The Geopolitical Economy of Space Resources e-flux
Space Pirates Are No Longer Confined To Works Of Science Fiction Jalopnik
Goldman Sachs Lifts U.S. Recession Probability to 35% Morningstar
Climate/Environment
Climate skeptics have new favorite graph; it shows the opposite of what they claim The Climate Brink
SCOOP: A leaked memo reveals a huge list of terms banned by the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, including “climate,” “vulnerable,” and “safe drinking water.”
The department is responsible for monitoring crops to make sure they are not diseased and can be used for food. pic.twitter.com/DKFnaa0hRu
— More Perfect Union (@MorePerfectUS) March 30, 2025
So Long Just Stop Oil, and Thanks for All the Soup ArtReview
China?
Humanoid Robots Are Lousy Coworkers. China Wants to Be First to Change That. WSJ
Secret Pentagon memo on China, homeland has Heritage fingerprints WaPo
US Defence Secretary Hegseth downgrades Russian threat, focus exclusively on Taiwan in new foreign policy strategy Bne Intellinews
European Disunion
Ukraine ceasefire to increase Russian threat in Baltic region, ministers warn FT
Estonian MPs pass bill to limit voting rights for Russian minority France24
Imagine being the “chief of diplomacy” and taking cringe photos like this.
This is one of many reasons the EU shouldn’t be taken seriously. pic.twitter.com/gYGDRCeDgZ
— Olga Bazova (@OlgaBazova) March 30, 2025
***
The time has come to punish Orbán, Germany’s next government says Politico
Isar Aerospace completes first orbital launch vehicle test flight in Norway Euronews
🇩🇪Epic footage of the crash of the German Spectrum carrier rocket. The test flight lasted 44 seconds.
The rocket, built by the private company Isar Aerospace, was launched from the Norwegian Andøya spaceport. It was the first launch of a carrier rocket from continental Europe.… pic.twitter.com/kKOLq1jPxb
— Zlatti71 (@Zlatti_71) March 30, 2025
Old Blighty
UK will buy US fighter jets despite Europe’s fears about Trump The Times
30+ Met police smash down Quaker meeting house doors to raid anti-genocide gathering The Skwawkbox
Blind people set to lose thousands in benefits still cannot read details of Labour’s welfare reform plans The Independent
O Canada
‘Extremely concerned’: UN tells Canada to stop Track 2 MAID Canadian Affairs
1/ Ever hear of a “charity” that lobbies like Big Oil? Meet Dying With Dignity Canada (DWDC). Since 2020, this group pushing assisted dying has quietly amassed outsized influence in Ottawa. Their lobbying might shock you. Buckle up for some facts.
— Kurt Goddard (@kurtgoddard) March 30, 2025
Syraqistan
Israel wants to occupy and ‘cleanse’ Gaza, Likud lawmaker says Jerusalem Post
We will see to the general security in the Gaza Strip and will allow the realization of the Trump plan for voluntary migration. This is the plan. We are not hiding this and are ready to discuss it at any time.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 30, 2025
In Gaza, Almost Every IDF Platoon Keeps a Human Shield, a Sub-army of Palestinian Slaves Haaretz
Horror-film-level war crime here, mass execution of medical workers, with more evidence emerging daily https://t.co/Vb515RPCYf
— Ryan Grim (@ryangrim) March 30, 2025
Billionaire Netanyahu Confidant Expedited Qatari Cash Deliveries to Gaza, at Hamas’ Request Haaretz
***
Yemeni Armed Forces target US carrier E-2 AEW aircraft: Exclusive Al Mayadeen
Iran rejects direct nuclear talks with Trump, open to indirect negotiations Al Jazeera
Trump Threatens ‘Unseen’ Bombing of Iran as B-2 Stealth Fleet Forward Deployed Military Watch
***
Lessons from Fallujah: War Returnees Face Long-Term Health Risks from Heavy Metal Exposure Brown University Watson Institute for International & Public Affairs
Iraqis made a bronze monument to honor the guy who threw a shoe at President George W. Bush. 🇮🇶 pic.twitter.com/rg7fxVL8LM
— Alan MacLeod (@AlanRMacLeod) March 27, 2025
Africa
New Not-So-Cold War
‘Pissed off’ at Putin, Trump threatens Russian oil tariffs Politico
Big picture: Trump proposes the US and Russia normalize relations in exchange for Russia surrendering in Ukraine. That’s the size of it. Trump has failed and the war will continue. Amateurs.
— Peter Lavelle (@PLCROSSTALK) March 30, 2025
Countries to send military team to Ukraine for “reassurance force” planning Espreso
EU/Zelensky Defy Trump; Kiev Breaks Energy Truce, EU Won’t Relax Sanctions; Huge Oreshnik Production Alexander Mercouris (Video)
***
The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine The New York Times
New York Times Fantasy Tale of Ukraine’s Almost Great Victory Over Russia Larry Johnson, Son of the New American Revolution
Secret History: ‘Bombshell’ NYT Report Uncovers True Depth of US Involvement in Ukraine War Simplicius
Interesting article, but not much new information. We’ve known that the Ukrainian army is a mindless zombie entirely controlled by NATO (in particular, American and British officers) for three years now. The US had total control over the entire chain of command and the kill chain… pic.twitter.com/O2v1fnapK6
— Russians With Attitude (@RWApodcast) March 30, 2025
South of the Border
Ecuador is preparing for US forces, plans show, as Noboa calls for help battling gangs CNN
Secret Bukele Deal Lies Behind Trump’s El Salvador Deportations Drop Site
Trump 2.0
Trump officials, allies grow anxious about April 2 tariffs Politico
The Trade Policy We Need The American Prospect
WrestleMania Doomberg
***
Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA MedPage Today
***
Chartbook 366: “Servants of the Damned” or how Trump has put a bit of stick about with BigLaw. Adam Tooze, Chartbook
VP Vance
The reactionary right is not a monolith Programmable Mutter
SignalGate
CIA Ops Veteran Calls Signal Scandal “the tip of the iceberg” Spy Talk
Immigration
SCOOP: ICE Revoking Students’ Immigration Statuses Without Their or the University’s Knowledge Zeteo
Johns Hopkins tells faculty not to ‘intervene’ in potential ICE detainments on campus Baltimore Banner
Some thoughts from a historian of US immigration and citizenship law:
Police State Watch
Private groups work to identify and report student protesters for possible deportation AP
Groves of Academe
‘Canary in the coalmine of totalitarianism’: how Columbia went from a home for Edward Said to a punching bag for Trump Alice Speri, The Guardian
‘Climate of fear’: Montreal doctor says NYU cancelled her presentation CTV News
Elite Colleges in Trump’s Crosshairs Rush to Bond Market at Record Pace Bloomberg
Screening Room
Silicon Valley
Uber’s Bastards II Edward Ongweso Jr, The Tech Bubble
A former Meta employee reviews the new Facebook memoir Rest of World
Supply Chain
Molecules of Freedom Phenomenal World
AI
Studio Ghibli in the age of A.I. reproduction Read Max
Sam Altman Says OpenAI Team “Needs Sleep” As Ghibli-Style AI Art Goes Viral NDTV
People Making AI Studio Ghibli Images Are Now Producing Fake Legal Letters to Go With Their Fake Art Gizmodo. Lots of commentary on this all over the X. Here are a few:
1.
AI “art” cannot create anything new. Your AI art (even a single Ghibli-wannabe image) requires the theft of thousands of artists, and also requires incredible amounts of computing power and natural resources! It just feels easy and simple bc all you do is type in a prompt
— Chris Alvino (@ChrisAlvino) March 30, 2025
2.
“I don’t consume the method, I consume the product” is actually a pitch perfect summation of how consumerism has permanently damaged how people perceive art https://t.co/WsD5QhUIZp
— 「Indigo」⚢ (@FoolPlanet) March 29, 2025
3.
“make a colorful manga cartoon about how silicon valley could start out progressive and move towards right-wing reactionary politics over time” pic.twitter.com/s624VRpRbH
— Quinn Slobodian (@zeithistoriker) March 26, 2025
4.
“AI art is the official art of 21st century fascism” https://t.co/xJMC8Ogssd
— jønny🔻 🇵🇸 !فلسطين حرة (@jonnysocialism) March 30, 2025
Healthcare?
A Favorite State Solution for Lowering Drug Prices Doesn’t Actually Work Boondoggle
Antitrust
Monopoly Round-Up: Tariffs, Abundance and Why America Can’t Build BIG by Matt Stoller
Imperial Collapse Watch
Major US Bridges at High Risk of Being Struck by ShipsJohn Hopkins University
In Your Face: The Brutal Aesthetics of MAGA Mother Jones
Review of Finance Aesthetics: A Critical Glossary e-flux
Class Warfare
They Are Going to Take Everything If We Don’t Stop Them How Things Work
The Landlord’s Game: Lizzie Magie and Monopoly’s Anti-Capitalist Origins (1903) The Public Domain Review
Antidote du jour (via):
Bonus:
In case you missed the solar eclipse yesterday, we have obtained the high quality video of the event for your enjoyment. pic.twitter.com/2jgbLOsc9C
— Olga Bazova (@OlgaBazova) March 30, 2025
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
132 comments
Comments are closed.
Regarding the private rocket company crashing stuff in Norway.
“Our first test flight met all our expectations and was a great success,” said Daniel Metzler, CEO and co-founder of Isar, in a press release. “We had a clean takeoff, 30 seconds of flight, and we were also able to validate our Flight Termination System”. Well the flight definitely terminated but aren’t rockets supposed to fly to another spatio-temporal point than the original spatio-temporal point in order to create a Euclidian distance that is greater than 0?
Great success is here seemingly defined as scamming tax payers through NATO. https://isaraerospace.com/press/isar-aerospace-extends-series-c-to-over-eur-220m-with-strong-commitment-from-nato-innovation-fund
I wonder if there will be a new Operation Paperclip for German/European rocket scientists now too. They seem to be just as crafty in scamming tax payers as their American counterparts.
You know who else had their first (and second and tenth) rockets blow up? NASA, USAF, ESA, SpaceX, Blue Origin. All of them. Rockets blow up when you’re testing new designs. It goes with the territory. Why should a brand new Norwegian company be any different?
Why are they spending so much money and effort to “improve” what already works?
Newer is not always better. This is why Musk and his fellow “move fast and break things” CEOs are so dangerous.
Because new, “improved” designs like SpaceX’s cost 1/10 of what’s available from legacy ULA / Boeing / ESA designs? Because without the pressure from SpaceX’s drastically lower $/lb, ESA, NASA and their captive corporate vendors had no incentive to change anything and sat on their butts for two decades? Because the European space industry might be feeling a little nervous about relying on Elon’s good will to get their payloads launched?
Everything we rely on, better, faster, cheaper phone service, better, cheaper medicines, better, cheaper batteries, you name it, everything would never have been accomplished without a mountain of effort, thinking, money, and yes, failure on the way. To think otherwise is a symptom of decadence – if I want something, it will just magically appear because I want to buy it, without lifting a finger or inconvenience on my part.
Cost what? NASA $$ went directly into the economy any was put into the bank accounts of millions of citizens. Spacex just goes into Musk’s (and shareholders) pockets and a few underpaid engineers.
This 1/10th of the cost of others has been debunked so many times I’m not sure where to start. Thunderfoot of YouTube has gone over this in detail.
And your everything statement is also, well, wrong. Many of our current woes are on this focus of “better, faster, cheaper” which anyone who cares to think critically knows cannot be the case in the manner done today. At best you get two of three. And usually not even that.
‘Olga Bazova
@OlgaBazova
Imagine being the “chief of diplomacy” and taking cringe photos like this.’
Not often that I cringe with embarrassment over a photo. And she is expected to go up against Lavrov?
She’ll bring her Nine mil and he’ll bring his AK.
When The West was on top, the raw, naked use of force was cool. Now that The West is no longer on top, it is not so certain. One’s point of view does matter.
She is expected to go up against Lavrov, and poke him in the eye. They are posing with their actual weapons, since everything else was already sent to Ukraine. 🔫
Lol yes, these people have a talent at pointing fingers at others.
The London police raiding a Quaker Meeting House and the Homeland Security raiding college campuses. I would say, from the evidence, that the Police State is already here.
Resistance is not futile.
Stay safe while resisting.
If I were one of those London police raiding that Quaker meeting House, I would be damned sure to wear a mask. I would never want my face associated with this stormtrooper tactic and have my friends and family to see it and never live it down. The Quaker reputation for peace is so long established that the name became associated with the term Quaker cannons-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quaker_gun
British national security doctrine is taking us back to attacks on dissidents by Archbishop Laud’s goons in the 1630s. Will they start chopping off ears?
Worse! They will ban people from using the internet or even having a mobile phone
But then how will we be traced, our valuable data be monetized?
I am soooooo confuzzled….
If you were in the Met Police, there’s a good chance you’re comfortable with the level of systemic racism in the force, and you probably also kept quiet at the persistent rumours and inappropriate messages from rapist colleagues, so it’s unlikely you’d care too much about the routine job of breaking up a peaceful meeting of pacifists.
the Police State is already here, indeed. I seem to remember a time when cracking down on students, universities, scientists, and the like was frowned upon by the west.
But remember, like unprovoked invasions, bombing civilians, stealing resources, and torturing prisoners: it’s okay when we do it.
I’m not so sure I do remember that time – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIccco4PRRk
Good point. “Morals for thee, not for me.” If only we could charge out teslas with hypocrisy.
I think I’d prefer to live in a straightforward authoritarian democracy which has a degree of repect for the Christian tradition rather than our uniparty totalitarian democracy which despises and attacks not only Christianity but all religious faiths other than the right kind of Judaism with a genocidal tinge and the newly invented Ukrainian Orthodoxy. And, of course, whose pocket-sized Führers never ring doorbells when there’s a chance to break down a door or two.
Of course, France will lead the way following the EU inspired Le Pen “fraud” trial based on financial rules unobserved by every party with seats in the EU parliament, but the pressures are really beginning to build up in the UK which has been ruled by feckless, ideologically driven incompetents fot the last fifty years who have led the people into even deeper levels of a cruelly imposed impoverishment that even my father, who lived in almost constant hunger in a pit village during the depression and came out of the war rightly predicting that Les Trente Glorieuses were merely a sop, a way stop to appease returning soldiers on the route back to brutal normality, would find astonishing.
Two Olga’s in the same post! Thank you Conor!
Dunno nothin’ ’bout no Ghibli. But this guy, author of Blood in the Machine gives a good rundown:
https://www.bloodinthemachine.com/p/one-of-the-best-studio-ghibli-films?utm_source=post-banner&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=posts-open-in-app&triedRedirect=true
Miyazaki is a consumate craftsman and an amazing artist. His works aren’t perfect but he’s been prolific and there’s at least two generations of US kids who have grown up watching his stuff. His characters and designs are popular as tattoos. His style is also perfectly in sync with the “cozy” aesthetic that is immensely popular these days.
Of course AI is stealing from him.
Humanoid Robots Are Lousy Coworkers. China Wants to Be First to Change That – WSJ
Well, that’s their dystopia. And it is, no matter how much they put the corporatist smiley face on the narrative.
With some of the additional child labor laws, the USA will be wondering how robots stack up as babysitters.
“In NBC interview, U.S. president threatens to blacklist companies trading with Russia if the Kremlin doesn’t agree to a Ukraine ceasefire.”
Voldermort: “Donald Johnson Lyndon Trump. They never learn.”
Give Big Don some credit when it’s due: he’s having a major catalytic effect on the collapse of the EU and that can only be a very good thing and should fill the hearts of all Mankind with joy. Maybe when the Satraps of the member states start to re-claim their independence from the unelected and unelectable EU Politburo, whose primary function seems to be playing a game of Russian roulette with all chambers loaded, we might start to see reason burst forth as the better led nation states begin to feel their way towards making efforts to build a sensible working relationship with Russia in the hope that the Russian Federation might see some merit in helping them to begin the process of re-building their decaying and decayed national industrial and agricultural economies – or not, as the case may be.
Trump 2.0 – Trump officials, allies grow anxious about April 2 tariffs Politico
How about some more auto vehicle related tariffs? Even more unaffordable transportation vehicles is just what working folks need. And we all appreciate the wonderful yard art of several cars rusting in their front and back yards.
Clearly the Twitter MAGA-sphere did not impress upon Trump’s inner circle hoe much of an own-goal, auto tariffs are…especially auto parts. (and/Or Musk lobby-captured Trump)
50 (or so) years ago there was a whole micro-fad around the book “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance”….guess working on your own car/being at least surface-level knowledgeable about car innards is niche now.
I change my own car oil, but every time I do so, my neighbors look at me as if I am performing Hogwarts-level wizardry
I am currently providing 8 hr a day home health care assistance to a 72 year old mostly crippled man who’s spent his entire life in Tennessee. He lives in his collapsing trailer home on a private lot and has 6 decaying vehicles in his yard. None of them work. While chatting with him, I asked why he has so many vehicles? He replied he always bought, worked on, and sold vehicles from childhood on. My neighbor across the street has older mechanics at his driveway everyday lately, working on cars that come and go. People are getting poorer and making due with what they have? Maybe that’s it. MACA – make cars cheap again – is what Trump should do if he wants to please the MAGA crowd.
Yes, it’s very amusing to my husband and I that no one even thinks of doing these things for themselves. On our street we are the only people that wash our own cars, mow our own grass and clean our own house. Even someone else washes the windows on their houses. I think that changing your own oil and routine auto maintenance would be a shock to them. We do these chores ourselves, because we feel like only rich people can have others do all their work for them. Old fashioned ideas I know.
Me too, but don’t get old
I have read ZAMM and I have changed a half a dozen motorcycle tires, and concluded I will happily pay someone with better tools than me to do that job instead. Presently awaiting a new master cylinder for my Tundra coming in the mail; $85 to do it myself vs $600 quote from the tire shop is a no-brainer.
The documentary “The Divide” has a deeply horrifying testimonial from a woman who moved into a gated community in Sacramento, only to lose all her old friends, then find all her new neighbors are irredeemable useless a-holes:
https://youtu.be/2yPlt_edBG0?si=TKKo-nwDPVY8Nqxh&t=1051
18:20:
“One of the things that, for a couple of our neighbors, has really bent them out of shape is that we haven’t hired a gardener. So this neighbor comes out and stares at me, visibly pregnant, raking leaves. Is just staring. And he yells from across the street, ‘you know only poor people, only poor people rake their own leaves.'”
21:27:
“Most people drive a Mercedes or a BMW or if they do drive an American car it is the newest possible version of whatever. We drive BMWs. It’s not that we have decided to drive a 1988 Hyundai. I’m very happy with the fact that my car just rolled two hundred thousand miles. It means I’ve taken care of something I paid a lot of money for. That’s not what you do here. You buy something, you use it for like six weeks, and then you get rid of it and buy the newest version of whatever the ‘it’ thing is.”
Check the Tundra repair manual about replacing the master cylinder. We had to obtain a computer device, and proprietary data from Chrysler Dodge to electronically purge the air from the brake system of the Dodge Dakota truck after replacing our master cylinder. If needed, some repair shops will rent out the device and program to DIYers.
Good luck!
Trump probably shouldn’t have said that he ‘couldn’t care less’ if tariffs make car prices go up. That wouldn’t fly well with fly-over America
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/30/trump-car-tariffs
He also said ‘I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars’. No cheap Chinese-made cars for you then as the US will be a captive market.
Jeff Foxworthy:
You know you are a redneck when the home you live in is mobile,
and the cars in the yard aren’t…
I drive a16 year old Honda and I do not expect to ever buy a new car of any manufacture ever again.
Yes, indeedy! I looked all over for an old Lexus a couple years ago. Found a 2007 RX350 with 112,000 miles and hope it outlives me. I drive about 3-4k a year so it should last. If it doesn’t I’ll go back to my bike.
a starting point for almost anything toyota..
https://m.youtube.com/c/thecarcarenut/videos
there is essentially infinite, free information on the intertubes and peeps dont empower themselves.
these are good too…
https://www.youtube.com/@CarWizard
https://www.youtube.com/@theroyaltyautoservice
https://m.youtube.com/@TEVIDEOS
I drive a 27 year old Honda. I’m hoping it outlasts me. If it doesn’t I will be walking, to the bus stop, at least.
Hondas from that era are great cars.
the only problem is/will be finding quality & affordable parts.
I doubt that 25% tariffs will not encourage anyone to open a US production line for parts for >25 y.o. cars….which is why Trump is really own-goaling it.
particularly as (IMO), cars seem older in the exurban-rural MAGA heartland.
Same here. 11-yr-old Corolla with only 60k so far and retired me driving less than 2k yr. Good local auto shop too. In fact, young mechanics at the shop admit admiring my car. I’ve become the proverbial old lady with a great car that has low mileage and gets regular maintenance – the kind of car those guys at the shop know is a treasure. Be a great affordable, reliable ride for someone’s wife or teenager when I shake off this mortal coil.
Is the IDF AI art meant to be the USS Liberty attack?
I wish I had noticed that. It certainly does look that way.
” ‘Pissed off’ at Putin, Trump threatens Russian oil tariffs”
I have a theory about this Trump outburst. Trump is getting frustrated. He negotiates a deal where Russia and the Ukraine will refrain from hitting each other’s energy infrastructure. But from day one, the Ukrainians have done nothing but hit Russian energy infrastructure. I read that one such attack was by HIMARS. Don’t they require US input to target places? He then gets a deal going about the Black Sea. But that is immediately sunk as the EU says that they will never, ever honour it – not even if the war ended tomorrow. Then come the kicker. Putin points out that Zelensky cannot sign a final peace settlement as he is illegitimate – as is his government. Boom. Trump is demanding that Zelensky signs a document handing over the Ukraine to the US for literally forever. But if Zelensky is illegitimate, so would his signature be on any legal document. And it was at that point that Trump threw his toys out of the crib, hence this outburst of frustration.
He seems unaware that using language like that doesn’t impress people. Especially when you consider the term emerged from the idea that someone who is “pissed” is in an unpleasant state (due to being drunk or having urinated themselves).
What a wonderful image this leader of America is promoting.
One more tantrum and mom will give me the candy, I’m sure.
“…one such attack was by HIMARS. Don’t they require US input to target places?” NOT. AGREEMENT. CAPABLE.
This could very well have been elements of the Pentagon or the CIA going off the reservation. It has happened before. Like when Obama and Putin came to an agreement about Syria only to have the Pentagon attack the Syrians defending the besieged city of Deir ez-Zor in an effort to let ISIS take that city. It was after that episode that the terms agreement-incapable started to be used.
Dissident factions within the DC Bubble & Echo Chamber going in to business for themselves? I am shocked! Shocked! Who are the usual suspects and where are they to be found? At the head of the government is old threat and bluster, but in the bowels dueling actions. The unsettling has already happened and it looks to get worse.
Or when JFK got a very big, very brief headache that one time.
See Doctorow’s latest (via gilbertdoctorow.com)
Gooooooood Moooooooorning Fiatnam!
Operation Rolling Blunder was a couple months into action with sustained bombing, in terms of negotiation results-I mean really horrid, who would want to do a deal with us unless you were on the stateside vendetta list having not done all grown up now Anthony Fremont a solid, and feared retribution?
all grown up now Anthony Fremont, if the shoe fits…..
‘Owemerta’
Great work putting this all together, Conor!
“The time has come to punish Orbán, Germany’s next government says”
The title was the bait. And this passage is the switch-
‘To circumvent that veto power, the incoming German government wants to “advocate an expansion of qualified majority voting in the Council of the EU, particularly on certain issues of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), such as the imposition of sanctions.” That would enable decisions to be taken without the need for Hungarian approval.’
Such a change would mean that you would have majority decisions made instead of unanimous. So if a majority of countries voted to send troops to the Ukraine under Ursula’s “guidance”, then ALL EU countries would have to do so. Or if a majority of countries voted to hand over their entire budget to the EU, then all would have to do so. But if I were Germany, I would be careful about going after Hungary. Germany is out of weapons having sent them all to the Ukraine while Hungary is fully stocked up and ready.
“… if a majority of countries voted to send troops to the Ukraine under Ursula’s “guidance”…” then Caligula in curlers would see the EU break up faster than Greenlands iceshelf.
What’ll they do? Send Skorzeny to kidnap Orban’s son?
“Trump won’t rule out seeking a third term in the White House, tells NBC News ‘there are methods’ for doing so”
I am not sure why so many very well informed commentators and analysts cannot see that the powerful have just created the perfect storm since 1945. Trump steps in through an election, paid for in large measure by the faction in the elite who can profit in a society-wide pump and dump scheme. In “democratic elections” (sic) Trump ideology propels a significant chunk of the US electorate to wistfully hope that the policies enacted presently will relieve them (as individuals and sometimes families, etc.) of their miseries: starvation wages, non-existent healthcare, drug ridden cities, armed groups fighting over drug spoils, etc. There is no viable solution that can enacted which will not penalize the elite in this society. What Smedley revealed is that the military is prepared to intervene on the side of the powerful. As the present situation gets worse only divine intervention onto American society can stop a solution akin to what was witnessed in banana republics in Central and South America: Guatemala, Argentina and Chile are within the last 50 years. The difference in those times was that the military coups were visibly propelled in large measure by the US. In the present case, there is no external “invisible hand” nor is one needed. The internal rot has weakened the internal checks and balances to a house of cards. The wildcard in all this is the sheer amount of gun power among unorganized individuals. Not to speak of the armed militias with no love or attachment to the drug cartels. As Marx wrote, Mr. Mole is busy working underground and who knows where he will come up. If the present situation was to be resolved differently (like in Russia, China, Cuba, etc.) a significant proportion of the powerful elite would be supporting a total restructuring of US society. Not to be found.
The market is having a sad. Down goes NVDA!
$103 and sinking. Bezzling, Bankrupt AI!
The quantum hype appears to be up to bat next.
It could be the next (bubble) thing but AI has to die first. Die, AI!
NVDA closes red, and kids, we got a distribution day. Higher volume red candle. Now, I expect it to bounce for a few days.
Worst first quarter for stonks since 2022:
Choke on your 401k statements, America!
Whilst NVDA teamed with some AI goons thinking the future is here today with higher stock prices for C-suit/noble investors – for’eva – vast swaths of gamers/work from home sorts/and others … have been moving away to AMD. Reasons are … don’t want over priced AI driven enhancement, requires heaps more power [runs hot (boom/shorter life span] which then requires bigger power source, and not well placed for future proofing …
I bought a RX 7800 XT graphics card with 16GB for a lot less than the NVDA equivalent. In fact for the same money I would go down a few levels with NVDA. Quite, less power consumption, can run any game, functional/easy to use user suite, etc.
Ha … I am still using my 1200W Thremaltake power supply from an 2010 build.
Wellie off to my day of manual arts, mostly fixing what was done wrong before when doing it well/right was better for everyone, on the day, and in the future …
Well, it’s mostly sad for newcomers. One year ago it was priced at $76,
Like a dog returneth to its’ own vomit …
Regarding Trump “exploring” a third term, this appears to be one of those red herring issues meant to divert attention.
A distraction to divert attention…
People freak out about a possible third term but meanwhile…. oh look, Trump has an executive order eliminating paper checks, etc. As if life isn’t difficult for so many already.
I know what the PMC and MSM will be focusing on and it ain’t paper checks. They will get a good full week of outrage over it when you figure in the end of week recap shows.
Re The reactionary right is not a monolith–says the author
“The point is this. It is not just that the American right is becoming more extreme, but that its extremism pulls in two radically different directions. One faction yearns to return to the cultural stability of a world in which everyone agrees (or is obliged to agree) on shared values, and the only legitimate arguments are about how best to achieve the worldly version of the kingdom of heaven. The other fantasizes about a radical acceleration of the forces of change, ripping society apart in the name of perpetual innovation. Moving towards the one means moving directly away from the other.”
The article says Vance embodies this fence straddling even as the Dems try to mold him into another of their cartoon opponents. Clearly Vance–whatever one may think of him–is a lot smarter than Trump and politically smarter than the social skills lacking Musk who, the article points out, was not mentioned in Vance’s speech. So perhaps one could go out on a limb and suggest there are voices of reason to oppose the egomania of Trump and his “broligarchy.”
I have been watching the return of Wolf Hall and the sequel is in many ways a retread of the first series with everyone looking older. But the theme, of Thomas Cromwell tiptoeing around the whims of the axe wielding Henry 8, seems very relevant to our moment. Isn’t absolute monarchy what America is supposed to be against?
“US Defence Secretary Hegseth downgrades Russian threat, focus exclusively on Taiwan in new foreign policy strategy”
‘Senator Lindsay Graham has repeated said: “This is the cheapest war America has ever fought and not one US life has been lost.” ‘
Well that can’t be right. Trump reckons that the US has spent $350 on the war in the Ukraine which he wants back. Is that what Graham considers cheap? So where does he draw the lie then. At a $1 trillion? And I’m not even going to go in to the number of Americans killed but I suspect that after the war the CIA alone will have to carve a few more stars into their Memorial Wall.
Why would Trump still be pursuing the “rare earths” deal if it was so cheap?
Watch their actions, not their gaslighting words.
It’s Lindsey btw. And sources like Simplicius say that American lives have been lost but we simply aren’t told about it.
Lindsey was in the reserve military but as a JAG officer. Dunno if he even went through basic training but should probably be made to do 100 pushups.
>And sources like Simplicius say that American lives have been lost but we simply aren’t told about it.
Which makes me curious to the explanation for the soldier’s death to any family members. They can’t all be orphans.
Awhile back when the Russians wiped out a Kiev Patriot battery a simultaneous report said a platoon of Air Force had died by accident at Tinker AFB in Oklahoma. Irresponsible not to speculate.
And of course many off the books USians have been in Ukraine.
In another incident to your point I do remember, but can’t find the link, but there was a news report that stated there was a rash of “suicides” by members on a US base, the timing which coincided with the Russians taking out a Ukrainian position. ( Irresponsible of me to not provide a link…)
You must mean this article. But seriously, 17 dead and the USAF doesn’t want to talk about it?
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/16/air-force-wont-disclose-causes-of-17-deaths-tinker-air-force-base-year.html
Film at 11. And 12. And 1…
Don’t disagree with the historian of US immigration and citizenship law. My but would be that the administration is making the claim that former process can be zeroed out on the claim that someone is a criminal.
The classis examples are how is any of Elon or Melenia’s original process not void because they committed fraud.
Right now we can point out they are just making stuff up and if they seriously though the students were criminals, they’d have to prove it. Which is true, and doesn’t interfer with trying to abolishing ice.
I’m also waiting for Rubio to accidently revoke the student Visas of a few bright stars working as paid interns at, say, Blackrock or Akin Gump. I’d expect a snafu like that to be fixed quickly. Giving this whole clown car another chance to mumble something about hiccups and breaking eggs to make an omlette.
Last I heard Rubio was saying both that he has personally gone through every single one and also that it might be 300, it might be more, it might be just student VISAs and it might be student and visitors. He has not personally gone through 300 cases and why does he think I’m that stupid?
Why not revoke citizenship of government officials who supported war crimes.
This right now ought to be the Democrats finest hour. If they were not such a fantastic fraud.
So no one complain about “TechBros”.
I hated the term the first time I read it. You could not do them a bigger favour than coining a word based on their self-perceived image. When do progressive advertisers ever understand the affirmative nature of narrative and image?
I prefer the term “TechHole”.
That´s actually a pretty good one!
re: “No work, shelved projects, menace of OTT: Bollywood insiders reveal how the film industry is crashing”
Since I don´t have time to follow Bollywood (which as an art form is completely independent from EU and USA with its very own patterns) I was a bit surprised it´s that bad.
On a similar note, Warner Brothers trying to avert a major crisis:
Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy Under Fire at Warner Bros. Amid Box Office Flops: ‘We Didn’t Want to Fail’ David Zaslav (EXCLUSIVE)
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/mike-deluca-pam-abdy-warner-bros-movie-flops-1236351128/
And Amazon preparing the demise of serious content on their platform for same reasons. Until a few years ago I had a bit of hope Amazon would use their bottomless purse to offer a few decent features. Naive me.
If a Salke is regarded as a major creative force for doing stuff like…
“(…)
The Rings of Power, Fallout, Reacher, Red One, Maxton Hall, The Idea of You, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Saltburn, Road House, Beast Games, Culpa Mia/Tuya and others speak to the hits under her leadership that have stirred cultural conversation and delivered incredible storytelling to worldwide audiences…
(…)”
“incredible storytelling to worldwide audiences” – how much is Amazon paying Variety?
Jen Salke Announces Departure as Head of Amazon MGM Studios
https://variety.com/2025/film/news/jen-salke-departing-amazon-mgm-studios-production-deal-1236350446/
If it´s true that Amazon did Rings of Power simply as of Bezos´s bidding, that´s beyond any comment.
I keep pointing something out about Amazon, that there was a big story regarding how much of a money loser their Alexa department was. It was in the billions. I fully admit I was never able to confirm if they grouped their kindles and fire tablets under the same umbrella, but what was acknowledged in passing on multiple articles was it did include Prime Video services and production. Let me tell you, the model to pay for those productions including purchases just doesn’t add up. Especially considering that the amounts spent on certain shows would have gotten the executives fired by old school production company heads. If more than half of those losses were not from Amazon film and television production alone I will gladly eat my hat.
BTW, I’ve also seen epic waste on Netflix productions, the bad scuttle butt there is also more than likely true.
The rules may not have changed:
1. Make something people want to see and will pay to see it.
2. Don’t spend too much making it.
Technology has changed the business in ways that not even the tech experts understand. It is much harder to calculate “box office”. And creativity, real creativity, is the victim as everybody chooses what to make based on imagined profits and puffed up credentials. It is a recipe for disaster.
Fully agree. Whilst I lack the particular knowledge over what segment in Amazon messed up how much of the overall bill.
Following Netflix it became apparent that what is mentioned in the Bollywood article – economics students who have no clue of film-making calling the shots – in some form is true for Netflix in certain parts, e.g. features or bad YA-serials. While their high-value series are their main accomplishment I have seldom seen such an ongoing line of misfires in features. Which I still regard as the royal discipline.
But the fact that even Disney+ messed up hints at some more serious structural issues. Dangers which are not new. There is hardly anything which can make you get broke like making movies. In fact the better the movies in the high-end segment the more likely the bankruptcy or being shut down. (BlueSky Studios, NewLine Cinema, Fox 2000, Weinstein, Touchstone etc.). Dreamworks may be one of the few exceptions (with whatever shady support I don´t know. But on paper at least the titles delivered in their sum.)
But why should Boeing have the entitlement of being bailed out repeatedly over the decades and in essence be a state-owned company and studios not.
re: “Studio Ghibli in the age of A.I. reproduction”
This should be the threshold for folks to finally understand that beyond 19th century industrialism and the accompanying concepts of machine building (which would also apply to entertainment and arts) capitalism never existed.
Max Read has gifted us with “reproduction” in his essay. Qualifying something as a reproduction reduces its value exponentially, and we should all consider using the term where it fits when discussing AI.
“Ukraine ceasefire to increase Russian threat in Baltic region, ministers warn”
So if I got the underlying story right, the Baltic States want the war in the Ukraine to go on to keep them safe? Tough luck if you are Ukrainian.
Did you ever step on an ant accidentally or on purpose? Russia cannot be bothered with the Baltic states. They ought to get it through their heads that neither NATO collectively nor the US nor any other member of NATO nor of the EU would come to their aid.
re: Matt Kennard on the deep state in conversation with Aaron Bastani
How The Deep State Actually Works
145 min.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaooeJzsRU8&t=206s
timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:48 Trump is right to end USAID – but for the wrong reasons
21:08 US-funded media or American propaganda?
45:10 The British legacy media is compromised
58:26 The need for independent progressive media
01:06:30 The military base on Cyprus: a remnant of British empire
01:14:28 Direct British military involvement in Gaza
01:30:47 Europe remilitarising
01:39:26 Will Russian invade further into Europe?
01:49:40 When is “defence” spending really justified?
01:57:17 Why the UK needs a new progressive party
02:03:16 The future of British politics
And his qualifications and personal in-depth knowledge are ….
I am not through yet its almost 2,5h.
But I guess as formerly FT, now DeclassifiedUK and investigative journalist.
I don´t claim that to be fully satisfactory.
On the other hand we lack even this standard in Germany.
Funds for indie reporters are meager.
So investigations outside Germany are seldom. Which means re: USA/UK deep state there is almost zero German coverage. With that I do thank the work of Declassified, Grayzone and others.
p.s. And yes, the fact that Kennard did cover Washington I believe for FT as a regular does still make a mighty impression on German mainstreamers. The snobism in Germany runs embarrassingly deep. Which helps!
I remember in a moment of weakness I had turned on some German TV discussion on Ukraine. By accident Adam Tooze was invited. You cannot imagine how silent those incapable racist German pundits suddenly became once Tooze spoke like God´s voice. It was rather mundane what he had to say of course. But with those people present he could have stated 2+2=4 and they would have marveled at him.
Here is his Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Kennard_(journalist)
I’m not quite sure what you would consider acceptable qualifications or “personal in-depth knowledge.” I hope you do not mean something like academic “expertise” or having actually served in some “deep state” capacity. Some of the most ideologically-driven, one-sided information (or disinformation) on such subjects have come from individuals with such credentials. Michael McFaul has sterling academic credentials with regard to Russia and actually served as US Ambassador to that country. Do you want to know my opinion of his “expert” opinion on the subject? This is not to say that we should just accept the credibility of some online blogger – or anyone for that matter. The sources, background, preexisting biases and interests of the individual should always be considered. But the absence of the “right” qualifications or “personal experience” is used just as often to stifle critical inquiry as it is to enhance it.
Here’s something Matt Taibbi had to say about McFaul:
Taibbi lived in Moscow when McFaul was ambassador there, so I assume he saw McFaul trying to speak Russian. And this is typical of US academics–very few of us speak lingo of the countries we allegedly study all that well nor know much about the actual place beneath the surface (I include myself in this group, btw). This is in contrast to a lot of foreign academics who usually speak English very well at the very least. So people like McFaul are well credentialed largely based on being articulate to people like themsekces why the world should be flat or triangular or however people like them already think it ought to be. But actual competence that matters in dealing with the locals in terms that make sense to them they are totally lacking.
I believe this is the same segment at the Novara Media site (so as to avoid youtube ads)
https://novaramedia.com/2025/03/23/the-british-military-is-actively-involved-in-gaza-heres-how/
Bastani and Novara are crypto-Zionists who did much to put down the Corbyn movement and supported the Syrian dirty war. Kennard is a good egg but I would take anything Bastani says with a big block of salt.
I realize I am expecting too much in our media muddled reality. But now that the “paper of record” has acknowledged that the US has been running the Ukrainian war do you think some of our war mongering blue no matter who partisans might connect the dots and realize that we aren’t unbeatable?
It really does not bode well on American chances in a one front war much less a two front one if our deeply deluded brain trust decides to start things with Iran, Russia, and/or China.
‘do you think some of our war mongering blue no matter who partisans might connect the dots and realize that we aren’t unbeatable?’
Of course not. Those people would say that if it was US troops doing the fighting, that they would have rolled right over the Russkies. The same sort of attitude held as US troops went into Vietnam in 1965.
One delusional piece of nonsense from the article (attributed to US General Cavoli who occasionally sounded saner than others, but the comp is weak):
If, by this point, anyone thinks the US Army is half as good as the Ukrainian, man for man (if not in material) let alone the Russian (in both man and material), they are crazy and blind.
AI art? Hardly art. To produce art one must have talent. One must use the talent to perfect the product be that painting, sculpture, music, dance, acting. Oh you can crank out simulacra of each of these by one means nor another and some of them can be quite pleasing, but they are derivative, not original. To call the product of machine learning, so-called AI, art is an insult to humanity.
The Partnership: The Secret History of the War in Ukraine – The New York Times
As I suspected, nothing about the USA’s involvement in the Maidan demonstrations.
That’s the real “secret history.”
Yes. This “secret history” seems to start after Russia’s invasion in Feb. 2022; nothing to see here before that date! And as far as after – if only those stubborn Ukies would have listened to their wise US advisors they’d have defeated those Russian weaklings. Our allies never learn!
Some time back the NY Times published another “secret history” – of the CIA’s involvement in Ukraine. I took that as a sign that a significant segment of the foreign policy Establishment was thinking about cutting our losses. Interestingly, that “history” started in 2014. But the story line was that it was only *after* the “Revolution of Dignity” that the US, specifically the CIA, got involved in helping those patriotic Ukrainians protect themselves from Russian aggression. And it was similarly distorted; the aggression was all on the Russian side, and once war broke out all the setbacks were because the Ukies kept going off the reservation and beyond the advice of their wise CIA advisors. At least the story was clear on the central role of the CIA after 2014, but of course there was nothing about the long history leading up to the coup.
The NYT has no business calling this garbage-barge of revisionist U.S. military self-justification and blame-shifting a “history” without mentioning U.S. involvement in the continuous cycle of “color revolutions” since “Ukraine” was enticed into withdrawing from the USSR — and without mentioning Biden’s role as “viceroy” after Euro-Maidan, or the names of Nuland, Blinken, and Sullivan and their connection to the Russophobe emigrés from mitteleuropa who ran the Cold War and neoconservative foreign policy.
Reading the comments on RT today I’m grateful to Putin and Lavrov for resisting the urge to lob a few missiles at Wiesbaden and to take-out the GPS satellites being used by the Americans there to kill young Russians attempting to protect the eastern oblasts from the Kiev putsch. They would have been justified and supported by their countrymen.
It seems like each section of the piece was premised on a new bad-faith distortion of history and fact.
On the other hand, the article basically implicated a dozen or more US generals as actual war criminals who have broken multiple conventions of war. People have been hanged after World War 2 for making decisions like these.
(sarcasm mode, or is it?) Surely, all the pardons handed out by Joe Biden does not protect them against being hunted down by law enforcement of Russia or, soon enough, the (actually) free Ukraine.
Today’s Duran had great review of that NYT article.
I mostly agree on his views about USAID, but many of its humanitarian aid programs actually help people in dire need, such as community kitchens in Sudan, even if corporations are involved. This part of USAID merits defending.
Yes, these programs’ intended purpose is to make the U.S. look good and project its power but people still suffer and die without them. https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-usaid-rubio-marocco-canceled-programs-gaza-syria-congo-hiv-ebola
This is about AG’s post above: How The Deep State Actually Works
This shows the damage that is done by using legit programs as cover for undermining the rest of the world. But it also shows the true colors of those who let it, or made it, happen. And sets a timeline on when the US became a tool of the oppression.
I just spent several hours I will never get back reading about the earthly paradise Elon’s Muskovite Dogebags will bring about once American Civil Society has been destroyed.
It is neatly summarized in Nick Land’s essay “The Dark Enlightenment” and I urge IM Doc and the other’s here who identify as Christians to read it.
And bring it to the attention of as many others as possible.
There is no room in the Technate for either Spirituality or Religion, no room for Empathy or Kindness.
It is the bastard child of Taylorism and Marxism combining the worst aspects of both.
If this stuff reads too much like a cheesy SF story to be believable keep in mind that Elon Musk’s title at Tesla is “Techno King” and then take a look at a Cybertruck.
Marxism? Is this the same Marxism that supposedly inspires the ex-Trot neocons?
No, they have abandoned Marxism.
aye.
it aint marxism,lol.
unlimited hangout had a 2 part and very long takedown of all the dark enlightenment thing…and, again, slatestar codex(or whatever scotts calling hisself these days) had a really good deep dive into the whole phenomena.
both from some time ago.
ive been paying attention to moldbug for a long, long time…he has some valid positions,imo(cathedral=essentially deepstate/ruling class)…but the logorheah and circularism and hubris is really offputting, to me.
and the absolute only reason i can see to pine for Ceo monarchism is it narrows the target options if they piss me off overmuch.
Those neocons may have always been infiltrators intended to break up the left and discredit Marxism. If you dig into their background pre and post their supposed Trotskyite period, they come across as quite spooky.
Gabriel Rockhill has done good work exposing that postwar Western leftism was bought and paid for by the US deep state. The reason why the left here is so confused and self defeating and powerless is precisely because that’s their job, to ensure that there is no effective alternative to the status quo.
French far-right leader Marine Le Pen barred from seeking office for 5 years, a political earthquake
Barring Le Pen from running validates the Trump Administraion’s posture toward Europe and Mr. Vance’s Munich remarks that the greatest threat to Europe’s values comes from its own establishment’s suppression of dissent. [1] It is likely to backfire in France as it did in America in 2024.
No wonder the Britain voted to get out of Europe.
[1] https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/14/europe/jd-vance-munich-speech-europe-voters-intl/index.html
Mr. Vance’s Munich remarks are abusive relationship raised to the state level. He is criticizing US vassals for following orders from USA. It’s like a bully accusing victims for making him abuse them. Is he going to release them from vassal status? Nope. He wants to tighten the grip “for their own good”.
holding a politician responsible for a crime isnt anti democratic.
in Illinois, roughly half of the governors of my state have done prison time.
LOL, indeed! In Britain, openly abusing public office allowances and getting kickbacks from plutocrats are minimum requirements for high office.
As I understand it, she was convicted of steering a few million Euros of salaries paid by the EU congress to her congress deputies into domestic party activities. Lucky she ‘scaped hanging !
https://www.vice.com/en/article/visit-the-mesmerising-japanese-locations-that-inspired-the-studio-ghibli-films/
I would be cool with IDF beaten back by forest spirits and left to live beneath some floorboards somewhere hiding out from the watchful moving castles and some hungry cat buses while kiki takes over aid delivery.
I think Doctor Who in Matt Smith era cribbed the horror of an abandoned theme park overrun by monster cybermen.
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Nightmare_in_Silver_(TV_story)
Also, various gods and cats could chase them into eternal service of the spiritual bathhouse.
Like to see those giant insectoid sporifying over the eucalyptus and pine plantations to restore native fauna like ancient olive groves and cedar and date palms. Ghibli adopted Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea books but left out the spiritual concluding story of giving up magical powers to reunite the spirits of living and dead (releasing them as prisoners of artificial underworld with wall).
https://www.ursulakleguin.com/the-books-of-earthsea
https://screenrant.com/scary-studio-ghibli-creatures/
Love the Antidote du jour.
For those about to rock…?
Dying With Dignity Canada is hardly an organization comparable to Big Oil: their financials. Their financials were a measly $8.5 million altogether. Their expenditures were $775,083 on advertising. That’s certainly an outsized impact being made for $700 thousand if it’s being compared to Big Oil’s impact. As far as I can see, DWDC is just another run of the mill non-profit.
(Whereas the province of Alberta alone spent $7 million alone on a single advertising campaign. If DWDC had Big Oil’s money to campaign, then they’d probably be in a much more financially secure place than they are.)
And what’s with all the brouhaha and hullabaloo being made about Canada MAID Track 2? There were barely any requests made: 622 altogether in 2023. Only 251 of those proceeded, which likely means medical professionals re-evaluated the patient and found their requests reasonable within the parameters of the law. And considering how stringent the law is, I’m not sure why the EU is sticking its nose into Canadian governance. And Track 2 only exists to track this data. If it’s removed, then that data’s just going to be rolled back up into Track 1. It’s a pointless demand, to be honest.
I really do wish there was a lot more skepticism when it comes to criticism of Canada’s MAID law. It seems like people are taking too much misinformation at face value, when there are reports and data available online that anyone can access.
It’s not “stringent.” We shouldn’t even be debating about “Track Two.”
We slipped. Now it’s okay for our physicians to kill people who do NOT have a terminal illness.
That is the correct information. And what it shows is something rotten about our country.
I used to be in favour of MAiD. Now I realize that I was wrong. I’ve changed my mind. The whole program has proven to be dangerous. We must abolish it.
Why the Right Still Embraces Ivermectin
So
But that’s not true. There were many studies that showed a positive effect. This wasn’t necessarily conclusive, as some studies showed there was not a benefit. But at human doses, it is harmless.
No one serious ever suggested taking IVM at dangerous dosing, or animal versions.
Umm, because it works? and none of the “approved “treatments do?
Saw another one over the weekend decrying RFK Jr for recommending vitamin A for measles – https://www.yahoo.com/news/after-rfk-jr-recommends-vitamin-a-as-a-measles-treatment-some-texas-patients-show-signs-of-toxicity-214353603.html
If you only read the headline and/or skimmed the article, you might think RFK was touting vitamin A as a replacement for measles vaccines. If you read the article though and click through some links, you will find that the CDC is still recommending vaccines as the best way to prevent measles, and that some doctors have treated people who already have measles with vitamin A and documented some success with that, which RFK noted on TV. A full reading also makes it clear that those who contracted measles were not vaccinated for it, which implies at least to me that perhaps they should have been.
There’s a much more sober assessment here – https://www.propublica.org/article/measles-vaccine-rfk-cdc-report At issue is the fact that RFK is saying getting vaccinated at all is a personal choice. While I would prefer that he didn’t emphasize that and instead talked about the concept of a public good rather than individual choice, getting vaccinated has always been a personal choice.
But rather than going with the more sober assessment and having a rational discussion pointing out the shortcomings of current recommendations, the media will go with the hysteria every time. And then wring their hands about why trust in pretty much any US institution is at an all time low.
I wondered about that; and as with Trump, what we have is the liberal Democrat media quoting people out of context. Surprise, I guess.
Sure have been an awful lot of out of season wildfires popping up all over these not so united states, with alarming regularity.
Bishop is about an hour from where we ski in Mammoth, and a now 1,250+ acre blaze in March in a fairly normal snowfall year seems way out of character going by the old normal, but The Big Heat® has other plans.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/silver-fire-california-spreads-1000-acres-prompts-evacuations/story?id=120322788
An oldie but a goodie, from about a year ago, before protest was banned.
Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev’ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together abide
Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?
We all know that people are the same whereever you go
There is good and bad in ev’ryone
We learn to live, when we learn to give
Each other what we need to survive, together abide
Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?
Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
Ebony and Ivory, by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4mlhcFKzXQ
re: Glenn Greenwald on Signal “scandal”
30 min.
https://scheerpost.com/2025/03/31/glenn-greenwald-the-truth-lies-about-the-atlantics-signal-controversy/
hm…this episode (I don´t watch System Update often) appears pompous to an extent. GG executes this like investigating a murder case…
1) Since when does GG defend a government´s right to plan and commit war crimes in secret?
2) Does he really believe Goldberg would have gotten into trouble had he “blown the whistle” before the fact… (had an indie anti-Zionist outlet done that, then yes but not with JG)
3) First time I heard Hegseth live. The guy is an idiot.
4) Was Hegseth critical of the Iraq War unlike JG? Nope. Oh, according to Wiki he started his career as a guard in Guantanamo. Now that´s reassuring.
5) Hegseth and Goldberg deserve each other. GG should point that out.
6) The enemy of your enemy is NOT your friend in journalism.
7) As to Mike Waltz: Apart from being a Green Beret, which is killing and torturing people (if not in this order) he also was „counterterrorism advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney“. That´s cool too.
8) So what are priorities of System Update? I know GG knows all this. But he might wanna shift focus to a level which once made him a decent journalist. I gain nothing from being explained that Gabbard and Ratcliffe are lying under oath. Who the fuck cares. Sorry.
9) One thing I would blame GG for: Naivité. Does he really believe Trump cares about Waltz and JG? JG is part of the war crimes family USA. They need each other. And everyone knows this. Only GG does not?
p.s. According to Wiki (fwiw):
-Hegseth when in Iraq formed “an alliance with councilmember Asaad Ali Yaseen”. Yaseen was “ambassador of Iraq to Yemen 2010-2012”.
-“He volunteered to teach at the Counterinsurgency Training Center in Kabul”. So he instructed people how to torture. So we have another war criminal among billionaires in the cabinet.
That´s a great title for a new Netflix show: “War ciminal among billionaires”.
https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20250328-the-people-boycotting-travel-to-the-us
I’ll see firsthand how Trump’s policy towards the National Park Service plays out here, along with Burning Man, combined with him doing his best to scare off visitors from other countries…
About 30% of visitors to Sequoia NP are foreigners
About 20% of visitors to Burning Man are foreigners
…now why he has such a hard-on for California, i’ll never know
The Village Market (local nickname is the ‘Village Markup’ as an 88¢ can of Fancy Feast bought in the Big Smoke of Visalia magically becomes $2.19 in Three Rivers) is an interesting place to observe in the spring to summer months when high season is upon us-a little grocery market with 4 aisles, and you might hear French in one, Dutch in another, Japanese in the 3rd aisle over, and a distinct Aussie accent in the final aisle.
When you’re riding a shuttle bus in the Giant Forest and listen to the myriad of accents going on, it feels more akin to nations united, if only because of searching out the holy grail, er bucket list.
Tourism is a big part of the state’s income, and foreigners going to the NP’s rarely camp out as most didn’t bring gear with them, so they’re the ones filling AirBnB’s here.
Twas the weakest winter yet for local garage mahal enthusiasts, was the word around town. Lots of inactivity.
The temperature vs CO2 graph shows correlation but not causation, IMHO.
Interesting developments around Taiwan,
China launches military drills around Taiwan, calls Taiwan President a “parasite”Reuters
Chinese military says it’s launched joint army, naval and rocket force drills around Taiwan in ‘stern warning’, CNN.
From Reuters, “A series of propaganda videos were released (by China)…..This was followed by a video titled “Shell”, and depicting Lai Ching-Te as a cartoon bug held by a pair of chopsticks above a burning Taiwan, on the Eastern Theater Command’s WeChat page.
Unsurprisingly, “Taiwan’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on China depicting Lai as a bug.” (Reuters).
Taiwanese are basically the Kurds of East Asia at this point.