Elephant teeth: How they evolved to cope with climate change-driven dietary shifts Down to Earth
Honeybees may inherit altruism from their mothers ZME Science
How I Remove Beehives From the Walls of Houses Slate
NASA launches spacecraft to a mysterious metal-rich asteroid Science
Climate/Environment
The EU’s hydrogen plans are a dangerous distraction driven by corporate interests Corporate Europe Observatory
U.S. hands out $7 billion for hydrogen hubs Science
Billions Wasted on Hydrogen Hype Common Dreams
Why are dengue fever cases increasing around the world? Channel News Asia
Water
What happens when America’s flood insurance market goes underwater? Minnesota Reformer
Hydro dams are struggling to handle the world’s intensifying weather Ars technica
How an ancient society in the Sahara Desert rose and fell with groundwater Phys.org
#COVID-19
Reading propaganda like this sends a chill up my spine. Not just because people will believe it and cause harm, but because it signals that we’re still in a precarious situation: the powers that be are promoting covid spread, ignoring post- & long-covid, and giving false hope.🧵 https://t.co/YktoWGSc0O
— Noha Aboelata, MD (@NohaAboelataMD) October 15, 2023
I’ll keep saying it until data suggest otherwise, but there’s growing evidence that Covid causes brain damage. Reacting to traffic signals, accurately reading signs, switching lanes to anticipate obstacles, and staying calm under stress all rely on our executive functions like… https://t.co/X94SBF74qW
— Dr. Sean Mullen (@drseanmullen) October 15, 2023
Syraqistan
Israel stalls Gaza ground invasion over ‘bad weather’ The Cradle
A Ground Invasion of Gaza Is a Disaster Foretold Gideon Levy, Haaretz
Arnaud Bertrand – How Israel Stepped Into A Trap Moon of Alabama
Hezbollah intensifies operations, targets Israeli Merkava tank Al Mayadeen
Storm of Al-Aqsa’ Operation Reveals Weaknesses in Israeli Merkava Tanks Design and Tactics Frontier India
Israel has begun rapid deployment of the laser air defense system Bulgarian Military
I am from Gaza and I am telling you this is a JOKE.
Israel destroyed many water pipes.
Also, without electricity we can NOT turn on the water pumps.
Water in Gaza does not simply run into the taps. We have to fill water tanks about twice a week. https://t.co/yu7iyPsTOc
— Refaat🇵🇸 (@itranslate123) October 15, 2023
Support for Netanyahu plummets since outbreak of fighting, poll finds i24
The roots of Israel’s ethnic cleansing in Gaza Aaron Mate
***
U.S., Turkey and Al Nusra vs. Iran, Hezbollah and Syria: Which Parties Are Poised to Intervene If the Israeli-Hamas War Expands? Military Watch Magazine
The US is Moving Quickly to Boost Israel’s Military. A Look at What Assistance it’s Providing Military.com
Into the valley of death sailed the 10,000, aboard aircraft carriers Ford and Eisenhower – sitting ducks for swarming drones & other weaponry not dreamed of by those who made short work of the Charge of the Light Brigade. Perhaps Blinken/Nuland/Austin want that? Or are just dumb?
— Ray McGovern (@raymcgovern) October 15, 2023
U.S. and Israeli officials discuss possible Biden visit to Israel this week Axios
Senate delegation says US involvement in Israel-Hamas conflict is ‘in world’s interest’ The Hill
If Israeli atrocities continue, scope of crisis likely to expand: Iran Al Mayadeen
Graham to Iran: ‘If you escalate the war, we’re coming for you’ Politico
U.S. Embassy Organizes Emergency Evacuation by Ship for Americans Wanting to Leave Israel Haaretz
***
UK Labour says Israel has “right” to starve Gaza children The Electronic Intifada
Von der Leyen does not speak for EU on Israel-Hamas conflict, foreign policy chief says Irish Times
EU triples funding to Gaza after a week of mixed messages on Israel crisis Politico EU. From 25 million euros to 75 million.
Germany to use ‘all legal options’ to expel Hamas supporters Anadolu Agency
Israel ‘gone beyond self-defence’ in Gaza, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi says, calls to ‘stop collective punishment’ South China Morning Post
By Siding With Israel, India Is Jettisoning Decades of Middle East Statesmanship The Wire
Egypt ‘considers deal to accept 100,000 displaced Palestinians in exchange for US debt relief’ The Telegraph
Border Lines New Left Review
India
India, Japan, and the Strategic Role of Infrastructure Tokyo Review
Ministry of Corporate Affairs Launches Probe into Adani Group’s Two Airports in Mumbai The Wire
China?
Country Garden’s growing debt woes intensify Chinese real estate crisis The Real Deal
China’s recruiters report drop-off in confidence among companies, jobseekers alike South China Morning Post
Blue-collar workers narrate their own lives through popular online videos China Labour Bulletin
Blue-White cooperation? Frozen Garlic. On the upcoming Taiwan election
European Disunion
Exit poll: ruling party win Poland’s election but opposition government more likely Notes from Poland vs. Opposition wins Polish election, according to exit poll Politico EU
A Coming Colour Revolution in Slovakia? Kit Klarenberg, Kit’s Newsletter
Malea: an investigation into the ‘Ndrangheta groups between Calabria and Luxembourg Investigative Reporting Project Italy
New Not-So-Cold War
Is US leaving Ukraine? The Week
Washington Insider: Disarray In US Congress Getting Worse – a Worrisome Omen for Ukraine Kyiv Post
‘You owe us’ – Ukraine tells Germany RT
Zelenskyy calls on local authorities, energy companies and telecom operators to prepare for Russian attacks Ukrainska Pravda
Azerbaijan and Iran join transport corridors’ game in Central Asia Ports Europe
South of the Border
The U.S. military wants to decide where people in Latin America get their news. pic.twitter.com/QcBVNFOOpi
— Kawsachun News (@KawsachunNews) October 13, 2023
O Canada
MLAs From All Parties Profit Off British Columbia’s Housing Crisis The Maple
Imperial Collapse Watch
Big Bonuses, Relaxed Policies, New Slogan: None of It Saved the Military from a Recruiting Crisis in 2023 Military.com
B-a-a-a-a-d Banks
SHE EXPOSED ONE OF THE WORLD’S BIGGEST BANKS. THEY RUINED HER LIFE The Real News Network
Biden Administration
Borrowed to the Hilt The Baffler. On Biden admin’s Saving on a Valuable Education program.
Biden-appointed prosecutor rejected Hunter case, raising conflict of interest questions Washington Examiner
Most Americans believe Biden acted ‘illegally or unethically’ in Hunter business dealings: poll Fox News
New evidence may destroy Biden’s defense in his classified documents case Jonathan Turley, The Hill
2024
Trump leads Biden in four of six battleground states The Telegraph
RFK Jr., West independent bids leave both parties fretting about 2024 The Hill
David Shribman: With three months to Iowa, here are 7 questions to consider Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Democrats en déshabillé
Republican Jeff Landry claims back Louisiana’s governor’s office in stunning GOP victory USA Today
Healthcare
How to Enroll Intelligently in Medicare – A Consumers Guide 2024 Informed Comment
AI
AI Designs Little Robots in 30 Seconds and They Keep Sprouting Legs Scientific American
BOSSES DEPLOYING AIS IN VIDEO MEETINGS TO LECTURE EMPLOYEES FOR BAD BEHAVIOR Futurism
A New Tool Helps Artists Thwart AI—With a Middle Finger Wired
Tech
When Might Digital Tech Companies Become Targetable in War? Tech Policy Press
Class Warfare
Humanity in exile Luka Filipović, The Floutist. On four decades of neoliberal reforms.
Ghosts in the Algorithm Compact
Antidote du jour (via):
See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.
142 comments
Comments are closed.
“Von der Leyen does not speak for EU on Israel-Hamas conflict, foreign policy chief says Irish Times”
In other news, loud laughing was heard in Moscow and Beijing.
This is a serious challenge to Von der Leyen. She has already been, in diplomatic language, called out by individual governments (in particular the Irish government) for overstepping her authority. She has absolutely no authority to make any statements on external (to the EU) matters that conflict with the policies of individual States.
Josep Borrell is the ‘voice’ of the EU on external matters and unlike VderL he directly answers to the foreign ministers of each individual member state. For Borrell to make a public statement essentially calling her out is a very rare thing within the Commission and he would not have done so without consulting internally and with the key Foreign Ministers. Borrell, a Spanish socialist, is a far smarter operator than VderL and would not have said anything without knowing he is on firm ground as most FM’s in Europe belong to Von der Leyens centre right grouping.
I suspect that there are a lot of people, including in her own political party grouping, who want rid of her. But its very difficult to unseat a Commission President – it would take a a majority vote of the European Parliament and this would mean in effect the majority EPP grouping turning against her and voting with the hard left, which is always unlikely for political reasons. But I suspect that in the longer term her days are numbered.
At the start of the Special Military Operation, didn’t Von der Leyen also announce that the entirety of EU airspace was being shut down to all Russian aircraft – but without consulting any of the EU members. Come to think of it, didn’t she also negotiate the vaccine deals on behalf of the EU – and then deleted the messages between her and those big pharma corporations so nobody could see what she agreed on? I am detecting a pattern here.
Ukraine Hawk Who Heads European Commission Has a Nazi Pedigree She Does Not Want You to Know About
Covert Action Magazine
Evan Reif
February 17, 2023
“a Spanish socialist, is a far smarter operator”
Dunno, this is the guy that coined the whole garden and jungle allegory regarding EU vs non-members.
The guy seems to be the typical post-wall reformed “socialist”, favoring the money bags above all else.
I assumed TRK mean’t “socialist” as in belonging to a party that used to prefer socialist policies.
Jeff Sacks says this Jungle/Garden came from Robert Kagen, and Borrell picked it up from him.
The same Robert Kagan that is married to Victoria Nuland?
I’ve read the walled garden/ jungle metaphor in one of T.H. Huxley’s late essays, “Evolution and Ethics”, 1891. I thought Borrell was clumsily referring to that, maybe I was too kind. -a.v.
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2940
Indeed. It is, amazing to see how vdL was totally out of her duties when going to Israel and promising “everything” in the name of the EU. By now I think it must be clear to anyone her nomination was a mistake, and a big one. But no one seems to have appetite for the kind of crisis that a motion of censure would bring to the EU in part because this would be the first one and an admission that not everything is really as rosy, neutral, balanced and “technical” in EU politics as it is sold to the public.
If you ask me, I might be mistaken but there is currently an excess of German influence in the Commission and EU institutions in precisely the moment that German policymakers turned the dumbest of all. Additionally they are planning an EU expansion scheme which should be revised and (politically) audited to its core now that there is this idiotic push for Ukraine membership. This push wants to further dilute the power of national governments in favour of a theoretically “technocratic” and unelected Commission which is indeed highly politicized towards neoliberalism.
Borrell is not certainly my cup of tea and I dislike how has he evolved politically but vdL… she is a disaster that might well end provoking all the centrifugal forces available.
vdL is a DEI hire. Is there no way to find a Competent DEI hire?
“Graham to Iran: ‘If you escalate the war, we’re coming for you’ ”
‘I will introduce a resolution in the United States Senate to allow military action by the United States in conjunction with Israel to knock Iran out of the oil business’
What if the Iranians shoot back? They do have that ability. Should somebody point out to him that if the US does that, then not a single solitary ship will be able to sail the Gulf as it will be interdicted by Iran? How much will oil be a barrel then? Maybe $200 a barrel? Does anybody want to find out? Does he think that Saudi Arabia will help out here? Most likely Iran – who has reconciled with the Saudis – will tell them that so long as none of their ships try to go through the Gulf, they will not touch their oil infrastructure.
So how delusion is Lindsay Graham? He has just announced that he and a group of U.S. senators will travel to the Middle East to encourage Israel and Saudi Arabia to continue talks on normalizing relations. Does he not realize that politically Israel is radioactive right now and no Arab country wants anything to do with them? Does he think that the Saudis will help the US and EU give the Israelis political cover for what they are doing?
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2023-10-15/us-senators-to-travel-to-israel-saudi-arabia-to-push-deal
Iran is been 100% clear:
We (Iran) are not starting a shooting war unless you attack us. PS, proxy wars (Hezbollah v. Israel) are not official shooting wars. see US and Ukraine.
Is DC too stupid, hubris-filled, propoganda-filled to fail to see the similarities between the DC – Russia proxy war and Tehran -Israel proxy war? …absolutely
PS, lots of the veterans of the US-backed wars in the mideast are chomping to go to southern Lebanon.
DC already willfully ignored numerous examples from Russia about how the SMO was justified based on precedence set by NATO from the 90s onwards.
People like Graham exist and are allowed to mouth off because the US population have been fed regular doses of Bernays sauce over the many years regarding “Democratic Israel” vs. “Terrorist Palestine”. So sad but the sheeple have no brains.
He is back tracking; last week he was talking about “ending” them. Someone from the Pentagon must have told him to stop foaming at the mouth in front of the cameras. If he is having a hard time remembering that he has spent twenty years trying to win…something… in Afghanistan and Iraq, it is at least a very good sign that someone has told him, and he has taken on board, that Iran would be an infinitely harder target.
But when he does manage to finally get them to close the Straits of Hormuz, just wait for him to suggest we invade Venezuela. The man has no filter.
Pentagon: Senator Graham, Iran and Iraq are very different.
Graham: I know. The letter Q and N.
Pentagon: Sir, this is a map. It tells you where things are.
Graham: What is the blue? It’s so close to America. Can we bomb it?
Kidding aside, the Pentagon briefers must be exhausted having to explain basic stuff to the doofuses in Congress and their own bosses.
Calling for war is Graham’s beard and gets him on TV without drawing attention to himself.
Also, Biden said the US is the greatest nation evah! yesterday. I think the problems of group think, lack of turnover, nepotism, and so forth have created conditions where Biden isn’t immediately identified as stupid. Rather his kind of rhetoric is seen as serious discussion and hollywood is real. Items like logistics, China being everyone’s largest trading partner, deindustrialization, and so forth aren’t relevant compared to how they feel.
“War is Graham’s beard” – brilliant
I seem to recall that Senator John McCain (never one of the brighter lights in the galaxy) considered Lindsey Graham to be a blooming idiot. He is. What does this say about those who elected him to high office? George Carlin was right about the average American.
Don’t forget about gerrymandering or rigged competitions. As an example of the later, can you really say that in 2016 that out of 335 million Americans, that the only candidates that they could find to be President were Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton?
In South Carolina, Charlie McCarthy, Pol Pot or Adolf Eichmann could get elected to statewide office, as long as he sported an “R” next to his name. South Carolina is not alone in this regard.
To be fair, there also are plenty of states which serially elect the senile, the stupid and the crazypants, as long as they are Team D.
Case in point, the late Diane Feinstein.
Ever been to South Carolina?
Graham is senator because the Democratic party here barely still exists and thought they could buy election for their last challenger with lots of out of state money. In other words it’s a duopoly story. Having little opposition Lindsey gets to live in cloud cuckoo land.
The state is becoming more “woke” with greater urbanization in the few larger cities. That’s why people like Haley and Graham figure they can finesse the culture war issues and ride the warmongering pony to power, knowing that the Dems probably secretly or not so secretly agree with them.
I think Biden being the nominee and then winning in 2020 makes the case just not based on state. That the primaries had to be fixed should just be ignored.
I assure you that Oregon would elect the Reanimated Corpse of Idi Amin if it had a D next to it.
Is Graham a product of “average American” desires or of a rigged political system?
American elections are a pageant, with a lot of money spent on gaslighting. The process is highly manipulated. A state like South Carolina is going to cough up an oddity like Graham. The system has evolved to produce this result.
The average American didn’t create South Carolina. I have no tolerance for blaming voters. That’s like blaming shoppers for your business failing.
I haven’t voted since 2018 and at present have no motivation to ever vote again and my reasons for not voting have nothing to do with average people. In fact, I’m not upset with any generic group of people unless you consider oligarchs to be a group (and not a blob). I admit it, I’m biased against blobs, I hope that doesn’t make me average.
[edited to note that I forgot to refresh and thought I was the first responder on this one ; ]
The state is still mostly rural and the urban areas that we have tend to be run by business Republicans. The same formula applies to Georgia and North Carolina which have even more conservative voters in the mountainous areas but have larger cities to tip the scales further toward the Dems. Perhaps the thing that ties Haley and Graham together is ambition. Since SC gets no respect they are out to push the envelope to make a place for themselves. One could say the same about that other climber Carolinian, Steve Colbert.
As I have said here before I think the country is becoming a lot more homogenized than people in the North realize. They need to get out more.
The nomination control engineers pre-select what the average American is permitted to vote for. If a non-pre-selected choice threatens to break through, it is rapidly decapitation-striked. We saw that with Sanders. And many average Americans were voting for Sanders and the elites were afraid that more would do so.
Carlin could be a self-satisfied sterile contrarian at times. And a very deeply shallow “analyst”.
Should somebody point out to him that if the US does that, then not a single solitary ship will be able to sail the Gulf as it will be interdicted by Iran? How much will oil be a barrel then? Maybe $200 a barrel?
My God, the number would be a multiple higher than $200 if no oil could ship through–easily. And if they actually destroy the wells themselves, it won’t matter what the price is because we will all be back to living in the dark ages anyway
I don’t think Graham is delusional. I think it’s very easy to guess which senators and congressmen are compromised based on how vehemently they toe this line, though
So, someone has video of Graham disporting himself on Epstein’s Island?
Perhaps Senator Graham wants to go down in history as another Archduke.
Remember back when Nancy Pelosi decided to go to Taiwan? Good times! These Senators seem completely secure that there is no way their mission could be put in jeopardy. If anyone besides the USA wanted to really start a war, this is how they’d do it.
Re: U.S. and Israeli officials discuss possible Biden visit to Israel this week
Nothing like a Biden-Bibi photo op juxtaposed with JDAMs blowing up Gaza to “help” Biden’s poll numbers.
the Gaza weather last night was perfect (lots of air strikes), and will be this entire week…that NYT article re. weather was pure planted narrative spin
The real reason why the invasion didn’t start is because: disagreement about strategies and/or logistics and/or giving time for the USS Eisenhower group to get closer and/or your guess is as good as anyone else’s
You can summarize in one word why Israel is so hesitant to go into the ruins of Gaza – Bakhmut.
Maybe they can go near the border of Gaza, set themselves up in a coupla deck-chairs and watch Gaza being bombed under a shady awning while he and Netanyahu share a beer. Odd thing is that Biden is supposed to hate Netanyahu but when you stop and think about it, Biden hates nearly every leader that you can think of. And they hate him too.
Heck, HRC and Biden defended Putin against Mitt Romney during the Obama re-election. Political chameleons the lot of them.
That wouldn’t fly, as our teetotalitarian leader would look askance @ the offer, although he’d be ok with a deck-chair as the band played on.
And they want to hang Putin for sending kids to summer camp.
It’s a war crime to keep/take kids away from being bombed to smithreens, don’t you know?
If Biden visited (which i doubt), It would wild if the real war started while Biden is in Israel and he is stuck there.
that would be a hegemonic failure photo op for the history books.
Oh i am sure the carriers right of the coast would be more than able to provide cover for Air force One as long as the runway is intact enough to get airborne.
And if that fails, getting him out by helo to said carriers would be another option.
But if WW3 was to really kick off, then they may as well just pass the baton to VP Harris. For as long as DC lasts before the nukes land.
Doubtful that would actually work if under fire.
In reality, the fact that no other nation state would want to take such an action would be the only real protection.
Or… what if a stray missile hit af1? Kamala would get to strut her stuff. Followed by trump-Kamala…
Biden tripping on that welcome mat, priceless.
It was a brilliant start to his ‘Errors Tour’.
…they tell me there will be a film later
From today’s NY Times: A Few Words About Bellies
Dare To Be Fat
“Hezbollah intensifies operations, targets Israeli Merkava tank’
Saw a video of this incident earlier today-
https://www.bitchute.com/video/xRab2SN9KvbU/ (1:44 mins)
The other article called ‘Storm of Al-Aqsa’ Operation Reveals Weaknesses in Israeli Merkava Tanks Design and Tactics’ in Links today goes into more detail on these tanks so I will just say this. Remember when those German leopard 2 tanks were supposed to be wonder weapons in the Ukraine – until the Russians burnt them? Same here with Israel’s Merkava tanks and it turns out they burn too.
Tanks have probably been over hyped since the end of WW2, where one could already see them being highly vulnerable without air cover.
And i have seen talk about how anti tank weapons do not need to penetrate the armor to stop a tank. If they hit the outside hard enough there is a real risk that it will dislodge shrapnel inside the cabin that will hurt or kill the crew.
And it may well be that the much ballyhooed Trophy defense system has a saturation limit, where if enough projectile are launched in rapid succession one or more will get through.
It may well be that the MBT will be largely retired in favor of a up-gunned APC/IFV that can provide artillery like support and cover for advancing infantry. This much like how tanks were initially used in WW1.
I have the impression that it’s really hard to protect the running gear from disablement by even low-tech infantry AT weapons. IIRC during the 2nd Iraq war, light infantry armed with old RPG-style AT grenade launchers were able during periods of poor visibility to approach Abrams tanks and immobilize them with shots on the suspension from the sides. The close approach needed to accurately target the vulnerable bits often however, IIRC, led to the death of the attacker from the RPG warhead explosion.
Yeah, belts have been vulnerable pretty much always. Why you see some models include skirts. But that in turn i suspect risk the buildup of muck and fouling the drive gears, maybe even resulting in the belt coming loose. And then they have an even bigger problem getting it back on as the skirt will be in the way.
Basic thing is that tanks are built for head to head confrontations with other tanks. Thus most of the armor is found at the front, and it is up to the driver to keep the front pointing towards the enemy at all times.
But mobile and concealed anti-tank teams can thus hit them from the side or maybe even rear for big effect. There are even some anti-tank weapons that do not strike directly but instead try to fly overhead and then launch a shape charge downwards as it passes. And i suspect Ukraine has shown that drones can do much the same using improvised explosives. A shaped charge is not much more than a metal cone wrapped in a soft explosive after all.
Note btw that i am no expert, i’m just a layman that have seen one too many documentary and read various articles etc over the years.
“Note btw that I am no expert, I’m just a layman that have seen one too many documentary and read various articles etc. over the years.”
Hammer meets top of nail squarely.
If we “armchair worriers” can figure this out, imagine what wonders the “pros” have already worked out.
The pros however has to deal with that old chestnut from Upton Sinclair regarding money and understanding.
a up-gunned APC/IFV that can provide artillery like support and cover for advancing infantry.
Ah, you mean a Sturmgeschütz, like during WWII? German infantry was very fond of that kind of vehicle, and for good reasons.
For that matter, the Bradley. Turns out that they aren’t wuenderwaffen, either.
Correct me if I am wrong, but the Sturmgeschütz was pure mobile firepower for the infantry (in its age, a tank caliber), and had quite a low profile, whereas the Bradley is a mixture of shooting and troop transport, with a very high profile (higher than a tank, even). Seems to me the Bradley is a big, fat jack of all trades, a tempting target for antitank-missiles.
In any case, none are Wunderwaffen, as you say.
That is correct, although part of the selling point for the Bradley was its supposed mobility and gun.
Enough to say that it did not perform as advertised.
The other question is, what calibre of ‘gun’ would be sufficient to the task? A quad fifty, twin 20mm quickfire, 37mm autoloader? Heck, a cluster of smoke grenade launchers.
What I am seeing described now is, as mentioned above, a WW-1 style Infantry Tank.
Blitzkreig aside, in congested combat conditions, tanks usually need infantry to protect them from other infantry with anti-tank weaponry. It really does come down to “boots on the ground.”
So, the French infantry generals were right in 1940, after all then? (The French infantry and cavalry we’re at loggerheads over how to use tanks so they got two kinds of tank divisions: the calvary got something that looked a lot like panzer divisions and the infantry got something with a lot of slow heavy tanks, a lot of artillery, and relatively few infantry, plus a lot of independent tank battalions)
That baby elephant has better hair than I do.
I’m jealous.
You have to admit that it’s a little bit of a Moe Howard look.
More important: Don’t elephants use mud as shampoo? Asking for a friend.
Only female elephants.
You don’t want to know what they use for conditioner.
That baby elephant is so cute. Seems happy. Made my morning.
“Egypt ‘considers deal to accept 100,000 displaced Palestinians in exchange for US debt relief’ ‘
They do? So 100,000 displaced Palestinians would be about what – maybe 5% of the Gazan population? Hopefully it will be mostly children. If I were Egypt though, I would get that debt relief up front and done or else after letting people across the border, Biden will renege on that agreement like he has just done with the Iran agreement last week. All it would take would be for a few Senators to start protesting about debt relief to Egypt because of ‘human rights’ or charges that they ‘support Hamas’ and Biden would say ‘Sorry, pal. I can’t do my end of that deal. And thanks for making me look good.’
Remember, the US is non-agreement capable, so yeah, better get it in writing and the money transferred to Egypts’ central bank, preferably in bitcoin, before a single Palestinian is accepted.
Just spin to make the state department look competent. Although serious debt relief for such a small number of refugees would be a good deal for Sisi. He of course must consider how likely the US is to back out of the deal after the Palestinians are in Egypt.
Any of those sorts of deals are off for sure now though. After the US proclaimed that it had a deal for the multinational aid convoy passing through Rafah and a supposed cease fire for it, Tel Aviv reversed (or Blinken never had Tel Aviv onside). It sounds like a few fuel trucks may have passed, but also reports that they turned around. Also reports that Israel bombed the road again. It’s starting to look like Bibi is actively trying to pull the US into a wider western Asian war. Or he’s simply lost the plot and is desperate. Either way he and Biden are caught in a snare.
Mostly children? Maybe Betsy DeVos can find good Christian homes for them in the USA.
Or they could be sent straight to Hillary Clinton’s “deprogramming” centers to have all thoughtcrime cleansed out before being integrated into the community. Somewhere far from the neighborhoods where “Hate Has No Home Here” signs are prominent, no doubt.
Having so many options for indoctrination is one of the fabulous aspects of our pluralistic society!
Hillz would probably send them on to the Grooming Palace on Epstein’s Island.
…wasn’t that located on Epstein’s Peninsula?
…which is located between the Gulf of Credibility and the Burisma Triangle.
Look, this is a terrible idea. It’s the camel’s nose under the tent as far as the complete ethnic cleansing of all Palestinians. This is what Israelis have always said: “There is plenty of room for Palestinians in other Arabs countries; Arabs are just selfish and cruel”. If this happens Israel will push, and push, and push for more. Biden’s offering to forgive Egyptian debt in exchange (if the story is true) is just another example of his eagerness to dump American interests in order to get other countries to hold their noses and put Palestinian justice aside.
As an American, this horrifies me. But the whole story could be just a made-up propaganda trial balloon.
Recommending, “Humanity in exile” by Luka Filipović. His essay is insightful–and he is making ethical and political distinctions that still matter. It is also a strong critique of the deliberately sloppy ethics of this new-baroque era. Because he is so attentive to language, he gets distinctions right–and back into meaningful tensions, noting what I’ll kindly call “drift” on the left and on the right. All in all, worth your while, particularly as an antidote to the usual handwavers writing about “no difference between left and right.”
Thanks. I had bypassed it, and it was well worth reading.
Those controlling the Media craft language to fit the needs of Elite management of the Populace. I believe the terms ‘right’ and ‘left’ are victims of this propaganda based adjustment to the language. Clearly there are differences between what the propaganda labels as ‘right’ and ‘left’ — but neither designation fits the ordinary meaning of those words as they had been used in political discourse prior to ‘adjustment’. A similar ‘adjustment’ has degraded the meaning of the words ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal’. New Age leftists strive toward zealous political correctness might more accurately be stated as ‘New Age’ ‘leftists’ strive toward zealous political correctness. I have difficulty calling these characters ‘New Age’ and I choke at calling them ‘leftist’ in any sense of what that term meant to me and means to me.
Further along in the essay Filipović refers to a recent book by Todor Kuljić that “explains how four decades of neoliberal reforms have influenced significant changes in the language we use to discuss ideology and politics, noting that all the terms previously connected to class inequalities, Marxist ideologies, and collective struggles of the working class have been systematically replaced with less critical, less “communist sounding” terms.”
Look where these terms been systematically replaced. I believe they have been replaced in the Media and in the political discussions of those captured in the spreading web of propaganda based Newspeak. This same propaganda effectively shapes much of what passes for political discussion among the captured — so that ‘right’ and ‘left’ can argue and spend their ire on artificial issues constructed to occupy their attention and unimportant to the concerns of the Elites. As for the efforts to move away from Marxist terminology, I support that effort — although for reasons very different than Filipović’s essay alludes. I believe Marxist ideology and its jargon are dated and no longer fit the Society I live in. I also believe that what Domhoff calls the Four Networks Theory of Power, developed from the Sociological writings of C. Wright Mills provides a better analysis of the present Society than the Marxism I recall from 1960s rhetoric. Besides, after decades of rabid red-scare propaganda the use of Marxist terminology can undercut all regard or consideration of otherwise cogent arguments.
The standard propaganda narrative (WW1 “Huns bayonetting babies”, WW2 depictions of Japanese as insects, Iraq 1 “Babies thrown out of incubators”, Iraq 2 “WMD”, Libya “Military rape squads taking blue pills”) used to legitimize state action is being debunked at quite a fast rate – although it has done its job by loudly placing lies in peoples heads while the walk back is done much more quietly.
“Beheaded babies” has been disowned by the journalist that spread it. The “oops I should have known better” walk back by that journalist is a classic tactic, the same that so many journalists did years after Iraq 2. Images placed online by Israeli authorities have been debunked as AI generated.
“Hamas raping women” has been disowned by the IDF itself.
“Hamas systematically murdering civilians” is being contradicted by an increasing number of Israeli survivors and videos showing large amounts of cross-fire at both the rave and the kibbutz
“Hamas targeting children in school” has walked into the wall of facts that the schools are actually closed on the exact day that Hamas attacked.
One woman survivor from the kibbutz has stated that many Israelis were killed in the crossfire of the Israeli assault upon the Kibbutz, but her testimony seems to be getting systematically censored to maintain the narrative, as reported by Electronic Intifada:
https://electronicintifada.net/content/israeli-forces-shot-their-own-civilians-kibbutz-survivor-says/38861
Another woman who was released with her two children has also stated that she was well treated. The young German woman said to have been murdered has been shown to be alive and held as a hostage. A number of hostages have been killed, states Hamas, in the Israeli bombing of Gaza.
It is sad to see so many of my friends and colleagues yet again eating up such propaganda again, it seems “fool me multiple times, fool me again!”
“debunked as AI generated”
Except to see more of this going forward.
After all, we have for years seen video of alleged military activity that was faked using computer games.
Any and all photo and video “evidence” will either be accused of being or be found to be faked by computer software.
After all, Disney’s latest Star Wars series drove down cost by using a game engine to render backgrounds in real time. Soon enough that tech can be used by a PR company to place the president somewhere he is not.
Oh, very well then….
Lord Posonby’s Ten Commandments of Wartime Propaganda:
1.We do not want war
2. The other side is solely responsible for the war
3. The enemy has the face of the devil (or in the order of “ugly”)
4. The real aims of the war must be masked under noble causes
5. The enemy knowingly commits atrocities. If we commit blunders, they are unintentional
6. We suffer very few losses. The enemy’s losses are enormous
7. Our cause is sacred
8. Artists and intellectuals support our cause
9. The enemy uses illegal weapons
10. Those who question our propaganda are traitors
Forgive me if I posted these on other occasions, but truly, they never grow old.
I’d call that list “10 Easy Lies of the Universal Blob”
Thank you.
So many of the tricks in Ponsonby’s Falsehood in Wartime are still being used to this day. It’s quite depressing that what he intended to be a primer for citizens to help them resist propaganda has apparently instead been taken as an instruction manual by the presstitutes.
It doesn’t help that Congress is overrun by rabid dogs always slavering for more opportunities to Look Fierce. I was very disheartened after the fake Russia Paid Taliban Bounties on US Soldiers story was promoted widely (despite being disavowed by the intelligence agencies and making no sense on top of that) to find a Senator whose campaign I had once donated to screaming for Trump to Make Russia Pay because of the fake, nonsensical story. Without even asking for more evidence, an investigation, etc.
Ruh roh!
‘⚡️🇲🇦🇵🇸 Massive crowds came out for Palestine in Morocco, a country whose government has good relations with Israel’
https://twitter.com/narrative_hole/status/1713598629305282896
Morocco happens to be one of the few countries that signed the Abraham Accords. Their government may be getting nervous and having second thoughts.
The failure by NATO in Ukraine has revealed the weakness of the US, Libya our thuggery (as in Iraq wasn’t isolated and the se fault of Shrub.).
Governments are going to see local populations who aren’t worried about US sanctions as their phones come from China.
From USS Liberty to the dancing-israelis of 9/11, at this point I’d hold that anything that happened to these carriers to be suspect.
To rabid-right Israelis, our soldiers and sailors are meat, cattle at best. And our ruling-caste, especially the liberals, look upon our troops with a mixture of fear and contempt, covered by platitudes and lip-service. Neither give a damn for the lives let alone the well-being of “others,” be they members of our armed forces, civilians, or any of us– dear readers of this site.
No, the rest of us are just pawns, tools, the help, or deplorables that must be monitored and managed. Harm to the carriers could benefit both the Israeli Prime Minister and our President as a distraction from their crimes, failures, and domestic troubles: it’s not like false-flags aren’t par for the course.
Most of us have more in common with the Palestinians than the ruling-cast and PMC.
A lot of people do not or refuse to understand what is going on in Israel and that Israelis are not our friends. So right now a video is going viral in Israel of this 95 year-old boy who took part in Nakba 1.0 and you wonder how popular is the sentiment that he spouts. Make sure to listen to the embedded video-
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-war-veteran-ezra-yachin-soldiers-erase-children
If Netanyahu could, he would get America to fight Iran on Israel’s behalf and he has tried often enough in the past to make this happen.
Try doing a web search on Ezra Yachin — tellingly, while a few of the top hits will be critical like the one from Middle East Eye, many more of them appear to present Yachin as an inspirational model warrior and patriot.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=ezra+yachin+veteran+erase
Hey, maybe he and Yaroslav Hunka can sit down some time and share a beer while swapping notes & memories.
I suggest you revisit the Battle of Jericho…
The Battle of Jericho, as described in the Biblical Book of Joshua, was the first battle fought by the Israelites in the course of the conquest of Canaan
As the french saying goes: Plus sa change plus sa meme chose
More likely, they’d sit down and shoot one another…..and I’d drink to that.
Correct, and that makes people like Linsday Graham and Nikki Haley who are all too happy to oblige him, virtual traitors. They work for a foreign government, not their own constituents.
Well, who’s paying them?
The guy effectively has a hard on at the idea of bombing and killing the Arabs, including “your neighbour” and his family….
Most of us have more in common with the Palestinians than the ruling-cast and PMC.
“We are all East Palestinians…..”
I wonder if AI started rewriting East Palestine to East Palestinian Territories…..
To the people who run the Empire, its own citizens are at most a resource to be exploited, and at worst an inconvenience that must be managed. Ukraine has received over $3,800 for every man woman and child there, while the citizens of East Palestine are denied even a hotel voucher.
Once you understand that the behavior of the people in power is identical to that of sociopaths, everything makes perfect sense.
Armenians getting ethnically cleansed, but picked the wrong news cycle with bigger stories.
Sort of puts the lie to America’s self-professed role as world police. A real democracy is about to be invaded and their solution is to… stop providing military assistance to the aggressor. Which I guess is more than they’re doing about Israel.
That story has been ongoing for much of this year and doesn’t arouse much interest in western news. We used to hold up Armenia as a beacon of democracy and western-style liberalism in its region. Then the west sanctioned and physically cut the EU from fuel imports and certain countries urgently sought substitutes from Azerbaijan. Kissinger’s proverb about being a friend of the USA is once again tragically affirmed.
Dr. Sean Mullen on COVID-19 and executive function…
Anecdatum, but one on my best friends crashed his private plane a few hundred yards short of the runway at 8:30 am on a perfectly clear morning last April. He and his dog died in the crash. He had COVID-19 early in the pandemic, which he probably got from a patient. This man was one of the most competent people I have ever known. A medically retired Navy SEAL with thousands of hours flying and hundreds of parachute jumps out of the back of a C-130. My first thought was Covid…and that is my last thought on the matter even though I doubt I will ever truly get over this loss, which of course pales in comparison to the loss felt by his beautiful family.
So sorry to hear about the loss of your good friend. You wonder how often problems crop up in commercial airline cockpits with pilots having trouble with or losing their keen abilities.
There do seem to be a large amount of ATC effups these days, and annoyed conversations between pilots and ATC.
Not to mention the large number of pilots just keeling over….
I am so sorry for your loss and for his family.
I wish we understood or even as a society considered the consequences of Covid infection. There is no excuse for our public health system and for the elected officials who have actively dismantled it.
It was so unnecessary.
The failure by NATO in Ukraine has revealed the weakness of the US, Libya our thuggery (as in Iraq wasn’t isolated and the se fault of Shrub.).
Governments are going to see local populations who aren’t worried about US sanctions as their phones come from China.
I would even hazard that if there was sympathy for Israel in light of recent events the importance of knocking the US down could be a driving force.
Can a mod delete? I was replying to Rev Kev.
The laser air defense video published by the Mossad’s Twitter account is a fake. It’s footage from the video game Arma. Ukraine did this a lot early in the conflict to show Russian planes being shot down.
The clips often look very realistic when they’re cropped and compressed. But one giveaway is how perfectly steady the camera always is and how it shows the “good stuff”. Real footage of similar situations is almost always shaky, too far away, etc. When you see the uncropped version the video game source gives itself away with too much perfection. Somehow everything is in focus in the frame, even at night. A trick even the most advanced camera phones struggle with. There’s never any wind, either wind noise or wind that moves smoke. Lights almost always have a haze around them for the mood, etc.
Israel has tested the laser air defense system. It has a range of 7km (fairly short) but how successful the system is hasn’t been published. The problem with it is the massive energy it would require. IDF did publicly comment that it has not used the system. They’re not above lying but this is something they’d likely trumpet. Combined with the video game footage, we should conclude that it’s not an operational system.
Going by your analysis of that video – and thanks for that – the only element missing was somebody in the background going ‘pew! pew! pew!’
Well, one strike against nepotism and family politics happened yesterday in Greek local elections. The mayor of Athens and nephew of current prime minister lost. Just a bit of good news during these torrid times.
Prior to the election Sunday, the runoff mayoral candidates for Athens had a debate on tv. The aforementioned claimed to be in favour of cameras all over the place because we can’t afford police on foot everywhere. No mention of a dystopian surveillance state. The eventual winner’s response was that cameras were not a priority. I want to believe that this is the reason he lost. Alas it was probably the low turnout (only about 30% eligibles voted).
From Borrowed to the Hilt
But it didn’t fizzle; as readers here well know, Obama launched a multi-city paramilitary crackdown on Occupy encampments throughout the United States. I don’t know if this is the first brazen example of liberal Democrats embracing the national security state — Obama certainly signaled this early on when as a senator he supported retroactive immunity for telcos illegally surveilling on Americans — but it was a bad omen.
Follow-up to Nick Corbishley’s excellent post on Israel / Colombia’s souring relationship after left-wing president Petro stands with Palestine instead of falling into line with US/Israel as his predecessors always did.
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/10/diplomatic-crisis-erupts-between-us-and-colombia-after-colombian-president-petro-refuses-to-condemn-hamas.html
I wanted to comment how deep Israel’s involvement is in state terror and massacres in Colombia by the military and indirecly the paramilitaries, via intense training of police and army and supplying of military equipment. But this thread explains it much better:
https://twitter.com/AlanRMacLeod/status/1713685092239904878
Lots of middle/upper-class Colombians in my twitter timeline clutching their pearls about how Petro is an embarrassment to Colombia, turning it into Venezuela etc. These are usually the folks with lots of connections with US (university, work, family), many of whom (not all!) voted against Petro. For them it’s got little to do with Israel/Palestine, more with virtue signalling within their subculture (and perhaps towards US). Fact is that for them as a class, the close alliance (vassal status?) with the US has served them well, and this may be coming to an end.
Somewhat tangential, here at NC people have commented a lot on how European elites are acting against their countries’ (and continent’s) interests by aligning themselves so uncritically with Ukraine and the US. Some wonder how they can sell themselves out so easily. But I just realised that a good model for this is Colombia (and many other poor countries). It’s always been a bit of a colony of the US, and the local elite has been instrumental. They owe their position within Colombia to the colonial / extractive relationship. For the US they act as local enforcer. Just as Europe gets a taste of this, Colombia has for the first time started moving away from that model. But there are many obstacles and experience of other South American countries show how easily the pendulum can swing back the other way. Stay tuned.
The comprador elites.
So I’m about to reach the age of being able to start receiving my social security earned benefits and noticed a peculiarity in the benefits estimates table showing amounts to receive at a certain age. From age 62 to 63, 63 to 64 on up to 66 to 67, the step up is roughly 8.5%. Then I noticed that if I want to wait until 68, my benefit increase is only 2.5%. It increases by around 8.5% again if I can last until 69 but then there’s a huge increase of over 13% if I held out to age 70. What is this all about? Seems to me the SS admin is playing games to keep “full retirements” benefits lower that they should be and discouraging people to hold off receiving benefits where the dollar increases really kick in.
theoeretically, the “net present value” (your real payout over your lifetime) should be the same regardless of what age you pick.
but the devil is in the details…
your health, family history (average age they died), whether future CPI adjustmemts align with reality, etc.
Generally [in my opinion] the sicker one is, the earlier you should start getting payments.
there is no right amswer and it all depends on one’s circumstances
Full SS retirement age is technically 67. Given that, it seems less cynical that SS tries to dissuade individuals from collecting “full plus bonus” SS, but your logic behind the numbers is likely spot on
I noticed something similar in my benefit estimates. They were supposed to go up by 8% for every year after age 62 until you reach 70. That is what is billed as common knowledge all over the web. When I hit 68 the last two years gains were way short of an 8% gain. So I signed up at 68 instead of 70 as I had originally planned.
My assumption was that real inflation will far exceed any adjustment, so start as early as possible before the benefit is eroded away.
‘Kawsachun News
@KawsachunNews
The U.S. military wants to decide where people in Latin America get their news.’
One suspects that she is not talking about having the US set up their own dedicated news channels in South America to counter all that ‘disinformation’ but getting those South American governments to ban Sputnik Mundo, Russia Today español and teleSUR instead. Because democracy.
Or maybe both? I belive Radio Free Europe is still operating, and its founding was CIA backed in the day. Would not surprise me if there are multiple “independent” outlets all over Latin America that have spooks in the corridors.
The lady general was at pains to keep a straight face.
On the the thread linked regarding the marked increase in auto accidents there is a comment:
“The deadly decision to replace buttons and knobs with computer displays was moronic. Do designers and marketing people understand how dangerous driver inattention is?”
This person makes a good point. Putting screens in automobile dashboards seems a very stupid idea as does replacing physical knobs and switches with a touch screen.
Good observation. Physical knobs and buttons are like the feel of playing a piano. Imagine trying to play an 88 key piano on a touch screen, without looking. I actually miss the “brights” button on the lower left of the pedal system.
For anyone still interested in the goings on at america’s premier “news” network msnbs:
(alicia menendez is the daughter of august senator and serial corruption artist bob menendez.)
Apparently the “wisdom” of these moves was not appreciated by all at nbc, so HR attempted to smooth any ruffled feathers:
Ah, yes. Decorum and the employee handbook. Having slavishly toed the Orange Man Bad line, in all its iterations, for just short of a decade, these guys now find themselves summarily sacrificed on the altar of israel.
It’s a damn shame if you ask me.
The MOA link is spot on or at least one hopes it is. Another possibility is that the US gets entangled in WW3, Middle East edition. But the times they are changing.
‘Humanity in exile’
‘The famous comedian George Carlin put forward a notion that there is a cultural tradition in the United States of constantly inventing new terms, and “exiling” the old-fashioned terms, which derives from the constant need to make the brutalities of everyday life more easily accommodated. “Americans have trouble facing the truth,” Carlin once said, “so they invent a kind of soft language to protect themselves from it.” If poor people used to live in slums, to cite one of Carlin’s standup routines, “now ‘the economically disadvantaged’ occupy ‘substandard housing’ in ‘inner cities.’”
Americans have a hard time finding the truth and distinguishing the truth from bullshit, and only have a limited amount of time for the exercise.
The economically disadvantaged occupy substandard housing wherever they can find it. I wonder if George got out of cities much, given his performance schedule. Slums are easy to find.
Husband picked RV parks off the internet after reading their online reviews. There are three we wouldn’t want to stay in again, two were in Wyoming and the third was in Washington state. For all our complaints, there were much worse places to stay and they were full of permanent residents in trailers that couldn’t be moved again without risking structural damage, rendering them unlivable. Those ‘parks’ were visible from the roads.
I picked the brains of my fellow travelers asking about parks they liked and returned to again and again, and while they answered that question, they threw in a few horror stories. There are worse places still buried in the countryside, full of forgotten people. Those places are whatever is below the word ‘slum’, below tent cities, more like oversized coffins where the occupants haven’t stopped breathing yet. The designation ‘camp’ seems more honest.
https://americanaffairsjournal.org/2023/02/assessing-the-economic-value-of-military-materiel/
Article by Phil Pilkington, well known to long time readers for his series on MMT. In it, he points out that GDP is a flawed measure for comparing military capabilities of countries.
Made we wonder if he has read any of Martyanov’s books that cover similar ground at great length. I suspect he hasn’t but would appreciate.
America has long maintained propositioned bases, supplies, and equipment in the Middle East in addition to active bases in the region. It looks like troops are being moved:
US Army’s ‘Screaming Eagles’ Set to Bolster Forces in Jordan Amid Regional Tensions
https://bnn.network/world/us/us-armys-screaming-eagles-set-to-bolster-forces-in-jordan-amid-regional-tensions/
Wasn’t both the 82nd and the 101rst deployed in the eastern EU to provide potential support for Ukraine? Plus, the two carrier groups in the Med represent a third of the available carrier groups. (Only six carrier groups available? I did not realize it was so few.)
That doesn’t seem right: US has 11 active carriers, each with a full group attached to it (wasn’t sure if the Nimitz was still active–apparently it still is.) Of these, 9 or 10 should be active at any time, even when accounting for refits and/or maintenance. I wonder if the number 6 accounts for those that are already assigned to a particular area (e.g. there is always a carrier group assigned to Yokosuka, Japan and.)
That sounds about right to me too, but I was listening to a news report earlier and I think it just had wrong numbers.
Egypt ‘considers deal to accept 100,000 displaced Palestinians in exchange for US debt relief’
So debt relief is denominated in humans. Whether this deal happens or not, if the macro-parasites get wind of it they can create a human live stock exchange. The pitch: “If you complete a deal for debt relief, you can later exchange your livestock (be sure the words “debt relief” are prominently branded on their skin) to your national neighbor who might need that relief more than you. How does it work? 1. Register the transaction on our exchange; 2. Provide proof the livestock are refugees from an imperial war or a tail that wags the empire; 3. The U.S., World Bank or whoever will reduce your neighbor’s debt and reinstate yours. We have a written legal opinion from the USDOJ no party to a registered transaction will be prosecuted for human trafficking (just make sure all commissions are paid). Sign up now for latest market report and to view our live auction.”
OK just kidding. Humans for debt is a fine idea.
I looked into the birthrate in the Gaza Strip. 28 births per 1,000 population. At 2m residents, that’s 56,000 babies born in the last 12 months. I checked with the Congressional Right to Life Caucus and a few fundamentalist churches and they all said they oppose bombing 56,000 babies in Gaza.
Oh…wait. Looks like I was asking this question in some other timeline.
I reread the introduction and first chapter of Tom Frank’s 2020 book The People, NO!
It was a new revelation right now. How can Hiliary Clinton claim the common people, the non-elites who voted for someone as a protest against the current neoliberal great and good, (as they style themselves), be taken seriously by the great and good neoliberal elites?
The common people must be deluded or misguided ( the elites say) in thinking the common peoples’ lot is being crushed by 30 years of neoliberal elite politics and finance. They need to be sent to
re-educationdeprogramming camps. (Hilary’s unguarded outburst put the cherry on top of the neoliberal thinking: we are the elites because we are the smartest, bestest, mose qualified, most moral people, (and not because we’ve gained the power to financially crush regular people).Even if you’ve already read Frank’s book I recommend rereading the Introduction and a few pages of the First Chapter. After the last 5 years, it has a new piquancy.
Of course, the current neoliberal elites and experts mean to save us common people from ourselves by deplatforming writers and speakers who might mislead us, carefully curating social media comments, banning ‘dangerous’ demonstrations against govt corruption or bad social or financial
policies, or war, etc. They are sure they know what’s best for us. (Really what’s best for them, imo.)
The final para from Frank’s Introduction:
“On the subject of elite failure, there is no program of international inquiry as there is with populism. There are no calls for papers, no generous foundation grant program, no Stanford global elitisms project, no incentives at all to discover why experts keep blundering. Indeed, anti-populists find it harder to criticize their colleagues for fouling things up than they do to deride the voting public of America for being angry over those foul-ups. If the choice is between admitting professionals often fail or determining that popular democracy must be reined in, anti-populists will choose the later every time.
If only it were possible, they sigh, to dissolve the people and elect another.”
Thomas Frank and The Baffler together with Zippy The Pinhead were my anchors and shields during the years of culture shock after I moved to the USA in 1995.
Zippy is the best (“if I pull this lever, I’ll be Rita Hayworth”; he does, and out go all the lights in the neighbourhood). -a.v.
Yeah, I used to buy the Boston Globe daily and read most of it. Now I find it in the library, open it and flip it over, open the last page, read Zippy, get my daily chuckle and fold it up.
Zippy taught me to love America in, because of, and for its absurdity. And I do. I still do.
Thomas Frank helped me straighten my thinking about politics, media, power, marketing.
I looked up traffic accidents in 2022 compared to 2019 in the country where I live, and they are down. Which suggest COVID brain damage (from which I suffer myself) is not the cause (and our COVID policy was equally bad, most of the population was infected before or in early 2022).
Something more uniquely American must be the explanation.
“Self-driving” cars. No other country permits anything other than full hands on the wheel, eyes on the road – yet….
Yeah this is my take as well. I don’t think science works by saying “This is true until the facts say otherwise.”
There’s a general repudiation of authority across our culture, a total lack of trust in the rules that bind us because of a total lack of trust in our institutions. You see it manifest in people refusing to show up for jury duty to stopping at red lights. Everything is fraying, probably for good. I can’t imagine we’re going to stuff that genie back in the bottle.
> U.S., Turkey and Al Nusra vs. Iran, Hezbollah and Syria: Which Parties Are Poised to Intervene If the Israeli-Hamas War Expands?
If US and Israel are planning on the basis of Türkiye’s support they will likely end up badly mistaken. Türkiye is really pissed that Europe is going to fast track Ukraine into EU while Türkiye has been waiting patiently for years.
Many thanks for the Harpers link, an enjoyable and enlightening read that is well worthy of the time invested.
Chess pieces moved into position.
“a routine firing drill”
https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/turkish-navy-heads-to-east-med-for-exercise-amid-us-tension/news