My Beloved Monster by Caleb Carr review – when a cat saves your life Guardian
Louisiana students who solved the Pythagorean theorem discover nine more solutions to it Times-Picayune
Climate
Death and destruction as torrential rains lash Spain Al Jazeera. Commentary:
Nothing to see here.
All entirely normal
Near Valencia earlier today where well over 200mm of rain has fallen in a few hours.pic.twitter.com/JfjLvWHQV3
— Dave Throup (@DaveThroup) October 29, 2024
Still no snow on Japan’s Mount Fuji, breaking record France24
Threat of foodborne pathogens is growing with climate change, experts warn CBS
How Global Capital Killed Climate Science George Tsakraklides
Syndemics
Australia: COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report Asian Flu Diary
Inquiry warns distrustful public wouldn’t accept COVID measures in future pandemic The Conversation
China?
Roar of Shenzhen economic engine reflects upgrade ambitions, sets ‘good example for China’ South China Morning Post. Commentary:
Got invited to a crab dinner (local delicacy of Kunshan outside Shanghai) with three upwardly mobile couples born in the 70s. I asked whether they feel they’re living through an age of prosperity (盛世 shengshi). All said yes pic.twitter.com/GsQw9Rjc8A
— William Han (@W_T_Han) October 28, 2024
China’s Embattled Evergrande NEV Sinks as Bailout Talks Collapse YiCai
US finalises restrictions on AI, semiconductor investments in China Al Jazeera
Chinese crew blasts off on ‘dream’ mission to Tiangong space station France24
China leveraging Laos to link up its Southeast Asian economic interests South China Morning Post
India
Canada alleges Indian minister Amit Shah behind plot to target Sikh separatists Channel News Asia
India Is Going to Miss the TB Elimination Deadline Set by the Modi Government The Wire
Japan
LDP Losses: October 2024 Japanese Election Ends the “Neo-1955 Setup” Nippon.com
What does a shocking parliamentary loss for Japan’s long-ruling party mean? AP
Election leaves Japan in a mess Responsible Statecraft
Japan’s Nuclear Power Revival Threatened by Lack of Workers Bloomberg
Africa
Syraqistan
Israel’s Defense Chiefs Say Fighting in Gaza and Lebanon Has Run Its Course. Does Netanyahu Agree? Haaretz
The Jabalia doctrine: Genocide as a counterinsurgency policy Middle East Eye
* * * What satellite images reveal about Israel’s strikes on Iran BBC
Israel took out primary Iranian air defenses, left it ‘essentially naked’ – report Times of Israel
No Foreign Warplanes Have Entered The Skies Over Tehran Moon of Alabama
* * * Who is Hezbollah’s new leader Sheikh Naim Qassem? France24
Setting Up In Beirut Craig Murray
The New Great Game
Back to Russia’s orbit? Georgia’s EU bid on hold amid claims of ‘stolen’ election France24
European Disunion
The EU Throws a Hand Grenade on Software Liability Lawfare
Old News? New Left Review. Austria.
Power Broker — How Erdoğan Balances Serbs and Albanians War on the Rocks
Dear Old Blighty
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin is creating the conditions for Russian victory in Ukraine The Atlantic Council
With Limited Options, Zelensky Seeks a Path Forward for Ukraine NYT
Ukraine facing ‘grim’ situation in Donetsk Oblast, as Russia claims capture of Selydove Kyiv Independent
North Korea Gaining Modern Combat Experience Fighting Ukraine Is A Big Problem The War Zone
* * * Ukraine and Russia in talks about halting strikes on energy plants FT
EU increases electricity import limit for Ukraine before winter Ukrainska Pravda
* * * Kremlin says German arms factories in Ukraine are legitimate targets Semafor
Russia’s Putin launches drill of nuclear forces simulating strikes Al Jazeera
St Petersburg Travel Notes: installment one Gilbert Doctorow
BRICS
The U.S. Shouldn’t Dismiss BRICS Challenge Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
2024
Trump’s foreign policy plan: embrace unpredictability FT
Project 2025 Creators Have a Plan to ‘Dismantle’ Pro-Palestine Movement Dropsite News
Deploying on U.S. Soil: How Trump Would Use Soldiers Against Riots, Crime and Migrants NYT
The Way Through is Donald Trump for President Ordinary Times
The Final Frontier
‘First tree on Mars:’ Scientists measure greenhouse effect needed to terraform Red Planet Space.com
After Pause, NASA’s Voyager 1 Communicating With Mission Team NASA
Halloween Pre-Game Festivities
Sports Desk
Yikes:
This is absolutely insane behaviorpic.twitter.com/SYIKDQKhIt
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) October 30, 2024
Homelessness
Swept Away ProPublica. Commentary:
Police say it is one of most elaborate encampments they have ever seen, with a mini-power grid, including solar panels, and multiple home appliances.
The encampment was discovered last week by the City of Edmonton and Edmonton Police Service joint response encampment team. It… pic.twitter.com/F4YkOsUTCt
— Edmonton Police (@edmontonpolice) October 28, 2024
And:
Capitalism (from its inception until now) requires forced labor, which has historically come in two forms: chattel slaves and wage workers. The former were/are literally captured and held in bondage, and the latter are created by restricting the masses from living off the land.. https://t.co/iBBjpEBWao
— Hampton Institute (@HamptonThink) October 30, 2024
Imperial Collapse Watch
Great Power Politics Adam Tooze, London Review of Books
Class Warfare
Portland Grocery Workers Strike Together Labor Notes
Boeing And Striking Workers Restart Talks A Week After Union Voted To Reject Contract Offer Forbesd
When Do We Have Free Choice? Nautilus
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus antidote:
Hundreds of salmon are now spawning in Klamath River tributaries above the 4 recently dismantled dams for the first time 60 & 112 years. It is exciting and bodes well for the future. Still, it will take several years for fish runs to recover & there is still much more work to do. pic.twitter.com/AVSsPCfo2J
— Yurok Tribe (@TheYurokTribe) October 29, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Age Of Bronze
(melody borrowed from Jack and Diane by John Mellencamp)
Without pity, these Jews lust for land
This lebensraum crew they tend to get way out of hand
Murder and theft IS their repertoire
The land that they want is always found right next door
If their past is their prologue everyone agrees
Don’t let them draw your country’s map, they have the land disease
They’re not very good at backing off—river to the sea
Using guns or high fences, what you have they will seize
Jews keep mowin’ lawns—they follow a book from the Age of Bronze
Jews keep mowin’ lawns—they follow a book from the Age of Bronze
(cut that lawn)
Rounding up Moms and kids—their favorite opponents
Shrapnel and lead because they can’t die clean
Then they lose their point man—Hamas runs a vigilance committee
‘Left or right, maybe, and our tank is burning’
(Say your prayers . . .)
It’s no fun mowin’ lawns—Hamas donnybrook means our squad is gone
It’s no fun mowin’ lawns—Hamas donnybrook means our squad is gone
Wherever we walk—whack a mole
Can’t tell where it’s from, can’t find their hole
Our armored machines don’t work like we planned
We’re not safe in our cocoon, or in our caravan
Jews keep mowin’ lawns—they follow a book from the Age of Bronze
Jews keep right on mowin’ lawns—they follow a book from the Age of Bronze
Without pity, the Jews lust for land
This lebensraum crew has gotten way out of hand
From Goggle AI:
Lebensraum: The term was first used in 1901 by German geographer Friedrich Ratzel, who believed that human migration was necessary to gain resources and territory. It was a key part of Nazi ideology and policy, and was used to justify military conquests and racial policies.
z.B. “Der Vaterland braucht mehr Lebensraum!” (William Burroughs voice).
This article popped into my inbox this morning, and I wanted to find a way to shoehorn it in as I found it so interesting. It’s in regards to the Austro-Hungarian empire and mentions bit on multiculturalism.
https://novum.substack.com/p/there-once-was-an-empire
For a tour de farce of the Habsburg empire’s multiculturalism, just read The Good Soldier Schweik, but prepare yourself in learning the players by reading the Radetsky March first.
Thanks, I will check it out, knowing literally next to nothing on it :)
Humbly report, Sir
You will love it, war has never been so absurdly covered-
Seconded, I really enjoyed the NC recommendations of the Good Soldier Sweijk and also of Kaputt.
We really should compile a reading list, like the song books!
For the Austrian Parliament, you could start in English with Mark Twain’s “Stirring times in Austria”. The main focus is Otto Lecher’s 12 hour filibuster, “the longest flow of unbroken talk that ever came out of one mouth since the world began”.
But for a good account of the positive side (from somebody who had no reason to admire the Austro-Hungarian system), there is Grillparzer’s 1848 epigram (inspired, I think, by the Hungarian uprising)
Good suggestion. That reminds me: I had a couple of excellent Czech beers at the Good Soldier Schweik restaurant pub in Prague some years ago.
Peschel, Voelkerkunde, p.21:
This is from 1874. So much for AI.
God almighty, thanks for that.
Can we please NOT use AI as a ‘reference’ here?
Thank you. I also thought I’d read a reference to the word being used before 1901.
I was headed to the bookshelf…
What Israel is doing is genocide.
What you are doing – by conflating Israeli actions and all Jews – is, to put it mildly, unhelpful.
One of the reasons NC has remained useful is the excellent comment moderation. I am befuddled that the above comment was approved.
We have moderation tripwires. We do not begin to have the resources to moderate all comment and review them before letting them through. So your comment is based on a false premise.
Second, the opening stanza of the song makes clear it is about Zionists (“these Jews”). If you had been keeping track, “mowing the lawn” is an Israeli practice, as so using that in the chorus again points to Israel:
https://racismandtechnology.center/2024/01/08/mowing-the-lawn-the-weaponisation-of-water-and-technology-in-palestine/
Thanks for the clarification on moderation resources.
The switch from “these Jews” to “Jews” in the remainder of the comment is what triggered my concern about ascribing Israeli actions to Jews more generally. The Jewish members of my family who are active in JVP are not “mowing the lawn” – quite the contrary, they are opposing it.
(Somehow this comment ended up on another post by (my) mistake)
Respectfully, even if Antifa hadn’t changed the last line from the first, to read “the Jews” instead of “these Jews”, theirs is a comment I could never show to my anti-Zionist Jewish friends. It would harm those relationships. And that’s a shame. I vouch for NC and often share links with sympathetic souls on the left and the right. I cringe to think that some might see that comment and have reason to not come back, or have an excuse to dismiss the important content at NC as something it’s not.
Sadly, one must add that Jewish scripture goes to great lengths to approve and encourage the utter destruction of their enemies, especially in “their land” of Judea. Even though lots of other people have lived there over the past few thousand years.
In Jewish scripture, enemies are Amaleks. Non-humans. They are so despised that not only their women and babies but even their every last animal must be killed, which Yahweh scolded King Saul for failing to do. It is no mistake that IDF soldiers make celebratory videos where they describe the Palestinians they have killed as Amaleks.
This is all passed along to Christians in the Old Testament. Many Christians today encourage Israel to conquer the Middle East and rebuild their Temple so that Jesus will come back. That steady encouragement is a big help to the current Israeli regime.
Any scripture that says kill all your enemies and their animals is promoting the law of the jungle.
Not all Jews are religious (Jewish identity is very complex; it is common to be of Jewish background and culture but not adhere to the faith) and among those who are, most (in my experience) recognize that the things you are talking about are not to be followed.
I find it interesting that instead of saying “yeah, maybe I went too far”, you doubled down on depicting Jews as a monolith of genocidal intent.
This ‘stump’ states unequivocally that “the law of the jungle” appears to be a thematic historical human reality. That is, it is nothing new under this sun and on this planet (the following is from Wiki):
“Fingers and ears were cut off the bodies for the jewelry they carried. The body of White Antelope, lying solitarily in the creek bed, was a prime target. Besides scalping him the soldiers cut off his nose, ears, and testicles-the last for a tobacco pouch …”
“I saw one squaw lying on the bank, whose leg had been broken. A soldier came up to her with a drawn sabre. She raised her arm to protect herself; he struck, breaking her arm. She rolled over, and raised her other arm; he struck, breaking that, and then left her with out killing her. I saw one squaw cut open, with an unborn child lying by her side.”
“I saw the bodies of those lying there cut all to pieces, worse mutilated than any I ever saw before; the women cut all to pieces … With knives; scalped; their brains knocked out; children two or three months old; all ages lying there, from sucking infants up to warriors … By whom were they mutilated? By the United States troops …”
Or, “My dear Menelaus, why are you so chary of taking men’s lives? Did the Trojans treat you as handsomely as that when they stayed in your house? No; we are not going to leave a single one of them alive, down to the babies in their mothers’ wombs–not even they must live. The whole people must be wiped out of existence, and none be left to think of them and shed a tear.”
So I guess I don’t understand. So you’re saying that Jewish scripture is particularly genocidal, and implicitly, genocidal in a way that Christianity and Islam for example are not? Yes, I know about Amalek and its utter brutality, but your comment in defense is a complete reduction of Judaism to a single chapter. There isn’t a single western religion, of course, that doesn’t collapse under the same treatment. As a Jew myself who can see that the Israelis have literally lost their minds and are committing a kind of national suicide in their savagery, I think the objections here by others are nonetheless valid. I think the points they’re making are simply that this is delicate territory.
Delicate territory?
As delicate as the many thousands of little Arab children who did not understand why they were without limbs, bleeding, crushed, shattered?
These two topics do not equate. One is armchair nitpicking about offending some unknown parties, and the other is wholesale bloody murder of tens of thousands of unarmed parties that is specifically blessed by scripture and that scripture is quoted by the murderers every time they kill.
Um, which one of these parties are you concerned about hurting their feelings?
“Japan’s Nuclear Power Revival Threatened by Lack of Workers”
Because most of Japan’s nuclear workers are still up at Fukushima dealing with the 2011 nuclear mess?
Perhaps not are, but were.
The ones still there are easy to find. Just wait until nightfall and look for those glowing in the dark
Fukushima’s nuclear reactor is still shut down, and I don’t see many people volunteering to go there from other prefectures to work a dangerous job. I think the explanation is pretty simple, public opinion turned against nuclear power thereby necessitating the shutdown of many reactors, and as a result a lot of people were laid off and some simply retired, and now 10 plus years later, finding experienced bodies to do the work has become a big challenge.
Adding to this: the technology to complete the cleanup at Fukushima Daiichi doesn’t exist yet, and there has been talk of creating an entirely new research university to train new PhDs to figure out this technology. The Japanese government has been sponsoring collaborative research initiatives (e.g. NICP) to try and stimulate this.
Given all the sexy new energy tech being explored now, I wonder how many grad students would hitch their career wagon to a legacy industry with such a severely tarnished reputation (to put it charitably)? No wonder the Japanese are reaching out to overseas talent.
For those who prefer news stories to tweets on X:
https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/other/village-like-forest-encampment-in-edmonton-renews-concerns-over-homeless-supports/ar-AA1tacWI
In some fashion, the encampment reminds me of Mesa Verde NP, a carefully hidden away living space that would shield you from enemies like say, the Edmonton PD.
It sounds like the economic system is creating a class of homeless people. But people don’t like to see homeless people and so they are being chased off the streets. Probably find too that offered shelters are overcrowded and can be dangerous. So these people are doing the only thing that they can – move into woods out of sight of the authorities so that they can put together some sort of life for themselves. So of course the authorities go into those woods to destroy their encampments.
What a waste of resourcefulness by the authorities – the residents found a way to be
self-sufficient (albeit w/a few filched goods)
Why not find a place for them to re-locate? might even cost less than the awful shelter system
rhetorical ? I know
a damn shame
looks to me like people that have picked themselves up by their bootstraps
Wrong boot straps! Those are anarchist boot straps!
Wouldn’t that be levitating?
Seems to me that they had constructed houses/homes for themselves so of course it must be destroyed so they can again be homeless. I fail to see the logic. “Society” was doing nothing for them. They did something for themselves. Initiative is forbidden. Yeah, I know laws and rules and regulations and they-are-acting-in-ways-that-I-find-uncomfortable-and-scary. But what are the people who have been declared “surplus” to do? How are they to survive? Any alternatives out there?
The worst nightmare for the authorities is to see independent settlements outside the System. The Statists in the West hate self-sufficiency more than any other “ideology” (i.e., anarchy). As an anarchist/libertarian I view the State as the chief enemy of mankind–though I know human beings need to be told what to do by stronger humans and the stronger ones love forcing people to do what they don’t want to do–it’s kind of an S&M thing. This is why I believe, eventually, people will see the fraud of the authoritarian State structures we’ve created through a re-discovery of spirituality or be in the position of seeing that:
How will “re-discovery of spirituality” overcome the “need to be told what to do by stronger humans”?
Time–misery will no longer be so hip.
One should look into the treatment of the Dukabors by the Canadian State. “We’ll have none of the communal life and savings system in Canada”. Private property or bust! Damn those Indian Reserves… Harper tried to pry them open and privatize them…
30+years ago when i was homeless in austin, texas, there were several places like this.
one, off of east riverside, in a prolly 30 acre patch of woods, existed for at least 2 years, and was made by and for homeless families…and strictly policed by them.
another, down in the barton creek greenbelt canyon, off of barton skyway, was a large cave in the side of the cliff…hard to get to, so the cops apparently didnt bother…and was for the less family oriented homeless people.
we stayed there a bunch of times…brought cases of beer, porkchops and whatnot…big fire, lots of music.
they more or less policed themselves, too.
the recent attempt in austin to provide empty land for such people was a ridiculous failure…similar outcome to how ive seen cities ruin the idea of a farmers market…complex and nonsensical rules, made by office dwellers who have zero experience with what theyre writing rules for.
things like the de facto village in the article are how civilisation began.
Jericho likely looked a lot like that at the beginning.
Amazing creation by the homeless, the mentally ill drug addicts who would immediately destroy any housing provided for them.
Send in some rich girls on a scavenger hunt, aa a jobs program.
I was impressed with the level of domestic infrastructure achieved with what I imagine were limited tools and keeping the whole project under the radar. It occurs to me that these are useful skills for the future we are lookin at. Instead of evicting the residents and razing the compound, they should turn it into a school for 21st century urban adjacent homesteading.
How can you tell people TINA when you let alternatives exist? If the place wasn’t so far in the woods they would have sent in a bulldozer to make a point.
Sadly, you’re probably right. Alternatives to a lifetime of paying rents are not allowed.
Towards the end the PD guy spoke of dangerous electric wire code violations, you can get the feeling that if saw a starving dude putting food into their mouth that was past expiration date, he’d yank it out of their month and give them a ticket citation.
Electric wire code isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A recent kitchen renovation at our house required the removal of all old knob and tube wiring, even though it still worked, to be replaced with modern wiring that was up to code. Our contractor warned us that the code was crap and our refrigerator would now short out on a regular basis, which it does. Electricians apparently told the state this would happen with their new guidelines, but the people who do the actual work were ignored by the eggheads who approve the code. So now we have all kinds of people being paid good money to do the wiring wrong, because state law requires it.
If anybody knows an electrician out there who is willing to illegally wire my kitchen so my food doesn’t spoil, call me.
electricians…as well as plumbers, etc…have always been an unaffordable luxury, for me…so i learned to do all that myself.
nd as i was learning(as things needed doing), i’d remember conversations with my last high school buddy, now a retired master electrician.
i remember him grousing about the GFC(or whatever) plugs, that had the little breaker in them…for those who use hair dryers in the shower.
and how it was idiotic, and the code was made so that leviton could sell more plugs.
so i never used those in any of my doins.
but mom must spend $, and have pros do all her stuff.
so Gfc’s all over the barnyard and garden and chickenhouse, etc.
works fine until it rains.
then i’m called, to cracker rig something to make it work(in the rain)…usually involving a walmart bag and crazy knot tying.
In 2020 I renovated the 1912 home I’m living in outside Boston. It had knob and tube wiring installed sometime in the 30’s I’m guessing. It also had the disconnected gas pipes in the attic for what were at one time gas ceiling lights. The new code requires that all areas in kitchens/bathrooms were wet conditions could be present have GFI Circuit Breakers installed at the panel. These replace the older GFI outlets that used to be code. I regularly throw the 20 amp GFI breaker for my kitchen counter outlets when I use the air fryer. Fortunately my refrigerator is on a different circuit.
There used to be rooms to rent for people down on their luck: “SROs” single-room occupancy. I remember seeing them listed in the classifieds when I was a mere boy. Those don’t exist anymore. But yes, this is an externality of the eternal downward pressure on wages required by financial capitalism, working to reduce wage labor to an afterthought.
I read somewhere that some people have tried Airbnb hopping. However, not as widely available. Lots of caveats trying to do that.
Blair Fix has just written to explain the policy of homelessness, if anyone hasn’t seen it.
Edmonton is inhospitable to outdoor living in the wintertime. No joy there, especially during a cold snap.
See the linked climate details.
We were in Calgary 20 years ago during the winter and the 150 foot walk from our car in the parking lot to the enclosed mall made me feel like a private in Napoleon’s Grand Armee trying to hoof it back to Paris from Moscow.
It’s one of the three great rules, you know-
1) Don’t get into a land war in Asia.
2) Don’t invade Russia.
3) Don’t go to Calgary in wintertime.
Calgary is heaven in the winter compared to Edmonton.
As my wife’s relatives in Saskatoon say “Nice that you don’t need a snow-blower down there (in California)” Yeah eh!
The oilmen from Texas accepted to move only up to Calgary, and not to reach the provincial capital, when taking over the oil industry in Alberta…
Check out a map — Edmonton is a LOT colder than Calgary!
I don’t think those shelters would be great in the winter but the semi-underground construction and heating sources, especially that weird looking fireplace makes me think they are passable. The thinfg that struck me was the light an the top of the chimney but that may be a necessary space for ventilation or something that would have bee sealed soon.
The mention of the buried generators suggests that there was some intention to keep running water during the winter.
I must rather admire ingenuity of the people there. I’m particularly impressed the running water and the washing machine. The flooring, too, is quite impressive. There’s a lot of thought and work put into that camp.
Now if the provincial government actually wanted to do anything about the homeless situation other than harass the homeless, this sort of thing might not be needed.
I believe the Alberta Government managed to waste something in the area of 80 or 90 million dollars ordering unusable drugs during the pandemic. Possibly buying from one of Dr Oz’s Turkish companies is not the wisest idea either.
Some of that money might have actually built social housing or shelters for the homeless.
Alberta is not my province but the local United Conservative Party government seems to be composed of whack-jobs, utter incompetents, cruised ideologues, and a bunch of grifters. The categories are not mutually exclusive.
Currently Alberta Government seems to be rewriting its human rights law which almost certainly will have no effect on anything, picking nasty constitutional fights with the federal government which they’re almost certainly going to lose Supreme Court level, and having fits over whether children in school can decide on what pronoun they want to be addressed by without their parents permission. This last issue seems to be a bit stupid since we’re probably talking about a few hundred people in the province but at the it seems to rally the UCP crazies. Danielle Smith, the premier, is notable for crazy, usually right-wing positions. She was a strong supporter of the trucker convoy a couple years ago.
Note for those of you who are not Canadian, the stupid trucker Convoy was demonstration that took over downtown Ottawa complaining about masking in vaccination mandates. A minor problem is that health matters such as masking and vaccination come under provincial jurisdiction: the federal government has no jurisdiction there whatsoever except for possibly flying and entering Canada.
The Alberta Government almost makes the government in my province of Ontario look good, and that is going really far.
‘Joe Pompliano
@JoePompliano
This is absolutely insane behavior’
I’m going to say that what you happen is that those two jerks should get a lifetime ban from any venue where the Yankees are playing. Not so much to punish them for this idiotic behaviour but to spread the word what happens to fans who do this sort of crap-
https://www.foxsports.com.au/baseball/world-series/mlb-world-series-2024-fans-grab-mookie-betts-glove-video-ejected-by-security-latest-news/news-story/195d9f904fa9d808e3ddcc56aa7c8ff3
Haven’t been watching any of it…but the thought occurs that knucklehead fans are not a new feature of our modern sports teams and updated stadium experiences. Look get that souvenir ! We paid up to be close!
Hope they paid through their noses for the front row, even by the first base and right field foul territory.
The seats near the right/left field foul poles are the only ones without a net separating the fans from the field of play. (You don’t see the netting from a TV perspective.)
In any case, the action of this “fan” is not unlike the “fan” who stole the Ohtani 50/50 home run ball from that teens grasp.
…foul play in the Big Apple on account of the gravity of the situation?
To put your hands on a professional athlete during play like that is egregious. They should receive a lifetime ban from all MLB games.
Doing the Bartman*? What a trend /:
*recall Steve Bartman, the fan from the Chicago Cubs game whose catch set back those lovable losers, again.
When I saw this happen last night, I thought the guy who tried to pry the ball from Mookie might have been a bit on the mentally disabled side and didn’t know any better. Turns out he was just another obnoxious Yankee fan.
In my experience, “obnoxious Yankee fan” is redundant.
Zhanki fan “by birth” here (not that I follow them much anymore) and what an old friend said decades ago still holds. “Yankee fans are sore winners.”
Some social media sites like Yankees Daily are actually saying this guy changed the momentum of the Series and he’s a legend.
Take me out of the ballgame
Take me out of the crowd
Fan interference
Ripped the ball out of Mookie’s glove
Where is the Big Apple love
For its get booted out for home team
If they salvage 1 win its ok
I have no particular love for the Dodgers, but I hope they wipe the field with the Yankees in game 5.
Wishful thinking. There is a reason only one team has come back from a 3-0 deficit in baseball. The Yankees don’t have another ace after Cole. Roberts is clearly playing that. If the Dodgers lose tonight so what, they can roll out arms back in LA.
Never mind banning them, I think they should be charged with assault! They grabbed Mookie by the wrists in order to do that. He could have been hurt. Such stupidity.
Can you imagine a Knicks game where some schmuck fan tries to rip the ball away from a Lakers player? They’d probably end up in a wheelchair.
Yep, and in an interview, the two of them mentioned how they had rehearsed this move for whenever the opportunity would present itself. I say, never again at a Yankee game. They are lucky that Mookie said, let it ride.
I agree with CanCyn, it was an assault. Those idiots came very close to breaking Mookie’s wrists – or at least the left wrist. Crikey, he was up off the ground being held by his wrists! I mean come on!!
Back in the early 80’s I loved going to Yankee Stadium Bronx, especially for the evening games – a good way to get out of Manhattan summer night sticky heat. “Hey beer!!!”. I would take my own food with me though…The banter in the ballpark was always hilarious. Goose Gossage was relief pitcher extraordinaire at the time. Lots of good memories.
I have a solution to this problem: Change the rules such that players are not allowed to reach over the wall to make a catch. One the ball breaks the plane of the wall it is a home run or foul ball depending. The field belongs to the players. The stands belong to the spectators.
>Great Power Politics Adam Tooze, London Review of Books
The role the US played internationally under Biden was quite unlike that during his immediate predecessors’ terms in office. Under Obama, a steady pair of hands, America’s principal international role was in orchestrating recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. As far as alliances were concerned, Trump was far from steady, but when the world economy shook in 2020, the Fed showed up again, pumping liquidity into financial markets on an even more spectacular scale than in 2008….
The challenge posed by Russia and China is real. But what has been so striking and concerning about the Biden administration is its lack of imagination in answering them.
A “steady pair of hands?” Yes the “Fed showed up again” as it always does.
What is ill defined are the nature of these “challenges” posed to me from Russia and China. The challenges that face me are the exploding cost of healthcare, housing, education, and ability to retire comfortably, polluted air, water and lack of basic maintenance of the roadways.. The challenges I feel originate not in Russia or China but from the oligarchs in this country that squeeze the worker for everything he has and redistributes the nation’s wealth into overseas misadventures designed to enrich themselves at the expense of the majority.
It doesn’t feel to me that Russia is trying to turn off my heat this winter or that China is ready to breach the shores of California, it’s more the “Fed showing up again” inflating the money supply and making my savings less and less able to provide for the future.
Russia and China are “encroaching” aka pushing back on the DC beltway empire’s plans for expansion!
“Under Obama, a steady pair of hands, America’s principal international role was in orchestrating recovery from the 2008 financial crisis.”
Hasn’t been without debate that a full recovery was achieved.
Under Obama, a steady pair of hands, America’s principal international role was in looting and pillaging the middle class and ignoring the root causes of the 2008 financial crisis
Fixed.
Or as I like to say:
70s/80s administrations – plans for the heist were made
90s administrations – turned off the security cameras
Bush administration – heist occurred
Obama administration – drove the getaway car
And recovery to what?
A more familiar cycle of bubbles and crashes?
I don’t see how any thing considered “recovery” would happen for most in a system where crisis, manufactured and real, is always on order, sustaining mostly fear and precarity for the masses.
I generally like Tooze, but when he talks about the supply disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, rather than by the sanctions imposed by the west, it makes me wonder where else in the article he has shaded the truth to accommodate the narrative. That he says “invasion” rather than “full scale invasion” makes he think he is not fully captured a la MSM, but I’m still left wondering.
Although I find that article to be a bit of a confusing mish mash of ideas (possibly I just read too fast), I like Tooze too, he’s undoubtedly a very smart guy, even if these days he seems to spread himself a bit thin. He does walk an interesting tightrope along the edge of the Overton Window so he can keep his no doubt well paid journalistic gigs. Like so many similar writers, you have to read between the lines to get to the meat of what he’s trying to say if his opinions stray from the respectable party line.
This. He has to keep his invitation to the WEF and such.
One cannot maintain the vacation house in the Carribbean if overstepping the Overtone Window, can he?!
Simpler analysis: Tooze likes to dance around reality (the fire) without getting scorched.
Tooze, like many in DC, fabricate a wholly abject twirling sphere of a planet in their descriptions. The Monroe Doctrine now applies to the whole planet.
Hypersonic missiles not nano-speed computer chips are calling the bluff.
Yes, Krugman before 2008 policed the perimeter of what was respectable on what passes as “the left” in the Anglophone world.
The GFC destroyed his credibility for anyone beyond the “blue no matter who” milieu.
Tooze now walks that tightrope with more grace and I suspect in that article was trying with great care to present information outside the naturalized “left Overton window” to an audience that will need to be getting used to some uncomfortable realities in the coming years. In almost every paragraph there was something to take issue with, but in aggregate I end up more or less agreeing with the position Tooze stakes when I imagine who the audience is.
I generally like Tooze, but the bit about how “the vaccine solved Covid” was particularly egregious.
“Trump’s most significant legacy was his administration’s redefinition of the US National Security Strategy, which directed the Pentagon (and its $850 billion budget) away from the war on terror and towards Great Power competition. For the first time, China was defined as what American defence planners call the ‘pacing threat’ – not simply a long-term challenge to US power but an immediate military threat..”
“Ukraine and the Middle East are, in the calculus of the Biden team, clearly subordinate to the challenge of China, and it is with regard to China that we see the Biden team co-ordinating global alliances including Nato, AUKUS and the Quad like no administration since Reagan or George H.W. Bush.”
No mention of the “Pivot to Asia” of the Obama administration. Some other views on it:
https://thediplomat.com/2017/01/the-pivot-to-asia-was-obamas-biggest-mistake/
“The pivot did include some new diplomatic initiatives (such as the rapprochement with Myanmar) but the real problem was the shift in security and defense policy. By putting Asia at the center of its security strategy, the Obama administration inadvertently made the entire enterprise seem to Beijing like an effort to contain China militarily. This led China to respond by becoming more aggressive, helping to undo the general tranquility that existed before 2008.
Emblematic of this mistake was the roll-out of the Air-Sea Battle doctrine. First outlined in a then-classified memo in 2009, ASB became official doctrine in 2010. From the beginning, it was an effort to develop an operational doctrine for a possible military confrontation with China and then-Secretary of Defense Robert Gates openly discussed the need to counter China’s growing military capabilities. The signal received in Beijing was the United States had hostile intentions toward China and was trying to contain it militarily. The result was that the entire pivot was seen by Beijing as part of a broader effort to encircle China.”
https://nytimes.com/2024/10/29/us/politics/us-military-army-china.html
October 29, 2024
New Vehicles, Face Paint and a 1,200-Foot Fall: The U.S. Army Prepares for War With China
The big and cumbersome Army is trying to transform itself to deploy quickly to Asia, if needed. It is an inherently dangerous business.
By Helene Cooper
Photographs and Video by Kenny Holston
Early one morning this month, 864 Army paratroopers bundled into C-17 transport planes at a base in Alaska and took off for a Great Power War exercise between three volcanic mountains on Hawaii’s Big Island.
Only 492 made it. Some of the C-17s had trouble with their doors, while others were forced to land early. A few of the parachutists who did make it sprained ankles or suffered head trauma. And one — a 19-year-old private — began to fall quickly when his chute did not open.
Across the field, shouts of “pull your reserve” could be heard before the young private hit the ground and medics ran to treat him. The horrifying scene and its aftermath encapsulate every jumper’s worst nightmare.
But Pvt. Second Class Erik Partida’s 1,200-foot fall was also a stark reality check as the U.S. Army transforms itself, and its hundreds of thousands of young men and women, for yet another war, this one a potential conflict with China.
The Pentagon calls it a Great Power War, and it would be exponentially more dangerous…
>When Do We Have Free Choice? Nautilus
The naïve theory of reasoning explains how this line of judgmental thinking arises, but it also contains the key to diffusing it. When we better understand another person’s reasons for believing and acting as they do, we are less likely to think that they are free to change their minds. At least, they aren’t free unless we give them new reasons and information to help them change their mind. And if we realize that they are limited in this way, we are more likely to engage in conversation rather than judgment.
Ah yes give them “new reasons and information to help them change their mind,” but of course, that’ll do it. Talk about a “naive theory of reasoning.”
Reminds me of Upton Sinclair’s famous saying that: It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.
Or
by Jonathan Swift, all the way back 303 years ago.
re: What satellite images reveal about Israel’s strikes on Iran BBC
I see blurrier than usual images of buildings being dismantled, roofs removed, plinth beams and walls exposed but not destroyed, straight lines are straight, no debris, no ground disturbed by explosion. I’m not buying it.
But ‘authorities’ have told us so. But they may issue ‘take backs’ after the damage is done.
See Colin Powell on WMDs:
“But it turned out that the sourcing was inaccurate and wrong and in some cases deliberately misleading,” Powell said. “And for that, I am disappointed. And I regret it.”
Doesn’t matter what he said. After his little performance at the UN, his reputation was trash and nobody wanted to listen to anything that he had to say anymore. The Democrats lately are embracing in public George Bush and Dick Cheney but even they won’t touch Colin Powell.
Give it time. Has Powell reached out yet?
That’s be a neat trick, back from the dead, and rehabilitated.
That looks like a job for Joe Biden!
He’s tan, he’s rested, he’s ready! Why let a technicality like death get in the way?
We can make a nice yellow cake with chocolate frosting in honor of his return…
Even when he was alive he was reviled. A crowd of people arrived early to a speech he gave in my town: they were there to jeer him!
Call me wild and crazy, but I think his reputation was trashed by the very people who sent him to the UN. If I am not mistaken Powell is the only one who hasn’t come back and unless I missed also the only one who has admitted even some level of manipulation of the situation.
Bush, Cheney, Rice, the Kagans….all have been reformed and many are still considered highly welcome experts. I haven’t heard their position of the debacle that was Iraq but somehow many of that group continue to influence such brilliant strategies as Libya and ongoing actions in Syria. And because of that I am sure most would attribute the loss to not doubling down when they told us to get out (at least long enough to keep all those windfall for private contractors operations in place indefinitely.)
Government representative reputation as phantom or vapor ware.
Extinguished, evaporated, eviscerated all too easily.
Indicative of unearned psychic political income and imaginary national wealth.
E.g., Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright and so many others.
Why isn’t that type of income and wealth taxed, moderated or even addressed, via greater accountability and transparency?
Oh, yeah.
Iran’s response (one of them anyway):
Iran announces substantial 200% increase in military budget
Iran has announced a whopping increase of 200 percent in its military budget for the upcoming year, as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s defense capabilities.
The announcement was made by Fatemeh Mohajerani, the spokeswoman for the Iranian government, during a press conference in Tehran on Tuesday.
https://ifpnews.com/iran-substantial-200-percent-increase-military-budget/
Ever more resembling a coyote attempting to attack a porcupine… Wile E. Coyote, that is.
We know how this will end.
And Iran is a massively large country, overlaid on Europe the corners of Iran would stretch from London to Athens…
overlaid on the US, Iran would stretch from Omaha NE to Orlando FL
yup, one to three airstrikes is all you need to rein them in. Insanity!
The article was weasel words. “Iran only had he s300 at the start of the year”. And how many s400’s has Russia provided since. :-)
Iran has what appear to be pretty decent domestic missile systems. They may not be able to take down an advanced aircraft or ballistic missile, but they are probably well capable of hitting incoming air to ground missiles of the type Israel seem to have used in point defence.
One system is (apparently) a copy of the S-300, others are based on the old US Hawk system. Probably the most useful one – and from the few videos I’ve seen the most likely one used – is a copy of the Chinese HQ-7, which is in turn a copy of the French Crotale short range system. These would be far cheaper to use than the larger S-300 or S-400 system missiles, so my guess is that they’ve got these scattered around potential targets.
They key point about systems like these of course is that the missile is maybe the least important part – its the detection and management system that allows for proper area defence. If the Iranians have successfully integrated all the various domestic, Russian, US and Chinese bits they have into a good overall package (especially needed after the debacle of shooting down that Ukrainian airliner by accident a few years ago), then they probably have a good system, and the available evidence is that they did a pretty good job in blunting the Israeli attack.
One wonders what “taking out all S-300” even means. As far as we know (OSINT, basically) Iran has two batteries, or 8 different radars, 8 TELs and two communication masts. Were all these “taken out” or what? Does Iran still have parts for a functional battery left?
Anyway, Iran indeed has a deeply integrated air defense system, operating under Khatam al-Anbiya Joint Air Defence Headquarter (PADAJA) since 1992. It commands both Army and Revolutionary Guard air-defenses – meaning Iranians are more utilitarian than turf-fighting. (The Tor system that shot down that Ukrainian airplane was IRGC and not networked)
Iran is apparently split into 9 air defense regions and further into 3,600 air defense zones that can operate independently, without seeking permission from KAJADHQ. The basic air space situational awareness for the command centers is provided by at least 7 Resonans-NE radar systems with range of 1,100 km. Israel may have hit the eight site, still under construction.
‘First tree on Mars:’ Scientists measure greenhouse effect needed to terraform – Red Planet Space.com
So…thinking of terrorforming on Mars?
This and LDSS Nauvoo from Expanse put together gives an idea of turning Mars into a “promised land” for all oligarchs and religious zealots… it could be a start of something beautiful.
Hey, great-great-great grandkids….be nice to the humans on Mars.
Otherwise, they’re going to mass-driver you just like in so many sci fi shows ( like the expanse)
https://youtu.be/aGy04ZgeYvw?t=99
Considering SpaceX has burned through their original 3 billion dollar budget to get to the moon and not achieved even a single major milestone, this is rich.
It’s the equivalent of saying you’re going to be a thoracic surgeon very soon but have yet to successfully apply Neosporin and a band-aid to a simple cut.
Good luck with the ionizing radiation. Unless they plan on creating a magnetosphere, Mars is a planet of death.
You’re right Bugs and you didn’t even mention Mars spins next to The Asteroid Belt. Location, location, location. Iron Dome anyone?
Oh and those frequent all engulfing Dust Devils…
To spend any quality time on Mars it looks like you’ll be spending it underground.
For the next 200 Years, at a guess, any where in “space” where people go, they will be living in metal tubes.
“Australia: COVID-19 Response Inquiry Report”
So I was reading another article about his today and it said this-
‘Australia’s COVID-19 response frayed after early successes, damaging the public’s trust and making it unlikely that lockdowns or other harsh restrictions will be tolerated again, a federal government review has found.’
So the community will not tolerate future lockdowns in face of a contagious viral disease again. Which community? Why the business community of course. That is who was mostly telling our government what to do in 2020 on. But wait, it gets better. So what is the government going to do in response to this report? Why establishing what they call a Centre for Disease Control (CDC) for the nation because, you know, it has worked so well for Americans. And no doubt this Aussie CDC will be advised by those same dodgy institutes that advised the government to let ‘er rip and go for herd immunity with Covid-
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-29/covid-response-review-released/104531920
Jesus wept!
An older quote from the token epidemiologist on the 3 person enquiry, Professor Catherine Bennett may give an indication of the value appointing the people necessary to reach the appropriate conclusions.
“With each wave we’ve seen a benefit from hybrid immunity with vaccines and prior infection against a range of sub-variants.”
Or
“Until enough of us are vaccinated to take the pressure off contact tracers, … (lockdowns)… is likely to be our unpredictable path for a few months yet.”
https://insidestory.org.au/does-one-size-fit-all/
In Australia they didn’t need no frikking lock-down. Just stop international travel. Trade with goods would not have been impeded. The Aussies have a very good infrastructure to stop all bio contamination.
Add one more to the list…the basket of deplorables ala 2016 getting a fresh coat of paint. As Obama has forewarned…don’t underestimate Joe’s ability to F things up. “The only garbage I see floating out there are his supporters…” Statement revised later in the updated transcript. Hey white house folks…this man is still the POTUS is he not ?
Like almost everything being uttered at the national level, got to quickly revise it or just put some distance between what people either can hear or read. The comedian at the MSG rally clearly had some unconscionable things to say but per the Jon Stewart clip linked in WC yesterday…did the Trump folks expect a different performer really ?
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/biden-republican-outrage-trump-rally-comedians-puerto-rico-rcna177926
America in 2024, rounding the corner soon into 2025!
What duties under the 25th Amendment were shirked? By whom?
Who is serving “we the people”?
As usual, the Democratic uproar over the Puerto Rico garbage joke is empty performative nonsense that ignores the real and ongoing environmental crisis that has gripped the island for years.
FEMA, the EPA and DOJ are among the federal agencies that have been grappling with poorly designed and filled-to-capacity landfills that pose serious threats to human health and the environment due to poor operation processes, lack of controls, steep slopes, uncovered waste, and inadequate management of leachate.
But I guess the real crime is to make a joke about it. Unconscionable indeed!
..and let’s not forget about Vieques:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2023/06/12/vieques-puerto-rico-navy-bombing-cancer-rates/70227463007/
In Vieques, Puerto Rico, cancer rates are high. Advocates say Navy bombing may be to blame
The U.S. Navy used Vieques, Puerto Rico as a training site for six decades. Experts, residents of Vieques believe the contaminants in their soil, water and air have contributed to higher cancer rates.
So much of that. “The Dignity of the Office” can survive undeclared wars, domestic spying, murdering citizens, training foreign (at least) death squads, bombing infrastructure repeatedly in a city of 5 million (“we think it was worth it”) so that hundreds of thousands of children die of sanitary diseases, proxy wars, assisting genocide (in hockey you get a point for an assist) but The Dignity of the Office can’t survive being a buffoon on Fox and Twitter
Similarly, Watergate was unforgivable. Carpet bombing Cambodia? Not so much.
Or the NYC cops could put 41 bullets into one dude, sodomize another with a broomstick…but better not use a racial slur! (The one that no VC ever called .Muhammad Ali.)
It’s all about the proprieties, the pieties, the procedure and the process. (This last never turns out to be Due Process.) If our betters didn’t constantly remind us that Trump Is A Bad Guy we might notice that his actual policies are just about the same as everybody else’s in power, that the real villain of 2017-20 was Mitch McConnell and that Trump’s body count was lower than any American president since…Ford?
Of course Trump is a bad guy. Just not singularly bad. Dick freaking Cheney. There is a Bad Guy.
In my travels, calling Trump supporters garbage is mild compared to what they are usually called. I’ve even heard them hoping for the death of the deplorable garbage known as the Red Hat fascist Trump army. For example, a conversation I heard hoping many Trumpers in red states died due to COVID because they are anti vaxxers. This is where we are and this slip up shouldn’t surprise anyone.
Only 6 more days. Then what?
Then what? We will see if team blue was able to cheat out a win, or more likely we enter the lawfare stage of the election.
Like South Carolina in 1860? That was a form of lawfare in face of an election Dems didn’t like, wasn’t it?
No reason not to consider it snowballing to that, though I was thinking of time consuming vote count challenges. One of my primary concerns is if the courts uphold the various deadlines associated with the process.
Our gracious hostess oft reminds us of the fearsome complexities that stood in the way of Greece leaving the Euro. Brexit was quite a tangled nest of hornets too. I imagine these pale next to the complexities that would attend secession in the USA.
Then the real fun begins?
The way I see it, the actual election and it’s results are just the end of act 2. Act 3 is going to be the fallout leading into the inauguration and beyond.
Pallets of .223 ammo and AR-15s are at the ready. The plebs can fight amongst themselves while the oligarchy pillages them.
No matter what the outcome of the sham elections, the genocide will continue (even though the Anglosphere media is ignoring it), the US health care crisis will get worse, the housing crisis will get worse, the Debt Peonage crisis will get worse. But these are not important issues, the only thing important is the trivial distractions that MiniTrueMedia tells us to focus on.
>>>China’s age of prosperity.
not been to China recently, but on social media the “B-tier” of cities that most westerners have never heard of (Chongqing, Hanzhou, Chengdu, etc) look like they are straight of out Bladerunner. If the trans-Atlantic world only had the problems of China, it would be a miracle.
China has a lot of problems, but a LED bulb shortage is not one of them
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/ZPUBapZai2U
Obviously, reality doesn’t always match up to much swapped photos or videos. On my first visit to Japan, I was deeply disappointed with the cities – in my mind I thought they would all look like the photos of Ginza (minus Godzilla) I’d seen – it was only later I learned to appreciate just how subtly well they work for the people who live there (most Japanese seem entirely unbothered by how ugly most modern Japanese architecture is). Most Asian cities have gone through periods of very rapid 20th century car and capital oriented growth, leaving vast areas of anonymous concrete swamping the small areas people hang out in or visit. If you like to walk or cycle cities like I do, from Bangkok to Seoul, KL to HCM, you have to traverse a lot of grimness to get to the charming nice spots or the fun nighttime quarters. A lot depends I think on how much of the older grain of the cities have avoided demolition gangs. A mix of municipal ambition and corporate interests are generally very bad for creating interesting cities. The Koreans have learned this a little late (they are actually reconstructing some of the old quarters, long demolished, from photographs). Very little of interest has survived in urban China. I consider myself fortunate that I got to explore a little of China before it was swept away in the bigger cities (its still there to be found in more out of the way places).
Chinas new urbanism is little different from other high growth Asian cities – in many ways worse than most. I’ve been traversing Chinese cities whenever I can since the 1990’s, and they’ve vastly improved, at least in terms of cleanliness (although certainly not in terms of traffic). But for the most part they are grim and pretty depressing places, at least to traverse – although of course most locals are delighted with the significant improvement in housing standards. But even the glossy photogenic downtown areas aren’t always what you’d expect. Lots of the plazas and green spaces you see in photos are in fact private spaces, owned and operated by corporate interests. Its always nice to see the ongoing battle between private interests and retired Chinese people, the latter of whom always insist on doing exactly what they want to do, wherever they want to do it. Sometimes I feel a little sorry for the private security guards, they always lose their battle with some stubborn old lady who insists on drinking her tea or doing tai chi wherever she wants. It brings a welcome human touch to some very dull urbanism and architecture.
Although I haven’t visited China in the last few years, I’m told that one very welcome outcomes of covid is a renewed interest in the value of a network of public spaces – including pavements and small corner green spaces, as well as larger traditional parks. The latest Beijing metropolitan plans emphasise these, although how well they will be implemented, its hard to say. A common sight in many Chinese cities is ‘public’ spaces getting rapidly colonised by well connected private interests in one form or another.
But in general, I find that the glossy downtowns of China can’t come close to matching those of other Asian cities, for all sorts of reasons relating to the grain and texture of the city, and not least the rapid shrinking of the more interesting bohemian and artistic sectors of the society. If I want to hang out with really interesting Chinese people in a fun urban setting, I’d go to the rapidly growing Chinese parts of Tokyo or Bangkok before I’d go to China – there has been a major brain drain of the cultural life of China over the past decade or so.
For a number of reasons, btw, I would not consider the author of that twitter comment to be particularly reliable. He has written some interesting travelogues on the Silk Roads, but you don’t get to travel alone in some of the areas he’s visited without coming to some sort of accommodation with officialdom, which may well include the tone he takes when writing about certain topics.
“…there has been a major brain drain of the cultural life of China over the past decade or so…”
What an interesting assertion, but can this be shown correct. What I find from experience and discussion is a wonderfully rich cultural life in China, with an emphasis on increased richness. Please explain which cultural brains are being drained, when possible.
The matter of cultural life strikes me as important for the well-being of the 1.4 billion.
Katherine has a very nice vlog, that truly takes you places either on her bike, or walking or from trains. She is a breath of fresh air.
https://www.youtube.com/@kats_journey_east
Thank you, Katherine is excellent.
Still, there is ever so much more. After all, we are thinking about a 5,000 year old civilization of 1.4 billion. Chinese civilizational accomplishments are breathtaking. Joseph Needham of Cambridge wrote 27 volumes on Chinese science accomplishments…
* https://www.nytimes.com/1971/06/20/archives/joseph-needham-the-real-thing.html
June 20, 1971
Joseph Needham, the Real Thing
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1851518921905688604
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
Last night in E Mei Shan we watched a theater show called “above the clouds” directed by Wang Chaoge, one of the most famous stage directors in China.
It’s the second such show that I watched by Wang Chaoge, the other one was “See again” (“You Jian”) in Dunhuang, Gansu province.
His shows are truly an extremely unique experience: they occur in multiple rooms, they mix theater, dance and acrobatics, and they’re very interactive with the public. They also feature an incredible number of actors: there were at least 50 of them last night.
Above all, he exhibits a deeply moving sense of beauty and poetry in the performances themselves and the actors’ text: part of the theme of the show yesterday was the complex relationship between generations and as I was looking at the public around me about half of them were in tears…
It’s genuinely a shame we have little to no exposure to China’s cultural creations in the West, some of them are of a quality that would genuinely awe most people.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GbHqQ2mbQAAZap_?format=jpg&name=360×360
2:58 AM · Oct 30, 2024
These are not B cities! These are first rank cities in the latest classification, partly because they have been extensively developed in recent years.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_city_tier_system
“Israel took out primary Iranian air defenses, left it ‘essentially naked’ – report”
If that is true, then why did the second wave that was going to cause mass destruction in Iran just turn around and go home? Did they leave an iron on at home or something? Why didn’t they boom and zoom over Tehran? The people in Tehran were out on the streets waiting for them to turn up but they were no shows. Apparently the US was on standby to send in search and rescue units for shot down Israeli F-35 pilots but they were never needed.
“when all else fails, just lie!”
I’m not sure who said that. Maybe James Carville? I don’t want to impugn him, though, so he probably didn’t say that.
He did say though “You never know what you’re gonna find when you troll a $20 bill through a trailer park.” In reference to Paula Jones.
Pretty clever guy, I have to admit that I like him. And if is one thing for a politician to lie, that comes with the territory. When the press does it writ large, well, you get the society you deserve.
The Ross Perot Gude To Answering Embarrassing Questions (“Deadline Poet” – Calvin Trillin)
When something in my history is found
That contradicts the views I now propound,
Or shows that I am hardly who
I claim to be, here’s what I usually do
I lie.
I simply, baldly falsify.
I look the fellow in the eye
And cross my heart and hope to die –
And lie.
I don’t apologize, not me, instead
I say I never said the things I said.
Nor did the things that people saw me do
Confronted with some things they know are
true,
I lie.
I offer them no alibi,
Nor say, “You oversimplify.”
I just deny, deny, deny.
I lie.
I hate the weasel words some slickies use
To blur their pasts or muddy up their views.
Not me. I’m blunt. One theing that makes me
great
Is that I’ll never dodge or obfuscate.
I’ll lie.
“Even today, well-brought-up English girls are taught by their mothers to boil all veggies for at least a month and a half, just in case one of the dinner guests turns up without his teeth.” — Calvin Trillin
I resided for seven months, when I was twenty two years of age, in an Ontario cockney home and I can attest to that assertion.
It was a $100 bill and I was deeply offended by that remark. It reflects perfectly the smug mindset of the better off. I’m for lifting up those who have little, not for condemning them. It’s called kicking down and Carville is a slime ball for doing it and fits right in with the Clintons.
My takeaway from theend of the BBC article whcich few readers will reach, confirms my absolute distrust of the BBC reporting:
“Satellite imagery isn’t always conclusive in identifying damaged structures.
“For example, a photograph we have verified showing smoke rising near Hazrat Amir Brigade Air Defence base suggested it had been successfully targeted. But satellite imagery of the area captured on Sunday has too many shadows to confirm any damage to the site.”
Yeah. Right.
This does not bode well for those sailors that are already patrolling beyond the minimal level of candy.
The Guardian report ended with the important information that the company’s stock fell by 1.43.
Oh the horror, the horror.
Less concern with locals breathing in god knows what toxins, won’t someone think of the shareholders? Why, yes, the Guardian will!
I see that Craig Murray has set up camp in Beirut. I am worried for his safety. He’s got enemies in high places.
Enemies in high places? You mean like Israeli F-35 pilots hunting for journalists?
Ultimately, that is exactly what I mean, seasoned with some British targeting assistance.
He managed to escape from the UK police, so he probably will be OK.
Yes, I would be a bit worried as well.
Murray is regularly featured on Consortium News, The CN website has been hacked for several days now, and is still hijacked. Very suspicious indeed.
It’s been back since yesterday.
winning-a-battle-over-control-of-our-site
Did he get rid of his phone and laptop?
Yea. Since 2014.
P.S. Ukrainian NGO “Come Back Alive” should be renamed to “Break A Leg”.
Good news desk:
(Scraped from law360.com – headline)
Maybe all the dead from OxyContin can get a commemorative plaque out of the deal?
Michael Hudson has a new article today with Richard Wolff. Very informative about BRICS and current world conditions. Likely coming to a website near you.
I saw that discussion the other day and was most impressed with Hudson’s comments.
Always great to listen to those two, thanks for the heads up.
From last week’s discussion, prof. Wolff: “Trump had 4 years, but he didn’t do shit”
It’s rare to hear him use such Plain English.
I have followed Dr. Hudson for years, but I have never heard him use any four-letter words, at least not that I recall.
Wolff is a New Yorker – where speaking plainly is common. Wolff is terrific!!
A week to go in a contest that could be titled Survival of the Unfittest, and after 3 weeks on the road in a red state, I saw almost no signs of anybody caring enough to erect placards stating their preference aside from plucky little Escalante Utah where we saw more Trump/Vance signs in front of people’s homes than the rest of the entirety of of our sojourn.
Apathy is the real winner…
No apathy in my neck of the woods. Trump signs, banners, flags, posters are everywhere. They outnumber Harris signs by 20 or 30 to 1.
Someone placed a bunch of Trump signs in a row in a public median strip a few weeks ago – the small professionally printed ones. Going to work today I noticed they were all gone, but there was a new one up. This was a large, plywood, hand painted Trump/Vance 2024 sign noting that someone had illegally removed all the previous Trump signs placed there at personal expense, and noting the Democrat aversion to free speech. I did notice that all the ridiculous pro-Harris “Felon” signs were still there – no Republicans felt the need to remove those.
I was planning on sitting this one out completely. I recently found out that Stein is on the ballot here, which made me slightly more likely to go to the polls and vote for her. I still can’t bring myself to vote for the Donald, but if these Democrat antics keep up, I might change my mind.
To help make a decision by researching who is on your presidential ballot before entering the voting booth.
https://ballotpedia.org/Main_Page
Sadly, the outcomes are already baked in no matter who “wins” the PR stunt competition: genocide, oligarchy, kleptocracy, worsening housing crisis, worsening environmental crises, worsening health care crisis. The genocide is off the radar now, and it’s all about the contrived drama of the KH/DT hysteria. It’s bizarre how so many still believe in the farce (tragedy).
Vote Genocide 2024!
Here in my solidly Blue suburb west of Boston, I’m seeing nearly as many Trump signs as Harris. Might just be an outlier of the roads I travel but, more seeing more Trump signs than I recall in past elections. I didn’t fill in my ballot oval for either.
FWIW, here in Hooserland, I see Harris/Walz signs in the PMC strong hold neighborhoods. But I see more with just local candidates and no president or even just generic signs for the act of voting itself with no candidate or party listed. Outside of the high rent district, it’s pretty solid Trump. Indiana went for Obama the first time, but has been pretty red otherwise.
Please explain what PMC means when possible. I could not find a reasonable meaning with Google AI.
“professional managerial class”
To CA: thanks for asking / to Jonny: thanks for replying.
I now, finally, am certain what PMC means.
It’s not enough to say Professional Managerial Class. What does that really mean? Occupations? Attitudes? Entitlements? Sense of self?
From this very site:
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/02/identity-and-the-professional-managerial-class.html
I have always inserted the words Parasitic Mendacious Cretins but that’s just how I fell about it. Feel free to be creative but YMMV. (Your Mileage May Vary)
Here’s an example of a strategy I have used. Just now at Gemini.google.com I asked: at naked capitalism.com acronym PMC is used – please explain what words it abbreviates and say more about the group or concept being referred to
Reply was:
In Speedway both sides are on display, but local candidates have bigger signs. Fewer signs in Eagledale and other working class neighborhoods in Indy.
The woman across the street from us still has her Biden/Harris sign up from 4 years ago – never took it down.
From Middle East Eye – The most moral army?
The Haganah, the Irgun and the Lehi (Stern gang), old terrorists as future leaders. Hoping your beeper explodes on time? Everything old is new again.
The untold history of the Israel Defense Forces | The Big Picture
“Chinese crew blasts off on ‘dream’ mission to Tiangong space station”
Imagine that it is 2030 – only six years from now. And through hard work and steady progress, it is a team of Chinese taikonauts that first land on the Moon about 58 years since the last astronaut stood on the Moon. And just to add insult to injury, one of the taikonauts is a woman which means that the first woman on the Moon will be Chinese – perhaps that Wang Haoze. Can you imagine the outrage that will break out in the west and the main stream media if the US is unable to mount a similar mission because they decided that letting corporations do the heavy lifting here did not work out? And now live on TVs and computer screens around the world there is the sight of a Chinese flag planted on the Moon.
100% Kev, I think 2030 will see a lot of convergences, and the Chinese pulling off a landing/base before the US seems like a dead cert. Everything they’ve done in space is so impressive, nailing things on their first try like the Mars lander/rover, far-side lunar missions, space station, etc. – they’ve not learned from their own mistakes, they’ve learned from someone elses.
It’s not just the SpaceX Starship monstrosity that’s doomed (requiring 15 to 20 launches to effect ONE landing, it’s just not going to happen) – it’s the Artemis program itself that’s ALSO on the ropes. The Halo orbit moon station, the lack of a lander, the lack of a space suit (Axiom is in big trouble apparently with their private space station, and they’re also the suit people). The suit alone is enough to sink it. The head shield on Artemis 1 was seriously compromised, there’s no way they should fly that again without fixing it, the launch tower is wildly over-budget, they still need to create a moer powerful second stage to get payload to the moon, it’s a truly ridiculous architecture, esp. when compared to slide-rule era Apollo.
re: 2024
The MSM and Dem think tanks are working overtime to work up fears of a new ‘civil war’, of states seceding from the Union, of mayhem in the streets, imo.
The Dems do have form on mayhem in the streets, as in Charlottesville and the 2020 ‘summer of love’. The idea of secession, etc has the flagrant aroma of BS.
Anyone with 2 brain cells knows that no state wants to be on its own to tax and pay for fielding its own army, its own highway system, its own railroad system, its own energy grid, its own foreign policy apparatus and entering into trade deals with other nations, its own country retirement system, etc. (See what happened in Texas a few years ago when its energy grid which was separate from the US grid went down during a prolonged cold snap. Texas asked for help and the entire Midwest power grid system stepped in to send electricity to Texas while enacting rolling brownouts in the Midwest to keep the power loads balanced.) Will states want to issue their own passports, hire their own border guards, etc?
That’s before getting into the question of US transfer payments. (See CA’s homeless industrial complex.) Before getting into the question of US corporations deciding to leave or re-headquarter back into a US state. If California secedes I imagine Silicon Valley companies will leave the independent ‘country’ of California, for example.
Of course that doesn’t mean bad actors won’t try to create mayhem after the election.
My plan is simple. I’ll do what I do during bad weather season. Keep some cash on hand in case the internet or electricity grid goes out for any length of time. Keep calm and carry on. And ignore the MSM, except for the weather report. / ;)
Keep the plebes in continuous turmoil so they don’t notice the invisible hand picking their pockets.
Yep. Any state that succeeded in leaving the US, even on friendly terms, would instantly be targeted by US neolib asset strippers and the IMF. Nothing personal, it’s just bidness. Talk about picking the pockets…. / ;)
Adding: Carlson and Jimmy Dore. utube. The first 7 minutes gives the flavor.
Jimmy Dore: Trump’s MSG Rally, WaPo Refusing to Endorse Kamala, & Why Trump Winning Is Essential
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZURLfCVjQ5E
Dore is an old school leftist not a liberal.
Dore and Carlson are media celebrities and entertainers. They both engage in rank hypocrisy, wishful thinking and contradictory narratives. Vote Genocide 2024!
With that said, I don’t participate in the intelligence-insulting charade, but if we must have an amoral, genocidal Israel firster in office, it should be the DT: Although a lifetime conman and liar, he is a much more honest representation of the US ruling class: ignorant, bigoted, loud-mouthed, obnoxious, etc. He is the perfect Ugly American stereotype. Miriam Adelson will be pleased either way
I think what most Americans really want is a return to some version of the normal that Biden promised while delivering the opposite. Our current chaos is a result of the privileged few trying to pound the square peg of their preferred normal into a situation where there’s still a majority of people who prefer to be comfortable on a small scale and aren’t really very interested in politics at all. Unlike the PMC they aren’t stakeholders in election results that determine who will wield government power–except of course “keep your government hands off my Social Security.” But they did pay for that SS mostly. It’s dubious that Jamie Dimon and the others have paid for any of their entitlements.
Trump may seem nuts at times but at least he’s smart enough to realize the above. His opposition seems to dwell in cloud cuckoo land.
https://x.com/BenjaminNorton/status/1851079831070687263
Ben Norton @BenjaminNorton
South Africa has submitted its evidence to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) documenting Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people.
The evidence is over 750 pages long, with 4000+ pages of exhibits and annexes.
This is the most well-documented genocide in history.
https://thepresidency.gov.za/south-africa-delivers-evidence-israel-genocide-icj
October 28, 2024
South Africa delivers evidence of Israel genocide to ICJ
9:53 PM · Oct 28, 2024
I have tremendous respect for South Africa and the lead role they are and have been playing in making sure this genocide is called out for what it is.
Related: Meet the Press!
Israeli journalists join the live-streamed genocide
A mainstream Israeli journalist recently blew up a house in Lebanon as part of a news report while embedded with the military. The broadcast shows how mainstream genocidal activity has become in Israeli society.
https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/israeli-journalists-join-the-live-streamed-genocide/
Seems the Israelis are documenting most of their crimes theirselves… hopefully backup copies are made and secured offline.
The really weird thing is that Israelis do not seem to have the capacity to imagine that this will have very real consequences not so far down the road. And nor do many of the power élite in the USA and UK. It’s rather like standing at a crossroads and only seeing one road in front of them which leads to the cliff edge and the pressure of the people coming from behnd pushes those in front into the abyss. Very strange and utterly perverse.
The Zionists should re-read the Merchant of Venice by W.S. Or see the movie with Al Pacino. Just saying…
https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/23/world/middleeast/in-israel-carter-says-two-state-solution-in-death-throes.html
October 22, 2012
In Israel, Carter Says Two-State Solution in ‘Death Throes’
By JODI RUDOREN
Former President Jimmy Carter said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel had abandoned the two-state solution and that President Obama had shirked the historical role played by the United States in the region.
This was on Links or maybe Water Cooler a day or two ago:
https://academic.oup.com/cjres/article/14/3/457/6375185
Golfing with Trump. Social capital, decline, inequality, and the rise of populism in the US.
I haven’t managed to slog through it yet but it looks important. It identifies socio-economic changes that gave rise to Trump. Basically the ones first predicted in Bowling Alone.
Has anyone here read it yet? Do you think it is onto something? Is it saying something new?
https://x.com/EuromaidanPR/status/1851242435038360040
Billionaire Howard Buffett has arrived in Kharkiv. The American philanthropist has been photographing russian “arrivals” for three days now.
The Buffett Foundation is providing significant assistance to the Kharkiv region. In particular, with children’s kitchens, DNA laboratories and other equipment for the police.
NT Times
C’mon! That’s some half-assed agent provocaturing on some Israeli agent’s part. Who the hell would actually fall for this tripe?
Consider the source. The NYT was, after all, the home of Judith Miller.
The U.S. Shouldn’t Dismiss BRICS Challenge – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Well, it hasn’t been dismissed as a challenge:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/international/2024/10/28/bis-debates-ending-project-eyed-by-putin-to-undermine-dollar/
(Bloomberg) — The Bank for International Settlements is debating whether to shut down a pilot cross-border payments platform after Russia’s President Vladimir Putin identified the underlying technology as a tool to circumvent sanctions and potentially undermine the dollar’s dominance in the global financial system.
The mBridge project — which promises to allow sending money around the world without relying on US banks — was among topics discussed by central banks and finance chiefs at last week’s annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, according to people informed about the talks. Shutting it down was among the options, the people added, asking not to be named discussing confidential deliberations…”
“…Putin’s embrace is pushing officials to quickly reconsider the whole endeavor. Still, it’s unclear whether a BIS shutdown of the mBridge project could effectively stop participating central banks from putting the technology to use. Some countries might decide to carry on even without the Basel-based institution, according to a person familiar with the project…”
[ The U.S. Shouldn’t Dismiss BRICS Challenge – Carnegie Endowment for International Peace ]
This means the US should be doing more to undermine and stop Chinese development. The Carnegie Endowment has come to be all about aggression, rather than peace. I have no idea when and how this change from peace and partnership happened, but I regard the change as distressing.
The future of payments between the blocs being formed now will be likely like those during WW2, fully armed cruisers will carry shipments of gold bars between the parties involved and anyone trying to interfere will suffer the consequences. All else on barter terms.
There is not much intel showing the US preparing for a big war, instead it is just ramping up the maximum pressure nonsense it has depended on for the last decade, so Iron Curtain 2 with satraps tossed into the fire.
Sooner or later someone will propose tinkering with the Border Gateway Protocol.
The news about the Klamath is wonderful and for those not aware of it there has been very significant restoration of the Wetlands in the San Francisco Bay, the latest was about 6 years ago along Hwy 37, 12,000 acres.
Life has returned to those acres, big time.
It’s beautiful to see.
An odd thing about this election is that there are very few yard signs/Bumper stickers at the same time there is full throated hysteria about Orange Hitler.
It is like squeezing your “Chatty Cathy” doll, mention the Trumpster and Whoa Nelly!
RUSSIA!!!, Death Camps for LGBTQI, Tyranny!!!, THE END OF AMERICAN DEMOCRACY.
And if you question any part of it you are one of Putin’s Bitches.
Which seems odd coming from people who ostensibly see Homosexuality as normal.
Which it is, something I first became aware of by reading Andy Adam’s “Log of a Cowboy”.
Is it too early to go long on Thorazine?
I’m going long on Soylent Green to make a killing! No matter who becomes POTUS, there will be a huge supply of SG from Palestine. (Plus some prime waterfront property on the Med)
Its not odd.
1. Harris isn’t running a popularity campaign. They are devoting resources to justifying the Cheney spawn.
2. Lawn signs and wickets cost what they cost. Their may be a slight non-inflationary bump especially in areas where things have been competitive, but there are all kinds of print shops that can do this. The union shops know they supply Democratic campaigns, so those print shops aren’t going to cause problems. “Mark G…” has made a good point that much of the Harris campaign revolves around making donors feel their money is being spent well and paying the James Carville types. Yard signs at the house next to the light where everyone is backed up because of a no turn on red don’t reach a major donor or leave room for pilfering.
You spent $2 million on yard signs that are blue with the candidate’s name…err…?
Signs don’t vote, but they are an outward reflection of enthusiasm. More importantly, they are cheap. Even if Harris just sent the signs out, plenty of people store the wickets. Local committees can pick up that cost. Obviously, you don’t want a potential volunteer to take a sign and feel like they are doing their part and miss registering voters, so signs might come with strings attached but a popular candidate will have signs everywhere but the usual suspects.
With Harris, you have a candidate surrounded by Clinton hacks without Bill to guide them and people from California where they really have to eff up to let a Republican win. The number one reason Hillary Clinton wasn’t President (she would have been one termer) is she had just awful staff.
I thought this was very good (Sorry if this was already covered by NC)
BRICS press conference:
RU entire original
http://kremlin.ru/events/president/news/75385
Putin´s response to the – I believe – BBC´s question:
“(…)
Question: I read the final declaration of BRICS, and it talks about the need for global and regional stability, security and a just world. In general, the motto of the Russian presidency of BRICS includes such concepts, in my opinion – justice and security. But how does all this relate to your actions in the last two and a half years, with the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine? Where is justice, stability and security, including the security of Russia? Because before the start of the NWO there were no drone attacks on Russian territory, no shelling of Russian cities, no foreign troops occupying Russian territory – this did not happen.
And finally, how does all this relate to the recent statement by British intelligence that Russia has set itself the goal of sowing chaos on the streets of Britain and Europe through arson, sabotage and so on? Where is the stability?
Thank you.
V. Putin: I will start with Russia’s security, because for me this is the most important thing.
You mentioned drone strikes and so on. Yes, that didn’t happen, but there was a much worse situation. The situation was that in response to our constant and persistent proposals to establish contacts and relations with Western countries, we were constantly shown our place. I can tell you this with absolute certainty. So it all seemed kind, but in principle, we were always shown our place.
And this place would ultimately lead to Russia’s slide into the category of secondary states that perform exclusively the function of raw material appendages with the loss to a certain extent and in large volume of the country’s sovereignty. And Russia in such a capacity not only cannot develop, it cannot exist. Russia cannot exist if it loses its sovereignty. This is the most important thing. Russia’s exit from this state, strengthening its sovereignty, independence in the economy, in finance, in military affairs means increasing our security and means creating conditions for its confident development in the future as an independent state, full-fledged and self-sufficient, with those partners that we have in BRICS, who respect Russia’s independence, respect our traditions and to whom we treat in the same way.
Now, regarding justice in the area of development and security. I have some thoughts on this, and I will try to answer you. Here are my thoughts.
What is development justice? Look, very recent events – during the coronavirus pandemic. What was happening at that time? I want to draw your attention to this, and the attention of all other media representatives. At that time, the United States issued about six trillion dollars, and the eurozone issued about three trillion dollars, a little over three trillion. And all these funds were thrown onto the world market, buying up everything, primarily food, and not only: medical drugs and vaccines, which are now being destroyed on a massive scale because their expiration dates have expired. They threw it all out, and food inflation began, inflation began throughout the world.
What did the world’s leading economies do? They abused their exclusive position in global finance – both the dollar and the euro. They printed and swept away, like a vacuum cleaner, the most essential goods from the market. They consume more, you consume more than you produce and earn. Is this fair? We believe that it is not, and we want to change this situation. This is what we are doing in BRICS.
Now about security in general. As for Russia’s security, I have already said. I understand what you are talking about. But is it fair from a security point of view to ignore for years our constant requests to our partners not to expand NATO to the east? Is it fair to lie to our faces, promising that there will be no such expansion, and, violating the obligations assumed, to do so? Is it fair to get into our “underbelly” completely, say, into the same Ukraine, and start building there, not preparing, but actually building military bases? Is that fair?
Is it fair to carry out a coup d’etat, which I spoke about in response to your colleague’s question, spitting on international law and all the principles of international law and the UN Charter, financing a coup in another country, in this case in Ukraine, and pushing the situation towards a hot phase? Is this fair from the point of view of global security?
Is it fair to violate the obligations assumed within the OSCE, when all Western countries signed a document according to which there can be no security for one side if the security of the other is violated? We said: don’t do this, it violates our security – NATO expansion. No, we did it anyway. Is that fair?
There is no justice here, and we want to change this situation, and we will achieve this.
Last one, again?
Question: Regarding the claim by British intelligence that Russia is sowing chaos on the streets of Britain.
V. Putin: Listen to me – thank you for reminding me about this part – well, this is complete nonsense.
You see, what is happening on the streets of some European cities is the result of the domestic policies of these countries. But you and I know, I have already said this: the European economy is balancing on the brink of recession, and the leading economies of the Eurozone are in recession, in fact. If there is some small growth – 0.5 percent, it will be due to the south, where there is no such serious production, due to real estate, the tourism industry, and so on. But are we to blame for this? What do we have to do with it?
Western countries, European ones, just went and refused our energy resources. Well, we are not refusing. By the way, there is still one pipeline under the Baltic Sea – Nord Stream 2. What does it cost the German authorities? Just press a button, and everything starts. But they do not do this for political reasons. And their most important partner – I don’t know for what reasons – created conditions when an entire sector of the German economy is moving to the USA, because the authorities there create more complementary conditions for business. And primary energy resources there are three times cheaper, in my opinion, or even four times cheaper than in Europe – different tax conditions, targeted actions. But what do we have to do with it?
This causes a corresponding reaction, because the living standards of people are falling. This is obvious, these are the statistics of the European countries themselves. But what do we have to do with it? What are you saying, really? This is, as we say, an attempt to shift the blame from the sick to the healthy and to avoid responsibility for wrong decisions in the economic sphere and in the sphere of domestic policy.
In the economic sphere now, it seems to me, for objective experts this is an obvious thing, but many in Europe and in other countries, in the States, have abused and are still trying to abuse the environmental agenda and the increase in temperature on the planet. They are running ahead, without sufficient grounds in terms of technological development, they are closing everything that is connected with nuclear energy, they are closing everything that is connected with coal generation – it used to be, right? – they are closing everything that is connected with hydrocarbons in general.
Has anyone calculated? Will Africa be able to do without these types of hydrocarbons or not? No. African countries and some other countries in developing markets are being forced to use modern, and perhaps even effective tools and technologies from the point of view of preserving the environment. But they cannot buy them – there is no money. Well, give them money then! And no one gives them money. But they are forcing tools, I believe that these are tools of neocolonialism, when they bring these countries down and make them again depend on Western technologies and loans. The loans are given on terrible terms, the loans are impossible to repay. This is another tool of neocolonialism.
Therefore, we must first of all look at the results of the Western countries’ policies in the areas of economics, finance and domestic policy. And people, of course, are afraid of the aggravation of the international situation, connected with the escalation in various conflict zones: both in the Middle East and in Ukraine. But we are not the ones who are engaged in this escalation. Those who are on the other side always play for the aggravation.
Well, we are ready for this escalation. Think about whether those countries that are doing this are ready.
(…)”
It’s impossible to prove that a program will terminate (Halting problem), so good luck proving that your software has no defects.
“Proving a defect was not discoverable given the “objective state of scientific and technical knowledge” at the time the product was put on the market” is insane. Unless your “product” is toaster running on a tiny microcontroller for which you wrote all the code, that cannot be done.
Going after individuals also misses the point: it is companies that want features yesterday. Managers demand they are implemented instantly. Then it is the programmer who does what his boss tells him who is liable? That’s a good way to ensure that any decent programmer refuses to work for any company that sells software in the EU.
If this even works, it’ll result in another layer of companies that provide insurance/testing that your program follows the “objective state of scientific and technical knowledge” at vast cost, but providing as little benefit to normal people as the EU’s ubiquitous cookie banners, so that only the behemoths of the software industry can afford to survive… and even higher employment among administrators and lawyers and lower employment among software engineers. Oh well, who needs STEM anyway?
Thank you for the article on solving Pytaghora Theorem by other means.
Get a big cup of tea or coffee, take 2 hours and go through the actual work. It will definitely take you away from the madding crowd:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00029890.2024.2370240#d1e111
One of my favorite pieces of obscure trivia regarding U.S. Presidents is that James A. Garfield published an original, nontrivial proof of the Pythagorean Theorem and is the only U.S. President to make a contribution to the field of mathematics.
Thanks, that is impressive. Even I could follow the logic.
On September 6, 1901 President William McKinley was assassinated in Buffalo, New York. As a result of this terrible misdeed the Buffalo Bills have never won the Super Bowl, despite having a number of excellent teams over the years.