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Links 12/8/2024

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The chaos theory of profitability refuted The Next Recession

Climate/Environment

Report: LNG operators in Louisiana offered $21.1 billion in tax breaks Floodlight News

Helene damage costs in NC more than $53 billion. Who will pay is unclear. Carolina Public Press

Bill offering wildfire survivors relief from taxes and fees passes Congress Washington State Standard

Pandemics

Long Covid: The search for answers inches forward 48 Hills

India

US Embassy Says ‘Disappointing’ That BJP Would Accuse State Department of ‘Destabilising’ India The Wire

The Koreas

S. Korea Pres. Yoon to step aside before resigning: party head Kyodo News

South Korea’s ex-defense minister arrested over his role in botched martial law declaration Anadolu Agency

Yoon coup a gift to foes at home, bad for solidarity with Japan, US Asia Times

China?

Changing Cadre Incentives: The Untold Story of China’s Economic Challenge The Diplomat

Syraqistan

Syria Falls Moon of Alabama

HTS declares end of Syrian government as extremists swarm Damascus The Cradle

Syria’s Besieged Assad Makes Overtures to US in Bid to Survive Bloomberg. Overtures apparently rejected.

US says it will remain present in eastern Syria, take measures to prevent IS resurgence Reuters. Commentary:

Well, Arab Militaries… Andrei Martyanov

Russian ships still at Tartus base – Lavrov RT. Commentary:

Lest we forget:

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How Syria’s rebel leader went from radical jihadist to a blazer-wearing ‘revolutionary’ CNN. Commentary:

;

And:

Divergent Statecrafts: Between Islamic Governance and Modern State Power Ummatics

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Türkiye does not have eyes ‘even on pebble of any country’: Erdoğan Hurriyet

Syria’s collapse: An opportunity and a risk for Israel – editorial Jerusalem Post

IDF moves tanks, troops into demilitarized zone on Golan Heights Ynet

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Smotrich said to tell Civil Administration of ‘great opportunity’ to annex West Bank Times of Israel

THE WHITE HOUSE GAVE ISRAEL COORDINATES TO SAVE AN AMERICAN’S FAMILY. THEN ISRAEL BOMBED THEM AGAIN The Intercept

New Not-So-Cold War

Belarus to Host Russia’s Oreshnik in Response to US Missiles in Germany Sputnik

Trump says Zelensky is ready for ‘deal’ with Russia Hurriyet

Teenagers plan to flee as Kyiv faces pressure to call up the young The Times

US announces new aid package for Ukraine worth almost a billion dollars Ukrainska Pravda

Fitch Rating affirms Ukraine’s rating at “Restricted Default” level Ukrainska Pravda

European Disunion

German Chancellor Candidate claims AfD seeks peace in Ukraine Al Mayadeen

EU and Mercosur strike historic trade deal, setting stage for political battle Bne Intellinews

Parties in French New Popular Front enter government talks with Macron WSWS

The Caucasus

Pashinyan’s response to Putin’Armenia has passed the point of no return’ JAM News

Groups of masked attackers target journalists and government critics during Tbilisi protests OC Media

Imperial Collapse Watch

Cynical Overtakes Sacred, as the West Bares its True Face Simplicius the Thinker

Trump Transition

‘He actually has juice’: Crypto, AI get a key ally in Sacks Politico

As Big Tech Profit Growth Slows, Investors Hunt for a New Thing Bloomberg

OpenAI Enters Silicon Valley’s Hot New Business: War WSJ

Defence startups Palantir, Anduril to save data from battlefield to train AI models Bloomberg

Groves of Academe

AWS commits $100 million to help underserved students gain skills in AI, cloud computing, literacy, more Amazon. “Technology-based learning experiences.”

Why the Silicon Valley titans who got our kids addicted to screens are sending their own children to tech‑free Waldorf schools The Times. From 2018, still germane.

AI

Reality raids Internal exile

Guillotine Watch

NYC mayor says suspect identified in UnitedHealth executive’s murder, NY Post reports Reuters.  Commentary:

Why NYPD veteran believes suspect in CEO shooting may have used a ‘veterinary pistol’ CNN

NYPD releases two NEW pictures of healthcare boss’s assassin during his getaway in the back of a cab Daily Mail. Map:

Search for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer yields evidence, but few answers AP. Round-up. Lambert: ‘I thought the adjuster left via Port Authority, but AP says the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. AP mentions “Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC,” but there are also buses to upstate New York, some Canada-adjacent.’

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Insurers face backlash in wake of UnitedHealth attack Becker’s Payer Issues

Zeitgeist Watch

Phantom Vibrations of a Lost Smartphone Sapiens

Class Warfare

Utah Quietly Downgrades Northrop Grumman Worker Death Charges Inkstick

How a San Francisco Navy Lab Became a Hub for Human Radiation Experiments San Francisco Public Press

KIYOSHI Octopus

Antidote du jour (via):

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

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281 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    ‘Aaron Maté
    @aaronjmate
    Looks like “our side in Syria” won. Let’s all hope it now doesn’t go like the last time we “won” in Iraq and Libya.’

    So can we look forward to stories of slave markets in Syria? The US has already said that they are keeping their bases in Syria. But the ones in the east are occupying the bread basket for Syria as well as the oil energy hub. Unless the Jihadists get ahold of them or negotiate a share of them, how will they be able to finance their Caliphate? Ask for an IMF loan? Go to the World Bank. Invite in BlackRock? It was the US occupation of these areas that led to the starvation of the Syrians and financially starved them of funds to rebuild their country which was stated US policy. Will the Jihadists settle for being in the same boat as their predecessors? Will they depend on Erdogan to keep them afloat? It’s all fun and games fighting revolutions until the day that you catch the car and the following year you find yourself taking part of budgetary and finance meetings while spending all your time on admin. Just ask Castro.

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    1. ambrit

      The main difference between Castro and the Syrian Jihadists that I can see is that Castro wanted to make the People’s lives Better, while the Jihadists want to make the People’s lives Holy. The two conditions are not necessarily similar. Just ask any Puritan.

      Reply ↓
        2. The Rev Kev

          Alex Christoforiou had an image of Abu Mohammad al-Julani next to one of Zelensky and both were wearing similar green outfits.

          Reply ↓
    2. Carolinian

      The Empire of Chaos strikes again? If the Bidenistas are behind this then we can feel assured that it will go very badly indeed.

      Long ago some people begged the ruling class to “give peace a chance.” Putin seems to be saying that even now despite his war. On the other side are the “every crisis an opportunity” crowd. It’s the social versus the sociopaths with the latter lying madly to disguise their true motives. Ultimately it’s all those lies that are the enemies of Peace.

      Reply ↓
    1. Louis Fyne

      cue smallest violin for the Soros family.

      When Soros Jr. is meddling in politics instead of skiing in Suisse, that’s another sign that the estate tax is too low for anyone with more than 8 digits in their family office.

      Alas if only MAGA and Bernie Bros and Washington Park Lefties could all grasp that. But they are all chasing after shiny culture war headline of the week.
      could grasp that.

      Reply ↓
      1. Bugs

        He’s currently engaged to Huma Abedin. It’s a big club but we’re not in it. She btw seems to like men of a certain profile.

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    3. ACPAL

      The definition of “Deep State” is both nebulous and evolving. IIRC it started out being those civil servants who run the government, not necessarily the way their leaders wanted. J. Edgar Hoover being a classic case. It’s been expanded to now be “A deep state is a type of government made up of potentially secret and unauthorized networks of power operating independently of a state’s political leadership in pursuit of their own agenda and goals.” – Wikipedia. Some attribute it to mean the oligarchs who pull the strings of government. All tend to place much of failures of government on the civil servants, their favorite “whipping boy” and “boogey man.”

      For those who believe that the civil service is the problem, what would you replace them with, contractors? And who would they owe allegiance to, the public? Follow this to it’s logical conclusion.

      However it’s defined, historically the body of civil servants formed an inertia that kept the government from wildly swinging in whatever direction each newly elected official wanted to go. Another way of saying “continuity of government.” Each president has wanted to remake the government and force the public to accede to their beliefs, which would be disastrous in its application. The recent example that comes to mind is Biden who reached down into the FBI and DOJ to protect himself and his family while prosecuting his political rival, Donald Trump, rather than letting them do their jobs. He directed the BATF to get creative in ways to circumvent the second amendment. He also directed the gross media misinformation programs. Now he wants to grant clemency/pardons to all his allies whom Trump may turn the DOJ against.

      And now we have Trump who wants to dismantle the civil service/deep state so that he can directly control every part of the government. “In 2022, The Heritage Foundation, a conservative-leaning think tank, and 140 former Trump staffers authored Project 2025 — a roadmap for how to replace the rule of law with ring[right]-wing ideals.” – ACLU

      “Take the federal civil service. “We want the bureaucrats to be traumatically affected,” Russell Vought, now Trump’s designated director of the Office of Management and Budget, declared in a speech sponsored by the Center for Renewing America before the election. “When they wake up in the morning, we want them to not want to go to work because they are increasingly viewed as the villains.” – NYT

      All this is a steady march toward authoritarianism. If not stopped how far will Trump’s successors go? Beware, the demonizing of the deep state is not for the public’s benefit.

      Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        I will contend that what we characterize as “The Deep State” is not the same as the governmental apparat. One marked difference is that a bureaucracy runs on “Institutional Inertia.” Forms and Customs coalesce into Traditions which constrain the whole of government due to structural imperatives. This can be, and often is, of ultimate benefit to the Public. What is referred to as “The Deep State” is different in that it proceeds mainly from Ideology. The constraints here are much more chimerical and arbitrary.
        Thus, “The Deep State” will often be a parallel institution to the State proper. Therefore, “The Deep State” often acts at variance and often in opposition to ‘The State’ proper.
        I will sum up in saying that ‘The State,’ in one fashion or another does follow the ‘Will of the People.’ “The Deep State” generally follows the ‘Will of Some People.’

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      2. Cat Burglar

        You’re going in the right direction here, but don’t make the mistake that an opinion piece in The Guardian did right after Trump got elected the first time: “I can’t believe the authoritarianism that has overtaken our government since January.” Your Wikipedia definition is likely the original definition of Deep State developed by Turkish critics of their government, and the expansion to civil servants is a later opportunistic US formulation.

        Authoritarian powers and their use long predate Trump — most of them assembled during the Cold War, though J. Edgar Hoover (FBI Director is an appointive position, not civil service) was an early starter. Hoover was director from 1924 to 1972, and has long been believed to have held onto the position by blackmailing politicians — so he is an excellent example of a Deep State figure, as would be somebody like James Angleton (who directed political repression against the New Left and antiwar movements, and has been accused of a role in the Kennedy assassination).

        It is well to remember that post-constitutional behavior occurred under both parties, and Congress added additional security presidential powers while Trump was in office, though they were accusing him of being a fascist. We can see similar behavior when Nancy Pelosi refused to allow an impeachement after Bush was caught in multiple felony violations of FISA (and the Fourth Amendment), to say nothing of the refusal by Obama to prosecute the torturers. No, this has been going on for a long time.

        Reply ↓
      3. KevinB

        The Deep State represents the entrenched bureaucracy that serves as a stabilizing force, often acting as a counterweight to democratic exuberance. In contrast, the Pseudo-State often amplifies democratic fervor, channeling popular emotions into actionable influence outside traditional governance structures. The Surface State, comprising the visible and elected government, can vary in robustness. Authoritarian regimes are typically “thick states,” possessing the institutional strength to resist encroachments from both the Deep State and Pseudo-State. Conversely, Western states are often “thin,” making them more vulnerable to pressures and manipulation from these external forces.

        While the existence of a Deep State can be justified as a mechanism for continuity and expertise, it risks acquiring authoritarian traits if it becomes overly powerful and suppresses meaningful democratic input. The Pseudo-State, too, is a double-edged sword, capable of energizing democracy but equally prone to destabilizing governance through unchecked influence.

        The aim of my piece is not to idealize or devalue any particular component but to provide a clear understanding of this architecture of power. Each element—the Deep State, the Pseudo-State, and the Surface State—plays a role in shaping the dynamics of governance. Recognizing their interplay allows for a more informed view of how power operates in modern societies.

        Reply ↓
  3. Michaelmas

    On the Syria story:-

    [1] Bill Browder is Sir William Browder, KCMG now?!? Vomity-wommity.

    [2] Murtaza Hussein: Russia sounds completely checked out of events in Syria — Lavrov citing UN resolutions and other generalities and clearly eager to pivot to discussing Russia’s views on the war in Ukraine. Accuses moderator of trying to “drown me in Syria” by asking about it.

    Clearly, the Syrian story’s center is Russia’s decision to stop supporting the Assad regime. To stay focused on Ukraine? To transact a deal behind the scenes with certain actors (in the US and by extension on the Greater Israel project)?

    As Russia can walk and chew gum at the same time, more likely the latter.

    If so, standard geopolitics. The strong do what they can, the weak suffer what they must. No tears for the Assad or Zelensky regimes; ordinary Syrians and Ukrainians are who has and will suffer the most.

    Reply ↓
    1. vao

      My guess is that Syria will end up like Libya — a country wrecked by warfare between a variety of competing factions each with its own fiefdom. I do not expect peace to break out in Syria — quite the contrary. The Kurds will continue fighting, the Druze will refuse to get under the yoke of the salafists, and these will probably splinter into the individual elements of the coalition that brough down Assad.

      Israel, the great victor of the current events, will probably occupy or even annex a further slice of Syrian territory, with Hezbollah, cut from the line Lebanon-Syria-Iraq-Iran, boxed in, and neutralized.

      The Kurds will lose out — again. Their brethren in Iraq will do strictly nothing to help them, because (a) whether the faction is Talabani’s or Barzani’s, they are utterly corrupt (b) they do not want to lose the revenue from exporting Iraqi oil to Turkey (c) they are closely cooperating with Israel and the USA anyway.

      As for the Palestinians: their genocide will go on unimpeded and without reprieve. In just a few years, they will join the Tasmanians, the Selknams, the Namas, the Hereros, the Makaas, the Armenians, the Jews, the Romas, the Cambodians, the Tutsis, the Mayas from Guatemala, and others I forget, in history books. And bleeding hearts will then sigh “How was such a horror possible?”

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      2. hk

        I don’t know if the situation will be quite like that in Libya. There is no Mediterranean separating Syria from Israel and Turkey. Both will seek to impose their “design” on what’s left of Syria one way or another. Chaos is a fertile breeding ground for anti-Israel and anti-Turkish armed factions to emerge, after all, given there are millions of people experienced in handling weapons who hate them both and all sorts of arms have been set loose in the region. They will have to send troops occupying and trying to “pacify” the place, and, most likely, each other. I don’t see either Israel or Turkey profiting from this in even medium-short term. Given that the Jihadis won’t stay loyal to them, now that Assad is gone, their problems start now. (I don’t figure a guy with nom de guerre “Golani” will stay nice to the occupiers of the Golan Heights, for example.)

        FWIW, withdrawing from Syria may well serve Russia and Iran than staying as the region goes up in flames. Big loss in influence and prestige, true. But neither is a Mediterranean country and Syria has been a costly outpost to them both. (Russia can’t afford Syria without Turkish cooperation and, at worst, Iran can keep pressure on Israel with missiles while a withdrawal ftom the Levant removes potential conflict (for both of them, really).

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      3. PlutoniumKun

        I think the key difference between Syria and Libya is that there is at least one powerful neighbour with an interest in keeping things under control – Turkey.

        Erdogan has outplayed everyone in the region so far. But having Syria collapse into chaos is not in his interest. He wants a new Ottoman empire, and he intends to make at least northern Syria into part of it. The Turkish military are very experienced with dealing with insurgencies – they’ve had one for decades in Kurdish areas. There is also a strong Turkman ethnic component in the north, and this gives them something to deal with. It is also in the strong interest of all the other smaller groupings within Syria not to let a sunni dominated Al-Q/Isis take full control – they know they will not survive the experience. So there is a strong incentive to build up a ‘moderate’ (if such a term can be applied) block, but with Erdogan rather than Assad as the guy on top. Erdogan is perfectly placed to be the powerbroker here, thanks to his links via the Muslim Brotherhood and associated groups, and his ethnic connections to the Turkmen.

        The south may well be a different matter. Israel will do all it can to ensure it stays a weakened and divided statelet that they can control, and its not clear that anyone has the strength or know how to prevent this. Much depends on whether Iran and Hezbollah decide to try to salvage something, or cut their losses and give it all up.

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        1. Revenant

          Erdogan may have a deal with Russia and Iran. Ensure the continuity of the Russian bases and turn a blind eye to continued Iranian logistics with Hezbollah. In return, benefit from Russian protection against the USA and to some extent Israel and their expansionism and Iran and Russian refraining to sponsor the Kurds. Greater Israel and Uncle Sam benefits noone….

          There is a Qatar-Turkey pipeline to build. Israel wants logistics routed through itself but Iran and Russia may prefer the Saudi-Syria-Turkey route.

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          1. Yves Smith

            No, see the comment I pulled above from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It expresses registers of distress just about never seen in public. No way was there a deal.

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    3. Louis Fyne

      If the Alawites won’t fight for Damascus (maybe they would if the Latakia heartland was threatened), why should Russians?

      Latakia-Tartus likely will end up as a rump atate.

      ironically Syria is getting the possible Ukrainian endgame treatment

      Reply ↓
    4. Craig H.

      Maybe behind the scenes in the quiet back channels it was direct one for one trade. OK you can have Syria if you back out of the Ukraine.

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      1. The Rev Kev

        I thought of that but not possible. For that to happen, the US would have to stick to an agreement that they could easily renege on.

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    5. JustTheFacts

      My current hypothesis:

      * When Germany/Europe used Nord Stream, it was in Russia’s interest to keep Syria its ally to prevent competition from any possible future Qatar…Europe pipeline through Syria.

      * Now that Germany clearly has ruled out any plans to use Russian Energy, there’s little point in supporting Assad. Russia will continue pivoting to Asia, once it is done with Ukraine, and save its tinder for dealing with problems there, avoiding US attempts at overextending it.

      Sucks for the Alawites and the Christian Syrians to be ruled/executed by the crazies, but no one in power actually cares about other people, just about power and the green backed deity.

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        1. Lazar

          It’s not really a decision. Russia was never in position to fight there by itself (nor was Iran). When Syrian military started caving in, it was game over.

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  4. NN Cassandra

    IMO Syria is win/loss in the same narrow sense in which Afghanistan/Iraq/Libya was win, except this time there isn’t even short interregnum of some theoretical hope, the West went straight from Assad to al-Qaeda running the place.

    In the same vein Russia’s loss means they just exit from propping-up-regime-in-far-away-country adventure and can put the resources for use in Ukraine. And compared to West in Afghanistan, they will at least they will get out of it in relatively calm order (interestingly, the Russians generally seem to accept the pull out, contrast it with the West war party minions, who, when asked, will claim to this day we should stay in Afghanistan for couple of months more).

    I even think it’s similar for Iran, since the strategic reason to prop up Syria and Hezbollah was that in the event of Israel war against Iran, they can use Syrian & Lebanon to strike back at Israel. But as they have demonstrated this year, they can bomb Israel with impunity from their own country.

    Which brings us to Israel. Clearly creating chaos is Netanyahu strategy, so that’s a win for him, except now they have al-Qaeda at their doorstep and I don’t think the honeymoon will last long. It doesn’t take organized state to shoot small drones into Israel, so they will have to deal with it. And as mentioned above, Iran can bomb Israel with missiles anytime they want, so that issue of security from Iran’s retaliation wasn’t solved either.

    Reply ↓
    1. rob

      except it doesn’t seem that israel is at odds with al-qaida. There seems to be a long history of the al-qaida/al-nusra/hts radicals and the israeli’s getting along.
      These radical fundamentalists, all seem to be on the same side.
      The jewish supremecists
      the fundamentalist christians,wahabi’s… even the neo nazi’s…
      All these seemingly other end of the spectrum types are all “friends” of the US national security state… and are like the gaggle of children.. each different in it’s own way… but still like a “chip off the old block”… too.
      Not that that means they can really play nice. We shall see. interesting times for sure.

      Reply ↓
      2. hk

        Hamas was propped up by Israel for years, to undermine PLO, until they decided that they wanted to lead Palestine themselves, and, to do that, they had to fight Israel.

        Al Qaeda, or the guys who became al Qaeda, at any rate, were backed by CIA while they were fighting Soviets. Once the Soviets were gone, they decided that we were the biggest problem in the world.

        Israel tried to sponsor a Shia movement in South Lebanon to supplement the few Christian factions that they recruited there in early 1980s. They eventually wound up getting Hizb’ullah instead.

        The list can go on. These sort of sponsoring “troublemakers” for short term advantages invariably blow up very soon. “Troublemakers” have their own agendas and can’t be turned off when convenient. Invariably, their agendas are at odds with occupiers and invaders because they want to control their neighborhoods themselves. So the Jihadis will start attacking Israeli invaders in the Golan and the Americans in the east soon. Things will get far more violent fast and as long as US and Israel are there, they/we will burn.

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      3. NN Cassandra

        Enemy of my enemy, except now the common enemy is gone, so we are back to square one. And who is you average aspiring jihadist going to fight now, when Syria and Afghanistan are liberated? I looked at Wikipedia, and according to them Julani’s family is from Golans, so maybe even he personally may have reasons to lose his cool when Israeli tanks roll out there to create another “buffer zone”.

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    2. Polar Socialist

      What confuses me (among other things, to be sure) is that Elijah J. Magnier (who seems to have been the first one to say “it’s over”) claims that the former prime minister is now the head of the caretaker government according to an agreement between Turkiye, Iran and Russia.

      Who’s revolution this is, I’m now wondering? I just hope Syria doesn’t turn to Libya, Afghanistan or Iraq, as there seems to be a lot of external forces pushing for stability and peaceful transition.

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      2. mrsyk

        Magnier on twitter, “I spoke to senior diplomats in #Damascus #Syria who told me that the new militant commanders have knocked on some doors and confirmed their intention to respect the diplomatic immunity of all personnel.”
        Interesting.

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          1. mrsyk

            From your link this, which I hadn’t heard yet, Reuters reported, citing military sources, that Assad, who led the Middle Eastern country for almost a quarter of a century, flew out of Damascus on Saturday evening “for an unknown destination.”

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      3. mrsyk

        This makes me wonder if Russia and Türkiye are pulling off a very clever double cross against the west. It would explain the speed and success of the “rebel” operation. It would explain the exactly zero sightings of Assad. The magically disappearing Syrian army. The general lack of bloodshed. And it would create a robust supply route for Lebanon. I know I’m dreaming, but it’s a nice dream for a change.

        Reply ↓
        1. ambrit

          Alas, Erdogan is “not agreement capable.”
          He has a long history of stabbing all of his “allies” in the back.
          As for Lebanon; at this point, if Israel is stupid enough to try attacking Lebanon again, Hezbollah will have little incentive not to throw everything they have into Israel and seriously chew the place up. This could be a Phyrric victory for the Zionists.

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      5. NotThePilot

        I think your point about deals is one part of the story we don’t see which explains a lot. Except for the rebels, nobody seems as excited or worried about this as you think they would be if the old alignments were still in play. I definitely didn’t see this coming.

        At this point, it would just be an exercise in creative writing, but lots of things are possible. The main concern is obviously whether the rebels go after minorities, but contrasting this with the civil war before, it seems like somebody credible has made them security guarantees. Likewise for the Russian bases and Iran’s ability to help supply Lebanon. NN Cassandra’s point about Iran (and it also applies to Russia) not needing allied territory for strategic depth is also a great one.

        Whatever is going on, my gut still tells me that the “CIA wins” or “Turkey back-stabbed everyone” takes aren’t what’s happening. In particular, the Israeli press doesn’t seem nearly as exuberant as you would think if hints were going out that they or the US are in control of the situation. Besides its relationship with Russia, I also think people underestimate how much Turkey is capable of cooperating with Iran.

        One other friendly reminder for all posters here: when it comes to the Mideast, and especially Iran and the Resistance Axis, take anything from Reuters with a giant dose of salt.

        Reply ↓
        1. pjay

          Yes. The reaction – or more like the lack of one – by Russia and Iran was striking, along with the speed and near complete absence of resistance. With all the factions involved anything can happen. But it sure doesn’t seem like this was a complete surprise to Russia, Iran, or a number of high-level Syrian officials.

          I’ll openly acknowledge my bewilderment and ignorance about what is actually going on. But I would be surprised it this results in a “smooth” transition and a happy ending. Nice to know that al-Julani has outgrown his youthful head-chopping phase, though. Kids these days!

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          1. Daniil Adamov

            Lack of reaction may just mean they haven’t decided what to think of it either. The new government, or whatever passes for it, may well end up reaching some kind of accommodation with Russia (and Iran, for that matter; that may be trickier due to Sunni-Shia conflicts, but winners in civil wars tend to be at least somewhat pragmatic, especially when their victory is obviously precarious and could collapse in a few months if they aren’t careful).

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      6. hk

        I have to admit that I’m wondering the same: the kind of preparations that the Jihadis made could not have gone unnoticed. Still, I don’t see how anyone would have expected that the likely ensuing chaos could be kept control, though.

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      7. Yves Smith

        Magnier does not have top level contacts in any of those states.

        And he is plain wrong. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued an seriously, shockingly openly unhappy statement:

        We are following the dramatic developments in Syria with extreme concern. Following his talks with a number of participants in the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic, Bashar al-Assad decided to step down as the Syrian President and leave the country, instructing the government to transfer power peacefully. Russia was not a party in those negotiations. However, we call on all the parties involved to renounce the use of violence and resolve all governance issues through political efforts.

        https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/news/1986189/

        Reply ↓
    3. Bsn

      Naw, this doesn’t make sense: “they (Israel) have al-Qaeda at their doorstep and I don’t think the honeymoon will last long”. Al Qaeda has been on Israel’s doorstep for a decade and have done nothing against Israel. They are the proxy of our proxy. And of course the USA (and Israel) give AQ their money and arms (via Qatar, Ukraine, etc.). Israel and the USA are happy that they now have a friendly neighbor.

      Reply ↓
  5. The Rev Kev

    “Teenagers plan to flee as Kyiv faces pressure to call up the young”

    Should have seen this coming. For months now US officials have been demanding that the Ukrainians draft kids as young as 18 to be sent to the front. Not content to burn that country down they want to burn their seed corn as well. Well those kids aren’t stupid and are not waiting for the roving vans to nab them and send them to the nearest military depot. Many are planning to leave the Ukraine, probably never to return. Lots are choosing to study abroad as well. Pretty sure that their parents would be doing their level best to help their kids as well because they can see the rapidly growing cemeteries. Thing is, when this war is over the demographics for the Ukraine were horrible enough. This could put the Ukraine on the skids for generations to come with not enough kids in the Ukraine to replace all those who either went to war or who left the country for good. The place will be called ‘No Country For Young Men.’

    Reply ↓
    1. Polar Socialist

      I recall seeing a few weeks ago some Ukrainian scientist/statistician saying that the current reproduction rate (not counting the war deaths!) means Ukrainians will be gone in 5-6 generations – or in 180 years from now.

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    2. timbers

      I say again: Russia might benefit by having a carrot policy towards those who want out of Ukraine especially the young. I know Russia has social policies to promote families and offspring, for example. MSN talks of Ukrainians fleeing to the West but how many flee east to Russia?

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        1. Daniil Adamov

          I’m almost positive the number is much higher. Presumably this source doesn’t include the ones who left or were evacuated before the SMO began.

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          1. Polar Socialist

            I think the Ukrainian deputy mayor of Mariupol (yeah, they still have those positions) was sacked after admitting publicly that over 100,000 refugees from Ukraine had returned to the city. The official story in Ukraine is still that Mariupol is in ruins and has no water, electricity or food.

            Apparently some 200,000 all together have returned from Ukraine to “Novorossiya”.

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    3. Eclair

      The US drafted 18 year olds to fight in Vietnam. Interesting fact: there are 33,103 dead 18 year olds listed on the wall of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. This is the largest age group. No wonder college age kids were angry in the ’60’s (include me in that group.)

      Reply ↓
  6. rob

    My guess about the fate of those kids who get an “education” at the Waldorf schools, is one of class superiority.
    These kids are the children of parents with money. Probably enough money to send them to college , without the need for scholarships. Their parents probably have enough money to buy them their first cars, pay for an apartment, pay for their health insurance, and some spending money for all the travel, adventure tourism, hobbies/ experiences/”talents” they will want.
    the fact that they will in no way be ready for the academic discipline that drills and lots of “book-learning” provide, is eclipsed by the fact that their parents will pay the difference, each and every time their little dears want. They will grow up with connections. internships. and someday… that trust fund will begin paying out… Then they can be “entrepreneurs”.
    What more does a child need ? when the parents have money?
    I’ve got a family member in a waldorf school on the east coast… and that will most likely be the deal.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      if the kid gets an allowance and has a scooter, skateboard, or bike, they can buy a burner smart phone at wal mart. Free willy, passion, agency. What A Country!

      Reply ↓
    2. Harold

      This is true now. But wasn’t when we sent our child to Waldorf School. We had also operated a Waldorf kindergarten in our home for a year with eight other families and then rented space for it in a local church for three years. Later I drove our child to a regular Waldorf School on LI every day, putting 300,000 miles on our car. Our child attended U of Chicago majoring in Classics (now called Middle Eastern Studies) . Sadly for all of us, Waldorf will be unaffordable for our grandchild. I did all this because appalled by the level of early childhood education where I live.

      Reply ↓
  7. mrsyk

    NYC mayor says suspect identified in UnitedHealth executive’s murder, NY Post reports Mayor Adams, quoted in the article, ““We don’t want to release that now,” the mayor said. “If you do, you are basically giving a tip to the person we are seeking and we do not want to give him an upper hand at all. Let him continue to believe he can hide behind the mask.”” Trying to follow the Mayor’s logic. We know the perp’s name, we’re letting the world know we know the perp’s name, but we’re not going to tell you because that’s “giving a tip” to the perp. Hmmm. I could be missing something, and I’m just getting into my first cup of coffee, but I’m having a hard time coming up with any real advantage this scenario presents to investigators.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      It shows people that Mayor Adams is “on the case” and makes him look good, even though he hasn’t actually done anything. I wonder if he told NY detectives that he was going to do this?

      Reply ↓
    2. NN Cassandra

      Translation: they in fact don’t have his identity, they are just trying to trick him into doing something stupid and reveal himself.

      Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        Adams seems to have followed long term New York City political tradition and convinced someone important that it was “honest graft.”

        Reply ↓
      2. Pat

        As with most political indictments it just drains their bank accounts and makes lawyers a lot of money. The idiots to psychopathic criminals all remain in position usually for lots of years.

        He was a little quieter but NY has not been Adams free. This just let you share our bafflement and disgust.

        Reply ↓
    5. griffen

      A couple retired enforcement officers interviewing just now on ABC weekly Sunday morning show. They are suggesting that operations are setting up in Atlanta based on the cumulative efforts thus far….I only listened in passing and so I can’t speak to the veracity of what or why that is…

      On this topic and a true crime manhunt, cue up a new season for the ever excellent series from Netflix, “Mindhunter”. A real disappointment that the show only ran for two seasons. If you haven’t checked that one out yet, it is a dark peak into the early stages of the FBI and behavioral research and profiling efforts.

      Reply ↓
      1. griffen

        Adding in a thought on a broad nationwide or even a regional manhunt for a suspected killer or highly suspicious individual. I’m sure I won’t be alone, but I get this “Spidey sense” that this could be another Eric Rudolph type of manhunt.

        And he was memorable for how they finally grabbed him. Dumpster diving behind a regional grocery chain in far western NC…

        https://www.atf.gov/our-history/eric-rudolph

        Reply ↓
    6. Cat Burglar

      It looks as if there was a Third Jacket.

      Now barring a reexamination of the full, unedited shooting video (having a hard time finding the link, so if anyone could send it along, I would be grateful), I could be wrong and the tinfoil hat settling more firmly on my head, but the jacket in the images taken by the cab does not appear to be the same jacket worn in the Starbucks image, or the shooting video.

      The cab images show a quilted insulating parka — you can see the horizontal lines of the stitching that hold the synthetic insulation batting clearly. Even given the poorer resolution of the Starbucks and shooter images, such horizontal lines should have been evident — instead, the surface appears smooth, like a shell jacket or an insulating parka with an integral outer storm shell.

      The area of the upper front zipper and lower edge of the hood seems to be higher on the earlier photos — the zipper seems to come high enough to cover the chin and mouth when fully zipped (as it often does on mountaineering shell parkas) — than it does on the cab photos, where it seems to close much lower than the chin (though the image there is a little hard to figure).

      That’s my off the top of my head take as somebody that spent years selling insulating and shell parkas, working in them while a guide, and decades of mountaineering. Not a certainty, given the poor image quality, but I think it is very likely. It may not mean much, but it could.

      Reply ↓
  9. Mikel

    US says it will remain present in eastern Syria, take measures to prevent IS resurgence – Reuters

    Take that “The Onion”!

    Reply ↓
      1. pjay

        They won’t have to. The terrorists have graduated and are on the outside now. They’d better start strengthening the perimeter defenses of those bases though. I’ve heard blowback can be a bitch.

        Reply ↓
  10. The Rev Kev

    “Türkiye does not have eyes ‘even on pebble of any country’: Erdoğan”

    He’s not saying what you think that he means. Right now Turkiye is occupying the north of Iraq-

    https://thearabweekly.com/turkeys-thinly-veiled-occupation-iraq

    And for years now he has been occupying several thousands kilometers of territory in Syria where the children are given Turkish textbooks in school to learn from-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_occupation_of_northern_Syria

    So what he is actually saying is that he regards those territories in Syria and Iraq as part of Greater Turkiye so not part of any other country but his.

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      All of which might be a ‘problem’ for the Kurds.
      When will Erdogan stab his present day “partners” from the West in the back by redirecting his takfiri mercenaries towards ‘eliminating’ the Syrian Kurds?
      Iran could do much worse than to start arming and “helping” the Kurds in their fight against Turkey.

      Reply ↓
      1. Polar Socialist

        The “Syrian Opposition” has already declared a military operation in Mandib against the Kurds. That is, after all, the main issue to be solved by their éminence grise in Ankara.

        Reply ↓
    3. Vicky Cookies

      Ethnic and religious demarcations are playing themselves out through the medium of capital and statehood, in the context of international power relations. Sykes-Picot lines will have to change.

      Reply ↓
  11. Wukchumni

    Could there be a tie-in on the backpack contents & the method in which health insurance companies accept monopoly money from Congress?

    Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          Be careful getting sick anywhere in the US. “Monopoly money” is often slang for a large amount of “ill-begotten money”, or “lucked into money”. Not sure that is going to be helpful navigating the silver-tongued complexities of Wuk’s expressions, lol.

          Reply ↓
    2. Pat

      Maybe if it came packed in envelopes with their fingerprints all over them.
      Or even their names as apparently it is hard for so many to understand subtlety and reality.

      Reply ↓
    3. griffen

      Since we’re gonna channel Monopoly in real life terms, what’s the equivalent to getting a “Get Out of Jail Free” card without even landing on the right spot on the board? Asking for a friend….actually quite a few of them.

      A few of my suspected money idolaters / grifters, who may or may not qualify…
      – The Clinton Global Initiative…give a speech, make a few hundred $ million
      – The Bush clan / dynastic sources of wealth ( as in, Grandpa Prescott )
      – The James Biden and Hunter Biden law unabiding business practices
      – The Jared Kushner investing acumen that attracted $ billions(?) from the KSA
      – The private client listing of those making “visits” to the private Epstein island

      that’s the short list (!)

      Reply ↓
    4. chris

      Not sure about the paper money angle but I’m certain there is a direct connection between what happened and my inbox being flooded with “We’re United Healthcare” emails.

      Things won’t get French Revolution or even anarchist bombings crazy until people targeting these executives start going after their families. I expect we may get Pinkertons 2.0 out of this. I doubt we’re going to see another round of Carnegie Library construction to buy off the angry masses.

      Reply ↓
    6. LadyXoc

      On Twitter, read a thread about fake money in backpack. Apparently it references a game/show/book/movie that I am not familiar with. But a whole bunch of other people got the inside joke.

      Reply ↓
  12. Mikel

    “NEW: New Yorkers hold a UnitedHealthcare CEO k*ller lookalike competition.”

    I’m glad the shooter wasn’t black. They’d still be rounding up random black men for questioning.

    Reply ↓
      1. ambrit

        We could discount it, but you will still end up taking a “haircut.”
        However, in support of your theory, the Trappists are one of the Reform Orders. Nothing spurs ‘reform’ more than the threat of bodily dissolution. {In the class of Health Manager’s defense, they are already pretty dissolute.}

        Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          I’m pretty sure that “bullet point on a glossy” is already “managed”. The NYPD has had years to practice creative statistics to counter accusations of racism.

          Reply ↓
          1. chris

            They don’t even have to be creative. In places like NYC there are so many citizen/police encounters every day that they can choose whatever denominator they want for what ever statistic they’re trying to evaluate.

            Reply ↓
    3. Mikel

      He looks a little too similar. pic.twitter.com/IcXsDLHve0

      — Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 7, 2024

      But it all says a lot about “facial recognition”.

      Reply ↓
  13. Mikel

    Teenagers plan to flee as Kyiv faces pressure to call up the young – The Times

    Pretty much need to get them out of there before 18. May be the only way to end this thing

    Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        At the end of that post he said in capital letters-

        ‘THE UNITED STATES SHOULD HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT. THIS IS NOT OUR FIGHT. LET IT PLAY OUT. DO NOT GET INVOLVED!’

        He forgot the bit where he himself stole Syria’s oil and wheat lands and are still there doing so. So will he pull those US troops out? Nah!

        Reply ↓
        1. pjay

          But he did include the part where he ridicules Obama for not being man enough to defend the honor of his own “red lines,” which reminds us that Trump *did* prove his manhood by launching missiles in response to a Syrian “gas attack.” Since that was an obvious false flag, Trump actually proved himself a dupe, but I’m sure he’s much wiser now.

          I’m curious about how Tulsi will respond to all this. Not that it really matters…

          Reply ↓
  15. Vicky Cookies

    Regarding Syria: there are two frameworks without which these events are incomprehsible. The first I assume readers are familiar with, that being the imperial framework, through which we see governments who do not follow Washington’s orders being at risk of violence. The second, which I haven’t seen enough of, has to do with the Sunni/Shia divide in the region. Iran and Iraq have Shia majorities, whereas other major players, here highlighting Saudi Arabia, are under the thrall of a strict Sunni school of jurisprudence, and export Wahhabism as a part of their foreign policy through the establishment and patronage of maddrassas (often in telling geographic locations), as well as the funding and arming of jihadhis. Besides Iran and Iraq, only Syria and Lebanon have significant Shia power represented at all in government – well, now just Lebanon. Alawis, the sect to which the Asad family has belonged, had influential Shia clerics issue fatwas declaring them to be Shia, and more about these clerics in a bit.

    Using both of these frameworks, we can see the U.S., in choosing to ally with Israel and Saudi Arabia as their ‘twin pillars’ since they lost their beloved monarchy in Iran in ’79, has, broadly outlined, chosen to back Sunnis as against Shias. Shias are sometimes dinged for their supposed favor for martyrdom, but I think we may see in the example of ISIS (Sunni), defeated by Iran and Iraqi Shia militias, where dangerous extremism tends to come from. We are reminded of this again today, as the founder of al-Nusra takes over in Syria on a wave of propaganda which paints him as the Great Tolerator and the leader of a supposed united front (HTS have been terrorising the Syrian opposition scene for years).

    I don’t know enough to speak authoritatively; I’d like to learn more about class in West Asia, but with the information available, this is what I’ve got. There was a news report about an influential Shia cleric issuing a fatwa which was aimed at dissuading Iraqi Shia militias from going into Syria to support the Asad government. I wonder at the relationship between church and state here; do the ulama justify statesmans decisions in palatable religious terms, or do states make decisions while also having to make concessions to the popular power of the imams? A bit of both?

    Anyways, Sunni, and thereby Saudi, and thereby U.S. power seems now in control of Syria. Millions displaced, sure to recieve a warm welcome in friendly Europe.

    Reply ↓
    1. ambrit

      Plus, expect Turkey to quickly force refugees from Syria back into that benighted place.
      See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syrians_in_Turkey#:~:text=As%20of%20October%202024%2C%20there%20are%20more%20than,reside%20in%20Turkey%20with%20a%20residence%20permit.%20%5B6%5D
      3.5 million refugees is a lot. Turkey must see them as a burden on the State Purse. How many of these Syrian refugees are takfiri? Not a lot is my guess. Sending them back to live under the tender ministrations of a bunch of frankly bloodthirsty fanatics will not be conducive to peace and harmony.
      Craig Murrays piece from the other day is spot on. The Middle East has taken a giant step backwards towards the Dark Ages.
      Secondarily, just as bin Laden turned his anger westward after being abandoned by the West after he did their bidding during the Soviet Afghan War, so too will these Syrian Jihadists after they are, almost guaranteed by use and custom, abandoned by the West after their service to the kaffiri Hegemon.
      We live in interesting times.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        Not all those Syrians would be sent back. At the beginning of the crisis years ago, if a Syrian refugees turned up that had a specialty that the Turks could use like an aerospace engineer they would be given a choice. Take up Turkish citizenship or be thrown back to the moderate head-choppers. No idea how many of these people there are.

        Reply ↓
      2. Vicky Cookies

        You bring up a worrying point about the jihadhis. We know that Jolani founded al-Nusra, and was allied with al-Qaida, and that he broke with the latter, either as a PR move to facilitate Western support or in the heat of sectarianism. But with respect to this Western patronage of hard-core Sunni beliefs, what is the endgame from the perspective of the jihadhis? I doubt those who have beheaded Shias, enslaved Yazidis, and shed blood for Wahhabism have the same pragmatic views of alliances with Israel as do their sponsors in Saudi Arabia. They of course have their own interests. We’ve read that, due to the transport corridor to Lebanon through Syria being under new management, that Shia Hezbollah will be starved of materiel with which to resist Israel. Most Palestinian Muslims are Sunni; will all these jihadhis abandon their coreligionists? Might the support for their cause take different forms? Shias are a huge minority, but still a minority in the Muslim world, maybe 200 million. When we hear about the ‘Iranian axis’, they’re taking about Shias. I guess the main question brought up by all this is “where does the blowback come from next?”

        Reply ↓
        1. hk

          Alternate pronunciation of al Jolani’s name is al Golani. I’d wager that that’s the same Golan as in the occupied Golan Heights. That, I think, is a giveaway as to where his enmity might really lie.

          Reply ↓
            1. gk

              I think he was born in Riyadh. But Golan where his father is from. If he lost property to the Israelis, Machiavelli will explain him.

              Reply ↓
              1. The Rev Kev

                You’re right. His family was cleared out of the Syrian Golan Heights by the Israelis and he was born in Saudi Arabia where his family were refugees.

                Reply ↓
      3. Wukchumni

        The only grocery store in Tiny Town is the Village Market, which was sold to Syrian immigrants about 5 years ago, and has earned the sobriquet of the ‘Village Markup’, as a can of Fancy Feast in Visalia that is 88¢ @ WinCo, magically is worth $2.19 locally, as an example on non-competitiveness.

        They seem to have good old American entrepreneurism down pat.

        Reply ↓
    2. Mikel

      “The second, which I haven’t seen enough of, has to do with the Sunni/Shia divide in the region.”

      Where have you been looking?

      Reply ↓
      1. Vicky Cookies

        All over, sampling mainstream news in Western and West Asian countries as well as left and right dissidents and academia. The “not enough” is my judgment; you don’t have to share it.

        Reply ↓
  16. mzza

    Any readers hove insight on what’s happening in Syria in terms of the safety and integrity of the dual-state, liberated zone experiments in Rojava, the Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria?

    Especially with the recent assignation of “Syrian Rebels” to this Turkish/US backed, ISIS-linked insurrection, it’s difficult to find references to the state of those non-States in the coverage.

    Reply ↓
    2. Louis Fyne

      More refugees ro the EU guaranteed

      CIA-MI6-Mossad fingerprints are somewhere in this project alongside Turkey’s

      Reply ↓
  17. The Rev Kev

    ‘Salome Zourabichvili
    @Zourabichvili_S
    «In depth discussion with Presidents Trump & Macron. Exposed the stolen election and extremely alarming repression against the people of Georgia. Underscored the need for a strong US. The Georgian people have a friend in Donald Trump. God bless the United States of America 🇬🇪 🇺🇸’

    Said just yesterday that Macron is a snake and here is proof. He worked for days to get Trump to meet Zelensky so that Trump would sign up for Project Ukraine. They only met for 45 minutes so you wonder if Trump fell for it or not. And now he is trying to get Trump to sign up for crushing Georgian independence by meeting with this French spook-adjacent Georgian plant. If I were the Georgians, I would change the locks on the doors of her offices in Georgia before she gets back.

    Reply ↓
    2. Ignacio

      As per the link “Trump says Zelensky is ready for ‘deal’ with Russia” Hurriyet Trump was talking about an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine to start negotiaitions. Good luck with that, Trump.

      Reply ↓
  18. Wukchumni

    Nuclear war in the Middle East?
    Israel is attacking the Lebanese
    Assad sacked with relative ease
    And Baghdad does whatever she please
    Looks like another threat to world peace
    For the envoy

    Things got hot in the cease-fire war
    Antony got caught and couldn’t do no more
    He’s got diplomatic immunity
    He’s got a lethal weapon that nobody sees
    Looks like another threat to world peace
    For the envoy
    Send the envoy
    Send the envoy

    Whenever there’s a crisis
    The President sends his envoy in
    Regime change in Damascus
    Oh, Jerusalem

    Nuclear war in the Middle East?
    Israel is attacking the Lebanese
    Assad sacked with relative ease
    And Baghdad does whatever she please
    Looks like another threat to world peace
    For the envoy
    Send the envoy
    Send for Antony

    The Envoy, by Warren Zevon

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B544fVj1v_s

    Reply ↓
  19. The Rev Kev

    “US Embassy Says ‘Disappointing’ That BJP Would Accuse State Department of ‘Destabilising’ India”

    Modi has a point. Brian Berletić has just dropped a video talking about how although the US military and industry is declining, that it still has mastery of the info sphere and convinces people to work against the interests of their own country. He talks about how the US recruits journalists and young leaders, sometimes takes them to the US, and when they return that are basically working for the US and are recruiting other people. Undoubtedly this is happening in India as well-

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcN2aZgr8Yg (34:56 mins)

    He did not mention it but this is why the US/EU is so hostile to Tik Tok and Telegram and RT. None of them are based in the US and so are not under total US control.

    Reply ↓
  20. DJG, Reality Czar

    Octopus magazine, Kiyoshi (Kuromiya) by Max Fox.

    There’s an irony that this all-American story is coming from the web site of a Greek museum of art.

    A reason for reading: “Kiyoshi had provided ad-hoc hospice care to people with AIDS before there were any treatments, and [Jane] ventured that [Kiyoshi’s] work in writing ACT UP’s first standard of care document may have had a greater impact on people’s experience of the disease than anything else he had done.”

    Admittedly, Kiyoshi Kuromiya has been dead since 2000, and the intervening years have been a mess and have undermined certain kinds of activism. We now have lots of artists and writers blabbing about being “activists” as a kind of résumé-builder. We have the current news of CEO Brian Thompson using up his deductible… and the assassin is engaged in a kind of activism.

    The article also has bearing on Long COVID and activism with regard to Long COVID and better standards of ventilation.

    Note the appearance — heck, Kuromiya was born in a concentration camp — of U.S. behavior toward citizens (and noncitizens) of Japanese descent during WW II.

    Note the cameo appearance by Anthony Fauci.

    I will also note, tying Kuromiya’s activism, the JACL, and current disdain for U.S. health insurance, that I was a member of JACL for some seventeen years. I had some great neighbors in Chicago who told me to sign up when I went free lance. And the JACL took me in, not many questions asked. (And I’m not even hapa.)

    The deductible was $500. We had dental and optical insurance, too. All through Blue of California.

    When ACA / Obama-insurance-fiasco and the exchanges kicked in, there was some rule about no insurance to be sold across state lines. I got a letter from JACL rescinding my plan. Plenty of us free lances were being kicked out the door. Luckily, a friend of mine chanced on some young, amusing insurance brokers…

    I ended up for a while at Blue C B Shield of Illinois. Then I took a job in a Big Publishing Company. By then, just a couple of years after the advent of ACA, the deductibles in NY Empire Blue hovered around $5,000 yearly.

    ACT UP was pointing out the lack of humanity of the U.S. health-insurance racket years ago. Now a man with a gun is up to something: Robin Hood? Maybe he is.

    Reply ↓
  21. Reader Keith

    I know this is small beer in light of recent events but anyone following the drone sighting hysteria going on in NJ? It is at the point where the governor felt it necessary to respond, much more speculation in Reddit.

    While i don’t think seeing a drone is much to report on, this is taking on spy balloon level panic.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mysterious-drones-seen-near-new-jersey-trump-golf-course-after-gov-murphy-fbi-respond-to-other-sightings/ar-AA1voT12

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/12/07/new-jersey-drone-sightings/76842929007/

    Reply ↓
  22. JohnnyGL

    I don’t think a lot of ‘normie’ types understand the awfulness of the implications of the lessons that will be drawn from the Syrian conflict.

    1) The argument against sanctions has been both moral and practical. Moral in that they are cruel and ruin lives for ordinary people, but also practical in that they strengthen control of the existing government in place. Hawkish imperialists will now conclude that sanctions are GREAT because countries become ripe for regime change wars of various types.

    2) Arming and supporting extremist groups all over the world became controversial after a lot of sensible people saw 9/11, read bin Laden’s letter and reached the same conclusion as Chalmers Johnson in “Blowback”. These soul-less types will now say “Supporting Jihadis is FINE! Look, we found leaders we could collaborate with in Syria. See how moderate they are, now??!! They’re totally past their head-chopping phase. Now, they’ve grown up!”.

    3) The west will tell the rest of the world that “Russia and Iran can’t save you, so you’d better collaborate with us…or you’ll get the Syrian treatment!”

    4) Sy Hersh just wrote a column the other day, “Bibi Unbowed”. Oh boy, you bet, he’s going to be riding high, now. He’ll take another shot a Lebanon soon. Hezbollah took more casualties trying to salvage Assad and got nothing out of it except humiliation. This will be seen by Zionist-mouthpieces as validation of their strategy of genocide and extermination. They’ll be working overtime to convince the world to move on and forget their crimes and leave it as a tragic-but-necessary story like the Zionist POS quoted in the story who drew the comparison with the Plains Indians.

    Sorry, to bring the despair, but I can’t see anything positive coming out of this episode. All the worst people are going to be encouraged to do all the worst things, except MORESO!!!

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      I guess it is a gift that Trump has such an ample lap upon which all of this can land. And the weave! What a gift ! Walking and chewing gum with Vlad. Nine dimensional chess!

      Reply ↓
    2. NN Cassandra

      The second invasion of Iraq was also greatly eased by years of sanctions and aerial bombings, so this isn’t something new, Russia is really the exception here by being able to take the sanctions blow and even grow their economy. However you apparently still need to physically go in and topple the regime, and you then end up owning failed state.

      Reply ↓
    3. pjay

      Yes. The celebratory triumphalism is already pretty disgusting. “We overthrew a brutal dictator and gave Russia another Vietnam! We’re back, baby!”

      I don’t think it will take long for reality to set in. But if the Times and the New Yorker don’t cover it, does it really exist?

      Reply ↓
  23. mrsyk

    Bill offering wildfire survivors relief from taxes and fees passes Congress
    Any relief is something, but nothing is still nothing. The idea that a tax break passes as disaster relief in the eyes of the survivors, well, I assume they would prefer some up front cash. Here’s the “relief” as described in the article;
    “The bill, which is likely to be signed by President Joe Biden, would exempt people who have survived a wildfire between 2016 and 2026 from paying federal income taxes on disaster recovery settlements and fees paid to lawyers that were received or paid between 2020 and 2026.” and;
    “The disaster act would also provide relief for natural disaster survivors since 2020 in the form of a casualty loss deduction. That means that those who only received partial payments from insurers on home damage and other residential property damage could deduct those uncovered losses on their federal income taxes without itemization.”
    You don’t need an economic degree to see that there is no relief for low income because that relief is capped at how much federal taxes a survivor normally pays.
    One last quote, I like this one;
    ““Their homes and their businesses are burned, their possessions and livelihoods gone, and finally, the federal government is showing some common sense,” he said.”, “he” being Ron Wyden, “finally” both dubious and telling.

    Reply ↓
    1. jefemt

      No mention of local real property tax relief. Feds obviously have no control, but that is a big out of pocket, non-accounting mumbo jumbo hard-dollar hit… and very real vulnerability to loss to the vulture class.

      Reply ↓
    2. Wukchumni

      In some small measure, those that have had their abodes razed to the foundation by wildfire are luckier than those who have essentially lost their homes in a hurricane and/or flooding, as the wreck is complete as well, but a lot of heavy lifting in bringing down the edifice is required.

      Reply ↓
  24. Mikel

    How Syria’s rebel leader went from radical jihadist to a blazer-wearing ‘revolutionary’ – CNN

    Well, they’ve sold neo-Nazis in Ukraine as “freedom fighters”…this will be easy.

    Reply ↓
    1. Craig H.

      The Cradle story in today’s links has a picture of a parade in Damascus and they are all riding in new looking Isuzu pickup trucks. As new as they can possibly look after driving across Syria shooting up the place.

      Reply ↓
        2. Erstwhile

          It’s a Christmas miracle! Joe Biden’s just found Isuzu’s peddles in his pants pocket! Isn’t life just wonderful!

          Reply ↓
          1. Erstwhile

            (Yikes, he thought several hours later, it’s pedals, not peddles, never let Uncle Billy proofread your copy, never)

            Reply ↓
  26. The Rev Kev

    ‘RTSG News
    @RTSG_News
    🚨🇸🇾 BREAKING: Ahmed Hussein al-Shar’a, who uses the name al-Julani, gave an exclusive CNN interview reaffirming HTS’s goal to overthrow Assad, dismissing his Al-Qaeda ties and Daesh collaboration as a “phase” of his life that he has moved beyond.’

    Who here hasn’t headed a terrorist organization on the US State Department list and had a $10 million reward placed on their head. I know I have! You wonder about this guy. Here is his Wikipedia entry before it gets whitewashed-

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Mohammad_al-Julani

    It says that he was fighting in Iraq against Americans and got picked up in 2006 and spent 5 years in the slammers at Abu Ghraib, Camp Bucca, Camp Cropper and al-Tajji prison. So, was he recruited in prison? Made an offer that he could not refuse? Play ball and you will be head of your own country so long as you don’t hit Americans and Israelis. We will get everything that you need from Turkiye when the time comes. If anybody causes you too many problems in your rise to power, get word to us and we will organize an airstrike or something against them.

    Reply ↓
    1. Lazar

      A big fan of black flags, but it turns out some green was needed in order to go mainstream. Baerbock et al. would approve (and probably will, wearing some rag over head like the CNN “journalist”).

      Reply ↓
        1. Joker

          Once a day, most of the days. Basment that I dwell in does indeed have some roof over, and the water does not come in, most of the days. Still, I have no idea what virtue are you trying to signal.

          Reply ↓
  28. Mikel

    AWS commits $100 million to help underserved students gain skills in AI, cloud computing, literacy, more Amazon. “Technology-based learning experiences.”

    Why the Silicon Valley titans who got our kids addicted to screens are sending their own children to tech‑free Waldorf schools The Times. From 2018, still germane.

    Thank you for adding that Waldorf article. People can’t be reminded enough.

    Reply ↓
    1. NN Cassandra

      And 33 years ago one would have never imagined that we wouldn’t be in bed with the guys from al-Qaeda. The world is full of wonders.

      Reply ↓
      1. Polar Socialist

        I do remember the merry days from the early 80’s (40 years ago), when I learned that USA was funding, training and arming the “religious nuts” in Afghanistan who liked to kill the teachers and the doctors in the countryside.

        Reply ↓
    2. hk

      I saw an ad for Rambo III from one of the free movie sites on youtube (or, was it from YT itself?). That seemed oddly appropriate…

      Reply ↓
  30. mrsyk

    The Carolina Public Press article on Helene’s cost is worth a read. I’ve commented on the $53B price tag before to the tune of “never gonna happen”. I’ll stick to that thought.
    “According to the report, North Carolina expects to receive at least $13.6 billion in federal support and another $6.3 billion in aid from the private sector and other sources to help pay for its recovery.” and “upwards of $30 billion, have yet to be funded by either the state or federal government.”
    Because this is 21st century America political brinksmanship is on display. On the state level, not only is the proposed funding laughably inadequate ($227M), but also unassociated and controversial measures have been attached to the relief bill. Here is NC’s Office of State Budget and Management’s official report which includes cost estimates in categories. They are staggering.
    It may be difficult to determine how many years primates have left on the planet thanks to climate change, but it’s clear we have already entered the era where we really can’t afford it.

    Reply ↓
      2. JBird4049

        I live in California, which is overdue for another 1906 size earthquake. I rather wonder if the Feds would help us rebuild in the same way they have “helped” North Carolina.

        Reply ↓
    2. mrsyk

      Lol, being a typically unobservant westerner, I only now noticed the delicious irony found in the juxtaposition of the LNG and Helene articles, nice one Connor. (NC’s estimated funding shortfall is slightly over $20B)

      Report: LNG operators in Louisiana offered $21.1 billion in tax breaks Floodlight News

      Reply ↓
    3. Carolinian

      Here in upstate SC we still have piles of wood lying around with reports that pickups will continue for at least another month. A lot of it is being turned into mulch.

      However in hard to reach nature spots the downed trees will likely never be cleared beyond slicing access to existing trails. My area will be remembering the hurricane for a very long time and hope we never have another.

      Up in NC they are rebuilding the tourist village (or some might say trap) of Chimney Rock. Priorities.

      Reply ↓
  31. Del

    -How a San Francisco Navy Lab Became a Hub for Human Radiation Experiments-

    Nancy Pelosi’s family and Govenor Newsom are directly connected to the monetization of this radiological dump. The San Francisco Family; Newsom, Pelosi’s, Gettys and Brown(s) continue the looting while wearing a Democratic mask.

    “…Laurence Pelosi does not mention the high-level position he held as Lennar’s Director of Naval Base Acquisitions in his profile on the Pelosi Ziblatt Law Group website, possibly because the Superfund development project is strapped with approximately 25 civil and criminal lawsuits since he spearheaded the effort in 2004.”

    https://westsideobserver.com/23/2-Hunters-Point-development-Newsoms-Albatross.php

    Reply ↓
  32. CA

    “Changing Cadre Incentives: The Untold Story of China’s Economic Challenge.”

    The untold story of China has actually been continually told for more than 40 years, when it began to be noticed that China was developing. The story became increasingly frantic when it was noticed that Chinese growth has been dramatic and unequaled since 1977. China is not faltering in growth in the least, and Chinese growth provided for by very high investment with a research and development focus is increasingly advanced in quality.

    Expect the untold story to continue to be told however:

    http://www.bradford-delong.com/2016/04/must-read-i-do-not-understand-china-but-it-now-looks-more-likely-than-not-to-me-that-xi-jinpings-rule-will-lose-china.html

    April 5, 2016

    I do not understand China. But it now looks more likely than not to me that Xi Jinping’s rule will lose China a decade, if not half a century… *

    * http://www.economist.com/news/china/21695923-his-exercise-power-home-xi-jinping-often-ruthless-there-are-limits-his

    — Brad DeLong

    Reply ↓
  34. Ignacio

    Romania. I have been reading an article today titled: “We need an Urgent European Alliance to Guarantee Electoral Integrity” which interestingly, though not saying it in bold terms, doesn’t seem to approve the cancellation of Romanian elections but calls for control action in social networks to block unappropriated talk Russian interference which is of course something that has been widely demonstrated to occur in all Western elections. Such calls for action are now a constant on MSM.

    Big time for censorship is coming.

    Reply ↓
    1. CA

      “Romania. I have been reading an article today…”

      What strikes me as happening is that sovereignty in the European Union is being methodically undermined. The EU is becoming a German-French mix, thoroughly beholden to the US for whatever defense might be perceived as needed. After all, where is Greece? How autonomous is Spain or Portugal or even Italy? Also, who are EU officials responsible to?

      Reply ↓
      1. Ignacio

        All national governments in the EU are under the EU corsets (monetary, commercial, budgetary…) that ensure a perfect fit of neoliberal policy. This corset has extended to foreign policy in the way we are seeing everywhere: France, Germany, Romania… if you don’t follow, sanctions ensue (Hungary). In this sense, because the EU has no true sovereignty it is essential that you ensure national elections follow the course and only true Atlanticist neoliberals are allowed to win. So, in France we had the show of the Atlanticist pact to ensure the RN did not get too many seats in the French parliament. More direct and less hidden is the cancellation of elections in Romania, kind of a pre-emptive coup you could say. Now this authoritarian push to control all the media. Guess this will be top in vDL’s agenda if she can pass the Eurobudget. Given that the economic crisis will almost certainly deepen discontent will continue to grow everywhere in Europe. Yet, democracy as we knew it, even if flawed, seems now a thing of the past. The garden is rotten and pluralist parliamentary systems are increasingly limited in its plurality. Anyone can see how the “leaders” despise the opinions of the populace which is a characteristic of increasingly autocratic regimes. Not than the state of democracy is any better shape in the US.

        Reply ↓
  36. Es s Ce Tera

    re: Syria

    Could we be reading the situation wrong? Bear with me…just some fuzzy outlines of thoughts.

    We’re mostly assuming that because HTS is Sunni, Assad was minority Shia, it must be the sworn enemy of Shia Iran and Shias everywhere and therefore this is a win for Israel.

    According to ChatGPT, HTS was always sympathetic to Palestine and its struggle to overcome Israel and the West. (I’ve been trying to properly source this but official HTS channels are, of course, censored, a mere citizen like me is not going to have access.)

    If true, a comparison:

    HTS has an Islamist worldview, it fits with Hamas which is also Islamist and religiously motivated. Hamas is Sunni, by the way.

    HTS is all about removing Western Imperialist influence from Syria which it identifies as secular Assad in Syria and Israel in the region.

    It is allied with Al Qaeda, which is globalist jihadi, also about attacking Western Imperialist influence. Al Qaeda is Sunni, by the way.

    Nevertheless, even if HTS’ argument is specific to Syria and doesn’t extend to Palestine or Lebanon, Israel (and therefore also the West) is occupying and has annexed a big chunk of Syria proper (Golan Heights) with no intention of ever returning it. Assad let this pass, would HTS?

    Having secured Syria, removed Assad, does Al Nusra/HTS/AQ now set its sights toward its grievance with Israel? And Palestine, Golan and Lebanon are the fronts with Israel.

    Russia and Iran (?) may have supported Assad but both are indubitably not the West, are under attack BY the collective West, which is Sinophobic inasmuch as it is Islamophobic. This, to my mind, gives HTS more common ground with Russia and Iran than with the West. The Middle-East is also geographically and probably geopolitically closer to Asia than it is to the West. And is definitely not under siege from the East or from Russia.

    Reply ↓
    1. nyleta

      The thing is that it is not much of a stretch to imagine such a thing being done to Iran out of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Iran is just such another patchwork of religious, racial and tribal interests as Syria. It is true that the central government is in a stronger position at the moment but that can change with a couple of years of real maximum pressure campaign.

      The same cabals that precipitated this are in a position already to begin something similar against Iran and that strategic agreement with Russia never gets signed. The only thing holding Iran together is the Revolutionary Guard and they too seem impervious to their looming danger.

      Reply ↓
    2. Bsn

      Respectfully, Es s Ce Tera ………. Mission creep. Slowly but surely. Crapification. These terms come to mind as I see so many commenters use Wikifeedia, and now Chatwe we as arbiters of information. It’s bad enough that we all have cell phones in our purse tracking and polluting our lives And paying for them to do so), but now the descent into relying on poor sources for “news” is creeping into normality as well. Oh my. Here come the virtue signalling comments :-)

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        Yes, good info is difficult to obtain, so we gaze into our crystal balls (I still have Marianne Williamson’s, lol). Es s Ce Tera’s comment has plenty of reason to it. Can Israel and its western backers hold on to the corridor Edrogen/Jolani have opened? What if things go Libya? Maybe that’s the Israeli short term goal while the give Lebanon the Gaza treatment.
        Spitballing is all I got until further notice.

        Reply ↓
    3. Lazar

      According to ChatGPT, you should stop using ChatGPT for serious stuff. Those “Syrian rebels” include jihadist from Russia (among others). You are suggesting that Kadyrov find common ground with those that killed his father, and that Russians finds common ground with those that have been terrorizing them for decades. They should also find common ground with Banderites, while they are at it.

      Reply ↓
    4. Es s Ce Tera

      BSN, Lazar, like I said, information about HTS is currently scarce and censored by the collective west. What I was hoping in writing my comment was perhaps someone somewhere has access to the censored information/sites, or can point to an official(ish) statement or information showing HTS supporting Palestine against Israel, or perhaps even Lebanon against Israel, or just being anti-Israel, validating one way or another. If they do or have done it would be worth considering in relation to the current situation, would suggest the turn of events is not necessarily the win for Israel or the US the MSM wants us to believe it is, would also suggest how the situation might develop in the near future. See Polar Socialist’s comment above that Tass is reporting IdLib being Moscow-friendly, a small tidbit, to be verified, but a tidbit nevertheless.

      Reply ↓
      1. Bsn

        Thanks for understanding it wasn’t an attack on you. It is real difficult. Between many of the info places NC readers know about such as Moon of Alabama, Duran, RT, CGTN (Chinese), and some of the Americans – Greenwald/Mersheimer et al – and in conjunction if someone reads/speaks another language, one can get by. I’ve found, if one waits about 3 – 4 days, the “truth” starts to slowly eek out.
        Keep on keepin’ on!

        Reply ↓
      2. Lazar

        Official(ish) statements are for suckers, just like the “collective west” sources. Even the non-mainstream western experts have lots of metaphorical chaff in their wheat (and even pure crap mixed in).

        If you want to make some sense out of this chaos, and don’t want to spend years on it (like I did), not to mention learning foreign languanges, than Mark Sleboda’s stuff is a good place to start. He does regular interviews on various channels, and puts links on his Substack. Brian Berletic is a good start for East Asian region.

        This is a clear win for US/Israel/Turkey, at least in the short term. For how long will the chaos benefit them, is another question. This WWIII thing is just getting started. Five years ago, no one could predict that we will be here right now. What will happen in next five years is beyond any crystal ball, but we can be sure it won’t be good.

        Reply ↓
  37. hk

    So some thoughts about Syria, now that I’ve had time to think a bit (repeating some points I brought up in other comments).

    1. I think Israel, Turkey, and the West have just won themselves a big Booby Prize. I can’t imagine that they actually expected to “win” completely. Most likely, they just wanted to stir up some trouble for short term advantage and likely overrated the strength of Syrian government vastly. It’s one thing to disrupt the flow of support to Hizb’ullah, but the prospect of either a real Jihadist state or a state of total chaos in Syria is not something that any of them would really want.

    Most likely, the Jihadis will turn on probably all three of them, or at least two of them, very fast. Two of them are infidels and expelling them will be popular among their supporters–and they don’t really need them any more now that they “won.” Among others, I have strong suspicion that someone with a nom de guerre “Golani” (alternate pronunciation of Jolani, which I assume must refer to the Golan Heights) will be kindly to the occupiers of the Golan. Now, there’s no good reason to believe that Jihadis will be left alone to wage war on all three of them–there are plenty of factions with varying and shifting allegiances (or, rather, short term deals and no allegiances) in Syria who can be incited to fight one another. But many of them, if not all of them, have beef with some or all of the intervening powers, too. I see Syria becoming, basically, an oversized Lebanon from early 1980s and, much the way Israel and Syria wound up intervening in Lebanon, I see no way out from having to physically invade and occupy the place for both Israel and Turkey, except neither will likely have enough resources to actually pacify the place (Syria is way too big for them.) Much like Lebanon in 1980s, I imagine a Western intervention alongside Israelis and Turks is likely as well, except,while the Syrians were basically an enemy to the West in 1980s, whom will the interventionists fight? Will USS New Jersey shell Antalya, or at least, Turkish forces in Syria, like what happened in 1980s? In the long run, there may well be another resistance group forming (perhaps around the Sunni Arab factions that currently support the Jihadis, seeing as that they are a majority in Syria) that will cause much problem for both Turkey and Israel, much the way Israeli intervention in Lebanon in 1980s did to facilitate the formation of Hizb/ullah. One thing for sure, I think, is that neither Turkey nor Israel can afford to let Syria become another LIbya, if only for their own security.

    2. I think Iran and Russia decided that maintaining support for Syria is ultimately not worth their trouble. Neither is a Mediterranean power. Russia’s interest in Syria is conditional on Turkish cooperation (the Dardanelles and all that). If they have to choose between Turkey and Syria, they’d rather choose Turkey. Iran doesn’t really have an intrerest in Syria for its own immediate security (Syria is not Iraq–and Iran became an ally of Syria in 1980s mostly because of Saddam Hussein). While Iran does have an interest in Syria and Lebanon as means of putting pressure on Israel, it is also true that Iran doesn’t really have a beef with Israel other than over the Levant–and, to the degree that there is a continuing conflict for other reasons, they do have missiles and, possibly, nukes, in the medium term (well, the missiles are already available now). The Israel factor is relevant for Russia, too: I’m constantly reminded that Russia has sought to build and maintain good relations with Israel for decades and, given the difficulties in propping up Syria compared to the relatively small benefits, they may well decide that this is a worthwhile gamble in trade (getting rid of potential problem with Israel for loss of increasingly dubious influence over Syria, that is).

    No doubt that this is a serious loss of prestige and, likely, credibility for the “alternate world order.” But I don’t think Russia, China, and other BRICS powers are really trying to build a coherent world order with some set of guiding principles. They want to create a world order in which they can do business for their own good rather than to uphold some ideals–a point that Putin made multiple times: they would have been happy to do business with a US-dominated world order as long as US did not abuse it to its own advantage, and more important, the disadvantage of the powers that it dislikes (namely, themselves). If propping up Syria is not good for themselves, there’s no good reason to throw resources into a losing cause in Syria just to maintain “institutional” credibillity that they don’t value too much themselves.

    Reply ↓
    1. Carolinian

      MOA suggests from his sources that the Russians tried to get Assad to compromise and he wouldn’t so that’s why they washed their hands of the situation. You can’t save someone who doesn’t want to be saved.

      Worth noting that Trump had the chance to pull out of Syria and he didn’t. So he’s a slender reed when it comes to any hopes of peace. But at least Trump doesn’t see “running the world” as his priority and in fact he doesn’t even seem very interested in doing so. Meanwhile for the Dem grifters like Hillary and Biden it seems to be all they do care about. It’s where the big payoffs are.

      Reply ↓
      1. hk

        That there were attempts at getting Assad to compromise with “Moscow approved” factions makes sense–and also implies that Moscow has had contacts with the Jihadists (through the Taliban?) in the past. Certainly, in line with how quickly things unfolded (and how uneasy Israelis seem to be.) There’s a lot more going on here than it would seem.

        If the Jihadis spare the Orthodox Christians in Syria (I think, between the Eastern (Greek) and Oriental (Syriac) Orthodoxies, they are the vast majority of the Christians that remain in Syria), we’ll know that Russians cut a deal with the Jihadis.

        Reply ↓
        1. hk

          PS. The more I think about this, the more I’m curious whom exactly Erdogan sold out to whom. I think the short term thinkers in CIA and Israeli intel are probably giddy, but anyone who has to think about next week or next month must be apoplectic. This has made Israel’s security far more complicated than it was while Assad was still around. It basically made US presence in eastern Syria (and by extension, Western Iraq and Jordan–I think the Hashemite Kingdom is finished now, unless some things happen (see below)–untenable. At the same time, this allows Russia and Iran to escape a situation that was increasingly getting too costly without as much benefit as they’d like (I see that Alon Mizrahi made the same point). The thing that boggles me is that this also creates a big mess next to Turkey–so what exactly did Erdogan gain through all these shady deals?

          In a way, Iran’s hand vis a vis both has been substantially strengthened: Jordan’s survival now depends significantly on Iraqi cooperation (why King Hussein wanted to curry favor with Saddam Hussein when the latter took over Kuwait). Iraq is basically a satrapy (literally perhaps–given the historical basis of the term) of Iran now. So Jordan has to make nice with Iran.

          Reply ↓
          1. mrsyk

            Thank you. …the more I’m curious whom exactly Erdogan sold out to whom. It’s been noted that Erdogen is not “agreement capable”, a polite way of saying “back-stabber”. From the bottom of my coffee cup;

            A rather strategic piece of property is under new management.
            As you stated, where Julani’s true allegiance is matters.
            Imagine a well timed turncoat operation against western interest, whoa, that looks bad.

            Reply ↓
            1. mrsyk

              The crux of the biscuit is that it doesn’t matter if, currently, there’s a devilish plot to give the west their due. It’s that the opportunity has been created, a call option, if you will.

              Reply ↓
          2. vao

            what exactly did Erdogan gain through all these shady deals?

            Crushing once and for all the Syrian Kurds’ attempt at establishing an autonomous or even independent entity on the border with Turkey.

            Notice that, whereas regular Syrian troops scattered almost without a serious battle, fighting has been relentless between the motley assortment of rebels and Kurdish units — with the latter being slowly expelled from the positions they held so far.

            Reply ↓
            1. hk

              He could have gotten that without turning Syria into a failed state, or so I’d have thought.

              But, Mercouris does speculate that Erdogan came to the “final solution” only after Assad repeatedly his calls to talkabout various matters, presumably including how to deal with the Kurds. So there’s that.

              Still, it doesn’t seem terribly clear to me that Turks will be able to deal with the Kurds any more easily now than they could before, as long as the Syrian Kurds enjoy some goodwill (and more important, support of the locally deployed US military–but then, US military outposts are now in a really precarious position now, as I myself observed above) of the West (but, honestly, do they? Or, have the Jihadis stolen all the sympathy for them?)

              Reply ↓
              1. Procopius

                There are (supposedly) only about 900 American troops in Syria. It’s not clear where they’re located, but some of them are more or less permanently in Al Tanf, and the others are scattered around 14 posts, 50 or 100 each. They are protecting two or three villages of ISIS people and the Kurdish oil stealing operation. They aren’t going to fight against 2,000 HTS fighters, and I don’t believe Biden is going to send more troops after them. They may be all pulled out, probably into Iraq so they can take their equipment with them.

                Reply ↓
      2. Polar Socialist

        It’s sort of mentioned in every comment in Russian media about the situation in Syria. Reading them it seems that both Russia and Iran finally decided that “Assad must go”.

        By the way, TASS reported about an hour ago that Assad has arrived in Moscow with his family and has been granted an asylum.

        Also, according to TASS Anas al-Abdah, former president and a current member of the Syrian Interim Government (in Idlib) has said the new Syrian government hopes for good relations with Moscow. If these “moderates” can pull that off, is a different thing. According to Russian representatives in contact with the “opposition”, it’s leader have guaranteed the safety of Russian bases and troops in Syria.

        If I was a Russian soldier positioned in Latakia, though, I would probably still be somewhat less than trusting, keep my weapons ready and no venture too far away from the means of “tactical evacuation”.

        Reply ↓
      3. Es s Ce Tera

        “MOA suggests from his sources that the Russians tried to get Assad to compromise and he wouldn’t so that’s why they washed their hands of the situation.”

        The suggested compromise might have been: “How about you just step down, cede, relinquish control, come live the rest of your days in Russia, we can offer you and your family safety.”

        If so, that seems to be precisely what has taken place….

        And someone informed someone via Little Bird Messenger Service to come on in, take over, because Assad is no longer in the picture, will not resist. And HTS received the message loud and clear.

        Reply ↓
  38. Jason Boxman

    From How a San Francisco Navy Lab Became a Hub for Human Radiation Experiments

    “The U.S. government was very, very interested in information about how radiation affects the human body, internally and externally,” said Bo Jacobs, a history professor at the Hiroshima Peace Institute in Japan and co-founder of the Global Hibakusha Project, which studies people around the world affected by radiation from nuclear weapons. As for how that information was obtained, he added, they didn’t much care: “They want data.”

    Hiroshima and Nagasaki wasn’t enough?

    Democracy, Fascism, Communism, whatever the ruling regime might be called, the people in power definitely don’t care about you. Full stop.

    Reply ↓
  39. ChrisRUEcon

    #UHGCEOAssassin

    > Lambert: ‘I thought the adjuster left via Port Authority, but AP says the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. AP mentions “Philadelphia, Boston, Washington DC,” but there are also buses to upstate New York, some Canada-adjacent.’

    I thought of this as well. For the few mistakes that the assassin made, his plan was otherwise well thought out even if he was not aware of the overwhelming presence of cameras in NYC.

    There are direct flights from Canada to Cuba and Mexico, and given the timeline, it’s possible that by the time the backpack was discovered, he was already in a foreign country.

    Reply ↓
    1. elissa3

      Why go to a foreign country? Unless he has pretty deep connections (to say Canada), one would be much more conspicuous there than in the USA. And extradition.

      The USA, with a diverse population of almost 340 million over a very large land mass, and many amorphous “communities” is the most ideal country in the world to disappear. No identity card needed. One can survive and even thrive for years without having to hole up in a cabin in Montana.

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        One reason would be that the shooter is a foreigner., and Canada provides a less dangerous hub to get to his country of choice. This aligns with no id of the shooter yet, (sorry mayor Adams, no-one is buying your story). Speaking of IDs, it’s frustrating that there is no color on the quality of the fake NJ id that he used.It being of top quality would indicate he’s world travel capable.

        Reply ↓
        1. ChrisRUEcon

          > One reason would be that the shooter is a foreigner

          I thought about this … it would create some opportunity for asymmetry in his travels.

          Comes in via a southern US entry point, but leaves out of northern US one.

          Also, I find it interesting that the woman with whom he flirted hasn’t (to my knowledge) given any indication as whether he was American or not based on his speaking voice. I guess if he had a NJ license, he must have drawn no foreign suspicions if no one has said anything thus far?? Or maybe they’re keeping that out to news to make the suspect think they’re not onto him?? There are gaps that either indicate lack of information sharing or incompetence.

          Reply ↓
          1. mrsyk

            That hostel is in my old neighborhood. Everybody, heck, probably the woman with whom he flirted, has an accent of one kind or another.

            Reply ↓
          1. mrsyk

            I believe the shooter is a pro, not necessarily a customer.
            Let’s do an exercise and list the things we don’t know. Motive makes this list because there are three reasonable avenues from which the action came. Let’s call them Robin Hood, Estranged Wife, and Change Healthcare. This discounts the more random possibilities, like Thompson being mixed up in some completely separate illegal scheme, which would seem to fit considering his professional ethics.

            Shooter’s ID
            Motive
            Any serious msm inquiry of the seemingly obvious inside help.
            Any serious msm inquiry of two of reasonably possible motives

            I’m going to chew on this. Additions to the list are welcome.

            Reply ↓
      2. ChrisRUEcon

        > Why go to a foreign country? Unless he has pretty deep connections (to say Canada), one would be much more conspicuous there than in the USA. And extradition.

        :)

        Well, using TV-serial-killer-series for the inference here, I’m choosing the Dexter Morgan path over the Hannah McKay path … :) (Dexter Mini-series)

        Dexter stays in the US but is ultimately discovered (by his own son) via social media – an errant bowling outing pic. Hannah flees to Argentina and is never found, but dies of cancer. You have a point – to a certain degree – but the Feds are going to be relentless about seeking out every domestic crevice. They have far less power to do so abroad.

        One movie that probably shows how this would play out is “Bourne Legacy” – the only film in the Bourne series to not have Matt Damon playing the titular character. ” … Legacy” expands the lens to other members of the illicit assassin program run out of the CIA. Once Bourne’s story hits the news, the CIA decides to kill all the “outcomes” (drug enhanced assassins in the program), and the entire team of doctors who worked on the drug (via a mass-murder/suicide carried out by a sleeper mole). One of the doctors manages to escaper as well as Renner, the only “outcome” not the “deleted”. Renner seeks out the surviving doctor to acquire more drugs to keep his enhancements alive and saves her from a CIA team sent to eliminate her in an upstate NY house she had as a retreat. The two pair up on the run to get to the drug factory in the Philippines. The scenes from where they escape the CIA kill squad to when they land in the Philippines are, I believe, an accurate representation of how the FBI will treat the adjuster’s movements.

        The main question is where and when he actually is required to show his face. It’s been ages since I travelled to Canada by road – can anyone confirm is all that’s still required is to show state ID? Do they make you do the two-fingers and a thumb thing? Do they make you take a photo? I have only flown into Canada in recent times.

        The other question is – did he make any changes to his physical appearance? Nasal prosthetic? Darkened eyebrows? Would he have stopped somewhere and dyed his hair or some such?

        He could disappear into the US without having to show his face necessarily anywhere for some time, but the only question then is how long would it take for someone to snitch. Thus far, his actions have benefitted from sympathy and rage. If the reward goes to six figures, someone will be tempted.

        If he disappears to Mexico, he could very easily acquire domestic identification and disappear into the bowels of the country and beyond.

        My wager is that they don’t find him anytime soon. He moved too quickly, and I think he did things to purposely throw off the scent.

        Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          If the shooter is a pro, and I’m a hard lean in this direction, he’s gone.
          If the shooting is born out of “prosecution risk” (see Change Healthcare), and not Robin Hood, the shooter is a pro.

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisRUEcon

            > If the shooter is a pro, and I’m a hard lean in this direction, he’s gone.

            I concur with the conclusion. I don’t think he necessarily has to be a “pro”. As I’ve intimated above, there are a lot of TV miniseries and movies that have dealt with the subject matter tof moving unnoticed or off-the-grid – and to be transparent, I suspect there are plenty online sources that for that kind of prep as well, but I am not versed in such outlets. But yes, if he is a pro, that makes “gone” more certain.

            Reply ↓
          3. mrsyk

            Here is another idea to chew on. If you were in charge of bringing in The Adjuster, and you calculated upside/downside, do you go for it, or do you tank the investigation.
            Upside; Bringing him in might restore a sense of security (to some), might restore some institutional reputation, might be some personal gain.
            Downside; The Adjuster (is this is a le Carré reference?) gets martyred live on tv and things go French Revolution, prosecuting The Adjuster would reveal some uncomfortable truths about influential and dangerous people, your job depends by a meaningful degree on public approval.

            Reply ↓
        2. Yves Smith

          He could hide in the Unorganized Territory of Maine forever if he is willing and able to go survivalist. He should be able to figure out how to cross into Canada if needed.

          Problem is all his ID will eventually expire…..

          Reply ↓
    2. Bsn

      My guess is that he has incurable cancer and is using his last dollars to escape before he becomes homeless due to the impending medical bills. Free medical in Cuba and about any other developed country – even without citizenship.

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisRUEcon

        > My guess is that he has incurable cancer and is using his last dollars to escape before he becomes homeless due to the impending medical bill

        Makes for a good vigilante movie script! :)

        If he were to be personally invested in the kind of suffering victims of the health insurance sector endure, my belief is that it’s not him, but probably someone really close – parent, spouse, grandparent etc.

        Reply ↓
        1. mrsyk

          I guess we’ll find out soon, because this is gonna come to Netflix so fast it’ll likely alter the earths rotation with the collective dizzy. I imagine they might even steal “the adjuster” off you, lol.

          Reply ↓
          1. ChrisRUEcon

            > I imagine they might even steal “the adjuster” off you, lol.

            LOL

            Hey now! I can’t take credit! I got it from Lambert! 😂

            Reply ↓
      1. ChrisRUEcon

        Good call. I wondered how come Assata Shakur was never extradited, and a cursory search revealed that she was actually given asylum by Fidel Castro.

        Would the current Cuban government offer the adjuster asylum?! :)

        Reply ↓
    4. CanCyn

      Based on the celebratory reaction to the murder on social media, it seems to me that there are more than a few people in the US who would help him hide. Although, if he is hiding in the US and people are helping him, they just have to offer a reward big enough to get someone to give him up. I hope he is long gone and safe.
      OTH…In my fantasy about this whole thing, someone takes credit and explains their grudge against UHC. This then kick starts a movement to threaten and take out other CEOs and billionaires. I never thought I would advocate for this kind of vigilante justice but after seeing that chart comparing inequality in the US today to inequality in pre-revolutionary France posted on NC (yesterday?), I think we’ve arrived at the point where the elite need to be made to fear for their lives and be forced to change their ways. I just can’t imagine a positive or peaceful way to change things.

      Reply ↓
      1. ChrisRUEcon

        > [I suspect many people] … just can’t imagine a positive or peaceful way to change things.

        [Addendum mine]

        And therein lies the crux of this matter. The act represents a turning point because of the nature of the effort. This was not a crime of passion done in the heat of the moment (example, via Slate). This was probably planned weeks or months in advance. Comedian Josh Johnson tells a joke about someone getting murdered (ostensibly by ambush( at 5AM. The punchline is: “do you know how much someone has to hate you to kill you at 5AM?! They set an alarm!!”.

        And the hatred necessary to make someone want to kill Brian Johnson that badly is indeed alarming … but not surprising given the business that made him rich.

        Reply ↓
  40. AG

    re: Syria

    Martyanov from today:
    He speaks of major corruption.

    What You Need To Know.
    https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2024/12/what-you-need-to-know.html

    Earlier today he had below excerpt from this history article:

    Israel starts and wins
    In just six days in June 1967, Egypt, Syria and Jordan suffered a crushing defeat.
    Anatoly Sergievsky, 2007

    http://vko.vko.ru/voyny-i-konflikty/izrail-nachinaet-i-vyigryvaet

    “Translation:

    Nothing was known about the actual situation at the front for days. For example, Syrian President Hafez al-Assad learned about the flight of the 7th Infantry Division from the front only from Soviet advisers. The introduction of the 1st Tank Division into battle on October 7 took place without any leadership from the Syrian high command. A similar situation occurred during the counterattack of the Iraqi-Jordanian troops on October 16. Command and control was also poorly organized at the troop level. Command posts were located at a great distance from the front line: battalions – up to 6 km, brigades – 8-10 km, divisions – up to 20 km. With the beginning of the offensive, the division and brigade commanders remained at their protected command posts. No senior commanders observed the battlefield or the actions of the troops. In many cases, radio communications were not used by commanders and headquarters due to radiophobia or were abandoned on the battlefield. In the division-battalion link, the command staff, not knowing the situation, simply walked away from their radio stations in order to avoid an unpleasant conversation with their superior commanders. In the 1st TD, the division commander, allegedly for the purpose of radio camouflage, banned radio communications altogether. During the battles, there were many cases of non-compliance on the part of officers. Some brigade commanders, under various pretexts, refused to carry out tasks at all (the commander of the 50th MBR), and arbitrarily made decisions to retreat, without reporting this to anyone or informing their neighbors.”

    Reply ↓
  41. kareninca

    Isn’t it really easy these days to buy or make face-fitting masks? I have seen a few videos of people putting them on, and they cling to the skin and make the person look entirely different. The silicone is really, really thin. Here’s an article: https://cognitiveresearchjournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s41235-017-0079-y (“Hyper-realistic Face Masks: A New Challenge In Person Identification”).

    My guess would be that the killer wore such a mask, and maybe even had associates wandering around the area in similar outfits and masks. If you see the grin on his face when he was exposing it, it looked like the grin of someone who knew he was showing his face and that he thought that wasn’t a problem or was even a plus. Once he was done shooting, he could go into an alley and take off the mask and depart.

    Reply ↓
    1. Ellery O'Farrell

      I think you have a point. Also, he could have had several small makeup items in his pockets–eyebrow pencil, mascara, tinted foundation, possibly even washable hair color–for use during his stay in NYC. Then he washes them off (or, perhaps, uses them to again alter his appearance to make tracking harder) and changes his jacket at some point in his escape.

      Another thought: the GWB Bus Terminal is, as it happens, in my nabe, so I went by yesterday to confirm my impression that the vast majority of the buses are NJTransit, many going local routes to nearby places, others going farther away. They are. And as far as I could see, all the security cameras were inside the terminal; there weren’t any on the platform, which is beyond closed doors and serves all the bus routes at different marked locations. So he goes there a day or two ahead of time, buys a ticket either to somewhere or for a sum of money (I don’t know how it works), and then on the day itself goes to the terminal and out to the platform. He gets in a suitable line and boards a bus. If his ticket is to somewhere, he gets off a stop or two before then at or within reasonable distance of a place with other bus connections, then gets on another bus. No trick to get to, say, Secaucus (as an example), then take the NJT train to Newark Penn, then transfer to Amtrak across the platform, having previously bought a ticket to DC, and finally get off in Silver Springs, MD, a nice busy place. Or, if he’s very comfortable with the quality of his fake id, he takes the NJT train from Secaucus to Newark International Airport and goes wherever). IOW, once in Jersey I don’t think it’s hard to make it very hard to track him.

      What about the security cameras? Well, they’re all in the ceiling, arranged symmetrically to cover most of the area–that is, they’re in rows in the middle. If you stay around the edge (not too obviously, of course), with your new jacket on and a new pull-down knitted cap like all the other guys are wearing, and you’re obsessed by your phone and never look up, just like everyone else, those cameras won’t see your face at all (not even enough to know whether you’re wearing a mask, which you are). And I suspect most places routinely wipe the tapes for reuse every day or two to save money.

      He could even use similar techniques to get on the subway or use local buses in NYC. Or rent a bike (there are several shops in the area), though probably not a car.

      All speculation, of course. We’ll see how he does.

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        Thanks, this is good color on the getaway. The public transportation system is no id required, cash friendly and covers a vast, densely populated, multi cultural area. That boy is in the wind.

        Reply ↓
  42. Mikel

    NYPD releases two NEW pictures of healthcare boss’s assassin during his getaway in the back of a cab – Daily Mail. Map
    Looking at the map of movement and the most interesting things are the gaps between Nov. 24 and Nov. 30 and between Nov. 30 and Dec. 4.

    Reply ↓
    1. Cat Burglar

      At least two accounts suggest a break in his hostel stay, leaving on the 29th, but returning the 30th, when he presented the fake NJ ID.

      I keep wondering if it is really five anarchist bike messengers.

      Reply ↓
      1. mrsyk

        That may be true, but a cursory google search indicates it’s an itch he likes to scratch.
        To be clear, I’m no fan, just flagging some potential silver lining.

        Reply ↓
  45. chris

    ‘Tis the season for college acceptance letters and SATs in the US so I’m sharing the data that is being discussed from the latest Common Application results from the 2023-2024 “College application season”. The articles being published by news organizations, such as the Guardian, read more as cope than analysis. For example, was a 7% increase in applications mostly explained by a 4% increase in the average number of applications per aspiring freshman? The articles and the report summary don’t say. Personally, I know all of my kids and their friends send out 10 applications each. It isn’t cheap to do that but it’s a drop in the bucket for college expenses so investing ~$1000 applyung to 10 colleges now may yield many thousands more in savings because one of those schools gives your kid a better Financial Aid package. So the number of people applying to colleges does not impress me at all.

    Especially since enrollment is now universally acknowledged to be falling. By 5% last year. Who knows by how much this coming year? And starting in 2026, we hit the nearly mythical “enrollment cliff”, which portends even lower numbers of applicants choosing to enroll anywhere. We are quite simply running out of high school seniors to enroll. We’re also running out of high school seniors who can afford to pay for college. It would be nice if the current crop of professors was at least being treated well, or paid decently, but they’re not. Where all this money has been going is a question for people a lot more knowledgeable than myself. Regardless, it appears the game will stop for a lot of people soon.

    Looks like Trump II is going to be filled with a lot of angst coming from academia. I think we may also be treated to seeing people at the institutions which rightly mocked Trump U beg Mr. Trump for bailouts as their own institutions crash for lack of students. But mostly I think we’re going to see a lot of stories about students and families who committed to an institution only to have the school fail before this next group of freshmen will graduate. Leaving them with no degree and lots of loans.

    Reply ↓
    1. Acacia

      Yep. I see this as well. Accordingly, it’s time to write recommendation letters for students, and this fall I had one ask for letters to 15 different schools. That’s the most I’ve been asked to write, but the number has been slowly increasing. Heading towards a new normal, maybe.

      As for “where all this money has been going …” I’d say just look at the salaries of all the admins, Provosts, Vice Provosts, Assistant Deans, etc., who even at a state school like Univ. of California are getting paid around $250k/year each. The faculty wanted to outsource all of the drudge-work, the endless meetings they hate, etc., but now they complain about how much power the administration has over their departments. *Shrug* And all of this “growth” and increase in tuition fees has been fueled by … surprise… easy federal loans for students.

      We’ll see about the crash. I tend to think it’ll be further out, as there are lots of international exchange students still looking to the US for “branded” education. R1 research universities will probably be fine. We would need to look at some hard numbers from a number of different schools at different levels.

      Reply ↓
    2. BrianC - PDX

      I do not recommend college for any young person now. The value just isn’t there. I have twin boys. One is still working on his degree. His brother withdrew a few weeks into his first semester. I recommend learning a trade and working for a few years first.

      One boy, if he graduates, after spending about $200k to $250k, will have a piece of paper and no debt.

      His brother, should have a net worth of between $160k to $200k. Plus a paid off 4 season toy hauler trailer to live in and a paid for GMC 2500 HD Work truck. He started working at Discount Tire for $14.75 an hour. Got a CDL and drove local for 6 months and then over the road for CRST for 2 years. Took a lineman class at Volta in Oregon and is now working construction as an IBEW groundman.

      I remember when he setup his Schwab account early on. He made the comment that $20K at age 20 is worth a hell of a lot more than $20k at age 65.

      At least he learned the power of compounding in high school.

      Reply ↓
      1. Jeremy Grimm

        Your son’s comment: “…$20K at age 20 is worth a hell of a lot more than $20k at age 65.” There are more forces than compounding at work to make $20K at age 20 more valuable than at age 65. There is the relentless inflation undercutting the value of money. And It may just be me, but I remember enjoying the things money could buy much more when I was 20 than now in my 70s. Now, I most enjoy the things money cannot buy, though while in my 20’s I probably more greatly enjoyed the things money could not buy, more than I can now. I do enjoy different things now than when I was in my 20’s — things like quiet, and peace, and rest.

        Reply ↓
  46. AG

    re: Soviet vs. Ukrainian art history


    A problematic piece by JACOBIN republished from TRIBUNE. It elicits demand for counter-scrutiny by knowing people. Alas, painting is a very special area which cannot be discussed satisfiably without the paintings themselves.
    But at least the politics here could be questioned.

    Red Ukraine’s Modernism
    By Agata Pyzik

    A recent exhibition, rescued from the Russian bombardment of Kyiv, aims to carve out a Ukrainian story from the complex history of Soviet avant-garde art.

    https://jacobin.com/2024/12/ukraine-futurism-soviet-art-stalinism

    “Russian control over Soviet satellite countries did not end in 1991. This stronghold extended well into art, and art as a part of a separate Ukrainian cultural identity is something Russia strove to obliterate. Despite the international support for Ukraine since 2022, the West has still been facilitating Vladimir Putin’s Russia and its cultural hegemony for years.

    In a fascinating account, the show’s curator, Konstantin Akinsha, begins his story with how he tried to put on a show of the Ukrainian “executed Renaissance” (that means killed in Stalinist purges) since 2018. By early 2022 — sure that the war was merely weeks away — Akinsha began trying to organize an exhibition that would physically remove the works from endangered buildings, chiefly the National Art Museum in Kyiv. With support from Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza — the dynastic Swiss art collector — the location was secured and works were shipped out of the war zone without insurance, using trucks owned by an Austrian transport company that had, by chance, still not left Ukraine. Purportedly, the works left among exploding missiles. The first show, in Madrid, was a success, before traveling to Vienna, Brussels, and — from June to October — London.”

    Reply ↓
      1. AG

        I am sometimes hoping that there might be some additional value if judged beyond the obvious politics.

        For instance a couple of months ago there was a short interview snippet with Masha Gessen who is no RU friend as we know.

        However she was shocked when confronted with the view that the defeat of WWII Germany had nothing to do with the USSR. So she tried to remind of the facts which are conveniently omitted around here.

        Thus things are not always simple.

        USSR was not a benign club. Some insane things did happen. But how am I supposed to judge that in this particular case of painting and painters´ bios if the author alludes to Holodomor lies.

        This is a huge problem today: How to cross-check an expert´s level of trustworthiness in his discipline via other areas if that expert fails. He or she can still be correct in his original verdict on that other matter. But I have no way of finding out myself. Unless I try becoming an expert myself.

        You can be wrong on Holodomor. But can be correct on Malevich. But as well you might be wrong on Malevich too. I cannot tell.

        p.s. I have the impression that on Wiki there is some quiet cultural cleansing going on. Artists formerly known as Russians now declared to be Ukrainian.

        In Malevich`s case it`s ok right now:

        Wiki English:

        “was a Russian avant-garde artist and art theorist, whose pioneering work and writing influenced the development of abstract art in the 20th century. He was born in Kiev, modern-day Ukraine, to an ethnic Polish family.”

        The German Wiki site has no Ukraine in its short description so far. Only Kiev as part of the RU Empire.
        Lets see how long that will be the case…

        The French Wiki chose to avoid it at all (no nationality specified):

        “Kasimir Severinovitch Malevitch (en russe : Казимир Северинович Малевич ; en polonais : Kazimierz Malewicz), né le 11 février 1879 (23 février dans le calendrier grégorien)1,2,3 à Kiev (Empire russe), de parents polonais, et mort le 15 mai 1935 à Léningrad, à l’âge de 56 ans, d’un cancer, est un des premiers artistes abstraits du XXe siècle. Peintre, dessinateur, sculpteur et théoricien, Malevitch est le créateur d’un courant artistique qu’il dénomma « suprématisme ».”

        The Spanish Wiki does it like the English:

        “Kazimir Severínovich Malévich (en ruso, Казими́р Севери́нович Мале́вич 11 de febrerojul./ 23 de febrero de 1879greg., Kiev1​ – 15 de mayo de 1935, Leningrado) fue un pintor ruso de origen polaco,2​3​4​5​6​7​8​ creador del suprematismo, uno de los movimientos de la vanguardia rusa del siglo XX. ”

        This game or rather research should be conducted with thousands of artists on Wiki… to find out if something is going on via secret intelligence or not.

        Reply ↓
    1. AG

      sorry if this it not really related – but I just watched the Miyazaki animation “The Wind Rises” about the life of the man behind the ZERO fighter plane, Jiro Horikoshi.
      I was not aware that the great Tokyo earthquak of that era happened on Dec. 7th 1944. . People say there are no coincidences…

      Jiro Horikoshi, the man in question apparently was highly critical of Japanese war mongering. Wonder if Boeing ever had staff similiarly critical of the US.

      p.s. Thanks for the link. Are they gonna do a movie about THAT? Not in a 100 years.

      p.p.s the HBO movie on the Challenger disaster. I assume the image is a bit cropped.
      90 min.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT7Yx5kxYco

      Reply ↓
      1. Glen

        Great movie! But I think the earthquake depicted in it was the 1923 Great Kantō earthquake:

        1923 Great Kantō earthquake
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1923_Great_Kant%C5%8D_earthquake

        Although, from what I read, there was indeed an earthquake at the date you mention.

        I’m not sure about how Boeing staff aligned during WW2, but the Boeing Renton factory that is depicted in the 60 Minutes report was used to build B-29s during WW2, and that original building (it’s the building with the “saw toothed” roof line the photo) is now being used to build assemblies for the 737 Max:

        Boeing Renton Factory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_Renton_Factory

        Reply ↓
      2. hk

        Not Tokyo. It was in the Tokai region (which may be the reason for the mistake–especially since, at one time, Tokyo was also called Tokei in English (alternate pronunciation in Japanese)). It was some distance to the west of Tokyo and the damage was relatively light–I don’t think it was (or is) a particularly heavily populated (by Japanese standards, anyways) or industrialized region–still, more than 1000 people died.

        Reply ↓
      3. Acacia

        @AG, when The Wind Rises was released, Miyazaki published an essay to state his position on the war, Empire, historical revisionism, the Constitution, and the future of Japan. In was published in the Ghibli house journal Neppu (『熱風』2013年７月号), and a PDF has been upped here:

        『憲法を変えるなどもってのほか』
        https://ookawaramasako.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/828a19e5cfc2091f9ccafe3c16744325.pdf

        Idk if it was ever translated, but you can find summaries, e.g.:

        https://apjjf.org/matthew-penney/4766/article

        When The Wind Rises was released, a number of Western critics didn’t get what Miyazaki was trying to do, saying that he wanted to exculpate a certain generation of Japanese from war responsibility. To be fair, the anime is a little ambiguous, though there are plenty of things to “read” from images, especially towards the end. Outside of his art, though, Miyazaki’s politics are unambiguous. He squarely called out the then-Abe govt., saying they are parochial, and simply ignorant of history. In this way, I think the anime is rather intended to make audiences reflect on the ambiguity.

        Reply ↓
  48. AG

    re: COVID Bhattacharya

    Lee Fang with an interview from Febr. 2024
    Fun to revisit this interview given the news over Dr. Bhattacharya’s nomination to lead the NIH.
    https://substack.com/@leefang/note/c-79930999

    the original post:
    https://substack.com/home/post/p-141979388
    some text + the video

    And this critical reader´s comment from 5 days ago:

    “(…)
    Cabot O’Callaghan

    Corruption of science?

    Best to put all trust in one man’s word, am I right? Just like we did with Iraq. Jesus. Good luck with H5N1, America!

    But let’s not kid anyone. Trump will bury our healthcare corpse. No political leader, left to right gives a shit about science. Biden’s pick, Jeffrey Zients as the White House Covid-19 response coordinator, had no background in medical science.

    “The failure begins all the way back in January 2021, when Biden appointed Jeffrey Zients as the White House Covid-19 response coordinator. What were his qualifications? He possessed no background in medical science at all. He was an investment manager, exactly the kind of influence Biden repudiated during his campaign, a man with a net worth of nearly $90 million. Zients was the ultimate insider, a member of Facebook’s board of directors, and a bureaucrat who held various positions under Obama. He was regarded largely as an “ambassador” to business interests, not a public health expert. According to an essay in The American Prospect, Zients was hired to do the following:

    Downplay the long-term health impacts of Covid.

    Transition America away from masks.

    Oversee a return to the workplace.”

    Biology does not care about conspiracy delusions, Lee. How many immunologists and infectious disease experts have you interviewed? Just this guy? If so, that’s some shitty journalism.
    (…)”

    Reply ↓
  49. Rabbitsky

    The Salafists are Israel and Turkey’s BFF now? I doubt it. They’re as duplicitous as anybody. Are they even unified in what they want except an end to Assad?
    Assad is gone and Iran is sad but Assad wasn’t attacking Israel or Turkey. Now they have ISIS to deal with. They might do anything. And…
    Syria is hungry. Nobody is going to step in to help rebuild or end global warming that’s decimating agriculture there. ISIS has nothing to offer to make it better. How Syria will react to further decline is anybody’s guess.
    Neither Russia or Iran fell into the trap of extension.
    Half the plan failed and the other half that succeeded looks like a booby prize.

    Reply ↓
  51. The Rev Kev

    Looks like Vanessa Beeley made it out of Syria-

    ‘Made it out of Syria for the time being. Chaos rules, looting, thuggery and thieving. Gets the US Israel stamp of approval because this is what they believe in. Going through the border was a mash of gunfire, infighting and looting from every single shop and market. Terrorists on motorcycles, gunslingers and criminals. An incredibly sad experience. The house was surrounded by “rebels” drunk in “victory” from 5am, constant celebratory gunfire and around 10 they tried to beat the external door down to loot the contents of the house. Early morning Israel was destroying #Syria Air Defence with bunker buster bombs. The whole house shook. The CIA road map is always the same. The Resistance is broken and I doubt it can be repaired but the extremist mercenaries in the pay of Israel will tell you they “support Palestine”. Go on then, you are on the border now.’

    https://xcancel.com/VanessaBeeley/status/1865730838773600586#m

    Reply ↓

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