Paralysed man stands again after receiving ‘reprogrammed’ stem cells Nature
Your Gum Is Shedding Microplastics into Your Saliva ZME Science
Climate/Environment
South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief AFP
Climate, Risk, Insurance: The Future of Capitalism Gunther Thallinger, Allianz SE
NEW: Data centers powering AI like ChatGPT could triple their electricity use by 2028.
The Trump administration is investing over $1 trillion into new data centers in the next five years.
But what’s the true cost of the AI revolution? We went to rural Georgia to find out. pic.twitter.com/VOwaHZbOLt
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) March 27, 2025
Pandemics
Tests show emotional, behavioral problems in adolescents with long COVID CIDRAP
New CDC head Susan Monarez: “I’m hopeful that 10 years from now, 90% of…in-person [mental health] visits can actually be done in our homes [with ‘generative AI’].”
Translation: NO HUMANS FOR YOU, SAD PEOPLE.
Wonderful idea: bots for the blues.
“I want a radical… pic.twitter.com/pbva9ZzfQY
— Sense Receptor (@SenseReceptor) March 25, 2025
America — and the media — needs a Covid reckoning Kelsey Piper, Vox
Vox’s Kelsey Piper Is Indefensibly Ignorant About COVID-19 Pandemic Accountability Project
***
Measles case confirmed in DC, individual may have exposed others on Amtrak train ABC News
Lubbock health official says federal funding cuts will hurt efforts to contain measles outbreak Texas Tribune
Measles vaccination rates may be lower than thought, risking U.S.’ ‘elimination status’ NBC News
Who Is David Geier, the Man Leading Federal Autism-Vaccine Study? MedPage Today
I really dont know how to explain this sort of thing except that I think this country is in a death spiral. Being against the polio vaccine is insane lol. Next theyre going to go after germ theory & say that antiseptic causes cancer or something. https://t.co/PbuGhg68Et
— Brian (@Is_Not_Brian) March 27, 2025
***
That nine percent in the bottom bar certainly stands out:
Here’s what Americans think about a range of things and concepts associated with the European Middle Ages — as you can see, it’s a mixed bag! pic.twitter.com/bUAGH8NTA6
— David H. Montgomery (@dhmontgomery) March 26, 2025
Water
83% of lakes globally experiencing decrease in surface water oxygen levels, courtesy increasing heat waves Down to Earth
The Ocean’s Green Glow Is a Warning Sign SciTech Daily
Africa
Global Conjuncture and Zambia’s Debt Crisis Grieve Chelwa, Africa Watch
India
Why does ‘bulldozer justice’ continue in spite of the Supreme Court ruling it illegal in November? Scroll
If scrapping Google Tax is quid, what is quo, for which quid is being given away? The Sanjaya Report
India’s $23 billion plan to rival China factories to lapse after it disappoints The Business Standard
China?
Morgan Stanley raises Chinese stock targets again on earnings optimism The Business Times
China is suffering its own ‘China shock’ FT. Commentary:
China: The Industrial Robot Dominator.
China accounts for 50% of global industrial robot installations.
Good for efficiency. Not so good for jobs. pic.twitter.com/bE0CuLctX4
— Michael Dunne (@dunne_insights) March 25, 2025
Syraqistan
“The Target is Unmistakable”: The Shooting of Gaza’s Children Drop Site
US Embassy Tells US Doctor in Gaza ‘Not Our Role’ to Protect Them From Israeli Bombings Zeteo
Vultures Feed On Syria: Russia, Israel, Turkey & US Geopolitics in West Asia with Vanessa Beeley Vanessa Beeley
Turkey detains nearly 1,900 in protests over jailed mayor, rejects foreign criticism Reuters
European Disunion
Economic Collapse in Europe Glenn Diesen’s Substack (video). Michael Hudson.
Higher taxes, more political repression, no solutions: Germany’s next government will be from hell eugyppius: a plague chronicle
Spyware scandal: Italian government reportedly admits targeting activists Euractiv
New Not-So-Cold War
Putin proposes the UN to temporary govern Ukraine RT
‘With or without the US’ — France, UK harden line over Ukraine at ‘Coalition of the Willing’ summit Kyiv Independent
Putin is playing games with you, Starmer and Macron warn Trump Politico
EU Paris summit breaks up with little achieved, highlighting Europe’s increasing irrelevance in Ukraine conflict Bne INtellinews
Europe imports more Russian gas, aiding wartime economy, report finds Al Jazeera
Putin in Murmansk for АРКТИКА karlof1’s Geopolitical Gymnasium
South of the Border
“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos” Mother Jones
Weaponizing Migrants: A New Phase in the US Hybrid War Against Venezuela Orinoco Tribune
China Rejects US ‘Tariff War’ on Venezuela Amidst Decline in PDVSA Oil Shipments Venezuelanalysis
Trump 2.0
Internal White House document details layoff plans across U.S. agencies WaPo
HHS Announces Transformation to Make America Healthy Again US Department of Health and Human Services (press release). Downsizing from 82,000 to 62,000.
Trump officials will screen NIH funding opportunities Science
DOGE
How the Social Security Administration is dodging a federal court order Musk Watch
Democrats en Déshabillé
Bernie and AOC Sheepdog for the Democrats Black Agenda Report
SignalGate
Signal chat records must be preserved, federal judge tells Trump administration Axios
Oversight Dems ask for multi-inspectors general probe of Trump Cabinet Signal chat The Hill
Democrats seize on Yemen attack leak to press for imperialist war WSWS
WSJ: Israel provided intel for US strike on Houthi official mentioned in Signal chat Times of Israel
Police State Watch
Trump Killed Public War Research. Stargate Will Make It Secret—and Far More Dangerous Mint Press News
ICE Makes Another Student Disappear—and No One Knows Why The New Republic
Rubio confirms he revoked Tufts student’s visa, says he pulls visas ‘every day’ wbur
Trump’s deportation policy so far
– Deporting actually unlawful migrants at rates below Obama or Biden
– Trying to deport people for being mean to a foreign government
– Deporting people who have random tattoos accusing them of being part of a gang without having to prove it— Zaid Jilani (@ZaidJilani) March 26, 2025
AI
AI is transforming peer review — and many scientists are worried Nature
This is the reality EVERYONE backing genAI art wants for artists: They want real artists to starve while corporations get fat off their art for free, art that was fed into their machines without their consent, producing untold amounts of profit while leaving the artist destitute https://t.co/F4uD7T3aTO
— Chris Alvino (@ChrisAlvino) March 27, 2025
co-founder of studio ghibli, hayao miyazaki’s reaction to AI generated art btw https://t.co/w9xHfyLVrG pic.twitter.com/EtPkmsgtZt
— kp (@earthlykisssed) March 26, 2025
Abortion
Georgia Woman Arrested for How She Disposed of Miscarriage Abortion, Every Day
Groves of Academe
Yale Investments in Companies Selling Arms to Israel Violate State Law, Says an Official Complaint The Intercept
Exclusive: Trump’s “pro-Hamas” purge could block foreign students from colleges Axios
Columbia Expelled Me for My Palestine Activism, but I Won’t Be Silenced The Nation
Imperial Collapse Watch
Anatomy of a Defense Budget Phenomenal World
Supply Chain
How BlackRock and an Italian shipping dynasty are upending Middle East’s port business Middle East Eye
America’s Panama Canal Delusion Warwick Powell’s Substack
Silicon Valley
🚨 New forensic findings have just been released in the death of Suchir Balaji — a whistleblower against OpenAI.
Police ruled it a suicide.
But the evidence just uncovered tells a very different story: drugging, a possible second bullet, and a botched autopsy. 🧵1/ pic.twitter.com/lywn24trtL
— James Li (@5149jamesli) March 26, 2025
Sports Desk
Shakedown at the Snack Counter: The Case for Street Pricing Groundwork Collaborative
The Friendly Skies
Secret Service, Navy Counter-Drone Technology Testing Led to Faulty Cockpit Alerts, Officials Say Reuters. Near Reagan Washington National Airport.
Zeitgeist Watch
The wind on this frozen lake in Canada pic.twitter.com/iFwBj3PH3v
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) March 27, 2025
Class Warfare
Neoliberalism and Its Hegemonic Crisis Modern Intellectual History
We should talk more about how the dominant approach of capitalist economists to controlling inflation is to periodically throw hundreds of thousands of people out of work and into misery. This is what passes for “economic stability” and it is madness.
— Jason Hickel (@jasonhickel) March 20, 2025
Now Is the Time for Big Ideas In These Times
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
“Measles case confirmed in DC, individual may have exposed others on Amtrak train”
I wonder what the vaccination rate for measles is for those living in the DC area. All those lawyers, all those consultants, all those weapons sales people….
If it goes south, will the government start to take measles seriously? Or will it be another of RFK jr’s science projects? Just sayin’.
ChatGPT’s servers can’t handle the load as requests for Studio Ghibli-style graphic requests ‘melt’ its GPUs.
Sam Altman himself was early to the fad that has resulted in throttling requests for these ‘creations‘ that are choking his baby.
I wonder if DeepSeek would be impacted like this.
Sounds like ChatGPT isn’t up to the job.
Seems that there is also massive IP theft involved, if my LinkedIn feed is any indication.
Seems to me that ripping off a specific artist this way is obviously crossing a line somehow, but what do I know?
The generated image for that story might be the most ridiculous image I have seen in this entire millennium so far. UGGGGG.
Cnet people might actually like it or (more likely) the cnet story is itself constructed by AI. There is an author byline. Does anybody know if Katelyn Chedraoui is a factual human journalist?
At the time I posted that link, the illustration was a very nice Ghibli-style portrait of a young American couple. My guess is the current illustration and added text dilutes the original story as I found it, and linked to.
The post was a concise story about the rip-off of Studio Ghibli and how it’s being a popular meme cause the crashing of ChatGPT.
Now I follow the link and find nonsense?
Looks like intentional burying of the story to protect investors in OpenAI/ChatGPT.
As I understand it Deep Seek doesn’t rely upon a central repository of servers like ChatGPT, so it shouldn’t be impacted that way.
Shakedown at the Snack Counter: The Case for Street Pricing Groundwork Collaborative
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Its all about a cloistered audience as far as price gouging goes, be it a sporting event, concert, airport, et al.
Our National Parks are the ultimate gouge, that is if the concessionaires were allowed free rein to price food & beverage as they liked-but that isn’t the case yet as per Federal regulations.
In the summer when Lodgepole market is open in Sequoia NP, I can buy a tallboy Coors beer for $2.49 which would have run me $24.00 @ Dodger Stadium yesterday, or $15.00 @ Denver International Airport last Sunday.
DOGE is attempting to wreck or at least dismember the NPS-which seems to me, to be able to enact big changes in the way our NP’s are run, being an affront to the gouging lifestyle we’ve become accustomed to elsewhere-and just pay the piper, as I did @ DIA… what choice did I have other than to bend over?
I am thinking that although the National Parks have been a spectacular success story in America, it is still a sort of “commons’. And that mean that the Neoliberals hate the whole idea on sight and want to have them privatized so that they can be run by private equity corporations. If that ever happened, I would expect there to be large scale logging in some of those parks so that – allegedly – the money can be used to defray the costs of running those Parks. Some people see trees – while others see board feet. Can’t wait for Grand Canyon National Park to be renamed Blackrock Park Ventures inc.
At Love’s Creek in Knoxville, there is a homeless guy to be seen in and around the park. He mutters a lot and sometimes engages you with semi-coherent conversation. You mostly see him around the grounds pushing shopping carts loaded with stuff he’s collected possibly from nearby retail establishments and their trash. A network of trails makes the grounds accessible by walk. You can see him take his close off and clean his body with water even on cold winter days, use the public barbeque cooking stations and eating benches/tables to prepare meals, bump into him on the trails. A few weeks ago my Labrador Retriever insisted on exploring a trail that led to the railroad tracks and across them. Across the tracks was a well organized tent and grounds. A dog started barking, I ordered my dog to retreat and follow me back to the main trail.
Later, I decided to explore a trail across the main road. A short walk into the trial, the same setup appeared, tent included. Again a dog started barking, and we returned to the main park.
Some people do live and settle into public parks. This homeless guy has 2 established tented living areas. Hope that doesn’t trigger any indignation and sermonizing from the usual suspects.
I’ve seen videos of police forcing homeless off the streets and hosing the areas down while loading up all those people’s possessions into garbage trucks. And last year there was a video on NC of the police going into the woods to bust up a homeless camp for whatever reason. Finding safe places for homeless people to live is a challenge for them then. Of course this problem could be solved but the government decided to give $500 billion to a bunch of rich corporations for their Stargate program instead. Priorities!
South Korea wildfires ‘largest on record’: disaster chief AFP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is the problem we’re in, The Big Heat® is upon us, and how do we address the issue of homeless people having open fires-in areas now extra prone to conflagrations, do we restrict sales of matches, lighters, magnifying glasses (my favorite way as a kid to start a fire) to everybody so as not to allow the possibility?
I’m all ears if anybody has a suggestion, because the problem is only going to get much larger than it is now.
15,000 homes burned to a crisp in LA in January with fires in disparate areas of the city, that’s your wakeup call to the new normal upon us.
Well I suppose that cities could set up encampments that have central fireplaces, toilet and shower blocks, local security, and medical teams sent in daily to deal with medical problems as well as emergencies but that would be the raving socialist in me talking. Or maybe they could spend the estimated $20 billion a year to solve the problem of most homeless people so this ceases to be a problem. Yeah, I know. Dream on, McDuff!
This pu‘uhonua (place of refuge) idea could be a promising approach, falling back on native Hawaiian culture and values. I could never afford to move back to Oahu, the island where I was born, unless it would be to live here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu%27uhonua_o_Wai%27anae
House the homeless?
Bring back the YCC, make it robust and focused on fuel management on state and federal land.
Perhaps Charter Cities could be used to create space for homeless to self organize on federal land? See: different timeline
Yes, our National Parks are the closest thing to socialism that exists in the USA, no mogul owns big chunks, instead all 333 million of us are co-owners in perpetuity. (so far)
Pine trees make for punk wood really not good for anything for the most part, and the cost to cut them down, transport them or more than likely burn them to produce electricity, is simply not cost feasible… although there was a proposed oil well/fracking map around 2019 that was going to rape and pillage the Sierra Nevada, all outside of the NP borders (on the other side of Farewell Gap in Mineral King in Sequoia NP is the Golden Trout Wilderness-there were red dots a plenty as far as feasible oil well drilling sites were concerned) and essentially spoil Mother Nature to exploit the oil.
It’s not just the Feds or Trump and it’s not new. State parks in states like mine have introduced entrance fees where once they were free and campsite fees that can be as much or more than a motel room in order to pitch your tent on a patch of dirt (example: Myrtle Beach). They’ve even embraced Uber style situational pricing and of course booking via Internet. Many state parks are now styled as “resorts” complete with golf courses and stables and thereby serve as a “commons” for the more well to do.
Both the state parks–many created by the CCC in the 1930s–and the NPS itself were a product of a nostalgia during that period for the country’s pioneer beginnings and back to nature “roughing it.” People wanted the nature part to be preserved.
Now visitors to the Grand Canyon arrive in their large SUVs or pickups, take a few pictures and leave. There are the trails and the back country for the dedicated but even these have become rationed via reservations accomplished over–what else?–the Internet. Only the National Forests and BLM land represent the government commons as they once were and those too are theoretically somewhat limited. You can go park your RV on BLM property for free and without restraint but have to move on after 14 days.
We are still a long way from a Europe style “enclosure” movement but doubtless our oligarchy–like that of Europe–would love to keep the peasants out. The super rich such as Ted Turner and Bill Gates accomplish this by simply buying large chunks of the thinly populated West.
A glamping outfit named Autocamp has just opened up for biz in Tiny Town and if you want to pay $300 a night (dogs are allowed but it’s $75 extra with a maximum of 2) to stay in an Airstream trailer, here’s your chance.
Despite every local knowing how bad and very wrong it is to have open campfires in the foothills in the summer due to everything around being bone dry in search of a spark, all 85 trailers will have campfires, and yesterday apparently, a dumpster caught on fire there last night, probably on account of somebody dumping live coals into it.
Grrrrrrrrr…
https://autocamp.com/location/sequoia/
Yep. Fires are almost always started by humans.
Philosophically I do think setting up your aluminum condo in parks once created for wilderness fans defeats the purpose but maybe it’s more about proving you have the $300. Out West there is some justification for a hardshell shelter since the high winds may have your tent sailing off to Oz. There have been times I started out in a tent and ended up in the car.
And of course as we’ve talked about there are far more people now wanting to experience nature parks that aren’t expanding save for a few new National Monuments. Preservation itself is endangered.
I am back to living in my van now and plan on visiting many national parks and forests. I will keep you all updated to how I think things have changed.
I have been in my van for six years so I have a lot of experience in the parks.
I’ll look forward to your reports.
me too, I may be joining you if my livelihood (teletherapy from home) is somehow disrupted by health care “reform” or compromised Social Security, which I planned to take in 2 years when I turn 70…
I had to look it up: Lieaibolmmai (“alder man”) is the god of the hunt in Sami mythology. He is the ruler of the wild animals in the forests, and the hunters made sacrifices in his honour to obtain good hunting fortune. As the god of hunting he is the god of good luck. He lives in the trees of Alder and gives good luck to hunters against bears, and he appears to humans in the form of a bear.
Not a Sami myself, but having dabbled in the Finnic mythology (Mrs. Socialist graduated as folklorist) I’d say not a god, but a deity, a guardian spirit or even a personification of the forest. It gets kinda complicated fast, partly because a lot of the mythology was recorded only after some serious converting to Christianity and even then it was recorded by priests, and partly because the Finnic mythical world is somewhat complicated.
I know “Finnic” is covering a lot of ground here, but oddly enough, the mythology is surprisingly consistent from Vorkuta to Trondheim. For example alder tree is believed to have magical qualities trough out the whole span. Also the concept of a forest spirit, or guardian that you have to keep content is common to all Finnic peoples. And let’s not get started with bears (which seems to be the favorite ancestor of most Finnic peoples).
Just to scratch the surface of the complexity, let’s just say according to the Finnic mythology, all living things have multiple souls. Finns have three*, Sami people have 4 to 5. As forest is alive, it also has multiple souls, and those can express themselves as spirits or animals (see the * below).
Also, when you kill a bear or a moose, you must return the skull (or some other big bone) to the forest to allow the animal’s self-soul to be reborn. Failing to do that will make the guardian unhappy, and it will spoil your next hunt.
* self-soul which defines who you are, life-soul (or spirit) that makes you a living creature and a shape-soul that takes care of and runs your body. When you sleep or are unconscious, your self-soul can leave your body. Also part of the shape-soul can travel ahead of you so that people can feel (or even see) you’re coming before they can actually see you. Some researchers count this etiäinen as person’s fourth soul, so go figure. A strong being (like a forest) can take different shapes.
Sounds sort of like Tom Bombadil.
Very likely not a coincidence, that. Tolkien researchers seem to argue among themselves if the character of Tom Bombadil is based directly on Väinämöinen in the Finnish folk epic Kalevala, or if he’s more of an personification of Tolkien’s impression of the whole Kalevala.
Both Väinämöinen and Bombadil are men (not deities) born before everyone else, before the time itself, and thus they are wise and see things differently. They also control, nay, manipulate the world around them by singing. Bombadil also wears a crown of leaves like a Finnish forest spirit Tapio.
And yet, as Tolkien considered Kalevala as not a National Epic but a sort of ur-folklore, a bunch of stories born before any literary tradition and thus not hindered in any way by the rules of storytelling, so the Bombadil’s character similarly defies the normal narrative – his origins or motivation are no concern of us, he just is, pure and raw, what he is and does what he does.
“The US Isn’t Coming for Canada’s Water, Says Dix’
‘Progress stalled (on a new Columbia River Treaty) after the U.S. election and according to the B.C. government “the U.S. administration said it is conducting a broad review of its international engagement.”’
Could it be that those US officials are telling themselves why bother as Canada will soon be part of the US as just another State so then they can do whatever they want? I do not know how much goodwill there is in Canada to the US but I bet that is is declining rapidly. Trump is doing a heckuva job here.
As I recall, Chomsky long ago predicted— though perhaps in a speech rather than in print— that, whenever the US sun-belt should run dry, they will “insist” on access to Canada’s water.
I guess they can insist, but piping it might be a problem. Moneywise as well as sabotage…
Re We need to pay closer attention to Svalbard Politico
The hysterical the Russians are coming fearmongering piece concludes with:
‘NATO members and other allies would do well to start thinking about how they’d respond if Russia took action against one of its most remote geographies. There are even things ordinary citizens can do too — such as visiting the archipelago to demonstrate they’re paying attention.’
Maybe the author should do a mutatis mutandis piece about Greenland, while not as remote as Svalbard, it is under threat from Trump, rather than Russia, taking action against it.
Speaking of Greenland-
‘American representatives were seen walking around (Nuuk, Greenland’s capital), canvassing residents to see if people would be interested in a visit from the vice president’s wife.
“They’ve gotten no, no, no, no, no, every single time,” Steinmetz said.’
https://newrepublic.com/post/193223/donald-trump-usha-vance-greenland-embarrassing
The Trump charm offensive is now officially dead.
I think we should be thankful if the Russians made it to Svalbard before the Americans. Russia has banned GMO and would not compromise the Seed Vault whereas you would have American BigAg immediately burning the seeds and replace them with their patented seeds and its different pesti-/herbicides.
If we don’t fight them in Svalbard, we’ll have to do it in Pasadena.
I hope we have plans for taking strategic Wrangel Island and Novaya Zemlya for freedom.
Trump+Kushner would probaby want to build a resort on Novaya Zemlya, because it’s already pre-bombed.
Interestingly, while the article declares that Norway/West aren’t doing what Russia accuses them of, it actually doesn’t spell out what the Russian are complaining about specifically, let alone try to refute it with actual arguments. On the other hand the supposed Russia transgressions is decade old visit of some guy West doesn’t like and Soviet flag flown on May 9.
Soviet flag flown on May 9 is what rustles all the jimmies. West will never forgive that to Russians, as the wise man once said.
Are you effected by the quake? If help is needed in your area please let us know how
No, all fine where I am.
.
https://www.nationthailand.com/thailand/bangkok/40047987
A big worry is aftershocks.
The building that fell was under construction. 43 workers in it. Only <10 recovered so far.
Bangkok is on soft soil and is slowly sinking due to all the building weight. I believe that can increase earthquake damage (as in not dampen the shock wave as well as construction on rock).
Yes, soft ground with a high water table undergoes liquefaction as the shallower batch of quake waves travel through. Strange phenomenon where a cliffside home on solid rock is safer than one down on a floodplain near a quake.
Stay safe.
For those that can view it, RT has a page with several videos including two showing the collapse of that building-
https://www.rt.com/news/614891-myanmar-thailand-quake-videos/
Clawbacks!
(No, not the kind most of us are looking for.)
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/5218628-trump-cancels-health-grants/
My suspicion is that many state and local governments were misusing these funds for non-health related things, but this will still leave a mark.
If “ misuse” is a reason to revoke, we won’t have any fed funding left. Lol, the farm bill comes to mind, and every DoD rice bowl allocation.
One question is did Congress ever “DYJ” (Do Your Job!) and exercise oversight over all this COVID and other funding? How do we know that it wasn’t spent on Tesla’s for local government officials?
I think we know that answer … they’re too busy day-trading Nvidia and Boeing.
Congress has long abdicated its position of authority. In exchange they get to swan about in their finery acquired via profits from insider trading, book deals (who reads those?), and general whoring. It’s a real time telenovela. Alejandría! Bernardo!
To the point of federal funding, individual states will go bankrupt without it. Clawing back already awarded grants will only make that happen faster. Trump wants to “eliminate” FEMA” as well. Sorry North Carolina and many other states, like Vermont. Governor says Vt. would be in trouble without FEMA, WCAX.
MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – With Trump administration officials in recent days saying they plan to “eliminate” FEMA, Governor Phil Scott on Wednesday said any plans to get rid of the agency would spell big trouble for Vermont.
The 2023 flooding caused about $600 million in damage, that’s 1% of North Carolina’s Helene tab, tough luck NC, LA.
Edit, Phil Scott is a republican.
I’m going to make an unpopular argument that by abdicating their responsibility, Congress gave us DOGE.
And DOGE is not all bad – they are uncovering genuine wasteful spending. Ultimately, Congress is going to have to back up the DOGE “cuts” with real cuts, and I don’t see that happening.
IF states have become overly dependent on Federal largesse, then they deserve what is coming. I watched our local County board of Commissioners overspend thanks to CARES act funding and hire overpriced consultants with the money. These “leaders” can read and the issues with unsustainable & unaccountable Federal spending have been there for decades.
And DOGE is not all bad , lol. If the motivation of DOGE were true, the DoD, big ag, etc would be the top targets. But no. Instead of scientific research, we get vitamin A and more war.
States are not overly dependent on “fed largesse”. This is how our country works. We pay taxes. The feds use that to underwrite the treasury and we get federal spending back. A different approach would require a different model of taxation.
The idea that broad brush elimination of funding to solve problems is absurdly problematic and accounts not for collateral damage. Local governments tend to self serve in their small way, “small’ being a key idea. They learned from higher up that it’s ok.
By appearances, DOGE’s mission is to throw a large majority of US citizens into economic destitution without support. I believe “population reduction” is a feature here and not a bug.
DOGE found small business loans from the SBA being taken out on behalf of a nine-month old baby, and a 115 year-old.
How is that not useful? This can at least be referred to the DoJ for prosecution for criminal fraud. Maybe the money can be clawed back from the fraudsters. I doubt it, but there is at least visibility, now. Without DOGE our Congress clowns would have done nothing other than day-trade and whore themselves out, as you put it.
It’s just my opinion but states have been taking too much federal funding since the 70’s. CARES act was the worst. It sprayed confetti money indiscriminately in every direction. Oh, and guess who was President when CARES act was passed?
Trump, not Biden. We can’t blame Joe on this one.
Childhood poverty sank to record lows because od te CARES Act. The Pentagon meanwhile has had money sprayed on it for decades.
Finding a couple of fraudulent small business loans is their major accomplishment? Pocket change! As mentioned, if they were serious, they’d be starting with the DoD. Are they even looking for meaningful waste in parts of the government that conservatives haven’t been trying to kill off or who are on Trump’s $hitlist?
Does DOGE operate transparently? I’ll wait for the proof because none has been provided that I can find except for basically “DOGE says.” We’re just supposed to take Elon’s word for it? He said at a cabinet meeting a few days ago that the supposed 9-mo-old who got a $100,000 loan was a very precocious baby. Ha ha.
I can’t find proof but: ‘The DOGE post claimed all of the purported 5,593 loans displayed a Social Security number “with the incorrect name.” That part of the post potentially indicated an error not in the delivery of the loans but rather in the recordkeeping of its owner’s information, for example the possibility of a mistyped, omitted or extra digit in the Social Security number.’ https://www.snopes.com/news/2025/03/11/doge-312m-loans-children/
The baby loan could be a mistake but Elon singled it out to justify DOGE’s existence and promote his ideology, just like the vampires are getting Social Security claim.
If there’s so much provable fraud it should be easy to start prosecuting. If that baby loan is real, and is indeed fraud, they must know who it is. Shouldn’t be hard.
Here’s a report on how the CARES Act helped in the midst of the pandemic: https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/robust-covid-relief-achieved-historic-gains-against-poverty-and-0#:~:text=The%20relief%20measures%20bolstered%20the,since%20fallen%20to%203.6%20percent.
Except they weren’t small business administration loans. They were SS Survivor’s Benefit Allocations. Either DOGE got tangled up in the acronyms or they hoped that we would
After looking at the bang-up job FEMA did in New Orleans after Katrina and in North Carolina last year, the burden of proof has shifted to FEMA to show that it can get the job done. So no, I won’t be squirting any tears at the potential loss of FEMA.
I think this is a major problem with the Resistance (TM). FEMA (and other agencies) have fouled up bad, and nobody (accept maybe ol’ Heckuva Job Brownie) get held accountable. The the Resistancee (TM) wonders why nobody wants to man the barricades to defend these agencies.
I get the feeling that the Resistance (TM) is only angry with Trump in so far as he is smashing their rice bowls.
I agree, but the motivation has nothing to do with job performance. It’s about holding states hostage by not giving them money.
Trump number one play is to establish leverage in the form of pain and then negotiate. I believe this is is a buildup to gaining concessions on a state by state basis, just as I believe that the recent relocation of a large portion of our fighter jets is a precursor to “negotiations” with Iran.
You are probalby right on the motivation of the Trump people getting rid of FEMA. On the other hand, it’s done little that warrants defending it. Those defending it also have a not-so-pure motive of defending their fiefdom if not their abillity to line their pockets.
Damn, I have gotten cynical.
“…it’s done little that warrants defending it.” I’d say that’s overstating the crticism. Here’s a rundown of what it has done in NC alone: https://www.fema.gov/press-release/20250207/north-carolina-153000-families-receiving-fema-help#:~:text=2%2C596%20households%20are%20currently%20staying,and%20communities%20on%20debris%20removal.
“Those defending it…” That would probably include those who it has helped.
Here’s something on what has been done/proposed to reform it, as well as criticism: https://www.govexec.com/management/2024/01/fema-overhaul-disaster-aid-system-after-decades-criticism/393474/ Looks to me like assistance will be easier for disaster victims to receive directly.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s going on: “However, a recent White House executive order stopped short of getting rid of the agency, instead calling for a review of disaster response policies.” https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/5213057-noem-plans-eliminate-fema/ It seems there was a review and some things have been implemented.
I believe that there is a classic term of art for the process of extorting taxes from the citizens of a state without giving them any control or representation in how it is spent.
It’s on the tip of my tongue. Now what was it…
Biden outran any congressional oversight through multiple Treasury dept. “intepretations” of how the ARPA monies could be spent by municipalities, with the final interpretation in 2023, IIRC, allowing use in any regular operating costs up to $10 million. Here’s a link: https://www.nlc.org/covid-19-pandemic-response/american-rescue-plan-act/arpa-local-relief-frequently-asked-questions/#eligible-uses
Thanks.
Irony dept: the SLFRF acronym would kind of fit SLushFund.
SInce it’s Biden’s baby I would assume by the time this money hit the streets, the pandemic economic recession was well-over. By late 2020 the stock market had largely recovered, and while there were still parts of the country in lock-downs affecting service workers, the pandemic era programs like PPP and extended UE (gig workers got in on it) had at least provided a safety net. By 2021 we had a jobs boom as “remote work” allowed laptop class workers to job-hop and take advantage of Silicon Valley’s panic hiring.
My suspicion has always been that it was the 2nd round of COVID “stimulus” (some from Trump, and a final round from Biden) that set off inflation in 2022. They should have stopped with the CARES act round 1. The fact that most of the money had no financial controls nor strings attached just raises my suspicion level.
Biden Appointed Federal judge in Syracuse denies initial challenge to Trump orders against pro-Palestinian protesters – syracuse.com
Enforcing the new MyCarthyism. Biden appointee. Of course democrats enthusiastically embraced censorship and muzzling and shutting down anti Zionist demonstrations.
What We Know About the Detentions of Student Protesters NYT archive
And henchwoman Stefanik’s UN ambassador nomination was pulled. NY21 is a reddish purple district and is the NY state border with eastern Ontario and Quebec. Anecdotally my aunt in Cornwall said border crossings have collapsed there. Cross border shopping and tourism by Canadians are big things in Northern NYS. I wonder if polling indicated a flip in a special election?
Silence is golden for the AIPAC dominated elites. What comes next?
Did her a favor. Congressperson has much more power and grfit attached to it than a sinecure like UN Ambassador. No one is going to bribe that guy.
As an old school ‘anchor baby’ born in the USA, I wonder when they come after the likes of us?
re: German FOIA
The new government wants to end it. (sounds like the found inspiration with DOGE)
German version (incl. links)
https://netzpolitik.org/2025/koalitionsverhandlungen-union-will-informationsfreiheitsgesetz-abschaffen/
Union wants to abolish Freedom of Information Act
In the coalition negotiations, the CDU/CSU is demanding the abolition of the Freedom of Information Act. The lead negotiator on this issue is, of all people, Philipp Amthor. The said law made documents from Amthor’s Augustus Intelligence scandal public.
According to the publicly released negotiating paper from Working Group 9, “Reducing Bureaucracy, Modernizing the State, and Modernizing the Judiciary,” the Union (Christian Democratic Union) wants to abolish the Freedom of Information Act. In the document, titled “Strengthening Representative Democracy,” the Union negotiators state in blue print: “However, we want to abolish the Freedom of Information Act in its current form.” The SPD has not yet agreed to this. The Union also wants to “streamline” the Environmental Information Act .
Since 2006, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has ensured greater transparency at the federal level. The law allows citizens to inspect government contracts, communications, documents, and administrative processes. It makes the government more accountable and adds another avenue for democratic oversight by citizens and the press. This option is being used extensively: According to the transparency portal Ask the State, nearly 300,000 freedom of information requests have been submitted through the site since 2006.
“Frontal attack on the IFG”
Arne Semsrott of FragDenStaat describes the CDU/CSU’s demand as a “frontal assault on freedom of information.” Public oversight and transparency are apparently a thorn in the side of the CDU/CSU, Semsrott told netzpolitik.org. “They want to govern unchallenged. The public’s democratic rights are apparently just a hindrance.”
The lead negotiator in Working Group 9 is, of all people, CDU politician Philipp Amthor. He was involved in the Augustus Intelligence scandal , which was uncovered thanks in part to the Freedom of Information Act . Arne Semsrott of FragDenStaat sees a connection here: “It’s no wonder that Philipp Amthor wants to abolish the IFG. After all, IFG inquiries led to his lobbying activities for Augustus Intelligence becoming known.”
Text screenshot: Strengthening representative democracy. We want to develop the Bundestag into a more modern legislative body. The Bundestag must be able to effectively oversee the government and the administration. [However, we want to abolish the Freedom of Information Act in its current form.]
Screenshot from the negotiation document.- CDU/CSU / SPD
Traffic lights had not been expanded by IFG
The traffic light coalition wanted to develop the IFG into a transparency law with more extensive disclosure requirements. Such a transparency law exists in Hamburg, for example. However, the draft reform failed due to a blockade by the Ministry of the Interior .
Whether the CDU/CSU’s request ultimately makes it into the coalition agreement will become clear in the coming weeks. Since the working group was unable to reach an agreement on this issue, the party leaders of the CDU, CSU, and SPD will now decide. It is therefore in their hands whether this element of democratic control and transparency will be retained—or abolished.
Update, March 26, 2025, 5:15 p.m.: We have added that the Union also wants changes to the Environmental Information Act.
p.s. UndeadFOIA / Sleuthnews has announced a longer piece on Russiagate so far:
“At 10am I will be publishing a deeply-sourced article that is the culmination of years of work. I’ve spent years working Russiagate at 3am, and it feels good to realize the fruits of that labor.
Such as it is, this is the beginning of a grueling process, not the end. There are additional details relevant to today’s story that I am working to develop.
There are actually a number of explosive stories on a variety of Russiagate subjects I am hard at work on. As I mentioned last week, I cannot promise any of it will make it to publication.
Interspersed between these more significant stories, I will be getting additional FOIA documents (including some promised today) and we will cover any documents declassified by the Trump administration.
Stay tuned.”
https://www.sleuth.news/p/today-at-10am-est
Here is the piece:
Exclusive: Dutch Intelligence and The Russian Collusion Story
What The CIA Knew
UndeadFOIA
https://www.sleuth.news/p/exclusive-dutch-intelligence-and
I find this account very confused. The Dutch were passing intelligence to the CIA about the Russians and it showed that the FSB had learned through their own spying that HRC had planned to Swift Boat Trump with Russiagate? And then Brennan told the Russians to knock off the “election interference”, which cut off the Dutch source? And we’re supposed to think what exactly? They’re all a bunch of ignoramuses?
As I understand things, in essence within the US intelligence services there were those who were in the knowing, involved with HRC, and those, almost all of them, who were not.
So one part of US intelligence did not know what the other was doing.
Brennan´s call to FSB merely was a smart way to cut the Dutch off because they were “honest” – initially believing that there was a real Russian threat.
However the Dutch had discovered hints to it being in fact a US-covert operation having nothing to do with the Russians. Which would threaten discovery of team HRC.
The Dutch were more dangerous to HRC than the Russians could ever be, because the Dutch – as a “friendly” service – could reveal what HRC was doing, via using their Russian source inside FSB.
(What I do not understand: what did FSB/GRU know and what did they not.)
So Brennan actually neutered the Dutch threat by informing the FSB that FSB had a leak towards the Dutch. Thus FSB closed that leak. Which served Brennan´s purpose.
(That FSB at some time before all this took place had created this leak to the Dutch willingly could be an additional angle.)
Which leads to the final phrase of this very post:
“suggesting the existence of a criminal conspiracy.”
Referring to Podesta, HRC and others. Obviously SleuthNews suggests – and has beend doing so for years now – that certainly by February 2016 – if not much earlier – there was a plan in place by team HRC to hack their own DNC under the disguise of an alleged Russian “hostile” hacking, and then plant the false flag pointing at the Russians.
And all this inside the Democratic Party without almost anybody from the Dems knowing about this.
In order to safeguard this highly incriminating operation all leaks that could point at the real perpetrators had to be closed which the Dutch via FSB was one.
It in fact strikes me as a classical false flag operation as described by British Cold War fiction and non-fiction reports.
re: Israel / Gaza cartoon policy
Publisher’s Firing Shows Double Standard in Israel/Palestine Cartooning
Hank Kennedy
March 27, 2025
https://fair.org/home/publishers-firing-shows-double-standard-in-israel-palestine-cartooning/
Cartoonist Steve Bell fired from the Guardian in 2023 for a similar transgression: https://www.cartooningforpeace.org/en/soutiens/triste-separation-pour-steve-bell-et-the-guardian/ .
didn´t know such a site even existed
of course similiar sad cases in Germany…
Ar Kaff, as er finger on’t pulse, n’t almus stopt beat’n so shi’s reet apy, tha’ nos.
Re today’s Antidote du jour. Naked Capitalism continues to surprise us with animals of whom we never knew existed-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pudu
Bob Harris, author of excellent Prisoner of Trebekistan, hipped me to pudus years ago 💅🏿
Alex, I’ll take unusual animals for $1,000.
Other species we see little of as they are invisible to the naked eye are beautifully rendered in a series of photos by microbiologists:
https://thenode.biologists.com/vote-for-your-favourite-image-in-the-node-focalplane-image-competition/photo/
Thanks for the two links, Kelsey Piper, Vox and Pandemic Accountability Index response. Excellent takedown. And yes the pandemic is not over. People are still suffering. And it never hurts to be reminded. Especially about Vox. I will of course strive to give it a more critical view from now on. Thanks again.
China is suffering its own ‘China shock’ – FT
There are fewer jobs. Just period. Like many other countries. I’d leave it at that without the “high-skilled” and “low-skilled” qualifiers. There is never really much detail about exact “high-skills” because those are likely to change.
The machines producing goods still need the buyer on the other end. Same with the services industry.
Magical thinking isn’t going to make that happen. The article, like so many about the same happening elsewhere, is full of that.
Anatomy of a Defense Budget Phenomenal World:
“Lax and sloppy enforcement of government regulations and contractual provisions…” from 1966 referring to C-5.
I saw the same u through 2019 when I retired from a contracting job in AF acquisition.
We talked about cleaning up from C-5 mistakes as long as I remember!
More real dollars less mission capability. Good thing we have the Houthi!
“Good thing we have the Houthi!”
ha-ha!
(I know it´s not funny but I can´t help it)
The amount of money, and how many spare airplanes were needed to bomb 44 sites last night and the B-2s’ bunker busters did no real damage to an alleged underground missile storage…
If it were not so profitable it would need to be more entertaining.
Are you aware of this story?
It´s not entirely new but the extent rather is:
DoD and CIA leverage over Hollywood since the late 1980s especially
https://www.spyculture.com/
The documentary is 87 min.
Also recommended to all of NC.
“Secret Service, Navy Counter-Drone Technology Testing Led to Faulty Cockpit Alerts, Officials Say”
Near Reagan Washington National Airport? It wasn’t enough to run helicopter training missions at night in one of the busiest aerial route in the country that resulted in over 60 deaths. They are now testing anti-drone technology near the same airport causing all sorts of chaos. If they want to test it out, why don’t they test it over an air force base instead? Or better yet over a desert region rigged up with sensors. Why this need to conduct these dangerous tests over one of the most busiest airports in the country?
One of the best recommendations I saw just after the accident was to restrict all activity at National to only military and government aircraft. Build out high speed mass transit to Dulles for the very serious people of DC. If that’s too much of an ask, limit civil aviation to only daylight hours.
There have been so many near miss/close call incidents over the years someone should have caught a clue.
Regarding the testing of counter-drone technology in crowded active air space, that should be the final step of testing and certification and only with widespread knowledge and notification structures in place.
Since Secret Service is involved, my guess is there is geo-specific aspects to the testing. The real problem is spectrum allocation. Historically the US Navy was one of the earliest users of spectrum. After the government unilaterally claimed “ownership” of spectrum, military services got a huge allocation which they have been loath to give up. Once government realized spectrum had become a valuable resource they began looking to monetize the spectrum allocated to the military.
As regards Dulles, there already is a dedicated freeway and adjacent toll road plus rail.
Electromagnetic spectrum is a common good, just like air and water. What do you recommend as an alternative to state control? Let the free market self-regulate it?
I’m struggling to see how scott’s comment can be misread to imply that it’s the fault of state control. That DOD was allocated an enormous percentage of the bandwidth is just historical fact. Anyone in the industry would be more than happy to corroborate – the available spectrum for any new activity in the lower frequencies is pretty much non-existent.
Speaking to the parent issue of why the testing was done near National – a guess would be that it was compatibility testing with all the other military radar, comm, and snooping systems located near the capital. Sure, something can work in the desert, but can you guarantee it won’t interfere with the daily WH Big Mac order?
DOD was allocated an enormous percentage of the bandwidth by whom? Who can to anything to change that? Maybe those that “unilaterally claimed “ownership” of spectrum”.
Anyone in the industry would be not really happy to corroborate – that the available spectrum in the lower frequencies have never been wide, because physics.
It seems as if Greenland is set up for troubling times.
“The pro-business Democrats, which favour a slow independence from Denmark” vs. “The Naleraq party, a staunch pro-independence party that doubled its seats to eight in the election, will not be part of the coalition”
“a slow independence from Denmark” – I read “sure we will be happy to be dependent on the US instead because we are pro-business (corruption most likely)”.
Looks like the US fixed the elections during their last visit to Greenland to make an Anschluß possible.
Resembles Germany a little bit but still unknown how deadset they are on killing Greenland as opposed to the Pennywise show in Germany who are doing their best to kill the country.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/greenland-parties-announce-broad-coalition-government-amid-trump-pressure-2025-03-28/
The polls run at 85% of locals opposed becoming second-class Americans and as Trump tries to push them around, I would expect that figure to go higher. Even if Greenland joined the US it would only be as a territory and the people may not even have the right to vote in American elections so would have zero say in anything that was done to them. I think that the same thing happens for Puerto Rico.
We need Trump to do a series of ‘Ireside Chats’ to have the public to get on board with icy lebensraum.
Being turned into a Puerto Rico is a terrible destiny.
Irony alert:
Puerto Rico translates to ‘Rich Port’
That’s why the crypto bros love it!
It happened in spades to Hawaii: the (obviously parallel) story of Empire, attracted by strategically located valuable real estate, determined to steam-roller the will of a sovereign indigenous people…
The Empire won, of course — in the end Hawaii and her people were bulldozed and buried by changing the island chain’s demographics post-annexation, with the new owners importing new majorities from elsewhere to work the plantations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kūʻē_Petitions
Yes and no. After one of the aliʻi was able to win control of the islands (with a help of western military technology) there became a need to support a central government. The American whaling industry needed a port for logistics and Hawaii was ideally located. This attracted immigration from the US and other areas, and these new arrivals had experience with central governments so a symbiotic relationship developed. The traditional aliʻi were bought off with government posts and then land titles.
This relationship also helped establish Protestantism as the aliʻi traditionally had gods associated with then, giving them authority.
The American civil war created a need in the US for sugar, which entrepreneurs in Hawaii sought to meet. Sugar required significant labor input, so planters turned to the local population. This change in life style seems to have gone for the worst among the Hawaiian people (not sure if this is the only reason, probably many factors in play). At any rate the population of Hawaiians was decreasing, impacting the labor market and economy that supported the government.
Post-civil war the renewal of sugar culture in the US south decreased prices and further hurt Hawaii business by use of tariffs. This forced many producers out of business and resulted in consolidation in the industry. The remaining firms were able to dominate the economy and became the mainstay for the Crown. This period also saw post Congress of Vienna Europe looking to establish colonies in Asia and the Pacific as part of international competition, putting Hawaii in play. As the US was the primary market for Hawaii sugar, this created a sense of unease in the business community.
It should be noted the business community was by no means unified. A big player was Brit Theo Davies who acted to promote England’s positions. The Crown also sought to reduce American influence by trying to win the support of Queen Victoria. For example, Queen Emma donated her land and money to erect Anglican St. Andrews Cathedral. Likewise Claus Sprekels aka the “Sugar Baron” was considered an outsider. (Among other things Sprekels owned the only sugar refinery on the west coast so could dictate prices. Likewise he got control of the steamship company that provided service to the west coast, Australia, and Hong Kong.)
After King Kalākaua died, his sister was crowned as Queen Liliʻuokalani. Early on, before establishing a rapport with the business community she decided to abrogate the Constitution in favor of (at least in the minds of the business community) an absolute monarchy that would limit the influence of Legislature and the Privy Council. This is what precipitated the overthrow. Certainly the business community thought annexation would remove the tariff issue permanently and so was in favor (except for Sprekels who had nurtured a sponsor/client relationship with Kalākaua and no doubt looked for the same with Liliʻuokalani). US political opinion was divided — in particular as regards adding non-Euro to the population (aside from the remaining Hawaiians, large numbers of Chinese and Japanese had been brought in as laborers under a contract labor system, a system that would be illegal under US law).
It wasn’t until the Span-Am war that possession of Hawaii became a key political factor, though even then there weren’t the votes for a treaty; instead Texas was used as precedent for annexation by resolution. By then, the elite had declared Hawaii a republic with a constitution mostly modeled on the US’s.
Post-annexation made it possible to import labor from the American possession of the Philippines; today about 25% of the state population is Filipino. (Not only sugar; post-1900 pineapple culture gradually became a significant product.)
This is not the times of Teddy Roosevelt Jr. Taking over Greenland will show the cloven hoof in an unmistakable way. They would be doing this for the resources and it will be an admission that the US no longer has the resources. So all this nonsense about tariffs bringing back industry to the US is a lie. Another leg up for BRIC’s
Buying the population shouldn’t work because despite the CBO’s optimistic view yesterday US finances are a mess by the 2030’s after a couple more bail-outs. Electing someone like Mr Trump is an indication that the citizens of the US realise this and will be fine with repudiating the debt and Greenlanders would be out of the money in a decade, becoming slave labour in their own lands. Even selling out in gold won’t work because the US would seize the gold under some pretext eventually.
The reaction of Canada to this will be more than even the no doubt compromised Mr Carney could cope with. This is one of those neat, plausible and wrong solutions we hear about.
Another article today about Bernie Sanders being a sheepdog because of his anti oligarchy tour with AOC. I agree Bernie does not walk the walk, but he does talk the talk. And talking the talk is very important.
Bernie is out there making the point before many thousands of people about the dangers of oligarchy and he is calling for no more weapons to Israel. People need to hear that.
During his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns millions of Americans learned from Bernie that Medicare for All is possible and that the richest one per cent own well more than half of all wealth in the country. Nobody else was saying that. Bernie deserves credit for that.
I remembered this little song by some young musicians from Maine early in the 2016 campaign that addresses Bernie talking the talk. One of the lines is “You say the words we need to hear.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6GN4fPrJCo&list=RDL6GN4fPrJCo&start_radio=1
Talk is just talk. The most important part is following through with the walk.
In 2016, he put up no fight against primary fraud. He badmouthed Hillary throughout the entire primary but in the end he threw his support fully behind her.
I always got the gut feeling that Bernie was never serious about actually becoming President. So in my book, yes, he is and was a sheepdog.
If someone appears to believe that they are running in a primary because they ARE someone who is very important to elect, when they leave or are pushed out they could throw a bone to their supporters by giving a very lukewarm endorsement to the establishment approved candidate.
Bernie fell in behind HRC and then “his friend” Joe Biden.
I judge people, in part, by whom they have as friends.
If Bernie was exaggerating his friendship with Biden, then he fabricated a misleading story (lied).
If Sanders’ truly views the Clarence Thomas enabling, war mongering, credit card industry water carrier, influence peddling Biden as “a friend” then I maintain Bernie has earned the “sheepdog” label with margin.
Sorry to disagree here. Talk is cheap and if he was honest with people he would say that the Democrat party is the place where Progressives go to die. You said that ‘during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns millions of Americans learned from Bernie that Medicare for All is possible’ and that was true. But then he did something unforgivable after which I wiped him. Five years ago the Pandemic hit the shores of America and as a response they came up with the CARES Act. This was the golden moment to push for medicare for all – a once in a generation opportunity. And it was then that Bernie abandoned it and fobbed it off to some future generation-
‘Let me be clear: I am not proposing that we pass Medicare for All in this moment. That fight continues into the future.’
https://indypendent.org/2020/04/bernie-sanders-heres-my-bold-6-point-program-for-tackling-the-coronavirus-crisis/
After that I never took him seriously again which is why in comments I criticize him so much.
Actually, “Americans learned from Bernie that Medicare for All is possible” is far from the truth. Americans learned that now way is there going to be Medicare for All, much less under the Dems. And a better musical interlude that represents Sanders and OAC’s tour is this James Brown classic. Takin’ Loud and Sayin’ Nothin’
Like a dull knife, Sanders, AOC and the Dems “just aint cuttin’ it”
Shiva Ayurdurai talks about people that are ‘not so obvious establishment’ figures. People who talk about popular but outside the accepted box of the mainstream..They don’t accomplish anything substantial but draw people back into establishment institutions like the Democat party. Bernie Sanders is an excellent example. Tulsi Gabbard who originally appeared sincere is unfortunately a now Republican example, the Uniparty – two wings of the same bird of prey.
Chas, your argument is supporting the sheepdog label. Talking the talk without walking the walk is the problem. A message by the sheepdog herding all the sheep back inside the Dem fence. Sanders has always ended up either caving on his message “for the good of the party’s current candidate “, or simply fails to follow through with the strong leadership necessary to achieve his bogus message of change.
I agree with Chas. Yes, Bernie isn’t perfect. But he is the reason “Medicare for All” is still seen and heard by the public. Yes, walk the talk, etc., but in reality talking is doing. After all, what is this website for? Do people here “do” anything about the things they’re ticked off about beyond “talking”? It seems young people/students are the only people doing anything, and their demonstrations keep Palestine and genocide in the public’s views. Talking keeps ideas alive so it might be taken up by candidates in future elections. The lack of talking about genocide is why the scumbags in our government are getting away with supporting it.
i admit that like most folks below, the bernie fiascos of 2016 and 2020, postprimaries, were the last straw for me, in regards to the efficacy of electoral politics.
i havent bothered to vote since.
however, the bernie 2016 sticker on the tailgate of my ancient pickup afforded me opportunity to evengelise for a new new deal with the mostly a-political, but small-C conservative rednecks who do the hard work at the feedstore.
this was unlooked for, to say the least.
The trouble with the sheepdog thing is the obviously false implication that the favored version of “the left” actually had or was JUST on the verge of having, something of consequence going on until the darn sheepdogs distracted everybody. But in the real world matters are otherwise.
One time when Bernie was talking his talk at the lectern (years ago now), a tiny bird landed on it and I thought it was a sign that Bernie would win. Alas, it turns out to mean: We lose also.
Except the talk goes quiet when the Dems are in power.
im starting to wonder if the sanders/AOC thing is meant to be a passing of the torch to AOC from sanders. thus gearing her up for a presidential run.
making fun of the dems for their lack of effective opposition is an easy game. am wondering if theyre legit just so weak they cant put up a proper fight, or if they think letting trump shoot himself in the foot will give them better positioning in further elections.
Svalbard? Handwaving by a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council does not a crisis foretell.
I reckon Russia’s interest in Svalbard is quickened by Trump’s designs on Greenland.
People do need to hear this. And where else is the average American going to hear it?
Boggles the mind that people will applaud RFK jr for “at least talking about” the dangers of processed foods, as if this wasn’t the basis for entire grocery store chains and product lines. Or say DOGE is “at least finding some wasteful spending” as of that gang of witless middling freaks even understands what the government should be doing, let alone shining any light on anything. Both, to name two examples, are a colossal net negative.
Meanwhile, I suppose we need to wait for Bernie to start physically assaulting other Senators because talking the talk, introducing bills, being the rare no vote, calling things out for the record, and giving so few family-blogs he’ll go on FOX is all apparently some kind of scam.
This would be a welcome addition by subtraction, and what about those gawdawful lawyer billboards and TV commercials, make them go away too!
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/prescription-pulse/2025/03/25/can-rfk-jr-ban-pharma-tv-ads-00246067
“WSJ: Israel provided intel for US strike on Houthi official mentioned in Signal chat”
Of course the Israelis were behind blowing up that apartment block. Who else? What is it that the Israelis have for apartment blocks? Some deep psychological trauma? A quick way to kill a lot of Arabs with one hit? Has there been any reporters going to that rubble to find out how many people were killed there? I have seen nothing in the media about it.
last message from the Nostromo…
“This is Hossam’s team, and we are sharing his final message”
“If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else. For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side.
By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months . I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people.
I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.”
— For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza. https://x.com
“Putin proposes that UN temporarily govern Ukraine”
This is just Putin messing with the west. Any such operation would have to have the go-ahead from the UN Security Council but as both the UK and France sit on it, they will never allow it as they want this war to go on. A forever war if you will. And while leaders argue, the Russian army keeps on advancing and establishing facts on the ground.
I’m sure that the UK and France will have multiple meetings and negociations with their partners, when the time comes, after Russia has run elections and replaced the Kiev government, to agree on the UN temporarily governing the Ukraine.
It’s not mentioned in the Venezuelan articles, but the US needs heavy crude to mix with the light crude that it gets from fracking. If they’re going to start a war in the Middle East then they’re going to need a new source for that heavy crude. Oh look, venezuela!!
So now we see the weaponization of Venezuelan migrants and additional sanctions on any countries receiving Venezuelan oil.
What’s weird about measles is that public health seems to recognize that it is airborne, highly transmissible, dangerous.
But does not recognize this for SARS-CoV-2.
This timeline is stupid. This year is already exceeding my expectations.
I think any virus that will cause a pox or visible cosmetic issues (rash, hair loss, disfigurement), will get the public’s attention and invoke precautions.
If covid’s main symptom was a rash that lasted for days on the face, people would’ve done anything to avoid it. But difficulty breathing, debilitating fatigue, brain damage, strokes? Meh.
To be fair the R number for measles is a lot higher.
But also people are vain and that is what it takes.
America is now the problem, not the solution
Among the report’s findings: US wheat exports could decline by more than 60% and soybean exports by more than 40% if all the proposed actions were implemented.
Whoa. Should have seen that coming. All that wheat, soybean, etc. has to be exported by ship but if Trump is going to punish Chinese built ships – kinda most of them – then who picks up the tab for that extra cost? Yeah, the farmers. This should be hoisted to tomorrow’s Links.
re: UK nuclear deterrence
podcast
with William Alberque
by Etienne Marcuz
Let’s talk deterrence and the UK
43 min.
https://letstalkdeterrence.substack.com/p/english-lets-talk-deterrence-and-b0c
“In this episod, William Alberque will help us understand how British nuclear deterrence works and debunk the myths of its operational dependance on the United States.
In the second part we’ll discuss how British and French nuclear deterrence could take over US extended deterrence if needed.”
From his X:
“Spoiler alert: British deterrence is fully autonomous on an operational point of view, though it relies on the US for the maintenance of the missiles carrying the nuclear warheads, and partly of the warheads too.
We also discussed how France and the UK could improve heir cooperation on deterrence and how they could join their forces in order to provide an extended deterrence to our European partners.
It was truly fascinating to listen to him !”
p.s. Is it just me or does this French dude sound like the “Julien” character from “Emily in Paris”???
I spent a good part of yesterday grieving for my Country and the World.
The sadness is almost overwhelming.
At this point Societal collapse seems inevitable and Martial Law highly likely, the people engineering this collapse plan to pick up the pieces and build a Tech lord’s Paradise.
They believe they can control chaos.
In the last Century I watched idealists destroy their Society with the aim of building an Utopia, that was Cambodia.
I’m sure it will be different this time, more people will die and more permanent damage will be done.
I can empathize Tom, these are terrible times in the future looks bleak
The people that engineer such collapses believe that they will be on top but that ain’t necessarily so. Look what happened after the Russian revolution or after the French revolution-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror
Tom Stone, maybe it’s too late for this reply, but I’m thinking of Cambodia too, after reading about the destruction going on with NIH, science in general, and possibly even the seed vaults, if the NYT is correct.
If the national parks are privatized, the big money might be in exclusivity. Selling very high-priced access to a limited number of people.
Or Charter cities, AKA freedom cities. Here’s a podcast episode about using BLM land.
https://chartercitiesinstitute.org/podcast/freedom-cities-podcast-episode-2-edward-pinto/
Work for hire is not some new or sinister thing. Most people who work for employers sign away ownership of their work as a condition of receiving their salary. Such work can include graphics, music, writing, video, research, patents, and any other intellectual property being created on the job.
If you want to retain ownership of your creative product, you need to start your own business and work carefully to create and protect your own IP.
I’m not saying this is good or bad, I’m just saying that’s the way it’s been for a long time. It has nothing to do with AI, it’s just a basic feature of intellectual property law.
“intellectual property law” – Screw the creatives, Reward the thieves.
DOGE is planning to move fast and break the Social Security database.
When it goes wrong and people lose benefits, they’ll be able to blame the computer and fraud. Social Security cuts, done easily.
DOGE = Business Plot
TatGPT
“You’re Here Because of Your Tattoos” Mother Jones
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Not a college basketball fan, but the Dartful Codgers (east coast version) are, so i’ve been watching March Madness, and aside from a few black players with tattoos, nobody else seems to have any.
J.D Vance
I guess we’d be that ‘other nation’.
In theory the coin that George Washington threw across the Potomac River was a ‘Pillar Dollar’ issued by a Spanish colony in South America from 1732 to 1773. these were actually legal tender until 1858 in the USA.
One of the rarest Danish coins is essentially a ripoff of the Pillar Dollar, issued for Greenland in the 1770’s.
Great little story in this link…
https://coleccionismodemonedas.com/en/greenland-dollar/
Trump is mafia Don, and Vance is capo. He came to take over the neighborhood. If they don’t fold peacefully, he will send a crew of soldiers to brake some windows, and skulls. It’s free real estate.