Malaysia to resume hunt for flight MH370, 10 years after it vanished Channel News Asia
Everything sucks because no one knows what they are doing Dougald Lamont’s Substack
Chartbook 340 Against synecdoche! … A plural taxonomy of capitalist globalization Adam Tooze, Chartbook
Climate/Environment
In a Major Reversal, the World Bank Is Backing Mega Dams Yale Environment 360
Transfer and Transition Phenomenal World
Bangladesh’s Shift Toward Salt-tolerant Agriculture Offers Lessons in Climate Resilience Earth Island Journal
Pandemics
Louisiana forbids public health workers from promoting COVID, flu and mpox shots NPR
China?
US announces military aid packages for Taiwan Taiwan News
Arming Taiwan to aid ‘Taiwan independence’ is like ‘playing with fire and will get the US burned,’ says Chinese FM Global Times
Old Blighty
A food apocalypse is coming Unherd
Trump taps ‘Apprentice’ producer Mark Burnett as special envoy to UK Business Standard
BREAKING: Keir Starmer picks close friend of Jeffrey Epstein Peter Mandelson as new UK ambassador to US.
Here is “Petie”, as Epstein called him, wearing a £21,000 Patek Philippe watch whilst shopping with the paedophile in the Caribbean island of St Barts in 2005 pic.twitter.com/rLQ6QoCYzd
— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) December 19, 2024
O Canada
The conservative-tech alliance is coming to Canada Disconnect
Syraqistan
Houthi ‘hypersonic missile’ slams into Tel Aviv area, sixteen lightly wounded The Jerusalem Post
US airstrikes hit Houthi missile storage and command facility in Yemen: CENTCOM Al Arabiya
US fighter shot down in ‘apparent case of friendly fire’ over Red Sea Reuters
Yemen in open war with US, ‘Israel’, not tit-for-tat: Ansar Allah Al Mayadeen
***
Turkiye demands end of US support to Kurdish militants in control of northeast Syria The Cradle
US senators introduce bill to sanction Turkey over military action against Kurds in Syria Turkish Minute
***
Israeli forces attack two hospitals and a school in Gaza, kills 8 Al Jazeera
The Fight to Stop US Arms to Israel is Gaining Momentum Inkstick
US Judge Finds Israel’s NSO Group Liable for Hacking in WhatsApp Lawsuit Asharq Al-Awsat
Archaeologists discover possible ancient Israelite palace in Jordan The Jerusalem Post. Commentary:
Trouble ahead for Jordan? pic.twitter.com/UiQe9TWgFY
— Glenn Diesen (@Glenn_Diesen) December 22, 2024
New Not-So-Cold War
SITREP 12/21/24: Things Heat Up in Kherson, Ukraine Losses Update, and More Simplicius
Ukraine faces difficult decisions over acute shortage of frontline troops The Guardian
RUSSIA Strikes SBU HQ, Officials Hit. KIEV Shocked Hits Back Rylsk. EU Aims To Derail TRUMP Alexander Mercouris, YouTube. Mercouris contends, based on two fresh Financial Times articles, and also Yves’ post What Happens When Trump’s “Negotiations” Over Ukraine Quickly Hit the Wall? that the planned Trump ceasefire negotiations are very unlikely to succeed and Ukraine and the EU/NATO are trying to use them to ensnare Trump in Project Ukraine.
Ukraine’s First All-Robot Assault Force Just Won Its First Battle Forbes
Ukraine collects vast war data trove to train AI models Reuters
Why sanctions against Russia have failed Ian Proud, Strategic Culture
Anti-Migrant Wave Rises in Russia Following General’s Murder Times of Central Asia
European Disunion
“Pro-AfD” terror attack in Germany Thomas Fazi
Germany moves to protect top court against far right Deutsche Welle
‘Powerful consiglieri’ run von der Leyen’s Commission, EU transparency chief says Politico
Commission’s ‘NGO gag order’ will boost corporate lobby power Corporate Europe Observatory
Global Elections
Electoral Democracy in 2024 (With Special Reference to Senegal and Ghana) Sawahil
Biden Administration
The US finalizes CHIPS Act funding for Samsung and Texas Instruments The Verge
Trump Transition
Trump: Panama will lose control of Canal if it continues to ‘rip-off’ US The Hill
America First? Phenomenal World
Biden’s antitrust crackdown on tech M&As may linger into Trump’s reign The Register
EXCLUSIVE: Where is Congresswoman Kay Granger? Dallas Express
Democrats en Déshabillé
Why Democrats can’t get over the grief of losing to Donald Trump Salon
The Supremes
The Equal Right to Exclude: Religious Speech and the Road to 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis California Law Review
Obama Legacy
Elon Musk’s Journey from Obama to Trump Aligns With Many Americans Newsweek
Police State Watch
When the Feds Are Still Watching The Nation
Missouri Governor Frees Eric DeValkenaere, the First White Cop in KC History Convicted for Lynching a Black Person Kansas City Defender
City Billed Family of Man Killed During Police Pursuit for Damage to Cop’s Car The City
AI
ACLU Points Out More Problems With AI-Generated Police Reports Tech Dirt
Big Tech’s AI Blackmail Boondoggle
Groves of Academe
Despite censorship and intimidation we continue to demand: no more research for genocide at MIT Mondoweiss
Sports Desk
Rickey Henderson, Oakland baseball legend, dies at 65 The Oaklandside
Guillotine Watch
Media’s empathetic coverage of Luigi Mangione reveals an obsession with humanizing white male suspects The Guardian. Commentary:
The Guardian here – much like all US media – is trying to make sure we don’t think about the corruption and fatal crimes of the U.S. healthcare system, of health insurance companies.
For the same core reason our media obfuscates & justifies the genocide in Gaza, it is now… https://t.co/qMvzw9oKQ1
— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) December 21, 2024
UnitedHealth’s Optum continues mental health payment delays, despite saying they have ended Clear Health Costs
THERE’S A MAJOR PROBLEM WITH THE NUCLEAR WAR BUNKERS THE RICH ARE BUYING Futurism
Class Warfare
How the rich stole Christmas Red Flag
Five Decades of Stagnant Wages Dollars & Sense
THE WHOLE EQUATION: CAN “NEOLIBERALISM” EXPLAIN EVERYTHING? LPE Project
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Re: Peter Mandelson and his appointment to Washington.
I’m reminded of a story told to me many times by Labour activists back in the Blair years. Mandelson was given as a gift for his early services to Blair a safe labour seat in the fading port town of Hartlepool way up north, a long way from his London hangouts. So safe, he didn’t have to bother campaigning, just show his face occasionally.
On his first walk around by local activists, they stopped by the local chip shop for lunch and to meet the locals. ‘What will you have?’ he was asked. ‘Fish and chips of course’, he replied. He then pointed to the mushy peas on the counter. ‘And I’ll have some of that aubergine dip too’.
{Picard Facepalm}
The joke was guacamole rather than aubergine dip. In another anodyne quickfire Q&A newspaper article, in answer to the question ‘what most treasured possession would you try to save if your house was on fire?’, Mandelson answered ‘my Hartlepool United [the local football team] scarf!’
“Trump: Panama will lose control of Canal if it continues to ‘rip-off’ US”
Maybe Panama should tell Trump that they are running the canal as a business and not as a charity so that the US can be a bunch of free-loaders and get mates-rates passage. Trump might say that the US built that canal back in 1904 and so that Panama owes it but Panama can reply that that debt got cancelled – when the US illegally invaded Panama back in 1989 leading to the deaths of thousands of its people. That is why to this day they are not allowed to have their own military. When I read the title saying that Trump said that Panama will lose control of their own canal, it sounded an awful like when Biden said that Germany would lose NS2 if it went ahead.
Sounds a lot like the scene from Blazing Saddles, where they find out there’s a new toll booth…”What will these assholes think of next? We’re gonna need a shit-ton of dimes!…” \sarc
Will no one rid the US of these meddlesome fee and toll collectors from the mighty world power we know as Panama? Here’s an idea, instead ships bearing the US markings should try going around the lower tip of South America if you don’t like this more convenient canal option …
Maybe Panama can invite Yemen’s Ansar Allah in to set up shop and do a number on which ships can go through the Panama Canal.
Lol…that could get messy. Better to just invite the Russians in for an extended visit. There’s going to be a bunch of them on the move in the mediterranean soon.
Actually, that would probably generate a Cuba-1962 level crisis. Maybe the Yemeni option is better? The US can’t admit the canal has been closed by a bunch of desert-dwellers from the fringes of civilization.
Either way, Panama won’t feel like winners.
https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/21/world/fighting-in-panama-the-implications-war-bush-s-presidential-rite-of-passage.html
December 21, 1989
Fighting in Panama: The Implications; War: Bush’s Presidential Rite of Passage
By R. W. Apple Jr.
For George Bush, the United States invasion of Panama early this morning constituted a Presidential initiation rite as well as an attempt to achieve specific goals.
For better or for worse, most American leaders since World War II have felt a need to demonstrate their willingness to shed blood to protect or advance what they construe as the national interest. John F. Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard M. Nixon in South Vietnam, Gerald R. Ford in the Mayaguez affair, Ronald Reagan in Grenada and Lebanon, and now Mr. Bush in Panama – all of them acted in the belief that the American political culture required them to show the world promptly that they carried big sticks.
Jimmy Carter did not do it until he sought unsuccessfully to rescue American hostages in Iran late in his term, and politicians of both parties still believe that it cost him dear.
For President Bush – a man widely criticized as recently as a month ago for his purported timidity, a man assailed on Capitol Hill and elsewhere for failing to fully support an attempted coup against General Noriega only in October, a man still portrayed in the Doonesbury comic strip as the invisible President – showing his steel had a particular significance…
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1ComU
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for United States, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica, 1992-2023
(Indexed to 1992)
https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1Cone
August 4, 2014
Real per capita Gross Domestic Product for United States, Mexico, Panama and Costa Rica, 1977-2023
(Indexed to 1977)
Nice archeological digging, CA. I’d dread going down there in the archives because I can probably remember the exact words.
This is also an early example of the “this is the day {insert name} became President” genre of MSM reporting.
Trump’s shopping list:
Greenland
Canada
Mexico
Panama
Jump back, what’s that sound ?
Here he comes, full blast and top down parvenu
Hot to trot, burnin’ down the avenue
Model citizen zero discipline
Don’t you know the canal is coming home with me?
You’l lose it in the turn
I’ll get it back!
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Ain’t nothin’ like it, our Teddy’s whet dream
Got the feel for the art of the deal, keep the moving parts clean
Hot to trot, burnin’ down the avenue
Got an on-ramp comin’ through my Monroe Doctrine
Don’t you know the canal is coming home with me?
You’l lose it in the turn
I’ll get it back!
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Yeah, we’re runnin’ a little bit not so hot tonight in the House
I can barely see a shutdown comin’ off of it
Ah, you reach down, let me pull your legs
Please adjust expectations back
He’s not bluffing, I’m guessing
Right behind the 2020 rear-view mirror now
Got the feeling, power canal steering
Champagne popping, ain’t no stopping now!
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Panama by Van Halen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMoDJ4HWWaE
– 309 radio stations
– 16 76mm naval autocannons
– services, education, and training
Something more balanced, imo, about the car driver from the Jerusalim Post. ( Fazi’s piece reads like a quick AP/Reuters narrative designed to make political hay out of a terrible event.)
Saudi Arabia warned Germany ahead of Christmas market ramming, source claims
German reports claim that the driver was a man from Saudi Arabia and is approximately 50 years old.
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-834294
Mike Benz .
Mike Benz: ‘Reuters Received $300 Million in Biden Admin Contracts While Maintaining Watchdog Status’
Mike Benz discusses the controversial financial ties between the U.S. government, Reuters, and media integrity.
https://vigilantnews.com/post/mike-benz-reuters-received-300-million-in-biden-admin-contracts-while-maintaining-watchdog-status/
“Turkiye demands end of US support to Kurdish militants in control of northeast Syria”
Erdogan must see this as his golden, not-to-come-again chance to deal with the Kurds once and for all. The US probably wants to see the Kurds stay strong in this region as leverage against Turkiye but Turkiye has it’s own leverage. For one, after the US, the Turks have the largest military force in NATO. Turkiye itself holds a strategic position geographically that cannot be ignored and the US shares a Turkish base in Turkiye itself where the US houses nukes. The US is not prepared to give that all up. The Kurds are reaching out to Al-Qaeda in Syria for aid but I think that they have their own issues with the Kurds. Maybe Erdogan wants control of the wheat and oil fields currently occupied by the US/SDF to have leverage over Al-Qaeda Syria so it is hard to see who wins out here. Probably not the Kurds.
An additional problem for Erdogan is that if Russians pull out of Syria, they will move on to support Libyan Government of National Stability and Khalifa Haftar who are both opposed to Erdogan backed Government of National Unity in Libya.
And in Syria he will be left standing only with Qatar against Kurds, Israel, USA, the Gulf States, Egypt, Jordan, ISIS, al Queda and Iran.
Putin: ‘Da! Sounds like a plan to me.’
The pottery Barn rule is now in effect. Erdogan broke Syria so now he gets to own it.
Why Democrats Can’t Get Over Their Grief.
By Chauncey DeVega, and with a name like Chauncey DeVega, one is trying very very hard to assimilate.
I recall BookFace after the election when many posts were along the lines of, “They hate us because we’re beautiful.”
Discussing “grief,” which is what Catherine Liu might describe as upper-middle-class “trauma,” is an attempt to take the sniveling into psychobabble. Somehow, psychobabble will produce an explanation. I think not.
The issue is concrete real benefits for the U.S. populace, as in single-payer health care (currently being proposed by devotees of Saint Luigi the Adjuster). The constant blabber about reducing Social Security and Medicare, to which the Democrats are not an effective opposition, is no help in soothing “grief.” The endless wars and the bloating up of the security state, that “premier lethal fighting force” of Kamala, also add to the Democrats’ troubles, as they should.
The article contains a quote with a few lines from Ben Burgis that criticize the Democrats. That’s the self-criticism.
There’s a long pointless quote from Obama, but you already knew that. The tell “but as a citizen and part of a foundation” — oh, his foundation. Please make a donation…
The rest is more or less like this:
Joe Biden still has one or two functioning synapses, so he uses the Lawyer’s Ain’t.
My joy knows no bounds, groundlings.
I forced myself to read this entire article despite the “grief” framing you describe and the fact that it appeared in Salon. For the life of me I can’t figure out what Chauncey DeVega would have “Democrats” do. He is obviously mad at them for being too resigned, conciliatory, or rationalizing about Trump’s victory. But so what is his recommendation? That Ben Burgis quote is well-worth reading; as you say, *that* is the criticism. But it stands out like a sore thumb from the rest of this piece. Does Burgis’ critique also represent DeVega’s perspective? I don’t see how it can if DeVega can also praise Elizabeth Yuko’s “psychobabble” in Rolling Stone as “excellent.” His recommendation seems to be that the Dems need a “strong leader” to counter Trump and give the Democrats its “marching orders.” But I’ll be damned if I can figure out what he thinks those marching orders should be. I doubt if any real response that reflects Burgis’ critique of Obama would be printed in Salon these days. PMC grief counseling is acceptable though.
I am in favor of a campaign for shadow president on a platform with two planks:
1. (domestic policy) Universal concrete material benefits
2. (foreign policy) Make love, not war
This has the virtue of matching the concision of the platform of our neoliberal rulers, which Lambert likes to quote:
1. Because markets
2. Go die
Re: Elon Musk’s Journey from Obama to Trump Aligns With Many Americans
Not one word about “But it’s my turn” Hillary —> and the concerted effort to tank Sanders and his popular policies. Americans remember nothing and learn nothing.
You can blame ‘Americans’, but that’s just victim-blaming.
Our ruling classes keep launching efforts to wipe our hard drive clean every time we don’t do exactly what they want.
Collective memories get manufactured, just like consent.
per Douglas Macgregor: https://x.com/DougAMacgregor/status/1870673218920489075
US plane shot down by “friendly fire” in the Red Sea.
I do not believe this story. I suspect that the Houthis scored their first shoot-down, finally. IFF (identification friend or foe) is a fundamental thing. The US military? It’s an information controlled regime.
The F-18 had a flight plan……… the CiC had the plan!
Houthji or egregious operational ineptitude!
Maybe the Houthis thought that they were shooting down yet one more Reaper to add to their increasing collection. :)
To be fair, USS Vincennes was the very same class of cruiser and managed to shoot down a much bigger aircraft in a much less tense situation – even while being told not to launch by other US ships.
And as far as we can tell, US Navy has only deteriorated since.
Yeah, yeah, yeah…
But does the USS Gettysburg get to stencil the outline of a F/A 18 on the side of the ship?
RE: There’s a Major Problem With the Nuclear War Bunkers The Rich Are Buying
So true!
When in Switzerland, I recommend visiting the Sonnenberg bunker in Lucerne. It takes about five minutes to understand that it is not a viable option in a disaster—or maybe a little longer if one is hopeful—but one look at the “toilet” does it. Movies about the apocalypse are always about fighting for food and resources, but they never show the reality of living without proper plumbing. Not me!
The entire tour is creepy. The entry is a long tunnel; in the walls, there is a tally (several sets of four vertical lines and a diagonal one) representing the days inside and these messages in English: “Hold on to the boat,” “I want to leave,” “The End is Nigh,” and “I want to stay.” I still have the pictures!
Per Wikipedia: “The logistical problems of maintaining a population of 20,000 in close confines were not thoroughly explored, and testing the installation was difficult because it required closing the motorway and rerouting the usual traffic. The only large-scale test, a five-day exercise in 1987 to practice converting the road tunnels into usable shelters, revealed many problems: among other things, it took 24 hours to close all four blast doors fully, and it proved impossible to set up the 20,000 beds within a reasonable time. Afterward, the shelter’s capacity was reassessed at 10,000-17,000. Doubts about the tunnel’s viability as a shelter remained.”
Of course, those logistical problems didn’t consider the spread of infectious diseases…
The tour guide mentioned that calls have increased since the Ukraine-Russia conflict started. People want to know where to report in case of disaster.
The government also sends iodine pills every 10 years. I freaked out the first time I got them. I didn’t speak the language, but I understood “nuclear.” I guess, in theory, one should carry the pills at all times, I wonder if someone does that.
Bunker link: https://unterirdisch-ueberleben.ch/
Pills: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2023-10-28/switzerland-s-once-a-decade-nuclear-ritual
Me neither. I have often watched and do enjoy such movies, but they never fail to arouse my scatological curiosity. Is everyone just digging holes in random locations, using latrines, or what? Are they taking measures to protect water sources?
Zombieland rule #3: Beware of Bathrooms – Don’t let them catch you with your pants down.
Apocalyptic warning…the film version of The Road features a decidedly different and bothersome depiction of food and resources…Such a dark and bleak movie.
Don’t look in that cellar, you won’t soon forget.
Most of the climate controlled bunkers near me have running water, but no toilet facilities.
There is one that does partly show the toilet issues:. Letters from Iwo Jima, when the main character has to go out of the shelter to empty the “shit bucket.”. Of course, no one seems to think it’s an apocalyse movie, but it runs on many of the genre’s tropes. And, no, the people in the shelters don’t survive.
That Sana Saeed tweet is perfect.
If they don’t want people to lionize that guy, then perhaps they should not be doing stupid stuff like that perp walk. So where was Luigi’s bullet-proof vest? Why a multi-agency escort when two ordinary city detectives would have been able to do the job? Why was the city Mayor there at all? They act like they just caught a mob boss or something than just some guy accused of murder. And trying to put a terrorism spin on his charges was just stupid on a stick.
Still thinking about that whole perp walk scenario. To me, it felt a lot like kayfabe, a reproduction of a scene here or there from either of these films by Christopher Nolan…The Dark Knight or The Dark Knight Rises…
Just missing a cameo appearance from Christian Bale in a dark batsuit, and of course we can’t permit not including Morgan Freeman as Mr. Fox..
I think we should decide who is Luigi. Is he a rebel, insurrectionist, insurgent, murderer, assassin or martyr? These terms are normally associated with action against the government or individual politicians and assassinating a corporate CEO is unusual. Does that make him an anarchist? And if he’s put to death, does that mean he dies for our sins?
The sin is that the dysfunctional healthcare system is immoral and must be reformed. Will it take his death for the powers that be to realize this?
Personally, I see Luigi more as an anarchist than martyr or rebel. The overwhelming authority of the healthcare industry is dangerous to our health.
“Archaeologists discover possible ancient Israelite palace in Jordan”
Hopefully nobody has told those Israeli archaeologist about the ruins of King David’s summer palace in southern Turkiye yet (eye-roll). Israeli archaeologist often work hand in hand with settlers to provide “historical” proof of Israeli land claims which makes me wonder about this article. You and I read ‘possible ancient Israelite palace in Jordan’ but those settlers would be already rolling out the maps to see where to strategically place new settlements, particularly hill tops and water sources.
According to a Harper’s piece a few years ago, much of Israeli archaeology is controlled by settler fanatics for the purpose of stealing more land. Looks like the original story is paywalled, but here’s a link for those who can bypass it – https://harpers.org/archive/2019/09/common-ground-archeology-israel-palestine/
Here’s another (non-paywalled) to a podcast about the article, where the author Rachel Poser interviews an Israeli archaeologist who is opposed to the settler groups – https://harpers.org/2019/09/commong-ground-archeology-israel-palestine/
There are thousands of documents unearthed from ancient Egypt. Archeologist have been digging all over the place. There is not a shred of evidence that Jews ever lived in ancient Egypt let alone as slaves building pyramids and eventually busting out, crossing the red sea, and destroying the Egyptian army in the process.
When people want to believe stuff, facts be damned.
Why bother with archaeology? The book of Joshua is quite clear on the fact that 2 1/2 tribes didn’t want to cross the Jordan river, so got bits of Jordan instead. Wait till Modi hears about this, and takes seriously the bit about Sahadeva conquering the “city of the Greeks” (Antioch?) and Rome.
https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1870779217430143460
Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand
This should alarm all Europeans.
Emily O’Reilly, who’s been serving as the European Union’s chief accountability watchdog for more than a decade, reveals that the EU commission is a totally opaque body run by unelected “powerful consiglieri” (a mafia term).
https://politico.eu/article/consiglieri-ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-commission-cabinet-ombudsman-emily-oreilly/
O’Reilly discloses that over her 11-year tenure she was never able to meet even once with Ursula Von der Leyen, even though she’s the official European Ombudsman which, again, is the watchdog that theoretically needs to hold Von der Leyen accountable…
She also says that she’s incredibly “frustrated” that her “access to documents” requests to the EU Commission take “months” to be processed and at the end “they still say no”.
In effect we learn here that the most powerful institution in the EU is run like a black box by unelected officials (the “powerful consiglieri” O’Reilly speaks of) who systematically block oversight attempts, even from their own official watchdog.
Which raises the obvious question: if Von der Leyen refuses accountability to Europeans, to whom does the commission answer?
It also frankly raises questions about O’Reilly herself and the European Ombudsman body: how on earth did she allow herself to be systematically stonewalled and blocked from doing her job for over a decade without raising public alarm sooner about this?
5:31 AM · Dec 22, 2024
“In effect we learn here that the most powerful institution in the EU is run like a black box by unelected officials…”
Yeah, some noticed that during Brexit and were accused of being flag waving Union Jacks for just pointing out the problems with the EU.
Good point. And that just one of probably many issues that require investigation. For example, Pfizergate.
https://www.politico.eu/article/ursula-von-der-leyen-eu-commission-shirks-public-responsibility-pfizergate-texts-albert-bourla-court-hearing-new-york-times/
>“Pro-AfD” terror attack in Germany
Why did the terrorist have a perfectly Islamic name but be anti-Islamist, an immigrant but hold anti-immigrant views, and attack a Christmas market instead of a mosque?
MoA has a pretty detailed post. Or at least much detail than the few articles I’ve read about the driver.
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/12/insane-anti-muslim-jihadist-terrorizes-christmas-market.html
I have another question. Why are these Christmas market attacks always in Germany? Or have I missed the news of others in other countries?
1) Christmas markets are a typical German / Germanic tradition — they are less prominent / smaller in other countries.
2) There have been just a few attacks of the same kind in other countries:
2011 Kashgar (China).
2014 Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Canada), on a parking lot.
2016 Nice (France), on a promenade, during the 14th July celebrations.
2016 Berlin (Germany), Christmas market.
2017 Stockholm (Sweden), in a major shopping street.
2017 Westminster bridge (UK).
2017 Levallois-Perret (France).
2020 Berlin (Germany), on the Autobahn — not against pedestrians.
On the other hand, there have been quite a number of ramming attacks with cars and lorries carried out by Palestinians in Israel.
Because in Germany they have traffic very close to the markets, so it’s quite easy for the attacker. I remember seeing the market in Berlin, and thinking that the traffic was so close that they were just asking for accidents. The attack was a week later.
Here in Italy, there are barriers that keep the traffic away from the markets, but the FDP would never allow that in Germany. “Freie Fahrt für freie Bürger!”.
I usually send an Antidote to my wife and animal-rescuing sis to brighten their day. Today is an exception.
“ESTRAGON: I can’t go on like this.
VLADIMIR: That’s what you think.”
In an ideal world, only Rickey Henderson would supply the proper eulogy in honor of the departed Rickey Henderson…one of the best there was on the base paths, and occasionally a bit of humor with his lacking in self awareness …
Modern players in MLB earn millions upon millions indeed I’m sure they’re just swell and very good at their craft ( okay I admit that Ohtani breaks the typical mold ). But I have to say…I like remembering players that were seemingly authentic ( even if they faked “wanted to always be a then-Florida Marlins” ) which made them appealing to a young baseball fan.
‘Mercouris contends, based on two fresh Financial Times articles, and also Yves’ post What Happens When Trump’s “Negotiations” Over Ukraine Quickly Hit the Wall? that the planned Trump ceasefire negotiations are very unlikely to succeed and Ukraine and the EU/NATO are trying to use them to ensnare Trump in Project Ukraine.’
I don’t think that there will be any ceasefire either. Considering the fact that Trump has filed his entire Cabinet with war hawks, I think that he made a deal. He met with people from the war party – people like Lindsey Graham – and an arrangement was made that they would not sabotage his Presidency this time around so long as he supported the permanent Democrat/Republican US foreign policy. And that policy is to stretch Russia, contain China and try to bring Iran down. That and other smaller operations in places like Georgia. Considering the fact that Trump has been nothing but belligerent and bloody-minded recently when he doesn’t even become President for another month, that this was an easy deal for him to make. So next year expect more military confrontations and setting countries on fire around the world.
“… and an arrangement was made that they would not sabotage his Presidency this time around so long as he supported the permanent Democrat/Republican US foreign policy.”
I agree. Given Trump’s electoral “mandate,” I think the Establishment will attempt the “carrot” approach first rather than the “stick” (which can always be evoked later). As you say, Trump has already signaled his openness to this uneasy truce with his cabinet picks. In addition to the areas you mention, I’m really concerned about the Trump administration’s intentions toward Latin America given his choice of “little Marco” at State and the “Salvador option” ambassador to Mexico that Conor wrote about the other day.
Some of Vance’s earlier comments had suggested some degree of policy realism; I don’t know if that means anything (VPs can always be disappeared once in office). The one question mark is Gabbard. Will Trump fight for her nomination, and if so, will it mean anything?
I’m really concerned about the Trump administration’s intentions toward Latin America
Given the might of Russia, the remoteness of China, and the pugnacity of Iran, I also think that the Trump administration will instead have another go at Venezuela, and will seriously attempt to bring down Cuba. Cuba is dire economic, energy, finance straights, and I am sure there is a feeling it can be brought down by tightening a bit more the vice of sanctions. After all, didn’t Bashar el Assad’s Syria collapse after years of debilitating sanctions?
Mexico, on the other hand, is probably too big a morsel: too complicated, too violent, too enmeshed in the economy of the USA. A sever disruption in Mexico may cause a disproportionate blowback in the USA.
Perhaps Nicaragua will also find itself the object of North American attentions, will all those issues with the Panama canal and the (now stopped) competing canal project through Nicaragua.
UFC* 86
Canada vs Israel
2 countries on their last legs politically go into the Octagon, one hopes to be #51, which will make for a really awkward looking old glory. Both speak in odd tongues, the former introduces ‘u”s into words a lot, the latter sounds as if it is on the verge of throwing up.
Leeeeeeeets get ready to tumble…
C$39.95/NS99.95 PPV
*Ultimate Fealty Championship
THE WHOLE EQUATION: CAN “NEOLIBERALISM” EXPLAIN EVERYTHING? LPE Project
However examined, it’s infected governments all over the world – the testament to undying influence of empire.
Even Russia seems shocked that it’s maintained a working economy by practicing a wee bit of anti-neoliberal economics.
Once neoliberals get technocrats trained on achieving the metrics like GDP and others that prioritize the transfer of wealth upward, most of the hard part of influencing is complete. Then there’s this monoculture masquerading as a multipolar world.
Three interesting links:
Pro-Western party funded anti-NATO candidate in EU state – media (the canceled elections in Romania)
https://www.rt.com/news/609757-eu-states-pro-russian-presidential/
Chartbook 342 Are we all dead in the long run? John Maynard Keynes and the politics of time
https://adamtooze.substack.com/p/chartbook-342-are-we-all-dead-in
Political Economy Forever?
https://profstevekeen.substack.com/p/political-economy-forever-5d5
It strikes me that we will know Harris’ political future by March 2025.
If her book deal is less than $10MM, she’s done.
The amount could be affected by whether she becomes the 4th Female American President, following Edith Wilson, Nancy Reagan and Dr Jill Biden.
A terrific comment on MoA by aleph_null, about influence of Popper and Wittgenstein on shaping society and politics (and how people approach them):
https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/12/the-moa-week-in-review-ot-2024-305.html?cid=6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860ddc473200b#comment-6a00d8341c640e53ef02e860ddc473200b