Links 9/5/2024

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Beekeeper inspired by grandfather’s long lost hives BBC

‘Dancing’ raisins − a simple kitchen experiment reveals how objects can extract energy from their environment and come to life The Conversation. From May, still fun.

US economic activity falling in more districts, says Fed’s Beige Book Anadolu Agency

Is the “Everything Bubble” About to Pop? Charles Hugh Smith, Of Two Minds

Climate

Water Vapor Feedback Arctic News

Research for climate-resilient milch cattle takes a vast step forward Business Standard

#NatlPrep: National Preparedness Month 2024 Kicks Off Avian Flu Diary

Syndemics

Study puts understanding of long COVID and vaccination into question Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

Incidence of diabetes after SARS-CoV-2 infection in England and the implications of COVID-19 vaccination: a retrospective cohort study of 16 million people The Lancet. From the Abstract: “Elevated incidence of type 2 diabetes after COVID-19 is greater, and persists for longer, in people who were hospitalised with COVID-19 than in those who were not, and is markedly less apparent in people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19.”

COVID shots no longer free for uninsured, could cost up to $200 ABC7

* * *

When Comedy Speaks Truth About Covid The Guiness Pig. For example:

Stranger: Why you wearing a mask
Me: I’m getting into character for a film I’ll be starring in
Stranger: What character are you playing
Me: A survivor of a zombie apocalypse
Stranger: Sounds like a cool sci-fi movie
Me: It’s actually a documentary

China?

China to give Africa $50 billion over next three years, says Xi Jinping France24

China’s new back doors into western markets FT

Commentary: Can the US and China avoid a catastrophic clash? Channel News Asia

In Brief: Is the United States Preparing For War with China? War on the Rocks

Bangladesh launches drive to recover looted weapons and Bangladesh factories close after protests: Police Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

It Is Not Hamas That Is Collapsing, but Israel Haaretz. Commentary:

90% of Gaza cease-fire, hostage deal has been agreed on: Senior US official Anadolu Agency

* * *

At Columbia, a new academic year brings a renewed focus on protests Christian Science Monitor

Opinion: University of Colorado regents’ resolution on “intifada” undermines free speech and inclusivity Colorado Sun

European Disunion

Germany faces jobs crisis ‘of a thousand cuts’ FT

Dear Old Blighty

Ministers STILL don’t know how many buildings are wrapped in the same cladding as Grenfell – as interactive map reveals dangerous sites in YOUR area Daily Mail. On Grenfell, see NC here, here, here, here, and here.

Hospital Inquiry hears health boss tried to stop whistleblower BBC. Infection control.

New Not-So-Cold War

A True Shock? Economist Jeffrey Sachs Reveals Secret at Heart of U.S.-Russian Relations Jeffrey Sachs and Matt Taibbi, Racket News. Important.

* * *

Will Kursk be a sideshow that turns into tragedy for Ukraine? Responsible Statecraft

Ukraine’s losses outweigh Kursk gains, as Russia on cusp of taking Pokrovsk Al Jazeera

Ukraine’s gamble against Russia risks becoming blunder The Hill

Zelenskyy says Ukraine plans to indefinitely hold Russian territory it has seized NBC

* * *

False text about dead Swedes in Poltava was spread in Russian media (Google Translate) SVT Nyheter (MT)

* * *

Zelenskiy reshuffles the government, sacks energy boss BNE Intellinews

Zelenskyy suffers huge backlash as reshuffle triggers power-grab accusations Politico

* * *

American restrictions on hitting Russia are hurting Ukraine The Economist

Ukraine’s Ban on Moscow-Linked Church Will Have Far-Reaching Consequences Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

BRICS enables Russia to displace US farmers Glenn Diesen, Glenn’s Substack (MT).

The Caribbean

Blinken to visit Haiti as US-backed mission to take on gangs struggles The Hill

2024

Kamala Harris softens Biden’s capital gains tax increase proposal

The Foreign Policy Establishment Licks Its Chops for Harris The American Conservative

Liz Cheney, a Top G.O.P. Trump Critic, Says She Will Vote for Harris NYT

Calling Harris A Communist Is An Insult To Communism Caitlin Johnstone, Caitlin’s Newsletter

* * *

Trump’s not only willing to talk about his policies, but he’ll talk to anyone, everyone, at any time FOX

* * *

How would eliminating taxes on tips work in practice? Philip Greenspun’s Weblog

The Supremes

Searching for the Best Opinions: Text Analyses from the 2023/2024 SCOTUS Term Empirical SCOTUS

Digital Watch

Why we need to check the gen AI hype and get back to reality Venture Beat

Admins wonder if the cloud was such a good idea after all The Register

Healthcare

‘Right to Repair for Your Body’: The Rise of DIY, Pirated Medicine 404 Media

Everybody Hates a Tourist

Dangerous travel for the ‘added thrill’ is on the rise as visitors flock to high-risk countries FOX

Group Discussion: Banning Social Media Influencers From Small Towns Ordinary Times

Tom Kerridge’s ‘tourist trap’ fish and chips in Harrods is slammed by disappointed customer whose £70 meal included ‘food leaking water’ Daily Mail

Japanese Tourists at the Dancehall JSTOR

Imperial Collapse Watch

The End of Western Pluralist Democracy Craig Murray

Class Warfare

The Wisdom of Kandiaronk David Graeber, The Anarchist Library

* * *

How U.S. union leaders worked with the CIA to undermine democracy MR Online

* * *

Republican Pro-Labor Cosplay On Labor

The Rise of “Pro-Labor” Conservatism Exposed by CMD

* * *

A Taste of Working-Class Environmentalism with a Hospital Cook from Albert Lea Workday Magazine

Tree of Peace, Spark of War JSTOR

Antidote du jour (Mdf):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

42 comments

  1. Antifa

    MORE THAN HE IS OWED
    (melody borrowed from The Old Man Down The Road  by John Fogerty)

    Our votes are always up for countin’
    The crazy right wing’s on his side
    He is a con man living fancy free
    He’ll take the plunge and sell a lie

    This man is dead inside
    He is his father’s son
    He simply can’t be satisfied
    He takes more . . . than he is owed

    He spent his whole life countin’ nickels
    His parents wrecked him heart and soul
    He keeps a trophy wife right by his side
    And she treats him like a toad

    This man is dead inside
    Each moment is a power play
    He simply can’t be satisfied
    He takes more . . . than he is owed

    (musical interlude)

    There’s no one in there to discover
    There’s no one in there to be found
    His Daddy said he’s not a winner
    And Donald can’t forget that sound

    This man is dead inside
    He is his father’s son again
    He simply can’t be satisfied
    He takes more . . . than he is owed

    He takes more . . . than he is owed

    (Ahhh . . . He got you, he got you, he got you)

    This man is dead inside . . .

    Reply
  2. Mikerw0

    Maybe it’s me, and maybe this has been said here already. Is “not taxing tips” more neoliberal nonsense to perpetuate a system where employers don’t have to pay their employees properly?

    Reply
    1. Randall Flagg

      Hey, for all I know if this was to happen, I’m going to ask my company to just give me a big “tip” at the end of the year. Side work, just a dollar for services and materials rendered and tip the rest. You KNOW this is how it’ll go for CEOs and the like.
      By the way, wasn’t this Trump’s proposal first? Then Kamalala proposes it? I guess she is unable to come up with her own ideas?

      Oh, don’t forget to tip NC this week if you can.

      Reply
  3. The Rev Kev

    “The End of Western Pluralist Democracy”

    It’s all becoming very blatant and they are not even trying to hide it. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova was just saying that in relation to the new sanctions on Russia that it ‘testifies to the irreversible degradation of the democratic state in the United States and its transformation into a totalitarian neoliberal dictatorship.’ I would add two points to that. That it is not these sanctions causing this transformation but is a general trend and second, that it is not just the United States that this is happening in.

    https://www.rt.com/news/603538-us-neoliberal-dictatorship-russia/

    Reply
  4. LawnDart

    Re; 2024

    Just posted at RT:

    Putin backs Kamala Harris (VIDEO)

    Moscow will support US Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming presidential election in November, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday while speaking at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

    Putin told the audience that he admired the Democratic Party candidate’s “infectious laugh” and that he respected current President Joe Biden’s choice to endorse her as his successor.

    https://www.rt.com/russia/603553-putin-endorses-kamala-harris/

    Reply
    1. The Rev Kev

      Are the Democrats going to label that as ‘Russian interference’ in the US elections? It would be hilarious if Trump came out and said that Putin prefers Kamala because she is so weak or something and is the Kremlin’s choice.

      Reply
      1. Stephen V

        We should start an office pool Rev! And bet how long before this happens…tick tock…I’ll give it until end of bizness tomorrow.

        Reply
        1. LawnDart

          It was too good not to share, so I did.

          In response, a Blue-No-Matter-Who writes:

          This is RT a real trustable media source. Russia have invaded a country. Russia has been paying tenet media nillions to push pro russian propaganda and certainly others. This same media source unequivocally says Ukraine is an enemy to the US and Russia is innocent and good. Trump, Vance, Elon and a good chunk of maga largely say the same.

          It’s right in front of your eyes so easy to see and you say the self imposed dictator tells the truth when he says he wants Kamala. Meanwhile Trump flat out denied Ukraike aid , compliments Putin and Russia can invade whoever the hell they want including Nato allies. Putin said he wants to eliminate ukraine and I can bet Trump wouldnt have lifted a finger and would have green lighted it.

          I would pay good money to watch Putin, Lavrov, Medvedev, and Zakharova host a comedy-hour round-table– these guys are great!

          Reply
    2. YuShan

      It’s so funny. Obviously Putin is saying that to undermine Harris, but the Dems cannot argue that an endorsement of Harris is election interference.

      Reply
    3. DJG, Reality Czar

      LawnDart:

      I am blocked from RT, so I searched for another reliable clip.

      https://www.youtube.com/shorts/lm2SRUMsnTw

      This doesn’t seem like an endorsement to me. He talks about Biden as his favorite, who is now incapacitated, and then he talks about Harris’s laugh. “As if all is good.” The audience laughs at that point. Putin is joking, somehow. I note the mention of sanctions.

      I don’t hear an endorsement here. It’s like saying, “But Macron is easy on the eyes.”

      Reply
  5. Terry Flynn

    Re COVID vaccination. I’ve always been extremely pro-vax but after the original traditional type shots, like most Brits I got migrated to the mRNA Pfizer one for subsequent ones. I had what I strongly suspected was my 2nd COVID infection immediately after. I took off the tin foil and told myself to shush.

    Two days ago my dermatologist (who is the only one of 3-4 specialists who can “see and document” symptoms that are widely acknowledged to be Long COVID sequelae so I am keen not to be discharged) let something slip that I think she wasn’t meant to. When we entered the “talk shop” bit of the discussion – and she was already embarrassed because she’d had to reschedule my appt due to getting “stuck” abroad over the bank holiday weekend and couldn’t get back into UK so was more open than usual – I asked if there was any “out-of-the-box thinking in dermatology concerning treatment for COVID as opposed to the default advice of “don’t get another infection”. I’d reminded her of when she got my scalp biopsied in 2020 and the junior surgeon guy joked that all the biopsies were post-covid patients and he showed me his fresh scalp scar. She made a curious comment about re-infections with “some being vaccine related”. Then she stopped and changed the subject and I got the feeling she’d said something she shouldn’t. I wouldn’t recount an anecdote like this normally but it was so odd and accorded with some other evidence. I’m gonna stick with good masks and I’ve just had my text message asking me to book my annual flu jab, which I’ll follow up pronto. Just another curious interaction I’ve had with the covid docs at my hospital which I wouldn’t have mentioned had there not been a somewhat related link today and fact I’m generally very very pro-vax.

    Reply
    1. chris

      Well, that Cleveland Clinic study and I think a Finnish report have been hanging out there for almost two years now. Both show that the probably of additional SARS2 infections increases with more boosters. The studies weren’t done in a way that gives you insight as to why that might be. And as far as I know no one is following up on those results.

      Reply
      1. Terry Flynn

        Yeah I’m very wary of posting this kind of anecdote, particularly since people like Lambert and Yves are ahead of the curve in a way I can no longer be (because I no longer have institutional access to a load of journals).

        I keep anecdotes to myself unless NC posts a piece that has strong enough evidence to suggest “my experience may in fact reflect something real” so I’ll be willing to call it anecdata. I also have 20 years of experience of watching medical consultants very very closely, seeing what they DO NOT say, just as much as what they do say. Many of them don’t realise that whilst they are watching me as the patient in all the ways the general public aren’t aware of but medics are (via watching your demeanor, gait, blah blah blah), I am also watching very closely what my doctor is saying, not saying, typing fast to get on record, ignoring etc. Plus the dumb ones allow me to see which NHS system they’re reading over their shoulder…..that’s how I learnt the GI surgeon, although initially annoyed that my GP used the “two week cancer pathway” to get me fast-tracked for endoscopy, then read what the ED consultant wrote about me and my lifetime health issues, raising red flag that there may be something serious somewhere else (even if not my stomach). I recognise NHS IT systems cause I’ve used the things!

        Thus my “other” medical record – the secondary one that officially doesn’t exist but in reality all honest docs know does – definitely has warnings like “this guy was a successful whistle blower, not medic but reads the literature and tread carefully”. Fine, I can live with that.

        Reply
  6. Zagonostra

    Samira Mohyeddin
    @SMohyeddin
    This is Israel’s longest-running English podcast, Two Nice Jewish Boys. Hosts Naor Meningher and Eytan Weinstein call for wiping out every single Palestinian in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

    Jimmy Dore featured this story on a live Rumble podcast last night. He had two Jewish Podcasters who he frequently has on his show on to interpret what the “Two Nice Jewish Boys” said that has people stirred up. What struck me is how one of his Jewish guest contradicted himself by saying that Naor and Eytan are “broken,” that they are extreme, sick, and “abnormal” and then he goes on to say that they are able to publicly broadcast these morally depraved views because many, if not a majority, of Israeli’s shared those sentiments.

    So which is it? It seems JD’s guest, being Jewish, where characterizing the sentiments of the “two nice Jewish Boys” as deviant, and on the other hand saying they were shared by Israeli society. When deviant views are shared with the wider social group, are they deviant anymore? Reminds me of often quoted saying that “It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”

    It’s also curious that JD switches to Rumble from Ytube so he won’t get a strike. But as JD’s guest point out these “Two Jewish Boys” have a Ytube channel where they can spout off on wiping out Palestinians and inflicting torture on them.

    Reply
    1. vidimi

      it’s not a contradiction. He’s an ‘extreme, sick and abnormal’ human being but also a perfectly standard Israeli.

      Reply
  7. The Rev Kev

    “BRICS enables Russia to displace US farmers”

    Actually quite an interesting article with its implications of how by using trade sanctions, that the US are being crowded out of the wheat market as a result and a large part of wheat sales are now going ‘dark.’ Mexico too is seeing the folly of relying on the US for it’s wheat supplies and acting accordingly. But there is one important factor not mentioned by the author and that is that Russian wheat is not GM wheat. If there were bad side effects of consuming GM wheat, would we ever hear of it? The Russians took a look at it for planting and said ‘nyet’ so what do they know that we don’t?

    Reply
  8. vidimi

    Re “False” (quotation marks mine) text about dead Swedes in Poltava was spread in Russian media, Sweden’s Foreign Minister just resigned without offering an explanation.

    Reply
    1. JohnA

      Swedish print media have not reported on the alleged deaths of Swedish advisors in Poltova, as far as I can see, scanning the main headlines. The official media ‘gossip’ reason given for the resignation of the Foreign Minister is that he was fed up of the Prime Minister encroaching on his territory, as it were. Who knows? But a strange coincidence to suddenly resign yesterday.

      As for SVT, Swedish Television, it is as propagandist as the BBC when it comes to Russia, Ukraine, NATO etc.

      Reply
      1. Trees&Trunks

        Tobias Billström should be locked up in a dungeon and the keys thrown away for either treason or for being a foreign agent. You have a look at the pictures, even on the government website (have a look before they remove evidence), and a closer look at the pin. The man was foreign minister for Sweden, but most pictures show him wearing a pin with the Swedish and the Ukrainian flag. What kind of human garbage does that? You are there to defend the interests of Sweden abroad but you are waiving a Ukranian flag. They cannot be that stupid in the Swedish MAF that they mix the two flags up, having the same colours but different patterns, can they? How come the Swedish Security Services do not take care of him?
        Pure insanity.

        https://www.government.se/government-of-sweden/ministry-for-foreign-affairs/tobias-billstrom/

        https://www.google.com/search?q=%22tobias+billstr%C3%B6m%22&sca_esv=6cc63e0e79611188&rlz=1C1FKPE_deDE994DE994&udm=2&biw=2133&bih=1012&ei=HqbZZq3AAdaMi-gP84KqsQY&ved=0ahUKEwitx_736KuIAxVWxgIHHXOBKmYQ4dUDCBE&uact=5&oq=%22tobias+billstr%C3%B6m%22&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiEyJ0b2JpYXMgYmlsbHN0csO2bSIyBBAAGB4yBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBgyBxAAGIAEGBhItQlQowFY3QdwAXgAkAEAmAFBoAF-qgEBMrgBA8gBAPgBAZgCA6ACiAHCAgUQABiABJgDAIgGAZIHATOgB4gJ&sclient=gws-wiz-serp

        Reply
  9. Aurelien

    It’s just been announced that Macron has finally asked someone to try to form a government: Michel Barnier. As expected, he’s chosen a figure from the Right, whose job will be to try to forge an alliance between Macron’s group and what remains of the traditional Right in French politics, excluding the RN. This does not mean that France has a new government (or Prime Minister), just that Barnier is the first to be entrusted with the task of putting one together. Chances are he will not succeed or that, if he does, the government will be quickly overturned. The Left will protest of course, but they’ve played this very badly from the start anyway. Interestingly, there are demonstrations planned for Saturday to try to force Macron to appoint a person from the Left to do this job (it took them two months to organise that), and it will be interesting to see whether they now cancel the demonstrations.

    NC readers may recall Barnier’s name. He was the lead EU negotiator for Brexit, and showed great skill and patience in dealing with Theresa May. He’s generally respected as intelligent and experienced (he’s been a Minister) and will not be intimidated by Macron. He was also talked about as a Presidential candidate in 2022, and if he had stood he would have had a decent chance of winning.

    Reply
      1. JohnA

        Macron wont be standing next time, as France has a two-term limit on presidents. However if Barnier is subsequently perceived as a threat to US interests, some scandal will be unearthed to eliminate him, as with Jupe and Strauss-Kahn.

        Reply
    1. vao

      As I suspected, Macron is attempting to implement solution (1) from the two somewhat feasible approaches.

      With the macronists, LR, centrists, and various right wing politicians, Barnier could count on 234 votes; success will therefore depend on how many socialists (59 in total) Barnier will be able to poach.

      However, I also noticed that this would be an unstable coalition, so once that government collapses because of the internal political strain, as Aurelien (most probably correctly) surmises, Macron will probably go for solution (2), i.e. an alliance with the RN. Because of the RN inexperience in governmental affairs, Macron probably hopes to circumvent or manipulate RN ministers.

      In any case, I do not believe he will ever let LFI and other left-wing parties near the Hôtel Matignon.

      Reply
  10. mrsyk

    From the Sachs/Taibbi piece, a very useful roundup,
    Here is not the place to revisit all of the foreign policy disasters that have resulted from US arrogance towards Russia, but it suffices here to mention a brief and partial chronology of key events. In 1999, NATO bombed Belgrade for 78 days with the goal of breaking Serbia apart and giving rise to an independent Kosovo, now home to a major NATO base in the Balkans. In 2002, the US unilaterally withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty over Russia’s strenuous objections. In 2003, the US and NATO allies repudiated the UN Security Council by going to war in Iraq on false pretenses. In 2004, the US continued with NATO enlargement, this time to the Baltic States and countries in the Black Sea region (Bulgaria and Romania) and the Balkans. In 2008, over Russia’s urgent and strenuous objections, the US pledged to expand NATO to Georgia and Ukraine.

    In 2011, the US tasked the CIA to overthrow Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia. In 2011, NATO bombed Libya in order to overthrow Moammar Qaddafi. In 2014, the US conspired with Ukrainian nationalist forces to overthrow Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych. In 2015, the US began to place Aegis anti-ballistic missiles in Eastern Europe(Romania), a short distance from Russia. In 2016-2020, the US supported Ukraine in undermining the Minsk II agreement, despite its unanimous backing by the UN Security Council. In 2021, the new Biden Administration refused to negotiate with Russia over the question of NATO enlargement to Ukraine. In April 2022, the US called on Ukraine to withdraw from peace negotiations with Russia.

    That’s quite a list.

    Reply
    1. Zagonostra

      Good article and useful roundup, as you say. Yet, missing historical context. I think to truly understand what happened in the 90’s in U.S./Russia relationship, you have to go back at least to Lord Palmerston who dominated British politics from 1830 to 1865, during the height of the British Empire. A key aspect of Palmerston strategy was to keep the U.S. from becoming a global power and supplanting the British empire, he supported the Confederate side in the U.S.’s Civil War, whereas, Russia supported the North. And most people are familiar with Mackinder’s Heartland Theory, that necessitates keeping Russia divided and weak. What is less known, and I’ve just begun educating myself on, is how the British empire morphed/infected and converted the U.S. into aligning with its, the Brit’s, global geopolitics. Control over the U.S.’s financial system, bribes, assassination, all forms of chicanery are involved. I may be wrong, but I of the many interviews and appearances that’ve I’ve listened to Professor Sachs, he doesn’t much talk about the nexus between “British Israel” and the current Ukraine/Israeli conflcts.

      Webster Tarpley, before he lost his mind to TDS, did some good work on this AngloAmerican history. Anton Chaitkin is another historian that covers the topic. Sadly both these men have baggage associated with LaRouche, and his “movement” which the NYT time characterized as “cult-like” and at times they stray, in my view, off the mark.

      Reply
    2. JohnA

      The west tried to overthrown the Bolsheviks after the Russian revolution, even to the point of invading Russia. US foreign interference there did not start in 2011!

      Reply
  11. chris

    I have no doubt that Mr. Stiglitz believes what he’s saying in this Guardian opinion piece. I just don’t understand why he expects others to believe he has any reason other than personal bias for what he says he believes will happen if Trump is re-elected.

    Stiglitz goes on about fossil fuels making the US weaker, but declines to comment on Kamala’s commitment to fracking. He mentions tariffs as a Trump phenomenon but fails to mention Biden and Harris’s similar support, in addition to the massive growth of sanctions that affected the price of goods in the US during the Biden administration. But then, the whole article is a hallucinatory effort, given he admits up front that he has no details about what Kamala would do, because she hasn’t provided any. Yet he is certain Trump would be a disaster. I have no idea how someone with thinking this muddled ever earned a Nobel prize.

    Reply
  12. ChrisFromGA

    Re: 90% of Gaza cease-fire, hostage deal has been agreed on: Senior US official

    (The link leads to a story about the Grenfell Tower fire.)

    Sounds like another self-serving lie from the US. It is well known that in negotiations, unless everything is agreed upon, nothing is agreed upon. These “talks” have been stuck since June at the same sticking points, the Philadelphi corridor and Hamas not trusting that Israel won’t just continue the war as soon as the hostages are freed.

    The lie serves to:

    1. Run interference for the Harris campaign
    2. Dissuade Iran and Hezbollah from launching attacks

    Meanwhile:

    With Hopes Frayed in Gaza Cease-Fire Talks, Mediators Plan a New Push

    Groundhog Day!

    Reply
  13. Zagonostra

    >The End of Western Pluralist Democracy Craig Murray

    Starmer has always been MI5-controlled. The fact that, while a Tory government was in power, the Crown Prosecution Service destroyed all the key documentation revealing Starmer’s involvement in the Assange, Savile and Janner cases (the last being far more important than generally appreciated), shows the extent to which Starmer is a protected Deep State asset.

    Let that sink in for a moment, “MI5-controlled.” To what extent, then, is Starmer CIA controlled? I think it’s time for people to inquire into who controls these “Deep State assets.” Who are the controllers? Supertramp’s “Crime of the Century” runs through my mind…

    Now they’re planning the crime of the century
    Well, what will it be?
    Read all about their schemes and adventuring
    Yes, it’s well worth a fee

    So roll up and see
    How they rape the universe
    How they’ve gone from bad to worse

    Who are these men of lust, greed and glory?
    Rip off the masks and let’s see
    But that’s not right, oh, no, what’s the story?
    But there’s you and there’s me

    That can’t be

    Reply
    1. vidimi

      Murray begins by writing “No major western leader is ever again going to be able to speak about human rights or ethical values, without attracting howls of derision.”. Would that it were so simple.

      With our system of electoral suffrage, each new figurehead starts with a clean slate, so that even Kamala Harris, as VP in the current regime, can claim that she would be radically different while claiming to do everything the same.

      Reply
  14. The Rev Kev

    “American restrictions on hitting Russia are hurting Ukraine”

    The Economist is sure keen of widening the scope of this war and is taking up Zelensky’s talking point of removing all restrictions on the Ukrainians. And of course they would have Ben Hodges talking in favour of this as he is a neocon nut job. The problem remains that without total American involvement, those missiles cannot fly as the Ukrainians cannot do so themselves. But as it stands, the US is slowly dumping the war in the Ukraine on the Europeans and bailing out. An example of this was when Biden refused to have US personnel service those F-16s – even though it is the US which manufactures them – but said that it was up to the European to service them. The Europeans are so screwed.

    Reply
    1. ChrisFromGA

      The Economist should stick to the economy as their subject matter and not try to LARP as war correspondents.

      Maybe they could start by explaining to their readers why Western sanctions on Russia have been a total failure.

      Reply
  15. Mikel

    Why we need to check the gen AI hype and get back to reality – Venture Beat

    “Every time you prompt an LLM, your query is broken up into “tokens”, which are the seeds for the response you get back — also made of tokens —and you are charged a fraction of a cent for each token in both the request and the response….”

    (I started laughing)
    Then it comes with claim that thru this pulled out of the a – – metric that ChatGPT generates $400,000 a day.

    This isn’t about tech or opinions or alleged “fears” about tech. That rhetoric is part of the self-serving hype for suckers.

    The criticism is about the BEZZLE..

    Reply
  16. The Rev Kev

    “Zelenskyy says Ukraine plans to indefinitely hold Russian territory it has seized’

    Zelensky is taking the credit for this operation but the Russians are already taking back that land. You look at it on a map and it reminds you of one of those cauldrons that the Russians are so fond of creating. The whole thing has become a fiasco so it surprises me that Zelelnsky is still trying to get credit for it. No doubt when it all falls apart he will blame the army commander – Syrsky – for it all even though that guy was also kept out of the planning. Say, does the UK need a third Ukrainian Ambassador by any chance? :)

    Reply

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