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Links 10/21/2024

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Patient readers, I came up a little short on Links today. Check back in a few for the full complement. –lambert UPDATE Finished (7:45am).

Lucky hamster is rescued from claws of a cat and scooped up into a pint glass by pubgoers Daily Mail

The ride of our lives: why the horse is crucial to human history Guardian

IMF chief warns of ‘unforgiving’ debt backdrop and low growth FT

Climate

World lags on 2030 nature goals headed into UN COP16 talks Channel News Asia

Encouraging study for ultra-deep geothermal fans Bud’s Offshore Energy (BOE)

‘This has been a year from hell’ – how farmers are facing up to the second worst harvest in history The Telegraph

Economics was never meant to be about the destruction of scarce resources, but that’s what it has become Funding the Future

Rockdale County to file federal lawsuit against BioLab after Conyers plant fire FOX5. Commentary:

Syndemics

As bird flu outbreaks rise, piles of dead cattle become shocking Central Valley tableau LA Times

Washington State: First Presumed Human Infections with H5 (n=4) Avian Flu Diary

* * *

Trends in Pediatric Hospital Admissions Caused or Contributed by SARS-CoV-2 Infection in England Journal of Pediatrics. “Infants are now the most affected age group by SARS-CoV2, at least partially related to having the least immunity to the virus, and are most vulnerable to respiratory illnesses.”

A multi-omics strategy to understand PASC through the RECOVER cohorts: a Paradigm for a Systems Biology Approach to the Study of Chronic Conditions (Provisionally accepted) Frontiers in Systems Biology. From the Abstract: “RECOVER formed an “OMICS” multidisciplinary task force, including clinicians, pathologists, laboratory scientists and data scientists, charged with developing recommendations to apply cutting-edge system biology technologies to achieve the goals of RECOVER.”

* * *

It would cost billions, but pay for itself over time. The economic case for air conditioning every Australian school The Conversation

China?

Over 20 Chinese listed companies become first batch to receive loans for share buybacks, increasing shareholdings Xinhua

Apple Secretly Worked With China’s BYD on Long-Range EV Battery Bloomberg

Pietra Rivoli on How We Get the Goods We Buy The Wire China

The Falklands War of 1982: Lessons for a Potential 21st Century China-US Conflict Over Taiwan The Diplomat

India, China strike border patrol pact that could ease ties, top official says Reuters. Commentary:

India

Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era The Print. Comparison:

Prabowo announces his ‘Red and White’ Cabinet, Sugiono named as Indonesia’s new foreign minister Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon Axios

Israel expands Lebanon assault, striking banks to hit Hezbollah’s finances NBC

‘No life left there’: The suburbs bearing the brunt of Israel’s strikes on Beirut BBC

UN peacekeepers say Israeli forces demolished observation tower in southern Lebanon Anadolu Agency

* * *

Nearly 1,400 illegal Israeli settlers storm Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque to celebrate Sukkot Anadolu Agency

Crowd of Palestinians helping ‘shredded child’ come under attack in Gaza (video) Al Jazeera. Meanwhile:

* * *

Iran’s Bomb is Real — and It’s Here Scott Ritter, Consortium News

Pentagon Leak Points to U.S. Discomfort Over Strength of Israel’s Potential Response to Iran Haaretz

* * *

US used Australian bases in bombing Houthi facilities in Yemen WSWS

Harvard donations drop sharply in wake of criticism over Israel protests FT

European Disunion

China Development Bank chief discusses joint projects in Hungary BNE Intellinews

New Not-So-Cold War

Azov Brigade recruits trained using NATO standards New Voice of Ukraine. Commentary:

Zelenskyy’s idea of replacing US troops in Europe with Ukrainians is inappropriate – NATO PA chief Ukrainska Pravda

* * *

Why is Ukraine’s army facing a desertion crisis? Al Jazeera

Zelenskyy convenes defence council meeting over medical commission handing out fake disability certificates, demands response from law enforcement Ukrainska Pravda

Decision on new model of basic military training to be made in December – Ukraine’s Armed Forces chief Ukrainska Pravda

* * *

Moldovans narrowly vote to secure the country’s path toward EU membership AP

The Western threat to Moldova’s future Thomas Fazi

* * *

Transcript of “Judging Freedom”: edition of 17 October Gilbert Doctorow

South of the Border

AMLO’s Surrender Phenomenal World

2024

I will have a post on Trump’s McDonald’s visit later today. –lambert

Trump Forced To Cancel Campaign Rallies For Next Two Weeks As Time Off Request Denied By McDonald’s Manager Babyon Bee. Commentary:

* * *

Elon Musk Veers Into Clearly Illegal Vote Buying, Offering $1 Million Per Day Lottery Prize Only to Registered Voters Election Law Blog

Why Elon Musk’s million-dollar presidential lottery is ominous Dropsite

* * *

Inside the Harris campaign’s blitz to win back Silicon Valley WaPo

What if it’s President Harris, but a GOP Senate? That’s her allies’ fear. Politico

Scoop: Mike Johnson’s tense text messages with Liz Cheney Axios

Billions in election bets raise the stakes of the presidential race WaPo

Digital Watch

Japanese firm demos tech that makes any object a capacitive touch surface — stuffed cat on display, works with wood, ceramic, and plasterboard, too Tom’s Hardware

Zeitgeist Watch

New Zealand airport causes stir with sign capping goodbye cuddles to 3 minutes Guardian

Guillotine Watch

Rise of the superbaby? US startup offers genetic IQ screening for wealthy elite: report FOX

Class Warfare

A Doc On How Amazon Workers Unionized Drew Critics’ Praise, But No Major Takers to Distribute Hollywood Reporter

Developing Countries Can’t Count on Manufacturing to Supercharge Growth Bloomberg

This American fruit could outcompete apples and peaches on a hotter planet WaPo

Antidote du jour (Hans Hillewaert):

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.

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134 comments

  2. Zagonostra

    >Rockdale County to file federal lawsuit against BioLab after Conyers plant fire FOX5.

    It seems like both state and federal environmental protection agencies are set up to protect the perpetrator and not the victim, Flint, Palestine, Love Canal, etc…

  3. Zagonostra

    >Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era The Print.

    Another narrative states that Western powers are using these accusations to destabilise India’s rise as a non-white, non-Anglospheric global power. According to this view, despite strategic, political, technological, and economic convergences with India, Western agencies are perpetually conspiring against India

    You really can’t understand the full scope/extent of how far this “conspiring against India” goes until you’ve understood the re-incorporation of the United States into British imperialism via the many mechanisms and personalities involved in that dynamic. Who is “five eyes” how did it come about, what are its antecedents? Good rabbit hole to go down, though not sure you’ll make it back up, at least not with the same geopolitical view of the world.

    Highly recommend New World Order: A Strategy of Imperialism by Sean Stone , Guido Preparata , et al.

  4. Mikel

    Over 20 Chinese listed companies become first batch to receive loans for share buybacks, increasing shareholdings – Xinhua

    And people say American influence around the world is fading…

    1. Kontrary Kansan

      Michael Hudson, an NC favorite, was very bullish on the Chinese not so very long ago, especially their banking system. I’d be interested in his current take on how things are going.
      Looks a bit like the Chinese got hold of the Powell memo and are taking it to heart.

      2. Mikel

        One of the selling points of the hyper-financialized USA is: “Hey, look at our stock market.”

        So I guess we’re about to be treated to a “let’s see who can make the lines keep going up” battle.

      3. CA

        “Looks a bit like the Chinese got hold of the Powell memo and are taking it to heart.”

        Obscure name-dropping presents an understanding problem for readers. There should be a specific reference provided to, and possibly a brief explanation of, Powell memo. *

        * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum,_1971

        “The memo of 1971, called for corporate America to become more aggressive in molding society’s thinking about business, government, politics and law in the U.S.”

        As for the Chinese taking the Powell memo to heart, Chinese planners will do just what is necessary to build a “socialist economic system with Chinese characteristics.”

      4. CA

        “Looks a bit like the Chinese got hold of the Powell memo and are taking it to heart.”

        This is an interesting comment, though entirely incorrect about China. What I realized was that the Powell memo, * coming after Milton Friedman’s New York Times essay ** on the need for corporations to pay no attention to social engineering, was meant to end any New Deal derived corporate responsibility bent.

        * https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum,_1971

        ** https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html

        What China is doing however is to make the stock market an attractive store of Chinese savings to further build corporate investment funds. Very high levels of public and private investment have been a key to Chinese development.

      5. CA

        https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=223,924,132,134,534,536,158,922,186,112,111,&s=NID_NGDP,&sy=1980&ey=2023&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1

        April 15, 2024

        Investment as a percent of GDP for Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Russia, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States, 1980-2023

        Investment as a percent of GDP, 2023

        Brazil ( 16.1)
        China ( 42.1)
        France ( 27.1)
        Germany ( 22.6)

        India ( 33.0)
        Indonesia ( 30.5)
        Japan ( 26.2)
        Russia ( 26.8)

        Turkey ( 29.4)
        United Kingdom ( 18.4)
        United States ( 21.3)

  6. Zagonostra

    Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon Axios

    Israel gave the U.S. a document last week with its conditions for a diplomatic solution to end the war in Lebanon and allow displaced civilians from both sides of the border to return to their homes, two U.S. officials and two Israeli officials told Axios.

    Not buying this “framing.” Both the U.S. and Israel are aligned on their war in the ME, Israel does not give the U.S. the “conditions for a diplomatic solution,” no Israel and the U.S. are joined at the hip/lip and will let it rip until the irresistible force of arms meets the immovable object of resistance, wherever it may come from.

    1. tegnost

      Good cop tells bad cop to make the zip ties around the prisoners throat less tight because it makes good cop uncomfortable.

    2. Anonted

      Every time I see, eg. Mearsheimer, and MacGregor wander into critique of an unaligned narrative, or display shades of political opinion, I’m reminded who these people are. They pose as a fifth column, but represent the apologist wing of the neocons. Perhaps that’s a tactical choice for them; but to the extent anti-Zionist sentiment exists within them, it is driven by their brand of patriotism, which has more in common with the Zionists than not. A recurring theme.

      1. Anonted

        As an aside, perhaps ‘apologist neocons’ are what the world needs, eh? You be the judge. No pun intended.

  7. The Rev Kev

    “Scoop: Israel gave the White House its demands for ending the war in Lebanon”

    Sounds completely reasonable to me. The IDF gets to go right up to the Litani river and patrol the southern half of Lebanon. They’ll probably demand that all civilians move from this region so that they can ID any Hezbollah members – with a few bombings of villagers to encourage them on their way. Not only will Israelis be able to go back to northern Israel, a few “security” settlements will be set up in this region on hilltops and by water sources to make sure that it is secure – for Israel. And they want the Israeli air force to have the right to overfly all of Lebanon? Is this so they can do sonic booms over town and villagers in the middle of the night to frighten people and their little children like they do to Palestinians? Nothing to do with the fact that the IDF are breaking their teeth fighting Hezbollah on their own turf is it and that their losses are mounting? But I’m sure that the Biden White House would consider this a reasonable proposal.

    1. ilsm

      IDF had the run of S. Lebanon for years! They were pushed out.

      “The Israeli occupation of Southern Lebanon lasted for eighteen years, from 1982 until 2000. In June 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon in response to attacks from southern Lebanon by Palestinian militants. ”

      Oct 23 1983 the Palestinians guerillas killed 241 US servicemen in Lebanon!

      Going back to 1983 is not progress!

      I doubt Hezbollah is any easier to oust than Hamas!

      1. The Rev Kev

        Relatively speaking, Hamas are the Weekend Warriors while Hezbollah are the Pros. And to be fair, the attack in 1983 against US servicemen was because the US came in and said that they wouldn’t get involved. But when the side they were supporting was getting hammered, the US Navy let loose barrages of fire to support them. So that attack was payback-

        http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/setting-the-record-straight-the-beirut-barracks-bombing/

        I remember at the time how John Glenn, the former astronaut turned senator, warned Reagan that if he sent US troops to Lebanon that they would return in body bags and he was unfortunately right.

      2. steppenwolf fetchit

        I believe the Marine Barracks Truck Bombing was carried out by Lebanese Shia militia movement people , not Palestinians.
        But my memory could be wrong.

        1. Martin Oline

          I am not sure either (and I could be wrong) but I recall the navy was throwing 2,000 pound shells into Druz villages in the Lebanese mountains just before this happened. After the bombing that stopped.

      1. Colonel Smithers

        Thank you, Lambert.

        How about the Awali river?

        Two of my employer’s clients have been approached for Gaza. One hears, but had yet to see, about south Lebanon.

    3. eg

      I don’t believe that an IDF incursion into southern Lebanon is sufficient to suppress the rocket attacks so that “Israelis (will) be able to go back to northern Israel.”

      1. Bilejones

        Did anybody ever really think that Europe trying to solve its jewish problem by vomiting it onto the people of Palestine would end well?

  8. FreeMarketApologist

    Re: “Encouraging study for ultra-deep geothermal fans“:

    Conceptually interesting, but it ain’t going to be cheap, or appearing in your neighborhood any time soon, as it relies on drilling technology that isn’t out of the lab yet, drilling at depths (>20km) of more than twice the current maximum depth ever drilled (the Kola Superdeep Borehole, now shuttered, only ~12km deep).

    But, it would be ‘carbon neutral’ once installed, which is where everybody is throwing their money.

    1. The Rev Kev

      Maybe they should save themselves the effort and only dig a hole about one kilometer deep. They can then simply throw all that money into that hole instead.

    2. GramSci

      Drilling down through Bud’s Breathless BS we come to:

      «Last year, Quaise scaled up the original MIT tests by 100x, drilling a hole 100 inches deep with a 1 inch diameter.»

      Only 2x10e6 inches to go! (assuming 2 5″ bore holes per well )

      Sounds like green-washed nuclear fusion research to me.

    3. MicaT

      I don’t pay much attention to articles like this because they just scream give me money.

      There is however new actual working geothermal design which requires nothing new. The issue with geothermal power is that you need 3 things. Hot enough rocks, fractured rock and water.
      This new generation of geothermal can make energy from dry unfractured rock by using standard fracking techniques.
      In short water goes in on one side, comes out the other side via parallel fracked pipes as steam. Liquid is condensed and then goes back in.
      Meaning all you need is hot rocks.
      And there is a lot of that in the US all within normal drilling depths.

      It’s pretty brilliant design.

      1. earthling

        Yes. We have current technology that can generate plenty of geothermal energy, we just need to apply it, carefully and not recklessly. I say that because fracking is not bad in and of itself, just when done too shallow, too carelessly, and in the wrong places.

        Drilling to 65,000 feet is just a ridiculous goal that would chew up much time and resources, and still be unrealistic to replicate. Meanwhile you could put in dozens of normal wells in the right places for a small fraction of the cost, and be producing useful energy very quickly.

      2. redleg

        Except that water isn’t inert. Hot rock will react with water and produce minearals (oxides, clays, etc.) which will precipitate out of the water, clogging up the formation and creating a hole that requires intensive re-development to stay open.

        What most people don’t realize is that constructing a well is only 1/2 to 1/4 (or even less) of the total cost. The rest is developing the well, which is necessary to get stuff into and out of it. Further, wells require redevelopment as routine maintenance especially when there’s a large pressure component, as this kind of well would have. As anyone who has any background in geochemistry knows, solubility is dependent on both temperature and pressure. This is one of those things that looks fine on paper but the reality is not nearly as good. To me it looks like a fun way to spend money and create clay.

        1. Martin Oline

          Thank you Redleg for the information about the reaction between hot rocks and water. It reminds me of the story of the first steamship to ascend the Missouri River in 1819. The Western Expedition drew the water used for the steam engine from the river. This water was very silty and rendered the boilers inoperable after fifteen hours of operation. This made the mechanics on board disassemble the boilers every night in order to clean it of the mud that had caked it up for operation the following day. Not a pleasure voyage.

          1. Henry Moon Pie

            I grew up about 2 miles from the Big Muddy. There’s a great quote that the Missouri is “too thick to drink and too thin to plow,” usually attributed to Twain.

      3. steppenwolf fetchit

        I assume that fracking mud, fracking fluid, etc. would be needed to frack the hot rock. So that any water pumped into it would come back up full of contaminants. And also any water escaping deep underground would carry the frackwaste with it wherever it goes.

        1. redleg

          Just like nearly every well, what comes out of a well is far and away a greater concern than what’s being put into it. This applies to this plan as well as any oil/gas/water well.

          The only exception is when a well is used to inject waste, and even then it’s not always bad because the waste might be cleaner than what is already there.

          At 10km depth whatever is injected, assuming it stays there, is effectively irrelevant. That’s not an aquifer even if there’s water there. Transporting it to the site and getting it staged for pumping downhole is exponentially more hazardous.

    4. ilsm

      MIT the ‘ancestor’ of Quaise used a DAPRA microwave generator to drill deep, direct energy overcomes the heat on solids issues.

      I suspect the technical dilemma is keeping the steam loop “open”.

    5. Vandemonian

      So let me see if I’ve got this right. We have a problem with global warming, and it’s getting worse. These guys have a plan to drill down towards the earth’s core, where it’s really, really hot, and move some of that heat to the surface.

      Sounds legit.

      1. OnceWere

        You’ve got to remember that the Earth absorbs far more energy from the sun in a day than human civilization uses worldwide in a year. All our activities wouldn’t amount to more than a rounding error in calculating the energy balance of the planet if it weren’t for the persistent and cumulative effect of carbon dioxide.

      2. steppenwolf fetchit

        If we could resuckdown all the excess heat-trapping gases that are currently in the atmosphere, all the heat brought up from below could eventually re-radiate out into space through a less greenhousy atmosphere after we had gotten what work we could get out of it.

        But that would only be true if we could re-lower the atmospheric heat-trapper gas-load back down to pre-industrial levels.

    6. heresy101

      “The Department announced that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has approved the Fervo Cape Geothermal Power Project in Beaver County, Utah, which will use innovative technology to generate up to 2 gigawatts (GW) of baseload power that, if fully developed, is enough to supply over 2 million homes.”
      A variant of horizontal fracking wells to reach enough heat to run a 24 hour generator.
      2 gigawatts is the output of Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.
      https://www.energy-pedia.com/news/usa/bureau-of-land-management-takes-major-steps-to-accelerate-clean-energy-geothermal-development-on-public-lands-197719

    7. CA

      https://english.news.cn/20240408/ae681538940c4e86ac9783f69ec59242/c.html

      April 8, 2024

      China’s deepest geothermal well drilled to 5,200 meters

      BEIJING — China’s deepest geothermal exploration well, Fushenre-1, has completed drilling in the country’s southern island province of Hainan, reaching a subterranean depth of 5,200 meters, China’s petrochemical giant Sinopec said on Monday.

      It set a new record for the deepest geothermal exploration well in China, according to the company.

      The successful drilling of the geothermal exploration well revealed the formation mechanism of geothermal energy in south China, and will help to improve the large-scale development and utilization of geothermal resources in the region.

      Geothermal energy is a stable and low-carbon form of renewable energy with large reserves and widespread distribution, said Guo Xusheng, chief geologist of Sinopec.

      The company is dedicated to exploring geothermal energy development, and has established nearly 100 million square meters of geothermal heating capacity and built several regional geothermal heating projects.

    8. XXYY

      If you drill down three or four layers of links, you get to the actual study, which is a Materials Science thing on how rock, granite in particular, behaves under the conditions theorized to exist at a certain depth within the Earth’s crust. Quite fascinating, esp. since they put together a rig in their lab that lets them study this in comfortable surroundings.

      I think the study itself is genuinely important work, although all these other science writers kind of ran with it well beyond where things are right now.

  10. bertl

    “Is Five Eyes destabilising India’s rise as non-white power? Idea is as old as Cold War era” The Print.

    The Anglos have great gift for f**cking everything up for themselves, however clear or simple the problem and it’s soluton may be, which has probably reached it’s peak amongst the 5I’s hierarchy and it’s satraps, and the donkeys beneath them. Satire, laughing at the cretinous pomposity of the Anglophone unreality is the only way to deal with it, as The Print so ably demonstrates.

    Luckily before eating breakfast, and catching me unawares as I glanced through this morning’s idiocy in the Guardian, a 5I holding if ever there was one, I came across a piece detailing our Sad Sack of a Foreign Secretary’s further reasoning on Putin which truly places satire in context, straight from the horse’s arse:

    In a statement, David Lammy said Britain was “leading the charge against Putin’s desperate and dangerous attempts to cling on to his energy revenues”. He added:

    “I have made it my personal mission to constrain the Kremlin, closing the net around Putin and his mafia state using every tool at my disposal.” Politics live with Andrew Sparrow The Guardian 4d ago12.00 BST 17 October 2024

    He too, like a latter day Cardigan, will lead the charge to disaster, leaving the UK economy a desert, it’s relation with the strongest military and the most powerful energy, industrial, extractive and technological economy not quite completely outside Europe irreparable, leaving Russia to look on laughing at our stupidity as it sits at the centre of the world economy of the Heartland, West Asia and the global South, , and then Lammy will make his way back to the foreign office to change for a champagne dinner from KFC in all his pomp, knowing that he is right and BRICS and the SCO wrong. But at least he does seem to recognise that he is an utter tool, as we Brits say.

    Little wonder that after a Full English, with the wonders of eggs, bacon sausage, black budding and fried bread and heavy on the HP, a dish with both taste and splendid feel of mouth, that Britain’s breakfast tables are now awash with vomit.

    1. pjay

      Yes. The point of this article is summarized in its concluding paragraph:

      “Anti-Westernism, a legacy of India’s colonial past and Cold War-era alliances, was once a dominant response in Indian strategic thinking. However, as global alignments evolve, it is crucial for India’s strategic reasoning to align with the new realities of international statecraft, particularly in relation to the challenges posed by China and its network of allies.”

      I realize that we all see what we want, or expect, to see when we read something like this article. Here is my summation:

      India once had a “colonial past” (but let’s skip over that history for now). Because of that, it’s fledgling attempts at “non-alignment” were open to cynical manipulation by the USSR and KGB, who were laughing behind the backs of those naive third-worlders like Indira Ghandi and all those anti-Western Marxist academics. The idea of Five Eyes destabilization is simply a conspiracy theory that reflects this distant history, held by the little brown people of India who are not as knowledgeable and educated as those at the “Europe and Eurasia Center of the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses” (every country has its deplorables after all). The reality is that, though the Canadian government and its Prime Minister have been a little impolite, the other Anglo nations like the US actually have our backs and are quite capable of solid diplomatic support. And anyway, *remember China*! Remember the problems we’ve had with the Chinese in the past. Now they are the real rising enemy which we should fear. The Five Eyes are on our side. They want to help us face this new imperial threat. Adam Schiff told us so!

      That’s what I saw when I read this piece. Did I miss something?

      1. MFB

        Yellow skin bad, brown skin good (for now), white skin best!

        Thank heavens we have put racism behind us, unless Trump wins of course (Trumpocalypse).

  11. SocalJimObjects

    “Prabowo announces his ‘Red and White’ Cabinet, Sugiono named as Indonesia’s new foreign minister”.

    There’s only a few names in there who matter, one of which is Sri Mulyani Indrawati. She was arguably the primary reason behind Jokowi’s successful presidency. At this point, she is pretty much untouchable, unless Indonesia were to falter really badly in a global economic crisis, and probably not even then because someone as sharp as her probably has a trick or two up her sleeve, ready to be deployed when the occasion arises.

    1. The Rev Kev

      A ‘Red and White’ Cabinet? Very patriotic sounding that as those are the colours of the Indonesian flag. Allah forbid that they get themselves a Traffic Light Cabinet.

  12. ChrisFromGA

    Hi ho, Silver!

    The barbarous relic’s cousin blasted through $34/oz, a level of some significance, as my Elliottician pointed out that after $33.15 it was likely to make an explosive move to the upside.

    Silver may act as a giant referendum on the Denarius shavers at the Fed. That Denarius in your wallet isn’t what it used to be – maybe like Aaron Rodgers, last night.

    1. Wukchumni

      Must be the Lone Ranger stocking up on silver bullets…

      More importantly, we’ve gone beyond the ancient Roman hyperinflation regarding the Denarius, which went from 25 Denarii equalling 1 Aureus to it taking 3,000 of them to do the trick.

      1. MFB

        Silver bullets are good for dealing with vampires; don’t know about hedge-fund managers though . . .

  13. Es s Ce Tera

    re: Iran’s Bomb is Real — and It’s Here Scott Ritter, Consortium News

    There’s also the possibility that a third party may have given Iran nukes. That was my theory. Given Israeli and American belligerence, given plans to invade all its neighbours, given Israel’s openly expressed intent to take areas which include Jordan, Syria, Lebanon and Egypt, possibly beyond, for Israel, and given the US and Israel’s genocidal intent and willingness to sacrifice non-combatants, it’s not difficult to see such a move as very logical and necessary at this point.

    Israel’s doctrine of preventive strikes against threats real and imagined was always a recipe for its self-destruction.

    2. Polar Socialist

      Or, Iran doesn’t have a bomb and Ritter is misjudging Iranian cliques having a discussion about their options in the future.

      Or, Iran has deemed that it actually has the capability of ending the Zionist regime with conventional weapons at it’s disposal, but they have to bait Israel to first and hit hard to justify the mother-of-all-retaliations.

      Or, they are trying to send a message to west that in the long run, it would be better for all if Israel was reined in now, since Iran can out-escalate Israel and it’s supporters.

  15. JCC

    Surveillance is now, apparently, de rigueur

    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-gps-tracking-of-teens-24-7-impacts-parent-child-relationships

    About half of parents in the U.S. say they monitor their adolescents’ movements via location-tracking apps, according to a study published in June 2023 in the Journal of Family Psychology. An additional 14 percent of parents who participated in the study claimed to use a tracking app while their child reported that they weren’t being surveill
    ed, indicating that the monitoring was done unbeknownst to the child.

    1. chris

      But what is also interesting are the kids are monitoring their parents in return. Things like Life360 work both ways. I’ve been with young kids on hikes or school activities who became distraught when they lost connection and couldn’t find their parents using a cell phone. Digital tethering between people is weird.

  16. Mikel

    Zelenskyy’s idea of replacing US troops in Europe with Ukrainians is inappropriate – NATO PA chief – Ukrainska Pravda

    Part of Z’s victory plan? Ha!
    Probably an escape plan for a bunch of the Nazis who Russia is going to be after. “Troops”…

    1. The Rev Kev

      I think that you might be right. Sounds like a plan to get visa-free transport for the Azov Brigade and all the other hard-right formations to get out and escape what they helped create in the Ukraine. Of course once in those western countries, they will be able to recruit locals to their cause who will eventually go into politics in each of those western countries.

      1. Mo's Bike Shop

        Dateline 2026: “Despite being given completely modern housing accommodations by NATO, liaison officers are confused by Azov’s ongoing complaints about the Living Room.”

      2. steppenwolf fetchit

        It can’t happen unless the EU governments want it to happen. Which would raise the question of why the EU governments would WANT it to happen.

        Perhaps we could call it Operation Paper Clip 2.0 to make it very clear what is being suggested here.

  17. sarmaT

    Decision on new model of basic military training to be made in December – Ukraine’s Armed Forces chief Ukrainska Pravda

    The Commander-in-Chief also heard a report on a pilot project that is already being implemented which provides for an increase in the duration of basic general military training from one to one and a half months.

    A game-changer pilot project.

  19. The Rev Kev

    “Moldovans narrowly vote to secure the country’s path toward EU membership”

    ‘The “No” vote had looked to be ahead right until the last few thousand votes were counted from the country’s large diaspora.’

    Say, isn’t that exactly how Maia Sandu got to be President in the first place? Must be more of those EU values at work I would be guessing.

    1. Colonel Smithers

      Thank you, Rev.

      That sounds like the French referenda where the results are swayed by the West Indies…

    3. Kouros

      My socialist and nationalist upbringing in a Romania run by the commies under Ceausescu, fills me with hope that maybe re-unification (third time) will eventually happen and might be lucky this time.

      The way some sections of the internets talk about Oct 7 as if prior days, years, and decades do not exist and thus everything Israeli do is legit is similar with the talk on Moldova conducted by one side.

      I say stuff the ballots to the gilts.

      Half the population has Romanian citizenship, and there are so many Moldovans in the west because they have Romanian passports. Likely Moldovans working in Russia have in majority Russian and Ukrainian roots and were also not able to obtain Romanian passports (one had to prove they had ancestry in Moldova prior to 1940).

      Also, for me, a Romanian from the west of Romania – Romania is culturally very regionalised, with distict but minor diferences, united by a common language, when I hear talk about Moldova, I think mostly about Moldova west of river Prut, where I worked in field campaigns doing forest management planning for several forest districts. And I had colleagues that went in similar campaigns east of the Prut, which everyone in Romania calls Basarabia, which is territory Moldovans recovered in thirteen-fourteen centuries from the Mongols and their left overs, Tatars.

      While in late seventeen, early eighteen centureis, the two Romanian independent principalities have fallen under Ottoman vessalage (keeping their rule, christianity, etc – no mosque allowed, whilke a third of Hungarian Kingdom became an ottoman province, the other third Austrian province and the more independent third, Transylvania joined in vessalage the other two romanian principalities). The Turks, Russians, Austrians, Poles, and even Swedes fought among eachother on these territories. Ultimately the Russians became the stronger party and in 1812 they were really ready to take as a big prize the entirety of Moldova, after beating the Turks. Again, it wasn’t theirs to give in the first place. Negotiations stalled and the Rus was in a hurry to prepare for the French invasion (unbeknowst to the Turk) and ultimatelly just Basarabia was relinquished.

      It came back in 1917 and was taken by soviets in 1940 (Ribentrop – Molotov) and recovered by Romanians in 1941 (the reson they joined the Germans). Soviet victory made another swing. This time, a full blown brainwashing policy was carried on, trying to convince Moldovans that they don’t speak Romanian, but a different language and have a different history and culture than Romanians. Internationally nobody bought that in linguistic circles since it was ascientific.

      There is no difference between the dialect east of Prut from west of Prut, same clothing, same music, same dancing.

      Moscow’s Igor Moyseiev Ballet has some (actually they even take classical Romanian composers inspired from songs not from Moldova) to showcase, and there are plenty from Romanian/Moldovan side. Spot the difference:

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mlff3xKgy0
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd8hhs1Zoc4

      Romanians, Chinese, Koreans are three people still separated nowadys. From my part I say, by hook or by crook, if Romanians get reunited, is a plus. The nation will survive EU and EU ultimate desintegration.

      1. Martin Oline

        Thank you for the information Kouros. I believe you were also the source for me about a year ago at M of A regarding a short history of Wallachia. There are certain regions of the world where information is just not common knowledge in the US.

      2. Robert Gray

        > Romanians, Chinese, Koreans are three people still separated nowadys

        Those peoples may be separated but at least they (some of them) have their own state(s), like the Macedonians too. Not so for the unfortunate Kurds and Sámi.

  21. The Rev Kev

    ‘Arnaud Bertrand
    @RnaudBertrand
    This is an excellent and all too rare good news: India says it’s agreed to a patrolling deal with China to mutually disengage from the border conflict.’

    Washington DC: ‘Nooooooo!!!’

    1. Mark Gisleson

      “…the Democrats, so long as they can take you for granted, they will take you for granted.”

      Russell Dobular quoting someone else. Good coverage of the Al Smith dinner. Thanks for the link.

  23. t

    Good to know cows that died of bird food are being put back into the food chain as chicken feed.

    I think brains and spines are still not allowed because of mad cow disease. But maybe not.

    The diseased carcasses are brought to Baker’s rendering site in Kerman, where the bodies are “recycled” and turned into “high protein” animal feed and fertilizer, or rendered into liquid….

    1. Wukchumni

      All of those Bessies that have expired in Godzone on account of bird flu have punched their ticket into heaven, and there is no need to worry, for being with their creator solves everything

    2. Mo's Bike Shop

      They are keeping the California Condors away from these bloated carcasses, right? Pics by Lambert the other day (week?) showed these dead cows just lying by the roadside.

  24. Wukchumni

    Gooooooood Moooooorning Fiatnam!

    Dien bien french fry, was what the pundits called the stunning reversal of a billionaire reduced to a menial job, the Fiatnamese having the upper hand in a 1 sided wage battle orchestrated not too far from the milkshake machine.

  25. ilsm

    Doctorow!

    Long discussion about Zelenski, former president “past his pull date”. He is a Kievan US puppet equivalent of Nguyen Kao Ky!

    Reminded me of VP Harris’ position expressed in the sole debate: Ukraine (SSR) borders are sacred per her “rules and norms” to be imposed on the world.

    The Ukraine SSR was devised out of whole clothe by Stalin et al as they were rationalizing the administration of the Soviet Union.

    We have a presidential candidate assuring the longevity of Stalin’s administrative regions!

    VP Harris might as well go back to Brandenburg and offer them Frederick the Great’s Prussia.

  26. The Rev Kev

    “US used Australian bases in bombing Houthi facilities in Yemen”

    Wouldn’t be surprised. Our government – no matter which party – is very secretive about any such things like B-2s staging out of Oz or military support for Israel. And our media will never be impolite enough to actually ask them about such things.

  27. EGrise

    Regarding the “chefbae” video of the chef cooking for Israeli soldiers, I have to share the best response in the twitter replies:

    Zone of Pinterest

      1. psv

        I’m taking it the twitter response EGrise mentions is riffing on the 2023 film Zone of Interest, directed by Jonathan Glazer, which is set in a fine home directly outside of Auschwitz. Of course they didn’t have Pinterest back then…

  28. Carolinian

    Ritter

    “In June Iran informed the IAEA that it was installing some 1,400 advanced centrifuges at its Fordow facility. Based upon calculations derived from Iran’s on-hand stockpile of 60 percent enriched uranium hexaflouride (the feedstock used in centrifuge-based enrichment), Iran could produce enough highly enriched uranium (i.e., above 90 percent) to manufacture 3-5 uranium-baed weapons in days.”

    He’s saying they would be the gun style Hiroshima bomb design that the Manhattan Project scientists were so sure would work that they didn’t even bother to test it.

    Who has the escalation dominance here?

    1. The Rev Kev

      The irony is that when the new President – Masoud Pezeshkian – took office in Iran, that he wanted to play nice with the west and was willing to negotiate perhaps a new nuclear deal. But because of what has been happening the past few months and all the attacks on Iran, that Iran may now become a nuclear power on his watch.

  29. Giovanni Barca

    In regard to the Fazi article, why is the author concerned that Romanian speakers are calling their language Romanian and not “Moldovan?” Limba moldovă este limba româna. It is as if Zelensky declared that there were Kharkivian and Donbasic languages instead of Russian. To his credit, I guess, he hasn’t spouted that particular absurdity. We have another case of Soviet era villainy being held up as sacrosanct by the western enemies of the USSR. Moldova is a bite Stalin chomped out of Romania and “Moldovan” is a classic example of totalitarian 2+2=5. On the other hand, the facts on the ground point to Transistria being Russian and the Gagauz will be a tiny minority in whatever state their part of Bessadabia ends up in. Moldovan statehood is not something western folks should get their speedos in a bunch over.

    1. Kouros

      Transnistria is Russian. In 1924, the Soviets declared that sliver of land as their SSR Moldova, to keep their claim on what was west of the Dniester.

      In 1945 got it finally back, with interest, Northern Bucovina, which went to Ukraine. Also to Ukraine went Budgeak, the southern part of Moldova east of Prut, the side that juts out west from Ukraine on the Black Sea coast. Moldovans were left with Transdnistria. I would happily exchange it for Budgeak.

    2. no one

      Yea, right. Stalin woke up one day and decided to punish Romania for no reson whatsoever. It’s not like you guys poked the bear and got poked back. And yet, you are doing it again expecting different results.

      1. Kouros

        Get informed a bit before starting to waste energy and time.

        Stalin got a bit of this and a bit of that (Finland, Romania, Poland, etc.) following the Ribbentrop- Molotov treaty of non- agression (the non agression was refering only to Germany and Russia, not their victims). He did it to creat some buffering in the expectation of the war to come with Germany.

        Romania joined Germany in attacking USSR to regain its lost territory. It didn’t go for Lebensraum or to fight communism or anything else, but to reclaim its historical territory and liberate Romanians under Soviet occupation.

        After the war, those Romanians and that republic was the only one within USSR subjected to intense propaganda and gaslighting, trying to convince them that they are different from Romanians, they are Moldovans with a different language, culture, and history. Despite the fact that Romania always had at least twice as many local Moldovans (territory here: the way we speak of french from Burgundy or Normandy or Gascone, etc) as in the Moldovan Republic.

        Stalin acted exactly in alignment with the Melian dialogue: “the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must”.

        1. hk

          Didn’t Moldovans, after the fall of USSR, officially declare themselves Romanians (and declare Romanian their national language (or, should I say, their national language Romanian?), adopt Romanian national anthenm as their national anthem, etc)? I’ve always been a bit confused as to what exactly has transpired in the past 30 years. It didn’t seem like it was necessarily Soviet gaslighting that led to the peculiar attitude they seem to have developed about who they are since 1990s, given how enthusiastic they seemed to be to embrace their Romanianness right after USSR ceased to exist.

        2. no one

          Sure, buddy. You should try to sell me a bridge in Romania, along with the narrative of you being the good guys, and victims. I’m sure you got in bed with Banderites again just by pure coincidence. Just keep on poking the bear because you can, and the bear will do what it must.

  30. The Rev Kev

    “Zelenskyy convenes defence council meeting over medical commission handing out fake disability certificates, demands response from law enforcement”

    This all has to do with the constant search for fresh meat for the front. I was reading earlier how this guy named Gennady Beybutyan got his ticket punched in the Ukraine. He was the head of a volunteer group that worked with police to round up “recruits” by beating up evaders and acting as general thugs. They were of course exempt from recruiting themselves but they also ran a side business where if people paid them off, they would look the other way instead of recruiting them. And they were in a turf war with other groups doing the same. Nice place-

    https://www.rt.com/russia/605990-ukraine-murdered-help-draft-officers/

    1. Zephyrum

      Joins the Spruce Goose in the one and done club. At least the aircraft returned its pilot back to the starting point.

  32. Mikel

    New Zealand airport causes stir with sign capping goodbye cuddles to 3 minutes – Guardian

    It’s been said: It must be rough for The Onion lately…

    That “Max Hug Time 3 Minutes” sign and logo is begging to be put on a T-shirt. Comedic effect is off the charts.

  33. Mikel

    Inside the Harris campaign’s blitz to win back – Silicon Valley WaPo

    I once said a few years ago: it’s not out of the question (never say never) for California to one day become a swing state again.
    It was for a long time. It could throw a wrench in the Democrats own version of a “Southern Strategy” that they’ve been running.

    1. neutrino23

      As a California resident I can say that once we got rid of most of the Republicans things got a lot better. It would have been interesting if the minority group had decided to compete by trying to come up with better ideas for improving the state, improving eduction, reducing homelessness. Instead, their idea was to just throw sand in the gears at every opportunity and then complain that government wasn’t working.

      Currently, the Republicans in California don’t come across as a serious party. They don’t have any ideas for dealing with the complex problems we face. They just want to throw mud and inflame emotions with hot button topics like abortion and fears of the “deep state”. For US Senate they are running Steve Garvey, a retired baseball player with no political experience. They are clearly advertising that they have no hope of winning. They are not even trying.

      1. Wukchumni

        Living in the red bastion of Cali-the Republican stronghold if you will, you tend to see the same signs over and over again on the roadways, the Fox touch of beating them over the head with a message, until it sticks in their noggin real good.

      2. SocalJimObjects

        I resided in the Bay Area for a really long time, enough to witness the decline of that part of California into something resembling a third world country. A year before I returned to Asia for good (after Covid), while trying to catch a ride home from Downtown SF, I had the unfortunate experience of stepping into a BART carriage where a homeless person had taken a big dump on one of the seats, a horror show that I still remember till today.

        Would the Republicans have done better? I don’t know, but if that’s one example of “things got a lot better”, I think I made the right decision by abandoning ship when I still could.

  34. Tom Stone

    I find it curious that predictions about future housing demand and fossil fuel use ignore the fact that we have passed the peak of human population.
    Even the most optimistic estimate I can come up with shows a reduction of the Human population by 2050 of 50%.
    Covid and climate change alone guarantee this and I would be quite surprised if US life expectancy exceeded 50 years by that date.
    Longer for the wealthy…much shorter for the poor.

    1. Mikel

      “I would be quite surprised if US life expectancy exceeded 50 years by that date.”

      Would that be the like the Final Solution for cutting SS benefits?

    2. RookieEMT

      Where are you getting these numbers?

      Im trying to remember the haunting Club of Rome estimates and we are at the peak of human industrial capacity and glory. In the next few years industrial capacity begins to shrink.

      The human population somehow keeps overshooting for another decade. It won’t collapse by 50% by 2050.

      That only happens in like say… the 2080’s. Going purely by memory.

    3. Kouros

      To me that is a tad pesimistic, if one doesn’t consider WWIII as a main cause of decline, but only climate change…

      Keep in mind there is a baked in latent growth (life expectancy is high in developed countries and some parts of the world still churn babies like popcorn).

  35. JBird4049

    >>>this is realllllly evil and wretched in every way my god…jaw dropped

    Fuck me, and before my coffee, too. Aside from having to actually clamp down on not puking before breakfast, I got a memory flash of this photograph. If Miss Chefbae wants to advertise her support, well, that is her right. It would be hypocritical of me to deny it especially as I am a free speech absolutist, more or less, but I find it hard to be very supportive of her exercising it.

    Well, by chance I have a copy of the Eichmann in Jerusalem that I took from the shelf last night, as I strangely find it hard to sleep nowadays, on my bedspread right now…

  36. Jason Stuart

    Reality like exploding pagers and walkie-talkies is leaving espionage fiction in the ashtray of history. Why not forget about fictional agents like Bond and Bourne dashing to save the world from disaster and forget about CIA and MI6 officers reclining on their couches dreaming up espionage scenarios to thrill you. Check out what a real MI6 and CIA secret agent does nowadays. Why not browse through TheBurlingtonFiles website and read about Bill Fairclough’s escapades when he was an active MI6 and CIA agent? The website is rather like an espionage museum without an admission fee … and no adverts. You will soon be immersed in a whole new world which you won’t want to exit.

    After that experience you may not know who to trust so best read Beyond Enkription, the first novel in The Burlington Files series. It’s a noir fact based spy thriller that may shock you. What is interesting is that this book is apparently mandatory reading in some countries’ intelligence agencies’ induction programs. Why? Maybe because the book is not only realistic but has been heralded by those who should know as “being up there with My Silent War by Kim Philby and No Other Choice by George Blake”. It is an enthralling read as long as you don’t expect fictional agents like Ian Fleming’s incredible 007 to save the world or John le Carré’s couch potato yet illustrious Smiley to send you to sleep with his delicate diction, sophisticated syntax and placid plots!

  38. Gloria

    Re Mexico elites:

    Picture deeply religious Roman Catholics?

    Carlos Slim, Mexico’s richest and Claudia Sheinbaum are Lithuaniam Jewish people and distant relatives.

    Is this some bizare form of colonialism?

  39. Ignacio

    RE: Moldovans narrowly vote to secure the country’s path toward EU membership AP

    The title has been changed now to “Moldova narrowly votes to secure path toward EU membership after accusing Russia of interference”. The result was too narrow: about 50,4% yes to 49,6% No which doesn’t look like like a strong mandate to join the EU. This of course has resulted in interference claims. I guess here everybody is trying to interfere though some interferences are better than other interferences…
    I personally believe that with such a divided outcome the process shouldn’t go on. But here we are. The EU is going to suffer the same disease as NATO turning itself into a hen house which does nothing to the interests of (many) of its members and has ever diminishing global influence. Cocoricoooooo! Cock-a-doodle-doo! kikirikiiii!

    1. Kouros

      Not that different from the 1995 Quebec referendum, which was quashed by 50.6% of votes…. I do suspect issues with those ballots and I am sure the ballots were stuffed in Moldova, but I say good for them. Historically, culturally, spiritually they don’t belong in the Slavic space but with Romanians (and the rest of Moldovans). An island of Latinity in south eastern Europe. It is distinct.

      Many powers came and went away over Romanians, and they still endure. What is one more…? We’ll have it as a snack. And to lighten the mood, one would read Caragiale’s short stories, making good fun of the Romanian westernization after 1850s…

  41. timotheus

    Just saw the new doc by Josh Fox, raker of fracking muck in two earlier films, called “The Edge of Nature” in a tiny and 3/4 empty Manhattan cinema. It’s about his attempt to recover from Long Covid through isolation in the Pennsylvania woods. He said afterward that he can’t get distribution and that all the festivals have rejected it except one in Brazil where it won all the prizes. He also said that the festivals are now absorbed by the industry and are no longer independent, which I didn’t exactly understand but can imagine.

  42. Polar Socialist

    Speaking about “Israel’s Potential Response to Iran”, Russian media is saying Iranian media is saying that Iran expects Israel to response tonight. Just in time for the BRICS meeting in Kazan tomorrow. Iran has already decided on targets it will hit in re-retaliation.

    In other news, Israeli tanks started to roll into Lebanon, while Hezbollah send warnings to Israeli workers in Haifa harbor about an imminent missile strike – by hacking Israeli phone network. E. J. Magnier claims that the Resistance has killed 6 Israeli colonels and 5 majors in two weeks.

  43. thousand points of green

    The screenpage showing that article about pawpaws also offered a link to another article titled ( and subtitled) :
    ” Native Americans’ farming practices
    may help feed a warming world
    ‘We’ve had 5,000 years of farmers trying out different strategies for dealing
    with heat, drought and water scarcity. We need to begin to translate that.’ ”

    Here is the link to that article. https://archive.is/DBQxe

    And just as that link offers the article the article itself offers up many clickable links to further information about dry hot-country agriculture and horticulture, much of it interesting from a permaculture perspective.

  44. ChrisFromGA

    Blinken is going on his eleventh trip to the Middle East, ostensibly to try and revive dead-cat ceasefire talks. Timed, no doubt, in a pathetic attempt to try to influence the election. I think this is worthy of satire.

    Eleventeenth time

    (Sung to the tune of, Spirit in the Sky by Norman Greenbaum)

    When Gazans die and they lay ’em to rest
    Gotta act like we care in the west
    While we mow ’em down to die
    We’re gonna send Blinken for the eleventeenth time

    He’s going off to Israel for the eleventeenth time (eleventeenth time)
    That’s where he’s goin’ to tell more lies (more lies!)
    When he goes, and Gaza gets laid to rest
    Don’t you know that his shirt will be well-pressed

    Prepare to cringe, you know it’s a fraud
    Bibi’s got a friend in Blinken
    Just so you know, it’s another lie!
    He’s gonna reprimand him with a wink in his eye!

    He’s going off to Israel for the eleventeenth time (eleventeenth time)
    That’s where he’s goin’ to tell more lies (more lies!)
    When he goes and Gaza gets laid to rest
    Don’t you know that his shirt will be well-pressed

    Bibi’s a sinner, but he just wants to win
    He’s got a friend in Blinken
    He’s Bibi’s beard for genocide
    He’ goin’ off to Israel for the eleventeenth time

    He’s going off to Israel for the eleventeenth time (eleventeenth time)
    That’s where he’s goin’ to tell more lies (more lies!)
    When he goes, and Gaza gets laid to rest
    You’re gonna see a clean shirt that’s well-pressed!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2msh0jut2Y

    1. SocalJimObjects

      Is there a McDonald’s in Gaza? If not, there’s at least 3 in Beirut, so he can steal the Donald’s thunder by manning the cashier and fries station in one of those shops. Heck, perhaps it will convince Hezbollah that the US is really being very sincere this time around.

        1. The Rev Kev

          (squinting eyes) And just what sort of meat will be in those Israeli McDonald’s burgers served in Gaza.

  45. Wukchumni

    Take me out to the ballgame
    I’ll be one in the crowd watching on tv
    Buy me some free agents
    And hope they get their hacks
    It isn’t as if they hit .200
    They’ll have to give the money back
    For its root root for the home team
    If they don’t win there’s always next year
    At the old ballgame

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