Recent Items

Links 4/28/2024

Posted on by

Two lifeforms merge into one organism for first time in a billion years The Independent

How Whales Could Help Us Speak to Aliens Nautilus

Sierra Nevada wins $13B contract to build Air Force ‘doomsday plane’ Defense News

Climate/Environment

Repair Is A Beacon Of Hope During Earth Week Fight to Repair

Slow Down. How Degrowth Communism Can Save the Earth – book review Counterfire

Water

Rivers are the West’s largest source of clean energy. What happens when drought strikes? Grist

Pandemics

Are We Testing Enough for H5N1? MedPage Today

Africa

On the ongoing cocoa boom and what it tells us about the current state (and future) of African agriculture An Africanist Perspective

65 PROMINENT GLOBAL LEADERS AND PUBLIC FIGURES URGE NEW YORK TO PASS GROUNDBREAKING BILL ADDRESSING DEBT CRISIS Club de Madrid

China?

US urged to honor words after Blinken concludes ‘candid, substantive and constructive’ meetings in China Global Times

Blinken in Beijing: The US tried to turn China against Russia – but did it work? RT

Taiwan reports Chinese military activity after Blinken leaves Beijing Channel News Asia

Why China risks US sanctions arming Russia: survival Asia Times

Philippines denies deal with China over disputed South China Sea shoal Channel News Asia

Syraqistan

Hezbollah targets Israeli bases with dozens of missiles (VIDEOS) RT

***

Israel warns Hamas: Accept hostage deal, or we’ll enter Rafah Jerusalem Post

Israel worried ICC could issue arrest warrant for Netanyah The New Arab

Israel rebukes US calls for investigation into mass graves in Gaza POLITICO

US officials say in internal memo Israel may be violating international law in Gaza Al Arabiya

Everyone in Gaza drinking unsafe water: Health Ministry Anadolu Agency

Gaza ‘Freedom Flotilla’ blocked in Turkey Al Mayadeen

***

Yemen’s Houthis damage oil tanker, shoot down US drone Al Jazeera

***

Illegal Israeli settlers attack farmers, residential areas in West Bank Anadolu Agency

European Disunion

Europe’s Core New Left Review

Chartbook 278: Recasting Bourgeois Europe … almost at fifty. In honor of Charlie Maier. Adam Tooze

New Not-So-Cold War

SITREP 4/27/24: U.S. Admits Top Weapons Failures to Superior Russian EW Simplicius the Thinker

US pressures Kyiv to address conscription issues — NYT The New Voice of Ukraine

Poland willing to help Kiev by repatriating Ukrainians of fighting age Al Mayadeen

Lithuania considers helping Ukraine get military-age men back Ukrainska Pravda. Are they really going to go there despite Ukrainian refugees warranting protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, supplemented by its 1967 Protocol. As UNHCR states, the core principle of the 1951 Convention is non-refoulement, which asserts that a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom. Who knows what the laws of the “rules-based international order” say about such schemes though? Handy chart on Ukrainian refugee numbers:

Germany won’t help Ukraine’s Defence Ministry conscript Ukrainians – German Justice Ministry Ukrayinska Pravda. From December, still germane?

***

Polish and Lithuanian leaders oversee military drills along border Euronews

Lithuania rejects claim it launched drone attack against Belarus Euronews

***

U.S. intelligence believes Putin probably didn’t order Navalny to be killed – WSJ Reuters

Maneuver, Position, Attrition Big Serge Thought

Old Blighty

Government ordered to disclose Sunak’s hedge fund emails Good Law Project

Hate speech, snooping and benefits: How government policy has ‘violated disabled people’s rights’ Big Issue

Imperial Collapse Watch

US issues further sanctions on Iran, targets drones VOA

Russia’s Shoigu meets Iranian counterpart, says ready to expand military co-operation, says RIA Reuters

The Abu Ghraib abuse scandal 20 years on: What redress for victims? Al Jazeera

Spook Country

Biden Administration

Tracking the Dataflow When It’s Confusing White House CEA. “…we see a strong U.S. economy wherein healthy consumer spending—almost 70% of nominal GDP—is continuously supported by a strong job market and consistent real wage growth.”

Are You Feeling It? The Baffler

Biden’s 13th-Quarter Approval Average Lowest Historically Gallup

Groves of Academe

Follow-up on Universities and First Amendment Sam Husseini

Columbia:

Chartbook 279: Columbia University’s “crisis” – a political economy sketch map. Adam Tooze. Handy diagram:

Northeastern:

Police detain 102, clear pro-Palestinian encampment at Northeastern wbur

Northwestern:

Indiana:

Washington University, St. Louis:

Arizona State:

“Outside agitators”:

Leaked memo reveals inside details of UT’s protest response KXAN. “We requested additional manpower support based on the intelligence and concern from outside disruptors,” the memo states. “It was important to have a significant police presence to make clear this University would not be co-opted by these outside agitators.”

‘Outside agitators’: Mayor Adams addresses pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia, NYU WPIX

The view from Gaza and elsewhere:

2024

Conservatives condemn Kristi Noem for ‘twisted’ admission of killing dog Guardian

Maine Dems say they’ll consider cutting off Trump’s path, if Nebraska moves to hurt Biden POLITICO

Our Famously Free Press

Acknowledging the Horrors of Gaza—Without Wanting to End Them FAIR

Disgust Greets White House Correspondents’ Dinner as Israel Kills Journalists in Gaza Common Dreams

AI

School principal was framed using AI-generated racist rant, police say. A co-worker is now charged. WJZ

Healthcare?

‘Moral Injury’ Enters Health Care Lexicon HEALTH CARE un-covered

The Bezzle

TO EXPERIENCE PURE ANXIETY, WATCH THIS VIDEO OF A SELF-DRIVING CAR NAVIGATING INDIA’S CHAOTIC TRAFFIC Futurism

Class Warfare

The tax sharks are back and they’re coming for your home Cory Doctorow, Pluralistic

UAW REACHES HISTORIC TENTATIVE AGREEMENT WITH DAIMLER TRUCK UAW

With Few Workplace Safety Protections, Latino Worker Deaths Are Surging In These Times

Work Safety Group Releases List of ‘Dirty Dozen’ Employers Claims Journal

What If Labor Owned Its Workplaces? Jacobin

Antidote du jour (via):

Bonus:

See yesterday’s Links and Antidote du Jour here.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Subscribe to Post Comments
170 comments

  1. The Rev Kev

    ‘@amuse
    FEDS? The Patriot Front holds itself out as a supremacist organization but most believe it to be a honeypot organized and funded by the Feds to entrap disgruntled Americans. The group (100 strong) marched through Charleston WV. Strangely there was no police presence.’

    These guys are ridiculous and you can tell that they are Feds. Just compare them with the January 6th protestors. Where are the beer guts? The long, scraggly beards? The patchwork gear? The long hairs? The women? The Confederate flags? Hell, I can’t even see a decent set of buffalo horns.

    Reply ↓
    1. griffen

      I’m thinking we are firmly into Blazing Saddles territory…the optics just look a little too highly coordinated.

      I’m kinda sure that SNL would run a skit if this marching was taking place under a Donald Trump presidency. Colbert would have a field day as well with such material

      Reply ↓
  2. VTDigger

    “This is why progressives are committed to class mobility, broad access to education, and active programs to bring traditionally underrepresented groups into arenas that once excluded them.”

    -Cory Doctorow

    You lost me there bud. What an awful article. Who would believe such nonsense given the evidence of their senses? Sure they SAY that but man…surely Cory of all people would know all the money goes to NGO salaries and speaking fees?

    Reply ↓
    1. Jake

      I’ve always though Cory sounds a bit like a fraud a lot of the time. He’s got a few great ideas, but overall he sounds like a tool. He’s also one of the people that think it’s compassionate to let methheads take over cities. Typical left wing fool.

      Reply ↓
      1. Carolinian

        I don’t know how typical he is but he does think a lot of himself even on topics where he doesn’t know what he is talking about. Going on about “the conservative mind” versus “the progressive mind” is little more than cliche spinning–an us versus them formulation you’d more likely expect to hear from, er, a conservative.

        But that can’t be true because Doctorow is a progressive, has the t-shirt. Tribalism plus brand promotion seems to be our modern disease.

        Reply ↓
    2. Robert Hahl

      I took him to mean actual conservatives, properly defined, compared to actual progressives properly defined. The piece was about definitions, not activism.

      Reply ↓
      1. chris

        I agree. Like his explanation of the enshittification cycle, Mr. Doctorow appears to offering clarifying statements. His other writing clearly shows he doesn’t have any water to carry for Team Blue.

        Reply ↓
      2. Carolinian

        Don’t we have dictionaries for definitions? What’s the point?

        Labels are useless. Actions are what count. His definition of progressive seems to be the New Deal and FDR even though many “progressives” thought FDR was selling out their cause rather than advancing it. Life is a lot messier than Merriam Webster.

        Reply ↓
    3. Albe Vado

      That may be what ‘progressives’ believe in, but as a filthy communist my goal is abolishing the class hierarchy entirely, not making people more mobile within it.

      Reply ↓
  3. albrt

    Re: non-refoulement

    Avoiding military conscription in the home country is not a basis to obtain refugee status. The putative refugee needs to be able to give another credible reason for fleeing. For instance, an ethnic Russian could argue that the Azovs control the Ukraine military and the refugee has a credible fear of being beaten up or killed by the Azovs if he is conscripted. But that argument is difficult to make if you are seeking asylum in a country that officially denies the Azovs control the Ukraine military.

    Reply ↓
    1. OnceWere

      “No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.”

      Seems to me that if political opinion is sufficient to justify protection then all the Ukrainian refugee would have to say is “I support the recognition of Donbass and Crimea as Russian territory.”

      Reply ↓
      1. Polar Socialist

        I’ve seen several commentators elsewhere making the point that it would be a clever move by Russia to start providing (temporary) Russian passports for Ukrainian males that have been denied consular services by Ukraine.

        Can you return a person who has given up his citizenship? And on that vein, can one then seek a refuge status on the basis that Russia is an undemocratic autocracy fighting a brutal, unprovoked was of conquest…

        I’m sure EU lawyers would find a way to hold three conflicting legal opinions at the same time.

        Reply ↓
        1. OnceWere

          If I recall correctly the Ukrainian parliament passed a law criminalizing (with heavy jail time) the voluntary acceptance of a Russian passport. Thus refugees who accepted such a passport would clearly face a threat to their freedom if they were returned to Ukraine.

          Reply ↓
      2. vao

        That is clear, but most Ukrainians were granted asylum not as refugees (fleeing well-founded fear of or actual “persecutions on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”), but on the basis of subsidiary protection (granted to people at “real risk of suffering serious and individual threat by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations of international or internal armed conflict”).

        Notice that in the EU, subsidiary protection is only applicable to civilian persons: “The term ‘civilian’ is, therefore, considered to refer to a person who would not be a member of any of the parties in the conflict and would not be taking part in the hostilities”, with “the main issue at hand is whether the applicant will be a civilian upon return or not.”

        I expect some furious duelling between lawyers as to whether Ukrainians residing outside their country and legally called in for recruitment into the Ukrainian armed forces are considered “civilians” according to the EU guidelines or not — although these specify that “in case of doubt regarding the civilian status of a person, a protection-oriented approach should be taken and the person should be considered a civilian.” Officially declaring oneself as deserter might work to get granted subsidiary protection — or it might not. Thus, the practice regarding the quasi-forced conscription of people into the Erythrean armed forces has varied quite a lot in Europe.

        Reply ↓
      3. Aurelien

        Yes, but I think the argument resolves itself into whether being called up for military service amounts to “persecution” within the meaning of the Convention and, although there have been many moves to broaden the meaning of that word, I don’t think it could be stretched that far. In any event, refugee status has to be demonstrated, and the fear of persecution has to be “well-founded,” and there’s no evidence that the many Ukrainians who have fled their country since 2022 are opponents of the government and support the Russians. They seem for the most part to be as anti-Russian as any other Ukrainians, they just want somebody else to die instead of them.

        Reply ↓
        1. Carolinian

          just want somebody else to die instead of them

          Or maybe they just don’t want anyone to die including themselves. Given that current Ukraiine is a dubious democracy where political opponents have been murdered and intimidated you have to wonder about the moral arguments that those who flee are somehow being villains for not giving up their young lives to keep oligarchs in power. If these European countries start forcing them to return to their deaths then we are truly down the sophistry rabbit hole.

          There’s nothing rational about war and so all the legal hair splitting is merely erecting a rational facade around ruling class “making our own reality.”

          Reply ↓
        2. Colonel Smithers

          Thank you and well said, Aurelien / David.

          This said, much of the UK local government money allocated for education and translation services for refugees from Ukraine to the UK is for Russian, not Ukrainian. It’s the same in Germany.

          Reply ↓
          1. Paleobotanist

            In Montreal, I’m hearing as much (more?) Russian in the streets from the refugees as Ukrainian. My neighborhood has been used a refugee dump by the Trudeau government, so I hear the languages all the time.

            Reply ↓
        3. Trees&Trunks

          ” they just want somebody else to die instead of them”
          – indeed. moreover very few of any had any sense of fleeing or being a refugee, they just wanted others to die for them. E.g. in the city in Germany where I live they had prepared a large sports stadium with beds and the usual mass sheltering for refugees. They had zero Ukrainian takers. The Ukrainians that turned up looked at the few Africans and Arab refugees in the beds and said “no way I am going to stay here. I go to my friends in the UK”.
          Also, they were also rather active in the Russian chats in Germany. Just to give you a flair of what they were discussing. One hot topic was parking fines. The participants agreed and laughed at the fact that the German authorities wouild send the parking fines to the address the registry number is on, namely in Ukraine. And in Ukraine there is of course none waiting for the fine and even less paying for it. They concluded that they couild park anywhere and anyhow. And for some time that was also the case.
          A lot of the Ukrainian children attending the schools (1-4th class) immediately asked Russian-descendant children if they were with or against Ukraine and were expecting that the children were against Russia. Often the children come and went. It turned out that the Ukrainians were commuting between Germany and Spain to lift double grants from both Germany and Spain.

          Reply ↓
        4. Kouros

          What if they are just pacifists that would have wanted the peace agreement drafted in Istanbul to happen? And now they are pushed to die for something they don’t believe possible or necessary (recovering all land to 1991 border or Ukraine in NATO)? After all, most Ukrainans voted for Zelensky for his promises to bring peace and mend relations with Russia…

          Reply ↓
        6. Polar Socialist

          EU may have an issue here as it already considered Syrian draft evaders having “well-founded fear of persecution”. Likely Russian draft evaders, too. I rest assured, though, that EU will find a way around this conundrum if the need be.

          Reply ↓
    2. Benny Profane

      Those refugee numbers are flawed, because they imply that all Ukrainian refugees are military age men. I am assuming there are more women and children in those totals.

      Reply ↓
    3. Feral Finster

      As far as any EU country is concerned, the law will be whatever the sovereign says it is.

      The text or lack thereof is irrelevant.

      Reply ↓
    4. Jon Cloke

      Can you imagine trying to recruit from returned refugees? Ridiculous!

      If they wanted to fight they’d be back there doing it anyway, and one can assume that they’re refugees partly at least because they don’t want to….

      They’d surely be deserting in droves.

      Reply ↓
  4. Wukchumni

    That Karen @ Northwestern was a perfect ambassador for Israel, claiming local pro Palestinian movements were threatening her life, thus police action was warranted.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Saw on the news tonight where this Zionist girl was claiming that protestors were using the slogan ‘Kill the Jews’ so as a justification for breaking up protesting students. This techniques is so blatant and yet the authorities are ever so willing to believe them. If the cops turned up and were shown a video of how nobody was threatening this woman, by rights they should arrest her for wasting police resources with a malicious call.

      Reply ↓
      1. The Rev Kev

        I should have added to this comment that this same technique was used against protesters gathered at the Sydney Opera House late last year. The Australian Jewish Association provided a video that “substantiated” their allegation that those crowds chanted ‘Gas the Jews.’ Well there was outrage and politicians wanting new laws made to protect Jewish people and the news went around the world. Three months later the NSW Police turned in a report showing the whole thing was a scam and a chant was deliberately miscaptioned in that video. Never heard if they ever investigated the Australian Jewish Association for committing this fraud-

        https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/police-review-finds-no-evidence-antisemitic-phrase-chanted-at-sydney-opera-house-protest-20240202-p5f1v7.html

        All I can say is that it is a good thing that these Zionist tactics will never blow back on ordinary Jews that want nothing to do with them. I guess that the Zionist attitude is that you are either with them or against them.

        Reply ↓
        2. Old-timer

          > The Australian Jewish Association provided a video that “substantiated” their allegation that …
          > crowds chanted ‘Gas the Jews.’ … [L]ater the NSW Police turned in a report showing the whole
          > thing was a scam …

          With the hypocrisy and chutzpah running so high, I’m a little surprised that we haven’t yet been subjected to a retrospective of the award-winning 1978 mini-series ‘Holocaust’.

          Reply ↓
  6. Henry Moon Pie

    Kent State–

    Nixon, now celebrated by some as some sort of New Deal liberal, was recorded on the Oval Office recordings explaining his approach to student protestors in a conversation with Haldeman during the Attica riots:

    The president’s response: “This might have one hell of a salutary effect. They can talk all they want about the radicals. You know what stops them? Kill a few.

    “Remember Kent State?” the president continues. “Didn’t it have one hell of an effect, the Kent State thing?”

    “Sure did,” replies Haldeman. “Gave them second thoughts.”

    Ohio Governor James Rhodes, running against Robert Taft, Jr. for a Senate seat, decided to prove how tough he was (and by some reports, vying to replace Spiro Agnew, flew to Kent to taunt demonstrators and associate himself with the over-the-top National Guard response. To the disgrace of Cleveland State, his name still adorns the tallest building on campus.

    Biden and his administration are certainly as ruthless and cold-blooded as Nixon, and governors like Abbot are itching for a chance to prove how tough they can be against all those “outside agitators, so will we have a repeat?

    Reply ↓
    1. Benny Profane

      Yeah, but, it was a major event enflaming the anti war movement. Hell, it was the subject of a popular hit FM song, that was the early 70s version of going viral.

      Reply ↓
      1. Wukchumni

        Coinciding with the Kent State murder spree, was Wall*Street up and dying, the market took quite a dump, and back then DC wasn’t bailing out anybody. The malaise was to last through until the 1980’s.

        My dad was out of work for a couple years…

        Contrast that with our up up and away version of Dow Jonestown presently.

        Reply ↓
      2. Carolinian

        It’s long ago history but as I understand it Kent State mostly ended the demonstrations. LBJ wasn’t any better than Nixon and the 1968 Chicago convention showed the Dems were also into busting heads for the MIC.

        Nixon did get his though as he flew back to California following Watergate. Vietnam had a lot to do with that.

        Reply ↓
        1. vao

          I thought that it was the killings at the Jackson State University (coming shortly after the events at Kent State University) that actually caused the change of mood.

          Reply ↓
        2. The Rev Kev

          ‘It’s long ago history but as I understand it Kent State mostly ended the demonstrations.’

          That may have been a factor but there were lots of other things happening back then. the Vietnam war was winding down for the US and by the following year there would be only about 24,000 troops in ‘Nam left so fear of the draft was decreasing which had helped fuel the protests. The year after that was the fuel crisis as well as skyrocketing inflation. As the economy was starting to go south, the energy for the protests was not really there anymore. And then there was this-

          https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/

          Reply ↓
          1. digi_owl

            I really dislike how they have a Hayek quote to bookend all that, as i can’t help suspect that it all comes back to consumer credit cards going mainstream. Something that if anything is the polar opposite of government meddling in the money supply.

            Because i can’t help feel that said credit cards blunted the demand for higher wages, as they allowed the existing wages to be leveraged into more purchasing power in the short term.

            Reply ↓
        3. Ernie

          As a university student at the time, I can testify that rather than “mostly end[ing] the demonstrations” the Kent State killings in May 1970 created a groundswell of much larger demonstrations and student strikes that shut down large numbers of universities nationwide. Many schools did not have classes again until the Fall.

          Reply ↓
          1. Carolinian

            Watergate arguably happened because the elites, not the public, wanted to get rid of Nixon. Nixon’s claim–that he wasn’t any worse than his predecessors–is not necessarily wrong. Lyndon was a piece of work.

            When Kay Graham’s pals the Reagans took office she reportedly said, re Watergate, “we won’t have any more of that.” Indeed a book about the press of that period was titled On Bended Knee.

            Much of this history seems to be recycling in the ‘press versus Trump’ saga.

            Reply ↓
          2. chris

            Does anyone think that if Biden dropped to 24% approval he would vacate? The two biggest casualties in our political life over the last 50 years are truth and shame. Our leaders have learned to do without both.

            Reply ↓
            1. Benny Profane

              When Christie was scraping bottom in Jersey after Bridgegate, I read that 15% is the bottom. There is no zero. Getting there.

              Reply ↓
      3. Mark Gisleson

        Sidebar: Punk band Slam Whitman disrespectfully covered the CSN&Y classic “Ohio” back in the ’80s on their very rude album, “Four Dead In Ohio” which also features songs like “Woke Up,” “Heroes of HIroshima,” and “Urban Death Song.” Rereleased to wider distribution in 2001, many of the lyrics are eerily prophetic (and all of the lyrics are very rude and often explicitly so).

        Punk was the first attempt at erasing (defacing?) Boomer culture. Unsurprisingly punk is still around, still hating on Boomers and the rest of establishment but disconnected by age from original punks, the Gen X’ers who are replacing/becoming the Boomers.

        Reply ↓
        1. chris

          Are the Gen Xer’s replacing the Boomers? They seem so fractured and broke that I’m not sure that generational cohort has anything left in it other than praying for a peaceful retirement. The oldest Boomers turn 60 just when we crown the next disaster to sit on the porcelain throne on 1600 Pennsylvania avenue.

          Reply ↓
          1. griffen

            Gen X chiming in…praying for an eventual retirement… uneventful would make for nice to have sort of retirement…I’ve planned for it but nothing is set given that the future past 2030 just looks a wee bit murky

            I think the Gen X cohort starts in 1965….for those playing along…

            Reply ↓
            1. Wukchumni

              To ward off my Generation Jones cred, sometimes i’ll X dress in 1990’s grunge and get henna tats to better look the part, while hurling epithets @ the man, er my Boomer cohorts.

              Reply ↓
    2. Bugs

      Nixon later had second thoughts about his approach and went unaccompanied to the Lincoln Memorial to talk directly with antiwar protesters. He was no New Deal liberal but imho he was a hell of a lot better than just about anything that came after him, and that includes Carter.

      Reply ↓
      1. Henry Moon Pie

        The above quote was from eighteen months after the Lincoln Memorial visit. It was recorded on the WH taping system in September, 1971 during the Attica rebellion.

        Reply ↓
    3. The Rev Kev

      The author James A. Michener went there and wrote a book about what he saw called “Kent State: What Happened and Why”. He says that after the shooting, even the jocks had been radicalized and were talking like the radicals. There were taunting phrases at the time by people like ‘The Kent State Four, should have studied more’ but one of them was in the ROTC and was going between classes when he heard shooting. He dived for the ground but unfortunately right into the path of a passing bullet.

      Reply ↓
  7. Anon IU

    Re: Indiana University’s Anti-Genocide Encampment

    Yesterday at Indiana University (Bloomington), over 60 Indiana State Police in full riot gear (shields, batons, etc), joined by numerous snipers, destroyed the peaceful anti-genocide encampment on IU’s Dunn Meadow, the university’s designated area for “public expression”. There was also a ISP officer with an Explosion Ordinance Detection dog. The ISP arrived in Lenco BearCats. A State helicopter was hovering overhead.

    More than 20 protesters were arrested. The ISP attack was described as “markedly more aggressive” than Thursday’s attack when over 30 protesters were arrested. Protesters were pushed to the ground by riot shields, faces smashed into the dirt, zip tied behind their backs and held at a fieldhouse before finally being transported to the County Jail.

    One of those arrested was Bryce Greene, an IU graduate student who is IU’s Divestment Coalition spokesperson. He is also a Coordinating Committee member of the Indiana Graduate Workers Coalition (IGWC, the graduate student workers’ union). Unlike other arrested protesters who were given 1 year trespass bans forbidding them to be on any IU property, Greene was given a *5 year ban*. Greene, who is a POC, is well known to IU administrators. The IGWC union is calling Greene’s arrest “a racist and targeted attack” which it obviously is.

    After ISP destroyed the encampment, protesters returned later in the day and set up new tents. The Mayor of Bloomington put out a video where she accused outside agitators of being at the encampment without any evidence. Student and faculty groups are calling for the resignation of IU’s President, Provost and Vice Provost.

    Reply ↓
    1. Dr. John Carpenter

      Thanks for these updates. That IU has become a flashpoint in this movement really is wild to me. I haven’t been on campus in maybe a decade or more but it’s awesome to see the students standing up.

      Reply ↓
      1. Anon IU

        I’m impressed with how brave, determined, informed and organized the IU students are. Unlike the Vietnam era, they aren’t facing a draft. Most of them have no family connection to Palestine, yet they are risking their futures and potentially their lives by protesting. I’m also impressed by faculty involvement in the protests. That was rare during Vietnam.

        Reply ↓
    2. Anon IU

      Today Indiana University faculty have issued a petition demanding the immediate resignation of IU’s President and Provost. From the petition:

      “The student organizers of the protest come to this public space on campus with nothing more than food, provisional tents, music, art, prayer, and chants. The Indiana State Police come with orders from President Whitten and Provost Shrivastav in full riot gear: they bear automatic weapons, carry tear gas and batons, and position snipers with guns aimed directly at students from the rooftop of the Indiana Memorial Union. Faculty have watched as students and colleagues were beaten to the ground, some hogtied as if they were animals, despite their lack of resistance in the face of arrest. We have witnessed heavily armed police officers kick, punch, tackle, body slam, and beat students.”

      Reply ↓
      1. Michael Hudson

        I just got this message from one IU demonstrator:

        Today is Sunday. From early morning the massive sound system of the Chabad House on 7th Street has been persistently blaring dull, thumping melodies into Dunn Meadow. Notifying Dispatch at Indiana University Police Department results in being told to notify the IUPD policemen parked nearby on 7th Street. Talking with the policemen sitting in the police car has the result of being told to notify Dispatch.

        The Bloomington Police have been notified about this weaponization of Music and do nothing.

        The thumping beats continue.

        Reply ↓
        1. LawnDart

          Standard psy-ops:
          Music torture: How heavy metal broke Manuel Noriega

          Everyone has at least one song that sets their teeth on edge. Most of the time, they’re easy to avoid.

          But what if you’d lost the power to change the TV channel, switch off the radio, or simply walk away?

          What if someone played it non-stop for an hour. A day. A week. Even longer?

          This is “music torture” – and while some of its practitioners say it shouldn’t count as torture, there’s little doubt it works…

          https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40090809

          And for the record, I will admit that I used interrogation-techniques that I learned in SERE during my time as a sworn peace officer in the USA– but never to Abu Ghraib extremes…

          …others did that.

          Reply ↓
        2. Anon IU

          The Chabad House has several large speakers that have been blasting loud music for the last several days. They are disturbing the peace of the entire area which I believe is illegal. The city police won’t get involved with incidents on campus. It should be stopped by campus police but obviously they aren’t going to do anything.

          Reply ↓
    4. CarlH

      I believe that Bryce Greene is also a co host of the wonderful “American Exception” podcast. I hope he is okay (along with all others involved in these protests), and that the 5 year ban is lifted. The IU administration, along with many others, has to go, though the replacement would likely be identical in its authoritarianism.

      Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      Gotta admit that it was really neat reading about this happening when put into it’s historical context. i wonder if that organism will be able to reproduce as such.

      Reply ↓
  9. Dan S

    Re: How Whales Could Help Us Speak to Aliens

    Part of the plot of Star Trek IV (wonderfully directed by Leonard Nimoy) was us being saved by Whales from an alien life form that is revisiting our solar system. One would hope that in the real-life version the whales would be smarter and instruct the aliens to wipe us out.

    Reply ↓
  10. furnace

    Biden Administration

    Tracking the Dataflow When It’s Confusing White House CEA. “…we see a strong U.S. economy wherein healthy consumer spending—almost 70% of nominal GDP—is continuously supported by a strong job market and consistent real wage growth.”

    Do they actually believe what they’re saying or is this just propaganda? I’m not sure what would be worse, honestly: that they think the public is stupid enough to believe that, or that they themselves are stupid enough to believe that. If so, the Mandate of Heaven seems to be gone for good.

    Reply ↓
      1. Dr. John Carpenter

        I’m waiting for this one, though truthfully scolding seems more like a Hillary move. Biden prefers straight up insults.

        Reply ↓
      2. griffen

        Listen Jack, I’m better on the economy than that orange man bad guy before. Look at the monthly payroll numbers, record low unemployment and tell me that I am lying ! \sarc

        Build Back Broker! Let him finish the job, I think not.

        Reply ↓
    3. eg

      Whom the gods would destroy, they first make susceptible to aggregations absent considerations of distribution …

      Reply ↓
  11. Wukchumni

    Sierra Nevada wins $13B contract to build Air Force ‘doomsday plane’ Defense News
    ~~~~~~~~~

    If you like their IPA’s, you’ll love their doomsday planes…

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      2044 – The US Air Force finally takes delivery of their $40 billion ‘doomsday plane’, in spite of reports of software problems and the tires being too large to fold into the wheel wells. Meanwhile, a B-52 that was built in 1956 will work in tandem with it as a backup plane in case the ‘doomsday plane’ has a breakdown.

      Reply ↓
    3. griffen

      Maybe I’ll have to visit their nearby location to investigate! Might find a pleasing distraction in the spring months, given their brewery tours are apparently a fun excursion. Beer and airplanes, I see a bright future for them.

      As the crow might fly, this is roughly an hour away.

      https://sierranevada.com/visit/mills-river

      Reply ↓
  12. griffen

    Economy status and the article by the White House CEA. I can appreciate what Jared and his econ pals there are trying to convey…but sadly for them this is more of the same but lacking the “preachy narrative” we’ve seen in recent weeks by Paul Krugman and Noah Smith…

    The cost of housing or shelter, and acquiring a home at these mortgage rates, is a decided non-starter for younger couples. Joe Biden’s economy is pushing those on the precipice a little further on the ledge, so what help is the administration offering?

    Reply ↓
  13. vao

    TO EXPERIENCE PURE ANXIETY, WATCH THIS VIDEO OF A SELF-DRIVING CAR NAVIGATING INDIA’S CHAOTIC TRAFFIC

    I found it interesting that the vehicle systematically attempts to drive in the middle of the road, and in several cases prefers driving on the right instead of on the left.

    Reply ↓
    1. katiebird

      That. And it seemed that it relies on other vehicles avoiding the self-driving one. What happens when 2 self driving cars meet?

      Reply ↓
    2. Bugs

      Indians seem to enjoy telling foreigners that their traffic is crazy but I never really feel too overwhelmed there, and I’ve driven in some very crowded cities, North and South. Try merging onto and exiting the Place de l’Etoile in Paris if you want a real scare. Or ride a motorcycle over the Tobin Bridge in Boston in heavy traffic. One thing that does get on your nerves in India is the relentless horn honking but it’s part of a conversation between drivers so best to learn to understand it.

      Reply ↓
  14. The Rev Kev

    “Hezbollah targets Israeli bases with dozens of missiles (VIDEOS)”

    ‘The Israeli Meron air base and its surroundings are being subjected to the strongest targeting operation so far. Iron dome seems to be absent, rockets are landing and there are reports of precise targeting on the base (probably ATGMS)’

    https://twitter.com/ME_Observer_/status/1784332583607677391

    If you look at the fourth video in the bottom-right corner and blow it up to full screen when it start playing, you can see rocket after rocket slamming into that base. I heard that Israel used up about half their anti-air missiles when Iran attacked them so perhaps they are being forced to husband their remaining supply and be careful about where and when to use them.

    Reply ↓
    1. Polar Socialist

      Hezbollah has lately been releasing videos in which they specifically hit Israeli radar installations. I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes much longer to replace a radar than it takes to replenish a missile stock. And what use are those missiles, if they’re not show targets.

      It may also explain why Israel didn’t really retaliate against Iran, and has moved on to deal with ICC and US universities.

      There’s also an odd trend of the most ardent Zionist ministers in Israel having had car accidents lately.

      Reply ↓
  15. Joker

    Poland willing to help Kiev by repatriating Ukrainians of fighting age Al Mayadeen

    Poland willing to track down people and send them to their deaths. I mean camps.Training camps. Military training camps. Not deaths camps, but freedom camps. Western values camps.

    Reply ↓
  16. CA

    https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1784403251280093660

    Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

    This is a huge, even transformational legislative change in China

    https://taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2024/01/employees-participation-in-corporate-governance-under-the-revised-chinese-company-law *

    This Revised Company Law considerably strengthens employees’ participation in the corporate governance of companies.

    It makes “democratic corporate governance” a requirement for all companies by mandating the set up of an assembly of employee representatives that needs to meet at least once a year and has real power over some key operational decisions.

    It also makes employee representation on company boards mandatory for enterprises with 300 or more employees. It looks somewhat similar to the German model of co-determination (Mitbestimmung), but where I believe the Germans only mandate employee representation for larger companies, this Revised Company Law seems broader in that it makes employee assemblies a fundamental aspect of corporate governance across all company sizes.

    * Employees’ Participation in Corporate Governance under the Revised Chinese Company Law

    10:04 PM · Apr 27, 2024

    Reply ↓
    1. LawnDart

      Woah… and I was thinking that it’d be great to work in Russia for great pay and all the OT you can handle, but damn, does this make China seem like a wonderful place to start a career.

      Reply ↓
  17. The Rev Kev

    “US urged to honor words after Blinken concludes ‘candid, substantive and constructive’ meetings in China”

    I’m sure that for the Biden White House, they saw Blinken’s visit to China as a success. It was anything but. He did the diplomacy for a coupla days but right at the end he lowered the boom on them. He kept Xi waiting for a face to face when Xi was never required to meet him. Impatiently pacing, Xi asked his staff finally when Blinken would be leaving China. But before Blinken left, he actually threatened China with massive sanctions. On Chinese soil. The diplomacy was over.

    Even if China agreed to cut trade with Russia, then would come the next demands. Stop buying oil from Iran even if it spikes your economy. Stop competing with us. Downgrade your ties with BRICS. The demands would never end and while this was going on, the sanctions would be constantly escalating. It does not matter right now what China does as the sanctions are coming like they did for Russia. I wonder how China will retaliate. They might say ‘No more military spare parts for the Pentagon as you are targeting us.’ That might create a few problems. Trying to destroy Russia did not work out so perhaps they will have better luck trying to destroy China.

    Reply ↓
    1. CA

      “I’m sure that for the Biden White House, they saw Blinken’s visit to China as a success…”

      Really important comment. This is not about foolish behavior by an American diplomat, but about ever-more-threatening American policy towards China.

      Reply ↓
      1. CA

        This is a superb explanation that I do hope will be read entirely through:

        https://twitter.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1784439192300515706

        Arnaud Bertrand @RnaudBertrand

        Sorry but this “China is humiliating America” narrative is just completely wrong.

        Blinken was met by Xi, who according to diplomatic protocol doesn’t have to meet a Secretary of State. There are instances in previous years of the Chinese president not meeting Secretaries of States when they visited, like Pompeo in 2018… Heck, Blinken was invited to come by China which wasn’t the case during the first 2 years of his mandate and in and of itself shows goodwill on the Chinese side, goodwill that the US definitely doesn’t deserve – especially given Blinken’s incredibly hostile rhetoric during the trip – but that’s a separate question…

        All in all the truth is that we’re seeing China really going out of its way to be patient with the US, despite the fact that the US has gone into full cold war mode, deploying one hostile action after another. With, by the way, little to no retaliation by China.

        That was actually the key message to Blinken during his trip, directly from the Chinese readout of the meeting Xi had with Blinken

        ( https://fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/zxxx_662805/202404/t20240426_11289925.html ):

        “China and the United States should be partners rather than rivals; help each other succeed rather than hurt each other; seek common ground and reserve differences rather than engage in vicious competition; and honor words with actions rather than say one thing but do another. President Xi proposed mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation as the three overarching principles for the relationship…

        Reply ↓
    2. nippersdad

      I am waiting for the Chinese moratorium on all trade with the US. If the little blip during the COVID lockdowns was enough to make a dent in the economy I can only imagine what might happen were that to be extended over a year or so.

      Extra points if they divert all trade through Venezuela and Cuba. The hair pulling in Washington would be intense.

      Reply ↓
      1. chris

        This. I keep thinking our leaders can’t be that stupid. They can’t possibly assume that this behavior will never be challenged by one party just nuking their trade relationship as a response in kind to this level of brinkmanship? Especially since it is crystal clear they’re asking China to assist with Russia so that the US can deal with Russia before targeting Iran and China more directly.

        All the rest of the world has to do is turn their backs on us for a month. Then we’re done. It is that simple. Not one shot has to be fired. They just have to stop trading for a month. And there would be nothing we could do to stop them. They could even come up with good reasons for it. “Enhanced security measures.” “Extra health screenings.” They stop supplying us with stuff for a month, stop buying dollars, stop taking any of our exports, etc. and we’re done.

        Reply ↓
      2. Benny Profane

        Hell, just shut down the Taiwan chip industry, or slow it down. It is THE source of 95% of high end chips, which are needed in everything. That said, we had a dry run for this with Covid, and look what happened. The world car industry ground to a halt. I couldn’t get ink for my high end printer for six months. Chips are everywhere. What are these people thinking? Build a factory in Phoenix with billions of our dollars? How’s that working out?

        We do not make stuff anymore. We educated a generation to look down on manufacturing, and rewarded them with massive sums to destroy capacity onshore. Now what?

        Reply ↓
  18. Wukchumni

    Was thinking about our far flung military adventures, and it’d be as if the Romans were fighting the Mayans & proto-Australian Aborigines…

    Historians will be befuddled by our actions, a few thousand years from now.

    Reply ↓
        1. Mark Gisleson

          DaedalU.S.

          [smacks forehead] Of course! The problem with the F-35 is that it flies too close to the sun!

          Reply ↓
        1. Wukchumni

          The Nemi ships were two ships, of different sizes, built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula in the 1st century AD on Lake Nemi. Although the purpose of the ships is speculated upon, the larger ship was an elaborate floating palace, which contained quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating and plumbing, and amenities such as baths. Both ships featured technology thought to have been developed historically later.

          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemi_ships

          Reply ↓
          1. Pearl Rangefinder

            “Pulled himself up by his bootstraps” you could say. He certainly knew how to party, anyway :)

            Reply ↓
  19. Benny Profane

    Two contrasting videos in links today. First is that Patriot front march in WV, which reminded me of the one in DC a while back. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/patriot-front-washington-dc-video-b2338764.html Note the ominous headline: “Chilling footage”. It was Sunday on the mall, furcryingoutloud. Looked like a boy scout troop. Joe Rogan featured that march, and famously said, where are all the fat people? Look at it. Not one beer belly, out of what, forty or fifty American men? Then, yeah, the clean, matching khakis and shirts, same masks. Can you say military? Kind of obvious. Especially, and I remember it well, the very next morning Biden pointed to that march as proof that the deplorable fascists are a great danger to us all. This was all happening during the 1/6 hearings. Duh.

    Where are all the fat people? Check out the swat team on campus video. Gee, they must have to make XXXL body armor for America’s police force these days.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      That DC Patriot march. Wasn’t that the one where the DC cops went to a Washington metro station and blocked it off so people could not get in. And then when the Patriot guys turned up they were let in to that “reserved’ station so that they could go wherever they were going to? That one? Totally not suspicious.

      Reply ↓
  20. Benny Profane

    Somebody should tell that German ambassador that it’s bad optics to suddenly start shouting like that with an arm extended, telling people to shut up and go away.

    Reply ↓
  21. Quentin

    Who at the top of the USA’s political/power structure gave the command to, without delay, put an end to the university demonstrations against the slaughter in Palestine/Gaza? The whole operation reeks of the duplicity of the Democratic cities ending Occupied manifestations under Mr O’s rule. Is Genocide Joe not a Democrat? I feel powerless, dispirited, frightened by the whole gory spectacle.

    Reply ↓
    2. NotTimothyGeithner

      Biden is a Democrat. The party is a staunchly neoliberal party that believes in police repression. That is it. Politically they expect people to overlook it as Trump gets closer, much like Obama and Romney. It’s just now officially Team Blue has gone to the right of Romney and embraced genocide.

      Reply ↓
    3. Anon IU

      Those are good questions.

      Bloomington, home of Indiana University, is a city entirely governed by Democrats. I believe there is one Republican elected official in the county. None in the city. This has been true for at least 20 years. But the state as a whole is governed by Republicans.

      I am very worried about another Kent State. If it happens, I think it will be at a state university, not one of the Ivies.

      Reply ↓
  22. Carolinian

    Re Kristi Noem, dog killer–Trump may have good political instincts but he has terrible people instincts as shown by the fact that he still hangs out with Lindsey who apparently convinced him to support the 61 billlion. So we are faced with the dilemma that the only way to get rid of Biden may be to support someone who hired Pompeo.

    Reply ↓
    1. The Rev Kev

      The guys at The Duran were saying that Trump does have a weakness for the Neocons. They back-stabbed him the first time around but if he gets elected this November, I fear that he will bring them back into government once again.

      Reply ↓
      1. Benny Profane

        But look at the problem for the Republicans now that we are marching to the conventions and beyond. They just negated the “it’s the Republican’s fault” when Ukraine goes down, although that’s been modified to “if only the Republicans didn’t screw around for six months”, but, still, the RNC just diluted that Dem talking point a lot, and paid off the MIC at the same time. Win win. I don’t sense that most Americans care either way about Ukraine, certainly not as much as this Genocide in Gaza, so, write a check, look for the exits, pray that Kiev is functioning in October.
        I’m convinced that Blinken being as ass in China is the other side of the coin, so Biden can campaign with a tough on China plank against Trump, who really was and will be, tough on China.

        Reply ↓
  23. antidlc

    https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2024/04/26/ohio-state-legally-cant-divest-from-israel-gaza-protests-hamas-war-osu-students/73466833007/
    Ohio State University says it legally can’t divest from Israel – here’s the law behind that

    Johnson is referring to Ohio Revised Code (ORC) Section 9.76 — which was signed into law by then-Gov. John Kasich in 2016 and later amended in 2022 — which prohibits state agencies like universities from contracting with companies that are boycotting or disinvesting from Israel.

    Reply ↓
    1. Glenda

      California governor Brown passed an anti-divestment law in 2016 that includes Israel along many other countries. So the divestment demand at UC Berkeley can’t happen in spite of it being one of the 4 demands by the student anti-genocide camp.

      Reply ↓
  24. Wukchumni

    She can’t seem to face up to the facts
    She’s tense and nervous and without killing something can’t relax
    She can’t sleep ’cause of all the ire
    Don’t touch her as Veep material, a no hire

    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh
    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, Fido run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh, oh, oh, oh
    Ay-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ooh

    You start a controversy, you can’t even finish it
    You’re talking a lot, but you’re not saying anything
    When you have nothing to say, your lips are sealed
    Kill something once, why kill it again?

    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh
    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, Fido run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh, oh, oh, oh
    Ay-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya

    Ce que j’ai fait, ce soir-là
    Ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir-là
    Réalisant mon espoir
    Je me lance vers la gloire, okay
    Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
    We are vain and we are blind
    I hate people when they’re not polite to animals

    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh-oh-oh
    Canine Killer
    Qu’est-ce que c’est?
    Fa-fa-fa-fa, fa-fa-fa-fa-fa-fa, better
    Run, Fido run, run, run, run, run, run away, oh, oh, oh, oh
    Ay-ya-ya-ya-ya-ya, ooh

    Psycho Killer, by the Talking Heads

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O52jAYa4Pm8

    Reply ↓
  25. Neutrino

    Outside Agitators used to be from outside one’s area. During the Vietnam protesting in the late 1960s and early 1970s, locals in town and on the uni campus said that they saw new people coming to stir things up. The community was aware of the difference. Then a bomb or two went off, with nobody injured, and things settled down. Kids were forbidden from going to events at the uni for a while. Simpler times indeed.

    Reply ↓
    2. The Rev Kev

      Some of those agitators had some self-training in this era. One tactic was to have a line of them get behind a part of a large crowd, link hands, and then sweep & push that crowd forward – usually towards a police line. Then they would so so for another part of the crowd. Of course if there was real trouble, that was when they made their exit. Getting your heads bashed in by the cops was for the plebs. But it was all in a good cause mind you.

      Reply ↓
    3. Ken Murphy

      I’m surprised that no one has commented on the fact that the “outside agitators” are often themselves agents of the authorities, sent in to get things riled up and give the authorities a “reason” to exercise their power. Often spottable by their shoes, or some other common identifier that allows the police to whisk them away to be reinserted elsewhere. Sometimes referred to as agents provocateur.

      What’s concerning to me is the erosion of the fundamental right of the citizenry to air their grievances in public spaces under the guise of “safety”. If you have to quash those who disagree with you, or your ways and means of governance, then you’re already on shaky ground, and unleashing the right of the State to use violence does little to reinforce the merits of your positions.

      Sadly, public discourse seems to be penduluming from measured and reasoned (somewhat) towards shrill and reactionary. Which makes it easy to get folks riled up. So the powers-that-be can unleash their will on the masses. I don’t have a whole lot of faith that things will end well should we continue down this primrose path.

      Reply ↓
  26. Wukchumni

    Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
    Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?

    We all know that people are the same whereever you go
    There is good and bad in ev’ryone
    We learn to live, when we learn to give
    Each other what we need to survive, together abide

    Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
    Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?

    We all know that people are the same whereever you go
    There is good and bad in ev’ryone
    We learn to live, when we learn to give
    Each other what we need to survive, together abide

    Emory and Ivy League protest together in perfect harmony
    Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we?

    Side by side on the campuses, oh Lord, why don’t we
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony
    Emory, Ivy League, protesting in perfect harmony

    Ebony and Ivory, by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4mlhcFKzXQ

    Reply ↓
  27. Alice X

    Yesterday I came across two youtube videos purporting to show Ukrainian air defenses (missiles) downing 1) one Russian MiG 29 & 2) 6 MiGs.

    Number 1 may have been authentic footage, number 2, though presented as authentic, was a simulation, albeit a fairly good one. What to do when your side is on the ropes? Make fake videos.

    Reply ↓
  28. Alice X

    Also yesterday, I came across this interview by Chris Hedges with Jeffrey Sachs on his book To Move the World- JFK’s Quest for Peace. Though the interview covers much familiar territory, is 6 months old, and the book is from 2013, I found it well worth the time.

    Reply ↓
  29. jefemt

    Tax sharks. A bit facile…if one can’t pay ral property taxes, then a smart sad landowner will seel, obviously under duress and anger, but very few will let the property go to a Tax lien investor. It rarely happens.
    Instead, the investor generally gets a pretty good return, guaranteed- the county tax lien is superior to all other creditors.

    I mentioned how abhorrent the whole sordid deal was, and he said, “Those lien investors are bringing money to a broke county that cannot print it, they are helping fill pot-holes and get school busses manned and fueled.

    I am in the midst of a property tax appeal— our land assessment is proposed to increase 301 percent. BTW, my wages have not seen a commensurate increase. So, will we not pay taxes? Or will we be forced to sell our American dream- the house we built in 1994, with two kids age 8 and 4, at our hips, to exit the community we volunteered in for decades?

    Real property taxes are another under-reported area of meteoric, unfathomable inflation. Our taxes and insurance exceed our principal and interest.

    Cry me a river, get out your violins.

    Reply ↓
    1. heresy101

      You need a Prop 13 without the exclusions for commercial/corporate property.
      In California, property taxes can only go up 2%/year but get reassessed at the sale price if the property is sold. I just finished paying the tax difference between the old owners taxes and our taxes based on the sale/market price.

      Reply ↓
    2. Thistlebreath

      Cory’s latest book bashes “boomers.” Playing to gen-whatever’s via ageism carries a whiff of desperation. Some of his earlier SciFi is enjoyable but that’s a crowded book market. His expose’s, i.e., “Chokepoint Capitalism” are sensational but light on durable insights.

      Although based in LA and with family in the biz, he hasn’t managed to get far in th’ screen trade. Onesies and twosies, here and there, in TV. Maybe envy is making him turn the volume up to 11 while courting prejudiced readers.

      Reply ↓
  30. Wukchumni

    Tiny Town confidential:

    At approximately 5:00 this morning TCSO and CHP responded to a possible home invasion in progress in the 1400 Blk Canyon View Dr in Three Rivers.
    The caller advised that there was rustling in the kitchen and they had locked themselves in the bedroom.
    Units arrived quite a bit later just before 5:30AM as they were responding from calls far away.
    As units arrived they located an open front door, and one unit witnessed a bear running away.
    Units entered the residence and also located an open refrigerator door.

    The rest of the residence was cleared and TCSO located more evidence that a Bearglary had taken place. 🐻
    All in all, the suspect retreated back to its habitat and the home was deemed safe again.

    Reply ↓
    1. Anon IU

      There was a fancy black tie event for Indiana University donors last night. Lots of good food, drinks and high level schmoozing going on. Anti-genocide protesters showed up outside the building which has large glass windows around the lower level so donors could see the protesters. Donors were observed smiling and laughing at them. Police quickly arrived (they seemed to be University Police, not State Police) and surrounded the building. Protesters left. No arrests were made at the event as far as I know.

      Reply ↓
  32. Lost in OR

    Rivers are the West’s largest source of clean energy. What happens when drought strikes? Grist

    Seems to me we settled this during the ENRON debacle. Indigenous peoples and salmon won some legal battles in the Klamath Basin where the issue was Ag. On the Columbia though, where the issue was Energy and Profits and Sales to California utilities, the salmon lost to the turbines.

    Reply ↓
    2. hk

      Still waiting to see Israel and its proxies declared as “antisemitic” for stunts like that, which seems to happen daily

      Reply ↓
  35. flora

    Both of Conor Gallagher’s long posts today are very good. They both point in the same direction, imo.

    This latest from Catherine Austin Fitts interviewed on the Greg Hunter show also points in the same direction. (Except for the pointless 5 minute kerfuffle at the 30 minute mark that is completely aside from the main points CAF is making.) Rumble, ~1 hr.

    Insane vs. Sane

    https://rumble.com/v4ru448-insane-vs-sane-demonic-vs-devine-catherine-austin-fitts.html

    Reply ↓
  36. Bazarov1

    I taught at IU for a long time.

    I never thought the University would have a worse president than Michael McRobbie, he of the “fire the cafeteria and library workers to give myself a gigantic raise” persuasion, but Pamela “Call Me Pam” Whitten makes McRobbie look like an angel. It’s surreal to see images of the IMU crowned with snipers, of peaceful students being brutalized by riot cops, of campus bans–all to cover for a savage apartheid state currently engaged in a settler-colonial genocide of the oppressed Palestinian people.

    Though IU as an institution has never in my life sunk so low, the students themselves have never risen so high in the regard of all honorable, humane, politically aware people in this country. Certainly, they have my humble support and solidarity.

    Reply ↓
  37. CA

    https://twitter.com/mtracey/status/1784511693436989658

    Michael Tracey @mtracey

    Anyone who actually goes and observes these protests knows that half the time Jewish students are literally the ones ORGANIZING them. Which reveals the total idiocy of the “anti-Semitism” lie. Find one corroborated instance of hatred against Jews qua Jews. Simply does not exist

    5:15 AM · Apr 28, 2024

    Reply ↓
    1. Feral Finster

      The sentiment is noble, but the author seems to think that the Biden Administration are well-meaning but ill-informed.

      They are full-blown sociopaths.

      Reply ↓
  39. Kouros

    <>

    Same way the US denied ever promising USSR “Not an inch east”. I guess the lawyer argument would be that the promise was made to USSR and since USSR dissolved, the promise was not valid any longer.

    Phillipines learned from the proponent of the “international rules based order”. I guess their argument is that it was the previous president, so that doesn’t count.

    Reply ↓
  42. Willow

    Campus protects: Biggest risk Israel faces for which it has no control over is Biden falling off the perch and Harris becoming President. Harris would likely swing in behind the student protestors to lock in the youth vote. It’d also set Harris up as Democrat nominee going into Nov. And this isn’t a remote risk.

    Reply ↓
    1. Willow

      *protests.
      Was also going to add that this likely underlies Israel’s sense of urgency in bringing things to a head – in addition to US fast going broke & running out of money. (but comment posted before I could update & didn’t get option to edit :-( )

      ** there needs to be more discussion of the BoJ/Fed copula and how this could unravel very fast. US Treasury able sell lots of debt (‘in the money’) while expectation was falling interest rates & BoJ holding the line but now market expectations moving toward rate hikes it will make raising US debt painful. And if BoJ hikes rates, then it could be game over.

      Reply ↓
  44. JM

    Here’s an hour long deep dive into a manufacturer in the PC space (water cooling specifically) and all sorts of shady things; including unpaid taxes, threats of physical violence, lawsuits, and more. The channel Gamers Nexus hasn’t done a ton of this sort of investigation, but it seems like they’re moving in this direction. Either way they do a great job, so worth a watch if you’re interested.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8A7cykj0pCg

    Reply ↓
  46. LawnDart

    China’s New Economy

    So great is China’s dominance of drone technology that the US Army, ignoring its own ban, is buying DJI drones for Ukraine. That’s because Beijing’s drone dominance extends from palm-size, hobbyist UAVs to crop sprayers, to fifteen-ton, one-hundred fifty-foot wingspan Divine Eagle High Altitude Stealth-Hunting Drones that reads electronic signals from ships and aircraft long before they approach the mainland.

    The low-altitude economy was written into this year’s Government Work Report as a strategic emerging industry and several provinces are already building low-altitude industrial clusters to serve transportation, tourism, logistics, agriculture, geological surveying and mapping, public security and, increasingly, disaster relief.

    The nascent industry hit $70 billion last year, up 34% on 2022, and on track for $150 billion in 2026…

    https://herecomeschina.substack.com/p/chinas-new-economy

    Reply ↓
    1. SocalJimObjects

      No complains of overproduction there. I’ve said this before, the US will need China’s help to fight against … China.

      Reply ↓
      1. LawnDart

        I’ll add that they’re moving super-duper crazy fast on EV-tech– check this out:

        Greater Bay begins production of first XFC battery for EVs

        XFC refers to batteries that can be recharged from 10% to 80% in under ten minutes to provide an additional range of 320km, a target proposed by the US Department of Energy for 2025. The technology helps address one of the key issues said to have slowed sales of EVs so far – range anxiety.

        The new Guangzhou plant has a production capacity of 4 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of batteries per year, but can be expanded to twice that volume.

        Larger battery manufacturers such as CATL and BYD have also been developing such batteries, but only Great Bay has succeeded in putting them into mass production so far.

        Boston Consulting Group forecasts XFC batteries will account for 16% of EVs sold by 2025, rising to 68% by 2030.

        https://www.just-auto.com/news/greater-bay-begins-production-of-first-xfc-battery-for-evs/

        Put it this way: if US Congress doesn’t change course and give its blessings to resume the Ford/CATL joint-venture, USA will have absolutely ZERO hopes of surviving in the EV market.

        Reply ↓
  47. Jason Boxman

    Amusing that I haven’t seen any Times stories with headlines about racing to see if our milk is safe. Even though this is already being bugled almost like they don’t race when they don’t care. What a joke this country is

    Reply ↓
    1. Daryl

      Imagine having to host one of these Biden admin goons and talk to them for minutes, potentially hours at a time. Thoughts and prayers for Xi.

      Reply ↓

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *