Men with higher-quality sperm live longer, study finds The Guardian
Is Everyone the Same Person? Nautilus
Climate/Environment
Forgotten Climate Chronicles of 16th-Century Transylvania Hold a Dire Climate Warning ZME Science
Trump’s Executive Order on Forests ‘A Devastating Blow,’ Activists Say Inside Climate News
Eerie scenes in Dallas as dust from the West blankets the city. pic.twitter.com/yY7InNJH7z
— NewsWire (@NewsWire_US) March 4, 2025
Pandemics
West Texans, Mennonites at center of measles outbreak choose medical freedom over vaccine mandates Texas Tribune. “Freedom.”
Measles case in Pennsylvania leads to warning for JFK Airport travelers after unvaccinated child contracts virus New York Post
Federal workers with Long COVID face firings, loss of accommodations, and more challenges under Trump The Sick Times
Understanding Trump’s War on Research Funding & The Future Pandemic Accountability Project
Japan
Japan’s worst wildfire in half a century spreads Channel News Asia
China?
China targets ‘around 5%’ GDP growth in 2025 and lays out stimulus measures as trade worries mount CNBC
Commentary: When even China markets start to ignore Trump Channel News Asia
***
China’s White Paper on Controlling Fentanyl Pekingnology
The white paper renders the ‘fentanyl lie’ self-defeating: Global Times editorial Global Times. Commentary:
If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end. https://t.co/crPhO02fFE
— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) March 5, 2025
Old Blighty
Holocaust Survivor Summoned for Police Interview Over Gaza Solidarity Protest Byline Times
O Canada
‘She did it at least three times’: Kristi Noem slammed over ‘childish’ insult to Canada Alternet. Classy.
Syraqistan
Rejecting Arab plan, White House says Trump ‘stands by his vision to rebuild Gaza free from Hamas’ Times of Israel
Netanyahu’s funding for Hamas via Qatar enabled October 7 invasion, Shin Bet reveals Jerusalem Post
BREAKING: 14-year-old Muin Ghassan Fahed Salahat, arrested by Israeli forces last month, has become the youngest Palestinian ever placed under an Israeli administrative detention order. This practice allows authorities to hold Palestinians without charge or trial, using “secret… https://t.co/lYfoysfeFz pic.twitter.com/Dcnmuc4Ce1
— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) March 4, 2025
Archiving Gaza: The Race to Save Evidence of War Crimes and Mass Destruction Drop Site
***
Putin Agrees to Help Trump Broker Nuclear Talks With Iran Bloomberg
US designates Yemen’s Houthis as ‘foreign terrorist’ organisation Al Jazeera
European Disunion
Germany’s future coalition partners to relax debt rules to boost defence budget The Guardian. Commentary:
Germany’s only back if they stop their de-industrialization. Everything else is secondary to that and all real power is based on having an industrial base. https://t.co/HymjDp6Coo
— Ian Welsh (@iwelsh) March 5, 2025
EU Proposes €150 Billion Defense Loan as Trump Pulls Back Bloomberg. Commentary from the Atlantic Council:
A defense-spending-driven-debt-binge buttressed the dollar’s dominance in the 1980s.
If Europe can seize the moment by issuing eurobonds to finance its collective defense, euro ascendance would follow. pic.twitter.com/iWqArWssmn
— Daniel McDowell (@daniel_mcdowell) March 1, 2025
Project Porcupine Doomberg. “Assessing the fantasy of an EU military surge.”
“The envy motif is deeply rooted in the economic policy discourse in Europe” Philipp Heimberger, Notes on macro policy debates
New Not-So-Cold War
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy appeals to Trump after US suspends military aid Al Jazeera. Commentary:
MAGAland thinks Zelensky is capitulating. He isn’t, aside from being hilariously deferential. Zelensky’s proposing the Euro plan for sea & air ceasefire, to shift the “who wants peace” narrative burden onto Putin without giving in to Russia’s war aims.https://t.co/V9k0fq5bSk
— Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) March 4, 2025
US, Ukraine sound optimistic notes on mineral deal The Hill
Ukrainian oligarch’s stake in Poltava mining plant seized by state agency Ukrainska Pravda
***
How Starmer raised the stakes to get Zelensky talking The Telegraph
JD Vance sparks British fury as he mocks Ukraine peacekeeping plan Politico
EU States Secretly ‘Happy’ for Hungary, Slovakia To Block Ukraine Aid European Conservative
Trump’s pivot toward Moscow met with joy in Russia Kyiv Independent
Trump 2.0
Trump passes Clinton, gives longest modern address to joint session of Congress The Hill
Trump’s big speech to Congress signaled more chaos ahead Vox
***
OPM walks back memo on firing probationary employees, leaving decision to agencies The Hill
CFPB drops lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo over Zelle fraud CNBC
After mass firings, the IRS is poised to close audits of wealthy taxpayers, agents say ICIJ
GSA prepares to sell over 400 federal properties Politico. ‘GSA may not sell all of the offices. The agency said in its statement that it “welcomes creative solutions, including sale-lease backs, ground leases and other forms of public/private partnerships to drive the full optimization of our space.”’ Useful chart:
As Trump threatens to offload federal buildings, NYC brokers are projecting sales prices The Real Deal. The deck: “Can old courthouses and agency offices be converted into luxury condos?”
DC-area housing market flashing yellow but not red yet over DOGE cuts, return-to-office mandate WTOP
DOGE
Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries Wired
Pronouncing DOGE Language Log. See also NC here.
Democrats en Déshabillé
They look like bidders at a Sotheby’s auction https://t.co/LhW0s3KIcs
— Alice (@AliceFromQueens) March 5, 2025
Some Democratic members protesting Trump by wearing pink outfits pic.twitter.com/kgqKhIYniE
— Ken Klippenstein (@kenklippenstein) March 5, 2025
Democrat Al Green removed from House after interrupting, heckling Trump The Hill
How the bond market could check Trump’s power wbur
AI
The Silicon Valley Consensus & AI Capex (Part 1) The Tech Bubble
Supply Chain
BlackRock strikes $23 billion deal to place Panama Canal ports under American control CBS News
Police State Watch
One Hopped Turnstile, 9 Police Bullets, 4 People Shot. Does It Add Up? New York Times. Commentary:
THREAD. The assumption that the reasons people in power do things are the same as why *they say* they do things is one of the most important forms of propaganda. The greatest lie of all is that billions flowing for more militarized police surveillance is “to prevent crime.” pic.twitter.com/o3wruEoV7Q
— Alec Karakatsanis (@equalityAlec) March 3, 2025
Groves of Academe
the question is: what makes a protest illegal?
answer: whatever rich zionists don’t like.but,
what happens if an overwhelming number of students protest? do they all get expelled? deporting foreign students is harsh for the individuals, but could be a blessing for them in the… pic.twitter.com/B73a6aLfit
— susan abulhawa | سوزان ابو الهوى (@susanabulhawa) March 4, 2025
Trump’s Protest Threat Reflects Belief That Free Speech Belongs to Some FAIR
Columbia University’s Secret Disciplinary Process for Students Critical of Israel Drop Site
Our Famously Free Press
How Western Media Has Manufactured Consent For Atrocities, From Iraq To Gaza DAWN
Antitrust
Google Urges Trump DOJ to Reverse Course on Breaking Up Company Bloomberg
Digital Watch
Google’s March Pixel Drop is here with a ton of Android upgrades Ars Technica. “Google’s AI will also begin butting in if it suspects a caller or message is attempting to scam you.”
Google Starts ‘Silently’ Tracking Your Phone—How To Stop It Forbes
Screening Room
I don’t think people realize how incredible it is that a movie rendered in nearly real-time in free software on a single computer just won the Oscar for best animated film. If there was ever any proof you don’t need AI, this is it. https://t.co/G48N7G2d6c
— Reid Southen (@Rahll) March 4, 2025
The Friendly Skies
US aviation safety ‘no longer the gold standard,’ according to statements at House hearing CNN
FAA Eyes AI System to Watch America’s Airways PYMNTS. From Nov. 2024, still germane.
Guillotine Watch
CRYPTO ADVOCATE ADVISES THE COMMON MAN TO SELL A KIDNEY Futurism
Class Warfare
Worker-to-Worker Organizing Can Save the Labor Movement How Things Work
A Man’s A Man For That Class Consciousness Project
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
‘Square profile picture
NewsWire
@NewsWire_US
Eerie scenes in Dallas as dust from the West blankets the city.’
Got just the music to go with such scenes that was also used about 5 years ago-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=so-FcHTWEIY (1:25 mins)
yeah.
here in west central texas…300+ miles southwest of dfw…it was pretty hellish yesterday.
steady winds at 40-45,gusting at 60+…dust everywhere, visibility to half a mile, at best.
on my side of the place, there are a few parts of the various tin roofs that rattle in such circumstances…but the most crazymaking yesterday was the booming sounds from the wind, itself.
i suspect that this was bits of the lowlevel jet stream, that drove this wind event, descending to the surface.
i didnt loseand limbs or trees, and only one bit of tin(the eyebrow on the east upper side of my roof that keeps water from running under the tin) blew off.
others in the county were not so lucky.
theres a thin patina of dust on everything, even inside the house.
Here in my part of the world we are expecting a cyclone with a strength not seen in about half a century. Gunna have to batten down the hatches tomorrow in the same way that you probably do when expecting severe weather-
https://apnews.com/article/cyclone-alfred-australia-brisbane-gold-coast-f40a46f400f42d7d94dc5a91cb11c11a
Wondering if we will lose power and the internet too. Time to fill up the thermosflasks.
@Rev Kev … depending on the eyes land fall, north of Brisbane bad, eye center not so bad, and just even 20 klm south – phew – all the nasty is on the clockwise 8/7/6 position.
So now its down to amount of rain in hrs flowing to the sea, whilst huge storm surge w/high tide timed with cyclone landing and 6/7 meter waves backs rivers up. The really big question is how wind gust of up to 150 klm w/ sustained 55/75 klm effect buildings not built for it. Brisbane has never had a cyclone direct hit IMO. The floods of 74/2011/2022 were completely different.
74 was a prolonged 7 day soak without the Wivenhoe dam. 2011 was due to crazy rain fall in N. Toowoomba w/ already soaked soil racing to Wivenhoe, which necessitated large volume release. Had they released earlier to accommodate inflows it could have been all avoided. 2022 [east coast low] is similar in the sense of 300+mm of rainfall in a short 48+ hr time frame overwhelming catchments via outflows.
So, we have the latter above with/multiplied by storm surge plus high tide and 6+ meter waves, with sustained 55/75 klm hr winds with gusts up to 150 klm hr. Not to mention this is a slow moving cyclone[7 klm hr], good in the sense of time to prepare, bad in the sense of how much time it has to effect everything pre and post land fall. There are about 20K homes that are classically inundated and another 40K effected just from flooding around historical norms of 3.3[2013] to 4.6[2011] meter heights.
The next 24 hrs is a big question mark, maybe Cat3, where and when with high tide[????], yet the high winds will be the factor missing in all the previous examples. At least this time I am not a block away from the Brisbane River in Jindalee[2011] and on the side of a hill in Chapel Hill, albeit just a block up from Cubberla Creek reserve. All stocked up with food and grog [wheat beer/Jap whiskey] and dog food and roads will be cut off for a few days in spots. Everyone I know is doing the same with aplomb and as its said in Queensland – if we have beer – we can rebuild~~~
>Men with higher-quality sperm live longer, study finds – The Guardian
Now that’s is one of the most useless headlines I’ve ever read, but hey, it’s the Guardian. How about, men with higher-quality healthcare, a good diet, and lower stress levels live longer? Nah, go for the lurid.
It is the Guardian. Of course its health coverage would be trash (as you clearly know). Which is why, as it being in an area I could say something (maybe) interesting about, I went looking for what the real experts I used to work with said. Yep, the Guardian is reporting the simplistic take on it all. Those Islingtonistas who definitely didn’t get their jobs via nepotism are perfectly capable of interpreting this for us ;-)
Kinda wonder if the Daily Mail might (as Yves has mentioned herself in the past) have a better take on this…..But I don’t like searching for DM articles……I’d rather search for pron.
It is hard to find good original reporting, and you have to respect the Guardian for pivoting to the one subject their entire staff is intimately familiar with.
Re sperm quality/count. I wonder if they looked at/are looking at auto-immune conditions (and the weird spikes seen increasingly frequently since March 2020). A quick search for the guy who wrote the original NHS guidelines for treatment of non-specific urethritis gave this as a link. The first author is him. I used to work indirectly with him and (slightly discomfited him when I ended up being seen by him for NSU – which, take my word for it, wasn’t sexually transmitted. He ended up concluding “this is auto-immune; take low dose amitriptylline to deal with discomfort”, which worked and simultaneously cured my lifelong insomnia but that’s another story.)
The more recent work seems to bear out things he expressed suspicions about way back then – namely the autoimmune stuff. The link with eye stuff is especially interesting since I was diagnosed with chronice blepharitis in Sydney years ago and learning that my body is probably killing my sperm gave me a weird sense of satisfaction (having no desire to ever procreate).
Plus, given the mentions made of mono infection, both for NSU and long COVID and I know I got mono shortly before my immune function really started concerted attacks on my body, it kinda makes me wonder if research on sperm may need more follow-up.
It seems that Zinc Sulfate is good for sperm quality. So is it good for lifespan as well? It seems like it.
Discovery of Human Zinc Deficiency: Its Impact on Human Health and Disease
So could Zinc Sulfate help with COVID outcomes and our current decline in lifespan? I doubt we will ever see a serious study on this.
Also, you might want to see this:
Understanding the Link Between Blepharitis and Zinc Deficiency
https://eyesurgeryguide.org/understanding-the-link-between-blepharitis-and-zinc-deficiency/
Thanks. I discontinued my Vitamin C supplements in favour of ones that also incorporate Zinc a while back. However, I have since been warned to ensure I keep other supplements boosted that include things like copper since the two electrolytes work in tandem.
The blepharitis is, thankfully, rarely a problem for me these days. Provided I wash my eyes using a dedicated flannel daily and use Blephagel (thankfully on prescription these days since OTC cost is disgusting here in UK) then my eyes are fine. However, my old rhinitis symptoms are back with a vengeance since 2020. They were sorted in the early 2000s when my turbinates were lasered as part of a septoplasty – I was warned at the the time that the procedure only had a 50% success rate (hence why they only ever did it under the NHS if they were doing something else to your nose anyway) but thankfully it did work for me and I was freed from rhinitis meds.
As part of my long COVID it feels like anything that used to get inflamed is now getting inflamed again…..along with a bunch of other body parts. That’s life!
And you need to keep your copper intake up. The best way is a daily 100-gram bar, 70%-85% dark chocolate which contains 1,770 micrograms of copper, around our daily requirements.
I have zinc supplements to balance out my chocolate intake.
>Is Everyone the Same Person? Nautilus
The next possibility is that the self simply doesn’t exist. That is, we may feel like we remain the same person over time—perhaps for evolutionary reasons—but we actually don’t. This is the no self view.
I think this is the view of John Rogers Searle and other modern philosophers, what Rick Roderick called the “deflationary view” of the self (he died way too young).
If we are all fundamentally the same person, the only rational thing would be to care about the experiences of every conscious being as though they are your own, because that is what they actually will be.
Too bad we are not merely “rational beings.”
There are hard wired (genetic) traits. Otherwise the self is a construct. We all, never the less, live in separate bodies. Although the entire biome could be considered a unified organism there is competition for resources and it is the individual that drives evolution.
We are ‘hardwired’ to be aware of ‘self, not-self’ as we wouldn’t survive long if we weren’t, but we are, indeed, only one being–as is the entirety of creation. I had a taste of this during a meditation retreat when, walking down a country lane, I suddenly became everything. I was the cow, delighting in eating grass while nursing her calf, the calf enjoying her milk, the bugs, worms, etc. in the soil, the joy of the grass growing and so on until all became burning ecstatic energy. The realization that all this wonder was so ephemeral was sad beyond measure. I cried for weeks. It was hard to drive, as I was simultaneously driving all the cars! So…not very functional.
>Some DOGE Staffers Are Drawing Six-Figure Government Salaries Wired
Wow a whole “six figures!?” Has anyone at Wired lived in the DC area? About 16 years ago I rented a 1 bedroom apt. in Reston, VA for around ~$2.2k a month, can only imagine what a family needs to survive around DC.
The max possible. In the same range as people with a ten-year history. And no prohibition on other earnings.
So consult with those who stand to benefit from privatized while also being paid to facilitate looting and crippling the agencies to be privatized. Usinf any spare time to lay groundwork for blaming the government stealing taxpayer money when the newly privatized agencies have no value -despite the higher cost and total lack of oversight and accountability.
Quite different than the volunteer, doing it for free claims even though they could be making “millions.” Claims made every single day by Elon Musk, the world’s most transparent crusader (according to him.)
The average annual pay across the entire federal workforce is $106,382, according to OPM, reflecting the skew toward white-collar jobs held by highly educated people. Half of all federal workers make between $50,000 and $109,999 a year. Relatively few (3%) make $200,000 or more, while 8% make less than $50,000., What the data says about federal workers, Pew Research. Lot’s of interesting info here.
>Democrat Al Green removed from House after interrupting, heckling Trump The Hill
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) was removed from the House chamber where President Trump was giving his address to a joint session of Congress after the congressman heckled the president early in his speech.
I wonder if Al Green and Thomas Massie could form some coherent opposition on key issues like unconditional support for Israel and the never ending wars, could be that there are 2 Congressman with a backbone…though I know next to nothing about Rep. Green.
I grew up watching the Watergate hearings as a young person. I saw clips from hearings like the Church Committee. I saw the Dems as the minority party, not so much in numbers but in momentum, doing the best they could with the Reagan Revolution. Although I may not have agreed with all that was being said, the Democratic members were professional and had very important comments and arguments to make. Ervin, Church, Moynihan, O’Neill, E Kennedy, among many others. Who can ever forget Barbara Jordan during the Watergate hearings? Those words will be remembered for all time. Compare and contrast that to the Bingo/Auction placards last night……all the pink dresses being worn by the “feminist” women who had just 2 days ago refused to stop handing over young women’s scholarships to men…..Seriously?……..compare Barbara Jordan, a Black Texan, to the Black Texans Al Green and Jasmine Crockett, last night. One ranting like a 3 year old……the other throwing one F bomb after another. Unlike my parents who were happy to let me watch the goings on as a kid – I have to turn it off for my own. The rants are either laced with profanity or they are so unhinged to the point that I just do not want them watching it, I do not want them thinking this is normal adult behavior.
Sorry, I have known about the illness in the Democratic Party for some time. The events of last night were just heart-breaking. I just do not know what else to say. And the really sad thing is I do not see any kind of solution on the horizon. It just seems to be getting worse by the day. This is profoundly tragic for the country. We need some kind of organized opposition – not Romper Room. I saw clips of Symone Sanders on MSNBC last night showing her reaction. She is obviously in the same camp as I. When you have lost Symone, guys, maybe you have a huge problem.
It had the look of a silent slave auction, with Donkey Show slaves doing the bidding.
‘What am I offered for this 2 term Congressman who has accomplished nothing other than being a co-sponsor in renaming post offices and other Federal buildings?’
Or a grotesque cameo by Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson) in the movie Get Out.
This behavior has set an unfortunate example at the local levels where towns and school boards are thinking of closing down public comments all together in meetings because they’ve too often turned into shouting matches from the floor. It did not used to be this way. People would raise their hand and wait to be called on to speak, and then the next person, etc. Occasionally someone would get a little too heated and be asked to leave.
Now it seems like shouting down the school board or town council has become a sport for some, at least in my blue uni town.
Not just your town. The rona had municipalities using zoom to hold meetings instead of going to city hall in person. That made it very easy for cowardly people with racist Tourettes to chime in. We had a rash of callers disrupting meetings who would have never dared to do so if they had to go in person. But it sounds like many are taking it to the extreme in person too.
Speaking of Watergate brings the long term decline in standards into sharp focus. Something like Watergate is just business as usual now and no-one would bother to investigate or prosecute. How are the mighty fallen and few worship the meek Galilean now, it is Mammon they all worship openly now.
Had the entire left side stood up in solidarity with Green I would have been impressed.
Swindler Man
>How Western Media Has Manufactured Consent For Atrocities, From Iraq To Gaza DAWN
As Israel commits atrocities in Gaza with U.S. weapons and tax dollars, it is time for Western journalists to rectify the mistakes of the past and report the truth.
I wish, unfortunately, as borne out in Ytube and other Google searches, the ends will be the same (manufacturing consent). Only now, the means/methods will become more refined, obscured, and effective, not to mention infiltration of alt-media. As Ellul points out both in his books on Propaganda and Technology, mass society needs the media to preform this function.
Glenn Greewald guest host Lee Fang about the Oscar winning documentary. ~14+ minutes.
Oscar-Winning Film SENSORED in the U.S.?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTK-7DuSv4I
” ‘She did it at least three times’: Kristi Noem slammed over ‘childish’ insult to Canada”
This is a 54 year-old woman doing this. One who as Secretary of Homeland Security expects to be taken seriously by the country. Normally if you had a woman there her age with grandchildren doing that sort of mickey-mouse stuff, that she would smack them upside the head and tell them to knock it off and to grow up. But in a Trump Cabinet she will probably get a high five-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kristi_Noem
We live in a clownogenic environment!
Did you catch the GOP rep who ripped a sign out of the hands of a Dem?
That’s likely civil battery … the Donkeys can boast that they at least did not commit any intentional torts last night.
Whole thing was a clown show. Trump lying about just about everything, stupid democrats protesting with silly signs, like they were at an auction, and the pink suits.
Oh the power of their protest! Protesting musk pretty hilarious since Obama basically gave musk all sorts of taxpayer money on the sly. From solar panel rebates to space X. Biden loved himself some Starlink for Ukraine. They did get themselves all in a twist over being mean to Zelinsky. Get out the fainting couch! I think they must have forgotten the pink hats!
If he did that to me he would be picking himself off the ground.
We are being treated to “government” as performance from The Don to The Kristi to Al Green and the Silent Auction. Who needs Tik Tok when we have the DC Bubble and Echo Chamber?
I eschew all social media except that reproduced elsewhere but I suspect cat and dog videos and influencers may be superior as performance.
There was an hilarious Washington Babylon post on Matt Gaetz yesterday that mentioned her a couple times. She apparently hooks up with Corey Lewandowski. These people are definitely going to end up on the outs from the sheer foolishness of their acts at some point. None of them have the cunning of the Donald but they seem to believe they’re protected by his superpowers.
https://www.washingtonbabylondc.com/p/matt-gaetz-the-king-of-the-trump-01b
Apart from his predilection for young women, Gaetz was not bad on cracking down on Silicon Valley and monopoly power. Funny that.
Our new Sarah Palin. / ;)
So we’re broke, but we have money for a Golden Dome and a rocket ship to Mars. I wonder in whose pocket all that Dome and Mars money will go.
I guess I hadn’t really been paying attention not to know that Musk is 53. Unless he’s going to Mars after he passes 60, he’d better hurry up. I regret that I have but one monthly Social Security check to give so that we can build Elon’s spaceship before he’s too old to go. (Did Elon promise to take Trump’s kids and grandkids with him?)
The money does not come out of pockets but with official foolishness the value of it declines.
You’re broke, so you only have money for a promise of a Golden Dome and a rocket ship to Mars. Making them work would be prohibitively expensive.
‘Defense for Children
@DCIPalestine
14-year-old Muin is the youngest Palestinian child on record to be issued an administrative detention order. Israeli forces are holding him without charge or trial on “secret evidence” not disclosed to him or his lawyer.’
I notice in that image that he has his hands in his pockets but his thumbs are sticking out and I wondered if this was learned behaviour. A long time ago I met this Irish guy that was living there during The Troubles and he was talking about the constant British patrols. He said that people there learned to, when they had their hands in their pocket, have their thumbs sticking out. That way the British soldiers would not scrutinize them so bad as thumbs inside a pocket might indicate that it is wrapped around a gun while thumbs sticking out probably indicated they were safe.
Re. What can Democrats learn from the Brits?
Money quote at end:
«You need politicians who can take a baseball bat to the idea that they are culturally and intellectually on a different planet to their voters. There’s Starmer. By 2024 he can say, I’ve killed Corbyn, I’ve killed Corbynism. I don’t stand for that stuff. Whoever ends up representing Democrats in 2028, there’s a compelling argument that their interests would be served by having some evidence of antagonism with the hard left.»
I tend to harbor some hard left and middle ground philosphies, after a few scores of years on this browning earth. I’m thinking there is a ‘right path’ threading between Left and Right. One of the best books I read back in college (I know, I know…) was Robert Heilbroner’s, ” Between Capitalism and Socialism” .
It really sorted through and made compelling cases for the virtues of markets, and the obvious wisdom of well-managed and controlled utility functions.
“We” can’t seem to agree on where the sun rises and the color of cloudless sky at mid-day any more.
Anyway, great read, although it sadly seems in this day and age it arguably is a waste of time!
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4250997-between-capitalism-and-socialism
Hmm. I’d argue “Whatever Starmer does, do the EXACT OPPOSITE”. Nobody thought Corbyn was culturally/intellectually on a different planet to voters. They disliked him because he was demonstrably media-unsavvy, hung around with people who (rightly or wrongly) were personae non grata and simply was not the leader we needed for Corbynism.
Starmer is haemorraging support round here. And in today’s Guardian we read that his chancellor is anti-welfare. I had to check I wasn’t subject to Mandela Effect on this and rechecked my tablet. I saw the article before it disappeared, and has now been relegated to a sub-entry in the “Live Feed” on the Guardian which I couldn’t work out how to link to. Hmmm.
I just see people who without a major boost to public spending are deserting Labour for Reform here in “potential Reform UK land”. The Democrats should look to people who understand a balance sheet rather than the people in charge of the Brits. Watch Nottinghamshire in the May local elections – some major upheavals are summarised in the wiki and we’ll be interested to see what happens in a bunch of seats where Labour former councillors have “moved upstairs to Downing Street adjacent positions”.
Or begin to show antagonism toward perpetual war…..
Dems are no different than RINOs lusting for war that profits the MIC.
“Standing with Ukraine” is not different than Hitler lusting for the Caucasus oil…..
Or, Hitler lusting for Ukraine and its mineral resources, oh, and standing with Ukraine, too.
The more things change…
Or Blackrock lusting for that black soil.
I think the Democrats have learned these lessons already. Conor spells it out in his essay today – they’re appealing to the “good” billionaires while blaming their failures on all that “leftist” stuff that turn people off. But then they had already learned these lessons with Carter, with Clinton, with Obama, and with Biden. This ain’t new. It’s cyclical.
I can’t think of a more appropriate model for future Democrats than Starmer. I wonder which party will be the first to finally die?
Putin Agrees to Help Trump Broker Nuclear Talks With Iran Bloomberg
Guess Putin missed an opportunity to also offer to help Trump negotiate with Saudi Arabia over its vast natural resources of snow and ice.
There might actually be something with this idea. Both Russia and Iran have had treaties and agreements reneged on by the US so neither of them will trust Trump and so set up unrealistic expectations. The Iranians may agree to hold enrichment at 60% and the Russians will do all the inspecting and monitoring as nobody trusts the IAEA anymore. They are a busted flush. If the US learns to bite the bullet and trust the Russians here, they may have a working deal. Trump can say that he has made sure that Iran won’t develop nukes – which they were never going to do. The Iranians will get sanctions relief which will help their economy. And the Russians? Apart from all their economic agreements, the Russians will probably sell the Iranians highly sophisticated radars and anti-air missiles so that Israel does not come along and try to screw the whole thing up by making them secure from attack.
Agree. Huge benefits for the Russians as it demonstrates benefits to US to deal and work with them. They might have to bite lips if Trump obsesses over their nuclear (weapons) program which may not even exist…like ice and snow in SA.
Who is brokering nuke talks with Israel?
They only broker with themselves, just like they only investigate themselves, and police themselves and judge themselves.
Tis one of those mysteries why no one is willing to stop them.
There might actually be something with this idea. Buying time. They should sign it in Minsk.
“Trump’s big speech to Congress signaled more chaos ahead”
One thing that article did not mention was when Trump was talking about Greenland again. He said ‘I think we’re going to get it one way or the other. We’re going to get it’ in a real sinister way. The same way that Biden promised that he would stop NS2 from being used by Germany. For those interested, here is a long article about the background to the situation in Greenland-
https://original.antiwar.com/Joseph_Terwilliger/2025/02/19/greenlandic-grievances-with-denmark-and-trump-annexation-plan/
After their experiences with the Danes, I do not think that they will want to swap them for American masters. Just ask native Hawaiians how that is working out for them.
RE: Last night’s pretty-in-pink dem “protest”
Meanwhile, according to Fox “News,”
Fox “News” goes on to say:
THIS is also why “they” lost.
(This and the fact that when DJ Daniel, a 13-year-old battling brain cancer who wants to be a cop when he grows up, was made an honorary secret service agent and no dem stood up and clapped for him.) The dems are irredeemable.
I think that most Democrats are actually graduates from the AOC School of Performative Theater. I have seen masses of Congresswomen in the past wearing white for some cause. Last year a lot of them were wearing yellow and blue to support the Ukraine. I think that years ago I even saw them in red, white and blue. It all means nothing but it makes them look like they are doing something heroic – while the cost of those outfits get claimed back on their tax forms. They should do what the Serbians are doing in their Parliament – chucking flares and smoke bombs. It would make for great TV watching-
https://www.rt.com/news/613680-serbia-opposition-parliament-chaos/
They’re either graduates of the School of Performative Theater or graduates of one of the intel agencies/military.
It was funny watching Green be escorted out of the chamber while acting like a blue collar working being drug off a union picket line, shaking his cane at T. Now that’s performative theater. / ;)
I think it’s the other way around. AOC is a graduate of the Dem School of Performative Theater. ;)
“It would make for great TV watching”
certainly more entertaining than yesterday´s horror show of ultimate boredom
Yes, I noticed this myself. None of the Dems had the good grace (or the working hips) to clap any of the Real Americans, even if their valour being honoured was theirs alone and being stolen by Trump. I think there were a few who clapped a cop and maybe the west Point kid but that could have been the Supreme Court who were ringside on that side.
Maybe Trump should have brought in a fake president again. If I remember right, the Democrats all got up and clapped the last time around when Trump showcased the would-be usurper Juan Guaido.
“The hug”. Team blue wouldn’t stand and applaud if a cure for cancer walked through the door. According to Fox, “Most Democrats appeared to remain sitting as a 13-year-old brain cancer survivor was asked to be made an honorary Secret Service agent, which led to swift criticism on X Tuesday night.”, Social media explodes after Dems do not stand for 13-year-old cancer survivor: ‘Truly sick people’. I’m curious as to which dems broke ranks.
Trump started the speech by trolling the Dems on how Dems would oppose reflexively anything he did, said, or even complimented. Looks like he read the state of things exactly right. I got Rubio-in-2016 like vibes–remember how Rubio stumbled in the first debate exactly the way Trump trolled he would?
I would also add that Ames is right about Zelensky, but I doubt Trump is thinking he’s giving in. Trump is probably giving Z just enough rope to hang himself with. No matter what one thinks about Trump, he is very good at reading people.
Yeah, I watched it and that was my favorite part. This was Trump’s best moment and truly laugh out loud.
As his speech went on, it occurred to me that Biden is the gift that keeps on giving.
No they lost because they ignored inflation, the same thing that Trump is actively increasing due to his administration slapping tariffs on everyone, and immigration.
What is really tragic is that Democrats made trans-gender people into a political football; On my weekly Pandemic Zoom call, at least several people are in or adjacent to this community themselves or their children, and they’re being actively terrorized by Trump’s policies. There’s real panic about being able to get passports with the correct gender, rumors of identifying documents being seized (not confirmed), and otherwise palpable fear.
If Democrats had just quietly supported some of the more reasonable positions, while acceding on the sports issue, maybe conservatives wouldn’t be all in on this.
What a needless travesty.
Watch out if you’re in a Democrat supported identity silo! You’re expendable.
ICAO is the standard for air traffic in the world, with US/FAA, in the past few decades, a bit slow on the uptake.
US had the theory early but implementation in air traffic like weapons seems to be less than advertised.
RE: Ian Welsh tweet
The people of the Rust Belt could have told the germans that a long time ago.
In fact, Andy Grove, former ceo of Intel (now deceased), DID say it in a classic essay 15 years ago. If you haven’t ever read it, you should.
This country was warned and those warnings were ignored by the sniveling money grubbers who pretend to “govern” this country.
Thanks for this link.
“FAA Eyes AI System to Watch America’s Airways”
I got an idea. They should wait a few months and then when Musk is flying into DC, the head of the FAA can ring him while he is flying. Tell Musk how grateful the FAA is for all Musk’s input and say how in fact his plane is being entirely guided by an AI with no human interference at all. That this AI is tasked with bringing his plane down (not literally) into DC and avoiding any Army helicopters or inbound & outbound aircraft so that his own plane does not end up in a ball of burning jet fuel. And that the FAA is now sure that they have gotten rid of all the bugs in the system and the way that the AI was hallucinating aircraft and mountains that were not there. I’m sure that Musk would be grateful for the news.
Re: Trump post…arresting protestors
In the same camp with Bezos
There should be big pictures of Vance in clown make-up at that EU conference where he did all that talking about free speech.
Same with thin-skinned Elon over at X.
re: Democrats en Déshabillé
I think it’s fair to say the Dems and DEI and lockdowns and mandates and not stopping Gaza got T elected. Not that T won’t do bad stuff, but the last crew wouldn’t even let the Dems have a primary and just foisted the word-salad on their voters. “Here. Shut up and vote for this!”
The Dems response to T’s joint address to Congress was given by a Cheney approved, ex-CIA and intel operative now in Congress. Considered a rising star by the Dem estab. Yeah, the Dems aren’t talking to me. / ;)
Maybe the Dems can make Liz Cheney their 2028 Democrat Presidential candidate. Show people who they really are.
We’ve got the Wall St. GOP “vs” the intel agencies DEM party. They work together on most things. What a choice. / ;)
Maybe they should rename themselves the Ratchet and Pawl parties.
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/TOGglfDcg2M/maxresdefault.jpg
I watched Slotkin’s response. She opened with focusing on the economy and sounded good. Mind you, this is low hanging fruit and it’s a funny thing how dems have good ideas when there’s no chance they will become policy. Her spook blood came through strong and ugly once she moved to the subject of “security”. As a general observation, I think we can safely say Slotkin represents team blue’s hope as they work to rebrand their operation.
Biden on Ukraine with Harris unchanged….
To me we dodged nuke war bc Russia is saner than the united states’ war aka Democratic Party
Wow – was up till 4AM juiced and very disturbed from listening to T – the guy is a master who is only enhanced by the pathetic Democrats – i wasn’t going to listen but curiosity and that human trait to watch a fire that is destroying – lie after lie – promises totally unable to keep – gasoline on the fire of anger at the impotency most americans feel but most are unable to define why in any critical examination – the veiled threat about Greenland and implication of Panama – on and on, it seemed to never end – it is one thing to observe and criticize in an academic manner, but i have to admit that the effectiveness of T’s rhetorical propaganda is terrifying – i shouldn’t have watched but i did and now it is something i cannot unhear or unsee – i cannot afford nor at my age able to relocate out of this country and so i am stuck here – more fortunate than most in having a small orchard and a piece of land to grow food and flowers – if examined critically, where can you go……really? – i wish i was a religious man and believed in any god, i would be praying fervently for guidance – i do not have that luxury or belief – please do not suggest that there is such a haven – i won’t go on about this and my drug days are behind me and never was driven to alcohol so i am left to stew in the realization that we are seriously (familyblogged) – i am thankful for this blog and the commentariat to provide a glimmer that there is intelligence out there in the aether –
“I don’t think people realize how incredible it is that a movie rendered in nearly real-time in free software on a single computer just won the Oscar for best animated film. If there was ever any proof you don’t need AI, this is it.”
AI is about power over labor, real or imagined, and controlling info. Not creativity or even intelligence.
The underlying ethos of the ruling elite We want our machines to think and our people to work like machines.
Forgotten Climate Chronicles of 16th-Century Transylvania Hold a Dire Climate Warning ZME Science
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
All on account of a -.3 C change in the climate, we’re on the cusp of + 2 degree C change.
There was a family of 5 we were talking to yesterday @ Mammoth, the kids were 2, 4 and 6 and all were skiing already, and I thought to myself, wow-in theory they’ll live til 2100 or so, all the shit sandwiches they’ll endure in their lives, not dissimilar to what went down in Transylvania back in the day, but incredibly more profound.
Fires in the Carolinas in early March, worst fires in Japan in half a century, welcome to The Big Heat®.
😉
Martin Scorsese on The Big Heat (1953)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UiR_FF6XZgU
p.s. very good point on the nature of the “flatness”.
Compare to Lang of the 1920s-1940s.
re: Gaza/Oscars
Oscar-Winning Documentary Faces Institutional Censorship
How American audiences face obstacles from viewing the globally lauded film “No Other Land” — a joint Israeli-Palestinian film about the West Bank.
Lee Fang (paid)
“This week, I am guest hosting Glenn Greenwald’s online show, System Update. Last Sunday, the film “No Other Land” won Best Documentary.
The film, however, does not have a U.S. distributor. No studio or streaming service would touch it. The New York Times reported that this phenomenon is now common for many “topical documentaries.” That isn’t entirely true. Rather, movies critical of Israel’s human rights record are frequently censored by the U.S. film industry, a dynamic that uniquely suppresses this issue area from reaching American audiences. In fact, a documentary I worked on recently faced similar soft suppression.
I also spoke to Jenin Younes, a civil liberties attorney who helped lead the challenge to the Biden administration on social media censorship. We discussed problems in the free speech movement and the failure to stand on principle for all victims of censorship, how some far left pro-Palestinian voices and pro-Israel advocates tend to both add to the problem of dehumanization and the path for peace.”
It’s time to say: And the Oscar goes to…. the Pentagon!
I notice John Helmer has been making the alt media rounds talking about the math around what funding Ukraine has received. This is the post he’s talking about:
https://johnhelmer.net/ready-reckoner-for-president-donald-trumps-ukraine-war-fighting-war-funding-numbers-lies/
Thoughts?
BTW: Helmer has also been suggesting a major betrayal of Canada is underway. I haven’t noticed anyone else that has made the same suggestion. But there it is…
Tech Bubble Babble,
I read the article The Silicon Valley Consensus & AI Capex and it that left me scratching my head, particularly in its opening sections. The author suggests that certain technologies are being sustained through overbuilding, overvaluing, and overinvesting in order to achieve excessive gains and wield political power to reshape society.
As the article states:
However, I found it lacking in explanation on how these investments would ultimately generate real profits. If AI companies are indeed overbuilding, they will inevitably have to absorb the losses – there’s no magical way to convert poor decisions into gains.
This echoes a point we’ve made before in our piece Are We Overbuilding, where we argue that players may be falling into the trap of overexpansion.
One valid point the article makes is that AI has yet to produce its “killer app”. I explored this idea in a recent post, The Killer AI App is You, which may be of interest to readers.
Overall, while the article comes across as somewhat rambling and unfocused, it’s clear that the author has a significant following – a testament to their reach and influence.
Best,
Oliver
>EU States Secretly ‘Happy’ for Hungary, Slovakia To Block Ukraine Aid
My guess is that EU leaders’ opposition to Trump is superficial. In fact, EU leaders may thank Trump for giving them an excuse to cut off aid to Ukraine with no end in sight.
A Tweet discussing the extensive evidence of immune dis-regulation from infection by SARS-CoV-2, from AJ Leonardi, MBBS, PhD:
Tweet
There’s an unroll.
It’s pretty bleak.
Boluarte accuses Public Prosecutor’s Office of attempted “coup attempt” after raid on Interior Minister’s home –
CNN
Pedro Castillo’s trial begins for the self-coup d’état in Peru: “I never committed a crime of rebellion” – El País
What the hell is going on in Peru?
https://www.thespec.com/news/world/americas/peruvian-ex-president-castillo-is-on-trial-for-a-failed-attempt-to-dissolve-congress/article_98196ccc-9c61-50f1-ab21-cf27d2679595.html
I had to bring myself up to date. Summarizing, Pedro Castillo was a mestizo schoolteacher whom Peru mistakenly elected president in 2021. Parliament tried on several occasions to rectify the matter by impeaching Castillo. On their third try, a desperate Castillo attempted to dissolve Congress and call for new elections in late 2022. He was promptly arrested by the military and is now coming to trial. Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Colombia still recognize Castillo as President of Peru.
Sure, but now a series of press and prosecutorial pressures seem to suggest that President Baluarte (Castillo’s former vice-president) is no longer the symbol of a supposed “democratic transition”, after the Peruvian oligarchy conspired to overthrow the professor.
This has been brewing for months. From France 24, Peru’s prosecutors file constitutional complaint against President Boluarte over Rolexgate case.
Thank you. I’m only a casual student of Latin American politics, so as your link above was to an El Pais story translated from the Polish, it didn’t bring me up to date.
Since Boluarte previously identified as ‘a Marxist’, it seems the case that either she is being lawfared over a Rolodex, or she is a Peruvian AOC. I, too, would appreciate more backstory.
An RT article today has this headline and subheading: “EU publisher pulls Vance’s book:
A Lithuanian publishing house has recalled the US vice president’s novel in protest of Washington’s policy turn away from Kiev.”
Throughout the short article “Hillbilly Elegy” is referred to as J.D. Vance’s book–not his memoir. In addition to calling it a novel. Once U.S. foreign policy towards Ukraine changes then the book will be available to readers.
https://www.rt.com/russia/613770-publisher-pulls-vances-book-over/
re: antidote.
That’s hilarious. Thanks.
What do you do when the horse in a one-horse town gets the bus out?
Trump’s Executive Order on Forests ‘A Devastating Blow,’ Activists Say Inside Climate News
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cut, baby, cut!
Trees are kinda similar to humans, when they’re really young they need a lot of help making it to adulthood of say around 20 years, and once at that point things get easier, being taller than anything else that grows in the forest and first in line for sunshine, and unlike fragile beings such as us, can live extraordinarily long spans if left to their own devices.
To erase them would be lumbering a little closer to our own doom.
And you know these family bloggers will cut hard while the legal system issues grinds at a glacial pace with all the effect of a sternly worded letter.
Trump has the same philosophy as President Calvin Coolidge – ‘The business of America is business’. You and I see trees. People like Trump only see it in terms of board-feet. Free resources to be exploited with no thought of what come after.
Cue the “Return of the Eco-terrorists!”
How will ubiquitous flying drone surveillance technology affect both sides of this issue? One side can send in the Flying Pinkertons. The other side can scout out the work crews for “Nocturnal Equipment Degradation Operations.”
Heaven forbid, shades of Saint Luigi of the Groves, that armed drones enter this fray.
This can get very “dynamic” very quickly.
Apple just released new versions of the Mac Studio with M4 Max and M3 Ultra options. Not for the average person but amazing hardware options for those needing compute power for work. The first computers I worked with were painfully slow. These new machines are incredible.