am

          Blistering dissents from the 3 liberals. I appreciate their concern for “democracy” but where were they when Amy Coney-Barrett was unleashing her legal trickwitchery on the First Amendment? (Murthy v. Missouri case.)

          Everyone cares about democracy until the ruling would go against their internal biases and pet needs. Oh, we must stop those barbarians from posting about Ivermectin!
          1. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 11:50 am

             For the most part, the three have been there. The problem is this is a checks and balances situation. The power to appoint Justices is part of the check. Its not a seat filling excercise. (Not to mention the absurdity of Marbury v Madison) Every Democrat should be demanding Biden stack the Court and denouncing Thomas day in and day out. They won’t do this. After all, the Court just legalized bribery.

             As awful as Biden is, never mind the dementia, he has no campaign planks other than “finish the job” which I assume is a reference to future beach front property in Israel, he needs to act like he give a damn.
             1. flora July 1, 2024 at 3:29 pm

                Forgetting who chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee which passed Thomas’s nomination to the SC to the full Senate? / ;)
                1. flora July 1, 2024 at 3:35 pm

                   Here’s a reminder. / ;)
                   https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2020/01/Biden-Clarence-GettyImages-50431571.jpg
    2. Belle July 1, 2024 at 11:45 am

       So presidents are above the law.
       Three days before the Fourth of July.
       1. Pat July 1, 2024 at 12:19 pm

          Presidents have largely been above the law for most of my lifetime. They have assassinated people. They have lied to get us into war, hell our current President is guilty of manslaughter as far as I am concerned for pushing the vaccines are all you need bull.

          So it has now been codified because one group of the Supremes weren’t having it selectively removed.
          1. lyman alpha blob July 1, 2024 at 1:02 pm

             A trip down memory lane.
          2. Duke of Prunes July 1, 2024 at 6:48 pm

             Funny, this is exactly how I described it to my 20-something son.
    3. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 2:05 pm

       Happy Dominionist Day, eh?
       1. ambrit July 1, 2024 at 3:43 pm

          A lighter, gentler whip hand.
          “Crawl you little worm! Worship your Dom!”
28. britzklieg July 1, 2024 at 11:09 am

    Ladies and gentlemen, the 47th President of the United States:

    Thank God it’s not Biden
    Heaven help us that it’s Trump
29. Pat July 1, 2024 at 11:10 am

    View from Hollywood of debate fallout:
    Deadline on what Biden has to do to keep Hollywood donors

    Not surprisingly very little, most are meh enough to want something but won’t go anywhere. Still some are stronger on it. Mind you some of the numbers don’t make sense in context, so I’m wondering if this was all or partly AI written. Or just with someone who doesn’t understand that larger means more.
    1. Carolinian July 1, 2024 at 11:21 am

       An article this morning said that over the weekend Biden had a Hampton’s fundraiser where people like Sarah Jessica Parker showed up because they had already bought their $250k tickets. It said the atmosphere was not a happy one.

       But I guess he’ll always have Jimmy Kimmel.

       Other thought: these show biz celebrities may be way too rich.

       In other news the Supremes gives Trump immunity for “official” acts. No DC trial before the election.
       1. Michael Fiorillo July 1, 2024 at 11:35 am

          Ah, Jimmy Kimmel, the man born with a smirk on his face. Yep, that’ll cure the illin’ for the D’s.

          Only the #McResistance could continue to support someone so nasty (remember his eagerness to see Red State/MAGA folks die during Covid?) and unfunny, while remaining so certain of its moral and intellectual/cultural superiority.
    2. NotTimothyGeithner July 1, 2024 at 11:37 am

       Team Blue really just is the part of Hollywood producers, isn’t it?
    3. ChrisPacific July 1, 2024 at 9:15 pm

       People mentioned that Reagan had a similar bad time in his first debate against Mondale before he rallied in the second and it was airbrushed away, so I went back and watched it out of curiosity. He did seem a little disjointed at times and would pause or break off frequently, but he generally came out with a coherent position afterward.

       My main takeaway was how far things have declined in 40 years. Either Reagan or Mondale would have wiped the floor with either of today’s candidates as a debater.
30. Carla July 1, 2024 at 11:31 am

    Well, I sure found the ACLU position triggering, myself:

    From NLRB Edge: ACLU Boss Compares Subordinate’s Criticism of Him to Lynching of Emmett Till

    https://www.nlrbedge.com/p/aclu-boss-compares-subordinates-criticism
31. sarmaT July 1, 2024 at 12:08 pm

    If anyone wants to see how ATACMS guidance looks like, here’s a sneak peek:
    https://x.com/simpatico771/status/1807686220983435280
32. lyman alpha blob July 1, 2024 at 12:12 pm

    Oh no. From CNN via yahoo, news of how bad is it for women under the Taliban in Afghanistan – https://www.yahoo.com/news/ago-she-drank-battery-acid-170816367.html

    You know whenever they start talking about how we need to “help the women”, someone wants to get their war on. Perhaps whoever has their hand up GenocideJoe’s rear end figures with all the other wars going on, nobody will notice.

    At this point, I am quite skeptical that the girl described in this article even exists given how many times they have just made s**t up to get their wars started. CNN once again is only too happy to help catapult the propaganda.
    1. wol July 1, 2024 at 1:07 pm

       Debate? LOOK! A SQUIRREL!

       Rallying the 4% white PMC women troops. Pitiful.
    2. Daniil Adamov July 1, 2024 at 1:38 pm

       I think it may as well be true. If they wanted to whip up war fervour with a fiction, they wouldn’t make up a suicide attempt by someone who isn’t even in Afghanistan now. They’d make up someone who was directly forced to drink acid by the Taliban. This seems more like using whatever they could find out that’s already out there.
33. Pat July 1, 2024 at 12:15 pm

    Call me wild and crazy, besides seriously invoking the 25th Amendment, which will never happen, Congress should be passing a law where the President has to go through a comprehensive annual physical conducted by a team of physicians (never the same group twice) that includes mental health exams. And the results must be made public. Falsifying the results either as a physician or staffer would result in a minimum 2 year prison sentence.
    I know that will never happen either, but it should.

    But then I’m also a proponent of a mandatory maximum age of 70 for everyone serving in the top levels of government (President, Congress, Cabinet, major agencies and all federal judgeships.)
34. lyman alpha blob July 1, 2024 at 12:22 pm

    RE: 72% of voters say Biden not mentally fit to serve as president

    A 2nd poll found that 28% of respondents are not mentally fit to serve as voters.
35. Wukchumni July 1, 2024 at 12:23 pm

    We all witnessed Joe B
    My countrymen and me
    Around Atlanta town he did roam
    Debating all night
    Got into a fight
    Well, its time we broke up
    I want him to go home

    So hoist up Joe B’s cold
    See how the memory holing sets
    Call for a new captain ashore
    Let him go home
    Let him go home
    I want him to go home, yeah, yeah
    Well, its time we broke up
    I want him to go home

    The first son, he got a gun
    Despite not being allowed to have one
    The law had to come and put him away
    Why don’t you leave me alone? Yeah, yeah
    Well, I feel so broke up
    I want him to go home

    So hoist up Joe B’s rail (hoist up Joe B’s rail)
    See how the main rail sets (see how the main rail sets)
    Call for a new captain aboard, let him go home
    Let him go home
    I wanna see him go home, let him go home
    Why don’t you let him go home? (Hoist up Joe B’s rail)
    Hoist up Joe B (hoist up Joe B’s)
    I feel so broke up, I want to see him go home
    Let him go home

    The poor crook, he caught the fits
    And threw away all his good bits
    And then he took, and he ate up all of our scorn
    Let him go home
    Why don’t they let him go home?
    This is the worst power trip I’ve ever been on

    Hoist up Joe B’s rail (hoist up Joe B’s rail)
    See how the main rail sets (see how the main rail sets)
    Call for a new captain aboard, let him go home
    Let him go home
    I wanna see him go home
    Let him go home
36. AG July 1, 2024 at 1:30 pm

    re: climate protest

    Just cause Yves had mentioned climate protests and its different forms some time ago which actually is an important topic at least as protests are concerned:

    As I wrote then the blockading of streets as one way to address the issue directly has backfired in Germany mostly. Now one of the founders of the NGO was fined 6000 Euros by a Berlin court.

    See BERLINER ZEITUNG (I think the same paper where Michael Hudson has his spot, which should be much more prominent considering our serious, serious troubles):

    “Carla Hinrichs: Co-founder of the Last Generation must pay 6000 euros
    Blocked streets or paint attacks – the climate protest group Last Generation is attracting attention with its actions and even criminal proceedings. Spokeswoman Carla Hinrichs has now received another fine.”

    https://archive.is/wZF5N
37. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 6:17 pm

    “Science of protests: Global tally tripled since 2006, non-violent forms more effective, study reveals
    India’s farmer protest with 250 million participants the largest between 2006 and 2020”
    https://www.downtoearth.org.in/governance/science-of-protests-global-tally-tripled-since-2006-non-violent-forms-more-effective-study-reveals#:~:text=Science%20of%20protests,2006%20and%202020
38. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 7:02 pm

    “SEOUL, June 26 (Yonhap) — The high proportion of immigrant workers in the death toll from the recent deadly fire at a battery plant has laid bare the significant workplace safety hazards they face, at a time when South Korea hosts its largest-ever foreign workforce”
    https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240626007500315#:~:text=SEOUL%2C%20June%2026%20(Yonhap)%20%2D%2D%20The%20high%20proportion%20of%20immigrant%20workers%20in%20the%20death%20toll%20from%20the%20recent%20deadly%20fire%20at%20a%20battery%20plant%20has%20laid%20bare%20the%20significant%20workplace%20safety%20hazards%20they%20face%2C%20at%20a%20time%20when%20South%20Korea%20hosts%20its%20largest%2Dever%20foreign%20workforce
39. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 7:03 pm

    “Fortress Hungary has a surprising answer to its population crisis: Migration
    Quietly and without much fanfare, Viktor Orbán’s government is allowing more and more guest workers into the country.

    By CARLO MARTUSCELLI”
    https://www.politico.eu/article/fortress-hungary-surprising-answer-population-crisis-migration/#:~:text=Fortress%20Hungary%20has,By%20CARLO%20MARTUSCELLI
40. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 7:12 pm

    “, June 26 (Yonhap) — Top industry officials of South Korea, the United States and Japan expressed concerns Wednesday over the “weaponization” of economic dependencies on certain supply sources for strategic goods as they held their first trilateral meeting on economic security in Washington.”
    https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20240627000653315#:~:text=%2C%20June%2026%20(Yonhap)%20%2D%2D%20Top%20industry%20officials%20of%20South%20Korea%2C%20the%20United%20States%20and%20Japan%20expressed%20concerns%20Wednesday%20over%20the%20%22weaponization%22%20of%20economic%20dependencies%20on%20certain%20supply%20sources%20for%20strategic%20goods%20as%20they%20held%20their%20first%20trilateral%20meeting%20on%20economic%20security%20in%20Washington.
    1. The Rev Kev July 1, 2024 at 7:18 pm

       Seriously? These are the same countries trying to wreck Chinese technical development by the “weaponization” of economic dependencies on certain manufactured goods for strategic goods such as microchips.
41. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 7:18 pm

    “The Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported that “900 officers of captain and major ranks have requested discharge from the military this year,” compared to “100 to 120 officers in previous years.””
    https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/israeli-media-report-alarming-increase-in-soldiers-seeking-d#:~:text=The%20Israeli%20broadcaster%20Channel%2012%20reported%20that%20%22900%20officers%20of%20captain%20and%20major%20ranks%20have%20requested%20discharge%20from%20the%20military%20this%20year%2C%22%20compared%20to%20%22100%20to%20120%20officers%20in%20previous%20years.%22
42. Vander Resende July 1, 2024 at 7:24 pm

    “Three Israeli Army Reservists Explain Why They Refuse to Continue Serving in Gaza
    Yuval was required to torch two residential buildings; Michael realized how many civilians were likely to be killed during every bombing he observed; and Tal broke down when Israel entered Rafah. They are willing to suffer the price for their refusal to serve in Gaza”
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-06-27/ty-article-magazine/.premium/three-israeli-army-reservists-explain-why-they-refuse-to-continue-serving-in-gaza/00000190-5014-d3c0-a5d4-737644c90000#:~:text=Three%20Israeli%20Army,serve%20in%20Gaza
43. Willow July 1, 2024 at 10:50 pm

    > Biden

    Democrats have following choices:
    1) Let Biden run for president again and end up with Trump as president,
    2) Convince Biden to withdraw and pick someone else with a chance of betting Trump,
    3) Go nuclear and get him certified as unfit, but a) leaves Harris as presumptive nominee – who will neither beat Trump nor pull in the big donors for the benefit of other Dems competing for Congress, AND b) opens up a whole heap of legal issues about validity of Biden’s executive orders under diminished capacity.

    Democrats are screwed.
44. Balan ARoxdale July 2, 2024 at 6:26 am

    From civilian ‘bubbles’ to Arab coalitions, Israel said weighing Gaza post-war schemes The Times of Israel. Commentary:

    They’re talking about splitting up Gaza into mini-concentration camps.

    This WSJ article is discussing concentration camps. pic.twitter.com/1CPtUzSaV1

    — Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) June 29, 2024

    Unworkable. The IDF will simply bomb the camps.

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