The Journey of a Sea Bean: In Praise of the Ocean’s Smallest Gifts Literary Hub
The Argonaut Octopus Has Mastered The Free Ride Defector
Climate
Cop16: the world’s largest meeting to save nature has ended with no clear path ahead The Conversation
A pivotal year for global renewable energy transition: navigating the opportunities S&P Global
Sea ice alert Arctic News
Amazon deforestation drops to nine-year low, says Brazil France24
Water
Will Lake Powell become Lake Mud? Inside the growing sediment crisis Deseret News
Syndemics
Preprint: Emergence of a Novel Reassortant Clade 2.3.2.1c Avian Influenza A/H5N1 Virus Associated with Human Cases in Cambodia Avian Flu Diary
China?
China’s Xi calls for ‘stable’ US ties in message to Trump Channel News Asia
Chinese premier pledges broader opening-up for foreign-funded firms CGTN
India
US elections and their impact on Indian equities BNE Intellinews
Germany’s Pivot to India The Diplomat
Apple to build hostel facilities for 100,000 women workers across India (excerpt) Business Standard
Trash troubles: How India can deal with its staggering amount of plastic waste Channel News Asia
Syraqistan
We are witnessing the final stage of genocide in Gaza Guardian
Israel, Blackmail & the Presidents Consortium News
The Rewards and Risks of Islamic Finance JSTOR Daily
European Disunion
Europe’s winter gas supplies at risk from market disruptions FT
New Not-So-Cold War
Total of 148 clashes on battlefield in Ukraine over past day: Pokrovsk and Kurakhove fronts remain hottest Ukrainska Pravda
* * * Ukraine War well beyond Trump-Harris election Responsible Statecraft. The deck: “Experts: Kyiv is losing no matter who takes the White House. The question is, who will end it before time runs out?”
Even Donald Trump Can’t Afford to Lose the Ukraine War Foreign Policy
Trump advised to freeze war in Ukraine, but has yet to make decision – WSJ and Republican senator says war in Ukraine has reached a stalemate and must be ended Ukrainska Pravda. Rubio.
Biden ‘rushing’ billions in aid to Ukraine as Trump win fuels uncertainty Al Jazeera
* * * South Korea ‘not ruling out’ sending weapons directly to Ukraine France24
Ukraine – North Korean Soldiers Are “Disguised As Buryats” Moon of Alabama. Big if true:
A usually reliable source tells me that the North Korean soldiers who have deployed to Russia have never had unfettered access to the internet before. As a result, they are gorging on pornography.
— Gideon Rachman (@gideonrachman) November 5, 2024
* * * Mystery of a 2nd Sabotage Team (Google translate) Bild. The deck: “Too small! Too wobbly! Diving experts are certain: The 15-meter yacht “Andromeda” could not possibly have been the base for the massive Nord Stream sabotage.”
The New Great Game
Daily protests, repeat elections: what’s opposition’s plan in Georgia? JAM News
Georgia’s opposition announces daily protests as part of campaign of ‘resistance’ BNE Intellinews
2024
Election Aftermath: Notes on the ‘Grand Realignment’ Simplicius the Thinker
Bernie Sanders slams Democratic Party’s ‘disastrous’ campaign strategy following Harris’ loss Anadolu Strategy
Transcript of WION interview, 6 November 2024 Gilbert Doctorow
Against Hyping Civil War and Mass Violence RAND
Voted in America? This Site Doxed You 404 Media
* * *
Trump Transition
Election 2024: The sun rises on Trump’s resurgent MAGA era Axios
* * * Trump is Eyeing Iran Hawk Brian Hook as First Foreign Policy Pick Dropsite
Billionaire hedge fund manager lines himself up for Treasury secretary role FT
* * * The view from countries where Trump’s win really matters BBC
EU has wish list for Trump, but support for his tough China agenda will be expected South China Morning Post
* * * The US is about to make a sharp turn on climate policy MIT Technology Review
SEC Crypto Enforcement Slated for Major Rollback Under Trump Bloomberg
RFK Jr. says he won’t ‘take away anybody’s vaccines’ after Trump win The Hill.
Trump likely to uphold CHIPS Act despite his campaign rhetoric, experts say CNBC
Realignment and Legitimacy
US court reluctant to blow up Boy Scouts’ $2.46 billion sex abuse settlement Reuters
Fascism, from The Theory of Capitalist Development Paul Sweezy, MR Online (1942).
The Final Frontier
World’s 1st wooden satellite arrives at ISS for key orbital test Space.com
Digital Watch
Australia plans social media ban for under-16s BBC
Thousands of election gamblers anticipate betting jackpot after Trump win Reuters
Feral Hog Watch
Islands of the Feral Pigs Hakai Daily
Guillotine Watch
Class Warfare
Boeing Machinists End 53-Day Strike with 38 Percent Raise Labor Notes
Dozens of New York Times tech workers cross the picket line on Election Day Business Insider
Why even progressive US voters are America Firsters Middle East Eye
The Pleasure of Being Left Alone The Marginalian
Antidote du jour (Chuck Homler / FocusOnWildlife.Me ):
Bonus antidote:
Timeline cleanse. pic.twitter.com/PAI8UdMI2l
— cats with jobs 🛠 (@CatWorkers) November 6, 2024
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
213 comments
Comments are closed.
WORKING BRAIN
(melody borrowed from Morning Train (Nine to Five) by Florie Palmer, as performed by Sheena Easton)
We all had plenty warnin’ now look where it has led
Harder times are dawnin’ you hear what I said?
Wars waged hell for leather a lot of people die
Wars to make things better—but that is just a lie
Those young soldiers look spiffy and happy to go fight
Though their future’s iffy they lock and load alright
I try to know just why, Lord above
Young men rush to die—and for what?
Old Donald lacks a working brain, his handlers view him with disdain
He’s boorish, vulgar, and mundane, he’ll find this job’s still boring
Old Donald lacks a working brain, he’ll soon see there’s a lot to gain
Sit back and play the Deep State game—let deficits go soaring!
His one and only duty is to do what money wants
Keep our wars advancing and be nonchalant
Be careful with his grifting, and delight
In graveyard whistling all the day and night
Old Donald lacks a working brain, his handlers view him with disdain
He’s boorish, vulgar, and mundane, he’ll find this job’s still boring
This world may sink or swim, he will profit handsomely
Things may be lookin’ grim—profits are all we see (profits all we see)
Presidents with no brains never ever get it right
Grabs his perks and private pay, tell the voters you’ll fight
Old Donald lacks a working brain, his handlers view him with disdain
He’s boorish, vulgar, and mundane, he’ll find this job’s still boring
Old Donald lacks a working brain, he’ll soon see there’s a lot to gain
Sit back and play the Deep State game—let deficits go soaring!
Old Donald lacks a working brain, his handlers view him with disdain
He’s boorish, vulgar, and mundane, he’ll find this job’s still boring
Old Donald lacks a working brain, he’ll soon see there’s a lot to gain
Thanks, Antifa! An excellent addition to the songbook.
I watched part of Old Donald’s “victory speech” and it was quite bizarre. Old Donald sounds more like my crazy Uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner table after a blowout meal, regaling us with tales of past glories.
A long, rambling riff on various random topics, including Musk, RFK Jr, and giving thanks to a lot of folks. He would bring others up to the mic to talk, including one random lady who looked like she was lost.
It’s going to be a fun ride for the next 4 years – buckle up.
4 years? There is a reason people retire in their 60s. The problems from the trail and the first administration are all there except four years on.
He looked normal for him at McDonald’s, but otherwise he looks like a lumbering old guy who is supposed to switch to working full time where he has to make decisions. His mother had severe osteoporosis at this age. Trump is a noted over eateries routinely golfs. With the sitting about to come, the Jabba comparisons will be everywhere.
Then there is the lifestyle swing that is occurring right now. “Musk or Vance: who is in charge?” will be here soon.
Bill Clinton’s lecturing comes to mind. He’s not even working, and he clearly can’t handle it when he used to be the I feel your pain guy.
Get ready for President-by-Committee.
Musk, Vance, RFK Jr, Tulsi. Maybe they’ll throw in that random lady just for grins and giggles.
Get ready for new President-by-Committee, instead of old President-by-Committee. The Committee is big, and you ain’t in it.
Tulsi? More like Peter Thiel and Elon Musk. We are talking about the rise of the South African billionaires. These are the guys nostalgic for apartheid.
Unlike the apartheid in Israel that is loved bipartisanly.
A current quasi-related fever dream in TDS Land is that, actually, Trump is not Hitler, but is Von Hindenburg; it’s actually Vance who is Hitler.
Vance seems to have CIA ties. That, of course, is commendable if you’re Liz Slotkin, but not acceptable for MAGA?
Thank you, Lambert.
The only good thing Rachman has ever said is nyet after interviewing George Osborne for a job at the FT. Ossie, who was christened Gideon, but changed that to George in his teens*, had the last laugh, though. *Having decided on a career in (Tory) politics and needing to hide his Jewish origins.
‘Gideon Rachman
@gideonrachman
A usually reliable source tells me that the North Korean soldiers who have deployed to Russia have never had unfettered access to the internet before. As a result, they are gorging on pornography.’
This is the chief foreign affairs commentator for the Financial Times saying this. Just either making it up or spreading rumours. I believe I know the source of this story. An article came out a few months ago of how there was this totally isolated tribe in South America that got access to the internet and spent the whole time downloading pron. So somebody took this story, combined it with how little North Koreans can access the internet and voila – bs pie. Still waiting for proof of North Koreans in the Ukraine.
Back in the 60’s there was a rumor spread by John Birch Society that UN sponsored Mongolian bare-foot soldiers were deployed on American soil in the south west.
If you ask me, all these stories about North Korean forces have the same sort of odor.
Who needs proof when the facts have been set by the narrative creators. Trying to explain that there isn’t a shred of evidence to a team blue member only elicits that dreaded PMC stare.
If, as b at MoA says, the objective is to drag NATO troops to Ukraine something more than an idiotic tweet from “reliable sources” will be needed. The chief foreign affairs commentator on FT falling to such low commenting levels is itself noticeable.
https://www.politico.eu/article/pentagon-north-korean-troops-pornography-vladimir-putin-russia-war-in-ukraine/
US can’t confirm Putin’s North Koreans are ‘gorging on pornography’
The Pentagon late Tuesday said it was unable to confirm reports that North Korean troops are taking advantage of their more expansive internet access in Russia to consume copious amounts of online pornography.
I don’t understand the point of these stories.
Let’s say they are jacking off every 30 minutes on Porn Hub videos.
Who cares?
Hmmm, so Russia is really the new land of the free? Here in the West all spy agencies and most companies planting cookies and stuff on your computer know exactly what kind of pr0n you are watching and for how long. They also keep this info to blackmail you later on. But Pentagon can’t reach the computers in Russia.
Whom ever came up with that story should have first checked if North Koreans have mobile phones (2/3 households have one), if they operate outside of North Korea (nope) and if there’s 3G network available near border in Kurks oblast (nope).
So, we are to believe that while Russian troops have to give up their mobile phones when being transferred to the area of operations, North Korean troops actually find somewhere money to get phones and sims cards that actually work in Russia?
I guess they are also carrying with them all those WMDs Saddam had but were never found…
Actually, the really funny thing about that link is that naked capitalism introduced it with the phrase,
BIG IF TRUE
To which I reply,
Bigness is relative
In porn bigness is relative, and also split into categories: big b00bs, big behinds, BBC, …
Everyone in their right mind would not use cell phones at the frontline. The Signal can be tracked, leading to artillery bombardment…
Bringing cell phones to the front has led to many an IDF idjit getting pwned by Hezbollah in the last few months. The Most Moral Army in the World™ just can’t resist TikToking their war crimes against civilian populations, and Hezbollah’s soldiers (the people who were supposedly “defeated” and “demoralized” by the US/Israeli terrorist attacks lol) have actual discipline and are very happy to punish them for their arrogance.
Also, given that the US Army didn’t even have working radios in Iraq in 2003 and were forced to use their own phones to communicate (or else walky talkies they bought at Walmart), I can’t imagine it’s gonna go well for them either when Biden tries to drag our guys into open conflict before January 20th.
You mean an attack like this?
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russias-defence-ministry-says-89-killed-makiivka-blames-use-mobile-phones-2023-01-03/
You can bet your back side the Russians have probably learned that lesson.
You don’t need mobile phones in order to determine the coordinates of school filled with soldiers. That was just a lame excuse for incompetent officers that put those soldiers there. The lesson is that soldiers in the vincinity of the frontline should be spread out, and some officers should be sacked.
As it so happens I’ve started reading the book “The Truth About Lies” by AJA Raden, which I found at the local Dollar Tree. The author describes lying as a “feature” not a “bug” and provides examples in humans as well as everything from viruses on up. Equally interesting is his describing humans as having a bias toward trust, which relieves us of the need to verify everything we learn from infancy on but leaves us vulnerable to lies. He also describes other “biases” such as “authority bias” which I’m sure all governments rely on. I’m finding it a very educational text.
Thanks for the tip, I just downloaded a 318 page PDF copy of it:
file:///C:/Users/fritz/Downloads/the-truth-about-lies-a-taxonomy-of-deceit-hoaxes-and-cons.pdf
Nice link you got there. :)
Hey,
Remember when they tried to tell us that Joe Biden was the “new FDR”?
It turns out he was just the new Benjamin Harrison.
John Hollander’s delightful double dactyl has come to mind in recent months (from, forgive me, Wikipedia):
Higgledy piggledy,
Benjamin Harrison,
Twenty-third president
Was, and, as such,
Served between Clevelands and
Save for this trivial
Idiosyncrasy,
Didn’t do much.
Donald has history:
Tariffs and travesties
Covid and miseries
Landed on us
Now he’s in charge again
Already weighing in
World’s smallest violin
Concert can start
Kamala Harris we
Shouldn’t embarrass thee
But your propensity
For claptrap hurts
Named by the DNC
Never by you or me
Word salad symphonies
Caused red alerts
Not in my books after reading his Wikipedia entry. The guy was an actual dyed in the wool progressive and not the make believe ones that we have nowadays-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Harrison
> Sea ice alert Arctic News
>> It is worrying for slow growth to occur during La Niña conditions in 2024.
>> On November 3, 2024, global sea ice extent was 23.15 million km², a record low for the time of year and well below the 2023 extent at this time of year.
Daily Surface Air Temperatures are up a fifth of a degree C’ from the previous record, last year. Sea Surface Temperatures are tracking last years values instead of dropping down to previous years. Models didn’t predict it and I didn’t expect it.
Hurricane Raphael is the third hurricane to pop out of the Central American Gyre this year, entirely unprecedented. The previous two blew up to Cat 5. While Raphael is modeled to settle down in the middle of the Gulf, there’s warmth in the oven yet. Conditions aren’t great for a blow-up, but Janet and I have too many memories of storms expanding to fill the Gulf to be sanguine. Keep a weather eye out.
File under 2024 or T: I left this late last night on WC. I’m leaving it again because it’s the best thing I’ve read explaining the T win. Americans vote their pocketbook. The Dems refused to acknowledge anything is wrong on Main Street. Sounds right to me. In my nearly solidly blue uni town voting was way down this year according to published local stats.
From Jacobin magazine:
Democratic Party Elites Brought Us This Disaster
https://jacobin.com/2024/11/election-harris-trump-democrats-strategy
Would you believe that on the night of the election there were political pundits on TV saying that they could not understand why Trump had so much success with common people as after all, the economy was going so great and business was booming. I think that they actually believed it.
They still believe it. They have spent so many years getting to where they are by doing exactly this, which is only seeing what they have been told to see by their “betters” and it was going so well. It has to be the truth. And for some of them it really is true, their investments are going well, their house is worth double what they paid for it, and organic food is everywhere, not to mention that they have job opportunities everywhere.
Those Trump voters clearly did not check the balances of their 401k accounts before voting.
Of course they believe it. How can the system be broken when I am prospering within it?
In other news, the 2024 Upton Sinclair Award for Blinkered Thinking in News Commentary has been canceled due to the 1,000-way tie for winner.
The PMC live in a different world than the lower 98%!
Their economic writers have been trying to wheedle out bad pricing stats, and demand everyone accept the gaslighting!
“Liars figure and figures lie”.
The “deplorables” must not question, have to accept!
Musk and substack!
“The old saying is that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different result. So what do you call it when you fail, get a better result by doing something different, then go back and repeat the thing that failed the first time anyway?”
I agree it’s a good piece and worth reading. It doesn’t mention him, but I’ve always said Bernie Sanders would have been the perfect antidote to Trump, he’d be powerless against a Sanders voting record, socialistic mandate and platform. Had they focused on Bernie-type issues they’d have a different outcome. And Bernie had very obviously touched on something which electrified, started a popular movement, it was dumb to ignore why Bernie was popular.
Bernie would have good in 2016, but he’s discredited himself since by acting as a cheerleader for the Dem’s worst excesses. Coming out now and pretending like he was always critical of the Harris campaign doesn’t do much when both he and AOC have lost credibility with much of their base (i.e., the people who were actually knocking on doors for them from 2015-2020).
The reality is the Dems need to go the way of the Whigs and the Freesoilers. Yeah, blah blah “two party system” etc. But no one says it needs to be *these* two parties. And the failure of 50,000 DSA members to move the needle of the Dem Party left one iota over the last 8 years (it’s only gotten MORE right-wing in that time, even on the “social/ ID pol issues” they claim to care about most) proves that the party can’t be reformed. We have to put it down.
From linked Jacobin article:
Hanging over it all was the festering political sore that was Democratic support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Given the perfect chance to reset from an issue that had demoralized the party’s base, threatened its chances in Michigan, and thrust the world into roiling chaos, Harris chose to squander it, loyally lining up behind the despicable and unpopular blank-check policy of the man the party had just ousted as unfi
Curious how Jacobin has been covering Genocide in Gaza, I stopped reading them when they went whole hog into CV19 Vax Mandate.
Whether this turns out to be a disaster (for anyone other than the Dem high-ups) remains to be seen. The Jacobin, like all to many putative left sources, reasons as follows: Trump will be a disaster, therefore there will be a disaster because Trump. I’ll take a wait and see approach.
Personally, I hope there is a realignment. If this realignment ends with the Republicans become the party that (actually) supports the working class, supports civil liberties (for real, not just when out of power) and tones down the religion (which the Trump wing seems to be doing already), then so be iit and I’ll join. If the Dems get Whigged, so much the better.
It’s seems unlikely to me that a party whose major supporters spend millions and millions, day in day out, littering social media with nonsense designed to convince people that communist trans vegan democrats and horrors like OSHA and the post office and public schools are killing us all will suddenly decide to support the ordinary plebes within anything more than token offers that have the net benefit of something like free pizza day at workplace.
For a few, millions and millions spent on social media is a terrific bargain compared to paying taxes on the money they can’t hide.
Taibbi’s take on the media on the day after
https://www.racket.news/p/in-election-aftermath-hollywood-smashes?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email#media-3cfdb11f-a9e4-42cd-a046-cdf988d09be2
Thanks for the link. As a casual observer of national politics its weird that the Rs rally their base while the Ds always run from their base. Looks like for this election the D-base finally connected the dots.
Well, today’s Democratic base seems to be the PMC. They have had decent success turning out high-income professionals, and shepherding the Republican-voting segment of professionals into the Democratic party. They have done poorly with a more New Deal-era “base” of the party. But the New Deal was a long time ago.
People over 65 and white women with college degrees, that’s their base now. Note that white women overall voted 52% for Trump.
One important thing Dems forget when they peddle abortion as their issue is that it’s a woman’s issue, from both sides–strongest opponents of abortion are also women. There may be more pro choice women than pro lifers, but the net gain is not nearly as big as Dems think.
First, it was by no means a disaster, and secondly, there was nothing the Democratic Elites could have done to alter the outcome: every bizarre thing they did try (and there were many — this was the most hilariously entertaining political campaign above the level of high school class president, ever conducted) was a futile attempt to turn a tide that they knew was about to engulf them. I would be very surprised if D/E’s didn’t have a significant amount of skin in the game, on Trump, on the betting platforms.
>Bernie Sanders slams Democratic Party’s ‘disastrous’ campaign strategy following Harris’ loss Anadolu Strategy
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Probably not,” he said.
Will he “learn any real lessons” from his betrayal to his supporters? The easiest thing to lose and hardest to regain is one’s trust. He is a spent used up politician, a debased coin, that carries no value for me. A recent event that he held with AOC brought out a couple of hundred supporters. In years gone by he could fill a stadium, I know I attended and financially contributed to both his campaigns, I feel he acted as a Judas goat.
If I’m not mistaken the final scene and final circle of hell in Dante’s inferno describes a Satan with three heads, in the mouth of one of them is Judas, the second Brutus, and the third, I forgot…
Saint Bernard of the Green Mountains with his extraordinary insight, courage, and integrity tells us the glaringly fambloging obvious the day after the election. Helpful. Real helpful.
His easy capitation to Biden’s right-wing authority was central to exterminating the left-populist agenda. Now he comes to scold the party. Not exactly a lesson in courage.
I believe it was Stoller who said the reason Bernie wouldn’t take on Biden was that when Bernie became senator Biden was nice to him. “To think outside the box you have to be outside the box” (quoting myself). The fence straddling Sanders wants to be a middle class revolutionary.
Which is the problem with the Democrats in general. No callouses on their hands. They are big on virtue signalling while enjoying all those Republican and–irony–Trump tax cuts.
Meanwhile an article on Trump’s intentions yesterday seemed all bad on the domestic front and uncertain on the foreign. Won’t tariffs with no domestic industries to replace merely fuel the inflation he was supposed to fight? The public have delivered their ballot box rebuke to the elites. When will we ever have a political movement that will do more than that?
> to replace merely fuel the inflation he was supposed to fight?
Higher prices with no increase in wages and reduced product availability sounds like a recipe for “reduced consumption”.
Maybe it’s a surreptitious de-growth strategy.
/s
Dear old Bernie! He figures out that he has a rectally impacted cranium the day after the Dems take a well deserved shelacking. A day late and a (inflation adjusted) dollar short.
If Bernie fought as hard as Trump did, maybe he could have won? Back in 2015/2016, when the R establishment united against Trump, he defeated them. When the D establishment, aka Hillary, told Bernie to roll over, he exposed his belly and wagged his tail.
“Will the big money interests and well-paid consultants who control the Democratic Party learn any real lessons from this disastrous campaign? Probably not,” Sanders said.
Of course not. Democrat elected officials know that as long as they work for Wall Street and the War Machine when they’re in office, it won’t matter if they lose re-election because many lucrative opportunities will await them as lobbyists, fellows at business funded think tanks and executives at billionaire backed do-goodie-good charities that support the status quo.
As George Carlin observed “it’s a big club and you ain’t in it.”
What is the point of Bernie these days? Does he even know?
Maybe he serves as proof the neoliberal Dem elites would rather lose with another neoliberal candidate – Clinton or Biden – than win with a left leaning, populist candidate who might be a New Dealer at heart. They couldn’t even risk a real primary this year sensing their voters are done with neoliberalism. / ;)
RE: Bernie Sanders slams Democratic Party’s ‘disastrous’ campaign strategy following Harris’ loss
Wait, what??? The same Bernie who kept his mouth shut like a good little boy during the whole Biden, then Harris, campaign? The same Bernie who endorsed Harris and called her a “progressive”?
Hey Bernie, you were part of that disastrous campaign!
Just wondering what Mossad has on Bernie because none of this makes sense. They is not a signle brave soul in the Democratic Party.
He’s not even in the Democratic Party. It’s possible someone can blackmail him but maybe he just wants to not suffer the social indignities that Nader had to put up with. Maybe he’s just that kind of coward. It wouldn’t be surprising or any better morally.
He is definitely made out of a different stuff than Norman Finkelstein…
This, albeit small taters in the grand scheme, is one my favorite things Nader did: The American Museum of Tort Law. Buy the t-shirt!
CaliDan thank you for the link.
Had Bernie opposed the Harris campaign he would have been accused of being the reason it failed. Sometimes you have to let people fail on their own, without your help, so they can learn what needs learning. Of course, that assumes the Dem strategy team is learning-capable, which so far the evidence is suggesting otherwise (unless the failing was deliberate, which is plausible).
posted 10 months ago – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uV8g-S_Hg0
Lena from yesterday: He is not perfect, not the messiah we might have wanted him to be, but in the main, I thank him for the work he has done.
There is NOT ONE POLITICIAN who has done as much to show our younger adults how to ORGANIZE for political change. They shanked him not once but TWICE. They barred his supporters from the building. He is the ONLY national politician to prove an alternate route than MAGA for a major change.
Both Hersh and Taibbi have mentioned They will threaten your family. I read (unconfirmed) his wife was threatened. Despite that, he laid the road for a third party, and potholes don’t get filled until they’re already there.
Before trashing what he’s done, show me the alternative. To whom does he compare?
“To whom does he compare?”
Suggestion: start looking for role models OUTSIDE the USA.
Fair enough. Names?
Sarah Wagenknecht. She’s having some difficulty formulating a good position on immigration, for which she is reflexively attacked by some on the left, but overall she’s impressive. I fear she will be assassinated by a Ukie fascist for opposing the war with Russia in order to restore the economy.
Yes, impressive lady, and she’s made the right kind of enemies– ones to be proud of, for sure.
Fred Hampton Jr. Butch Ware. Claudia de la Cruz. I could go on and on. There are many out there who only lack a following. Sanders only appears good in comparison to all the rest of the national elected representatives. He is a soft zionist who always put the party (rather than the people) first.
His wife is a nice lady, we did security for her at Alcatraz. Horrible if she was threatened.
That seems like a difficult shortcoming to overcome. I really, really don’t like Bill Clinton, but from what I’ve heard he, and Barack Obama, have a kind of magnetic field around them, called charisma, that attracts people. Kamala Harris is pretty good, persuasive, knows how to talk to people, but she doesn’t have that field. Neither does Biden. I think the person we need is going to come out of nowhere, like Obama in 2007. No, I’m not praising Obama, but look at how fast he came from nowhere to the national stage. I could even believe it could be a billionaire. Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a very rich man.
“Both Hersh and Taibbi have mentioned They will threaten your family. I read (unconfirmed) his wife was threatened. ”
We need leaders who, when threatened (like being shot at), will raise a first in the air yelling FIGHT, and not shrink away and endorse the Corporate Tools.
Sanders does not show what it means to truly sacrifice oneself, and that is what he is failing to show younger adults.
And you want an example of another leader doing way more than Sanders take a look at Kshama Sawant:
https://chrishedges.substack.com/p/do-not-vote-for-those-who-support
I don’t agree. All he did was say politically popular things, which is easy. Even Trump could manage that. Political organization for results requires being ready to take your faction to a third party and be a spoiler. Only that threat, and it must be real, gives you any leverage. And you have to accept the consequences of causing the Republicans to win by splitting the vote and being a pariah. Sanders did none of this. He confirmed for the younger generation that party discipline is unassailable.
Bernie’s wife was President of Goddard College in VT, a progressive institution, which ran into financial difficulties. Much hay* was made by personalizing these problems and blaming Jane Sanders – I imagine that if threats were made, they involved federal investigations and charges which would distract, destroy, and impoverish the Sanders. SO I agree, it does appear that the gangsters who run the Dem party went after Bernie by attacking his wife. He certainly has been toeing the line since!
* if you want more detail, the vermont digger is an excellent source.
“There is NOT ONE POLITICIAN who has done as much to show our younger adults how to ORGANIZE for political change. They shanked him not once but TWICE. ”
I worked the GOTV in 2016 for Sanders and donated money both times he ran. When he got the shaft and rolled over instead of taking a stand by going third party in 2020 I knew he was not going to be the one to change things. I think he was worried about his reputation and afraid of being labeled a “Nader” by allowing Trump to win in 2020. Well here we are…
Sanders spoke to a large crowd at my local community college. He continually spoke of, “we, not me”. It became clear to me that Sanders does not have the courage to be a leader. He’s essentially a gadfly to the Democratic Party.
He could have laid the road for a third party, but he has not and will not. Despite his alleged independence, his road always leads back to the Democrat Party.
And the whole “threat” thing…show me the goods. I’ve been hearing this since he ran against Hillary with zero evidence presented. I’d think if this was a credible claim, someone would have something more concrete than internet heresay by now.
Two particulars overlap beyond the credibly circumstantial:
: The investigation divadab references above, which the couples spokesman stated was politically motivated.
: A bruise Sanders sustained during a convention, which I remember but can find no references to now. Plenty about the ‘bruising’ convention, and a gash from another incident. My memory says it was conspicuously unexplained.
On a quick overview, I find no evidence she was physically threatened. And I find no evidence of an injury which did occur. But I’ll withdraw the point regardless.
Bernie Sanders is what is called the ‘not so obvious establishment’, Espousers of needed reforms that will never be enacted by the major parties so as to lead many back into the mainstream more of the same. The way Bernie reacted to being cheated in the primaries was definitely not Presidential. His job was to give hopium to real progressives and keep them in the party. Now on the Trumpian side we have Tulsi Gabbard and Bobby Kennedy Jr. There were real and effective reformers in 60s but they were assassinated.
He said all this during the campaign. The whole time.
“Trump advised to freeze war in Ukraine, but has yet to make decision – WSJ”
There are so many stupid suggestions by Neocons and the like and I wonder if Trump can tell when somebody is trying to bs him. Why would Russia agree to let the Ukraine join NATO in 20 years? That only guarantees a new war when a new generation of Ukrainians has grown up – which is why the 20 year delay. And they are already saying that in the meantime they would arm the Ukraine to the hilt. And why would Russia just take the West’s word on any agreement at all as they never keep any agreements? Freezing the conflict solves nothing for Russia so will be refused. A DMZ won’t work either as whose troops will patrol it? Trump say the Europeans but Russia has zero trust in them as they are a party to this war. You think that Trump would accept Chinese troops? Maybe even North Korean troops? Trump says that he will force Russia to negotiate or else he will sanction them. Realistically, what else is there left to sanction? He might offer sanction relief but what would be the point if they could be snapped back at a time of Washington’s convenience like they did with Iran? And Pompeo is pushing for a deal that doesn’t appear to give a major win to Moscow. Good luck with that one, pal.
Rut-roh, Shaggy. The worm-tongued neo-con Trump whisperers are gathering.
Russia’s best bet is to create some “facts on the ground” before Jan. 21.
You know, like rolling up to the Dnipr.
I wonder if Trump stands a chance of gaining accurate information about the state of the war. He can’t make informed choices without it. The word “freeze” in the headline suggests that AFU can defend existing lines.
I’m pretty sure he’s still talking with Douglas Macgregor, a war critic who has often been linked here, who was one of his foreign policy advisors during his first term.
He could call a certain Mr. Putin.
Yes, the west is great at negotiating with itself. It believes if it talks to itself long enough and come to a decision , the other party will agree to at least that as a starting point.
One of the misconceptions in almost all of the articles written is that Putin is the one calling the shots on the policy. He isn’t, the Military is, and they have probably correctly reasoned that the only way that this situation can be resolved in their favour is to continue to roll westwards until they hit the western Ukrainian border. And even then to make it very clear that any drones or missiles landing eastwards , whoever is responsible for firing them, will result in an immediate reaction. This is going to take years unless there is a complete collapse of Ukrainian forces due to manpower constraints.
Putin on the contrary would probably end at the Dnipr. He is much more concerned about the economic effects of a prolonged war and the internal demographics. Which probably would lead him to balance the requirements to meet all the SMO objectives with the need to protect the working age population.
Whoever is in the WH has not much to do with these calculations and probably the European arm of NATO is discounted completely.
If Trumps appoints Tulsi Gabbard as SecDef or SecState, then I know that he really learned from his near-death experience.
Pompeo II = Trump still stinks as a HR decider
I hear Trump has put out Pompeo as possible SecDef, as well as Sen Cotton. Both would get neocon democrats’ senate “advise and consent”!
The neocon clan did not go all Lincoln project bc they feared Harris. They have a seat!
Do you remember the Bill Hicks bit about the new president being shown a film and asked, “Any questions?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIiCjhCBDaM (2 min, joke’s in the first, not safe for work)
HELP regarding that film. A few of you at NC know which film. The film which was posted in comments years ago; the home video capture of the Kennedy assassination which was not blurred at the key moment the bullet blew away the back of his head. There were a few comments made at that time here at NC. Thanks to the person who posted a link to that film, I saw it. Unfortunately I lost it when my old computer suddenly died several years ago, and it’s not recoverable.
If someone has it and posts it (or finds a way for it to be found at/through NC somehow) I would be forever grateful.
You mean this?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zapruder_film
I believe so, but there is a “gotcha”. I saw two versions that were claimed to be the real thing, but the one labelled as Zapruder film was longer. Also this version had a moment in the film where the image was smudged out – at the most critical moment of course. This was the second version I saw.
The first one I saw was much shorter and included a clear image of what happened at that most critical moment. All from memory of course, so I have no proof.
WSJ wants to believe the POTUS gets to decide on freezing the war.
Hasn’t that ship sailed?
Seems like the Russians will settle it on their terms, and there’s really not much Trump or NATO can do about that.
Of course, US-NATO can escalate… and watch European capitals start getting hit with hypersonic missiles.
A poster at Big Serge other day posited that NATO could: put rear echelon troops in areas west of the Dnieper freeing Ukraine troops, it could enforce a no fly zone (within S400 range!) over the western Ukraine, it could add patriot missiles to move forward to provide air defense at the front lines etc.
None of these make operational sense, but could mean a lot of money for the usual suppliers.
Chance of a bigger war!
Russia has already said that any foreign troops on Ukrainian soil will be attacked on sight. Period.
My thought was “who” has “what” to send? F-16’s? Eurofighters?
NATO standard basing for mechanized battalion?
A no fly zone will get shot to pieces, the airfields open targets, and the air patrols engaged!
The only effect may be to escort the strike drones, with fighter sweeps.
Maybe Kim sends fighter aircraft and crews. For the experience.
That’s just the Overton window shifting slowly.
Professor Meirscheimer is becoming my most frequent source.
He did a bit on Ukraine freeze and how that is almost as bad an idea as US telling everyone in 2008 that Ukraine is targeted for NATO membership!
Freeze would be hair trigger. DMZ just keeps the hair trigger tight.
re: Israel, Blackmail & the Presidents Consortium News
I really appreciate Sam Husseini doing much of the legwork connecting the dots for something I had suspected, that Epstein was at least spook adjacent. My angle had been that nobody has so many wildly different and wildly successful financial specializations in such a short timeframe without outside help, and some of those specilizations (recovering embezzled funds internationally) would have needed state-level intervention. This piece adds a whole other dimension I hadn’t even considered.
I’m really glad to see that the concept of blackmail motivating the decisions of our leaders is being spoken out loud. It’s about time!
The article by Simplicius The Thinker talks about a changing paradigm, an opening of the Overton window, and ending of de-platforming and shutting down free thought.
So, it’s irresponsible not to speculate that our leaders may be compromised by blackmailers.
So is blackmail one of the words
that can trigger skynet?
Would someone please comment on Simplicius’ “proof” that the 2020 election was stolen? I usually ignore what he says about domestic politics, but it’s doozy time, roughly 12 M excess Dem votes, using Obama as a baseline:
Population growth and turnout in safe states. It’s actually not that complicated. Campaigns and platforms matter. Canceling student debt is more likely to motivate non voters than Hillary is your abuela.
Millennials were a large population unlike gen x, and the Population that was under 25 in 2008 would represent nearly all of them.
When you consider Obama in 2008 was a turnout not a persuasion campaign, it’s a growth of 11.5 million in 12 years when the the voting age population grew by double that change. So not particularly complicated.
I’ve seen this making its rounds on my Twitter feed and took a snap shot and filed under “vereee interesting.”
But I did notice 6 data points separated by four year cycles with little if any context, polling, population, opponent totals, ages of the electorate, and the impact of the electoral college.
Then you look at the Senate maps and house gerrymandering in house districts.
I notice that they mailed ballots to almost everyone who was registered to vote in 2020.
That tells me that there seems to be a big impediment to voting, especially on election day.
What did you learn?
in 2020 a lot of (most? maybe all?) states – even the deepest red ones – allowed for mail-in ballots and in some states sent them to registered voters without the voters needing to request them. In states where mail-in is the standard (like Washington State), during election years, turnout is usually in the 85%+ range. In states where mail-in was only widespread in 2020, like Texas, the turnout normally is only around 45% but jumped to 65%+ that year.
(Caveat: I am not 100% certain how widespread mail-in ballots were in Texas in 2020 as I am not a voter there. I have in the past been a voter in Washington state and am familiar with their normal mail in voting process.)
Most states that expanded mail voting sent ballot applications, not ballots.
This report only goes through 2022, so there may have been subsequent changes.
“In January 2020, prior to COVID-19, five states used mostly-mail elections: Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Utah and Washington. In time for the November 2020 election, California, Nevada, Vermont and the District of Columbia temporarily joined this group and mailed ballots to all active voters. By November 2022, three states (California, Nevada and Vermont) and the District of Columbia had adopted mostly-mail elections as permanent policy.
In January 2020, no states had policies to mail absentee/mail ballot applications to all registered voters…In time for the 2020 general election, 12 states (Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico by county choice, Ohio, Rhode Island and Wisconsin) had temporarily changed their policies and mailed absentee/mail ballot applications to all registered voters. By November 2022, all states that had mailed absentee/mail ballot applications in 2020 had reverted to their previous policies of not automatically sending out absentee/mail ballot applications; the changes in 2020 were indeed temporary changes.”
https://www.ncsl.org/elections-and-campaigns/the-evolution-of-absentee-mail-voting-laws-2020-through-2022
Texas has very limited eligibility for mail voting. I recall reports of how difficult this made things for people in 2020, so I don’t think these eligibility requirements were expanded for that year, but that’s only a recollection.
https://www.sos.texas.gov/elections/voter/reqabbm.shtml
“In states where mail-in is the standard (like Washington State), during election years, turnout is usually in the 85%+ range.”
Nope. Not even close in WA. Turnout this cycle was 20 pts higher than in 2022 but still in the 60-70% range.
Thanks for all your responses to my question, very helpful.
According to Wikipedia 128.8M votes in 2016 represents a turnout of 60.1% and 155.5M votes in 2020 represents a turnout of 66.6%. There’s nothing inherently suspicious about a turnout of 66% – a level, by the way, that other Western countries routinely achieve – in an election where voting was made enormously more convenient by the easy availability of postal votes.
honestly, Trump not being in office in 2021 saved his legacy and MAGA
Trump would not have changed any of Biden’s fumbles (except maybe the afhganistan withdrawal).
Inflation was in the system even before Biden’s IRA bill passed, the Fed had to reverse zero interest rates, Trump would be led by the DC establishment into a Ukraine war, and anti-Russia sanction driven inflation.
In an alternate universe in which Trump won 2020, a generic wet-noodle Democrat (Newsom) would have run against Pence…and Pence would get mauled.
“Trump would be led by the DC establishment into a Ukraine war, and anti-Russia sanction driven inflation.”
I don’t think we know that. The Ukraine disaster was much more a Blinken/Sullivan/spawn of Albright result. Putin invaded because his interlocutors were “not agreement capable” whereas Trump fancies himself the big deal artist. The neocons around him were much more interested in going after Iran. Trump’s scorn for NATO makes him a more dubious Atlanticist.
correct, but the US armed Ukraine under Trump even more than Obama.
And the cause of the war was Ukraine shelling Donetsk and being on the cusp of “liberating” Donetsk.
Trump had no problem bombing Syria and Solemani. And given Trump’s (likely) Boomer mentality of US Wunderweapons #1, i’d argue that Trump would have no qualms about showing some display of force without realizing the existential nature of Ukraine to the Kremlin.
and then, like as you mentioned, very good chance that the neocons probably could have convinced Trump to bomb something in Iran.
imo. ymmv.
As I recall there was an imminent threat of Kiev once again invading the east but only because given a green light by Washington. In the latter part of his admin Trump was under the sway of Pompeo and it remains to be seen whether that will still be true. In his statements at least Trump has said he gave too much power to the uncleared Swamp and won’t do so this time.
As for Iran, the Pentagon is likely to oppose any attack there as they always have. Petty harassment is more our style.
But above all Trump doesn’t seem to know much about foreign policy or have that much real interest in it. Guess now that he has won we will know his actual intentions soon.
He unilaterally pulled the US out of the INF Treaty with Russia, as well. Needless to say, #McResistance imbeciles who were banking on Russiagate to depose Trump said nothing, since it was contrary to their narrative… much to be written about how liberal hysteria over Trump was manipulated to make them useful idiots in the lead-up to the proxy war.
in addition to everyone’s comments… don-t forget in 2020, the Normie Voter just wanted a return to normalcy. Biden promised that
Generic Old White Guy in charge, not an iconoclast. Normies reasonably had Trump fatigue. Normies still had faith in “The System”
I had Trump fatigue. I did not have faith in “The System.” I am a Generic Old White Guy. Biden was a Generic Old White Politician well past his sell by date even in 2020.
After the Democrats won in 2020, wasn’t there also talk of having the adults back in charge again? So, how did that work out?
Aye. Instead of having “adults” in charge, we got a collection of woke activists and incompetents. I still don’t think the Democrats realize just how much the transgender activism cost them. My social circle is pretty broad and includes conservatives and liberals and socialists and libertarians, and I can’t think of even one person that I personally know who thinks that irreversible “gender-affirming care” for minors or having biological males in women’s sports are good ideas.
Throw in mismanagement of the COVID crisis, the inflation crisis, the student loan crisis, the housing crisis, and the border crisis, and it’s no surprise that voters were more than ready to give Democrats the boot. Even if it means enduring another four years of Trump’s drama.
I guess the big question now is what kind of people will Donald Trump pick to work with him? Will he emphasize loyalty like he did last time around, or will he have learned his lesson and focus on competence? Alas, I’m not optimistic.
Please do not forget that there was still unjustified fondness even love for Obama. Biden benefitted from that as well, just another side to the nostalgia vote. There was little interest in who Joe was really. And then there were the advantages of the Covid lockdown. I truly believe that if Joe had had to run a regular campaign not the bs edited one out of his basement he would have run into many of the same issues that Kamala had where the more people got to see her the less they trusted her.
In reference only to the vote numbers, not the other arguments:
2020:
Biden 81M Trump 74M = 155M
2024 currently:
Trump 72.6M Harris 67.9M = 140M
2024 CA currently:
Harris 5.7M Trump 4.0M with 55% reporting (so about 7M still uncounted)
As far as the emerging difference between Biden and Harris, arguments as to why actual real live eligible Biden voters would switch to Trump, third party, or abstention; or why new voters would choose Trump over Harris have been and continue to be presented on this site, not all of which I agree with, but they are reasonable arguments.
Here’s a link to a twitter thread on the status of counted/uncounted ballots. The tweeter refers to Wikipedia for the percentage. Wikipedia currently shows 87% as of 9:45 a.m. 11/7 citing the AP election returns website.
https://x.com/ErrataRob/status/1854543399518650797
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_United_States_presidential_election
Last I checked the 66.4M was still without a full accounting of voting from the western states which were at roughly 60% counted. So, I expect that number to go up some as they get the final numbers. On the other hand perhaps many folks didn’t bother to vote this year or left the top line blank given the choices. Lots of reasons for the poor showing by Kamala.
I have seen this but am not convinced it is significant given the mail in ballot surge. I am waiting to be shown the totals in the few states that mattered and tipped the balance in the 2020 vs. 2024 elections. If there are large changes there it would be interesting and possibly point to election manipulation or interference. I also want to know how many left the presidential line blank out of the total number who voted.
The numbers indicate a pretty big bump in turnout for Obama, followed by stagnation for the next 12 years while the population was growing. Then there was a big bump again in 2020, which I would attribute to the unique situation created by Covid plus the opportunity to vote against Bad Orange Man. I recall seeing a lot of stories in 2020 about disengaged people voting for the first time.
A dropoff of 8-10 million democrat votes from 2020 to 2024 seems roughly in line with the lack of democrat enthusiasm among normal people outside the hardcore. These numbers do not get my spidey sense tingling.
Wow – can’t believe I fell for the old Y axis expansion ploy. I went to the trouble of making a chart with a zero based Y axis and it’s a whole lot less impressive.
It’s a 20% boost, not the 50% as pictured. Doesn’t make me very interested in the rest of what the blogger has to say.
20% can still be statistically suspect, if it goes only one way. Not saying it can’t be explained – as many have already done above – just that doubt is warranted.
Oh, absolutely – but much less so than the 100% increase shown in the blog chart (I misspoke above).
At first glance? Sure. But if he’s dumb enough to put something out there like, “There is simply no mathematically possible way that Biden had such an anomalously high, record-breaking turnout, eclipsing both before-and-after Democratic candidates,” without even bothering to do the basic research already provided above, he has zero credibility weighing in on anything regarding the election.
“United States President Joe Biden plans to rush billions of dollars in security assistance to Ukraine before he leaves office in January, reports say, hoping to shore up the government in Kyiv before Donald Trump returns to the White House.“-
“$2bn in funding for new weapons purchases.“
Just a sigh from me. Places here ravaged by the hurricanes; people across the ocean dying from genocide. Weapons are such a sink.
A report from RT says-
‘The White House intends to expedite up to $9 billion in new military aid in a last-ditch effort to arm Ukraine before President-elect Donald Trump takes office in January, according to sources in the outgoing administration.’
https://www.rt.com/news/607256-biden-rush-ukraine-aid/
Trump could cause a lot of damage to the Democrats by publishing exactly how much money has been sent to aid the Ukrainians, both officially and unofficially.
There was a Senator in Congress who explicitly stated that the value of all US funding to Ukraine since 2014 (Maidan) is over $400 Billion.
re: “people were ravaged by hurricanes”
And left to their own devices or worse in their recovery efforts. I think that explains the North Carolina and Georgia vote this year. / my 2 cents
See also eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania after the East Palestine, Ohio train wreck and toxic cloud release.
Long serving Ohio Dem Senator Sherrod Brown lost his re-election race.
NC and Georgia are similar in that both have urban islands surrounded by a much more conservative remainder. A Harris win in NC was never in the cards IMO. I believe the map shows that Asheville did go for Harris but all the surrounding areas did not.
Take a look at the election returns on a county map of the US. The Democrat vote is scattered islands and archipelagoes of blue is a sea of red. The Democrat party has become the choice of the cities and until Tuesday the cities carried the popular vote for it. Is this an aberration or a harbinger of the future? If you are looking out from a comfortable perch with money in the bank, things look great. If true, why has poverty increased? Why are so many “food insecure?” Why are there more persons homeless? Harris had more billionaires backing her than did Trump. Neither party gives a particular damn about the “great unwashed” or in present day parlance the 80% of the population who do not share the comfortable perches and the hefty bank balances. The US is due for a political party realignment. Do the Democrats want to go the way of the Whigs?
Thanks for this info. Apparently, NY Sen. Chuck Schumer’s prediction* has hit its sell-by date.
*From 2022 Politico article:
In July 2016, Senator Chuck Schumer suggested Democrats could ignore this[working class] constituency. “For every blue-collar Democrat we lose in western Pennsylvania,” he said, “we will pick up two moderate Republicans in the suburbs in Philadelphia, and you can repeat that in Ohio and Illinois and Wisconsin.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/06/24/democrats-white-working-class-00041807
>Even Donald Trump Can’t Afford to Lose the Ukraine War – FP
Ideally, his plan should not involve Ukraine giving up territory that has been captured by Russia over the course of the war. Nor should it be based on empty promises from Russian President Vladimir Putin, which he has a history of making.
“Can’t afford to Lose!?” What would “winning” look like? If ever there was a case of projection FP embodies it in the statement about “empty promises.” Who believes this tripe?
“giving up territory captured by Russia”
You can’t give up something you’ve already lost … McFly?
Presumably they mean “recognize as part of Russia”. Part of the face-saving spin would be to insist that one day Ukraine will be able to reunite in the fashion of West and East Germany.
There is still some of Donetsk under nominal Ukrainian control. Luhansk is toast. Kherson is the most likely to end up in a split due to the geography. Looks like the Russians are launching a big Zaphorizhe offensive, so that’s likely gone by the time Trump is sworn in.
You know, they were talking about that exactly just a few weeks ago. That a divided Ukraine would be reunited just like Germany was once. Of course part of that line is that eastern Ukraine would become part of NATO so when it reunited, all of it would be in Ukraine so the Ukraine would win then after all. Yeah, nah!
Part of the job for the neo-cons is going to be manufacturing a plausible narrative for how they really didn’t lose the war in Ukraine—so, keeping hope alive that someday down the road that territory will be re-united is definitely in the playbook.
The problem is that we live in a physical world, and all that coal, steel plants, etc. will be resources for Russia, not Blackrock.
They have been talking about reuniting like Germany for months, but are moving onto reuniting like Korea talk.
I keep repeating this, but Germany has not been reunited since 1945. Vienna and Salzburg are not part of “Germany,” after all, and people have conveniently forgotten that they ever were. To me, that’s a good thing.
There’s the minor issue that Germany was divided by an US unilateral action against all Allied agreements, while Ukraine was divided by a civil war after a violent coup.
Hard to unite a country, when 1/3 of the population rather live under Russia’s rule and 1/3 is hell bent on ethnic cleansing* the other 2/3.
* includes banning language, culture, religion etc.
Actually, much like Afghanistan, the US can’t afford to perpetuate this war.
So lose it shall (and I am being very generous by phrasing this in future tense)
Who believes this tripe?
Nobody. It’s just a way of trying to shape discussion before TPTB lose all control of the process.
I feel that the editors at Foriegn Policy owe it to their writers to find a better source of LSD– one that offers a quality product, not the one that these poor folk are tripping on.
Maybe get Hunter to sit on their board? He’s a man of experience…
Hunter is toast come 1/21/25. He’ll be looking for a new domicile, or incarceration.
>Mystery of a 2nd Sabotage Team
No mystery at all, nothing but pure mis/disinformation to give wiggle room to corrupt/bought/compromised German politicians.
The really amazing thing is that this appeared in a German publication as they are much worse at truth telling than US publications. Mind you, it took over two years to find out what every professional diver knew – that it was more likely that the SS Minnow blew up NS2 than the yacht Andromeda but hey, better late than never.
Not to minimize the abuse suffered by some boys at the hands of adult Scouts, but it’s my opinion the settlement essentially destroying the organization and forcing it into bankruptcy threw the baby out with the bathwater. The better solution? Dunno above my pay grade, but a $2460-million dollar fine for a boys social organization seems over the top. What’s more, how do you possibly quantify who gets a $3500 payout versus a $2.7M payout?
Honestly? The whole plan is crazy and does a disservice to everyone whilst trying to impose what can’t be fixed since money won’t erase the memory. And where were the parents? I have two scout age boys at home and I notice so many things about their actions and behaviors that I wonder how parents can possibly NOT notice a change in theirs kids, e.g. become withdrawn, reticent about talking about their experience . . . like nothing, nobody noticed a freaking a thing in the kids until decades later? And now with money on the table we have 82,000 victims? Bull.
“Not to minimize the abuse suffered by some boys”
PROCEEDS TO MINIMIZE THE ABUSE SUFFERED BY SOME BOYS
I didn’t see any minimizing of the abuse.
Should the Catholic Church be bankrupted? The history of abuse is well documented.
It may be an age thing, but the dualistic thinking model has real limitations. When we are young, we need to see things as black and white, good and bad. Later, we are able to hold contradictory ideas in our heads without agita. I think this is called “creative dissonance” by some.
Duality gets applied to people – as much as we want to believe we are good and the other is bad, we are all creatures of darkness and light.
It pays to begin with assuming best intentions of each other’s actions / words.
IMOYMMV
Best…H
Jesus would approve.
Exactly. Also, who says the molested boys had two parent homes (or a or both parents that were “checked out” due to illness, mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, working 2 jobs to put food on the table, etc.)? I watched an interview with a convicted child molestor (of boys) and he was asked what criteria he used to select his victims. He answered, the number one issue was to make sure there was no man in the house, that a concerned father would be a real threat to his nefarious plans.
Bomb Iran
Sung to the tune of “Sharp Dressed Man” by ZZ Top
No clean shirts
War flu, the frontline isn’t where they’re going to
Silk suit, F-35 (thirty five!)
And they don’t need a reason why
They come running just as fast as they can
Cuz every neocon-crazy wants to bomb Iran
Tomahawks, Boeing, heat-seeking missiles dont miss a single thing
Liz Cheney, Lindsay Graham, when they “chimp out” we’ll all be eating spam
They beat war drums just as hard as they can
Cuz every neocon-crazy wants to bomb Iran
[Guitar break]
Top gun wannabes
But dontcha worry; draft boards they’ll never see
Switchblades, no doves
Lookin’ sharp, killin’ for love
They’re psycho killers with blood on their hands
Cause every neo-con crazy ’bout a war with Iran!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wRHBLwpASw
From Dozens of New York Times tech workers cross the picket line on Election Day
(bold mine)
Heh, so we can see why Times journalists don’t understand what’s wrong with “red” America.
Just saw this (via X/Twitter)
So it was Kamala’s brother-in-law, Tony West, who steered campaign messaging and outreach towards the whole awkward Mark Cuban and Silicon Valley squillionaire direction. I did find it odd that Harris would put out ads effectively saying that “Trump works for billionaires, but I’ll work for you” while the campaign was using Cuban as a mouthpiece. No wonder that message fell with a thud. Few believed her, and they were right.
This would also explain why Walz was effectively muzzled and made to just “cosplay”. Remember when he came out guns blaring about not being Yale educated and not knowing what a VC was?! LOL
There were decent early noises, but the campaign reeked of Hillary Clinton’s campaigns.
It occurred to me reading Stoller today that since Harris wasn’t believed, she needed action to fix that problem which is hard to do Instead of being heralded on The View she should have body slammed Whoopi and Joy. “No, we haven’t done enough. Just leave now if your staying is dependent on me.” Trump made fries to address that problem. He played his character.
That’s how Harris swings to I feel your pain. Except Oprah. The celebrities were in line like everyone else for Obama. The VP shouldn’t need celebrities. You can see that in the reaction to Walz. He came out on all cylinders. Taylor wouldn’t add anything. She can jump up her boyfriends brother, but he was likely set for a broadcast career anyway.
Even Hillary’s, we’ve got these rich people was echoed by the Lynne Cheney promotion. Unless the surrogate is Eisenhower level, the celebrity surrogate is nothing compared to a major party nominee.
> There were decent early noises, but the campaign reeked of Hillary Clinton’s campaigns.
Exactly this. And that is a stunning reality given all the wailing, gnashing of teeth and #RussiaRussiaRussia conniptions that followed her failed run.
Then again, is it surprising? Absolutely not, because as those of us around here say of Dems all the time: they have learned nothing!
RAND is all for hyping civil war and mass violence, in someone else’s backyard. In their own, it’s no bueno.
Against Hyping Civil War and Mass Violence – RAND
OMG! I agree with RAND. Let it end, please
Civil War was a narrative that made no sense…especially over another uninspiring election that amounts to a media circus. . Any fools that really would have thought “yeah, now’s the time” would have been greeted by larger numbers of people upset with the disturbance of their daily routine. Teams red and blue can’t even each get 50% of registered voters and then not all adults are registered to vote.
to have a real civil war, you need two camps of opposing elites and their followers.
Team Blue elites all make their money in services (software, entertainment, govt contractors) or being the landlord rentier.
These are not the type of elites that: a) masses of people would fight for, or b) risk their elite lives to be in the field or the end of a treason gallows.
Maybe some hardcore Antifa types would sign on for Team Alex Soros.
More Donkey soul-searching:
Democrats Ignored Gaza and Brought down their Party
https://archive.ph/iekUR
NYTimes/editorial
So … haven’t heard much from Antony Blinken in the past 48 hours, have we?
nope
“Georgia’s opposition announces daily protests as part of campaign of ‘resistance'”
The Georgians aren’t stupid. They are not about to let a Maidan happen in the country, just because the US/EU weren’t happy with the election result. They see how it worked out for the Ukraine and they themselves have been there, done that and gotten the t-shirt. So I find it remarkable when I read-
‘Representatives from the coalitions Strong Georgia, Unity and Coalition for Change each took their turn at the microphone, silhouetted against a huge, illuminated map showing Georgia’s entire sovereign territory, devoid of the boundary lines of the breakaway de facto Russian puppet states of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.’
What does that mean? It means that the future plans of that coalition is to take back those two provinces by military action which would automatically mean war with the Russian Federation. They actually plan on a war with Russia. No wonder this mob are dying on the vine and we will see what happens with those protestors when winter kicks in and they are out in the cold.
re: RAND
the author´s name is – ahem – John S. Hollywood.
Senior Operations Researcher
According to his CV he is much into predictive policing and all the tech necessary.
Judging by his photo, in a zombie-movie he would be the first victim. So may be there is a childhood trauma (being bullied I mean) to be compensated over with essays about violence.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1854314406622183590
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
Israeli-American historian Omer Bartov, the world’s leading authority on genocide and Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, on what’s happening in North Gaza:
https://theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/nov/06/we-are-witnessing-the-final-stage-of-genocide-in-gaza
“This is a plan sketched out by retired General Giora Eiland, which has been discussed for months now in the Israeli media, to empty that region of civilians through military pressure and starvation … This is a first step toward annexing the Strip north of the Netzarim Corridor, which will lead to its settlement by Jews and will itself be only the first phase in the gradual takeover of increasing portions of the Strip, squeezing civilians into ever shrinking areas and eventually either forcing them out of the Strip or causing ever larger numbers of them die. In short, this is a genocidal plan.”
He believes that the current operation in North Gaza alone meets the definition of genocide: “it is possible that the ICJ will find this operation to be genocide even if it hedges on the war in Gaza as a whole.”
7:06 PM · Nov 6, 2024
Meets the definition of genocide? It has looked like genocide since the beginning. Israelis quoted in the media stated the intention was to remove the Palestinians by any and all means. Go back to the beginning, Ben Gurion and Dayan said as much. Need one quote the “If it looks like a duck …” trope? The ICJ is a political body masquerading as a court and it is the best we have available, but by the time it gets around to a decision it will be moot as there will be no Palestinians in Gaza or the West Bank. The US will have shoveled in money and weapons while wringing its hands urging the Israelis not to be so publicly beastly. Others are complicit by their silence. Some of Europe is complicit in criminalizing dissenting voices. Watching a people being slaughtered and doing nothing is more than a crime, it is a sin.
…while in Germania – “Bundestag to pass resolution on “protecting Jewish life”.”
See short interview translated from German, in daily Junge Welt
https://archive.is/Em6ty
Since my English vocabulary as outrage goes is exhausted by now I won´t say more.
(May be I should learn Russian curse words for that purpose.)
https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-11-07/China-s-foreign-trade-up-5-2-percent-in-first-ten-months-1ykCn8HpKeY/p.html
November 7, 2024
China’s foreign trade up 5.2 percent in first ten months
China’s foreign trade reached 36.02 trillion yuan (about $5 trillion) in the first ten months of this year, marking a steady year-on-year growth of 5.2 percent, according to the latest customs data.
The country’s exports amounted to 20.80 trillion yuan, a rise of 6.7 percent, while imports reached 15.22 trillion yuan, up 3.2 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs on Thursday.
China’s trade with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries saw robust growth, totaling 16.94 trillion yuan, a 6.2 percent increase year on year. Notably, trade with ASEAN countries reached 5.67 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.8 percent and representing 15.7 percent of China’s total foreign trade, solidifying ASEAN’s position as China’s largest trading partner.
In the same period, China’s trade with the EU, the U.S., and South Korea was valued at 4.64 trillion yuan, 4.01 trillion yuan, and 1.91 trillion yuan, with growth rates of 1.2 percent, 4.4 percent, and 6.7 percent, respectively…
re: F-35 (since this was a topic before)
X of Gareth Jennings, Aviation journalist, London
https://nitter.poast.org/GarethJennings3/status/1854136904221945960#m
Speaking under Chatham House Rule at @DefenceIQ #IFC24, official says that if the UK is to increase its air combat mass it will likely do so through the additional @LockheedMartin F-35s it is getting rather than with a follow-on buy of the @eurofighter…
as far as I read the Tweet GB plans to buy another 27 F-35s.
“A tranch 4” purchase is apparently not happening due to money.
My favorite pic from this election is the one showing “Dr” Jill on the way to the polls wearing a lovely red dress.
If Joe really wants to twist the knife he could resign January 18th “For health reasons”.
In the meantime dear Hunter will be twisting in the wind wondering whether “The Donald” will pardon him as he suggested he might.
Genocide Joe said that was off the table and dementia sufferers are incredibly stubborn and not even remotely reasonable.
Gonna be some interesting dinner table conversations at the White House…
He could resign on the evening of January 6th to allow for the formal VP duties to have been concluded.
We would then briefly have the first woman president, which would get that out of the way for the next time.
And she could pardon dear Hunter so old Joe could keep one promise to not pardon him and everyone goes home happy.
Why would the Bidens do that? Well unless the pardon was promised?
Would Kamala do it under questionable circumstances, especially with pardon? We know there would always be huge asterisks on the first woman President accomplishment.
Or better yet would she take the deal and then screw the Bidens by NOT issuing the pardon since she must know her political career is over anyway?
If Joe resigns for health reasons, he doesn’t have to present when Trump takes the oath of office. I can’t think of a worse fate than being on the podium as the guy who kicked your butt is sworn in. Letting Harris and Emhoff face that alone would be classic Biden.
As I don’t happen to believe that Joe considers this his loss rather than Kamala’s, I can only make that work if I think of it as Biden’s last FU to Harris. “Act as host for the Inauguration, Kammie. Feel all the joy!”
>We are witnessing the final stage of genocide in Gaza – Guardian
Well, they missed the first stages a year ago but are finally getting to it now. Yes, Genocide could have at least been called mass murder.
The bands on narrative control are wearing thin.
Re Lake Powell aka the future Powell falls–when the latter happens it will doubtless rival Niagara but won’t be in our lifetimes. Just removing the dam would make the most sense since many said it should never have been built in the first place. Dominy even wanted to build extra dams between Powell and Mead. To a dam builder hammer everything looks like a future waterfall nail.
However the Grand Canyon was saved even if the grand mistake was the price. It all seems like quite the dilemma now.
re: US election / US deportations
Obama/Biden both outdid Trump
Fact check: Did Obama deport more people than Trump while in the White House?
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas/politifact/article/fact-check-ron-desantis-deportation-18591863.php
“Under Trump, from fiscal year 2017 to fiscal year 2020 the Department of Homeland Security recorded 2 million deportations, a combination of all three metrics. (Fiscal year 2017 included about four months of the Obama administration.)
During Obama’s first term, fiscal year 2009 to fiscal year 2012, there were 3.2 million deportations (removals and returns). Fiscal year 2009 included about four months of the second George W. Bush administration. During Obama’s second term, covering fiscal years 2013 through 2016, there were 2.1 million deportations (removals and returns).”
Biden on track to exceed Trump, Obama in deportations in first term, data shows
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/biden-on-track-to-exceed-trump-obama-in-deportations-in-first-term-data-shows
“Numbers online also show that under former President Trump, Border Patrol took more than three million “enforcement actions” at the border, which includes deportations.
Under President Biden, Border Patrol did that last year alone.
As of last month, Border Patrol has also already taken more than two million actions in 2024.”
Thank you for the statistics AG. I was watching MSDNC for a few minutes (all I can stand and I can’t stands no more) this morning and caging up children, separated families, and massive deportations was one of the many forecasts. Good to know the stats about St. Barry.
By the way, Rachel doesn’t look well, or she seems to look different. I rarely watch and several weeks ago I saw her and wondered if she had ‘work’ done. Perhaps a crying jag or too much Botox? She didn’t seem to be missing any hair though. . . .
Speaking of forecasts, floating around Twitter is a video of AOC, almost in tears, warning everyone of coming trouble. Part of her message;
I suspect this is just the beginning.
Thank you AG for the stats. yes there was a reason we called obama the deporter-in-chief, but being a master politician 800K dreamers/daca captivated liberals and latino democrats. They were unconcerned that the military was the path they were steered to and their confidential information was given to ICE.
re: Rachel´s looks –
the hair will fall out next time …. (think John Candy comedy “Who´s Harry Crumb”…can´t find the right clip now, but if you know the movie you know the joke.)
Following up from yesterday news on make or break moment in German semaphore coalition:
German coalition government collapses as Scholz fires his finance minister.
Thanks, Ignacio. The quoted tweet from some influencer named Thu Nguyen is laughable. She completely fails to register how much the US was holding NATO strategy together. One hopes that “common action” will be replaced by the disintegrative pursuit of economic gain.
Biden about to speak:
Watch live
Will he do a back-flip after?
I would love if he really did.
Who knows, may be he has been practicing in secret to baffle world media, stage a coup afterwards and take back the presidency!
He looks visibly better than in other appearances and this is the best speech I’ve heard him give in 4 years.
He does not appear to be reading from a teleprompter, at least blatantly.
Take away what you will from that.
How Trump Won, and How Harris Lost (NY Times via archive.ph)
LOL, and which party spent the past 8 years persecuting Trump from every possible angle, from the media, to the intelligence “community”, to the court system? Ha ha.
His grievances.
As usual, it had nothing to do with the Trump economy ripping, whether it was his doing or not. Nothing to do with lack of material benefits under a Democrat administration. It was merely Trump’s success in getting a large portion of the population to become aggrieved, to share in Trump’s delusional perceived slights.
Learned nothing, and forgotten nothing, TDS 2.0 edition I guess.
it’s gonna be a long 4 years.
Yep. And joy, Newtons is back.
Credit where it’s due, though.
From Jonathan Turley:
Donald Trump just won the greatest jury verdict in American history
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4976533-trump-prosecutions-lawfare-end/
to me understanding what fascism is really boils down to two basic tenets, all other results are simply by products of fascism, those by products are many, and take all sorts of forms that befuddle those who try to pin down what fascism is.
the first one, the elevation of capital over labor. this is a act of violence. and it can take many forms. under woodrew wilsons fascism, that elevation was police goons and national guardsmen busting unions, and throwing union organizers in jail. a form of violence.
bill clinton found a way around that, simply by pass the violent acts of elevating capital over labor, by allowing capital to simply pick up and move, leaving behind vast areas of america, to rot into ghettos, a form of violence.
the second one, the elevation of capital over sovereignty and democratic control. this is a massive act of violence that allows capital free reign over a entire nation, or nations.
the by product is, if the capitalists decides they want a entire nation, or nations, they use economic intimidation, coercion, and domination via free trade agreements.
if the target nation, or nations rebel, the economic acts of violence are replaced with actual physical acts of violence, such as terrorism and war.
again, all by products of fascism.
if certain peoples, or peoples stand in the way of capital, first comes economic violence, if that does not work, then genocide, actual physical violence. again, a by product of fascism.
i am certain we could find many other by products. these are the most obvious ones.
so its not really hard to understand what fascism is, nor identify who are and who are not fascists.
so its the elevation of capital over everything, and the violence in many forms are the by product used to attain that goal.
most people who are fascists, do not even know they are fascists.
Saw this article in The Hill.
Large Senate GOP majority strengthens Trump’s hand.
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/4977851-republicans-senate-majority-trump/
The author believes the Republicans will exercise extraordinary restraint in conducting business.
Such as,
“A Senate Republican aide said GOP leaders may use two separate budget reconciliation bills next year to get around a Democratic filibuster in the Senate, which would otherwise require mustering 60 votes.”.
And
“Republicans would be able to move Trump’s agenda through the Senate with simple-majority votes as long as the parliamentarian rule they have a substantial and non-tangential impact on federal spending, revenues or the deficit.”
I doubt Trump 47 will care that much for these silly conventions. With the kind of victory he got, he will want to pass his agenda any which way.
Justice Potter Stewart famously said he could not define pornography but he knew it when he saw it. In an analogous manner, there are so many definitions of fascism as to confuse the issue. But, you can know it when you see it. Some see a fascist president elect. Some see liberal totalitarianism in the present administration and the same in the EU at least for some definitions of liberal. Can you define it? Do you know what you see? What I see at present is a liberalism that has conceived certain notions of how-the-world-ought-to-be and has determined that those ideas shall be accepted by the public at large whether they like it or not. Hence “The Narrative” of the Ukraine Project. Hence “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” Hence “Me-Too” and Cancel culture.” Putting aside the merits or demerits of these examples, insisting that each be accepted as givens is coercive and verges on totalitarianism. In my view, an extreme example is the criminalizing of support for the very survival of the Palestinian people by labeling it terrorism as is the case in some of the EU. This gets my hackles up as does the insistence of the US government that it has the right … nay the duty … to instruct the rest of the world as to proper behavior and to punish non-compliance. Scolding and bullying are unbecoming and in the long run counterproductive.
$4.01k update
Its too easy to say I told you so, and having gotten in on the ground floor makes for a far fetched tale of timing and having a bunch of small change in which to turn into my Bitcoin portfolio @ the Coinstar machine, having bought in @ the $56k level, only to watch it plummet to $14k in the depths of my personal despair, now on a Saturn V trajectory~up to $76k and rising. C’est le B.
Wuk, don’t forget about us little people now that you made the big leagues
43 monkeys escaped from a lab in South Carolina. Not true that they’ve taken the lead in several Congressional races.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/monkeys-escape-south-carolina-research-facility-police-search/
Stay safe, Griffen/Carolinian.
I saw this from Esquire today.
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a62831090/america-corporate-oligarchy-democracy/
(Subscription Only)
The author hyperventilates a bit and doesn’t really answer the “and how we can free ourselves from it” part of the headline (click bait?), but it does paint a pretty good picture of how we got here.
Personally, I think what will ultimately break what he calls the “money power” is collapse. But it could be awhile before we get there. I would have preferred to break the money power before that, but c’est la vie I guess.
unusual_whales
@unusual_whales
President-elect Donald Trump’s team has allegedly drafted a proposal to end the ongoing war in Ukraine war, per WSJ.
Allegedly the plan includes significant conditions: Ukraine should give up its NATO membership aspirations for at least 20 years, the freezing of the current front lines and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between Russian-held territory and Ukraine.
Don´t wanna anticipate the discussion, but then we are back at square one + 800k KIA?
May be this one would be up to the BRICS partners, whether RU agree or not.
It´s be gonna decided over what Vicky Des Cookies would call smallprint…
p.s. Cookie was actually a likeable, smart hooker in a Woody Allen movie…she would have known what to do.
It’s official,
@JoelSalatin
to be an Advisor to the Secretary of the USDA and
@RepThomasMassie
to be Secretary of Agriculture.
We are so unbelievably back, and truly are going to Make America Healthy Again.
Great news for all, especially our farmers and ranchers!
@MASSEXEPIDITION for attribtion
Thomas Massie? Yay! He’s gotta be better than Tom Vilsack. / ;)
Sec of Ag is responsible for food stamps/EBT in the USA.
Sec of Ag is responsible for many sub-departments, not just food stamps.
I’ll point out that last year, under Vilsack the USDA cut the food stamp program by $3 billion dollars.
Here’s why millions of Americans will lose $3 billion in monthly food stamp benefits starting in March
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/01/politics/food-stamps-pandemic-emergency-allotments/index.html
Other than the fact that he periodically makes the news for taking somewhat contrarian positions, I’m not really familiar with Massie. Why do you think he’s a good fit, if the rumors are true?
RE: Hawaian Hogs
These stories about feral pigs destroying native lands are getting tiresome. The solution is simple with an invasive animal with a short gestation sequence. You have to fence off the island in sections and eliminate ALL of the hogs sequentially though each section. One male and one female hog living together will soon be a herd (and return the landscape to destruction).
This type of restoration has been accomplished on the Channel Islands beyond the California coast. It took ~5years. To maintain the recovered native landscape ALL livestock of any kind is banned from arriving on Santa Cruz Island.
Hawaii is in for a long and arduous challenge with feral hogs.
re: Pompeo
A follow-up by DropSite an hour ago but no new real clue
Mike Pompeo Served on the Board of a Ukrainian Telecom, Imperiling Bid to Rejoin Trump White
by Ryan Grim and Murtaza Hussain
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/mike-pompeo-donald-trump-iran-ukraine-election
final paragraphs:
“Amid public indications that hawkish figures like Pompeo and Brian Hook may be staffing his administration, conservatives influential in the Trump movement have urged him to exercise caution regarding Pompeo.
Former congressman Ron Paul, a famous opponent of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, spoke on a podcast where he analyzed a hawkish campaign speech given by Pompeo in which the former secretary of state promised to confront Iran and defend Israel. Paul warned Trump against appointing him to his administration.”
p.s. the most noteworthy – how much weight did Pompeo lose??? (see the image)
I hadn´t seen him in years. (Not a good sign for a peaceful world.)