Cubs’ victory is most-watched Series game since 1991 New York Times (EM)
Study links human actions to specific Arctic sea ice melt PhysOrg (Chuck L)
The average U.S. family destroys a football field’s worth of Arctic sea ice every 30 years New Scientist (Dan K)
National Geographic Releases Alarming Climate Change Movie ‘Before the Flood’ On YouTube Slashdot (furzy)
Uncovered: the mysterious killer triffids that dominate life in our oceans The Conversation (J-LS)
A New AI Ethics Center Shows Growing Angst About Machine Smarts MIT Technology Review (David L)
Smoking a pack a day for a year causes 150 mutations in lung cells MedicalXpress (Chuck L)
Scientists find key protein for spinal cord repair MedicalXpress (Chuck L)
China?
Is China Repeating Japan’s Missteps? Bloomberg
China: The Virtues of the Awful Convulsion New York Review of Books
Europe rewrites the rules for Silicon Valley Financial Times
Dozens trapped and many feared dead after Kolkata bridge flyover collapses Telegraph
Australian democracy is in very serious jeopardy MacroBusiness (J-LS)
Zero ethics in the lobby-occupied EU officially confirmed failed evolution
Brexit
Brexit: Ministers vow to fight Article 50 court ruling BBC
May’s Brexit plans thrown into turmoil after court defeat Financial Times. Ahem, what they had cooked up so far did not rise to the level of being a plan.
Prime Minister’s Questions: 2 November 2016 YouTube. You gotta love Question Time. If we had anything like this, we’d have better informed voters. Wonderfully rowdy. Richard Smith: “Pretty obvious from the response that the PM doesn’t really know what an SLP is yet, but I expect she is brushing up on that now.
She could start by reading Naked Capitalism, which broke the story.”
Arrest Warrants Issued for Arrest of All 59 HDP MPs Kurdish Question (Phil U)
Ukraine/Russia
From ‘reset’ to ‘pause’: The real story behind Hillary Clinton’s feud with Vladimir Putin Washington Post (Dan K)
Big Brother is Watching You Watch
CSIS broke law by keeping sensitive metadata, Federal Court rules CBC (frosty zoom)
Syraqistan
Memo to the Next President: Avoid the ‘Vision Thing’ in the Mideast Politico. Resilc: “The future’s so dark, we gotta wear shades……like the blind leaders we have. Can we fix something here for once?”
2016
Polls: Trump Ahead in Arizona and Texas, Deadlocked in Georgia NBC
On A Scale From 1 To 10, How Much Should Democrats Panic? FiveThirtyEight. Resilc: “Either way they should.”
Trump has led or tied 3 of last 5 polls (since last week) in New Hampshire
If he edges out a win there, the electoral map could go 270-268. https://t.co/Eo9D02vWqP
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) November 3, 2016
‘The Antichrist personified’: ‘Open warfare’ and antipathy toward Clinton is reportedly fueling the FBI leaks Business Insider (Charles)
FBI Sources Tell Fox News An “Indictment Is Likely” In Clinton Foundation Case RealClearPolitics (furzy). FBI sources can believe what they believe, but they don’t file indictments. Fox walked back initial account per TV I saw today, but only very mildly.
Trump takes aim at Clinton ‘firewall’ states as polls narrow Financial Times
Trump enlists friends and family in last-ditch push Politico
I’m addicted to Donald Trump Spectator (J-LS)
Cenk Uygur: WikiLeaks Reveal Hillary Clinton As “Living Embodiment Of Corruption” RealClearPolitics (furzy). Note RCP skews right wing, so you need to read past some of the noise. Lambert and I lament that we are having to link to sites we’d normally not use because the MSM is refusing to touch or greatly underreporting some important stories.
Barrel Bomb: The Cataclysmic Close of Campaign 2016 Defend Democracy (Joe H)
Rigged: NBC local news mistakenly posts US election results a week too soon, shows a Clinton “win” SOTT
The Dallas IRS Office That’s Quietly Determining the Fate of the Clinton Foundation Dallas Observer (EA)
High court rules for jury trials in civil forfeiture cases Montana & Regional (Chuck L)
The Human Right to Water at Standing Rock Truthout
Lobbyist for Dakota Access Formerly Led Army’s “Restore Iraqi Oil” Program Steve Horn
Longtime Davis Polk Partner to Become GC for Manhattan DA New York Law Journal (Adrien). Cy Vance was never much of a prosecutor, and now this…
Cory Doctorow: It’s Time to Stop Talking About Copyright Locus Online (Dan K)
Absurd Notions: World is Running Out of Dollars Michael Shedlock (furzy)
On Wall Street, a high-ranking few still avoid email Reuters (Bill B)
Wells Fargo’s new chief commits to ‘cross-selling’ strategy Financial Times. Quelle surprise. It’s the only strategy they have.
An Obituary Of The New York Times Unz Review (Chuck L). Important.
Private equity-funded vessel splurge fuels risk to shipping sector Reuters
11 Oregon counties sue private mortgage registry MERS Oregon Live (steve)
Could States Tax MERS Out of Existence? New York’s State of Mind (steve). They can but they won’t. And they can just prohibit it, which is more straightforward.
Make finance the servant, not the master Ann Pettifor, Open Democracy
Class Warfare
Crunching the Numbers on a $76B Tax Credit for Renters Justin
In Search of the Great American Job – People & Power YouTube
How PE Firms Are Flipping Drugs in Price-Gouging Scheme that Cannibalizes the Entire US Economy Wolf Street (Dr. Kevin)
The moment that the Left had retired of fighting for a better world failed evolution (margarita)
Uber Accused of Predatory Pricing by San Francisco Cab Firm Bloomberg (MS)
Antidote du jour (timotheus). For story, see Michigan men adopt stray pups that crashed their bachelor party:
The puppies in action:
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
220 comments
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From the Miller / Sokolsky “Memo to the Next President”:
The bolded phrase is an awkward euphemism for “Jewish settlements.”
Standard neocon fare: support, defend and expand the Occupation (with $38 billion over the next ten years).
The State Dept has a pronounced ethnic tilt, and this pair — with their polished, soothing words of worldly-wise, covertly self-serving advice — are a representative sample of it.
I sent this over to blogger@ but probably not in time to make the links. It’s important:
Exclusive: White House Readies to Fight Election Day Cyber Mayhem
This is banana republic level nonsense and I am terrified that we are going to lose the right to free speech right on the cusp of the election.
This is clearly aimed at wikileaks releasing something Monday. The rumor is that it has to do with the Foundation coordinating a child trafficking ring involving Haiti. But who knows what’s going to be released.
I am profoundly disturbed. Be careful out there.
TERROR THREAT FUCHSIA!!!!!!! AL-QAEDA AND SCHTUFF!!!!!!
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/sources-us-intel-warning-of-possible-al-qaeda-attacks-in-us-monday/
Partying like it’s 2004:
How a false witness helped the CIA make a case for torture [Marcy Wheeler]
Does this mean Al-Qaeda supports Trump, or are they “with Her”?
Whaaaatttt???
But Al Qaeda is one of our allies in Syria. They are the “Moderate Rebels”….gosh, this whole Middle Eastern mess sure is confusing. I’m going to re-read “1984”, maybe that’ll put things in perspective.
Yeah ””” Go ahead Pull my BIG FU FINGER …. Cosmic Bull Shit . STUPID !
I think most of this has been what I would consider to be 11th hour revelations; if this is all about making sure Clinton loses, why wait until late in the general election – why not knock her out at the primary level, and make sure she isn’t nominated and on the general ballot? Is there more on his agenda than just skewing the election to Trump? Could he be looking to push the people to some kind of revolutionary action? Is it crazy to even have that pop into my head?
I have to say that I’m all for us having access to more information than less, but not when what is being released is more and more appearing to be designed to skew people’s perceptions in a particular direction. It is making me more skeptical of Assange and of the information itself – because if someone has an agenda, it inevitably has to call into question the credibility of what is being released.
I am not saying that what has been released is fabricated or doctored in any way – what I am saying is that there is no way to know how complete what we have been given access to is, nor do we have any idea if what we have is contextually complete and accurate.
And the fact that the volume of what is being released means that most people have to rely on the media to read and report on what’s in these releases, is also a problem, for obvious reasons.
We seem to have been on a path of increasing distrust in the legitimacy of elections, and I don’t think that’s paranoia at work; I am more concerned than ever what “refusal to accept the outcome of the election” will look like.
But I agree the whole thing is disturbing and carrying more than a twinge of anxiety with it.
depends on what’s in the emails. some things, like the clinton foundation’s actions in haiti, stink to high heaven, no matter the context. as far as i’m aware, nobody has shown any of the emails to be faked or doctored, yet. we just have to evaluate the information and compare it to the propaganda from the clinton and trump campaigns. if there is some additional context needed, the clinton campaign should be able to provide it.
I guess my point was that if the goal was to knock Clinton out of contention, why wait until she was the nominee – why not take care of that with releases when she’s vying for the nomination?
No one whose e-mails were leaked has come forward to say, “I never wrote that and here’s the proof,” so I’m not questioning that aspect of this at all.
I think there’s a larger agenda here, that isn’t just about Clinton losing – I think it’s about delegitimizing the election itself, and fomenting something a lot less cerebral than people just sitting around moaning and groaning about it – and finally forcing some kind of overhaul of the entire system. Why that should be Julian Assange’s business is the part I haven’t figured out, but maybe it’s so boring being cooped up in the embassy that this is a way to entertain himself.
WikiLeaks has addressed the ‘timing of releases’ issue. It said quite a while ago that it releases material on its website before it tweets it out, and that it releases material as it becomes available to WL.
This election was already de-legitimized. Clinton and the Clinton Machine clearly decided as early as 2014 that she was to be both the nominee and the next president. They hold enormous sway over the MSM, DOJ, etc. One can argue that the entire process so far has been rigged in HRC’s favor. Just one example: the debates: since HRC received questions in advance, for at least one debate, that debate was bogus.
The entire process is bogus. We are witnessing the corrupt Establishment overthrowing the rule of law to perpetuate its grip on power. The DOJ, under LL, clearly prevented an original indictment, etc.
It seems misguided to blame Assange for the DOJ’s corruption.
^^^ This ^^^. 1000x
Yes, 1000x or 10000x.
And frankly this is why I’m not allowing myself to get too upset about the atrocious election choices. The POTUS is basically a puppet for the deep state (forgive the tinfoil hat parlance) and doesn’t have much real power over the various powers that be (CIA, NSA, Lockheed Martin, Goldman, etc).
In this case we have buffoon Trump vs completely dishonest and evil Hillary, and the DNC this time around has been thoroughly corrupt. (Not to say the Repubs are any better, and Trump’s one enormous triumph has been bashing the GOP establishment to bits.)
Obama’s DOJ has been equally corrupt since day one (cf Holder) and Lynch is clearly in the pocket of the Clinton Machine.
Assuming the USA doesn’t break apart from civil unrest after the election, we’ll have another 4 years of gridlock and investigations of HRC and WJC (as I expect Hillary to win by hook or by rigged ballot box). She’ll probably regret it and I expect her to follow her husband as another impeached president.
Alas the opportunity cost to all this will be worsening climate change, a catastrophic change in the global economy, and probably more senseless Mideast wars. Apart from that, Mrs Lincoln… [as the esteemed Harry Shearer is wont to say in Le Show].
Grim times. If we — the planet — do survive the next 4 years, at least the Dems should be destroyed along with the Repubs.
The link about the NYT laments the wholesale loss of the Fifth Estate, I think that is the worst of all possible developments, as Trump so copiously points out.
Imagine Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, even Dan Rather mouthing the kinds of Pravda lies that are the ubiquitous fare in the MSM today. Obstruction of justice, perjury, and the sale of the functions of the government for Foundation cash are dismissed as though they are just meaningless partisan (and Russian!) fabrications. Only when Cronkite finally mouthed “this war may be unwinnable” on the air did the hideous Vietnam War tip over and eventually stop, we never elected him but we trusted him at the very least to be a decent man and not simply another conman. We knew and know that politicians are conmen on the take and have been since people dressed in togas…so the loss of dispassionate observers and informers is a huge one.
I haven’t actually been following the minutiae of the logistics of Wikileaks’ releases, but If it’s releasing material as it becomes available, then how is it they always seem to know they’re going to have more on such-and-such a date?
As far as I’m concerned, it is long past time for Clinton and her slimeball family to stop being the sun around which everything else revolves.
The entire election on the Democratic side was rigged from the get-go. Nothing has been allowed to get in the way of Clinton achieving her goal – and that has come at the expense of the legitimacy of the process. It has drawn in other agencies and departments and corrupted them, as well – not that there wasn’t already some of that in place, but it’s just so much worse, and getting to the point where they’re almost not even hiding it anymore.
In addition to whatever criminal activities may be going on at the Foundation, it needs to have its tax-exempt status revoked retroactively, with whatever consequences ensue. (one of the tax partners at my firm was deeply involved years ago in the tax regs that govern foundations, and has been saying for months that the Clinton Foundation does not meet the requirements for tax-exempt status and wonders why it is that it continues to be allowed that protection).
I am not interested in anyone being denied due process or any rights afforded by the Constitution; what I am interested in are the law enforcement and investigatory agencies doing their jobs in an objective manner, and letting the chips fall where they may. It isn’t just regular people whose actions have consequences; that is also supposed to apply to those who consider themselves entitled to special treatment.
If I never had to see Donna Brazile’s smug face on my TV ever again, it would be too soon. When I heard Obama’s press secretary say that she is a person of great integrity and character, and is regarded as a valuable asset to the the Party, I almost drove off the road. No, she has no integrity, her character is clearly suspect, and she may be an asset, but it is to Clinton, not the Party. Ditto the execrable Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
That being said, I can’t believe Clinton would need a head’s up on the questions Brazile allegedly fed her, especially the one about Flint. So, maybe we can add “not too bright” to Brazile, who perhaps was angling for a role in a Clinton administration by being so “helpful” to Clinton.
Jesus, these people. I can’t remember an election I was less interested in participating in, much less standing in long lines to do it. I keep telling myself I have to do it for the down ballot races and state and local bond issues, but I am not looking forward to it.
The Clintons are the Party, and the Party is the Clintons. Obama is the Party, and the Party is Obama. The Party is a mutual back-scratching society, an one for all and all for one. Brazile may be most clearly identified with the Clintons, but the rest of the Party has also benefitted from her, as she has fron the Party. And let us not forget that back in 2008, DWS was an Obama surrogate against the Clintons, and an effective one too. Fast forward to 2016, and we have DWS as the primaries MVP for team Clinton and team Dem. The Party may have some intramural intrigues, but when all is said and done all of its component parts coalesce around the Party’s designate. To claim that Brazile and DWS were not party assets is to bury our heads in the sand and pretend that we have only a Clintons problem rather than a Party problem.
Anne & OIFVet, thank you for your comments. Thomas Frank’s book, Listen, Liberal, has the machine mapped out pretty nicely I think, and George Carlin had it earlier…”It’s a big club, and you ain’t in it.” The fact that the NYT and WaPo and Vox and so many others have gone so over-the-top for Hillary (NOT Democratic Party candidates–ONLY Hillary–makes me think that the Big Dog’s club still rules the roost. I don’t think Obama tried to, or cared to, build a new club. (He’s only started to think about that now…(TPP=Presidential Library).
The Clinton machine wasn’t worried about Bernie, until he started winning early and often. Bernie’s BIG sin, of course, was raising money from ordinary people, you know, $27 bucks…that’s a machine breaker. So the machine did all it could to make Bernie a one-off). And if you believe the Primary results, it worked.
Essentially, the McGovern-Fraser Commission, which set up the 1972 D nomination rules following the Humphrey loss, which established the Super-Delegate system, didn’t foresee Citizens United, nor Bill Clinton. Obviously, the Super-Delegates failed in their job this year–the D’s could have a candidate (Sanders) with a 55% (plus) majority this year. Clinton is at best low 40 %.
Under the D rules, Super-Delegates are officially “uncommitted” until the convention. But the Clinton Machine got them all to commit WAY early–and then the newspapers printed that as the “official” delegate counts. That’s part of the “machine” as well. I’d like to propose a D Rule Change: No “Super-Delegate” may declare a preference in a Presidential Primary until one week prior to the final voting state’s election. Any published report submitted to the DNC from any TV, radio or general circulation press declaiming a “preference” means that the “Super-Delegate” shall be disallowed to vote in the Convention. That evidence would be hard to fake.
Had the D’s had that rule in place, I believe we’d have a different and better D nominee, and the Presidential election well in hand. Plus, such a rule would dis-empower at least a bit of the machine politics presently in play, at least on the D side of the duopoly. The leverage that the machine has, versus the Super-Delegates would be altered, in what I think would be a helpful way.
The disclosure of the Huma-emails-on-Weiner-laptop bombshell couldn’t have taken place last spring.
On the other hand, if Wikileaks itself is not involved in the timing, maybe it is the people who are leaking to Wikileaks – these invisible hands control it.
You’re assuming the hacking happened before or during the primaries. A simpler answer is that it was very recent. Rude to look too closely at gift horse’s teeth.
Certainly a pity we didn’t see all this a year ago.
But much better late than after the vote… Hopefully this will be an 11th hour reprieve, granted the alternative hardly ideal…
The condemned man’s sentence commuted to life in prison without parole… We live, perchance to fight another day.
Oh yes, Anne, we must be very very cautious and err on the side of caution, and weigh and measure very carefully every piece of information that arrives that might skew the election toward Trump, because it is very important to tread very cautiously especially when some pervert like Assange is getting bored locked up in that Embassy and the stuff that his organization releases, this “questionably late” in the election process, hints at maybe some evil intent to engage in fomenting, to keep us mopes from staying all cerebral and eschewing the moaning and groaning.
Assange and the wikileakers “deligitimizing the election?” Big assumption that “the election is legitimate” and in danger of being “deligitimized.” Better to return our heads to the sand, go la-la-la with our fingers in our ears, because “something might happen”? News flash: “something” has already happened, and is happening, and will continue to happen in the future, unless decent people figure out how to change the dynamics. My thought is that it’s gonna be Yuuuge, and not any fault of Donald Trump — the fault of all those Fokkers and Fuggers who have built the mechanisms of looting (extraction, combustion, consumption, destabilization, militarization, weaponizationi, FIRE, Panopitcon, globalization and the rest) and likely to involve a lot of weapons of mass destruction of all sorts — the last grain of sand is about to hit our sandpile, that has long since exceeded its “angle of repose,” (steady state stable condition) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_repose:
From the laboratory experiments, the following conclusions can be made: (a) the angle of repose of the granular systems was influenced by the degree of roughness of the base on which the grains came to rest. The rougher the base was, the higher was the angle of repose; (b) the mode of failure of the conical pile of grains was different depending if the base was rough or smooth. For a rough base, the failure took place on the face of the conical shape. For a smooth base, the failure took place at the base of the conical shape; (c) the lifting velocities of the cylinders were varied between a slow velocity (2 to 3 cm/sec) and a high velocity (7 to 8 cm/sec). The angle of repose was found to be
smaller when the high velocity of cylinder lifting was used regardless of the bases’ roughness; (d) the angle of repose was found to decrease in value as the amount of material contained in the cylinders increased in value; (e) the experiments on mixtures of sand and gravel indicated that their angle of repose decreased in value as the percentage of sand in the mixture increased in value; (f) the experiments on layered granular systems (gravel on top of sand) indicated that, regardless of the lifting velocity of the cylinders, the angle of repose of the layered systems decreased in value as the height of the sand layer in the composite increased in value…. http://d-scholarship.pitt.edu/6401/1/MSThesisZhichaoLiu03042011.pdf Rough base, smooth base, coarseness of material, layering, rate of change… Check, check and check.
For a brief while I tried to catalog the many types of apologists who play the Bernays Game, particularly for the oligarch side. Not smart enough to complete the task. There was a very subtle fella who used to post a couple of places under “Joe From Lowell,” a veery smart widely conversant fella, who subtly hinted (with arcane substantiation) over time that he was a real insider who knew the real skinny, one who was a master at occult and covert and subtle impeachment of anyone who took the “ordinary person” side or challenged his assertions, and at “fear, uncertainty and doubt”-sowing, playing on the decency and kindness and confusion and lack of information and awareness of the folks on the “progressive” end of things, that awareness that so often nothing is what it seems, on account of people who work their particular brand of obfuscatory magic in support and on behalf of what I would call the forces of darkness and evil.
Of course he’s just one of quite a few, doing their little bits 24/7 to make sure that the mopery can’t coalesce around something other than moaning and complaining and just carrying on because that is what decent ordinary people do and the elite can count on the mopes needing to eat and take care of their loved ones, so we have to be careful because after all, you know, “we could be wrong and we would not to act rashly and what’s fair and all that…” It’s just how it is, right? While the looters create their own reality, and dump on our sand pile until it fails catastrophically?
Oh, for the love of God…I don’t much care who takes the lid off this seething mess of corruption, I just want it to end, I want it fixed and I want those responsible to pay for it in some meaningful way.
And not just the Clinton crime family at the center of it – I’d also like those in this toxic solar system that revolves around them – those who assisted in it and cooperated with it, who ignored it and excused it and hid it and lied about it – to pay, as well.
Because as sure as I’m sitting here, WE’RE paying, and are going to continue to pay no matter who wins.
So…you decided to cast a vote that will do nothing to stop her and likely will help her. I guess I just don’t get the logic. As toxic as it may feel there is only one vote to cast if you truly want to throw a cog in the works of the corruption juggernaut that is the court of Hilary Antoinette. Hold your nose and pull the lever…or else you’re just helping Hilary win.
Good grief. I’m not Anne but I’ve heard this same thing sooooo many times from both Hillary and Trump supporters. To people on both sides: Our non-Trump, non-HRC vote CANNOT POSSIBLY BE A VOTE FOR BOTH TRUMP AND HRC AT THE SAME TIME. But all the Trump people say “you might as well be voting for Hillary” and all the Hillary people say “you might as well be voting for Trump”. And then both sides, when this is pointed out, have some reason why their side is right and the other side is wrong.
I apologize for the scream of frustration when this wasn’t even said to me, and to OTPBDH I really like and respect your comments, but gah I’m tired of hearing this. (also weird is how people on both sides think I’m secretly on their side; I have someone who works for me who tried the “Think of the Supreme Court” argument to get me to vote for Trump, when she KNOWS I am a mostly lefty, Bernie & Green person. I have a political consultant friend who tried keeps thinking I’m really for Hillary, or will somehow magically become really for Hillary–they hate her too but have completely bought the demonization of Trump even tho they are part of the process, and completely ignore w/out bothering to think about my efforts to point out the dangers of HRC and Russia, and even as a political consultant don’t have a position on or know much about the TPP;and both these people are really nice and I like them, and we talk a lot, and they keep thinking I agree with them on all this stuff and aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa; sorry again)
To clarify: I agree with you (OTPBDH) about who is the most likely lesser evil, and if I was in a close state I’d be seriously considering a strategic vote for Trump, and watch half my friends disappear like flies when you took the food away (it’s truly amazing how many people who are SMART and should know better have completely bought the demonization of him–granted he’s helped a lot with this, but I’m talking about the fake demonization not his very probelmatic elements–and completely ignore w/out even registering the most problematic points about her; even more amazing is how these same people will then talk about how easily manipulated other people are). But if Hillary is leading your states by closer to 20 points than 10 in the polls, and the total 3rd party support combined would not be certain to push him over the line, it somehow seems just plain wrong to accuse those voters of helping her win; keep in mind, some of them almost certainly would vote for Hillary if you forced them to make a choice; heck, I can make a good argument why she’s a better choice; I don’t buy it or believe it, but I can make the argument).
Okay, sorry again, rant over.
Not that I expect everyone to keep track of everything I’ve said, but I’ve been pretty clear that, living in Maryland, it isn’t going to matter to the outcome here, because Clinton’s up by like 30 points. My vote for Jill Stein is one I can cast with no pressure, no strategy. I get to vote my conscience, i don’t have to hold my nose. Maybe I even get to help get the Green Party to a level where it qualifies for funding.
And as I’ve also said, over and over, my vote for Stein is a vote FOR Stein. I wouldn’t vote for her, either, if her platform didn’t align with my own. Is it one less vote for Hillary or Trump? Sure, but I don’t know why that would be a bad thing.
What I really need is for people to stop telling me who I HAVE TO vote for; I can make that decision on my own, which I am allowing others to do for themselves, as well. At the end of the day, I don’t have to declare who I am voting for – that’s why we get to mark our ballots in private.
Excellent comments Mojave, yes indeed I was wrong when I suggested a blanket statement, clearly there is scope in non-battleground states to play a more nuanced game.
They have a system here in Australia where I fled after Bush was appointed the second time that bears describing, under the Westminster parliamentary system you vote for a local representative. You might choose the Hunters and Fisher’s Party, the Greens, or the Anti-Pedophile Party:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Australia
They tally the votes a first time, if a candidate does not gain enough votes for an outright win of a local seat all the votes for that candidate roll up to a like-minded party they have selected. Eventually one coalition or another of these aggregated interests gets a simple overall majority and they get to govern.
In practice it means I get to express a very narrow political preference, and I get the knowledge that my preference gets a voice, however small and proportionate, in the policies of the all-up winner (or else they risk the tiny party withdrawing their roll-up “preference” next time around). This, plus the fact that voting is mandatory by law ($5000 fine), means that politics mostly reflects the middle of the bell curve. YMMV however.
I think the simple answer is they’ve finally realized they need to take this election thing seriously, what with this Stop Bernie and Stop Trump stuff happening in the primaries.
Yes. Turnabout is fair play.
Personally, I’m just glad that this stuff is coming out at any time. I try to let the facts speak for themselves and keep the question of agendas and motivations at the back of my mind. That question should be a constant.
I refuse to hyperventilate on spec: I get edgy enough about real problems. We’ll deal with what is there to be dealt with, one way or another, adequately or not. Unless you’re working out serious contingency plans, there’s nothing to be gained by speculating on the endless variants of what might happen.
Pepe Escobar thinks things have just gotten out of hand, what with the laws starting to look optional and all.
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201610311046920348-clinton-fbi-november-surprise/
Starting? Must have been dozing at least since 2008.
Nah, even to the sequestered NYT/NPR circuit crowd is all; they shielded Obama pretty effectively for a while. That makes it pretty much everybody.
I mean sweet Jesus have we not already been here before with Nixon? Do we really need to go through all that again?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiHN3IJ_j8A
guess so ….
It reminds me of the terror warning that caused an Ohio precinct to close vote counting to outside observers because of terrorist. I think that was the 2004 election, where Ohio was a huge boondoggle.
We don’t know when wikileaks got the leaked emails, or from whom.
It’s a long road to get there, I think. To me, Wikileaks is a symptom, not a cause. The legitimacy question was really galvanized by Florida in 2000 and has metastasized to the point that distrust is the common course.
We’re on a dark path not because Trump has been grabbing underage girls, but also because a military industrial complex acted cynically in the wake of 9/11. As such, nobody can take each other seriously anymore. Discussions don’t happen. I haven’t had a real political discussion yet this election, aside from my closest confidants. Oh, and you guys. But day to day, people can’t trust each other with their political views.
Trump grabbing underage girls? Are you sure you aren’t talking about Joe Biden and/or Bill Clinton?
That was one of the 10 or so recent “surfacings” of Trump accusers. Reading the small print, this teenage girl choose to be quiet for 22 years before coming forward and filing a civil case for damages. Additionally, she is representing herself – apparently no lawyers are taking the case. (like they do for no upfront cost and 30-50% of the settlement when they feel they have a winnable case in civil court – where they just need to convince a majority of jurors something happened and damages are warranted.)
The way the dems handled the primary had no effect? Dems now bitching about the populace not believing in the legitimacy of a Hillary victory is complete BS. Reap what you sow.
I grew up in the Chicago area. Elections there have been de-legitiimized since long before I was born (1946.) “Vote early and vote often,” not limited to Chicago: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_of_repose
What seems to me to be changing, propelled by recognition of one’s actual condition and class and the increasingly arrogant and now more visible predations of the looting class, and against the flood tide of bullsh!t from the Narrative outfalls, http://globalsubdive.com/project/hollywood-sewage-outfall/ , is the quantum and extent of realization that it’s a forking rigged game, and the political economy that us mopes generate is the pig with the apple in its mouth on the yuuuge silver platter that the Fokkers and Fuggers are carving slabs off of to fatten their burgher bellies…
In Australia elections are amazingly robust and lack any accusation of tampering on a significant scale. The election roll is checked for duplicate voters and warnings are issued followed by sanctions where offenders are repetitive. There is an enormous confidence in the process before the ballot and at the ballot count. All done by hand.
Parties can have scrutineers at the counts and there is typically a shared attitude of helpfulness if not bonhomie at these tense times.
The Australian system is much simpler as only parliaments are elected. There are no down ballot roles filled by election as in the USA. I think this is better as it sets a limit on partisan exercise of power but I know that is a highly debatable point.
The current USA elections have been grossly distorted by vulgar displays of abuse of process leading to distrust of the the leading candidates. For the Dems the entire process has been hijacked by a person and team that have no chance of being trusted today or at any time in the future. For the GOP they had no candidate of stature or sage behavior that would engender trust now or in the future.
The debacle of this election is to be seen in its grotesque method of excluding the candidate that the USA most needed in these times. The next few years will likely see an exhaustive overhaul of both major parties if that is at all possible. Minor parties are clamped under a glass ceiling that refuses to budge being sat on by the fat arse of the MSM.
But then Australia was white-peopled in big measure with convicts, “beneficiaries” of the British “justice system,” who were worked as slaves by the military rulers and other Imperial beneficiaries. And “America” was peopled by Puritans and mercantilists and people looking for “opportunity.” Corruption and hypocrisy were fundamentals in my own, my native land, as was the murder and looting that carried the frontiersmen and “capitalists” across the Continent, and turned them inward and more blatantly post-national Imperial after the local resources and exploitables ran low…
Assange stated he had info that demonstrates actions that amount to evidence for prosecution. Assange stated the US was not going to prosecute Clinton. Assange stated that Clinton would win the election. Assange stated Trump would lose the election.
Yes, it would have made a difference in the primary but it sure is showing how corrupt the US is. It’s also demonstrating the quote that includes ‘you aren’t a victim, you’re an accomplice.’
Assange vs. Lichtman.
One predicts a Hillary victory, while the other foresees a Trump triumph.
Who will win?
We seem to have been on a path of increasing distrust in the legitimacy of elections, and I don’t think that’s paranoia at work; I am more concerned than ever what “refusal to accept the outcome of the election” will look like.
Well, yes. I’m on record (over and over again) that the primary was rigged, and have been advocating a return to handcounted paper ballots everywhere for over a decade. Debra Bowen proved this was a winning issue in Cali long before this season until health reasons unfortunately kept her from actually working on her platform (and good job subordinates to do absolutely nothing while she was out of commission! Not!)
The mere fact that our powers that be seem determined to ignore or wave away the idea of hand-counted paper ballots, and ignore or wave away all the computer experts talking about how easy hacking, not to mention CANCELLING EXIT POLLS at the end of the Democratic presidential primary, all tend to reinforce my view that we would either head-in-sand ostrich types or complete idiots to have actual, real trust in the legitimacy of the voting machine counts.
The scumbuckets up top created this mess, they have an easy path out of it with handcounted paper ballots. Let’s hope they chose that easy (and honest) path, rather than continue down the one we are on.
“[I]f this is all about making sure Clinton loses, why wait until late in the general election – why not knock her out at the primary level,”
Suppose the motive involved making sure she wins the primary, then loses the general election?
I can’t help being drawn to the suspicion that (rightly or wrongly) Assange see’s a pardon for himself if Trump wins and he can finally get out of the Ecuadorean embassy.
Easy solution: UN election monitors.
I mention this as a moderate response, since the US would be certain to reject assistance from the world’s most stringent electoral body, Venezuela’s CNE.
But what is more likely, multiple U.S. officials say, is a lower-level effort by hackers from Russia or elsewhere to peddle misinformation by manipulating Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms.
A country that relies on Twitter and Facebook for “information” pretty much deserves what it gets.
Let each man have the wit to go his own way.
While completely ignoring the rigging that is documented every damned year and perpetrated by the parties themselves, of course. Latest collected here: http://www.realitybytes-blog.dreamhosters.com/2016/10/25/2016-election-fraud-roundup/
NYT article on increasing partisan polarization at the county level (1992-2012), with graphics:
Such maps induce visual dyslexia, because the colors are reversed from their historical associations. As the Smithsonian magazine notes:
Nice work, Archie. Have you read your employer’s obituary posted above? p.s. your color sense sucks.
It could be worse. They could use red and green, as in traffic lights. 8% of the male population has red/green color blindness (I’ve read that 0.4% of the female population has it, too), so this would be a far worse choice than red and blue, even with the switch to blue and red.
I was in Oz from 2002 to 2004 and was initially very confused by the color business when I returned, and more important, that it started to be widely used in the discourse. You never referred to “red states” or “blue states” before.
Red right returning, as sailors say. To be fair, the US fancies itself above the fray, so had to reverse the standards of other countries: blue vs. red, single-payer vs. multi-player, competition vs. conviviality, International Labor Day (Loyalty Day, thanks Bill!) vs the National Association of Manufacturers’ Labor Day.
Speaking of, I saw a sign tonight that the hard hat union (Michigan Carpenters and Millworkers, i.e. the spiritual heart of Macomb County) is all in for Her. Sounds like a good reason to hire non-union laborers who can’t see the China manufactured-home boom on their doorstep. Oh, those are just Hanjin shipping containers.
Don’t be surprised if there’s an Electoral College tie and the (s)election goes to the House.
Whom might they choose, eh?
They don’t have to choose either one, after all.
[Not predicting, merely speculating at this point…]
one of the deplorables who lost to trump? jeb feel the momentum? ted cruz? the mind reels.
And if there is another tie in the House, what is the second tie-breaker?
a rope ?
The House has to choose between the top 3 in the electoral vote count. Top 2 for Senate pick for VP.
So if Evan McMullin wins Utah, he could be in third place, and the House could conceivably pick him for President. Then the Senate would have to choose between Tim Kaine and Mike Pence for Vice President.
Wouldn’t that be a kicker. And think about how the white horse prophecy people would go nuts.
As in the rest of our election how does one really pick between Pence and Kaine, both are despicable. Or perfect depending on your ideology.
“I’ll throw you a pence … and raise some kaine … “
Some of the many different versions (all the unquestioned Original Word of G_D, exactly as given), of how Cain slew Abel… http://biblehub.com/genesis/4-8.htm
For extra credit, note that those evil Muslims also tell the same story, also with multiple exegeses on the nominal original text…https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel_in_Islam
After Hilary Antoinette gets a “richly”-deserved 20 years for obstruction of justice then Citizen Kaine will become our Dear Leader.
So all of the women who are saying “I’m with Her” get the satisfaction of appointing a sweaty little misogynistic frat boy who is firmly anti-abortion. Nice going, gals.
On a serious note, it is appalling to see the likelihood of the first female president of the USA being dragged out handcuffed to face criminal proceedings for racketeering. Of all the likely candidates that all those women invested their hopes and wishes in, they ended up stuck with this pathetic excuse for a competent candidate. I guess there will be a rich literature published on this pathetic saga for decades.
I wont be reading any of it.
That’s one path to salvation…sort of.
Another one is Stein getting one state and finishes among the top 3, and miraculously the House picks her to break the tie.
Or, the only realistic path to stopping Hillary – Trump wins outright on Nov. 8, rigging or no rigging.
I’m pretty sure the constitution stipulates that in the event of an EC tie, Michel Temer becomes VP.
Since when did the constitution have any pull …. especially given what’s happened since 9/11 … I mean … come on !!
Another interesting point about this is that each state gets one vote in the House. California and Texas are equal to Montana and Rhode Island. Some delegations might have a problem deciding how to cast their one vote.
It is possible for one party to have a significant majority of Representatives in the House, but still only control a minority of the state delegations in the House. But I don’t think that’s the case at this time. I think the Republicans control more than half of the state delegations in the House of Representatives:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_party_strength_in_U.S._states#Presidential_election_results_and_congressional_delegations
Why would they choose anyone other than Trump? After all, it doesn’t matter who sits in the Oval Office as long as the GOP has control of all three branches of government. And with Trump’s background, how hard will it then be to find some reason to throw him out and give the Big Chair to Mike Pence?
Not credible for reps to throw trump out. He has an army of rep supporters.
Party means little. Ideological compatibility means the difference between the Great Sham and Hillary at the scaffold (to use her own words). The business wing of the GOP are Hillary’s homies. Notice how little goading it takes for them to speak ill of the leader of their Party and how happy they are to join Team Clinton (a “good n—–“, as they were once known by the Rotarians of the time).
The trouble with Trump, from the perspective of those who no longer believe even sham democracy is worth the political risk, is that he doesn’t acknowledge or respect the bounds of The Reservation (for good or ill) and won’t let himself be managed by the Board of Directors (loosely, the Intelligence Community and TBTF business).
National Geographic Releases Alarming Climate Change Movie ‘Before the Flood’ On YouTube Slashdot (furzy)
Rupert Murdoch’s conglomerate bought the National Geographic Magazine from the foundation about a year ago. So excuse me if I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, that there is set up somewhere.
Murdoch always takes his time about crapifying his media purchases. He is too smart to rush changes, especially to a venerable institution like the National Geographic. He will slowly twist it his way, but its too soon yet for him to be too obvious about it, so I think they’ll be able to do good work like this for a while, before he gets his own people in place.
It had already gone far downhill before he bought it. I had a brief subscription about ten years ago, remembering things from earlier decades, but all the articles (if you could even call them that) turned out to be short and superficial. The only good thing I got out of it was an archival black and white photo of a man mowing the grass at Stonehenge with a reel mower.
Yes. a friend cancelled their subscription for just that reason. Said many of the “articles” now depend on user-generated, user-provided content, in lieu of the original in-depth reporting. Saves money
Yes too many dead tree publications try to make their magazines resemble the internet. My dad always got NatGeo and Sports Illustrated and both have gone way downhill – there are few if any lengthy in depth articles and more quick-read snippets.
One exception to this that I’ve found is Harper’s – their format has largely stayed the same for years now. They seem to understand that if people want to read internet snippets and click-bait type crap they’ll go to the internet for the quick fix. The publisher had an excellent editorial a few years ago about Harper’s continuing commitment to publishing good, well researched articles (he despises the word ‘content’ and rightfully so). His theory was that if you continued to put out good stuff, people would pay to read it and if you crapified it to resemble the internet just because the internet was seemingly becoming more popular, they wouldn’t. So far it seems he’s been correct.
When I was a boy NatGeo had neat nature stuff and jiggly native women, whereas today you’ll find articles gushing about the latest tank and missile systems. ‘Nuf said.
Back in the late 1990’s I bought a copy because of an article about an area I’d been travelling in the previous year, part of the Gobi Desert in China near the Mongolian border. The first paragraph of the article said the writer and photographer were the first non Chinese allowed into the area in five years. It did make me just a little sceptical about its fact checking.
Screw the National Geographic. They came out with an article some years ago in the midst of various states campaigns where citizens were trying to GMOs labeled.
National Geographic ran articles, contrary to scientific evidence, proclaiming GMOs as :safe” and “necessary to feed humanity”. Total corporate sell outs to Monsanto and their advertisers. I will read the rag in the library, but never will pay for it.
Here’s what they ignored:
https://archive.org/details/GeneticRouletteTheGambleOfOurLives
https://taidisliraw.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/download-food-inc-full-movie-watch-food-inc-the-film-full-version/
I used to be a faithful subscriber of Scientific American up until about the late 90’s, when they became just another slick and sensationalist oriented ‘dumb-down’ version of their formerly excellent magazine ! ,,,,, and, sadly, this kind of crapification has regressed everywhere …..
Cry Shop – Disagree.
From what I’ve gathered, Rupert Murdochs’ son James Murdoch is stepping up efforts to ensure NG provides neutral and unbiased programming around science and the exploration of our world. He also recognizes that climate change is happening and has dire consequences for our planet.
Even the Associate Editor of the FT, Martin Wolf, just the other day wrote a column on this very topic “That it was not thought worth raising in the US presidential debates is astounding.”
Here is his piece: “Climate Change and the Risks of Denying Inconvenient Truths”
https://www.ft.com/content/3f707b3e-9f91-11e6-891e-abe238dee8e2
he’s ALSO a scion who’s fallen not very far from the ole’ rotten apple tree !
To be fair (not that the Murdoch clan deserve much fairness) so far as I know JM has openly broken with his father over climate change. By the standards of the family he is not the worst.
“You will see”…… said Gollum ……..”you shall seeeee …….”
I kept hearing the longer people take to reduce carbon, the more money it is going to cost. The opposite side is equally true, the longer the elite can stall, the more profit to be made. Just because someone believes in man made climate change, does not mean they won’t exacerbate it when it means profit.
PK – James Murdoch and his wife have created a foundation called Quadrivium which funds both science research and environmental conservation.
I’m guessing that movie was already in production and almost finished before Murdoch bought N.G.
Assange interviewed by John Pilger:
No wonder hrc wanted Assange droned.
How is this even “news” let alone “extraordinary?”
Would Pilger, or anyone else for that matter, be similarly surprised to find out that in return for tens of millions of dollars in “charitable donations,” the u. s. state department has approved sales of billions in weapons of mass destruction to saudi arabia to use as they see fit?
Thanks to Jim H for spotting this clip. It can’t be said enough.
It’s both sad and telling that most of us on this site are able to yawn at Assange’s accusations and say, “Yeah, that’s old news, we’ve known for years. The evidence is all over the place, even before wikileaks released that email. That’s why we’re terrified of HRC”. Yet those who don’t know to look in the right places or don’t care enough to dig would be shocked at this.
Off the top of my head for sources of the evidence…there’s Paul Jay’s interview with Bob Graham (former senator of FL) who was one of the heads of the 9/11 commission) where he shouts from the rooftops to anyone who’ll listen that “the Saudi Govt did 9/11” look at the 27 pages where it details Saudi Intelligence officers providing cash to the hijackers from an account belonging to Prince Bandar.
Sy Hersh had a string of articles detailing how the CIA was/is running guns to Al Qaeda (Jabhat Al Nusra) in Syria via Turkey, financed by the Saudis and Qataris and got a chunk of the weapons from Qaddafi’s old stockpiles in Libya. They also gave them one of the real game-changing weapons, TOW anti-tank missiles. That’s how the rebels were able to inflict such heavy losses in 2014-2015 to make Assad abandon half the country.
Patrick Cockburn is another journalist who’s done excellent reporting on this and has pointed out the rebels are awash in cash from the Gulf Monarchs. I know there’s some debate about the details of who calls the shots and has the strongest ties to which groups, but the general picture is clear enough.
We all know the Clintons get tons of money from the Gulf Monarchs and her State Dept. conveniently approved those blockbuster weapons deals. As Glenn Greenwald points out, they sure as heck ain’t donating because they believe in the charitable causes!
In any case, the Saudi and CIA ties to terrorists have plenty of history, going back to at least the 80s when the mujahadeen fought the Soviets in Afghanistan, possibly further than that. As far as I can tell, that’s something the CIA folks are proud of. They think they took down the ‘evil empire’. I swear half the reason they’re supplying rebels in Syria is that they want to recreate their glory days from the Cold War and bleed the Russians again. No one dares question whether it’s a good idea or not.
I also think there’s strong evidence that it was US policy to back religious radicals as a counterweight against the strength of the Arab Nationalist movements, too. Can’t remember where I’ve seen that, though.
JohnnyG
November 4, 2016 at 11:40 am
I agree with you. Indeed, the “news” put out by the MSM is so propagandized and corporatized that it is “anti-news” – making people less and less acquainted with reality – which is the intent. Patriotism is now a days equated with making sales, so just as the word bribery’s meaning has been supplanted by “synergy” and “win-win” the word “news” now means “public relations”
It’s a terrible weight for a people to bear, that their government, acting with the so-called “consent of the governed”, is fully engaged in hideous crimes that make people die. One by one the citizens may disagree and disapprove but collectively their sense of identity and duty means they get all cognitive dissonanty (sp?) and go along with it. The examples are too many to name, Germany in 1942, Japan, China and Mao, the US, Cambodia et al. Take a hard dispassionate look at 9/11 and you’ll receive a punch in the gut not many can bear as the abiding ideas “our government does bad things sometimes but overall is benevolent” or “I know she has flaws but Hilary really is OK” come crashing down.
Veeeery interesting….
I like it when evidence passes the attention deficit syndrome test.
Re: Is China repeating Japans missteps? Bloomberg.
Years ago I did some skydiving (just two jumps, I’m a wuss). Part of the training on steering during descent is to recognise a psychological effect whereby over-focusing on a hazard such as power lines can result in a skydiver subconsciously aiming directly at the hazard.
I’m reminded of that every time I look at China’s economic policy. The CCP have been intense students of Japan’s post war economic history, they looked very closely at how Japan managed such explosive consistent growth for thirty years and ‘with Chinese characteristics’ broadly followed the template. But they have been acutely aware of the late ’80’s crash and its well known causes. And yet… and yet… they seem unable to avoid making the exact same errors. They look to me now exactly like a parachutist staring at those power lines saying ‘must avoid… must avoid…’ and yet, he finds himself getting closer and closer, not realising that his subconscious is steering him closer and closer.
Interesting analogy. Its known as “target fixation” and it is a significant issue in motor racing when there is debris or obstacles (e.g., a fallen cyclist) on a race course, especially for inexperienced drivers.
That sounds like a more advanced version of basic driver’s ed, being alert for escape routes while focusing mostly on where you’re going, which is a more advanced version of bike instruction for young children: quit looking at your handlebars and look where you want to go. The key is where you want to go. Possibly profound metaphorical significance here. Or not.
yeah, ‘Target fixation’ is the term I was looking for. Its part of pilot training too I believe. Look at where you are going, not what you are trying to avoid.
keep your eyes on the prize. even when you know you’ll have to maneuver at some point. china will be ok if she continues to follow japan’s lead. and besides, it’s a process which never ends so we continue to learn on the fly
Certainly is. I was warned when learning to fly gliders of the `one small tree in a large field’ problem when practicing for field landings before going off cross-country. Sure enough, in spite of being told, I felt it happen on my first out landing. The training meant I missed said, innocent, tree but the `fixation’ thing meant I was far closer to it than I needed to be … it was a very big field.
Happens in skiing. “Please dont let me hit that tree!”
i was thinking about skiing too – how when you’re going too fast you have to look farther down the hill or you’ll kill yourself
Oh yeah….
Never look directly at the tree or trees when glen skiing…. must always envision going between them like one goes through a door.
Disheveled Marsupial…. have been the object of much gawking at ski lifts, pine cones and assorted tree stuff stuck to my head and equipment unawares…. my other favorite is tree wells… OK where did the planet just go….
PlutoniumKun
November 4, 2016 at 8:32 am
great insight!
I think the difference is that in the 80’s crash they bootstrapped out through fiscal policy whereas this time around they’re using monetary policy. Hence the tsunami of cash fleeing the yuan, I’m involved here in Australia and the calls we get every single day from people desperate to throw millions at us via all sorts of schemes is amazing.
HERE WE GO — if it’s not the menacing Russians, it’s bleeding al Qaeda:
I don’t get it. Why would our Al Qaeda friends attack us, after the generous funding we’ve given them to depose the butcher Assad?
Its so confusing. I thought it was the Houthi’s who were preparing an invasion of California.
Ah remember, the Shrub terror alert days. Is this supposed to make voters go “Hillary will keep up safe just like the Haitians!”? This will appeal to those “moderate suburban Republicans” while they shop for their new jack boots.
Lambert here: I shouldn’t have to state the obvious: The place to discuss “totally unverified web comments” on 4chan is 4chan. The door to 4chan is that way.
[material redacted]
Totally unverified web comment: “4chan Army of Chaos is digging into Podesta’s previous emails …”
[material redacted]
>Ah remember, the Shrub terror alert days.
One of Garrison Keillor’s better lines: the Department of Scaring Everyone into Staying Home.
A contractor who has been to Diego Garcia every 6 months for 11 years is reporting that the biggest buildup he has seen by far is under way, B-52s inexplicably painted black, so many people they had to erect tents, ordnance stockpiles 10X normal. They are planning something very big indeed, methinks the name of the target starts with “P” and his favorite drink is vodka. My friend was Sandy Berger’s #2 and after 9/11 she told me the crazies were planning things on an unbelievable scale and that this time is the same.
Are they getting ready to move if a President Clinton gives them the order?
Is electing Trump the only way we have to avoid finding out the answer to that question?
Things aren’t going well on the Yemen front, so time to hit the soft underbelly of the United States. Plus the people aren’t suitably Patriotic. Time to ramp up the participation.
I think they’re jealous that ISIS is getting all the funding and scary headlines these days.
Sic transit gloria mundi
Perhaps because they have been paid/supported to attack on targets as they are decided upon by the Deep State? Outsourcing the false flags to make them look more “real”.
Of course, such an attack would NOT help Hillary (and not even Trump). I daresay it would simply lead to across the board voter suppression due to fear.
“BULLOCKS !!!”
Re: Australian democracy is in very serious jeopardy. Microbusiness.
The writer correctly identifies the huge danger to Australia of essentially selling themselves to China, but then makes the classic error in assuming the only alternative is to go back to Australias traditional role as the US’s local poodle. It seems no lessons have been learned from the thousands of dead Aussies and NZ’ers on idiotic British and American foreign adventures from Turkey to Vietnam.
Australia and NZ are prosperous, advanced countries with an enviable lack of hostile powerful neighbours on their doorsteps. There is absolutely no reason why they can’t have independent foreign policies and be capable of defending their own territorial integrity and their seas with a modest defence budget. It is possible to have friendly relations with all the major powers without becoming anyones poodle or ‘local defence asset’.
In the FBI’s interview notes of the Clinton emails investigation are references to messages bearing the FVEY classification, meaning “AUS/CAN/NZ/UK/US EYES ONLY”.
Apparently Ireland (as populous as NZ) was omitted for lacking the requisite fierce militarism.
Five Eyes is a “Nato within a Nato” relic that really ought to be shut down, since it acts as a cutout for domestic spying to be outsourced to friendly foreign entities, who feed the illegal intelligence right back to the country which commissioned it.
Ireland is in a military alliance with Apple.
LOL
Ireland’s protecting Apple’s rotten core.
non-taxing times
I’m inclined to agree with Saker’s view that the Five Eyes are the husk of the British Empire. A country like Japan should be considered vastly more important to US strategic interests than New Zealand, yet NZ gets to be a major spying partner. Why? because it’s filled with English speaking white people, of course.
His incoherent stance on the ‘Zionist’ part of his ‘AngloZionist’ construct is largely antisemitic garbage, though.
Main reason I’m hoping for Trump. The “international embarrassment” will awaken allies like Australia to abandon this Churchill-ian nonsense that Americans are some enlightened infallible people that must be followed. We are destructive, corrupt and stupid people. We are in decline overseas and Trump realizes it. I would love for Pine Gap to close and the alliance dissolved so Australia can play a fully neutral Switzerland type role and look out for itself first and foremost.
Fly in that ointment, if Trump wins he’s going to make America great again. Once again we’ll be enlightened infallible people that must be followed.
Not sure how he will do it but his program is to make America great again, and to get along with Russia – assuming, by this, he means Russia doesn’t have to follow us.
But Churchill also knew “the Americans always do the right thing…after exhausting all of the other possibilities”.
“I would love for Pine Gap to close…” — Ah, thanks for that reminder that’s it’s high time for me to rewatch my DVD of the 1957 Cold War giant-bug popcorn-classic The Deadly Mantis, starring Craig Stevens of Peter Gunn fame and Edward Hopper, best-known for his later stint as Perry Mason’s private-dick sidekick. [There is of course also an MST3K version, best line of which has Stevens’ character, in a romantic in-car-making-out moment (no, not with Hopper, with the girl … not that there would be anything wrong with the former scenario, mind you – though I kinda get the sense 50s audiences might not have shared my liberal vuews here), saying “I’ve got a mantis in my pantis”.]
This is nerdy but so what. The video game (my fav) Deus Ex: Human Revolution from 2011 had bits of backstory going on that included major, direct action by China within Australia (as it was falling into civil war). I just cannot help but think about those bits from the game whenever I read articles about the big moves (or big giveaways by Australia’s “leadership”?) by China into Australia.
I must admit a certain satisfaction over handwringing about Australia falling under Chinese influence. It’s one thing to lose a former colonial asset like the Philippines, but the prospect of a nation of British colonists being under the thumb of the short bucktoothed yellow people sends certain white hearts aflutter. I love it. The worm has turned. If you’re lucky the Chinese won’t turn Australians into a nation of drug addicts out of simple spiteful revenge for the Opium Wars.
Oddly enough, a solid share of methamphetamine, the Antipodean scourge-du-jour, is Chinese-sourced.
At this junction… one would think trading with nations with stable governments would be a key determinate… aggressive military or protracted wars have a bad habit of destabilizing societies over the long haul w/ the attendant risks all that carries…
Speaking of Big Brother issues, I stumbled on this over at Ars Technica just now. Yet more scary smartphone-based surveillance, this time by advertisers. Yet one more reason to leave your iDevice or Android at home:
[My emphasis]
–How to block the ultrasonic signals you didn’t know were tracking you
As the joke goes, Orwell’s 1984 was supposed to be fiction, not a manual…
Ads we will actually click. That is a five-word summary of the ineffectiveness of online advertising.
Aluminum tape, a tiny half postage stamp sized piece, placed over your camera and microphone on a p.c. or tablet, will block both. Put a sliver of paper under the tape to prevent glue from fouling the hole and lens should you want to remove them later. FBI Director Comey has stated that he covers the mike and camera on all his desktop devices. Why shouldn’t you?
Warning – Beltway hagiography incoming:
It’s only 8:30 and I need another shower.
whoa the wapo. usually they’re more in the tank for h clinton. now they’re in the tank for comey? meanwhile al quaida/putin will do something nefarious on monday, according to 95 intelligence agencies. interesting times.
A guy like Comey, with an undergraduate degree in religion, could react unpredictably to content of this nature:
I’m not the moderator here but this is pretty thin ice JH. Not our blog.
These references run deep through the Podesta emails.
It’s a stretch to think it’s innocent badinage.
I’ve seen a number of questionable sites alluding to this but wasn’t going to give it any weight. Most of those statements could be written off as within the bounds of normal conversation, that is, until you get to:
That makes zero sense in any non-code related way and casts a suspicious light on the rest.
It would not surprise me in the least with this crowd, there’s a good reason Stanley Kubrick’s last film was Eyes Wide Shut, Scalia dead with the pillow over his head, Congressmen tapping their feet on the floors of men’s rooms, Neo-cons naked around bonfires, p*ssing on redwood groves in Northern California. I think once you surrender to indecency, which they clearly have with their bombs and wars and spies and lies and thefts, then anything goes.
I forgot to mention the spiked “cilice” worn by the Opus Dei Scalia to inflict just the right amount of Catholic pain on his thigh, I suppose when his faith was flagging
Adds just the right piquant je ne sais quoi to the salacious image of our former Supreme Court Justice methinks
https://wikileaks.org/dnc-emails/emailid/7036
Dick Cheney must be chuckling at all this email content being released. He is about as traceable as notes written in lemon juice on flashpaper.
Well, had to look up what “lollipopping” meant in UrbanDictionary……
Someone was lollipopping in the spin room at the debate. Sure, that sounds really real. Absolutely. True so true.
It’s all word salad to me?!?
I agree with Carolinian, please knock it off Haygood.
Also, there is so much substantiated solid evidence against Camp HRC (destroying Libya, promoting fracking, ‘superpredators’, and so much more). When you post these iffy conjectures, all you do is detract from the solid case against her.
NYPD and Attorney General now have the bit in their teeth and can act independently of the FBI so yes we will see just how deep this rabbit hole goes, I predict it is every bit as deep and disgusting as our estimable Mr. Haygood posits. Alas, for us all.
Note the date on the email. Looks to me like the Podesta’s customarily give Herbert Sandler a rectangular box of pasta and sauces for Christmas and changed the routine by gifting an assortment of cheeses in a square box.
WL is not going to save you. Nor O-Keefe, nor a scammer juice boy. Everyone gets how bad you hate Hillary but Assange had all the data, stated it is enough to prosecute Hillary, the US would not prosecute her and she would win the election.
You do realize anyone can search on those terms? I did. It is simply not factual that these ‘items’ run throughout the e-mails. You are listing one item, because there is only that one item and now resorting to Cernovich?
Now you’ve done it, Allen. Comey is Catholic, is he not? And he might not have been pleased with Hillary’s dish on the Catholics.
He is not. He was brought up Catholic but subsequently joined the Methodist church, per Wikipedia.
and if it’s in Wikipedia … it must be true .. right?
I don’t know if it is because I don’t trust NY Magazine much, or that I think there is a very distinct goal of having Teachout lose by the powerful in this country, but this is a very strange piece. From the difference between the title and the actual content of this article down to the finale which might seem to be a ‘cute’ ending but is in reality very off putting my impression is that the whole point of this article is to convince the undecided not to vote for her.
http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/11/zephyr-teachout-doesnt-believe-in-womens-issues.html
Everytime I glance at NYmag, it’s like stumbling into an HRC faux-minist pep rally.
Deplorable!
Unlikely to find decent reporting on politics there. It’s all faux progressive D tribalism.
Without a Bold Agenda, a Clinton Presidency Won’t Stand a Chance, Progressives Warn
Yep, all those down ticket lefties that Hillary helped get elected are going to pressure her and then be instrumental in getting progressive legislation passed that will lead to a new renaissance. Or maybe it might just be that the triangulated lefty HRC supporters aren’t willing to accept that they are in the basket of ignorables.
” Or maybe it might just be that the triangulated lefty HRC supporters aren’t willing to accept that they are in the basket of ignorables.”
Touche. ‘Basket of ignorables’, indeed.
Is that any relation to a guillotine basket ….. ??
I think there is one giant basket of ignorables used by both parties and we’re all in it
Quite a lot depends on what happens in congressional elections, which will determine what forces she has to work with and against. Since few of the grandiose predictions even get as far as “if we win all these races” there doesn’t seem to be much point in them.
It’s a good idea to remember how the Republicans rose zombie-like in 2010 to retake the House.
Decode: “triangulate” = “divide and conquer”.
An article purporting to explain the Clinton-Putin relationships problems, but doesn’t mention Ukraine?
Somebody explain why Putin is supposed to accept being groped by Wall $treet?
Reminds me of some guy who said; “If it’s inevitable, just lay back and enjoy it.”
IMO Clinton is taunting a large bear held in a flimsy cage.
Sincere thanks for the antidote, Yves. We needed that today.
I would say that Annie produced some seriously cute puppies. Great story and a reminder of how nice people can be favorite line from the story about how the puppies changed the extended bachelor party:
“We pooled a bunch of money to buy food and beer,” he said. “After the third day, our beer fund turned into a puppy food fund.”
Seriously wonderful.
I liked their saying they were proud of her. You really have to connect to feel that kind of vicarious pride, and it didn’t take them long.
the guys look as lovable as the puppies
I enjoyed the antidote, as well, but for me, there was something bittersweet about it.
I just had to put down my very best friend and constant companion of 10 1/2 years on Wednesday, after a short illness took his quality of life.
He was the one who kept me going these past five years since the bank stole my home. I felt like he was all I had left following that.
He, too, was a rescue dog (as were all previous dogs in my lifetime), yet my first purebred. Our bond could not have been stronger. Everyone who knows me knew him, since we were rarely apart.
Following months of dryness, the recent rains and overcast skies reflect the sorrow I’m feeling. It will take some time for my heart to mend, but the story of the men giving homes to those puppies helped. (I should also mention I was born and raised in Michigan, leaving at age 24 to head West, so it had even more impact, I suspect. Perhaps we Michiganders have especially large hearts when it comes to dogs?)
Since I’ve been renting these past 5 yrs for the first time in my 65 yrs, I will not be getting another dog soon. I was hoping to move next year, but now that can’t happen soon enough. It’s empty here without him…
Deepest condolences on the loss of your friend. I hope you will be able to make that move soon, and find another companion to help you heal, and to share new memories with.
Oh, crittermom, I am so sorry. Our fur babies are such a giant part of our lives, the hole they leave is great. My deepest condolences. Count me as another sending good thoughts for being in a place soon literally and emotionally to greet your next loving companion.
So sorry. The empty space where someone isn’t is hard.
Crittermom, I am so sorry for your loss. I wish I had better words…. This horrible year goes on and on. Xxoo (hug)
I’m sorry for your loss — losing a canine friend and family member is always tough, but you should feel lucky and proud to have shared 101/2 wonderful years together.
Just reinforcing what nippersmom and Pat said. Having been through this myself (as many of us here have) I — and we — know the profound sense of loss. We also remember the good times, when our cat or dog or horse or rabbit kept our spirits above water.
I know. all our dogs were rescue dogs too. nicest dogs you could want. but after the last one died i told my neighbor that i wasn’t gonna get another one because i was pretty sure i couldn’t out live another dog, and i miss them like mad still.
i’m so sorry crittermom. i had to do the same a couple of years ago.
So sorry crittermom. We both love dogs so much more than our fellow humans (except each other); but their lifespans are shorter than ours and it’s so hard to lose them.
At least he had a truly wonderful and loving home with you (no matter where you were living, with each other=home).
Many heartfelt condolences.
So sorry crittermom. Dogs have such presence in our lives. I couldn’t stand the silence in my house after my last one passed.
Brexit!
The nice thing is that the government can take it to the (controversial if you’re in scotland) UK supreme court and further appeal it in the european court.
Remaindaneers have a new hero in a hedge fund manager’s wife,
This could cause some delays to our departure (long enough to sign up to CETA/TTIP anyway).
The Euro court only gets involved if the Supremes require clarification on the interpretation of Art.50 – so it’s not an appeal, just a side track before the domestic court makes its decision.
If they do go that route watch out for fireworks. The Daily Mail’s front page today is a peek into the dungeon of authoritarianism..
The Sun’s front page is remarkable also .
With the headline ‘who do eu think you are’, it denounces ‘a foreign-born multi-millionaire” blocking the will of the people’ by using the legal process.
No mention of course of a foreign-born and resident billionaire using his newspapers to feed his readers a pack of lies. Strange that.
Big surprise, the people exercise their will and their overlords overturn it with expensive legal and not-so-legal shenanigans…it’s a pretty tired story line.
A snippet of data from my illustrious swing state of NC
(From some sort of assistant vice provost of diversity type administrator)
“Duke Students:
We are currently on track to have the lowest voter turnout from Duke students since 2008. As of today, only 1200 of you have casted ballots in North Carolina, while over 4000 students voted in the 2010 and 2012 elections. We have very little time left until the election is over, and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to reach our goal of surpassing previous years’ turnouts.”
he says this like it’s a bad thing. also too i might challenge “casted”.
I looked it up because it was grating. Turns out it’s non-standard, though legal and a Hindu reference to caste. Which is why a spellchecker lets it pass.
Still irritating though, given his job title.
(I’m not joining the grammar police. I make far too many typos to be throwing stones.)
Whoa….that’s pretty telling, if valid.
1) University Administrators admonishing the students to vote? And tracking turnout? I haven’t seen that before. Anything to get HRC across the finish line!
2) If HRC can’t fire up students at Duke U….she’s toast. Duke’s a southern Ivy that sends plenty of students to the Hill for work.
I happened to be in Durham this week and I was surprised at the lack of evidence of support for either of the two duopoly choices. No “I’m with her” signs or bumper stickers. No “Make America Great Again” hats. Apathy in the triangle can’t be good for the elite’s chosen candidate. Didn’t get out into the “real” NC to check the pulse of support for the aspiring used car salesman.
I couldn’t care less either way, actually.
Ah, and Obama made a stop in Durham on Wednesday to rally support from black voters. Snarled up local traffic and lead to some airport delays. I think he wasted his time in addition to taxpayer money with that trip.
My work takes me to some fairly remote areas… as far as “real” NC goes, that falls solidly in Trumpistan. Even out there though, there used to be occasional Bernie signs/bumper stickers when he was still in the race, but virtually never HRC. Good thing about all those pragmatic HRC primary voters, it’s working out great!
Today there have been overly cheerful HRC canvassers asking every warm body if they’ve voted yet and if they need a ride. They asked me how voting was, I responded, “Depressing”.
At work yesterday my wife happened to mention that over the course of this election run-up she has noticed almost a total lack of bumper stickers. (We both drive 37 miles to work, one way, on the freeways)
A customer who happened to be in the office chimed in. “It’s because everyone is either embarrassed or ashamed to put one on their vehicles. It doesn’t matter who you are voting for, no one wants to be associated with either one.”
Did he really write “have casted”???
Parents, don’t waste your money sending kids to Duke!
A new AI ethics center…angst machine smarts.
Smart vs. wise.
Ethics.
The Zeroth Law – I am a robot. I work for all of mankind. My salary goes not to one human, but all.
Now, that’s real intelligence!!!!!!!
“Sir, about that money your corporation makes from assembling smartphones in China, all done by robots, it belongs to the whole world.”
thanks for this adjustment :-)
Good article on the NYTimes Obit and shows why sites like this seem to be getting as much readership as the NYTimes. The lack of truth hurts, too.
That, and why Carlos Sims was asked for a $250,000,000.00 bailout loan a few years ago by the paper.
Amen! I completely abandoned the NYT in 2003 after it helped start a war based on obvious lies. Amazed anyone still reads that rag. How many people does a media outlet have to help kill before the readers stop supporting it?
Pam Martens explains why the NYT may be even worse on finance than they are on war
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/11/the-new-york-times-has-a-fatal-wall-street-bias/
Sadly reminds me of how the London Times, once the – long standing – paper of record and staffed some very brave journalists, became a partisan mouthpiece once taken over by Rupert `Fox News’ Murdoch.
The article’s description of the `Kremlin Zone’ inside its headquarters makes the Pravda analogy especially apt.
“…..the FBI is Trump-land……”
You don’t need to be a fan of Trump to believe putting a Clinton in the White House is a huge step towards “Wholly Corrupt Banana Republic”
Scott Adams analysis of the situation sounds plausibe. Comey playing it “by the rules” until circumstances demand otherwise.
But then there is Zero Hedge, where one commenter asserted Comey was corrupt, because he never served in the military, and had never seen the inside of a gym…….
I think it’s a simple fact that there are a number of agents who joined the FBI to put lawbreakers in jail and they are appalled by Comey letting Hellary off the hook so blatantly. In almost every human situation there can come a time when
“enough is enough”.
Hilary wins simply by shifting the focus to the FBI.
Perhaps we should look at if the IRS is divided as well.
Bulgaria Welcomes Refugees With Attack Dogs and Beatings. But only if the migrants’ smugglers failed to pay up the border police. If the bribe is paid, then the migrants get the VIP treatment. It’s a big bidness in poor Bulgaria, and now I know why my corrupt policeman cousin is so eager to go on border rotation every couple of months. It ain’t the government’s per diem that makes it so appealing, that’s for sure.
Hey — if RCP skews right, never mind, Cenk Uygur is leftist
Re: Barrel Bomb: The Cataclysmic Close of Campaign 2016 (Defend Democracy)
I love it when Yves drops these devastating pieces in the mix of links, without comment. I sent it on to otherwise bright young friends who still revere Obama and have great hopes for Hillary. Asked them to put Chris Floyd’s article in a time capsule and bring it out when they are older to help explain how and when things went wrong, very, very wrong. Sadly, weren’t some of us there a long time ago?
http://www.defenddemocracy.press/barrel-bomb-cataclysmic-close-campaign-2016/
Chris Floyd has always been bang on.
I have only one quibble with his excellent summary. He says, in reference to Bush II:
The regime then presided over the worst economic collapse in generations.
without acknowledging that said collapse was the logical and probably inevitable result of the policies of the preceding Clinton regime.
DeSoto v Uber.
DeSoto, later renamed Flywheel, what a dumb rebrand, was and I expect still is the best cab company in San Francisco.
Their old dark blue cabs with the logo of a Spanish Conquistador in a metal helmet always came on time and they only hired experienced drivers from other companies.
When you land at San Francisco airport and want a cab, you have the right to walk down the line and take any cab you want from the line-up, irrespective of what the pushy “official” says you have to take.
So DeSoto/Flywheel effectively got other taxi companies and those companies customers to pay in time and money for training drivers and determining which drivers were best and then grabbed them for their own benefit. Well that sounds nice an leechlike…uh, I mean Uberiffic!
Sorry, I’m bitter about things like this as I’ve three times invested time and money into “retraining” in both trade and academic schools and have failed utterly at getting employment as everyone seems to only want people with experience. In fact it seems that you are unlikely to even get a form letter response to an application never mind an interview unless you are currently employed doing exactly the job they have posted.
From China Repeating Japan’s Missteps:
One finds this arrangement in many Confucian countries, such as South Korea, Taiwan, China, Japan, etc.
A clue is to be found in the Chinese, and a Confucian, word for economics itself, used in all the above nations: 经济, which is an abbreviation of an ancient phrase, 经世济民. That is, to manage or regulate the society 经世, and to 济民, or to help the people.
Thus, one passes the Imperial Examination (still in use in various forms over there), in order to enter government to help the people.
But they don’t live anymore in a world dominated by an empire where Confucius was born. To help the people today requires servicing the Imperial market, in order to earn Imperial money. That’s another common trait shared by those countries.
It’s not hard to imagine, then, that they will share similar triumphs and repeat similar mistakes.
Compare that with the English word, economics. The ORIGIN OF THE WORD “ECONOMICS” – The word “economics” is derived from a Greek word “okionomia”, which means “household management” or “management of house affairs” Here, we have to remember that an ancient Greek household might include slaves.
interesting. i don’t worry much about china; i think they will be expedient to the max. it took japan some time (since their crash in the late 80s) to come to the unavoidable conclusion that they indeed had to manage things and now they are busy helping the people… funny that the chinese pictogram talks about managing and helping while okionomia basically talks about austerity – balance your budget you spendthrifts!
“Those clubby ties among finance, business, and government misallocated capital and led to wasteful investments. ” Yup, good thing nothing like that ever happens here in the west! NO wasteful investments at all in our capitalist meritocracy.
thanks for the post Easy Money is Dangerous without Fiscal Policy. And the Ann Pettifor link from Open Democracy on a similar vein. Her new angle is to let finance be national and she quotes Keynes saying the same. Good essays.
Re: Is China Repeating Japan’s Missteps? Bloomberg
Gimme that old time religion. Pablum to assure Wall Streeters of their “invincibility”.
First, American capitalism has never been, is not now, nor will ever be “laissez faire”. Pure hoary self-serving mythology.
Second, China is not constrained as is Japan in two crucial aspects, one internal, the other external. First, the China regime really is state capitalist, Japan is not. The Chinese state really can do whatever it wants, constrained only by politics, not economics. All land is under ultimate public ownership even as it is leased for private exploitation. All private enterprises exist essentially at the pleasure of the state.
Third, China is not subject to the constraints of Japan’s alliance as subaltern to the United States. This has played a big role in Japan’s persistent economic crisis. Of course any US role would be invisible to the average Wall Street oriented BB journalist.
Finally, BB’s journalists might want to take a look at their own country when it come to “stagnation”. But that would be to reveal how the capitalist system really works in the USA.
Stale (albeit contemporaneously prescient) link alert:
Reuters article entitled Private equity-funded vessel splurge fuels risk to shipping sector is dated May 9, 2014
Sorry to have missed most of the discussion. I was away, watching the DoCaprio movie: Before the Flood ( a good use of 95 minutes).
I watched the movie too. My take away was a statement President Obama made: “Reality has a way of biting you on the nose.”
The DiCaprio movie and carbon tax, the Paris Agreement — Trump or HIllary — eat chicken instead of beef … I don’t believe any of these things will change anything until reality finally bites us on the nose.
> Cory Doctorow: It’s Time to Stop Talking About Copyright Locus Online (Dan K)
This is a pretty amazing statement to make, when Congress keeps extending copyright to keep Mickey Mouse out of the public domain.
What does it mean for a country to have “excellent demographics” vs. “terrible demographics”, as mentioned in the Australia article?
The “Barrel Bomb” article had a passage that reminded me of post-WWII Japan: “A true, savvy `moderate’ knows you must compromise every ideal, show yourself to be a willing and avid servant of the monied interests and the militarists, in order to gain power so you can …” I was reminded of the Japanese Yakuza, who realized after WWII who the Powers That Be were, and switched to working with them.
BTW, the Yakuza were the Japanese organized crime syndicates, with a particularly nightmarish culture, illustrating the dark side of obedience and loyalty. “Permissivism” wasn’t in their vocabulary.