By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Bird Song of the Day
Northern Mockingbird, Spencer, Indiana, United States. “Still singing incessantly through the night. All these audios recorded from bathroom window at 3:27, 3:33, 3:58, and 4:01 (last one does have passing car–amazing how much noise it makes). As I was leaving could hear another individual singing off to the E.”
In Case You Might Miss…
- Trump, the world’s greatest troll.
- Hegseth et al. still alive.
- “RuissiaGate Remnants”;
- The Claims Adjuster roundup.
Politics
“So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.” –Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
"The Governor of the Great State of Canada" 😂 pic.twitter.com/CeJHB3i9w8
— Financelot (@FinanceLancelot) December 10, 2024
World’s Greatest Troll (2):
Here are my new Trump Perfumes & Colognes! I call them Fight, Fight, Fight, because they represent us WINNING. Great Christmas gifts for the family. Go to https://t.co/8O1nm58fxA. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!
Donald Trump Truth Social 01:11 PM EST 12/08/24… pic.twitter.com/JYamMQeHYr
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) December 8, 2024
* * * “Trump allies adopt new strategy for nominees: Make the doubters pay” [Politico]. “Donald Trump’s transition team entered a critical week of nomination meetings on Capitol Hill with a new head of steam, emboldened by a swarm of grassroots support and a pressure campaign that has revived Pete Hegseth’s hopes for Defense secretary and given them confidence about other controversial nominees, too. In recent days, allies of Trump adopted an approach that is not novel for the president-elect and his followers: Make life extremely uncomfortable for anyone who dares to oppose him. The swarm of MAGA attacks that Sen. Joni Ernst has experienced is a warning of what’s in store for others who express skepticism of his personnel choices.”
“Growing momentum for Cabinet picks who could define Trump’s second term” [CNN]. “he Cabinet confirmation drama around Donald Trump’s most provocative picks [is] mostly about Trump himself, and the kind of presidency he wants, the one he will end up getting, and the hopes of his MAGA movement that he’ll stand firm on his vow to shake the federal administrative state to its core and enact his and their revenge.” As for Ernst: “The Iowa Republican had faced warnings on social media that she’d encounter a primary challenge in 2026 if she didn’t shelve her reservations about Hegseth. The president-elect’s son, Donald Trump Jr., last week, for instance, amplified a post on X that pointed out that Ernst had been among almost all GOP senators who voted to confirm President Joe Biden’s Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, saying that anyone who did so and then criticized Hegseth was maybe ‘in the wrong political party!'”
“‘I Support Pete’: Ernst Changes Tune Following Second Hegseth Meeting” [The Federalist]. “Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, indicated she will confirm Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense on Monday. The announcement marks a stark pivot for Ernst, who has been leading a behind-the-scenes effort to tank Hegseth’s nomination. ‘I appreciate Pete Hegseth’s responsiveness and respect for the process,’ Ernst said in a press release. ‘Following our encouraging conversations, Pete committed to completing a full audit of the Pentagon and selecting a senior official who will uphold the roles and value of our servicemen and women — based on quality and standards, not quotas — and who will prioritize and strengthen my work to prevent sexual assault within the ranks. As I support Pete through this process, I look forward to a fair hearing based on truth, not anonymous sources.'”
“Key GOP senators begin to fall in line to support Kash Patel and keep door open for Pete Hegseth” [CNN]. “Top GOP senators on Monday signaled support for Donald Trump’s plan to oust the current FBI director in favor of firebrand loyalist Kash Patel, while keeping the door open for Pete Hegseth, who faces a slate of misconduct allegations, as the president-elect’s pick to run the Pentagon…. It is still early in the vetting process for Trump’s Cabinet nominees and confirmation votes won’t take place until next year. But it is clear that GOP senators are being careful to pick their battles and cautious of how they approach the president-elect’s selections.”
* * * “Cold Shoulder: Democrats Ignore Tulsi Gabbard’s Request To Meet” [CNN]. Worst of all, Gabbard was a DNC vice-chair, but resigned to endorse Sanders. “There is some evidence that skepticism of a muscular foreign policy has gained traction among younger Democrats and independents in the last four or five years. When Hillary Clinton questioned Gabbard’s logic and loyalty, Gabbard punched back. In a series of tweets, she called the former secretary of State and 2016 Democratic presidential nominee “the queen of warmongers” and “personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party.'” • Where’s the lie?
“Sanctuary cities resist Trump’s deportation plan. It could cost their residents” [USA Today]. “While a post-election poll by YouGov for CBS News shows that a massive 73% of adults want President-elect Donald Trump to prioritize the repatriation of illegal migrants, the [Denver Mayor Mike Johnston] pledged to not only have Denver police ‘stationed at the county line to keep (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) out’ but also that ‘you would have 50,000 Denverites there.’ Johnston said it would be like a ‘Tiananmen Square moment’ and answered yes when questioned whether he’d be ready to go to jail. That moment soon passed, however, as lawyers apparently explained to the mayor that armed resistance to the federal government is often called – wait for it – insurrection.” • Oopsie.
Democrats en déshabillé
“Russiagate Remnants” [Michael R. Caputo, Racket News]. “All of us agree the original Russiagate conspiracy continues even today. The Russia hoax was created by Hillary Clinton aide Jake Sullivan, who carries on with his lies today as President Joe Biden’s national security advisor. Christopher Steele, the British spy hired by Clinton to create the dodgy dossier, and his Fusion GPS co-conspirator Glenn Simpson are still doing the same work for similar clients. Andrew Weissmann, Peter Strzok, John Brennan, and more still peddle their lies. Elements of the original conspiracy were woven into Ukrainian meddling in the 2016 American election, then bogus Trump impeachments, January 6th prosecutions, anti-Trump lawfare, and Special Counsel Jack Smith’s Mar-a-lago raid. FBI Director Patel can prove the original 2016 conspiracy continues today. Much of the evidence remains in federal and public databases. Preemptive pardons aside, that means Sullivan, Weissmann, Mary McCord, Steele, Simpson, Victoria Nuland, Alexander Vindman, Eric Ciaramella, Smith, and others may still be in the jackpot. We agree with attorney Mike Davis: these perpetrators potentially violated 18 U.S.C. § 241 and 242, federal civil rights statutes that prohibit conspiracies to violate the rights of others.” • Worth reading in full.
Syndemics
“I am in earnest — I will not equivocate — I will not excuse — I will not retreat a single inch — AND I WILL BE HEARD.” –William Lloyd Garrison
Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (CDC); Wastewater (CDC, Biobot; includes many counties; Wastewater Scan, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (CDC; Walgreens); “Iowa COVID-19 Tracker” (in IA, but national data). “Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts” (especially on hospitalization by city).
Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put “COVID” in the subject line. Thank you!
Resources, United States (Local): AK (dashboard); AL (dashboard); AR (dashboard); AZ (dashboard); CA (dashboard; Marin, dashboard; Stanford, wastewater; Oakland, wastewater); CO (dashboard; wastewater); CT (dashboard); DE (dashboard); FL (wastewater); GA (wastewater); HI (dashboard); IA (wastewater reports); ID (dashboard, Boise; dashboard, wastewater, Central Idaho; wastewater, Coeur d’Alene; dashboard, Spokane County); IL (wastewater); IN (dashboard); KS (dashboard; wastewater, Lawrence); KY (dashboard, Louisville); LA (dashboard); MA (wastewater); MD (dashboard); ME (dashboard); MI (wastewater; wastewater); MN (dashboard); MO (wastewater); MS (dashboard); MT (dashboard); NC (dashboard); ND (dashboard; wastewater); NE (dashboard); NH (wastewater); NJ (dashboard); NM (dashboard); NV (dashboard; wastewater, Southern NV); NY (dashboard); OH (dashboard); OK (dashboard); OR (dashboard); PA (dashboard); RI (dashboard); SC (dashboard); SD (dashboard); TN (dashboard); TX (dashboard); UT (wastewater); VA (wastewater); VT (dashboard); WA (dashboard; dashboard); WI (wastewater); WV (wastewater); WY (wastewater).
Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (Government of Canada).
Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (wastewater); QC (les eaux usées); BC (wastewater); BC, Vancouver (wastewater).
Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3).
Stay safe out there!
Airborne Transmission
“AirFanta 3Pro Review – A High-Performance Yet Affordable Air Purifier” [BreatheSafeAir]. “After having the 3Pro set up inside my office for over two weeks now, I am happy to be able to present my full review of the device. For anyone unaware, this purifier is designed to filter a massive amount of air (we will discuss the CADR and more soon!) at a relatively affordable price. It does this by being essentially a pre-assembled CR (Corsi-Rosenthal) Box – a form of air purifier that was itself created due to the need for affordable and effective air purification devices. While the 3Pro doesn’t embrace the typical DIY aspect of traditional CR Boxes, it has the advantage of having proven performance (no need to worry about whether your DIY box is effective!) and being ready to go out of the box. However, perhaps my favourite aspect of this device over traditional CR Boxes is how easily obtainable it is. While this probably isn’t an issue for anyone in the U.S. or Europe, I find it hard to source good HEPA filters in New Zealand at an affordable price. The 3Pro ensures I don’t run into this issue.” • Worth a read if you’re in the market. Maybe a Christmas gift to a loved one you want to keep alive and brain damage-free?
Lambert: CDC’s wastewater page loaded. No Thanksgiving surge that I can see.
| Wastewater | |
| This week[1] CDC December 2 | Last week[2] CDC (until next week): |
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| Variants [3] CDC December 7 | Emergency Room Visits[4] CDC November 30 |
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| Hospitalization | |
| ★ New York[5] New York State, data December 9: | National [6] CDC December 5: |
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| Positivity | |
| National[7] Walgreens December 9: | Ohio[8] Cleveland Clinic November 23: |
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| Travelers Data | |
| Positivity[9] CDC November 19: | Variants[10] CDC November 4: |
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| Deaths | |
| Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] CDC November 20: | Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] CDC November 20: |
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LEGEND
1) ★ for charts new today; all others are not updated.
2) For a full-size/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and “open image in new tab.”
NOTES
[1] (CDC) Good news!
[2] (CDC) Last week’s wastewater map.
[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, “Ommicron,” has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.
[4] (ED) Down.
[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Leveled out.
[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Actually improved; it’s now one of the few charts to show the entire course of the pandemic to the present day.
[7] (Walgreens) Down.
[8] (Cleveland) Down.
[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.
[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.
[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.
[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.
Stats Watch
Small Business Optimism: “United States NFIB Business Optimism Index” [Trading Economics]. “The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index in the US jumped to 101.7 in November 2024, the highest reading since June 2021, compared to 93.7 in October and beating forecasts of 94.2. It is also the first time in 34 months that the reading is above the 50-year average of 98, in response to the presidential election. “The election results signal a major shift in economic policy, leading to a surge in optimism among small business owners. Main Street also became more certain about future business conditions following the election, breaking a nearly three-year streak of record high uncertainty. Owners are particularly hopeful for tax and regulation policies that favor strong economic growth as well as relief from inflationary pressures. In addition, small business owners are eager to expand their operations”, NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg.”
Manufacturing: “Exclusive-Boeing restarts 737 MAX production a month after strike ended, sources say” [Reuters]. “Production resumed on Friday, said one of the sources, who all spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak with media. Boeing declined to comment. The production restart had not been previously reported. The head of the Federal Aviation Administration, Mike Whitaker, told Reuters on Thursday that Boeing had not yet resumed 737 MAX production but planned to do so later this month.”
Manufacturing: “Boeing shares jump as 737 MAX production reportedly resumes” [Sharecast]. “The stock was up nearly 5% at $164.80 by 1034 in New York, trading at levels not seen since late-August.”
Tech: “AI slop is already invading Oregon’s local journalism” [Oregon Public Broadcasting (PI)]. “The Daily Tidings appears to be the first time an Oregon news outlet has stolen the identities of real journalists to trick local readers with AI-generated content. The goal is apparently to deceive Oregonians into giving clicks — and the resulting ad revenue — to whoever is behind the website.” • Horrid detail. Theft and fraud all the way down.
The Bezzle: Controversy–
But “the purpose of a system is what it does” (Stafford Beers). The whole thread is worth reading.
Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 51 Neutral (previous close: 49 Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 56 (Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Dec 10 at 10:48:20 AM ET.
Gallery
Looks like a parrot’s feathers:
Celebration by Vincent van Gogh pic.twitter.com/b9R2azkOe7
— Impressions (@impression_ists) November 28, 2024
Healthcare
Don’t forget to smile.https://t.co/OC9BvQfZtt
— Donald Ward (@WardoftheStates) December 9, 2024
Inconsistencies abound:
has this guy ever worn the same jacket twice? pic.twitter.com/C9jhKNYdqW
— derek guy (@dieworkwear) December 9, 2024
A J6er weighs in:
There’s no way you honestly believe they found the United Healthcare CEO’s killer five days later & he’s still wearing the same exact clothes, has the murd3r weapon on him, & has a written manifesto in his pocket.
Just chillin at McDonald’s with the weapon & manifesto 😂
— Derrick Evans (@DerrickEvans4WV) December 10, 2024
Why the heck not?
❌ No, Burger King didn't post "We don't snitch." https://t.co/8livSt5wBw pic.twitter.com/0Ltj4PRSlo
— snopes.com (@snopes) December 10, 2024
Character reference:
FWIW, we spent most of the chat discussing this essay: https://t.co/ObAVw06NTr
— Gurwinder (@G_S_Bhogal) December 9, 2024
What do our doctors think?
1/
My retired orthopedic surgeon dad:
"Never, ever, EVER let anyone cut your back.
It rarely provides relief.
It almost always makes things worse.
It's the Vietnam of orthopedic surgery." https://t.co/Afl4JCMQX8— BrowningMachine, Garbage Nazi! (@BrowningMachine) December 9, 2024
The Pelosi connection:
Breaking: the UHC assassination suspect’s grandpa—WWII Navy vet & real estate dev Nick Mangione—was a friend of Nancy Pelosi’s father, the 41st Mayor of Baltimore, who defended him as “big-hearted” despite human rights violation investigations & regulatory corner cutting https://t.co/4Q5Bea4FCD pic.twitter.com/ESJvCGH5T5
— ParaPower Mapping (@KlonnyPin_Gosch) December 10, 2024
“The Slow, Quiet Demise of American Romance” [The Atlantic]. “As a reporter covering modern dating, I’ve spoken with a lot of men and women who have reluctantly given up the search for love. I believe that people can have rich, fulfilling lives with or without partners; I also know that courtship has never been easy. But research supports the idea that, in recent years, the United States has seen a particularly pronounced crisis of faith in romance. The Pew Research Center, in an analysis of census data, found that as of 2019, 38 percent of adults were unpartnered—that is, not married or living with a partner—compared with 29 percent in 1990. In a survey Pew conducted that same year, half of single adults said they were not seeking dates. When Pew divided that result by gender, it found that 61 percent of single men said they were looking to date or find a relationship while only 38 percent of single women said the same. In other words, straight partnerships seem to be going out not with a 4B-style bang but with a whimper. And however subtle the shift might seem, it has huge implications for men and women: how they treat each other, whether they’re willing to trust each other, and how they’ll build their futures—together or apart.” • Hmm.
“Anger at plan to turn Nazi tunnels into bunker for super-rich” [Yahoo News]. Better there than in the corridors of power at the EU and NATO. Oh, wait…. “A German property developer has sparked outrage with a plan to turn a World War II tunnel system into a luxury bunker for rich survivalists who fear the outbreak of World War III. Relatives of the prison labourers who built it under the Nazis are aghast at the business venture that is offering a crypto-currency called ‘BunkerCoin’ as entry tokens to the promised apocalypse shelter.” • Of course, Crypto.
“The Tech Baron Seeking to Purge San Francisco of ‘Blues'” [Gil Duran, The New Republic]. April 2024. “‘What I’m really calling for is something like tech Zionism,” [Balaji Srinivasan] said.” • Oh.
“Colour in the Middle Ages” [Medievalists.net]. “Michel Pastoureau writes that “the true medieval opposite for white was not so much black as red.” This can be seen in the way Europeans adapted chess. When the game was adopted in Europe, the pieces and chessboard were painted in white and red, contrasting with the black and red sets common in India and the Middle East. It was only towards the end of the Middle Ages that the white versus black dichotomy became more favoured. A key factor in this shift was the advent of printing, where black ink was used on white paper, reinforcing the perception of these colours as natural opposites.”
“Don’t throw away your printed books: A meta-analysis on the effects of reading media on reading comprehension” [Educational Research Review] 2018. From the Discussion: “The results of the two meta-analyses in the present study yield a clear picture of screen inferiority, with lower reading comprehension outcomes for digital texts compared to printed texts, which corroborates and extends previous research (Kong et al., 2018; Singer & Alexander, 2017b; Wang et al., 2007). These results were consistent across methodologies and theoretical frameworks.” And: ” our results indicate that the screen inferiority effect has increased in the past 18 years, and that there were no differences in media effects between age groups. These surprising findings suggest that we cannot idly wait for screen inferiority to disappear as children are exposed to digital devices earlier and earlier in their lives, as adults gain more experience with the technology, or as technology improves. The data suggest that screen inferiority is a major challenge across age groups that becomes more severe as the presence of technology increases.” • Certainly conforms to my priors!
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Light at the end of the tunnel?
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Printed books, cards, and tabletop games come in handy during power outages.
I have been harping on this for some time, especially in regards to NC content. Good meaty posts and whenever Yves tells me to get a cup of coffee means I invariably copy and paste the words into a word processor and print it out. One could also hit the “Printer Friendly and PDF” at the end of the post, but I prefer the fancy OpenType fonts I have already installed in the word processor. Reading text on paper as opposed to monitors and phones will save your eyes, and your comprehension and memory of the content will be deeper. For example, I printed Rob Urie’s post today on the state of greedy health insurance. Of course, this means I miss out on participating in the comments.
i have an old trailerhouse full of books.
i call it “The Library”.
but i can no longer read any of them without getting a headache or eyestrain.
because i cant afford to go to the eye doctor(after almost 9 years) to get new real eyeglasses.
so i’m stuck with “walmart readers” of varying magnification…yellow/green ones for in here in my bed, with laptop at the foot of it….purply ones for out at the bar…brown ones for in the truck…last actual prescriptions, held together with caulk, superglue and tape, in the golf cart.
on the laptop, whether here, in bed, or out at bar, i an make these letters frelling huge, and do just that.
i reckon that more healthcare executives need to be shot on the side of the road for the message to get through,lol.
“Access to Healthcare” makes a nice slogan you can yammer on about…and your PMC healthcare might be awesome….but i have none at all….as do so very many of my compatriots.
and when we hear how awesome obamacare is, in Texas, well…look over yer shoulder for the rest of your natural, and likely artificially extended, life.
(i’m busy thinning the damned catherd, so have no bullets to spare)
Meanwhile, back at the gerontocracy ranch:
https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5032783-mcconnell-falls-medical-attention/
I appreciate your explanation of end of term legislation. The need however for members of Congress to express disdain for a civilization of 1.4 billion thoroughly benign people is saddening. At least this can be otherwise dismissed.
Thank you so much.
I didn’t mean to dismiss your concern. It is quite valid. And it is possible the same bill will come up in the next Congress, but it has to start from scratch – find sponsors, go through committees, etc.
Congressional procedures can be arcane. These guys know how to work it.
“I didn’t mean to dismiss your concern…”
You are terrific.
There isn’t one of course, which is a problem because truth and trust are the costly enemy, but lies, ignorance, and hatred are their profitable friends. And the Democrats reflexively, without any deliberations, destroy anyone who they think is the enemy
Indeed. I think Gabbard will be the hardest nominee to confirm. She will be opposed by all Democrats of course. But most of the Republicans are also warmongering hawks. None of the other nominees, including Patel, have dared to question our foreign policy as openly as she has. Mumbling vaguely that we shouldn’t “get involved” in certain foreign conflicts is not the same thing as visiting Syria, saying Assad is not our enemy, and condemning our use of Islamist extremists as proxies against him. She will have her words thrown back in her face, forcing her to either dissemble with some sort of patriotic mush or stand by her words and admit “our government” was lying. What will she say about Assad now, for example?
I think it may rather be what will Syria have to say about itself between now and any confirmation hearing. That is a two month window to find out what the uni-party has created and whether there will be calls for boots on the ground there, the responsibility to protect those helpless wheat fields and benign oil reserves.
By the time of her confirmation hearings, Syria will be a Jihadist cesspool and nobody will have any appetite for putting boots on the ground. The repercussions of the fall of Syria will be plain to see and Gabbard will not be shy in pointing this out. Old Joe took the credit for Assad’s fall so now the consequences will be on the Democrats.
By the time Gabbard hearings happen, our formerly cuddly Jihadis will be at war with Israel. (Heck, the way IDF is invading deep into Syria, it could start before the year is out.) That will cause some interesting contortions.
For all we know, the shooter didn’t expect to survive.
Perhaps he didn’t expect to survive, particularly given that he apparently suffers from severe chronic back pain. I had a friend who did himself in with pills and booze because of it.
In any event, he’s become a cause celebre. Should he survive incarceration and not go the way of Epstein, his trial will be quite something. I wonder how deeply his defence will be allowed to explore and explain his motivation to a jury as a powerful mitigating circumstance, essentially putting the healthcare system on trial. I suppose jury nullification is a possibility but probably too much to hope for.
I am sorry about your friend. I have (or had) a close relative who did the same at the age of 57.
And now I too have the same back condition, though I avoid booze and pills.
It really does put limitations on one’s life and a pall over one’s outlook. I can imagine it must be even more upsetting to a younger person — since you know will have to live with it that much longer.
yeah. back problems are the worst.
out of all my numerous broken bones and other sundry injuries to my skeleton, the 2 old, self-healed compression fractures in my back are the worst, by far.
especially with cold fronts, hurricanes, etc.
nothing you can do to get away from it.
mine are likely from hauling feedsacks on one shoulder when i was much younger.
nothing radicalisises you like constant pain, and an indifferent and uncaring healthcare system…but yer likely too frelled up to go all crazy like Luigi did.
i sure as hell couldnt.
my skeleton prevents travel.
lucky for the aristocracy, i suppose.
(yes, feeling murderous, tonight,lol….let lindsey graham or some other warmongering asshat wander in front of my truck tomorrow, and we’ll see…if i see them…in time.)
Hannah Arendt noted that “The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the dedicated communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction, true and false, no longer exists.”
Two things on the accused Adjuster. First, while a rapid arrest was no doubt greatly wished by TPTB, I’m not sure the guy they got, regardless of guilt, is the one they wanted or needed. This is someone, who with family, can take this to a trial where a guilty verdict is highly unlikely and where the defense will air a lot of facts and figures our politicians and Big Health (Insurance, private health providers, health services and Big Pharma) really really do not want to get a lot of air play. And even having a friendly judge will not help them, because anything they deny for the defense will be being aired in public regardless.
Second is just amusing, had a conversation with a NYC police officer today about how so much of the surveillance video I see really does not provide enough detail for people to really recognize people or cars, especially since the general NYC public uniform of black clothing becomes a black blob. They threw in that they didn’t understand why the Adjuster went to Altoona and didn’t just stay in NYC. Mostly because for all the surveillance it really isn’t as comprehensive and easy as we think and with so many people it is much easier to just blend in with the crowd.
Maybe the Adjuster believes that the surveillance system in NYC is more all-powerful than the systems in other places.
However, I notice that that NYC police officer either assumes that NYC Guy and Altoona Guy are the same guy, or he wants everyone hearing/reading his words to assume it. I for one do not assume it. So I have no way of knowing whether NYC Guy ever went to Altoona or not.
Re: above tweets about back pain surgery.
I agree 100% – it is among the most overused and worthless procedures in all of a medicine. And it can leave lasting issues in maybe most patients that are worse than the original issue ever was. If we wanted to set the DOGE police on medicine, one of the easiest low-hanging fruits would be the abuse of back surgery.
35 years ago – the rule was – No back surgery unless the patient is paralyzed (or with a clear imminent impending paralysis) and there is possible hope of reversing that. THE END.
Now there are surgeons doing “minimally invasive” procedures 10 times a day. It seldom works well. And it can be castastrophically tragic for many.
This is ESPECIALLY true of the morbidly obese – they should lose weight. And the young jock types – they should be doing core work and extra training – not surgery. The problem with doing this on a young athlete is their life, their exercise and their ability to perform will never be the same. And this does not go well for so many of them. The physical therapy and extra exercise may take months – but it is so much better in the long run.
We have a chronic pain problem here in the USA – we have completely out of control expectations and it leads to so many tragedies. Always remember – this one issue has been what I would call the “nexus” of the opioid epidemic. When these surgeries go bad – and they almost always do – the patient is left in varying degrees of horrific pain – ready to self-medicate or worse.
And always remember – this type of surgery is a HUGE moneymaker for Big Hospital – there are entire hospitals across the land that do nothing but this. It is ripe for fraud – and this has played out among back surgeons going to jail all over this country. And never forget the story of Dr. Death.
Again – I have no qualms about the DOGE dogs being unleashed on this. Something must be done.
Thanks. One of my aunts had back surgery and everything you just said.
I’m old enough to have arthritis, which runs in the family, and for awhile could barely walk due to swollen knees. Ever since I’ve tried to walk a couple of miles per day and don’t have any trouble at all with my legs.
Of course younger people may not have the time to take walks. But perhaps you have to avoid the magic bullets as one gets older and go old school.
IM Doc
Re: above tweets about back pain surgery.
I agree 100% – it is among the most overused and worthless procedures in all of a medicine.
[ This is precisely what the chair of orthopedics at Harvard explained at a dinner. ]
Forgive me for not be clearer.
As I understood the chair of orthopedics, the problem was in using surgery for pain that could be and should rather be resolved by physical therapy or routine exercise. Much back pain can be resolved, I learned, by strengthening stomach muscles with bent-knee sit-ups. In college, there were a number of helpful exercises that wrestlers used for their backs, rowers as well and even for me as a runner.
I was only repeating in summary dinner comments that stayed with me. I, for instance, as a runner, used bent-knee sit-ups for my back each day.
Amen. “Core Strength” is key to a healthy life and old age; balanced back and front work that keep your body working normally.
However, most people would rather die and be disabled than to arse themselves to work on this.
Thankfully, my orthopedic Docs at Stanford, one for back, another for knees, are both strong proponents of physical therapy, reserving surgery as a last resort.
Just to balance the narrative – I had back surgery 25 years ago and it was a life changer. I went from being unable to walk to being fine. For a pain free and full mobility quarter century, I am most grateful. The only lasting effect is a slight weakness on the side that had the pinched sciatic nerve, and that was much worse before the surgery. I do believe physical therapy after surgery helped in my case.
Pretty much the same with me. Had a herniated disc and had to use a walker to get anywhere. The surgery was straightforward and recovery quick. However, I believe any fusion of back bones should be avoided.
“I had back surgery 25 years ago and it was a life changer…”
I much appreciate the balancing, and am pleased for you.
A Doctor partially paralyzed my step grandpa after a back surgery gone wrong.
He retired as a City Bud Driver and had chronic pain.
Then why do the insurance companies approve these procedures?
To sell profitable pain killers for years through their pharma subsidiary, at least that’s what United Healthcare does.
How does back surgery mesh with the Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM) cheer-leaders, or do profits put a thumb on the scale?
(I’m still having problems wrapping my head around US-backed Jihadis promising Diversity and Democracy.)
That’s only because you think they believe or mean those promises. If you decide to believe that they are being coached to say it for the cameras for the time being, then you won’t have problems wrapping your head around it.
Remember the deathless words of Erdogan. ” I see that Democracy is like a bus. I get on it and ride till it gets me where I want to go. Then I get off.”
I don’t believe in anything except the Kalama Sutta and I watch what the hands are doing.
To paraphrase Sid Arthur from 2500 years or so ago, “Go kick a rock.”
Years, in my case. 12-24 months after starting I was still getting episodes, and things were better but not by all that much. It felt like I was making no progress.
Somehow I kept at it and things did change (slowly) and today after >10 years I’m barely troubled by it any more. I know it’s still there – sometimes something sets it off – but it’s a minor niggle for a few days and doesn’t prevent me from doing anything I want to do or cause any serious discomfort. It used to wipe me out completely for weeks on end.
I think what kept me going was noticing small improvements in things I hadn’t even realized were a problem. After 6-12 months I could stand for longer than an hour without needing to sit down. I hadn’t even realized that was abnormal. I realized that if I stopped, things would just keep getting worse.
aye. guy who did my hip replacement actually warned me away from any back surgery to fix these compression fractures….and the big ortho outfit he worked for had that as a big part of their business model.
and, please IMDoc, remember that not all of us long term opioid patients are junkies.
the vicodin doesnt remove the pain, but it does mitigate it( i miss it when i miss a dose)…and when i do my every 2 or 3 year drug holiday to reset the receptors and start again at 5mg, i have had zero withdrawal symptoms.
careful with big brushes,lol.
Great post, thanks. Working hard to keep my back muscles strong enough to never develop chronic pain.
And worried sick my 80-something friends are going down a similar road with the electrophysiologists, so very eager to implant devices in anyone with sometimes-erratic heartbeats. A lifesaver, sure, for some. A really nice money-maker for them? Also sure. It makes me leery.
I am lucky that my back pain was managed by the VA, who had undertaken a whole new approach to pain management. No opiates and invasive procedures unless absolutely necessary. Wholistic approach which included education, physical therapy, “non-traditional” procedures like acupuncture, and very mild, non-opiate based painkillers as necessary. I did undergo ablasion, which certainly helped. The combination of all of these has kept me reasonably pain-free for five years now, with occasional flare-ups which I can manage using the knowledge gained from the pain-management classes, with massage, acupuncture and exercises. All in all, it has allowed me to remain active and go on long hikes with reasonable weight load.
The question is, why don’t private insurers stimulate more hospital systems to go to that approach? I am reasonably certain that my care was both cheaper, monetarily and socialy, and more effective, than what’s being offered to the privately insured.
Ernst is playing a role. Can’t have Thune, protégé of Turtle, get sullied with any pre-nomination discourse or controversy. Keep that powder, or those favors, for future matters. Meanwhile, Ernst gets some press visibility. Win-win for the Shell game and Turtle legacy protection.
A question: Will NC take a closer look at Romania and the annulled election?
It is surprising how little media are reporting on what is a gigantic scandal, if one takes the notion of free elections in the EU seriously.
It is a de-facto Russiagate à la roumaine that has changed the outcome of a political process for real.
That is quite something.
Taibbi should be looking into this….(did he?)
Romania is also interesting since it’s a textbook case of old and new elites realigning after ’89.
The place never came to peace. Which is why people don’t take politics there seriously.
It’s pretty tragic and ugly.
“It is surprising how little media are reporting on what is a gigantic scandal…”
Given the givens, I’m surprised that you’re surprised. The bit of MSM news I saw recently accentuated the dastardly deployment of Russian backed social media as being responsible for voters making an unacceptable choice.
After the Moldovan President was re-elected based on the votes coming from the Moldovan diaspora and not those living in Moldova, it is no surprise. Ursula is centralizing as much power as she can in Brussels so I can see a day when it will be Brussels that will dictate the authenticity of an election held and maybe even who is allowed to stand for office. More of those “EU values” that we keep on hearing about.
Well, they just canceled election because they lost, and the reason given is far more ridiculous than the original Russiagate. So I guess there is not much to talk about, if the Romanians themselves accept it without fight. Maybe that’s the actual message, that everyone sort of accepts EU is fixing election right and left, like nobody was making big fuss about the fairness of latest “election” in USSR.
Don’t forget that Pres Yoon of SK claiming thst he ordered martial law as a measure against electoral fraud.
Re: Don’t throw away your printed books […]
I am eagerly awaiting my option to subscribe to NC in print!
re: “Don’t throw away your printed books:
I am divided on this.
Do I really read F Scott Fitzgerald differently, do I process it differently when reading it as a printed book in contrast to reading it on an e-book reader?
How deep does the scientific evidence reach here?
Is it merely external phenoma that are measured? Or more substantial internal matters?
How far can brain functions be identified with 100% certainty and connected with genuine different results?
Is it due to the technology itself? Or due to the notion of multi-tasking? Which would have nothing to do with possible inferiority of the technology of reading on digital devices as such.
I can’t comment about e-readers because I don’t own one, but my experience tells me that I undoubtedly process words better on paper than on screen. And by “process” I don’t necessarily mean high level deep emotional processing (prefrontal cortex, amygdala) but rather lower level visual processing (retina, thalamus). Reading nice serif fonts on paper affords me less eye strain and fatigue, which could indirectly allow me to better comprehend the content of the text I am reading. You ask some very tough questions about how we can even measure brain functions and how it relates to reading comprehension. I don’t have a good answers, but you can still reap benefits of not reading all day on screens. It’s like intuitively understanding that eating lots of un-manufactured and unprocessed vegetables is a great idea even if you don’t have a good understanding of how digestion affects health.
NC’s favorite contributor, Michael Hudson, agrees in his most recent article on how publishing monopolies are squeezing writers. Hudson laments screens causing him eyestrain and the publishers insisting on using tiny print with ugly typefaces on the paper versions. As knowledgeable as Hudson is, he probably doesn’t have the clout to dictate the typography in his books. (Whose poor idea was it to not include an index in Killing The Host? I doubt it was Michael himself.) Edward Tufte certainly has the clout to tell publishers how to style and design his books. Take a look at Tufte’s books. They have the most beautiful graphic design and typography. (I believe Tufte commonly uses the Sabon font in his books.)
Needless to say I grew up a printed book person.
However I am asking the “devil’s advocate’s” questions because I lack some knowledge on this that you might have and others on NC.
Meaning: the serious scientific scholarship on this.
Those who’s jobs in publishing it is to read books for real were the first ones who – as my circle of friends is concerned – were all with the “digital revolution” simply for practical reasons.
There are as you say all sorts of issues involved. My underlying question is indeed if it hade made a difference to me had I grown up with the same titles but not in print but well readable digital devices.
A nice cruel experiment with twins growing up!
As you and matt below point out, various needs make for various purchases. The most common I guess is print for reading and making notes (I at least cannot read and making notes on digital devices. It makes serious research impossible.)
But the second purchase is the pdf to research studies which I already have worked through or for works that I have no time to check.
(Admittedly a practice more often used due to commenting on blogs which is not a paid job after all. So at some point time is an issue.)
But still the questions that you already pointed at for me (prefrontal cortex, amygdala /retina, thalamus) – are the ones of a normative magnitude.
It’s like with mask mandates during Covid:
Do masks not work because the virus slips through the material. Or do they not work because people are too lazy to use them properly or at all. From the scientific POV two completely different answers.
But mixed in the public arena.
As the quality of publishing goes – I believe so far Germany in this area is still a safehaven if you work with one of the Classic publishers and not some online outfit or self-publishing (which I would assume lacks the money).
On the other hand I have encountered micro-trends where certain publishers fell for new trendy fonts which I found detestable.
Thanks also for the Hudson link. US capitalism is full of surprises…
my sister likes collecting printed books ‘in case something happens.’ and i agree it is nice to have paper books for power outages. but as a student, i am NOT about to purchase and lug around 5 massive textbooks all day. if you’re reading a book for fun, printed copies are nice. but for other reasons, they are not. or when it is wet. they are two technologies with different uses.
sometimes you need a book but it’s expensive so all you have is a pirated pdf.
also it’s easier to read in bed on your phone. instead of holding a flashlight under the sheets like i used to as a kid, i can simply read on the phone.
I have to do log book entries for my work as an aircraft mechanic. Sometimes they are 500 to 1000 words. Filled with part numbers and manual references. I learned along time ago that I can’t proof read on the computer screen. I print it out and make corrections. Then print on sticky paper and paste in the book.
re: Don’t Throw Away Your Printed Books
Here is the link to the article, which at least on my screen, did not come through:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1747938X18300101
‘Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social
@TrumpDailyPosts
Here are my new Trump Perfumes & Colognes! I call them Fight, Fight, Fight, because they represent us WINNING. Great Christmas gifts for the family. Go to https://gettrumpfragrances.com. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!’
Will it be as good as Zelensky Number Five? One whiff of that and you will be willing to bankrupt your entire country to give Zelensky all the billions that he wants.
What do people think of the alleged manifesto by alleged American folk hero The Adjuster, Luigi Mangione?
https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/luigis-manifesto
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience. The spiral notebook, if present, has some straggling notes and To Do lists that illuminate the gist of it. My tech is pretty locked down because I work in engineering so probably not much info there. I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming. A reminder: the US has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy. United is the [indecipherable] largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allwed them to get away with it. Obviously the problem is more complex, but I do not have space, and frankly I do not pretend to be the most qualified person to lay out the full argument. But many have illuminated the corruption and greed (e.g.: Rosenthal, Moore), decades ago and the problems simply remain. It is not an issue of awareness at this point, but clearly power games at play. Evidently I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”
But when he goes to trial, will the judge rule that inadmissible in court? Gotta watch those New York courts
Why would it be inadmissible?
Self-incrimination? But it was written before he was arrested.
If it is admitted into court, then that brings the whole question of why he did what he did. Is that a can of worms that the courts want to open? The state of American healthcare? It would be safer to declare him insane and put him away and not go there.
The big question is did Luigi actually write this. Commenters on Twitter are saying that it doesn’t read like his other posts online, like his GoodReads reviews.
Also, I just can’t get my head around why someone who went to such lengths not to get caught and managed to escape NYC would then allow himself to get caught. At least turn yourself in to make the political statement.
So much that seems unaccountable. Why did he stay ten whole days in New York? And in a hostel that requires in-person check-in and in which you’d be sharing a room with other guests?
As for the final sentence, “I am the first to face it with such brutal honesty…” a kind of invitation to other adjustors?
Mind you, no way on earth I would take up that invitation even if I can’t begrudge anyone who does.
Sounds less Marxist than German Red Army Faction.
But the gist is the same.
The last couple of years made it difficult for people to further promote and believe in the idea of constructive grass-roots movements changing matters down to top.
For some time now left groups had mostly abandonded force, violence, murder.
Wonder how long that remains. Might we see more of this?
I haven’t followed this closely as I usually don’t like murder stories. (However the sane political rationale makes it more interesting of course.)
I wouldn’t be surprised if this event was instrumentalized as another pro-Dems story confirming the fears of violence under a Trump administration. Simply by Trump being there. Even without any proven affiliation. As of “the billionaire”-class won etc.
re: “ Why did he stay ten whole days in New York?”
He had theatre tickets? wanted to see the tree at Rockefeller Center? Skating in Central Park? The “Sienna” exhibit at the Met Museum (It’s very good)? “Frau Ohne Schatten” with Nina Stemme at the Met Opera ? (Also good).
why does anybody stay in NYC for 10 days? Amazing that he had the time to gun anybody down.
😂
would make for a great comedy:
“The man who wanted to be assassin. (But didn’t make it in time.)”
Which Obama and Biden never did or likely considered. Meanwhile Republicans fear their base and Trump exercises political power.
That McDonald’s employee who rated out that guy may have to wait awhile for his reward – if he ever gets it that is-
https://www.unilad.com/news/us-news/luigi-mangione-ceo-shooting-mcdonalds-worker-reward-333982-20241210
Too bad. He learned the hard way that the US is not agreement-capable. He should have been reading alt-media … next time call crime stoppers, and let the perp walk!
About that ” don’t throw away your printed books” article . . . I wonder whether people who learned to do their high-level reading on printed text are able to comprehend text on screens just as well as if it were printed.
The reason I don’t throw away my printed books is so that I will still have something printed if/when the entire Internet and the entire digisphere goes dark and stays dark for good.
Interesting. But then we did once have to learn how to read paper books and for some of us that happened very early.
So I think the point is that it’s really about what’s in the books and the technology is a sidebar. Personally I did have trouble adjusting to reading ebooks and found that making the screen presentation–sharpness, serif text, a preferred two page per screen format–as much like a real book was the way to go. For this reason the old e-ink Kindle was a pain. There are Bezos’ good ideas and–so many–Bezos’ bad ideas.
Meanwhile computer displays are now very sharp indeed and the contrast is unbeatable. Now I have trouble reading paper books.
Of course paper copies of books should be kept somewhere and we once thought and perhaps still think this is the public library’s job. But it seems they aren’t into being archivists
Most libraries nowadays are actively landfilling books so they can build studios to teach the kids how to Tiktok. Because that is what the kids need to know.
Too bad we don’t have a Carnegie to donate the money and dictate that the libraries should do something other than what the Propaganda Broadcasting System (PBS) tells them is relevant.
“Anger at plan to turn Nazi tunnels into bunker for super-rich”
Of course where Dachau is located would make a great site for rural-residential living in a new gated community and conveniently situated near Munich. Why yes, there will be guards but they will be for keeping people out, not like the previous ones that had the job of keeping people in.
The MSM has been talking about how people need to switch to “secure” communications on their cell phones becasue of Chinese hacking, but apparently, it’s MUCH more serious than that. The “secure” communications apps used by the US government have been penetrated. Here’s Larry Johnson at sonar21 going over the details:
Chinese Hack Means Beijing Reading and Hearing All US Military and Intelligence Classified Phone Communications
https://sonar21.com/chinese-hack-means-beijing-reading-and-hearing-all-us-military-and-intelligence-classified-phone-communications/
Wow, that’s major! Looks like a back door left in the telcom software for the FBI/DOJ was used to gain access.
This sounds like good news to me. I don’t care if the Chinese want to listen to my conversations with my wife, but if they can get some information that helps them to prevent either of our demented presidents from starting WW3 then I am all for it.
> Chinese Hack Means Beijing Reading and Hearing All US Military and Intelligence Classified Phone Communications
Good.. How else could they trust us?
Wow:
Scott Horton in an interview about Ukraine with German daily BERLINER ZEITUNG?!
What is going on?
German language:
https://archive.is/nmsYX
I might post a translation later if it’s worth it…
Horton:
Agreed. But Trump will need to cut Ukraine loose quickly. Otherwise it becomes his tar baby.
Koreans get creative in protest methods amid martial law fallout
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2024/12/113_388213.html
This is a very long post. But I can’t provide a link only since an archived article cannot be auto-translated. At least I wouldn´t know how.
– Scott Horton Interview BERLINER ZEITUNG –
“The reality is: the east of Ukraine is lost” – Scott Horton in an interview
The representatives of an aggressive US foreign policy bear a large share of the responsibility for the war in Ukraine, says the American author Scott Horton in an interview.
The war in Ukraine is currently reaching a turning point. The Ukrainian army seems to have little left to oppose the Russian army. President Volodymyr Selenskyj has admitted that he will have to come to terms with ceding territory to Russia. Will there be peace negotiations under US President Donald Trump? The American radio presenter and publicist Scott Horton has examined the history of the war in his new book “Provoked. How Washington started the New Cold War with Russia and the catastrophe in Ukraine”. The Berliner Zeitung spoke to him about the long-term goals of the USA, the role of Angela Merkel and possible peace scenarios.
Mr. Horton, the war in Ukraine has been raging for almost three years now. The USA is Kiev’s most important ally. What are the long-term goals of the American government in Ukraine?
It’s complicated. Essentially, they want to integrate Ukraine into the so-called American security umbrella and install a government that is friendly to them. Russia has been pressured with NATO’s constant eastward expansion. Of course, Russia’s neighbors wanted American protection. But the problem is that it became a self-fulfilling prophecy when it comes to a country like Ukraine, which is of paramount importance to Russia. When the US declared that Ukraine should become a member of the Western security architecture, a threshold was crossed.
The US has been playing out NATO membership for Ukraine since the 1990s. But the smartest members of the American leadership have always warned against it. Ukraine’s history and Russia’s history are deeply intertwined. Russia has a significant strategic interest in the Sevastopol naval base in Crimea. The American strategy of integrating Ukraine out of Russia’s sphere of interest and into the Western sphere of influence became a direct threat to Russia, provoking a reaction.
Would you say that the American government underestimated Russia?
The part of the American establishment that was counting on further western integration of Ukraine did not think that Russia would invade Ukraine. I recall the words of Senator Chris Murphy, who praised the US role in overthrowing the government on television after the so-called Maidan revolution of 2014. Murphy said: “We did a great job.” The moderator then asked whether this might not provoke a conflict with Russia. Murphy replied: “That would be crazy.” He assumed that Russia would not intervene. A few weeks later, Ukraine lost Crimea and the east of the country was at war.
In her biography, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended the decision not to admit Ukraine into NATO at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest. What effect did Merkel’s decision have at the time?
Well, the so-called hawks, who stand for an aggressive American foreign policy, argue that if Ukraine had been given far-reaching military commitments at the time, the war would not have started in the first place, because Putin would not have attacked any NATO member. I think the more plausible answer is that Russia would have immediately launched an invasion of Ukraine, even before the NATO treaties were signed.
The then US President George W. Bush was warned. The American ambassador to Russia, William Burns, wrote a memorandum in February 2008, published by Wikileaks, entitled “Njet means Njet. Russia’s Nato Enlargement Redlines”. In it, Burns warned his boss, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, against bringing Ukraine and Georgia into NATO. It was not just about Putin. For the entire Russian security apparatus, this would have crossed a line. In his memoirs, Burns later reported an email to Rice in which he explained to her what a sensitive point the issue was for Russia.
Merkel and French President François Hollande did everything they could to stop Bush. But Bush was determined. They agreed to a compromise not to guarantee Ukraine a NATO membership process, but only that Kiev would one day be given the prospect of a NATO membership process. Merkel’s stance against Bush was in line with the leadership of the American security services and the US State Department.
So was it a far-sighted decision by the then German Chancellor?
Merkel was deeply concerned about provoking Russia. She did not think about what economic costs Germany would face in the event of a military conflict. The only question was, why should she provoke Putin if Germany could not gain any benefits from it.
While President Joe Biden has always been a strong military supporter of Ukraine, his successor Donald Trump has announced that he will stop military aid to Ukraine. Why do the Democrats in the US have a stronger interest in Ukraine than the Republicans?
I am not sure if that is the case. The political right accuses the Democrats of money laundering and shady dealings in Ukraine. I do not know anything specific about that. I think the scandal surrounding Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, who is said to have received bribes from Ukraine is not decisive. It starts earlier: Hunter Biden was installed at the Ukrainian energy company Burisma Holdings to protect the company’s owner, Mykola Zlochevskyj. Zlochevskyj was closely linked to the government of the fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych. That is why he sought protection from the Americans. Burisma hired Hunter Biden, as well as the former CIA officer Cofer Black and the former President of Poland, Aleksander Kwaśniewski.
To return to your question: Do the Democrats have a greater strategic interest in Ukraine than the Republicans? I would put it this way: the bipartisan consensus in US foreign policy is absolutely in agreement with Joe Biden. The new right that supports Trump is against an interventionist US foreign policy. The Republican establishment, such as the Republican minority leader in the US Senate, Mitch McConnell, is fully in line with the aggressive US foreign policy of George W. Bush, John McCain and Joe Biden. Their main concern now is damage limitation. The USA suffered a devastating defeat in Ukraine. It is just like in Afghanistan and Vietnam. The USA financed the war for years and millions of people died. In the end, the Reds were in Saigon, and today the Taliban are back in power in Kabul.
The USA has plunged Ukraine into terrible chaos. In order to effectively push Russia back, the USA would have to station its own soldiers in Ukraine. But the price of a nuclear escalation would be too high for that. The reality is: the east of Ukraine is lost.
The willingness of the American public to continue supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia is declining. Why do the majority of Americans no longer support the government of President Volodymyr Zelensky?
Because it is obvious that we have been lied to. They said we will support Ukraine against Russia for as long as it takes. But it was supposed to take a year or two. The media often tell the joke: “Russia has the second strongest army in the world. But it looks more like they only have the second strongest army in Ukraine.” But now the war has been going on for three years, and the leading newspapers in the USA agree, and Zelensky is also aware, that Ukraine will have to give up territory.
The American public is not so interested in what is happening in Donetsk Oblast. They are much more concerned about the fact that bridges are eroding in their own country and that their own government is abandoning them in the event of serious natural disasters. When Hurricane Helene devastated North Carolina in September, the U.S. Army could have provided assistance. There are several locations in the state. Where were the Blackhawk helicopters to rescue Americans from the floods? They were in Europe supporting NATO and on their way to the Middle East. As people in North Carolina were fighting for survival, President Biden announced that another billion-dollar package for Ukraine would be approved. This is a major point why the Democrats lost the presidential election.
The war in Ukraine pushed the German economy into recession. Since then, Germany no longer imports cheap gas from Russia, but expensive LNG from the USA. Is this just a combination of unfortunate circumstances?
The Germans are the collateral damage in America’s economic war against Russia. The aim was to prevent as many Russian gas exports to the West as possible and to drive Russia into national bankruptcy. But that is not working. Russia is now exporting its gas to the East.
American geostrategists, such as George Friedmann from the think tank Stratfor, discuss it surprisingly openly that the absolute priority for the USA is to separate Russia from Germany. The function of NATO is to keep America in, Germany down and the Russians out, as the first NATO Secretary General Lord Ismay described it in 1949. An alliance between Germany, the industrial superpower, and Russia, the resource superpower, would dominate Eastern Europe and destroy the influence of the Americans and British in the region.
It is no coincidence that Senator Ted Cruz from my home state of Texas was a staunch opponent of the German-Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline during the Trump and Biden years. Texas produces much of the American LNG that the US profitably supplies to Germany. Victoria Nuland, the former European representative at the US State Department, said to Cruz: “Well, Senator, what you always wanted has happened: Nord Stream 2 is a lump of metal on the seabed.”
The Ukrainian president is increasingly losing support among the population. Do you think he will be able to hold on if Ukraine continues to go on the defensive?
Zelenskyy has strengthened his power by suspending the presidential election and imposing martial law. It will depend on whether there will be powerful challengers who can offer an alternative. It also depends on which part of the population you ask. The further west you go, the more often you get the answer that the fight against Russia should continue. If you go to the east of the country, you are told to rely on negotiations.
A serious problem is that neo-Nazis are gaining strong influence in Ukraine. Dmytro Yarosh and Andrei Biletsky have threatened Zelensky and his predecessor Petro Poroshenko with death. New York Times journalist Andrew Kramer has reported in detail on the danger posed by these people. They are actual descendants of Hitler’s collaborators in Ukraine who fought in World War II. They do not want to accept a ceasefire. For them, it would be a betrayal of the many soldiers who died in the war. They do not want to give up until they have won. If Zelensky starts peace negotiations, he will be in serious danger in the country.
So, how will things turn out in Ukraine: Will we see peace in the next few weeks?
I fear that the situation in Ukraine is so difficult that Trump will have a hard time making a deal. The best thing he can do is withdraw as quickly as possible. Just like they did in Afghanistan. It would be a crushing defeat and the Democrats would be furious. But it is worth reminding Ukrainians and Americans that it was Joe Biden who made them false promises. He knew that Ukraine could not defeat Russia. He told Zelensky not to negotiate with Russia but to launch spring, summer and fall offensives, all of which failed.
But there are still some doubts as to whether Trump is even seeking peace with Russia. After all, he has chosen many hawks for his government team. And he is in no position to make any demands on Moscow. Given the current military situation, Putin can draw the border pretty much wherever he wants. The question is whether he will expand to Kharkiv and Odessa, or whether he will just annex the oblasts he already controls. The optimistic scenario would be an agreement that freezes the conflict and draws the border where it currently is.