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Temple or museum? How Diego Rivera designed a place to honor Mexico’s pre-Hispanic art Associated Press (Robin K)
Australia Plans Age Limit To Ban Children From Social Media Agence France-Presse
#COVID-19
Doctors in New York just got a comprehensive email about Long COVID from the Dept. of Health. pic.twitter.com/NLnwSvlU6V
— L., MA (@leslieleeiii) September 11, 2024
The US unceremoniously surpassed 1,200,000 confirmed covid deaths in August pic.twitter.com/QRVEh709j8
— wsbgnl (@wsbgnl) September 10, 2024
The Disney TikTok influencer who unfortunately died at 7 am and 75 degrees F/ 23.9 C, after running a half-marathon?
He probably didn't know heat intolerance is common in post Covid. pic.twitter.com/DaWqj4KkGh
— Lazarus Long (@LazarusLong13) September 10, 2024
Climate/Environment
Antarctic Sea Ice on Cusp of Record Winter Low For Second Year Running Guardian
Methane – one of the most potent greenhouse gases is rising faster than ever Washington Post (Dr. Kevin)
Germany’s ongoing €4.5 billion carbon offset fraud: “It is possible that we are dealing with a case of serious environmental crime here” REDD-Monitor (Micael T)
A robot begins removal of melted fuel from the Fukushima nuclear plant. It could take a century Associated Press
Google Signs $10 Million Carbon Capture Deal, At $100 Per Ton of CO2 Data Center Dynamics
US Gulf Coast residents flee, oil production shut as Francine intensifies Reuters (Kevin W)
China?
Beijing slams US House for hawkish ‘China week’ Asia Times (Kevin W)
No winners from US’ ‘small yard, high fence’ approach to China: economist South China Morning Post (guurst)
China’s Deflationary Spiral Is Now Entering Dangerous New Stage Bloomberg (ma)
When a Steel Deal Isn’t Tempered for D.C. Doug Casey (Micael T)
US maintains military grip over ‘sovereign’ Pacific island states Responsible Statescraft (Kevin W)
Myanmar
After Rakhine, the Deluge: Myanmar’s Junta Facing Existential Threat on Western Front The Irrawaddy
Manipur escalation draws attention to Myanmar Indian Punchline
South of the Border
Mexican Legislature Passes Judicial Overhaul That Has Rattled Investors Wall Street Journal. An update on a story Nick has been following.
European Disunion
The silent coup: the European Commission’s power grab Thomas Fazi
Old Blighty
Millions of pensioners will lose winter fuel cash after Commons vote BBC (Kevin W)
Labour MPs voted for geronticide Richard Murphy
Gaza
Dispatch from Jenin: Resistance Swells After Israel’s Brutal Invasion DropSite
Details from the incident of a UN convoy stopped by Israeli forces yesterday are shocking, notably the ramming of the car by a bulldozer with staff inside!
“The convoy was carrying 12 UN staff members on their way to support the polio vaccination campaign in northern Gaza. Its…
— Biesan Abu-Kwaik بيسان أبو كويك (@BiesanAK) September 10, 2024
US president calls Israeli killing of Turkish American activist in West Bank an ‘accident’ Anadolu Agency. You cannot make this shit up.
The ‘frog’ is simmering: Iran’s strategic patience pressures Israel The Cradle
Arab League FMs urge enforcement of UN court decision on occupied Palestinian territory Arab News
New Not-So-Cold War
The insane recklessness of Collective Biden* Gilbert Doctorow (guurst)
Biden administration split over Ukraine’s use of US weapons inside Russia Financial Times
As the Money Dries Up, Lawmakers Eye Even More Aid for Ukraine American Conservative (Kevin W)
Ukraine targets Moscow in biggest drone attack yet Reuters (Robin K)
More Ukrainians want talks with Russia – WSJ RT
Russia and China develop military-technical cooperation – ISW Ukrainska Pravda
The US and Britain accuse Iran of sending Russia missiles to use against Ukraine Associated Press (Kevin W)
Language inspectors to start working in Frankivsk UNN (Robin K). Anti-ethnic-Russian re-education.
Kamala
Harris missed ‘big opportunity’ by not picking Shapiro as running mate: Nate Silver The Hill
Walmart Heiress to Co-Host Harris Fundraiser in Jackson Hole Bloomberg (ma)
Taylor Swift Endorses Kamala Harris In Response To Fake AI Trump Endorsement The Verge
Trump
Takeaways from AP’s report on JD Vance and the Catholic postliberals in his circle of influence Associated Press (Robin K)
2024
US elections 2024: Jill Stein leads with Muslim-American voters in three swing states, survey shows Middle East Eye
Lambert will have MUCH more in Water Cooler but here are the biggie MSM takes. I see surprisingly little in the way of reactions on Twitter:
Harris Dominates as Trump Gets Defensive: 6 Takeaways From the Debate New York Times
Harris Baits Trump in Fiery Presidential Debate Wall Street Journal
Harris crisply attacks Trump, prompting retorts with fiery rhetoric Washington Post
Who won the debate? Harris’ forceful performance rattles a defensive Trump USA Today
And a few from abroad:
Harris Nailed the Debate by Goading Trump Into Shambling, Defensive Diatribes Haaretz
First Presidential Debate Between Trump and Harris in Philadelphia Ends teleSUR
Who ‘won’ the Trump-Harris presidential debate? What observers say Aljazeera
Trump vs Harris is just a front America’s political parties no longer exist Unherd (guurst)
Our No Longer Free Press
Elon Musk May Be Summoned to UK Parliament for Questioning on X Activities – Reports Sputnik
Antitrust
Google’s 2.4 Billion Euro Fine Upheld By Europe’s Top Court in EU Antitrust Probe CNBC
Senate Leaders Ask FTC To Investigate AI Content Summaries As Anti-Competitive Techcrunch
Two Delta planes collide on an Atlanta taxiway, knocking the tail off one Associated Press (Kevin W)
The Bezzle
Private Equity Fights Insurance for $15 Trillion Retirement Prize Bloomberg (ma)
Guillotine Watch
Eric Schmidt: How Oligarchs Speak (when they think no one is listening) YouTube (Micael T)
Lawyers for Caroline Ellison, Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex, want zero prison time for her Business Insider
Class Warfare
Has Communism Happened Yet? Ian Welsh
A Personal Meditation on Growing Old Rebecca Gordon, TomDispatch
Google’s AI Will Help Decide Whether Unemployed Workers Get Benefits Gizmodo
Antidote du jour (Chet G):
And a bonus (Robin K):
Living the best life.. 😊 pic.twitter.com/9Ph25x4UWC
— Buitengebieden (@buitengebieden) September 9, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
192 comments
Comments are closed.
“Elon Musk May Be Summoned to UK Parliament for Questioning on X Activities – Reports”
Admiral Ackbar says that it is a trap! Don’t do it Elon. After you land you will have the British anti-terrorist squad board your private plane to arrest you the same way they did with Pavel Durov in Paris. And there will be no use protesting that you are due to talk to Parliament as they won’t care and Parliament won’t protest either.
Elon wears his war chest like a crown
He calls his satellites Starlink
‘Cause he likes the name
And he sends them to the finest orbits above town
Elon, Elon likes his money
He makes a lot, they say
Spends his days counting
In a Tesla by the motorway
He was born in Pretoria came here via Canada, eh
When the New York Times said, ‘Elon is dead to us
And the war’s begun’
Oh, the old school media is a son of a gun today
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
And he shall be Elon
In tradition with the rocket plan
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
He shall be Elon
Elon sells Space-X in DC town
His family business thrives
They blow up occasionally
As he sits on the porch swing watching them fly
And Jesus H Christ on a cracker, he wants to go to Mars
Leave the Earth far behind
Take a rocket and go sailing
While Elon, Elon slowly dies
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
And he shall be Elon
In tradition with the departure plan (whooo!)
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
He shall be Elon
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
And he shall be Elon
In tradition with the departure plan (whooo!)
And he shall be Elon
And he shall be a good man
He shall be Elon
Levon, by Elton John
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEgEmTgAEUk
Good one!
immediately thought the same thing – although………
Instead, Elon should invite the British Parliament to his private residence, explaining his concern its a trap and The West is not agreement capable nor can it be trusted. If Parliament falls for his trap, Elon instructs his security folk to arrest them.
or offer to appear via zoom like it or lump it, screw them. -a.v.
Going to borrow from a different film, and for certain Elon Musk is not anything like the real William Wallace, or Mel Gibson’s fictional version…scene from Braveheart where he goes to meet with Robert the Bruce and gets smacked around, clubbed and hooded. “Off to London with ye lad!”
Freedom! And yes he should really question any legal need or requirement to appear.
Musk is one of the few people who’s even more politically loathsome than Starmer, so I’m not sure why you’re so concerned. My “favorite” episode was when Musk responded positively to a comment from an anti-semite promoting the Judeo-Bolshevism conspiracy, then, not long thereafter, Musk decided to help in the fight against “anti-semitism” online – by cooperating in the removal of pro-Palestinian comments.
Musk is one of the few people who’s even more politically loathsome than Starmer Come now. Surely a roll call on Capitol Hill will induce hundreds of equally loathsome political actors to slither out from beneath their rocks.
Gooooooood Moooooooooorning Fiatnam!
‘You go to battle with the rhetoric you have-not the rhetoric you want!’
Was what the platoon heard when shots were fired…
Sometimes reminding me of being 16 again and if that oh so hawt cheerleader dissed you in a ‘everybody dislikes you!’ fashion, the sentence could be 4 years to life, the taunts ton macoute in action.
The stakes in theory were higher than high school level levelings, but you go with the late stage empire you have-not the one you want.
It might be instructive to go back and re-watch the 2008 VP debate between Sarah Palin and Joe, or even further back to the Clinton/Perot/GW Bush debates in the early 90’s. As a way marker for how far we’ve declined.
That version of Joe seems positively Lincolnian in his oratory skills compared with the two bozos we witnessed last night. And Palin, while folksy and not as polished, still managed to make coherent points.
https://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/02/debate.transcript/
Warning: sudden bouts of realization of how badly we have declined may result in shock, similar to a meth addict who hasn’t been near a mirror in a while may be shocked to see their teeth have rotted out.
Seek out professional mental health if you find yourself in despair, or pet a warm, cuddly emotional support animal.
Judging from the lack of talk about using a driver-Kamala is no hacker, so we missed out on another golf skirmish.
We’ve fallen a long way since those days and weeks after 9/11. Watching the opening of the stawks markets on CNBC this morning…lot of remembrances. I’m sure that on today there are quite a few adults who were at the time mere toddlers, will be having it rough on this annual reminder of a father or a mother not returning home.
I moved the wayback machine on my own volition, but yes it is remarkable where we have landed. Post 2001 or post 2009…the absolutely rich have only grown richer still. I’ll take a few walks today of short distances…the weather this week so far in my part of South Carolina can best be described as early autumn at its finest.
One of my favorite Ellioticians is warning of a 13-year bear market, culminating in SP 1000 around 2040 or thereabouts.
There goes my retirement. On the bright side, I can look forward to seeing Jim Cramer eating out of a garbage can, or maybe eating his cat.
His cat doesn’t deserve that. Considering the ridiculous and expensive garbage mandates from Adams and the city council NYC has a rat problem (it has since I got here decades ago, but…), let him eat rat. If he can catch one. Even if there is a meta form of cannibalism doing it.
‘Vermincelli’
“Pest-o Pizza”
Or the combo plate, Rat-cat-touille.
In the days of wooden warships in the Royal Navee (it really is something other than else!) rats were regularly eaten as “millers“.
Make Animals Taste Great Again!
Rat burger and nice cold Cerveza! Compliments to the chef on the grill, of the lower city streets and the former Los Angeles, underneath the more modern civilization of San Angeles…Demolition Man. Be well!
For the record on the above scenario….more likely the next 10 to 15 years looks much like the previous years post GFC. My two cents, the Jackpot will be in full swing. S&P 500 index of companies may dwindle down to just a handful of industries in the interim, down from the 12 or 15 reflected today I wish to recall.
I remember a cartoon featuring two cell mates in a prison cell.
One is holding up a small bone and says to the cell mate.
“A good rat, not a great rat”.
So it appears instead of a national steel policy, all we have is the usual corruption. Our policy has been, unbeknownst to me! One of de-industrialization. See doily’s mind-altering comment here:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/08/why-people-stay-after-local-economies-collapse-%e2%88%92-a-story-of-home-among-the-ghosts-of-shuttered-steel-mills.html#comment-4094029
One could argue that Nippon is returning the favor, but gods forbid we appear to act cooperatively.
Steel policy, steal policy, there’s no difference at this point.
It would be interesting to take a look at how the current efforts to “re-industrialize” are working out:
Here’s the policy:
CHIPS and Science Act https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CHIPS_and_Science_Act
Here’s the number one benficiary:
Intel’s Dow status under threat as struggling chipmaker’s shares plunge https://www.reuters.com/technology/intels-dow-status-under-threat-struggling-chipmakers-shares-plunge-2024-09-03/
Ruh roh, looks like Intel’s not in the billionaire happy place right now despite the CHIPS Act. Maybe if they were more explicit about ensuring everybody knew that CHIPS means “Creating Helpful Incentives to Provide Stock buybacks” rather than, you know, actually making things, the stock would do better. But, it looks like the CHIPS Act may actually want to make things and so has been not handing out the big bucks fast enough to satisfy Wall St.
I cannot help but look at the current efforts to re-industrialize America and compare these to Obamacare: throw hundreds of billions of Federal funding into the current American heathcare insurance industry bonfire, make some changes on the margins, and tell the American public it’s all fixed now. There’s been no real attempt to undo those incentives that de-industrialized America.
“Language inspectors to start working in Frankivsk”
‘A public initiative of language inspectors will be introduced in Ivano-Frankivsk to counteract the spread of the Russian language’
They certainly have their work cut out for them. Last I heard, the Russian language has been spreading from the east and may soon envelop Pokrovsk while a brief foray of the Ukrainian language in the direction of Kursk is now being reversed and may not even stop at Kiev. These language inspectors were also heard to moan that a large section of the Ukrainian army is also speaking Russian. It’s. Not. Fair.
Rev, you’re on such a roll today!
Google’s 2.4 Billion Euro Fine Upheld By Europe’s Top Court in EU Antitrust Probe CNBC
A tip fine for Google business which was estimated to be about €177 billion in 2023 according to the incumbents only in 2023. EU PR wanting to be seen as “antitrust” when they in reality permit and give allowances for whatever mono-oligopoly activity in their economic area.
I guess that if Google ever pays that fine (they will almost certainly fight with allegations) they will be happy with that amount as long as they keep their monopoly. Knowing nothing about the US cases against Google my intuition is that these look more serious and go to the root of the problem.
Isn’t there a legal theory asserting that the punishment for a crime must be costlier for criminals than the advantage they derived from violating the law? I just cannot remember the specifics of who formulated that theory (and when), formalizing what had been an intuitive principle.
Notice that this approach has wide-ranging consequences, one of them being that incarceration conditions have to be worse than outside jail when imprisonment is a sanction for vagrancy, for instance.
To my knowledge the typical approach administrations take is: go first for a fine not severely punitive and if the incumbent persists make it increasingly punitive. Given how things work in these processes this might take decades. A different one is needed here IMO.
So, not the cost of doing business? That is not fair for the regular criminals…
US, China,small yard, high fences
” A prominent Chinese economist on Thursday bombarded Washington’s “small yard, high fence” investment restrictions, saying the strategy would only lead to a lose-lose situation as it makes China suffer, but does not benefit the United States.”
It seems as if he hasn’t understood the Tonya Harding strategy of the US oligarchy.
The US production capabilities are less than impressive and who knows how long it would take to rebuild it, if they even wanted, therefore they must knee-cap all others.
Here’s a neat 20 minutes between Danny Haiphong abd Zhang Weiwei, the latter described as “distinguished professor of Intl. Relations and head of the China Institute at Fudan University” also “senior interpreter for Deng Xioping” so a voice with experience at the top. He’s an eloquent advocate for China, stressing in particular the Sun Tzu approach as opposed to the west’s shock and awe assault on the world. A worthy listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_C3AEfo1F4
Thank you. Weiwei was seminal for interpreting an American mindstate for China, now reverses that as an advocate. But I don’t think America is the audience he’s talking to. His details on Palestinian reconciliation, then talking individual phenomena v fundamental cause, and then the repetition of ‘alternatives’, make a ladder of imagery that seems more equatorial.
‘they must knee-cap all others’
That’s not a new idea either. Back in the late 90s the US decided to make sure that no other nation would ever arise that could challenge American supremacy for the 21st century. They were on top and they wanted to make sure that they stayed that way. The wars in the Middle East were an attempt to bring oil production under US control so that they could throttle the other nations of the world. That idea is badly fraying now with China being seen as the main challenger so it looks like Washington wants to bet the bank that they can put China back in their box.
The powers that be never really understood the success of other empires. Either there was a worse option (the UK had the French and we had the Soviets) or they spread the citizenship ala Augustus.
Without the positive benefit, empires won’t hold.
The Chinese seem to want a strong Russian Federation, too small to have ventures that aren’t clear interests but too big to become a vassal. Counties can interact with China as partners because they can walk away from Beijing without cutting themselves off from the Dragon via Moscow or in the future Brazilia. The Chinese allies aren’t throwing people against the wall.
Xi wouldn’t say the bullet ricocheted off of grimace’s head accidentally killing one of China’s citizens.
We are getting really good at the Chinese Ire Drill though…
A very timely movie to watch now would be The Sand Pebbles, with Steve McQueen. Set a century ago on an American gunboat on a Chinese river, it turns out nothing gets done without their help once they jump ship.
Who knew that a strategy of mostly staying home and developing your infrastructure, investing in education, research & development plus eliminating poverty would ever pay off? I don’t think that the IMF recommends any of that stuff.
“Who knew that a strategy of mostly staying home and developing your infrastructure, investing in education, research & development plus eliminating poverty would ever pay off?”
The Nature.com Index * of high-quality science research publishing for the latest 12 months is just out. The Index shows 4 of the top 5 publishing institutions are Chinese, 7 of the top 10 institutions are Chinese, and 11 of the top 15.
Harvard is at number 2. German institutions are at numbers 6 and 12. A French institution is number 10.
* https://www.nature.com/nature-index/institution-outputs/generate/all/global/all
“Back in the late 90s the US decided to make sure that no other nation would ever arise that could challenge…”
The solution to the problematic question might as well have been allowing for and encouraging broad-spread development rather than trying to limit the development of any other large nation. There was no inherent reason Russia and China could not have been partners. That China was methodically turned away from the Obama administration on was a severe mistake.
We were also run by “free traders” who varied from pathologically insane to simple charlatans.
“Hey, its okay we are destroying our industrial base because we will export legal advice.”
The foreign policy types were more interested in grabbing everything not nailed down. The neocons seemed like “intellectuals” in comparison. Rationally, the RF and China would gradually erode DC’s dominance, hence less to steal as either enforcement would be necessitated or simple competition.
Turning away China was more recognition that the US had effed up hard and TPP and other efforts were designed to hold on to the empire. Obama was offering up all kinds of goodies to keep people from dealing with China which ultimately killed the deal because he made it completely unpalatable to captured trade unions.
>Temple or museum? How Diego Rivera designed a place to honor Mexico’s pre-Hispanic art Associated Press (Robin K)
“Diego was quite controversial,” Moya said. “On the one hand, he had a huge interest in rescuing our pre-Hispanic heritage, but he also adhered to socialism in an unwavering way.”
I think her wife, Frida Kahlo, and her affair with Trotsky, is probably even more “controversial.” I think Diego may have even known about the sexual liaison between the two and approved, but I might be wrong on the latter.
https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-frida-kahlos-love-affair-communist-revolutionary-impacted-art
He cheated on her constantly, including while they made their famous trip to New York. It was a very tumultuous amour fou.
I highly recommend visiting both her house and Anahuacalli if you are ever in Mexico City, one of the most beautiful and interesting places in the world, the home of 3 incredible cultures. Spend at least a week and be sure to eat as much as you can!
>US president calls Israeli killing of Turkish American activist in West Bank an ‘accident’ -Anadolu Agency.
“Apparently it was an accident — it ricocheted off the ground, and she got hit by accident. I’m working that out now,” Biden told reporters Tuesday.
Actually, they can and do make this “shit up” every single day. I forgot who coined “Empire of Lies,” was it Sergey Lavrov? I did not watch the Trump/Kamala debate, but from the Tweets I read this morning, the false allegations of rape continue to be spewed out without push back, there are some people who still believe that Speaker Johnson’s claim of Hamas baking babies in the oven is true and that the latter beheaded 40 babies.
It’s shit being made up and served as the main course on American’s news diet every single day.
That ‘Empire of Lies’ quote was originally from Putin in one of his speeches and I gotta say, he’s not wrong-
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/L-qy5V6O4cI
in Ron Paul’s book “The Revolution: A Manifesto” which was published 2008 he wrote –
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.”
i do believe he referring to the US empire –
Paul was quoting George Orwell. I just found a tee shirt with that quote. I will wear that one.
I was just telling my wife that I’d like to wear a tee-shirt that read, I promise not to think.
Back in the day they used to twist and spin reality–since 911 these factotums for oligarchs (the Federal government) have created an almost automatic tendency to just make sh*t up. At first they weren’t sure it would work as perfectly as it has turned out to vote. “The people” are in the process of losing whatever democracy there is on the Federal level not because politicians are “bad” but because citizens don’t care enough about their country to think beyond tribal/identity prejudices. The debate last night was painful to me because both idiots on stage were debating largely imaginary issues based on imaginary information so I had to leave the room after I saw how it was going to go.
Harris was getting coached with audio earrings. Those long pauses when she tipped her head and said nothing, then jumped in with a strong retort.
Look at the video of her bling, then this:
https://www.tomsguide.com/news/i-used-these-new-smart-earrings-to-listen-to-music-they-totally-surprised-me
Regarding the debate, I was also depressing watching it. The truth didn’t seem to matter much to either candidate and the moderators seemed equally disengaged from reality. One of the main differences between Trump and the Democratic opposition seems to be that Trump has more respect for other countries and civilizations, whereas the Dems just take it as given that we are democracies and good, while they are dictatorships and bad. That’s why I’ll be voting for Trump as his position on foreign affairs is more realistic and realism is necessary to avoid catastrophe.
There are lame duck presidents. But a wholesale pimped out president, delivering press releases for foreign state lobbies defending their assassinations of US citizens is a new low of humiliation for the American state. The US government is in thrall to Israel.
>The insane recklessness of Collective Biden* Gilbert Doctorow (guurst)
Collective Biden is the term which Russian talk show hosts have applied to the US leadership given that the presidency assumed a collective form when the physical Joe Biden slipped into deep senility this past couple of years.
Most of the article by Doctorow is familiar if you have been watching/listening to him on the various Ytube podcast that he appears on. What I found fascinating is the term “Collective Biden.” I first heard the term “Collective West” on the Duran. Are these the same people that Lambert refers to in his use of the term “inner circle?” or that Bob Dylan sings about in “Masters of War.” I can only hope that this “Collective Biden” dies soon, I just fear it will be replaced by “Collective Trump.”
And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I’ll follow your casket
By the pale afternoon
And I’ll watch while you’re lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I’ll stand over your grave
‘Til I’m sure that you’re dead
[Dylan: Masters of War]
Every thing Doctorow says is plausible and the probability of needless world war increased by US actions!
The West seems have turned into a new ISIS with nukes. Everything it plans is terrorism and/or bullying or both.
What happens when they press Putin just that once too often? It truly is a form of insanity.
Problem is the west is becoming less and less competitive in trade, and with armaments shown to be not just pricey but second rate, the decline is accelerating. Even intellectual patents/copyright licensing might not be secure long term, payments depend on payers paying.
Rev Kev and CA comments above show that Chinese long term strategies are paying off far better than us short term view that this political moment or this Q bottom line is all that should be considered. Imo the rate of us decline vs row in all areas, not least militarily, is accelerating.
I wonder if the israel conflict might some day be compared with Britain’s suez moment.
Hmm, up to a point, Lord Copper. Trickier for Israel to retreat from East of Suez! :-)
Putin first used the term “Collective West” a LONG time ago, IIRC shortly after the US/EU sanctions were imposed.
Yet i believe Doctorow falls to easily in the CW or BC narrative of military escalation with little analysis. He basically says:
CW gives JASSM and allows deep strikes Russia –> WWIII –> Nuclear armaggedon
As if this logic is a given. But he has no clues as to how many of these JASSM missiles will be given, if they will really be launched deep into Russia and to what effect. Even if such missiles are launched deep into Russia it is very difficult to know what will be the Russian reply. Though this is a real red line settled by the Russians one cannot expect such attacks will produce any damage comparable to what Russia has inflicted and is inflicting in Ukraine so this won’t put Russian victory in jeopardy. The Pentagon has already said something in the same direction. It won’t be that useful by military logic. This is the next PR stunt run by the CW. I don’t see Russia retaliating with missiles directed to the US or UK –> WWIII. The Russians know better, have proven to be able to think about the long term (unlike the CW) and they will probably not react immediately in this way but will probably give themselves carte blanche for future operations, for instance, involving Russian missiles anywhere they deem useful and by whoever partners want to do it as proxies. He is right to say that inner Biden circle is reckless but he fails to identify them as the idiots they are. Risks there are indeed. Imagine for instance that one of these missiles manages to hit for instance Putin’s residence and kill him. Then, the escalation might turn unstoppable.
It appears that the US strategy has been to goad Russia into a war so that the US can do ‘shock and awe’ against them. The US goads by crossing every red line Russia mentions.
Coup in Ukraine. Mistreat Russians in Ukraine. Lie that Ukraine is going to join NATO. Move NATO troops into Ukraine. Military attacks on Russians in the East of Ukraine. Send Ukraine more and more weapons with escalating ranges and capabilities to attack Russia. Send drones to bomb Russian civilians in Russia. Invade the south of Russia……………
The US has escalated the weapons range and capabilities for over 2 years. They won’t supply Abrams. Then they will supply Abrams. They won’t supply long range weapons. Then they will supply long range weapons. Testing the red lines, testing the red lines, testing for weaknesses, testing for gaps in the defences …….
Dead Ukrainians and Europeans do not concern them at all. Every European is an object to be used in the service of the US, to be replaced if damaged or destroyed, an inconvenience at worst.
While ever Russia still exists as a separate nation, the US will keep crossing the red lines, one by one, ever upward, ever riskier.
I hope Putin takes every precaution, because at some time in the not too distant future the US will try and kill him if that is the next red line to be crossed in their list of escalations.
The US is not going to stop until Russia is destroyed as a nation. The US ‘elites’ know their country is immortal, protected by god and weapons and location. US history reinforces their untouchability.
So that makes them very dangerous and very unhinged. One could say a cult.
Doctorow is an excellent commentator and always worth reading. I’ve read several of his books and he distills his considerable Russian experience into a number of valuable insights. But…
I think he is so focused on the no-BS Russia approach that he forgets that the US considers PR victories to be all important. American supremacy is a given in the minds of Blinken, Sullivan, Vicki the Hut, and all the other Straussian neocons who have their mudhooks on the levers of power at the moment. And therefore they don’t need a real military victory. They need the appearance of victory. This isn’t entirely new in American geopolitics either, with the phrase “declare victory and go home” being around since at least Vietnam.
The question remains what sort of PR event the Embittered Ukrainian Grandchildren are planning as their last hurrah, in case they are somehow ousted with the end of the Biden era. And for that event one can only hope.
“Vicki the Hut”, I like it! Must remember that.
Is it Doctorow who forgets that or the Russians?
I remember “Collective Putin” in Russian blogs from ages ago. I suppose he never went away. It is a somewhat useful term: after all, neither Biden nor Putin, nor any other political leader, would be able to do much without advisors and aides. No one man can honestly hope to rule a country all by himself, and since some sort of inner circle is practically necessary, its influence over policy becomes impossible to shake off. Senility only aggravates this basic problem. All leaders are necessarily collective leaders.
Re: Google and carbon capture
The fine print:
«The $100 price was also made possible thanks to the US government’s 45Q tax credit, which provides DAC suppliers $180 per ton of carbon removed.»
“Harris Dominates as Trump Gets Defensive: 6 Takeaways From the Debate”
Well according to old Joe Biden, Kamala won hands down. He said-
‘America got to see tonight the leader I’ve been proud to work alongside for three and a half years. It wasn’t even close. VP Harris proved she’s the best choice to lead our nation forward. We’re not going back’
But then again, old Joe also believed the Israelis when they told him that they did not shoot that Turkish-American girl but that she was hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the ground so it was all an accident. Old Joe believes lots of stuff that isn’t true – or says he does.
as an immigrant, all I can say is American pets are tasty!
I would respond to that, but I’m busy with my couch.
Migrant Shock Horror!
I actually thought the NY Times assessment was pretty accurate as far as it went. Harris baited Trump and Trump took the bait. It was interesting, though, that the article singled out her opening where she mentioned the child tax credit and small business tax break as one of her weaker “nervous” moments. When she opened with that I remarked to my wife that “at least she mentioned some actual, specific policy measures, however meaningless.” But that was the last time, as far as I can tell. The rest seemed to be platitudes and “style” (I had to leave the room after 10 minutes in complete disgust. I relied on the NC discussion, my wife, and post-game commentary to get the picture).
Watching the post-debate talking heads on different networks was hilarious. On CNN Van Jones was having an actual joygasm. Everyone but Fox pretty much had Kamala elected President already. On Fox, Hannity and Little Marco were like sputtering old men yelling at kids to get off of their lawn; they were spinning like crazy about all the stuff Kamala *didn’t* say – i.e. all the stuff Trump didn’t push her on enough because he was too busy screeching about the “millions” of mongol invaders raping our women and eating our dogs.
Trump showed himself to be the blustering joke he has always been. But that’s why in my mind he is not as dangerous as Kamala – the smiling face of a dying empire, celebrated by the Van Joneses and Taylor Swifts for her “values” while we continue to destroy the world. What a country.
You witnessed the only economic policy positions offered the entire debate, I skipped the closing, I couldn’t watch any more. And Trump is going to give us the biggest tax cuts, ever.
And that’s basically it. Not even Biden’s $600 is on offer. And Harris’ economic policy, a sentence or two, is useless to anyone that doesn’t have kids or is starting a small business*.
* I bet some serious complex eligibility requirements exist for this if you want it.
For friggin sure. Exhaustive means testing via an infinite loop platform no doubt.
Trump has Arthur Laffer aka Laffer Curve as an economic advisor, hence it will be supply side economics all the way down. I also hear Trump is using some imaginary golden period of greatness that existed over a 100 years ago as his economic agenda/policy.
Someone should inform him things have changed ….
I agree with pjay.
To my war-focused way of thinking these days, the only bright spot was when Trump refused, twice, to say he wanted Ukraine to win. He instead said he wanted a settlement. Harris didn’t word salad at all, she was on script, as was obvious when she eventually regurgitated scenes from the New Cold War, Putin sitting in Kyiv, looking to further conquests.
My only two take aways:
– Harris is a full-on warmonger that thinks Russia has designs on Poland and possibly western Europe
– Trump is adamant that immigrants pouring in through our borders unchecked are eating people’s pets
This country is truly proper f**ked.
Pets are just an appetizer. :-)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11827581/Nebraska-community-uproar-two-illegal-Honduran-migrants-kill-American-bald-eagle.html
Two illegal Honduran migrants are arrested after shooting down a bald eagle that they planned to cook and EAT in Nebraska – as sheriff reveals the local community is in ‘uproar’
Don’t tell me they wanted to use Old Glory as a place mat for their repast, too?
No. They were going to use it as a starter since they were too lazy to go to Walmart to steal a can of charcoal lighter.
Old joke:
DEFENDANT: Your honour, I never meant to kill and eat that bald eagle. But when that mighty bird swooped on my toasted-cheese sandwich I flung a stone to protect my property, and I regret to say that stone struck the eagle on his poor little head and – well . . . So thereafter, I felt that the best I could do, rather than simply cast away our national symbol, was to internalize it and make it my own. So I plucked it and put it on the barbecue and I was eating it as the rangers arrived.
JUDGE: Please approach the bench. (Leans far over, whispers.) So what did it taste like?
DEFENDANT: A little hard to describe, your honour. Sort of, half-way-between spotted owl and California Condor . . .
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/10/business/volkswagen-labor-layoffs-germany.html
September 10, 2024
Volkswagen Quits Labor Agreement, Paving Way for Job Cuts
A week after the automaker announced it was considering closing factories in Germany, the company said it was exiting a labor contract that protected workers from layoffs.
By Melissa Eddy
Volkswagen told union leaders on Tuesday that it was ending a labor agreement that protected workers from layoffs, a week after the automaker said it was considering closing factories in Germany amid slumping sales and rising costs.
The company warned last week that it needed to restructure its namesake brand to remain competitive in the face of falling demand in Europe and abroad and increased competition from China. The cost-saving measures could include closing one or two assembly plants in Germany, a step that would be a first in the auto manufacturer’s 87-year history.
On Tuesday, Volkswagen said in a statement that the decision to quit the agreement that offered job security to some 120,000 workers, along with several other labor deals, was necessary to ensure the company’s future.
“We must put Volkswagen in a position to reduce costs in Germany to a competitive level in order to invest in new technologies and new products from our own resources,” Gunnar Kilian, the head of human resources and labor at Volkswagen, said in the statement.
The job-security agreement between Volkswagen and the union, IG Metall, which represents workers in the automotive and other heavy industries, has existed since 1994. It had provided protection from layoffs through 2029, but the company would be able to severe it with three months’ notice…
This is the wave of the future for Europe. My guess is that most of the sleeping public will be surprised to wake up one morning, maybe in ten years, to find themselves in the USA.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/09/business/europe-economy-competitiveness.html
September 9, 2024
Europe’s ‘Reason for Being’ at Risk as Competitiveness Wanes, Report Warns
The European Union, facing a shrinking share of the global economy, needs to increase its spending by nearly $900 billion a year, according to a long-awaited report from Mario Draghi.
By Jenny Gross and Patricia Cohen
Europe must increase public investment by nearly $900 billion a year in sectors like technology and defense, according to a long-awaited report published Monday in response to growing anxieties about the continent’s economy lagging behind that of the United States and China.
The challenge for the European Union is “existential,” Mario Draghi, a former president of the European Central Bank, said on Monday in Brussels. If Europe cannot effectively compete and, in turn, provide its people with security and prosperity, he said, “it will have lost its reason for being.” …
I read that Germany is going to reinstate border checks with all its neighbors. Temporarily, of course…
Bye bye Schengen?
My take away from the (3-on-1) debate: KH talked about expanding allies (NATO) and defending Europe. T talked about ending needless wars. So, more war (hello, Dick Cheney), or less war. Decisions, decisions. / ;)
My takeaway on the debate. Both candidates are useful only to the elites and the rich. They will both fail the common good. We need bread, not stones. My big takeaway? We need a Soviet-style revolution in the country. Will that ever happen? Will that ever be possible? The last choice is either socialism, or extinction.
Should vote for Harris, then. You “will become Venezuela on steroids”, according to Trump.
My prediction, made thirty years ago, is that we will either go to a totalitarian system where media (entertainment and “news”), “security”, industry, social media, finance, will all be part of the government as they are beginning to be now–that is the Democratic Party’s agenda. The other direction is a form of neo-feudalism with Dukes and Duchesses ruling over their domains and only loosely allied to the central authorities. They’ll have their own armies and policies within their realms. I see this as a more robust system and may be represented as the ultimate Republican agenda. Democracy is, from a systems point of view, impossible given current cultural trends.
But will a privatized totalitarianism be comeptantly managed?
It used to be that empires collapsed when a new empire conquered them. The vandals invaded Rome after centuries of decline. In Britain’s case they were able to hitch their wagon to us, thereby managing a genteel decline (that accelerated under thatcher and subsequent Neo lib leaders.)
The oceans still protect us from invasions, but not from competition. Imo prices will continue rising, especially when newer fracking fields overtake the ongoing decline of our older fields. I thought our ag exports would always be there, but maybe we’re becoming non competitive even there.
Beyond that… Houthis are, I assume, being watched with great interest by those that were in the past bullied by the us to allow our corps get away with murder. Imo Cheap drones and missiles have ended gunboat diplomacy. The us has turned to financial bullying, we will see if BRICS manage to deal with that.
Granted, rising prices enrich our oligarchs, so at least one group benefits. S
Imo we will be lucky if our decline is genteel.
Would democracy still be possible in Free Towns and Free Cities and City-State Republics in this scenario, if those Free Towns/Cities/City-State Republics were able to field defense-offense
forces equal in power to those of the surrounding Dukedoms and Duchessdoms?
Also, if DC FedRegime power delaminates and attenuates to the point where local “semi-sovereign” power-center loads of people could assert, take and hold local power, would the Indian Tribes and Nations begin reclaiming some of their once-upon-a-time Sovereignty and Power over large zones? Especially if numbers of “colonial-settler” Americans decide that the Indians had a better system and society after all, and could have it again; and these “colonial-settler” Americans decide they want to defect to the Indians?
Depends who controls the military bases in the US and what happens with all the personnel and arm kit overseas (gets repatriated and where or establishes little fiefdoms overseas).
an aside:
“Would democracy still be possible in Free Towns and Free Cities and City-State Republics in this scenario, if those Free Towns/Cities/City-State Republics were able to field defense-offense
forces equal in power to those of the surrounding Dukedoms and Duchessdoms?”
This is roughly what happened during the earliest rise in manufacturing – wool cloth in this case early Italian manufacturing in the 1400s – during the slow transition from feudalism to capitalism. The towns that housed merchants and manufacturers were regularly beset by the surrounding countryside nobilities’ raiders to rob and tear down a local growing financial power, small though it was in comparison. The towns set up night watches and volunteer town defense forces.
I vote my pocketbook. Things were better 4 years ago than they are now, at least for me. Gas was cheaper, eggs and groceries were cheaper, rents were lower, the cost of living was lower, real wages were higher. Maybe not starting new wars is good for Main Street and the middle class economy. Remembering those in the lower income groups are hit hardest by inflation. The PMC class barely feels affected, imo.
And our Dem political cousins, the UK left liberal Labour party, has voted to cut heating assistance to poor elderly Brits. They don’t care about the working and middle classes, either, imo. “If the poor be like to die let them do it and decrease the surplus population.” – Ebeneezer Scrooge.
Donkey Show campaign slogan then: Four More Wars!
Donkey Show campaign slogan now: For More Wars!
Back then the US govt wasn’t pouring billions of dollars down the rat hole called the Ukr war. A war the City of London and US Sen. Graham apparently like very much.
You can be pretty sure that a healthy segment of the hundreds of billions of dollars that went to the Ukraine ended up in places like London, New York and Brussels. It’s not a war. It’s a business.
Business or organized crime?
Is there a substantial difference?
ask Smedley Butler
Thanks to you and others for watching so I didn’t have to.
If I lived in a swing I’d hold my nose and vote T, but I don’t and have the luxury oh voting stein.
Imo trump became the lesser evil by promising to end ukr war, and hopefully less likely to start a stupider one with China. Plus, he seems more likely to continue anti trust wrt tech, Biden’s one bright spot.
Trump’s idea of peace is to let Putin conquer Eastern Europe as long as he can be dictator in the US. Trump doesn’t give a rat’s patoot about anyone but himself.
Putin ate my hamster!
>Trump vs Harris is just a front America’s political parties no longer exist Unherd
Last year, 43% described themselves as independents…These independents do not share common values or views. They include libertarians who combine free-market economics with support for drug legalisation and populists who are Left-wing on economic policy but conservative on social issues.
What they have in common, however, is the sense that they’ve been betrayed by the American political system — a system that hides the reality of oligarchic domination behind the façade of old-fashioned representative democracy.
No, it’s not hidden, not even to the blind. It’s in your face and in your ear. We accept the spectacle. No live audience, mics turned off, scripted lies, a simulacra of a debate. It’s not only that political parties no longer exist, the American citizen does not exist. You have the manufacturing of consent on a population of mass consumers, and the “Collective” Biden/Trump, politician de jur will continue pursuing the interest/policy of the oligarchs.
Amen corner here brother or sister. This is the reality and it not only won’t change it can’t change given current cultural conditions. We’ve “jumped the shark” and there is no going back so we must all face this fact. The thugs have take complete control of our society and want to do the same to the rest of the world–why not?
I agree. It’s my belief that many who are in power are wearing black hats. They represent evil. We’re F*cked lads.
> A Personal Meditation on Growing Old Rebecca Gordon, TomDispatch
>> …one of my favorite Spanish words. In that language, you can say, “I’m retired” (“retirada”), and it literally means “pulled back” from life. But in Spanish, I can also joyfully call myself “jubilada,” a usage that (like “sabbatical”) also draws on a practice found in the Hebrew scriptures, the tradition of the jubilee, the sabbath of sabbaths, the time of emancipation of the enslaved, of debt relief, and the return of the land to those who work it.
We should credit the author for understanding nuance:
>> Rebecca Gordon, a TomDispatch regular, taught for many years in the philosophy department at the University of San Francisco.
Online Etymology Dictionary: Jubilee:
>> late 14c., in the Old Testament sense, from Old French jubileu “jubilee; anniversary; rejoicing” (14c., Modern French jubilé), from Late Latin iubilaeus “the jubilee year,” originally an adjective, “of the jubilee,” from Greek iabelaios, from iobelos, from Hebrew yobhel “jubilee,” formerly “a trumpet, ram’s horn,” literally “ram.” The original jubilee was a year of emancipation of slaves and restoration of lands, to be celebrated every 50th year (Levit. xxv:9); it was proclaimed by the sounding of a ram’s horn on the Day of Atonement.
>> The form of the word was altered in Latin by association with unrelated Latin iubilare “to shout with joy” (for which see jubilant), and the confusion of senses has continued in the Romanic languages and English. The general sense of “season of rejoicing” is first recorded mid-15c. in English, however through early 20c. the word kept its specific association with 50th anniversaries.
The author succumbs to ‘the confusion of senses’ when she writes *joyfully call myself “jubilada,”*. The word, Joy, has been given a specific political meaning by the Harris campaign teratogenically reflushing Obama’s Hope campaign with “I’m with Her” stapled to its forehead. The intent seems to be to a Meditation with a resultant praxis, in distinction to her partner’s *“but now I can be retired.”*
But that praxis looks more like Eva Braun dancing in the bunkers while the city is demolished above. Does Gordon actually think Harris will bring *debt relief*? That is delusional. The Archdruid noted:
> Every mature philosophical tradition gets to this realization eventually. The normal and healthy response is to shift gears from “What can we know about the universe?” to “How should we live in a universe we can’t really know?”
I can understand a regular unthinker in a mirrored silo ignoring the evidence of their senses, but a wizard should know better. Why tf do I have to point to f’ing Eric Schmidt when he says ‘The country is going to have to learn critical thinking’ as a counterargument? Like a rave next to a concentration camp.
> Philosophy of the people aeon
When I came back for the fuller ration
The aeon article had been added
And since I had given such bitter tooth
To philosophy and its discontents
It was a balm to my jagged edges
To take the arena of discourse
From bloated, lumbering, hierarchical
To the passion and living commitment
Of the realm of those who seek to know.
Thanks, and thanks again.
Adding my thanks, as well.
For a reminder of a time before Americans in great numbers began to see themselves not just as consumers but as consumer products, to be packaged and put on the market in a quest for largely illusory profit and prestige.
I would add to this description of the “serious” philosophers the name of Swedenborg, whosr writings werr also widely read and discussed at the time.
Perhaps these pursuits reflected an intellectual counterpart to the frontier mentality, where everything seemed open and unbounded.
>Melania Trump demands ‘truth’ about shooting of husband
Melania said in a video posted on X on Tuesday. “Now, the silence around it feels heavy. I can’t help but wonder…There is definitely more to this story, and we need to uncover the truth”
Hey mister American spectator, “you can’t handle the truth!” Amazing how this story has lost all interest for most. You’ll get more chatter online over 1963 assassination of JFK. There are some Independent journalist out there that are pointing out all kinds of inconsistencies with official narrative. But if the MSM doesn’t report it, it’s like the Bishop Berkley’s proverbial tree in the forest that doesn’t make a sound if there is no one to hear it.
https://www.rt.com/news/603799-melania-trump-shooting-truth/
I think she has a coat that answers that question.
If she wants the truth then just tell Trump to release it. Tell his doctors to release their reports. No one is suppressing anything but The Donald.
“No one is suppressing anything but The Donald.”
That is the point in question; merely asserting it doesn’t help us know more.
‘Biesan Abu-Kwaik بيسان أبو كويك
@BiesanAK
Details from the incident of a UN convoy stopped by Israeli forces yesterday are shocking, notably the ramming of the car by a bulldozer with staff inside!’
Not the first time the Israelis have stopped a UN convey this week or even the second time or even the third. They have stopped five UN convoys this week in fact and continue to display their courage and bravery when faced with an unarmed group. It is their nature-
https://www.palestinechronicle.com/fifth-time-in-a-week-israel-denies-entry-of-un-convoy-for-polio-campaign/
It must have been an accident. The dozer dude was trying for reverse, but the shift lever ricocheted…..
Yes, the IOF vehicles collided with each other in their haste to clear passage for the UN team and then ricocheted into the UN vehicle. Total accident.
Ricocheted off the ground?
Gravity doesn’t work for certain places, don’t you know. Chosen ones…
How many UN buildings/schools/ambulances have been purposely targeted by IDF? I’ve lost count. And speaking of count, I read a recent article that estimates deaths in Gaza could exceed 500K, the Lancet a while back estimated ~200K.
“It is in their nature…” I’m reminded of Aesop’s fable of the scorpion and the frog, and I think everyone knows the U.S. is the frog…
There’s no D-9’ing it…
Is it their cultural nature? Their genetic nature? Their long-ingrained political-habit nature?
Which one might it be? And if so, is there something that could be done about it, supposing somebody wanted to do that something about it?
Read the Old Testament mate. Nobody arround them treated the people of Israel the way they behaved towards the others. Only when in “slavery”, a layer of meekness gets applied, but it vanishes fast after the sun of “liberty” shines on their faces.
Look, the beginning of the modern state of Israel started with ethnic cleansing and mass killing of civilians… and lies…
The silent coup: the European Commission’s power grab Thomas Fazi
He is right about the EC grabbing more and more power with time. He describes the situation and concludes:
The problem is that the European Council, where the real power resides, while having a majority of neolib globalists on it, doesn’t want to do this and they are indeed doing their best to avoid any party non compliant with their globalist neoliberal agenda to grab power in any country or at least the 5 most populated countries. The solution comes first at country level because at EU level I don’t see any viable mechanism.
Back in 2020 Perry Anderson devoted 20,000 words outlining the “European Coup” at London Review of Books. He did a great job discussing both the development of the EU’s gradual administrative strangling of what remains of democracy in the EU nation states, and how it was punctuated by bursts of audacious rule-breaking to tighten their grip. The EU’s successful muscling of national leaders seems pretty resonant with US domineering, mutually reinforcing.
If there was any political will, i believe that through the EU-JC, and with time lots of processes denouncing the EC for going well beyond its competences as established by the treaties might be successful. Imagine if you manage to invalidate hundreds of EU regulations and directives. The problem there is who would do that.
“to make the EC less powerful and more accountable.”
For crying out loud, the organization’s entire purpose is so there is no accountability to “the demos” (as he describes the people of Europe). The power comes from not having to be accountable or face consequences.
I do not remember where I read it, but the EU was designed so that it could decide policies without having to deal with politics, leaving individual countries to play all the politics they want but without the power to decide policies.
I have read that now for every legislative project they create a “trilogue” with a representative of the Commission, the Europarliament and the Council each bringing the position of each institution (if that is possible to have a consensus in the 2nd and the 3rd) and they negotiate in petit comité the final text and avoid the cumbersome procedures established by the treaties. It is getting more democratic with the day!
Every Parliament does that I believe. They form committees which present a report to the wider body, this forms the negotiation position and then, yes, in practice, they have some negotiating leeway to close. This is not unique to the European Parliament.
And then the countries can blame the EU, even if they voted in favor of the proposal they bash.
Between 1977 and 2011, economic growth in the EU and US was almost the same. Since 2011, the US has had the advantage but only a moderate advantage. The US advantage since 2011 goes away with decent economic policy in Italy and looking to China as a model for investing in green energy or simply keeping energy investment from Russia.
The work by Mario Draghi strikes me as unimpressive as evidently was the Draghi policy as Prime Minister of Italy.
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1tDus
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for European Union and United States, 1977-2023
(Indexed to 1977)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1pROn
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, 2000-2023
(Indexed to 2000)
Vance and post liberal Catholics…..
Catholics were associated with Franco, during the Spanish Civil War thousand of Catholics were murdered by opposition liberals!
Are we back (Al Smith) to someone having to remind the rest of the US that dissing Catholics is defending a state religion not associated with Catholics?
Pope Francis was not mentioned. As far as I read!
Murdered by opposition “liberals”? I had thought they were murdered by opposition Anarchists and Trotskyists. Was I wrong about that?
I should have never ordered that cat-chew chicken with dog fried rice, but that was before I learned of goings on in an eatery near you.
Evergreen memories about culinary habits of Newcomers, random chapter.
A co-worker told about hearing a noise outside his window. When he looked out, he saw a Cambodian* guy delicately picking the leaves of his nasturtiums. He learned that those are tasty forage. Also mentioned, stray cats in the neighborhood were going missing.
*from the Carter era boat people
…an early instance of the Meow Too movement?
p.s.
At one time Ralston-Purina owned Jack-In-The-Box, and I always wondered what the mystery meat was in those oh so delicious 2 for 99¢ tacos?
In my home town a Chinese restaurant was busted when cat carcasses where found in their garage cans. And the Kentucky Fried chicken outlet served rat. The last one might have been an urban myth. Savory
Cheshire Cacciatore?
My girlfriend spoke of a Vietnamese restaurant in her hometown that got busted when cases of empty cat food tins were found. Meow-stery meat.
Nasturtium leaves are really very nice. And if you pickle their seeds they are decent substitutes for capers.
polymarket gives HARRIS lead
I’m going out on a limb, but not a very thin one. The link to the Bloomberg article on PE and insurance is a prelude to a massive financial crisis. It is only a question of when it will happen. If regulators allow he likes of Apollo to reconfigure the invested assets in a manner that they can shove complex structures into them, so they make money doing so, they will introduce unnecessary and massive risk into the industry.
A la every theme Yves has been writing about, and a central message of Ecconed, the advocates are paid to push this crap. They did so with Long Term Care insurance, it blew up spectacularly.
Some may be aware of the demise of General America, a formerly bastion of a mutual life insurer. They were issuing GICs with a put provision. When interest rates moved unexpectedly the purchasers exercised the option. They had a cash crunch, not a solvency issue, but no one, especially AM Best, understood what was going on, pulled their investment grade rating, which led to the fast track demutualization and fire sale to Metlife.
If Apollo, Goldman, et. al. are allowed to play this game you will have introduced massive, poorly understood and asymmetric risk into the life insurance industry’s balance sheets. Nothing, as in nothing, good can come of this.
Oh never mind, Apollo and their partners in crime, will get bailed out — they always do — the State Guarantee funds will be insufficient and the policyholders will be left holding the bag.
“The ‘frog’ is simmering: Iran’s strategic patience pressures Israel”
Israel keeps on saying how they are going to invade Lebanon and turn southern Beirut into Gaza. But what happens if Israel kicks off this operation and then suddenly Iran says ‘Surprise! Payback is a b****, ain’t it.’ With their armies and air force committed, they would suddenly be faced with a huge aerial assault that would potentially wreck their plans as the Israel air force would have to waste both fuel and ordnance chasing after Iranian drones and missiles. And of course some of those missiles would probably target Israel’s air bases curtailing operations. And if Iran hits Israel’s fuel bunkers, that would shut down any invasion plans and Israel would have to do a full retreat. It would be a bigger debacle than Kursk. It must be a consideration at IDF HQ.
Private Equity Fights Insurance for $15 Trillion Retirement Prize – Bloomberg
PE looks for a big dump after big pumps.
‘wsbgnl
@wsbgnl
The US unceremoniously surpassed 1,200,000 confirmed covid deaths in August’
Don’t care what they say, I don’t believe that figure at all. Not after nearly four years of this virus knocking about like a ball in a pinball machine. I would guesstimate the total to be north of 2 million people but the collection of medical-related data the past coupla years has been deliberately trashed so that no-one can get a firm handle on the true number of deaths. So yeah, at least 2 million deaths in the US alone.
An interesting article in The Hill https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4869943-extremists-attempt-attacks-electrical-infrastructure/
On the electrical grid summed it up at the end with this “ Supply chains are inelastic … there is no warehouse full of extra transformers. These things are made to order. They take a year to make,” she said. “And so if someone were to successfully take out a bunch of these large transformers, it could be catastrophic.”
“You only have to shoot up some of them, and this causes a cascading failure across the grid,” she added.”
That will pretty much finish off our country I’m afraid.
Russia is reputed to have extra transformers of all sizes stored in warehouses since the Soviet days. Given their electrical growth rates, I suspect China also has an available stock. If and when there is a modern Carrington Event, I’m not sure the US will end up being the place to be. It would be a poetic end to the empire if our much ballyhooed supply chain optimizations ended up being the root cause of failure.
I’ve seen industry estimates saying Russian grid operators replace over 7000 oil-cooled transformers (over 250 kVA) every year. It’s a huge country and they started early. I believe the Soviet industrial strategy was to have one transformer production facility in each region, so the regional grids were somewhat independent.
Some factories were shut down since the Soviet days, but lately they have started to resurrect, since the future of electricity generation even in Russia is understood to be more distributed than now, and the grid has to be extended and improved accordingly.
Some snipers shooting out transformers with some rifles seems more likely than a Carrington Event, though that too could happen.
Either way, ” survivalism” means “survivalizing without any grid-delivered electricy”. Those who are not prepared to survive without grid-electricity are not prepared to survive at all. Right now, I am not prepared to survive at all. And I am not talking about “really living”. I am talking about merely “survivaling”.
Never mind electricity (somewhat fixable with the roofs covered with solar pannels). Who has immediate access to a good well for water? I know my grandma had a good one in her yard. My mother in law’s old house had a well mostly contaminated and always running dry in the summer.
“Ukraine targets Moscow in biggest drone attack yet’
if there was one country in the world that would be hypersensitive on the subject of flying machines slamming into high rise buildings, I would have figured that it would be the US. But Washington seems to be fine with drones slamming not into military targets but into civilian apartments and the Ukrainians do this repeatedly. Do they call these attacks 9/11 Commemorative Flights?
On a side note, Russia has shot down three drones in the Murmansk region up on the Barents Sea. Check were that place is on a map and ask yourself how the Ukrainians managed to fly several drones all that distance north which would be about 2,000 miles. I think that Finland has some ‘splainin’ to do-
https://www.rt.com/russia/603852-ukraine-drones-murmansk-region/
Depending on how the war plays out, it could also be a preview of Ukranian blowback on the West.
You can bet that those Ukrainian nationalists will take revenge on the west for not supporting them enough and stabbing them in the back when they lose. You just know that it is going to happen and even Zelensky talked about this happening as a promise/threat to the west.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/ukraines-fatal-f-16-crash-should-scare-russia-china
Ukraine’s fatal F-16 crash should scare Russia and China
With F-16s, Ukraine’s air force is becoming more aggressive and capable
That’s a good one for yuks! Personally, I like Scott Ritter’s theory that the Ukrainian pilot in a stressful moment tried a MIG maneuver and the delicate F-16 just blew apart.
Oh no, the sucide squad is flying in!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUHk2RSMCS8
From Google’s AI Will Help Decide Whether Unemployed Workers Get Benefits
LOL. A stochastic appeals process. I mean, why not? Based on the magic of probabilities, you might or might not actually get an appeal. What might actually help with that backlog? Hiring employees.
The citizens that need these benefits the most will have the fewest resources to fight this, if and when the denials come. So this might simply be unchallenged as it runs roughshod over the working poor and middle class. Nicely done!
“…helping the state work through a stubborn backlog of cases that have been pending since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic….
Then I also remember a budget bill during the Biden admin that talked about using billions in leftover pandemic funds.
The MSM economists and pundits do everything possible not to draw too much attention to the asset bubbles contributing to inflation.
Unbelievable. When I was on unemployment over a decade ago now, I also had some difficulties with benefits because the unemployment office was understaffed. The fix there would seem to be obvious, as you noted. Instead, we’ll sic the AI on it. Jesus wept.
Google AI is joining “The Wrecking Crew.”
Those familiar with Thomas Frank’s book with that title know what I’m talking about.
“The insane recklessness of Collective Biden”
Biden must be furious that he is leaving the Presidency with so many failures on his plate. Not only failing to get regime change in Russia but also leaving Israel spinning their wheels trying to get something that they can call victory. And I won’t even go on what the domestic front looks like. So as I have previously said, I would not be surprised to see Biden toss a few Molotov cocktails around the place as he leaves his Presidency because what does he care? What can they do to him at his age? US supported attacks on Moscow, the US attacking Lebanon to help with an Israeli invasion, tactical nukes to Taiwan snuck in, etc. Who knows what that demented old man might do in his last days.
Freedom is just another word for nothing left to lose…
Luckily for him, he probably won’t remember any of it by the time he leaves. And I doubt he’s running the show anymore anyway and probably hasn’t been for a while.
Hopefully his thinking-brain dogs won’t allow any of these things to actually be done.
That Collective Biden has many members, some ex officio, or at least plausibly deniable, like that irrepressible Vicky Nuland. Her entry in the anals of history will focus on what was once resource-rich black earth Ukraine.
Same rotating cast of characters, same misanthropic, narcissistic nihilism, and then brunch.
Two Delta planes collide on an Atlanta taxiway, knocking the tail off one
Looking on the bright side, at least the front didn’t fall off.
Might that indicate some kind of problem?
That quote will go down with what one controller said when Challenger blew up-
‘Obviously a major malfunction’
https://x.com/MyLordBebo/status/1833848748528812199
🇺🇦🇹🇷 “Crimea must return to Ukraine”
Turkish President Erdogan in video message to 4th Crimea Platform happening in Kiev:
– Our support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity is unwavering & Crimea’s return to Ukraine is mandated by intl law
– Our sincere wish is that war ends with just & lasting peace, based on Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty & independence
– We believe further steps will be taken to strengthen rights of Crimean Tatar Turks
Erdogan better watch it. I’m a bit surprised someone hasn’t gotten sick of his trying to play both sides against each other already. Perhaps they did and that was what the 2016 coup attempt was all about. If he keeps running his mouth, maybe he won’t get a heads up before the next one.
A few days ago Lambert asked if any hunters had a comment about Darth Cheney’s shooting of Whittington, as someone who did hunt when younger , I do.
Cheney violated two of the four rules of Firearms safety, which are
1) Never point your weapon at anything you are not willing to destroy.
2) Always treat every firearm as though it were loaded.
3) Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.
4) Always clearly identify your target and what lies beyond it.
This was drilled into me when I turned 10 in 1963, took hunter safety and as given my first rifle ( A Remington .22 bolt action.)
It was a formal recognition that I had reached the age of responsibility.
There were a number of odd circumstances to this shooting.
Mr Whittington was very seriously injured and nearly died, he underwent several surgeries and it took him Months or longer to recover.
No criminal charges, no civil lawsuit, no mention of who paid Mr Whittington’s substantial medical bills and Mr Whittington apologized to Cheney.
The Man who damn near shot him to death out of carelessness.
Have you ever witnessed a clearer demonstration of a power imbalance?
Especially since Whittington is a wealthy Man.
Have you ever witnessed a clearer demonstration of a power imbalance?
Especially since Whittington is a wealthy Man.
Ultimately, might trumps money.
https://x.com/JulianRoepcke/status/1833794001809359024
Ukrainian defenders failed in defending Russia from Russians. Ended up taking a hike and praising Russia. :-)
“today would be a good day to reevaluate this op”
A little bit too late for that Mr. Roepcke.
The supposed 1000 km2 occupied by Ukraine are shrinking fast. If you go to the google version of Kalibrated maps (reliable IMO) and open it with Google Earth and measure the area in Kursk supposedly occupied by the Ukrainian army it is today about 520 km2. (570km2 yesterday and two weeks before).
Those Ukrainians are lucky that the Russians didn’t take them to a courtroom and charge them with illegal entry into their country without so much as a tourist visa.
Seriously though, it’s likely they’d be happy to be charged with illegal entry – the sentence would be 4 to 6 months in prison and a 10 year ban for re-entering.
As it is, they may not be treated as prisoners of war, as there’s no state of war, even if the Kursk operation was designed to get one. If Russia thus considers them terrorist, the sentences will be in the range of 20 to 25 years.
Then: Swift Boating
Now: Swift Voting
On who “won” the Trump-Harris debate. [It was Vladimir Putin, obviously!]
I think the media is framing the whole thing the wrong way.
Trump spent the entire debate speaking to his core audience. The white over-60s Fox News-watching Ben Shapiro-adoring core audience, that believes any lulu-coco-bananas talking point so long as it comes from their “trusted sources”. You know, crime’s really high, and the FBI is padding the stats to make it seem low – Trump actually used this one during the debate. Trump wasn’t trying to “win” anyone outside of his existing base. It’s like – just feed your existing base the same red meat you’ve already been feeding them, and hope turnout puts you over the line in swing states.
This is not what Harris was doing. Well – she was doing several things. But she, especially in the beginning, explicitly reached out to a) affluent suburban Republicans (Dick Cheney’s crowd, essentially), and b) women, of all stripes, on reproductive rights. She made sure to note that her economic plan (such as it is) had the approval of Goldman Sachs, the Wharton School (which Trump very oddly called the Wharton School of Finance – you don’t get the name of your b-school wrong unless you spent your entire time there at keggers and suchlike), and 16 “Nobel laureates” (there is no Nobel prize in Economics, but who cares). This is an appeal to a very specific group of people, to whom these institutions or individuals would serve as any kind of authority.
And then she pivoted into talking about not just abortion, but how anti-abortion legislation could impact all pregnant or trying-to-get-pregnant women, giving a tear-inducing hypothetical of a hospital refusing to treat a woman with miscarriage. That’s something all women, including Republicans, can potentially relate to on an emotional level, or, at least, that’s the way that the speech – she clearly had memorized a dozen or so mini-speeches to whip out at the right opportunity – had been crafted.
So from the get go she started going after the groups she believes could be at least partially broken off from the Republican or Pox-on-both-your-houses camps, the idea being, that’s where she gets the extra 10 thousand votes to go over in Wisconsin or Pennsylvania. I am not suggesting that she is right, but that is what she went for, and I have to admit, she wasn’t terrible at it.
Put differently, Trump “won” his base, which ABC also helped him to do by gently fact-checking him a few times, and Harris “won” the near-mythical swing vote, and here, I think, the appeal to women might do better than the appeal to Goldman Sachs Wealth Management clients. Neither of them “won” the debate, because they were trying to accomplish very different things, and we won’t know which was the correct approach, really, until voting day. Or, at least, some solid (>1k respondents) post-debate swing state polling, because national polls do not matter in this instance.
“ And then she pivoted into talking about not just abortion, but how anti-abortion legislation could impact all pregnant or trying-to-get-pregnant women, giving a tear-inducing hypothetical of a hospital refusing to treat a woman with miscarriage. That’s something all women, including Republicans, can potentially relate to on an emotional level..,”
… this did not make me go hippity hop. Aside from the fact that the Democrats have had many past opportunities to codify Roe v. Wade, she is still hedging her bets here. I want to hear straight up ‘it’s a woman’s choice’. No heartbreaking outlier stories – that’s appealing to the pro-lifers who might have some empathy in them, not taking a stand for a woman’s right to choose. Heaven fore fend we do that! And btw, I’ll believe the Democrats will codify Roe v. Wade when… well, I can’t even come up with something that would make me believe that.
I didn’t watch the debate, can’t stomach it. I doubt it’ll change the minds of the undecided. Who knows?Maybe Kamala can do what Hilary couldn’t and convince some Republicans to vote Democrat. They seem to think that fight is easier than just offering policies that might actually be good for people.
“ I didn’t watch the debate”
You should, it was a masterclass in how to demolish Trump. She got her points across and she set trap after trap for Trump and he couldn’t help himself. Every time she set down a rake he went over and stepped on it. It was a thing of beauty.
She talked about lifting up people and making life better, Trump talked about violent deportations, door-to-door raids, gender altering surgery on immigrants, immigrants eating cats and dogs, babies murdered after birth. He was like the drunk in the bar ranting and raving by himself. He is old and tired and sweaty. After nine years he still has no idea about health care – he said he has “concepts” of health care. As a character reference he cited Victor Orban! LOL.
Tulsi Gabbard did his debate prep! LOL It just gets better and better. I never much cared for her before but now I join the others saying “Thank you, Tulsi!”
Mr. Market certainly understood what happened. Today DJT stock is down over 10% while the rest of the market is up.
Her nasty facial expressions were a real debit. Especially the way she narrowed her eyes.
Edit – I meant that I doubt it will change the minds of the decided. Everyone is so entrenched.
On who “won” the Trump-Harris debate.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epOtBesq18s
There is no Nobel prize in Economics?!?
I know we can hardly call economics a science, but even though, it seems that there is some sort of prize…
It is a prize, but has nothing to do with mister Nobel, except making him turn in his grave. Fake award for a fake science. With enough cash you can make your own Nobel prize. Order now!
I’m noticing a lessening of the 9/11 reminders this year, and it makes sense, we weren’t still going ga ga over Pearl Harbor in 1964.
That’s because “everybody knows.” And, if they don’t, they probably never will.
As I read about China’s interest in Myanmar being “self-interest”, I remember that “self-interest” is the most honest interest there is. The ChinaGov’s actions are based on “nothing personal, just business”.
Perhaps the various rebel groups should try convincingly re-assuring the ChinaGov that if they can win and erase the Tatmajunta Regime Government from existence, that business-as-usual with China will continue onward regardless and that no contracts will be changed. If the ChinaGov realizes that either horse winning would be equally profitable to China regardless, then the ChinaGov might support the horse it decides has a greater chance of winning with such support, in hopes of winding this up quick. And then getting on with business.
ChinaGov probably realizes which horses came out of CIA stable.
. . . ” Harris missed ‘big opportunity’ by not picking Shapiro as running mate: Nate Silver” . . .
That article reads to me like Silver’s position is based more on advocacy and preference than on analysis.
I guess we will never know if she missed a ” big opportunity” by not picking Shapiro. My feeling is that she would have missed an even bigger opportunity by not picking Walz. Luckily for her campaign, she decided to not miss that even bigger opportunity.
Nate Silver now works for Peter Thiel so he is no longer an independent voice. He is a mouthpiece for the same billionaire that gave us JD Vance. Sad.