2:00PM Water Cooler 6/15/2016

Our mini-fundraiser for Water Cooler is on! 163 donors have already invested to support Water Cooler, which provides both economic and political coverage, at a time when former Clinton Administration official Brad Delong announced, following the purge of two Sanders-supporting writers, that those deemed to be too far to the left will be “gleefully and comprehensively trash[ed]” come November. Independent funding is key to having an independent editorial point of view. Please join us and participate via Lambert’s Water Cooler Tip Jar, which shows how to give via check, credit card, debit card, or PayPal.

By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

TPP/TTIP/TISA

“The top Democrat on the subcommittee, Rep. Charles Rangel, expressed doubt that TPP would see any action before the election, but urged Republicans to consider combining TPP with a bill to modernize the United States’ aging transportation infrastructure. “If that was included in the bill, or part of the package, I think people would take another look at TPP,” Rangel said” [Politico]. Uh oh. Horse-trading.

2016

The Voters

“‘I think the whole argument about the [delegate] math is irrelevant to most Bernie supporters,’ [Sanders supporter Aaron Selverston] said, as Dave Matthews played in San Francisco’s Crissy Field before Sanders took to the mic” [NPR]. ‘Because it’s not about some sort of allegiance to a party. The party has failed. The party has failed half of the people who typically vote Democratic. And those are the people who are supporting Bernie.'” And: “‘People in social movements don’t really see an end to their work,’ [Winnie] Wong said. ‘The very idea that something has failed, it’s not a part of our language.'” Useful reporting from NPR. I think, however, that we always want to be leery of the tendency of the press to single out protagonists. There’s no question that Occupy and its organizers were important in sparking the Sanders campaign. I am convinced, however — evidence will have to wait for historians! — that all the movements and organizations that flowered after the crash were important: Occupy, but also the state capitol occupations, which preceded Occupy (and won on SB5 in Ohio, though not in Wisconsin), anti-fracking, anti-foreclosure, Fight for $15, Black Lives Matter, even single payer advocacy, in which National Nurses United plays such a role: All contributed to the ability of Sanders voters to organize, and be organized. There are many protagonists, the vast majority completely unknown (and there are probably many more organizations than the ones I just dredged up from memory).

“Americans’ Confidence in Institutions Stays Low” [Gallup] (Re Silc). Shocker.

California

“2016 California Democratic Presidential Primary Running Tally” [GoogleDocs].

The Trail

“Hillary ushers her guest to the door. ‘We’re going to be a great girl squad,’ she says, squeezing Warren’s hand. ‘It will be so easy to beat this airhead. I bet he doesn’t even know what Cafta is. Sorry to cut this short. I need to call Tim Kaine. But I will dictate a nice tweet about you'” [MoDo, New York TImes (Carolinian)]. This is very funny. Dowd seems to have returned to form, however temporarily.

“Clinton, Sanders Hold ‘Positive’ Meeting After DC Primary” [Talking Points Memo]. “The Clinton statement said that the two talked about ‘unifying the party,’ but the Sanders statement did not, as NBC News noted.” The results of that meeting — attendees Clinton, Podesta, Mook, Sanders, Jane Sanders, Devine — seem to be quite closely held; no leaks that I’ve encountered as of this writing. Readers? Oh, and it’s crossed my mind that “positive” corresponds to “a full and frank exchange of views” in diplospeak. Clever of Sanders to, in essence, give the Clinton campaign a hard deadline by scheduling a video speech for his supporters tomorrow; Sanders will deliver the speech from Vermont, and there are no travel advisories for reporters (here’s the tweet for an RSVP, which sadly requires a mobile phone).

“Bernie Sanders’s Democratic Party reforms focus on things that would’ve helped Bernie Sanders win” [Philip Bump, WaPo]. Oh! Oh! Sanders wants to win! Oh my goodness! This from the guy who thought he had a scoop and a gotcha when the Sanders average contribution jumped from $27 to $29. A good politician wants to win. Sanders is a pretty good politician, considering that he started from zero money and zero name recognition. There seems to be a general assumption in the Beltway that the left shouldn’t have any operational skill, shouldn’t hire professional staff, shouldn’t have any money. Not that they don’t; they shouldn’t. Hopefully, the Sanders campaign has changed that.

“Will Hillary Clinton sacrifice Wasserman Schultz to appease Bernie Sanders?” [Orlando Sun-Sentinel]. Depends on what DWS has on Clinton, I guess. Sanders: “We have to replace the current Democratic National Committee leadership. We need a person at the leadership of the DNC who is vigorously supporting and out working to bring people into the political process. Yeah, I know political parties need money. But it is more important that we have energy, that we have young people, that we have working lass [sic (!!)] people who are going to participate in the political process and fight for their kids and for their parents.”

“As the sun set over the capital city, which had the unpleasant distinction of voting after every other state and territory in the country, it was easy to forget how close the 2016 presidential contest came to going sideways for Democratic Party elders” [NBC]. ” They had so carefully cleared the way for Clinton to be their next leader. But if a few votes had gone differently in Iowa’s exceptionally tight caucus, or if Bernie Sanders had run a more effective campaign in Nevada, the insurgent could have given Clinton a real run for her money.” As it were.

“Will Bernie Sanders Win the Platform?” [David Dayen, The New Republic (GF)]. “Because of the unusually high stakes—and scrutiny—that’s come with Sanders’s focus on the platform, the hearings that continue this week in Phoenix (with St. Louis and Orlando to follow) have become a kind of public trial on the party’s future. If the first week’s hearings were any indication, stakeholders are signaling to Clinton that the party’s sins of the past will no longer be tolerated.” Dayen, unfortunately, confused liberals with the left. Liberals, unsurprisingly like conservatives, are neoliberals. The left is not. One of the nicer clarifications of the 2016 election so far as been the emergence of this distinction, which the Democrat Establishment will doubtless to haze over. Dayen’s attending the Phoenix meeting, and writes:

Listening to the first two days of testimony, I was struck by the witnesses’ desire to wake up the political establishment to realities outside the Beltway. Multiple experts and ordinary people testified that the U.S. economy simply isn’t working for most of its citizens. And they pointed to some interesting root causes. For example, Sabrina Shrader, Vice President of West Virginia Healthy Kids and Families, blamed oligopolistic electricity companies in her state for high heating costs. “One runs the northern part and another runs the southern part,” she said.

If only the Czar knew? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

“Bernie Sanders’s Down-Ballot Effect” [The Atlantic]. On Lucy Flores. We’ll see!

“Millennials Rage Against the Machine (and Lose)” [Roll Call].

Stats Watch

Producer Prices Index, May 2016: “May’s producer prices final-demand index rose an almost fierce looking 0.4 percent for the hottest reading since May last year” [Econoday]. “The strength is tied not only to energy, which rose 2.8 percent in the month, but also to trade services which jumped 1.2 percent in what may hint at the successful passing through of higher costs.” Finally, “inflationary pressure”? Maybe not: “The Producer Price Index year-over-year inflation is insignificantly in contraction. The intermediate processing continues to show a large deflation in the supply chain” [Econintersect].

Empire State Mfg Survey, June 2016: “back up” [Econoday]. “New orders, at 10.90, are also up for the third time in four months as are shipments…. Unfilled orders, however, fell deeper into contraction at minus 10.20. This is a negative indication for employment which is already dead flat at a zero reading. Destocking of inventories is picking up speed and the length of delivery times is shortening, both consistent with weak conditions.'” However: “The Empire State Manufacturing Survey jumped like a rabbit into expansion, after its major decline last month” [Econintersect]. But: “As this index is very noisy, it is hard to understand what these massive moves up or down mean – however this regional manufacturing survey is normally one of the more pessimistic.”

Industrial Production, May 2016: “A steep drop in vehicle production pulled industrial production lower” [Econoday]. “The manufacturing component, hit especially by vehicles, is the big disappointment, down 0.4 percent in the month. Declines sweep sub-components including consumer goods, business equipment and construction supplies. Year-on-year, manufacturing volumes are unchanged in what is reminder of how soft the factory is.”

MBA Mortgage Applications, week of June 10, 2016: “Despite a drop in fixed mortgage rates to the lowest level since January 2015, purchase applications for home mortgages fell 5 percent in the June 10 week on a seasonally adjusted basis, with the previous week’s results adjusted for the Memorial Day holiday” [Econoday]. Year on year gains remain “impressive.”

Retail: “Retail sales rose 0.5% in May from a month earlier, raising hopes that U.S. economic growth is accelerating despite weak hiring” [Wall Street Journal].

Retail: “‘The problem is the fake products today are of better quality and better price than the real names,’ he said at Alibaba’s investor day in Hangzhou. ‘They are exactly the same factories, exactly the same raw materials but they do not use the names'” [Wall Street Journal, “Jack Ma Says Fakes “Better Quality and Better Price Than the Real Names”]. But what about our intellectual property?!

Shipping: “Container shipments at ports of Long Beach and Oakland reach highest levels since last August” [Wall Street Journal, “California Seaports Report Slight Increase in Cargo Volume in May].

Shipping: “When disaster strikes, many people assume the ocean carrier will absorb the cost of recovery and repairs. But that’s generally not the case. Under a doctrine of maritime law known as “general average,” cargo owners are required to pay a share of those costs.” [DC Velocity]. “When would an ocean carrier declare general average? Historically, it typically happened when a ship was in imminent danger and the crew had to jettison cargo to lighten the vessel… How much you’ll pay is based on the value of your cargo as a percentage of the total value of the voyage: the value of the ship itself plus the value of the cargo on board, says Bridges. If the value of your cargo is equal to 5 percent of the total value of the voyage, then you’ll be required to pay 5 percent of the costs that meet the general average criteria.” Now reread this with the understanding that at one point in history, slaves were considered, and called, “cargo.”

Honey for the Bears: “Synchrony Financial (formerly GE Capital) announced today that it was seeing more delinquencies from credit card holders and was increasing charge offs to recognize that situation. The stock got whacked and credit card companies declined in sympathy” [Across the Curve].

The Bezzle: “Marc Andreessen sees technology startups cashing out in a wave of acquisitions and public stock offerings over the next few years” [Bloomberg]. “The IPO market for tech companies has been a dud so far this year. Just one VC-backed tech company — SecureWorks Corp. — has gone public in 2016, raising $112 million in April. It’s not for lack of candidates. There are now 168 unicorns, or tech companies valued at $1 billion or more, according to research firm CB Insights. Andreessen’s Menlo Park, California-based venture firm owns shares in seven unicorns with a combined value of $46.9 billion, according to CB Insights.”

The Bezzle: “The Unicorn Godmother Dishes on Silicon Valley” [Vanity Fair]. Aileen Lee: “I think we’re in a valuation-adjustment period where we’ve basically had very bullish markets both in the private and the public sectors for tech stocks over the past three to five years, and valuation multiples just got out of whack. There was too much money pouring into tech; and a perception developed that the only way to win was to offer a higher price.”

The Bezzle: “Why do Nigerian Scammers Say They are from Nigeria?” [Microsoft Research]. “By sending an email that repels all but the most gullible the scammer gets the most promising marks to self-select, and tilts the true to false positive ratio in his favor.”

Today’s Fear & Greed Index: 52, Neutral (previous close: 50, Neutral) [CNN]. One week ago: 81 (Extreme Greed). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jun 15 at 1:00pm. Up 2. A sign of life, or a random twitch?

Gaia

“In an iconic evolutionary case study, a black form of the peppered moth rapidly took over in industrial parts of the UK during the 1800s, as soot blackened the tree trunks and walls of its habitat” [BBC]. “Now, researchers from the University of Liverpool have pinpointed the genetic change that caused this adaptation. They have also calculated the most likely date for the mutation – 1819” (original).

Class Warfare

“As Tech Evaporates Jobs, ‘The Tipping Point Will Be Driverless Trucks'” [Buzzfeed]. Andy Stern of SEIU. I remember Andy; he funded anti-single payer efforts in 2009.

News of the Wired

” The world’s oldest computer is still revealing its secrets” [WaPo]. The Antikythera Mechanism continues to fascinate.

“I doomed mankind with a free text editor” [Medium].

“Los Angeles Librarian Inspires a Love of Reading with her Book Bike” [Shareable]. Totally cool, although it does remind me of the sort of ingenious vehicle one sees in Third World countries. Perhaps there’s a lesson for us here?

* * *

Readers, feel free to contact me with (a) links, and even better (b) sources I should curate regularly, and (c) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi are deemed to be honorary plants! See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. And here’s today’s plant (MK):

1586

It’s an eleplant.

The sun came out again!

Readers, I got a ton of pictures from you all! Thank you so much.

* * *

Readers, Water Cooler will not exist without your regular support. Your tip will be welcome today, and indeed any day. If you enjoy what you’re reading, please use the dropdown to choose your contribution, and then click the hat!

Donate

Print Friendly, PDF & Email
This entry was posted in Guest Post on by .

About Lambert Strether

Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (“Because markets”). I don’t much care about the “ism” that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don’t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. To me, the key issue — and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me — is the tens of thousands of excess “deaths from despair,” as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics — even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton’s wars created — bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow — currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press — a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let’s call such voices “the left.” Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn’t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I’ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.

146 comments

  1. Brindle

    So true. A lot of liberals are not even aware that they are neolioberals—so effective the morphing has been:

    “Liberals, unsurprisingly like conservatives, are neoliberals. The left is not. One of the nicer clarifications of the 2016 election so far as been the emergence of this distinction,”

    1. VietnamVet

      Yes, this is astonishing to me. I threw away my Obama T-shirt years ago but I didn’t recognize that there is a Corporate Psy-Ops underway to install Hillary Clinton until this year. I was aware of Neo-Cons back in 2003. But, I wasn’t aware of the neo-liberal campaign to crucify the disenfranchised from Greece to mid-America. Deregulation, privatization, free movement of people and capital plus non-stop wars and the resulting chaos are their tools of subjugation and pillaging.

      An electoral civil war being waged right now. If corporate media wins and the Neo’s stay in control, this will become violent.

    1. YankeeFrank

      Well that was quick. The “Vichy Left” is already plotting to co-opt our revolution and make it palatable to the corrupt DNC leadership and its oligarchic backers.

      1. YankeeFrank

        Huge irony of course being the conceit that the 20-something Millennials who backed Bernie’s medicare-for-all, $15/hr min wage, etc., etc., are somehow the mid-90’s retreads here and not Clinton and the decrepit and corrupt DNC.

        1. jrs

          Either way seems a generalization, while it may not have been the majority plenty of people of all ages supported Bernie. And there are no doubt 20 something supporters of Hillary. So the conceit is complete and utter garbage either way.

          I realize with age sometimes comes wealth and privileged and THAT can dictate a lot but again it’s over-generalizing. Most have not had a good economy in this country for 2 or 3 decades.

        2. Roger Smith

          Even more ironic that Clinton cannot even use a damn computer. Who are the fools here exactly. Oh, the Times.

      2. cwaltz

        The pro and con of this particular generation is their cynicism. I wish the DNC lots of luck convincing them to join and stay simply by putting something in their platform like they’ve done with my generation(and yes I suspect it took me considerably longer than it will probably take my kids to quit the Democratic party.)

        I’m sure the Bernie supporters are going to get graphics, I’m almost as sure that the pretty words will mean fairly little.

          1. hunkerdown

            Sure it is. Cynicism is nothing but the recognition that people have interests and tend to act in service of them. The consequences of such a recognition are dangerous to a society built of authorities and appearances, but that doesn’t mean cynicism is bad by any means, especially when it’s so explanatory and predictive of what is only defensible in prevailing paradigms by extemporaneously composed logical fallacies, particularly special pleading and the fallacy of composition.

    2. grayslady

      The guy who wrote this is a member of a think tank called New America. David Brooks is a member of the Board of Directors. Can we just stop linking to anything from the NYT? The Grey Lady doesn’t have a shred of credibility left.

      1. YankeeFrank

        I for one want to know what these Vichy-Left types are up to, I appreciate the link.

        1. Reify99

          Labeled as such.

          e.g. Whenever I turn the dial to NPR I say “Now let’s find out what the Koch Bros would like me to think about today.” Can we have an APP for that?

    3. Marco

      I was encouraged that the top comments were not very kind to Mr Schmitt. Another annoyance is his prominent mention of the Roosevelt Institute, CAP and Demos as “Progressive”. I still have hope that Team Hillary will spectacularly crash and burn and if they do the whole liberal wonkosphere also gets the sledgehammer.

      1. Left in Wisconsin

        Not meant to be snarky but sledgehammer from whom? What you aptly call the “liberal wonkosphere” performs precisely the role that it’s corporate foundation funders desire: channelling and minimizing opposition to current political and economic arrangements. We need to create an alternative anti-corporate, anti-imperial opposition with its own infrastructure and funding streams.

      2. jrs

        It was just a bad argument. Ok we gotcha Bernie should have taken all his advice from questionable “think tanks”. But also they think people voted for him because he had a perfect plan to reform the banks, but people don’t necessarily vote that level of detail. If they did it’s really truly an argument for direct democracy. They vote a direction: find a way to reform the banks, and can accept details might change.

      3. Lambert Strether Post author

        Demos is the (liberal) organization that got (leftist) Matt Bruenig fired for incivility, after (liberal) CAP’s Neena Tanden gave the high sign that it was open season on him. Elizabeth Warren’s daughter is on on the Demos board.

        Phil Ochs had the right of it:

        And for those of you not familiar with this song, listen all the way to the end for the punchline ;-)

    4. Katniss Everdeen

      So Bernie’s just “out of step” with “progressives” like demos or center for american “progress,” whoever the hell THAT is.

      For example, many liberal Democrats would agree with Mr. Sanders, in theory, that single-payer health insurance could be fairer, more efficient and cheaper than our fragmented system.

      But demos and cap beg to differ. They, apparently, prefer the “progressiveness” of for-profit insurance companies.

      Which do you think “demos” disagrees with–fairer, cheaper or more efficient–and why? Good essay question, doncha’ think?

      How is this even written with a straight face? OF COURSE no one wants a “healthcare” system that’s “fairer, cheaper and more efficient.”

      1. Jeff W

        For example, many liberal Democrats would agree with Mr. Sanders, in theory, that single-payer health insurance could be fairer, more efficient and cheaper than our fragmented system.

        [emphasis added]

        Straw men in synchoretic harmony. Single-payer could be, in theory, fairer, more efficient and cheaper than our fragmented system in some far-off place in the galaxy where the ordinary laws of time and space simply do not apply (e.g., Canada).

    5. Lambert Strether Post author

      Well, that’s horrid. I think I’ll hoist it.

      Adding… I suppose that would make the Democrats Windows 10 — the one that forces you to install it and sends all your data back to Redmond so they can package and resell it.

      Presumably some other writer has already thought of comparing Sanders to linux….

      1. hunkerdown

        To me, the Democrats always seemed more comfortable with the strict regulation, credentialing process, least privilege principle, deep integration of purchasing, and superficial diversity of iOS. Whereas with Windows 10, you can do whatever you would ordinarily like to do, with cameras on you, and within the restrictions of your purchased trim level, which sounds like the GOP dream.

        1. Roger Smith

          Exactly, the obvious counter to this article’s headline is that real people who matter use Macs, the software choice of pretentious Democrats and liberals around the country. It is cool to buy Apple! Get with the program! Sell us your souls! You don’t need to be able to fix or update your own system! If it breaks our specialized team of technicians (think tank) can fix it at the Apple Store for you. If that fails, just buy a new one! Can’t be left out of the circle by being the only guy with “last year’s” mac!

  2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

    That an elephant who looked back and turned into a salt or stone pillar?

    “Told you to look forward. Let’s move on and not look back.”

    By the way, that story sounds like someone made a mistake at Sodom, and was asking people to unite, and look forward. Probably sacrilegious and thus incorrect (no one should question the omnipotent one), though that is the appearance and implication of ‘don’t look back (in time, not necessarily in space).”

  3. Jim A

    “Platform”? Writing the party platform is the runners-up participation prize that they palm off onto “true believers” to keep them out of the way while the grown ups do the wheeling and dealing. No elected official is bound by it, and it has precious little effect on the policies emphasized by the campaign.

    1. grayslady

      Exactly. If Bernie chose to use the excuse of a neo-liberal platform as a reason to break with the Dems and run independent, that would be one thing. But to pretend that the nominee is going to push for a specific platform is nothing more than a mind trip.

      1. katiebird

        But it might be enough…. Hillary is very stubborn. She didn’t have to say, Never, Ever on Medicare for Everyone. But she did…. And never, ever took it back.

        1. Peter Pan

          Well, I will contend that the party platform is meaningless bullshit. I will never ever vote for a party platform because no part of it that would enhance the lives of the average citizen will never be fulfilled.

          1. Archie

            Agree PP. If and when the “party platform” becomes the litmus test for EVERY party member, then it will serve a unifying purpose. As it stands right now, the REAL party platform is neo-liberalism all day, every day. (As one of the clever commenters here put it: Eat shit and like it! Or go to bed hungry.)

            It has been the case,since at least the 60s, that politicians regard average citizens as just not smart enough to understand all the nuances of government. Therefore, we should just let the politicians do what they know is “right” and go on about our daily lives. I have been pissed off at this condescending attitude my entire adult life. All of us 90% ers (at least) have been in an abusive relationship with our national and state governments for as long as I care to remember. Every time I have made a contribution to Bernie’s campaign, I have sent a personal message that indeed, I do not see this election to be about “Bernie”, but for the first time in way, way too long, Bernie has called out the bullshit in that relationship and that is why I support him.

            Hopefully enough others have urged him on for similar reasons and he feels the Bern in all of us. Maybe I’m setting myself up for another Charlie Brown moment, but all I’m looking for at this point is for Bernie to do the right thing. He has spoken much truth to power in this primary cycle, and he has experienced both the brute force of the establishment and the love and sincerity of his supporters. I am only a couple of years younger than Bernie and if it were me, I’d take the f##kers down. This is a defining moment in history and I sense that Bernie knows that. Senate committee chairmanships, etc., are meaningless in the face of the neo-liberal assault that is TPP and TTIP. This is the real end game, imho.

          2. katiebird

            I have some historical fondness for it since I was a Ddelegate to the 1978 MidTerm Convention… Which was a brief experiment for Democrats to work on the Platform before getting into the Presidential Campaigns.

            That’s where I learned just how deeply President Carter was to The very idea of Universal Healthcare for Everyone.

            But what I meant to say above was that I don’t think Bernie really expects Hillary’s agreement on any platform issue.

    2. cwaltz

      Yep.

      I suspect they hope the kiddies are naïve enough to believe that the platform means anything.

      1. Pat

        Hell, the kiddies probably know better. The woman on Social Security I talked to a few days ago not so much.

        I do think getting it in the platform is good. But I have no illusion it will be followed. Still nice to be able to point out that failure when you have some one running against them.

    3. Lambert Strether Post author

      I don’t entirely agree. One of the first things Obama’s faction did after Obama became the presumptive nominee in 2008 was to rewrite the platform preamble to stuff all this bipartisan crapola into it. I’m too lazy to find the link right now, but the idea was that bipartisanship was really, really important, that it was necessary to reach across the aisle and compromise, that the Republicans had to get healthy for democracy to thrive, etc. So that was an excellent forecast for squandered opportunity in 2009 – 2010. “Mush from the wimp,” as the famous headline went.

      So the platform may not be useful as policy, but can be useful for the signals it sends. I suppose it’s a bit like Festivus: You have the Airing of the Grievances, followed by Feats of Strength.

    4. JaaaaayCeeeee

      While it’s true that writing the platform is worse than a participation prize, Bernie’s own platform includes the financial transaction tax (that he markets as free tuition) and single payer (that he markets as healthcare as a right).

      In terms of leverage, not getting either of those into the official Democratic Party platform lets Bernie be as perfunctory as he wishes when it comes to fulfilling his promise to support the eventual Democratic Party nominee.

      That, in turn, preserves his leverage both during Clinton’s presidency and in the future, including downballot or challenges.

  4. ChiGal

    Eleplant, very clever! Actually, I sent you that (my initials are MK, not sure how you got them though).

    Just wanna say that pic was from the Guardian’s coverage of the vast overgrown complex of buildings and monuments recently uncovered via laser technology in the tropical forest of Cambodia.

  5. BillC

    Intercontinental household move? Overseas-delivered car shipped home? You should know about “general average.”

    Never thought I’d see general average mentioned on NC, but given the number of internationals here, it’s a good thing Lambert mentioned it. I did four transatlantic relocations before I recently learned of the financial risk my ignorance of general average exposed me to.

    Everyone knows they need to insure shipments of any value against loss, theft, and damage. But anyone who ships by sea should also make sure their insurance specifically covers the unlikely but expensive possibility of the shipping company declaring “general average” on their cargo’s voyage.

    The cited story gives a good but undramatic summary of the topic, but maybe reading a few horror stories of one-time, non-professional shippers who fell victim to this old maritime practice will help you remember it when you need to (see text below the 3rd picture).

    1. OIFVet

      Thank you for writing about this. We are in the midst of preparing our move across the pond and “general average” had not come up at all.

      1. different clue

        Europe is awfully close to Africa, West Asia and South Asia. When parts of these places become physically unable to sustain human life due to the advance of Global Heating, hundreds of millions of Afro-Asians will want to enter Europe to escape the Fiery Furnace of Global Warming in the tropical latitudes. Is Europe really where you want to be when that massive migration begins rolling out?

    2. HotFlash

      And don’t book your goods on a ship named Flaminia (it burned). Or Impluvia, for that matter. Jeesh!

    3. Lambert Strether Post author

      I wonder if you could paraphrase “general average” a bit more for the peanut gallery, like me?

      * * *

      Just to hammer the point home, this is Turner’s famous Slave Ship:

      When the good ship Zong tossed its “cargo” overboard, I believe that “general average” figured in its calculations, and so I would like to understand it better (if possible from a practioner’s perspective)>

      1. Knifecatcher

        As I understand it, if a cargo ship gets in deep doo-doo the captain can declare General Average and jettison / trash whatever cargo might be necessary to save the ship. Each shipper is then obliged to pay for an equal share of the damage, even if their cargo wasn’t affected. The “oh crap” scenario is an inexperienced shipper finding that their shipping insurance doesn’t cover general average and having to pay their share out of pocket.

        Source: I shipped a couple cars over from Europe last year and someone tried to ‘splain it to me.

  6. cm

    NPR shares Clinton’s high ethical standards:

    NPR’s ethics handbook says correspondents can “accept honorariums, paid travel and meals for speaking engagements and awards ceremonies, but only from educational or nonprofit groups not engaged in significant lobbying or political activity.”

    Lara, the NPR spokeswoman, says the policy applies only to paid, not unpaid, speeches.

    1. Carolinian

      You left out the best part

      And Liasson has given speeches in recent years to at least six organizations that spend large amounts on lobbying. She was paid to deliver at least one of those speeches—given to the National Potato Council in February, according to a representative of the organization. The council has a political action committee and lobbies consistently for political causes.

      Yes Mara Liasson, known expert on potatoes. Since Mara was a big reason I stopped listening to NPR this new smackdown does provide some satisfaction. However NPR has yet to explain what a Fox News commentator is doing on their broadcast.

        1. polecat

          Let’s hope the ‘beze’l cracks,….allowing the precious little NPR diamonds, like Liasson and her ilk, to spill out, to be lost in the dirt…never to speak a condescending word to listeners……ever!

  7. DJG

    The Antikythera Mechanism continues to fascinate.

    Thanks for the link. We still have very sketchy ideas about ancient technology. Sometimes, Italian museums in smaller cities display objects found locally that are less “spectacular” than what might be in Roma. In Narni, I recall seeing pieces of boats that used to navigate the River Nera. They also had a collection of roof tiles and bricks from the local factories (which had brands). And there is always a collection of spindles and loom weights, which were the sources of wealth of many cities–cloth, which we hardly give a thought to anymore.

    The export of food and markets for food were highly developed. Follow any history of garum, of all things, for stories of diligent makes and exporters of the Roman equivalent of Thai nam pla.

    And there are so many missing works. Any entry in Wikipedia will list many works by ancient authors known only through second sources. In fact, that is how we know anything at all about Sappho. She was quoted extensively in the ancient world.

    1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      Speaking of ancient technology, I have a Chinese Warring States period (more than 2,000 yeara ago) bronze mirror that’s black and seems to be corrosion resistant.

      And also a silvery Tang dynasty (around 600 – 900 AD) mythological beasts/grapes mirror that seems to have chromium in it, even though chrome plating came along only in the 1920s. There is very little rusting on the mirror.

      As for food, the sea silk was not food, but a sort of fabric, made from byssus from Mediterrean clams. The Chinese knew about it 2,000 years ago and stated that it came from ‘water sheep.’

      1. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

        It’s not mentioned in the Wikipedia entry on Sea Silk, but I think I read it in one of Joseph Needham’s volumes on Chinese technology that the ancient Chinese thought ‘water sheep’ were not born of mama water sheep, but grew straight out of the ground.

        How they could fit that into their knowledge world, I have no idea.

        1. Jeff W

          The Hou Han Shu [5th century, AD], in its account of Roman Syria, says ‘Further, they (the Ta-Chhin people) have a fine cloth said to orginate from the down of a “water-sheep” (shui yang tshui), and also they have a stuff made from the cocoons of wild silkworms.’ And the story is carefully preserved through the centuries (though very few people east of Persia can ever have seen any of these fabrics) until the Hsin Thang Shu says, as late as +1060: ‘They weave the hair of the “water-sheep” into cloth which is called “cloth from the west of the sea” (hai hsi pu).’ The only variant on this occurs in the early +14th century Wên Hsien Thung Khao, where Ma Tuan-Lin has ‘cloth from the sea’ (hai chang pu), more correctly still.

          So far the descriptions had kept close to the facts, but by the +8th century a magic crop of fables was in full development. The Chiu Thang Shu has another tradition, speaking of lambs engendered in the soil, sprouting on stalks like umbilical cords. This occurs also in the Hsin Thang Shu, and in a commentary on the Shih Chi, written in +737 which was found by [Édouard] Chavannes. A thousand years later the editors of the Thu Shu Chi Chhêng encyclopedia made a section for the ‘earthborn sheep’ (ti sêng yang), in which they quoted from Tuan Kung-Lu’s Pei Hu Lu (Northern Family Records) of +875, and from Wu Lai’s Yuan Ying Chi (The Vast and the Minute) of the early Liao dynasty, about +1000.

          Summing up this digression, then, if such it is, one may say that both Mediterranean and Chinese writers had accurate knowledge of the Pinna byssus textile industry up to about the +6th century, but that afterwards there was a legendary development which brought the Pinna ashore, turned it into a lamb or a sheep, if nothing more extraordinary, and completely mystified scholars of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

          —Joseph Needham, Science and Civilisation in China. Volume 1: Introductory Orientations, pp. 201-202 [footnotes omitted, emphasis added]

          Today, one woman, Chiara Vigo, on the Sardinian island of Sant’Antioco, is thought to be the only person who can harvest and spin “sea silk.” While her family has been weaving it for centuries, she says they have never made a penny from it—and she herself gives the fabric to people who come to her for help.

  8. Vatch

    The party has failed half of the people who typically vote Democratic. And those are the people who are supporting Bernie.

    Actually, the party has also failed a significant fraction of the people who voted for Hillary Clinton. They should have voted for Sanders, but they didn’t know eanough about him (because of the media blackout), or they just continued on auto-pilot and voted for a familiar name. A few might have been voluntarily ignorant (sports, Dancing with the Stars, etc.), but those people usually don’t vote in primaries.

    1. ex-PFC Chuck

      Actually the party has failed every one of its members who is not in its nomenklatura, or the one or two percent who are not living off it in whole or in part.

  9. bob watkins

    re the Sanders Live Stream Thursday: I received an invite and was distressed to see it required a mobile phone. Sent an email to saying I could not receive text messages. Reply said enter any number – as long as email correct, I would receive instructions to access the Live Stream.

    1. katiebird

      Thank you!!! This is important — I’ll share that with my friends and family (Bernie supporters all)

    2. grayslady

      bob or katiebird, please share the contents with those of us who don’t have mobile phones. Thanks.

      1. katiebird

        I haven’t gotten the directions yet. But, Bob says to put any number string in the cell phone field… But make sure your EMAIL address is correct.

        My email is katiebird@everestkc.net. If you send me a note I’ll forward instructions when I get them….. Just in case the email plan fails.

        1. grayslady

          That’s very kind of you, but it would be enough if you report back here to the rest of us the gist of what Bernie says, whether he allowed questions, suggestions, etc. Thanks.

  10. DJG

    Hmmm. I’m seeing a scattering of mentions on Facebook of the Democrats’ trying to attach amendments to bills regarding discrimination as well as about establishing background checks.

    Whatever happened to the idea of writing legislation and getting co-sponsors?

    Is everything in Congress now being done as an amendment to a spending bill?

    And isn’t the entire Congress to blame for that abdication of responsibility?

    Just checking, though.

    1. 3.14e-9

      When I was reporting on Congress in the late eighties/early nineties, rider amendments were very common. Usually, “rider” refers to an amendment unrelated to the subject of the main legislation, but not always.

      FWIW, Bernie Sanders figured out how to make effective use of amendments, although from what I can tell, he sticks to the subject. That’s how he earned the nickname, “Amendment King.” I’ve read dozens of disparaging remarks in comment sections by ignoramuses who think it’s a derogatory reference to his having done nothing in 25 years but add and delete lines in somebody else’s bill. Wrong. As an independent, he didn’t have party support behind his proposed legislation, which meant he wasn’t going to get anything out of committee. That effectively neutered him as a legislator. He learned early on how to work around the system by writing legislation as amendments. A certain amount of negotiating with party leadership is still required, but there are fewer objections. Here’s an article from last fall listing a few legislative successes he achieved through an amendment.

      http://www.alternet.org/election-2016/bernie-gets-it-done-sanders-record-pushing-through-major-reforms-will-surprise-you

  11. Kim Kaufman

    “All contributed to the ability of Sanders voters to organize, and be organized. There are many protagonists, the vast majority completely unknown (and there are probably many more organizations than the ones I just dredged up from memory).”

    The fight to stop chained CPI on Social Security
    The fight to stop/slow down TPP

  12. abynormal

    another day at a Georgia LIBRARY…so i’ve blown off DeKalb Co. Lib. Systems for the county i reside, Fulton Co. today i visited a library 5mi. from my apt. in the north reaches of the county, just behind the Country Club of the South. decent inventory and size but a bit commercial since the last time i visited 6yrs ago. i’m a happy camper hauling my stack to the 60 something librarian, UNTIL i ask about the price for an out of County Card….$40.00. the librarian said, ‘a bean counter figured out what it was worth based on today’s book prices’. i’m still in sticker shock as she informs me of the time she worked at GA Tech lib. in 1984 where if you were out of state they charged 100.00 to borrow 5 books. SO this librarian has no problem with these numbers (nor apple oranges)…she’s happy to validate them and remind me how lucky i got it.

    brings to mind Kaleo’s song performed live in a volcano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WIU5NN1Q0g
    Ohh father tell me
    Do we get what we deserve
    We get what we deserve

    Way down we go
    Way down we go
    Way down we go
    Way down we go

    You let your feet run wild
    The time has come as we all go down
    Ohh before the fall
    Do you dare to look them right in the eyes?

    ‘Cause they will run you down
    down to the dark
    yes and they will run you down
    down ’till you fall
    and they will run you down
    down to your core
    ’till you can’t crawl no more

    …and the books in your head is all you carry

    1. katiebird

      This. Is totally outrageous. I don’t know how to help though.

      Can I ask (ignore me if not) what happened to your county library… Is there one? I don’t mean to pry, I just want to help. I worked in public libraries almost my whole working life

      1. abynormal

        this is a Pubic Issue…ask a way:
        i live in Fulton Co., where my chard is current. plenty of library’s in Fulton Co.. today, out of curiosity i asked the Fulton Co. librarian the cost to renew a card. (40.00) btw, the City of Atlanta is located in central Fulton Co. (remember this)

        Sat. i went to a Lib. i’ve frequented 30yrs TWO blocks from my house in Dekalb Co, where i had to renew a card and they wanted 47.00. i would’ve gone to my New lib. in Fulton Co. but they don’t have the inventory.

        soon, what will they charge for a library in your county? recently, the city of Dunwoody (the lib. saturday) has incorporated and N. Fulton (the lib. today) has annexed from paying taxes for Atlanta City (real issue are their schools with no heat and used books…oh and the African American Children).

        these annexes & incorporated events took place under great fanfare…deep pockets in all locations BUT the pockets aren’t deep enough. they can’t keep police on the beat and parks are charging outrageous fees. so…how much and how soon will we be charged for a library card in district??

        this is as ugly as class warfare gets…the further dumbing of the public

        1. katiebird

          She must have miss understood you?? According to this page, a card for Fulton Count residents is free

          Does this apply to you?

          Who can apply for a library card?

          We issue free cards to everyone who lives in Fulton County, as well as people who live inside the legal city limits of the City of Atlanta, including the part of the City of Atlanta that is in DeKalb County.

          We also issue free cards to people who are currently teaching in Fulton County and the City of Atlanta in DeKalb, (including homeschooling parents), to people who are going to a school in Fulton County and the City of Atlanta in DeKalb, and to people who own property or a business in the area.

          Please note: Sometimes people who have an Atlanta mailing address may not live in Fulton County or in the City of Atlanta in DeKalb. We’ll be happy to check your address.

          1. abynormal

            Thanks for the footwork but its a bold face LIE…even Lambert checked it out for me. We Got Real Problems KatieBird

              1. abynormal

                i’m still dealing with an exploded brain…when i calm down i will take this info to the library’s and see what they have to say…i get the feeling the funds are needed. i’ll keep you posted and Thanks for putting up with my rant ‘)

              2. abynormal

                MY BAD…today i asked the Fulton Co. librarian for the amount to apply for a card ‘outside’ of resident county…NOT RENEWAL.

                i would’ve been renewing my card saturday in Dekalb Co. but they checked my lic. and saw my address for Fulton…then they told me the amount would be 47.00. never had this issue before. i guess b/c they followed the rules you posted above.

                1. katiebird

                  It seems that we in Greater Kansas City are very lucky. We can get card in any county — even across state lines! And a currier moves the books around. I get my ebooks from the KCMO library because their Genre Fiction Librarian is a Genius.

                  All free to us. … Except taxes of course…..

        2. grayslady

          Do you pay for the libraries in your real estate taxes? I do. Here we pay 3% of the value of the home to support our local library. So, for a $220,000 home, you would pay $360 per year to support the library. The free library card entitles you to all library services: 3M and Media Mall online books, online music, free access to Consumer Reports, Ancestry.com, three dozen different magazines, free concerts and presentations at the library, plus a phenomenal collection of videos, a decent collection of music, a decent collection of books (plus the ability to obtain any book or video from the surrounding libraries if the local library doesn’t have it), and a dozen library computers. Additionally, there is a budget for videos and books. You can request that the library purchase a particular video–say a foreign film award winner–and, next thing you know, the video is on the shelf. Also, whenever more than 5 people are on hold for a book, the library automatically orders another copy. The library provides notary service, photocopies, and also all the tax forms you might ever need, plus all the state driver publications (how to pass the license tests, etc.). Libraries are not inexpensive to run, but I use so many of their services that I definitely feel I’m getting my 3% worth every year. If you are only being charged $40 for a library card, without any supporting taxes, you’re getting away with a very good deal.

          1. low integer

            3% of $220000 is $6600, a very expensive annual library fee.
            I’m guessing you mean 0.3%, and $360 is a typo for $660?
            Or, if $360 is not a typo, then $220000 should be $120000?
            In any case, it is not really important wrt the substance of your comment; these sorts of things just catch my eye.

        3. Carolinian

          Those fees have been the policy for many many years. I think i have used all the libraries you talk about. Here in SC a different system applies and there is an exchange program with our nearby sister county so that residents of each can get a guest card for the other county’s system. That way non residents aren’t getting the “free ride” that those Atl counties worry about.

          1. Archie

            Gawd forbid the soiled masses should expect anything for free. Let’s be real people. Pull up those boot straps, work harder, work longer, work smarter, work…oh you get the picture. Free stuff just gets in the way of profits for those public/private partnerships.

  13. Anne

    Robert Reich, who has been a strong supporter of Sanders – well, up to the point where Clinton’s inevitability reared its ugly head – posted this to his Facebook page:

    Assuming she’s the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton must be bolder. She needs some big ideas proportionate to the scale of the problems we’re facing — widening inequality, crumbling infrastructure, unaffordable housing.

    Her entire tax plan would raise only $1.1 trillion over the next decade, according to the Tax Policy Center — just half of one percent of the GDP — barely enough even to pay for the infrastructure investments we need to create jobs and help remedy our crumbling infrastructure. What about a carbon tax whose proceeds could dramatically expand the Earned Income Tax Credit? A progressive wealth tax to pay for early childhood education?

    I don’t expect her to be as bold as Bernie. But if she doesn’t aim high she can’t possibly summon the public will to do what’s needed. And her campaign becomes merely “I’m not Trump, I’m experienced, and I’m a female,” which may not be enough to defeat Trump.

    My response?

    Absent Bernie Sanders forcing Clinton to play around the edges of true progressive, average-American-centered policy, Clinton would be the candidate the Republicans wished they had been able to field. A Kissinger protege, with equally bad instincts on the foreign policy front who can’t wait to ramp up the war, who wants to sic her Pete-Petersen-loving husband on our economy, who is open to restrictions on the right to choose, who called the TPP the gold standard of trade agreements and sold fracking around the world: that’s where she’s going to aim. That’s where she’s going to be bold. And she’s counting on the support of Republican refugees from Trump’s insanity to help her win in November. No thanks.

    How is it possible that after working with and knowing the Clintons for lo, these many years, Reich isn’t intimately aware that her version of bold is a Republican wet dream?

    As for “I’m not Trump,” I’m not so sure that the two don’t have some affinity for the same things, it’s just that Hillary has more of a filter, so you don’t hear all the crazy. Doesn’t mean it isn’t still there, though.

    1. Barmitt O'Bamney

      Assuming she’s the Democratic nominee, Hillary Clinton must be defeated. The Democrats must be defeated, again and again, until the corporate pimps and identity politics pushers no longer view them as a suitable vehicle for their plans to deceive and fleece the people.

      Forget Reich. He is what he always was – a dope who’s happy enough to be useful to the Clintons and their kind, if it keeps his name out there.

      1. aab

        I agree with the first part.

        I actually think this is pretty good for Reich. It’s not as sheepdoggy as he attempted a couple of months ago. This could be part of Bernie’s strategy: keep framing Clinton as weak/inadequate/too far right to win and have coattails. A bunch of superdelegates have quietly shifted to Bernie in the past week, which is…interesting.

    2. Left in Wisconsin

      How is it possible that after working with and knowing the Clintons for lo, these many years, Reich isn’t intimately aware that her version of bold is a Republican wet dream?

      This is a rhetorical question, right?

    3. HotFlash

      Hmm, I am not Trump, I am female, and I am *not a war criminal*! So I think I am the better candidate! Oh, and there’s this guy from VT who has experience, maybe I could ask him about the experience-needin’ stuff..

      OTOH, Ms Clinton can alway ask Mr. Kissinger — make what you will of that.

      1. ambrit

        The case could be made that, for H Clinton at least, Trump is a “threat from the Left.”
        I’m wondering if there are some very miserable, clear sighted advisors to Clinton watching her ignore all of their good advice.

  14. Nealser

    Oh no… The Sierra Club just endorsed Hillary Clinton. I thought they’d turned the corner after changing their position on Fracking a few years ago.

    I hit the Tip Jar. Thanks Lambert!

    1. nycTerrierist

      Ugh. writing them off now. No credibility. Endorsing Fracking Hillary? There are other environmental groups with integrity.

      Feh on the Sierra Club.

  15. Pavel

    Wow, Zero Hedge just has a post on “Guccifer 2.0” who hacked the DNC servers and just posted a bunch of documents on his own website. Some pretty embarrassing stuff including lists of the main HRC donors and campaign strategy docs. Apparently G 2.0 is sending it all to Wikileaks, which thus may be the source of the Assange statements re Hillary. Things are heating up :)

    One of the bigger news items to hit yesterday was that the Democratic National Committee accused Russian government hackers of penetrating the DNC’s computer network and gaining access to the entire database of opposition research on GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump. The DNC further said that no financial, donor or personal information appears to have been accessed or taken, suggesting that the breach was traditional espionage, not the work of criminal hackers.

    It appears that was not entirely true, because barely 24 hours later, the alleged “Russian” hackers has emerged under the Guccifer2 handle, and instead of a group of government operatives and/or spies appears to be a “lone” hacker who incidentally adds, “DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz said no financial documents were compromised. Nonsense! Just look through the Democratic Party lists of donors!”

    He also denounces the claim that no secret docs were stolen: “They say there were no secret docs! Lies again! Here is a secret document from Hillary’s PC she worked with as the Secretary of State.”

    He concludes by saying that “the main part of the papers, thousands of files and mails, I gave to Wikileaks. They will publish them soon.”

    Which in turn may explain why on Monday “Julian Assange Warns WikiLeaks Will Publish “Enough Evidence” To Indict Hillary Clinton”

    Curiously, “Guccifer2” he has chosen the WordPress platform as the website where to post his initial disclosure. As such we urge those readers who are interested in the hacked files to download any files locally as this server will be taken down in a matter of moments.

    –Hacker Who Breached Democratic National Committee Server Posts Confidential Trump, Hillary Files

    Note ZH’s advice at the end (my bolding). The blog was up when I checked a few minutes ago but not for much longer I suspect.

    1. ChiGal

      Amazing stuff, thx! Contains strategic blueprints for the election, the transition, the first 100 days, all the new positions to be created to ratchet up internal surveillance, names and amounts for donors, whew!

      1. katiebird

        I didn’t find the 100 days… I keep getting distracted by other stuff. It is hypnotically fascinating.

    2. MyLessThanPrimeBeef

      I think I read it in a fiction or saw in a movie that subsequently, the empress strikes back.

      “My opponent is a fellow traveler. And the communist Russians are trying to help him. Does anyone know if he visited the former USSR when he was younger?”

    3. abynormal

      hackers are busy! the TX DOT signs against Both parties are cute
      +10k for HILARY FOR PRISON

    4. Buttinsky

      This is my favorite part so far, in the paper on the GOP candidates and the DNC’s tactics. Under “Reporter Outreach” you can see that the press has played their part perfectly:

      Tactics

      Working with the DNC and allied groups, we will use several different methods to land these attacks, including:

      • Reporter Outreach: Working through the DNC and others, we should use background briefings, prep with reporters for interviews with GOP candidates, off-the-record conversations and oppo pitches to help pitch stories with no fingerprints and utilize reporters to drive a message.
      • Releases and Social Media: Where appropriate these attacks can be leveraged for more public release, particularly the attacks around specific issues where a public release can point out that Republicans are outside of the mainstream.
      • Bracketing Events: Both the DNC and outside groups are looking to do events and press surrounding Republican events to insert our messaging into their press and to force them to answer questions around key issues.

      1. Buttinsky

        That same doc is done in “memo” format:

        To: The Democratic National Committee
        Re: 2016 GOP presidential candidates
        Date: May 26, 2015

        From whom is not clear.

        But the really interesting thing is that the doc very much conflates the DNC with HRC. The fix was already in:

        Our goals in the coming months will be to frame the Republican field and the eventual nominee early and to provide a contrast between the GOP field and HRC.

        And one can only assume that the same “Reporter Outreach” tactic was employed against Sanders by the DNC. Though in the case of Sanders a kind of press blackout on behalf of the DNC/HRC was sufficient.

      1. katiebird

        I didn’t even think of that. I guess the level of detail (pages and pages) in some of the documents swayed my judgement.

      2. Buttinsky

        I did the only thing I could think of that made sense to me in terms of determining authenticity. I emailed the Wikileaks address for press and other media inquiries and asked if someone there could confirm the claims of “Guccifer2.” I’m sure they’re getting a lot of such inquiries and maybe the inquiries will prompt a public response soon.

      3. alex morfesis

        some test runs on the emails in lists dont pan out much…may have been changed to cover tracks ?? gmails for major principals hard to accept…but if the source is true and certain details have been smoked over to not cause a complete mess in peoples lives, might be enough to show the source obtained useful data…

        either way, doubt $hillary will ever surrender…she will have to be carted out like samuel insull…oh crap…just remembered…neither insull nor charlie mitchell went to jail…the more things change…

        and of course…insull was allowed to make his way to athens greece after the pecora hearings…welcomed with open arms by Venizelos…the political family which gave us the Mitsotakis family…the ones who today will “save greece once again” since the grandson is grandstanding against Syriza, doing his $hillary routine…

        it’s his turn…

        and round and round we go…

        2 million sunsets later…

    5. Daryl

      Hacker News seems pretty skeptical that it is actually top-secret DNC docs based on the quality of the strategic stuff within. Then again, based on the results they get, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn their internal stuff is all idiotic. Guess I’ll wait for the full leak.

      1. DG

        To be honest, it is a bit underwhelming – the real goods are still in the Clinton Foundation servers. C’mon Guccifer – a nation awaits!!

        1. Daryl

          Well slow down there, I’m sure the Clinton Foundation servers are under mountains of security…

        1. polecat

          “Don’t you people have any writings or books so as to learn about your leaders, your scientists, your history,,,??” said the Professor.

          “Books” …..”yes we have books”… said the Eloi

          1. Jim Haygood

            We gave George W Bush a book — My Pet Goat — and he just ate the cover off it.

      1. clincial wasteman

        That’s definitely what’s mostly being done with it right now, but Naked Capitalism is one shining example of how it doesn’t have to be that way. I’ve probably said this before, but compare the standard of writing — just in terms of style — in the comments alone with the drool that settles under, say, Guardian articles.
        Among other online users of literacy who might struggle to publish at all in a high-overheads print-only world: Counterpunch, China Matters (Peter Lee), Japan Focus/Asia-Pacific Journal, The New Inquiry, Carmillaonline (Italy), Werewolf, Reading the Maps (both NZ), Metamute (UK), Jacobin, N+1, Full Spectrum Domino, Moon of Alabama, Anguish Language (UK/Germany), just off the top of my head. (Sorry, already too many for links, but happy to provide if anyone’s looking for something in particular.)
        I admit though that when I hear the word ‘internet’ the idea of mobile devices of any kind simply doesn’t occur to me until hours afterwards.

    1. reslez

      I expect the telecom oligarchs to happily agree with that. They’re busily imposing data caps on all internet connections, landline or wireless doesn’t matter. Watch netflix too much? Pay a fee. Too much video facebook? Hand in your pocket. It makes me miss the days of dialup.

    2. yutria1231

      It would be a mistake, because video is more difficult to data-mine. This is just another example of a tech squillionaire who does not actually understand their own technology but was rather lucky in achieving their unimaginable level of success. (Before anyone responds that deep learning or image processing will allow them to data-mine videos, keep in mind that is a fantasy and that existing technologies cannot handle such simple things are shadows or changes in lighting throughout the day as the son moves. Moreover, there is no technology on the horizon that will be able to address these technical difficulties.)

  16. sd

    NATO Says It Might Now Have Grounds to Attack Russia
    http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2016/06/nato-says-might-now-grounds-attack-russia.html

    NATO is now alleging that because Russian hackers had copied the emails on Hillary Clinton’s home computer, this action of someone in Russia taking advantage of her having privatized her U.S. State Department communications to her unsecured home computer and of such a Russian’s then snooping into the U.S. State Department business that was stored on it, might constitute a Russian attack against the United States of America, and would, if the U.S. President declares it to be a Russian invasion of the U.S., trigger NATO’s mutual-defense clause and so require all NATO nations to join with the U.S. government in going to war against Russia, if the U.S. government so decides.

    Home computer = Unauthorized unsecured server for government email in her home.

    1. Alex morfesis

      Never Any Tanks Operational can hardly put on a parade let alone get half way to moscow before bumping up into modern technology…the A-O clowns who were never denazified always forget stalins russia was filled with ox and donkeys…not so much today…heck, NATO could hardly keep serbians in their place…Mussolini got bitch slapped by metaxas within days of crossing over from Albania and within 3 weeks had lost half of albania, forcing mein dummkopf to push back barbarosa on november 22, 1940 to june…if NATO ever actually bumped heads with anything that smelled like a real battle, it would crumble in 30 days…besides, there are many things that should not be networked in the first place…the electric grid has no business being connected to the internet…there is something called human beings that should be handling certain critical things, but…details, details…

    2. jawbone

      C’mon, that’s got to a parody? Right?

      Hells bells, since the US did all that spying on Merkal’s private phone, email, etc. (among others), surely NATO would have attacked the USA by now….

      Oh, yeah. Hegemon’s delight. Do anything it damn well pleases.

    3. ambrit

      This is what cyber saber rattling sounds like. Now, with a narcissist like H Clinton in control, I’m wondering how deep into the SAC targeting programs the “Others” have delved. I wouldn’t put it past the “Evil Others” to have a sense of humour and reprogram some of the targeting for U.S. ballistic missiles.

      1. JTMcPhee

        “SAC targeting?” You can bet your sweet bippie that the Israelites have either hacked or espionage-by-traitor’ed or interoperability-ated all the stuff in the Single Integrated Operational Plan and it’s apparent successor, OPLAN 8044, along with pretty much anything else of interest, humor (Yiddish is the language of wry humor and slapstick, after all) or blackmail value. Maybe the continued use of 8″ floppies and what, BASIC, to manage the Land Based Leg of the Triad’s targeting is some kind of retro cyber defense? http://www.eteknix.com/8-floppy-marked-top-secret-an-integral-part-of-us-nuclear-security/

        Oh, who fokking cares any more? It’s too much of too much…

  17. Jim Haygood

    The Clinton Foundation follows up on Bill’s heartfelt promise in Atlanta yesterday to avoid conflicts of interest:

    Clinton Foundation officials used an obscure New York state charity board filing amendment to disclose that the non-profit received $17.7 million in donations from foreign governments while Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, the Daily Caller News Foundation has learned.

    The specific foreign governments involved and the particular amounts they each gave were not disclosed on the document, entitled “Exhibit A” and filed to the public charity division operated by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a Democrat. The money was given between 2010 and 2013 when Clinton was America’s chief diplomat.

    “There is no doubt that the foundation purposely refused to make public certain things as a way of protecting the Secretary of State during her tenure,” former U.S. attorney Joseph DiGenova charged. “The entire process to hide information from the public is completely inconsistent with a public charity.”

    DiGenova predicted that “the new revelations will up the ante for the FBI. This will just add fodder to the ongoing investigation.”

    The former federal prosecutor also doubted that the $18 million figure was accurate. “There is no reason to believe that the $18 million figure is complete,” he said, citing the “unreliability” of past foundation accountings. “It may very well be much, much more.”

    “One has to wonder what the New York State Attorney General is doing,” DiGenova said. “He’s a very partisan Democrat. And it is readily apparent that he intends to do nothing about the Clinton Foundation.”

    Cleta Mitchell of Foley & Lardner law office in Washington D.C. agreed, saying “the Attorney General of New York has a statutory and fiduciary responsibility to conduct an investigation into the Clinton Foundation to determine whether this entity is engaged in fulfilling its charitable mission.”

    http://dailycallernewsfoundation.org/2016/06/14/exclusive-cryptic-ny-filing-reveales-clinton-foundations-millions-in-foreign-donations/

    Oo-ooh that smell … can’t ya smell that smell?

    1. tegnost

      “You know, I think Bill has really learned his lesson and I trust him completely now…”/s

    2. allan

      … former Scooter Libby apologist Joseph DiGenova …

      Fixed it for you, Jim. DiGenova and his wife/law partner Victoria Toensing were the class clowns of
      the Plame affair. I hadn’t thought of them in years.

      Not to defend the CF or Schneiderman, of course.

      1. Jim Haygood

        I miss ol’ Scooter as much as you do. Being an ex-con and felon gives Scooter some serious street cred (though I wish he’d lay off the ass-crack-revealing sagging pants and “I heart Vicky Nuland” gang tattoos).

        But never in history has a U.S. secretary of state copped $17.7 million from a self-sponsored “charity foundation” while in office.

        Hillary: smashing the glass ceiling on acceptable limits of “honest graft”!

        1. alex morfesis

          john foster dulles probably made a few bucks for sullicrom while he had fun at phohggee topz and his son become the first american cardinal, so there was that too…but at least he did not handle the cash directly, and my boy, that is what really matters…

        2. allan

          “Being an ex-con”

          Oddly, Libby didn’t serve a day in jail. From teh wiki:

          On June 5, 2007, the presiding trial judge, Reggie B. Walton, sentenced Libby to 30 months in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and two years of supervised release, including 400 hours of community service,[13][14][15][16] and then ordered Libby to begin his sentence immediately.[17] On July 2, 2007, when Libby’s appeal of Walton’s order failed, President Bush commuted Libby’s 30-month prison sentence, leaving the other parts of his sentence intact.[18][19] In commuting Libby’s prison term, Bush stated: “I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison. … My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged.”[18] After Libby paid his monetary fine and penalty totaling $250,400, Judge Walton queried aspects of the presidential commutation,[16][20] and lawyers filed their briefs supporting Libby’s serving supervised release, resolving the issue and thus clearing the way for Libby to begin the rest of his sentence, the two years of supervised release and 400 hours of community service.[21][22]

          Or maybe you meant `ex-neo-con’. Although his right wing welfare position
          as a Senior Vice President at the Hudson Institute indicates otherwise.

    3. Buttinsky

      From the link:

      Leslie Lenkowski, an expert on philanthropy who was appointed by former President Bill Clinton in 1993 as a founding director of the Corporation for National and Community Service, a government-operated volunteer organization, told TheDCNF that the Clinton Foundation was “an appearance of a conflict of interest waiting to happen.”

      Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha. An “appearance” waiting to happen.

  18. redleg

    Someone’s on the offensive. All of this stuff leaked in a small time frame.
    1. I wonder who it is, and
    2. I really, really hope it works.

  19. DLN

    (and there are probably many more organizations than the ones I just dredged up from memory)
    hmmm…

    http://www.popularresistance.org
    http://www.backbonecampaign.org
    https://www.unacpeace.org
    http://amicc.org/about/members
    https://www.nesri.org/
    http://www.unpo.org (for Texans and Vermonters who want to secede)
    http://www.pdhre.org/chre/
    http://economichumanrights.org/

    All integrated by human rights principles from inception for seamless domestic and international coordination.

  20. bob

    “Millennials Rage Against the Machine (and Lose)”

    Maybe, by accident, *something* made it into that story. The first line in the story is a very accurate indicator of the level we’re dealing with-

    “Alex Law came to our candidate interview with three interns, and I think one of them was wearing shorts. ”

    One of the interns MIGHT have been wearing shorts? On to the national picture of “millennial”, because, yanno, “I can’t really remember what the intern was wearing. But, I put that first. It’s that important that you remember that I can’t verify anything, only conjurer dim recollections of “the feel”. Cheap. Not my bag….NEXT, bring on foreign policy!”

    I sense great things in his future. Watch out Bill Kristol. Completely content-less copy, wrapped in spite.

  21. allan

    Detainees Describe C.I.A. Torture in Declassified Transcripts

    The C.I.A. started its black-site rendition, detention and interrogation program with the 2002 capture of Mr. Zubaydah, whom it mistakenly thought was a top leader in Al Qaeda. It started to shut down the program in 2006, after the Supreme Court issued a ruling about the Geneva Conventions that put agency interrogators in jeopardy of being prosecuted for war crimes. …

    In a previously censored passage, Mr. Zubaydah, who described making up fake terrorist plots to stop the abuse, claimed that an agency interrogator had apologized to him after the government realized it had misunderstood his role.

    “After that, all they said to me was, ‘Sorry, we made a big mistake,’ ” he said….

    an unredacted passage in a memo from the C.I.A.’s chief medical official included a line quoted in the Senate report, which said that Mr. Zubaydah had already started cooperating before being waterboarded and that the technique had produced no “time-perishable information which otherwise would have been unavailable.” But it also contained a sentence before that line that the Senate report had not quoted: “A psychologist/interrogator later said that waterboard use had established that AZ had no further information on imminent threats — a creative but circular justification,” the official wrote, using initials for Abu Zubaydah.

    Trial by ordeal. Straight out of medieval witch trials.

    For some reason this scene never made it into Zero Dark Thirty.

Comments are closed.