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Homing pigeon missiles, dead trout swimming, butt breathing honored with Ig Nobel Prize The Register
Online Dating Caused a Rise in US Income Inequality, Research Paper Shows Bloomberg
Empty Downtowns Are Still Depleting Local Coffers Governing
World Bank, “Puppet Hanging by a Thread” Pluralia
Feeling Gravity’s Pull Nautilus
Climate/Environment
Bizarre, nine-day seismic signal caused by epic landslide in Greenland Ars Technica
Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’ The Guardian
US Militarism Is a Leading Cause of the Climate Catastrophe Truthout
Pandemics
Unprecedented Bird Flu Levels Detected in Texas Wastewater: ‘Concerning’ Newsweek
Centre sets up surveillance as undiagnosed fever claims 15 lives in Kutch Business Standard
After 15-year old son, 42-year-old father’s is the 17th death due to Kutch ‘mystery fever’ Indian Express https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/ahmedabad/kutch-mystery-fever-17th-death-9563332/
China?
‘Better sooner than later’: China treading cautiously in raising retirement age to prevent public unhappiness, analysts say Channel News Asia
China new home prices fall at fastest pace in over 9 years in August Business Times
***
From alleged torture, suicide to demotion: Why China’s disgraced foreign minister Qin Gang’s fate is fodder for speculation Channel News Asia
The Logic of China’s Careful Defense Industry Purge The Diplomat
***
PLA monitors German warships’ transit through Taiwan Straits Global Times
Over 30 Squadrons of American Reaper Drones Train For Major Maritime Special Operations Against China Military Watch
The US and Chinese militaries have started talking again — even as they prepare for war Semafor
European Disunion
Politically Dead Man Talking Tarik Cyril Amar, The Ninth Wave. Olaf Scholz.
Syraqistan
Missile fired from Yemen lands in Israel setting off sirens, military says Al Jazeera
Seven Days After Israeli Forces Kill American, Biden and Harris Haven’t Spoken to Victim’s Family Zeteo
U.S. ARMY IS UPGRADING AN ISRAELI BASE TO MAKE ROOM FOR NEW BOEING JETS Nick Turse, The Intercept
‘Israel’ not to wage war on northern front until intl. cover secured Al Mayadeen
UN staffer shot dead by Israeli sniper in occupied West Bank The Cradle
Gaza polio vaccination drive a ‘massive success’: WHO The New Arab
Old Blighty
RAF SPY FLIGHTS OVER GAZA RISK COMPLICITY IN ISRAELI TORTURE Declassified UK
O Canada
Ottawa-based company is key to keeping Israeli warplanes bombing Gaza The Breach
New Not-So-Cold War
Alarm in UK and US over possible Iran-Russia nuclear deal The Guardian
The NATO/Ukraine Defeat in Kursk (and Beyond) Gordon Hahn, Russian & Eurasian Politics
Five former UK defence secretaries urge London to allow Ukraine to use supplied weapons for strikes on Russia Ukrainska Pravda
Germany’s Scholz rules out long-range weapons for Ukraine Deutsche Welle
Not enough long range missiles to make a difference for Ukraine Responsible Statecraft
Poland backs ending EU benefits for Ukrainian men of fighting age Euractiv
***
‘Nothing is being covered up’ in Nord Stream blasts probe – Scholz RT
Did ‘Our Little Baby’ Make a Nazi International? Bandera Lobby Blog
South of the Border
Venezuela seizes weapons aimed for CIA-led anti-state plot Al Mayadeen
Mercenary Boss Erik Prince’s Political and Commercial Motivations in Venezuela Orinoco Tribune
Bolivia inks $976mn deal with Russia to tap world’s largest lithium reserves BNE Intellinews
Spook Country
Democrat ‘October Surprise’ Targeting Russia and Trump May be in the Making – US Psy-Op Veteran Sputnik
Biden Administration
Biden decision on U.S. Steel buyout unlikely before election: report Kyodo News
Antitrust
The Secret That’s Driving Up Highway Costs Boondoggle
Trump
Sen. Josh Hawley: Whistleblower Says Lead Secret Service Agent On Day Trump Was Shot Was Promoted After Failing Key Exam Real Clear Politics
Kamala
Exclusive Action News Interview: Kamala Harris discusses economy, guns and more Action News 6 ABC. First solo interview as candidate.
Harris Campaign Takes Lobbyist Donations Despite Saying It Doesn’t Sludge
2024
Meet the Kremlin’s ideal Congressional candidate Popular Information. Sounds reasonable.
Harris Goes Full Cold War in Hopes of the Polish Vote. Spoils of War
JD Vance sells himself to Silicon Valley The Verge
Racehorses, slot machines and election campaigns Searchlight New Mexico
Democrats en déshabillé
Guys, it’s not that big of a deal. A lot of lawyers quit their jobs late on a Saturday night after the FBI seizes the phones of their coworkers. https://t.co/Y7GMZ5v23P
— Sandy Nurse (@SandyforCouncil) September 15, 2024
Imperial Collapse Watch
Here Are the Members of Congress Invested in War Sludge
China’s New Lobbyist: Wall Street Compact’s Substack. “New”?
Eminent officials say NASA facilities some of the “worst” they’ve ever seen Ars Technica
Stranded astronauts make first public statement since being left behind on ISS AP
Boeing
As Boeing Cracks, Is It Capitalism or Kafka? Dollars and Sense
Immigration
How AI images of cats and ducks powered the pet-eating rumor mill in Springfield, Ohio NBC News
Nebraska Evolving Flatwater Free Press. “The perception is that Nebraska’s smaller communities are dying. The reality is that many rural Nebraska counties are now growing for one reason. Immigration.”
Police State Watch
The Public Defender Who Just Won Power Over Confirming Massachusetts Judges Bolts
Our Famously Free Press
New York Times’ Previous Reporting Undermines Its War Escalation Journalism Lee Fang
Digital Watch
Exclusive: Lawmakers dig into federal government’s CrowdStrike use Axios
23andMe to pay $30 million in genetics data breach settlement Bleeping Computer
Intel cleared to get $3.5 billion to make advanced chips for Pentagon — Secure Enclave program ushers leading-edge CPUs to the military Tom’s Hardware
EU OKs $1.9B aid for Intel Polish plant, assuming x86 giant doesn’t end up cutting it The Register
Supply Chain
China’s Seafarer Wages Soar as U.S. Mariners Struggle with Pay Stagflation gCaptain
AI
New Study Suggests AI Could Convince Conspiracy Theorists They’re Wrong Gizmodo
MICROSOFT SECRETLY SELLING AI TO FOSSIL FUEL COMPANIES WHILE BRAGGING ABOUT ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRESS Futurism
Class Warfare
No sleeping bags, keep moving: California cities increase crackdown on homeless encampments Cal Matters
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
162 comments
Comments are closed.
“PLA monitors German warships’ transit through Taiwan Straits’
The Chinese are not happy campers about warships from the other side of the planet sailing along their coastlines. Apparently it is the first time that they have done that in 22 years. Not to worry. China could send a few warships to visit the Russian enclave at Kaliningrad in the Baltic and as they sailed by Germany, perhaps they could also do a freedom of navigation transit. I’m waiting for the Chinese to start buzzing these visiting warships with their own warplanes at just over the height of those ships like the Russians have done in the Black Sea. I’m sure that the Chinese have a few hot shot pilots that would love to try it out.
China did a “freedom of navigation” visit to Alaska a few months ago.
Wait. Are they allowed to do that? /sarc
German warships are investigating Nord Stream.
I didn’t check the latest news, but if NATO ships have so much free time to do brave free of passage exercises around China, surely it means the Prosperity in Read Sea is Guarded and Yemenis defeated?
Zeteo: Seven days after assassination of Ayşenur Eygi, Biden and Harris dither, bloviate, and tergiversate, by Prem Thakker.
Recommended. Note the mention of Shireen Abu-Akleh, well-known journalist, which also brings to mind the U.S. government and Gonzalo Lira.
So, brethren and sistren, not only are the Palestinians an inconvenience, but it looks as through the U.S. citizenry is an inconvenience.
Meanwhile, liberals are foaming at the mouth about “fascism.” Funny about how assassinations of journalists are a hallmark of fascism, eh. By their works you shall know them.
Biden/Harris/Blinken would ask for emergency UNSC meeting if an American citizen is killed “accidentally” by a Russian drone in Kyiv.
Indeed.
Contrast the silence on Ayşenur Eygi and Shireen Abu-Akleh with the reaction to US citizens killed on October 7: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-charges-senior-hamas-leaders-american-deaths-in-israel/
“The NATO/Ukraine Defeat in Kursk (and Beyond)”
There has been another effect of the Kursk invasion not mentioned here but talked about by the guys at The Duran. Until then, some of Russia’s allies like China, Brazil and India have been trying to get Putin to negotiate a peace with the implication of a cease fire. As a ceasefire, which leaves all military forces in their present positions, would mean an actual Russian defeat, Putin has been resisting this. But since the Ukrainians did this incursion into Kursk, a lot of the pressure on the Russians has eased off. Putin has tried to show his allies that the Ukrainians are not capable of negotiating for peace and would never keep one. Minsk 1 and Minks 2 should have been evidence of that but apparently India’s Modi and Brazil’s Lula still have hopes for getting a peace. The Russians know that without a demilitarized Ukraine, that before too many years had gone by the Ukrainians would be trying for another war so whatever the Ukraine looks like after this war, it will be one that will no longer be a threat to them.
“the Ukrainians would be trying for another war:”
Is it silly to ask that such references get re-cast to include all the real forces behind the forever war? It ain’t “the Ukrainians,” as I’m sure we all know, but repeating the half- lie gives it legs. USUK, neocons, revanchist Nazis (why does Nazism have such lasting appeal?), MICIMAC, giant “wealth” funds, and the rest, all of which Russia and the rest of the world are hoping to defeat, are what’s bringing on the effort to destabilize, defeat and dismember Russia — and next up, China. And any other clime and place where the Marines and the rest of the extended Monroe Doctrine war-is-a-racket thugs can take a gun. It’s a cancer, and one wonders how or whether it is even possible to defeat the hegemonic dysplasia. Keeping in mind that wild proliferation of unregulated cells, that hire successfully from the body’s immune system and trick it into diverting all the body’s resources into feeding the metastases, ends up with a dead body.
Some of the forces behind the Ukraine forever war are homegrown. The Azov faction has a great deal of pull, both political and physical. So to imply Ukraine itself has no role in keeping this conflict going is inaccurate.
Well said, JT. My thoughts exactly.
Because it tells idiots that they are special.
I was going to say losers imitate losers. If you think of it, by 1940 Hitler had had a marvellous political carrier. Five years later he was blowing his brains out in a hole in the ground in a devastated Berlin.
Not my idea of the ideal role model.
Empty Downtowns Are Still Depleting Local Coffers, The numbers that “Stijn Van Nieuwerburgh, a professor of finance and real estate at Columbia University”, provides read funny. We have about $1 trillion of mortgage debt coming due this year, and then there’ll be $600 or $700 billion more the next year and the year after. Put that against in my research, I’ve calculated that the value of office buildings in the U.S. would be lower by roughly 40 to 50 percent. So that’s a $550 billion hit, a massive valuation shock. Am I correct in reading that as ~$2.3T mortgage debt coming due in the next three years against a legacy valuation of ~$1.25T. Can anyone make sense of that?
No mention of PE.
Not so little boxes in the downtown
Not so little boxes made of ticky tacky CRE loans
Not so little boxes in the downtown
Not so little boxes all the same
There’s a new one and an old one
And a tall one and a glassy one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
And the people in the high rises
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there used to be doctors and lawyers
And business executives until the pandemic came
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children are home schooled
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same
And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In high rises made of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
There’s a new one and an old one
And a tall one and a glassy one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky CRE loans
And they all look just the same
Little Boxes, performed by Pete Seeger
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUwUp-D_VV0
“Highly leveraged boxes” perhaps. The degree of leverage indicated by those numbers seems staggering. Am I missing something?
Empty downtown office space, quite a bleak picture from that article, broadly so on the nation’s ongoing shift post – pandemic from mostly in office to more remote or even hybrid setting. While it’s easier to grasp the impact on residential real estate property taxes ( aka, my home value is much higher, and so shall my tax bill also be higher ! ), the situation around commercial property seems less direct or that’s my two cents.
This is not exactly the same discussion but related, but I’m always or often noting how large and empty certain anchor locations exist in malls or strip shopping centers in recent years.
Bleeding edge observations can be gained by driving through cities and suburbs to see many empty storefronts and vacant buildings. Compare and contrast to past downcycles like the dotcom bust, the GFC and Covid-induced closures. Corner centers aren’t just for dirty convenience store parking lots and coffee shops, which used to pass as makeshift community gathering places.
The impressions can lead you to anticipate more pressure on local government social services of all types at times when tax revenues are shrinking. Those previews are types of early warning that won’t show up in the industry tracking for a while.
All politics and more are local, for better or worse.
Funny how so many local and state governments can find the odd million or many to “incentivize” a corporation to “invest,” or build a huge sports stadium, or to renovate some pol’s summer house, or build a huge new “justice center” featuring lots of antennas and cameras and cells and parking for infantry fighting vehicles.”
All corruption is also local.
I live in the Montrose area near downtown Houston. My observation, and I keep telling people, is that Houston is too much like a ghost town. Everywhere you go, it seems like maybe a third of the commercial and retail space is empty, for rent, for sale, decrepit, awaiting development. Empty lots and office buildings everywhere. Recent weather events are not helping. And this does not seem to be about remote work.
It’s called The Biden Harris recession. No matter how bad it gets the “experts” and Obama appointees at the NBER refuse to call it that.
Houston? Maybe it’s the lack of zoning?
We live in a very nice area with zoning.
1/3 of the commercial spaces, from doctor’s offices, to storefronts to shopping center frontage are for lease.
> Bleeding edge observations can be gained by driving through cities and suburbs
> to see many empty storefronts and vacant buildings.
But … but … according to the professor-economist in the interview:
“The other point is, we’ve had a very strong economy in the last four years ….”
Rise inequality because of dating apps.
Total garbage but it does bring about a question I would have for statisticians – – how does a study isolate causes when the entire economic and social environment is moving, or has moved, to a completely new paradigm? Or to put it plainly to these authors… Are you sure that dating apps are the cause and not the disconnect between wages and productivity the “coincidentally” happened around the same time?
Dating apps are pretty much get-laid apps. There are alternatively proper dating services that cost serious money and validate the client’s claims to make permanent matches more likely. My sister had success with the latter.
What a serious researcher would do, is try to find natural experiments. Find places where the proposed casual factor (dating apps) is introduced at different times and see if the correlation still holds. Maybe rising inequality makes people be more selective of who they are dating because “marriage below your station” as it used to be called, becomes a more drastic decision when inequality is high?
Re: The AI that debunks “Conspiracy Theories”. I tried it out and it wasn’t very persuasive defending the single bullet theory, LOL.
But one can easily see how these AI’s, especially when they speak in the dulcet tones of HAL, or Scarlett Johansson, will become part of the armamentarium against WrongThink.
Your second line resonates with me. Tone can be very persuasive and often flies under the radar. For instance, I’m certainly going to want to believe whatever Scarlett Johansson whispers in my ear.
But it is not Her…!
I was really expecting them to try it out on the Russiagate CT – NOT.
In truth I was expecting to see something like this:
“From Trump’s lies about Haitian immigrants eating cats in Ohio to the idea that Kamala Harris was wearing a secret earpiece hidden in her earring during the presidential debate…”
And I wasn’t disappointed.
And the problem is that there is a new wave of proof that refugees have eaten family pets (hand held video of cats on a barbecue are hard to argue with), and the fact that Harris’s earrings resembled but were not devices does not change the fact that the hair on the right side of her head never moves and you never see her right ear. Because of podium positioning, almost all photos of her show her left side (judging from official photos also her “bettter side”).
Not saying anything happened, just saying nothing’s been disproven. The slimiest trick in the political bag is one I associate with the Killian memo. You release something that seems to hurt your case, then release proof that the “evidence” is fake. Which does not clear the charges except in the minds of the easily gulled voters.
If you were brazen enough to cheat in a debate, letting yourself seemingly get caught for cheating is a great cover-up. Once you’re past the fake charges legit proof can be dismissed as “really? more of this tired ‘stuff’?”
Russiagate cannot be touched. It’s the campaign tar baby and it was replaced by J6. If you dig into Russiagate, it’s ALL bad news for Ds. J6 is still murky but after this election we’ll never hear about it again unless Trump wins.
D game plans nowadays all seem to have been written by Karl Rove. Whatever bad you do, let yourself get caught for fake reasons. Acquit yourself of the fake charges and then never respond to further allegations.
Rereading myself I realize that I just described how a “limited hangout” works in electoral politics.
et tu, Rather?
I believe AI systems could help cut the cost of running u.s. re-education camps. And why waste the time of a state official working in room 101?
I told it I believed in the 100 million victims of communism and it told me that was not a conspiracy theory. When I told it to continue anyway it defended it and reinforced the conspiracy theory. Wild
Members of Congress invested in war, brings to mind of all things the metal band Megadeth. “Peace sells but who’s buying …”
Peace. It’s good for you and our children but it’s hell on my retirement portfolio! \sarc
Sludge writes about the members of Congress profiting from war. One proposed piece of legislation provides some humor.
Ending Trading and Holdings in Congressional Stocks (ETHICS) Act
That name could be interpreted a few ways. The conventional spin would be to say, Well at least they are acknowledging the stock trading and trying to do something about it.
A closer look shows that the attempt to make a snappy acronym leads to a different result. Ask instead, Who trades and holds stock in those members of Congress, then address that problem. Or not, wouldn’t want to bite the hand that feeds them. A limited hangout, a Kinsley gaffe, a Biden gaffe or something more sinister?
I was disappointed that the Sludge article beat around the bush without naming the politicians and then asks the reader to subscribe before naming the people involved in making bank off of war. If any readers can point me to a different site that lists these critters I would greatly appreciate it.
Here, they take sludge apart and name everyone except nancy p. and I wonder why?
https://www.commondreams.org/news/members-of-congress-who-own-defense-stock
Thanks a lot Joe!
“Alarm in UK and US over possible Iran-Russia nuclear deal”
The usual bs. You know, the Iran-is-one-month-away-from-building-a-nuke spiel that we have been hearing since the late 90s. What is really worrying the UK and the US is technology transfer where Russia helps upgrade Iran into a first class military. You can bet that the Russians are passing on a lot of the lessons that they have learned in the Ukraine the past two and a half year. That plus missile tech. That alone must be causing a lot of angst in Tel Aviv. Where is the fun in attacking a country that can attack you back? And it certainly has not escaped their notice that Russia has now installed air defence systems in Iran itself which makes attacking Iran a far more difficult option, especially for Israel and the US. There must be the realization that all those bases that the US built near Iran in order to one day attack it are now actually targets that can be blasted if a war breaks out. The times they are a changin’.
Russia helps upgrade Iran into a first class military. You can bet that the Russians are passing on a lot of the lessons that they have learned in the Ukraine the past two and a half year.
If we go back a decade, before the Russian intervention in Syria, there were visits by the Iranian military in Moscow, including by very high-level officers such as Qassem Soleimani. I have always thought that during the joint planning meetings, the Iranians were passing on a lot of the lessons that they had learned in Syria in the previous two and a half years.
This may explain why, right from the start, the Russians knew exactly where to act, with what kind of weapons, what kind of adversaries they would encounter, what tactics these used, and what capabilities the Syrian armed forces could muster or were direly needing. Commentators were wondering how the Russian intervention could be so effective with such limited, focused means — I contend that the Iranians, who had been in Syria for a while, taught them all the crucial elements about fighting well-armed, Western supported jihadists in a Near-Eastern environment.
Everything you say rings true and the Iranians are no slouches. This was brought home to me in reading about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 2006. Hezbollah had received a lot of training from Iran and one day it showed. There were these Israeli special forces troops moving slowly through a village and when the point man rounded a corner, found himself confronted by a Hezbollah special forces soldier dressed and equipped in much the same way that the Israeli was. The Hezbollah guy reacted first and threw a grenade to break contact and the Israeli was able to kick it away. Point is, the Iranians had trained Hezbollah forces to a much higher level of expertise that they could have done for themselves in order to defeat Israel.
Sounds plausible, but we should also remember Russians were invited into Syria, so they also had access to a lot of what the Syrian Arab Army knew about their opponents. Also both Soviet Union and Russia have had their fair share of fighting well-armed, Western supported jihadists since the 1980’s.
Russians were invited into Syria, so they also had access to a lot of what the Syrian Arab Army knew about their opponents.
Yes, but: embattled Syria really needed help, and there is always a dilemma with such a party. Is it painting an overly optimistic view of the situation for fear that potential allies, judging it a lost case, abandon it to its fate? Or is it exaggerating the perils which it confronts to move the allies to send everything they have?
The Iranians were an interested party, but they were not the ones who would have to contend with defeat directly. In this sense, the information they provided to the Russians was “objective”: they could tell what the strategic situation was from their viewpoint, what the Syrian Arab Army was good for and where it was inept, and how they assessed the strengths and weaknesses of the opponents. The Russians could then calibrate everything the Syrians told them accordingly.
By then, the war in Afghanistan had been over for 25 years. As the events in Iraq (USA), Lebanon (Israel), and Somalia (USA and African allies) had shown, things had changed quite a bit since.
The more the things change the more they stay the same… we’ve seen some WW1 tranch warfare, too, lately.
Afghanistan is somewhat relative in the sense that today’s Russian generals were platoon and company leaders at the time. They have learned the hard way the value of good intel and the ability to adjust to the enemy.
Plus all that wining hearts and minds stuff, too. I believe it’s the Russians who run the reconciliation programs in Syria, processing surrendered “moderate opposition” fighters back into the Syrian society.
For all we know, Iranians maybe just tolerate Russian participation in Syrian stabilization – because, as you pointed out, Syria really needed the help – but in the end they probably prefer Russia to have less direct influence in the region. Russia is a good counter to USA for now, but the end game likely is to get both of them to withdraw their military presence and just do diplomacy and business.
Meanwhile I read Iran has successfully launched its scientific satellite into orbit yesterday. Apparently twelfth in the last two years (including launched by Russians).
That’s how i think (and hope) Russia will retaliate for NATO hitting targets in Russia- destroying satellites. They are critical for targeting, very expensive, scarce, vulnerable to attack, and located where nobody would get hurt when they get hit.
While I mostly agree, I feel there is one worrying difference – this will be used to justify the Ukraine’s use of NATO/US supplied weapons to strike inside Russia.
I find this deeply troubling, as it seems the US and NATO leaders think either Russia will back down, or a nuclear exchange would be a winnable event.
Technical exchanges on the experiences accrued in the SMO are definitely passed between Russia and China in a formalized and regular basis. DOn’t have the link but I read about it.
As for missiles and sub technology, the flow btw Russia and china will likely increase, making Pentagon sweat profusely…
Re; Boeing
“Boeing is like a canary in the coal mine, warning us that permitting executives and institutional investors to siphon money out of production leads not only to hardship for the company’s workforce, but also to a decline in product quality that is dangerous to the customer.”
I appreciated the Dollars&Sense article on Boeing– lots of tidbits to glean.
It would be great to see a passenger advocate sitting on Boeing’s corporate board: yes, make Boeing safe again, this to include prohibiting airlines from squishing passengers into kid-sized seats– a practice that certainly hinders emergency evacuation if that becomes necessary.
> It would be great to see a passenger advocate sitting on Boeing’s corporate board
Not to mention board seats for the unions (say, two). I don’t know if that’s a demand, but ut certainly should be.
How about economy class seats aboard Boeing jets for board members at least once a month so they know what they are talking about? And no last minute upgrades to business class either.
Oh, they know enough not to do that. Same as they knew C-19 was airborne, if it’s Boeing they ain’t going.
Perhaps Boeing and Intel provide cautionary tales for those who think we can easily re-industrialize. As stated in yesterday’s post an industrial economy is an “in it for the long term” proposition whereas a financial economy is all about “I’ll be gone, you’ll be gone.” In the old days factory owners had to learn the business from the ground up or, like Henry Ford, themselves created those businesses. Whereas MBA America is only about the stock price and scoring a golden parachute when things go south. Even if we can find and train the workers for onshoring where to find the all important managers?
Perhaps it’s time for a new Theory of the Leisure Class and some serious questions whether the meritocracy’s useless eaters are pulling their weight. Michael Hudson has been singing this tune and it’s a good one.
That’s why industrialization will not be a success in the US under the current neoliberal crop of leaders. They lack the competence and are too greedy to do it.
Industry requires long term thinking and is very capital intensive. Wall Street tends to penalize companies that are capital intensive and reward low capital spending, such as in software development.
Also, the US has fallen behind the Chinese on many technologies and research is also long term. Wall Street and the rich won’t allow thr needed resources for research.
Burned-out firefighters are fleeing the US Forest Service amid labor disputes: ‘We are decimated’ The Guardian
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What if the job description read:
‘Smoke inhalation (sometimes including poison oak smoke!) hazards up close combined with having to be in protective Nomex clothing in the often sweltering heat performing what is in essence physical manual labor, were it not for you being a firefighter.
$15 per hour’
Since money doesn’t seem to matter elsewhere in the Fire Industrial Complex where bulldozer operators make bank cutting line and go to the front of line in who gets paid pronto, or the concern that sets up fire camps for the firefighters to rest, eat & sleep, mucho dinero there.
Why short shrift the grunts?
To put that $15 an hour in perspective…
Was talking to the owner of my favorite Mexican eatery in Woodlake about how the new raise in pay was working out, and she related that for individual restaurants in Cali its $16 an hour versus chain restaurants where the going rate is $20. And not to downplay the seriousness of working @ Mickey D’s, there could be a grease fire, you know. That’s why they make 1/3rd more than firefighters.
Re member when Kamala “fought” to keep prisoners in prison as cheap labor for firefighting? Good times.
I’ll counter your nadir of a buck an hour for penal firefighters, with the current estimated cost zenith of the Coffee Pot Fire, a little over 14,000 acres and 71% contained presently.
$55,418,048
I have a friend who is a wildland firefighter currently, previously worked for Cal Fire out of somewhere in NorCal. He tried to talk me into applying, said theres no other job where you can make $40k in 3 months – i had no idea what he was talking about, considering the $15/hr rate. Then he explained the overtime hours and attendant rate of pay when you’re actually on a fire.
Having myself been a grunt, in a different industry but one where overtime opportunities were plentiful, I suspect those grunts are more likely squealing like pigs in a wallow come payday.
There’s also the non-trivial detail that, in my area anyway, a good portion of the time those firefighters are idling with AC full blast in $250k engines, waiting for a call or out on “patrol” – we don’t get fires like Cali does here, but still, Fire Industrial Complex, indeed.
My friend was telling me that the fire crew… Chiefs? Supervisors? Idk the terminology but they get a fat bonus at the end of the year if they don’t go over budget, this translates to dilapidated or insufficient equipment by my friend’s account. Perverse incentives up and down the board.
He was on a fire earlier in the season near town, said they had it pretty well contained by the time the contract crew showed up. By the following morning it had grown to 2000 acres, with not much sign of slowing down. I don’t know to what extent these fires are kept going as controlled burns, considering the fire management practices of the past century, and how much is naked greed.
Which Framer said that the US Constitution needs moral men?
The answer is… The Daily Double.
I personally am considering it. I already shed some money in that jar…
I hope others do it as well.
LOL.
Bro/Sis you can’t rickroll people if they see it coming, c’mon now.
Thank you kindly for donating, i couldn’t do much myself owing to my deflationary economic situation, but i hear every lil bit helps.
Or, wait, maybe that was NPR.
heh heh
À propos: Did you notice in the customary donation-plea at the end of this Grauniad piece there is the following:
“This is what we’re up against …
“Teams of lawyers from the rich and powerful trying to stop us publishing stories they don’t want you to see.”
Of all the cheek!
This is for all those calling for “deep strikes” into Russia.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5f/Daisy_%281964%29.webm/Daisy_%281964%29.webm.720p.vp9.webm
As well as enforcing “rules and norms” on Russian borders.
– ‘Exclusive: Lawmakers dig into federal government’s CrowdStrike use’ – Axios
In the days after the Crowdstrike outage there was a lot of technical discussion about what went wrong, with some of it veering into the corporate corner-cutting area. But I kept asking a simple question, which kept getting ignored as far as I could tell: how could a company with such dubious connections to Ukraine, the intelligence community, and Russiagate have become so all-pervasive in our internet “security” infrastructure so damn quickly? I’ll keep asking this question, but I won’t hold my breath that a Congressional inquiry will provide any real answers.
I think your question might be considered a rhetorical question–which will not receive answer.
I wonder why our intelligence community tolerates such incompetence in one of their pet vendors?
“Our”” Intelligence agencies appreciate a Cyber security firm that always does the right thing.
In 2016 it was the Ukrainian Cyber security firm the DNC hired to examine their systems after wikileaks published a trove of embarassing DNC Emails.
Their Preliminary report claimed that it was the RUSSIANS!!! that hacked the servers and fed the Info to the subversives at Wikileaks.
The final report which came out a good deal later stated that there was no evidence that the DNC Servers had been hacked by anyone.
Not long after that the #1 and #2 men at Crowdstrike swapped places and it became a US Company with Shawn Henry (Formerly of the NSA)as CEO.
The “Folks” at Crowdstrike did Hillary and the DNC a big favor and they were rewarded very nicely for doing so.
With a lot of Business from the right people.
Then they fucked up, bigtime.
Because they weren’t Kaspersky?
“‘Israel’ not to wage war on northern front until intl. cover secured”
‘The Israeli occupation has a list of conditions before it decides to ignore the war on the northern front with Hezbollah.’
I can imagine some of those conditions. One would be that they have enough ammo to shoot. They have used up so much in Gaza that even the US cannot keep on delivering ammo forever. same with bombs. Another one would be air defense missiles. Israel is reputed to have used up to half their air missiles to fend off that Iranian attack and the constant Hezbollah attacks are forcing Israel to use up the stocks that they have. In case of war, Israel would be wide open to aerial attacks in the same way that the Ukraine is right now. Of course Israel is losing troops killed and wounded each week which is reducing combat effectiveness. Not many good options for Tel Aviv here.
American taxpayers should get free vacations in Israel, and free food and lodging, after the amount we’ve handed them and the increased defense costs they cost us.
“Paycations”
Those men are are usually a) in favor of continuing the war and b) from the more priviledged layers of Ukrainian society (bribes are expensive).
Why should Europe’s citizenry subsidize the cozy exile of relatively affluent draft dodgers? And why should people with no skin in the game be allowed to lobby for more blood and tears from abroad? (the Wagenknecht assailant, for example, screamed Slava Ukraini with a thick Galician accent)
Go through the writings of Ishchenko: this europhile warhawkery in Ukraine is predominantly the PMC’s cause. Those people should not be allowed to evade the material consequences of the policies favored by them.
Another downside of not bringing them back to Ukraine is that they, and their offspring, will hold on to their grudges in exile forever. If numerous enough, they will poison the EU discourse regarding Russia for years. They are very much part of the problem, not innocent victims.
Then there’s the news that according to Mykola Kniazhytskyi, member of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian embassies in Europe are filled with “hundreds of thousands” of applications by Ukrainians to renounce their Ukrainian citizenship. Basically government actions piling one demographic crisis on top of the other.
I wonder. Generally, it is impossible to renounce citizenship without proof of having a second citizenship (to avoid statelessness).
What other state can those hundreds of thousands Ukrainians claim to belong to? Not Israel — my understanding is that Ukrainian Jews emigrated long ago. Russia?
“my understanding is that Ukrainian Jews emigrated long ago”
Many have, but by no means all; also, I’d bet it wouldn’t be very hard for many people there to find some trace of Jewish ancestry in a pinch (centuries of living side by side, after all… same as in Russia, only even moreso), and Israel could always choose not to look too hard at more dubious claims if it seems to be in its interests. Finding Russian ties seems like it would be even easier, except for the psychological hang-ups (but I’m sure some will look past those in a pinch). Barring that, maybe Canada?
As far as I understand, the complications come from:
a) it’s being really difficult to renounce Ukrainian citizenship unless one left the country on an immigration visa and
b) many former Soviet republics (like Belarus, Russia and Tajikistan, at least) granting citizenship to Ukrainians at the drop of a hat – especially if one has been a citizen of Soviet Union (born before 1991) in which case the citizenship is practically automatic.
O(h) Canada!
With friends like this, who needs enemies? US sends ‘unserviceable’ arms to Taiwan. The Taiwanese received moldy body armors and expired ammunition from the US and had to spend a couple of weeks drying the supplies out. Taiwan was such a priority, the supplies were sitting out there at a US base exposed to the elements for 3 months pending a flight to the destination.
There’s no doubt whatsoever that the US plans to fight China to the last Taiwanese.
‘the supplies were sitting out there at a US base exposed to the elements for 3 months pending a flight to the destination.’
Maybe the problem is that all available transport planes are either flying to Israel, flying to the Ukraine or undergoing maintenance so there has not been the planes to fly that stuff to Taiwan. Maybe Taiwan should go buy some stuff off the Ukrainians. I’m sure that they would be willing to sell.
“Stranded astronauts make first public statement since being left behind on ISS”
I’m sure that astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams only did that because Boeing told them to do it to try to restore their image or something. They spoke favourably about Boeing and how we should put the past behind us or some such rubbish. But the truth is that it would be better to be quiet about their presence aboard the ISS until they return in February. Let the pubic forget about them and why they are there still.
There’s a minor Canadian connection in the story of Boeing’s decline which deserves proper recognition. The linked article, As Boeing Cracks, mentions that its former manufacturing plant in Wichita was owned for a while by PE firm Onex:
Dean worked officially at Spirit AeroSystems, but the plant in Wichita was historically owned by Boeing. When the private-equity firm Onex bought Spirit in 2005, it made the long-time Boeing workers reapply for their jobs and did not rehire many over the age of 50; for those rehired, the pay was 10% lower. The sale of the plants in Kansas looked like a maneuver to shed experienced and highly paid workers and replace them with inexperienced, lower paid people. Onex made a 900% return on its investment by the time it sold Spirit in 2014, but product quality at Spirit AeroSystems had been compromised, as Dean had testified.
Onex founder, Canadian billionaire Gerry Schwartz, has his fingers in many pies, including philanthropic ventures undertaken with his wife, Heather Riesman, whose main business is the former book (now giftkitsch) retailer, Indigo. They jointly founded a charity, the Heseg Foundation for Lone Soldiers, which provides various perks for non-Israeli Jews as an inducement for joining the IDF. Unsurprisingly, this involvement led to picketing of an Indigo outlet in Toronto last fall, followed by police extremism in suppressing the Palestinian solidarity activists involved.
So some of the fortune made through the crapification of Boeing has been recycled into strengthening the IDF’s ability to recruit new legions of genocidaires.
O Canada!
Plus when not strip mining corporations those crafty Canadians are into literal strip mining. Perhaps Trump is complaining about the wrong border.
Kidding! We love the Canadians among us and their many contributions to USian culture. Where would Bonanza be without Lorne Greene or Star Trek without Shatner? Ryan Gosling is practically a one man Hollywood these days.
Still the Canadian mining sector may not be their finest export. Is the Great White North too much about extraction?
Lots of skeletons in the Canadian mining closet.
There is an old saying that Canadian mines mined the stockholders more than the ore.
… and another old saying, “A Gold Mine Is a Hole in the Ground with a Liar at the Top”.
Without Canadians…
Family Ties is as successful as Bridget Loves Bernie.
Bilionairs don’t believe in Countries and nationality, etc… Everyone is a mark.
Brown Bear + Volcano = Kamchatka peninsula
Or possibly just a bit further down the Pacific Rim of fire in Hokkaido or the Kurils.
I have been to the Shiretokogoko national park in Hokkaido which is mainly fishermen and brown bears watching the icebergs and salmon float past from the comfort of volcanic springs, with a handful of excellent sushi shacks as your dinner options.
As non-pescitarians, we had the local yakitori delicacy, which is to serve the chicken raw in the middle for an interesting taste and texture contrast. We lived.
I was wondering exactly where this photo was taken, the bear seems a bit scrawny for a Kamchatka native. I was fortunate enough to have seen one of these magnificent creatures in the wild from our helicopter, it was breathtaking.
IG Nobel Prize–hilarious.
Scott on losing his right to sell his stories to RT and being drop by others not brave enough.
https://scottritter.substack.com/p/russia-has-never-tried-to-dictate
Amerika trying to control the narrative worldwide and sadly doing pretty good job of it.
RE: Exclusive Action News Interview: Kamala Harris discusses economy, guns and more Action News 6 ABC. First solo interview as candidate.
This tweet purports to show the difference between harris’ unedited interview and what was actually aired on the station’s broadcast. Dunno.
What would seem to be of greater importance is that this interview, her “first solo interview as candidate,” was not even mentioned on Meet the Press, the abc Sunday morning show or Face the Nation. These shows preferred to focus on some “debate” rehash, the “baseless” reports of eating cats and dogs in Springfield, OH (heavy emphasis), Laura Loomer’s presence on Trump’s plane, and Taylor Swift’s “endorsement.”
You’d think that, with all the clamoring for harris to speak “to the people” unscripted and flesh out her policy proposals, this first interview would have been a big deal. Apparently her “campaign” did not feel she was successful enough to tout this performance. Watching the clip and reading the transcript you can see why. She’s back to making gibberish, padded word salads.
Kinda makes you wonder how she did so “well” at the “debate.”
Jimmy Dore show, utube, just the first 6 or 7 minutes.
CNN FORCED TO ADMIT Trump Told Truth About Immigrant Surgery! w/ Drea de Matteo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lsh-GhzAu9I
In defense of Trump at the debate.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/trump-angst-reflects-tenor-of-times/
It’s Cassandra Trump versus What Me Worry Kamala. The election is also turning into a referendum on the MSM.
Whatever bad the MSM gets, it deserves.
That said, I don’t think it matters, their job is to get Harris the win come Nov. Best I can tell their ratings have been going down for quite some time. Yet, they don’t seem to care about anything except rigging debates, producing nothing but glowing reviews and articles on the dems and find any and everything they can to throw at the Trump wall of shit.
No matter what has to be done, by hook or crook, Trump will NOT be allowed to take office. No way, no how. The MSM is only the first line of defense.
Interesting that when the author justifies Trump being “discombobulated”, he mentions the lawfare but not the more obviously discombobulating assassination attempt.
I think ,lah’s verbal talent assures a solid future and goes far beyond salad prep. She can easily step into the shoes of Clayton Clementine’s butler Percival, who gives him the following advice in the novel The Onion Eaters by J. P. Donleavy:
“Ah, now without the present you wouldn’t have a future. And sure the present is busy making the past while the future is waiting. And there’s no harm in keeping the future waiting while it’s not here yet. And when you get there what is it but you’re in the present all over again.”
Just a few links for those interested in the Springfield issue.
From our Governor Mike DeWine on help for the migrants from Haiti;
Governor DeWine Announces Healthcare, Public Safety Support for Springfield and Clark County
From the Dayton Daily News on the DeWine/Haiti connection;
Ohio Gov. DeWine’s deep connections to Haiti inform response to Springfield controversy
From the Columbus Dispatch;
Immigrants are not eating Springfield’s cats, but influx is devastating. Blame Biden, DeWine
One more, from the local Springfield paper that contains many links as well;
Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio: Why they chose this city
These are all official MSM type outlets, other than the top one which is from DeWines office. I’m sure the alt-media has plenty more if you can figure out what is true or not.
That darn Catherine Liu, author of Virtue Hoarders.
One excellent analysis and insight after another. I wasn’t sure who Joshua Citarella is, but it turns out he is a leftist professor of art at Rhode Island School of Design, of all places.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia6m3pIIS2k
{I’m posting this because I’m tired of the tired trope that there is no left and no right, that left and right are inadequate categories. Left and right are just as alive as ever as distinctions.]
Give a listen. Let me know. Both of them are also witty and knowledgeable — and willing to point out how silly the leftoids are with their obsessions with language policing, virtue signaling, and management as class oppression.
Note the analysis of J.D. Vance, unions, and U.S. history… Note that both of them, but particularly Liu, are bullshit-free. It’s refreshing.
16 minutes in and this is absolutely fascinating (to me). Liu tracing PMC back to Ehrenreich who Liu thinks got it from C. Wright Mills?
Thanks for the link, I’m settling in with a pot of tea to watch the whole thing : )
Feels like maybe the best interview I’ve ever watched. Not disparaging podcasts but even the best of them include so much wasted time whereas Liu and Citarella are exchanging huge volumes of information given clearly and succinctly. Very “witty and knowledgeable” but not at the expense of the fast pace with the exception of the “egg” digression.
I have not read Hillbilly Elegy and now won’t bother. Liu’s deconstruction is withering and instantly graspable. Maybe not the best philosophy but I’ve always felt that the best truths are easy to understand and Liu is very good at putting the EXpert back into (s)plaining. Legitimacy and authenticity are words I can work with.
I’m a Liu and a Citarella fan now. I think the average NC reader will find this deeply resonant with their understanding of the world. Thank you again for this incredible link.
MG:
I managed to miss the “egg” digression, possibly because I was starting to wash the vegetables for dinner and may have tuned out the interview.
Last couple of minutes: Can that deluded historian making millions a month on Substack possibly be Heather Cox Richardson, “intelligence” “community” mouthpiece and secretary of the Mean Girls Club?
That I had no clue about but I played part of that twice as they mentioned a publication that might have been Omni?! that made huge amounts of money. Still not sure what they were referencing. The egg digression was Liu using an “egg” as an example of something and then went on at — for this interview — great length (a whole minute?) about how she didn’t literally mean an egg.
Being introduced to Liu is genuinely exciting for me, an incredible interview. I’ve always dismissed those who tell me I sound like a Gramscian socialist because Gramsci did most of his writing from prison (loser!). Liu reminded me that we’re all living in a prison. That remark and its justification really hit home.
Can’t recommend this interview too highly. Still feeling a buzz from all the insights.
I fell into this video at your suggestion and listened and watched it all. Found it excellent. Well worth the time.
Virtue Hoarders: The Case Against the Professional Managerial Class – An Essay-Review in Memory of Barbara Ehrenreich, 1941-2022
Posted on October 26, 2022 by Yves Smith
@yves @lambert @moderators
Your last 4 posts have not included your fundraiser header. My apologies if this was intentional, but if not then I wanted to alert you to the situation.
I was in Sebastopol yesterday and saw twp Harris/Walz bumperstickers and two Trump bumperstickers.
Interestingly neither of the Trump bumperstickers or the cars they were on had been “Keyed” or defaced.
In 2016 they would have been.
I also ran into an acquaintance who wanted to share the “JOY!” of having Harris as the Dem candidate who demanded to know if I felt the same way?
I asked him if he supported Harris based on her policies and he said happily replied with a “Yes”.
I told him calmly that I did not intend to vote for either major candidate because I disapproved of butchering Children.
I don’t think we’ll be doing brunch any time soon…
In my travels around Northwest Ohio this week I have noticed more Trump signs than Harris. Lately more in my city of 15k as well. We are out in the middle of nowhere, about 50 miles from the nearest large city.
From the people I talk to I would be shocked if Ohio didn’t go Trump. The dems are not popular here, and most people think they, and their true blue loyal followers are unhinged and crazy. It is not uncommon to hear someone say “I’m not a fan of Trump, but these people have to go.”
I would also be shocked if Trump doesn’t win Ohio. I remember when it was a swing state before Democrats ditched their working class base and started hammering them with deplorable racist accusations instead. How’s that working out?
I think the interesting contest in Ohio will be for Senate. Can Sherrod Brown win reelection? The race appears close.
I think you said you are in Ohio too Lena and I agree with you.
I hope Brown gets smoked. I was mad at him long ago because he helped bailout Wall Street. He was in my town once or twice and pounded on doors with my X who was the secretary of the local dem party (crooked as hell).
She thought he was great – but I didn’t. He was going to do a town hall here after we bailed out Wall Street and I said, “good, I’ll be there” and I was loaded for bear.
My X said “you’re not going anywhere” and I said, like a good man knows to do, “yes, Dear.” I wanted a piece of him. But I digress…
I was through Fostoria, Wayne, and close to Bowling Green yesterday as we went to several farm markets and shops. Many more Trump signs than Harris, but she had some. Same when we were in and around Findlay last week. The entire area looks about the same sign wise. Findlay is usually red.
Findlay was also in the news recently due to Haitians. They were mentioned in the DeWine thing I posted above about help for the Haitians who are now in Findlay too. Link below to local article;
Muryn part of state talks about immigrants
Muryn is the Findlay mayor. This won’t help turn that area blue, I can guarantee you that.
The yard signs here in suburban Philadelphia say “Don’t be Weird. Vote Harris/Walz.”
I just reply that I’m joyous I have the opportunity to aspire.
Ran errands to neighbouring town this morning and saw a “Vote Harris-Save democracy” yard sign.
Hehheh that’s a Rovian twist. My favorite is “Harris for President…Obviously” Wonder what’s for school lunch tomorrow.
#Racehorses
> Perhaps no one personifies the overlap between New Mexico politics and sport as much as Sam Bregman — a former Albuquerque city councilor, state Democratic Party Chair
Team “Virtue” not so virtuous, eh?
And, he’s also a current DA?!
Wow … that relationship map in the article is something else.
That poor bear in the Antidote looks pretty thin. Sad.
My instant take was that the photo was taken early in Spring, with the bear just out of hibernation.
The Pic looks to be high to late summer. The mountain snow is reduced to icy patches in the crevices, plus the shadow of the bear is negligible. Probably a young bear still learning the fine points of hunting and fishing.
Did ‘Our Little Baby’ Make a Nazi International? Bandera Lobby Blog
Meanwhile, the politically correct academics and journalists go on with the whitewashing of the Banderites et al, saying that the Nazi symbols aren’t no longer that Nazi and Stepan Bandera now represents the resistance against oppression. The Nazi narrative is just Russian propaganda.
Fascists love to play word games. Neo-Nazi is used as a word but there is no such thing as being a neo-Banderite as Banderitees like fascists of all stripes are unchanging, no need for words like neo-fascism or neo-Banderism. No matter how you approach fascism, you’re not coming at it in a new way because it’s meant to be reinvented as often as proves convenient to your cause. No other philosophy of governing so openly embraces lying. Neo-fascism as a word makes as much sense as neo-marketing: once you’ve said fascism or marketing, you’ve said all you need to say.
Imo, neoliberal and neoconservatives both flunk Dr. Britt’s 14-point test for fascism which means they are fascists, nothing neo about it.
Sadly was on regular television this morning. Flipped channels and saw the analyst at ABC showing the anchor that Harris’ small lead over Trump last week was the same small lead she had in the latest poll. After quickly admitting the debate had not changed this he went into a song and dance about how Harris decisively won the debate and was now trusted more while Trump lost ground in that metric. The tap dancing was amusing.
Moved along only to see Hillary Clinton holding court on CBS Sunday Morning. I have no idea why since I can’t stand even a minute with her, but I am assuming she is supporting Harris while taking credit for her getting to run. Whatever it was it was pointless and no doubt misleading. (I may not like that Obama is still relevant but Clinton is not even if too many refuse to recognize it.)
There is a reason why my media viewing rarely includes the mainstream.
Trump will be sentenced the 18th and the Judge is not noted for impartiality, it will be entertaining to see how things pan out.
Especially if he gets tossed in the pokey before the election.
Which would lead to a Trump landslide and might cause me a hernia from laughing so hard.
My gut tells me Trump will not be allowed to take office, whatever it takes, and that scares me because the deciders are deranged.
Regardless of the sentence, it will be appealed. The Dems know that lawfare is most likely dead on the vine, hence their shift to other tactics.
We will see what happens…
Benedict Donald would make for a good Debs you taunt, careful with that axe, Eugene!
and if lawfare is not effective, there’s always real bullets… … Again.
It seems that the situation of a candidate dying close to but before the ballot is messy.
Different states have different rules eg
Each state’s electoral votes typically go to the winner of the state’s popular vote. Some states allow electors to vote for anyone they choose, but more than half of the states bind electors to cast their votes for the winner.
Most state laws that bind electors do not contemplate what to do if a candidate dies. Michigan’s law requires electors to vote for the winning candidates who appeared on the ballot. Indiana law, by contrast, states that electors should switch to a party’s replacement if the candidate has died.
In the event of a candidate’s death, the opposing party might challenge in court whether bound electors should be allowed to vote for a replacement, said Lara Brown, the director of the Graduate School of Political Management at George Washington University.
“The most interesting question is really going to be, how will the Supreme Court handle a controversy like this?” she said. (Reuters 10/4/20)
So is this being gamed out in Dem circles? I would bet it is.
And worryingly for “democracy”
The Constitution’s 20th Amendment says the vice president-elect becomes president if the president-elect dies before Inauguration Day. But it’s an open legal question whether a candidate formally becomes the “president-elect” after winning the Electoral College vote, or only after Congress certifies the count.
If Congress rejected votes for a deceased candidate and therefore found no one had won a majority, it is up to the House of Representatives to pick the next president, choosing from among the top three electoral vote-getters.
So this is how the Dems could steal an election if they didn’t win the Presidential vote?
From As Boeing Cracks, Is It Capitalism, or Kafka?
Buried in the Boeing post, is this:
That’s basically any male over 18 years old, according to Ukrainian conscription law.
Simplifies administration of the rule, I guess.
Heard a rumor
About Laura Loomer
A conspiracy you see
No lack of transparency
A mystery to me
Until last week in my life, there was she
Maybe i’m just a jaded boomer
Living on 20th century humor
Alexander Mercouris. utube. 1hr 22minutes.
UK Shocked US Missile Strike No; Blames Sullivan, Ukr Aid Dwindles; Rus Chasov Yar Pincers Closing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttlg1cVGAXA
Reports all over the interwebs there was a shooting at the Trump golf club in Florida.
I won’t speculate on any details we know or don’t know about. Happened maybe an hour ago.
Buckle up. It’s going to be a bumpy 60 days.
Without a doubt. You can see the narratives already forming. Incredible. This will only take away from what the narrative should be – how did this happen?
Hypothetical, because I have no clue what to believe at this point, but if I read things correctly, I have a question or two right off the bat. I’m a golfer. I read where this guy might have been a hole or two ahead of the Trump people waiting to ambush him. How does he know two things;
1) what time? I’m sure a place like this has tee times, even for Trump, but how would he know? I suppose he could guess Trump plays on Sunday as many do, but getting the time just right, or did he sit around all day?
2) Most important. Exclusive club, probably can’t get in to case the joint. I read Trump was on the 5th hole, so this guy would have been on the 6th or 7th. How plausible is that, how close is it to a road as I read he escaped by car? We have Google maps to help, so all we need is a scorecard. I couldn’t find one posted on their golf website. Exclusive club, not a shocker. So how did this guy know?
If I were planning something like this I would want to know this kind of stuff. Then again, it is early, and this is what we are being told. At this point I’m only speculating and believe nothing. We will probably never find out the truth.
Daily Mail info dump:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13853645/Ryan-Wesley-Routh-Trump-golf-course-shooter.html
Thanks for that.
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/09/15/us/harris-trump-election
This makes me very nervous. How many attempts before someone succeeds?
Watching sportsball, and they just put up a crawl about shots fired near Trump on his fl golf-course. Seems like no one was hurt. Took it down after less than a minute.
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/09/15/trump-gunshots-florida-golf-club-00179228
Apparently the would be assassin was cradling an assault rifle a few holes ahead, but because I used that term, everything got cancelled out-due to nomenclature.
What irritates me so about the DT, is his uncanny ability to make a liar out of others… me, specifically. There’s probably some witticism about gravity, stars, and event horizons here, but it eludes me.
DJT “Here I was, just minding my own business, tryna play a round and clear my head from the last time someone tried to shoot me, and whaddaya know, some lowlife was hiding tryna shoot me again. Meanwhile, Coward Kamala can’t even do a TV interview with a very friendly, highly complimentary media. Sad! Bigly.”
At the rate things are going, that judge might do him a favor by setting his ass in jail.
Face to a name from Sky News Australia. utube. ~ 4 minutes.
FIRST PICTURES: Radicalised would-be Trump assassin identified as Ryan Routh
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8szeyn-B4M
‘Routh, who has a lengthy criminal record from North Carolina, frequently posted about politics and exclusively donated to Democratic candidates and causes dating back to 2019.
He also bashed Trump in an April 22 post on X in which he declared, “DEMOCRACY is on the ballot and we cannot lose.”’
https://nypost.com/2024/09/15/us-news/would-be-trump-assassin-idd-as-ryan-routh-58-of-hawaii-sources/
Just another nut job.
Not so sure he is a nut job. There are already all kinds of articles and tweets, etc online demonstrating very close collaboration with the Ukrainian military – some people are starting to portray a Lee Harvey Oswald vibe. Who knows?
Someone named Malcolm Nance also appears to be a very close contact. No idea who that is – other than multiple accounts on Twitter are making a very big deal about this.
It is also important to note – Facebook and Zuckerberg immediately blocked his facebook. While Twitter and Musk did not – We would know literally nothing about him were it not for Musk. Kinda like the first assassin. I think his account on twitter has now been closed but it was up long enough for people to get the whole thing.
What a curious tweet that came out literally within minutes of the event –
https://x.com/natsechobbyist/status/1835397234407436395
A wife of a candidate for the US House in Virginia. One would think they would be more circumspect. Especially if their husband was one of the main accusers in the Trump Ukraine impeachment attempt. What was that about Ukrainian military connections?
Was she really saying that it as time to go back to brunch? Once upon a time the attempted murder of an ex-President would have been a big thing. Twice would have had people hitting the panic button. Now? Nothing to see. Move along. Can you imagine what would have happened if somebody had taken a pot shot at Obama? Or is that different?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NNOrp_83RU
The Vindman’s are worthy of a follow on Twitter for their unhingedness. Is that a new word? It fits – they are truly nuts.
And
wow, wtf. Interviewed by the NY Times last year!
https://archive.ph/u2UQf
This Malcolm Nance? The name sounds familiar.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Nance
https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1835458832522268874
And now it appears The NY Times was celebrating his efforts to illegally procure Afghan recruits for the Ukrainian army…..
One does wonder how long that article will remain live online.
I do feel it is possible that there is more going on here than meets the eye.
WTAF????
Max Blumenthal has an article up on The Grayzone: “Alleged would-be Trump assassin recruited for Ukraine’s International Legion”. It includes a 10 minute video interview Routh did with Newsweek Romania in 2022. Could someone post the link, maybe archive it just in case? I don’t know how to do it.
Here’s that link, Lena. Good find-
https://thegrayzone.com/2024/09/15/suspect-trump-assassination-plot-recruited-for-ukraines-international-legion/
Seems that all assassination roads lead to Kiev.
He’s the poster child for western elites.
We have to be kind, and work together, and support each other…unless you’re Russian or think Russia may not be evil.
WTF
YT-DLP is what I use to grab videos for archiving, it can grab most anything; and there are some gui’s for it if you’re not up to command line stuff. I’m not familiar with the host GrayZone is using, but it isn’t YT so I’d hope its more reliable.
This guy had to have been on some lists, which raises more questions in my mind. Like the earlier attempt, this seems very odd.
I hope, but won’t hold my breath for, this will lead people to pausing and reflecting a bit and trying to figure out what the heck is going on in this country. But it’ll probably get a tidy story, and be quickly pushed out of sight.
Is ‘Israel’ using small nuclear weapons in Gaza and South Lebanon? (Al Mayadeen English)
The lede, Dr. Christopher Busby is part a mixed crew of investigative reporters and commentators from Lebanon and some film-makers investigating “Israel’s” use of enriched uranium in strikes on Gaza on Lebanon, and aim to follow up on the strange illnesses that are appearing on the battlefield.
This topic is outside of my lane, but I thought it would be of interest here. From Sept 6, forgive me if this has already been posted.
Neoliberal America, in a nutshell:
Therapy Can Be a Financial Burden. Try Telling Your Therapist That. (NY Times)
Ohio cats are preparing – with cuteness
https://x.com/Alphafox78/status/1834043747694203151
Have their little tails already been eaten?
I have to rely on the good sense of my editor on this one:
Maybe Trump has some idea of what it’s like to be a black man in America now? Small sliver glimpse?
If there’s thin ice, bet your bottom dollar I’ll find it and and bring my pogo stick pogo stick.